3505/God Will Rise - Part Three

God Will Rise - Part Three
Date of Scene:	10 December 2015
Location:	The Tundra
Synopsis:	In a mountain clearing, those investigating Lucrelia's woes find some answers.
Cast of Characters:	385, Riva Banari, 513, Sanary Rondel, 757, 821, 908, 916

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Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     Today is the day.

     A week back, a meeting with Laurence, one of the knight captains of Lucrelia, shed light on the situation that this little corner of the world was going through. It was agreed upon in the end that they, as Elites with powers beyond what the typical knight is capable of, would make the journey to the mountains in the distance.

     After all, Incarnations came from there. And yet no previous attempt at entering has ever been successful. This is the best chance they have to find out what's really there, and what's truly going on.

     That being said, one Lyner Barsett can be found trudging through the snow, a now familiar white cloak wrapped around his person. By the point clasping it closed, there was also a talisman affixed. Gudako would know what that was. Hey if it helped with the coold, he was all for it! The last time they'd come this way, they were heading in the direction of Lucrelia. But this time, they were headed away from it, the city growing smaller at their backs.

     "It's been a while since we've come this way, huh?" The Knight of Elemia casually mused aloud. Though fresh snowfall had covered it up, there was definitely no mistaking this clearing as the place where they fought that first battle two weeks back. ...Well, they did. Not him. Eventually, they passed through this area and finally arrived at the beginnings of what looked to be the closest mountain base. There was no one here to greet them. No soldiers, no Laurence. No one. They were going to go at this alone. Lyner came to a stop, as they arrived, intending to let any stragglers catch up.

     "I met with Laurence earlier in the day. He said that he was going to keep a secure perimeter around the western walls of the city. In preparation of what may come." An arm rose out of his cloak, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, he didn't have anything important to share. Seems like this place is a total question mark." That said, Lyner turned to look up into the distance at their target. It was a silent, serene place, blanketed by constant snowfall. And now that they were so close, it became obvious to those with magical senses that the place was brimming with energy. This was definitely the place to be.

     Lyner turned back to everyone and smiled. "With our skills, we'll probably be the first the chart it in recent years. Or I guess 're-chart' it. So be prepared for anything. We're going in blind."

Riva Banari has posed:
"It's been a leeeeeeeeetle bit." Riva says, strolling along with Lyner. She's wearing a hoodie today with a winter coat over it. It's kind of weird. "But of course it's a question mark, all of their people who have come near the place got smashed. No sane people would head near it."

Riva then smiles brightly and laughs. "Which is why we're diving right in!" She spins her big anchor-like hammer in her hands before resting it on her shoulder. "Let's make this happen! We'll figure it all out as we go."

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    Once again does Gudako answer the call of ADVENTURE, accompanied by her blue-robed Caster. The pink-haired foxgirl tails after her master, while a second Servant idles while incorporeal. It seems not to be paying attention to anything, so one can assume Berserker is napping. Ghostnapping. Ghostcatnapping.

    "Oooh, are they afraid we'll stir the nest and then they'll get attacked? I guess that makes sense, but them preparing the walls is pointless. They couldn't beat one Incarnation, much less multiple! Ah, it would have been more efficient for the captain to hand everyone a knife to make it short."

    It should be pretty obvious what Gudako is implying.

    "Caster~!"
    "Yes, master?"
    "You should go ahead and scout."

    It is with this simple command that the blue-robed Caster suddenly transforms into a white-furred fox, blending into the snow more or less perfectly, if one ignores the fact she still gives off the magical aura of a Servant. She scampers off ahead, to take a quick look, and warn of what's coming up. If anything. She'll try to stay a fair bit ahead of the group as it moves, at least until they cross something worth stopping.

Misha (757) has posed:
    Whelp. Misha's here. She's bundled up, that's for sure, remembering the biting chill of the Tundra as clear as the last time she had paid a visit, fur trim lining added to her luxurious purple robes to give her an extra edge against the cold. "So we're headed to the mountains huh. Well that sounds dangerous and like a bad idea, but, I guess I'm used to being pulled along for bad ideas."
    There is a pointed look at Lyner. A familiar, playful and teasing, yet definitely very pointed look.
    "Anyway, I'm not worried. You all know the drill, keep me in one piece and I'll keep singing until I can sing no more~."

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
While Yuna missed the meeting with Laurence, hearing that the group was going to venture into the mountains brought her to pitch in - and she's got the whole Matrix of Light to back her up this time, since there really *is* no knowing what lies ahead.

Apart from whatever those Incarnations come into being through, at least. That's the objective, isn't it?

Yuna doesn't have a nifty cloak; her Light Suit keeps her warm despite the hostile conditions, although the risk of getting caught in a snowdrift is still present if she doesn't watch her step. She's staying generally alert and has Elner flying further up to keep watch on the surroundings; she's not sure what kind of wandering monsters might show up besides Incarnations, but at the very least, between Elner and everyone else who's keeping watch, there should be plenty of warning before the group might wander into an ambush by another Incarnation or the like.

And on the subject of mapping, Elner glances up towards the robo-faerie. "Elner, you're already mapping, right?"

"Of course," Elner replies - not loudly, but relying on its link with Yuna for her to hear the response.

Finna (513) has posed:
    COLD! SNOW! The natural element of a white-furred fox that has been quietly tailing Riva. Somehow the small creature walks atop the snow without leaving tracks, all but entirely silent. Just prancing along like it was nothing. She's so perfectly blended in that the only thing really revealing her presence at all is her black nose and icy blue eyes.

    Yeah. The cold and the snow just have nothing on her at all.

    She's currently plodding along next to Riva, but periodically pauses to listen to the surroundings or peer at people she's not spent much time with before.

    Like Gudako. And her shapeshifting Servant.

    She does pause again when Caster goes bounding off in a shape similar to her own, kicking up embers of indignation in her gut.

    "Show off." The little fox complains, hypocritically.

    That's HER job after all!

Archer (821) has posed:
     Archer, for the most part, spent the trip in his invisible spirit form so as to conserve prana. After all, they had no clue what was dwelling at the mountain... and his staying out of eyesight meant he wouldn't be immediately attacked and possibly have the chance to counterattack before an enemy knew he was there.

     A tactic shared by the Master of Caster it seemed, as her second Servant was also lingering invisibly. Insane though she seemed to be, the girl was practical enough to know battlefield tactics - which was proven when she sent her Caster up ahead, taking advantage of the Servant of the Spell's shapeshifting ability to make a more effective incognito scout then Archer himself could have.

     At the same time, he felt a more... mixed response to Gudako's words, agreeing with the fact that the city couldn't have held against the Incarnations in force, yet finding a discrepancy in her statement.

     Namely that... if this 'God' was capable of sending out more then one Incarnation, why hadn't it already done so? Could it not send more then one? And if it could... then what was it waiting for?

     He was cautious about using Structural Analysis to try and detect any abnormalities in the terrain - there was no telling what could or couldn't set these 'Incarnations' off - so for now, Archer was operating purely on reinforced sight and hearing. Though given what they were facing, that may as well have been the same as being blind, just as Lyner said.

     So for now, aside from keeping himself prepared - the blueprints for his blades already called to mind for the event of disaster - Archer silently followed the group.

     And he hoped that those assembled would be enough to stop whatever they found.

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     Lyner looked towards Riva and chuckled lightly. "Diving right in, huh? I guess that's basically what we're doing. No information and all." Gudako's rather grim commentary earned her a mildly sheepish look from the blonde knight. "Ah...haha, well, I mean technically you're not wrong, but I don't think that's a very good outlook to have!" He shook his head and sighed. "Of course, if anything gets by us and approaches the city..." A pause followed. "...Well, we'll just have to try our best to keep that from happening, won't we?"

