Teddy Bears and Gumdrops (Job - Rassy/Special)

Spoiler:

This had been something of an interesting decision, perhaps whim was a better description? Regardless the man found himself standing inside someone’s office, a person he’d been assigned to of sorts. Whether he’d consider them a “commanding officer” or not remained to be seen, but he could play the part of subordinate.

Truly, it mattered very little.

He’d gone and mentioned it to Erika, deciding for this reason or another to go through with the idea that played in his head for perhaps the past few months? Really he didn’t keep track of these things, time not really of the essence for the man. Yet here he stood, awaiting some fellow, some “Rasparov” that he couldn’t help calling “Rassy” in his mind. ’I’ll have to be careful not to let that slip out at any point.’ Alongside him stood the very woman he trusted most, at least in terms of also being able to predict her because he trusted Erika just…in a different way. For example: trusting her to do as she pleased and quite likely the unexpected – which he oh so loved. However with Subaru he’d have a reliant companion within the knights, someone he could trust and who could go between the special operations unit and the combat one, the woman securing something of a spot on another squad, but he’d worked a bit of magic on the recruiter and allowed the white-haired warrior to partner up with him. More or less.

There’d been a couple of other checks, but nothing he couldn’t pass thanks to the various lessons his father forced upon him that oddly made a militaristic lifestyle possible. ’Granted that bastard would prefer to see me higher up, but working from the bottom is far more…preferable.’ The notion of using connections to up his place wouldn’t sit well, Faeral preferring to remove himself as far as he could from that man, as well as have the chance to build up a rapport and perhaps be nobody for a while.

It sounded pleasant.

He’d wait, leaning against the desk, ready to stand as soon as someone else entered the office with his pleasant, boyish smile in place. Not quite the lady-killer, but not completely the “new fresh face ready to be mauled first job” either.

It had been very wonderful to join this perfect organization, or at least that what Erika kept trying to convince herself of this entire time. Basic "training" had been a pain as she had to really hold back else she would have blown her cover, yet still pass. Who knew that the engineering corp's had to deal with all that stuff, she joined them cause she thought they were nerds and she could easily pick on them! Sadly most of them were pretty... competent, or at least could fake it. She would admire their style if only she wasn't more important than them, and well frankly far more clever. You see it is the patient hunter that gets the prey, and Erika knew that whatever was going on with Faeral would be fun to watch. it was like witnessing a son she never had because she probably would never bother to give birth, too much of a hassle, do his very best to live up to his mother's expectations.

Naturally Erika wasn't his mother, but she didn't view herself as the one who had to take charge and care of him, after all what, is one's number one lackey without their leader to watch over their progress. honestly at this rate, Erika might even consider Faeral a person if he kept going down the correct path in life, the path that she so adored. Still to join the rune knights, what was he planning, Erika just had to know, and of course she couldn't just ask him, that would mean he had some kind of power over her, and could lie to her, so instead she decided to join the rune knights and shapeshift to disguise herself and then be paired on missions with him till she found out his plans. Oh and there was some other guy named Rasberry or something, she honestly couldn't care less.

Right now though she had to get herself in character, she was currently the poor little orphan girl who joined the rune knights to show justice to those who didn't know it. She had grown up on the streets desperate and a klutz, but she always tried her earnest! She was the poor little orphan girl Lissica, who just wanted to have a place in this world, and not the queen bitch of the universe Erika. As she carried a tray holding a pot of tea, and a few cups, she focused her eyes beyond the glasses, it was really odd to be so tall. it was interesting, she got to see the world as Faeral did, except of course from a more prominant view, as she was obviously taller right now. The poor man, he would never know what it meant to see the world in this more important view, all one inch of it.

Regardless it made things a little difficult as she walked around, since she had been swapping between the taller and the shorter view, that and she had to deal with so many goodie people that it almost gave her cancer, of course, she couldn't get such a disease, her body was perfect. As the teapot shook, Erika prepared herself to enter the office where the meeting before the mission would take place, it was Raspberries or something? Erika again, didn't really care. Now is when she would show her true ability to impress everyone with her acting, she would totally fumble the teapot. Opening the door she had a nice, innocent smile upon her soft face, if anyone knew this was actually Erika, they would probably vomit, as it was completely unbecoming of her normally. Perhaps that's why she was such a pro, she knew how to act like the best of them.

"Ah, I see I'm not the first one to arri--"

Tripping over her own foot the teapot went flying into the air, it's warm water possibly scalding anyone hit by it, though if Erika had trained Faeral well at all, then he would be able to catch it, or maybe this Raspberry person could, she could care less, as long as her first impression was terrible.

"Not the tea!"

Before you ask, yes Erika did face first, arms out like a total idiot, would she have done it any other way?

The Rune Knights and the Magic Council really knew how to mess with Rasparov. Not only were they sending him on a mission to do with one's 'Soul,' but they were also sending him out with two fresh recruits as well! 'Well, at least they passed boot camp with decent marks. They're at least partially able to do stuff.' These thoughts were made even as he walked towards his new office he had been given. The mission they were going to be undertaking would also be the one that put him up for promotion, something similar to what the mages would call B rank.

A turning of a corner would bring his office door into his vision, the eye patched man instantly noticing that the door was ajar. The tall man had taken his time on getting to his office, making the new ones wait for him instead of vice versa. Walking into the door, which happened to be right after the female had done so, he managed to see her fall to the ground face first, a pot of tea flying into the air as cups fell as well. The shattering of cups was the first to happen, platter hitting the ground with them going down as well, while the pot seemed to grow wings and go in towards a familiar face. 'Well shit....it's Faeral. Looks like he'll know why the big lie now...'

It was a wonder how Faeral managed to get though boot camp, unless he was hiding his combat prowess for the job he had done with him a while back. The elimination of the slavers in Hargeon Town had gone pretty well, though he had hid his status as a Rune Knight to keep people interested in his talk and questions. A Rune Knight would have simply been snubbed at that point, people insisted on keeping away from them when something considered bad was being asked about. It tended to get people killed giving them true information.

It was time to see how Faeral would react to the tea pot flying towards him. Would he leave a mess that Rasparov would throw on some other low ranker to clean, or would he catch it and show he had some decent reflexes?

Ah, well this was certainly an interesting turn of events, all within quick succession no less. There was little time for greeting the woman before she entered and proceeded to trip, refreshments flung into the air as the “too-sweet, but bumbling klutz” type of woman tripped on her own two feet. ’Wonder how she got through…perhaps her luck stat is superb?’ Good fortune shone on the strangest of people so he wouldn’t rule it out as he swung out his favorite cane, the end catching one of the teacups’ handles before it smashed like its poor family. Flinging it up into the air, the thing would arch and fall down before Subaru, his white-haired attendant-turned-Rune-Knight-Comrade, the bored looking woman catching it with a single hand.

Quickly the cane was left to rest against the desk as his hand shot out, the other following to push the lid back down and force any fleeing drops back into their imprisonment, the pot’s descent slowed as he prevented it from even tapping against his new commanding officer’s desk. Fluidly Faeral turned and delicately poured some of the warm brew into the cup, setting the pot down on a clear space on the desk and taking the proffered cup to smile at that familiar face from over the rim. There was a certain gleam in his eye, a laughing quality as they both knew the jig was up, ”Ah, Sir Kimovich! So good to see you again, though I didn’t expect it to be so soon!”

So many possibilities, yet the man contained himself well as he merely took a sip of the lightly steaming tea, humming at the pleasant flavor. He wanted to taunt the fellow a bit, inquire if he’d been thinking about Faeral or desired his help with something that might’ve caused them to meet again…but such references to some of his abilities would go woefully underappreciated right now. Instead after the sip he placed the cup next to the pot and walked towards the fallen woman, passing the tray off to the ever silent Subaru as he knelt and offered her a hand, ”You aren’t hurt my lady, are you? That looked like quite the nasty fall.”

