The Elder Invasion: CHAPTER 4 - Insanity

Re: Insanity - CHAPTER 4

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A spectrum of colors raced towards Jumi, and collided into his vision, as he exited the Mirror, and found himself in Insanity. Floating in the air above the multicolored ground that laid at his feet, he took in the ever changing landscape, and reached out towards the sky, as a face appeared in the clouds, and gazed upon him with a wicked smile. End over end, Jumi tumbled, and rolled in the air, being drawn inwards, and farther from the Mirror... deeper into the beast that was Insanity... the realm of the Mad God's will... Jumi's Hell, and his Salvation.

With his arms, he swiped, and grasped at the face in desperation, to calm his momentum. The face being the only constant, Jumi continued in desperation to grab at it like a blind man reaching for a hand rail when falling. In an instant, his chaotic spinning skidded to a sudden stop, and he found himself laying on the blue grass, with his face facing a green sky. The clouded face began retreating inwards to the safety of the sky, and thus left the only constant, Jumi had seen since entering.

He laid there for few minutes as he tried regaining his senses, and once he felt himself steady, the lanky bard rolled onto his stomach, and forced himself to his feet with a heave. Jumi then dusted himself off, and a smile spread across his face, though in reality it was hidden under his mask, he lifted his guitar towards the sky, and began sprinting deeper into Insanity like a man possessed.

Summary: Jumi is drawn into Insanity via chaotic spiral, and once he lands on the ground, he stands up, and begins running deeper into Insanity like a loony towards Nerf Castle, though he's unaware, but feels drawn to something in that direction.
 
Re: Insanity - CHAPTER 4

The Grandmaster snorted in disgust "You would leave them here to be cattle? to be food for these...creatures? No whatever we can do to get them out of here must be made, put them to work with the Teknikans or the Barship forces if need be, but do not leave them here to die! I Agree most will likely die in the war to come, but such is the nature of war. Yet their deaths are garantueed if they stay here" The Grandmaster was noticably pissed, though perhaps only Warmaster Death would truly understand why.

He turned to Noise "Worry not, I have no intention of leaving you here to be a snack for our esteemed host" he picked up Noise one handed from behind the couch and set him on his feet as he spoke, sarcastically emphasizing the word esteemed, "and someone grab him as well." He indicated Q to the others "Emperor willing these two might prove useful"

Summary: GMK begins to powder his pimp hand.
 
Re: Insanity - CHAPTER 4

"And who gave you the authority to dictate what way the group will go, tin man?"

Stepping out from where he had been hiding in the shadows, Palonis stepped up to Karsikan and stood at his full not-so-imposing height of 5'9". His hand still on his ninja sword, he gave the soldier a look that suggested that he did not fear the man's bulk or weaponry, not a small feat given the ninja's current condition.

"Look at them!" the ninja commanded, sweeping his hand across the vampires' victims. "These people have been drained of blood. All but a few of them have been weakened, and we have a considerable walk ahead of us. Time is precious, sparky, and we do not have the resources to watch out for people who are half of a man if fighting breaks out. If you don't want them to stay with the vampires, then you are free to escort them personally back to the transport ships, because until they recover from their stay with our gracious hosts, they are of no use to us."

Palonis wasn't entirely sure that this was the best place to have infighting in the group, but there could be no more delays. Time was fleeting, and the more they loaded themselves down with deadwood, the more likely it was that the Elders would find them. Hard choices had to be made if the group was to survive, and anyone who couldn't see that was going to be a hindrance anyway. Better to travel with a small group of battle-ready soldiers than a crowd of unready fools.
 
Re: Insanity - CHAPTER 4

At some point, she wasn't entirely sure when, during her illusion, Tegan's power had given out and she lapsed into fleeting moments of unconsciousness. But, somehow, the illusion kept going, and she could not fathom why.
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While the woman lay unconscious, she dreamed of a spinning wheel, turning, turning, turning-

Sssssttttkkkk. Sssssttttkkkk. Sssssttttkkkk. ​

But she could not see the hand that guided it.
And so she dreamed of other things.


"You deceitful little chit!" A hand closed around her throat.

"There is no deception. It was you who made it true-" She choked, her vision beginning to blurr.


