A matter of some importance

Enola fell to the floor under a pile of sand as the pressure finally let up when the golden blast struck it. She waved her hands through the sad, as if swimming in water, until she forced her head up and gasped in a giant breath of air. As soon as the momentary relief of air came to an end, she collapsed to her hands and knees.  She could hardly move – her body felt like it had just been squeezed by an iron crutch. With her breathing continuing in exhaust gasps, Enola looked around and saw Ukan slumped on the ground in an unconscious state. The sight was certainly terrifying; Enola didn’t think anything could put Ukan down, certainly not that robe-less freak. Kihia’s words of wisdom, that these men were the strongest enemies they would have encountered, was no exaggeration. The possibility that these people could kill them was a very real one.

There came with Verona’s actions a certain encouragement. It gave a subtle reminder to Enola that they were to fend off these evil-doers with all their might, no matter how hopeless the situation seemed. Courage, after all, was one of the precepts of the guild.

With a wobble and an eerie smile, Enola raised a tired, shaking hand upward. A ball of dust began forming above, rolling up into a large ball until it shifted its shape into that of a giant angel made completely of coagulated dust. The quite large figure spread its wings as if it were asking for a fight and barreled past Verona and toward Sandor. The angel, resistant to fire, would attempt to strike Sandor from above, though would likely take some of the damage of the pillar in the process.

---

Enola Gay
HP: 60%
MP: 75%

Spells in Effect

Angel Dust || 1/4 Posts || 0/2 C Rank Damage:

Spells in Cooldown

Dust to Dust || 3/5 Posts:

Gwahard laughed like an asshole. He held the bloodied now limp body of Sandor by his throat before throwing him at the wall of the cavern. Gwahard didn't even seem hurt or tired. Zuo growled "You dare harm your own brother so?!" The dark mage flashed his fangs at his elder "Come on don't give me that crap. Sandor would have done the same to me if he could." There was a sound of metal clicking on ground "As I will do to you, imp." Arrogant as a Greek god Okeanos entered the cavern Trident in hand "Say your prayers Gwahard and hope Gaia will hear you. For unlike Sandor I don't lose." Gwahard popped his knuckles "Did you not learn from sandy over there? You should have waited for big bro to get here." Okeanos twirled his trident and walked forward with a smug smile on his face "Oh please. You're stronger then you were before that's obvious. But there will never be a day when I need to fear my little brother of all people."

Sandor pretty much let Verona's fire attacks hit him. He grit his teeth through the fire "Damn kid. I don't have time for this." Undetered Sandor walked out of the fiery assault only to get stuck in the head by the dust angel. He was knocked fast first into the ground but quickly got back to his feet "Seriously screw you dust girl. I was trying to look cool!" Zuo walked out in front of Verona and Enola "I fear I'm being over shadowed by my own guild members. You've both done well but Sandor here is a much better match for myself, you have done incredibly well considering the power difference." Sandor barked at Zuo "Shut it geezer. We're going to bury everyone here alive!" The earth began to shake and Zuo clapped his hands "Sandor my son I must say I am terribly ashamed of you. I can see your mind is not you own but that was probably the worst threat I've ever heard from you." Sandor shrugged "I'd come up with better if I was your opponent." Zuo wasn't sure what he meant by that but paid it no mind and placed his palms on the ground "It doesn't matter what you do now my boy. Be crushed by the earth itself! Rise Earthbound Immortal!"

Down in the arena Okeanos found himself taking a face full of lightning kick getting launched into the ceiling. The impact and shaking from the earth above sent a monumentus amount of rock crumbling down crushing the Hydra and Kraken and trapping Talen all at the same time. Okeanos hardly had time to recover as he was struck by Xavier's lightning wings. However this time the water being refused to be sent flying, rather he withstood the attack remaining unmoving in the air somehow. "I don't know how many times I've said "thats enough" today but that's enough! I have no more time left to play with you worms." Okeanos threw his arms wide "Now watch helpless as a god goes to work. Rules of Nature!" Okeanos seemed to explode in an insane amount of rushing water filling the arena again to full. However drowning was no longer a threat as Okeanos had no intention of staying there rather he controlled the water to borrow into the ceiling above. With the massive water force he was able to smash through into the entry hall in a massive pillar of water directly under Zuo who was violently crashed into the wall of the guild hall by the water. Then as abruptly as the water had flooded the room it retracted vacuuming back to it's source solidifying into Okeanos.

The golden mage now stood next to his ally Sandor(who had miraculously avoided all the water) facing the mages in the entry hall. "About time you did that Okeanos." "You know I was waiting on the old man." Soaked thoroughly Zuo coughed off water and dragged himself to his feet, his past spell cancelled, "Don't let your guards down. That technique was Okeanos's move "Rules of Nature," it dramatically increases the power of his water form. He may be solid now but make no mistake he can unleash that power again in a heart beat." Okeanos pointed his trident at Zuo "You know it and you know better then anyone you are helpless to counter it." "There is more truth to that then I like to admit my children. I am incredibly weak to water. I must ask that you help me once more in fighting these men. I extend that request also to you those down in the arena." Zuo was certainly now less confident then he was going into this. He had hoped to avoid getting wet at all but now Okeanos had gone and hit him with a surprise attack. However a look at Sandor and Okeanos assured him they didn't have a great deal of fight left in them, he hoped.

Gwahard however was content to continue his fight with Kihia. He was however distracted as his telepathic link with his partners made him aware of the rapid change in events. Distracted enough for Kihia's punch to connect knocking him into the ceiling but now with his head back in the game Gwahard nimly rolled out of the way of Icarus. He pushed off the ceiling landing directly in front of Kihia "DIE! Reaper's Scythe!" Gwahard appeared to grab the air before swinging his arm at Kihia as if he was holding an invisible scythe. Which was actually incredibly accurate as that was exactly what he was doing.

