[Nexus] The Outside XXXIX

[OrchestraHc]

Wintry Palace:

He thinks about that for a moment. "That's a fair point. As little as I would like to harm you, damning someone is far too serious for that sort of punishment,"

"If you really don't intend to drag away souls, then we could leave it the restriction removal for that rule being broken. I'm not sure what I'd do should that ever happen, but yeah, it'd let people know I'm 'on the up and up.'"

[Deathkeeper]

Wintry Palace

"Done and...done."
Says the imp, continuing to ignore how pens work and editing the document.
"Anything else or is this baby ready to sign?" he asks hopefully.

[happyturtle]

Melody's Island

Spoiler

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Melody's Island




Of course not, Momma. Melody smiles up at Happy. But her eyes flutter as she struggles to stay awake. I'm just... I'm just tired is all....



Derek will see that the wound under the bandage is completely healed, with only a scar showing where the wound had been. Quinn and Neirian healed my head and stopped the bleeding. Melody says softly, then chuckles. Quinn was in such a hurry to save Estia, that she left without saying goodbye.

Now that there is light, it is much easier to notice that Melody's left arm is limp by her side and there is a bump above her elbow that looks suspiciously like a bone trying to poke through.

Also, there is bruising all along her legs and, if they carefully lift her over to follow the bruises, they'll find they climb up her back along the right side of her body. They look to be from the fallen rocks, likely there's more than just the broken arm.

Lyanna pulls away from Jezebelle's hug and tugs at Happy to get her attention. Her eyes still wet from the tears, she says quietly, trying to hide her words from Melody. Miss Quinn went to find Melody's magic. I think she's in denying. Lyanna looks to Derek. Miss Quinn also said Melody's been broken, and that she shouldn't walk. She needs a flat surface to heel.

Melody's Island



Derek is very careful as he examines Melody. "OK so we need a backboard. I should be able to help with most of this stuff, but not here." He figures he needs to grab a few things from his ship, and what he has in mind would best be done in a better place then a dark cave.

Happy lays hands on Melody and attempts to transfer some of the injuries to her own body. "If you follow the tunnel we used to get out, you don't have to climb through the rockfall. Melody, don't sleep, please."

[OrchestraHc]

Wintry Palace:

"If everything we talked about is in there, we're all set," Romeo agrees.

[Deathkeeper]

Wintry Palace

Tep nods and presents the page (and pen) again. "Yep, everything's there, unless you'd like to change the time." The changes have been made if Romeo reads through it again.

[Slii Arhem]

"Mm... I'll keep that in mind for if it looks like I'll be here for a while. For now, I really just want some sleep. And maybe some food,now that I think about it." She examines the drink. "Or maybe alcohol gives me the munchies. I'm not super clear on that."

Western Ghost Tavern

"Guess it's good that I didn't give you anything harder. That cider's only barely alcoholic, less than anything else in here. Wouldn't want you eating us out of home and having to pay it off with a salvage run." Risa polishes a glass idly, but then coughs, "I can fix you with a plate of something if you let me wake the cook. He's napping right now, you get sleep when you're tired when there's no sun to time it by."

[Lost_Deep]

Western Ghost Tavern

"Makes sense," Denise says with a nod, "I might appreciate it. Hey, from the way you say it, are salvage runs dangerous? Or just labor-intensive?"

[OrchestraHc]

Wintry Palace:

He does. Satisfied with the changes made, he takes a deep breath, leans in and signs Romeo Firé in a simplistic peasant script.

[Lex-Kat]

Melody's Island

Derek is very careful as he examines Melody. "OK so we need a backboard. I should be able to help with most of this stuff, but not here." He figures he needs to grab a few things from his ship, and what he has in mind would best be done in a better place then a dark cave.

Happy lays hands on Melody and attempts to transfer some of the injuries to her own body. "If you follow the tunnel we used to get out, you don't have to climb through the rockfall. Melody, don't sleep, please."

Jezebelle nods her head at the instructions, and stands. Come, Lyanna. We'll go get a backboard from the barn.

Lyanna frowns at the order to leave Melody, but she stands anyway. We'll be back real quick, Miss Happy, Mister Derek. Then follows Jezebelle as they head back the way Happy and Magtok came.

Happy can feel the bruising to her lower back and legs as she takes those injuries away from her adopted daughter. Even a little of the head trauma can be transferred, if she wishes. But the broken and cracked bones remain.

