7086/LI0: Black Swan, Yellow Hands (Black Shrine)

LI0: Black Swan, Yellow Hands (Black Shrine)
Date of Scene:	14 February 2020
Location:	Last Illusion
Synopsis:	A desperate maneuver by the heroes sends them to the Black Warriors Shrine to empower the Relic earlier than intended. Unfortunately, someone is standing in their way...
Cast of Characters:	6928, 6666, 7180, Rean Schwarzer, 7228, Arthur Lowell
Tinyplot:	Loop Zero
Tinyplot2:	Last Illusion

---

Riku (6928) has posed:
The northern city of Ytalis is shrouded in snow, the great Black Warriors Shrine rising over the town. Like all the other locations, a beam of energy is rising into the sky. Normally, one would need to deal with the predations of the Yaksha in order to gain entrance, but that has been obviated by Shyra.

    Within is a great torchlit hall, crystalline insets into the shrine walls creating a glowing haze in the air from the lights. Tortoise-shell patterns seem to feature prominently which makes perfect sense as the great statue in the back of the Shrine seems to be that of a mighty turtle.

    One would normally be expected to fight the Spirit as well, but that's not going to be the case. There is a /different/ problem interfering with the desperate attempts of the heroes today

Kupot (6666) has posed:
Speed is easy. Kupot has the Sleipner. Whoever wishes to ride on the Sleipner with the tiny terrorist may. Getting around this somewhat small world is easier on the growling motorcycle. He has not bothered to wear his costume today, instead simply sticking with his long coat and black simple clothes. Speed is the key here. Speed before it collapses in on itself, hopefully.

Remembering how the chariot can fit INTO the dungeon, Kupot doesn't both actually getting off the motorcycle. He goes at the entrance at full speed.

Amelris Belthrone (7180) has posed:
     Amelris, notably, do not. Mostly because he have his own super fast bird to ride on, a tall, proud chocolate-brown chocobo. The Miqo'te charges through after the tiny terrorist, keeping up with the still baffling moogle.

     The Chocobo charges inside just as well as the motorcycle, the Red Mage on top adjusting his hat and flattening against his bird to prevent from smacking himself against the entrance.

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
Rean arrives at the Black Warrior's shrine, tagging along with Kupot, or anyone else's method of transport if they have it, it's not that important. The fact of the matter is, he's here.

And thus, he enters the shrine, ready for anything this trial might throw at them. THe had to succeed, for the sake of this world!

Arianrhod (7228) has posed:
    It seems that Kupot is not alone in coming to the Black Warriors Shrine. Waiting at the entrance is Arianrhod. At her waist is a longsword and on her back, an unusually designed pointed shield. And she too is not alone, sitting as she is atop a grey steed. Kupot may get the feeling that he is being eyed from beneath that full helmet of Arianrhod's, though it's hard to be sure.

    Arianrhod seems to chide the small motorcyle riding creature as she says, "You're late. I do believe time is of the essence."Arianrhod's head turns to look at the others as well, lingering for longer on Amelris as she apparently looks over his more unique mount.

    As Kupot aims his bike for the shrine entrance, Arianrhod turns her horse that way too and starts to ride with them. The path through the shrine is empty. And fast, thanks to a bike, a bird and a horse. Finally they arrive at the end of the shrine.

    Arianrhod dismounts and steps forward ahead of the group, moving towards the turtle statue. Her head turns upwards somewhat as she looks over the mighty creature. Is she looking to obtain the blessing from the spirit, even though she is not the one bearing the relic?

    No. The armored warrior spins around to face the other three of the party. As she raises her sword and shield towards them, her voice echoes from within her helmet, "I'm afraid that will be far enough. I am Arianrhod. And if you wish to obtain the power of this spirit, you will have to defeat me first."

Kupot (6666) has posed:
There is that odd feeling. Of moving from one place to another, then bursting through on the bicycle. Getting through the Shrine on the motorcycle is easy for Kupot, despite the fact he is far smaller than the motorcycle. When he comes to a stop at the end, it comes at a roaring skid. A leap off the motorcycle, then a stop as Arianrhod moves onward.