Tegan's eyes darted about underneath her closed lids, her lips formed the words:
"Trick. . .light. . .deceiver."
They were only half-mumbled whispers, most likely not heard over the commotion about the group.
 
Re: Insanity - CHAPTER 4

As Q stayed on his hands and knees, exhausted and wishing for sleep, the "talks" finished and all the vampires filtered into a large vault. He looked up as the filed in, almost pleading for the Countess to come back. His mind couldn't even begin to grasp what was going on, but she had given him the slight hope that she may have had what it took to cure his disease. As water still wet his eyes, he stared, opening his mouth to say something like "wait" or "please" but nothing came out, and they were gone.
He turned his face back to the floor, and knocked his forehead on it once more, choking back more tears, his eyes red with soreness and irritation while his still pouring tears tried to filter it all away and down his face.

He could hear the others in the room arguing about what to do with the people in the castle. He wondered if he should say something. He didn't really want to stay here, but he wasn't sure he wanted to leave, either. The huge barbarian got up and said his huge, bumbling piece, though. He was picked up quite easily. Bornes sighed, bending his elbows and lying atop his knees. He didn't know what he wanted to do.
He was unconvinced everything around him was still even really happening.

Then, a girl came near to him and started singing in a foreign tongue. His brows creased together in confusion.
Why is she singing? I mean, it's pretty nice, but...

Man, this place was weird. And... Was that a live orchestra? He brought himself back up onto his knees, sitting up and looking around. The sound of instruments seemed to be coming from the castle itself. There was no orchestra to be found.
And still the girl kept singing.

He frowned, quirking a brow. He wanted to question this. Really, he did.
But it almost seemed as if it would just be a bother now. He really should accept that things in this dreamworld just happened and move on.
The song, though he couldn't understand the words, made him feel like it was best to just roll with the punches.

His green eyes gazed up at the girl singing. She had grey hair, just like him. He tilted his head quizzically, admiring her youthful beauty.
Then he slowly came to realize that he felt a lot better. That was about the time she seemed to crack and become self-conscious. She stopped singing.
Don't stop, he thought to himself. It was nice.

There was something about this girl. He couldn't place why he felt he needed to stay close to her, but he did. It wasn't like the woman in white. The white woman was an interest, a thing that he felt had to be something. This grey-haired girl, he had no real attraction to her and nothing was profoundly interesting normally, but something in the back of his brain said follow her. He was piqued with a puppy-like curiosity by this and slowly got to his feet, continuing to stare at her.
His eyes were still rather wide, though his pupils had assumed a convex shape, similar to a cat's to adjust to the light.

"Thank you..." Bornes said softly, not quite sure what to say to her. She was shorter than his six feet so he had to look down on her, and something about that to him didn't feel right. He felt more comfortable looking up to her.

He put his left hand on her shoulder briefly and gave a small, soft smile.

His expression turned hard when he heard the words of a ninja-looking man.
"Time is precious, sparky, and we do not have the resources to watch out for people who are half of a man if fighting breaks out."

Bornes wanted to rebuke the comment. His pride screamed for some type of comeback. But his brain was still softened by the earlier events and the girl's sweet song, so he refrained, instead putting back on his gold guise, glaring at anyone in his wake (aside from the girl who helped him) and walked across the room swiftly, picking up his M40 and going to his violin case, opening it, and shoving his gun in.

He took the violin case with him in his short journey to the dining table where he found his dark sunglasses and put them on. In no short time he also found his two handguns.
He dropped his hard violin case on the table and dropped his black leather coat, instead revealing a button up dress shirt with red torso and black sleeves. He dropped the coat to the ground and kicked it to the side, putting his two glocks into his shoulder holsters, finding his SOG Seal knife and sheathing it back on his belt.

Last was his sea bag.

He gave a small hmph. He really didn't want to carry it right now. That was due to laziness however, not disability.

He pulled the duffelbag that was half his height out of the pile of things stolen from the other prisoners and after some adjusting and grunting, shoved his arms through the straps and hoisted it upon his shoulders with a grunt. This bag had everything in it he needed to survive for a week, save water. And he'd be damned if he left without it, even in a dream world that made no sense.