Melody gasps slightly at the sudden release from some of the pain. You shouldn't do that, Momma. I'm tougher than I look. she smiles comfortingly up at Happy. Thank you.

[Deathkeeper]

Wintry Palace

Tep grins wide and flips the book over so he can sign it in an extremely over the top manner appropriate for any anime. He leans back and sighs, then rips the page out of the book.
"Hoo, boy. Don't think gratitude is a thing for me, but for what it's worth, thanks, Romeo. You want me to call you anything specific, say the word; I'm yours. Here's your copy. And don't copy my Name down for anything, got it? That can be really, really bad."
He says, holding out the page. Tep's signature is in Infernal. Romeo can read it, but it blurs for anyone else.
"Would you like to get cracking then? Here you are."
Tep opens his book to show Romeo the details of the ritual, which are rather complex but not impossible.

[OrchestraHc]

Wintry Palace:

"I've got no reason to copy your name. Don't even worry about it," Romeo says, rolling up his copy of the contract and sticking it in a pocket.

The young wizard leans in and studies the ritual closely. "That's doable," he says, sounding very pleased. "It's meticulous and complex, but there's no difficulty beyond doing. No magical heavy lifting either. Alright Tep, Will..." From there Romeo will direct them as he needs them and begin his own work on the ritual following the details very closely.

[Deathkeeper]

Wintry Palace

The ritual itself has a basic concept: a magic circle around the subject (which is much easier since Will's owl shape is rather small), with the various ingredients mixed into the chalk of the circle, placed or burned at strategic spots at the intersections of the lines and runes, and several ingested by the subject (Will gags but gets them down). All of it must be done in a very specific order over a rather long period of time.
Romeo will be able to take note that Tep seems much more laid-back. He might not have noticed it before, but he was pretty nervous earlier with the weight of returning to his 'job' hanging over him. He's no less helpful though, although unless stopped he'll probably go back to calling him "kid."
The final step requires a pretty decent amount of energy, actually. Romeo will also have been forewarned that it is not pleasant despite its purpose and will have to continue powering the spell for a solid fifteen seconds despite Will's pained screeching. Once that's done though, the circle and most of its ingredients disintegrate and the flames go out, leaving only Romeo, likely feeling a bit drained, and one shivering human teenager, who is promptly supplied a blanket by Tep and instructed to put some pants on.
"It's getting pretty late, you know. We might want to hole up here for the night. The bed upstairs is still pretty clean and is still closed up to the cold." says the imp after Will's done getting dressed and thanking Romeo.

[ImpSyndrome]

Spirits with Hollow Hearts

Spoiler

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)(Sorry for the weak posts, I'm not used to posting for monsters, posting for monsters and my own character at the same time, or running any sort of thing in FFRP)(.

The combined barrage of Leo and Yûki-aru is enough to both force the Ape backwards and crack its mask, injuring it severely. With the Shinigami's next blow, the Hollow is finished.
Yûki-aru contains his Spirit Energy, and sheathes his Zanpakuto.
I thank you for your aid. I could not have done this task alone. For that, I will give you a gift, that it may help you as you have done to me. With that, he gives him a fingerless glove with an odd flame-decal on the back. With this, you'll be able to leave your body and interact with the spiritual, and physical, world. You would be in the state I'm in now, except I don't have a body to return to.

)(You can activate the gloves however you see fit. Leo can't exactly have someone punch him in the gut every time.)(

Leo humbly accepts the gift and voices his appreciation for it; he can already interact with the spiritual plane to a degree, but the glove should make it easier for him to do so, and it may bless him with additional capability. "What happens now," he asks, curious about Yûki-aru's intentions. "Do you have other business here, or...?"

((By the way, when that Uryu used that pellet in the canon, tons more Hollows showed up, including a Gillian. Are we to assume that the reason for the smaller reaction is because there aren't so many powerful human souls there, or what?))

[Gullara]

[Luna Lake]

Operation change subject has failed!

"To be able to wear my breastplate comfortably actually." She gestures at as she shifts uncomfortably when Kitty helps her along. "It's not that uncomfortably honestly but sometimes you just want it off." Anyway! Obriane looks downwards, she needed a new subject and quickly. The she spots Kitty's feet. "So uh, maybe you need some new shoes while we're there?" ...that was the best new subject you could come up with Obriane?

