Untimely Event [Diana / Plot / Job]

Job Details:

A thick black cloud had been lingering about the group's head all day. Every now and then a strike of lightning would appear within it, bringing along the horrible roar of thunder. While some might have considered it peaceful, others might see it as gloomy or a bad omen. That's how it normally worked anyways. Today was a bit different though, something about it just seemed off and made it lean towards the 'gloomy' or 'bad omen' side. Nothing in particular had happened, there wasn't even any tension between anyone within the group. Something about today in specific, though, made it feel strangely depressing.

As the group pushed onward, the thicker the black clouds seemed to appear. At a certain point, after not a single drop of rain coming down all day, the path ahead would become cascaded with a blanket of freezing rain. -- Yamato would be aware of this beforehand, creating a wide strength-magic barrier above them, protecting them from the downpour as they continued traveling forward.

"When do you think we'll hit the next town, guys?" Rima would hum, matching the sound of her voice to the melody provided by the pitter-patter of rain. As she did this, she would also attempt to balance herself on one of the many rocks on the path, using only her staff to make sure she didn't slip and fall off it. -- Lurking just behind the girl was her hidden familiar, Basit. His camouflage was still far from perfect, but it did its job and kept him out of a good amount of danger. A normal person would have trouble finding him right away, especially if the beast had distance on them, or was standing still. Basit and his owner had grown and bonded together quite a bit since their first encounter.

---

Equipment:

Beasts:

“Let’s just hope that they have some good food we can buy, I want to eat something new for a change..!.” Rima would half-jokingly yell out, raising her two arms up in the air. Today had been awfully quiet between the group, so she felt it was in her duty to insert a few energetic scenes if possible, despite being behind at least a week on sleep still.

Her recurring nightmares had been getting worse with time. The first time she experienced one was bad enough, however, the abyssal presence within these dreams seemed to be growing with each passing day. The golden light that she had been chasing since the start seemed to be getting further away with each dream, becoming a goal unreachable. All of it was just far too much for the girl to handle. It felt as if she was going mad.

The volatile thoughts she had once buried deep down seemed to be resurfacing all together. The unknown voices in the back of her head, once gone, had come back to her at full force. They whispered to her, they lied to her, they were not her friends. There was a point in the magician’s life that she sought after these voices, listened to them, believed them, loved them. Those days were long gone though, or so she thought. They were nothing but void that Diana shed her light upon, forcing them into hiding, as all shadows do.

A gnawing sensation ate at the back of Rima’s mind. This feeling was something new, something her nightmares seemed to have manifested. It felt like something within her was on the verge of shattering, becoming nothing but dust in the wind. The magician girl was forced to ignore this new feeling. What could she do about it? It’s not like she was able to control the horrific dreams she had been experiencing already. So, what chance did she have against battling something that came from directly from them?

--

The black magician’s spiral gaze never faltered. Yamato had been closely watching the both of them, Rima and Diana, not letting either of them out of his sight. He knew very well that Rima’s dreams had only started to worsen. He wanted nothing more than to help the poor girl, to cleanse her of this corruption planted within her soul. It was painful to watch, even to someone like him. The girl’s mental and physical conditions were dropping fast. He couldn’t remember the last time he had even seen Rima without thick black circles under her eyes.

As for Diana, while he in-fact had been keeping his eye on her, it was to a lesser extent. He wanted to ensure that she kept the privacy that she wanted. However, with that being said, he couldn’t help but notice that she had also started to act very strange, just like Rima.

For one, he had noticed that her sleep had become restless too. The nightmares seemed to have infiltrated her dreams as well. Were they the same sort of nightmares that Rima was experiencing? That he could not truly know, unless he were to actually peer within her mind, like he did Rima. Diana was a very quiet person. If she had become infected like her friend, there wasn’t a chance in hell that she would tell any of them. At least, not until it was too late.

“Diana is correct, we’ll be entering the village’s outskirts in just a few moments.”

---

The sudden sight before Rima had left her speechless. She watched as Diana imbued Pluto with her own life-essence, drawing forth an absolutely immense amount of rukh towards them. Her eyes widened as the beast’s form began to change right before her, morphing into something entirely different. A man. His once humongous form had now shifted into something only slightly taller than Yamato. His quadrupedal stance, now bipedal. Long white hair draped over his shoulders, which was now protected in fur-like material and armor. This was something Rima wasn’t expecting at all.

“W-What…?” Rima would finally say after taking it in, her mouth still agape from shock. She kept her sight locked on man-Pluto as he conversed with Diana about the village. Since when was Diana capable of doing such a thing, or even Pluto? This was a form of magic that not even herself, a magician, was able to grasp her mind around.