He may dump it later, but only until he could prove he didn't need it.

After that, he grabbed the violin case again and searched out the girl who had helped him before, catching up to her.
Walking long distances carrying lots of weight was somewhat of a specialty for him.
He pushed his sunglasses up his nose and put on a smirk, completely ignoring everyone else and instead zoning in on the girl.

"Parlez-vous français?" He asked.

She made him happy. He didn't want to lose such an rare feeling for him.

SUMMARY:
Basically Q keeps crying until Acqua comes around and heals him. He feels captivated by her somehow and after being rejuvinated grabs his things (seabag on back and all weapons, sunglasses, and violin case) and follows her, asking her if she speaks french.
 
Re: Insanity - CHAPTER 4

The Grandmaster's response was surprisingly calm "Two Hundred Fifteen years of service to The God Emperor tempers my judgment." He held Noise steady as he looked into his eyes, making sure there was no permanent brain damage while Acqua sang and healed them. "The last fifty of which have been spent leading my troops against foes so foul that you would end your own life before looking upon them further, but enough of this, If you wish to leave these people to be mere cattle that is fine, but I shall not." The Grandmaster turns to Warmaster Death "Can you contact your forces and send a transport down to recover the hostages here?"
 
Re: Insanity - CHAPTER 4

"Fer an ero of iwaku yoo shur are'nt too broit ninjah, da barshipz got a tellyporta array, an oiz got da codez an a beacon." Mizdogg guffawed as the Warmaster looked at Karsikan with a look that signified he had just been reminded of the barships existence.
"As always Palonis exemplifies the traits of the assasin, cowardice and fearmongering, and yes, had i my helmet i could call or a teleport rescue, but wityhout my armor.......things are less certain"
"Whut did oi just say deff! oiz got da codez!" the ork yelled with exasperation.

hitting a few buttons on his mega armor, Mizdogg mumbled something into a radio receiver, then moved over to the vampires victims, placing a large, circular post in the middle of them, and beckoning for the Warmaster To stand next to it
"Deff, come ere, wez goin to da barship, den we kan drop pod in on dis mirrah. we may even get dere before da uvverz! an grey knoit, if yez wanna get to da barship, i just sent yez da codez" the ork said optimistically, but the Grandmaster knew that it would they would likely get there after the others, since the barship would need to position itself above insanity.

As WMD moved towards the beacon there was a crackle of lightning and a flash of light and he, Mizdogg and the Vampires victims were teleported out of the castle.

WMD, Mizzdog and the vampire victims are teleported to the barship, since they werent going to be left to the vampires.
 
Re: Insanity - CHAPTER 4

"Cut and Paste Deus Ex Machina" Jack said to himself, kicking off the stone door as he leaned against it. He strolled casually across the room, moving to a space in the middle of the room, and raised his foot, Slamming it down onto the stone floor, a great boom echoed around the chamber and a crater around a foot across expanded in the masonry below is sole.

"The fuck!?" the grandmaster shouted out aiming his storm bolter at Porg.

Jack looked up, mild surprise lying over his features. "Oh. I can affect the scene, that means I've not been written out.." He spoke, smiling "Though this does beg one question" he said as he started pacing a little, making sure to keep some space around him.

"Why the FUCK have you people been ignoring me!?" He shouted, spinning around. "I gave my reasons, the Elders are far more likely to attack the damned ship full of Space Marines than it is a remote castle of sleeping vampires. We can come back and get the victims.. ugh nevermind!"

He pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head a little "Yeah.. sorry, nevermind. But!" He turned to Q and Noise "Before you two come with us, I want you to now that where we are going is probably a hundred times more dangerous than the situation you just got out of"

As they opened their mouths to reply he continued. "I don't need you to answer, just.. be aware ok? You can come with us or not, just you deserve to know what you're heading for." He turned to address the other half of the room. "Ok then! I guess we're taking a stroll to the mirror ey?" He called out, holding his arms up.

[Jack makes sure he's not written out by stamping a small crater in the floor and then addresses Q and Noise before announcing they are going to the mirror.]
 
Re: Insanity - CHAPTER 4

"Aye," answered Grant as he pushed open the door of the chamber, dragging a dishevelled man behind him. "And my friend here can tell us the best way."