It is always disconcerting to have Kupot stare at you. Because there are no pupils on his face. Just the insectile lens of his optics covering his normal eyes.

He stares at Arianrhod, considering for a long moment, thinking out his words before, "You believe this is part of the program, kupo? Or are you trying to stop us?"

Regardless, Kupot does not move first. His hand simply stays at the point at which his katana hangs from his belt.

Amelris Belthrone (7180) has posed:
     As they travel through the shrine and undoubtedly just runing the chance of any random encounters from sparking up. Both Miqo'te and Chocobo returns the gaze to the knight, the feline on top tilting his head at her when it strays too long on him. Well, that's a thing he'll have to ask about after this.

     He dismounts, giving the Chocobo a gentle tap on the side. It chirps, then waddles off away from the center room.

     "I kind of suspected as such something like this would've happened." The Red Mage says, reaching for his rapier to hold it, ready to draw. "I don't think that really matters either way, Kupot. She declared her intent, raised weapons."

     The rapier flies to his hand, stepping back and brandishing it forward in a duelist's stance. "Then we shall fight it out!"

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
Ahead of their group is that armored woman from before, astride on a horse. She draws her weapons, and turns to face them. Guess they weren't finishing this relic without a fight.

"...." Rean pauses for a moment. What was her deal, anyway? Did she want to help them with this or not?
Either way, they needed her to move out of their way.

Rean draws his own katana, and points it at Arianrhod. "Alright. Team Black Warriors Shrine, Let's do this!"

Arianrhod (7228) has posed:
    Arianrhod's own staring is probably a little strange feeling as well, given her helmet has no openings for her eyes to be seen. Or the rest of her face, for that matter. But stare at the moogle she apparently does as she thinks over his question.

    "The latter for sure. However, I do not know enough about this world to say for certain that the former isn't true. Given that there appears to be no other foe here for you to fight, perhaps I am fulfilling a part in the script after all."

    "If that is so..." Arianrhod spins her sword to plant the tip in the ground, moving her shield to attach to her arm. She then stands straight and places both hands on top of the sword's hilt. Her head turns, looking over the three in turn, before she says, "Then I suggest you attack. As your task is to obtain the blessing of the spirit. While mine is simply to delay you. And each second you wait, you help mine, while making your own more difficult."

    Looks like this is what happens when you get noble spirits facing off against each other.

Amelris Belthrone (7180) has posed:
     Amelris tilts his head over at the rest of the party, from Kupot, Rean, then back to Arianrhod. His ears wriggles, flapping left, then right then flattening against his head. Noble spirits indeed but they ARE short on time here, she's right.

     A long suffering sigh escapes from the Warrior of Light's lips, shaking his head.

     "Alright." The Red Mage lets out, snapping the gem out of his rapier's hilt to make it float above his free hand, held back in a balancing act. "That's long enough, then!" In other words, he's bored. Not REALLY bored-bored, but this sort of anticipation just can only last so long.

     Dark energies gathers from his gem as he squeeze it, swinging his rapier forward in a swing at empty space. A streak, curving arc of lightning shoots out at the Knight, followed by a thrust of his rapier.

     A strong gust of cutting winds soars to clash against her. "Whatever the case, she's fighting, we're fighting, so let's do this thing!"

Kupot (6666) has posed:
Kupot continues to stand. Waiting patiently. Moralizing here is circular. It is not just about the fact that he is trained to counter.

But there is a loophole. Kupot takes the relic, and moves forward, heading towards the statue of the turtle. He simply does so with his hand nowhere near his katana.

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
...Well, this was awkward. No one was attacking first. Well, not until Amelris does. Rean rushes in, zipping past Arianrhod as his single strike blooms into many.

Arianrhod (7228) has posed:
    That blast of wind is launched at Arianrhod. She doesn't move to evade it. Or to block it with her shields. She simply stands her ground. The winds strike her.

    Arianrhod is forced to step back.

    As the winds break away, Arianrhod returns to her original posture and then waits.

    Although she does not visibly turn her head to look at the moogle trying to get past, Kupot will likely suspect that his actions are not being missed. Though Arianrhod does not immediately move to engage him.

