Oblivion Phantasy ~ A Decaying Flux 【RP Thread】

Though still feeling the effects of the Hastes spell, Hendrix was begining to slow down again and used the last of his doubled speed to first check out Tierra's "remains". Since the rubble began to move again, Hendrix knew what might happen and the others as well. With the swipe of his dagger, he made the rubble crumble to pieces. After destroying the rubble. he walked over to a fallen corpse and stared at the open pathway beyond it,

Hendrix turned back to his allies, who he knew would try to destroy the remaining guardian and the rubble. Though it looked like things were doing well, he had the weirdest feeling that something bad will happen. "Kaya, we already lost one person and we already have all the treasure!" He shouted across the rubble for Kaya and the rest of the group to hear. "It's best if we retreat for now!"

Henedrix turned to look at the open pathway behind him, but looked down at the corpse in front. Hendrix had the weirdest feeling that there was something the corpse had that would be helpful, so he closely examined the body, searching for "valuables."

[Hendrix moves to D5!]
[Trigger Command: Destroy It! On D4!]
[Hendix moves to C3!]
[Trigger Command: Examine On B3!]

 

{Kaya moves to D1 [F1 - E1 - D1]}
{Kaya waits...}

Despite how powerful the twin guardians of the treasure seemed to be, the guardian who wielded the powerful Earth magic had fallen to the sheer might of Team Delta-Q. Their lack of strategy had rendered Kirin unconscious from her wounds, and Hiiro petrified in stone. Kaya could not help but feel guilt for the lack of guidance that the team had; she had let Kirin succumb to her injuries, and she had done nothing to help Hiiro... They look to me for guidance, and yet, I continue to do nothing but fail them… Yet, she was in no condition to assist her fellow team members. She sidled along the edge of the cavern, hoping not to attract the attention of the remaining construct of rock…

Once out of range, she noticed that the rubble on the ground was glowing an eerie, luminous teal colour. The fluctuation of time around her was so much faster, and it took so long for her to move as far as she did - in reality, only a few metres from where she stood previously. From across the dully-lit cave, Kaya heard the call of Hendrix, over enthused for no discernable reason, vocalizing her own very thoughts of the futility of continuing the fight. She caught the tail end of his statement, which seemed so fast and briskly-spoken that she struggled to make out the words, “...It’s best if we retreat for now!”

Trying her best to convey a message to the rest of the squadron, she called out to them, hoping to pierce the indescribable boundaries between her flow of time and the normal speed of time around her, “We’re getting out of here. It’s futile to continue a fight when we have gotten what we have come for. Let’s go! Before it’s too late!”

 

Krie attacks Rocca! 6 Dmg! (ATK)

"If you're retreating then get going!" Krie shouted. "I've got you all covered...or at least I'll damn well try!" It was here that Krie filled the cavernous space with another roar...seemingly inhuman. He pulled back his scythe and slammed it into the remaining rock creature. Over. And over. And over again. It was completely ineffective. By the time he stopped, he had only put a tiny scratch in it. But that wasn't the goal. "Come on, you failure as a guardian!! Couldn't even keep your treasure safe huh? And you're gonna let me walk all over you for it right? Pathetic. Most sorry excuse for a guardian I have EVER seen!" the slayer taunted. He had no idea if the thing could hear him, let alone understand him. Even if he looked like a fool talking to a stone statue thing...he knew his purpose for the moment. Everyone else had to get by so they could escape. Not to mention someone had to stick behind and grab Hiiro's stone body and carry it the hell out of that place, and, looking around, he seemed to be the only one with the strength to do so effortlessly. So he prepared himself for when it would be time to flee.

Krie waits.

 

Krie uses Trigger Command: Carry on Hiiro!