     Misha's mention of bad ideas and a pointed look, teasing as it may be, is met with an equally pointed, guilty aversion of the eyes. "W-Well hey! We're all still alive, so I think that counts for something, don't you Misha?" He reached over and set a hand atop her head playfully. "No worries! I'll do my best to keep you safe!"

     and Caster and Elner move forward to parform their respective tasks of mapping and scouting, they both may come to feel a peculiar sensation. A feeling akin to passing through water. Just for a brief moment. And then it was gone. The others who were behind would soon feel the same sensation. Did they pass through a barrier? That was the immediate conclusion one could draw. But what was the point of a barrier that could be so easily passed through?

     Putting that aside, Caster would find that there was nothing immediately suspicious to be found. The snowy mountain terrain continued onward normally, though there only seemed to be a single worn path stretching around a bend before going out of view. The rock wall of the mountainside was too steep to simply climb, though one could fly if they really wanted to. It might be risky.

     That risk became immediately clear when a shift in the wind could be felt. From high above, if one looked, they would be able to spot a familiar aesthetic of a large, pure white body cloaked in an elemental aura. This time it was green. It had an impressive wingspan, and it circled overhead for a moment before veering off out of sight.

     That was definitely an Incarnation. But oddly, it did not attack. It left them alone. Now why was that?

     It was becoming increasingly clear that their presence had long been detected by the mountain. Or perhaps God itself. There was no way to tell.

Riva Banari has posed:
Once again, Riva doesn't seem to notice STEALTH FINNA until she mutters something. With a 'Huh?' She looks down, and then blinks. Hands twitch... And she quickly slides the hammer onto her back before leaning down to try to scoop Finna up. "Ooooh, Finna! Come here!"

She will, of course, get scritched and petted relentlessly. "Who's the best fox? You are! /You/ are!" She doesn't go so far as to get super cute-voiced about it at least.

As that's being handled, they pop through the invisible barrier and head up the snowy side. "Man, this place feels /awesome/. Really fresh and clean, like mint!" Riva breathes for a moment, inhaling deeply and looking up to the sky with her eyes closed. She opens them just as the Incarnation passes over.

"WHAA?!" She yells, momentarily, before she slips and topples backwards, POMFing into a snowbank. "Wooooooooow. That was huge!" She calls from the snow.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
A 'barrier designed to be passed through' sounds an awful lot like a detection perimeter of some kind to Yuna - and when Elner picks up on the 'barrier,' that's the first thing Yuna thinks of as it's reported to her. Maybe kind of a crude 'tripwire,' but effective enough ...

Particularly given that there's an Incarnation in the sky.

Yuna wills the Matrix Divider to appear in her hands even before she passes through the 'barrier'; she could probably use Shugoseiheki too, but the Matrix Divider needs both hands. She's also considering the practicality of El-Line - and quickly determines that it wouldn't be a great idea unless the situation gets really dire. The group is on snow-laden mountain paths, too much noise could bring more snow down to bury everyone - and missed shots, even if they hit the terrain away from her allies, could bring snow AND rock down on everyone else.

Still, Yuna takes a moment to have her three 'doubles' prepare for action, and Jiina, Erina, and Marina - all in their armored, not-quite-human-looking combat forms - close the distance, forming up behind Yuna and readying their respective weapons, just in case. That done, Yuna quickens her pace to try and help Riva back to her feet. "You okay?" she asks, attempting to provide Riva with some extra leverage for getting out of the snowdrift.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     After three days of bed rest, Sanary is ready and raring to go! It takes her a little longer than she'd like to actually find the group leaving Lucrelia, but she does eventually spot them in the distance. Some mild jogging later, and she eventually catches up to start matching their pace instead! "Not too late, am I? Aah... I miss anything?"

     Apparently not, since she was just in time to feel that odd feeling passing through her. Or herself passing through it? She can't really tell, but it's enough to put the cleric on guard. The kite shield from her back is brought to her front quickly, although she keeps her left hand free for the time being. "Easy, everyone. Let's see now..." Her eye glints briefly as she activates the Libra matrix inside it, scanning what she can only assume is an Incarnation, widening after a few moments.

     "... Shit. This thing's got really strong magic /and/ it's fast, but... If we need to, hit it with the biggest rock you can."

Finna (513) has posed:
    Finna's no sorceresss. She's not even a particularly occult-aware Lunar! Hasn't honed her senses much down that path. But she feels the tingle of magic through her fur, down her spine, even as Riva scoops her up! The most bizarre thing follows.

    The white-furred fox submits entirely to the barrage of adoration, squeaking and wriggling before *yipping* at Riva as if she just got her senses back. Maybe she's just sliiiiiightly worried.

    And for good reason. The strange thing goes flying overhead, leaving Finna to take a place on Riva's shoulders. "We might've just tripped an alarm! A ward. I felt us slip through SOMETHING..."

Misha (757) has posed:
    A pat on the head? The surly pout that crosses Misha's face is quite possibly the most epic look of irritation a girl could give a man. But she recovers rather quickly with a small huff. "Geeze, you just don't get it, Lyner." That said and done, she adjusts her robes, pulling them tighter to blot out the cold as she follows along. The snoy mountain is pretty in its own desolately chilling way but...
    "That thing just saw us didn't it."

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    The idea of a barrier you can go in or out of freely isn't new to Gudako-- Bounded Fields, unless created with the intent to keep someone in or out, are just overlapped effects, not proper boundaries. So she has to assume this is something similar. But what does it do? She's not a very good magus, so she can't tell. On the other hand, she knows who can! Maybe. Probably.

    "Caster! Stop foxing around, we stepped through a field."
    The white fox perks up, nods, and reverts to her human form. She makes her way back to the group, and with them stares up at the Incarnation.

    But her gaze quickly moves around, trying to narrow the origin and purpose of the barrier they stepped through. It didn't seem to affect them, at least not yet-- maybe it's a home field advantage for the Incarnations? Just an alert to warn them when people come close? To a delayed trap.

    "Yeah! That's okay, finding it faster is better for us, right? Now we can just wait to see how they act on their territory! If they're not hostile, it could mean things!" And stuff, certainly.

One wonders if Archer's appreciation for Gudako's tactical mind would change if he knew the reason Berserker is incorporeal is because the Servant is in fact catnapping right now, and not because of any tactical advantage therein.

Archer (821) has posed:
     As Archer moves in tandem with the rest of the group, he takes notice of another white 'fox' - or rather, something in the shape of a fox, the silvery-sheen across the ears and tail, even if it did't have an existence similar to another Servant.

     If not for the fact he'd met Finna before, he might have assumed her to be another fox-like Servant in Gudako's employ - the red-haired Master seemed found of them.

     Archer also takes note of Sanary Rondel's approaching presence, wondering if she was here to take /this/ world's prosperity or power like she apparently was doing in Hyrule... though he wasn't going to turn away assistance, regardless of the motivation, unless she became an open obstacle to their mission.

     However, Archer's attention becomes more heavily focused on their surroundings as they pass through a barrier - or possibly a bounded field. Something that was obviously not meant to keep intruders out - in fact, it was more likely a form of early-warning system.

     Either way, it was unlikely their entrance would be unnoticed now... even without Riva's cartoonish response to seeing the form of the Incarnation above them, which was a stark contrast to Archer's sense of dread.

     Prana flows through his body as Archer moves to the flank of the group - still invisible - ready to summon forth his bow as soon as they know whether or not they are in active combat.

     After all, he'd prefer not to have to fight it out so soon - or at least not until it was necessary. After all, they needed as many of their number intact as possible to reach the center of these Incarnations - whatever part of the mountain that 'God' resided in.

     Best to not start a fight unless they had to... though Archer had few hopes that they could escape it in all honesty.

