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Post by Hitotsumami on Sept 18, 2013 10:28:56 GMT -5
Sarah watched as Alden prepared himself. Looking over at Samuel, he continued to struggle with Elrond's earth magic. Huge roots of stone wrapped themselves around Samson's lower legs, and although Samson burned through them with time, Elrond made sure there were always replacements.
Elrond was on one knee. His face was pouring with sweat. Gritting his teeth, he shrunk even lower onto the ground. It was obviously apparent that even the Guild Master was struggling against this sun powered ancient warrior.
Sarah took a breath and nodded at Alden. "One shot. Right. That's what we'll have to hope for. That one shot will work."
Sarah flexed her burnt hands into a claw shape, and Alden would feel a multitude of tiny pricks on his legs and back where her string magic attached. "I can propel you up, all the way up to his chest, but just once. As for the item precious to him... Inside his chest sits the sun sphere. If what Samson says is true, then it must be something he has cherished and lusted for for over a hundred years. Hopefully, that should suffice."
Sarah turned to face Dofun and Jupiter. "You guys, I saw what you did out there, against Ma-- Mikas' cards. Your Guild Master looks like he's struggling, so if you can assist in keeping him distracted, then Alden will have one clear shot."
Sarah closed her eyes. "It was me who made your Guild Master activate the sun magic sphere, but now I can help seal it back. Here we go, Alden. Our one chance! The world's one chance!"
Sarah then bent over, her finger tips touching the ground, then swung them high up into the air. Alden would feel an intense tugging on his legs and back, but not enough to cause any pain, but enough to propel him like a rocket high into the air, through the falling debris, past the crumbling rooftop, and high in the sky until he was equal with Samson's chest. There, in the center of his chest, an intense glow could be seen, and if one squinted, they would see the sphere that held the sun magic.
It was time for one shot.
"What do you think you pesky mages are doing now!?" roared Samson. He raised a hand, which turned bright yellow and orange with flares licking the air around it, and swung it straight for Alden who sat there in mid air.
If nothing below stopped him, then that one shot may become a lot more trickier.
Down on the ground, Atrum watched the mages fight. She knew it would take them all to take down Samson. For some odd reason, she felt that this sun magic was familiar to her, but Mikas never explained why that was so. And now that Mikas was out of the picture, she watched on with curiosity as the mages fought, and almost, deep within, wanted to root for them.
And so, she raised a hand, and as she did, Elrond's stone roots multiplied by two, and although the extras were illusions, she hoped in some way it would throw Samson off, even just a little bit.
---
Back at Renascence, Astral Lance opened one eye as Pollux dashed past him on his frozen steed. He shrugged and closed his eyes again.
"That's just like him," said Astral Lance. "Always runnin' off without even saying goodbye. He did that way back when we were part of Nightingale too. Oh well. Probably best that an Oracion Seis like him not be seen with a Magical Council mage like me."
Astral Lance sighed and stretched his legs before standing up. He looked over at Qi and Janus. "Well, I should probably get going too. If the world is about to end, then there's one place I'd like to see one last time. Good luck to you, Renascence Mage, and as for you Janus...."
He narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, see ya, too."
Then, lightning flew from the sky and struck the place Astra Lance stood. When the bright light faded, the mage was gone.
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Post by Kuro on Sept 21, 2013 10:05:53 GMT -5
Samson's hand of flame crashed into something before it could get near Alden. A huge burst of light shone throughout the room, blinding anyone who didn't look away when it happened. When the light faded, something could be seen blocking Samson's attack.
A giant being of flame and light stood in its way, and although it was only half of Samson's size, it looked the same in terms of appearance. The smaller being laughed, the noise loud and shrill enough for all to hear. "Oh boy! Now this is power I haven't ever felt before! No wonder you spent such a long time searching for it; I could get used to this!" He was pushing back Samson's hand with two of his own, flares occasionally flying around him. Growling and sneering, he adjusted himself to block the hand with one arm so his other hand could be free. He pointed the hand in the shape of a gun to Samson's face.
"How's this, big boy?!"
A beam of pure sunlight and majestic blaze shot out from his hand, striking the enemy in the face unless he dodged or blocked it; it would be rather hard to miss him. It was nowhere near killing or incapacitating power, but it would have been impossible to ignore.
