Unfinished Buisiness I[Job/Death-Viable/Ayero/Diego/Liber]

When the blind man raised the flute and began playing that strange tune again, Madam Trixie growled. Darting around the man at ten meters per second, Trixie kept the six meter girth between them and she came to a stop facing his back. As she had moved, Zanzibar aimed his abdomen towards the blind man's left arm and fired a Webbed Net. A webbed ball flew from Zanzibar's spinneret at fifteen meters per second and expanded into a net with a three meter diameter, after one meter. Zanzibar let out a courageous "Squee~", that no one would hear, as he had let out his attack.

From her position behind Sees-No-Light, Trixie ran forward, charging bio-electricity into her front-left paw and lashed out with Lightning Fury. Her strike was aimed horizontally to hit across his shoulder-blades, discharging the bio-electricity from her metallic claws which would hopefully paralyze both of the blind man's arms. After attacking, she would use the momentum to get six meters distance again, avoiding putting her back to the target.




For a few heartbeats everyone seemed to stare each other down, giving Diego enough time to realize that none of the magic-tool wielding aggressors planned to follow after Yakuroro. Clutching the grip of his bow tightly in his hand, his eyes flicked between the targets, deciding how to respond. Sees-No-Light began playing the tune which seemed to block all other noise out. When he saw Trixie move, Diego realized he was unable to hit her abort button. Trusting her instincts for the moment, Diego looked at the broader picture.

With Tetsu to Diego's left, he sent forth two quick arrows as cover fire for Trixie. Noticing the lizard chimera and Ayero moving, Diego hauled ass to his left, around the pair and came to a stop 25 meters from sees-no-light. While he ran, he saw Ayero turn change paths to Lanius. When he was parallel with the man's side and if he had a clear shot, Diego sent two arrows towards Lanius. He didn't want to hinder her attack or injure her, so he would account for her actions when letting loose the arrows.

[2000+/2000]

[125/160 stam]
[6/10 ammo]

Spoiler:

As Liber came into position he would watch as his prey began to move. It didn't matter that his hearing was blocked from all sounds save for the flute or that the enemy seemed to have some sort of plan of action. The fanalis assassin would make the best of the situation and deal with these men without killing them using all his skill and experience. If Lanius still turned his back on the others to face Liber, the fanalis would walk towards him casually watching as his target rose its blade to the sky only to be cut from behind by Ayero.  If Lanius stubbornly continued to attack, the lightning bolt would never find its mark as Liber performs a Soaring Leap to jump over the incoming magic. Upon landing 5m closer to Lanius, Liber would dash forwards accelerating into a full sprint and once he was 7m away, the fanals would swipe both of his hands through the air sending a Pestilent Peck and a Pressure Prick flying through the air towards his opponent. The poisoned needle would be aimed for the middle of his body while the paralyzing senbon would seek out Lanius' bicep to paralyze one of his arms.

If the criminal never turned to face Liber in favor of dealing with the fanalis woman that was charging him, Liber would simply rush forward accelerating into a full sprint and launch the same needles upon reaching 7m distance from the man.

Stamina - 70/120 Or 90/120

Spoiler:

Job Details:

Zanzibar's web shot out towards Sees-No-Light; a movement that the old man saw. He understood that he wouldn't be able to dodge it, but cared little for that; his role in this fight was already determined, and he was not much of a fast mover regardless. With or without the creature's webbed shot flying at him, Sees-No-Light was not going to be going anywhere anytime soon. He continued to play his flute as the sticky substance struck his body. Noting that its substance was beginning to stick to the fingers of his left arm, and that this would potentially end his playing of the flute, Sees-No-Light switched over to a one handed right-hand playing of the flute, which was much more difficult to maintain than using both hands. Regardless, the man was a professional assassin and had had to deal with tougher situations than not being able to use a hand in the past....
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Akatetsu had paved a path forward as Trixie and Zanzibar criss-crossed the back track behind the Genius-level Beast. Using the cranium that housed a one hundred and twenty IQ, Akatetsu was in the process of bringing his head down in an effort to put Maxia out. At first, Maxia was intending to simply dodge the attack. Unfortunately for the Fanalis, there were arrows being shot to the left and right of the beast. He couldn't see the marksman, but he was effectively locked down with there being potential for the cover fire to strike him. Just moments before, when the Fanalis man was in the process of performing one of his most powerful attacks, he saw the beast charging forward with the arrows coming in from the side which had forced Maxia to change his attack.

When the beast came within a meter of Maxia, who was still charging forward as if continuing what he was doing from before, performed a Hook Punch to intercept Akatetsu's first headbutt, using the Gauntlet'ed right hand to clash against the beast's hardened skull. At the same time the beast brought its head back again in order to attack with his Bone Crush, Maxia's right hand continued moving and intercepted his left hand, psyching himself up. He performed a leap forward as Akatetsu's head came down, intercepting and clashing against the beast's Bone Crush with his Phoenix Fist. Normally the amount of force he put behind his jump would take him ten meters out, but since he arrived at his target right in front of him with the punch, he hardly moved at all. Maxia had underestimated the thickness of Akatetsu's skull, and the power behind the technique. He felt his bones crunch, and let out a vicious shout of anger as two of his knuckles became fractured. It was unlikely that he would be making a fist again to strike somebody any time soon.
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As Akatetsu and Maxia were locked and engaged in battle, Ayero dashed past Maxia with a great deal of speed. Were there no barrier against sound, she would have heard the man utter a curse. "Shit." There was no way for him to warn Lanius, who was currently engaged with Liber, that his back was exposed to a Fanalis; a dangerous sentence, under any circumstances, but doubly so in these. Had Akatetsu not had him engaged in combat, he would have attempted to stop her. As it was, though, the beast had his full attention simply due to its size and ability to dish out serious harm if he ignored it for long. A small crack on his gauntlet was a testament of this beast's strength.

