CANDY CORN GALA • sitewide social gathering

Takumi wasn't enjoying a second of this. The sun god looked at Wist, hating every second of this, but the man knew he had to do it. If he didn't, he had no doubt even the sun god would escape unscathed. His blue eyes narrowed, and with a single glance, Wist helped him up and transformed into a more suitable animal for transportation. The shapeshifter became a horse, which would allow for quick transport through this realm. Takumi felt something in his pocket, but decided not to question it for now, as he clambered atop Wist's back, Wist having knelt to make it easier on him. The sun god cast another glance at his other two companions, who fell in on either side of him. "Shall we go then, my friends?" He asked, a sad smile upon his face. Even the day must pity the night, after all. Two nods were received in affirmation, and that was all Takumi needed before they could take off. An odd group they made, man, exceed, horse, and floating pumpkin, but the group of 4 indeed was a capable unit.

The sun god set his face in a grim smile as Wist stood, and with a salute at the other mages, he directed Wist towards the doors. Wist complied, his horse form swift as he ran, smooth and graceful as ever. Beside him, a servant of no man, the pumpkin king, and Coal his exceed, were ready for a fight. As they galloped at top speed towards the doors, each was making their own mental preparations, steeling themselves for what might lie ahead. Takumi had already resigned himself to fighting, but the rest of his companions were determined to ensure he never had to fight at close range. After all, if he got hit, it was all over. The man did not know of this plan, for he intended only to fight, no matter what. His blue eyes closed for a minute, but shot wide open again quickly. He and his companions would do this alone, regardless of the others.

WC: 347
TWC: 1,232
Tickets: 2

And to think things couldn’t get ANY more interesting. With the combination of so many different faces and magical powers, the room was absolutely BRIMMING with magical spice! And Mythica absolutely LOVED it. The woman shared a constant smile as the events began to unfold around her. She wouldn’t have had the night made in any other way. Even if some things had slowed around her little group with Mura, Iza and the others she whose names she didn’t really remember or even try to make an effort too for that matter. To Mythica, if the object of her focus wasn’t entertaining or life threatening, she tended to end up forgetting about it as soon as her attention shifted elsewhere. And that seemed to have been the case with a lot of the people here. Sure she was interested in their interactions, but as the night progressed, so too did the twists of this mysterious event. Because of this, the clock eyed witch was far more intrigued in what the night regent had in store for their little get together than anything else at the moment. It was true that she felt something towards Mura, but an opportunity as big as this prompted the insane time mage to shift her focus elsewhere. Even for a night. After all, entertainment had always been her true prize. Nobody could change that… Not even the other two halves of her own soul…

Her thoughts were taken back to Mura though when he acknowledged her. She apparently got lost in thought as her arms hung around Mura’s shoulders. It wasn’t until he finally addressed her that she realized she had still be holding on. Smiling she let go and put her hands behind her back, walking around to stand next to Mura instead as he conversed with the other woman dragged in to meet him. Although that wouldn’t seem to last either. Soon his own interests guided the samurai. He would promptly leave the group… And soon others would follow. What was her problem? Sure, Mythica was kind of a psychopath… And maybe a little *too* aggressive at times.. But had any of them seen it? No! Had any of them heard of it? No! So why was she always subject to the constant trick of ignorance, and then she had been discarded yet again by everyone around her… Including her friend. If there was ONE emotion that Mythica could feel other than pleasure, it was.. Whatever THIS was. She had no idea what to call it. Truthfully though, she had a few ideas, but would continue to lie to herself until the thoughts went away. For her own justification was not needed. It wasn’t! She’d be lying to herself if she decided to completely ignore it though. Someone once told her that emotions were healthy… And that she should’ve learned to embrace the others that were confusing and strange to her… That person was an idiot, and with any luck dead in a ditch somewhere. However, no amount of backtracking or avoiding in her own mind would change the simple reality of her situation. And that was that yet again, she was alone. Even after everything that had happened. Something in her mind tugged at the girl to acknowledge the oddities of her OWN demeanor. Something was telling Mythica that maybe it was her aura, or maybe the odd way she composed herself around other people or…. Oh no! Was it the eyepatch?! The thought activated Mythica’s arm to touch it lightly as the first strain of self consciousness hit her like a needle. Maybe it was her strange look that warranted people away from her. That would explain quite a few situations. She knew it COULDN’T have been her behaviour… It couldn’t! She may have been a little aggressive, but who isn’t? That’s right, everyone is! Everyone around her were all just like her! Murderous, villainous, insane nutcases that went around just to watch the entirety of the world burn in their wake! Nothing was different about her. NOTHING! THIS FEELING HAD BEEN SHARED BY EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN THIS ROOM. AND SHE’D BE DAMNED IF HER OWN ACTIONS CAUSED THESE HYPOCRITES TO MOVE AWAY FROM HER!

Something smashed in her fingers… And then red liquid streaked down the girl’s hand. Mythica had been grasping a glass of pumpkin cider, but now it was nothing but bloody shards in her palm… She didn’t even notice she had been grasping the item as hard as she had. Her breathing was heavy and fast, but now it was slowing down as her mind drifted back to the present… What had she been doing..? Her eye glanced over to the bloody cup in her palm as the faint yellow glow in her covered eye slowly faded. The feelings of anger she had been feeling before slowly subsided… And her head throbbed with pain. Staring at the red shards in her palm, now they began to sting with the flow of pumpkin cider in her open cuts. Although she didn’t flinch. All she did was chuckle as the pain intensified. With that, she’d finally unclench her hand, dropping the shards to the ground as her hand poured with life essence. Mythica would continue to chuckle as she slowly walked over to the table, feeling somewhat light headed and grabbing a napkin. She covered her hand, even though many smaller shards still dug deep into her palm. After that the girl would take a seat for a minute, slowly watching the rest of the wizards converse around her. Her eye would give a few of them glances, but her focus was somewhat being fought for. The napkin did little to stop the wound on her hand from halting, evident by the small, but steadily growing pool of red gathering on the floor near the foot of her chair. However, she did have enough focus to stare at the mages around her… They were sheep… All of them.

An unknown amount of time passed before Mythica returned to her senses again. The sudden sound of someone accidentally bumping into the table jolted the witch out of her tired trance that she seemed to have been in, staring straight ahead at the outside windows looking onwards towards a dark and gloomy world. Unlike anything she’d seen before. It gave her a few ideas about what she wanted to do with her own future endeavours. Possibly use something similar, or take a page out of the Regent’s own play book to lure her targets all in one spot, before quickly vanquishing them. Mythica could only assume that’s why they were all here anyways. After the entrance by the esteemed Pumpkin Lord and the seeming effort he and his master would’ve had to put into transporting an entire building into another dimension without so many of them noticing. It was a good trick to be sure, but one that must’ve taken considerable amount of thought and planning. Not to mention the size of the building either. Mythica remembered walking up to it, and marveling at just the enormity of a venue such as this. She regretted not noticing it sooner when she had visited Crocus before. Of course, not that’d she’d have a lot of time to visit it. Her adventures in Crocus were not exactly flexible for time. Still, the facts were facts. She needed to pay more attentiomn to the surroundings she was now stuck in if she hoped to learn anything. After all, that was all this was. To Mythica anyway. A learning experience. After everything that had happened so far, she wasn’t very afraid of what the outcome could be. Such were the facts about these kind of situations. She’d seen them happen all too often, always ending in miserable failure on the bad guys part. That wasn’t to say they never had a chance… It’s only the fact that they always end up blowing it away for needless reasons. Never focusing on one specific goal and letting their passions swallow them whole until nothing is left but a feast for the crows…

And here Mythica was again, her mind getting all philosophical. That seemed to happen more and more often these days. More than just her mind though, as the surroundings she was stuck in seemed to represent other aspects of the analogy she had been making with herself. Well, they HAD been at least. Now things were about to change… And much to Mythica interests.. As the night droned on, something happened that would finally spark a flame of thought in the clock eyed woman. She’d first notice it in the form of dark mist creeping up the edges of her feet as she stared down at the pool of blood trickling there. She wouldn’t see it at first, but soon it creeped into the view of her exposed eye. She’d raise an eyebrow at the sudden action and peer closer to get a better look at the magic substance, to conclude that it was in fact new to the surroundings of the gala. And before she could say anything else, the sound of metal snapping nearby caused her to jolt upwards and turn quickly to see a massive chandelier that took up a huge section of the venue's roof collapse to the ground! Smashing a few tables and instantly ending the lives of a few unlucky patrons… The lights went out, and darkness swallowed the room. The shrill sound of someone shrieking hit her ears, but she paid little mind to it. The only thing she cared about right now was the feeling she got of an impending darkness… It was glorious. And as if on cue, a dark voice called out to everyone within the hall. Mythica couldn’t see where it was coming from, but knew it was indeed addressed to everyone here. It was loud, but still subtle enough to chill the bones of mages with less experience. Mythica didn’t even realize her face had an dark smile on it, and thankfully nobody else could see because of the darkness.