With one hand on his shotgun, Grant flung the butler forward by his suit collar. The old man fell to his knees and remained there, hunched over, holding his wrist from where Grant had been less than chivalrous in apprehending him.

"Found him loading a wagon in the courtyard," muttered Grant as he made his own inspection of the chamber, "Looks like he was packing for a long trip."

Sitting on his haunches, the butler continued cradling his arm as he squinted at each of the Iwakuans. "My service is ended. I shall return to my family and raise the next generation of servants." He stopped to cough sickly, breath wheezing in his lungs. "In accordance with the Master's wishes, I will provide you maps of the southern paths."

"Jolly good of you," replied Porg as he spoke up on behalf of the group, "And while we're on the subject, what exactly are your Master's wishes?" He jabbed his thumb at the sealed vault behind him. "Not exactly a stamp collection you've got in there."

The old man's lips quivered, almost sneering back. He clearly had no fear of death, having dwelled in the abode of vampires. "A servant knows only what he sees. Since the prophecies began, the Master has collected..."

"How did I know they'd be prophecies involved?" Palonis interrupted, perching impatiently on the back of a sofa.

The old man's eyes suddenly gleamed. He looked at each of them, realising their lack of knowledge, and then a wheezing cackle escaped him. It was only silenced when Grant stormed back across the room and put his shotgun to the man's temple.

The butler became stoic once more. "Lord Adami saw it first - a twin star by the pole. Then the tree on Venun Hill began bleeding. Our cousins in the desert heard screams, a spirit wailing by the Roleplay Chasm. Even before the Elders came, the pilgrims were moving to the mountains. All the signs were in place..."

He looked up at each of them again, his smile returning, not sneering this time but excited. The kind of excitement seldom seen in ancient features.

"The Master has read of these things, in the scriptures of the Goddess. It is the Solsterane..."

His hands, one frail and the other sprained, came together in a prayer-like gesture. "Tonight, the True Hero of Iwaku will be revealed. And He shall grant the people what they desire. The Master seeks His blood... one sip of the Hero's blood... and so for a decade he has collected. But even this is just one of the gifts the Hero will bring... for He will save us from Elders... and from all our foes."

He bowed his head in reverence. "The Champion is among us, and He shall be revealed before the dawn."





[SUMMARY: Grant brings in the butler who was serving the vampires. The old man reveals that the Markovs are collecting blood samples because they have learned of the prophecy of the True Hero's arising. The old man explains the prophecy to them, annoucing that the Hero will be revealed tonight.]
 
Re: Insanity - CHAPTER 4

"True Hero, huh..."

Archy had stayed quiet, contemplating the most recent string of events.

The manifestation of the Godess had arrived, not when shapeshifter town was being nuked/invaded/evacuated, nor when the swarms of elders burst out of Anirue forest, but rather during some negotiations.

Clearly, gods were as reliable as they felt like. Which was not enough to count on them.
And the whole prophecy thing...well, that was important. If nothing else it meant that the Elder invasion was probably not started by Mizdogg's attempts to smash things.

Probably.

"Well, I hope that the Hero guy can get everything done quickly after his arrival...anything else important before we get going, Renfield?"
Archy looked around at the group, and the various strange stares she was getting. "He's from Dracula..."

Archy muses on the True Hero and the inherent unreliability of Gods who do not want people to be dependent and makes a bad joke. Which she then explains.
 
Re: Insanity - CHAPTER 4

"Parlez-vous français?" Q asked Acqua, who was looking at him with relief now that he wasn't so distressed.

However, she was about to answer him when Jack began to speak, so she silenced herself as she listened to him and then to the elderly servant, who taught them of the strange occurrings and the coming of the True Hero. Acqua was amazed by such a concept, wondering who it could possibly be, and how that person could possibly arrive so quickly. Archy chimed in with a joke that Acqua did not initially understand until she explained. Acqua simply nodded before returning her attention to Q.

"No, hardly at all!" Acqua responded to Q's question from earlier.