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     A pat on the head. Whether Lyner was just messing with Misha, or whether or was really that dim, there was no way to tell behind that idiotic smile of his. But that moment passed soon enough as they passed through the bounded field of sorts. He definitely felt that. Lightly shuddering from the sensation, he took a cursory glance around before his gaze rose. Riva's comical exclamation clued him in and he frowned. "I think it's pretty safe to say that it just did." Lyner muttered aloud in response to Misha.

     He stayed by her side as a precaution, arms falling under his cloak as they all moved. Sanary's Libra report earns her his attention. "That sounds about as bad as the last one. I guess there's no point hoping they get weaker instead of stronger." For real. But what were they to do for it now? "Well! Nothing to do but keep pressing on!" So the optimistic one says.

     Caster's search would clue her in to the source of the barrier being underground. If she focused, she might have been able to sense something akin to leylines beneath the surface. Magic was flowing through the mountain in this manner possibly. As for the barrier itself, it seemed to be nothing more than an intruder detection system.

     But certainly, if they were not hostile, then they must have had plans. Or were being led by someone who /did/ have a plan. Who knew?

     All of that aside, the group is unopposed as they travel the mountain path. The altitude gradually increases with each step made, bringing them further and further into the mountain, and away from civilization. Eventually, they come upon a clearing. A clearing with a moderately sized lake on the other end.

     The lake isn't frozen, oddly enough, despite the weather being relatively freezing. The water was still, nothing around to disturb it or create ripples. The clearing was surrounded on all sides by sheer rock wall extending upwards, and there didn't seem to be any other outdoors paths left to follow.

     However, upon second glance, one would be able to spot a small cave opening in the rock wall off to the side. Both the lake and the depths of the cave were giving off magic energy signatures, particularly that the underground leylines from previously intersected and split off of two different directions. There were no Incarnations about, creating a peaceful feeling locale.

     What will you do?

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     A weird lake, a weird cave near the lake, a weird flying bird thing, and a general aura of weirdness all around her with some weird ghost she may or may not notice behind her. It almost seems normal to Sanary, considering how the whole situation is just so... Uniformly weird. She does seem rather relieved when the bird Incarnation doesn't attack them, and her shield lowers just a bit. Instead, her focus goes to that cave in the distance.

     "Can any of you hold your breath for a long time? 'cause I can't, so..." She gestures at the cave in question, and starts heading in that direction with her shield ready once more. Her free hand reaches for the inside of her armored jacket, fishing out what looks like a folded-up cube. It's not clear what it is yet, but she keeps it ready!

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    "Ugh, water. Last time I threw Berserker in water she pouted at me for several hours. No way, the other fox can get wet if she wants," Gudako gestures towards Finna, before walking towards the cave, evidently unbothered by the fact they've been watched this entire time, and this has all the makings of walking right into the monsters' den.

    "Let's go say hi! We intruded, so they already know to expect us anyway. Ooh, I wonder if they'll have food waiting for us. That'd be new and special!"

    Caster follows her master in, although she seems a bit less happy than Gudako about just walking in like this. At the very least, the foxgirl summons her very large mirror, which orbits her slowly. It's not much but if something happens at least it'll be out, and it does make a very good shield.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva get helped up! "Thank you!" She calls to Yuna as she stands back up and shakes off, Finna becoming a handy Shoulder Fox (TM). "Wellll, I'm sure they saw us coming anyway, right?" Riva comments, shrugging a bit. They travel on, Riva immediately getting a spring back in her step. Is it becomes of the leylines?

When they get to the clearing, she looks over the place, nodding happily. "This is amazing! Is that lake not frozen, that's ridiculous, it's so high up here! I wonder if it's a hot spring?" She draws closer to the lake and hunches next to it, reaching out to dip a finger into the water. "Ooooooh." She says, watching for ripples.

She'll follow Gudako into the cave if nothing interrupts, though. This isn't a swimming area.

Misha (757) has posed:
    Oh Lyner. Ever so intent on pressing onward. Well, there's no use crying over being spotted now, Misha isn't quite sure if this was intended to be a stealth mission anyway.
    Given an option however... "I think I'll pass on joining the polar bear club." Noted in regards to taking a dip in the icy drink.
    She's sticking close to Lyner, but the cave does draw her eye. "Hmmm. Hold on a second..."
    It's a little ballsy. Standing at the mouth of the cave, she draws a breath. Though her lips move, it's as though no sound comes out. She's chanting in Hymmnos, but it's on a range that might feel funny on the ears. It will probably make anyone with sensitive animal ears very angry, but Lyner should recognize this spell.
    Misha's voice acts as a sonar, firing down the cave and bouncing along walls- and anything else that might be inside, before hopefully bouncing back to her rather informatively!

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna figures most of the group is probably going to prefer venturing into the cavern ... but somebody should still check out the lake. And she has one good way to do that herself.

Marina of the Sea promptly seems to go transparent, 'phasing' over Yuna's battlesuited form; as soon as their shapes have aligned, Marina vanishes entirely and a wireframe shape forms around Yuna. Immediately thereafter, pieces of another suit of 'armor' begin to materialize, interlocking with the Light Suit and with the other pieces, with the end result that Yuna's outfitted in a 'mermaid'-like armor - complete with a sealed, transparent visor that covers her head entirely without impairing her vision.

Transformation to Marine Form complete, Yuna rematerializes the Matrix Divider and dives into the water. Elner follows suit; Jiina and Erina just stand by on shore. (They could head into the water too, but they might be needed elsewhere while Yuna's exploring the lake.)

Archer (821) has posed:
     Archer's gaze narrows as the Incarnation seems to let them pass without conflict. What was the goal of these creatures, anyway - what was their plan? They didn't seem to feel keeping their group out was a priority or even a concern... so what had been the point of that alarm?

     ... unless it was just to ensure whatever was in the mountain had the time to prepare a response, or trap, for them all. Something that was accented by how that flying Incarnation didn't see them as an issue.

     Archer had little trouble ascending the mountain as the elements didn't affect him - in fact, as he was still invisible, he was unsure if anyone aside from Finna, Caster and her Master were aware of where he was. Though, because this wasn't something that demanded correction or affected anything negatively, he left it be.

     When they entered the clearing, Archer could feel the concentration of prana flowing through the area; he wasn't exactly a potent mage, but even he was capable of sensing the leylines this place served as the intersection point for. Evidently one of the reasons that this 'God' had taken up residence in this mountain.

     He also noted the lack of other exits from the clearing made this place the perfect grounds for setting up the possible ambush he suspected was waiting somewhere for them.

     Glancing over the unfrozen lake, Archer seems rather weary of the waters - hence why he soon is left fighting back an aggravated sigh as Riva once again blithely temps fate by just reaching out to /stick a finger in the lake/. She really did think she couldn't be killed or stay dead, didn't she?

     He really hoped she wouldn't have to learn the hard way what having such an unrestrained curiosity could have very dire consequences.

     Approaching the cave entrance, Archer takes up something of a guard position against the entrance - he wasn't planning to go in quite yet, but neither was he leaving those who did without any backup. As such, he would stay by the gap in the stone-wall until he had an indication of which side would need assistance he most - and thus be able to quickly commit to whichever group required it.

     He also takes note of the impromptu sonar the girl is using - as well as the risk of drawing something out, the Bowman remaining tentatively alert. Though it wasn't like he could advocate against it - when facing unknowns, every choice was likely to have repercussions, so concessions were needed. This sonar attempt - if it worked - would make the path ahead easier if nothing else.

     Hopefully, that was /all/ it would do.

Finna (513) has posed:
    Finna hops off Riva's shoulders, but not before SURPRISE LICKING HER NOSE once. And OFF she goes, prancing a path towards the lake. She wastes little time here though. First pawing it. Then licking it for a taste - nice, freshwater? Not salty?