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Post by Mise™ on Sept 21, 2013 11:22:24 GMT -5
"So he was behind this all. It all makes sense! ... Or does it? I'm not too sure... I guess it does... Maybe..." Jupiter began to understand the situation at least a big better. Samson was evil and wanted some super awesome magic that is here. "...Okay." Jupiter replied to Sarah and reluctantly let her down, even though he still though she shouldn't be doing anything in her current state. Surprisingly however the wounds didn't seem to bother Sarah at all anymore, even though she couldn't even stand just a moment ago, not that Jupiter himself wasn't completely ignoring the hole in his stomach as well ago. And that was not all... "Wait a second... She just called me Jupiter. I never told her my name and when someone that shouldn't know your name knows it you should always be careful because... Because... It doesn't really matter why. She's evil and there's something she's hiding and she will probably try to snatch that sun magic or whatever for herself in a moment. I should just knock her out right now... No not yet, better wait a moment and beat that guy first and when she suddenly announces that we all have been playing according to her plan and so on I'll strike." Right now the plan however was something else and Jupiter and the others was supposed to distract Samson with something while Alden takes a shot and nullifies Samson's magic and to do so he opened his marble satchel and marbles flew out of it to orbit around him, just like the last time. Jupiter shot out a few of his marbles at a time towards Samson, he really didn't need to hurt him if the plan was just to act as an distraction and he wanted to save his marbles so that when Sarah was to make her big reveal he was ready. When Dofun used the same apocalyptic doomsday magic they were supposed to stop people from achieving and caused a blinding light Jupiter did not seem to care. His shades were darker than black such puny light sources as the sun could never penetrate them.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Sept 21, 2013 20:33:19 GMT -5
Just because he knew what was going to happen, didn't mean he was any less surprised when he was suddenly flung into the air like a ragdoll. Alden felt like his heart jumped into his throat, and he lost all sense of coordination spinning through the air. At some point, between all the disorientation and the sudden influx of magic being thrown Samson's way, the mage hunter simply closed his eyes and waited. Waited till he stopped flying upwards and reached the very top of the throw, the point where gravity and the force behind him were equal, and for just a moment he hung motionless in the air.
Opening his eyes, he had only that moment to take in everything around him, and it was overwhelming to say the least. But there was only one thing that mattered, and it was in clear sight before him; the source of Samson's power in physical form or so he assumed. In one swift motion, he drew his rifle to his shoulder, and squeezed the trigger. The force of the shot sent him careening backwards, but at that point things were out of his control now. His rifle was as accurate as his aim was, the only question, was if the bullet would have the effect on Samson that it did on other mages. To negate his magic for that short time that Alden hoped the others could defeat him in.
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Post by Hitotsumami on Sept 22, 2013 12:19:37 GMT -5
Samson looked down to see the extra stone roots wrap around his legs, but he had no time to question where or how they came about, for suddenly an array of marbles started spinning around him. He swatted at them, uncaring. "I saw these marbles in action! What can they do to me!?"
Suddenly, however, while swatting at the marbles, he did not expect to see his own magic shot back at him. A bright light encompassed his face, stinging his eyes. He moaned in pain as he raised his arms to block out the intense light. "Stop this!" Samson bellowed. "Do you not know how many years it has been? Do you not know how I have suffered!? All because of that old Guild, and even now...!"
Samson tossed his arms in the air and as he did, the clouds above flew away, creating a perfectly round hole in the sky. The sun was shining down, and as it did, Samson grew in power and strength. "The sun up above... it is a power that no one can fight against! It is the creator and the destroyer, and I shall reach out and pull it into the earth itself! YOU WILL ALL--!"
Samson froze, cringing. He looked down to see a man with a gun that had just fired. The bullet had zoomed through the air and pieced Samson straight through the chest, straight into the sun sphere, and the sun magic was halted. "What...?" muttered Samson.
Before he knew it, his body was shrinking. The sun magic evaporated. He raised an arm, reaching for the sky, but as he did, the clouds returned, casting him in shadow. He shrunk all the way back to his former size, that of an old man with stone roots wrapped all around him.
"N-no," muttered Samson in disbelief. "How could this be? What type of magic...? No, this isn't right! It isn't just!"
"SHUT UP!" howled Elrond. He raised a hand and a huge stone fist emerged from the ground. "One thing you should always remember! My Guild, Renascence, will never be defeated! I don't know who you are, or why you have a grudge against me, but you've made your own choices and I have just one thing to say!"
Elrond hurled the giant fist straight at the immobilized man. "NEVER TOUCH MY GUILD MATES AGAIN!"
Just before Elrond's fist slammed into Samson, Samson's eyes went wide as he saw the sun sphere, cracked with a bullet inside, hovering right in front of his face. "It's still here," is what he would have said, but Elrond's fist smashed into it so hard it exploded into an uncountable number of broken shards, creating a blinding bright light in the process. The stone fist collided with Samson so hard that it sent the man flying out of the building and far into the sky, gone from sight in an instant.
