[System]
Age: 14

Alias: Techster

Balance: white

Powers:
Tinker
Can create highly advanced tech, upgrade existing text, and fully understand all of that.

Note: his genius is his own, not his power. That merely adds to his Tinker classification. The above is from his own mind.

Specializations
Compact Design: can compact tech, allowing much more to be put into small spaces than us normally possible.

Appearance: Short muddy brown hair and hazel eyes. Stands at 5'7". Almost never seen out of costume.

Costume is of his in design, looks much like a power suit of blue and white. Many devices hide inside the design, many of which haven't been actively seen.

Personality: Proud, excitable, and energetic, he can easily go off topic of not kept in check. Howie is prone to spacing out if not actively engaged, and is quick to tinker with tech to busy himself. He's a bit of a loner, only actively associating with Lady Lust and Mr. Mass.

Background: Howie is the unacknowledged son of Mr. Mass and Lady.

After their split, after their old team died off from various reasons, Lady Lust discovered she was pregnant. After birth she gave the boy up for adoption.

Early on he displayed powers, being possibly the first second generation Epic to exist. He also displayed an incredibly high intelligence, which worked well with his abilities and interests.

Around age ten Lady discovered him again, noting his powers and genius.

He's spent the last several years trying to get to know his biological parents, and as such has only been seen with them.

[User]
Amsterdam
Hmph. A rather obvious message. Guilt crouched on the edge of a roof, staring at the streets below as she considered what this meant. While Comet was brash and arrogant, Traveller seemed more cool-headed and intelligent. That made her far more dangerous. What reason was there to lure Guilt to a fixed location, other than as a set-up for a trap? In their last encounter Traveller had seemed opposed to killing, but well prepared to employ violence if necessary. So perhaps something about that encounter had convinced the deaf 'hero' that violence was indeed necessary. Comet must have convinced her of this, or perhaps another hero contact. Alternatively she had always been willing to use violence, but unconvinced of her ability to take Guilt down. The tactical approach. Unwilling to face Guilt one-on-one, or even with Comet's help, the logical conclusion was an ambush, most likely by a collection of heroes. In the end her motive didn't matter. Even if this wasn't a trick or ambush, it would be bad to come unprepared.

Now if Guilt was absolutely certain that this was a trap, she could simply bomb the place. It would be easy for someone with her abilities to set up a suitably powerful bomb, using materials from all across the world. Causing that bomb to materialise in the midst of these heroes, and then setting it off, could level the entire railroad station. Innocents would most likely have been removed from the scene beforehand, but the risk that they were present was just another reason this plan couldn't be performed. No, Traveller had not yet sinned, and she couldn't punish people pre-emptively. To do so would be to abandon all reason. So Guilt would have to do something far riskier and move in, while avoiding the superpowered entities that would no doubt be present. So this was a meeting that she would need to prepare for, extensively. Because if it did turn into a fight... she might have to slaughter a significant number of elite Epics.

So over the following day denizens of Epic City would notice a number of odd occurrences. When it rained, some places were completely dry without explanation. Strange seismic events that couldn't be normally explained. Objects vanishing from hardware stores, sports stores and warehouses all over the city, occasionally compensated with money and occasionally just a note saying 'I'll put it back later'. On once notable occasion, an entire house vanished for 20 minutes before reappearing. Even for Epic City, a place filled with strange events, these events were rather odd. But then the hour of the meeting struck.

When the train station itself was quiet, Guilt would appear. Her usual outfit was complemented with hardware gathered from various locations within Epic city, and a couple of locations without. She was familiar with a number of places, including her former residence, where she could access equipment that would be hard to come by in Epic City. This new gear included a set of heatvision goggles, which she now used to scan the area. Comeras appearing in various locations would allow her to monitor the entire station. While Traveller's ability allowed her to rapidly call in reinforcements, the amount of people here already was an important factor. As calling in reinforcements would require Traveller to expend focus, and if Guilt was able to keep traveller busy she could limit the amount of people who came in. After doing her little reconnaisance the extra equipment would vanish.

Whomever had chosen to show up to the train station would find a sudden fog rolling in, seemingly out of nowhere. The kind of thick fog, that made it difficult to see anything further than a meter away from you. Those susceptible to this kind of thing would find themselves highly nauseated... something in this fog was causing them severe discomfort from just breathing it in.

[Assistant]
Finch

One moment they were driving along fine, and then the next there was a wall of dirt and stone in directly in front of the van. There was no time to turn or dodge, much less time to brace for the impact when it came.

"Oh shi-"

The sound of the impact and screeching metal filled the air as all the kinetic energy of the vehicle immediately terminated, throwing it forwards before it crashed back down. The guy in the drivers seat didn't stand a chance, and if everything hadn't been thrown around by the wind and water before, it certainly was now. Still, it had done what Magus wanted.

inside the vehicle, Finch found himself half draped over a seat as the van settled from the crash. There was a sharp pain in his arm and his hip, but he pulled himself to his feet with a hiss. He quickly looked around, but at the moment there was only one guy currently on his feet who would be of any use. Certainly the grunt in the drivers seat was a loss. Though they should probably bail before things got worse. This was going to suck though, he had the feeling.

