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Messages - Noctifer-De-Mortem

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31
Rec Room / Re: CDDA: Adventures in Cataclysm
« on: May 04, 2018, 09:59:35 am »
Roxanne smiled at Hector’s response. She felt the same, to stand there no matter what happens but it wasn't him getting into so many shenanigans. Something inside her was nagging at her; it told her something needed to changed. A visible frown formed on her face; Hector noticed asked what was wrong.

“To be frank, I haven’t been fully honest with you. I am being a hypocrite, telling you we should talk thing through yet hiding stuff… I justify it myself by saying you don’t understand the arcane but if it actually affects me...then in a way it affects you too and it wouldn’t be fair to make those decision on my own…”

She stayed quiet for a bit looking around her room. After a bit of this she shrugged and looked at Hector. “You know what? Fuck it… I could use your advice on something… as my partner that is… care to take a look at something I am working at?”

The sword of the void rattled a bit but Roxanne ignored it. Her attention was elsewhere for now. For the first time in a while she neglected her “duties” in favor of time for herself and what she wanted.



“I see. Alright, I will wait for her in her quarters. And if you would be so kind to prepare something to eat that would be grand. You are Helen’s apprentice? Maybe you too might want to take a look at this things…” Victor said this over the radio in response to Solomon. He only recalled the name and the fact he was under the instruction of Helen from a memory of a conversation he and Roxanne had.

The journey to the hall went smoothly, now with no rain to slow him down. Once he got there he noted things were quiet in here. He guessed people were busy with their own affairs and he soon would be with his. Eventually he made it to Helen’s quarters and opened the door. He didn’t expect to find a woman looking at herself in the mirror. Her little reaction to him walking in was expressed by him as well.

“Uhhhm, who are you and what are you doing here?” He wasn’t aware that she was wearing Helen’s clothing and as such didn’t comment on them. “Are you from here at the Hall? It isn’t very nice to enter people’s room’s unannounced…”

It was then he looked at the piles of clothing on the bed an in other choice places. He put two and two together and came to the conclusion the woman was stealing. “...So you are stealing from her are you? I don’t know who you are but that was a mistake…”


Melody awaits Cardin’s answer and boy does she get one. She ends up blushing a bit from what he says. “Oh...you think so? I m-mean it’s fine….” She stayed quiet unaware he too didn’t know what to do. Then he spoke again. “Alright, follow me.”

The two started walking in with Melody as the guide. She knew what she wanted; she needed a drink. The farm kept the main liquor looked up except for personal stashes. She didn’t have one so as such she would need to break in to get a bottle. “I need a drink...want one?”

She found the stash inside an intact section of the cooking section and via sheer memory found the lock to the door with the stash. A single flick of her sword was all it took to get it open and with that she went in and picked two bottles. Not knowing what she had gotten she handed one to Cardin. The label was crude and it read “Barbee Q Sauce”.

“Here. One for you… Might was well drink here… There is shade, no one is bothering us and I don’t have a room anymore... “ Melody opened her bottle and took a swig. Before it took effect she sat down and raised the bottle up towards Cardin. “Cheers!”



Getting past the two undead guards was easy enough; Plague's control over XE037 and Coalence’s aura made it unmistakable who was approaching. The two guards stood at attention before giving a salute to which Plague acknowledge with a nod. Clara shook her head while Rey and Christina looked at each other with amusement. Soon they entered the former office tower and followed the bio-weapon turned arcanist; he seemed to know exactly where he was headed.

The inside of the tower was just as impressive as outside. Lush and luxurious furniture was placed everywhere, doors to various rooms were labeled with appropriate indicators, the emergency maps reworked to reflect this changes; however, the most surprising thing of all, the lights were on. Christina, Clara and Rey looked at all the little things along the way. They passed a kitchen area, a big living room, what appeared to be an armory and a closed door labeled “Recreational Downtime”. Plague didn’t pay any mind to this as if he had seen it a thousand times. He ignored their questions for now and lead them to the stairs to the floor above. Once there he stopped and addressed them for the first time since entering the tower.

“Wait downstairs for now. Go look at all room and get yourself familiarized with everything. I will meet up with Lucy alone. Once our meeting is over she will no doubt wish to talk to you as well. For now excuse me.” Without waiting for a response, Plague made his way upstairs. The three were left a bit perplexed. Clara specifically gave a wary look as if she knew something the others two didn’t; indeed she did but it was nothing to worry about is this Lucy was as reasonable as Plague made her to be.

“Hey, Clara!”, Christina exclaimed before clinging to one of Clara’s arms. “Come on, let’s check this place out. Why don’t we hit the recreation room first? Maybe there is something fun to do.” Instead of her usual expression of disdain or sarcastic response, Clara simply closed her eyes and smiled. She nodded in agreement before looking at Rey.

“How about you? Want to come with?”, Clara asked.

“Nah, I think I will look at the armory and supply rooms first. See what we are working with.”, Rey answered.

“Always the practical one. Let loose a little!”, Christina exclaimed. “Come on, it should be fun!”

Rey turned down the offer with a hand gesture this time. “Maybe some other time. Have some things to take care of. See you gals in a bit.” With that being said, Rey adjusted his grip on his overly exaggerated and decorated Scythe before heading for the door labeled “Armory and Supply”. Christina shrugged and eagerly dragged Clara over to the recreational room.



Plague made it up the stairs and looked at the hall in front of him. What looked to be converted office rooms now were labeled as barracks with numbered coding. He was currently starting in what looked to be a small waiting area with a corner sofa overlooking a large television set. Down the hall to the other side of the place was a single door that lead to the main office; his headquarters. Knowing Lucy, she would’ve taken his chair by now. It didn’t matter, he needed her help and no doubt this wound in the veil ordeal had her a bit worried too.

With deliberate steps he walked to the main office. He stood in front of the door and hesitated for a moment. A sense of dread overtook him; he resisted a strong urge to unsheathed his sword. Yes, the being behind the door was quite powerful and could not be fully trusted due to her nature but still, just barging in with sword in hand would seem rude and she hated that. He gave a deep breath and opened the door to find Lucy was indeed in his chair with her elbows resting on the large desk and her hand on her chin as if waiting for him.

“United States Army Bio-Weapon XE037-A12 B, Codename: Plague. It’s been a long time Sargent; still persuing shadows I assume?” The words that came from the woman behind the desk were firm but soft spoken. They had an air of authority and experience but also dignity and grace. She was a slender woman with auburn hair and scarlet eyes; she had a figure of a secretary hired for looks rather than skill and her business casual outfit matched that as well. Still, Plague, himself clad in a military uniform and wearing a custom gas mask was more than afraid of her. He step forward and took a seat on the chair made available for him.”

“It’s good to see you as well Lucy, you still go by that? And yes, I still seek the same goal since last we met; a better world…” He took off his mask to show her his face; signs of decay on what might’ve been a handsome face some time in the past. His eyes were sunken, tired and empty; his grey eye color quite the contrast to the rest of his face.

The woman chuckled a bit. “Yes, you can go ahead and call me Lucy. I still go with that motif. Lucifer, the fallen one… cast aside from paradise for daring to give humanity the gift of knowledge. It is as close to the truth of who I am than any other story; although I personally prefer the story of Prometheus. It was simple and it worked… Oh well, so you called me here today; how may I help you? Come to make a deal with the devil?”

Plague scoffed at her word. “You and I both know there is no devil and no hell Lucy. Already trying to pull rank on me huh? Please spare me that. Let’s go on with the meeting; you know exactly why I called you here today.”

“The wound in the veil. I know, why else would you call me? It’s odd to see you so desperate…”

“It’s not desperation, it’s precaution. You know what happened the last time this event took place. Beings from other dimensions took over and almost rendered the human race extinct, they took over your precious realm and fused two worlds… You more than anyone should know how serious this is.”

Lucy did not respond. She opted to stay quiet for a moment before answering. “I am not worried about humanity. They always find a way; they were made in my father’s image. At least the story goes…”

“That is not very reassuring… Are you really just going to sit here and do nothing?”

“Why and what can I do? I don’t like to interfere. Free will Plague, why go tamper with that?”

“Do you call those eldritch abominations hunting us down free will?”

“Yes, they are trying to survive in this new world just like everyone else. They were not asked to be brought here you know? Humanity once again messed with powers greater than itself and look where it got them. Besides, two other beings of great power are already at play: one who the veil itself was broken to wound and another the embodiment of acausality itself… I doubt me getting involved would be appreciated…”

Plague sat there and now he was the one without any words. Was she really this complacent? Why did she even come here then? “So what you are saying is you are unwilling to help us?”

“I did not say that. What I am saying is that if you are hoping for me to bear the mantle of warrior or craftsman and take an active role in any of this then you are wishing upon an empty well. Besides, why don’t you go out there and fight? You rely on your army of undead a bit too much and now you are partnering with others. It is so unlike you… The proud bio-weapon that could take down armies is now hiding in an office tower… But I suppose that is to be expected isn’t it? For I am not talking to Plague am I?”

Plague raised his eyebrow at her words, particularly the last one; he clung to that one ignoring the rest. “What do you mean? I am standing right infront of you…”

“Are you now? Is your goal still the same? A better world? Such a vague goal, never understood what he meant by that. A better world… Too bad he didn’t live to see his goal come to fruition. I am not speaking to Plague, I am speaking to his hollow shell being puppeteered by the very thing that promised it the world. Coalescence, you truly are a nasty one aren’t you?”

This words, Plague held back. The urge to take out the sword stronger than ever. But it would do no good. He had been found out; he had been unmasked as a fraud. Besides, what could he do against the devil? His blade was dull in comparison. Were he to die here, it would take some time to be reborn into another blade and perhaps reuniting with his brethren even more difficult.

“So, you have me all figured out huh?”, Plague said with a sinister smirk on his face. “Please do tell. What do you mean by all this?”

Lucy nodded; she crossed her legs and placed her hands on her lap to get more comfortable. “Let’s go on a history lesson together. The broken god and his pieces.”

“The year was 1286. Six small kingdoms in what is now germany had gathered their best mages to stop a unified threat. Six mages from each kingdom and a mysterious seventh were in the woods of Nelphemtar after having defeated a being of great power. It had taken decades of preparation and execution but mere humans brought down the deity known as Anomon. He was captured and brought to a unified council of the six kingdoms. The details of this event and battle are irrelevant...its consequences though…”

“Times were turbulent and while the seven mages did their work two of the six kingdoms had fallen. The need for a greater power was recognized. That is how the pieces came to be. Each kingdom wanted the power of Anomon for itself and as such it was decided to instill a fragment of it into four swords, one for each kingdom, and that it’s chosen mage would wield such a terrible weapon. It was up to the mages to figure this out and to come back to their home as heros. The two mages with lost homes and the seventh one were not granted swords but instead the means to defeat them: the shields of divinity. The seventh mage declined and as such only two shields were made. Where they are no one knows. Well...not no one but that is not the point… The mages got together and for two years worked on this project.”

“Each weapon was crafted in the image of the mage who was going to wielded; not in blade design as that had changed but in function. Anomon’s name was forbidden from being spoken and he became the broken god in reference for his existence being bounded in for separate instance. The weapons and shields were finished eventually. Void, Convergence, Assimilation and Despair as weapons while Trinity and Fantasia as the shields. Their job was done...but of course the mages were just human, they got cocky and mistakes were made.”

“A little proposal was made. They knew they would not keep this power to themselves forever; other will claim this tools so why not make a process for that too? A little game...a little puzzle… You know what happens from there. The swords eventually make their way around the world over the centuries and eventually here.”

“But, what are this pierced anyways? Why don’t we recap that too? Yeah, lets...we will save the best for last…”

“Void: A sword shrouded with an aura of harvest. This sword, like all four, has a will of its own. However, it feels empty, it requires a familiar spirit to inhabit it for it to channel its power; but everytime it does this the spirit becomes more corrupted, unhinged. It will learn to crave that power and if freed… But what is that power? Entropy. The sword harvests everything it touches and converts it in life essence to which it feeds to its wielder, spirit and itself. Like the other swords, it chooses someone worthy to wield its power and entrusts it with its goal of unification. In exchange for great power the wielder is task to feed the sword.”

“Despair: The pain and anger of the broken god manifesting into raw power. It’s will is that of war; truly a weapon to smite your foes. This one grants its wielder an insatiable bloodlust and rage to aid them in battle greatly enhancing their skills. But it comes with a price; their regrets, fears, insecurities and failures are exposed to them and the sword feeds of them. It doesn’t go away unless the sword chooses a different wielder. Its other effect is for the enemy; a single strike is lethal. Something akin to poison takes hold and it cannot be stopped. It is as simple as making a small cut in exposed flesh.”

“Convergence: The ever evolving sword. It has a motif of the color of the rainbow; each color represents a setting. This sword uses the power granted to it in order to adapt its power to whatever situation it is facing. It then stores that setting in a chosen color for it to be used at a later time. It’s wielder is granter the choice to adapt or use stored powers. Only those who can see and plan ahead are deemed worthy of it. Drawbacks? There is only one, a minor one at that, no matter who you are your ego will go through the roof. You will think yourself as invisible and eventually not even the sword will adapt to whatever it is you gotten yourself into.