Samson, the man who had caused the downfall of Fable, had been defeated, this time, once and for all.
Elrond pumped his fists into the air, screaming at all his might. "YEAAHH! WE DID IT!!" He laughed and laughed, feeling tears swell up in his eyes. "It feels like, now, finally, we are truly a real guild!" He turned to his friends. "Thank you guys. Wait, one's missing. OH SHOOT."
Elrond sent a spiraling stone hand up into the air, and if luck would have it, it would catch Alden before he hit the ground and place him down softly.
Elrond sighed, wiping the sweat off his brow. "Well, that's enough adventure for one day. I think we should... Sarah?"
Laying on the ground on her back was Sarah. Her arms and legs lay at her side, still black and red and burnt. A sword wound on her side bled. Her hair lay haphazardly over his face.
But she was smiling.
Elrond walked over to her and looked down at the mage. He frowned and bent down, touching her forehead.
"She's the reason you won," said a sudden voice behind Elrond. Elrond turned to see Atrum standing there with her arms crossed. "In the end, her heart changed, and she saved you. She saved everyone."
Elrond looked back at Sarah and sighed. "I'm glad then, that in the end, she felt what a real Guild is really about. As far as I'm concerned, this girl is one of us." Elrond wiped a tear from his eye and stood back up. He took a step back and raised his palms facing Sarah, and the girl sunk into the floor below. In her place, a high decorated cross appeared with an inscription on a stone tablet underneath.
"There," said Elrond. He turned to his other Guild Mates, not sure how they felt towards the woman, but Elrond knew what he did was right. "Wait a minute," said Elrond, turning to Atrum. "... Who are you?"
Atrum chuckled, placing her hands behind her back. "I'm Atrum, part of the Atrum Guild. Or well... I was. Not anymore. Your Guild seems much more interesting."
Elrond smirked. "It's the best, right? Hey, you were the one who made those extra stone roots to hold down that big sun guy, right? That was you?"
Atrum gave a small nod. "They were just illusions though."
"Illusions or not, you helped us out! We may have lost one," he said, glancing at the stone grave, "but I think, if you were willing to help us in the end, I'll be happy to welcome you to my Guild! To Renascence!"
Atrum blinked, staring at the Guild Master in disbelief. "I think you do not know what I have attempted to do to your Guild, haha. But if your offer is true, then I will be happy to accept. I'm most interested in this Guild, and where it may end up the future."
"Then it's done!" exclaimed Elrond to the Dofun, Alden and Jupiter. "Welcome our newest Guild Mate, Atrum!"
"Oh, one thing," said Atrum, raising a finger.
Elrond titled his head. "Yes, what is it? Anything you want, you can have at my Guild!"
"Atrum was the name I was given to by my old Master, Mikas. He adopted me and promised he'd help me find out more about who I am, but, while that path has ended, perhaps I can find out more with you. You see, I'm afraid I don't remember anything of the past, except my real name."
"Oh?" asked Elrond. "Well, of course you should get rid of a name tainted by that card guy! What's your real name?"
"Asmoday," she said with a small smile.
Elrond raised an eyebrow, then shrugged. "Asmoday it is! Welcome, to Renascence Guild! Oh, I bet you're excited to see it with your own eyes, right? It's up on a cliff, with a beautiful view of the ocean!"
Asmoday chuckled, nodding. "Sure, I'd like to see it," she said, even though she had just been there a few moments prior.
Elrond nodded then faced everyone. "Okay, guys, this adventure ends here, but I'm sure there will be many more! So lets say goodbye to this frozen city, and hello to the future!" Elrond spun around. "Let's go home!"
---
With Asmoday's help, she lead Atrum and the others through the mountains and soon enough they entered familiar roads and with time, the Guild appeared on top of the hill, sitting there unharmed.
They had finally made it back home.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Sept 22, 2013 21:27:51 GMT -5
Falling back down, the chunk of rock hit him going upwards. With an oof and rolling off the side, the mage hunter landed with one knee and an hand on the ground, tossing up a lot of dust. Straightening up to brush himself off, Alden returned the rifle to his back before he walked over to where Samson had been punched past the horizon. Elrond and the others seemed glad at what happened, but looking around, Alden crouched low to pick something up.
"Broken... figures..."
Picking up a piece of the broken sphere of magic Samson had possessed, Alden held it up to the sunlight to try and see through it, shaking the shard in the hopes that maybe some of the magic remained. It was gone though, whatever Samson had coveted was no more, at least not here. Grasping the shard, Alden returned to his feet, and went to pick up all his possessions he had discarded in order to make the shot earlier. It was still cold after all, and before long, he was back to usual; with his traveler's cloak about his body, his shield on his back, and his helmet low on his head.
