Nox retreated back into the Opera house as the fighting began to break out. She gave one last spiteful look to the crowd and turned back into the building. She didn't seem the type to run away. Instead...She was getting something. The Dottari, being trained professionals, were the first to act against this riot. Though one of the ranks had already been taken out and another was dazed by this Elf's magics, they held strong and fought still. The two nearest purrah ran forward and swung their maces. The first, who had several broken ribs and was unlikely to last much longer gave a swing that was far stronger than one would expect with injuries like that, but the Catfolk woman was able to stop the weapon with her bare paw. Taking the initiative on her momentary distraction, the other Dottari close by charged forward to take advantage of the situation. The man stared wide eyed as Purrah raised up her foot to the level of his chest and stopped the blow dead in its tracks. Meanwhile, The dottari stationed to the east of the building were having far more success outside of the one who screamed in pain, clutching his eyes along with like 15 people in the crowd you jackass. The armored guards ran forward and, in what was probably the best display they would've been able to perform, swung their maces from high and low at the same time. Vance's momentary hesitation resulted in a direct hit from both. One cracked him in his forehead, and the other rammed into his stomach. In the furthest east position, a more intelligent Dottari pulled out his bow and fired into the crowd. Purrah moved forward and Attacked Dottari 2 24, Critical threat~! 12, failed to confirm... Dealt 10 Damage! Valen started a raging song! Arthur fired at Chelish Thug 7 12, Hit Dealt 2 damage Andros manifested A Panoply of Blades 27, Critical threat~! 27, Critical HIT!! Dealt 26 damage Vance moved and used acrobatics to avoid being hit Vance cast Color Spray! One Dottari failed their save Velvet charged at Chelish Thug 9 24, Critical Threat~! 17, Critical HIT!! Dealt 12 Damage Sneak attack dealt 6 further damage Dottari 2 attacked Purrah! 17, Missed... Dottari 3 Moved and attacked Purrah 14, Missed. Dottari 4 is Stunned and Unconscious! Dottari 5 Moved and Attacked Vance! 24, Critical Threat! 10, Failed to confirm... Dealt 4 damage Dottari 6 Moved and attacked Vance! 24, Critical Threat! 17, Failed to confirm... Dealt 3 damage Dottari 7 Attacked Valen! 10, Missed Reno's Turn!
The bottle hit the wall and broke, and the elven man in the front of the screamed in a rage-filled voice that overshadowed all the rest. He cried out his spiteful yells, demanding that Thrune and all his cohorts be exiled from the city. The dottari were growing increasingly nervous and afraid of this man. His brow furrowed as he roused those around him to join in his violent revolution to right what was wrong. Soon, others began to throw things at the dottari. It seemed like tensions were growing by the second. The red haired woman standing in front of the door glared daggers at him, seemingly thinking what she should do about it. For a brief moment, all the voices were silenced when the window to the balcony on the second floor of the opera house burst open, and the shadow stepped forward. A tall, imposing man in armor stepped forward. He was adorned in many places by the pentagrams of Asmodeus. Though many had never seen him before, his wine glass in hand and arrogant, contemptuous sneer looking down at the gathering protest made it very clear who he was. This was the man who had been causing all their troubles. The very reason this protest was taking place to begin with. This was Paracount Barzillai Thrune. He had come to address his new people. Once the initial surprise of him making an appearance was over, the anger returned to the crowd as they shouted even louder. They demanded he leave at once. Let there be a proper election for the new mayor. Free the silver city from its iron chains. Barzillai simply turned his wine glass, listening to the pleas of the city folk. "People of Kintargo. Is it with hatred you look upon me and the House of Thrune?" He asked A piece of rotten fruit flew from the crowd with a surprisingly well aimed accuracy and pegged him in the shoulder. "NO ****. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CLUE, THE ANGRY MOB AT YOUR DOORSTEP OR THE **** FLYING THROUGH THE AIR AT YOUR GUARDS?" A very upset man from the crowd screamed out. "I see. I must apologize for I have not yet adapted to your...quaint country ways. Nevertheless, I have heard your complaints, and rest assured i will take them to heart. The happiness and well being of the people of Kintargo is in my utmost interest, I take pride in updating your archaic laws to a more modern standard. You say that you will not stand for me in a position of power? Your lord-mayor has heard your complaints. It is with a heavy heart that I issue this proclamation in response to your demands!" He motioned for a servant, who brought him a clipboard and a piece of paper. He took a moment