Well, that plan was an astounding failure, though that may have been an understatement. One, his attack did like nothing to the stone statue, and two, he was pretty sure that thing couldn't hear a damn word he was saying. It seemed like it was pretty focused on doing whatever it was that it was doing. He started thinking that the guardian they took down might not be down and for the count just yet, hence why a hasty retreat was going to be way worth it in the long run. "Well, friend. Seems like we better jet," Krie said, his voice full of vitality surprisingly, patting the petrified Hiiro on the back. "Shall we?" With that, he crouched down and gripped Hiiro's body, grunting as he picked it up. It was pretty heavy, but it was nothing after all the work he used to do as a farmer. As soon as statue Hiiro was safely resting on one broad shoulder, he let out a sigh of relief. "Nice work out, heh heh," he bellowed and laughed, dodging past the beastmaster's wolf in order to get to the exit as quickly as he could.

When he stopped for a moment, he caught a glimpse of the fallen Kirin. "Mm, better get the girlie too, while I'm at rescuing the infirms anyway," he grumbled to himself, about to take a step in her direction. That's when something triggered in his mind. "Wait a minute..." It was a memory. A grimace was carved upon his face. The words. They passed through his mind. What were they again? Ah, yes....

"Oh nelly! That's quite a mesh of materials..."

Krie blinked.

"Oh nelly! That's quite a mesh of materials..."

Krie blinked again.

"Oh nelly! That's quite a mesh of materials..."

"Oh nelly!"

"Oh nelly....

"Oooooohhhh neeeeeellllllyyyyy......

Krie shook his head and turned to look at the exit before waving a hand at her body as if dismissing it. "Nah, she'll be all right. She's a strong girl; she'll snap out of it." With that, he had his sights set on the exit. "Don't waste any time, folks! Stone statue here isn't waiting on written invitations!" he called out to his allies in caution.

Krie moves to D6.

 

Hearing that the others agreed with him about retreating, Hendrix quickly faced the nearest exit and began to walk towards it. He stashed away the items he had collected from the chest and the body in his bag. For this battle, it was alright for them to retreat. They had a mission to complete and that was more important than the battle at hand. As he arrived at the exit a small thought came to the weapon experts mind.

I wonder if this little event triggered any more of these 'traps'." Hendrix thought in his mind. We might be able to-." He suddenly lost his train of thought when he looked over at Krie, who had Hirro on his shoulder and staring at their fallen ally in a weird way. Hendrix brushed off whatever his comrade was doing and exited this room.

[Hendrix moves to A4]
[Trigger Command: Continue Through!]

 

The tension that filled the dense, murky air of the small catacombs was so thick that it could be cut by a knife. Kaya, without a single word spoken to her companions, began to mend them. The tendrils of light that emerged from her staff coiled about Team Delta-Q, passing through their skin to render their wounds healed. Though minutes - possibly hours - had passed since they had left the chamber with its tantalizing riches and vicious constructs of Mana, not a single word had been passed amongst the members of the team. None of them dared do so, for the loss of their new recruit Kirin Foxley had been an unwelcome start to their journey together.

Glancing over at Nicoro, Kaya finally broke the silence. “Hopefully you’ll be more considerate of whatever new recruits we get in the future,” she said, with scorn dripping from her voice like the venom of a snake, “even in spite of their mistakes. Wouldn’t want to see them end up like this.” In truth, she was not mad at Nicoro. He simply was a vent for her anger due to his earlier actions in the arduous combat they had just narrowly escaped from. She looked in the dim light at the rest of her remaining allies, as though taking a mental picture of them in her mind, remembering them exactly as they were… lest they meet the same fate as poor, young Kirin.

Her frustration having been released, Kaya fell silent once again. She would not burst into tears, nor would she show a sign of weakness beyond her previous outburst. She patiently waited for her allies to say something, anything, to take her mind off of the circumstances that they presently faced… though she did not expect much, she spoke tentatively, “Well?”