The woman went on to explain their situation to the mages. Assuming this was the famed “Regent of The Night” Mythica’s expectations had been somewhat high now. If this woman had the courage to trap all of them here by transporting everyone into another dimension, she hoped she had a good reason for it at least. And it would seem she did. The voice told them that they had been brought into her own realm of “Eternal Darkness” and that they had all been instructed to help this woman bring it to their own world… At this Mythica frowned. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. Helping this spirit or whatever it was bring the darkness back into Fiore wouldn’t do for Mythica at all. SHE had her own plans for that place! However, something occurred in Mythica’s mind that would sway her thinking. This Night Regent obviously was limited in power, as she had been forced to use others in order to get the mystical candies she apparently needed to bring the shadows of her realm to Earthland. Therefore, she must’ve been weakened somehow. She promised a wish to be granted and the revival of the dead who perished in the tragic chandelier incident. Not that Mythica really cared for either of those things. Sure a wish sounded great, but the clock eyed witch was now skeptical exactly on how legit this reagent was. If she had the ability to go around granting wishes than Mythica seriously doubted she’d need any of them to track down… What was it? Candy? Yeah, that was what. Either way though, Mythica decided she’d cooperate. For now. She didn’t exactly have anything better to do now, so why not? Getting off of her chair, she’d stretch her arms out. Looking to her hand, she’d take a few more napkins and wrap them around her palm to create a bandage of sorts. With that taken care of, she’d look around the room once more to see the reactions of all the other mages. She couldn’t help but snicker at their fear. It seemed the reality of their situation had finally begun to set on most of them. However, now Mythica was only looking for one. And there he was! Mura was next to Leila if she remembered her name correctly. That furry mage still on his head. Not wasting any time, Mythica sauntered over to the group and smiled next to Mura. “Well then, up for a bit of fun?” She asked, not caring at all that she may have interrupted any interaction between them.

5196 words = 10 Tickets

With hands behind her back, Kiru began to continue her circuit around the room, watching ever carefully for any missteps among the wizards gathered here. She even optimized her slayer senses at the highest she could in order to find anything out of the ordinary. Odd enough, she couldn’t. Even after everything that had happened so far, Kiru was at a loss for anything useful to help their current situation. This worried her. The place was, in fact, too quiet for her liking. The dark exterior of the building they were all currently situated also appeared to be somewhat silent. Could’ve been just the magical field of the barrier blocking all exterior communication and magic with the outside dimension, but the demon slayer wasn’t set on that conclusion. She had a gut feeling whoever was about to appear, wanted it to be an unexpected surprise… And it would be exactly that.

The first hints of something to happen was the dark mist that appeared out of nowhere within the room. Kiru’s senses picked up on this first before many, and she immediately prepared her aura for combat. However, before she could even react to anything else, the sound of snapping metal hit her ears… And it was close. Looking above her, a large chandelier lost its hold on the roof, and plummeted straight downwards! Without thinking, the girl would turn and see another mage who had yet to notice. Doing the only thing she could think of at the moment, Kiru would dive from the spot and tackle the mage out of the way just as it crashed to the floor! Killing a few unfortunate stragglers… Luckily the mage she had rescued was alright. Swallowing she’d roll off of them and turn back towards the carnage… Her eyes widened slightly when she realized a few lives had been taken in the incident. Staring back up to where it fell, it appeared it completely lost hold by itself… Magical assistance must’ve done this.

Before the demon slayer could even get to her feet, the dark voice of a woman crawled through the chamber. Someone she had not heard before, but someone she could only assume was the self proclaimed “Regent of the Night.” Standing up slowly she listened very carefully. According to the night regent, she needed the help of all the mages here. Apparently the realm they were in was hers, and she wanted to open up a link between this realm and Earthland. Kiru knew all too well what she meant by this, and clenched her fists. She knew there was a catch to this gala. Never did mysterious events like this ever mean anything good. She went on to explain that in order for that to happen, the mages would need to venture out into the dark dimension and seek the magical candies. Kiru had no idea what those were, but they seemed to be important if this magical being needed them in order to open up a pathway between the two worlds. Kiru would turn her head briefly to see the other mage’s reactions. As expected many of them were shocked, dumbfounded, confused, and scared. Especially Jiyu for that matter. Her senses unfortunately received the full force of her shriek since they had been operating at a high capacity. There was no way Kiru was going to help this spirit in her goal. She couldn’t imagine anything good to come out of it. Spreading eternal darkness over Earthland was one of, if not THE one thing Kiru stood to prevent. Despite her own guild being somewhat darker among the legals, not very careful of the well being of others, Kiru would not submit that easily to the shadows… But then again, she was stuck here, wasn’t she? Careful eyes glanced around the room once again to determine what to do. And as she looked around, the woman vanished as quickly as she had appeared. She left them all with little choice. Kiru could care less about being granted a wish, as she had no personal desires of her own… Not now anyways. Her only mission was to help the people of the world. HER world, survive terrors like this. Although they had no other options. If Kiru did nothing, she would be stuck here for who knows how long? Maybe even killed if the night regent was strong enough to do that. Sighing heavily, she only knew there was one thing she could do. Cooperate for now, and then find a flaw in the regents plan. She’d only need to follow along until they were all back in Earthland. Than she could fight back against the being whilst she wasn’t at her complete mercy. But she’d do little alone. Looking around she’d spot a tall red samurai, and Irina. Perfect. She’d fought with Irina before, and figured if they’d be venturing into this wasteland they’d indeed encounter some form of resistance. If the monstrous shadows and eyes outside were any indicators. She’d waste no time walking up to them. “Irina, we need to move. Pleasure to meet you, sir.” She said to Ardere. If Kiru had more time and was less focused on the task at hand, she’d probably recognize the man simply because of his fame. However as of now she did not. Too much was at stake, and Kiru didn’t know how much time they had… There was also the subject of the mysterious candy they had been given. Apparently these ones were unlike the sweets the night regent had mentioned, as they were meant specifically for the wizards to consume in order to gain some more magical power. She was indeed skeptical about this, as it seemed somewhat pointless. If this world belonged to the Night Regent, it would’ve made more sense to call off whatever creatures she had lurking in the shadows, rather than making the wizards fight them. Not that it mattered anyways, Kiru wouldn’t pass up the extra boost if it meant helping the others and her find a way out of here.

(OOC: WC met and Night of Eternal Darkness quest completed)

spell stuff:

Jiyu had not been paying attention for a good deal of what had happened due to her own fear of the dark and the slowly dwindling panic due to it. However, it wasn't long before she made another mistake, one very few would have been able to stop her from making. When the canine calmed down, her winds would begin trying to tug on Leila and Akeya to encourage them to get Jiyu to leave before she could see, but since it could only speak to its wielder and not her friends, the message didn't get through. No one stopped her from making her biggest mistake of the night. Kazehime glanced towards where the giant chandelier had fallen to the ground, what had caused so many injuries for numerous people here, she had heard it had directly on hit a few people and killed them, due to her sensitive ears. However, she had not gathered much other intelligence since she was in an elevated state, she just wanted a glance, knowledge.