    Whatever the case, she doesn't DRINK any of it. It is an odd lake. NOT FROZEN in this temperature? Worth checking out, if only a little. Finna doubts anything's really down there.

    And by the time she's done getting a feel for it at the shore... she's changed shape into a seal. And just sort of amble-wobbles on in...

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     CAVE:

     Misha's Echolocation is definitely familiar with Lyner, who followed along and stood by to await the results. The soundwaves traveled in unhindered, bouncing off of walls as they went further in. The cave started out narrow, but then widened a bit into a large chamber. There was something in the center of the chamber. A person? The sounds bouncing off of them seemed to sense a human shape, but it felt inanimate at the same time?

     The only way to tell was to go inside and see for themselves. And it was dark inside, befitting a cave. No torches or lighting to help them. They'd have to create their own light. But given the spread of abilities here, creating a fire certainly shouldn't be difficult at all. If done so, and once they head in, they will find that the cave does indeed start out narrow and widen out into a large chamber.

     What that chamber actually looked like, was that of a surprisinly immaculate ruin, chiseled out of the inner mountain. There were no doors or entranceways leading anywhere besides the way they came in. And in the center, is a single human figure. Male, young, and seated cross legged with his arms in his lap. He bore wings upon upon his back and his eyes were closed. ...But somehow, he did not seem alive. His hair, complexion, and clothing were all a familiar white. Similar to an Incarnation. He looked more like a statue, than a living being.

     And despite the sudden abundance of visitors, he did not budge a single inch. And if anyone tried to sense anything, they would tell that the leyline leading into the cave stopped right under him.

     What to do about this?

     LAKE:

     Riva's finger poking into the lake creates a ripple that distorts the surface of the water. It's not nearly cold as one would expect a lake in this environment to be. But yet, it is not frozen over either. That aside, once the ripple cleared up, she may or may not have been able to notice that the reflection in the water. Immediate and obvious was her own. But past that, she would be able to see the sky. ...But something was off. Weren't they closed in by mountain sides? That did not show in the lake reflection at all.

     Yuna and Finna dive into the water meanwhile, and swim through. The water isn't as cloudy as it seems. On both sides, there is rock wall, but below is something very odd. There is no lake floor. In fact, it looks like the lake opens out into a clearing identical to the one they came from.

     Is it a reflection? It looks too real to be a reflection, however. There are no ripples in it. It is clear as day.

     What will they do? Proceed on?

Finna (513) has posed:
    NO LAKE BOTTOM is an incredibly creepy thing to come across. But the entire lake is vaguely strange. It's too clear, too pristine. She cannot even detect any life.

    It's NOT fishy. That makes it fishy.

    Upon seeing how strange the bottom is, Finna decides to just PRESS on and swim straight down!

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna continues downwards as well; *she* can at least communicate with the others, although she'd be happier if she at least had Elner's sensors helping her out. Rather than diving straight towards whatever 'bottom' there may be, Yuna has Elner join her underwater (and the robo-faerie accedes, teleporting down to join Yuna), then follows the inverted 'clearing' from the lower edge of one of those stony 'walls'.

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    A person!

    Gudako does not stop to think and examine. Rather, she just moves forward, Caster at her side, and stops in front of the-- man? statue?-- to examine him. Is he alive? Magical? Otherworldly? Ah, her eyes really aren't that good at telling this stuff. She turns to her Caster, who is actually the one paying attention to the magical nature of this person. Thing.

    "Hello, hello!" Gudako greets, to incite a reaction. Caster just observes, trying to gauge energy levels, divinity, relative power-- connection to the leylines, especially. "Are you God? Or an Einherjar? Oh, maybe something else. Hm! Won't you say hello? We came all this way to meet you. Maybe."

    If it's alive, surely it'll respond?

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     Sanary glances back at Misha at the strange feeling in her ears, looking rather intrigued by the soundless... Thing she's doing. She certainly recognizes it as some sort of magic, and the information over the radio does confirm it as some sort detection magic. She opens her mouth, but shuts it before saying anything and continues onward into the cave. If she wants to find out what that was, she'll have to ask the woman later.

     For now, the healer's focused on the task at hand: Figuring out who or what is in this cave! Spotting the sitting figure mentioned over the radio, she glances over at Gudako and gestures at the figure with her head before unfolding the cube in her hand into a riot shield. By the time she finishes, though, she notices that Gudako's already moved ahead to speak to the mystery manstatue.

     ... Well, it couldn't get any worse if she tried that, too, right? "Uh... Hey, there! You from around here, or...?" She stops a few yards away, putting on her best grin while watching the man/statue for movements. If there's no response, she'll inch forward to try and give it a light nudge with her shield.

Misha (757) has posed:
    Confident that there is only one person in the cave after flinging her echoing song down the cave, Misha can't really find much of an excuse to not go in with the others. "What?" Jade eyes flick in a sideward glance to Sanary, but she doesn't jab any further than that. So in she goes. Now though, that she can see the figure up close, she scrunches her brow.
    Those are wings.
    "You know, I don't know much about gods and stuff, but doesn't he kind of fit the bill of an angel?" Asided as simply thinking aloud. Gudako's already trying to talk at him anyway.

Archer (821) has posed:
     At this point... perhaps the time for discretion was ending.

     Then again... that might simply be because many members of this group seemed intent on doing everything /except/ being discrete. Granted, Finna & Yuna diving into the lake to cover their bases was a more tactical move, but with Gudako & Sanary all but jabbing a stick at whatever was reportedly inside the cave, Archer wasn't entirely certain if they knew what they were doing or were just making it up as they went along.

     ... then again, no plan ever survives contact with the enemy, so even if they had some clue as to what they were doing, it likely would entail they improvise at some point or another.

     If nothing else, the cave seemed to be small, so he could easily reinforce quickly if need be.

     However, at the moment, he was following the buddy-system - namely that no-one should be left without a partner to watch their back... and with the groups split between the lake and the cave, only Riva seemed to be still out in the clearing itself.

     Until she either went into the lake or the cave, Archer opted to silently keep an eye on her... and additionally wondered if he really was unnoticed among the group outside of Finna, Gudako or the other Servants, given that nobody seemed to have verbally acknowledged his presence.

     Not that he minded having some proverbial peace and quiet... but it didn't exactly breed much faith in their abilities to watch their backs if they /couldn't/ tell where he was.

     It did make him feel like he was making the right choice watching their backs for them, though.

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     CAVE:

     Lyner walks in, along with Misha. His right arm rests back upon the casing of his blade, ready to move at a moment's notice, but hoping they won't have to. As they arrive, Lyner takes in the sight of the sitting, winged man with an arched brow. "...Huh. I....doubt that's God." He brought a hand to his cheek, scratching lightly with a finger sheepishly. "I mean, it's kinda early, isn't it?" His myriad adventures taught him that one!

     He ran thoughts through his mind meanwhile, as he observed the figure that Gudako and Sanary were attempting to speak to. "...He doesn't look alive either." But just in case, the knight stepped in front of Misha defensively.

     Caster's observations tell her that this figure sitting here is 'probably' alive in some way or form. With the leyline below him, he seems to be brimming with magical energy. Maybe he's serving as some kind of conduit, hence the ascetic-like pose? There was definitely some divinity lurking in this man, but...he probably wasn't god. Nor was he an Incarnation. Process of eliminination would suggest that he was likely an Einherjar.

     All of that aside...he did not budge still.

     It's Sanary who finally does the stupid(smart?) thing and touches him. The moment the tip of her shield makes contact, a chain reaction begins. A red streak of liquid escapes from the corner of his closed eyes. Blood. Tears of blood?

     Immediately following that, is a flash of white light that envelopes everything in the chamber. ...But it's not offensive. The light gives way, and what is revealed is some kind of vision. Or perhaps a flashback? Maybe a memory?

