2098/Hungry Fields

Hungry Fields
Date of Scene:	25 April 2015
Location:	Spring
Synopsis:	Meadow Hill is under attack. The fourth seasonal zone to suffer random monster attacks out in the middle of nowhere. Will the responders find out the reason for it this time?
Cast of Characters:	560, Lyria Mason, 725, 726, 737

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Walter Bernhard (726) has posed:
    Dense vapor. Drifting, moving, shifting, concealing.

    Strong perfume. Fragrant, floral, intoxicating, gagging.

    Suspicious sounds. Foot falls, writhing, creeping, stalking.

    Meadow Hill is under attack.

    Meadow Hill is lost in the fog.

    Meadow Hill is lost.

    Lost.

    Lost.

    ----------------------------------------

    Meadow Hill is a town inhabited by the race known as Halflings. They are basically what they sound like. A race of humanoids of smaller stature and proportion than is typical of humans, but otherwise not too different. Perhaps a bit more pointed of ear, and with nimble fingers and high stamina, but nothing exceptionally out of the ordinary. They live a peaceful existence, far removed from industrialized nations and other civilizations, and so on. A beautiful natural environment. A town, situated on a large hill, surrounded by millions of different species of flowers, stretching outwards in every direction as far as the eye can see.

    Or that is ordinarily the case, at least. Presently, the entire area is cloaked in a dense layer of fog that reduces visibility to only about ten feet in front of one's face. While extreme weather is not unheard of, given this is the region known as Spring, meaning wild spring weather comes up fairly often, the fog generally isn't THIS thick...

    ...And it generally isn't known for eating people, as a rider from Meadow Hill has reported after finally reaching a distant town with the capacity for long-range communication. A call for help has gone out - for just about anyone to come and save Meadow Hill, from devouring fog and giant, man-eating plants. What he didn't report, because it happened after he left, was that a fierce storm is approaching. Rage-black clouds, sweeping in through the sky, roaring their thunderous threats and flashing their fangs of lightning. Accompanying that storm is something even more terrible than the current threats.

    Something sent to meet whatever heroes come calling.

    The trip from the nearest Warp Gate is a significant one. It took the rider days. On something other than a pony, such as a car, or motorcycle, or hover craft, or winged flight, or some manner of magical travel, it could be far briefer. Perhaps hours. But that still takes time. And based upon the three previous encounters like this in the other three seasonal regions, every moment wasted travelling likely means more casualties at the destination.

    At least directions were provided by the Halfling rider, and people should have a general idea what direction to go, even after entering the fog.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    The Union's response involved dispatching several people... but Emiya Shirou presumably wasn't on the list. By most accounts he should probably be still recovering from his fight with Comrade Crush. The fight had left him thrashed inside and out, with severe damage to some internal organs and many crushed bones. Yet somehow with nothing more than two days of sleep he's out and about again looking no worse for the experience.

    Just...

    "Gh..." Just sore on the side where he took a blow. It's sore. Sometimes it tingles. But pain doesn't deter Shirou.

    'If failure comes from an external source it can't be helped. But I'll never lose against a challenge from within!' is the spirit holding the boy together when he trudges through a hole in space and time opened by Union mages for an emergency dispatch to the remote location.

    Even though every step in his jog brings with it a hot spike of pain from his side, he endures the throbbing in his head and body.

    There was a time when he turned his back on people who desperately needed help. But he abandoned them all to save himself - and so, he lived.

    He won't leave others to die ever again.

    "Trace... on!" The amber-eyed youth's Magic Circuits come alive in response to the familiar chant and power cycles through them... as do illusions. Illusions of wondrous weapons!

    Into the storming fog he goes, seeking out Meadow Hill...

Vivio Takamachi (737) has posed:
    A village in danger, a mysterious fog, man-eating plants! This calls for... A 10-year-old girl? Okay, Vivio probably isn't candidate in this situation. She's still fairly new to the elite scene, unseasoned, untested, green, however you want to say it. However, her spirit and desire to help surely makes up for it!

    Plus magic. Magic helps too.