Curiosity absolutely killed, crushed and murdered the dog. Jiyu felt her heart fall right out, stop beating, seize up and refuse to function, it felt like her own body crumbled to dust when her mismatched optics landed on it. Amongst the bodies of those who had rather ran back into the hit zone by mistake or fought Akeya not realizing she was trying to help them? Was a girl about the same height as herself, only a pinch taller, sprawled with the other corpses. Long silver hair stuck against the ground and to her face, some of it stained with blood, the dress on the girl slightly torn and blood further leaking against the fabric. "NO!" it was not a shriek like when she flipped out because of the dark or anything else, this sound was the sound of someone about to fall, someone who was praying what they saw was anything except what they thought it was.

Before anyone could stop her, the wind user ran over to where the not so accidental accident had taken place, hitting her knee's next to the body of the other female, her own body trembling. "Astrid?" her finger's lightly touched against the neck of the Golden Pheonix Guild Master, so carefully as if her claws could actually do harm when everyone knew they couldn't. However at one time? They had been dangerous, and she met Astrid when they were still dangerous, she had known Astrid forever. "No, god please no!" her eyes started tearing up as she pressed her head against the white dragon slayers chest, listening for any sign of breathing or heartbeat. "Please, Asty, Please, Come On Wake Up." she lifted her head, looking desperately at the clearly dead face of Astrid Foss, shaking the other girl's shoulder only it was only really ruffling her as Jiyu didn't have the physical strength to shake her. "Come on, it's not funny anymore Asty. What about Lu-Lu? You can't just leave that psychopath brother of yours on his own, he'll commit mass murder. What about-" the tear's started falling when her voice cut off.

Jiyu let her body collapse on top of Astrid's still warm corpse, tears streaming from her eyes as one hand lifted to touch the other girl's cheek. Her childhood friend was dead, she died right in front of her, and if she wasn't so afraid she may have been able to protect the other girl. Her fear's had killed one of the only people who really gave a damn about her and believed her after her mother's death! Mint would break when he found out, the boy had lost so much, and now he would be losing another person who managed to find a place in his anti-social murderous heart. She had not been there for Astrid for so long because she had run away, Jiyu thought for sure she could protect her loved one's now, she was a powerful mage, but one of the most important people to her in the world friendship wise, was now lying dead beneath her and she hadn't even tried to save her!

Anyone watching may be slightly concerned with the sobbing stopped and Jiyu fell entirely still against Astrid's corpse. Only one person, Leila, would be able to tell what was happening right away, because Leila had seen the wind mage do this before. Jiyu let go, entirely let go decided she didn't want to be the one in charge anymore, that this wasn't a job for her, it was a job for the other her. Jiyu lifted her head slightly, optics the same, but the markings on her face that normally existed in a seemingly tattooed black coloration state had suddenly become a bright nearly bloody crimson. "They'll pay for doing this to you." her voice sounded more brutal, more animalistic and her expression was nothing short of venomously icy. "But first to get you resurrected, Asty." she was almost tender in the way she made sure Astrid's eyes were closed, but one could basically see the anger and spite rising from her.

"You got your wound treated right? Leila?" she had quickly made her way back over to the group, looking at the bandage on Leila, her anger clearly rising a level further even though it had not seemed possible before. Even when expressing concern? This new appearance of Jiyu's seemed to growl instead of making any sort of comforting noise, able to regard the injury but seemingly unable to get past the anger over it enough to comfort, she just wanted someone to pay for inflicting it. "Let's go, I have a bone to pick with everything native to this realm, ending in whatever I find being a bloodied mangled mess."  the laugh after she spoke that was chilling, the admission that she didn't just intend to take the candy, she intended to kill any creature of this realm she encountered while doing it.

This was the assertive face of the Inugami known as Jiyu, and the only thing it wanted was revenge, it existed solely to contain all the negative emotion gathered by the other three faces, it was hatred embodied, every emotion that could and did turn negative was nestled in its existence. And she was out free again, with none of the other three seming any bit too keen to take the body back from her.

Chili was still smirking stupidly, he couldn't help it really. Despite the events that had transpired, he found himself oddly fascinated by the world outside, "It reminds me of the scenery you'd see in some twisted version of Wonderland. Although considering that Alice was, in fact, insane technically this could be an accurate version of Wonderland." He mentally remarked to himself as he stopped momentarily. Chili took a second to stare up at the sky, despite what this place may be named and the threat that was looming over his head he couldn't help to admit that it was majestic in a way. The vast blanket of stars that spread across it sparkling like gems in the sky with the moon that was definitely out and present yet somehow it seemed to be barely putting off any light. Taking his gaze off of the sky, Chili decided he should get going he didn't care much about the threat however he hoped that the Regent would honor her bargain to the mages and bring the dead back. So he continued to walk from where he had been standing, continuing along on his way slightly more focused on the task at hand now.

It wasn't long until he came to an area that consisted of what looked to be dead and barren trees so past their time that their bark has begun to peel off of its own accord, standing on top of a hill that overlooked a darkened field. There was really not a whole lot else besides the dead grass at his feet and the pool of dark looking pond of sludge water that was in about a fifteen diameter pond that was down the hill to his right. He was content with the silence however it was soon interrupted by whistful humming. Coming out from behind the trees was what appeared to be a spirit or faerie of sorts. Though as soon as that one appeared about eleven more appeared from behind the trees as well, following their comrade not too far behind. Chili remained still, aware that the thing that a few of the faeries were carrying were the pieces of candy he sought. Though he had to stifle a small chuckle at the thought of his mission's objective. Though that didn't last long as one of the slightly miniature finally saw him. What proceeded to follow was only what Chili could describe as kicking a hornet nest as the thing let out what sounded like a screech alerting the others to his presence. Following the silence as twenty-four beady black eyes stared at him, Chili couldn't help it he waved at the small swarm giving them a big grin not trying to hide the sarcasm behind the gesture. Feeling a sudden small surge of magic, Chili became cautious seeing none of the current faeries in front of him appeared to be casting anything. Before he knew it a vine from one of the nearby trees had come shooting out of the ground and up through his right foot. Without much hesitation, Chili had pulled himself off the vine spike and was only able to dodge a few more as they sprung up. He should have figured there may have been more behind the trees, they had manipulated the vines to harden and act as spikes aiming for his feet to try and take away his mobility.

They began to swarm all around him making it difficult to hit them in large numbers, it also gave them the ability to launch attacks at him from almost every direction. While the swarm focused on firing the ones still in the tree line got to manipulating again. Jumping over one group of spikes, Chili had to do a quick handspring to avoid another six or seven spikes and as he landed, Chili half stumbled and half sidestepped a few blasts of what looked like pure shadow-like energy before effectively tripping over his own feet and sent himself rolling down the hill backward. Landing with a moderate "oomph" on his back, and as he stood up Chili couldn't help to chuckle at the situation while a thought occurred.
"The little buggers went right for my feet first haha that was smart though I have no idea if they even planned that. Wonder how far those roots can reach? Eh, Doesn't matter, first I need to deal with the group coming after me, then the ones still up ontop the hill." The swarm began to make its way down to him, Chili took a few steps back from the bottom of the hill as he swiftly did the hand signs required to enter Hellfire mode. His normal colored flame now taking on a blood crimson red color as he took up a stance to allow him to strike quickly. Letting a small grunt out as he put pressure on his damaged foot causing the clotting that was already mending it to strain a little. Now with every step the sloshing sound the blood made while it was still pooled in his shoe slightly made him sigh, he was going to have to replace the shoe after this was over. Chili went back to grinning well a shoe was replaceable and his healing factor should have the hole in his foot closed in a few minutes so it seemed to balance out.