Ayero's diagonal strike cut a beautiful swath of flesh off of the man's back, who cried out in silent surprise at the sudden pain from an unknown opponent behind him. Though the pain was incredible, the man was a battle-hardened Colosseum warrior who had fought on countless battlegrounds. Gritting his teeth, he was still able to set his lightning strike out towards Liber as his right foot came forward in a right forward stance, and his left knee touched down upon the ground. As Liber jumped into the air, Ayero sent out her second attack; Cross Slash. Just as the attack cut through the man, two arrows struck into his side. By that time, it was likely that Liber had landed and was closing in on the man, but Lanius... Was already dead.
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Going back a short amount of time in the past, Trixie and Zanzibar had closed distance on Sees-No-Light. The man noted that the beast was moving in to attack him with some sort of clawing attack, and quickly played a tune upon his flute; Silencing Slash. The lightning claw struck the blade of sound, the two techniques humming briefly, before exploding in a brief flash of light. Sees-No-Light grinned behind his flute, imagining that his opponent was a tough nut to crack but one that he could still defeat. His knowledge of the battlefield through the use of his magic tool made him aware of the danger Lanius was in, and the incompetence of his ally Maxia, who could not even hold back a single beast AND a Fanalis woman.
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It was at this point where Maxia attempted to send a roundhouse kick towards Akatetsu's leg. He was unaware of the strength of the beasts body, and was primarily using that attack as a means to gauge the opponent before him. He moved backwards half a meter after launching his attack, checking to see its reaction.
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His thoughts of superiority lasted less than half a second. As Yakuroro's blade entered his domain of sound he became immediately aware of it. The old man attempted to stand, but his bad back and his bad knees were nowhere near strong enough to do so. Cursing his fate with a deep sense of seething hatred that caused black Rukh to form around him, the man decided to impart upon those who would still be living one last cruel action; he struck a low note on his flute, activating Melodic Mania as he fell backward from the box he had been sitting on from before. Yakuroro, Liber and Diego, far from the range of effect from the Assassin's magic tool, would note that the invisible force of Yakuroro's blade had chopped off Sees-No-Light's legs. The searing power of the blade's light caused the wound to be cauterized, yet the sheer amount of pain sent to the would-be assassin's mind was enough to cause him to pass out completely. The strange feeling of weapon biting into flesh; the lack of resistance from the legs, and the sudden change of that very same resistance once the legs had been cut into, reverberated throughout the blade.
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The sound of the flute rung in nearly everyone's ears. They would begin to see hallucinations of enemies, multiplying infinitely. There were an endless number of enemies, and not all of them were those before them, either; enemies from the past, enemies from the present, and shadows of enemies unknown. With the return of sound due to Sees-No-Light's death also came a wave of madness that threatened to overtake all those upon that battlefield. Maxia was no exception, either...


OOC:

First off, the last ability by Sees-No-Lights effects everyone, friend and foe alike. For the next 3 posts, none of them will be able to reliably hit anyone. Only Yaku, Liber and Diego can hit people during the next 3 posts. Everyone else must RP out hallucinations of enemies.

Insofar as comedic developments, it may be best for the posting order to change to Ayero, Liber, Diego and then Yaku. This is up to you guys, though. During this time, Maxia will not be able to hit anyone either.



No map this time unless you guys want one. You should still have a general idea of where everyone is at. Instead, I have a time-line of when each part of the battle took place.

-2.54 seconds ago, spinneret from Zanzibar against Sees-No-Light. The spinneret is successful and encloses around Sees-No-Light.

Trixie's attack at Sees-No-Light occurs at 0 seconds.
Sees-No-Light clashes against Trixie's attack with Silencing Slash at 0 seconds.

.7 seconds for Akatetsu to clash against Maxia & Diego sends 2 arrows out as cover fire.

Maxia clashes with Akatetsu; basic attack v.s. basic attack. Maxia's gauntlet takes 40 weapon damage, and Akatetsu's skull takes 40 weapon damage. The second headbutt clashes against Maxia's Phoenix Fist, which fracture's his knuckles, causing him to yell out in pain.

1.4 seconds for Ayero to attack Lanius' back
Maxia notes Ayero passing by but cannot shout out since Sees-No-Light's magic tool keeps the sound from coming out. Akatetsu's large body gave her cover so that Maxia didn't see her pass by until the last second.

Lanius takes the attack to his back which causes a deep wound, yet he still fires out the lightning bolt out toward Liber. Liber jumps over the lightning bolt, and 1.6 seconds in total has passed.

Lanius receives a second attack from Ayero. Lanius is K.O.ed

Trixie ends 6 meters away from Sees-No-Light at 2 seconds, while being 10 meters to the left of Maxia.

Maxia probes Akatetsu's defensive capabilities with a roundhouse kick towards Akatetsu's leg at 2 seconds and gauges the beast's reaction.

Yaku's attack strikes against Sees-No-Light at 4 seconds, who simultaneously performs a spell upon the group which incorporates everyone but Yaku and Diego within it. Sees-No-Light passes out. He is unable to get away due to bad back/knees & the Spider web from Zanzibar.

The chimeric lizard beast charged forward and collided head on with Maxia's fist. Akatetsu's head reeled back from the impact and his feet planted into the ground as he quickly lashed out again with his bone crush ability. Tetsu lacked a great deal of sensation on his skull thanks to the bone exterior, but even so he could feel the fanalis man's fist crumple from the force of their attacks meeting. Akatetsu would try to press his advantage and rose his head for another attack, but Maxia took a step back and moved out of range. Akatetsu would glare at the man and let out a silent roar but the act on intimidation would count against the beast in the end. The opening it created allowed Maxia to move in for a swift kick to Akatetsu's leg shattering on of the chimera's bones.

Akatetsu dropped slightly, no longer able to properly support all of his weight on both legs. Thinking quick, the beast used its tail as a back up support and shifted backwards kicking off the ground with his good leg in a retreating leap. He knew that it was folly to face Maxia in a prolonged slug out and tried to put space between them as he landed 3m away. It wasn't much room, but it would hopefully give Akatetsu more time to react to the fanalis fighter's next assault.