    A streak of iridescent light pushes its way through the fog at a descent speed. It's path isn't very level, but so far it seems to have avoided crashing into anything on its journey here. Inside said streak is Vivio, or at least the older looking version of her. She squints, having trouble seeing anything through the thick fog... Turning her head to her left she asks, "Are you sure we're heading in the right direction?" The plush bunny flying through the air beside her waves its arms. Apparently it was a response as Vivio then asks, "And you're sure there's nothing ahead of me? Cause I can't see much..." The plush bunny waves its arms around again. Vivio looks skeptical, but says, "Okay... So how much farther?" The plush bunny points down and Vivio looks surprised, "W-wait, we're here!? Why didn't you tell me sooner, I have to slow down!"

    The streak of light curves over as it heads down towards the ground, slowing down as it gets closer. As she descends, the light around Vvio begins to fade and she attempts to look for some signs of the village, or its trouble.

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason Was following after Shirou who was her senior in the multiverse in terms of experiance ans she wtched his alien magic for a moment, before she pulls one pistol in her off hand, and draws a cutlass of some sort in the other. With that she follows after him keeping quiet and is also here to make sure he doesn't die given he's left the medical bay, but she knows she won't talk him into coming back.

"We should keep alert here."

Non humans other than Dragons had taken some getting use to, but she had adapted to it, so long as they were not clearly confirmed spawn of the Enemy or any like power she had taken realtively well to theat concepts but the information about the fog and such had left her uneasy.

"Mmm I may be able to try something with my Geomancy if this proves to be a accurate report."

She's not denying something happened, nay. It's more she's not sure just what actually did.

Walter Bernhard (726) has posed:
    The fog is clearly unnatural. Laced with magic energy. The way is muffles sound from outside, allowing only sounds from within the fog to be heard right after crossing its border, is not something that normal fog does. Further, the obfuscation of sight leads to a certain heightening of hearing, so just how QUIET it is, and how LOUD sounds made by the heroes in that quiet environment are is especially noticeable. The flowers that crunch under foot when they stray off the winding dirt roads, the noise of their own breaths, the spooky almost-sound of things real or imagined moving around in the fog unseen...

    It's an extremely unnerving experience. Especially considering that there may be parts of the fog, or creatures within it, that can swallow them up - potentially without warning. It's like swimming in the ocean with creatures made of water waiting for a chance to pull you down into the depths, never being seen even as you breathe your last breath. Following the road is the best bet for making it to Meadow Hill, but moving slowly is somewhat necessary in order not to accidentally wander off the path.

    All in all, there are probably better rescue missions out there.

    Sometimes, the muffled noise of things moving around them is a bit sharper. Organic noises overlay the sound of flowers crunching and releasing their perfume, as a certain noise like shuffling or writhing comes closer. Its approach is slow, and if one moves at a normal speed, easily outpaced. It could be left behind in short order. But with the limited visibility, going too fast could make the situation worse, not better. And slowing movement means either letting the mysterious movement close the distance, or keeping a constant gap between them.

    Not an endeavor one would want to pursue long term.

    Of course, they could just turn around and face it. There's multiple of these things, whatever they are, going after each person or group.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    "Can you do something with that to clear away storms and fog over a big area?" Shirou sounds hopeful, but also doubtful. Such large-scale magic is unthinkable by his perspective...

    But on the other hand the way he's looking at Lyria with eyes full of expectant hope is inspiring in its own way.

    "Weather like this doesn't do anything good for our chances of saving anyone."

    But just then VIVIO comes swooping around in the fog too. "A TSAB mage...?" Shirou waves his arms - at the same time wincing a bit. "Oi, are you with us?! Let's join up and tackle this together. Otherwise we'll end up completely disorganized. I don't like this fog."

    Well, well. Maybe Bedivere's lessons about tactics are sinking in.

    But on the other hand, maybe not. This Fog has him jumpy. With a flick of his wrist Shirou brings his favored weapons into existence!

    "Stop right there! Who's coming?! Speak up!"

    His first move? Put himself between the shuffling noise and Lyria. Ever the hero!

Vivio Takamachi (737) has posed:
    Vivio glances around, noticing that it's awfully quiet... Except for some guy calling out to her, "Uhhh, huh? Oh... Umm, I guess so! I heard there was some bad things happening around here..."

    Vivio walks a little closer to Emiya and Lyria, getting a better look at them. She smiles and waves, "Hey, I'm Vivio." Enough introductions, Vivio looks around some more... "So, uh, what's happening here?" She tries squinting her eyes to see if that will improve her vision... Nope, still foggy. She's not used to such limited vision...

    "Chris, better go Contact Mode." The plush bunny nods in agreement, floating around in front of Vivio. It then floats backwards towards her chest, magic light briefly shining as it actually enters into her chest and then vanishes. Vivio stretches for a few moments, throws a few punches into the air, then nods in approval.

