Every part of Tinarah hurt as she struggled to fend off the heartless that were swarming her. She had let herself become too injured during the previous battle, that sustain against something even harder became difficult. Tinarah didn't know when, but at some point she lost sight of why she started this battle, what she was trying to prove, and slipped into just surviving. She started to wish she had her friends at her side, something she hadn't thought about in years. She became so used to being alone or with her master, she forgotten what it was like to have someone watching your back. Now that she had experienced that and lost it, Tinarah found herself missing it, a thought that scared her. She would be leaving them again, if things went her way, and she would be alone, a child among masters once more, with people above her, but no one at her side. Tinarah swallowed the thought though, putting her focus back to the battle. If she was going to fight alone then she had to know she could do this. Restorative energy surrounded Tinarah once more before she pointed her keyblade towards the Demon Tower. "This isn't over yet." She said through grit teeth as ice blasted forth, hitting the tower, distracting it long enough for Tinarah to launch forward and attack it herself, letting the light that had surrounded her keyblade nip and chase off the darkness, even if just slightly. If things kept going like this she was going to run out of magic again, but maybe if she could seal up some of her wounds, she could focus on just attacking, and then perhaps she would stand a chance. Tinarah used Curaga and Blizzaga, followed by a straight attack HP: 103/175 MP: 59/96 FOC: 5/17 FLUX: 0/4
Finally feeling the last bit of strength from her D-Link filling her system, Tinarah burst into light and music once more, feeling her magic flow through her once more. She could feel it bring restoration back as she was able to cure herself once more before turning to the demon tower. "Alright now it is time to fight." She mumbled as she cast a Blizzaga spell at it, letting her renewed energy drive her forward into a full other fight that she hoped would give her the upper hand needed to win this battle. Tinarah Activated her Magic's Dance, cast cure on herself and then Blizzaga on the heartless. HP: 88/175 MP: 74/96 FOC: 5/17 FLUX: 0/4
Alright finally home and time to share my loot. An electric fireplace for my apartment. A housecoat A $75 prepaid visa $100 cash PJ Pants Sweater And a card with a stack of index cards saying "These are just in here to make you think you're getting cash or a gift card or something. :)" Apparently the gift from my brother is still on order and hasn't gotten here yet, so I don't know what that will be, for now, index cards
Everette nodded his thanks to the woman before looking to the man who was seated there. Before Everette could speak up, Conrad did introducing them. Everette gave a bit of a wave before shoving his hands in his pockets, listening for the answer. He gave Lakoda a quick look, staying near her just in case. She seemed nervous so he didn't want to leave her alone. He had caught her touching the necklace that she had gotten her years before. Everette reached one hand over and just took Lakoda's in a reassuring manner before turning back to the man that had hired them. "As much information as you have will be helpful, even if it seems insignificant." He added to Conrad's questions. After meeting the man that was more like a child, but had the voice of a man, but the mannerisms of a child, Thea turned to Yukyo as the person walked off. "Do you really think he is in charge of the mission? Is this a joke? And we aren't supposed to be here to eat. Come on. I want to get the job done so I can go shopping! I haven't been out of the guild hall since last mission and I really want a new dress, especially if this mission makes mine all smelly." Thea stated before running after the boy.