It was then that sound returned and soon after hallucinations beset the chimera's mind. The fanalis, Maxia, that had stood before him was suddenly not alone. There were many Maxia's and other foes as well. They all seemed to appear out of nowhere and many were making threatening movements in Akatetsu's direction. The intelligent beast only panicked briefly before realizing that it was impossible for so many enemies to have suddenly appeared. If they had been there all along, why not just slaughter everyone with their overwhelming numbers? No, this had something to do with the final sound he heard. A low tune that was audible even after the disturbing song which had been blocking his hearing faded away.

Akatetsu did not know that this was the effect of a magic tool, but he had enough information to speculate something close to this. Instead of attacking these phantoms mindlessly, Akatetsu continued to back away slowly, looking from side to side in case any of these opponents decided to suddenly attack him.


As Yakuroro's giant blade cleaved through the blind man's legs, he felt a mix of feelings. The first was regret that he had to further cripple and already broken man. But if the path he walked was one of darkness within the brotherhood, perhaps it was for the best that his legs be take from him. But there was also a deep seated sense of fear as Sees-No-Light produced a flock of black rukh just before being disabled. Were Yakuroro's teeth visible through the armor of his djinn equip, the magician could have been seen gritting them as he thought of what that implied for the brotherhood of ash. Was this a lone case among their ranks? Or was it common place for operatives here in Reim to possess the birds of darkness which Yakuroro had seen consume a man, turning him into a monster? Yakuroro certainly hoped not.

The invisibility faded away as did the giant blade as Yakuroro lowered himself to the ground disengaging his djinn equip so as to land looking like his usual self. All the magic peeled away at once making it seem as though Yakuroro had simply appeared from some kind of void, manifesting from space in an unnatural manner. The Imuchakk landed on the ground lightly, his staff back in his right hand while the greatsword previously in his left had returned to being an inconspicuous ring. Seeing that Sees-No-Light was unconscious and that Lanius had received almost certainly fatal injuries from Ayero, this left only one member of the Brotherhood remaining alive.

Still oblivious to the hallucinations that were affected some of his friends, Yakuroro looked to Maxia and realized that he must capture the man alive and conscious if he had any hope of learning more about the local brotherhood of ash members in the region. Pointing his staff at the man and generating magoi, Yakuroro began to implore the rukh to obey a new set of commands. One he had not tried before, but felt confident in all the same. Green and Blue rukh, fueled by the magician's magoi, would gather into a small sphere at the tip of Yakuroro's staff as he expressed the commands through a few magic words. "Resonance Wave!" The small orb of magoi began to vibrate and was suddenly launched at Maxia with frightening speed.

The commands this spell bore were simple enough. Vibrate the liquids inside the target at an incredibly high frequency spreading this effect to Maxia's legs and one of his arms. Yakuroro hoped to cause extreme bodily discomfort and some internal damage that would prevent the fanalis from moving, but the damage the spell was capable of would be far greater than he had imagined considering the condensation of magoi involved.

~1125+/1125 Training Resonance Wave~
Magoi - 95/250

Spoiler:

The force of her own diagonal strike causes her to shift her body downward, but her gaze snaps to the bright flash from Lanius’ bolt. Seeing that the lightning was aimed toward Liber, she shouts to warn the other fanalis of the incoming attack. Her voice wouldn’t reach him, but it didn’t matter as Liber had already taken to the air and dodged the magic assault. Letting out the breath she didn’t know she was holding in, Ayero spares one last glance at the dead man slumped before her as the old man’s tune dies out and the sound comes rushing back. In the heat of battle she hadn’t paid the lack of sound much mind, figuring that it was somehow of magical means and nothing she could do about. But as the song was quickly replaced by a new one, the fanalis woman braces herself to lose her hearing once more.

Her brows furrow when the crisp sounds of battle reach her ears, causing the bewildered woman to turn toward Akatetsu and Maxia. But what greets her vision is not the enemy fanalis and the chimera, but rather a handful of hulking figures, their features obscured by a strange sort of darkness. ”There’s more of them?” She grits her teeth and narrows her eyes in irritation, not expecting their opponents to have such…strange backup. She tightens her grip on her sword and shifts herself into a battle ready stance as the figures begin to slowly move toward her, the eerie dark miasma trailing from them and fading into the air as they moved.

Soon they were nearly upon her and although the figures made no aggressive movements, a heavy feeling of dread overcame the young woman. Something wasn’t right. These shadowed men had reached her far too quickly for the speed they were moving at, and they seemed to multiply by the second. Though her ears were working fine, her senses were completely drowned in her hallucinations. The figures stopped moving roughly a meter from her and simply stood around her, shrouded heads tilted slightly downward as if they were watching her, judging her. The ominous feeling in the pit of her stomach grew in intensity as they did this, a wave of panicked confusion washing over her as she unconsciously backed away. What was going on? Why weren’t they attacking her?

The snake wound around her body had succumbed to the illusions produced by the flute as well, though shadowy figures are not what he saw. What approached him were jackals, the very same predator who terrorized his family as well as he and Ayero in Heliohapt. Tightening himself protectively around Ayero’s body, Kabu lets out a violent warning hiss as several desert jackals jog towards them. When the first assailant is only 2 meters away, the snake launches himself at his opponent, unraveling himself from Ayero’s body as he does so. Another angry hiss escapes his mouth as he opens his jaw wide, prepared to land a strike on the jackal. But he only hits the ground, sharp teeth digging into the earth below. Shaking off the impact, Kabu’s head swivels to see the jackal nearly upon Ayero, it’s great jowls open and ready and prepared to land an attack on the snake’s master. Hissing a warning to the red head, Kabu hurries to launch himself once more, mouth open and aimed towards his foe.

Again the snake fails to hit his illusory opponent, his fangs sinking not into the muscle of the jackal but instead into Ayero’s  behind. The fanalis yelps in surprise and discomfort as the Poison Fang sends a stinging sensation into her buttocks, the sudden pain spurring her into action. With a primal yell, she bolts forward and swings her sword wildly at the shadowed figured, her blade meeting no resistance as it hit nothing more than air. Kabu had remained latched to her body for a few moments before working his fangs out from his master’s flesh. He tries to apologize with another round of hissing and body language, but another wave of jackals focuses his attention away from Ayero.