"Alright, follow my lead," Finch hissed to the guard before moving for the open door with two bags. He exited the vehicle in a run, tossing one of the bags at Magus upon sighting him while holding on to the other. The gun would follow if he got any fancy ideas, but clearly Finch didn't plan on sticking around as he broke for a nearby alleyway. Hopefully the money or the trashed van would be more distracting than going after him.

[User]
Traveler - Abandoned Railroad Station

---

Traveler opened several dozen portals in the train yard, scouting the area herself.

She frowned at the frog, keeping it from entering any portal by raising them.

 Better to just get this over with, Alex urged herself.

With a twirl, Alex jumped through a portal, landing on her feet on top of a bit of metal scaffolding, well above the fog. She sighed, the motion visible even from a distance, and she started switching trains with piles of rubbish, giving order to the chaos this place had turned into.

"You're obviously already here," she called out. "Apparently you've taken countermeasures, which is slightly annoying. If you'll come out, I'd like to actually talk. Though I have a feeling you won't remove your mask, given what little has been consistent in the stories I've been told."

She finished moving things, having organised the bulk of the trains to one side, and promptly swung herself around and sat with her legs dangling over the edge.

"I should mention I'm here alone. Not that people don't know I'm here, of course. Dealing with an unknown variable, I can't take risks," she continued, appearing completely at ease. "So, I'll go ahead and start. Given the weird fog, and I do believe I saw a camera of sorts, you're crafty. Powerful. Paranoid. Police? Military? Spook? Lots of options for a background. Which also helps explain why no one knows anything about you. You don't let them figure out your powers. Nothing wrong with that, really."

Alex raised a hand in a 'so-so' motion.

"But you've been pretty brutal. Maybe you've got legit reasons, I'm not sure. You've also got Comet riled up. Though I think I've convinced him to leave you be. No guarantees though. So, that get you wet and excited with curiosity?"

[Assistant]
Only two people exited the van: the gunman who had been harrying Magus for most of the ride, and one of his goons. Rather than try to fight, the two just grab what loot they could carry and ran for the nearest alley. Magus first went to the van to see if anyone else was there. The only people left in the van were either dead or out for the count, and about half the contents of the robbery remained. Magus considered going after the two who had fled the scene, but after the trouble they had caused him, he didn't like the idea of facing off against them again, and if any of the people here regained consciousness while he was chasing the others, his work would just get ten times harder than it needed to be. Instead, Magus chose to inform the authorities of the events and let the ECPD take in the robbers that were still alive but currently unconscious.

Spotting a civilian about a block away, Magus waved to the man and asked to borrow his phone. Magus never had a phone on his person since the plastic in the casing was not good for his powers, and the trans-uranium elements that were sometimes in the batteries rendered him utterly powerless. He called the police and told them about the robbery and his role in recovering half the loot. Within half an hour, two police cruisers arrived on the scene as well as an armored car from the bank. The police thanked Magus for his service and took the robbers into custody, and the bank reclaimed the stolen money. All in all, it was a good day's work, but Magus was still irked that the ringleader of the robbers had gotten away with half the money. Sooner or later, there would have to be reckoning for that.

[User]
Charlotte Carolle Lutwidge

---

Lutwidge Manor

 Aida and Charlotte both processed his words. If what he said was true, then that would accelerate her plans by months, years even. With Charlotte's legal problems completely done with, they could divert their focus towards information gathering and expanding the range of her operations. Even more, the amount of money, while admittedly small in comparison to the total amount of assets she possessed, was not inconsequential - if she were free to use that money elsewhere, she could begin supplying herself with better equipment, and even get around to overhauling the manor into a more secure headquarters, or further down the line, begin funding other heroes as well!

 Charlotte shook her head. No, she shouldn't get ahead of herself just yet. It was a fanciful thought, but it would be better to keep her expectations low. For now, they needed to verify if what he was saying was true.

 "I . . . see," said Aida, with a nod of her head. "This is certainly incredible news. You will forgive me if I have a hard time believing it and your good intentions. If you do not mind, I would like to verify the documents before dealing with you any further."

 The maid entered the house for a second, before coming out with a wooden fold-able chair. "It would be discourteous to have you stand the whole time, please sit here for the moment." And with that, Aida disappeared back into the manor.

 Once inside, she handed the device to Charlotte, who quickly got to work picking it apart. Just a few seconds in and it was already apparent that he was not lying. The information contained with in could decisively end her legal problems, and moreover, with the documentation he provided, she now had an idea of how to cover her tracks.