    It's is Rean's attack that actually gets the most response out of the armored woman. She brings her shield up to block the sword strike, sparks flying as the blade scrapes across the defense. In the same move, Arianrhod raises her sword with her other hand. Golden light begins to surround the weapon, at which point she drives it back down into the ground.

    A blast of energy washes out from Arianrhod in all directions, looking to smash into all three and throw them away from her position and the statue towards the edge of the shrine room. Arianrhod then shifts into a proper combat stance, but still remains in her position, daring them to counter.

Kupot (6666) has posed:
Moving enough to put his back to Arianrhod may not be wise, but it is her choice to pick such a tempting target. Not Kupot's. The hairs of his fur twitch, his pom shifts forward just slightly. He turns, though not in time, his short wakizaki out to cut into the wave. The brunt of the attack is moved, but not enough to keep Kupot from staggering back from the force of the blow.

But he does not stop. As the blow strikes him, his other hand is moving.

Just as the force passes him, Kupot's hand is moving in a blur. The katana swings out at such a force, that is drags the energy behind it, forcing it back towards Arianrhod.

Kupot doesn't speak. He does not like this. This play fighting. But a world is at stake.

Amelris Belthrone (7180) has posed:
     Yeah, obviously, it wasn't going to be that easy.

     "Shite!" Amelris lets out, trying to bounce out of the way of the shockwave. It partially works, mostly resulting him to slam harder against the wall of the shrine. The Miqo'te gasps out, the air snapped out of his lungs as he slides down the wall. He grits his teeth, wiping spittle off his mouth with his sleeve. This wont be easy, wont it? Looks like they'll have to try some new stuff against this one foe. Maybe a bit creative.

     He grabs his floating hand, slamming it against his rapier's hilt to form his improvised rod, dark energies gathering from his form. The wisps twists, contorting into well-formed circles, cubes as it fits to a new situation.

     The energy explodes out on the knight, forming in a sort of formless miasma, crud and purple mist to seep into her armor. Another snap and what follows are clear splorch of green... /stuff/, wriggling and expanding outward. It's brief. It's almost instant but it sure to wreck havoc on her immune system.

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
Arianrhod's burst of light knocks Rean back, sending him skidding across the floor. Her shield's tough, and his sword merely scrapes across it. "Ugh...this is going to be tough. " Rean mutters.

Arianrhod comments that if that's all he could do, they would never defeat her.

"...."

It wasn't all he could do, no. But as Amelris put it, they were just getting started.

Rean sheaths his sword, and then rushes Arianrhod again. He then shifts his weight as a feint, hoping she'll move to block it. He'll then ignite his sword in blue flames, swinging to hopefully get some fire past her defenses.

Arianrhod (7228) has posed:
    Her own attack is utilized against her, Kupot sending that light right back towards Arianrhod. But she is apparently aware of it, spinning around to face the attack and bringing her sword up to cut through it. The energy dissipates, the remainder flashing against her armor which seems to endure it well enough. Arianrhod seems to approve of the attempt though as she says, "Impressive. That's never happened before."

    There's no respite for Kupot though as Arianrhod charges forward towards him. She raises her blade over her head before bringing it down towards the moogle. Before jumping away to try and avoid a counterattack.

    As she lands though, Arianrhod is caught in surprise by Amelris's magic. The energy hits her, before turning into a gross substance. Arianrhod's armor protects her from immediate harm by the poison, but soon it begins to seep into the thin openings between the plates. No doubt she'll start to feel its affects soon.

    Turning to face the Red Mage, Arianrhod raises her sword to point at him, but doesn't close the distance. Instead, lightning begins to dance across the blade before quickly arcing out towards Amelris.

    As Rean charges her, Arianrhod brings her blade around. She doesn't block with her shield as he intended. Instead she parries with her sword, trying to throw him off balance so she can swing her other arm to bash him with the attached shield before she steps away.

    However, as she moves to regain a strong position, Arianrhod missteps for a moment. She coughs sickly, before raising her sword arm to see Rean's strange flames trying to melt through her armor. Arianrhod hmphs, "Better. But still not enough if you wish the blessing of the Black Warrior Spirit."

Kupot (6666) has posed:
With both wakizaki and katana, avoiding the blow completely comes easily. He catches the attack in the cross of the blades, shifting it again with each, only catching a bare cut across his face.