to write it down, and handed it back to the servant who brought it downstairs and passed it off to one of the Dottari. The guard looked surprised upon reading it, but reluctantly nailed it to the wall of the opera house. All nonnative ships’ captains must remain on board their ships and are barred from setting foot on land within Kintargo’s city limits—their crew and agents are free to come and go, but their actions are directly the responsibility of their captains, and any crew caught breaking Kintargan law shall have its punishment visited upon the crew members as well as their captain. Any captain caught setting foot in Kintargo is to be punished by squassation. "All ship's captains are hereafter barred from leaving their vessels and setting foot on Kintargo's docks and streets under pain of squassation. Effective...Let's say, four days ago!" It was then that all hell broke loose. The crowd broke into even more shouting and screaming than before, and began throwing more deadly objects such as rocks and knives. One person even managed to get a lucky hit and plant a dagger directly into the throat of the red haired woman standing in front of the door. She plucked it out and the flesh sewed itself together in a black and crimson smokey fire. "Nox, deal with this rabble." Barzillai casually spoke down to the red haired woman at the front door. "Dottari!" She called out. "Do your duty to Cheliax and Thrune!" The dottari all drew their weapons on command, loyal and ready to follow their orders. This was about what had been expected in response to the riot, but what people didn't expect was from all within the crowd, several people threw their hoods down and drew weapons as well, attacking anyone nearby. Screams of terror erupted as the crowd began to burst into panic. Some fought, others fled, but the utter disarray made it hard for anyone to gain much ground. Due to the panicked crowds, all squares are difficult terrain. Purrah's turn! Purrah: 22 Valen: 22 Arthur: 20 Andros: 20 Vance: 18 Velvet: 15 Dottari: 11 Reno: 10 Roshe: 9 Kieren: 7 Thugs: 7
The halfling man gives a surprised yelp. He'd been so focused on reaching into the pocket of the gruff man, clearly a laborer of some kind, in front of him that he hadn't even noticed the half-elf walk up behind him. His yelp alerted his would-have-been victim, who turned around and gazed down with wide eyes at his coin pouch in the small man's hands, and the elf who had him by the arm. The man wrested the pouch back from the thief's fingers. "Thank you. If it weren't for you, he would've made off with this before i was any the wiser." The grateful pickpocket victim said to Kieren. "Here, take this as thanks." Kieran obtained 6 GP
Chapter One: Fledglings of Silver 6:00 AM, Aria Park Kintargo population: 11,900 Even with the cobblestone streets still wet from the morning dew, and the sun just barely beginning to break over the horizon and shed its light onto the silver city, Aria Park was filled with dozens of Kintargans. They stood outside the opera house where the newly appointed lord-mayor, Paracount Barzillai Thrune, currently resided. In the sudden absence of their former mayor, Barzillai was appointed at his request as mayor of this city by Her Infernal Majestrix, Queen Abrogail II. Local rumormongers were still buzzing about her mysterious disappearance. Some say that she was bribed, some say she was murdered. Some say that she was simply praying a bit too hard to Cailean one night and slipped on her stairs. Whatever the case may have been Barzillai Thrune was in power now, and that was what caused this gathering. Angered complaints filled the air and blurred together. Most complained about the ridiculous proclamations and demanded that he revoke them. Others screamed that he had no business here at all, and called for his immediate resignation. Though, far more of them just seemed to be angry with the situation in general and were content to yell their frustrations. A few Chelish loyalists argued against what they called a growing demand for anarchy. The one or two civilians foolhardy enough to approach the opera house and attempt to enter were quickly pushed back by the Dottari, who looked to be growing increasingly nervous. At the doorway stood a slender woman with red hair, looking disdainfully down at the crowd. A shadow passed through the window of the second floor in the opera house, but didn't appear to reveal itself to be anything more just yet. Tensions were high, but hadn't come to a boil quite yet. For now, it was just yelling. More and more people continued to arrive. Some joined in the yells, some tried to out-shout and silence those who had opposing views, and some just simply watched as if scanning the crowd. If one listened to the less boisterous and more personal conversations, they might be able to pick up a rumor or two. There was a shout or two about a pickpocket, but it was largely ignored by all but those closest to them, drowned out by the myriad of voices. It seemed like the protest would go on for several hours...
