Dark Descent: Project G

~Ammitai~​

Laetitia was ready to go, she hadn't ever unpacked her small bit of provisions, she'd just brought a lightweight bag she could sling over her shoulder. "Pack light, travel easy," her master used to say. "And if you're attacked on the road, all the better for defense. Makes it easier to draw your sword." Yes, she would just need to replenish her provisions and she would be ready to go.

~Erio~​

Perpetua and Theodora turned when they heard the whistle and ran back. "Are we ready to go?" Perpetua asked.

 

Erios​

Mikatsu smiled and waved down a nervous looking waitress. "Two medium rare steaks and a cup of coffee for me." She grinned at the waitress, forgetting her fears for a moment as the boy across from her constantly made her smile. The girl blew out the candle on their table, "We're trying to keep a romantic mood here. Composite magic isn't helping our advertisment. You're scaring the customers." Lowering her eyes, Mikatsu's hand that lie on the table fisted around the silverware and ice encased each flame. Letting it flicker and glow through the glittering ice. "Is that better?" Around Mikatsu, a circle of green glowed with several markings in the air around her. A sure sign of composite magic.

Amittai​

Ciel nodded, "We're leaving ahead of schedule so we can get a jump on the monsters in our path. You two, stay close, I don't want to be scraping bits of little witches out of some monster's teeth." He caught sight of Lief hurrying toward him and waved at him. "C'mon! We're leaving early! Lief, keep an eye on your wound...blood attracts more dangerous monsters."

Lief nodded and frowned down at the little girls, "They're coming too? This isn't a field trip, you know."

 

As the waitress moved on over, and as Mikatsu continued to show off, Karasu cleared his throat and smiled the best he could through his mask. "I would like four medium steaks, two pumpkin pies, an apple pie, a bowl of chicken soup, a full quail, mashed potatoes and gravy, a chocolate-and-cherry turnover, a gallon of milk, and... a chocolate-and-vanilla cake." He told her, trying to distract the waitress with his abnormal appetite. "And, I don't mean to impose, but I want each of these appetizers on their own plates. I don't want pieces of cakes or pies or... well... quail. I want full trays and bodies. I haven't eaten a good meal in days. You must understand."

Karasu turned his gaze to Mikatsu. "So... what is your name, Miss Composite Mage?" The youth asked teasingly, tipping his hat.

 

Erios​

Mikatsu's hands trembled as the waitress moved away, her eyes still wide from his order. "You don't...understand...do you? This -" she waved her hand at the floating marks and ice covered a nearby table a couple were about to sit down at. They gave her frightened looks and Mikatsu flinched, jerking her hand back to the table. "I can't turn this off. I can't make it go away like other mages can." She shut her eyes in fear and kept very still, even as the marks around her grew more intricate and flared in colors.

Kallahi​

Crimson rolled his eyes, "Why would you want to stay? All they'll do is more tests on you. What I mean is...do you want to stay in their department of the military? Don't you want a normal life and a family? Even if the war ends, would you rather stay Cooke and Max's experiment for the rest of your life or live like everyone else?" He sighed, "You...know Max isn't going to ever speak to you. Doctor Crescent told me he hasn't spoke since....the day they met General Kakanas of Erios when they were kids. Something about he treated them harshly or something." He rambled and drifted off for a while into silence. "Do you...actually like her that way? The Doctor I mean." his slitted red eyes darted from Advent's face to the floor infront of him.

 

Karasu just looked at her, frowning beneath his mask. "What am I to do? Run away and call you a monster?" He asked, turning his gaze to the window. "All I can do is sit here, chat with you, and pay for our meal. Your magic is... mysterious... I don't know if it's more wild than it is complex, or more complex than it is wild. All I do know is, is that if you are afraid of it, and afraid of the people who are afraid of you, then your magic will control you." Karasu went on. The grey-skinned youth averted his eyes from the window and to the woman, who was surrounded by flaring runes of magic. "If you remain afraid, you'll never be in control. It's the law of things. I know a little of what you're going through... people fear you because, to them, you're the thing that goes bump in the night. Because they fear you, they hate you, and they would do everything they can to make you feel weak and inferior. They believe that if they do that, you will be their weapon and their tool to use against their enemies. Or, they believe they can keep you in such a state that you would be useless. This reflects on you, for you're afraid of your power. Because you're afraid of it, you hate it. In this respect, you hate the people around you because they gave you a reason to hate yourself, to be afraid of yourself. Ergo, you're afraid of them because you believe they can decide whether you can live or die. For that day, to this day... you feel that, at any moment, the larger body of people can decide whether or not to discard you."

He sunk further into his seat, sighing. "However, I have no power. I'm a handyman-for-hire. I carry this sword for protection and I wear this attire to hide my deformity to the best of my abilities. But I do know the feeling of being afraid of everything. Even the gifts that appear to be curses. Because I know this, I am no longer afraid. I have no reason to be afraid of anything." Karasu added, smiling. "Just calm down, think happy thoughts, and prepare for your meal."

 

Mikatsu's head jerked up, "Uh...happy...thoughts..." She wiped her tears and touched a few of the runes around her. They flared and dulled at her touch. "They form words, you know. The runes." Each of them disappeared slowly and eventually the circle disappeared. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to suddenly pour out my problems to you. Gosh, you must think I'm weird." She studied him and reached over to pull on his hair, "You certainly are full of strange things. But..your hair is like mine...and your eyes are different. Like mine!" she grinned and pushed off the red hood of her cloak, revealing her white hair.