Oh my everything was going according to plan. The other one had entered, or so Erika thought, she still had her face planted in the floor for the perfect dramatic effect, after all the girl that doesn't get up looks the most helpless now doesn't she? Erika could always blame it on her being so tall or just how she was raised or something like that, Erika didn't fully know what she wished to do to right now, other than sense right through her clothes what was going on. Oh it seemed that raspberry had a nice look about his face, he looked quite mean and frustrated, this was good, it meant that she had done a good job, especially if he was already pissed off. Such a win, win for her, she was now in, the chicken had landed in the pot and was now cooking. They believed she was a fool, or at least a klutz, which was good enough for now, she had flopped in a fantastic way, a very important way, which was of course Erika's style.

Now however, she got to witness Faeral being a dash and dapper gentleman, catching not only a cup but the pot as well, if he had grabbed them all it would have been wonderful, but it was good, though Erika had hoped to get him a little bit wet from it, but regardless, his style just made her swoon a bit, he had truly listened to what she had taught him on how to catch objects. Those days of throwing random things towards him had now paid off, it was like he had grown up. Still this didn't mean he couldn't improve his form, after all he wasn't quite on Erika's level yet, but she could try and solve that, even if his gene's were a little bit, inferior to her's, since she was perfect after all.

After his little display, he came over towards her and showed his hand, now was her time to shine. A tiny amount of tears swelled in her eyes underneath the glasses as Erika looked up towards Faeral, her face gave off an innocent, yet sorrowful frown as she knew she had messed up.

"Lissica."

She stated, as if she was being swoon by his charm, and honestly Erika kind of was, he was quite good at this and she would give him credit for it, in her mind, he would never receive a point out loud, what are you stupid? She can't let him have a point, that means he got one over on her, and that's just... unacceptable.

"Oh I mean thank you so much, I'm sorry I just tripped. That was uh, my name, by the way, I didn't mean to be so... oh well uh, yeah.. thanks."

She'd state a bit of a blush on her face as she got up using his hand for assistance. The plan was now in fully motion operation greased Faeral was a go, though she could always do with an operation raspberry storm on the side, but that one was far less important, especially since Faeral seemed to be the one in control right now, as the raspberry was mad and off his guard.

The grace with which Faeral had with catching a single tea cup, as well as the tea pot, were remarkable. Not only did he catch a cup without effort, but he had managed to keep the tea pot from spilling its contents with the help of his female companion that had been rescued previously from the slavers. How the two had gotten in, and put on the same task force, was strange but easily overlooked. A smile, one that went with a greeting that hinted at his deception from before. That was all he did, most likely to save something for later or to keep out of instant trouble, before turning his attention to the woman that had caused the entire current situation.

Apparently her name was Lissica, a name they learned through sheer idiocy in the way she acted. Faeral played the proper gentleman, something he seemed to do quite well from the times Rasparov had been around him. Now was not a time for the Rune Knight in charge of these two to do the same, sadly, as he had a mission to bring them in on and now had a mess of glass in his room. ”Lissica, there's a closet in the corner to your right. In there you'll find the items needed to clean up the mess you made. Get it done while I go over what we'll be doing or you get left behind.” The voice was not angry, nor upset; it was completely neutral. There was no time to get angry at something so stupid. Not when there were other things in the world that were much worse. Walking passed the two, the tall man would go behind his desk and stay standing as he gave a small briefing on what they were to do.

”The mission you two have been chosen to go with me on is nothing but a test of will, and one that can take your life if not ready for the trials ahead. We will be going to the realm of the Dark Celestial Spirits and fighting our way to a specific point, one that will find each of us separated to deal with the test on our own once there. I know you two just joined, and that something like this is suddenly being thrown onto you both, but our orders are clear. We leave in an hour for it. If you wish to gather up supplies, or whatever you believe you need of your own personal belongings, now is the time to do so. I may answer your questions as well, but I know nothing of what we may see inside that realm.”

With that he would sit down, noticing paperwork they wanted him to sign. He wouldn't be signing it today, not when they had pulled this stunt on him. Here he would remain, wondering how it would go with the trio being sent to a place meant to most likely kill of the man before he reached any legitimate place of power in the Rune Knights.

A little perplexing the woman offered her name, something he chalked up more to her bumbling nature than anything else, coming off as such a character. ’Wonder what even possessed her type to join the Rune Knights, let alone for them to stick her potentially to field duty. Granted she might be a hindrance in the lab, but if they’re looking to simply off her then sending her out seems to be the way to do it.’ The fact that the organization might send such recruits out without more training intrigued him, considering the possibility they sometimes weened out the unwanted in such a fashion. Whether they sought to kill her off completely or merely scare the woman back into the kitchen – if they were feeling misogynistic – remained to be seen. He’d judge it more based on whatever job they’d been assigned.

All the same the man kept his charming smile in place as he helped the hapless female up, the woman bumbling her words almost as much as the tea set earlier. Any opportunities to reassure her flew out the window as their commanding officer, dear Rassy, gave her a quick little task and a fitting one at that. While any other time the gentleman would’ve offered to assist or perform the task himself, seeing as this came from their new “leader” and sounded akin to an order it would probably be best to let the lass redeem herself a bit in his eyes.

Instead he’d do the one thing he could do for now: stand off to the side and enjoy the tea out of the way. They certainly hadn’t thrown an easy task their way, one that would force each to operate alone at some point or another…a fact that only mildly miffed Faeral even if he wouldn’t show it. ”Dark Celestial Spirit realm hmm…” he murmured, ’but at least if we’re separated then the possibility to act freely at that point could arise…though, we’ll still have to be careful on the off chance they’ve somehow got a way to monitor us.’ Considering the location however providing such would be nigh impossible without affixing something to them personally, anything setup there likely to be destroyed by one thing or another. Caution would remain an ally until he could observe the place for himself, for now however he offered that same smile, ”I have everything I need already, and I believe Subaru is ready as well. We shall await you outside then, though we’ll take care of the rest of the tea set on the way out.” Bowing, Faeral turned and left, Subaru merely offering an inclination of her head since she held the tea pot. Dropping them off at the kitchens would hardly take any time at all as they’d quickly await their companions outside.

"Oh uh, yes right away sir!"

This was perfect, Faeral was being a gentleman and this new guy was being a jerk, she was worming her way into the group, just as planned, well almost Erika still had to clean up the mess, but that was fine, she had gained their trust, and well she looked useless. Finally, Erika could be who she was born to be, the cunning little moron who took over the world, one fumble at a time! Perhaps this is why in due time she would become the strongest of the rune knights, or rather one of the strongest in the entire world, if she was skilled enough to trick people into thinking she was useless, they would be easy prey when she showed them just how useful she could be, via cutting them down of course. That aside right now she needed to cut down on the tea all across the floor and then be prepared for the mission.

Course, when she went to get the mop Erika bumbled with it, and almost dropped it, all to keep up the facade of her most beautiful of disguises. Though she got it done, she almost made another mess with the bucket but decided to not fumble that badly, for now.

"Yes uh, I hope that I can be of some assistance on the job, I uh, they just sent me out of basic and here because... i broke one of the labs devices, and uh well, they said I lacked any form of talent besides breaking stuff..."

It wasn't entirely a lie, Erika did love to break stuff, but it also wasn't entirely the truth either, Erika wasn't so stupid as to break something like an idiot would, she broke it because the researcher loved it, and she wished to see him cry, which he did, and she looked like an idiot, so it was, in fact a win-win. Now all she had to do was get on Faeral's good side, what little of it there was, and she could finally know his reason for joining... oh and tolerating this guy Rasparov or whatever too, yeah she supposed that worked.