Brought back to attention by a spear of darkness being flung by his head, Chili barely was able to move to the left as he saw another one from the corner of his eye. Using his good foot to spring forward and snatch one of the closest little bugs outta the air and crushed it, the little thing let out an anguishing scream. Pocketing its candy before tossing it to the ground, Chili found himself in the center of the remaining faeries. "Well, at least I'm not having to chase after them." He thought humorously to himself, makes his work a little easier and now that he is no longer on the bad end of a blindsided attack, this should be a quick ordeal. As he moved forward Chili dodged a blast aimed for his face by quickly tilting his head to the side effectively dodging it before springing forward at it while four of the others took shots at him. He was no longer in the area they were aiming at as he attempted to snatch the one that took a headshot. It zipped out of his path, though Chili quickly chopped with his other hand and managed to hit it. The thing went down with the single hit, a scream as its body was broken. Before it even hit the ground, Chili swiftly fell onto his back in a rolling motion and into a backward handspring as he actually was able to dodge seven more shots this time some of the faeries adjusted to his quickness making the maneuver a close call. Once back on his feet, Chili focused, his grin now turning into a nonchalant yet slightly firm line as he sprung forward with enough haste to snatch another one by its mid. Though as he did another faerie tried to go in for a close quarter direct blast to the face. Chili saw this and was about to grab it with his free hand when he felt something stop his momentum and pull his arm outwards. Two others appeared to be using their magic to restain his arm with black tendril-like ropes. It was a quick reaction on his part as Chili pushed his head forward as far as he could, opened his mouth and snatched the faerie going for a close shot out of the air. As he felt it squirm in his mouth, Chili crunched it hard with his back molars feeling and hearing a squeal of terror, pop, and crunch as a metallic taste filled his mouth. Squishing the one he grabbed and then continued to take hold of the restraints on his arm. Using just enough force to fling the little flying creatures into the ground the screams they had been making now thoroughly background noise to Chili. Spitting the dead one out of his mouth, Chili shook his head a little trying to not think too much about what he just did even though the taste in his mouth was definitely not a pleasant one.

The four remaining started to retreat, as Chili was about to give chase another creature burst from the field behind him seemingly coming out of nowhere. It was aiming to take a swipe at his back, so sidestepping to the side with his good foot Chili was able to turn to his right to get a glimpse at what had attempted to attack him. Getting a look at what appeared to be a smaller looking version of the Pumpkin Lord, Chili let a small smile grace his lips. "I'm definitely more than happy to smash a pumpkin head or two!" He commented enthusiastically to himself as the pumpkin came at him again. As it tried to take another sideswipe at him, Chili caught its vine-like arm and gave a rough tug. Pulling the arm from the things side before delivering a high kick to it, sending it back a bit. When it was able to attack again, Chili was already in front of it slamming a fist into and through its center. Pulling his hand out, Chili shook the pumpkin juice off his hand and turned to where all the faerie bodies laid. Swiftly walking over he began to pick up every piece of candy he could find. Once done he started to walk back up the hill his foot now only slightly aching as it was getting close to being completely healed shut. He would be able to move without having to ignore the pain in his foot as much now. Now at the top, he was just in time to see the ones that were running disappear within the trees from where they came from. As soon as he started his approach he felt his instincts kick in pushing him to sprint forward, dodging a group of vine spikes and then come to a skidding halt as more popped up directly in front of him. Jumping over those he dashed forward and then jumped to the right managing to miss being hit by another bundle of spikes. Making it past the line of the trees he was able to spot a few faeries up in them trying to stay above him. Hastily crouching low before springing upwards like a frog, Chili landed on a branch and from there dashed towards a tree a faerie was in and aimed to grab it.

It wasn't fast enough to escape as it was plucked out of the air and crushed to death before Chili took its candy and slipped into his pocket. Hearing a creak in the wood and sensing a surge of magic through the tree, Chili was lucky to be able to dodge multiple spikes that came jutting out of the trunk. Grabbing onto a branch, Chili was about to swing to another tree when said branch sprouted thorns about five inches long. Chili let go trying to avoid being stabbed though failed as two thorns managed to go through his left palm and as he fell he hit a branch on the way down. Bouncing off of it and into another before hitting to ground with a "thud". Three faeries came from their perches and chose to come after him. Chili could feel a few bruises already forming then starting to fade on his torso as he stood up the puncture wounds in his hand already slowly closing. Hearing the wings of the three approaching him, Chili turned to face them. Before the middlemost one could do something Chili had already dashed forward and clapped his hands together squishing it before ducking behind a tree to avoid two shadow blasts. Though the tree soon came to life as its lowermost branches seemed to stretch out and try to grab him with their thorns nice and sharp. Chili spotted the faerie controlling the tree and made a leap for it and snatched it out of the air and as he came back down to the ground running, Chili slammed it into the nearest tree which seemed ironic. Turning his attention to where the two who were still coming after him were now joined by six more all of them looking ready to rip him apart. Four came at him then split up heading for the nearest trees to him while the other four started to keep shooting and scooting.

Chili decided it would be best to take out the ones manipulating the trees and dashed to the nearest tree and delivered a heavy swiping kick into it with enough force to break the trunk in half, sending large splinters in different directions. As it fell over, Chili saw the exposed faerie try and head for another tree, however, Chili was already leaping into the air and crushed it before landing back on the ground. A few more blasts came at him through the mini forest they were in, missing while he dodged the others by taking cover behind a tree again. Shooting out and running behind one of the trees he swore he saw a faerie go behind. He was right as he rounded the tree the faerie was right there trying to manipulate the roots. It realized Chili was behind it too late as he slammed his open palm into the tree, crushing it between the bark and his hand. As the four trying to shoot him moved in for a better shot they were effectively surprised when Chili turned his attention to them and managed to sideswipe two of them out of the air as the other two managed to avoid his swat. He continued to chase after the two that were trying to get away. One managed to make it away from him and out of the trees while the other hadn't thought about heading out of the trees and was snatched then crushed by Chili when it tried to alter its course to follow its friend. Turning his attention back to the trees Chili cocked his head to the side he could tell that the faeries were no longer there. Sucking air through his teeth as a bolt of shadow hit him in the back right shoulder causing him to turn around to face the bug who managed to get a hit on him. Before it could fly high enough away Chili had quickly leaped for it and grabbed it. Snapping its neck with a quick twist of his other hand he dropped it on the ground after taking its candy. "There should be only a few left now." Chili thought to himself as he left the trees looking for the last two, they were waiting for him though something seemed different. They approached him and Chili readied himself to dodge and counter if needed, however, that was not necessary as the last two just dropped their individual pieces of candy at his feet, turned, and flew off choosing to give up their candy and keep their lives.

Kneeling down on one knee, Chili picked up the two pieces and turned to head back into the woods area to find the pieces he had left behind. It took him a few minutes but he found them all and was back out of the woods in no time. Standing atop the hill, Chili took a few moments to look out over the field and take in the view a little. That was until he saw the narrow paths being made through the field below, his eyes narrowing as he let out a grumble. He had gotten every piece of candy from the faeries and was content with heading back, now it seemed he had company on its way that needed his attention first. Looking at his foot he was happy to see fresh skin peeking through the hole in his shoe, his foot was officially healed besides the hole and the blood-soaked on the inside of the shoe there was no evidence he had been stabbed through the foot. He lifted his gaze in time to see the first of the floating pumpkin guys to burst from the field and start to head up the hill towards him. Jumping forward and down the hill, Chili used the downhill trajectory to give him some extra speed and collided his fist with the thing. Stepping aside as it made a downward swipe with its left scythe arm, Chili delivered a sidekick to it before jumping from one foot to the other he sent a second sidekick into the creature, caving its face in before it hit the ground.

Both feet firmly back on the ground, Chili was standing about halfway down the hill when four more pumpkins appeared with about four more behind them. They rushed him while Chili responded by dashing forward and jumping so he could slam a flying kick into one of the leftmost pumpkin heads. Ducking out of the way of a sideswipe aimed for him as he landed, Chili spun towards and delivered a uppercut to a different one as he stood up. Grabbing both of the arms he spun and used his momentum to put it in the path of one of its comrade's attacks before letting go of its left arm. Using his now free left hand to send a strong punch into the thing effectively killing it, as it dropped the pumpkin behind it made an attempt at a double downward swing. Stepping backward to avoid the attack, Chili let out another grunt as one managed to get a diagonal downward swipe into his back. As the one in front approached to make another attack, Chili dashed forward to avoid an attack from the pumpkin behind him before sending a fist into the front one. Turning his head in the direction of the one that was behind him, Chili quickly delivered a high kick to it and then turned his head back to the other one. It came at him again to try and get a swipe in though it failed too as it was punched again and then one more time as his fist slammed all the way through its gourd before withdrawing it allowing the pumpkin to hit the ground. As he turned his attention back to the remaining two, the four that were still traveling across the field finally emerged. The two that were closest advanced each taking swipe after swipe at him. He ducked below one swipe, sidestepped one, weaved around the other, and managed to find an opening to deliver a punch to the one he had hit with a flying kick before following it up with a uppercut. Sadly that extra attack to take out the pumpkin allowed the one he had high kicked to drive a sickle into his left shoulder. Luckily for Chili, it didn't have enough strength to cleanly cut his shoulder off instead it only buried itself about five inches deep. Send his elbow backward into it hard enough to make it pull out its blade and stun it long enough for him to send a chop into the top of it.