Kihia watched as his punch connected against Gwahard and sent him flying into the ceiling, however he frowned underneath his helmet when Gwahard managed to dodge the piercing blow from Icarus, however, Kihia cringed on the inside, for now he was completely open to attack, I am an idiot… This mistake… Will cost me… I won’t be able to avoid this attack… I only pray that this armor… can withstand this blow… and I will… be able to defend the Guild…

At that moment the invisible scythe that Gwahard had wielded impacted the front of Kihia’s chest plate and a resounding boom echoed from the impact, Kihia’s body was pushed up slightly, then Kihia’s eyes widened, as the blade then ripped through the chest plate and hit Kihia’s body. It then ripped upward leaving a deep gash in Kihia’s chest as it sliced all the way through to his helmet, causing a large portion of the faceplate to shatter as Gwahard’s swing finally moved away from Kihia.

Kihia stood there for a long moment, almost as if he was frozen in time, completely shocked from what happened, and also, completely terrified, What… but… how… Kihia then started to fall face first as his blood started to flow out of the armor and down it, that’s when he fell to his knees…

“Please… forgive me everyone… Stay safe… and… survive… please…” Kihia then completed his fall, falling face first onto the marble floor, in a half shocked, half conscious state, and he prayed… that Lamia Scale would remain safe…

Despite the physical pains, “Dust Girl” managed a chuckle as her angel socked the sand man right in his withered old jaw. It brought her even more comfort to know she and Verona could at least hold their own against an obviously superior mage. Then came that voice that Enola’s ear so happily grasped: the voice of their own crazy old coot, Zuo Cii. Like a teacher congratulating his students, he complimented their ability to stay alive in the face of impossible danger that had befallen them.

Wait… did he just say “son?”

Enola blinked sheepishly and let her mind wander as to how old Lamia Scale’s guild master was before rationalizing that he must have meant “son” in some other sense (at least, she hoped so). Enola listened to Sandor’s expected obnoxiousness until the ground started to quake as Zuo worked his magic, literally.

Woosh!

Before much more could be done, a geyser of water burst through the marble floor right from under Zuo. Seeing the old man fly into the marble wall sent a chill through Enola’s already pained body. The freight of the site made her heart race, even preventing her from crying for her master. As she turned her head back though, she saw something even more horrifying than anything she’d seen that day: a giant hole in the floor where Okeanos had burst through. Enola’ eyes rolled in the back of her head as she looked at one of the worst messes in her history as a maid. She had gritted her teeth up to that point, bearing through the sand and water she’d dealt with that day… but this was the straw that broke the OCD camel’s back.

With a tenderness still rushing through her body from the sand coffin, Enola stood completely erect. The physical pain was nothing compared to the mental anguish. With the most sour expression upon her face, she exhaled a breath through her nose…

“I don’t know how long it’s going to take for me to sweep all the sand out.”

She held her arm out in front of herself.

“I have no clue how much kitty litter it’s going to take just to soak up all the water”

She slowly wiggled her fingers.

“I can’t even guess the amount of marble powder it’s going to take to fix that hole.”

A solid hand made of dust began forming on her back.

“What I do know, however, is how much baking soda it’s going to take to clean your blood stains off the walls.”

With her lungs pumping full of anger at the sight of the mess, Enola channeled magic power through her body and sent the dust arm – a little larger than a regular arm – out with the hand clenched in the shape of a fist. The fist rocketed toward Okeanos while her dust angel flew toward Sandor once more from the side in an attempt to smack him in the jaw. Though her spells were weak against water, Enola was simply too rage-filled to consider that crucial fact at the moment.

---

Enola Gay
HP:60%
MP:65%

Spells in Effect

Angel Dust || 2/4 Posts || 0/2 C Rank Damage:

Hand of Aquitane || 1/3 Posts || 0/2 C Rank Damage:

Spells in Cooldown

Dust to Dust || 4/5 Posts:

The water suddenly engulfing the entire area blinded and surprised Xavier at first, and then he opened his eyes as his back contacted the ceiling, to see Okeanos phase into the water, and all of the water break through to the main hall. The rush of the water escaping from beneath him slammed him to the unforgiving floor, and he rolled over into his back while his front throbbed with pain to catch his breath. He urged himself to get up, and he did so with haste, looking to his friends he was attempting to save. He could only hope he wasn’t too late, getting to Ni-Ju was easy, his spectres were still looking after the kid and he seemed to be okay.

Rubbing his temples he tried alleviate the pressure he was feeling as a headache started to arise, he pulled his glasses out of his pockets, and rested them on his nose and he was suddenly able to focus. “…Plan… we need a plan…” He came up with something quickly in his mind, he wasn’t quite sure of its solidarity but it would suffice, not like he had much of a choice right now. He walked over to Ni-J and deliberated on it momentarily hoping he could act, it would need to be done quickly. “When I go, count 7 seconds before you strike.”

Xavier took a deep breath, and gripped his staff. He spun it around dramatically before slamming it down to the ground, and like a bolt of lightning vanished into thin air, to re-appear in the main hall. He found himself behind Okeanos and presumably another one of the three attackers of Lamia Scale facing down Verona, Enola, a fallen Ukan and Zuo himself. Thanks to the presence of this other man, this would work out perfectly. “4 seconds left…” he said under his breath. Getting to his feet, he closed the distance a little before casting his spell. He reached out with his left hand, and a bolt of lightning arced from Xavier to Okeanos and Sandor.