     What they see is the very same man, alive and well, sans wings. He is standing at a cliffside of a mountain clearing, looking over the into the distance at what must be ancient Lucrelia, if the archaic architecture is to be believed. But it is not a good vision. Out in the distance, masses of specks that can only be considered an army of humans is closing in.

     The man frowns and turned away, leaving the cliffside. The view pans out to various white entities that must be Incarnations. They all follow after the man, prepared for battle...

     The vision ends there and the white clears up. And once it does, the group finds themselves back in the cavern. Lyner blinks. "...What...was that?"

     The Einherjar remains unmoving, the bloody trail of tears being the only evidence that something had happened at all.

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
LAKE:

     Finna and Yuna press onwards, heading right for the bottom of the lake and the 'reflection' below. Once they get down far enough, the strangest thing happens. They break the 'surface' of the reflection, and emerge upright in a clearing much like the one they'd been to previously. The only difference is, the mountainsides that were enclosing the clearing before were gone entirely, giving way to sky, cold, and snowfall again in a disorienting fashion. Down became up, and up became down.

     Was that lake a connection to another part of the mountain? The clearing they came out in now had two points of interest; a path leading further upwards into the mountain, opposite of the one that lead downwards in the last clearing. That one was gone now, replaced by mountainside. And off to another side was a cliff edge, overlooking the mountain. If they took the time to check, they would find that they were ludicrously high up. Much higher than they were in the last clearing.

     But it seems like the peaceful exploration was coming to an end. A periodic stomp coming from the direction of the trail leading upwards can be heard, which shook the ground. And after several moments, a huge, white entity stepped into the clearing. It was smaller than the flame giant, and the wind bird. It was about ten meters, give or take, stocky in build with thick arms and legs, and bearing a shimmering blue aura. Was ice it's aspect?

     Nonetheless, it was clear; this was an Incarnation that they had just come upon. It didn't seem like it noticed them. But it was on the lookout. It's featureless head slowly swept from side to side, 'looking' for something or someone.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     Sanary flinches at that sudden stream of blood coming from the statue man's eyes and the flash of light, wincing at the sudden shock of white to her only functioning eye. She remains stock still as that vision plays out, her brow furrowing. Does she even have her eye open at this point? Either way, she's focusing on whatever it is vividly, and she doesn't speak up right away even as it ends.

     She is cheering inwardly, however. Touching things randomly worked out this time!

     "... So. Uh. Anyone else see that? I'm guessing this guy was their leader or something?" She shrugs lightly and looks from person to person, eventually turning back to the statue. Should she poke it again? Probably not. "But why would a.. Ein-her-jar be leading those things?" She pauses again, then glances around slowly while trying to avoid looking at any specifically. "... Also, what's an Einherjar?"

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    A vision! It's cryptic, but also not. The past? The future? In theory, the message delivered doesn't care for context. Whether a war happened, or is coming, it would have the same impact on someone who hates war, wouldn't it? Or someone who, maybe, just wants to stay holed up?

    Gudako ponders, while Caster crosses her arms, staring intently at the figure, before realizing he's not making another move. She decides to take her eyes off him, and look about the room. What do the walls say? Are there carvings, symbols, writing? Tellings of a story or prophecy? It's worth a quick look.

    Gudako, meanwhile, explains to Sanary: "Einherjar are people who obtain a fragment of God, and use its power to fight alongside the Incarnations! The townspeople seem to hate them. I think we just found our other side of the coin! Maybe. I wonder why he's not doing anything though. Just sitting here. Collecting power!"

    Lightbulb. "Caster! Stop staring at walls, come here."

    "One moment, master~."

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna's certainly not inclined to draw an Incarnation's attention if she can help it! She stays in the water, letting Elner surface to observe and to scan the surroundings. If the possibly-ice Incarnation doesn't move to investigate the lake any closer, Yuna's content to wait for it to go past before possibly exploring the new clearing any further.

Misha (757) has posed:
    Misha doesn't overly mind much when Lyner takes place right in front of her. But the Reyvateil still peels out from behind the youth's white armor, hands on her hips. She pales visibly, shuddering somewhat at the sight of the bloody tears, but then the flash of light hits, and Misha yelps.
    When it ends, the Reyvateil is left blinking, rubbing her eyes, and grunting with bewilderment. "I saw it." She confirms for Sanary. "And I've got no clue. Maybe if they've got a fragment of God they-" Gudako says it better than she really can. "But. It looked like the people were coming to attack, instead of the other way around? I get the feeling everyone in Lucrelia isn't telling this story quite right."

Riva Banari has posed:
Archer might look away for a moment. When he does, Riva's gone.

This is because she emerges from the other side of the lake behind Yuna and Finna with a splash, climbing out onto the clearing and looking around, confused for a moment. "Wow, this is... different. I've never been in a two-sided lake before."

She turns around pondering for a moment... And then realizes something.

She's wet, and on a super cold mountain. She immediately claps her hands to her sides as a gust of wind blows by. "Holy cow, it's coooooold!" She shivers, grimacing. "Why did I think this was a good idea..."

She pulls out some hotpacks and begins stuffing them into her clothing in various areas. "Uggggh, this is the worst!" She mutters... And then blinks as there is a stomp.

She looks up in surprise, and immediately dives into another snowdrift, looking around. "Heeeeey guys." She whispers. "What's goin on in this thread?"

Finna (513) has posed:
    The first thing Finna does upon emerging from the other lake is shift back to fox form.

    Then look around while staying low, surveying the surroundings. Good thing too because THERE IS THAT INCARNATION OVER THERE. Finna quickly glances around for cover, hoping to observe a little more. So she eventually dives for the same snowdrift as Riva, though hisses, "Are you NUTS? Sopping clothes and cold weather is badbadbadbad. Did you never learn about survival in the cold? Gods. You're lucky you're superpowered or you'd be dead in half an hour."

Archer (821) has posed:
     In spite of still playing the role of the guard, Archer felt more and more ill-at-ease about this mission.

     According to Finna and Yuna, the lake was some kind of gateway... and gateways worked both ways.

     If something was up there with them, it could follow them back if it saw them.

     That is, unless whatever interaction the group had with the being inside the caves - one of the 'Einherjar', or so the group was speculating - had already started drawing eyes on them. And it had already interacted with them it seemed, having apparently shown the group something if Lyner's disorientation on the radio was any indication.

     It was enough that Archer finally decided that, with the groups so badly split up, that he ought to inquire over the radio what had happened.

     ...

     And he wasn't sure he liked the answer.

     A war between these Incarnations and another army. A /human/ army, if the Master of Caster was to believed.

     ...

     How typical. Humans making the charge forward. And depending on whether or not the vision was of the past or not... well, it wouldn't surprise Archer in the slightest to learn that humans had caused an issue in the world or brought misery upon themselves with their own actions. That would make this yet another one of humankind's messes that he was cleaning up after... just as he had for countless ages before in his never-ending, utterly pointless task of 'saving' humanity from itself-

     ...

     And then a certain /fool/ of a woman decided to make the most reckless, ill-advised and nonsensical decision Archer could have imagined; Riva dove into the pool and emerged on the other side right near where an Incarnation was apparently located.

     It was such a horribly-foolish move that Archer really felt no pity for her if she ended up being killed - permanently killed that is - as a result of her own foolhardy stupidity... but unfortunately, so long as he was with the Union, Archer couldn't exactly abandon his allies. It wasn't practical considering what they were up against - or economically beneficial in maintaining amicable ties to the rest of the Union.

     Muttering a curse to himself, Archer moved up to the lake's edge and finally returned to corporal form.

     "Trace; On."