[Stamina: 150/200]

Spoiler:

Zanzibar

From his perch atop Trixie’s rump, the furry white spider’s leg hugged the tiger tightly. A burst of courage had been expelled in the form of a web from the normally cautious spider. The web was not as effective as Zanzibar had hoped, but a feeling of pride briefly swelled through the spider. Recently, he found himself choosing fight instead of flight during combat and being more of a help to Diego and Madam Trixie. Unknown to the spider, his slowly growing bravery had begun to develop during training with Ilirran.

A Squee~ erupted from the spider’s belly as his tiger mount angled herself behind the old man, sitting less than ten meters away. It was an exclamation of half joy and half triumph that he was overcoming his cowardly habits. The furry white mandibles wiggled as his eyes looked at the old man’s back, watching it come closer. Zanzibar realized Trixie was running towards her target and braced himself for her attack. He felt her body shift underneath him as she reached a paw up to swipe at the man. A sensation trickled over his body, making him feel as if his skin were crawling. The fur on his body stood up straight and Zanzibar listened for the familiar crackling of electricity. Instead, the old man’s flute drowned out the noise, leaving only a flash of light from the discharge of Trixie’s bio-electricity.

Instead of witnessing the sitting man’s doom, he heard a high-pitched note played on the flute. The sound seemed to vibrate the very air behind Sees-No-Light as Trixie’s bio-electricity was discharged. A humming sound proceeded a flicker of bright light, leaving Zanzibar dazed for a moment. By the time his eyes were done blinking, the spider noticed Trixie had moved away from the old man. Still watching the target carefully, Zanzibar heard another tantalizing note played on the magical flute before seeing the old man’s legs disconnect from his body and go flying. The wriggling legs reminded Zanzibar of worms, flopping lamely in the dirt a distance away. Struggling to comprehend what had happened, Zanzibar was snapped back to reality by a sight that filled him with terror.

Where the old man had once sat now stood a ten meter tall desert cobra with an orange and black body thicker than Trixie’s. Crimson red eyes with a black slit stared down at Zanzibar greedily, it’s tongue flicking in hunger. The hooded-cobra flicked it’s head back before bringing it down quickly, jaw extended as its fangs searched for the furry, white spider. Zanzibar squealed, desperate to get away and leaped off Trixie. He skittered away as quickly as he could, but in every direction he looked, another cobra and another cobra stood. Soon there were so many cobras surrounding Zanzibar, that they began to blur together.

Ducking and weaving from each of the cobra’s strikes as their heads descended to snatch at their meal, Zanzibar tried to get away. He had lost Trixie in the forest of tall and obscene snakes. For the first time in his life, Zanzibar met a tree whose bite was worse than its bark. If he would take the time to calm down, Zanzibar would notice that the cobras weren’t making a rattling noise with their tail and that their strikes never landed because they weren’t real. Instead, he let his fear get the better of him. Frantic, Zanzibar gave up hope of finding Trixie and searched for Diego, the Fanalis boy who had become family to the spider.

Amid an endlessly growing forest of cobras, Zanzibar finally spotted long crimson hair and skittered forward with his eyes closed. Ignoring the snakes around him, Zanzibar hoped to somehow make it to Diego, to safety. He slightly opened an eye to see if he was getting closer and saw that he was nearly to the flowing, long red hair. A warbling noise began to well in the back of his throat to let out a cry, to let Diego know he needed help.

Suddenly, five cobras slipped around the spider on either side and cut off his advancement. Zanzibar turned suddenly, hoping to maneuver around the snakes when they attempted to attack him. Unfortunately, he tripped over a fallen branch and tumbled over himself into a tangle of legs and mandibles. He looked up and shuddered to see more of the cobras surrounding him. In unison, the cobras all raised their heads up, the motion seeming to blur as more came in behind those closest to him, before snapping their jaws down at him.

Luckily, he managed to spot a space to sneak through the snakes and rolled his body just in time. He slipped through the snakes and hurriedly skittered back towards who he thought was Diego. When he was finally at the Fanalis boy’s heels, Zanzibar made a giant leap onto Diego’s back, wiggled up and around his shoulder to hide underneath the boy’s shirt. He rested his face against Diego’s chest to hide from the giant snakes, not wanting to look at them for one second longer. Zanzibar barely noted that the boy’s chest felt comfier than normal, softer even.

In his fear, Zanzibar had forgotten that Diego had changed not only his hair color, but his hair style as well. The white spider had actually climbed Ayero’s  back and instead of hiding under her shirt, he had buried his face in between her metallic breastplate and her bosom. He shook violently in fear, not wanting to look to see how Diego fared against the cobras. Warbling mews came from the spider as he wiggled his mandibles, meant as encouraging and appreciative words for his master.

In the comfort of Diego, Zanzibar remembered a faint memory of where the fear of the cobras had come from. Before Shura and his trainer had found the spider and his siblings deep in the Heliohapt desert, a giant snake had attacked his mother. Zanzibar’s mother fought hard to protect her young, giving them a chance to get away and hide in the sand before she died. A cobra bite to her thorax had delivered the fatal blow, injecting a neuro-toxin into her blood stream. The young spiderlings forgotten, the cobra had feasted on the large, female spider.

For a week after that, Zanzibar and his siblings had starved, unable to look for food on their own. Their spinnerets were not fully formed or functional and as a result, one by one they succumbed to hunger. A desire to live drove the siblings to eat their fallen dead for what nutrients happened to still be retained in their corpses.

Then one day, an elderly lady and a younger man had found the remaining siblings and took them in. Fearful at first, the young attacked as viciously as their starving bodies would allow, much to the amusement of the elderly lady. Zanzibar was brought to the elderly ladies home where he was fed and raised with love. No longer did he have to fear or worry about fighting, comfort and warmth were given freely.