Status:

Ni-Ju's prayers seemed answered as a pair of hands closed around his chest, snatching him from the air and giving him a soft landing before his fall could end abruptly. Opening his eyes in bewilderment from his little spot on the rapidly drying ground, Ni-Ju was greeted with the sight of their waterlogged enemy making a quick escape through a hole he had created in the ceiling with his water magic, bringing all the liquid in the room up after him. Before he could really pull himself together and do anything about it, Xavier had crossed the room to stand beside him and let Ni-Ju in on the plan that his young companion had thought up to strike back. First Xavier would use his magic to cut off as much of their movement as possible and when the timing was right it would be Ni-Ju's job to bring down as much of the building as possible onto the heads of the invading mages.

Using his home as a weapon wasn't exactly the classiest move in history or the smartest but if he was any judge of things it would be among the last possible moves that people like those who had invaded would think of, not to mention if executed right they wouldn't even realize that he was attacking until it was too late. After all what kind of sane person would collapse literally tons of stone onto themselves in order to take out an enemy. "I guess they have never heard of mice... bearding... dragons." He managed to wheeze out, coughing up a thin stream of blood onto the arena floor as he nodded to his friend to begin the festivities. Once the count in his head started, Ni-Ju bent down and stuck his one working hand into the crack of an incredibly large chunk of displaced marble, wiggling it just enough to so that he could spit underneath the stone before picking up a handful of loose rock and standing atop his makeshift air elevator. Trying to duplicate his earlier rocket jump was probably a stupid idea but unlike any number of other mages he possessed no real ability to fly, so this would just have to do.

Loosing a micro water detonation at the spittle beneath him while jumping over the crack, Ni-Ju began to once again sail through the air like like a cannonball, albeit a very battered one. Unfortunately despite being powerful the detonation was only able to lift him a little over halfway to the hole in the ceiling at which point he began to fall once again. Unwilling to let this stop him after getting so close, Ni-Ju directed a second detonation below him, a micro air this time, which tore his bared legs up quite a bit but managed to close the gap by some small mercy, sending him flying into the entrance hall like a bat out of hell. Ni-Ju was so focused on completing what could very well be his final task that everything else was ignored the moment he spotted Okeanos and his equally out of place friend. He began casting with everything that was left in him, not intent upon hurting them directly with his magic but by bringing the main hall itself crashing down on their miserable heads. With the last of his magic expended  and his body in tatters, Ni-Ju promptly lost consciousness.

OOC:
All dets except basic earth, water, and air were up and able to be cast so this is my final shot at them.

Okeanos twirled his trident and Sandor rubbed his lamp the pair grinning like idiots, "Alright bro, "Let's kick some ass!" As the dust angel came in for round two accompanied with a dust fist Okeanos stomped on the ground creating a wall of water in front of the two him that almost reached to the ceiling with a palm thrust into the air the wall of water surged forward consuming the dust magic before dissipating. Sandor snapped his fingers and an equally large sand wall shot from the ground behind them blocking  Xavier's lightning bolt "Sorry kiddos. Play times over. Never when fighting together have me and Okeanos ever lost." Zuo noticing that Xavier had been attempting to stun the two of them realized a distraction was in order "Never? Don't you remember 7000 years ago when Vent beat both of you?" CRITICAL HIT! Sandor and Okeanos grimaced the way teenagers do when their parents tell embarrassing baby stories to their friends. Then a small girl looking boy came through the floor and made the ceiling fall.

If Zuo knew that was what they were planning he probably wouldn't have helped.

Watching the entire ceiling give way the old man spread his arms wide before clapping them together using his earth magic to guide the falling rubble to all fall on Okeanos and Sandor. The massive amount of stone crashed into them with a sound like thunder and the room was quiet. "Ni-Ju. If you dare try that again I will send you to THAT room." With that everyone was left to stare at the heap of stone that had once been their foes."Unison Raid: Erosion Force!" The huge rubble pile in the center of the room was consumed in a pillar of red light "My bad I should have seen that coming." The red light seemed to erode the stone rapidly turning it to dust until nothing was left but Okeanos and Sandor. Beaten, bloody, but still standing. They were both breathing heavily and were in serious rough state "Gwahard has finished the knight. It's time Sandor." Zuo grit his teeth and clenched his fists "What did you say?" Okeanos laughed "You heard me old man!" With speed uncharacteristic of a man his age the geezer ran around the hole in the ground charging the two invaders ready to beat them down with his own two hands. The sand mage grinned and clasped his lamp with both hands "About goddamn time! Sands of Time!"

A red transparent dome of energy appeared around Sandor, Okeanos and Zuo. They were now trapped in a time envelope. They could see inside but until Sandor released the envelope there was no way in and no way out. Aware that he had run into a trap Zuo stopped in his tracks "What's the meaning of this?" "Take a bold guess."

Spoiler:

Kihia laid there, fighting himself to stay awake, and was trying to find the strength to stand but was finding none within his body. He then sensed something… He then closed his eyes and focused on his magic sensory ability. After a moment he managed to see outlines of three powerful figures surrounded by much smaller signatures. He managed to ID Verona, Ni-Ju, Xavier and Enola being the four smaller magic signatures. He managed to pick out Zuo Cii, and recognized Sandor’s, he only could guess that the third was the other intruder he had yet to meet, and the three were fighting it out, and giving off incredible amounts of magical power something Kihia wasn’t surprised. However there was a sudden surge of magical power and the brief appearance of a fourth magical signature that Kihia knew to be Gwahard, and then all four of the powerful mages… Disappeared.