 

Karasu laughed as she pulled at his hair, and even more so as she talked. "It's alright. I'm just happy to have someone to talk to, honestly. In my opinion... you're not strange. You just seem lonely. Like me!" He mimicked in a silly voice, clasping her hand (the very hand that held a lock of his hair) in his. He applied gentle pressure.. "So... what do the runes say? I'm interested in knowing what they mean." Karasu went on, even poking a random rune as he let go of her hand.

 

~Ammitai~​

Laetitia walked ovver to the group getting ready to leave. "I'm ready whenever everyone else is," She said. She looked at the other members of the group. Among them were James, the archer, Lief, the soldier who had been shot, Ciel, the apparent leader, and two young witches.

~Erio~​

Theodora smiled at the man, and said slyly. "Don't worry, we can handle ourselves." Perpetua laughed. "At least, we know how to run away from stuff we can't handle, Theodora just doesn't like to admit it."

 

"Looks like I have to head through the Ilipson Mountains first." Shane said. He was well aware of how dangerous if the area was, so he was going to be careful. Guess I'll have to hope that I get lucky and don't run into any monsters. With nothing left to do, he started off for the Mountains.

 

Mikatsu blushed and yanked her hand away, "Oh...w-well...they usually just say the spell for the magic I'm using." Their food was brought and Mikatsu stared at it with her mouth open, drooling.

Crimson laughed and scratched his head, "Ah, nah. I'll probably just... be one of those old soldiers that hangs around the facility."

Ciel nodded, "Alright, we head off then." He started towards the gate with Lief trailing behind him. "The Ilipson Mountains stand in our path to Erios and Kallahi. We're going to take a side trip to Kallahi's outer boarders and find some sort of Magic Engine."

 

~Ammitai~​

Laetitia slung her replenished pack over her shoulder and followed Ciel and Lief. So they were on their way, onward to adventure!

~Erio~​

Perpetua and Theodora ran over and followed behind Laetitia, hand in hand, Perpetua quietly humming a song and Theodora carefully stepping on ever rock larger than a pebble.

 

Karasu smiled gently behind his mask. "I see," he murmured with interest. "Well, perhaps you should experiment with them once you get the time. Perhaps you could understand your magic further." He suggested, trying to be helpful. Karasu even laughed as she stared and drooled at their food. But, his amusement died quickly as he saw his own food. The youth was torn between devouring it whole or to wait until his dinner-mate looked away. He didn't want to remove his mask in front of her. "Oh dear," Karasu uttered sadly, eyes drooping. "Well, dig in and I'll let you have your dessert," he added playfully, pushing the chocolate-and-vanilla cake towards her.

Karasu decided to wait... much to his stomach's dismay as it roared with anguish at being denied food. The grey-skinned youth winced at the sound, even at the gut-wrenching reaction that occurred moments after.

 

Ilipson Mountains (Amittai)​

The road wasn't too long. It wasn't long before they arrived at the base of the Ilipson Mountains. Dense forest surrounded the pathway through and up the mountain. The path branched at several points only to end at a dead end. With the fading light and warm air, it portrayed the image of a nice place. Ciel trudged onwards, "The forest will end soon after a few miles like this. Then it's sheer mountain. Just watch your footing."

Kalm (Erios)​

Mikatsu dove into her food with half starved grace and quickly devoured her food. "Thank you. Oh, I'm sorry...you asked my name and I still haven't given it. I'm Mikatsu Numara. Do you have a name?"

 

Verdelet finished up his work at the capitol building and proceeded home but along the way was met by a tall black haired man dressed almost like a butler who looked as though he was searching for someone. Being somewhat kindhearted, Verdelet walked over to him to see if he could be of any assistance. "Excuse me but, you seem to be lost. Is there any way i can help?" He asked.
Sebastian turned to the man approaching him. "Have you ever heard of Ciel Phantomhive?"
Verdelet paused, then answered the question. "Yeah i know him. i take it that's who you're looking for?" Sebastian nodded. "Well then, I think I know who to ask." He said, then went to search for Mikatsu with Sebastian close behind. He finally found her, sitting in a restaurant with a masked boy who he didn't pay any mind to and approached her. "You. You seem to know a lot about Ciel. Where is he headed?" He asked firsthand.

 

Also reaching the base of the IIipson Mountains was Shane. Eventhough he wasn't in the same place as Ciel and the others, the terrain around him was the same. Alright then, just through the forest and mountains and I've reached my destination.

 

Karasu watched her eat in envy, wishing that he could eat his food in the same manner. He shook his head, driving the thought away. She spoke up and told him her name. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Numara," Karasu said politely, smiling beneath his mask still. "My name is Karasu Blacksword, handyman-for-hire. I dislike killing and I will never accept a contract involving death or violence. I fix roofs, clean houses, find lost things, farm... I'm a rather boring person." He went on.

"What about you? What do you do for a living? Work for the church?" Karasu inquired, attempting to make fine dinner conversation.

 

Kalm (Erios)​

"Church? No, I don't do anything...no one will hire a Composite Mage." Mikatsu looked up at the man who'd she'd met before, asking about Ciel. "Oh, it's you. Huh...headed...well...no, the last I saw him he was going to Amittai to check on you for Fiona. I don't know where he'd go. If he hasn't come back with the transports, he'd be walking and that could take a while."

Ilipson Mountains Tavern​

Ciel shoved along the path, keeping his eyes open for signs of monsters. As they kept walking, they found an old inn. Run down and unused in a long time, but was still whole and better than sleeping on the ground. "We'll stop here for a while and rest. The rest of the way is an upward climb."

Ilipson Mountain base​

Crimson ignored him, casting aside his thoughts for the moment as they boarded a transport to take them to the edge of Kallahi's territory. "We'll get off at the base of the Ilipson Mountains. Something tells me, this is going to get exciting. Man I hope we find some monsters to fight. I haven't excercised in a while."