Beuce winced in pain as the feeling of his broken ribs began to set in. He was ready to keep fighting despite the unwinnable situation to attempt to keep Kaida from sacrificing herself, but there was something else that distracted all of them. Even No Heart. The blue haired boy. The first person he'd met since he left Riven. The one who'd been alongside him the whole time, the only one left, ran forward through a barrage of spells. "Thanks for everything" He said. Another way to say "Goodbye." He could only watch as he plunged the keyblade into his chest. Beuce tried to form words in his throat. To force his lungs to push forward the air to plead with him to stop, but nothing came. It was too late. "I'll see you later"...Why did he have to say that? It was like an extra punch in the gut knowing that it wasn't true. For all their training and all the strength they'd gained. All the growing they'd done, facing themselves and conquering challenge after challenge, it still came to this. They couldn't stop it. They couldn't prevent the situation from needing to happen. He returned to Aux. He wasn't sure if he'd be in there, but even if he was, he'd never be the one they'd known. Hikaru wasn't Aux, not just a replica of someone else. He was Hikaru. The glass from his hand creaked against the metal of his keyblade under his grip. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. He knew Kaida wasn't the only one willing to lay down their lives to protect the rest, but he'd wished with all his might no one would actually end up needing to do it. He looked to Aux, punching the ground in a rage and screaming to the heavens. He wanted to go over and jerk him up off the ground and sink his fist into his jaw. To scream at him and tell him it was all his fault. If he hadn't been taken over, if it hadn't been for that darkness of his, Hikaru wouldn't have had to do that. He wanted to approach Kaida and tell her that she wasn't the only one who felt that pain. They'd all lost him. He wanted to run at No Heart and unleash everything he had to bring him down right then and there, even if it killed him. He wanted to bring Hikaru back...but he couldn't. He couldn't do anything. He just swallowed his shaking breath and stood there holding his keyblade. His face contorted as he fought back all the emotions that were building up like a dam threatening to break. It wasn't fair. He felt silly complaining to himself about it being "unfair" now of all times, but there was no other way he could put it. He was powerless to stop it. Just as powerless as the day he'd left Riven and found his way here. He'd always been the one who told them they needed to press forward when they got distracted or lost heart at the hardships ahead. He knew they had to move for now. They were still standing in front of their greatest enemy, and they didn't have time to grieve just yet. He had to come up with a plan. Something he could do. When he realized heavy heartedly that there was only one thing they could do. It was all they'd ever done, really. But now, in this moment, it was thanks to Hikaru that they even got the chance. He raised his hand and channeled his power to do what needed to be done. Space began to discolor and from an amber wall between them and No Heart, along with his clones, creating a momentary reluctance within them to attack. They'd muster the strength to shatter the wall in moments, but it was as much of a deterrent as he could muster right now. In some ways, Hikaru's Sacrifice had given him the clarity to realize that this wasn't a battle they could win. He walked over to the distraught Kaida, and pulled on her to motion that they should get going. He knew she didn't want to move right now. Lord only knows how much he didn't. He shook his head at Ananta. This wasn't the right path to take. Facing him now would only get more of them killed, and it would only make the pain even worse. He would've said that he could stand to see anyone else die here, but it was far beyond "couldn't stand it". His head was spinning at the fact of what happened. He tugged once more at Kaida, not wanting to force her from the spot but realizing that they didn't have a lot of time. He'd carry her if he had to. His ribs screamed at him to stop. To just lay down and accept his fate. As the sound of breaking glass rang out behind him, he knew No Heart had torn down the barrier and was coming for them. He pressed through the pain. The others would have to make similar measures to hold him off long enough for them to escape. He walked toward the ships. That was their way out. looking onward at them, he realized that was all they'd earned in the mark of mastery. Passage back to the realm of light. Hoping they could fight back was just wishful thinking. But at the very least...They'd gained enough power to hold him at bay long enough to escape. Beuce stopped only long enough to look down at his hand. The silver ring with the letters SOS engraved on them. Everything washed over him all over again. Hikaru had been the one to keep them together. These were proof of that. He clutched his hand, feeling the metal warmed from the heat of his skin. Even with him gone, they had a task that needed to be done. He just hoped they were up to it.