-----------------

Meanwhile, Natalie had sheltered herself from the others after talking with Soulless. She stayed out of the conversation upstairs, preferring to stay away from the man that had just tried to choke her. While alone, she began looking off into the distance, and another flashback came back to her. With blank eyes, she stared at the complex stairs as her mind disconnected momentarily from the Insanity around her.

Natalie found herself in the same white dress once more, an injured child once more. However, something was different about this. Why I am I in Fear Garden? the present Natalie asked herself as her past self continued onward. Wait, why is there somebody there? I don't remember anybody here! Natalie nervously thought as her past self continued on, the once large, deadly plants withered and baked seemingly by the sun. Wait, is this real? the present Natalie asked as from the dark vegetation appeared a girl that looked somewhat like herself.
With eyes of blood red, and platinum hair, the fair girl stared at the young Natalie, a smirk on her dark face. She donned a lolita-esque black dress, a fancy ebony hat protecting her porcelain features from the desert sun. The past Natalie began backing away, only to be paralyzed with fear. The present Natalie began to panic, not remembering this occurrence anywhere in her violent history. Suddenly, the malicious spirit of a girl took off her extravagant hat, allowing her porcelain skin to shine brightly in the light. The young Natalie was still paralyzed with fear as she watched the thing begin to speak.

"So this is my next medium," she chuckled. "Come, young girl," her red eyes narrowed, a malicious grin forming on her plum lips.

"This is not real!" the young Natalie protested.

"You're no more real than I am, hahahaha!" the other girl pointed, snickering. "The Fate and the Truth are all re-writable here," she went on. "And I shall re-write my own truth as I see fit," she stared, continuing to bear that malicious smile, animosity and the ferocity of the truly feral shining with such dark beauty. "I am Natalie, now!" Natalie's stronger self yelled as she suddenly dissappeared, the young Natalie gripping her head while the present Natalie followed suit.


A terrified scream sounded from the present Natalie as she furiously nodded 'no', grabbing her hair, vigorously denying the fake flashback. That is not real! She is not real! Natalie's voices screamed in protest.

[Summary: Natalie has a false flashback due to the collapse of the History Archives, offering an alternate method of how Natalie's stronger personality came to be. However, Natalie vigorously denies it, screaming in distress at such a false memory.]
 
Re: Insanity - CHAPTER 4

Bornes watched, awaiting the girl's answer. Instead, she turned and focused her attention on a boy spouting a bunch of nonsense the man didn't understand while simultaneously pouting about being ignored, followed by a strange older man saying something about a hero, which, in turn, was also followed by a catperson saying something about the so-called Hero.

This all wreaked terribly of a badly written fantasy novel, or just a typical LARP. Bornes's thoughts were slowly drifting back to the possibility that this simply was a LARP, and all these characters made great archetypes.

But then the girl he had asked the question to previously finally brought her attention back to him, proclaiming that she didn't understand French. The twenty four year old's shoulders wilted, as did his hopes of having a private conversation. "Oh," he relented.

"Well... Thank you for the song, I suppose. You have a great voice."
Bornes's own voice wasn't sweet at all- in fact, it was gravelly and coarse, progressively destroyed by poor upkeep and bad habits. His breath and clothes were filled with the scent of too many cigarettes and he feared what he looked like in a mirror. After this fever, passing out, more fever, and crying, he probably looked terrible, his grey hair frayed and clinging to his head.

"So..." He said, sticking close to the girl, "What's your name? I go by Q."

He quirked a grey brow from behind his sunglasses, tilting his head a bit.
If this really was a LARP, then it didn't matter about the 'big hero' or whatever else was going on.

SUMMARY:
Q convinces himself this is a LARP again and you're all archetypes in a badly written fantasy story (thus decides to systematically ignore everything besides Acqua since it's unimportant). He thanks Acqua for her song, compliments her singing voice, and asks her what her name is, while offering his own.
 
Re: Insanity - CHAPTER 4

"Pffft...prophecies." Palonis chuckled to himself darkly. Springing off the couch, he said to Grant, "Might as well let the guy go, or he'll talk our ear off about destiny or something." The ninja never really took stock in prophecies, even if a lot of them came true. His thought on the matter was that people's insistence on having prophecies fulfilled was what ultimately made them come about, because people slid themselves into the roles demanded. If the rest of the world wasn't so dead set on following the advice of every bearded idiot who babbled nonsense or scribbled words on a wall, the prophecies would have been shown to be ridiculous long ago.