Kihia laid there, heart racing, he couldn’t sense the Master or the three adversaries he was facing, however he prayed as he continued to bleed, for the safety of Zuo Cii. However after a minute he felt a wave of dark magical power emanate from the area they were last located… and Kihia for some reason knew…. Due to it almost being casted on himself once… as well as Zuo’s warning… That it was Sandors Spell…

Ground Death…

Kihia completely froze in fear, as he waited, anxiously probing that area for any sign of the Masters resurgence. However… when he could see something there again he completely froze… he sensed the three intruders… and could barely make out the outline of a body and head falling to the ground separately. At that moment time seemed to stand still for Kihia down in the Labyrinth,


The Master is…. Zuo is… no…… Horrific flashbacks of the ruined state of his home village flashed through his mind, the droves of dead villagers, his mother and father’s corpses barely recognizable… As these flashed through his mind the memories of his experiences with Lamia Scale and Zuo.

Master Zuo…. They Killed…. Master Zuo…..


Kihia then punched the floor causing numerous cracks to form in the floor and his gauntlet, his bleeding had stopped and the air was charged with energy. That’s when all the ice and snow that was in that hallway started to swirl around Kihia, his Cryokinetic powers going on overdrive creating a swirling sphere of pure white snow surrounding the ice mage. He then stood up as the snowstorm shot upward and started to burrow throw the layers and layers of marble carrying him up with it.

---

The Remains of the Main hall in a bad shape, when suddenly the floor started to shake as a loud rumbling noise started to emanate, as if the earth itself was generating an Earthquake. That’s when the floor behind Verona, Enola, Ni-Ju, and Xavier erupted as a giant column of snow came out filling the air with an untold amount of snow. After a moment a silhouette rose out of the newly formed hole with two ice blue colored Glowing eyes shining through the thick cover of snow. That’s when Kihia stepped out of the column of snow, an incredibly large magical aura emanating off of him. His eyes glowed with a wrathful glare, the armor of his spell was still damaged, as the slice was still showing as well as the wound on his chest and face, he held Icarus in his right hand, however something was most definitely off.

The air and ground around him seemed to shake from his magical pressure, and his irises were small, testament to his rage and were staring straight at Sandor and co. “You…” As he said that his voice was strained, as well as cracking noises emanating from both the armor and his body, “You…..” Then suddenly his magic signature flat lined for a second as he stood there.

“YOU KILLED MASTER ZUO!”

A giant wave of magical energy then emanated from Kihia  as the very wind itself was blow back by it, the Ice armor he was wearing started to repair itself and transformed as he took a step back getting ready to charge.

Kihia then took off, at a rate that the other Lamia Scale Members in there would have had a hard time keeping track of where Kihia was, as he moved a large shield of ice formed ontop of the armor on his left arm, he was headed straight for Sandor rearing back his right arm ready to seemingly to try and strike him with the bladed end of Icarus which was being held Incorrectly, as most of the weapon was being held behind his hand and the bladed end only extending one foot from his hand. He got right in front of Sandor and went to hit him with a rush of wind blowing past Kihia from the speed he had been going at, and as he did, his right forearm then drastically transformed into a double edged seven foot long lance encompassing Icarus completely, the tip of which far closer to Sandor would hit him far soon than the initial portrayed strike would have.

No matter if this attack hit home or not Kihia would then spin around with incredible speed swinging his weaponized arm at Gwahard aiming to slice him in half, Kihia was lost in his rage, and didn’t care if he happened to kill Either one of them, he just felt they had to die.

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OOC Report:

Rank Achieved: SS

Things Used:

Crystallux Mode:

2nd Stage of:

Ice Make-Guardian Knight:

Xavier rushed to Ni-Ju's side as he nearly fell flat on his face. He was spent it was obvious, no one needed to say anything about it. He pulled him over his shoulder, and tried to move him away from the pile of rubble he had just brought down on the heads of the two assholes causing this place to run amok. He carried him away hoping he'd be at a safe distance, but he knew just as well as anyone else he wasn't safe anywhere in the guild hall. He carefully laid him in an overturned table and looked down at him with sullen eyes. Arm after arm, he took off his coat, and placed it over top of Ni-Ju covering him and the display of his underwear, the golden star and the words “Clustering Wishes” embroidered on the back of it, slightly ripped by one of Okeanos's spear-like tridents. "Rest up for me, will ya Blue?" From this moment Xavier display a wave of vehemence the likes of which have never transposed in two years for the poor child. A tear streaked down his face, he could still feel like a chill down his spine, the magical power of both Sandor and Okeanos. In fact they were both expanding at an alarming rate. The moment he turned to face them, in a brilliant flash of red light they emerged bloodied and battered from the ruble, but standing nonetheless.

They delivered rather untimely news as they came back... Kihia, the knight of Lamia Scale had fallen. For the first time he felt his hear beat out of his chest, and victory suddenly felt so... distant. He was overwhelmingly confident when this had all originally occurred, but then his team seemed to crumble underneath the weight of it all along with the more seasoned mage Talen who seemed to give himself in preservation of them, and amongst it all he was surprised himself that he was still alive. He supposed he owed that to his two spectral guardians, whose presence he felt lifted from this plane of existence. With each passing moment the odds seemed to stack against the few remaining mages in the room, however with Zuo they still had some manner of hope. But perhaps he thought too soon... There's no reason to re-ellaborate the events that have just occurred, as Zuo's blood spread slowly across the floor and his head rolled like a ball as Gwahard the third figure from earlier seemd to have materialized from no-where.

Speechless was in no way descriptive enough to describe how Xavier felt. To have the guildmaster of Lamia Scale somehow just absolved from existence, with no chance of his interference. Fallen to his knees, the crestfallen child choked on his own tears, and couldn't even bare to look at them, they would so boldly march forward to end the life of an old man to which Xavier had only truly knew at length and yet simultaneously meant so much to him. Zuo, the old man who allowed him to take up a title under his reign, and led him to something greater, possibly a new hope. And then he was gone, in an instant. He clawed the ground at his hands dredging up the dirt and dust strewn about the place, and slammed his hand on the ground. “Why... Why me... Why did I have to be the one... to make it out of that hell... I can't do this... They were all, so much greater than I was...” he groped his heart as if he wished he could tear it out of his own chest.