    As Emiya calls out to some invisible foe(?) behind them, Vivio spins around and adopts a defensive stance as she waits to see what's out there... If anything's out there... It's hard to tell!

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason is clearly not liking the fog and is glad she pulled down her goggles eariler. She peers at it not making a hostile move towards it however she can hear that there's just nothing making noise really. It's unnerving to put it mildy to be honest. She did her best to keep up a brave face. She looks to Shirou for a moment.

"Humm I can try to do something give me a moment to focus and see if I can try to maniplate it."

She closes her eyes and takes an odd stance she can try to manilate the air to some degree she shifts mutters some sort of incation and attemps to clerar the path ahead of them and she does know someone else is there and thinks sticking together is a good idea. She's going to have something to say to Vivio but for the moment she need sto clear it up as best she can.

Walter Bernhard (726) has posed:
    Shirou chooses the 'stand and fight' option. There's no response to his challenge, no indication of hesitation at the heroes taking up combat-ready stances. Just the sound coming closer, it becoming more clear. It's like the sound of a plant growing, amplified and sped up so that human ears can hear it. It's kind of a stretchy, ropey sort of noise. Fibers weaving and winding and extending and contracting. A silhouette gradually becomes visible as the shuffling thing comes closer and closer to the stationary targets. When it enters that ten foot visual range, it can be mostly made out.

    It is something that resembles a cross between a venus fly trap and an artichoke, on a sort of platform of writhing vines. It's also about fifteen feet across, and fifteen feet tall. That is one big plant. It's gigantic, bulky, and moves very slowly. Easy to outrun. But running safely, let alone without losing sense of direction, would be difficult in this environment. As it contains its very slow approach, the petals sweep to contract for a moment, dipping inwards before suddenly sending out an eruption of pollen as they spread open... And releasing a rain of human and halfling skulls on those nearby in the process. Not the most damaging attack, though they could probably cause bruises from the impact, on top of being incredibly creepy.

    The fog is a mix of magical and mundane, with the mundane being manipulated into place by the magic. Lyria does a good job of dispelling it around them either way, giving a clear look at not only the Man-Eating Plant approaching them, but also the fact that there are a couple others headed this way as well. The path ahead is cleared enough to follow, though after about a hundred feet, Lyria may need to pause to clear the fog again. At least running is an option now. And dodging those skulls is more viable as well, now that they can be seen more clearly.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    "What the... WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!" Shirou blurts - moments before he's promptly assaulted by pollen and FLYING SKULLS!

    Freakish. But his traced weapons react before he even really thinks about it, dicing apart skulls and other bones and battering others away. "These are the monsters..." Kanshou and Bakuya are hurled furiously at the plant as the fog's cleared.

    Then he introduces himself to Vivio. "Emiya Shirou! You didn't get the message? The region's under attack... by these monsters!"

    For some reason, the sight of skulls has only made him tense, not nauseated.

    Tense and ANGRY. "It's just like those other attacks! Where's the sense in this slaughter?! If we don't reach the village..."

Vivio Takamachi (737) has posed:
    Well, the message did say something about man-eating plants... Though Vivio wasn't quite expecting it to be so literal... And so many... Her eyes go wide at the sight of the skulls, a simple Protection spell going up instinctively, the skulls bouncing off the magic barrier.

    As the fog clears, atleast part of the way, Vivio glances around to see that there is more than one plant monster... Vivio takes a few steps back, glancing at the others for a moment...

    No. Vivio clenches her fists as she looks back at the plantster. This is her first real battle. And it's clear... "These things need to be stopped before they hurt anyone else!" Vivio takes a step forward...

    And in the blink of an eye, jets right up next to one of the plansters, leg coming around in a magic and speed enhanced kick that'll hit with enough force to send even these large things flying.

    Planting both feet on the ground again, Vivio turns her head to glance towards the others, "Maybe you guys should go ahead! I'll delay these and catch up when I can..."

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason is able to assess there is a sense that something is altering the fog, she's able to get a look at the man-eating plant. Okay that's not good, that's not good at all. It's also got friends it looks like.

"It seems someone forgot to weed around here."

Then comes the skulls she stares in horror for a second and grips her weapons harder.