     Materializing his western-style black bow, Archer gazed into the lake awaiting a signal to fire if need be, though held back on tracing any arrows.

     if this pool was a direct gateway to another lake... then firing an arrow straight down into the pool would theoretically cause an arrow to emerge from the other side and, if nothing else, distract the target enough for the group to make it back.

     Provided that a miracle hadn't occurred that kept the Incarnation from noticing Riva, that is, or that some plan wasn't already in effect by the three on the other side.

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     CAVE:

     Lyner nodded to Sanary. "I definitely saw that." And then he glanced down at the seated, winged Einherjar. "...I'm thinking this guy must have gone through some hard times..." But that was just his assumption. He didn't have anything else to work with. And there wasn't much else in here, was there?

     Caster's cursory observation of the ruin walls would reveal that there were indeed writings etched out on the walls. Stretching around the entire chamber in pieces, it was like some kind of historical diary. Given Caster's understanding of magic, and the Multiver'se translation effect, the garbled runes became something readable.

     'God has given the humans blessings. In the hopes that they would pave the way to a better tomorrow.'

     'I am not certain of whether or not man is deserving of God's continued blessing. They claim to be virtuous and yet...'

     'An ambassador of the settlement Lucrelia has arrived. He says that God should not hold back on the power contained here. They require more. When I ask why, I am told...'for peace'.'

     It cuts off there.

     Lyner noticed the cave writings, but since he wasn't an accomplished Magus, he had no idea what it was saying. "Hey, Caster? Gudako? Can you read that?"

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     LAKE:

     Meanwhile over at the other side of the lake portal, the Incarnation stomps into the clearing. "......." It's gaze sweeps left and right. Nothing. Nothing. Nothi- "....?" What was that...frozen red appendage sticking out of that snowdrift?

     If the thing had the mental capacity, and facial features to look unimpressed, that's exactly what it would have looked like.

     Determining that there was indeed a foreign element here, the huge creature lifted a leg, and then stomped the ground hard. Upon doing so, sharp ice pillars immediately began to shoot up out of the ground, rapidly tunneling towards Riva's position behind the snowdrift.

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    "It says," Caster begins, and then she reads the text aloud. What of it she can make out, anyway. Finally the puzzle's missing pieces. So it's all the humans' fault, then? Ah, how nice that would be, if it were that simple.

    Gudako glances towards the entrance of the cavern. It seems the Archer has turned his attention away. She gestures towards Caster.

    "If you're done reading, Caster, let's go."

    With a nod, Caster approaches the Einherjar again. Then she produces several rows of paper talismans, inscribed with a variety of symbols and words meaning 'DRAIN' 'SAMPLE' 'COLLECT' etc. Gudako, meanwhile, produces a pair of SCIENCE GOGGLES that she slaps on, with her big usual grin. "Science! No, wait. MAGIC!" the master says.

    On cue, Caster activates the spell. She attempts to draw a portion of the leyline's energy out, and into her mirror. And then she digs deeper, and attempts to drain the Einherjar too. Much like she did the Incarnation-- to steal a shard of divinity, or whatever is inside him. The difference is that instead of crystalizing it right now, she's stuffing all of it inside her mirror. She'll crystalize it later.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Hiding to avodi drawing attention is one thing. Hiding for her own safety while something attacks her allies?

That's something else.

Yuna engages Marine Form's microtorpedo launchers, sending a barrage flying out of the water and through the air to bombard the ice-using Incarnation; at the very least, that should break its attention away from Riva and Finna. She follows up by surfacing far enough to fire a blast from the Matrix Divider -

And then dives back into the lake, letting Elner linger to see if the Incarnation is going to follow *her* or stay focused on Riva.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     "Really sounds like he did... Hn." Sanary grunts lightly as she steps over to the statue, peering at it once more. There's definitely something odd about it (beyond the blood and the weird positioning), but she can't quite put her finger on what. "Maybe he was..." Betrayed? Used? Or was the vision trying to use them? Either way, it all sounds bad, and the healer lets out a low sigh before holding a hand out to the statute.

     She does have the sense to wait until Gudako's finished before actually doing anything, of course. Once Gudako does her thing, the cleric turns to Lyner and Misha. "Better be ready in case this goes bad." She takes a deep breath, then channels some of her magic into the statue. Raw, unfiltered, and fairly potent health and magic regeneration all in one convenient light cloud package! She's not expecting it to go great, but... Well, she can at least hope /something/ comes of it.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva rummages around in the snowdrift, doing SOMETHING behind Finna as she makes the fox guard the hole she made diving into it. The noises are somewhat mysterious but she sure is moving around a lot...

There is a pause, and Riva can be heard asking, completely unaware that her hair is poking out of the drift, "... What's that noise?"

A moment later, ice erupts through the drift. Riva explodes out of it with a loud "WAAAAAAAAAAAGH!", ice chunks ripping upwards the shred past and into her.

She's also dressed in her Templar uniform... What the hell, did she change her clothes that fast in the snowdrift?

When she hits the ground again, she tumbles and comes to a stop, holding the wound in her side. She looks to Finna, and after a momentary radio exchange, scoops up the fox again. TIME FOR ANOTHER PLAN. Riva turns, running /away/ frin the Incarnation. She also runs past the lake, instead heading for the edge of the clearing.

She stops at the side of the mountain, looking down at things below.

"Hold on!" Riva calls.

Wait. What?

And then she jumps off. "WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" She calls, flying through the air.

When she eventually hits the ground, there is a little flash of gold and a hexagonal, honeycomb-like ripple that spreads out from the point of impact... And she appears to be completely unharmed.

Of course, that only applies if she doesn't land on some hilarious slope that doesn't mean she bounces down in some cartoonesque manner and completely kills the cool factor, but that's an entirely different matter.

Finna (513) has posed:
    Well... the weird red appendage might be unimpressed, but Finna answers it with a look that's at first sheepish... then the biggest cheshire grin a fox can pull off.

    And when you're a Lunar, that's one hell of a grin. Although... it's likely to more unsettle Riva than this weird appendage.

    "That's our cue!" Finna has a plan. She ALWAYS has a plan.

    Well... almost always. Easily able to detect that incoming ice wave, she looks to Riva until about the last moment - and is SCOOPED UP.

    Both eyes go WIIIIIIIDE. Shocked. WHAT. What is Riva doi--

    ZOOOOOOOOOOOM!

    Finna gacks at first at the way that Riva just decides to go LAUNCHING OFF A MOUNTAINSIDE but eventually this transitions into screechy-yowling triumphantly. But only for a few seconds. She's not out to gain MORE attention for both of them.

    BOOM! The landing goes pretty well... leaving Finna looking back up where they left to see if the thing's gonna follow. "Crazy girl."

Archer (821) has posed:
     As soon as he saw the lake's surface quaking, Archer bit back a curse as he knew his fears were confirmed.

     That woman's recklessness had alerted the Incarnation - and potentially endangered everyone here by causing a fight to break out.

     Thus... the time for discretion had fully ended.

     Yuna had said to be ready to lend assistance... and the first shot hitting would go a long way in distracting the creature and opening up an opportunity for a counter.

     ...

     Or at least that had been the original plan. Until two things happened.

     The first... was yet another reckless, borderline-moronic stunt from Riva - namely to take Finna and /jump off the side of the mountain/. Something that even Servants wouldn't treat lightly... and yet that fool woman decided to do so with such flippancy that Archer wasn't even sure if she was foolhardy or simply insane... or perhaps the 'immortality' she seemed to have become almost reliant on had deadened her perception of 'risks and consequences.'

     Either way... at the very least, she actually seemed to come out of it shockingly alright, leaving him to stare at her with bow ready and just about to trace an arrow to fire at the lake.

     Finally though, he let out an exasperated sigh - "You really have no sense of caution, do you?"

     ... although in truth, this might actually be a good thing as, with Finna & Riva out of immediate danger ... it freed Archer up to handle the /second/ thing, at least until Yuna emerged from the lake.