Just as he was giving up, and it looked the the symbolic flame of spirit was being tested and snuffed out by the winds of indifference, there was a dramatic change in the atmosphere. A power once gone sought it's way to the forefront, a tremendous and niveous magic signature mounted an appearance, and in a way too unfamiliar way. Before Kihia rose to meet them, Xavier could tell it was him coming, but there was something definitely off. A blind man could see it, he was filled with rage. His movements were powerful and quick, but he wasn't thinking and cautious like he usually was. Sitting directly behind Kihia's targets he hoped he didn't miss, and he clambered to get out of the way in his broken state.

Verona stood painfully still, her bright red eyes fixed helplessly on the lifeless body of her guild master. She suddenly remembered that she had not known the old man well. In fact, she had rarely seen the man during the short time she had been in Lamia Scale so far. However, gazing at his motionless body now did bring grief to her usually upbeat and pleasant heart. For a long time, she just stood there unable to believe her eyes, the victorious laugh of the murderers falling silent as it reached her extra sensitive ears. And then she found herself inching closer to Enola and grabbing her arm, feeling a sudden fear overcome her. It was very weird for the spunky fire dragon slayer. In the last 19 years of her life, she was sure she had not felt this sort of fear mixed with the feeling of something unexplainable. At least she can be sure about the last nine years that she remembered clearly. And then it was as if she was waiting for something to burst out from somewhere and save them. And something or rather someone did. From behind the raven haired girl, Kihia suddenly emerged, his visage and posture, behind the smoke and sand that was kicked up formed the silhouette of a fallen angel, enraged and ready to see blood.  

Quickly enough, Verona pulled Enola with her towards where Xavier and Ni-Ju were. Something told her that their part in this story was done and now everything was up to Kihia. Though there was something very deep inside her, probably deep in her conscious reacting to the display of powerful ice magic. It was something Verona just couldn't put her finger on and it was knocking very violently on a door closing her off to the past she didn't know about before meeting Igneel. Almost as if it was begging for her to let it out. She forced it down though, scared of the information she didn't know and forced herself to keep her mind on the present predicament. Whatever her mind was trying to tell her could wait for a little more.  

At that cold and still moment, she decided to worry more about her friends and looked towards her companions, Xavier, Ni-Ju and Enola. They had been a part of Lamia Scale for a longer time than hers. She had not an ounce of doubt that they felt immense pain under the visual of their dead guild master. She had no words to comfort them either. Instead, like them, she was hoping that Kihia would kill those bastards that were responsible for this.

While Ni-Ju's body lay unconscious upon the remains of the table where his friend had so thoughtfully placed it, his mind was left free to wander avenues of thought generally left unopened to him. He found himself standing in the remains of the guildhall as it had been after his after his attack but with a startling change to both lighting and atmosphere. As best as he could explain, It would be something akin to walking through a dark building that was slowly filling with smoke. From outside of the shroud which enclosed him, Ni-Ju could suddenly hear the faint sound of foot steps. Turning toward where he thought the noise had come from, Ni-Ju was surprised to see a young woman kneeling down next to a few shattered bits of the bar, watching him. His surprise quickly turned to fright as he came to recognize her face. This was the woman who had haunted his dreams for as long as he could remember. Each and every time her face had appeared to him had heralded circumstances of the most dire or life changing sort and that was with just the one small bit of her showing. For her to appear whole and in person suggested that however bad he felt everything had degraded to, it was about to get a lot worse.

The young woman regained her feet and took an absentminded swipe at any imagined dust coating her immaculate grey robes with the casual air of someone who was quite used to getting themselves dirty before making the few short strides that put them face to face. The golden pools that were her eyes made Ni-Ju instantly change his assessment of the woman's age from young to old as she caught and held his gaze with a fierce glee that was far beyond anything he had ever experienced in his life. "It seems you have grown smaller in stature since we last met, Numerus Liber." The woman announced jokingly, her speech filled with nuances that he couldn't even begin to grasp. "I have looked forward to this meeting for quite some time but fate seems to be having something of a cruel joke at our expense. " She continued, grinning in a way that made it seem as if this were some kind of longstanding inside joke. Before he could manage to get out so much as a word to ask what in the name of everything holy was going on, she pressed one delicate little hand against his lips to silence him. "As much as I would enjoy a quiet afternoon of story telling and fond remembrances, our time here is short and we have much to do in order to see that we get another chance at meeting." Without explaining further, she reached out with her remaining hand and firmly took hold of Ni-Ju's arm.

At her touch, the smoky substance that had swam over the room began to dissipate, revealing the battered forms of both of the invaders and what remained of the Lamia Scale mages who had given their all in defense of the home they shared. Each person lay absolutely still, like mosquitos caught within the sap of a tree. The anger and desperate hope that stood out so clearly on each of his friend's faces left Ni-Ju feeling as if a giant had strolled by and given a tremendous tug on his heart strings. These people had done nothing wrong. There was no grand set of scales being righted. The sheer injustice of it all resparked the flagging embers of Ni-Ju's rage, suffusing him with a grim determination to see things made right. A light squeeze on his arm drew his attention away from the plight of his fellows and back to the smiling visage of the mysterious woman. "If you really feel so strongly about helping your friends then watch closely what I am about to show you.". As if hitting the play button on reality itself, time began to resume it's natural flow. Stuck in place as merely an observer, Ni-Ju looked on as all hell well and truly broke loose.