Her eyes would slowly shift in Yamato’s direction, whom she had expected to be confused as well. However, to her surprise once again, he seemed to not only still be composed, but also wore a familiar smug expression on his face. The man would simply turn his head towards the confused magician and put a finger in front of his lips, as-if to tell her to keep quiet.  

“Hm, something is definitely off. I wasn’t quite sure about it before, but now I’ve confirmed my suspicions. The village we’re heading towards seems to be completely empty. Well, besides a couple of wild animals I’ve seen lurking about.” Yamato’s spiraled eyes shone a light pink hue to them as he spoke, slowly fading back to the normal purple after he was done explaining the situation.

“There’s only one way to find out, though. Let’s go check it out.”

A strange heated-feeling would ignite within Rima. Was it jealousy again, or was it because of how Yamato shushed her? She hated feeling this way. She couldn’t even explain why she felt the way she did. Feeling more bold than usual, Rima would quickly begin moving again before the others. Her feet would carry her in the direction of where the village would be, walking directly past both Diana and man-Pluto.

---

With how far Rima was going ahead without them, Yamato was forced to continue extending the rain-barrier to keep her dry. “What a pain…” The black magician would mutter to himself, picking up his own pace to match Diana and Pluto’s placement.  That would be when he finally noticed it; the black stain that streaked across Diana’s white outfit.

Yamato’s eyes suddenly began to strain from surprise, his pupils rapidly rocking back and forth from their original position. ‘Her too?’ He would think to himself, multiple emotions now flaring throughout his mind, and just barely capable of keeping his hands to himself. As much as he wanted to grab her shoulder and give her an earful, he knew it would accomplish nothing. If he were to do that, he would not only anger Diana, but also strike fear into Rima’s heart. Neither of them deserved that sort of treatment. -- So for the time being, he would simply continue walking a few feet behind them, keeping only to himself.

“We’re here!” Rima would yell out, her feet now officially on village-grounds. The girl would begin observing the village by creating a scope by using her hands.

As the group continued walking forward, the village would finally begin to fade into view. It was nothing special really, just your average small village in the rural side of Kou. A few huts were placed along both sides of the path, harboring overgrowth and trees directly behind them. A water well would be centered directly in the middle of it all. No signs of life were to be seen anywhere, except vegetation.

The presence of the village also brought an eerie silence to the scene. While it had been relatively quiet throughout their journey up to this point, there was definitely something different about this. Perhaps it was the fact that this was a village, which should be somewhat lively even in weather like this. It was comparable to when Rima and Diana had stumbled across that village in Reim, the one where there was a killer on the loose. However, the difference here was the fact that there actually wasn’t a soul in sight to even make a noise.

“I wonder where everyone went..”

---

“D-Diana..!” Rima screamed out, the heated-feeling within her chest suddenly vanishing, changing into nothing but a freezing fear. If Diana was actually in trouble there was absolutely no time for Rima to be pitying herself. -- Phobos, who had been at his mother’s side at the time, was now looking at Rima as she made her way over towards the scene, his eyes full of fear and tears. Something was wrong, horribly wrong.

The purple-haired girl would quickly get down on her knees, arching her body to be over Diana’s. Rima would then swiftly grab ahold of her friend’s shoulders and begin shaking them to alert her of her presence. “Diana, Diana. What happened?” She would cry out, her eyes catching a very small glimpse of the abyss that had taken over the fanalis’ eyes. This sight alone caused a spear-like pain to strike into her chest. It couldn’t be, could it? When...how? Memories of the infected village started to pour into her head once again. The nightmares she ran from had found her, this time in the real world.

“Why run? You’ll be much happier once you embrace it.”

Rima’s hands began to tremble, her body slowly swaying away from Diana’s position. A slow and steady stream of tears poured from the ducts of her eyes. It was happening again. This was just like that time with Biyu, except now with Diana. -- “Diana, how did this happen to you…? This is all my fault...”

The magician of black, Yamato, stood only 5-meters from the scene. Even his body had began to tremble. However, it was not due to fear like both Diana and Rima was experiencing. It was in-fact the burning sensation of pure anger. His spiral gaze had been directed away from what was happening with his party, and was focused on a newly-revealed figure just past the water well. A figure cloaked entirely in black, sporting a white porcelain mask on their face.

“Just who the hell do you think you are? If you don’t come here right now, I will catch you and rip that shitty mask off your face.” This would be the first time Yamato’s voice had been filled with actual rage in years. Just seeing that pale mask in the distance made his blood boil. He wasn’t even sure why it made him feel this way. Had he truly gotten that attached to the purple-haired bimbo and the albino fanalis? If so, then he was losing his touch. He didn’t use to be so soft.