"Before any of you people get it into your heads that you might be a hero," he said to the group at large, "you're not. Right now, your only 'destiny' is to stay with the group and keep each other safe."

A little blunt, he admitted, but people needed to get a reality check before they came to the conclusion that a prophecy somehow made them invincible. Words had no power, and anyone who trusted in words was a fool.

In response to Archy's question, he simply raised an eyebrow and replied, "We shouldn't try to take anything other than the people who can fight. The vampires will not appreciate it if we steal their treasure, and they have long memories."

(Summary: Palonis lets people know his opinions on the whole hero prophecy thing. He tells them not to act like a hero, and to stay together. He also replies to Archy's question, saying that they shouldn't take anything besides Noise and Q.)
 
Re: Insanity - CHAPTER 4

THE HOUSE BY THE HIGHWAY...

Like punctuation to the end of Saneless's threat, there was a slap of flesh on flesh. Asmodeus was holding the boy's face, one hand on each cheek.

It was fast... too fast... even for Asmodeus.

The angel peered deeply, tilting his head this way and that, as if seeking the lone strands of sanity within Soulless's eyes. "You feel it too, don't you?" he whispered, "I'm getting stronger. It started when I passed the Mirror. I think I know why... it's Him... the Hero. He's making me stronger, the closer He comes..."

His face came forward, the rapture growing on his features. "Do you remember, Soulless, the day we fought together... I on the gantry, you in the hallways? We fought for Paorou - for a new age. Do you remember how it felt - the childlike glee that cleared the dust from our bones?"

Saneless's eyes twitched between the gauntlet of the angel's hands. Yes, he remembered... just as he remembered the raw feeling in his stomach when Orochi told him what Paorou's real agenda was. Soulless's part in the War had ended there and then, while up above Asmodeus was brought down by Grumpy and Palonis.

They had each believed a lie. And it was the last time either of them had fought for a dream with all their essence.

Their heads moved closer together then crossed. Asmodeus peered over the boy's shoulder at the watching Drake and Sakura, then whispered into Soulless's ear, finally answering his question. "Yes, Soulless, I can do it. My power can stop the Elders. But I will need you to stand with me, as you did before. You are a bloodweaver, and Iwaku is blood... blood and fire."

He glanced again at Drake, his wings curling to brush Soulless's shoulders, as if in parody of the boy's own embraces. "We'll do it... tonight. We'll use my power and yours..." A smile curled his lips. "... in the most painful ways imaginable..."

Natalie's scream echoed down the stairs, making the flowers in the wallpaper wilt, but Asmodeus and Saneless didn't seem to hear it.

They were locked in each other's thoughts.





[SUMMARY: Asmodeus has a cryptic conversation with Soulless/Saneless, reminiscing about the last day of the War. He promises to do as Soulless asks, as long as Soulless stands beside him when the time comes.]
 
Re: Insanity - CHAPTER 4

OUTSIDE CASTLE MARKOV, FIVE MINUTES PREVIOUSLY​

The servant frantically loads the cart sitting in the courtyard with the supplies he'll need for his journey, praying that he remains unnoticed by the group that has entered the Castle. The Master's instructions were very specific, and he does not want to fail the Master; to do so would effectively be signing his family's death warrent.

There's the sound of movement nearby, and the servant whirls round, snapping up his shotgun and levelling it in the direction of the sound.
"Who's there?!" he calls frantically, but there is no response. For a long moment, he gazes around the courtyard, but finally turns back round to start loading the cart again...

...and walks straight into the form of a huge bearded man wearing a sleeveless shirt, orange trousers and a cruel smirk on his face. Before the servant can react, the shotgun has been snatched from his hands and the man has him in a powerful neck grip.
"Hello, sunshine," the man growls in a heavy Scottish accent, "Planning on leaving without saying bye, where we?"