 

"Give it a rest, girlie, heh heh," Krie spoke back to her lightheartedly; it was far from a scornful tone. He could imagine what she was going through, but human life is human life. Fleeting. It comes almost as quickly as it goes. Hiiro had long since returned to normal, his curse that was a prison of stone wearing away, freeing Krie's shoulder from its burden. He stood up from sitting and rubbed that shoulder thoroughly. It was a bit stiff, but he had faced worse back on the fields. "Yellin' at your still living allies is a great way to show that you care for them, eh? Listen here, and this goes to all of you: no one came here for this mission NOT knowing that there would be risks involved. Serious risks. FATAL risks," he called out to them all. "When you've got a cause worth protecting like this, you better be ready to lay your life on the line for it. That young girl back there? Kirin? She knew full well what she was getting into. If she, herself, now nothing but a soul isn't happy with her death, she should have stayed the hell away from here, and don't you tell me I'm wrong." He shrugged his shoulders and closed his eyes, a bemused look upon his face.

"We're in waist deep folks. There ain't no turnin' back," Krie explained. "We'll keep her in memories, eh? That's all we have now. Keep her spirit alive through that, and she'll always be with us." He paused. "If you're into that spirit mumbo jumbo anyway, heh heh." He tapped his wrist as if he were wearing a watch. "I think it's about time for the pity party to be over. Last time I checked, we still have a job to do."

 

Kaya spat at the foot of Krie in distaste. “I’m glad you can be so light-hearted about this entire situation, considering you decided to pass her body by when you could have saved it.” She had been a little shocked by Krie’s words, but they were not out of character for him - or rather, what little she knew of him. The man himself remained entirely an enigma to her, as did the rest of the squadron. She knew that bickering so early would be counterproductive to their mission, but the sequence of events was rubbing her the absolute wrong way.

“I don’t expect you to lie down and take my words as an absolute, Krie. I’d just appreciate it if you showed a little respect for those who die for this cause.” Again, apathy towards her allies. The day, and the mission, were going about as successfully as Mana was flowing throughout the land; that is to say, not at all. Fidgeting for a moment, she cast a ball of flame upon her fingers, which danced playfully atop their tips, not harming her at all, before turning into a miniature serpent which she had conjured so often, leaping towards Krie and illuminating the cavern a touch more.

“I’m not about to get into an argument about morality here. Let’s just leave the dead as they are - buried - and continue onwards before we get into a petty squabble between ourselves.” Just before reaching Krie, the serpent extinguished itself, as though Kaya dismissed it just as easily as she did the argument that was preparing to rear its ugly head through the tensions flaring.

 

Krie hadn't flinched at all. It was as if Kaya had been talking to a steel wall, his expression temporarily unreadable. When she was finally done blabbering, Krie cracked a wicked smile and let out a bellowing laugh. Of course, the laugh turned into a snarl as Krie reached out suddenly and gripped Kaya's arm...tightly. He leaned in close to her, keeping his voice low. "Listen here, girlie," he said, still grinning eerily. His tone was deathly sweet and calm. "You can act like head honcho around here all you want, but if you're gonna be all talk, no bite, be prepared to get ripped apart by those that do have it. You did such a fine job in that last battle anyway, and now you're taking out your inadequacies on those around you?" Here, he let go of here and filled the area with his enormous laughter, completely unrestrained. "And then you talk about respect of the dead. 'Oh, let's just leave the dead as they are. Buried.' Of course!! That's all she is! Just some dead chick to you?!" One of his eyes twitched suddenly, his grin widening. "Oh, I do so apologize, but from my vantage point, she looked just fine. Did you forget about the chaos in there? Of course NOT!" he bellowed.