"What is there ever it's like a Shivan Warlord. Power, greed, pleasure even the mega corps at least build something hat will last or have a legacy."

he now looks to the kid for a moment. There's no terrain here that would let her maniplate fire which would be the best way to deal with killer plants. Alas that will not be the case.

"Splitting the party isn't the best idea lets fight our way through as a group!"

She now starts taking shots at the plants with her pistol sending elementally charged fire rounds at them. Not as good as her geomancy but it will be a bit better than standard bullets or so she hopes, seriously this region is a charnel house from the looks of things.

Walter Bernhard (726) has posed:
    The thrown blades slam into the plant and knock it back with several sounds of air escaping from the tight confines within its petals when struck. But it isn't clear whether it actually took damage or not. It takes a few moments for it to stop moving backwards and start moving forwards again, but it does not appear deterred by the attack.

    Vivio's kick bounces the Man-Eating Plant off the ground and sends it skidding backwards for about thirty feet, where its petals then open up, exposing the teeth that line its petals, an a column of blood-red plant matter at the center, with its own petals... And a fang-rimmed mouth that is probably where its prey is eaten.

    It remains stationary after opening up like this. Maybe that's a weak point? It seems that with Shirou's ability to strike repeatedly at range, he might be able to likewise trigger a Man-Eating Plant's stationary phase. It just might take a sufficient number of hits, or a single hit of great force.

    When Lyria adds in her own fire to the one that Shirou was swording, their combined hits do exactly that, make it open up its petals and expose that core that has been turned red with the blood of its victims.

    There only appear to be three of these Man-Eating Plants in the immediate area, but it's a big field. Hunting down all of them might be rough. Once these are dealt with, reaching Meadow Hill is probably a higher priority than rooting them all out!

    Then a phase made of fog drifts down from above, detectable only the sound of inhalation it makes as it hovers right behind the group, before it breathes out a stream of toxic green mist of some kind for a short distance. Distracted as she is with the plant monster, Lyria might get immersed in the poison if she doesn't react in time! Thankfully, like the Man-Eating Plant, the Mist is also very slow.

Vivio Takamachi (737) has posed:
    Vivio was going to politely disagree with Lyria, but while waiting for a counterattack from the opening plant... It doesn't come. Huh. She notices another plantster has been opened and is also stationary...

    "Okay, maybe running will work!" And so Vivio runs.

    Of course she's not about to just run without a fight. As she makes her way back to the others, hopefully with the intent to make a dash for the village, Vivio summons several orbs of iridescent light around her and then points in the direction of one unopened planster, calling out, "Sonic Shooter Assault Shift!"

    The orbs of magic shoot of beams of light which streak towards the targetted plant and explode on contact.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    "OOOAH!" Shirou smashes the ground with a freshly-projected set of his weapons with enough force to kick up a fierce wind and smash a CRATER many times his size every which way. Those little weapons pack a punch!

    Enough to clear the air of the pollen and maybe some of the toxic mist.

    "If that's what it takes to put these things down we'll never reach Meadow Hill... and if these things follow us..."

    Does he need to say what will happen?

    "... Lyria! Clear us a path! We'll fight as go. use distance to our advantage!" Yup, he's definitely using some tactics here.

    Gritting his teeth, Shirou clenches both hands and grips the air... HARD. Struggling to do something.

    Power sizzles, flashes, and arcs wildly from his hands in the next few moments and quickly solidifies into the shape of a blue and silver longsword polished enough to dazzle the eye. It seems almost... divine, even though it's undeniably a forgery.

    Your typical replica of a legendary weapon though would only LOOK the part.

    THIS copy of Excalibur Galatine ignites with a ferocious sunfire shooting from guard to the tip. Radiant light and flame illuminates the ground and shines in the fog and Shirou simply swings the weapon at the remaining plants to send a warding wave of small flame their way.

    But even doing this gets him wincing again and staggering!

    With luck, they can ward the plants off and bolt for a path Lyria can make!

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason has just had it drummed into her at school thou shall not split thine party. Seriously Mr. Greene can be scary as heck like that. She however is keeping with the shots on the man eating plants. She wonders ho many there are, and this place might need to be scoured with fire to get all the seeds as well. She's not able to act on that as there may still be people about, who get cuaght up in it. The mist is coming agian and it's time to move. She attemps to clear the path as Shirou asked using her geomancy again but she's not fighting at this point, she's going to try to keep up with her allies so long as she doesn't break her spells so to speak.