Seeing how little damage that she had managed on her own without the help of her magic. Just a couple of rounds of this and she could do things again and be effective. For now she could just protect herself. Perhaps not the most impressive strategy but as long as she was able to survive through the battle, that was all that really mattered. Tinarah used Guard HP: 62/175 MP: 43/96 FOC: 5/17 FLUX: 2/4
She had to be smart about things if there was even going to be the slightest chance of her making it through this. She was going to run out of magic soon if she wasn't careful about it. Tinarah knew that she couldn't afford to run out, once she did she would be out of luck and since she already used her form it would be hard, unless.... unless she could get her form back somehow. While she was still hurt, she figured that she could last another turn, save some of her magic, instead using her time to activate a link with the heroes she met not long before. As she was filled with their strength, Tinarah then turned and charged right back at the demon tower, slashing into it with as much force as she could muster. Tinarah activated Super D-Link, Tinarah attacked HP: 91/175 MP: 43/96 FOC: 5/17 FLUX: 1/4
Karina is buying Hyperjump and then replacing Aerial Slam with Hyperjump. Replacing reluctancy with Magnify Bringing Karina's total Munny to 13,480
She had done it, she had really done it. Tinarah smiled to herself in quiet celebration, but it was cut short as a horde of heartless sprung forth from the ground, knocking her back. Right this wasn't over yet, she still had to be careful with what she was doing, there was another fight yet to come. Recovering to her feet, Tinarah prepared for another battle, boosting herself with another healing spell before she shot an ice blast at the demon tower. She then charged forward, her blade in hand. She knew that it might not do much, but it was still better than nothing. Tinarah used Curaga, Blizzaga and then attacked. HP: 120/175 MP: 43/96 FOC: 5/17 FLUX: 1/4
Tinarah tried to cover herself from the blasts, but the pain still seeped through. Tinarah knew that she could handle it, but not for too much longer at this pace. She knew her magic was starting to get low and there was no Take here to restore it, but she still had to try and get through this battle. It wasn't over yet, there was still another round to go and Tinarah couldn't say that she was fully prepared to it. In order to deal with it, Tinarah cast a quick cure spell on herself before turning and casting a blast of fire at the darkside, slashing it with her keyblade for good measure afterwards, just to make sure it was well good and dead. Tinarah cast Curaga and fira, and then attacked. HP: 108/175 MP: 40/96 FOC: 5/17 FLUX: 1/4 STATUS: None
Yep they pissed her off and this wasn't going to be good. She was struggling enough with just that battle that they had, this next one was almost guaranteed to be a nightmare for them. "Luna, Ariel, stay towards the back, help where you can, but don't put yourselves in danger. We can deal with her if we are smart about it." Karina called to the others as she carefully prepared herself for a battle. "And you know, if she wants to think of herself like nearly a god, well, I never have defeated a god before, it should be fun." Karina smiled to Aux in a bit of a terrifying manner before preparing for battle. 13/30
It hurt, there was no doubt about it. As Tinarah picked herself back up she looked at the heartless, at least it was worse off than her. Things were going on track, so if she just kept up with what she was doing, she should be able to beat this. It wouldn't be easy, Tinarah knew and she was likely to take more of a beating before the end of this, but at least there was a chance that she could beat it before it beat her, a good chance actually. Though after this her training would not be over, there was still another battle to come. Tinarah only hoped that she would have a moment to rest and recover between battles, or else she might be driving herself a little thin, especially without Take with her to make sure that she would keep up her MP. Fighting alone Tinarah realized she really did miss having her friends at her side. It wasn't uncommon for her to train alone, she had done it plenty back with Stamatis, but now there was a chance to train with others and she wasn't taking it. That was something that Tinarah had to really stop and think about. Going in she had thought that it was fine, but now she couldn't help but push herself to remember that she should make the most of the time she had with these people, before it was over and she would head back to try and stop the destruction of that realm again. Tinarah Used Blizzard twice then attacked. HP: 91/175 MP: 60/96 FOC: 5/17 FLUX: 1/4 STATUS: Magic's Dance (1 Turn)