“Assimilation: The sword to unite all under its banner. The power of this one is pretty nasty if I say so myself. Take the soul of anything that has one and make it your own. A person’s memories, skills, abilities and anything else of the sort is distilled into its most basic facets and become part of the sword. It then leaves behind a husk that it can manipulate as its own; a flesh puppet to exert its will into. Whatever it stole is now part of the sword and available to its wielder with no restrains; it simply asks to harvest some more. Now, how does it chose its wielder? Now that is truly the worst part… It calls someone over, tempts them with incredible power; power to change the world, promises everything to them and if they accept...well… Why don’t you tell me. Tell me what happened with plague…”

Lucy stayed quite now. She waited for an answer from the man in front of her. He who was referred as Plague smiled. He had been found out. “The sword assimilates the wielder the same way as any other victim. It’s power becoming one with the weapon. The husk left behind a perfect conduit; the person avatar. The use of hands and legs are useful. Yes, Plague is no more… when he accepted the power of Assimilation the sword took over. All this time it has spoken through him.”

Lucy shook her head as if disappointed. “And that leaves you Coalescence. A consciousness born from Assimilation and Convergence… You still take over the mind of your wielder and harvest them all the same but now you have the power to adapt as well. You can make your husks all that more powerful. Currently you posses the body of a onced feared biological weapon; your ability no doubt numerous from so many you have assimilated and situations you have adapted to… So I ask again, why don’t you go out there and fight?”

“You know full well why… This is the closest I have been to achieving my goal...my real goal… I am one half of Anomon and I will acquire the other half. I will assimilate the other two swords and be reborn… Then I will Assimilate the power of the broken god as my own and then I will be unstoppable!”

Lucy smirked. She got from Plague what she wanted to hear. Well, not really Plague, he was gone, but the sword masquerading as him. “Tell me, and then what? I assume you will eventually seek to assimilate everything. And that leaves one inevitable thing: you will want to assimilate me…”

“... Eventually yes… You would be a lovely addition to my army but I have not nearly enough power now to even face you… Once I am reborn though...“

“Hahaha! You honestly think Anomon could take me on? For all it’s mighty power it was taken down by mere humans. Seriously… Don’t delude yourself kid, I a waaaaay out of your league.”

“Is this what you came here? To have me admit my goal and then mock me? No...you came here to save your skin from your inevitable fate...you come to destroy me… You should know that will not work! Th-”

Lucy interrupted him before he could finish. “I know, you will only be reborn again in some different part of the world, bla bla bla, only delaying the inevitable bla bla. Sound about right? Relax, I am not here for that. I have nothing to fear from you. I have here to make an announcement.”

Plague did not appreciate the way she was no openly mocking him but there was nothing to be done. He could only answer her question and try to at least get her to help in something. “And what is that?”

“Listen. The wound in the veil is concerning but not for the reasons you think. There is a lot behind the scenes you don’t understand… this is only a symptom of something greater. This world is in a crossroads. If something happens to it a chain reaction will affect many others. I don’t necessarily care what happens to them but I do care about this one. This is my home and I will protect it. A long lost deity from far away has been called forth… It is getting bad and honestly the last thing I need is for you to make things worse with your little game.”

“Game?! How dare you in-”

“Shut up and listen! Don’t test my patience…”, Lucy exclaimed finally raising her own voice. Had any person heard that they would surely have lost their mind but to a piece it simply instilled terror. Plague calmed down and listened. “Void and Despair are to be left alone, at least for now. Once the wound in the veil is fixed and this world no longer hold the balance of many others then can you resume your endeavours. I am not asking this, it is an order. If you dare defy me, Lucifer Morningstar, then I will have no hesitation to end you…”

“...End me? I already told you it’s not possible. Besides, what do I get from this? You are just telling me to put my own ambitions on hold for something I don’t care about… How long do I even have to do so anyways.”

“For as long as it takes. A few years or thirty generations; it doesn’t matter. As for compensations I will give you one along with a task.” Lucy reached for the inside of her blazer and took out three small glowing disks. “One is for you and the other two for void and despair. They will make sure you survive the wound. I will make sure you and your brethren make it through this. That is what you get in exchange, survival.”

Plague picked up one of the disks and looked at it. It felt warm to the touch and a rather powerful aura could be felt. “And how do I get this to my brethren?”

“Two of your subordinate, Rey and Clara, have called the spirit of the void Roxanne Luna. When she arrives here in due time you will give her the disks, instruct her on what to do and then let her go. Leave the sword of the void alone you hear me? Also, you are to release her from your spell.”

“Pardon? My spell?”

“Don’t play dumb. You are trying to influence her the same way Randael did before you. Leave her alone, that poor girl is suffering as it is. You put her in that damned sword and is now feeling it’s effects. Not even can take her out but the disk should at least stabilize her.”

Plague pocked the disks and looked at Lucy who was currently serving herself a cup of coffee from a brewer that didn’t existed a second ago. “Is that all?”

“Yeah, that should be it. Halt unifying the pieces until further notice, give Roxanne the two disks and free her from your spell. Do that and we will get along just fine... “

“And if I don’t?”

Lucy’s expression turned serious. She took a sip of her coffee and then set it on the table before leaning in. “Let me tell you a secret… Humanity have the power enslave Anomon but they are not alone… Many others will happily lend a hand to help them. I am one of them… You should know something… I was the seventh mage…”

Silence permeated the room for a long time. She not speaking due to having said everything she needed to say and him being at a loss for words. Finally he found what to say. “I see… The seventh mage lives… I will do as you ask then. I think this meeting is over then.”

Lucy nodded one last time before finishing the rest of her coffee and poofing the cup out of existence. “I would say so. Its good to see we could come to terms. I will leave you know since I know you are a busy man and have things to do now. Just don’t forget what I told you here today. See you around!” With that being said, Lucy got from her chair and walked past Plague to exit the room. She wanted to talk to the other three; it had been a while she had spoken to another person.

Plague got up from his chair and made his way to the main chair where Lucy was sitting in. He finally unsheathed the sword and laid it on the desk. After staring it for a few minutes he took a seat and opened a drawer on the desk. He smirked, Lucy had left it there: in the drawer the trinity codex was laying alone. If Plague could not fulfill his goal this century, might as well form new ones…

32
Rec Room / Re: CDDA: Adventures in Cataclysm
« on: May 02, 2018, 08:48:17 pm »
Roxanne followed Hector unaware of what was going on. Doubt settling in once again at the his presence with a feeling she couldn’t shake off. It wasn’t until they reached her room and he began to speak that that feeling changed; it became lucidity. For a moment whatever was manifesting inside of her panic; it had lost control and could not get it back. However, it soon realized something; it was probably for the best. He would let her be for now; what needed to be done had been accomplished and she had earned her rest. Besides, there were bigger fish to fry at the moment…

There was silence from her at first, not sure what to say. The doubt and drive from earlier and the day before gone just as they had arrive. However, now was not the time to be confused; she had been asked a question and she intended to answer. With a sympathetic smile in her face, Roxanne set a hand on his shoulder and spoke.

“I remember very well. We all lived scattered lives and we came together under the mantle of Catnip and her prophecy. We hid from an event we dubbed the shifting which I only found out due to happenstance. We could’ve all gone our separate ways yet we stuck together; we took a simple farm and made it much more.”

“You have told me countless time you would always be there for me and have proven that to be the case. You say you would die for me and yet I never asked that of you. We have fought  and reminisce together but there is something that needs to be said…”

Roxanne gave a deep sigh; she was struggling with words and wanted to make sure their meaning was what she wanted it to be. “Do you remember how it all began? Two people seeking themselves in a brand new world full of possibility. We found ourselves in each other didn’t we? At least partially. But look at us, we are not normal; we never have been. I have gone through countless transformations and you fought countless battles. Yet we could always return knowing the other was there. Our relationship is not normal Hector; and you know what? That is ok… Maybe settling down isn’t for us. Maybe starting a family and raising the next generation is not our goal. Or maybe it is. Who knows. The thing is, we have to make it ours. Erase all notions of what is normal and what is taboo and let’s work together… Hell, you are dating a literal spirit and I a soldier clad in armor.”

“You know, we have been through so much these past few years. We both have changed as people. There is something we both have neglected; something perhaps we should’ve done a while back… When was the last time we sat down and asked each other what we wanted? It is mostly my fault… I have been seeking meaningless goals and objectives to distract me from the fact that I have failed to be the person I wanted to be all those years back… And that is not your fault… You ask what what will become of me? Who knows… But you have a choice to make: do you want to be there to find out?”



It wasn’t long before Victor found the armory, or what was left of it anyways. It had been as simple as following the trail of one of the memories Roxanne had just given him back; the time she gave him pretty much a lecture on why laser weapons were better than ballistics. He smiled as he looked at the laser gauntlet; he had lasers covered all to well.

Some mislings were hauling crates of guns, ammo and explosives from the wreckage of the collapse armory; it was a miracle nothing detonated. Crate after crate of bolt rifles, laser guns and a myriad of ammunition was carried to them to elsewhere so they can then begin the proper cleanup. Victor located what looked to be the leader of the salvage operation and asked where the crates were being headed. The misling pointed and directed Victor to the chapel nearby. There was small chatter about the gauntlet still in his arm; the misling expressed interest in bionics and mentioned finding a few while salvaging other buildings.

“Dream on my friend.”, Victor said in response, “Not all of them are weapons, it’s a matter of finding what you like.” The misling nodded in agreement and the two exchanges farewells before Victor moved on to the chapel. It didn’t very long to get there. Along the way he saw more misling clearing debri and helping on salvage operations. Victor felt like maybe he should help with that later on.

Once in the chapel Victor was a bit of awe at what he saw. An unfinished yet impressive stone structure. Two of its walls completed with the others as work in progress. The construction work on it was rather amazing; so much so it weathered the storm like nothing. Inside the chapel were crates full of weapons and ammo taken from what was once the armory. Surprisingly, there was no one else. It seems the misling choose to take crates in bulk rather than it being a continuous supply line.

Victor bagan to take a look. We was looking for a sidearm; some compact and reliable. The laser pistol he had was no longer needed due to his laser gauntlet. He would also want some sort of melee weapon. Memories of him carrying a sword were prevalent in what Roxanne gave him and as such he might as well stick with what he knew; or at least his other self knew.

While looking at the collection of handguns and blades he noted something on the corner. In its own crate were two items that stood out from the rest. One of them was what appeared to be a serrated sword; blade one sided. The sword was a metal case with the serrations what looked like fangs sticking out from some purpleish flesh. Next to it was a seemingly crude rifle looking thing. It too was a metal case with components made of the same flesh as the sword. The bolt was on it’s right side; it seemed to be a small horn and everytime it was cycled the entire thing would vibrate a little.

Curiosity got the better of Victor and he picked up the sword first. As soon as he touched the handle a sense of power and joy took over. He felt like he could take on the world. However, it seemed concentrating was getting harder and an unshakable feeling of being watched persisted. The sword was swung around a few times; each motion felt fluid and natural as if it was an extension of his arm. Despite the urge not to do so, Victor put the sword down. Next was the rifle.

This thing was weirded than the sword. Grabbing it gave the similar feeling of being watched as well as sharper eyesight. He looked around a hole in one of the unfinished walls that faced the woods. Nothing was in that direction so Victor decided to take a few shots of this thing in that direction. A five round burst was unleashed. What was seemingly large flaming ball bearing came out of the crude barrel. They were shot out of view to the woods ahead. The unmistakable same surge of power and glee was felt when he squeezed the trigger as when he held the sword. Victor was left smirking at this feeling. He searched his memories to see if there was anything on this. Nothing he could find. The trigger was about to be squeezed again when a sudden memory came forward that made him stop.

He recalled this exact feeling with another sword; a sword that threaten to consume anything it touched. The feeling was backed by a terrible power; a creature not of this reality who held the same power to harvest what was around him. Victor had asked this spirit for its power and this very feeling was present. In that moment he was truly invisible; at least it felt that way. However, following that trail of incomplete memories made him realize only strife followed. This terrible power didn’t belong in the hands of anyone.

Victor gave the rifle one last glance and then at the sword. They could not be left here; this things needed to be secured. Another memory came to view: The Cleansing Flame. No, something more specific… Thane Helen McKinnon. He nodded as he realized what needed to be done. Who else would be more qualified to deal with this things than someone under the banner dedicated to mitigate the dangers of the arcane? However, memories his own organization started to creep in as well. Broken as all these memories were he saw potential in understanding this things. He would have to ask her if he could research this things. That being said, containment and securing came first; last thing he needed was to repeat the mistakes of his past.

“Anybody there?”, Victor said over the radio, “This is Victor reporting in. Anyone in the hall picking up? I am heading over there with a couple items of interest. Helen might want to take a look. She appears to be busy from her last radio message so when she arrived could someone let her know I will in last night’s room? Ironwood out.”

Was that ok? Was it too formal? It didn’t really matter. It would take some time to adjust here but he would manage. For now his quest for a new weapon would have to wait. After finding a sling and scabbard for this things Victor began to make his journey back to the farm.