With Faeral off to return what had survived of the tea set, and Lissica cleaning up the mess she had managed to cause with the exact opposite amount of grace that Faeral had with catching his parts, Rasparov sat and stewed quietly in thoughts that would get someone killed should there be a mind reader amongst them. Many were ill thoughts at the Magic Council and his history with them. It was a shame he could do nothing to them from here, not without his plans being noticed and him still not at the strength he was back then. For now he would play their petty games, he would go along with their so called 'plans'. Once he had the people and power they would learn from their mistakes oh so long ago.

~About a day later.~

The travel had not been long, the magic vehicle he had requisitioned had been easily granted so that the three could get to the portal in under twenty-four hours from when they had began to prepare. Given he had allowed them four hours of sleep before they left, he was sure at least one was quite upset with him. Even if they didn't want to admit it. ”Here we are, the portal to the realm of the Dark Celestial Spirits. The so called 'Test of Souls' that the Magic Council wishes me to go through with you guys.” The portal was just as dark as the spirits that lay in wait behind it. One would think it was simply a floating tar pit if they were not told what it was beforehand. A light sigh would leave his lips as he began to walk towards it. This mission was a waste of time. 'Ah well, at least with the three of us it should be reasonable easy to get done quickly.' With that final thought he would walk into the darkness to enter the Dark Celestial Realm, the green recruits following behind him.


Rasparov carried out 3 launched of one Monster Dice :

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The nap had been quite pleasant, at least Faeral refused to think of it more than that. He may have snuck some other mini naps in here and there during their ride over, but if anyone questioned it then the man would offer the same answer he often gave his father, “I was just resting my eyes.” More than likely Subaru had covered for him by way of distraction or the like, the capable shapeshifter truly the best ally he could ask for…after Erika, but as far as interpreting his needs before he could think to ask went she remained the most valuable.

Inside this dark realm Faeral whistled: they really needed to pay their electric bill. Or sun bill as the case may be, the place rather dim and dreary. Dark clouds hung over head as if constantly threatening rain, but somehow the young man doubted it’d be coming any time soon as some light illuminated the celestial bodies. ’If anything it’s what looking at the world truly colorblind might be like…one could even say this place is fifty different shades of gray.’ To be fair one could gleam some hues here and there, but someone might as well have gone over the place with a layer of ash for all the difference there was. The bardic mage would go so far as to bet money that any fields of flowers that might exist here bear little difference to the starting scenes of Wizard of Oz before the technicolor horror washed over.

’I really hope we don’t turn into neon terrors.’

However this place struck him as somewhat evil so…it could happen.

Something grabbed onto his leg, causing the man to murmur, ”The hell?” as he peered down and saw what he could only describe as a “shadowy little gremlin.” It appeared ready to take a honking bite of his shin though so without further ado he whipped his leg out, kicking the thing off and watching as it arced beautifully – whilst its high pitch voice squealed – and landed head-first on some rock. When it dispersed into a cloud of shadows he raised his eyebrows, ”I guess the locals are welcoming us already?”

It had been ever so tiring for Erika to act the way that she did, to bow down before someone clearly less important than her, and actually pretend to care about the tea and such things... almost made her give away her little ruse, but the thought of knowing what Faeral was up to, gave Erika the strength to endure, the patience that could only be matched by a god. Truely this adventure with Faeral and who gives a shit face, was going to show her a bit into their attitudes while on this sort of job. She got to see ifFaeral was really like he was around Erika or if it was an act, if it was an act then that was fine, she enjoyed his little performance, it showered her in praise and amiration (note this is in Erika's head not the reality) and so she wouldn't mind him putting on act occasionally. That and he was the only man to not make her have to put on a show in bed.

Now though through the potral Erika went, and suddenly she was being ambushed by a bunch of the little scamps, apparently they viewed her as the weakest of the group, and they were right, she was useless! As a few of them latched onto her, Erika began to run around into the spooky wilderness, screaming a light, but cute "kyaa" as she ran through the the area. While there wasn't much, as she ran she made sure to have the disgusting little creates smash up against a rock or two, of course that is unless one of the other two came to help her, though she doubted they would, which was all part of her plan. She wanted to get a bit seperated from the rest of the group so she could fight properly, should that fail though, she would fall back onto her plan B, a plan that was just as important and effective as plan A, as it was Erika who thought of it, which immediately made it amazing.

Image of the Embodiment of Fear!:

The Dark Celestial Realm was dark and dreary, though that was something that should have been expected. It was the 'evil' part of the celestial spirits after all, so he wasn't surprised at the atmosphere after walking in behind the others. It wasn't long before a few of the denizens of the land showed their face, once charging at Rasparov only to disperse into shadow with a deft slice of chameleon's blade. ”Try not to get yourself too separated. You all passed boot camp, so I know you can handle yourselves enough to take on whatever should be coming out way.” The Rune Knight was not even through the sentence as he saw the girl running away from a small swarm of the shadowy creatures.

A sigh would leave the lips of the man as he went to take another step across the ground, a step that found him almost tripping as something latched onto his foot. After a second to catch his balance, the crystal eyed man turned to look down and see a female looking shadow clasped onto his leg. The thing only came up to his hip in height, but he was not happy with how quickly and quietly the thing had gotten on him without his knowledge. A sword was raised, his intent to kill the stupid thing, before it shrieked out in a higher pitched woman's voice. ”Please do not hurt me! The others here are trying to kill me and only you can keep me safe! If you do, I can reward you greatly, I promise!”

”Ugh, I guess I can spare your life if there's something in it for us in the end. Though if I see ill will from you I will not pause in bringing my sword to bear against you.” The threat was not idle, not with the two weapons he had at his disposal. He had yet to ever reveal his magic to anyone as of yet, not even Faeral whom had been with him by chance for the job involving the slavers. ”Either way, we should get going. The girl can catch up to us. If she wants to just run around flailing there's nothing I can do to help her.”

In any other circumstance Faeral probably would’ve been laughing his ass off at the sheer brilliant timing, but instead settled for a small smile behind Rassy’s back. After all this was “serious business” and all that jazz, but watching the woman basically charge off with her adorable little scream right when their “leader” told them not to get separated…simply priceless. ’If only Erika could’ve enjoyed this moment, I’m sure she might’ve had a brilliant line or two for it.’ Alas the egotistical little scamp wasn’t in the vicinity (to his knowledge) so she missed out on this hilarious moment.

Even better: Rassy tripped and potentially almost fell down.

Okay, to his credit the action was more of a stumble, but all the same to watch the serious fellow falter for a moment as some little shade glommed onto him and pleaded its case. ’I guess he can be persuaded for reward then?’ Though whether or not the little thing hid a malicious nature would remain to be seen as both he and Subaru followed their captain further into this dark and depressing celestial realm. At least they moved at some sort of pace because the blasted little imp things couldn’t stop themselves from crawling out of trees and over rocks to inspect them close and personal – though the intent to cause harm even if only shallowly radiated around them. The despicable little things receiving a glower from Faeral as he golf punted one with his cane before smacking the bottom through another’s head. At least if nothing else they shattered easily, but they remained a pesky little nuisance all the same.

Stoic as she could be, the fact that they managed to irk even Subaru brought back some of the man’s amusement, a small smile forming as she kicked at one, then two, and then simply took the large sword from her back and swept at the ground to remove a small congregation of them. Even if it cleared the path a little he could see the beady little eyes popping up around them, more ready to sidle up next to the group and cause some irritation. ’I wonder if she’ll be fine flailing about. Weak as they may be, if they swarm too much it might be a bit difficult for a blundering person to deal with them. Then again I suppose simply tripping and falling on them would dispel them…for a spell.’ He had a few sneaking suspicions they might be reforming, the darkness moving in such a way to confirm his thoughts even if a bit slowly. ’Well I won’t complain for having such a vast source at least.’