Walter Bernhard (726) has posed:
    As it turns out, the Man-Eating Plants are weak to fire. Lyria's bullets, Shirou's Noble Phantasm replica, and Vivio's explosions all do significant damage to the monstrous flora. The ones open close their petals after about ten seconds and start moving forward again, but if struck by flames they pause and open back up again. The ones that were closed likewise open. And when their cores are exposed to the flames, they release a sort of warped, not-quite screaming sound as light and shadow flow up around them, condensing and shrinking the plants at the same time, until they shrivel and vanish from sight.

    The Mist was dispelled quickly after Shirou threw his summoned blades at it, seemingly weak to such. Which is good, because unlike the plants, Mists are strong against flames.

    For now, and with Lyria clearing the fog from the road, their path is free of additional threats. It's a clear shot straight to Meadow Hill. After running for awhile, possibly with further fog-clearing from Lyria, the trio reach the Halfling town... And find their dome-shaped dwellings and small, brick buildings that are partially built into the ground all locked up tight. There are signs of the Man-Eating Plants having damaged some of the buildings but it seems that neither they nor the Mists could really break inside. Only those who left the safety of their homes and businesses were likely eaten.

    It's a situation similar to the one in Winter, though the wolves in that case COULD get into the houses. Thunder rumbles loudly overhead, as a flash of light super-imposes itself over everything in an electrical discharge from the heavens. Strong winds suddenly start blowing through, and the fog begins to disperse all on its own.

    In the suddenly-revealed entirety of Meadow Hill, the empty streets are visible, the enormity of the storm clouds swirling overhead... And a very large, dark shape that is floating towards them.

    That shape appears to be a giant, severed head, with hair made of giant serpents, a twisted, monstrous face with snake-eyes, and sharp fangs in a grinning mouth.

    "What'sss thiiiiisss?" the legendary monster asks, though she no doubt already knows exactly what their presence here means. Scattered around in the streets are stone statues of Halflings... Frozen in terror, or in the act of fleeing, by the petrifying powers of Medusa.

    "Heroesss have come to play, have they? Hmm... You there with the red hair... I think you will look lovely as a ssstatue in my collection! The woman and the child, however... Mussst die!"

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Thiiiiiis is not at all what Shirou was expecting. Seeing a mass of snakes is enough to get him instantly writhing in disgust and alarm. He looks away quckly, avoiding looking straight into the floating head's eyes as well he can. Which means occasionally he makes eye contact. "Are you... MEDUSA?! I'm not doing any such thing. Undo your curse on these people! Right now!"

    It's not a question or even a request, it's a flat-out Demand. Angry and yelly and with blood pumping in part fury, part error.

    "Why are you even here?!"

    Clumsily he hoists Excalibur Galatine as if to ward her off...

    Vivio and Lyria are both probably more used tot his kind of situation than he...

Vivio Takamachi (737) has posed:
    Vivio glances around as they enter the town. It's very quiet... No surprise, considering their are monsters in the area. Hopefully the people inside will be safe. Vivio notices the strange looking statues dotting the town in strange locations. She doesn't know a whole lot about art... But it's rather weird too her. But she's not about to judge another culture's... Well, culture.

    Vivio is quickly alert though as... A giant head with snake hair descends from above!? Vivio inwardly shudders a little. Talk about ugly. However, as discussion about this new foe occurs over the radio, Vivio begins to look a little sad as she realises what those strange statues are...

    And then she looks determined. Vivio stares Medusa down and says, "Sorry, I made a promise." She smiles as she clenches her fists, shifting into an attack stance, "I'm not allowed to die."

Lyria Mason has posed:
The plants are held back and she's moving forward keeping the mist away for the moment. She's not sure how long this will last as there's clearly something controling it that is not her. The Levitani girl move ahed now trying to keep with the group. WIth the monsters gone, and the mist under control, it should be smooth sailing right? Wrong they have to deal with this medusa sort what ever this is she gets teh warning about not to look at it however.

"...A statue?! I think not!" She's also trying to look away however she gets the idea they are going to hae to fight. She does think whe has a soultion to the stoned people but for now they have to deal with Medusa.

"How about we Parlay like this? You leave and don't come back and no one else gets hurt."