Melody was both glad and a bit taken aback by Hector’s dismissal of her. It didn’t matter anyways as it meant that line of question was now over for now. Then her attention was shifted back to the avian mutant. His little chants of celebration both quite adorable and amazing to her causing a smile.

“Cardin? That’s a nice name. Sorry again for uhhh...being too forward? As you can probably tell from this blindfold, I can’t really tell where I am going…” She paused for a moment and shook her head as well as clearing her throat. “We started on the wrong foot. How about we try again. Cardin, I am Melody. Nice to meet you! Wanna maybe go somewhere a little less crowded?”

She was still confused herself at the fact that she could understand him. Maybe she could find out by taking to him some more? Whatever it was, finding out would be a fun distraction. However, the sword rattled a bit. Melody rolled her eyes under her blindfold; it didn’t say anything to her, it was more like a sigh.

33
Rec Room / Re: CDDA: Adventures in Cataclysm
« on: May 01, 2018, 03:29:31 pm »
Melody noted how Hector tensed up as she spoke; she couldn’t see his expression but his aura shifted somewhat. Then she flinched a bit when he set his hand on her shoulder due to being queasy from earlier.

“A trap? I won’t pretend to know what made you come to that conclusion but… It doesn’t matter know does it? I have the sword and where he is neither Victor or I know… But if it was a trap… Why would he want us there? It seemed to recognized Victor...” She started to think rationalisations. It was one thing that they stumbled there but a trap? That seemed rather sinister and it terrified. She wanted to leave that behind but maybe that wasn’t an option.

“Exploit the sword? They can do that? But this sword, it told me th-” Melody stayed quiet. She didn’t want to reveal just yet what it had said about Roxanne. For now this was just between Helen, Victor and her. Wherever the other two trusted someone else to let them on it was not up to her; at least that is what she felt like. Hector didn’t seem to notice; instead he cursed out whoever was responsible for this.

When Hector called out Roxanne Melody tensed up a bit. The aura surrounding the former assassin still felt off somehow. Nothing she could comment on, it just seemed like an emotion she had yet to encounter. Then she heard the bird talk to her again.

“Yeah, I do. Why do you ask?” She was legitimately confused for all of half a second before it hit her. He wasn’t speaking but making bird noises. He was right; how was she able to understand him. Despite him not asking this Melody felt compelled to answer it. “I just do ok? I don’t know myself… Name is Melody by the way. Nice to meet you. New comer?”



Roxanne was surprised to find Hector her. She had been too fixated on her thoughts to notice him but now he was here. It seemed fitting she took a break from her little endeavour; there was still time after all. She smiled at Hector as he approached her.

“Oh? What’s up big guy, what’s on your mind? I have time, nothing important going on at the moment. And yes, I did promise you. Going to cash in that coupon now are we?”



Plague and Co. were returning from their little side trip into a nearby city. It had only taken about 2 hours to walk and another one they spent in the city itself. The trip proved fruitful as three dozen undead were following them. The sword of Coalescence was in Plague’s hand as he marched ahead of everyone else.

“I am so boooooored…”, Christina whined. She was clinging to Christina’s hand who seemed more annoyed than anything else.

“We are going home already Christy, relax for once.”, Rey said in response.

“Easy for you to say! You got to feed again… I didn’t get to kill a single thing…”

“Life isn’t just combat you know?”

“Says the former assassin.”

“...Touche…”

They were nearing the tower; it was in sight now. And boy were they surprised at what they saw. The tower was not only repaired and reinforced but it looked new and cleaned. In the surrounding perimeter were installed what looked like pillboxes on every corner and side of the building. A team of 4 undead was already meaning each one and two were guarding the entrance running a makeshift checkpoint.

“Whoa… When you said this Lucy gal was gonna fix our broke you weren’t kidding…”, Christina said in awe. “Just who are we dealing with here?”

“Someone very powerful. We have a bit of a history so I know I can count on her. This wound in the viel worries her too.”, Plague responded.

“Cool! I wonder if she will want to spar...or maybe even want to get to kn-”

Clara interrupted that though by speaking abruptly. Christina smirked as she noted a hint of disdain. “That being said. When in her presence be on your best behaviour. She isn’t one to joke around… So when you meet her, have some courtesy, some sympathy and some taste least she lay your soul to waste.”

Christina smiled upon hearing that. Obviously paraphrased and butchered but she could forgive that; too young to appreciate the classics. “Ohhhh, so that is what we are dealing with… How interesting… Alright, I will use my indoor voice.”

“What?”, asked Rey perplexed. “I don’t get it…”

“Don’t worry about it. Let’s just get inside and meet our guest”, Plague instructed.


34
Rec Room / Re: CDDA: Adventures in Cataclysm
« on: April 30, 2018, 09:02:28 pm »
Roxanne was working on in her room with her new found skill set. “Well, Victor certainly has quite the skill set… Too bad I could only get what was relevant in our deal. Oh well, I can get the rest later. Now where was I…” She flipped the book to the next page using the note as a road map.

“Now that I think about it, didn’t Randael teach Melody this stuff as well? I should’ve ask her before...no no, you did right Luna! You are doing what you need to do... “ She said this yet she was starting to doubt herself. Something was off, she didn’t feel like herself… Was she doing something wrong? No, it couldn’t be, she felt great! It must be something else...maybe the stab wound? Yes, that must be it!

The recipe was coming along nicely. It was a lot harder to do this way but at least no one had to die… Victor’s little invention came in handy. She just needed essence...plain old essence. She had blood essence and dull essence sure, but not the regular kind. Once she did it was a simple matter, now with the proper recipe for Victor, to mix the three into prime essence. Once that was done she could make the first out of five fragments; the first out of five soul shards.

“And once I have all five… I can build the reactor...I will be whole again… Are you proud of me? Is this what you want of me? Please answer me again...I want to hear your voice…” More doubt was beginning to manifest and certain thoughts she had a hard time shaking. Thoughts that almost seemed blasphemous to her.

“I am doing what you asked… By any means necessary… Why don’t you talk to me? Please...give me guidance again…” Her facade was slipping away slowly. A lucidity was beginning to form. Just when she seemed to succumb, she felt it again. She felt it just the same as she felt it back at the town with the deadly dust; the same as in the mall before busting the bird of his cage. An energizing feeling of rage, adrenaline and other similar feeling she would not bulge set in. Her mind was once more focused on that objective of hers.

“Thank you...I will not fail you… until we finally meet…”

There was nothing else for her to do here. Roxanne took the unfinished ritual and put it in her secret stash under the altar. Hers had fared better than Victor’s as she actually took steps to secure it. Right now she needed essence; it was time to step out and ask around. Maybe Helen would have some, Sharlene? Oh, maybe the new comer Sylvia. It didn’t matter who, she needed some. But there was no rush, she still had time.

With her sword now back in her scabbard, and her cloak back on or good measure despite not being needed anymore, she opened the door to her room. The mislings were busy at work helping to rebuild. What a charm-filled group of people; hard working to earn their keep. They really saw this as a new home huh? Oh well, with those thoughts out of the way, Roxanne strolled around the farm to see what the rest of the day awaited her.



Melody hears the avian speak to her. “Yeah, I am alright…”, she answered him. She could tell he was hesitant but she did not blame him. Then he picked up the sword for her; and act those in the known would scold him for but nothing seemed to happen… it was as if the sword did not affect him. It did rattle a bit, something that would probably catch his attention. Melody grabbed the sword offered to her. “Oh, thanks you… S-sorry for getting all handsy...I panicked…”

Then Hector spoke up; the voice of concern evident in his speech which troubled Melody. For even Hector to panic at its sight this thing must really be something else...and now it was in her possession. It spoke to her, choose her.

“This sword? I found it on my trip with Victor yesterday. Before this happened…” Melody pointed at her blindfold before continuing. “It was in its scabbard still worn by a corpse… The corpse of a cyborg if I recall? Had broken bionic swords which made me question why he had the sword in the first place... “

She tensed up a bit, implications of what this meant forming in her mind and for a second she considered hugging the bird again before mentally slapping herself for the idea. “Roxanne lost the sword during her ‘transformation’ incident right? This sword, everyone has been hesitant around it...telling me how dangerous it is…”



Roxanne walked for a bit before spotting Melody. She was an arcanist too; she probably had essence. Even if she didn’t or didn’t want to share, it was worth the shot. With a smile in her face she walked towards the little group that had gathered there.

35
Rec Room / Re: CDDA: Adventures in Cataclysm
« on: April 30, 2018, 11:35:17 am »
“...Ha, no. Roxanne, I am not doing that…”, Victor stated nervously but with conviction. A look of disappointment clearly visible in Roxanne’s face.

“What? Why not? You are the only one who can help me… Aren’t we friends?”, Roxanne responded

“Ok, no. Don’t try to use that card on me. Memory loss remember? For all I know we are bitter rivals.”

Roxanne smirked upon hearing that statement. “Well, in some ways we are. Anyways, help me! This is you are of expertise!”

“Was… and even so, what you are asking me to do...that’s too far…”

“Then why did you so readily accept the sword?”

“Wait what?”, Victor said in confusion. The sword of the void was now being held by his hands. There was no recollection of him actually grabbing it. “When did…”

“Reverse sleight of hand. Chat someone up and they will accept anything you hand to them. You are a simple man with simple motives, no offence; and I like that. Makes it easier to work with you.”

She was right. While with Melody she tried to exploit the need for reassurance, with Victor it was as simple as talking. She opened the book, told him what she wanted and in the process planted the seeds for him to do so. However, he was still a bit hesitant.

“Ok...the book tells us how to easily do this but the note...where did you even get it?”, Victor asked.

“I got it from you! Look closely, it has your handwriting.”

Victor did as asked. He looked at the writing and compared it to the journal he carried. The handwriting matched perfectly. It looked as if the note had been ripped apart from a notebook. “W-why would I even work on something like this?”

“Beats me. If I had to guess it would be around the time you or Melody lost your souls.”

“Wait what?! We lost our souls?”

“Yes, you did. God, this is gonna be a thing for a while isn’t it? Me referencing something, you not knowing what the hell I am talking about and then having to explain it…”

“Probably… That’s besides the point anyways! I am not doing this!” Victor placed the noted inside the book and close it. The sword of the void he carried placed next to it on the altar. She needed to change strategiz; if he wasn’t going to do it, maybe he could teach her...

He was about to leave when Roxanne uttered something. “Melissa Mcmorrow. Long straight brunette hair. She was quite pretty if I say so myself.”

Victor turned around confused and a bit annoyed. “What are you going on about now?”

“Your first girlfriend silly. Didn’t go anywhere of course… But still, you have some fond memories of her. Don’t you miss them? Don’t you want them back?”

He was left perplexed. Roxanne could be lying of course but still; what she was saying intrigued him. “H-how would you even know about something like this?”

“This isn’t the first time I have been a spirit Victor. Back then I possed you and we shared many of our memories. You have lost mine but I still have yours. I can share them with you if you want… I don’t have many to share but you might appreciate what I do have…”

Victor turned fully to face her. The prospect of her offer sinking in. He walked towards her with intrigued.This might be it, the first step of getting his old life back. All he had to do was ask. “And what would you want in return?”

Roxanne smiled. “Oh, so you know I want something huh? Very astute. Just let me pick that mind of yours again. Teach me everything you know… Let me explore your mind and absorb whatever skills I need to make a better life and in exchange I will let you relive some of yours…”

“Is that all?” Victor looked at Roxanne directly in the eyes. He sensed truthfulness in her voice. Had he been her earlier he might not have though the same. Roxanne was different, not all there. It seems she was changing to fit her needs but he wouldn’t know that; and even if he did, in this moment he didn’t care. “You have yourself a deal…’

“Good… Close your eyes and just stand there ok? Once this is done you are free to go; I will do the experiment on my own…”

Victor closed his eyes and stood still. He focused on his breathing; something told him to do so. It was just waiting for now; he heard the sound of the sword being picked up. Then he felt something else; he felt as if something was invading his mind.

A while later Victor emerged from Roxanne’s room. A look of disbelief on his face was evident as he closed the door slowly. His laser gauntlet was in his hand due to Roxanne’s curiosity taking over; but he didn’t care, he was too busy browsing other things as she played around. Now that was over Victor emerged with fragmented pieces of his memories. Many of the memories she gave him were once he had shared with her; not surprising but unexpected. The rest were of his early life; those he was more grateful for. It was very little all things considered but it was something; something to cling to. For now he had a new objective in mind. He looked at the laser gauntlet once more and sighed. “I need to find another weapon…”



Melody had been walking in a random direction. It was by some happenstance she hadn’t bumped into anything since she wasn’t really paying attention to the aura spell. Instead; she seemed to me murmuring something about sword and friendship. It was then she felt it.

She bumped into something and quite startled her. Her sword was dropped as she tried to free herself from...feathers? She resisted at first but then she calmed down a bit. Her spell told her this was another person and for a moment she simply let happen. “Fluff…”

Then she heard the voice of Hector calling her. She panic as the events from a bit ago were recounted in her mind. By pure instinct she moved forward a bit and embraced the bird; she did so in an attempt to feel secure, and it seemed to work somewhat.