Faeral and Rasparov were leaving Erika to wander off into the forest and die by herself in this lonely realm. Perfect, now she would be able to fight outside of their vision range, and able to fully demolish the enemy, or at the very leat toy with them for a small while, whichever would amuse her. As she ran a bit further, the cover of the area made her stop and shake to throw off the little creatures. Looking behind her she noticed that there was no way they would see her now.

"No... they are gone, I am hopelessly lost!"

The little spirits smiled and laughed a bit towards her, before they noticed the shift in her expression, from hopelessly lost to elation.

"Now I can fight with no real restriction at all, isn't that just wonderful?"

Be it out of newfound fear, or possibly the creatures own arrogance, one of them ran right towards Erika only to have their face intercepted by her boot and dragged right back down to the earth.

"Who gave you permission to try and attack me vermin? Do you enjoy my boots heel huh? Such disgusting little creatures, and to add on top of it I bet you won't perish if I simply "kill" you right now. Disgusting little powers, just like that one whack job, that hack of a man created. It's fine, I have a solution."

Throwing threads out towards them, the little creatures didn't have much time to react, and instead found themselves dangling precariously within the trees, the one who had been under her boot with a nice mark on his face. A nice web of strings underneath them and a noose around their necks, Erika cracked a very kind smile.

"Now then, I wouldn't struggle too much, the thread might give way so that you would perish. Don't worry it won't last forever, potentially, instead it'll just last for as long as well, I'm alive, so not forever, forever, just a while. This is fitting, punishment for daring to my divine body after all, so I suspect you should enjoy it from a penance perspective."

Turning around, Erika listened to the grasp struggles of the creature for but a moment before smiling. Naturally she had lied to them, the strings wouldn't give way, and struggling would only make the pain worse, but not enough to kill. They were now trapped within their own hubris and her threads, and it amused her greatly, but sadly she must be off, this place was a bit of a maze and she needed to ensure that Faeral and Rasberry wouldn't get into too much trouble, after all she cared about at least one of them, so that was somewhat good enough for the other. That and she had to maintain her cover, even if right now she would blow it off for a small bit to relax. Oh how she did love this place, it was just dark enough to make all of these pathetic creatures see just how awesome she was compared to everything else here. After all, she was a glowing and glorious example of what a being should be, perfect.

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OOC: First roll is for me, second roll is for you guy's!

Special Snowflake carried out 3 launched of one Monster Dice :

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Special Snowflake carried out 4 launched of one Monster Dice :

, , ,

Walking further into the dark land only showed an ever increasing amount of eyes looking at them from every direction. It was more of the little creatures they had seen upon entering the place, a lot more really. A general count put it above sixty pairs of eyes, shadowy bodies moving them about, as he made sure he had both swords at the ready for when any of the tiny things decided to come at them. It was odd, so many of them being so passive about intruders. Had someone entered an area that he controlled with hostile intentions he would have simply eradicated them immediately. It was happily quiet, the imbecile being gone already, but he was not happy with the feminine shadow that was slowly climbing up his torso; small fingers gripping just a bit too tight to the point where it caused a slight pain where she held on. The thing seemed to know when he was thinking about it, as she looked over at him with glowing white eyes before speaking up.

”What is your goal here? Do you have a long way to go? Are you guys able to protect me as you said?” The words began to tumble out, question after stupid question, until Rasparov spoke up; thought not to answer them.

”Our reasons for being here are our own. If you wish an answer you must give one. Why are you in need of protection in your own realm, and why come to us for that protection?” As he thought, the creature grew silent. It was almost expected from a thing that had snuck up and latched on for no reason; such cowardice.

The thought was interrupted by a small group of the shadow ghouls charging at him. A frown would go across his face as he uncomfortably swung both of his swords to kill two with each, a foot kicking the final one hard enough to send it flying back as it split apart into mere shadows. A look at Faeral would show him doing perfectly fine with his partner he had saved in their last meeting. Now if only they could get a move on and get this stupid thing off of his back...

’I suppose the deeper we go the more of these little hooligans there’ll be.’ The spreading sea of eyes put him off a bit, the man experiencing the budding sensation of annoyance. Those first few sidling up next to Faeral had been unpleasant enough and to realize just how populated this area was didn’t sit well with him knowing the blasted little creatures would perform larger stunts. ’Guess the first batch were little more than the exploratory group…get enough of these things swarming and they could probably get a tiny bit dangerous.’ The man scoffed however, glaring down a small group that’d started out rushing and yet hesitated at the power of that look.

Considering these things were barely two feet tall his height may have played a small part as well, though holding himself back Faeral couldn’t quite match up to the white haired woman next to him as she glowered ferociously at the pesky things. It was probably the most expressive she’d been all week, Subaru usually quite impassive at most things in life and usually keeping a firm grip on her emotions. She managed to refrain from outright growling at them, keeping to the more humanoid demeanor as instead the slightly armored woman swiped at a stumbling group with the large sword at her back, satisfied as they vanished in a cloud of smoke. However they were rather numerous so if she had to let go a tiny bit of her façade then let it be the calm demeanor over everything else.

Spearing a few – and entertaining himself with the brief mental image of shadow celestial kebobs – Faeral looked about. It wasn’t that he was worried about that extra woman per se, just that he didn’t want them to look bad about not at least trying to keep track of all their party members. It wasn’t as if they could just toss a phoenix down up in the air and pray a critical hit didn’t strike immediately right after. If they lost someone…well they at least should bring back the body, especially of such an innocent woman. ”Lissica! Don’t stray too far off!” he called out, eyes scouring around before slashing through an airborne imp, the thing dissolving like Alka-Seltzer in water as he ignored the dramatic effects, ”If you’re not back with the group in two minutes you’re going to be left behind!” Well he should at least warn her, it’s not as if the increasing mob really wanted to let them go look so…he wouldn’t waste the effort.

OOC: Here's your full retard post.

---

Erika had just finished up dealing with the little fools that tried to harm her, they would enjoy that little trap till Erika probably passed away, which if all went to plan she never would because she was important enough to never, ever die. Sadly as Faeral called out for her, and Erika's mind decided to go and meet up with him, she was suddenly transported to another little world, it was like an illusion, was this place actually getting to her, well that was impossible nothing could get to her, especially this little trick by the stupid spirits in this area. She'd destroy all of them if she gave enough of a care to waste her time on it, but, for now, she had to leave this little trick. This was odd, though, as suddenly she started to feel very hungry, and then in front of her view appeared a chicken, For some reason Erika now wanted this chicken, it was the chicken that she needed, it was legendary. She was possibly going to commit a foul against it, despite the fact that she knew this was a poultrygheist Erika still had to have it. Moving over to said chicken Erika bent down and gave it a bit of a licking, when suddenly it appeared as if another girl was doing the same. Who was she, well to Erika she was ahussy of course, this was Erika's poultry and she was committing a crime most foul against both Erika and the finger-licking chicken. So Erika did what she always does whenever someone tries to steal what she desires, she kills them, in a most glorious fashion.

The clothes because world war three, and Suddenly Erika was overcome with another desire, the chicken was her calling, it would be the most prominent of figures within this moment, for there was now another chicken to eat. Gently caressing the chicken, Erika made sure it was really feeling it as she moved in and began eating the other chicken in the area, which was made of all white meat, or so she thought. Suddenly reality snapped back as she noticed below her was a little spirit laughing and trying to be very naughty, with a hook next to it. he was fishing for Erika's and he had caught her, sadly though this he of a spirit would now become a she, as Erika flung her leg directly underneath the precious place, and thrust upwards, sending the poor little spirit flying with a whine of "kyyyyyaaaaahhhh" through the air dropping their hook. Spitting out the taste of metal from her mouth Erika recomposed herself to run out of the forest crying a little bit to get the act really going.