Flotsam and Jetsam, what weird names for pets? Why would you even have your pets names rhyme like that, it would just get confusing. It wasn't like Karina could say much, on her world they barely kept pets. Most of the time animals were meant for work or for food, nothing else. That being said on occasion when dogs grew too old for military work, instead of killing them, people would bring them home and let them live out the rest of their days in peace and relaxation as pets. Her family was not one of these. They might have had plenty of money, but her father called pets just another mouth to feed, and a waste of space and food. They were a distraction and only good for work if you were to ask him. Karina however had always wanted a pet. She thought it would make for a better companion than most in her world, and would talk back less as well. She had thought of names only at times. She always thought if she got one of those golden long haired work dogs, she might name it Cloud. If she got one of the black dogs, hyper even in their old age, it would be called Zack. The fierce eyed silver warriors who could blend in and stalk in the snow, she always thought it would be a Sephie. There was a small smile that tugged at her lips as Karina thought about times long forgotten. Times where she was happy imagining what she might name pets, those rare moments of joy on her planet. She thought of Dodger, a small white dog that her neighbour owned. Lively and loyal to the last of days. Dodger would wander over to visit when she would escape to her back yard or the woods beyond to escape her house, sit by her side for hours. It was two years before she left home that he passed away, an old man, who never stopped smiling, the weird way that dogs did. A lump rose in Karina's throat, but she forced herself to swallow it and face Ursula. Maybe when this was all over she would get a pet of her own... wherever she ended up when this was over, if it ever ended. Maybe she would take Kel up on his offer, or maybe she would see what Beuce was going, follow him for a bit. Karina didn't know where Caster came from, but she was sure that he wouldn't mind her sticking around for a while. She was not sort on options, but those options meant nothing until they finished the woman off that Karina was now attacking without hardly thinking about what she was doing. Her mind was so wrapped up in the thoughts of pets and finding a new home that she didn't think about what her body was doing. It was practically moving on it's own, her keyblade swinging again and again, and by no means was it sloppy, but at the same time it wasn't using the same tactical approaches that she had once employed at the beginning of the battle. Word count: 526 EXP: 1000 BP: 0/104 Flotsam: 0/300 Jetsam: 0/300 Ursula: 132/2000 12/30
Together might have been wishful thinking with the way things were currently going. It was like everyone else was barely with it, while Karina did everything in her ability to try and fend off Ursula while keeping herself together, in more ways than one. She was starting to get annoyed, but knew that she had to keep her cool. When she got upset it only meant that she made stupid mistakes. She got careless and stopped caring if she lived or died, and that was the most dangerous time for herself. She was just figuring out who she was again, what she was with her friends. She wasn't going to be the person her father made her to be anymore, but she was growing as a person with these people at her side. She had to keep that in mind and have faith that they had a good reason for not being as much help as she would have hoped. Either way Karina just had to do whatever she could to finish the sea witch off and be done with this for good. Ursula had made it back to the cauldron now, so she was collecting power once more. Karina rushed forward to try and stop it before too long, but before she could get too close to her, a blast of energy hit Karina back and she was left grasping at her chest. Yes, she really wouldn't have wanted to get on the kings bad side when he threatened to smite her. If this was the power behind Ursula with the trident, she couldn't imagine what the king of the sea would do with it. Coughing a few times Karina watched bubbles rise up as she tried to recover from the beating that she had been taking, at least not everyone was there to see that, there were certain people like Ananta who she would hate for her to see her like that. She wasn't helpless and she wasn't weak, and while things weren't going as well as she hoped she didn't want anyone to treat her like she was, she didn't want them babying her, she just wanted this done. That was the one thing Karina dreaded about returning and facing everyone else. When she left last time after the large battle, she didn't leave from Ananta on the best of terms, and her words still hurt Karina deeply. There were times that Karina struggled to really believe that she had changed, times where her anger got the best of her and she thought that she was just as bad as she was before. She had been fighting with that every time she had to talk to Aux here, but she was determined to show that she had learned a thing or two while with Lea and that group. Touching her necklace, Karina tried to summon the strength that she needed to herself and continue to push on. She would push through this battle and then she would face everything later. Word count: 503 EXP: 900 BP: 0/104 Flotsam: 0/300 Jetsam: 0/300 Ursula: 236/2000 11/30
Picking herself up from the building she was thrown in, Tinarah found herself not as hurt as she had expected as she stood up and started to charge her magic once more. She was managing, she was keeping up with everything just fine. Tinarah had been doing fine and her magic was going strong, her form keeping her healthy, and really the heartless wasn't nearly as scary as she thought. When she realized that she had faced far worse, everything seemed to become better and Tinarah managed to push herself to do more, quickly setting forth another set of ice attacks and slashing with her keyblade. Her mind went from proving to Uncle Fost what she could do, to the pride that she was sure that Stamatis would have if he could see her now. She had come a long way since the cowering girl he brought into the realm of darkness to help her get her keyblade back. Tinarah used Blizzaga twice and attacked. HP: 128/175 MP: 69/96 FOC: 5/17 FLUX: 1/4 STATUS: Magic's Dance (2 Turns)