“H-hey Hec- Mr. Lowe!” He sudden insurance in formality was her mind attempting to seem normal but it probably had the opposite effect. “Yes! Ms.Luna let me go… she, uhhh, we… I did what she needed from me…” A few moments went by as she continued to embrace the avain before realizing what she was doing. She let out an embarrassed scream and let go quickly placing her hand on her sides and turning away. “S-sorry! I didn’t mean to!”

36
Rec Room / Re: CDDA: Adventures in Cataclysm
« on: April 29, 2018, 02:26:50 pm »
The trio of arcan misfits settled themselves in Roxanne’s room. Roxanne and Victor sat on two chairs reserved for the sidelines of the alter while Melody sat the bed. The cursed spirit listened as Melody recounted the events of their journey. Roxanne showed a myriad of expressions precisely tuned to the words that were being spoken; nothing she hadn’t done before. Still, small sense of surprise lingered in Roxanne’s mind; however, it was accompanied by something else. Mixed in was something predatory; something told her she could use this to her advantage and she had all the intention to do so.

“Wow...and then what, you just headed to the Hall?”, asked Roxanne with a perplex tone.

“Yes”, clarified Melody. “It Helen wanted to see us and honestly I wanted to get any scolding from her out of the way. Luckily it didn’t came to that and looking back it was a good idea since the storm kinda took us by surprise…”

“Ha, that’s a surprise! Still, I assume you two won’t be allowed on any adventures any time soon?”

“I don’t think so...and honestly, I don’t want to either. The last one is why I have to wear this blindfold now…”

“Have to? There is no light here; it should be fine.”

“Oh no, Victor’s aura spell he put in the farm is a bit too much for me. This lets me filter out excess information or something. Victor, you explain it, you gave this thing to me.”

Victor’s attention perked up just then. He cleared his throat and addressed Roxanne directly. “Well, I don’t understand it myself. It was gifted by a supposed it friend of mine to give to Melody while I dreamed last night. Weird huh?”

“I have heard weirder from you. Friend you say? Anyone I know?”, Roxanne's asked.

“His name was Blackjack. Recognize the name?”

Roxanne smirked at the mention of that name. “I do. Never met him myself but I know he was a good friend of yours some years back. Did he leave anything for me?”

He nodded at her question. “As a matter of fact he did. A pair of bracelets to help you with your corporeal needs. Or so it says on the note that came with it…” Victor took a small box from one of his pockets and handed it to Roxanne. She accept it promptly and looked inside. An expressing of joy similar to a child getting a new toy. Roxanne took out the bracelets in a haste and put them on; the box was simply let to drop on the floor with no regard.

“They are so pretty! And they go with my earrings. Wow, who though you could be so thoughtful? Wonder what Helen would think of you giving jewelry to other women ~”

“Stop that. I am simply relaying them to you. Don’t make this weird…”

“Oh calm down. Don’t be so damn serious all the time. You might have forgotten your memories but are still so easy to tease. Anyways, let’s test them!”

Roxanne looked at the thing gold bracelets on her wrist again. They had three red gemstones on top which glew in light. Her earrings she had scavenged from the dust town the day before matched perfectly as if they were from a set. With observation out of the way Roxanne began to test them.

The red cloak that held her corporeal form was ditched. She took it off slowly as to not damage it despite that not being a concern given it’s properties. This was the cloak of a divine spirit; her cloak to be exact when she was one herself. The divine essence that it gave her radiated away and the bracelets took over. It felt a bit odd at first but Roxanne quickly got used to it. She glanced back at the her two visitors as if seeking approval. With a nod from Victor she reached for her sword.

“Would you look at that...it really does work…”, Roxanne exclaimed.

As if just having it received for the first time and examining her new weapon, Roxanne looked at the sword she brandished. With no need to call upon its power she had been able to lift it with the cloak on. A smile was etched on her face; this opened new possibilities.

She stood there with a triumphant look while Victor looked on processing just what this all meant. Melody on the other hand was getting bored and a bit impatient. Roxanne had called them here for something and the lack of stimuli was getting to her. With no hesitation she voiced her concern.

“Hey, not to be a buzzkill or anything but you had something to tell us? Said over the radio yourself… How about you get started on that.”

Roxanne’s trance from the sword ended there and she shook her head. Victor chuckled and shook his head in amusement.

“Right right! Sorry, was just lost in thought for a second. Anyways, yes, asked you two here to help me with something. But first things first…” She pretended to look around for something for a bit before applying a facepalm. “Oh no...I seem to have left a book in the library… Victor, could you be a dear and fetch it for me?”

“Oh, sure thing Roxanne. But uhhm, the library was destroyed by the storm… The book might have not survived....”

“Well, still worth a look don’t you think? If it’s not there than we will make due. I have you as a backup Victor. Anyways, the book is called ‘The essence of essence’. Should make the task at hand easier.”

Victor nodded at the task at hand and dismissed himself. “Will see what I can do. Be back in a few.” With exited the room and closed the door behind him leaving Roxanne and Melody alone. The latter let out a heavy sigh that betrayed more than boredom. Roxanne noticed this and flashed a predatory smile to her; not that Melody would notice. She made her way to the bed and sat next to Melody startling her.

“Hey, you ok there Mel? How are you holding on?”, Roxanne asked with a sympathetic tone.

“I am fine… Why do you ask all of the sudden?”

“Well, going through all that must not have been easy. You act tough but I know you are hurting. Do you want to talk about it?” She settled her hands on Melody’s shoulders and gently began to massage them.

“W-what are you doing?”, Melody asked sheepishly.

“Relax, I am just giving you a shoulder massage. You must have some pent up stress. Go on, tell me what plagues you…”

Despite her hesitation, it did feel nice. Melody decided maybe it was a good idea to open up. “It wasn’t easy… When we were there, the words of the old man still haunt me you know? No end to evil... “

“Oh, is that it? Don’t worry about that… there is so much we can do. It’s no use beating ourselves over it…” Roxanne’s motions got a bit faster and more deliberate. Melody eased up a little more.

“T-that’s not all… It’s the fact that I wasn’t able to do anything… I just stood there and watched… Victor, they overwhelmed him and I could do nothing but watch...he could’ve been killed, if only I was stronger- ”

Roxanne quietted Melody down with a deliberate stroke of one of her fingers down the length of her arm; the other firmly grasping her other arm and pulling her back. She whispered intently in Melody’s ear. “That’s not what I see… I see a brave young woman who stood up; she raised her weapon and fought with honor. That is all that can be asked… sure, you are not that strong yet. But, you still have a lot to learn… That is why you have Helen, and Victor...and why you have me Melody…”

“I-I do? You think I can become stronger?”

“I know you can...just let me teach you… you and I Mel’, the world won’t be able to stop us…” Roxanne began to kiss Melody’s neck and she gave in. All the stress Melody had was slowly melting away in the hands of someone she trusted the most. “Relax Melody...let me take care of everything…” From then on it was just silent. Roxanne did indeed take charge. Her hands began to wander and Melody simply let it happen.

There was something specific Roxanne wanted; her current prime objective. The two swords, despair and void, they had talked to each other. It was decided it was time re-united. The wound of the veil left them no choice; the will of the wielder be damned; and with the sword of the void not having a wielder in the first place it seemed like the right time. Roxanne had one objective, to have Melody surrender her sword to her; to fuse them and become the next wielder of the sword of transcendence…

It was all going well. Melody seemed to be in a vulnerable place right now; Roxanne was exploiting this quite nicely. She just needed to give Melody a hint; something to tell her what she wanted. Within the passion of the moment, Roxanne reached down Melody’s hand again and reached for her sword; she kept it on her hand instead of her scabbard due to comforting her but she had all the confort she needed right now. However, something happened when Roxanne’s hand touched the sword of despair.

A sudden shock ran down Melody’s spine that pulled her away from Roxanne. It felt like something was being taken away from her; it felt odd and very real. The sword was reacting to who it deemed worthy of it and the two present, it’s current and a former wielder, were both that. The feeling was strong and unexpected and now with a chance to calm down Melody felt the need to get out of there.

“Uhhh, s-sorry… Have to go now…”

“Aww, what’s wrong? Do you not like me?”

“No, it’s not that it’s just...I need to go ok!”

Without letting another word be said from Roxanne, Melody rushed out far from Roxanne's room as she could in a single sprint. After being sufficiently far away she stopped. Her breathing was still heavy and she decided to take a quick rest before thinking on what to do about this.

"W-what is going on with Roxanne? That isn't like her..."

Suddenly her expression turned sour.

"You shut up! I am not taking that from a sword. Had enough problems with your kind today..."

Roxanne was still in the room with the door wide open. She smiled at herself; she failed her main objective but at least seeds of doubt had been planted. Still, she did manage to get something else. I her hands she was twirling a single crystal bullet that Melody was so fond of. This would help nicely in her next projects. It was while in the middle of her thoughts that Victor came in. He had a book in hand; the one that had been requested.

“Hey, I managed to find the book. It has some water damage but it is readable. Uhhhh, where is Melody and why is the door opened?”

“Don’t worry about it. She had to run out. Lady stuff. I was just too lazy to close the door. Can you close it for me? Now, you and I have a job to do. This is why I called you here today… Open the book to page 37…”

37
Rec Room / Re: CDDA: Adventures in Cataclysm
« on: April 27, 2018, 11:18:46 pm »
Roxanne opened the door to the radio room and quietly entered. Some mislings were roaming about and chatting or playing card games. This perplexed her a bit; what were they doing here? The sight of Roxanne entering startled them a little bit.

“Uhhh, what’s going on here?”, aske Roxanne.

“Oh, I am sorry Ms. Roxanne but we needed a place to hunker down for the night of the storm... Everywhere else was affected but this looked sturdy enough.“

“...That’s fine I suppose. My room was left alone right?”

Silence. The one speaking gulped hard; the last thing he wanted was to get on the bad side of the “Blade of Sodom”.

“W-well...there were a lot of us… There was not enough space in the radio room alone so…”

Roxanne breathe in heavily. A tint of panic concealed in a facade of annoyance.

“Is anyone there currently?”

“No, most left to help rebuild the place. We didn’t touch anything! I swear!”

“You have better not… Anyways...I am going to be in my room getting ready for something important. No one is to disturb me ok?”

“Y-yes ma’am!”

“Good, have fun or whatever…”

With that little interaction out of the way, Roxanne made her way to her room. The misling just stared at her but return to their individual activities once she entered and closed the door behind her. They were not lying; nothing was broken our out of place save for things moved to the side to accommodate for people and an undone bed. It could’ve been a lot worse thing considered.



Victor and Melody made their way the farm on foot. It wasn’t a long walk but the rain made it miserable and slower than it should be. Melody had neglected her umbrella and didn’t accept Victor’s offer to use his. She insisted he needed it more than her since she had her aura up. Thankfully, the rain stopped as they approached the farm. Victor put the umbrella away and Melody stopped her aura. However, a new problem soon arose.

Just like last time, the aura spell Victor had deployed over the farm had started to overwhelm Melody. She took a single step inside the radius and then back away in a scurry. The feeling of sensory overload justifiably too much for her. Victor took note of this and decided this was the best time to present her with the gift Blackjack said was for her.

“Damn it...how am I supposed to go in there? I can’t turn this thing off…”, Melody stated.

“Well, I might have a thing for that.”

“Do you? What is it?”

“Hand me you blindfold please. Also, stand still and wait for a moment.”

Melody was a bit taken aback by that request but did so anyways. She took off her blindfold and handed it to Victor. He reached for one of his pockets and took out the folded blindfold he was given. Carefully, Victor unfolded it and then placed it over Melody’s eyes; he let go once he tied it behind her. Melody’s blonde hair was quite the contrast to the black blindfold.

“Oh...this one feels a bit different than the other one. It feels light and...warm…”

“It was given to me by a friend. He said you would like it.”

“A friend? We haven’t been separated since our mission except for the night. I didn’t meet any ‘friend’. Also, you forgot who we were, how did you know this ‘friend’?”

“A little accusatory are we? Well, I meet with him in a dream. Then I woke up with this in my pockets. Neat huh?”

“Neat but suspicious...anyways...thanks for the gift...should we test it?”

“Go ahead.”

With a small nod, Melody turned around and faced the invisible barrier. She walked into where the full aura spell’s effect were present. After a few moments, nothing. Everything seemed the same. No headaches, no overwhelming amount of information. Melody smiled brightly. “It works! It really does work.”

Victor reciprocated her smile and walked to her. “Good to hear. As long as you have that on you should be protected from anything trying to use the aura spell against it. It limits it a bit by having you have to focus to use it to the max but it’s worth it don’t you think?”

“Yeah… but how do you know all this?”

“I don’t. It was written on a little note that came with that blindfold.”

“Ah, that makes sense.”

“Well, we are a few dozen yards away from Roxanne’s. Let’s get going shall we?”

“Yeah, let’s go! We have to let her know about our project and I think she also has something she wants to tell us?”