As he finished that one off the ones he presumed to be the last four approached hastily. The pumpkin that arrived at Chili first tried to drive a blade into his head with a downward swipe. It was dodged by a sidestep as Chili countered with a punch to its face before he had to jump back a little to avoid a side swat from another one of the pumpkins. Not wasting much time he was already dashing back forward as it missed he landed a punch on it before grabbing it and throwing it into the one that had attacked him first. As those two swayed off to the left, Chili turned to the right a little to block a sideswipe and kicked the pumpkin away pulling off the arm in the process. It was unable to do much as Chili sprung forward and slammed three more consecutive punches into it. As it hit the ground the last one to show up tried to stab him from the side as he spun on around it and let it fly past him. Now facing the two he pushed to the side while the one that missed was now on his left. Now turned around and facing him again the late party shower came at Chili again though this time its swipe was met by a swift duck before an upper punch slammed into it. In on fluid motion, he sprang up at the hight of the uppercut and once in the air he flung his leg at the pumpkin while the other two came at them. His kick landed and knocked it away to his right. Once back on the ground Chili stepped backward to avoid one swipe from one pumpkin then sidestepped to dodge another. After it missed Chili slammed a side kick into it and once his foot was back on the ground, Chili sprung towards it. He smashed a fist into it and sent it down to the ground before leaning his torso back to avoid an upward swipe that almost grazed his chin. Leaning forward before it could try and swipe back downwards, Chili sent a fist into the vegetable or fruit or whatever it was before taking another step forward and slamming another punch into it. The creature was now dead leaving only the pumpkin who had been late for last, cracking his neck Chili taunted it with a "come on" wave that he made with his hand. The thing didn't even hesitate to dash at him trying its best to take a side swing though it missed as he sidestepped and drove a fist into it before spinning to send a roundhouse into it.

Sighing as the pumpkin fell and as what he finished off what he hoped was the last enemy. Still, on the side of the hill, Chili padded the outside of his pockets to make sure he didn't lose any of the candy he had taken. None seemed to be missing so Chili let a sigh of relief out as he felt his wounds start to fully close. Chili couldn't help to chuckle despite how he had a large diagonal cut through his blazer and shirt along with the tear on his shoulder and the hole in his shoe there was no other signs that he had taken damage well besides the blood stains that his dark clothes hid. Turning Chili began to walk back up the hill as he started talking to himself, "Well I thought that was going to be quick however I was wrong that took a decent amount of time. Though I did complete what I was sent out to so I guess I should head back to the gala hall. Yeah, good job there captain obvious next you gonna tell yourself that the sky is blue.....I'm just gonna stop having a conversation with myself before it gets out of hand."
Not sure how much time it took him to, Chili finally made it back to the gala hall. He pondered over to leave his mode though Chili decided it would be best to stay ready just in case more excitement occurred throughout the night. So with his pockets filled with what he hoped was enough of the required candy, he entered the building and headed over to the wall where he had left his bag. Leaning his back against said wall as he picked up his pack and was content on waiting for the night to continue on as well as to let his slightly aching bones rest. He may heal fast however the pain lingers on long after the initial wound was gone. Chili absentmindedly rubbed his tongue against the roof of his mouth as he tried to get the taste of faerie blood out of it as a thought occurred to him. "I could really use a drink right about now." With that he was off of the wall with his pack over his shoulder, going to try and find something to wash the taste from his mouth.

Current Mode: Hellfire
Special Ability: Demonic Martial Arts Activated: Passive Effect: Plus 10 damage to base

Mission Word Count: 4090
Total Word Count: 6281
Tickets: 4

Ezra’s thick accent filled her ears as he spoke, it feeling surprisingly soothing to hear despite not having any clear memories of it. He used to speak as any other person would in what was considered the regular language, but started developing this kind of speech in his later life when she’d ran away, or so she reckoned. Nonetheless she figured it was probably his voice rather than his way of speech that captivated her and made her feel at ease. It gave her the confidence to actually not bother being drunk in front of her brother despite wanting to show she’d become a better person than the bratty child she’d been in the past. Being drunk did not help in doing so, but there was always a way to try and find out… or fail miserably. She opted for the first to happen, but knew the second option would fullfil itself in the end. Nonetheless, there was no knowing till she actually went to full mile. A chuckle escaped her lips as she took in her brother’s words. ”Glad to hear your respect for me will get me killed one day big Bro, cheers to that.” Kitalpha said before emptying a new cup that mysteriously hand found its way into her hand. Or her hand around the cup… well whatever. It was so however that when she looked at her cup with those thoughts in mind, unknowingly wondering how she’d received a new one, that the empty cup filled its contents again in literally the blink of an eye. For a moment she opted to throw the cup away in the same manner she’d done the previous but refrained from doing so and held on to the beverage. She still found it disgusting upon her tongue, but it was growing on her… the alcoholic percentage, mind you. Not the taste. So when Ezra adviced her to drink, eat and drink again she rose an eyebrow in a wondering type of way. ”Y’know, I might be drunk, but I don’t trust any of this magical food… not with that giant pumpkin walking around. What if they’re alive too? I mean, they were alive before anyway, but actually breathing! Who’d sink their teeth into a still breathing piece of edible matter? Can you imagine a tiny cherry-tomato screaming in terror as you are about to eat it whole?” Kitalpha exclaimed vividly, enacting the imaginary scene by holding an actual tiny tomato and wiggling it around like it was actually alive. ”I’m just saying, that’s brutal.” And with those same words she popped the cherry tomato into her mouth and bit down, slowly munching on it till she realised what she’d done. ”Weeeeell fuck. See? I just murdered an innocent vegetable! A mighty delicious one though…” She muttered that last bit underneath her breath, casually turning around to look around the ballroom again whilst trying to hide her current facial expression.

A lone standing clock in the corner, with an hourglass twice as tall as her functioning as its body, flicked it’s pointer all the way to the top. With a sharp sound it struck twelve and started chiming every hour it’d passed until it reached twelve chimes. Kitalpha growled softly and bared her teeth, the chiming sound like a booming thunder pounding in her ears, louder with each strike. She’d grown weak to loud sharp noises during the night, especially after having had exhausting events going on earlier. With that she meant the matter of having hunted down monsters in Fat Monsterland together with many others that most-likely were present here as well. The beast within her awakened when the first lights started flickering and her eyes snapped up, looking at the chandelier who’s candles had been the cause of this. Her eyes shifted, her round pupils making way for the elongated predatorial pupils within an iris with the color of a crimson lake. Then, the lights went out. Her senses intensified and before long she could hear the swaying of something heavy… above her… her eyes now could only make out silhouettes but she saw the movements of the giant chandelier and moved closer underneath it, though be it not far, and away from Ezra. Something snapped. A sharp noise, but present like a deep sigh of relief after having run a marathon. At that same moment, something snapped within the cursed blonde and a threatening deep voice within her head told her to move. Two clawed hands lunged forward and grabbed two innocent bystanders by their coats, pulling them back with all her might as she jumped back simultaneously. The blonde skidded to a halt, the two she dragged along crashed into the table behind her, each passing by the left and right respectively of where Ezra had stood. The tremor of the chandelier’s impact was so strong that it shook the entire room from head to toe, and she shielded her face from the glass that was sent flying. Screams of terror and agony filled the air, the scene only being made worse due to the constant veil of darkness making people unable to see what had truly happened. Of who had survived and who had been caught by the tumbling massive golden chandelier. The scent of blood filled the nostrils and Kitalpha had to swallow in order to keep her cool, trying her hardest to push back the wolf curse’s intent on surfacing to feast on said blood. A deep threatening growl followed from within the deepest parts of her body as an almost animalistic sense of danger took hold of her, making her crouch down slighty nearly unconsciously while baring a pair of sharp teeth. In this darkness none could see, but she knew Ezra could sense it too. Her change. And the change within the ballroom, having happened with but the snap of a finger. Or so it seemed…. A dark, unsettling presence found itself looming over her, but she did not turn around to see who or what, but only readied herself for what was to come. The darkness of the room itself felt like it was smothering her; like an invisible hand grasping for her throat. Yet she did not fear this darkness… there was something else far more dangerous that had been keeping her company for far longer. She feared that. Not this.