Fueled by a rage that threatened to consume him, Kihia had drawn upon the full might of both his magic and lineage, sheathing his entire body in an icy set of armor and transforming his normally stoic appearance into that of a half mad beserker. The men who had so misguidedly attempted to invade Lamia Scale didn't stand a chance as Kihia vented his frustration and anger against them in a series of bloody and downright vicious attacks that reached its destructive conclusion when the Ice mage began to break down all the surrounding bits of ice that had been dislodged during the course of the fight. Channeling the raw energy he had gathered into the lance that now made up his right arm, Kihia unleashed a devastating blast that tore through Okeanos and Sandor like they were made of nothing but tissue paper. Unfortunately the beam of energy didn't stop there. Slicing through the building with the same ease, it tore through the barrier and across the closeby sections of Hargeon Town, bringing down structure after structure. Even from his somewhat dubious position, Ni-Ju could tell that the loss of life from that last attack would be unimaginable. As quickly as it had appeared the vision before him began to fade, leaving Ni-Ju once more alone with the woman. "How do I get back?" He asked, no longer concerned with anything other then averting the disaster that had been revealed. Gesturing for him to take a step closer, the woman reached out and flicked Ni-Ju on the forehead.

Ni-Ju awakened from his dream like state gasping for air as his damaged body struggled in vain to regain working order. Fighting through the waves of weakness that lapped over him with a will that had been honed to a razer's edge through the numerous hours he had spent training his magic, Ni-Ju managed to croak out his urgent warning to those nearby. "Please...stop...Kihia... Hargeon... destroyed by...his anger."


OOC:

The weirdness in this is because this is a dream state combined with his lineage's active ability to see the future.

Okeanos hung limp on the wall of the cavern, his own trident impaled in his abdomen. Gwahard looked at him and laughed "You all keep saying that and I just keep putting you down. You're lucky I didn't kill you Okeanos. But that is only because I believe you will be of some use to me someday." Still bound by chains and weakened by the water fall pouring on him Zuo roared in anger "You arrogant child! Why do you hurt your brothers so? Why on Gaia's earth do you think you need to do this?" Gwahard and turned to look at him "You sent me to hell old man. You sent me to literal hell on earth! This is revenge, this is justice." "Shut up you whinny baby." From the save opening that Okeanos had entered the cavern through a man clad in a white gi entered the room. His hair was bleach white but his eyes glowed green "This has gone on long enough. It's game over Gwahard." The darkness mage didn't even look at the new comer "Hello Vent. I'm happy you decided to join us. I hope you are having a better day then Sandor or Okeanos. They both said something arrogant like that before I beat them down." Zuo looked past Gwahard and nodded at Vent exchanging some unspoken message. The man clad in white popped his knuckles "Yeah but I'm not Okeanos or Sandor."

Gwahard laughed "But you are fighting them!" Vent's eyes went wide as his foe snapped his fingers and chains of darkness seemed to materialize around Okeanos and Sandor. The chains vanished but Vent knew their effect was still there. The sand and ocean guardians collected themselves, Sandor scraping himself off the ground with Okeanos pulling his trident out freeing him from the wall. Their injuries were sewn shut by darkness and they stared at Vent with anger in their eyes "Begone Vent. You can't defeat us all." Vent laughed at the threat "Now that's your mistake. I can." There was a blur of movement and both Okeanos and Sandor were down again. "The hell! What did you do?" The wind mage grinned "I simply let them rest. Making them push themselves like that is cruel. You know how this is going to go Gwahard." "Damn you smug ass!" Gwahard swung his arm in front of him launching a ball of darkness "Dark Hole! Consume this world!" Vent clenched his teeth causing the air to suddenly chill around him, then just as the dark hole got close to him it simply froze. The anti-matter abyss froze solid. "This has been fun little brother. But now it's high time you pay for your crimes."

Gwahard was still in a fit of laughter looking down at Zuo's body "It was all for naught old man. Everything you, Vent, everyone did. In the end it changed nothing. Even though that white haired hippie killed me it wasn't enough to stop my vengeance. You should have ran old man, ran when you had the chance." The madman's monologue was interrupted by Kihia's arrival. Too caught up in his own elation the darkness guardian didn't react fast enough and Kihia's lance pierced through Sandor. The embodiment of decay cried in pain, and again as Kihia tore out the lance lashing at Gwahard. Sandor collapsed on the floor as Gwahard just barely dodged the razor sharp ice trying to cut off his face. The darkness mage tried to distance himself but did not get far as a large wooden thorn impaled itself in his shoulder. "The devil?"

He looked to see where the spear was coming from and his eyes went wide. The large thorn seemed to be sprouting from the floor, from underneath Zuo's pool of blood. "You don't have my permission to harm anyone further Gwahard." Then like something out of a fairy tale Zuo seemed to be consume in a green glow as a large tree with sharpened branches sprouted from the ground where he layed. It shot from the ground at incredible speed, growing at a slight angle as it's branches skewered Gwahard. The dark god screamed in pain as he turned to darkness to escape the bramble. Okeanos remained floating in the air completely still despite the developing events as if frozen in time.

Gwahard's shadow scrambled away from the tree putting some distance between himself, it and Kihia. The tree righted itself as leaves sprouted from it's branches. Gwahard solidified wrapping his arms around his various stab wounds as he stared at the tree with a vicious hate "That's bullshit! You can't just turn into a tree when you die! That's not what people do!" However that was apparently what happened, Zuo's body had vanished into the tree and his blood appeared to be sucked into it's roots leaving no evidence that there had ever been a dead man there. "Ground death is supposed to leave the earth barren. No life should ever be able to grow there again! Damn it all Okeanos cut it down!" The water mage looked at Gwahard "No."