Some time had passed since she arrived. Things were back in order as if nothing had happened; the farm outside in chaos yet her room remained the same. Roxanne closed her window’s curtains despite Jim’s protest. He gave a little yawn which made Roxanne chuckle.

“I know you haven’t gotten sunlight recently due to the storm but you have to hold on a little longer ok? Once I am done here I’ll get you a lamp or something. We probably have those UV ones used on private weed operations…”

There was a knock on her door that was built on the back. She could feel two silhouettes beyond the door and guessed who they belonged to. It was time to put her plan in motion; to plant the seeds.

“Victor! It’s so nice to see you!” Roxanne embrace him in a tight hug which took him by surprise. She held for a bit before letting go. “Melody! What’s with the blindfold? Whatever, come here!” Roxanne hugged her a well in the same manner as she had Victor. After letting go she invited the two in. The pair did so but found the whole thing a bit out of place.

“So you two went on your little trip together huh? How did it go? Any interesting finds?”, Roxanne asked.

“It’s a long story Roxanne… and the reason I am wearing this blindfold…”, Melody answered.

“Is it now? Well, take a seat and tell me all about it! We have all the time in the world...all the time to catch up…”

38
Rec Room / Re: CDDA: Adventures in Cataclysm
« on: April 25, 2018, 09:20:18 pm »
Roxanne spent her time daydreaming; or at least that is what it looked like. She hardly noticed when Hector brought in the tank after weathering what was left of the storm. Her attention finally settled on them once it was determined it was soon time to go. Hector’s suggestion to the bird to ride on top of the tank seemed to be what he liked best. Roxanne couldn't blame him; he did wake up to it after being looked in a cage so he probably didn’t want to back inside of it.

While she was still in the middle of some thoughts and soon after made arrangements with the bird and Mica, it seems she would also ride with him, probably due to her animalistic sense telling her something was odd with Roxanne in some way, Hector came by and told her something. She placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a sympathetic smiled; something else was projected on her face but not quite so discernible.

“You are right, this is hardly the time. We have an opportunity to head back to the farm and we should take it; people might be injured and they might need us Hector. Listen, I have a few things to take care off once we make it home… Some of them have to do with this.” Roxanne pointed out her wound. “ But, I might need your help later on. When that time comes, how about we take that time just for the two of us? Not in a mission like we did yesterday but actually spend some time. That sound good?”

Roxanne patted his shoulder and then left him for the time being. “See you on the other side though guy.” She boarded her APC and reeved the engines on. It whined like a wounded animal and it hurt Roxanne to hear just as if it were a dear pet. “I know baby. Just a little longer and I will have you patched up ok? Just get me there and it will all be fine.”

And they were off. Rain and wind still lingered and navigating through the roads was a nightmare. Debris for damage buildings and cars scattered all over the place made it a sort of maze. Roxanne still took the lead letting Hector chase in his tank; she was eager to get home and it was apparent in her erratic driving and actions. Actions like using concentrated laser fire to move car out of the way before ramming the rest with her heavily damaged front bumper. There was no seeming care or finesse in what she did; she had a destination and she was going to get there one way or another.

Eventually, they made it home. The damage to the farm and surrounding areas was evident as they neared. Roxanne let out an annoyed sigh as she knew there will be work to be done for some time now. It was time to rebuild this mess and she could use this to keep and eye on things. Still, first things first…

“Victor, Melody, do you copy? It’s me Roxanne. I know things are hectic and you guys must have your own problems but do you mind coming to my room when you are able to? There is something I need to talk about with the both of you. Anyways, take care and hope to see from the both of you soon. Oh, and come alone... “ Roxanne announced this over the radio to the private frequency Victor and Melody shared with Roxanne. It was mostly use to communicate their shenanigans but now there was a legitimate use for it. She set the radio down and then promptly parked her APC where she usually did. The door to the radio room and then her room was just ahead yet she couldn’t help but feel like she would not like what she would see...



“Oh...just applying some wards on it?”, Melody asked timidly but less defencibly. “I guess we can do that some time… As long as I can still use it.” She relaxed after that now a bit embarrassed by her outburst. “I’ll go fetch the book for now…”

“Melody…”, Victor cried out. “I’ll go get it.”

“Why, I sho- oh, right… Reading the cover and all.”

The two then watched Helen pick up the medallion a bit reluctantly before leaving them. She let them know that if they needed her she would be elsewhere on the hall attending other stuff. After she left, Victor went ahead and retrieved the book. It was easy to find all things considered. Once he got back him and Melody got to work; he would read, explain it to her as best he could and the two would spitball ideas and forth. Melody was quite used to this and Victor was now somewhat comfortable with her.

After about a coupled hours of this the radio message picked up. It was Roxanne. Victor was surprised by this not recalling he was wearing a radio. Melody was a bit worried and taken aback that she had requested they two come alone. Something in that didn’t settle well with her.

“Guess that is our cue Melody. We should get going.”, Victor suggested.

“Yeah, I’ll let Helen know. Meet me at the jeep so we can get going.”

Victor nodded and they two made their way out of the room. Melody’s aura spell made it easy to track Helen. A 2D silhouette of white noise somewhere in a specific direction. The ever looming tear in the veil scared her a bit but nothing bad was happening yet. They would worry about things as the came.

“Helen!”, Melody cried out. “Hey! Victor and I are heading out. The storm seems to have mostly passed. It’s just rain at this point. Roxanne radio’d in, she appears to have arrived from whatever little journey she took and requested us to meet her. So Victor and I are gonna go ahead and do that. We will explain to her what is going on to get her on board. Alright, I’ll be on my way. Bye!”

Afterwards, Melody met up with Victor in there agreed location. She had neglected to bring an umbrella so she activated her aura of harvest for the raindrop to be harvested before they could touch her. Had Helen witness this there was no doubt she would be scolded for such careless use of power.

Victor was standing there with an umbrella of his own. Melody could sense distressed from him over something. “What’s wrong?”, she asked.

“Well, the jeep didn’t survive the storm... “

“What?! No no no! They are going to kill me…”

“I am sorry Melody...we will worry about that later. For now let’s get to the farm on foot. You should fetch an umbrella bef-” That was when he noticed the paradoxically bright aura of hers. He simply shook his head. “Seriously? Using the magic like that?”

She scoffed at his statement. “Funny coming from you...?”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Never mind...let’s just meet up with Roxanne…”



The battle was over. The nephilim had been taken down. It had been hardfought but it was done. The tower laid in ruins, the undead army decimated and the rain left them freezing with no spare clothing.

“Well, no what?”, asked Christina

“We rebuild. Not your first time losing everything remember?”, Rey said as a matter of fact. Christina gave a sarcastic laugh and then stared at him.

“Stop it, both of you. We don’t have time for games yet. Rey is right, we need to rebuild. Clara, how is the link going?”

Clara stepped out. “Link is finally stable. I took the liberty to call her and she picked up… Plague, she is kinda pissed right now. The wound in the veil isn’t really something she has patience for. She told me, and I quote, ‘It better be damn important for him to be calling me at a time like this!’ then that was followed by the usual rant about how foreigners taking over her realm and what not. You sure you want to do this?”

“It will be fine. She and I want the same thing right now. Connect me.”

After a little handwave Plague was connected to the person on the other line of she Psy-line.

“Lucy? Is that you? It’s me Plague. Has been some time since we spoke hasn’t it?”

“Drop the damn courtesies. I don’t have time. What do you want? I am a busy woman!”

“I don’t doubt that. The wound in the veil must have you riled up. Wasn’t it due to it you lost your foothold in this real because of it 8 years back?”

“Do you have a death wish?! Are you really just calling to mock me? Well, I have more imp-”

“No no, I called her to make a deal with you Lucy. How does that sound?”

The was a silence for a moment. Then the woman on the other line spoke up. Her aggressiveness now gone. “Go on, what is it you want?”

“Well, I am in a bit of a predicament right now. The wound here has some VIP rather worried. I wanted to discuss that with you. That and my HQ was destroyed in a rather recent conflict…”

“So you want me to rebuild my house and have a chat? Seems reasonable...what are you willing to offer in return?”

“Why don’t we discuss that in our chat? The veil is a concern to both of us. We can discuss terms then.”

“...You know what? I supposed it’s about time I paid you a visit… Yeah, we will have a nice long chat… For now, I need you to take your friends with you on a trip.. I know who they are, don’t act surprised. Leave a couple dozen of your undead golems and go somewhere else not here for about 12 hours. I don’t care where just leave. When you come back the tower will be rebuilt. Got that?”

“Every last word.”

“Good, now I have other things to worry about. See you then.”

The connection ended then and there. Plagued turned around to address the others. “Well, anyone have somewhere in mind they would like to spend time in?

39
Rec Room / Re: CDDA: Adventures in Cataclysm
« on: April 24, 2018, 10:32:19 pm »
Roxanne sat back in the edge of the APC examining herself. Hector had patched up the avian and she hoped he had calmed down for now. A few thoughts lingered in her mind; the strongest were the new feelings she felt. At first it was wild and sporadic while in the town of dust. Then they manifested as a familiar bloodlust. All of this culmination into soft spoken words from her sword and an ecstatic feeling of, for lack of a better term, feeling outright alive again. Pain and blood from her wound was not expected but neither was what had happened previously; it was gonna take used to this new form. At least she wasn’t alone anymore…

“It’s been just a few days and get changes are already manifesting… Unprecedented series of events… how unfortunate… Oh well, might as well continue the current course; I have my objectives after all… For now, I need to get to the farm and talk to them…” Roxanne was completely lost in thought at the moment. Her words mere whispers barely audible and incoherent to anyone but herself. However, all of the sudden she composed herself and addressed the others.

“Right, this morning has been a bit hectic and I don’t want it to get anymore while we are who knows where. As soon as the storm clears enough I will zerg rush it to the farm; what is zerg rush? A term I picked up from… someone who I played video games with a while ago… Anyways, if both the bird and Mica agree they can come with.” Her attention then shifted to Hector and her tone was now rather authoritarian. “Hector, since you came on your own vehicle you can either follow us or stay or whatever else you wish to do. This seem fair to go guys? Good, I will be playing the waiting game for now...everyone make preparations for now…”



Victor and Melody listened to Helen’s response. They were both a bit nervous as to what she might say. The rejection of their offer was expected but her proposed solution was not. Melody clutched her sword defensively while Victor gave her a sympathetic glance; she spoke up soon after.

“Wait a minute. I am not just going to give up the sword ok? I know I said I would to fuse it but...even then I am reluctant to do so. You say this will only buy us time? No, sorry Helen but I don’t buy it… plus, this is the only weapon I have left. My rifle, well, I can’t really use properly now can’t I?”

Victor place a hand on Melody’s shoulder. “We aren’t taking anything away just yet. We are all just throwing ideas ok? Relax, the last thing we need is to stress out.” Melody gave a deep sigh and nodded to which Victor interpreted as sign to move on. His attention shifted to Helen and he addressed her directly.

“That sounds rather interesting. The symbol of judgment huh? If you say we can trust whatever that thing represents than so be it. We should at least look into fixing that medallion at least. I think we can run down this once more when this Roxanne gets back, it seems you guys trust her a bit. For now it wouldn’t hurt reading more into the matter while me and Melody wait for her to arrive. Do you have a copy of this Oath of the Chalice book? We might find something useful. Seems like a plan?”



“Is the link up yet?”

“Yes, it’s a bit unstable but up. Clara, swap with me. Stabilize the link while I manually tell these dead husks what to do.”

“On it. How many more to go by the way?”

“Just two, they seem to be stronger than the other 28. They did survive this far.”

“I want them gone before the storm clears. Once they are, we will begin securing the tower once again. It’s not gonna be easy to rebuild. Is that clear?”

The other three exclaimed in unison. “Loud and clear!”

40
Rec Room / Re: CDDA: Adventures in Cataclysm
« on: April 23, 2018, 10:52:09 pm »
Roxanne noticed something was off with the bird mutant but once again attributed to nervousness from what he had been through. Being abducted wasn’t fun; she would know. It was too late when Roxanne noticed the avian launching at her with high speed. Her instincts were to dodge but he was too quick. The act made her stagger and sit down on one of the seats. A quick sigh was her only reaction as she stepped outside to go after him only to find him on the ground cowering with Hector next to him. Roxanne looked at Hector up and down as if sizing him up. Her face then showed an expression of both disdain and approval before returning to normal and her attention going back to the mutant.

“I told you not to move so harshly...now I bet it must really hurt doesn't it? Let me patch you up at least?”

It was then Roxanne noticed something off. There was a sort of discomfort on her left side. Roxanne stopped advancing forwards and pressed on the discomfort instinctively. When she took her hand to look at it she noticed there was blood on it.

“Huh… weird, that isn’t supposed to happen…”. Roxanne said seemingly nonchalantly. Then the pain hit. It was as if it would not take hold unless she noticed the wound. Yes, the bird had dug in three sharp-curved talons into her side essentially stabbing her. She gave a series of small screams of pain and discomfort.

“Ok, that hurts...wait, it hurts? Oh...that isn’t supposed to happen either.”