This is not going to Kupot's liking. But he has... a second choice.

The moogle flicks his fingers around, flipping the blades around towards himself and snaps them both down into their scabbards. With a twist, both blades lock in place, Kupot's hands drifting down to snap free the blades from their holsters.

When he comes back forward, he wields both blades once more, but now within their scabbards.

"Now we can begin, kupo."

Kupot weaves in, using his superior speed, his MITHRIL enhanced body to stay on Arianrhod's flank, attacking her as she launches each attack, hammering on each blow, but instead of cutting, he uses his blades to jab, striking at joint, pressure point, and being generally a menace.

Amelris Belthrone (7180) has posed:
     Amelris stands up, staggering a bit. Casting these two spells with that much potency took a bit out of him -- which probably explains why the Lightning Bolt just SLAMS into his face, sending him slamming right against the wall again. The Red Mage coughs out, his tail and ears drooping low as he sinks to the ground for a moment.

     "Son of a ..." He mutters under his breath, pushing himself back to his feet, his hand gripping his rapier tightly. His free hand swings into an arc, the gem separating from his weapon to land into his grip.

     "Keep being worried about yourself and not us." Belthrone snaps back, swinging his blade into a wide, long curve ahead of him, thrusting through a small trail of crystaline light left behind. They grow, push out to form long crystal swords that are launched at the (mostly) immobile Knight, seeking to attack her from various angles.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Arthur bursts in. Through a Gate, of course, then the entrance of the main chamber, skidding hard and slamming into a nearby wall as he struggles to slow himself. "Big error!" He shouts. "Everyone hold tight!" What has he alchemized to fix this? A big-ass potion bottle, full of some kind of exotic dirt. He slams it hard into the ground, and suddenly it induces an area-wide status effect. It's designed, it seems, not to do anything, but to clear things out. The Hero was never meant to fight The Hero, and it seems the warrior-testing nature of the area had some kind of /severe/ fuckup. "Better conditions!" He calls out; Arianrhod's supreme defensive prowess should find itself reduced, as the area loses a sense of pressure that was almost undetectable before.

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
Rean raises his sword to block the shields strike, but it's still hard enough leave him staggering a bit. He grunts, still trying to hold back her attack.

...Indeed, there were things he specifically could do, but...was it /safe/ for him to try that? Seems all the hesitation he had regarding that power mess was back again.

What else could he do then? Maybe they needed to coordinate better, maybe?...This would be way easier if the other two had ARCUS units to link to his, but oh well.  

Rean jumps back, pushing off of Arianrhod's shield to put a bit more distance in the jump. Rean dashes in again, running as quickly as he can as he tries to hit Arianrhod from as many angles as he could get around to. Could she block both him and Kupot at once? THey'd have to find out.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Arthur's changes are comprehensive. ARIANRHOD finds herself abruptly aware of the pressure lifting off of her as well; since Arthur is here only to fix, to add stability, his efforts benefit her as well. The weird dirt potion seems to have granted her a bit of increased energy! He hardly seems to notice, but perhaps this might motivate her to not... you know, kill the bugfixer while he works. Because he's trying to stay out of the fight, /for once/, and is already hard at work on devising some other bugfix coming up...

Arianrhod (7228) has posed:
    It seems that the blunt damage from Kupot's sheathed attacks proves more effective, their impacts translating through Arianrhod's armour to hurt her within. And for a while, Arianrhod lets the moogle persist in his continued assault. Until finally she turns her focus on him once more. Her armoured boot moves swiftly in an attempt to try and kick Kupot away. But she doesn't finish there, raising her sword up over her shoulder, she swings it down and releases it, sending it spinning towards Kupot.

    As Amelris launches his barrage of crystal swords at Arianrhod, the armored warrior spins around to bring her shield up. She snaps it around to intercept each before reaching her now free right hand to grab said shield. Detaching it from her arm, she twirls around, bringing the shield around and throwing it point first towards Amelris.

    It doesn't bounce back to Arianrhod. Which is normal.

    as Arthur suddenly appears from one of his gates, Arianrhod turns her head towards him. But she makes no move to engage him. Instead she says, "Understood. Then I shall stop holding back."