Gwahard scowled willing chains of darkness to tighten around Okeanos "Obey!" The water deity grit his teeth and tore his arms free of the chains shattering them. "You arrogant monster. You thought you could turn me against father and get away without consequence?" He has rivers of tears pouring down his face but he tried to keep a straight face "No. You'll pay. I'll make you pay. This won't be like last time." He dropped to the ground next to Kihia "Frozen Knight I do not ask your forgiveness. What I did was unthinkable. But you must accept that my mind was not my own, allow me to help you right it." His trident vanished from the ground reappearing in his hand as he gave it a twirl "I have to avenge my master." Meanwhile Sandor appeared to slip from consciousness, way to contribute pal.

Kihia grunted as his initial hit with his new found weapon hit home on Sandor he then ripped it out of his shoulder and spun around but unfortunately missed Gwahard by a few mere inches. Kihia then stood still glaring at Gwahards retreat in pure anger when suddenly Gwahard had stopped, with a large wooden thorn pierced him. Kihia looked at the source of the thorn and froze, as his arms violently shook even more so. He then heard Zuo’s voice ring out, which made Kihia fall to his knees, the ice armor hitting the ground hard. He then watched as Zuo’s body glowed and then started to turn into a massive tree, which had started its growth by skewering Gwahard multiple times, that is until Gwahard shifted into darkness and slipped away.

He watched as the giant tree grew and became lush and vibrant, making Kihia feel small and insignificant even standing near it in that moment. Then Gwahard once again spoke out, snapping Kihia out of it and back into his fit of rage, he would normally give a lecture correcting the errors of thought… but no not this time… he then quietly watched the exchange of words between Okeaneos and Gwharad, with Okeaneos finally breaking free of Gwahards control, he then landed next to Kihia and asked to let himself help Kihia in Avenging Zuo.

Kihia stood up his magical power growing once again, “So be it…. Just make sure in the least… he cannot escape… or… you help me blast him into nothingness…” Kihia then dashed forward as soon as he finished saying those words. Once again moving at an incredible rate of speed getting to where he was right infront of Gwahard within seconds, then suddenly the back end of his lance had a fair amount of ice break off of it revealing a vent shapped end of the lance, then suddenly the two flat sides of the lance at the end opened up dramatically increasing the size of the vent. After this all of the snow and ice in the hall glowed suddenly and was then pulled into the vent itself making the entire back end of the lance glow.

Kihia then acted as if he was swinging the lance at Gwahards neck to decapitate him, when suddenly the two blades of the lance separated and went back a bit revealing one end of Icarus. He would then stop the motion as the glow intensified, all of this took place within ten seconds of Kihia’s initial movement, if it was successful Gwahard’s neck would be in between both of the blades as a sphere of Holy Cryogenic magic energy formed at the tip of Icarus that happened to be showing, if it didn’t he would instead just simply point the lance directly at Gwahard.

OOC Split path depending on the Actions of the Lamia Scale Members:

Failing to bring Kihia back to his senses: Kihia would glare hard at Gwahard and speak one word, “Die…” As soon as he said that he would fire the massive blast of Holy Cryogenic energy horizontally, potentially hitting Gwahard, and then breaking through the wall of the Entry hall and into the town of Hargeon, destroying numerous public buildings and hurting numerous innocent civilians.

Succeeding to bring Kihia back to his senses: Kihia would close his eyes for a second then, either jump or go to throw Gwahard skyward, and then proceed to fire the blast either downward or upward depending the angle Gwahard ends up.

Ni-Ju resisted the urge to just lay down and sleep by concentrating on what was going to happen if he did. Body shaking with the strain he had placed it under, NI-Ju regained his feet and with the assistance of the wall. Clutching the coat his friend had placed over him,Ni-Ju began a trudging gait across the room towards Kihia. Cursing his weakness as he nearly fell with each shuddering step, Ni-Ju continued to close the gap as fast as he possibly could. The last remaining steps seemed like miles, dragging on before him as if it were the last leg of a death march through the desert. Stumbling into a position between Kihia and the guild invaders while their attention was turned towards each other, Ni-Ju drew himself up to his full height so that the glowing ice glaive's vent would almost certainly take him as its first casualty in one last desperate bid to make his friend come to his senses before he killed off a sizable chunk of Hargeon Town's population. A million different things that he could try to say rode through his mind but nothing shined forth as an obvious solution to the problem so he resigned himself to silence and let his actions do the talking. If it worked then Kihia might at the very least change the direction in which he fired.If it did not then Ni-Ju wouldn't have very long to worry about the consequences of his failure due to obvious reasons.

In the fruits of this entire debacle everything was once so clear. Jerks storm in the building and take the mages by storm. Things, in the brightest of lights didn’t seem so bad at first. He didn’t think things could go wrong, clouded by the confidence he had in his team. It was a feasible task certainly, but damn this wasn’t what he had bargained for. Hope seemed flattened along with people whom had fallen. With that thought he turned to look for Ni-Ju where he had left him out of the way only to find that he in fact was up and able to walk somewhat. After what he had declared earlier he wasn’t sure of what to do anymore, every desire and goal of is was conflicting with one another and the tree of Zou only added to the dissention. He wanted Okeanos’s head on a platter with a side of Gwahard, but just so mockingly Kihia, probably their only hope presented a greater danger at the present moment. His strength could win the day almost instantly but that being said it would probably do a bit more than intended. It looked like Ni-Ju was going to attempt to stop him, but he wasn’t sure one person was enough.

“I’ll have at you later, you washed up lout. You’d better not leave until then…” Xavier grit his teeth as he grimaced at Okeanos, speaking under his breath. If the bastard got away, he might never forgive himself. He tore his gaze away from him, and sprinted headlong for Kihia. He jumped onto his back, holding onto him by the neck, not trying to be a harm but intent on getting his attention. He had a frim grip on him, it would take a little bit of effort to get him off.