With a swift hand-motion by the masked figure, it would initiate the trap that had been set-up for the group beforehand. A low-pitched snarl would come from behind one of the buildings, transitioning into a strange rattling sound. Something was coming. However, for some reason Yamato’s life-detection wasn’t picking anything up. Or at least, it didn’t at first. The moment he commanded the rukh to enhance his vision again, two purple auras would flare up from behind the buildings.

“What, but how..?” Yamato would growl, gripping the black staff he held within his hands tightly. The rain-barrier he had constructed would begin to shatter and crumble, cascading everyone in the vicinity with a downpour of sudden rain. The man’s feet would suddenly lift off the ground, he had commanded the rukh to grant him flight in order to support his movement. -- “Rima, Pluto, do what you can to protect Diana and the boy. There are enemies coming, but I can’t help you with them right now. I’m not going to let this chance slip away from me.”  

---

Overwhelming fear had taken hold over Rima's frail body. This was all her fault, wasn't it? It always seemed to be her fault in the end. Anzan, Biyu, now Diana. Not to even mention everyone else that came in-between. This is why she should have just continued being all alone. She didn't deserve to be loved. Rima's heart ached with sorrow.

"You are not alone, child.” The nightmare’s voice rang throughout Rima’s head once again.  “Why do you continue to reject our gift? If you ask me, that friend of yours is very lucky to have you. For you to share the gift with someone so unworthy, while not even taking it for yourself..."

Rima would begin to shake her head in disbelief as the voice continued to speak to her. “No, just shut up. Shut up! Go away!” She cried out, experiencing enough grief to even draw forth a small swarm of black rukh to the scene. The girl would suddenly then bite down on her own lip, bringing a small stream of nearly-black blood to run down the side of her mouth.  She hadn’t even noticed that Phobos had taken cover behind her, cowering from both his own mother and the new-found enemy.

She could only watch as Diana and the enemy clashed together, watching as the beast brought her down to the ground. It was killing her, yet Rima’s body was incapable of doing anything to protect her. It wasn’t that she had given up, but more-so the overwhelming emotions that were tying her down. The gnawing at the back of her head continued to grow even worse.

As Diana was pinned down, she would let out an ear-piercing scream. This scream was powerful enough to not only knock the creature away from her, but also effect her allies as well. This forced Rima into a more huddled up position, covering both of her ears from the unexpected pain, while also attempting to back up further only to be stopped by Phobos who was already behind her.

While this was all happening, Yamato would continue to pursue the masked cultist through the forest ahead. It wasn’t that they were faster than Yamato’s flight, rather than everything within the forest was just slowing him down. If he wasn’t careful with how fast he flew, he’d wind-up impaled on a sharp branch or something. He would try to combat this by using his borg to an advantage.

This single masked cultist had completely blinded the usual all-knowing black magician; Yamato. It blinded him in the fact that he hadn’t even thought about the possibility of there being more cultists. This sole mistake would not only bite Yamato in the butt, but also Rima and Phobos as well. -- An unknown third Black-Blood Abomination had began to sneak up on the two of them, walking alongside yet another mysterious figure bearing a porcelain mask on their face.

---

Trying to force back her tears, Rima would look towards Diana’s injured body. The Fanalis girl lay flat on her back, writhing in pain as it surged throughout her body. Her eyes were back to normal now, the darkness that once shrouded them had again subsided. This was enough to crack a faint smile on the magician’s face, a small shard of hope returning back to troubled mind. The ever-growing headache getting pushed back a little bit, yet again.

“I’m sorry...all I do is cry.” Rima would whimper out, wiping her damp eyes with her black sleeve. “I promised you that I would become stronger, but I’ve yet to actually do it. I seem to keep getting weaker.” The magician’s shaking body would slowly begin to rise, her knees buckling underneath her full weight. A dainty hand would clasp around the pumpkin-shaped wand strung through her sash.

“No more...I need to become strong for you, Diana. For Yamato. Even for Phobos and Pluto."

A deep purple light would begin to emit from her Headless Caster, as Rima slowly lowered it to Diana’s crippled body. A powerful healing magic would begin to surge through her friend’s being, mending the cuts placed upon her skin, resealing the bone fractures, healing her for a total of A-Tier damage. -- Rima’s desperation to fix her friend would not stop here though, as the process would continue yet again, making sure that every injury placed upon her friend was fixed, healing her for A-Tier damage one last time.

While Phobos was most likely locked-into combat with the last black-blood abomination, the new masked-figure had set their plan into motion. Sliding a sharpened dagger across their wrist, a gush of black liquid would pour from the wound. It began to solidify and slither around their arm like a snake, suddenly striking out in front of them as a black clawed-grasp. The appendage would quickly wrap itself around the unexpecting Rima, immediately yanking her away from Diana 15-meters away. The magician couldn’t help but let out a scream as she was being taken away.  

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