Of course, Diego had come along after a time and was gifted the furry, white spider. When Zanzibar realized he would never see the elderly lady again, he held a grudge against the Fanalis boy and distanced himself. Between Diego’s smile, his kind words and Trixie’s adoration of the boy, Zanzibar came to realize his good luck. He had even begun to shed his cowardly nature after the trauma, until it was all brought back at once.

Confronted with the fears of his past and realizing how it crippled him, a feeling began to swell inside him. Within the small brain of the spider, a desire to be stronger and more courageous grew. He imagined himself taking out a sea of cobras by himself, before even Trixie could bare her fangs. If only he were stronger.

Trixie

Dirt kicked up from metal claws as they dug into the ground, propelling Trixie closer towards Sees-No-Lights. With a powerful slash aimed to her prey's back, the air crackled as a jolt of bio-electricity traveled through the limb and arced out. The music that rung in the tiger's ears changed and her attack met a blade of pulsing vibration in a collision of sparks and sound. The energy from the clash altered her trajectory and Trixie used the momentum to move back.

With space created, the tiger turned her head in time to see another invisible force cut through Sees-No-Light's legs. At the same time, a haunting tune rang out from the old man's flute, creating a disturbing sensation between her ears. With a snort, Madam Trixie closed her eyes and shook her head to clear the sensation. She noticed that the song from earlier had stopped and could hear other noises once again.

Opening her eyes, she was presented with a strange sight, a foe that even her beloved father feared. Standing in front of her was a rotund chicken standing five meters high, with an angry glare cast to its left. Trixie turned her head to follow the chicken's stare, eyes wide as more chickens seemed to appear, and saw Diego in the distance. Her head snapped back to the chicken and she saw its beak open to belch out a cawing noise. None escaped its beak or the several others that had formed around it, she noticed briefly. Still, a threat had been presented to her father and she lowered her body with a snarl.

Madam Trixie kicked off the ground, vaguely noticing that Zanzibar was no longer on her back, in a mighty pounce. In the second it took to close the distance, Trixie felt overwhelmed by the amount of chickens that kept multiplying around her. She landed, claws extended and fangs bared, on top of the first chicken and it vanished. In front of her another chicken appeared to replace its fallen brethren. Frustrated, the tiger lashed out left and right, striking the hallucinations, hoping to slaughter them before they reached Diego.

For every chicken struck down, Trixie noticed that it felt like she was only hitting air, no gore left behind, to be replaced by yet another chicken. Frustration turned to rage and she slammed her fangs around a chicken's throat to mangle it. Her fangs snapped shut on thin air and it dawned on her that something was quite wrong. Between the lack of noises from the chickens, how fast they seemed to appear, and the lack of a reaction from Diego, her anger shifted to caution.

Abandoning her attacks, she focused on getting to Diego and charged towards him, barreling through the chickens. Her lithe muscles grew taunt and relaxed in a procession of paws as they pounded against the earth. She slid her body in a one-hundred and eighty degree spin as she drew up in front of Diego, ending up in a crouch facing the oncoming chickens head on. Trixie's tail flicked back and forth between the Fanalis' legs, a menacing scowl on her face as she dared the fowl beasts to come closer.

Madam Trixie had long ago resolved herself to protect Diego with everything she had. After many cycles of sun and moon spent with the Fanalis, he had become a friend, kin, and a father to her. The earliest memory she had of him was his smile looking down at her as he nursed her back to health. She could still remember the warm feeling  being wrapped in his arms while they laid near the fire, the gentle rise and fall of every breath, and the sensation of his voice buzzing in his chest as he told her stories. He had accepted Trixie as more than just a tiger, but as a man-beast like himself. During their travels, she had seen man-beasts treat other animals as lesser and she could feel the anger within Diego when he saw it.

The only creature that Diego had ever shown distaste for were the fowl beasts that consumed the horizon. So for the man-beast she loved, Madam Trixie stood her ground and lashed out at the chickens that came close.

Diego

The battlefield descended into chaos as Diego watched with Determination in hand, string taut with an arrow nocked. He kept his eyes open, using his full field of vision like Gallus had taught him to observe his allies clash against foe. Akatetsu fought against the only Fanalis that wasn't on there side. Diego kept an eye on the chimera lizard, interested to see the beast fight for the first time since his transformation. Tetsu attempted to use his hardened skull to inflict damage upon Maxia but it met a Fanalis punch with a resounding thwak. Diego cringed at the sound, noting that the Fanalis man wore a guantlet on the fist that was used.

The chimera lizard attacked once again with his hard noggin' but Maxia leaped into the air and struck out with his other fist. This time, a sickening crack of bone could be heard and Diego wondered which of the two had been damaged. It became apparent that the Fanalis had been the one injured from the shout of pain. A smile played on Diego's lips at seeing the man's pain, solely for overestimating the strength of a beast.

On the other side of that battle, Ayero, Kabu, and Liber were engaged against a tall man with hulking muscles. With two swift strikes of her blade, Ayero carved Lanius up as if he were a chicken, but not before he sent an arc of lightning towards Liber. The Fanalis acupuncturist leaped in the air to avoid the attack but his target was dead by the time he landed on the ground. Diego noticed that his arrows had struck Lanius' side, but the projectiles were hilariously harmless in comparison to Ayero's vicious and precise use of her blade.

Meanwhile, Diego had missed most of the battle with his pets and Sees-No-Light across the field, but he saw they were still alive. Trixie stood a little bit away from the blind man with Zanzibar still riding upon her back. Another sickening crack of bone turned his attention away from his beasts, drawing it towards the battle with Tetsu and Maxia. The chimeric beast stood hunched, favoring a leg and awkwardly leaped back to get some distance from the Fanalis. Diego's heart went to Tetsu, feeling for the lizard's pain.

The music from the flute suddenly changed into a low note, a haunting noise that drew Diego's attention back to Trixie and Zanzibar. His eyes focused in time to see the blind man's legs fly off from an invisible attack and Diego's jaw dropped as he stared in confusion. The music that had disrupted everyone's hearing stopped, jarring Diego for a moment as he adjusted to the sounds of his surroundings rushing back.