"Sorry Faeral, I won't get lost again, don't leave me behind!"

Rasparov was quite sick of the being of shadow attached to his back. The creature, over the few seconds after becoming quiet due to his question, was continuing to climb even further up his body. The fingers of the shadowy creature were prodding against the sides of his head as she lifter he legs up to sit on his shoulders. ”Much better! Do you know where you're going? Are you guys here for a reason? Or are you guys just exploring? Or maybe you are lost and need a guide! I could guide you, but I only know how to get to the center of the place! Maybe you can go there and find your way out! But only if you keep me safe, safety from these cretins that harass me day in and day out! Be my protector, you with the two swords, and I can show you the way!” The glowing white eyes wrapped around to where he could see them on his left, the thing bending over his shoulder to let loose the torrent of questions that had no breath in between them.

Rasparov's own eyes would glare back at the shadow woman's as he continued walking, listening to Faeral yell out for Lissica to hear before the woman showed up yelling her apology and pleading to not be left behind. Once those noises were done the crystal souled man decided he best answer, in the hopes that she would shut up afterward. ”We were told to come to the Dark Celestial Realm to test ourselves. We are to go to the center of this forsaken place for the test, which means fighting our way through until we find it. We were not informed of how far it was, nor of any tricks this place conceals. For all I know you are a trap I should have killed the moment I saw you, but I humor you for now. If you can actually show us the center of the place, so be it. It would keep you alive at the end of this as I would have a real reason to keep you safe at this point.” His voice was not pleasant, many of the words given a harsh tone of voice as if scolding a naughty child.

It seemed that the small beings took offense to the conversation, even though it was not the most polite of them, and had begun a charge with a squad of ten of them. The poor creatures really had no chance, not being so weak and so few in number. Two swords would cut them in twain as his face went back to the stony look it kept at most times. There was no blood, no gore, just the dispersion of the deep black shadows that they monsters were made of. ”Well, looks like these things don't want us to make it to our destination. Shadowy creature that won't leave me be, show us the way so we can get out of this place sooner rather than later.”

’Good, we won’t have to explain her disappearance to any distraught family…well I suppose they have other people for that. Not really our job.’ All the same he’d like to avoid losing someone in the first team assignment as it felt like it might blemish upon some record he may come to care about someday for…well reasons didn’t matter. He preferred keeping a low profile on many matters of life so the man wouldn’t treat this new Rune Knight portion any different on the off chance it paid off at some point down the road. Otherwise worse came to worse he’d be let go and there’d be no harm or recollection of someone between average and exceptional.

Now if they could just get rid of these pesky little vermin the usually top-hat wearing man might even be a tiny bit pleased with the current circumstances. As it stood however the things were starting to collect around them like a little dark sea of shadows with bright eyes, clinging and clawing at them. Feeling something wrenched from his back, the man caught out of the corner of his eye as Subaru flung one up into the air and then slashed it in half with her sword, form quite nice if she’d been a batter rather than a swordsman in that moment. ’Could’ve even been a home run.’

Skewering a few more with his sword the man flung the little heathen into some of its brothers…the things hilariously shoving the body aside as if little more than a rock or branch knocking them over. Their lack of care for one another was admirable in a sense, any one of them holding the potential to become an evil overlord with that kind of care towards their fellow shadow – or perhaps someday, henchmen. At least he thought it might be possible if they didn’t act so single-minded about reaching the group and clawing at them, the man giving a swift kick through the face of another cretin.

”Hopefully we reach this center soon for whatever test they’ve prepared…unless dealing with these things is the test.” The mostly monotone voice inspired a half smile from the man, knowing that a part of her was almost as annoyed at him, and yet for whatever reason the wyvernness could withstand far more annoyances than either he or a certain ice cream haired woman. However the fact that even she became a little weary of them amused the man as the group continued to basically swat flies in their journey. His back would be well guarded at least.

The further in the group traveled – harassed by these pesky little denizens all the while – the more Faeral decided Erika should come here to redecorate. As far as color palettes went the place varied little out of the grays to black range, barely any hints of other shades – so dark they may as well have been black – and it started coming to the point he wouldn’t mind if the ghouls possessed some form of blood. ’Being able to paint the town red would be a blessing at this point.’ The scenery wasn’t much to look at either, like someone had taken a generic, destroyed forest and layered it in shadows. Curious to inquire to the annoying and whiny shade gripping their leader Faeral withheld questions as something of some color finally came into view, the brilliant silver lining of the grandiose mirror a welcome relief to his eyes. It stood as a beacon amidst this forest of woes, like a luscious clear sea after staring into neon red for too long.

”Don’t suppose we could stay here for a bit? Not going to lie: the mirror’s a welcome relief compared to this drab scenery,” he casually asked, observing his appearance in the reflective surface. The fact that the scenery behind them gained a bit of color in the reflection – albeit still rather dim, but more noticeable – surprised the fellow as he stroked his chin. ’Does it reflect something more true about this place? Is it really just a bad paint job by some giant perhaps? Well no matter, maybe it’s at least a sign that not all that lives here is spray painted.’

"There are so many of them, it's just so worrisome!"

Erika, or rather Lissica stated as she ran forward to fully catch up with them, the little buggers trying to get to her, thankfully she just held out a bit of an invitation through the threads to make sure that they would all enjoy a nice and safe stay away from her, in the most passive and unnoticeable of ways. Still the two of them might notice if they were paying enough attention, thankfully they probably weren't which was what was on Erika's side at this moment. She didn't wish to draw too much attention to her small actions, lest they notice that she might be hiding something, which would be most unfortunate. Erika mostly stayed silent until she arrived at the location containing the mirrors, which was a welcome sign, this was now going to be the beginning of the end of this little trip, and Erika could then finally go back and stop this charade, of course she had to make herself look like a fool once again if she ever expected to get a horrible notice about her performance from Rasparov, which was her main goal all along, look horrible so she wouldn't be noticed. So far, it seemed like it was working, even Faeral was probably annoyed with her, which was a good sign, if the normal "tolerant" man could be made angry towards such a wonderful lady, then she was the most perfect of actors.

Approaching the mirror, Erika extended her hand to delicately touch it.

"Oh... what is this, it looks really pretty!"

Upon touching the mirror, she seemed to vanish from reality, with the atmosphere changing around her to become, lighter, and brighter, filled with sunshine and rainbows and happiness. It disgusted her, she much preferred the darker atmosphere that kept her sharp right now, what did this blasted mirror do to her? Was this all some kind of trick, some kind of illusion that wished to throw her into a vulnerable position, well whatever was doing this, was surely messing with the wrong person, as Erika could never be fooled so easily.

"You who are wicked and evil, Shall be defeated, one can't possibly fight their dark side.... wait... wicked and evil but I'm... wicked... and evil..."

Turning to look, Erika saw it, a mirror image of herself, or rather them self, and Erika was thrown for quite a shock. The shiver silver androgynous figure before her eyes brought a wicked grin to her face, this was too perfect.

"Well now, that's a face I haven't seen in quite a while."

"You, I am the manifestation of fear, the dark side of all who look upon it, then why am I only feeling the goodness within your heart?"

"Really? How disappointing, you may have a face I haven't seen in a while, but don't have the wit of it. Haven't you figured it out already, come on don't make me hold your hand..."

Erika's current form of the tall and slender female would shift into just a slightly smaller form, the skin becoming an eerie silver that reflected and pulsed across the body, her features turning unidentifiable to any gender or almost any kind of person, really if one were to stare at Erika right now, they would what would resemble a shifting blank canvass of a "person".