Walter Bernhard (726) has posed:
    There's a sound like slithering and hissing snakes in every breath Medusa takes, a distorted quality to her voice as though speaking from underwater. As her yellow eyes look between the heroes present, she chuckles darkly at Shirou's question and demand. "Clearly I am out for a stroll, in this lovely fresh air. Do I not have the right to stretch my legs?" She doesn't even have legs! She ceases her taunting to answer the demand. "Even if I could, I have no reason to reverse my magic! And I CAN NOT reverse it regardless!" As Vivio speaks, Medusa turns her gaze on the girl, and then hisses out, "How unfortunate. It appears you will be breaking your promise."

    Then she flies towards the trio, slowing momentarily as she gets close enough, with one of the larger snakes on the side of her head pulling back and coiling, before lashing out in a combination of bite and physical ram, aimed right at Vivio! A giant snake punch! ...Not an attack most people would expect to get hit with in their life time!

    "No more talk!" is Medusa's answer to Lyria attempting to find a peaceful solution, even as she attacks the youngest one present. "My purpose here will be fulfilled, one way or another!"

Vivio Takamachi (737) has posed:
    As the Medusa taunts them, magic begins to gather around Vivio's fist. She doesn't seem to like it... The iridescent light grows strong as Vivio responds matter-of-factly, "I don't break promises."

    As a concept, the attack sent towards Vivio is surprising. Really, few would expect to be hit with a giant snake punch... Even fewer would think to punch it back!

    Vivio twists her body, arm crackling with magic pulled back, "Accel..."

    The snake comes streaking towards Vivio, who swings to meet it while crying out, "SMASH!" Her magic flares as fist meets snake. There is a brief flash of light, which is quickly followed by an explosion!

    Vivio comes skidding out of the smoke of the blast. The Barrier Jacket of her arm has a large tear through it, red beginning to show. One of the snake's fangs had torn through, though the wound wasn't serious thanks to defensive magics.

    Countering the monster's words, Vivio says, "You have no purpose! You're just a bully, hurting those who are weaker than you!"

Lyria Mason has posed:
Okay there goes a chance at a peaceful soultion, and she's going to fight how ever she can. Givent his thing can turn them to stone, right? She shifts she moes with her cutlass and attemps to sever the head snale with it as it comes in to strike at Vivio. She's also trying to not look at Medusa as much as possible given the warning she was given by Shirou.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Shirou's not buying that. His expression turns very stone-faced, and not because of Medusa. That quickly shifts to frustration. "Can't expect reasoning after all... fine! Then we're taking you out before anyone else gets petrified or eaten!"

    Simple, and straightforward. He's not in the mood for humor.

    But well, he rarely is.

    Instead of swinging the burning sword, Shirou projects a bow from his free hand and MOUNTS the sword like an arrow.

    Then fires straight for Medusa.

    THAT's probably the last thing she was expecting!

    "Purpose?! You're working for someone to do this?!"

Walter Bernhard (726) has posed:
    The explosive punch from Vivio tore several dozen armored scales off the snake-appendage, and there's lots of blood flying everywhere now. Lyria's slashing at the enormous serpent deals damage to its exposed flesh, causing more blood to pour forth, but doesn't quite seem to sever it. It's a durable monster, to be sure.

    She doesn't appear to have anything further to say, conversation-wise. Whether Shirou misunderstood something or is correct or not, she is paying more attention to the battle. After his arrow-sword slams into her, piercing her body and causing even more blood to gush out onto the ground, she cries out in pain and floats around in a half-circle, possibly trying to move behind the group. Though with these three being as agile as they are, that might not be possible for the giant flying head.

    As she floats along, however, tears of poisonous blood weep from her eyes, steaming when they hit the ground and leaving a trail of toxic mist that might be best avoided.

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason is going to watch her movmentrs and her strikes, she manage sto cut it but it's enough to make it bleed. She shifts a bit flicks something under the saber's guard and the blade starts to vibrate and now she's looking to see how to strike next against Medusa, she's also taking care to avoid any of her stoned victems. She's pretty sure there's a chance a white mage from her world can help them. Or even some of the items she might be carrying, might help. Now's she's got to worry about this monster.

She shifts in moving to fire a few aimed pistol shots, it's single rounds and is only more intending to try and keep MEdusa on guard. She is forced out of her plan to get into melee again due to the trail of toxic mist she's go to avoid, however hse still thinks getting into their gril is the best action.

"Some people just want to see the world burn or have nothing in mind more than their own desires, Shirou!"