Roxanne looked around and noticed the sharp talons of the avian still covered with her blood. She didn’t understand why when previous injuries were dry. Then she looked at Hector and could tell worry was manifesting.

“Don’t worry about me. I am fine. Just stings a little. Tend to the VIP and make sure he is bandaged to prevent further injury… I’ll take care of myself.”

She picked up the bandages and then slowly walked back to the APC to sit on the door frame. Slowly she place some bandages over the wound which stopped the bleeding but the pain still lingered.

“You see? All better…”



Victor and Melody had been working on possible cause for the sword’s attitude and what it meant about Roxanne. It had made a suggestion of it’s own Melody favored but Victor wasn’t too sure about. It was the only one they had at the moment and finding another would both take time they didn’t know they had and angered the sword some.

“I still don’t get it…”, Melody commented, “So you are saying there needs to be a catalyst?”

“Yes, this didn’t happen on it’s own.”, Victor responded, “It seems the sword knows but it isn’t telling you huh?”

“It says its worried you might see it as weak...seriously? This is what this is about? Now you shut up!”

It was then that Helen came in. She announced the wound in the veil and both Melody and Victor went pale.

“That would be the catalyst then and would explain that odd feeling I had a while back...:”, Melody whispered.

“Weird feeling?”, Victor asked.

“Yes, over there.” Melody pointed in the direction of the phenomenon without moving anything else. “Tune your spell to focus on spectral fields...you can’t miss it…”

Victor was a bit reluctant but did as Melody instructed. What he saw had him in awe. “That’s not good...we might have less time than we thought we did…”

“Yeah,...should we tell Helen about the plan?

“I think we have too. Go ahead and tell her Melody…”

Melody hesitated for a bit before addressing Helen directly. “Victor and I have a plan. The sword seems to agree. Hope we could have your blessing on it... But you might not like it...  I was thinking on me giving up the sword, fusing it with the sword of the void and find an adequate wielder asap. It will keep the effect on the pieces at minimum and we only have to worry about one person… This is the only solution we have right now. We would first need to find a wielder and then have Roxanne agree before we can do anything…”

Victor then interjected offering the a caveat. “But as Melody said. We wanted your input. If you think it’s too dangerous then we are willing to step back and think something else. We would just need time that we might not have… So, what will it be?”

41
Rec Room / Re: CDDA: Adventures in Cataclysm
« on: April 23, 2018, 06:10:51 am »
The opening of the rift and tapping of the veil could be felt by certain “players”. The pieces knew something greater was now at play and now their wielders and spirits needed to adjust accordingly. Not all of them knew what to do but certain plan and contingencies would now be put in motion.

“Did you send the message?”, asked a seemingly frustrated Plague.

“Done and done. I design the damn thing after all.”, Clara responded.

“Very well, that should give is assurance…”

“Why the long face? There is only five of them left.”

The battle with the nephilim was still ongoing. 25 of them were killed and 4/5ths of Plagues undead army had been wiped out as well. The rest were still outside holding the other 5 off while Plague and company seeked cover in the ruined office tower. The reinforcements were what kept it from collapsing but it looked as if it had been in the middle of a war torn nation. Rey and Clara cover Plague and Christina as they plotted something.

“That’s not it. Something else is now at play. I am being forced to play my hand rather early…”

“What do you mean? What’s going on.”

“The newly formed sword here is reacting to something. It is reacting rather poorly to it… it’s afraid… two pieces of a once mighty god are afraid of something out there… that is not a good sign… the veil, something has pierced it…”

“Wait, the viel? That ain’t good… You have a plan?”

“Of course I do. I just need you to cover me for a few more minutes. Think you can do that.”

“Are you kidding? I can do more than just cover. Just leave it to me boss.”

Clara on the other hand was a bit concerned. She noted the power of these spirits and how the undead forces had gone down. Some of them had been raised 20 times now and most of them were rendered incapable of being raised again. The explosion from earlier damaged the tower and took down a good chunk of the undead. She would defend as best she could given there was no other choice. The storm had calmed down as had the battle but the toll was raising.

“Hey, Plague, I think we could use some undead reinforcements right here…”, Clara stated nervously.

“Don’t worry, I am on that too…” The sword of coalescence started to shift into various colors until it settled into a bright blue. Plague smiled under his mask for he had found what he was looking for. “Clara, I am activating the sleeper protocol.”

Clara stopped what she was doing and shifted her attention to Plague. “What?! Now?! We just got here a few days ago! Come on, give it some time…”

“A few days and yet we have been hunted, our base almost destroyed and a power beyond our own has accessed the veil… No, this will be done. Once this is done, you are to help secure the connection.”

Clara reluctantly focused her attention back to keeping the nephilim out of the tower. “As you wish. Hope you know what you are doing…”




Victor was reading his journal when he reached a rather interesting bit. It was titled, “The convergence and you.” He was about done with the chapter but he felt there was some context he was missing; something his memories now lost would’ve answered.

He spoke softly as he read. “...And if left unchecked the convergence will take hold. There is nothing us humans can do but to take cover and weather the storm. Here is some tips in case it happens to you…”

Suddenly there were screams. Helen jolted awake and seemingly wasted no time in getting up and rushing towards it. Victor dropped the journal and quickly put on his laser gauntlet. He was about to ask Helen was the hell was that but she was already out of the room. Something was odd. An odd feeling lingered. Then something catched his eyes; it seemed Helen had dropped a strange medallion on her way out; he didn’t pay attention when that happened as he was making sure the gauntlet would activate.

Melody too had heard the screams but she had already been wake by then. She didn’t pay any attention to them for she was seemingly arguing with herself for an outsider's perspective.

“You are scared? Weren’t you the one boating great power? What? How was I supposed to know?! And what could I possibly do? I am blind! Huh, is he know… Yeah, I can feel it too… You sure? Yeah, Roxanne is out and the storm is making things a mess. Victor? I can see if he is not busy… Alright...I will trust you on this one, like I have a choice…”

She made her way to where Victor and Helen were taking residence for the night. Oddly, she sence Helen rushing towards something. She sensed danger in that direction so she opted to continue the course. When she got there she felt Victor quite uneasy as well. The silhouette that revealed in her spell was the same when the awoke from the attack in the sanctum; he was aiming his laser gauntlet at her. He lowered it as soon as he saw who it was.

“Thank god it’s just you Melody...something weird is going on… Helen rushed out to who knows were I guess I am holding out here for know.”

“Yeah, something weird is going on...Hey, can I ask you for something?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“I know you have lost your memories but you were the resident expert when it came to these things… Uhhm, it has been talking to me; it says its scared. It wants the sword of the void…”

“Huh, that’s very… strange… Maybe we can find something in my journal.”

“Victor...the sword of the void is what hosts Roxanne...the sword I have says you are no longer it’s wielder...worse...the sword of the void has gone ‘rogue’...”

Those words, Victor did not know what they meant but it shook him to his core. Something really bad was going on and if he could find a solution then might as well give it a shot. “Sit down and explain it thoroughly. Don’t skim anything, not matter how trivial… Let’s see what I can find…”



Roxanne was checking some random readings in the APC to see if anything had change in SoA’s intranet. Nothing yet it seemed; same messages as before and no response. Suddenly she felt weird. A sudden urge overcame her to hold her sword. Touching it brought along a sense of emptiness; something was missing. The it spoke to her; what is said did not matter, it was why it spoke that did.

A sinister smile overcame Roxanne, she let go of the sword still in its scabbard and looked around; she looked at herself, specially her hands. For the first time since becoming a spirit she felt different; she felt alive.

There wasn’t much time to take in the feeling; something else catched Roxanne’s eye. Their avian rescue target moved for a bit. Roxanne found this particularly odd but dismissed it as the meds kicking in. Then he moved again, this time deliberately. Roxanne turned around to find him struggling to stand up only for him to end up back up on the back of a chair. She gave him a sympathetic smile before speaking up.

“Now now, don’t go moving around so harshly. Why don’t we take a look and see if anything needs patching up hmm? Don’t worry, I am not going to hurt you; I have had practice with bandages.”

She went and grabbed some bandages that had been looted from the dust covered town. Roxanne then went ahead and slowly approached the bird mutant. However, something was off; Roxanne suddenly felt rather sleepy...

42
Rec Room / Re: CDDA: Adventures in Cataclysm
« on: April 20, 2018, 10:47:47 pm »
The cleanup of the battle had taken less time than anticipated. After hauling some of the loot and regrouping with Mica and Hector to ask what was up Roxanne finally relaxed knowing their mission was finally over. They might’ve lost track of Dee but they found Mica which was what they were after in the first place. The captive was stable in the APC and the other two were getting ready to do who knows what. While they did their thing, Roxanne decided to try out something she hadn’t done in a while out of boredom. With a smile on her face, she headed for the APC.

Once there, she carefully got into the APC making sure not to disturb their “guest. He was looking better already but far from recovered. With that out if the way Roxanne took a small PDA out of one of the cloak’s pockets and connected it to the radio system of the APC. Although not as skilled as many of the other farm residents, both Roxanne and Victor had discovered and joined SoA via the “darknet” and then consequently having to go through the motions of installing a custom OS on their laptops to access and use a private network system; the private darknet of SoA if you will. With the knowledge of how to do that still in her head Roxanne decided to test if she could go ahead and program the PDA in her hand to access that network and just snoop around. The antenna system of the APC would provide the necessary hardware to access it once the PDA was programmed.

It had been 8 years since the collapse of civilization and with it most of its infrastructure. Many connections to the internet had gone down with it; Wifi was no longer a thing and many LAN connections reached dead ends when specific nodes failed to relay the message. But, for those in the know how, the use of old radio towers and satellites in geostationary orbit proved to be a reliable way to do so. However, it was really slow and lots of the net had gone down. Any small site such as personal forums and blogs had went down. The social media giants and video hosting sites seemed to work but large chunks of content were missing. Still, the net lived on and with it a piece of SoA did as well.

By the time Roxanne manage to program the PDA she saw Hector preparing food of in the distance. Mica seemed to be nearby at the moment but she knew the girl could wander off at any moment. She smiled at the seemingly mundane scene after what had just happened today.

“Connection established”

“Attempting to bypass fault”

“Codex failed. Do you wish to manually alter the connection settings?”

Frustration set in at not being able to connect this damn thing to the SoA network. What were the settings again? Damn it, she wasn’t a programing expert! While this was going on, Roxanne heard the sound of wood being worked on. Hammering and other sounds joined in as she looked through the camera system to find Hector having tried to weather the storm only to fail. The wooden crosses he stumbled on now being molded into something else. Time was going rather quickly for Roxanne. Just how much longer would this take?

“Connection established”

“Connection successful. Please input credentials”

“Agent Luna online, welcome! You have 23 unread messages.”

23 messages? Huh, that was rather odd… Only one of them was directed at her; the other seemed to be general announcements. Roxanne disconnected the PDA from the APC and made her way to the fire; mostly to leave the bird alone but subconsciously she wanted company. She exited the vehicle with PDA in hand and read along while walking only to continue once she found a spot and sat down.

The messages seemed to be from on single individual. He had masked his signature; typical behaviour when sending messages on the field. This person seemed to be updating some sort of log; a log from the beginning of the cataclysm to now. Long periods of time from message to message with each containing updates from the last, an announcement of hotspots, safehouses and a puzzle that when solved would give the coordinates for a meeting. Each messages meeting time was always two weeks. The last one had been more than two weeks ago so this person must of have move on making it useless to purse. Only one more message remained, one sent directly to her.

This message was not from the same person leaving the logs; she could tell by the way the message was formated. This one was a formal invite but written with a casual tone; oxymoron aside, it was very well written making Roxanne assume whoever wrote this meant business. After being done with reading it, Roxanne gave the biggest smile she had given in a while. She noted the person who sent the message was online. After giving them a quick reply Roxanne opened her map; she erased the previous four locations marked and replaced it with this one. The PDA was then put away and Roxanne laid back with a certain satisfaction in her mind.

“Maybe things aren’t so bad after all…”



Melody was sitting quick the ways from everyone else. When solomon approached he would notice a couple thing. First, she was smoking a cigarette and the other is that she appeared to be talking to herself. Despite her aura spell easily being able to see him coming she didn’t notice from both being distracted and being a bit tired.

“Ugh...how can people smoke this?”

“Well, I heard the help with the nerves. But now, never smoked one before.”

“What?! That is just...no…”

“Well, I don’t know, maybe finding an arcane talking sword would do it?!”

It was then he heard Solomon talk to her. This took Melody by surprise as he came into view in her spell. She frantically rushed to hide the cigarette and lighter while coughing. Once that was done, she looked at him from instinct.

“I wasn’t doing anything! Noooo! Uhhh...Hi…” The words Solomon said took a bit to process but she did eventually got them. “Y-yeah, apart from the storm I am doing fine. Wait, you know my name?”

In her mind, she was already chastising herself for being so awkward. “Got damn it Mar- Melody, what is wrong with you?!” It was then she smelled the food he had brought along for her and then her stomach grumbled making her face go bright red and turning away.

“S-sorry! Just haven’t eaten in a while...I made this awkward didn’t I? I am not talking to you! Sorry! Not you, you are fine mr. uhhhh, what is your name?”