The wounds had clotted by now, which was good, her back still hurt but Karina was managing as she crushed into Ursula's windpipe harder. This position was not going to last as long though since Ursula seemed to be saving up her power before shoving Karina off with a force that she had not expected. Ursula burst away from the wall and managed to get herself close to the cauldron, much to Karina's dismay. "Damn it. We need to stop this." She cursed under her breath, not happy with how it was going. She had to keep going though, she couldn't stop this battle. Charging at Ursula, Karina covered herself in a barrier in order to protect herself. Her black hair dragged back, the starfish in her hair holding surprisingly well despite the speed and tug of the water. Whatever this blend magic was, it was amazing, Karina couldn't help but appreciate it. She might have not been a fan of trying to keep her hair a certain way, barely knew how to style it, it felt nice to have it working in her favour. That being said she missed the shorter hair that she cut when she went to black coats. Seeing the other mermaids, it made sense that her hair should be long to fit in, but having it as short as it was helped make it easier to care for in those moments that she remembered that that was something she had to do. At least her fingers weren't like manicured or anything, that would just be ridiculous for someone who was battle ready, and she felt she would never hear the end of it. Taking her not so manicured hands, Karina brought the keyblade down on Ursula, just trying to end things quickly. Her arms ached with the force she put behind it, but she smiled as she did. This was going to be over in the an instant. "Alright come on lets finish this together!" Karina called after everyone not wanting to do it alone. She actually found comfort in having her friends at her back working with her and if she was to take the kill herself then she would almost feel bad about it. They got this far together, they may as well end it together, then get Ariel out of the situation she was in. The princess had almost slipped Karina's mind, but she focused herself, reminding herself of the reason she was doing this, it was more than just for Luna, it was for the other princess of heart as well. She could do this and she would save Ariel and return her to her father. Unlike Karina's own, Ariel's father seemed more inclined to actually learn from his mistakes and change his ways instead of perpetuating them and making things worse. Sure Ariel had to get into a pretty bad situation for him to realize it, but he seemed to want his daughter back, so that was something Karina could at least appreciate and hold on to. Word count: 507 EXP: 800 BP: 0/104 Flotsam: 0/300 Jetsam: 0/300 Ursula: 442/2000 10/30
Aux came to help pin Ursula to the wall, and was actually being a big help now that his head was out of the clouds. Karina hated to admit it, but he was doing a good job and she was very thankful that he was there at the moment. Aux continued to bark orders at the others, and much to Karina's surprise she didn't disagree with them either. While she might not have liked Aux, at this moment they seemed to be able to work together, which might have been for the best, seeing they still had two princesses to protect and this battle wasn't proving as easy as they hoped. If getting along with Aux meant the difference between failing and succeeding to keep her friends safe, then she would happily do her best to get along with him and fight along side him. Even with both their strength combined it didn't seem like enough to hold Ursula back. Karina grit her teeth and surged forward trying to push Ursula back and keep her there, but Ursula was still gaining ground, pushing her back. Aux however was having none of that and sucker punched Ursula, causing her to question what kind of heroes they were. Karina laughed as she just stared down at Ursula. "Heroes? He is a hero." She jerked her head towards Beuce. "And she is a hero." Karina indicated to Luna, the two best people in their group. Then she looked back to Ursula laughing emptily. "The rest of us are just assholes with agendas that just so happen to coincide with that of the right thing to do, and what the 'heroes' are doing. So I don't know what you expect of us, but apparently way too much. Sorry." Karina gave a shrug. She had to say she liked Aux's answer as well, but she wouldn't call herself a hero anyways. She didn't want to see herself that way. She was in no way good and this entire endeavor started for selfish reasons, if anyone called her a hero, they would be sorely disappointed. She was strong however and she could hold Ursula back a little longer. She looked to the others to see how they were doing, if they were holding their own in the meantime. Karina adjusted her keyblade a bit so it pressed into Ursula's collarbone more, trying to ensure that it at least hurt. "What do you say we finish this now?" She gave a wicked grin to Ursula, promising pain, just proving her point even further. Asshole, was certainly a good way to describe her, and Karina wasn't going to pretend otherwise. She didn't know what Ursula thought she was getting herself into when she entered this battle with them, but by the words she spoke about them, she certainly didn't know what she was getting into, not fully. Karina wondered who else had the same idea's about them, in some twisted way it brought Karina joy being able to surprise them with the reality of things, it was a good way to catch them off guard. Word count: 517 EXP: 700 BP: 0/208 Flotsam: 0/300 Jetsam: 166/300 Ursula: 686/2000 9/30