[Luna Lake]

Kitty raises her eyebrows at Obriane. Okay, subject change it is. "Maybe, but I doubt I can afford them. These are on loan from GLoG already. I'm not sure I need them anyway, though. My feet are pretty tough."

[Slii Arhem]

Western Ghost Tavern

"Makes sense," Denise says with a nod, "I might appreciate it. Hey, from the way you say it, are salvage runs dangerous? Or just labor-intensive?"

Western Ghost Town

"Tedious, and I don't know if you'd call it labor intensive. Just gotta get the same goods from the same spots they're always in, and then wait out the rest of the day until dark rolls around to head back. It's a fair distance walk in either direction, but there's a horse and a wagon to haul all the stuff for the next little while, so it's mostly just loading it up."

[OrchestraHc]

Wintry Palace:

"That's not a bad idea at all," Romeo compliments, sounding worn out, the ritual a taxing end on a taxing day. "After today I'm resolving to learn how to fly. If I ever walk up stairs again it'll be too soon."

Romeo definitely goes to the room. He checks it carefully for traps and monsters before locking it with the beetle.

"Tep. You don't need to sleep right? Do you mind taking watch?"

[Deathkeeper]

Wintry Palace

"Sorry, kid. I'll give you some advice if you do, but I can't grow you any wings. Well, I can, but that'd definitely be a shortcut." chuckles the imp as he waves the two humans upstairs for rest.
The night will pass uneventfully. If there's any undead left, they don't leave their faraway posts, and no critters wander in from outside. If there's any noise at all it's just the rustle of Tep going through books on the shelves on the lab.
In the morning Romeo can head out whenever he wishes, as Will has little to add to this right now, save for a small request not to tell anyone about what happened to him, just to be safe.

[Morcleon]

[Walking to Inside]

Amelia nods. "I have always worked on staying in shape. After the incident is when I started training to fight. I really threw myself into it and have kept up training ever since then. So yeah I would say I am pretty good."

[Walking to Inside]

"I see... I've only ever had basic training in fighting, but I guess my medical knowledge does help in knowing where to hit people." Yuki shrugs, tilting his head to the side. "I don't really want to fight anyone though... that's part of why I became a doctor in the first place."

[McBish]

Melody's Island

Jezebelle nods her head at the instructions, and stands. Come, Lyanna. We'll go get a backboard from the barn.

Lyanna frowns at the order to leave Melody, but she stands anyway. We'll be back real quick, Miss Happy, Mister Derek. Then follows Jezebelle as they head back the way Happy and Magtok came.

Happy can feel the bruising to her lower back and legs as she takes those injuries away from her adopted daughter. Even a little of the head trauma can be transferred, if she wishes. But the broken and cracked bones remain.

Melody gasps slightly at the sudden release from some of the pain. You shouldn't do that, Momma. I'm tougher than I look. she smiles comfortingly up at Happy. Thank you.

Derek watches as Happy transfers the injuries to herself with a raised eyebrow. He hasn't seen an ability like that before and is impressed. Not just by the ability but also the willingness to use it. Makes the mother daughter dynamic pretty clear. "Melody how does your head feel? Do you have a headache at all?"

=====================

[Walking to Inside]

"I guess this might sound a bit strange but I find it exhilarating. Being able to push yourself to the limit in a fight, well there is no other feeling like it." Amelia admits. It isn't like she enjoys hurting people, but she definitely isn't afraid to do so. She has had enough unpleasant experiences to any threat to her very seriously.

[happyturtle]

Melody's Island

Spoiler

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Melody's Island

Jezebelle nods her head at the instructions, and stands. Come, Lyanna. We'll go get a backboard from the barn.

Lyanna frowns at the order to leave Melody, but she stands anyway. We'll be back real quick, Miss Happy, Mister Derek. Then follows Jezebelle as they head back the way Happy and Magtok came.

Happy can feel the bruising to her lower back and legs as she takes those injuries away from her adopted daughter. Even a little of the head trauma can be transferred, if she wishes. But the broken and cracked bones remain.

Melody gasps slightly at the sudden release from some of the pain. You shouldn't do that, Momma. I'm tougher than I look. she smiles comfortingly up at Happy. Thank you.

Melody's Island



Derek watches as Happy transfers the injuries to herself with a raised eyebrow. He hasn't seen an ability like that before and is impressed. Not just by the ability but also the willingness to use it. Makes the mother daughter dynamic pretty clear. "Melody how does your head feel? Do you have a headache at all?"