Victor noted the way Helen was speaking to him. He could tell something was bothering her but the sudden pull of sleep was getting stronger. Something foreign was at work and try as he must he failed to fight it off. He did manage to mumble something before being rendered unconscious.

“Don’t worry...I’ll be there...for you too…”

After what could’ve been 2 seconds or 30 years Victor opened his eyes. He was in a place surrounded by impossible darkness with only a light bubble to guide him. Despite his memory loss; this place seemed rather familiar; even more so, a familiar feeling overtook him as well; a sense of bliss and joy could be felt all over. In the distance far away a dim light could be seen. With nothing else to do Victor decide to follow it.

Each step, and the journey to the light itself, seemed to take both no time at all and an eternity. It was as if time itself had no meaning here and in truth it didn’t. The only way Victor knew he was making progress was due to the light getting bigger and brighter. He could now make out it’s color; it was a bright and soothing green. Once he reached the source of the light he found it came for a lamp post with a bright green flame illuminating it. This was the type used to light the streets back before electricity was common place; A relic of the past, just like this place.

“Very pretty isn’t it?”

Victor was startled by a sudden voice behind him. He turned around instinctively to reach for a sword that was no longer there and that he had no recollection of event exiting. This act confused him which only brought amusement to the voice.

“I see you are still the same despite your accident. It's good to see that.”

Now Victor paid his full attention at the source of the voice and was surprised with what he saw. A well kept man in a suit and formal hat looked back at him. It was as if he was ripped straight from a western movie; the image he gave off was more “traveling snake oil salesman” than of “important business man”. Still the man took his hat of and place it on his chest while his other hand extended to offer a handshake.

“Name is Blackjack, nice to both see you again and to meet you my old friend.”

Victor was now more confused than ever. Where was he? Who was this person? Did he know him at some point? Many questions lingered but all were said into a single one.

“What?”

After some brief introductions and assurance he wasn’t going to hurt him Victor accepted the offer from the man to be guided around. The two were now walking around seemingly endlessly in the dark.

“So let me get this straight. In my past, I contacted a myriad of spirits and entities to solve some sort of curse; you being one of those spirits. We became friends over similar ambitions and interests. Then we simply went our separate paths for a while until recently. Is that right?”

“More or less. A more detailed explanation would take quite some time but I wouldn’t mind sharing it with you some other time.”

“Uh-huh...so what are you doing here? Did you drag me here?”

“Oh no, I wouldn't be so rude as to do that. You would’ve ended here regardless of my presence. There is small disturbance going on and you were caught up in it. Nothing serious, just made you fall asleep involuntarily and dragged you here. I caught wind of this and decided to meet up with you and offer to be your guide spirit like Randael did before me. Oh, sorry, shouldn't have said that name…”

“Ok...so I am here, what exactly is ‘here’ then? Where am I?”

“This place is known to humans as ‘The spirit realm’. Cliche and unoriginal I know but so are most humans if you ask me. This place is situated between life and death and is the home to many spirits. You have been here before believe it or not; did so via an arance poison that when consumed in small doses gave hallucinogenic effects. It was dubbed the ‘spirit pill’.”

“Wait wait! Life and death? Am I in danger or something?”

“Relax, you are in no danger. That is why I am here for. That fire from earlier is my aura protecting a swath of this place for safe travels. Stick with me and everything will be alright.”

“...Guess I have no choice but to trust you for now… Anyways, where are we going?”

“We are going to a rest area. My favorite in fact. You cannot leave this place until you awake so why not have some fun in the meantime?”

“Rest area? What do you mean?”

“Ok, the correct term would be casino but not many people like to call it that. The word has been tainted by mortal too much.”

“A casino? What? Here?”

“Of course! What is a spirit supposed to do in their spare time? We don’t all just haunt the living or seek to amass power you know? Some of us just wanna have fun. I for example am a spirit of gambling so of course I like this place.”

“Uhhm, I am not sure...seems fishy…”

“Come on, drinks and game are on me. Lots of entertainment to be offered; and lost of pretty women to play around with...or men if you are into that…”

“Oh no no, I am good in that department. I am married and have a child.”

“Ah, so you do know that part then. Alright, your loss. Anyways, what do you say? Wanna play some card games at least?”

“...Fine...let’s just not get overboard...”

Famous last word. The two did indeed take it slowly at first playing some simple card games. Blackjack being what he is easily manage to score big and invited Victor to try some other things. This went from slots and roulette tables to bets on fights and other such activities. This casino was run like many others and with Blackjack spending so much money that Victor didn’t know was a thing for spirits the drinks were now on the house. With the casino pushing them to drink so much they both eventually gave in and soon enough ended up drunk beyond reasonable level. Right now they were sitting on a bar ordering more specialized drinks.

“A-and then I told her it was fine. *hic* I told her not to worry about it you know? But I could tell something was wrong… If only I had stayed awake a bit more…”

“No no no. Listen… I wasn’t yo- your fault. You were pulled here by force. She’ll understand, I am sure of it.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah, I am sure of it.”

Another man was sitting next to them. He was wearing a red hooded cloak, the same type Roxanne wore, and for arms swords took their place. The hood was down to reveal a young blonde man with a distress look on his face. It appeared he was using telekinesis to drink from the mug in front of him.

“Can you two over there keep it down? Many of us came her because of women, don't remind us of it…”

Victor and Blackjack turned around to see the man. He took downed the rest of his drink and demanded another.

“Oh really? T-Tell me my man? What is that plagues you?”

The spirit shrugged. “What the hell, maybe telling someone might help or whatever… Thing is, there is this mortal I kinda have feelings for. There is just a couple problems. First, my kind was not meant to have such emotions. Second, She is not the type to be wooed and third… Well, she is currently my master… I am two days away from retirement though. So at least I got that going for me.”

“Ouch buddy. That is rather rough… Care for some advice?”

“ *Sigh* Lay it on me, what you got?”

“Well, we don’t all choose the card we get to play with in life. What is important is what you do with the hand you are dealt. Why not give it a go?” As he said this Blackjack had summoned a deck of cards from one of his sleeves; he took out five cards and showed them to the troubled man. With a flick of his wrist the card turned into a bouquet of flowers and he handed them to the man. “Maybe this hand might do the trick?”

The and took the bouquet and shrugged again. “What the hell, what is the worst that could happen. Thanks I suppose. Magician?”

“Gambling spirit. Why keep an ace under your sleeve when you can keep the whole deck?”

The man smirked. “Nicely put, I like your style. I am just a red cloak divine spirit; and on that note. It’s soon my turn to work...oh joy…”

“Well, we too have to go soon. Good luck.”

With that exchange of words, the divine spirit stood up, placed some unusual coins on the counter and vanished in a small puff of smoke.

“Wait, we have to go soon?”, interjected Victor.

“Yes we do. Well, you have to at least. It’s almost time to wake up… just close your eyes when you’re ready.”

“B-but I am not in great shape...I will wake up drunk.”

“Don’t worry. Time means nothing here. You’ll be fine when you wake up. Maybe a headache but that’s it. Well, until we meet again my friend.”

“About that. How do I come back here?”

“Just read your journal. All the answers you need are there. You copied lots of the Trinity Codex there.”

 “The what?”

“I’ll explain later. For now, close your eyes.”

Victor nodded and did as he was told. He closed his eyes and soon enough he opened them to find himself back in the cot he had slept the previous night. He stood up in place to find a still sleeping Helen. That’s when the headache came; Blackjack wasn’t kidding, he was no light weight being able to outdrink Roxanne every time but this hurt on a whole different level. It was hard for him not to groan in discomfort but he held back to let Helen sleep. On the side of his laser gauntlet was a box with a note attached to it. Victor picked up the box and read the note.

“For you and the women in your life…”

Inside the box were three items; each with a note. The first one was a simple looking black blindfold; no decorations or anything but while thin it was very dense and it was rather opaque. The note on it said: “A new blindfold for Melody. This should help filter out some of the feedback when using the spell by the farm to not be overwhelmed by information. Tell me what she thinks when she tries it out.”

The next item was a pair of bracelets. Both golden and with three red gemstone on top. The note read: “Some new blind for Roxanne. I know she is vain girl so this should be to her liking. These should help her stay corporeal without her cloak. One is imbued with divine essence for her to be corporeal and the other is an inhibitor so she can pass through walls without taking them off. Though customer to please but I feel I did a fine job.”

Finally, the last item was a little box. Inside of it were two rings; one was white with an orange gemstone and the other was black with a purple stone. Small engraving were on the side of each ring; none which Victor would recognize right now but that he did at one point. The note read: “A sun stone and a moon stone. Seems fitting don’t you think? A human life span is short, don’t waste it…”

Victor smiled at the little gift his new and old friend had decided to leave. He had to admit he was a little creeped out but at least it wasn’t looking to harm him. The items were put back in the box and he laid back on the after grabbing his notebook. He would give it a read while Helen woke up.

43
Rec Room / Re: CDDA: Adventures in Cataclysm
« on: April 19, 2018, 10:19:14 am »
The battle had already started without her; Hector and Mica were doing short work of the makeshift camp inside the mall after they were taken by surprise by her little stunt. The APC had no doubt taken damage from both the wall waker and plowing through various obstacles. Still, Roxanne wasn’t upset at that; the APC had been designed to do that and it did it’s job while still holding. However, it had reached its limit, the battery had died; the laser targeting system would’ve have single out and killed everyone of GA here. Too bad it was down.

Roxanne composed herself after the crash. She didn’t feel any different but somehow felt obligated to act staggered; she felt as if it was the reality itself told her to do so. After stumbling around for a bit she heard the sounds of fighting; Hector’s steel and Mica’s primal feriosity both doing their work. Roxanne’s unknown feelings were back but this time they manifested into something she recognized; something she could feed and feed from it. They manifested as some long hidden bloodlust.

The red cloak that allowed her to stay corporeal was dropped to the floor of the APC and she then went through one of the walls to witness the battle. The enemy tried in vain to defend themselves but they were being overwhelmed by a greater purpose; greater in the eyes of the attackers anyways. Roxanne looked on and something inside her urge her to join in. She placed her hand on the handle of the very sword that bounded her ready to retrieve it but she hesitated; something inside of her told her not to, something else needed to awaken. A soft voice spoke, it gave instructions. It told Roxanne it would lend her its power for now; it told her to aid it in finding someone worthy of wielding it. The sword had spoken; Roxanne and it now had a common goal.

“A fight? Not today. That would just take too long wouldn’t it? That is not my style anyways… How about we cheat a little? Bio-link established, Harvester Mode active…”

It was then Roxanne began to change. Her appearance darken; had mica look at her with her “good” eye right now she would witness the colors drain to be replaced by impossible darkness only matched by the sword itself. An aura of harvest enveloped her entirely as it began to feast; the air around her its first victim. Her sword was still sheathed but it didn’t matter, Roxanne was now the blade of sodom personified. One thing lingered, she and the sword needed an objective; they needed something to use this power for. It was soon revealed as a cage with a prisoner still inside. Where amongst it were only the dead this one cage still held life and Roxanne sought to free it.

Then the gunfire started. Automatic fire hit her torso; she had gotten careless. However, it didn’t matter anymore; especially now, she felt invincible. Roxanne started to walk towards the cage with deliberate steps. The gunfire aimed at her disintegrated as soon as it met the aura that now cloaked her. Soon enough, those who fired met the same fate as Roxanne phased through them only for them to be disintegrated to fuel her current state. She reached the cage and looked inside; someone was badly wounded and would need care. As a final act, Roxanne passed her hand through the outer edges of the cage and the bars melted into nothingness. Once that side of cage fell, the aura was stripped away from Roxanne leaving a lingering energy that allowed her to be corporeal for some time without divine essence. With the utmost care, Roxanne lifted the wounded prisoner and took him out of the cage with the APC as her destination.

“Cover me! I got wounded!”, Roxanne cried out. She didn’t bother to wait before advancing to her destination for she knew Mica and Hector would do their job even if they didn’t hear her. Roxanne walked with the prisoner in hand. Feathers. So they had gotten this one for the “sin” of mutation. She smirked, they once sought to bring her down for the same thing; now she wondered what they would charge he with.

Once in the APC, Roxanne set the mutant on a reclining seat and went to look for something of use. What she found made her smile; emergency RX-12. She kept it in the APC in case of emergencies back when she had flesh to worry about. If only she had brought it with her when on the cave instead of leaving it in the APC… No, it wasn’t the time for that. She had wounded. The two doses of RX-12 were applied and Roxanne took a seat nearby as she let the chemicals take effect. It would take a few hours for the actual wounds to be healed or the pain to go away but for now the mutant wouldn’t die from them.

She sat there and breathed heavily; it was due to instinct she did so rather than any need to do so. A smile was plastered in her face; she had not felt such a rush for some time now. Excitement, joy, pleasure and many other emotions had manifested during that little encounter. She wanted more; she needed more. It seems she had finally found something to stimulate her.