"Focus. Keep your head in this battle Aux." She hated to admit it but they needed all the help they could get, and Aux being distracted certainly wouldn't offer the help she was seeking. "With one eel down we stand a better chance, now strike when the iron is hot!" She called out again. He was staring at his hands, like he was still getting over the wound, meanwhile her back and side were a bloody mess and she was still fighting. What had gotten into that boy? He should be strong enough to nearly deal with this by himself. He had thrown them all into the realm of darkness like they were nothing after all. Why was he just sitting there? Sure the battle was hard, but it was not hopeless yet, they still stood a chance of winning if they pushed enough. Just when Karina was about to give up on the boy, there was a flash of light and a keyblade appeared in his hands. She had to admire the keyblade for a moment, it was quite interesting, she liked the design of it. "There we go, now we are talking." She muttered to herself as Aux laid into Ursula as well. Not only did he manage to do a fair amount of damage to her but after that Karina felt a familiar gust of wind surround her. It was a promise of safety and a bit of a break from the on slaughter of attacks. "Thanks." Karina breathed out, taking that as a chance to get on top of things and counter Ursula, taking the fight on herself. Since Aux had driven her into the wall, Karina decided to try something she had yet to experiment with under water. Focusing her breathing, she let time slow around her. Within an instant, she was slipping between folds in time appearing in front of Ursula, driving her harder with her keyblade into the wall of her grotto. Karina's back barked with pain, but she smiled through it facing Ursula. "Soon you will have none of your little 'babies' to cower behind. We are going to end this." If Steel and Luna were on top of things, they would already be dealing with the other eel, leaving Ursula on her own to defend against three of them, soon to be five. With those odds, there was little chance that they would lose, and Karina didn't want to even think that way. They would have a good fighting chance, they already did. Ursula was starting to look rough as just barely three people were there, and even that had only been a recent thing. For a while it was just her and she managed to make her mark. Yes they were going to end this, and they were going to end it sooner rather than later. She now knew that some of her abilities would help, even under water, so it would be something to keep in mind and use to her advantage going forward from here. Word count: 508 EXP: 600 BP: 0/208 Flotsam: 0/300 Jetsam: 166/300 Ursula: 1098/2000 8/30
Okay, so far so good, she was still going strong as far as Tinarah could tell, and her attacks were doing a good amount of damage. She smiled to herself knowing just how strong she could be. It was surprising herself even how well she was doing, how much stronger she had gotten. Perhaps it was because she had been focusing so much on how she looked that she missed all the other growth she had been doing, even in the short time since coming back. She was growing stronger, in her magic and in her will to fight. She wanted to grow stronger and now, more than ever had a reason to. That wasn't something that she should scoff at, it was something that Tinarah knew she could hold her head high about. Using the encouragement the battle gave her, Tinarah pressed on, shooting another blast of ice at the darkside, twice in order to stagger it a bit before running in keyblade at the ready, letting the light off the keyblade slash into the heartless, filling her with a bit of energy. She could do t his. She would do this. With the familiar music floating in the air around her, it was all that she needed to remind her that Stamatis was with her in spirit, and Choma, and while she knew he wouldn't face, perhaps even Fost in a way. "Watch this uncle Fost. You might be scared to let yourself care for me, but I will prove to you what I can do. I won't let Stamatis get hurt again, or you!" Tinarah used Blizzaga twice and then attacked HP: 143/175 MP: 78/96 FOC: 5/17 FLUX: 1/4 STATUS: Magic's Dance (3 Turns)