     Servants of the Caster-Class had potent magic - enough that even Servants born of 'second-rate magi' like Archer could tell it had gone active... and when he turned to look back at the cave reinforced vision allowed him to see the symbols of those charms; the same symbols of the spell that Caster had, according to Gudako's slip-up in the bar last week, let her drain a fragment of an Incarnated's essence.

     Archer was already on humanity's side against the Einherjar, regardless of what he felt personally... but that didn't mean he was going to let the Confederacy, let alone someone as provenly-restrictionless as Gudako - try to claim more power so blatantly - hence why the bow originally meant to fire at and distract the Incarnated from Riva, Finna & Yuna was now trained at the red-head.

    Prana flares and flows through his hand, drawing from the imprint left buried in the endless field of blades, taking the shape of the Hound of the Red Plains as opposed to the originally-planed Spiral Sword. He had a straight shot to her, but the distance was too great to risk Caladbolg - he needed /unerring/ accuracy... and the weapon that never missed so long as his target remained aimed at was the perfect tool for that.

     She should have waited until after he'd already committed an attack on the creature - been drawn into that battle. He wasn't going to give her a second chance.

     "Hurnting!"

     And in the breath of that thought, Archer fires, the weapon shooting through the air with the intent of either splitting Gudako's skull or forcing her Servants to defend her - and as a consequence, split whatever uneasy truce was between the Unions and Confederates... but it was better that then letting that girl take any more power unchallenged.

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     CAVE:

     Lyner nodded to Caster, taking in the explanation before bringing a hand to his chin. "Sounds pretty bad..." He would have gone on with his thinking out loud, were it not for a certain BAD IDEA.

     SPEAKING OF BAD IDEAS...

     Caster prepares the spell and on Gudako's order, proceeds to apply it. The energy of the leyline is drawn out. It has no elemental aspect and is instead pure magical energy, uninfluenced by it's surroundings. And then Caster digs deeper, attempting to drain the Einherjar.

     At is at this point that Hrunting comes hurtling through the air, past Lyner's head(who jumped aside with a 'WHOA!'), and aiming to split Gudako's skull, should she not defend herself properly from the soaring broken phantasm.

     It is at this point that the Einherjar's eyes open. But only slightly. As if roused from the foreign meddling of the leyline, and the chaos that broke out not soon after, but his eyes are not focused. His gaze is half lidded, staring slightly downwards in his still statue-esue posture. Sanary's healing flows into his body, but he makes no indication that it is even doing anything for him.

     But everyone present would be able to feel the beginnings of a slight rumble. It was nothing dangerous yet, but more like a warning. A warning of what was to come, should this meddling continue.

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     LAKE:

     Fortunately for Yuna, this Incarnation did /not/ have the power of regeneration. Unfortunately, however, it was sturdy. The missiles make impact, chipping away at it's white form, but otherwise, it is still standing. Watching Riva make off with Finna to the cliffside. "......" It turns it's body to stomp after them, but a blast from the Matrix Divider pushes it back a step.

     It's attention is now drawn to Yuna, and it began to stomp towards the lake, blue aura around it shimmering even more violently than it was before. Several ice clusters form in the air around it. About ten in total. And without any indication, they burst forward, through the air, aiming for her retreating form, and Elner by virtue of being in the path.

     Riva's and Finna's BAD IDEA MK II is...actually works!? Riva sails through the air and lands! She lands and....doesn't disintigrate her legs. What was that golden light? Either way, they jumped a great distance, mind bogglongly so. Where they stood now was an outcropping peering over the rest of the mountain below. A sharp eye would be able to notice the old clearing that they had come from originally, with the cave and the lake, as well as a certain grumpy red Archer. ...And let's not forget about the rumbling that was gradually beginning to pick up from where they stood.

     Things have rapidly gone out of control now. What will they do?

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Elner has a very simple reaction to attacks being aimed in its general direction: the robo-faerie just teleports away - and Yuna takes the precaution of zigging and zagging, in case any of the missed 'shots' happen to come in her direction. Yuna's headed for the underwater crevasse, though - the passage that leads back to the FIRST clearing with everyone else.

The same clearing that Elner appears in after its teleport. Jiina and Erina quickly ready their own weapons, taking to the air and preparing in case that Incarnation DOES chase Yuna all the way back through the 'lake'.

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    Gudako seems unconcerned. This isn't fully accurate, but it sure looks that way. With her face in that perpetual 8D, you couldn't tell when she's calm, losing her shit, or playing bingo.

    Fortunately for the master, the sudden burst of prana that comes from his activation of Hrunting causes the foxgirl to turn her head slightly. Her hands and talismans don't move-- she doesn't heed the warning, and pushes through. She intends to get a piece of that Einherjar for her master, come hell or high water. But she doesn't need to move her hands to defend her master, either.

    Helping Sanary defend is Caster's mirror, which flies in the way of the blade. It's absurdly sturdy-- the hound of an arrow will be deflected, but probably only once or twice. Hrunting, unfortunately, does not strike only once or twice, and any single ones of however many he intends to pursue would be letha to the magus.

    And that's where Sanary will come in!

    Or that's the hope.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     So much for that plan. Sanary steps back when the Einherjar's eyes open, cutting off the flow of energy. "Guess he's still-" Her comment is cut off whens he hears /something/ whizzing through the air and headed straight for the cave. Her suspicions that it's not a good something are confirmed fairly quickly when she spots Lyner jumping aside, and she acts completely on instinct bringing her shields up!

     And just in time, too, what with the odd-looking blade first getting deflected by Gudako's shields, then getting wedged right into her shield and partially into her arm through the shield. "What... The hell?" Her brain doesn't even register what happened for a few seconds, and she twitches slightly as she stares at the blood seeping through her sleeve.

     "... Can we... Just go now?" She's looking and sounding mighty irritated right now, but her focus is elsewhere. Namely, on trying to keep that sword from bounding around any more and from worsening the wounds already inflicted on her (main) shield arm.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Fortunately for Yuna, she had a head start on the Incarnation - and Marine Form is pretty swift in the water; after all, it was *designed* for underwater movement and combat. Yuna knows to expect the inversion of gravity when it comes this time, and she just keeps right on going as fast as her armor's mer-tail will propel her.

Fast enough that when she breaches the surface of the original clearing's lake, she practically flies out of the water. "Erina, switch in!" Yuna calls out; Erina of the Sky abandons her 'standby' hover and flies to intercept ... and one transformation sequence later, Marina is re-assembling into her android form while Yuna takes to the air properly, in her Flight Form. She's still not sure WHAT'S going on with Gudako or with anything else in the cave, but she's anticipating the emergence of the icy Incarnation from the lake; the Matrix Divider is in her hands and ready, a charge building up as she flits further back from the lake.

Also from the cave. She's still trying to sort out what's going on in there beyond what she's heard on the radio, but what she *HAS* heard and comprehended does not sound good ...

Finna (513) has posed:
    "Ooooooh. We're not too far from the place we just left! Why is that linked again?" And then there's that rumbling. She's still not sure where it's coming from, so she hops out of Riva's grasp and puts an ear against the snow to try and pinpoint that...

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva makes a peace sign as they land. "Hell yeah! That's how we... huh?" She tips her head, listening. "That's kind of weird, that sounds almost like..."

Suddenly, riva turns and grabs Finna. "WE GOTTA GO KAY-THANKS-BYE!" With a yelp, she leaps off of the ledge and continues rushing down the side of the mountain. "RUUUUUUUUUUUUN!" She yells to the others.