With two foes down, that left the wounded Fanalis man who had injured Tetsu. To Diego's surprise, Yakuroro appeared out of thin air and landed nearby Maxia. With a gesture of his staff, the Imuchakk magician chanted a spell aimed at the Fanalis. As interesting as that was, Diego found himself focusing on his other allies. They were acting oddly, responding to something that he could not see. It would have made an amusing sight had he not been so worried about their behavior.

On one side, Akatetsu was cautiously glancing around with a look on his face that Diego thought reflected that the beast was looking at an enemy. Behind the chimeric beast, Ayero too was acting as if she were faced with other enemies. Body taut in a battle stance with sword raised, the halfling woman was ready for war. Slithering around her body, Kabu too let out an aggressive hiss to an unseen foe. The snake leaped off Ayero as if he were attacking the foe to protect his master. It struck again, ending up behind Ayero before lashing out a third time. This time instead of striking air, Kabu's fangs pierced into Ayero's voluptuous booty.

Diego's own pets were acting strangely, Zanzibar skittered around wildly, clearly afraid of something. Back and forth with odd, wide maneuvers, the furry white spider ran towards Ayero in a panic. Zanzibar leaped onto her back and buried his head deep into her exposed cleavage. Diego blushed at the display, ready to shout out an apology for his spider's actions, but Trixie stole his attention. The white and black-striped tiger was a snarling fit of fang and claws in the heat of battle. Diego sensed her rage but didn't understand what it was directed at and started to run to her in concern.

Madam Trixie ran towards him and he came to a stop as she slid in front of him. The fur on her back stood on end as she snarled towards whatever threat she saw. Concern reflected on Diego's features and he reached out a hand to calm his beloved tiger. Trixie tensed under his touch and Diego slid Determination onto his back. "What's wrong, girl? It's me, Diego."

A stream of magoi into his Beast Tamer's Bracelet translated her reply into feeling and a flicker of sensations that invoked a memory. Diego sensed a mix of fear, anger and protectiveness towards a great threat to the Fanalis boy. The feelings did not help the image that formed in his mind, an image of a great chicken. With a shout of fear of his own, Diego tumbled backwards. "CHICKEN!!!!"

Diego clung to Madam Trixie's legs and shook his head, trying to clear the image from his mind. A few deep breaths allowed him to recover and Diego stood again carefully peeking around Trixie to make sure there were no chickens around. Seeing nothing, Diego scolded himself for allowing himself to succumb to fear so quickly. After all his travels and everything he had seen and learned, Diego could not get over this fear. How could he ever hope to beat Jagang?

He reflected over the events of his life; the happiness and warmth of his family, the loss he felt at their death, the friends he had met since, the paths that had crossed with his. Salmont, Ishaq, Shura, Gallus, Ayero, Lexi, Ilirran, Yakuroro, Kabu, Tetsu, Altair, Zanzibar, and Trixie had all become a part of his new family. Each had protected him in their own way, fought with him, taught him, or done a combination of each in the time he had known them. Now, he had the knowledge to fight side-by-side with his friends, yet what could he accomplish by himself?

At the slave auction, Diego would have been helpless without Ayero, Trixie and Zanzibar. When Ilirran and Diego had caught wind of Jagang, tracking him to Heliohapt's port city, the Fanalis boy would have been captured or worse without his friends there. Even escaping, Diego had had to rely on his friends to get away. With this fight, what had Diego really accomplished? A few arrows from the sidelines? Everyone else was so much stronger, had the power to protect themselves and their friends. Even with all Diego had learned with the bow, he could not do that.

If he ever hoped to protect his friends, no, anyone from the power of Jagang, Diego needed power. Alone, Diego was hardly a threat to the three men who had attacked his friends. Looking down, Diego caught sight of Trixie's old collar that he had fashioned into a bracelet. No, he wasn't alone, he had allies to help him against Jagang. Trixie and Zanzibar would stand by his side through whatever came their way. Not just them, Yakuroro had promised to lend his power to accomplish Diego's dreams. He had a feeling that Ayero would too if she was asked.

He didn't need to do this alone, but he did need to obtain more power to stand by his friend's sides without being a hindrance. That way, when it came time to face Jagang in the final battle, he would be valuable.

A voice entered his head, "Ask for power. I am the household. Created by the Djinn of Mischief and Deciet, Marax, I am the household of obscured reality."

Diego saw Trixie's bracelet glimmer as a magical circle formed. Without question, Diego nodded, "Yes. Give me power!"

[100/160]

[HOUSEHOLD: 3000+/3000]

Spoiler:

Landing from his jumped, Liber would dash forwards only to slow to a halt as he watched Ayero finish off the man whom had been trying to skewer the maroon eyed fanalis with lightning. "Nnng...that time, I didn't need saving. Don't think I owe two twice over." Liber spoke aloud, but mostly to himself considering that it was muted for all within the magical music's range. Turning his attention to the rest of the battle going on, Liber noted that the two other opponents seemed to have their hands full. The strange bone head lizard beast was fighting the red headed fanalis attacker and the boy's tiger was fighting with the blind man. Judging by the webbing on his arm, Liber guessed the spider had been doing its part as well.

Suddenly, the flute player's legs were severed and a large amount of earth was displaced kicking up debris as though a massive object had just crashed into it. The persistent silence of the magic tool faded away as Liber watched Yakuroro fade into existence as though he himself were a mirage. Unaffected by the final note Sees-No-Light played, Liber watched with a clear mind as the magician aimed his staff at the last remaining enemy. Liber figured that he was already too late to make a difference and instead chose to turn his attention onto Ayero just in time to watch her own snake bite her bodacious behind. Surprised and concerned, Liber ran over to Ayero's side and moved to place a hand on her shoulder, "Are you alright!?" But before he could get close, the woman began flailing her sword and running about in a fit of madness.