Kitalpha bared her teeth once more as a feminine voice spoke clearly, strongly even. When it addressed all of the mages within the room and introduced herself to them as the Regent of the Night, Kitalpha bared her teeth again, not even willing to trust the woman as she spoke. "I am the Regent of the Night. You have been invited here for a reason-- to aid me in my task. We are no longer in your realm; if you venture outside the doors of this ballroom, you will be in a different world entirely; the World of Eternal Darkness. It is my job to guide this world to yours, and to bring about the Night of Eternal Darkness." A pause felt between her speech, giving Kitalpha enough time to throw a set of silent curses at this so-called Regent of the Night, needing their so-called aid. A strong breeze blew past the predating female, her nose filling itself with the scent of a chilling nightly breeze… but not that of the nightly city life. This was different. It was true what this voice without a body said about no longer being in their own world. What even was this ‘Night of Eternal Darkness’? But before she could ponder more about the matter, the Regent of the Night continued. "In order for my mission to be successful, I require the Mystical 'Candies' of the Evening Sprites of this world. You all must go out and bring me these. If you bring me enough, I will handsomely reward you all. I will return life to the people killed under the chandelier, and will give you the currency of your world. Along with this, I will also grant you one wish, if it is within my power. Running away or failure to gather enough of the Sprite's treasured candies will result in punishment. I will keep you in my world, and lay you down in an everlasting slumber. From there, the nightmares to follow will slowly but surely destroy your spirit. You have the option to choose. Choose wisely." Ha! Choose wisely? She already lived within a nightmare, haunted by it on daily basis, so why would this so-called punishment of the Regent of the Night even be considered a threat to her? The darkness lessened within seconds of this threat, gathering and compiling itself into the form of a little girl above the chandelier, wearing a tattered victorian dress. ”What… this freakshow isn’t done yet?” Kitalpha growled, slowly stretching herself back to her full length, but with eyes and clawed hands still keen and alert to any suspicious movement. The ghastly girl now spoke above the chandelier with the same clear voice as before. "Before you go, I have a gift to bestow to aid you all in fighting the creatures of this world," she said. "Eating this will give you more power; use it whenever you like, in your time of need. Now... go~" The shadows vanished instantly, and with it the ominous presence, the chandelier and thise she presumed had been hit by it. No stain remained of the accident that had happened in the darkness, nor any damage it should’ve been supposed to do. Yet although there was no sign of it, the scent of blood still lingered within her nose and mind. Struggling to keep her sane. All doors and windows that had been previously closed shut had been opened, leaving the room bare and chilly. People rushed out in all types of speed; fast, stumbling over one another to the ‘safety’ of the outdoors. Some seemed to dwell in the middle in search for their partner or a friend that had mysteriously disappeared. A select few seemed entirely lost and just walked around like zombies.

Within her hand Kitalpha felt the candy the Regent of the Night had mentioned before disappearing; a round ball of sweet candy wrapped in a piece of plastic that felt soft to the touch. Her hand clenched around it and she tucked it away inside the King’s Treasury, her own private pocket dimension, then turned on the back of her heels and walked back to the large table where she’d previously thrown the two gentlemen into wjem the chandelier fell to its demise. Both men seemed to be numbed and unknowing what to do next, just staring at the candy within their palms. The blonde snatched both candies from the men and crushed the candy within her own hands, dropping the broken remains back into their hands. ”Don’t even think about it. I’ll handle this while you two act like nice boys and stay here. Understood? If I even see any of you set one foot outside this room I swear I’ll come back and find you, wherever you are, and gut you alive." Looming over the two with her ice-cold expression rather than physical prowess Kitalpha nodded at the men and left them be, passing by Ezra as she was about to head outside. ”You were right about the murdering part Ezra… and how I’d otherwise not have cared about it, this… this bitch dares command me? Us? We’re not her lackies, and I’m definitely not as think as you drunk I am to even consider becoming one.” she said, pausing a moment to revise that sentence and declare it to be good enough to go.

WIP


Wordcount: 1958
Total Wordcount: 1103 + 1958 = 3061
Tickets - 2 + 4

[b]
Adalia had left the building on her own, having no real desire to form a temporary team with anyone else, partially because she didn't know anyone and mostly because she felt like she could do a better job alone.  Sure, she'd be missing a lot of potential firepower, but, this way, she would be able to do things exactly the way she wanted to.  The darkness outside was very unsettling, but she couldn't let it get to her.  She had already been walking for a while and was no longer in range of any other mage.  The pathway was eerily lit by unknown light sources, the ground barely visible through the thick mist that was trailing upon it with many dead trees surrounding the area, with an occasional broken down house.  As Adalia continued on, she came across what she thought was a playground for young children, which was very unsettling.  What was this world before it became, well...  this?

She couldn't help but look around some before hearing a strange gust of wind, one that was unusual even for this world.  She used both her Blood Vision and took advantage of being a Seasoned Marksman to both see the blood pulse of any surrounding foes and quickly scan around for them.  Surely enough, two ghost-like tentacle monster...  things had come from the ground, though, if Adalia could see them, they were surely alive.  Not wasting a second, Adalia quickly turned to face the two strange creatures, aimed White Silver at them, and shot them both with Sniper Rounds, which was enough to take them out, much to the surprise of Adalia.  She cautiously walked closer to them to see whether or not they'd have any candy, which, unfortunately they did not.  I get the impression that this is going to be troublesome.

She turned back, walking the same direction as before.  She was able to spot some bright lights coming from some lively-looking trees, heading towards them slowly.  As she got closer and closer, she realized that the lights were actually creatures similar to pixies, or fairies (she couldn't tell the difference between the two), and were creating some sort of candy!  They had several small houses; a small community, but presumably filled with candy.  As she got closer however, several of these fairies took notice of Adalia, and flew up to her, giggling and smiling.  She took this as a good sign, walking closer to the alive-looking trees and looking around, seeing countless of these fairies surrounding her.  What happened next shouldn't of been surprising, but did surprise Adalia; the fairies started laughing in a menacing manner, and Adalia was sent back with a gust of wind combined with sharp, orange leaves slicing at her.  Her outfit was cut and so were some parts of her arms and legs, but otherwise, she remained largely unharmed.

She looked up to where the fairies' residence was only to see that the leaves of the tree had turn red, orange and was dying, and the dimly lit road was now completely black. The only thing Adalia could see was the small light that the fairies would emit from their bodies; their homes turned out to be skulls with nothing inside of them.

(W.I.P; posting so I finish this tomorrow and don't lose it to BS)

Ryo smiled and looked to the Dragon King nodding his head slowly. It was clear that he was not who he seemed to be, and there was no question in Ryo’s mind that this man was deadly. In fact, Ryo wouldn’t be surprised if this man who called himself ‘Sol’ was a member of a dark guild. Of course, Ryo didn’t care about that kind of thing really. So long as Sol wasn’t a threat to him or his guild then he wouldn’t kill him. Despite Ryo’s Wizard Saint title. He was not one to start trouble that hadn’t caught yet. As the man excused himself Ryo made a mental note of his scent, and his appearance so that he would be able to always recognize this man.