Here, the area grew silent. Krie's expression had calmed down. "Of course not, heh heh," he said after a few moments of rotating his shoulder a bit, still fighting the stiffness. "You were lost in the madness as well. Anyone could have grabbed that body. What about Mr. Sherks with his super speed? And of course there's you. I had my mind on saving Hiiro; someone couldn't have had a likewise idea for Kirin? It was all supposed to be me, eh? Because you can't count on yourself," he concluded the last statement almost as if it were fact. "Little Kaya." He grinned, though it was his typical one, not the odd one he displayed just moments ago. "We're all in this together. Let us all depend on each other, but likewise, when things go wrong, let us all take fault instead of pretending it was everyone's fault but your own, heh heh." Here he shrugged again and let out a weary sigh. He was just a human after all. Fatigue had nailed him just as it had nailed everyone else.

 

Hiiro began to get annoyed by the bickering between Kaya and Krie. Sure, they both had good points, but the fact was that they did not need to have any arguments within the group. They were, after all, members of the Aria of Order, not some ragtag group of mercenaries hired off of the street. Getting between the two, a little to the outside of them, he spoke up. "Is this what to expect from the Aria of 'Order'?" he asked, giving a small chuckle, "It seems to me to be more like the 'Aria of Disorder.' What's done is done, and there's nothing we can do about it now."

Hiiro glanced to Kaya, then to Krie. "I would have grabbed her myself, if it wasn't for that guardian's stones," Hiiro said with an almost defeated tone, "There's no one person to blame here, so all we can do, in my mind, is keep pressing forward."

 

Krie straightened up and coughed as Hiiro approached him and Kaya. He knew arguing was pointless, especially with someone like Kaya. They were just two strong people butting heads. It was a good thing someone intervened, not only to break the fighting, but to pose a wonderful idea, something Krie had been driving at in the beginning. "I agree with Stone Man, here," Krie stated calmly, the grin on his face growing wider as he slammed a palm into Hiiro's back...in a friendly manner, to be honest. "Let's just move the hell on," he continued. The cracking of the beastmaster's whip along with his words fell on deaf ears, or at least to Krie. He was growing tired of fighting with words. They were boring. Now, clashing blades was fun. He thought back to the many times he slew villains who deigned to fight back. Good times...the best times. Of course, his mind was now focused on a true goal; not one of endless killing like it used to be. He hadn't admit it to himself yet, but in the depths of his heart, he thought it was rather nice having something of purpose to chase after--something meaningful. Don't worry, fallen Kirin....we'll get the job done for you...in memoriam, heh heh...

 

Hendrix didn't want to get involved with the argument between the small group. None of them could have stopped the death of Kirin and it was no one's fault either. As the others talked, he cleaned his weapon with a small cloth he had. He never had a chance to clean his dagger after their first battle, so he thought right now was a good time. Like the others, the weapon's expert wanted to get the job done, but before anyone could get killed again. He quietly put his weapon back in it's holder and turned his attention towards the group.

"Let's just get this over with before anyone else gets killed." Hendrix said in a monotone voice with a blank expression on his face. He didn't care what happened now, he just wanted to get out of this place, alive. "If we have too much on our minds we could be next in line to perish, so we need to focus more. Kirin was an excellent fighter, it was a shame she had to fall early."

 

Hiiro stood, only slightly shaken after the fall. Feeling sand in his throat, he coughed to clear it. He then looked upon the building which stood in front of them; a tower spanning a huge hole underground. Hiiro knew that it would be something like this, but did not expect how spectacular it would be. He walked about a foot closer, not wanting to get close just in case any cameras or sensors were present on the outside of the detention center. He read the red lettering, nodding. "This is our destination," he said to the group, wondering now if they could be ready after the escapade with those guardians just a while ago.

Hiiro knew that arriving at a level above where they planned was the best thing they could hope for. Indeed, it certainly would come to about the same time if they had followed the regular path, even with the distraction the previous cavern gave. "So, how are we going to get in this place?" he asked, unsure of what kind of locking mechanism the gate was installed with. If some sort of keypad or card swipe, the Aria of Order most likely would have given that information to at least Kaya, if not everyone. However, if more complicated surveillance was used -- things like cameras or DNA testing, they would most likely have to find a way to force their way in.