Was she already delirious from the snakes possible venom? Liber gave pause and watched a bit longer as Diego's spider had found its way over and climbed onto Ayero's back even as she attempted to fight off unseen dangers. Liber gave out a sigh thinking that the issue here was not magical in nature and calmly walked up to Ayero from behind and watched the swinging of her sword carefully. As she brought the blade into the end of a slash, Liber would swiftly reach out and grab her wrist to prevent another attack. If he succeeded, the man would try to pull Ayero into a twist to bring her face to face, his soft visage close where it would take up most of her field of vision leaving few places for the illusory enemies to cloud her sight.

"Can you hear me? You need to calm down." Liber said in a soft voice meant to help her understand that everything was alright. It was then that he took another look around and noticed that some of the other beasts were also acting strange including the spider that was burying it's face in Ayero's chest. Putting that aside, Liber didn't know how potent Kabu's venom might be. Time was of the essence! "You've been bitten, I'll need to suck the snake's ichor out." He'd say before moving around to Ayero's back side.

Liber didn't wait for acknowledgement from Ayero, he thought that she would understand the sense of urgency. Placing both of his hands at her hips to keep her in place, Liber would bring his lips to the place Kabu bit and begin sucking at the wound to spit out the snake's poisonous venom.

Maxia had burst to the side, away from the thick of combat. His vision had gone blurry momentarily as Sees-No-Light had played a note upon his flute. Though he wanted to curse beneath his breath, the Fanalis man knew better than to give away his position. Illusion after illusion assaulted him; enemies from the past, long dead. Enemies from his fears, long hidden. Enemies from the present, from long away.

Maxia knew what was happening, and these opponents didn't phase him. There were, however, other opponents. Opponents that he had been fighting just moments ago. These copies of his opponents gave him trouble, as he had to be sure which ones were real and which ones were false. Those who did not get caught in the illusionary effect would not that Maxia seemed to be shadow boxing while weaving in and out of open ground. The man had chosen one direction and began moving that way; though his hatred for the group was intense, he knew he wouldn't be able to survive a fight against so many.

Though he was retreating, he wasn't doing so at full speed; he had to be careful of the illusions of those that were there that had approached him. As such, Yakuroro's spell struck the Fanalis. The effects of the spell were immediate and devastating, though not immediately visible. The bones in his three limbs shattered, nearly disintegrating. The muscles were forced to vibrate at such a speed that they began to fray and rip apart.

The only thing that had kept the man from passing out completely was the level of danger he knew that he was in. His brain had blocked out the pain. Even so, he was in a state of shock, and lying on the ground motionless.


OOC:

The battle portion is done from here, so I do believe that Yakuroro & gang can handle it from here on~

@ Liber:

Once his spell disabled Maxia, Yakuroro lowered his staff and looked around at the others to make sure everyone was okay. Aside from a bit of panic that seemed to be the side effects of the blind man's final burst of green rukh, Yakuroro couldn't see any serious injuries on anyone aside from Akatetsu's injured leg. Giving a sigh of relief, Yakuroro relaxed a bit only to stiffen up quickly as a breeze reminded him that he had no more flying carpet tying his robes closed. The blue silks blew open and Yakuroro grave a blush as he quickly pulled them closed. "I'm going to go find my magic carpet, Diego, keep an eye on everyone!" The Imuchakk shouted as he used Gravity Lift to take flight. The magician would stop mid air closer to Diego for a moment and put a hand on his shoulder to say, "Good job, your arrows sealed their movements and Trixie kept the old man occupied long enough for me to get into position." He looked back to Akatetsu, Ayero, and Liber and then again back to Diego, nodding before leaving them in the boys care.

Yakuroro's carpet was still generally close to where he'd let go of the magic tool and the Imuchakk recovered it with ease before tying the cloth around his waist to act as an obi once more. Flying back towards the group, Yakuroro would land next to Akatetsu placing a hand on the chimera's head praising him for a job well done as well before moving over to Maxia's still body. Yakuroro would have given words of thanks to Ayero as well, but it seemed like she was also still under the effects of the magic hallucinations. Yakuroro would allow Liber to deal with her fanalis strength for now and would give proper words of gratitude and praise later. For now, he turned his attention to the Brotherhood of Ash member still alive and conscious.

"You know...I'd almost forgotten about the brotherhood. Had you simply left me be I probably would have been too busy with other business to deal with your group. But now, I think I'll be paying your masters a visit."

Yakuroro gave little pity as he looked down upon Maxia's broken body, still not fully aware of the extent to which he had been injured. Surprise showed on the Imuchakk's expression as Maxia began to giggle a stifled laugh before breaking into a full on display of amusement. "You have no idea....you don't know! Bwahahaha, you stupid bastard. You'll drown big blue man! Drown in ash! Ahahahahaaaaaaa!" Maxia then laughed himself into a gradual sleep of unconsciousness. Yaku's brow furled in irritation. Had the pain really been so great?

Moving over to the man who seemed to have been their leader, Yakuroro passed Ayero and Liber giving the passing comment, "Oh, calm down. It's just a little magic. The visions should pass shortly." hoping that his words would lead Ayero to realize that there was no real danger. He then knelt down and began searching Lanius' clothing before finding a sizable pouch of gold coins and a strangely written document that seemed to be written in some kind of code he didn't recognize. Tucking the piece of parchment into his sleeve, Yakuroro then stood and looked back to the other two K.O.'d criminals before calling out to Diego, "This one had some money on him. I bet the others do too. A reward for taking me out I presume. Or at least half of one."

Magoi - 75/250

Spoiler:

”Say something, damnit!”  The halfling snarls as she whips her sword to and fro, panting heavily from her own fatigue as well as the snake’s poison that reduced her movement speed and reaction time. In the back of her mind she knew that something wasn’t right in the way that her opponents moved and the lack of sound they made, but the Fanalis woman had encountered strange and tricky foes before. Rarely, however, had she fought purely illusory enemies. The sudden feeling of terror that these shadowed men had brought on aided in clouding the woman’s judgment of the situation. For all she knew, the danger had not passed.