Good Beuce managed to deal with Flotsam, that was good. More than that though he noticed her glance for help and answered the call. While Karina remained taking a beating from Ursula trying to distract her, Beuce prepared his own magic, creating a large explosion, which Karina would have though would have at least jarred the witch enough for Karina to pry trident from her hands, but instead she just laughed at them like they were nothing. The laugh was jarring as Ursula spun around knocking Karina back once more as Beuce swam forward to help her with this task. A slight tint of red surrounded her area as Karina realized what had happened. She had perhaps taken too many hits in order to distract. From her back and side blood flowed, as the salt water stung at her wounds. While Karina winced at this pain, it didn't stop her. Shrugging it off she tried to get herself back into the fight alongside Beuce. Clearly this was not a fight for one person to fight but it would take, at the very least, both of them. "You know, I always thought it was about time to cover up those old scars, just haven't expected to cover them with new ones." Karina tried to make light of the beating she had taken, not paying it too much mind, but she wasn't sure if it just made her sound more edgy than anything. She had come to the realization that she had a bad habit of doing such things without intent and it gave people the wrong impression. That being said when she started the only impression she cared to give off was one to tell people to stay the hell away from her. Now it was more a worry about her words coming out wrong, but at the same time, if she hadn't chased Beuce off by now, she probably never would. He could have left her when she went to return to Black Coats, never had to think of her again, but he didn't, so perhaps it was no longer as much of a worry. As for the others, Aux and Steel she didn't care what they thought of her, and Luna, well she could use a hint to tone it down, not that she thought Luna would take the comment that way. She would more likely take it as an invitation to help. At least she wasn't as bad as Ananta was though, and generally, Luna's help was actually, well, helpful. Trying to place the thoughts to the side, Karina moved alongside Beuce to attack in tandem with him. Flanking Ursula would only do them so good since her tentacles allowed her to attack on all sides of her. That being said at the same time Karina didn't let herself be too close to Beuce, she knew how magic worked. Some could effect an area and she didn't want to make them easy targets either. She had been targeted enough when acting as a distraction, it was time to go about this somewhat smart as they continued to try and beat down on Ursula before the woman gained anymore power from that cauldron, or the trident. Word count: 537 EXP: 500 BP: 0/104 Flotsam: 0/300 Jetsam: 166/300 Ursula: 1510/2000 7/30
Well at least she wasn't the only one with anger issues it seemed. Though Karina didn't know how she felt about the other one being someone that they once were against. He couldn't be trusted, not fully at least, but at least he had her back for now, taking on the eels mostly so she could deal with Ursula. Steel it seemed, had also joined in on that fight. Between the three men, they seemed to have the eels handled with little problem. Aux had tried to take the Trident away from Ursula, but well, that turned into a valuable lesson for Karina herself to learn. She might have had more strength than Aux, but it didn't take much for her to cause Aux to let go, using whatever power was contained within that weapon. Karina watched the bubbles floating from his hands, taking note of it. She didn't want to touch the Trident directly then, not until it was away from Ursula at least. If she did she would need to do it with the help of her keyblade. Perhaps if they could formulate a proper plan, but none would work, not without communicating them in front of Ursula, which would then ruin half the point of said plan. If they caught her off guard, having one person perhaps flank her while another two distracted, maybe they would stand a chance, but it would need to be well organized, and in the middle of a fight like this, reorganizing was not going to be a simple task. Instead of focusing on that she just focused on the task at hand, avoiding blasts of magic, and touching the trident, all the while trying to get the trident away from Ursula. Whenever she could get close enough to the woman, Karina took a slash at the wrist or hands, but those shots were far and few between. When she found herself unable to do that, Karina took swipes at wherever she could, at least aiming for the midsection, where she transitioned from woman to octopus. It wasn't that Karina thought that it would be a particularly weak spot, just an open obvious spot for her to hit. Any damage could be considered a distraction. At the very least she could stand a chance of keeping Ursula's attention off her companions, and it was possible that they would be smart enough to figure out to try and get the jump on her on their own. She doubted that Ursula would be that naive though. As pathetic as she was, Karina still get the sense that she had some shred of intelligence, she had planned all this out after all, and knew who the princess of heart where, and which were in her midst. That itself made her more dangerous, and Karina worry about Luna's safety. Ursula likely didn't work by herself, making it that much more important to succeed here. "Come on Beuce, please try and take this opportunity." Karina thought as she glanced over at Beuce before swimming around Ursula and attacking relentlessly from the back, taking the brunt of the damage that Ursula dealt her, not wanting to back off just yet. Word count: 532 EXP: 00 BP: 0/104 Flotsam: 100/300 Jetsam: 166/300 Ursula: 1614/2000 6/30