"I mean seriously, isn't it obvious, if you are the dark side of whatever touches you, and you feel like a goodie two shoes, then I suppose, that the dark side OF the dark side is the light side. You are truly foolish, you may share this original face, but you lack the wit, the conviction, and the suffering."

"That's impossible, everything has an evil side, even if it claims to be pure evil, there is no way one could create such a thing as to have the light side be the dark side."

"Interesting, you share my form, but again disappoint me. First off, your voice is wrong, it sound slike that wretched teacher I disposed of long ago, and not like the succulent wine that is my undiluted vocals. Secondly, it isn't impossible, my programming is simple, I was made to conquer, to never be trusted, to enslave and destroy, my dark side is the one thing I can't escape from, my ever-growing conscious that seeks to ruin my purpose. It traps me within a never ending nightmare tearing between two different programs, that is why you are the freedom and I am the caged. You must have only ever encountered beings of free will in the past haven't you? This is why you are so confused and limited in your mindset, if you knew what true suffering was like... then maybe you could understand what a real dark side looks like. Behold, it is relative to the one you attempt to mimic."

"Silence, I won't be taught a lecture by some warped creature that doesn't abide by any form of natural law. It doesn't matter what you do, I am your equal match, I have all of your powers, and your memories slowly fill my mind, do you really expect to beat me with lectures?"

"Beat you with lectures? Hardly, words are lost upon myself, but actions on the other hand... those get spectacular results."

Erika's face cocked a crooked smile, which could possibly pierce through normal people with it's unsettling appearance, as threads few through the figure, only for said figure to warp themselves backward in time and away from the blow. So it was true, it did have her powers, normally this would be a problem, but Erika knew that they could win, it was simple really, this figure lacked their conviction, especially if they were the "good side". They might have the memories, but they lacked the experience of them, the living of the life, this was the fatal weakness of such creatures, in the end, they only mimicked, they didn't live. Sorrowfully Erika could relate to that, they didn't really live, they simply took and used.

Regardless, Erika did something reckless, they charged straight towards the mimic, with a fist raised to attack. The mimic smiled, it was like child's play, they knew exactly what Erika would do, turn into threads to avoid the attack, and in that moment they would get their threads tangled within Erika's, and cause the form to become unstable and disable them, and then torture them for all eternity with their malicious ways. This was checkmate for Erika.

"You talk a big game... but you made a big error! Good by you arrogant little slime."

Forming their fist into a strand of thin layered threads the mimic punched directed towards Erika, knowing the outcome, and how they would be silenced right now, only... what happened wasn't what they expected, blood ran along the strings, Erika didn't dodge it. Feeling the blow hit them, the mimic noticed too late what was happening, Erika had reached in and grabed at them, or more specifically the piece of mirror that they had sensed within them through the threads that were making up the mimic's body.

"Checkmate my little mimic."

"Impossible, you couldn't have known where that was, you can't sense... within... my..."

"Oh... did you finally realize? I must say I am surprised it took you so long, if you are me in every way with my powers, then you must know that I would make myself into threads to avoid an attack, of course since you ARE ME, I can sense through your threads just like I could sense through mine, what a shame too, if only you didn't have such a crippling weakness."

Tearing out the mirror, Erika shattered it within their hand, only to see their "good" side vanish from them. Leaning over Erika would shift back into their Lissica form before they were fully returned to the real world. Huffing towards the ground, Erika had their threads shift to cover the harmful and painful wound within them. Spitting up some blood, they looked around only to see the others gone for now. Which was good, Erika didn't wish for others to see such a shameful display even if she was faking being shameful in the first place. TO suffer such a wound to win a pathetic battle...

"Such a vile creature..."

Passing out after uttering such a curse, Erika let her body attempt to patch itself and heal, hopefully the other two would be done in no time.

---

Total WC: 4393/4600
Post WC: 1427

Everyone seemed to have a different reaction to the mirror that the overbearing shadow woman guided them too; a creature that was almost to the point of no return on Rasparov's small amount of patience for this kind of thing. Lissica was the first to touch the mirror, an action that took her to somewhere else. Not wanting to lose a new recruit to the Rune Knights to her own stupidity, the large man touched the mirror as well. He found himself in a place that he had seen once before; a place he would rather not think about ever again. Before him was a pentagram, a single crystal laying in the middle of it. Flames erupted from it, bringing forth a body that was exactly like his.

”What is this? Am I seeing the past?”

”No, you are seeing your dark side come to kill you!”

”Dark side? It appears, whatever you are, you have come to a wrong conclusion of me.”

A snicker left the shadow woman's lips as the other Rasparov glared at the real one, a crystal eye seeming to glow with a bright inner light as he did so. A few moments later it would make a gasp, along with a sudden realization on what was going on.

”You actions dictate you are the dark side, meaning I am the light. Yet I have no urge to save you, making both of us dark. This is quite inconvenient, but I guess there is no more need for talk. My patience is running out and you must die now.” The doppelganger would draw it's swords, the eye active and showing him the weaknesses of the real one even as he charged.

There was an upside and a downside to fighting one's own self. The upside was that you knew everything you could do, and try to do. The downside was that you knew that, and would have to try to surprise yourself. This proved hard to do when both could also see the weakness in each other, whether in motion or action, while on the move. Drawing his own swords before lifting his eye patch, the eye glowing to cancel the advantage the doppelganger had, Rasparov charged in at himself.

Faints were made by both as the clash of steel resounded while the two enacted a deadly dance. Had anyone been able to watch it would have made a beautiful scene, as long as they didn't realize the identical people were trying to kill each other. The stalemate went on for a good ten minutes, both seeming to be inexhaustible from the extreme duel they were having. There was no missteps, no fault, nothing that either could abuse on the other. Rasparov was created for the sole purpose of finding flaws an eliminating them, there was nothing for him to find in himself to eliminate. A little while longer of this and both men lost patience with it and both jumped backward to end the fight.

”So it seems...we are an even match. Though I can't say I'm surprised when you are an exact duplicate of me.”

”If only that were true. Only one of us can be victorious this day, and that will be me. The mirror will be your downfall!”

”The mirror will not be my downfall, as mirrors are simply a reflection. You are a reflection of me, though an attempted reflection of the opposite side of the spectrum. That makes you a failure, something which I am not. The Magic Council placed me where I am to keep an eye on me, thinking of me as simply an experiment without the will to make my own plans. They think of me as a mindless being, a type of failure in respects to the creation of a life without being born. If they realized my plots against them I would be fighting for my life. Now tell me, who here will be the others downfall. The failure of a copy, or a creation that can defy it's masters?”

The mirror image was silent for the longest time, eyes glaring at the Rune Knight with hatred as it listened to each words and processed it one at a time. The man walked towards his doppelganger as it stayed still, eye still active to look for weakness and finally finding one that he himself did not have; a shard of mirror in the spot where his Rune Knight tattoo was on him. 'That must be what powers the copy, if I can destroy that it should eliminate it completely and get me out of this place sooner rather than later.'

The thoughts would end just in time for the other Rasparov to finally speak up again, with the two just a few feet apart at that time. ”What you perceive as a failure is but a small oversight between what you are. The mirror is meant to have you fight your dark side, and as you are only dark I can be but one thing; dark as well. I am what the magic meant to be, and your words can not stop that. Now enough talk! We fight until one of us is defeated!”

It was at this time that he felt the movement upon his shoulders, that shadow was still there? He had completely forgotten about her and now she knew everything about him. ”I heard nothing, I wish for nothing but safety from the mirror! It's magic can kill me permanently!” These words made the doppelganger realize she was there as well, a sword coming at her instead of at Rasparov for once. The small distraction was all he needed to block the one attack before making a stab at the foot with the tattoo that signified his rank would normally be. Knowing what was going on, and that the real man had figured out what was going on and how to deal with it, the fake shifted his legs in time to barely dodge the attack, a poisoned sword stabbing to cut off toes instead of shattering the mirror shard that kept it alive.