INSIDE CASTLE MARKOV, PRESENT TIME​

I look at the reactions of the people assembled in front of me as the servant finishes his little speech, and can't help but chuckle a little. As Palonis makes a joke about the nonsense just uttered, I grin and nod.
"Sure as hell smells like bullshit to me." I look down at the servant, and motion with my head towards the door. "Alright then, fuck off. I'll come down with ya to grab some supplies from that cart of yours and make sure you ain't up to anything stupid, and then you can leave."

I turn round and look at the others. "I'd listen to Palonis, where I you. This 'hero' shite sounds like the fast track to getting yourselves killed. As if this trip wasn't enough." With that, I poke the servant in the back with my newly acquired shotgun, and lead him down to the cart again.

Vampires, prophecies, the return of the Hero, and to top it all off, a trip to Insanity.

What the hell have I got myself into?

We see how Grant came across the servant in the courtyard, and then flash back to the present time, where Grant demonstrates his disdain for prophecies and orders the servant to give them some supplies before he leaves. Like Palonis, he warns the others not to get swept up by the words the servant has just spoken.
 
Re: Insanity - CHAPTER 4

For the first time in what felt like centuries, two halves of a whole clashed. Saneless felt the gentle nudge of his other and he calmly retreated back, the vicious blood around them slowing and stilling before returning whence it came, filling his ageless veins with equally eternal blood. Their body reached out to Asmodeus, gripping his arms as the two both retreated to somewhere deep inside, in a floating darkness. There they both looked at each other, thoughts faster than words shooting back and forth in a small argument. Saneless didn't want to drag them into another war, but he wanted their lose memories back. Soulless was confused and scared, wanting only to grip onto the first thing that promised of a path to follow on white angel wings. The more violent of the two simply had nothing to say.

A scream echoed between the two of them and the childish half reached out into the darkness in immediate concern, only to be stopped. There were more important things to focus on, like the decision now. To stop these Elders, to survive until the next day and then figure out the situation once the situation was in the past. Maybe then, they could mourn any losses that would happen in the coming battle. They embraced for a moment, skin against skin and breath against breath before Soulless opened his silver eyes once more, his new wound healing nicely. He stared into the eyes of the angel, his own once filled with a curious hope, searching for something within Asmodeus. One could say he was searching for a future, entranced by his words. He glanced at Drake, Sakura. Could they hear these whispered words between them? Was it just the three of them, Soulless, Saneless, and Asmodeus? He sighed and stepped forward, closing all gaps between the two and hugging the angel as tightly as a child to a teddy bear at night. His answer was spoken only in the language of touch, but the message was clear. Perhaps... perhaps things would work.

Inside, Saneless sighed and sunk into the darkness of their mind, scraping together the remnants of their happy memories and defending them from any outside interruptions. The Cycle be damned if he allowed any more memories to be taken. He just hoped that there would be mroe good memories to replace the lost ones in the future... if there would be a future for them after this. Shaking his head, the darker half fell away from conscious, into something deeper, clearing his mind of all outside impurities and just feeling the world in a thoughtless bliss as he waited for the Hero to arrive.

[Soulless agrees, leaving Saneless to pick up the pieces.]
 
Re: Insanity - CHAPTER 4

While the others had been talking amongst themselves, Noise had been scouring the area for his missing gear. He eventually found the various pieces of his hunting gear, including his armor and switch-axe, scattered about the large table the vampires had been dining at. As he checked his equipment for damage, asides from his axe, which would take a much more thorough examination, he grumbled and cursed at the Count and his brethren under his breath. After he was satisfied that nothing had been broken or was missing, Noise began the task of donning his armor. Luckily, it had straps that allowed the wearer to don the armor by himself. This had become a common practice amongst hunters recently, due to an increase in wyvern attacks on villages, requiring the hunters to be ready at a moment's notice. After a few minutes, Noise stood up and stretched and shook, to make sure the armor still fit correctly and still has full range of movement. To his delight, it did. Next he picked up his large switch-axe and unlocked it, springs and pulleys flipping the axe blade into position. Noise gave it a few swings before he was sure that nothing was loose. Next he unlatched another lock, causing the axe blade t slide down, and the remaining half of the sword blade to slide into its place above the axe blade, turning the axe into a large sword. At long last, Noise had recovered his precious gear, and after collapsing the switch-axe back to its carrying configuration, turned and headed back to the group, where he found the servant finishing a discussion with the rest of the group.