"I wouldn't imagine it'll take very long." Luther said from behind Aeira. He, along with Melus and X-ray had been transported there by Nequa. He imagined it would've been a lot more convenient if she hadn't butchered Lima, but that was neither here nor there and he wasn't one to complain. "It's about time you all returned. What were you doing all this time...?" The man asked, genuinely curious. "Whatever it was, it seems like we're headed to the realm of light now. We just need to win this 'Reaper's Game' and we'll be off. It couldn't be that hard." Luther said. He felt a little odd saying that, considering it was his job to make it as hard as he possibly could. If things had gone differently, he might have considered these people his comrades, but their time together was just too short to develop any sort of attachment. Instead, it was best to just get it over with here.
Beuce groaned as he was slammed into the ground, followed by a massive boot driving him further down. The wind left his lungs, and he gasped, struggling to fill them with oxygen once again. He reached up, pushing against the man with a growl of exertion. His eyes slid over to Kaida and Aux. AJ was quickly dealt with. Kaida stepped forward to No Heart and Beuce gritted his teeth in frustration. "KAIDA!" Beuce shouted out in rage. "You think we fought all this way just so you could go and sacrifice yourself?! Give us a little more respect than that! We're not going to lose you or anyone else! If you want to go and get yourself killed so easily, then why did we fight tooth and nail through this whole time?! We're going to win. We're going to win..." The second one was muttered, more to himself. He looked up at the No Heart clone above him. They'd done nothing but hit wall after wall this entire time. They'd always managed to climb over it, but this one was so dauntingly high it seemed to stretch into forever. He gritted his teeth. They'd never given up before, and he didn't intend to start now. The tasks before them had always looked impossible, but every single time, they'd gotten through it together. "Well, I've never had glass ribs before..." He slammed his fist against the ground, channeling magic through it. A bright light appeared beneath Beuce, and exploded against his back. The enhanced physical force from his strength pushed him upward violently, giving him the shove he needed to break away from the clone. However, he heard a loud crack as No Heart was shoved off him. Pain radiated radiated through his chest. "Don't you dare give up on us. We won't give up on you..." The man called to Kaida.
Beuce struggled with everything he had against the stop spell, but it was far too powerful for him to break. No Heart walked up and spoke to Aux, the only one who remained unfrozen. It seemed like Kaida had all but told the future. Aux turned against No Heart, refusing to follow his orders to murder his friend, but his true intentions mattered very little. No Heart ignited the darkness inside Aux and took control of him. Beuce's eyes went wide as the hulking man walked ominously towards Kaida. He ordered every muscle in his body to tear through the magic. He pleaded with the Shedim Lords to give him the power to do something. Anything. They were finally on the right track. They were masters. They couldn't possibly be this powerless. Beuce would've screamed in frustration if he could move his mouth. He was helpless. But they weren't all helpless. Steel awakened a power from within himself and broke free of the stop spell, delivering a kick to No Heart, breaking his concentration and freeing them. Wasting no time, Beuce spun on his heels to face No Heart. A.J. and Hikaru had gone to protect Kaida. "Beat some sense into him, will you?!" Beuce called out to the three. There was a time when they wouldn't have stood a chance, but not anymore. They had the power to fight back. "We'll deal with this." He said, glaring at No Heart and his clones. He held his keyblade forward, parallel to the ground, and its power was awakened. The two gems that acted as the keychains began to shine and transfer their energy into the other, becoming one force. "Dichromatic Resonance!" A red and blue aura surrounded him, and his mixed powers attuned to one another. He charged at No Heart, but the clones barred his path. The man gave a swipe of the now red-coated magical end of his keyblade. a pillar of light with a pale rose tint roared through the sky, as though it battered aside the air that stood in its path. It crashed to the ground with incredible force, attempting to remove the duplicate in his way. "Steel! Don't let him cast, and we might be able to do this!"