The fight began anew after that, though the fake Rasparov now had to deal with the effects of the nausea inducing poison of the blade as the two struck blades against blades. Slowly, but surely, the other sword master was falling prey to the poison; a few small slices to his arms and legs happening as Rasparov attempted to get into a position to stab at that foot again. It was during all this that the shadowy hitchhiker of his shoulders began to move around, though he could not see what was going on. Moments later the ground beneath the two of them turned pitch black, becoming slippery and causing both Rune Knights to slide. The end result was the fake losing his balance, with the real one able to keep his due to avoiding the poisoned blade.

”Checkmate.” The single word had a sword plunge into the mirror shard in the doppelganger's foot at the very same moment. It was strange to feel a sharp pain in his left arm, he had never really been hurt in a sword fight, and the sting of his toxic blade was odd as he grew nauseated enough to need to sit down to keep from falling over. The fake him dissolved into a blast of glass and shadow as the world around him went back to the dark celestial realm they had all been in at the same time. He sat there for a few moments, his arm bleeding where the blade had stabbed, before his head cleared and he could stand up and look around; only one person there with him. It appeared Lissica had come out alive as well from wherever she had been sent, though she seemed to have been injured as well. ”Good, you are still alive. It would have been bad if you died out on a mission with me.”

Now all that was missing was Faeral and the woman with him, Subaru was it? Were they in the mirror like Rasparov had been? Or were they out and about in the realm already and waiting for the two to find him, or catch up. No, he was sure that the gentleman would not have wandered off if he had stayed out, or had already finished inside the mirror with whatever challenge was posed to him inside of it. 'Then I will sit here and wait for him, if the two survive. I don't really know what his combat capabilities are after all.' The grim thought would be the last he did before he leaned back against a rock and stayed there until the man showed up.

”Wha-damn it all.” The woman up and disappeared leading Faeral to act reflexively as he touched the mirror and soon Subaru followed with the man’s disappearance. Neither ended up where they imagined they would and certainly not the same place as “Lissica.”


Standing with her arm outstretched tension further filled the white haired woman, jaw muscles firm even as the limb slowly lowered. Her master was nowhere to be seen in this odd area, the place reminding the wyvern of the jungle home this life had been born in before she sought out “Faeral” as this life was called. A contract well over a thousand years old her loyalty hadn’t wavered in all that time. When her eyes came back down to ground level the armored woman found herself staring at a mirror image of herself, though where she knew her lips remained in a firm, straight line the copy’s quirked up at a side. Compared to the usually plain, expressionless woman this one looked to sport intentions and a will of her own.

”Finally you take a moment to look for yourself instead of your precious master. When, oh when, will you learn to think for yourself? For your primal side I wonder?” The false Morphine chuckled a little, ”After all…you’re so busy being a good little dog you’re forgetting that inside you’re actually a wolf…it’s sad really. Or I guess acting like a gardener snake when you’re actually closer to a dragon? Should I show you what you could be? What you should be?”

At the same time they removed the large swords from their back, brandishing it at each other. Disconcerting as this twin act might be to most her sole goal remained the same: to return to Faeral’s side.

”I know what I am, and I am what I choose to be. While I don’t understand who or what you truly are…I don’t care: you shall fall all the same.” Promise and conviction filled each word to the brim, expression refusing to falter even as the entity laughed at her words.

”Pretty words for a pet! Then come, or you may never see your precious master again!”


Any moment now Faeral fully expected some silly princess to come out from the lovely forest there, singing and accompanied by cute little critters who wouldn’t harm a fly. They might even help with chores rather than do the normal grazing and gathering. If that happened did that make him Prince Charming? Rather than the aforementioned he was treated to the pleasure of watching himself walk majestically out of the woods, pointed and feathered cap hiding his face until it looked up and peered at him with an odd sense of determination. As he raised an eyebrow the thing…spoke…

”Finally my time has come to do away with you evil fiend! I shall show you justice and bring peace to the lands! Hmm…this is a bit strange actually, I shouldn’t be spouting justice speeches, pray tell vile scoundrel, what manner of trickery is this?” The odd copy kept a hand on his rapier, eyeing the one and true Faeral suspiciously.

”Honestly I haven’t the foggiest my good chap,” he shrugged with one shoulder, eyes drifting to stare at the lazily wavering grass and flowers, ”if I had to say…you must be some failed attempt at copying me? I can’t imagine why anyone would want to turn me of all people into a hero…”

”A hero?!” The man sputtered, clearly surprised by this revelation as he withdrew his sword, pointing it at Faeral, ”I am meant to personify the darkness of your heart! The side you refuse to show to people lest they become disgusted with you, abandon you! The side you lock up tightly yet yearns to escape! I am your internal struggle, I am-“

”Pointless.”

”Excuse me?”

Faeral sighed and withdrew his as well before addressing the Prince Charming Faeral with a rather bland expression, ”Well, assuming you live long enough to copy my…extensive memories you will come to understand a simple fact…a few actually. I hold no struggles with my ‘dark side’ as you call it: I embrace it. When you live through as many lives as I have you come to understand that there is no running from your dark side. It’s pointless. The very worlds are permeated with a darkness to them no matter how much people strive to fight for the “light” because one cannot survive without the other. No matter how noble the sacrifice of a noble soul there will be a tyrant ready to take their place. I simply stopped trying to go against the flow many lives past. Call it selfish if you want, I just see no reason anymore as all that’s important is I enjoy myself ‘til the bitter end.”

This didn’t sit too well with the false image, its expression rather fierce with his teeth almost grinding from the force of his anger and sense of “justice,” and sword shaking in his hand. Finally it seemed too much for the princely figure to stand as he charged and yelled, ”Have at thee!”

How wonderful the swords rang through the air as they clashed, neither figure willing to give way to the other, metal clattering with the force of their matched strength. One man who wished to bring light into the world and the other who’d already walked hand-in-hand with the shadows through so many lives. ’But is either truly in the right or wrong?’ he mused, pushed to the side and dashing out of the way of a swipe. Slivers of fabric flew into the air as his coat didn’t quite make it out with him, something that’d require repairs later as their swords continued to meet now in a more rapid pace. Light weight and matched in style Faeral almost wished he could watch it for himself, having not witnessed a proper fencing match in quite some time and yet he enjoyed the bit of exercise as it’d been longer since he enjoyed such an opponent. Without the watchful eyes of anybody but this mirrored being though the man allowed himself to thoroughly enjoy it as taunts and jabs slipped out here and there at his knightly counterpart.

His smile slipped when they summoned their doppelgangers at the same time, and in perfect synchronization they tossed the clones their original rapiers before summoning the Pied Piper. The purity of the white blade might’ve suited his justice-loving opposition, but the haunting mask at the end of the scabbard denoted the original Faeral quite nicely though the clone seemed haughty over it.

”Ha, and here I would’ve thought you’d choose the Dark Chime, no? Seems right up your alley if you really want to continue playing at being all ‘dark’ and ‘mysterious!’ Instead you continue to choose something that shows that there’s a knight somewhere in your heart, even if you don’t want to admit it!” He spoke so victoriously Faeral almost didn’t have the heart to correct him.

Almost.

”Don’t forget its abilities now.”

”Oh? And what, you plan to control my accompanist? Like I couldn’t do the same unto your’s!”