Victor listened intently as Helen gave the rundown of what he had asked. To find out he was part of an arcane order did take him but surprise at first but given what had seen so far that soon passed. He wouldn’t pretend to fully understand but he was getting the general idea. For now, he would stow away what he had learned and compare it to what others had to say once this storm passed.

“Recent development huh?”, Victor said on the matter of his bionic and laser weapon. “So I never showed it to you? That new…” Something inside was bothering him, as if something disapproved of him having revealed what he had done. He looked at the device again and then at his hand. “At least it proved useful according to Melody. We should probably see how she is holding up in the morning don’t you think? For now, I am suddenly feeling rather tired all of the sudden… I think I will call it a night. Good night...uhhh...Helen? Is that what I called you? I am not sure what would be polite for me to call you by…” He rested his head in the cot and then closed his eyes after setting the device on the floor next to him. “Regardless, thank you for putting up with this. Must not be easy for you either… Until morning.”



*Brrrrrrrrrt*  *clank* *groan* *roooar*

“God damn it! To your left! He has a machine gun?!

“This is where it all ends! Your transgressions will not go unpunished!”

“We are down to half our forces...shit...regroup on me!”

“Bad move. Behold the power bestowed unto me!”

“Shit, everyone get down! That thing is about to blo-”

*KABOOM*

44
Rec Room / Re: CDDA: Adventures in Cataclysm
« on: April 17, 2018, 07:36:52 pm »
Roxanne stayed back for a moment as she watched Hector swiftly walk to the crusader only to bring down his sword right onto his face. She looked back to see how Mica was holding up only to find she had ran towards the scene. “Mica! God damn it…”, Roxanne thought to herself. Still, she wasn’t angry; she really couldn’t blame the girl after what she was going through. Wasting no time Roxanne joined with the other two.

It was then Hector laid out his plan to bring the war-walker with the Vehicles’ weapons systems; Catnip had just fixed hers and she was itching to test it. Now, the Armored Scouter was equip with some very heavy weaponry. It had a 155mm missile system that would target something from far away and deliver an explosive payload. However, the target was too close to get a lock on and Hector specifically said no explosive so that was out of the question. Next, it had a 120mm canon salvaged from a downed tank long ago. Thing was, it had to be controlled manually due to fog interfering with the turret chasis’s targeting system and her vision was too poor to do that. The final ballistic solution was a 30mm chain gun that could deliver impressive firepower to a foe; however, Roxanne kept this as an emergency. There really was no point in using this when she still had her pride and joy of the entire weapon loadout: The laser turrets.

Ah yes, the jury-rigged laser turret system. Roxanne did not pretend to understand it; she only knew that it brought down the hellfire in the form of light. Nothing that it’s sights were set on had survived this yet. Roxanne was hoping to test the reputation once again. Now, each turret was comprised of an obviously survivor made UPS laser rifle; the same type like the A7 or the ARC-314. However, it was an extreme energy hog. A single burst of 10 shots would drain an entire UPS unit and back when Roxanne still her augments this thing would drain her very quickly too. Thing was, this was more powerful than those weapons due to a few factors.

This laser gun had coil system that would store the amplify the energy going through it creating very powerful succession shots that were typically only possible with charged weapons. Thing was, this rendered the gun to overheat extremely quickly. To combat this, an energy suppression system was installed in it. It didn’t hinder the gun but made it so that most of the energy would be converted to light so that there wasn’t enough to become heat. This is what rendered the gun so energy inefficient and why the shots were so damn bright. Now, this would be a problem except they were currently connected to vehicular power; and not just any vehicle but Roxanne’ APC loaded with many fully charged large storage batteries and a powerful diesel engine/alternator combo to supply electricity directly as well. The turret system comprised of 7 turrets would have ammo for quite some time and Roxanne planned to use it.

“AP rounds? Pffft, why waste that on that when I can fry it’s circuits with laser fire? You know I don’t like ballistics; get with the times old man! Now, let’s get to the APC and I’ll handle it from there.”

Roxanne did not wait for an answer, her mind was set on this and she would be damned if anything would stop her. She carefully made her way to the APC avoiding the laser and then got on it when she found it. There was no need to be discreet now that they knew the enemy; shock and awe was the name of the game. Roxanne turned on the diesel engine and it made a loud roar as it began to fuel the batteries. The war-walker took notice and it’s attention shifted toward Roxanne’s general direction. Next, Roxanne activated the laser turrets to work in unison; to target a single thing at the same time and unleash hellfire on it until disabled. Thing was, this fog was confusing the target system. Roxanne looked through the camera system with her finger on the console to approve of a target. Suddenly, the camera feed in front of her became red; the laser was aiming directly at the APC and a sound she recognized as a lock on was heard from both the war-walker and the laser turret system. Roxanne smirked and pressed the button making the turrets unleash its payload towards the behemoth in unison.



Victor waited on Helen as she produced the some rather strange behaving dust. He had seen some similar to it come off Melody when she was hacking and slashing the shadows when he had woken up. Whatever this was, it had some significance.

“I dismantled items to produce this? Huh...either this is really powerful or those items were useless…”

He nodded at Helen when she set up the cog. He sat on it to test it a bit and found it to his liking. Then he listened to her warning about the contents of the book.

“If you say so then I’ll be carefull. You seem to know what you are doing so there shouldn’t be a reason not to.” Victor put the journal away for now, curious on some other things.

“Well, if I am asking questions, why not start from the basics? Tell me about yourself, about me, about us… If you and I are really together there must be something that made you choose me… Maybe that could help me remember? It’s weird, I woke up to a world where ghosts and magic are real, found out I have a wife and am a father, and had this thing attached to my arm.”

Victor took out the cylinder looking laser blasted and showed it to Helen. “This seems to be a weapon… fires lasers powered by what Melody said to be internal bionics. It has a slot inside of it that matched to one in my wrist.” He then showed her the port for the UPS bionic and how it fit in the cylindrical gauntlet. “Might you have any idea how something like this works or how I might have used it in the past?”

45
Rec Room / Re: CDDA: Adventures in Cataclysm
« on: April 16, 2018, 08:12:28 pm »
Roxanne was feeling a mixture of emotions right now. She was feeling happy that they had found Mica. Sorrow overtook her as she saw her on the floor crying amidst the fog; a sight very unusual for the once feral predator. A sense of anger arose at the machine issuing demands at them. Before any of them could say anything else, they were running towards the not-so mysterious figure that had appeared. That tattered uniform and the way he moved so camly in the fog despite the blurring of the machine both unneverved and angered Roxanne. Her previous feelings that she could not explain had subsided for now.

As they rushed, Roxanne whispered something to the other two. “Hector, feel free to attack first, they tend to confuse you with one of their own and in this fog that should apply even more. I’ll stay behind with Mica and we will flank to the left; if you need back up we will be right there. Once that is done, we we will see how to deal with the machine. We need to do this quickly before any of them notices us ok.” Roxanne’s attention then rushed directly to Mica now. “Listen, we will find Dee ok? I promise you. But now I need you to stay behind me and let us take care of this ok? You have a baby to worry about now… Trust me on this ok? Just this once?”

Roxanne place her hand to pause Mica as Hector continued forward. She signaled Mica to follow her and then she guided her to the left of the man and out of sight of the laser beam. Had she still had her bionic and mutation, she could easily navigate this fog and even destroy the machine. Now she was struggling to navigate but eventually found her spot. The only sense of direction a super natural sense of presence much weaker than that of the mask of insight or even the aura spell. Still, it was all she had; with Mica behind her, she waited for her opportunity to pounce or to help out her knight in shining armor.



Victor nodded at Helen’s suggestion. He didn’t particularly mind either way, he simply assumed she was feeling the way he was. The only frame of reference we have is our own and Victor was no exception; he thought that since he lost his memories, Helen might think of him as a different person, a stranger if you will, and needed time to adjust to that.

“That works. Either way works for me… I just assumed that, you know… Don’t know how to explain it. Up to you I guess…” Victor accompanied Helen as she gathered something from the table only to release it outside. He didn’t know exactly what it was but he did recognize it as a ritual. Once that was done he followed her to what he presumed was where they would spend the night. Despite saying they should sleep the storm off he was not tired in the slightest; he assume Melody would feel the same.

“Uhhm, Helen. Can I ask you something real quick? Don’t you suppose you would have any of my belongings here? Maybe that could help jog my memory or something?” Upon that suggestion, he reached inside his trenchcoat and pulled out a notebook. Very ornate in design; looked a like a regular book. “Also, found this journal with me. Has a lot of information on rituals and other things. Hand written too. Did I maybe write this? Would you know?”

Once they reached their chambers, he let Helen do the preparations as she saw fit; he would help her in whatever he was needed but felt intrusive to do anything unless asked to do so. “You go ahead and rest if you wish...I will give this a quick read before going to bed.



Christina and Rey were sitting in there respective chairs after having explained and haggled with Plague. Clara stood next to Plague on his right sight as symbolism; she was his right hand and wanted to show it.

“How about a quick recap of what we discussed then?”, Suggested Plague

“Fine by me, go on then.”, Responded Rey

“Alright. Christina is one of the founders of SoA and then labeled impure for not following their doctrine by Grandmaster Johnathan himself. Rey, you are a former assassin of SoA from the world beyond the conveyance; you refused augmentations and the title of hunter. You were labeled impure for dabbling with the arcane without a proper title and order for removal by none other than Roxanne Luna… is that backstory correct?”

“Yeah, you missed a few parts but that sounds good.”

“And now you are in possession of the sword of conveyance after stumbling with the nephilim. An encounter that you not only survived but managed to kill their leader and take the sword from them… You...a jinn, defeated a being from sub-plane beta, how impressive... ”

“That is correct. I don’t care who you are, you are no match for entropy itself. My scythe here posses an aura of harvest from the same system that powers the sword of the void SoA loves to use.”

“And now you wish for us to help you defeat this nephilim who have been chasing you around…”

“That is correct. And In exchange you can have the piece and we will gladly serve you.”

“Hmm...you do realize the Nephilim will attack with everything they have right? You killed their leader; they have nothing to lose anymore. This is the final stand for them...you bring such a burden to my compound and have the audacity to ask for my help?! If you were anyone else I would’ve assimilated you where you stand!”

“But we are not just anybody are we?”

“No...you have important history and know-how in your belt...to defeat the Nephilim Allfather...we need people like you? Don’t you agree Clara.”

The mage looked at Plague and then at the two seated before her. “Yes. I agree. I have seen Christina in battle and can vouch for her skills.”

“You have seen me in more than just battle haven’t you? ~”

“Shut it! This isn’t the time…”

Plague paused for a moment before speaking. “Very well...we will help you defeat this things once and for all…”

“Great! Alright, how much time to prepare.”, exclaimed Rey.

“There is none, They are here…”

“What?! Already?”

“They were following your trail. You are lucky you got to us now.”

“So what do we do?”


“Give me the sword of convergence.”

Rey hesitated. He didn’t fully trust this Plague guy and here he was asking him to hand over his sword; the only bargaining tool he and Christina had. Her looked at his partner and she nodded at him to do so. He nodded back and handed over the sword with some reluctance.

“Good. Now, we will commend to forge the tool to bring the end to this menace… Shine Force: Dual Assimilation.” The sword he was handed too and Plagues own sword started to glow. He unsheathed his and held the two close together. They then started to do something unexpected: the started to fuze.

“From two piece a single one shall be born. As the holder of assimilation I order the tool to bend to my will. I shall forge with smokeless fire the weapon to conquer worlds: The sword of coalescence.” In Plagues hand a new sword emerged from the previous two. This new sword was a simple cutlass with an ornate handle guard. It resembles old cavalry sabers and an aura of authority shone from it. It’s color was an ever changing hue of purple; it’s tone change as if it’s blade was made out of liquid.

“They are here...this it...the last stand. Whatever SoA stood for beforehand, it ends here. With blessing of one of its founders and the power of coalescence I will end this chapter here.” Plague grabbed the sword and began to walk outside towards the stairway leading down. The other three followed suit with their own weapons at hand.

“If only Blackmore was here so I could rub this in here face!”, Clara exclaimed.

“Whoa, you really do have a hate boner for her don’t you?”, Christina said.

“Oh, you have no idea sister…”



Outside of the office tower Plague had capture, the wind had picked up and the rain clouds make it impossibly dark. Rain and wind ravaged the landscape and the tower only survived due to the fortification made beforehand. A single bolt of lightning that fell far away illuminated the empty lot around the tower. When second bolt him the place was no surrounded by the Nephilim. They wielded swords of materials not from this world. 30 of them in total ready for battle; to avenge the fallen and begin their plan to get rid of humanity for good starting with the ones who drove them to this.

“Come out from your fortress and face us! You are only delaying the inevitable. We come from a higher plane of existence; your fragile power is no to our own!”

Another flash of lightning illuminated the place and the Nephilim saw they were no longer alone. 300 of the undead joined them out numbering them 10 to one. Each of them wielded a rifle and was clad in military armor. Where Plague had found this he would not say. Leading the army of undead was the former Bio-Weapon Psi accompanied by two zombie super soldiers.

“I see how it is...no mercy will be shown to your masters once we breach inside...may the best prevail…”

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NOCTIFER IS A FAGGOT