=====================

[Walking to Inside]

"I guess this might sound a bit strange but I find it exhilarating. Being able to push yourself to the limit in a fight, well there is no other feeling like it." Amelia admits. It isn't like she enjoys hurting people, but she definitely isn't afraid to do so. She has had enough unpleasant experiences to any threat to her very seriously.

"I know you are, baby. You always have been." Happy says. She strokes Melody's hair and waits for her to answer Derek.

[Shadowcaller]

[Luna Lake]

Kitty raises her eyebrows at Obriane. Okay, subject change it is. "Maybe, but I doubt I can afford them. These are on loan from GLoG already. I'm not sure I need them anyway, though. My feet are pretty tough."

[Luna Lake]

Now that's a subject Obriane can take on."You can afford shoes? You poor dear." That was actually a great concern to her, no matter how tough Kitty's feet were they were going to freeze in the cold, plus get dirty! She was just like those hobos at home.
"You know what you need? A job. You have all these talents people would pay for, so why not use that?"

[Gullara]

[Luna Lake]

"Uh... I don't know about that. I really don't have any interest in doing the sort of jobs I've heard about. I'd rather do my own thing." Kitty says awkwardly. She doesn't really like the sound of the pity in Obriane's tone.

[Shadowcaller]

[Luna Lake]

"Uh, "your own thing"?" Obriane asks, not really understanding.

[Gullara]

[Luna Lake]

"You know, not what everyone else around here seems to do. Running around to go to jobs and make money to buy stuff. It's so much simpler to hunt and gather for what you need." Kitty explains.

[Lost_Deep]

Western Ghost Town

"Tedious, and I don't know if you'd call it labor intensive. Just gotta get the same goods from the same spots they're always in, and then wait out the rest of the day until dark rolls around to head back. It's a fair distance walk in either direction, but there's a horse and a wagon to haul all the stuff for the next little while, so it's mostly just loading it up."

Western Ghost Town

Denise nods. "I see. Not dangerous, but it's not something people want to do." She drums her fingers on the counter a bit. "Is it just me, or does this all seem... impossibly coincidental? This just sounds like it's by design to me. I don't know why anyone would make something like this, but it all seems to work together too easily to have been some kind of accident."

[Shadowcaller]

[Luna Lake]

That's... a strange thing to say. Obriane had hunted and gathered food but it was far much more effort than just doing your job. Plus, doing it alone was difficult.

"But... even if you get food, what about other stuff? Like a home, equipment, books, clothes, toys and such, you can't just rely on others to get that." She protests.

[Slii Arhem]

Western Ghost Town

Denise nods. "I see. Not dangerous, but it's not something people want to do." She drums her fingers on the counter a bit. "Is it just me, or does this all seem... impossibly coincidental? This just sounds like it's by design to me. I don't know why anyone would make something like this, but it all seems to work together too easily to have been some kind of accident."

Western Ghost Town

"Coupla folks who've got experience with this kind of thing say it's probably whoever died during that noontime getting up as ghosts and trying to put it to rights. No way of telling for sure unless we could get there to see it happen, and no one wants to risk getting added to the pile of bodies by hurrying all that much. Whatever it is, no one here's got the mojo to fix a big old pack of ghosts anyway."

[Lost_Deep]

Western Ghost Town

Denise nods, thoughtfully.

"But even if that is true, how would it result in the multiple instances thing? What kind of mass murder is bad enough that it breaks time and space? It just doesn't make sense to me. I'm not expert, but still." Denise thinks for a moment. "Hmm... maybe I should get some armor. Do you know if damage done to dawn is fixed when the supplies come back?"

[Slii Arhem]

Western Ghost Town

Risa shrugs, unable to come up with a better answer, "Dawn's always as pristine as it gets once everyone leaves and comes back to it. A couple of folks were talking about tearing down buildings there and hauling back the lumber to make a few more here, if this drags on long enough. We've got a decent stash of valuables we aim to divvy up if we ever leave, enough copies of stuff from under mattresses and in jewellery boxes for every person here twice over. S'why no one's really concerned about spending money anymore."

[Lost_Deep]

Western Ghost Town

Denise smiles. "Well, that's good. I can make use of that." From there, she'll wait until Krayger is done with the call unless Risa wants to say something.