She hears Liber call out to her initially but his voice doesn’t register to her, only when he grabs her wrist to temporarily lock her movement and bring her face to face does she hear him. He would find that her eyes were initially wide with frantic confusion but quickly narrowed as he spoke calmingly to her. ”The fight isn’t over Liber, there’s…more…of them….” She trails, her madness broken temporarily for the few moments that Liber’s face blocks out the dark illusions. If Liber wasn’t fighting, then perhaps there was no danger. Her brows knit in confusion and she winces at the soreness of her muscles and the throbbing pain that begins in her head.


Still wary, she starts in surprise at the sudden pressure of Zanzibar jumping on her back and subsequently burying his furry white head in between her chest. ”Zanzibar?! You can…see them too?” She speaks in near disbelief as the white spider squirms and warbles in fear against her bosom. Feeling Liber’s hand let go of her wrist, she looks up to see the Fanalis man replaced by a hulking shadowed figure with his saber raised, prepared to strike down. She feels a pair of lips at her backside near the site of the wound at this very moment, and with a yelp of surprise and fear the woman stumbles backward and trips over the man behind her, landing on the ground with her rump in his face.


After taking a few moment to shake off the impact of the fall, Ayero scrambles up off of Liber and swivels her head around, noting the false opponents that were once again closing in on her. She’s aware enough at this point to comprehend Yakuroro’s words, though they sounded a bit in her mind. This was…the work of magic? She bites her lower lip in conflict; she instinctively felt a great sense of foreboding each time she laid eyes on one of the shadowed figures. They seemed so lifelike, so ominous. To not fight, to not feel fear about them would be to betray her instincts. She stands frozen for a few moments, unsure of if she’d be able to overcome this.


After fighting numerous jackals, Kabu too felt as if something was not right. The snake had taken no hits from his natural predator, yet he was exhausted. Turning his head back toward Ayero, he notices that the older Fanalis male was attempting to calm her down. Not having witnessed the man attempt to suck out the poison, Kabu slither back to Ayero as quickly as his body would allow and wraps himself safely around the woman’s body. Just having seen Zanzibar, Kabu pauses before taking a note from the spider and buries his head in Ayero’s exposed cleavage, his foes vanishing as he does so.


Mentally and physically fatigued as well, Ayero nearly snaps at the snake when he joins Zanzibar between her breasts. Exhaling sharply, the Fanalis woman lets her eyes fall closed as she slowly descends to the ground. ”It’s okay, they’re not real.” She murmurs to herself as well as the beasts, placing a hand on Kabu’s neck and Zanzibar’s thorax in an attempt to seem comforting. Though she visually blocked the enemy, closing her eyes didn’t do much to help quell the ominous feeling in her stomach…or maybe that was the poison.

An infectious grin stretched from ear-to-ear on Diego's face from Yakuroro's praise. With an eager bob of the head, Diego skipped over to Ayero and Liber. Trixie stuck close beside the Fanalis teen's side, glaring at the sea of chickens. Diego paused when he saw Liber lean over to give a lingering kiss to Ayero's rear end. Cheeks burning red, he averted his eyes, misunderstanding what had happened for a display of affection.

He looked back when he heard her yelp to see his Fanalis sister fall over Liber in surprise. Unable to resist, Diego burst out laughing as Zanzibar skittered off Ayero in surprise. The white spider noticed his beast tamer and ran towards his master eagerly. Diego leaned over to catch him and cradled the spider in his arms. He stroked the eight-legged fuzzball, looking up when Yaku pointed out that the fallen men might have valuables on them.  Nudging Trixie to come with him, Diego ambled over to Sees-No-Light. Zanz wriggled over Diego to hang from his back, his eyes shut tight.

Digging through the man's possessions, Diego noticed there was hardly any blood from the severed limbs with a shudder. Whatever had done the damage had somehow cut through while stopping the bleeding. Off the blind man's person, Diego picked off a stash of gold coins, a pouch containing a skunky-smelling herb, and the flute. He put the items in his sack with the intention of selling the magical tool for some money. While the idea of dazzling people with his stories in combination with music interested the Fanalis boy, he could not play the instrument.

Finished he hurried back to the group, "Now that that's over, we ready to go to the capital?" Diego pointed in the direction of Remano, where he could just make out the city walls and the peaks of tall buildings.

---

OOC: Unless there is more to do here, this will be my exit post. If there is anything else you guys want to do in this thread I will continue.

Liber sucked out the poison and spat a mouthful of blood and the vile toxin onto the ground. But when he turned his face back to repeat the process he found Ayero's behind crashing into his face. As she fell on top of his head, Liber felt his nose nearly break and flailed underneath Ayero's weight as he heard Yakuroro casually address the fanalis woman sounding less than concerned for him. When Ayero finally got off of his face Liber leapt to his feet and panted for air as he rubbed his nose and shot the woman a scowl. "I was trying to hel-" He began to protest in irritation, but stopped himself when he saw that she had closed her eyes and was embracing the beasts to calm them.

Sighing, Liber could not scold her right now. Not when she was finally calm and being so gentle with the likewise panicked creatures. Placing his hands on his hips, Liber turned to look at Yakuroro just in time to see him pull a piece of parchment from Lanius' corpse. Liber managed to get a look at the page before Yakuroro pocketed it and noticed that it was written in code. It was interesting, but not terribly important to Liber. So long as he didn't end up on these men's list of targets, Yakuroro would play spy and subterfuge with them all he liked. Liber wanted no part in it.

Pretending he'd never seen the document, Liber turned his attention back to Ayero and then to Diego as Yakuroro addressed him. It seemed like the danger had truly passed now. Liber would take it upon himself to move each of the brotherhood members off of the road and used his fanalis strength to turn the wagon they'd stolen upright again. It would need repairs before it was in traveling shape, but this way it would be easier for someone with spare parts to make those repairs and get it back on the road. Liber would then return to their own wagon to resume the journey.

((I guess I'll just exit now too.))