Vivio Takamachi (737) has posed:
    Vivio winces a little as the pain from her arm begins to become more noticeable. She's used to some pain during a fight, but not after the first attack! Trying to push the pain from her mind like she was taught, Vivio returns her attention to Medusa.

    The toxic mist will make movement to get closer hard, so for the moment Vivio switches to a ranged stance. Much like against the plansters, several orbs of iridescent light appear around Vivio, accompanied by a spell circle on the ground beneath her. The hum of energy grows as Vivio calls, "Sonic Shooter..." But she ends it differently as she swings her arm, "Phantom Shift!"

    The orbs dart forward towards Medusa. As each closes in, they burst into multiple smaller bolts of magic that rain down on Medusa and her snakes.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Shirou doesn't avoid all of the mist in time. His skin sizzles on contact due to just not getting away in time. "Gah!!"

    PAIN!

    But it's just pain. And well, eroding flesh. That's uh... nott apparently going to stop him, even though it really should.

    Shirou just draws the bow again after scrambling to his feet. "My body is made of swords."

    JOYEUSE, the holy sword of Charlemagne, is his choice this time. A blade of rainbow colors is drawn back and launched, trailing a gaudy-as-hell rainbow and unleashing an eye-searing lightshow the moment it hits something!

Walter Bernhard (726) has posed:
    Lyria's bullets pepper Medusa's mane of serpents and the side of her face, drawing more blood, and Vivio's explosive laser barrage accomplishes much the same. Between them, the damage already inflicted, and then Shirou's rainbow sword attack that impales her right in the forehead - without, apparently killing her - the legendary monster is starting to look pretty torn up. Also she has a heck of a lot of blood, if the mess all over the ground is anything to go by. It seems like a geyser of the stuff comes out of her from every hit! Or maybe the big globs of it are just larger due to the scale of the enemy. Giant monster biology is probably not the specialty of anyone present.

    Medusa hisses at the pain of her injuries and then, yells out, "TURN TO STONE!" Her eyes blaze with a phantasmal light that erupts into a beam that starts on the ground in front of her and then raises upwards, travelling farther, as she adjusts the angle. It's a straight-line attack, so moving out of the way is the simplest way to defend against it.

    But moving out of the way is also probably a REALLY GOOD IDEA given what the attack probably does.

Vivio Takamachi (737) has posed:
    Even in her adult form, Vivio is rather fast on her feet. She jumps away from the beam as it starts, then once more as the angle is adjusted. Judging by the statues of the poor townspeople, Vivio is fairly certain she doesn't want to get turned to stone.

    As Medusa manages to get the beam close to Vivio, the Mage raises her hand. A Round Shield appears, repelling the petrification magic long enough for Vivio to get clear... She didn't want to test her defensive magics against such a dangerous attack.

    The fact that the attack is emanating from Medusa's eyes doesn't escape Vivio's notice. This means the safest place to strike from is behind the creature! Vivio shifts her footing, Jet...

    ... Step! Vivio's movement magic takes her around the floating head in flash. Magic is already gathering in her palm as she swings it around. The growing orb stops in front of her, a magic circle lighting up beneath her. The orb is growing large, much larger than any of Vivio's previous attacks. Pulling her arm back, Vivio closes her fist and says, "Divine-" Vivio swings, "-BUSTER!"


Vivio's fist smashes the orb of iridescent light. The gathered magic bursts forth as a large, wide blast of energy that could easily strike all of Medusa at once. The blast doesn't go far though, quickly fading so as to not cause unnecessary damage to the village, or any of the petrified halflings.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    "---CRAP!" how DOES one get out of it?! Shirou's not particularly dodgy. thankfully... He has a few breaths. That's all. "MONTAUBAUN!"

    Power surges forth from his hands and takes shape - an enormous white marble wall, albeit filmy and translucent, erupts from the ground just in time. The mystic beam slams into it to utterly no effect whatsoever, although Shirou's hunkering clumsily behind the wall in a panic - HOPING this will hold.

    "that's NOT Mystic Eyes!" he blurts like a dolt, He'd expeted the petrification thing to be a little more subtle than this!

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason gets a better hit than she expected, she's getitng cocky and then this legendary monster is now trying to trurn them all to stone. She sees the beam and that's when she starts running at this point trying to get clear, an actuall attack is going to be up to someone else for the moment, Vivio does her thing enough magical power to turn some heads of her techers back home.

This is where she gets some brething spare, now clear and she gets a moment to shift her stance and she then makes several gesturs before the ground it self will spike up at the medusa.