“Kihia! Wait! Think about what you’re doing!”

Verona silently stood to the side with no recognition of whatever that was going on around her. The tree in front of her was all that she saw. It was still very unbelievable for the nineteen year old fire Dragon Slayer that their Guild Master was no more. It took her a lot more time to actually snap out and be aware of the fact that Kihia was going ballistic. Ni-Ju was by the wall behind the tree while Xander sprang into action the minute Kihia showed signs of madness. He was already on the Ice knight’s back trying to get him back to his senses.

What started out as an ordinary day where everyone was having fun ended up in their beloved master’s death? Adding to that, now Kihia was losing his senses! What if they lost him too? Who would take care of Lamia Scale? What would happen to the guild she has grown to love?

A huge breath escaped Verona as she visibly relaxed. Her head was down with her bangs covering her face. She was being awfully quite in contrary to her normal self. However, she felt it herself. Everything around her was going over their normal heat level. Verona was emitting the heat! Her hair flew violently against the powerful wind that emitted out of her. For a second, she felt complete. It was at that moment that she kicked the ground and dashed towards where Kihia was standing.

Before even Verona could comprehend what was going on, her fist covered in fire had already hit Kihia square on his face. “SNAP OUT OF It, YOU STUPID KNIGHT!”

Her voice was not even hers. It was deep and harsh, scolding yet heartbroken. She wanted to see her friend back. He wasn’t supposed to break the way he did. “Stop being selfish, you ice head! How can you do this to every other members of Lamia Scale that’s counting on you to lead them?! What is wrong with that head of yours?!” She yelled, scolded, and shook him again and again. She was starting to feel the fatigue that was getting to her. Her body was losing the initial energy she retained when she approached him. “I can’t go on any longer. None of us can! Snap out of it already!” She shook him again, feeling darkness creep up the corner of her eyes.


Super Dramatic post yay! And I got to call Kihia an idiot! ++ x3

Kihia stood there looking deep into Gwahards soulless eyes, The sphere of magical power growing more and more intense by the second, “Curse you both…” Kihia then was about to release the stored up power but through the fog of his vision he spotted movement behind Gwahard, he saw Ni-ju Haichi leaning against the back wall, “Ni-ju what are you doing…?” Then Suddenly Xavier then jumped onto his back restraining him, “Xavier!” Kihia didn’t try and resist as he couldn’t afford to lift his lance away from Gwahard, however to further distract him, Verona came out of nowhere with her fist enveloped in flame and punched the faceplate of his helm causing his vision to be hampered by Draconic flames. Then All of their words punched through deep into his mind, causing his eyes to widen, he then closed his eyes and had a vision…

---

Kihia opened his eyes… he was no longer wearing his frozen Armor, and Icarus was no where to be seen, he then noticed he was wearing a white shirt, and a light blue pair of slacks, nd then he noticed that his body was covered in Ice bandages, What in the… Suddenly someone spoke up behind him, an elderly voice who sounded incredibly tired, “Kihia” Kihia then spun around his eyes wide at the elderly man who stood hunched before him, he was using Icarus as a staff, his deep blue eyes staring deep into Kihia’s being. Kihia stood there frozen for a moment before he spoke, “Ma….Master Iarok…?” The Elderly man nodded, and then swiftly whacked Kihia upside the head, “Kihia… You’re an Utter fool, did you forget everything I taught you?” Kihia took the hit and bowed his head in shame, “Master… I am sorry… but I have failed…” Iarok however shook his head, “No you haven’t my boy… No you haven’t, Zuo may have died… but his legacy lives on…” Iarok then waved his arm, and the faces of every member of Lamia Scale appeared around them… Making Kihia start to cry, and his fists shake, “Will you continue to fight for them, Fight with them, and defend them with your very life?” Kihia stood there for a long moment and then took a knee... “Yes… Sir… I vow to put my very existence on the line for them!” Iarok smiled and tossed Icarus over to Kihia, “Then go my son, Freeze that Demon… and fight with your companions… not against them…”

---

Kihia opened up his eyes again, staring at nothing in particular, his armor had started to crack from the intense strain of containing the magical power it had absorbed, “Thank you… all of you… Please forgive me for losing myself and let me make things right…” At these words Gwahard went to jump back, “You will not defeat me here!” “Xavier Jump off of me now!” If Xavier jumped off he would witness two wings of crystal form on Kihia’s back followed. He then grabbed onto Gwahards neck with blinding speed, the gauntlet of his armor slowly cracking. He then flew upwards and through the massive hole in the roof and way above the buildings of Hargeon, “Gwahard, I cast you into the abyss of the Sea! Where you will forever be encased by my sacred Ice!” He then let go of Gwahard and swung his lance arm at him, the twin blades aiming directly at his midsection, “Unleash my beam of Sacred Ice! Freeze him for all of Eternity!” Then the sphere of magical power suddenly contracted, making all the light dim for a second from its shear intensity, then with a gigantic burst of light, a beam whose diameter was larger than Kihia’s own height that enveloped Gwahard and shot over the bay causing a massive shockwave as it flew through the air, and then it impacted the ocean surface causing a giant column of water to shoot up then instantly freeze.

After a long moment the light finally dimmed back to normal revealing Kihia hovering in the air alone, with Gwahard nowhere to be seen, “It is done…” Then suddenly Kihia’s wings went limp and he started to fall rapidly back down to the ground where he impacted the marble floor of the Main hall with a loud crash. After the smoke cleared… Kihia could be seen lying there… the armor and wings were gone… however, he was covered in injuries and his own blood that continuously flowed… and his right arm, was also nowhere to be seen.