    As Rean charges in with his repeated strikes, Arianrhod uses her gauntlet to block most of the blows. Up until the last one, which she catches in her grasp. While she holds Rean's blade with one hand, her other raises up into the air as if to grasp something.

    That something appears with a flash of light. A large, white and golden ornate lance.

    Gripping the the hilt of the lance, Arianrhod brings it swinging down towards Rean's side, attempting to smash it into him and knock him away.

Kupot (6666) has posed:
Kupot rolls with the blow. Getting kicked with the heavy boot hurts, but Kupot puts his side towards the blow, and then shifts his hips, rolling with the kick. He hits the ground hard, rolling, but dermal plating keeps him from breaking any bones. Then the sword hits him. It slices hard across his arm, but only bleeds as a flesh wound. His armor is under his skin.

Which makes it harder to break.

Unless have a trick up your sleeve. Kupot flicks his thumb across the blade of his sword.

> Arianrhod > SUPLEX > METEOR STRIKE

As the sword passes by, he grabs it between two scabbards and flicks it towards one of the statues. It slices clean through, dropping towards Kupot, who catches it on his arm, then his shoulder, rotating with the falling to shift the entire mass towards the soldier at full speed.

Amelris Belthrone (7180) has posed:
     The crystal swords don't do... well, anything, honestly. Was it not enough oomph into this thing? Arthur's help do make him feel better, as if a weight was off his shoulders. It's not quite enough to save him from being clocked by a swung shield right accross the face.

     He falls off to the side, tumbling for a feet or two before springing back to his feet, gritting his teeth. He's getting beat up but gods.

     "Lady Incredible Wall of Iron." Belthrone stiffles through his biting lips. "You are, indeed, quite formidable. Allow us to push further!"

     This time, Amelris do not stay behind, flinging spells. He's gathered enough magic in himself to go for some more powerful strikes. He pinches the end of his rapier, the blade suddenly glowing with light and energy as he charges the Knight like an arrow, casting a spell much like before.

     What follows is a flurry of thrusts, his blade powered by his magic to cut through stronger, pierce deeper, aimed at what Amelris perceives to be potential weak points in a full plate armor like her's, punctuating each strikes with a little bit of a Bio strikes to seep in further.

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
Rean gets a spear to the side, knocking all the wind out of his lungs and sending him skidding towards a nearby wall. He lets out a few coughs, hunched over. He then takes a few deep breaths, righting himself. Ok.

Rean ignites his sword again, covered in blue flames once more. He then runs at Arianrhod again. putting as much weight as he possibly can into this next strike.

Arianrhod (7228) has posed:
    The partial stone statue comes crashing down on Arianrhod from above. It knocks her head to the side and causes her to stumble. She grunts as she moves her free hand to her helmet. She shakes off the impact, her head turning to look in Kupots direction. Perhaps she's annoyed.

    Arianrhod doesn't engage Kupot though, instead turning to face Amelris as he charges in. Those quick jabs don't do a lot on their own, but they begin to add up quickly. Especially with the added bio set to seep in through the plate armour's openings.

    Eventually Arianrhod gains a footing to return an attack against Amelris. But she is interupted by Rean's charge, coming in quickly as he is after the Red Mage. The blade strike comes down on Arianrhod's shoulder, causing her drop down to one knee from the impact.

    But the armored warrior doesn't stay down for long. Her free hand rushes up to grab at Rean's wrist. She pulls him down towards her, rising at the same time so her shoulder meets him in the gut. She then proceeds to lift him up over her, spinning around and then launching him towards Kupot to hopefully crash into the moogle.

    Arianrhod then turns her attention towards Amelris. An aura of power washes over Arianrhod. The others likely able to feel the power, it's not obviously apparent what it does... But she crouches down and raises her lance to point straight towards the Red Mage. The same light she channeled through her sword earlier appears around the lance. But this time it's much stronger.

    Arianrhod pushes off the ground, lunging towards Amelris, attempting to spear the lance through him.