[[Summary]]
Noise looks for his gear, too focused on the task to notice the servant explain the prophecy. After inspecting his gear, he returns to the group.
 
Re: Insanity - CHAPTER 4

Acqua listened to Q as he went on in English. Acqua was quite flattered by his complements, a smile on her young face. However, his voice seemed to have taken a beating from years of implicit cigarette use. The smell was not really all too new to Acqua, since she was used to the occasional smokers on the boats back home. He then proceeded to ask her name, which Acqua immediately responded to.

"Call me Acqua" she responded, her blue eyes revealing nothing but a warm feeling emanating from the girl.
--------------

And so Natalie found herself in a personal Hell again. However, it was not a battle with herself, but with the Truth. Constant flashbacks of that same girl tormented Natalie as she began twitching. It wouldn't go away, that fake voice. Natalie stared blankly at the stairs, while she was trapped within the Insanity of the past. This is not real, this is not real! Natalie continued denying the girl's presence. However, no matter how many times her voices screamed it in her mind, the crimson-eyed girl from that memory would not cease to exist. And so in her hour of need, this hero that she had faintly heard of seemed like the stars in her true past, a selfish bystander "too far" to aid her.
 
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Re: Insanity - CHAPTER 4

Jack paused as the man mentioned the prophecy, stepping back a tiny bit, though it wouldn't have been very noticeable. He found himself deeply convicted, and he could barely make out his own emotions. Palonis started to speak, but Jack was lost in thought. There was a great excitement welling up inside him, a wild fire that had just been given more fuel.

But. Yes there was the big but. It couldn't possibly be him, there wasn't any way was there? As Palonis finished speaking Jack waved his hand at him "Uhm.. yeah ok Pal that's great" He said "I'm uh.. gonna be outside.. see all you guys out there.."

Jack pushed past those in the way to the door and found his way to the front of the castle, a path lined with Trees on either side. He walked up to one of the trees, a small but sturdy thing, the harsh weather and even harsher emotions of the land had given it a thick bark and a strong trunk. Jack cried out and punched the plant, splitting the wood and sending half the tree flying into the woods.

"It'll never be me…" He stammered, tears forming in his eyes, and dripping down his cheeks as he closed his eyes. "AArrrgh!! you selfish little bitch!" He cried out, swivelling around and kicking another tree out of the ground. He stood there, breathing heavily, and wiped away the tears. "N-no.. I have.. I can't be like this, Iwaku NEEDS the hero right now.. and it shouldn't matter who it is, no! It doesn't matter who it is..

A voice in the back of his end, the little niggling one, the self doubt responded "Sure. Sure it doesn't." Jack sighed a little, taking the time to wipe his face again. This wasn't going to be something he found easy to get over, but he'd have to, for everyone.

He picked up a few of the shards of the tree trunk he'd felled, and pondered them for a minute.

Within a few minutes the path was obstructed, a fire blazed in a small pit in the center of a few logs, laid out as benches. Jack sat on one, warming the blade of his knife as he waited for the rest of the group to emerge from the castle.

[Jack has some emotional conflicts about the Hero news, and then makes a campfire/bench area for them to sit down outside the castle, when people want to emerge.]
 
Re: Insanity - CHAPTER 4

The Grandmaster noted a change within Jack and followed him outside, he witnessed Jack's tantrum but said nothing. he waited in the shadows, concealed by the shrouding until the fire had been lit, then he approached and took a seat beside jack on the ground. Even seated, Karsikan in his terminator armor dwarfed Jack, but this did nothing to intimidate him, more it reassured him, Like a Ceraminte Bulwark that would not crack, crumble or even budge. The Grandmaster sat silent for a moment choosing his words before he said them, "Do not fret little one," he began "this prophecy of a great hero, is as nothing, prophecies do not decide who hero's are. It is within the heart," he placed his helmet on the ground, "within the heart, there is blood, and muscle, and sinew yes, but there is more as well. Within the heart is the ability to make even the most humble man truly great, do you understand?" The Grandmaster looked at him reassuring, and the fire in his green eyes did not seem to come from the camp Jack had just built, but from within him.
 
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