Only once the Dragon King left did he turn his attention to the Fire King. He smiled a bit wider than he should’ve the tips of his fangs poking out of his smile “Well, the guild is going to heal in time. Me and my group defeated Prometheus, and that was what we were sent to do. Thankfully it shall be able to rebuild in time. For now, however, I am going to keep protecting my guild, and helping it to rebuild. Much more than that I am not at liberty to say. I hope your guild is doing well. You look to be in excellent health.” He looked around and then at his mug which he only now noticed it was empty. He bowed his head “Please excuse me Fire King. I have to get more refreshments.” He moved back over to the alcoholic punch bowl and filled it up again. Pulling out a blood card he swirled it around in his drink before he took a long swallow from it.

It was at this point however that the regent apparently made her “Appearance”. The whole ballroom went black as night, he watched the chandelier crash to the ground, but he and Gora were far away from the impact zone. What he could smell however, was the blood from those who had been killed. His eyes could easily follow the extra darkness that was moving through the dark of the room. The Regent made her announcement, and told everyone about the job that they had to do for her. Ryo’s eyes were pools of tar with how angry he was. He would slaughter this woman in the most dramatic of ways if she thought that he would just meekly go through with her wishes. She had put him and his son Gora in danger and for this he would not forgive her. Still, he listened and decided that he didn’t really have much of a choice. He held out his hand for the candy and tucked it away. He was sure that this candy would come in handy sometime, but he wasn’t going to use it right away. Instead, he was going to move along.

He and Gora went outside. Once they were outside Gora gave a shudder. In a flash of cold, and white he was standing in his battle-ready form. They rushed through the world of eternal night and soon came upon a small stream. Across the stream was a pumpkin patch. As Ryo approached the stream he heard toads croaking at him. As he drew closer there were six of them chilling out at the edge of the stream. They saw Ryo and instantly they were ready to attack him. Frowning Ryo reached up and caused two bleeding wounds in his shoulders. From the wounds came two whip-like tendrils made of his blood and they were ready to strike. It wasn’t a moment too soon either because the toads came for him as fast they could hop at him.

Drawing his blade, he was ready to fight and the first one to get close to him he slashed through with three quick movements. This world of eternal night, or darkness was perfect for Ryo as his own power was enhanced, along with his speed. The next two who came after him were faster than their allies, but that didn’t matter to Ryo, he slashed through the first one with two clean strikes. The one that followed him was slapped down by Ryo’s blood whip. No sooner had it been destroyed than Ryo felt a blaze of agony flow through his body. In horror he realized that these creatures could damage him if he made physical contact with them. Snarling through his teeth he pulled out three tarot cards and let them swirl around him. He was not about to let himself be touched by any of these creatures again. Dozens upon dozens of cards flew around him to form into two great white wings made of playing cards. From these cards shot forth 15 playing cards all of them aimed at the closest of the two toads. Seven hit one and six hit the other. It was the perfect delaying tactic, but it did not kill either of them.

It did however buy plenty of time for his next spell. From his card boxes and wings he summoned up the next spell he needed “Lightning Strike” a total of six bolts of lightning shot forth striking the previously wounded pair of toads and vaporizing them with electric power destroying the pair of them. He of course, had to focus on the remaining one, but that was easy enough. His sword would make short work of them. After all, the blade was not touching him, it was touching his glove, and the glove was a barrier even further. However, just to be extra cautious he pulled up nine playing cards and threw them at the toad as it hopped at him, only five of these hit, but it was enough. With that damage done Ryo threw his sword like a spear easily impaling the creature upon the silver blade. No sooner had he done so than with a thought he recalled it to his hand. The blade seemed to sing as it flew home to the comfortable grasp of its master. Ryo smiled and gave the blade a gentle stroke with his free hand before looking to Gora “If we see any more of those creatures do not touch them. It will not be pretty for you.” He said easily before he flew over the stream and landed in the pumpkin patch.

No sooner had he landed than he saw a pair of pumpkin creatures akin to the Lord of Pumpkins. This made him smile with wicked delight. He hated the Pumpkin lord, and now he had a chance to kill those who honestly could pass for him without much effort. Readying his blade, he rushed forward even as he heard the bounding footsteps of Gora cross the stream. The first knight was caught completely off guard by the attack. The whips on Ryo’s shoulders were the first line of attack as they had the reach and they slapped the knight’s two arms hard to keep it from being able to bring its weapon to bare as quickly as it normally would’ve been able to. This gave Ryo the opening he needed, and he slashed through the pumpkin Knights’ chest twice before cutting its head in half with his silver blade.

What he had forgotten was that the knight wasn’t alone. The other took advantage of his distraction and moved into strike. Then a flash of fur and teeth passed in front of his target and carried him away. The Pumpkin knight only just had time to realize it was being carried away in the jaws of the great white Dire wolf before they were crashing beyond the pumpkin patch. It stabbed Gora in the side as one of its arms was free. This in turn caused the great wolf to drop his prey and yelp in pain. The knight was annoyed at the pain it had gone through, but it was going to pay back tenfold the injury it suffered. It moved in to fight the beast, and yet Gora did not back down, instead he seemed to be ready to do just as much damage or even more. Before the two could engage however, Ryo had caught up to them and his whips struck out slapping the knight once, twice, three times and then Ryo was there driving his blade into the creature’s head pulling it from his shoulders and smashing it on the ground stomping on it clearly angry. Whipping around he glared at Gora “You need to be careful! If you don’t watch yourself you will die, and I can’t afford to lose you after…. not after Ian.” He said gently placing a hand above Gora’s wound frowning deeply. Pulling out a deck of cards he fashioned them into a bandage across the wound and made sure it was wrapped tightly.

Gora licked his cheek affectionately “Do not worry so much Ryo. I shall be fine. However, do you smell that?” Ryo inhaled deeply and then nodded his head turning around drawing a pair of cards that instantly took on the shape of a sword made of lightning. What he saw however, made him relax as it was a trio of little sprites hovering around a pumpkin, and placed about that pumpkin was a small bunch of the mystical candy that was the whole reason for Ryo coming out here.

As he moved towards it one of the sprites spoke to him “Begone! We shall not allow you to steal our treasure! Leave now or perish!”

Ryo raised his brow slowly pulling out a deck of playing cards “Ah, so very interesting. Well, I shall not allow you to stop me. I have people I must help and get back to. Now just give me the candy and I shall be on my way sure as the moon’s waxing and waning phases. There is no need for hostilities.”

No sooner had he gotten that sentence out than the fairy in question shot a blast of magic at him. It was as dark as night and felt much like night did. As the blast came towards him he was only just able to get the deck of cards in the path. The box was covered in a royal purple aura even as it was engulfed in the magic. This did nothing to stop the magic that had hit him, but it served Ryo’s purpose and now he had a deck of “Night” cards. Putting this away his whips lashed out slashing through the sprite’s wings and leaving her broken on the stump. The other two tried to aid their sister in arms, but instead Ryo turned on them.

His whips lashed out, but so too did his sword and with a few practiced slashes he brought one of them down. The other tried to blast him with magic that was glowing the color of an autumn sunset. Flapping his wings once he shot up into the air to avoid the blast diving down at her once again pulling up a hand of elemental cards throwing them with his great precision. Only four of the nine hit the sprite, but this was enough for him to close the distance and let his whips take full advantage of her stunned hits. With this last one down he moved to the stump finding that the sprite that had first attacked him was still on her feet. He raised his brow and shook his head “There is no need for you to die here. Just surrender and I promise I will make the rest of your life worthwhile. I can even return your wings. Just let me have the candy.” He said pulling out the piece he had been given handing it to her “You can have this one.”

She took it glaring at him “Why should I trust you!?”

He gave a shrug “I could’ve killed you like I did the other two. However, I didn’t, and I don’t kill those who aren’t a threat to me, or mine. Please, enough blood has been spilled tonight.” He pulled out his cards forming them into a box picking her up carefully he put her inside “Stay here and we’ll talk more.” Closing the lid he used his magic to adjust the box allowing it to be slightly porous enough for her to breath. Only then did he take the candy.

He and Gora made it back to the castle and Ryo flew in his wings flapping as he landed holding out the candy to be taken from him at any moment “Here is your candy, my side has been upheld now return those you murdered to life.” He said in a serious tone his eyes pools of tar again.