"We should also decide who goes in first," Hiiro mentioned, thinking about what could await for them inside, "After all, what happens if they heard that cave-in, or trip some security alarm. We can't go off losing anyone else." With that, he gave one final look towards the so-called Minerva complex. The name seemed to be both fitting and unfitting at the same time. It implied wisdom, which was obvious in the design of the tower, but it seemed ironic, for a detention center would be most fittingly named something more retributional. Perhaps something along the lines of Kerberos or Thanatos would have sounded better for a place like this.

However, Hiiro thought of none of this, only about the mission, and what was to come. A rescue mission in such a place would most likely be suicide for most people, and would be for the group if they did not shape up and concentrate on working with each other, rather than simply going about on their own whim of when to strike who.

 

Krie grumbled as he used his scythe to support himself and stand, brushing sand off of his clothes, not like it mattered. It was more of a reflex. There it was. His gaze came across what had to be the detention center, their immediate destination. Was it by luck that they chanced upon it? They could have been wandering the tunnels for an eternity, yet here they were. He let out a small snicker and tucked his scythe away. Stepping up next to Hiiro, he nodded. "Come now, Stone Man. Hasn't anyone told you that pointing out the obvious is annoying?" he said lightheartedly and laughed, quietly of course. No bellowing laughter for now. At this critical point in time, it was best to remain as stealthy as possible, though 'stealthy' and 'Krie' do not belong in the same sentence. He hid a sheepish grin as he thought about that, trying to shoo away the thoughts.

"Heh heh, I'm definitely going in first. I make for a pretty fine shield, eh?" Krie said and shrugged, glancing over at Kaya. "That one there would probably like the idea. Unless, of course, you guys would like me to...uh, cover the rear?" He raised his eyebrow a bit, an innocent look in his eyes. Though certainly worthy of trust, he had a feeling most of the people in the group would probably rather have him in front of them than behind them. As if he of all people would stab them in the back. I'll just go where they tell me for now, eh? No point gettin' all riled up now. Better wait for the charge inside that won't be much of a charge at all. Shame, heh heh heh.

 

The fall and its subsequent landing had been a surprise to Kaya, as she looked up above her to see where they had fallen from - a futile thing to do, but something of a natural human reaction. As the Order relayed to them their orders, the members of Team Delta-Q simply stood patiently amongst each other, tolerating the presence of their allies despite the rather tense argument that had taken place such a short time ago. Inwardly, Kaya had felt herself calm down exponentially since arguing with Krie. I will definitely be keeping an eye on him from here on in. His instability is a danger to the entire mission… though he’s a valid asset. Just have to work on getting on his good side, I suppose… she thought to herself, carefully calculating a plot to make the best of those who she had been put together with by the Order.

Looking at her allies, Kaya deduced that they were as confused as to their whereabouts as she was. It visibly showed on their faces, aside from Krie, who showed a bemused look, and Hiiro, who seemed rather pensive about the whole ordeal. The illumination took some adjustment for her eyes, but the illusionist felt herself make the transition from the dim cavern to the fluorescent-lit room they now stood inside very easily in the end.

“So, how are we going to get in this place?” It was Hiiro who spoke first, asking questions, seemingly to get a conversation going if nothing else. Krie, as if on cue, was condescending on what Hiiro had to say. Ignoring him for the moment, Kaya herself began to think aloud, “S’pose we’re not just going to be able to use some brute force to pass here, now will we?” The gate taunted them in all of its steel glory, reflecting the luminous glow of the fluorescents above. “Perhaps we’ll need a bit of Mana…” With those words trailing off, Kaya’s hands sparked in anticipation.

“Krie, if you want to go first, be my guest. I’ll pick up right behind you, if you don’t mind.” She said with a wink; a slightly odd gesture considering their argument prior to entering the Complex proper… she wondered what his reaction would be.