Kupot (6666) has posed:
Kupot leaps. It is harsh, but he steps carefully over Rean, putting one of his feet on the man's shoulder. Luckily, Kupot doesn't weigh much. He steps up again on the statue as it topples over, launching himself at Arianrhod. He dives around her spear dive, slamming a short scabbard at her side as he slides past. His foot slides out, picking up one of the broken pieces of statue, and flings it out at Arianrhod from behind. Again and again, he steadily throws out his attacks, becoming the distraction, rather than the executioner he has been before.

Amelris Belthrone (7180) has posed:
     Amelris is very much focused on the fight, his thrusts and throwing his small bio spells at the tip of his weapon. It seems to be doing some good work against the Knight. When she pulls off that power, the Red Mage is looking precisely up at her lance, his eyes widening. He know something big is happening. Something painful is coming his way. At first, he raise his rapier to meet with the lance, pushing himself against it to propell himself away -- but no. There's too much strength. It bats away his lance. Then she leaps.

     Then she impales him. The lance goes right through him, pinning him through the back of the wall, blood spraying everywhere from the impact.

     Wait... That's... not how it happens... Is that what would have happened?

     In that briefest, snap moment, Amelris's conciousness snaps back to reality after this vision of a very gruesome death ahead of him. He thought he could parry or dodge around this attack. He can't. He have to time this right. The lance goes up. He feels the power, the same power he felt/saw ahead. She's going to leap.

     She does.

     This time, he faces the problem dead-on, leaping on the spear itself to land his feet on it's horizontal length, sliding clean accross it to deliver a firm boot to the face as he vaults right off it, landing a few feets away, catapulting a barrage of lightning on the arc down.

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
Rean gets a shoulder to the gut, and gets thrown at Kupot. Kupot is agile enough to jump off him instead though, leaving Rean to roll over and right himself. He flinches a bit at the power aura, knowing that things just got a whole lot harder. Still he dashes towards her again, launching into another flurry of strikes as he rushes past and around her.

Arianrhod (7228) has posed:
    Arianrhod finds the target of her powerful attack jumping not away, but onto her lance. Although it can't be seen through the helmet, there is a surprised look on Arianrhod's face. Surprised that the Red Mage was able to dodge so deftly.

    Of course, said surprised face is then proceeded to be kicked, though thankfully the helmet keeps it from being too injuring of a blow. The lightning blast also hits, dancing across the warriors armour and causing her to grunt in pain.

    Arianrhod stumbles backwards from the face kick, only for Kupot to get a solid hit in to the back of Arianrhod's neck with that piece of statue debris. There's no resulting clang, the stone striking flesh beneath the long golden hair of the warrior. It's apparently one of the few places not covered by armour.

    Arianrhod stumbles forward from the blow, giving Rean an opening to charge in with his strikes. She manages to raise her lance up to partially block the blows, but Rean capitalizes on her unsteady position to get some good strikes in. But finally Arianrhod manages to recover, jumping away to get some distance from Rean as she prepares her own counterattack.

    Lightning begins to ark over her lance as she closes her eyes for a moment and speaks, "Thunder of the roiling heavens..." She raises her lance to point up into the air, lightning blasting upwards in that direction. She then opens her eyes and cries out, "Fall to the battlefield!"

    Identical blasts of lightning all rain down on Kupot, Amelris and Rean.

Kupot (6666) has posed:
Can Kupot deflect lightning? Absolutely.

Can Kupot deflect a whole TON of lightning?

Nnnnnnn

The flash roars around Kupot, two bolts of it flicking around. His pom suddenly flares with blue light, the light tattoos on it exploding as they overload. One of his optics erupts as the lightning strikes it. Muscles contract violently, painfully, and Kupot staggers.

But he still has his hand on the blade. And he takes both blades, flicking them out to redirect a sudden force of lightning at Arianrhod.

Amelris Belthrone (7180) has posed:
     This time, no visions of the echo comes to Amelris' aid. The first time was startling enough, anyway.

     The lightning crashes down on the redmage, this time striking him quite cleanly from the very top of his head and conducting all the way down. It ripples and scorches his clothes, the tip of his ears burns up and his tail's fur stands up on end into a large PUFF.

     But he's still standing. Somehow.

     Still, he rallies. The Red Mage stumbles back, spinning his rattling hands together as he unleashes a small wave of energy at the knight. Two large blasts, purple and red pettering at her. He's building up to something.