OOC:
WC: 2139 /3, 512 ((If the mission counts then I have a total of 7 tickets, if not then only 2. Mission Compete))
Stats:
Hp: 300/500
MP: 77%
Spells used
Lightning strike D rank CD begin
Card God active S rank
Sinful Blood S rank (Sig spell)

Akeya raised one eyebrow slightly as the white fox (one of the two, at least) told her that she should speak about Jiyu's fear of the dark out loud. Usually she would have agreed with Leila's caution, since you didn't want to reveal weaknesses unless there was absolutely no way around it. In this case she had decided to be a bit more casual about it mostly because she didn't think that there was anyone here who would be paying attention to what the shadow dragoness said and hadn't already heard Jiyu admit her fear of darkness herself, with the screaming and the crying and all. Granted Leila could be right and there could have been a threat who hadn't deduced that Jiyu was afraid of the dark before Akeya had spoken about it aloud, but... She shrugged mentally.

"I think the Regent didn't need my announcement to notice it, but I'll refrain from mentioning it again. More importantly, if you can take care of her it'd be better if you did so sooner rather than later. We don't know how much patience this Regent has." Akeya spoke with some mild scorn as she mentioned the title of their host and captor, as she didn't feel very respectful towards the goth girl. Even if Akeya was a creature of shadow and dark just like she was guessing this Regent to be didn't mean she immediately liked her, especially since her plans may very well be to act as the ruler of all creatures of shadow and dark, which would include Akeya. Akeya was fervent about being her own person, in control of her own actions, so having someone be a threat to that was enough for her to dedicate a good portion of her mind to figuring ways to get rid of this Regent, in a manner a bit more permanent than just giving her those candies and hoping that she'd leave them alone. She wasn't very successful in thinking of anything since she didn't know what exactly the Regent was capable of, but it was better than ignoring a potential solution to this whole mess... Although maybe killing the Regent in her own real while they were trapped inside wouldn't be the wisest choice. If this realm simply didn't allow anyone but the Regent to create methods of movement between this realm and others they'd need the Regent alive for now, until they had a way to return to their own world.

What happened next was that Jiyu... changed? Akeya wasn't entirely sure, since she hadn't seen this part of the girl before. She was obviously distraught about the death of one of her friends, a sentiment Akeya could understand even if she did not share it. She didn't know this person Jiyu was so desperate to wake up, but even if it had been a close friend of hers Akeya wasn't one to feel grief easily. It was even less prominent an emotion than most inside her reptilian mind, as she was perfectly capable of recognizing loss and failure but found grief to be more of a hindrance than an asset. It might help strengthen your desire to not experience that same loss twice, but it usually led to a lack of rationality and weakened one's overall motivation and strength of mind.

Nevertheless it looked like Jiyu was feeling the loss of her friend in full, as after several attempts to wake up the girl even though the chandelier had done a good job snuffing out her life she fell silent, only for the black markings that Akeya had noted before to turn crimson, and Jiyu as a whole to take on a colder persona. The dragoness watched with her usual intense gaze, curious to watch how Jiyu appeared to be giving herself to the desire for vengeance. Not the healthiest state of mind to be in (although for Akeya to talk of a healthy state of mind was somewhat hypocritical) but at least it'd mean she'd help out in gathering the candy without needing someone to look after her. Akeya had to admit that since Jiyu's body was so frail she usually thought that the dog girl needed a guardian even if her magic was impressive, but if she was this aggressive she'd probably be able to keep everything dangerous at a safe distance with her wind magic.

With Jiyu leaving together with her friend the fox Akeya decided that it was time for her to head out as well. There was no reason for her to linger here if the faster she gathered enough candies to satisfy the Regent the faster they'd be in a better position to do something against her... although there was the issue that the candies could potentially act as a source of raw power, in which case giving the Regent candies would only make her stronger. Or there were multiple uses for the candies and dragging this world onto Earthland was only one of them, and making Regent even harder to kill was another. Akeya frowned as she stepped out into the darkness beyond the ballroom, her entire body quickly fading away as the darkness swallowed her. She'd have to see whether it was more risky to give Regent the candy or to keep it away from her... Although either way she'd have to gather the candy first, since maybe if she got her hands on one she'd have an easier time guessing what the Regent could exactly do with it.

At least the hunting itself wasn't difficult: the shadow dragoness felt the world of darkness spread out before her, as she became invisible even beyond what she had been able to enjoy before. In a world like this she could move wherever she wanted, and even creatures with darkvision wouldn't be able to see her as her reaction to shadow and darkness wasn't just to become harder to see, it was to stop existing in the visual world as her body became one with that darkness. The Regent might be limiting her ability to use the darkness as freely as she wished, but unless she was denying anyone any form of interaction with the darkness at all she wouldn't be taking away Akeya's physical reaction to darkness. And even if the darkness wasn't hers to control, at least not as fully as usual, she could still sense it, and she could sense the creatures that were moving beyond. Not all creatures of the dark had the ability to see in the darkness: some of them relied on other senses entirely, so Akeya would have to make sure to mask those as well as she moved forward, making no sound as her form became fluid, moving about as a shadow rather than a being of flesh and blood.

It didn't take too long before she ran into the first sprite. As befitting of a creature which lived in a world of eternal darkness it shape wasn't too pretty when compared to that of creatures living in the light. Even with darkvision you still didn't rely on impressing people with a colourful appearance in a place like this. Akeya studied it for a while as she followed it, wanting to see how it would behave and what it would do. The Regent needed these killed for the candies they carried, so that meant they weren't mindless minions. Beasts, or intelligent creatures which defied the Regent's rule? Either way she wouldn't show mercy, but knowledge was always worth pausing for.

However it didn't seem like the creature was going to show her anything interesting in the short time that she would be observing it, not wanting to risk giving the Regent an excuse to become nasty. The less reason was given for the Regent to become nasty or suspicious the easier it should be to deal with her... in theory at least. In practice Akeya didn't think it would be easy at all, since even if she was powerful enough to trap them all here the Regent couldn't actually be the ruler of this world unless a) she was also smart, or b) there was nobody else here. An entire realm for only one person and these sprites sounded very unlikely, although it would explain the grandiose names... Hmmm.

Once she concluded that the sprites weren't worth being too patient with Akeya shadow stepped right behind the little guy and materialized her dagger, using it to quickly cut the sprite open from behind with two slashes, forming a cross before the spite dropped dead. She watched as the creature appeared to meld back into the world after being killed, leaving behind the candy that the Regent needed so much of. Picking it up carefully Akeya studied it thoroughly before putting it away, not being able to see much in it that would give her reason to believe that it would make the Regent truly unkillable. She could see that it wasn't normal candy, but to turn it into a form of immortality or invincibility would require a lot of work it seems.

Moving about in utter darkness, a world where concepts such as colour, light and vision were at best third-rate and at worst completely non-existent, Akeya carefully but steadily hunted down and killed several sprites, always working her way around groups and singling out those who didn't have too many other sprites nearby. While she wasn't sure if she could deal with groups of them or not she didn't want to leave it to chance, so she practised the art of an assassin and took out the weak ones, even as she could sense other people moving about through the world of darkness. Most of them were using some source of light or another way to see to compensate for the darkness, making it easier for Akeya to avoid them as well as she went into the areas where others hadn't been yet, putting all the candy inside Korikami so she'd be able to gather quite a lot.

Only when she'd gathered enough that a normal person would have some serious issues eating all of them in one sitting (if you treated them as actual candies, at least) did Akeya returning, first moving towards one of the walls of the ballroom before slithering around to the entrance. Sliding back inside the world of light Akeya became visible once more, heading straight for the Regent of night and motioning for Korikami to bring forth all the candy they had gathered. Akeya had spend her time considering whether giving the Regent the candy was the smarter move (when she wasn't busy making sure she wasn't spotted. She didn't always succeed, since the sprites appeared to have a natural connection with this dark world so even a shadow assassin such as Akeya had trouble escaping their notice on their own home territory), but eventually had found that nothing she had thought of which she thought was within the realm of realism was worse than being stuck here, and she hadn't found any clue that there was a way out of here aside from the Regent's will either.

"I have provided my share of the candy." With that Akeya moved back towards the entrance, keeping an eye on the Regent even as she sharpened her ears for sounds coming from outside.