Beuce smiled as the black coats left, then turned to face forward. They had a task ahead of them as well. He looked at the boats and Hikaru, who called dibs on the left boat only to be frozen in time. At first he made the same assumption Aux did in that it was simply a harmless prank, but the moment Kaida was frozen, he realized something was dangerously wrong. He instinctively summoned his keyblade, but that was all he managed to do before everything stopped.
I'm gonna make my own status. Without any blackjack or hookers.
Beuce smiled as the other masters in the SOS joined in the gesture to show that they felt the same way he did. Although, he didn't look at them he only looked Karina head on. As each person said their part, she looked to each one of them. Likely she thought about them and her relationship with them. How she didn't really want to leave, and what them offering her a way back in meant exactly. Tears began to run down the girl's face. Eventually, thea last one to join in wasn't offering a keyblade. He was offering the SOS ring that he'd given to all of them. A symbol that she always was, and always would be, one of them. "Welcome home." The girl cried and hugged him, saying that she was sorry. He just smiled and hugged her back, putting his still flesh hand in her hair and patting it gently. "Ah it's alright. Now I have a neat story to tell." When she back up, she summoned what appeared to be her own keyblade, reflective of her. Beuce eyed it up and down and gave an approving face. "Well, it's not quite as nifty as mine, but it'll get the job done." He teased and gave a wink. He wondered what power it held within it, but decided he didn't need to ask. He'd find out. They all would, when the girl fought alongside them in battles to come.
After Ignis said her piece, he continued. "You think we don't want you around? You want proof you're not a lost cause?" He held out the double ended weapon to her, it practically called out empathically for her to grab hold of it in response to its users will. "Prove it to yourself." He took a deep breath. "In your hand, take this key."
Beuce looked to the girl standing before him as she threw away her keychains in the ground. The mementos of what she'd gathered during her time with them. She was essentially throwing away her past and her life with them. Beuce looked down at them, and resolved himself to not let her do this. He'd be damned if he was just going to let her walk away again like that. "Hey, Karina." He called out to her, before she left. "That's Master Beuce." He corrected. At first it seemed a bit out of place to demand to be called by his title in this particular scenario. "I just remembered, we're masters now. And as such, we've got a few rights that only we have." He summoned his keyblade into his glass arm and walked over to her and placed his hand on her shoulder, practically turning her around.
Beuce gave Aux a puzzled look as he referred to him as "Bruce". He assumed that it must just be that he wasn't used to his name yet. After the interaction between him and Karina, she seemed to be starting to calm down finally. Beuce gave a sigh of relief and began to let her go.Then Ananta walked up and opened her mouth. He immediately tightened his grip on her as he simply stared at Ananta dumbfounded. Why? Why would she do that? For what purpose? There was no reason at all to anantagonize her, but she decided "oh hey what's the best thing to do the first thing you see her? Tell her she's worthless and hasn't made any progress whatsoever". In what way, under any circumstance, would that be helpful to the situation. Especially given that the whole situation with Aux was still going on. Beuce struggled to keep her in place and from going to turn Ananta's face into the next dimension. "Alright, look. I know you're mad. Hell that ticked me off a bit," He shot a glare at Ananta. That had been really unnecessary. "but I really, reaaally need you to calm down. You want to show her? Prove her wrong and calm do- Ohh that was my wrist." He said, as she hadn't stopped squirming yet and twisted his arm a bit. He managed to remain strong but it was getting more difficult. "Listen, I just got this arm, and I know I have five gods living inside me and all but i don't know if they keep these things in stock, so I'd prefer to keep the ones I've got intact. Please, calm down." She, at this point, seemed to calm down a bit. He let her go, and walked in front of her, so as to have more of an actual conversation with her. "I'm not really sure why she said that, but she doesn't speak for everyone. I don't know what you've been up to on your end, we're in a moment of respite finally. We might have a chance to catch up." He said, hoping to keep her stable. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the blonde kid who'd joined them recently collapse on the ground. Walking over, he knelt down and shook him a bit. "You alright bud?" Beuce remembered his first large scale battle back at Central Haven. He felt like passing out too, so he couldn't blame him. Grabbing him off the ground, he threw the kid over his shoulder and went to go put him somewhere more comfortable than face down in the sand. He turned back to Karina. "We can chat if you like."