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
Rean takes the lightning head on, scorching his uniform and hair. He lets out a cry, as he's fried. He takes a few steps forward...and then collapses, unable to go one anymore.

He couldn't- they couldn't- They'd be fine right? Kupot and Amelris could finish this without him, right?

'Sorry, Shyra, I4.' Rean thinks, as he passes out.

Arianrhod (7228) has posed:
    One down. Two to go.
    Arianrhod drops down to one knee once more as part of her lightning is redirected right back at it. It courses through her armour and body. Just because she can summon it, doesn't make it any less harmful to her.

    But finally the lightning passes and Arianrhod is able to stand once more. Her head quickly turns in Amelris's direction, seeing him preparing more spells. The waves of energy are unleashed at her. She's able to bring her lance around, slashing twice into each as it glows with its light, dispersing both before they can do much harm.

    Arianrhod begins to walk menacingly towards Amelris, apparently set on focusing on him. Kupot is not ignored though, the warrior's helmet briefly turning in his direction.

    Arianrhod's hand suddenly whips out, a small piece of statue flying through the air quickly, picked up when she had fallen to her knee. It's aimed for the moogle's forehead, but likely isn't much more than an annoyaance.

    Arianrhod instead turns her head back towards Amelris, quickly raising her lance up over her shoulder, before swinging it down diagonally as she gets in range. The bladed tip threatens to slice through Amelris.

Amelris Belthrone (7180) has posed:
     Amelris is not the kind of Adventurers that just slam his face straight into harm, usually. Laugh at danger, sure. Do daring sweeping acrobatics, yes. Swashbuckling? Hell yeah.

     He's not the kind usually, especially lately, to throw himself at a lance, slicing through his side to flood his already red clothes with more crimson of his blood just to get in a better position in front of the Knight. Yet, that's just what he did.

     The Miqo'te lets out a roar of defiance, his glowing sword trailing him behind him, pointed and poised into a straight, narrow stance. He screams over the distance, the lance's impact barely impacting him despite the damage.

     The blade, glowing and singing in the air, push int against previously made holes, thanks to the Bio spells he did. His blade flash with movement, relentless in enervating against already annoying wounds. The energy inside the blade sears, powered behind his considerable amount of magical energy and the balance within him.

Kupot (6666) has posed:
The piece of statue is batted away by the scabbard. Kupot is flagging, but his arms almost work by themselves. Years of muscle memory ingrained into his body.

"I don't like this, kupo. But this world needs saving. And you, kupo, should be proud for playing your role in the face of danger."

He slides both swords back down into his belt, grasping the sword. The orange gem flickers.

Physics are maleable by magic. They can shift. Momentum, for instance, can be granted, by the power of ancient heroes. So that when Kupot moves, he takes a step forward, and his leap is like a freight train, arm out. A single powerful attempt to grab Arianrhod. And use the wall behind her as the weapon.

Arianrhod (7228) has posed:
    The charge into the lance may have resulted in Amelris being struck hard, but it gives him the reach he needs to plunge that blade into one of the sections of Arianrhod's armour that has weakened. Arianrhod grunts, lowering her lance after her strike. Her other hand reaches down to grab the blade that had managed to penetrate. With a quick yank she pulls it out.

    Blood begins to trickle out of the hole in the armor.

    Arianrhod throws the held blade away, though not necessarily strong enough to force it from Amelris's grasp. But before Arianrhod can counter, Kupot comes flying in from behind.

    Arianrhod is grabbed from behind and forced into a nearby wall with a crunch. Part of the wall crumbles where the front of Arianrhod's helmet had met it. She is still for several moments...

    Arianrhod's lance glows with light, a larger, phantom version of it appearing around it. Her hand whips it around behind her without looking. The actual weapon threatens to strike Kupot behind her, while a wave of light is unleashed by the swing and sweeps towards Amelris further away.

Amelris Belthrone (7180) has posed:
     Of course, this kind of manuvering DO have it's price.

     The Red Mage get unceremoniously SLAMMED by the wave of light unleashed by the phantom whip. His body slams against the wall and, this time, he do not get back up immediatedly. "Ugggn..."