Walter Bernhard (726) has posed:
    Medusa's petrification beam seems to only affect people and other living things, not walls, because the light doesn't do anything to the barrier. Shirou is safe despite his inability to dodge!

    Vivio's powerful attack slams into Medusa, tearing the skin from her face and searing one of of her eyes enough she has to shut it. The damage goes no deeper than that, but it's still pretty severe. And just look at all the BLOOD! Legendary monster or no, she's not invincible, and she is being torn apart, one powerful attack at a time, as she faces off against three Elites at once. With Lyria's earth spikes rising up and stabbing into Medusa from below, that seems to have been the last straw.

    "DAMN YOU!" she yells. Huge chunks of stone rise up from the ground and are torn from the surrounding structures, and start to orbit her. Three of them fly around and around her, before she hurls them at her enemies - one each. But they seem to be aimed to distract or force a defense like Shirou's wall, rather than intended to be decisive blows, as she floats backwards.

    As wind howls, and another lightning bolt streaks down from the sky, blood trails the monster as she... Attempts to flee!?

    It seems she has taken enough of a beating and is preparing to pull out!

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    The huge rock slams into Shirou's barrier with much better results than the petrification spell! Montauban cracks and topples. It's not quite as tough as it looks - Shirou needs way more practice with it. But he's left gasping for breath and doubled over, holding his side briefly. The one that got torn to shreds a few days ago!

    "Escaping? I'm sure all these people here you turned into statues tried that too!" He's pretty damned angry.

    Angry enouigh that it's likely surprising to some that he doesn't go after her...

Vivio Takamachi (737) has posed:
    Uh oh! Giant rock! Vivio raises her arms up in front of her to protect herself. The large boulder smashes into her, breaking apart as it does and sending Vivio flying. She bounces across the ground a couple of times before recovering, planting a hand into the ground and reorienting her movement to bring her down on her feet. Skidding the last little distance, Vivio stops and stands.

    Vivio watches as the Medusa monster begins to flee. She briefly considers chasing after the creature... But feels kind of bad for the harm they've caused to it, even after what it did to the village.

    Vivio flexes her arms to make sure they still work well enough after blocking that rock. She then looks at the others to see what they want to do about the fleeing Medusa.

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason is just getting lucky at this point she watches as Medusa takes a pounding of some sort, and she ownders. What sort of monster is this to take a beating like she's getting and not just dying. She sees she's going to run, she's still alive? Seriously what kind of monster is she. She raises her pistol and attemps to take a shot but well then comes another thought the victems she halts her firing least things get even worse. She lowers her pistol and then holsters it sighing deeply.

"I'm going try to do what I can ... but from the condtion of some of these people, I'm not holding out too much hope. Still if we can save anyone it's worth it."

Walter Bernhard (726) has posed:
    It'll probably take some convincing to get the Halflings to come out of their homes after all this, and some work to clean up the mess left behind... And get the statues somewhere they can be tested to see if there's a way to reverse the process. But the fog seems to have cleared completely, and even the storm in the sky has become somehow... Gentler in Medusa's absence. A rain begins to fall, both fierce and soft. Natural spring weather, rather than the dry thunder and lightning displayed previously.

    It seems yet another seasonal zone attack has been thwarted, despite casualties. What is all of this about exactly? All four zones have been attacked, and the reason behind it is no closer to being discovered. But at least people know now that there are some intelligent monsters involved as well - including one as notable as Medusa herself. Further, the odd assortment of monsters... Fleamen, undead wolves that can dissolve into shadow, zombies and demons, giant plants, and living mist, and now Medusa... That's a collection of enemies that one doesn't often find working together.

    At least not outside of Castlevania.

    It's possible that the Union might need to do some investigating into what the Field Marshal of the Confederacy, Count Dracula, has been up to lately...

Vivio Takamachi (737) has posed:
    Vivio sighs quietly in relief as she watches the Medusa disappear in the distance. They managed to keep the monsters from doing any further harm to the villagers here! It's just sad they couldn't get here fast enough.

    Light briefly encompasses Vivio, the silhoutte of her body shrinking. It then fades away, leaving behind Vivio's actual form of a ten-year-old girl. The cut on her arm isn't as bad as it was, though it'll still take some time to heal. Vivio's Device floats out of her body and turns to face her, Vivio glancing around at the statues and saying quietly, "I hope they can be helped..."