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     LAKE:

     As Yuna bursts up from the surface of the lake, she switches to flight mode, ready to take on the Incarnation likely following her. And after several moments, it became clear that it had. A huge, white arm burst up from the surface of the lake, grabbing the edge and pulling itself up. Water washing off of it, it steps out onto land, lumbering menacingly. It immediately spies Yuna and her associates, and rears back and arm, swinging mostly towards the airborne girl with a fist cloaked in freezing air.

     To Finna, the source of the quake would quickly be pinpointed to the cavern everyone else was in or near, originating at a single point within, and radiating outwards.

     CAVE:

     ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE. Sanary is hit by Hrunting after several deflections by Caster's Mirror. The action gives Gudako enough time to continue draining the Einherjar to collect a shard of his essence. But the very act of doing so causes his eyes to open completely. Without a word, the earthquake intensifies. Following that, a wave of pure magical power is unleashed.

     A raging flow threatening to blow everyone back. Of course, Lyner was already not staying a moment longer. Without even bothering to confirm, he scooped Misha up into his arms in a princess carry, and dashed off before the first wave was released. "Come on! We're going! Now! Hold on, Misha!" And the Knight of Elemia was out, veering left and right as the ruins above began to crumble, causing debris large and small to fall from above, threatening to crush anyone standing in the wrong spot.

     Outside, Lyner skid to a stop, finding Yuna engaged with the Incarnation from the other side of the lake. "Damn it, Yuna! We're getting out of here! Don't bother!"

     And as if things couldn't get worse, the intense earthquake seems to have roused another disaster.

     If one looked into the mountains above, they would be able to spot a rolling wave of white gradually plummeting down the mountainside...It was an avalanche. "Not good, not good! Come on!" And comically, Lyner turned and ran off down the mountain trail like a bat out of hell.

Archer (821) has posed:
     And so Gudako's true colors were shown... and through a heated confrontation with the Confederates, Archer soon learned Gudako really didn't seem to give one damn about the rest of them. Even her own ally Sanary was just a means to an end.

     but in the end, the Incarnation's arrival interrupted further discussion as it pursued Yuna, and the Einherjar's impending awakening meant that the situation was getting much, much worse - because of Gudako, that creature's wrath was going to likely bring that whole mountain down.

     And it seemed the Confederates were really willing to risk that just so that Gudako could try and claim a little more power for herself - after all, Archer had no illusions that anything Gudako claimed would be shared among them.

     Magi like here were horrible liars, after all.

     At the very least, he offered to take Sanary out - if for no other reason then the fact that he felt she wasn't insane like Gudako was - but... in the end, she refused to place faith in him even when the person she was helping could care less about bringing the cave down or potentially sacrificing everyone in the city to this creature's wrath.

     ...

     So be it, then. If she was going to doom herself to that path, he wouldn't offer again.

     Flooding his legs with Prana, Archer kicks off hard enough to leave a crater in the ground and leaps for Yuna, letting her grab onto him - hopefully his back so that he still has his hands free - and take them both out of the path of the Incarnated's attack. As soon as he hits the ground-

     "I am the bone of my sword"

     -the form of the Roman Emperor's intricate blade forms in his hand, the bowman stopping only long enough to aim the weapon, which quickly is distorted into a grotesque arrow.

     "Aestus Estus!"

     The blade shoots for the Incarnate, the burst of flame upon detonation hopefully buying them some time.

     He didn't have the time to charge it - it was hardly the kind of firestorm that would kill that being... but it would, with any luck, distract it long enough as Archer proceeds to speed out of the clearing with Yuna as fast as he can, dismissing his bow switching to carrying her bridal-style as he sprints and leaps down and out of the clearing.

     Evacuation is the priority now, it seems... though inwardly he still curses his luck, gritting his teeth and wondering what all Gudako will manage to get from her miserable little antics at the expense of everything else.

     But whatever comes of it, they will have to wait until /after/ they regroup to deal with it.

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    The massive debate over whether this is the right course of action or not has largely caused Gudako to start whistling to drown it out. Caster presses on the drain, and not a second too soon is she done. The Einherjar wakes up fully! ... and it is angry.

    The Caster's mirror moves in front of herself, to act as a shield. This is not worth much, as the Servant, her master, and likely Sanary, would be blown back by the magical shockwave. And then the cave is collapsing on them!

    With everyone having run, Gudako brings her Berserker in. The red-robed twin sister of her Caster immediatly starts chasing falling rocks around like a hyperactive, superhumanly fast cat. And boy can she grind rocks into dust fast. But the Einherjar is still there. This is not a viable escape plan.

    "Caster, Berserker. We're making a new way out."

    Caster's talismans, infused with the leyline energy she stole, begin being flung at one of the cavern walls. Explosions of magic dig a tunnel, one blast at a time. Then Berserker jumps into it, and starts mauling a tunnel out. Gudako and Sanary can follow after her, and Caster will man the rear, projecting a bubble to intercept the cave-in if it catches up and threatens their escape tunnel. In other words, she's making a solid magical field around them.

    They'll come out a side eventually-- probably not in sight of everyone else, and definitely away from the Incarnation if they can help it. Berserker will demand rewarding headpats, while Caster will just sigh heavily.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
That Incarnation looks a whole lot bigger on this side of the lake, thinks Yuna, already backing away from it in mid-air as she gathers power in the Matrix Divider. Then the Incarnation actually swings a punch at Yuna.

She bolts even faster, letting loose with her charged blast and zigging hard out of the punch's arc, then letting her weapon vanish and pouring on the speed in a straight line. Archer said 'grab on' but unless the silver-haired Servant is even faster in the air than Yuna's own Flight Form is -

Turns out that he is, as far as she can tell when the Servant grabs her and leaps out of the area. Her Flight Form wings might interfere a bit with the bridal carry, but not insurmountably so.

That leaves Elner to teleport itself, Jiina, and Marina back to whatever rendezvous point the others are mostly heading towards - the city, a warpgate, wherever. They're not hanging around to watch the fallout, though.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     Sanary struggles just to get Hrunting out of her arm, attaching the portable riot shield to her gauntlet and freeing her hand up to resume pulling. She's also muttering to herself as she does so, turning around only when she feels that shaking getting worse. Luckily, it's just in time to get knocked off balance and nearly onto her ass without the proper use of her arms to protect herself against the blast! The mirror's protection does help keep the cleric from failing at that utterly, at least, and she's more than willing to take cover with the Berserker and the bubble-shield.

     "Is this really...? Uh." She pauses to consider the other option of leaving in direct view of everyone else, then shrugs and starts channeling her energy outward. "Good enough." Although she's sorely tempted to use some of that energy to soothe the pain of the weapon still lodged in her arm, she knows it'll just suck more to extrat for proper healing later.

     So where does she put that magical energy? Into Caster and Berserker, of course! She can't use the magic for anything productive on her own at the moment, so why not funnel it into the Servants and act as a secondary mana battery?

Riva Banari has posed:
Just... everything is going bad. Super bad. Mega bad. Terribad.

Hey, that's a neat word. Riva makes a note to save that one for later OH WAIT RUNNING.

With a dramatic slide down the remainder of the cliff, Riva hits the clearing at a living run (because a dead run is too morbid), hustling as Archer explodes things behind them. She continues carrying Finna as she bolts for the mountain trail, trying to get ahead of the rumbling force of the descending avalanche.

You can fight an Incarnation. You can't fight an avalanche. It's like City Hall except warmer and more caring.

Finna (513) has posed:
    Well, there's only one response to THAT fact. "Baaaaaaaad!" Finna promptly warns her friends to LEAVE the cave over the radio, but... all hell STILL breaks loose. But she's scooped up before she can do much more and carried sort of indignantly down the mountain!

    The fox just sort of grins. She'll... wait until later to tell Riva that she could probably have gotten down by herself faster.

    In the meantime, if Riva falters Finna will gladly switch roles!

Riva Banari has posed:
It's true, Riva has no idea. But that's what makes it funny.