Kupot (6666) has posed:
The lance drives harshly into Kupot's chest, driving in through the dermal armor, pushing all the way in through. He grasps it harshly, but he still doesn't remove his swords from their scabbard. This is a game, a show, a play. He will not use their sharp edges in an effort to cut someone's life down. Blood pours down from his mouth, and his single glacier blue eye stares up at Arianrhod. "I refuse to stop, kupo. It would be worthy to die to save this world."

He holds the lance in tight, struggling to get the energy to launch another attack.

Arianrhod (7228) has posed:
    Arianrhod extracts her helmet from the hole in the wall, taking a somewhat unsteady step backwards. She then slowly spins to face Kupot, keeping the pressure up with her lance. Her free hand moves to cover the hole in her armour that her life blood is leaking from.

    Arianrhod's helmet turns to look in Rean's direction. Then in Amelris's. Then finally to the struggling Kupot.

    In what is probably a sudden surprise, the lance disappears with the same flash of light that it arrived. It might throw off the Moogle's balance for a moment, but Arianrhod does not attempt to engage in said moment.

    Arianrhod replies, her tone a little tired, "Doing so would mean failure. These two could not claim the blessing, having known defeat in this shrine. You however..." Arianrhod considers for a moment, then finishes, "There is surprising strength in your small stature. I do believe you will succeed."

    Arianrhod turns, beginning to head towards the room's exit where she left her horse. She calls back to the moogle though, "Make your offering to the spirit. And know that I look forward to our next clash. Perhaps in a situation more befitting of a proper duel."

Amelris Belthrone (7180) has posed:
     Amelris raise a hand from where he's currently in a heap, his hat covering his bloodied face.

     "We were a /party/ and we won together as a group, lady!" The Miqo'te corrects, index waggling weakly at the knight lady. "Thaaaaaaat's how it works!"

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
Rean lets out a few coughs, sorta kinda waking up now. He weakly does a fist pump in the air to Amelris' words.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Arthur wastes no time. A fresh Gate. He'll physically lift these folks with his magely noodle arms if he has to, to get that relic into blessing position. But his Gate is up, and before Haseo can get at them, he intends to be gone. This is down to the wire, down to the /very edge/ of things. So he /books it/. Focus, focus, focus. Not even any goofy coolkid-isms. This is not the time or place for that -- or indeed, for much of anything but making sure to leave the latter to survive to see more of the former.

Riku (6928) has posed:
Finally, the enemy takes their leave. When the group approaches the chelonian Black Warriors Statue, the eyes flare with energy.

IT WAS A MIGHTY BATTLE. YOU HAVE PROVEN WORTHY. STEP FORTH, HEROES. I WILL GIVE YOU THE BLESSING OF MY POWER SO YOU MAY GO FORTH AND PRESERVE THIS WORLD.

Once someone approaches and holds up the Black Warriors Relic, the object is suffused with energy of the appropriate color. With it comes the power of EARTH, able to project elemental attacks of that type or suffuse the bearer's weapon with the element.

AND NOW I MAY FINALLY REST. GO FORTH, HEROES. EMBRACE YOUR DESTINY.

The entire Shrine begins to rumble and crack, the place beginning to collapse in on itself... Oh snap, was that a load-bearing blessing?

Riku (6928) has posed:
Finally, the enemy takes their leave. When the group approaches the chelonian Black Warriors Statue, the eyes flare with energy.

IT WAS A MIGHTY BATTLE. YOU HAVE PROVEN WORTHY. STEP FORTH, HEROES. I WILL GIVE YOU THE BLESSING OF MY POWER SO YOU MAY GO FORTH AND PRESERVE THIS WORLD.

Once someone approaches and holds up the Black Warriors Relic, the object is suffused with energy of the appropriate color. With it comes the power of EARTH, able to project elemental attacks of that type or suffuse the bearer's weapon with the element.

AND NOW I MAY FINALLY REST. GO FORTH, HEROES. EMBRACE YOUR DESTINY.

The entire Shrine begins to rumble and crack, the place beginning to collapse in on itself... Oh snap, was that a load-bearing blessing?


It's okay, Arthur's got this.