Beuce sighed, dismissing his keyblade. Stratos was right. This was no time to break out into another fight. They were all exhausted. Beuce glared at Ignis as she berated them for even considering the possibility that Aux was still a danger, and immediately freed him. "Well, It's not like I'm saying 'I hate him and can't forgive him'. I'm just trying to be on the cautious side. What if he turns on us in the middle of our fight with No Heart and we end up having to face both of them at once? I know we've gotten a lot stronger, but that means we can fight back. It doesn't mean we can throw caution to the wind." Beuce said, obviously a little upset with her. Nevertheless, regardless of what they did, it wasn't worth fighting each other over. That was when Kaida said something about him having a remnant of darkness within him, which honestly seemed to further both sides. He most likely did actually want to help them, but he was dangerous to keep around. "I see. So he-" And then some guy walked up, wiped his sword against Kaida's jacket, and immediately he and Karina ran to attack Aux. Beuce was a little dumbfounded to see this unfold so...Randomly. It seemed a little out of place with what they were talking about. Kaida managed to stop both of them before the attacked him any further. "Nice thinking." He noted to Kaida, then turned to Aux. "You uh...Might want to take a few steps back. Like when you think you're far enough away back up a little further." He rolled his shoulders and stretched a little bit, before walking behind Karina and locking his arms under hers and over her shoulders. He whistled and braced himself. When the stop spell eventually wore off, he groaned at the effort of keeping the girl in check. "Oh hey Karina, nice to see you too." He said, waiting for her to realize what happened and stop struggling. "Good to see you're doing well, even made some new buddies, but we need to catch you up on a few things. We're deciding what to do with him now, and you're more than welcome to your opinion. If you could tone down your temper for a while until we're done, that'd be great."
Beuce watched in awe as Shiro brought forth the third tier of his Aura. They'd only managed to achieve the first layer of what appeared to be an incredible gap in power. Honestly, it seemed like an unreachable height that was infinitely far off. Then again, he thought back to the way he'd been on his homeworld, and where he stood now would've looked just as imposing. He'd come so far from where he started it was unbelievable. He was confident that all of them would be able to reach their third tier of their auras in time. He ran over to where Mizu and Shiro where as the bulky man collapsed onto the ground, changing back to his regular attire and dropping out of his light aura. He couldn't imagine that forcing that kind of power out of your body all at once was easy. There was a reason their bodies put natural inhibitions on their powers and gave them time to "cool down". Overdoing it was dangerous. He gave a slight sigh of relief as Shiro rose from his apparently death-like sleep. "You had us worried for a second there. Can't go kicking the bucket before you teach us how to do that." Beuce chided sarcastically. He listened to Mizu. The last time he'd seen her, Nequa had captured her after defeating them in Camelot. "We could use a little bit of a catching up. We've been in the realm of darkness for who knows how long." It was then that Aux walked up and, by simply stating his name, seemed to start a confrontation. Beuce summoned Lofty Grasp almost instinctually at the impending signs of combat. He wasn't even sure who he was ready to fight at first, though that seemed an obvious conclusion. He pointed the red end of his keyblade at Aux in Sprinkles' grip. He might have helped them in this fight, but he was the reason that they went through all this in the first place. "Ananta, I don't think we should be quite so hasty to trust him. He's still the same guy who threw us into darkness in the first place, and he may have only been helping us at all because he lost his memories. If he's turned over a new leaf and wants to help us fight against No Heart and Krowley, great. But I'm not convinced yet. Until we can be sure of anything, we should keep our guard up. We're finally getting somewhere, and I don't particularly feel like throwing it away because we got stabbed in the back." Beuce said, thinking back on Hughes' words. He'd said something about a traitor. While that was certainly ominous, it was nothing to tear themselves apart over.
"This is it! The last blow!" Beuce said, channeling both the dark power from his job and the aura of light into his strikes as he flew toward the storm bringer's face and delivered one final strike with Synchronous Gale, splitting the head in half. Beuce used a combo
Beuce activated the light aura and used a combo
I got straight spooked
Honestly same.