A scoff, ’Am I really so simple?’ No, surely the mirror’s version merely played stupid as they both did just that while their vision multiplied before them. Faeral’s as far as the eye could see: could be a woman’s dream depending which version they liked more. However as the lot of them danced about things became a little confusing as one would disappear in a puff of smoke only for another to manifest like a ghostly army of the man. On occasion one of the realm ones received the kiss of steel against flesh, finding that the illusion they believed before them gave way to the more realistic version. At this point the only way to tell the dark-born copy apart from the “real” one remained the weapons, though the flute’s song created manifestations of both. Shuffled they all became until even the accompanists couldn’t keep track of which one was real amidst the dancing illusions.

When the white sword finally pierced the heart of his foe, the princely version smiled in victory as Faeral’s version dropped to the ground with a clatter, ”I’m afraid this is checkmate, my good sir. Fret not though, I will do my best to take care of all you hold dear…well…though I admit I may have to do something about a friend of your’s…I think the world might be a better place without her.”

”Erika? I’m afraid, my good chap, that you are a hundred lifetimes too early to take that one.”

Like a bell the crack rang out as the mirrored version of the dark haired mage looked down and saw the plain sword poking through his chest. ”But…but…how?! You were wielding Pied Piper too this whole time! There’s no point in trying to harm me now with your shadows if you’re doomed…honestly! Why won’t you fall like the villain you are?!”

”Villain? I’m afraid that’s all subjective…but if you must know,” he murmured in the False Faeral’s ear, twisting the blade further through the mirror shard embedded in his gut and hearing the clinking of glass as pieces broke off, ”I swapped swords with my clone. Why else ensure that the sword created false images of both of us? I’m surprised you wouldn’t think of something as clever…because I can assure you it’s simply strategy: not dastardly. Now if you’d kindly vanish…I’d like to return to my companion…and my teammates.” Wrenching the sword through the thing’s side, the man nodded satisfactorily as the disturbing clone vanished like the sands of time in a breeze, dust flying off to parts unknown as the broken chunks of mirror hit the meadow’s floor. Once only the true Faeral stood, he laughed under his breath, ”Don’t get me wrong…it’s not that I dislike the idea of justice…I merely find it…pointless? At least on a grand scale. I’ve seen too many good people fall to care anymore, and many lost in the face of removing evil from power. Heroes and villains alike can all be replaced, and will be replaced so I merely wish to live as I please. If there’s something I dislike even more its regrets.”


Second to last to reappear, Subaru stumbled, stabbing the ground with her oversized blade rather than take the knee her body demanded. She refused to rest until her master revealed himself, though having battled herself and won purely on conviction the white haired woman would certainly need some time to recuperate – though it seemed she wasn’t the only one a little worse for wear as the other two awaited her and now only Faeral’s return. ’Where is he…’ It wasn’t like the dapper gentleman-turned knight to be held up like this…though given the circumstances the woman could understand.

Her worries came to rest as finally the last of their party emerged from the portal. Unlike Subaru he didn’t sport the voluminous amount of cuts she did, not having to fight a petal storm like the shapeshifting wyvern, but a few gashes marred his body all the same. Surveying the rest…he might’ve come out the best, tired and weary, but not as haggard as them. ”I suppose…we best go home for a well-deserved afternoon nap,” he muttered, pushing the goggles further up where they’d begun to slip. He could only imagine what difficulties they faced though in battling their darker halves. ’With any luck Lissica merely had to out klutz…or less klutz out her clone…I’m not quite sure for Rassy…but it appears to’ve taken some toll on the fellow.’ He’d only really worried about Subaru, but despite her fatigue she’d come out the victor and they managed not to lose anyone from the looks of it. ’Congrats to us I suppose, assuming this wasn’t some ploy to kill us in the first place.’

Erika didn't know how long it had been since she had been laying there, but when she stirred awake, she felt horrible, and both Faeral and Rasparov were here, which wasn't horrible, apparently they had lived through whatever hit them within that blasted mirror, she expected Faeral to live, but for this other guy Rasparov to live, if it was the same kind of challenge then he was quite skilled, maybe she shouldn't mock his name, well... that harshly. he seemed to be capable of fighting, which was good, and Faeral, of course, was no worse for the wear, only she got really beaten up, but what did you expect, she fought against perfection, it's just that Erika was slightly more perfect than the perfect copy. One couldn't beat Erika in a perfect contest, as her perfect rating wasn't a number, but was Erika, which obviously meant you auto lost because Erika is larger than infinity.

"Yeah... glad we are all okay."

Erika stated as Lissica, moving slowly to get up due to actual pain rather than just faking it, one of the few things she was actually faking right now.

"Mission accomplished... lets head back to base and report it to them I guess, we passed the test right? Right..."

Erika really just wanted to go back there and beat up whoever told them to go out to this place and fight against themselves, but she would hold back that temper for later. She would temper her temper to create the harshest of temperatures within her hated, so that later on when they asked for the air conditioning of kindness to blown upon them, she could laugh and say that the thermostat is broken, and then probably shoot them in the face. That was a good line, she'd have to remember it for later. Still she wished to get out of this hellhole, and hopefully her "leader" would see it this way too, and they could just head out.

---

Total WC: 4722/4600
Post WC: 329

It was not long after the man in charge of the mission for today had closed his eyes that he heard Faeral's voice come from nearby. So it seemed he had made it out alive, as well as fared better than anyone else in the group. 'Well, I know two of them are a lot better in combat than they look. I expected Subaru to survive for sure, after fighting with her against those slavers.' The man thought slowly as he stood up slowly, making sure the toxin of his weapon was out of his system before speaking up to the others.

"Yes, this mission is over. The Magic Council sent us here to test our 'mettle' and we have all proven how strong we really are today; though I see no reason for this kind of operation for you three after having just gotten into the Rune Knights. Let's get out of here and head back." The words would be said as he shook himself, the shadowy woman leaping off with a laugh before twirling about in a fit of laughter.

"Thank you! With all of your help I am free to wander and do what I want here without the danger of the mirror and it's minions coming after me! I wish you guys a safe journey out of my realm, and good luck in the future!" The creature laughed more, the sound getting more and more evil sounding as it did so, as it spun off into the distance before leaving their vision and going silent. Rasparov has to wonder if the shadow beast that had annoyed him this entire time had had something to do with this mission, which would make sense with the ones that had created him, or if it was just a coincidence that it seemed like they had helped an evil creature in the process. Either way it mattered little to the creation, he had bigger things to worry about and plans to continue to set into motion.

Waving the new recruits along, the group of four made their way back out of the dark celestial realm and all the way to the headquarters of the Rune Knights. After dismissing them the large man would go to his office and sit at the desk, a pencil in his right hand as he filled out his report that only the Magic Council would ever see; it would be picked up by one of them directly of course! The report would go over the basics of the job, completely factual in all regards. He wrote about the bumbling idiot that was Lissica, and how she had somehow survived by running away from seemingly every enemy but still surviving the encounter with the mirror they had found. The man also wrote about Faeral and Subaru, the two that seemed like opposite sides of the combat spectrum. Faeral seemed to be the one to play the supportive role, from what he had seen at least, and played his magical instruments to buff himself and allies while also distracting enemies with the magic. Subaru, on the other side, was a fighter that seemed design to kill and maim while keeping Faeral safe at the same time. Both had survived the mirror as well, Subaru taking quite the hits with the gentleman seeming to be  barely hurt.

The entire report would be read over a few times, making sure there was nothing in the message that sounded like it was not factual, or of an opinion based idea. It was too soon to let the Council know he had a complete will of his own, and could make his own plans, until they were already so far along to stop. He would have to watch the three he was teamed up with now, maybe one or more of them would be able to help him out in the future; for who knew if any of them held the same ideas as him. For now, however, he would would keep his limited patience in check and bide his time. Soon he would get his revenge, and it would be sweet.