Before he followed after the others in the return to the guild, he stopped by the grave, and set his sword down beside it. Without the roof on the place, snow would begin to trickle down into the building, and would probably end up blanketing this whole place and covering what really happened. Long before that though, Alden departed with the others.
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Post by CJ on Sept 22, 2013 23:42:40 GMT -5
An hour every day but Friday or Saturday nights. That was the contract Qi and Monkey made before he disappeared in a yellow glitter of light, just as Renascence returned.
It was hard for Qi not to cry when she saw Elrond, healthy and awake again. She had been trying fruitlessly for two weeks to help him. In fact, it seemed everyone had done some part to help defeat the Atrum Guild and Samson. She could only imagine what kind of contraption Alden used against their opponents or what fantastic magic Dofun was able to copy. And what kind of mage was Jupiter? Maybe he was the key they needed to succeed.
Thinking to herself, she realized that all she did was distract one single opponent from joining in the grander battle.
And there that woman was, Atrum, standing as a mage of Renascence. What was Elrond thinking? What could have possibly happened after Atrum went left for the mountains? How could they possibly side with a girl who nearly killed her? Did they know she tried to kill her?
No matter what her friends thought, Qi couldn't trust her. The woman who tried to murder her was now supposed to be her friend? Looking back, she couldn't be sure she helped the situation at all.
She wasn't sure she was even needed in the first place.
---
"Ice-Make: Falling Snow."
Hiding in the wreckage nearby, Pollux whispered his spell, aiming to perform two different functions.
The first was to drive Renascence away, which appeared to be working. The second was for a greater purpose, to restore the cold.
As Renascence left, Pollux entered the shrine. Kneeling on the stone floor, he traced several cracks in a sequence, which lit up in bright purple lights. The floor opened to a set of spiral stairs, which lead down and down, deep into the mountain. As he entered, he tapped the top of the steps to close the floor over him.
Flicking his staff with his finger, it lit up in a white glow. After a near fifteen minutes of walking, the mage adjusted his glasses on his face and smiled to see undisturbed cobwebs, covering a door covered in runes. He traced his fingers again in a spiral pattern and it opened to a chamber of blue.
A figure was lying on a table, encased in a massive structure of ice. The ice engulfed the floor and ceiling, looking somewhat like a lake in storm, frozen and turned on its side.
"Thank the fates they didn't find you. I don't know how much longer I'm going to be able to keep you down here, Castor."
The doctor looked as thought he was sleeping, caught in the midst of a fleeting dream. What little could be seen of Castor's skin was a sight to behold. His veins glowed in a similar but paler color to the runes outside. His white coat and pants were torn and dirty. The glasses Validus had given to him were cracked in one lens, which was under an open wound on his forehead that looked recently cut.
"There's this new guild that took over Fable's place. They remind me a lot of you, willing to put their lives in danger for the sake of others, even people who don't deserve it. If I could go back to the beginning, I'd tell you to forget Fable. We never would have gotten into this mess."
Pollux leaned his forehead against the ice, frowning as he looked down at his brother.
"Arc of Time... You slowed down time around yourself so you could save every one, sleeping until they find their way back to this world. Who knows when the rest will show up, but when they do, your spell will cease and you will die."
Tapping his staff on the structure, he smiled grimly.
"Hopefully my ice will freeze you by then. It's my last hope to save you, but I know it's not much."
Turning his face away, he proceeded to sit down with his back against the ice, staring into the shadowy steps. He wiped his face, trying to rid himself of icy tears,
"I'm pathetic, aren't I? The great Pollux of the Oracion Seis, crying for his dumbass brother."
He let his head fall into his crossed arms, resting on his knees. There he would stay for hours, as he did from time to time, praying and wishing for a solution to the problem he began, but his brother and his friends suffered for, over the course of years, decades and perhaps centuries.
"I'm so sorry, for everything."
---
"We ain't got much time, boss!" a deep voice called out, looking out into the streets of town nearby. "I think that fuddy duddy magic done stopped!"
The town was evacuated under the threat of the nearby explosive magic in the mountains. There were legends of destructive magic, dwelling in the mountains, that, if disturbed, would devour the world. Admittedly, they were partially right.
"I know, I know! Give me a few more seconds! There could be some gold in here!"
Thieves had broken into the local post office during the chaos, ransacking thick envelopes and packages, whose contents would be sold on the black market to never reach the hands of their once destined receivers.
Opening a rather small bundle, a monocle glinted in the light, making the figure in the dark of the back room look like cyclops, hunched over his prey.
"My Dearest Fable... let go of my childish grudges... blah blah... ponies and unicorns... oh hey! Gold keys! I told you! There's gold here!"
"Uh, boss. I don't think those keys are for purty gold," the booming voice responded, standing in the doorway.
"Who cares, shadd up and take em'!" the leader threw the two keys to the thief. "Oh, and what have we here?"
The lids of jars could be seen in a box, neatly lined and protected by a cushion layer. Forcing one out, the leader rotated it in one of his monocle. His eye widened in sweet realization.
"Boys," he grinned with scummy teeth.
"Girl," the other corrected him.
"We've hit the jackpot!"
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Post by Mise™ on Sept 26, 2013 7:34:52 GMT -5
As Elrond sent Samson flying Jupiter threw one of his business cards after him. It wasn't a bad throw, but there was just no way that the card would fly as far Samson did. While the card flew all the marbles returned to the bag they all came from. Soon afterwards it came apparent as to why Sarah didn't seem to be bothered by her wounds and just pushed onwards; it would appear that she knew that she was going to die and just wanted to do something with her last moments of her life. However how she knew of Jupiter's name would probably be never discovered. As Sarah was finally laid to rest Jupiter felt quite bad for thinking that she was going to turn on them. --- Some time passed and now the group was on their way back and were even getting closer to home. Since they had left the ancient city behind Jupiter had been very quiet and some what distant. Besides that he wasn't feeling very well and the others could probably tell that as Jupiter wasn't that good at hiding it, even though he tried to act all tough, as usual. His wound was really taking a toll on him, it had been bandaged, but whoever did the job had done it quite poorly. "Hey... Guild boss... man." Jupiter addressed Elrond. Even his voice sounded weak. "I've been thinking... And I want to join your guild... ... ...My great great great great great... great? gramps, or something like that, was part of the guild Fable... He wasn't a very good mage though, unlike me." Besides sounding half-dead Jupiter also sounded a bit bitter, when talking about his ancestor.
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Post by Hitotsumami on Sept 26, 2013 12:02:11 GMT -5
Elrond listened as Jupiter talked to him about joining.
"Oh, you knew Fable?" Elrond was going to ask if Jupiter knew where Fable was located, since he always wanted to visit it one day, but instead of asking, he was so overjoyed to hear that Jupiter wanted to join that he raised his hands in the air and yelled. "YEAH! Of course you can join, Jupiter! Though come to think of it, I already thought you were part of my guild... Oh well! Welcome to Renascence! The best guild in the world!"
Elrond was back inside the Guild, cleaning things up and making sure everything looked great. It was good to be home. He also spent time explaining to Qi that Asmoday helped them, so not to worry about her. He felt like she would become a great new Guild member.
As for Atrum, she spent her time in the attic, where she found construction was still going on. She wasn't sure who's room this was, but she found it pleasant being above the Guild and overlooking the town.
Elrond took a seat and grabbed a tankard, looking at all his members. It totaled seven, including him, but he felt that soon enough his Guild would grow larger and larger until the whole world knew about it.
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Post by Mise™ on Sept 26, 2013 12:37:33 GMT -5
"Who doesn't..." Jupiter responded to Elrond as he asked about Fable. There really wasn't many here who didn't know of Fable and it's history, though Jupiter mostly knew of his own ancestor, who was commonly known as Saturn, a man Jupiter didn't think too highly of.
"What the hell?" Finding out that he was already considered a member of the guild surprised Jupiter, but in the end it really didn't matter. "Well, whatever... It's cool... ...Well I guess I should update my cards then..." Pulling out a pen, that had am eraser at the end, and one of his business cards, Jupiter erased the text on his card that said he was a freelancer mage and then began to think about something; he thought for a quite while staring confusedly at the card. It took him a while, but eventually Jupiter had an epiphany as he wrote something on the card. Both the card and the pen were magical and by writing on one of them, changed all of them, including the one he had just thrown at Samson and the one he had thrown at Elrond couple of months ago, instead of 'Freelance mage' the card now said that he was a member of the 'Renezaans Guild'. A very short moment passed and then Jupiter spoke to his new guild master again: "I... I can't go on much further, boss. That damn bleeding... You need to help me, dammit... ... ...Take me back to the guild... ...I'll get on your damn back..." Jupiter did seem pretty embarrassed, maybe it was because he was suggesting a piggyback ride or maybe just asking for help in general was hard for him.
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