 Despite the help he provided, it was still a bad sign that he was able to discover as much about her as he'd had, even if what he'd discovered was not quite damning. Still, this was dangerous information about her. She'd rather remain as anonymous as possible, for the time being.

 Charlotte nodded at Aida, and the maid proceeded straight for the kitchen. It seemed as though she would be meeting with Techster after all, and see what he wanted out of this.

 It took a quarter of an hour before the maid returned. Hopefully the boy wasn't feeling too impatient with them.

 "Thank you for waiting. After careful deliberation, m'lady has decided to meet with you," she opened the door for him, inviting him inside with a gesture. "If you would please."

 Once inside, the maid led them through the enormous mansion. It was dimly lit - not much point in keeping the lights on when the one person who needed them usually stayed in her room all day - even if it was well maintained and clean. In silence, Aida walked until they came upon the large wooden double doors that led to what was once Charlotte's mothers' library.

 The room itself was large, taking up an area of about 20 feet and two floors high, but as for actual living space, there was almost none to speak of. Nearly every inch of the place was covered in books, or manuscripts. There were also display cases of various gemstones and diagrams of machines and clothes of all kinds. Needless to say, the room exuded an aura of quiet knowledge.

 Charlotte was seated across a wooden desk, playing idly with a chocolate-chip cookie in hand. It was hand made by Aida, though it wasn't quite fresh off the oven. She found it was still serviceable as a snack though. She made great cookies after all - although now she was wondering when she even had the time to learn how to bake; it was strange, despite their mental connection, the maid was still somehow found a way to surprise her.

 In any case, she put finished off the cookie in one bite, and then, her face was strictly business.

 When she spoke, her voice was the high-pitch expected of a child her age, yet it held none of the wavering uncertainty, or the ever-present garble as words threatened to trip upon another. Her tone was soft, but carried itself with surprising clarity across the room, serious and direct. It was a face Aida found she put far too often these days.

 "Good evening. Though you're already aware of who I am, let me introduce myself for the sake of formalities."

 "I'm Charlotte Carolle Lutwidge, a pleasure to meet your acquaintance."

---

Amsterdam

[Assistant]
Techster - Lutwidge Manor - Interior

---

Techster was still staring around the room in awe. "This is amazing. The amount of information within these walls... I'm envious," he whispered. He turned his attention back to Charlotte, his eyes seeming to zero in on hers. Raising his voice slightly, he continued. "The pleasure is mine. Techster, or Howard 'Howie' Sheldon at your service milady."

He sat down fidgeting a little as he glanced around the room. "So, where do you want to start?"


[System]
gender: Male

Age: 18

Serial #:643

Appearance: Under the armor, Ethan is a pale guy, with blue eyes and black hair. Ethan's armor, as though it is as pale as he is himself, is a light gray. The armor has a red stripe that starts at the chin of the helmet and moves up until it meets the pale green visor. The visor itself is more reflective than most armor, along with a hexagonal pattern on it. This is intended to allow the user to see through walls and other such abilities a tactical spartan should have. After the Stripe meets the visor, it splits into two lines that follow the visor to each side. Once the stripe reaches the ends of the visor, the go straight up once again, to the back of the helmet. Besides that stripe, the rest of the armor is simply gray with red trimmings.

Specialty: Tactical

Personality: Ethan is a very logical person. He approaches every situation, whether it is social, militaristic, or personal, with the ideal of solving it in a reasonable and intelligent way. He does not often talk to people, but he will have no qualms answering questions or responding to someone. Aside from that, Ethan most often plays chess, reads, or makes plans for battle.

Weapon of choice: Ethan uses a battle rifle as his main weapon, preferring to be in places he know that an enemy will be in soon to shoot them. He knows where the enemies are due to his ability to see through walls, and he keeps an eye on everything and everyone in battle to easily make strategies.

[User]
Training Day Zero

BRRRzzzzzTTT "Good morning Spartan, Are you ready for your big day? Your assignment this morning is to do your daily exercises and report to the mess hall no later than 0800 hours. Good luck today."

---

"Goooood morning, Ava," Atari chirps as the AI greets her. She had been up since before the alarm, but had been enjoying the peace and quiet of not being surrounded by her fellow Spartans for a precious few moments. With quiet efficiency she smooths out the sheet on her firm mattress and slips into her training gear. A glance at her assignment control pad shows her morning training schedule. Target practice, lockdown paint, hand-to-hand combat, strength training, and a run. Atari nods, tapping the screen to turn it off while heading to her first exercise.

The room was mostly empty when she started target practice, but by the time she had emptied her third round the sound of a dozen or so other guns firing echoed, accompanied by the clicks of magazines sliding into place and the mechanical hums of the targets gliding across the floor. Atari finishes quickly and moves to the side of the room to clean her rifle.

"Have you heard about the meeting in the mess hall? Someone said they're putting us into squads today" "I know! I wonder how much the ranks are going to matter when it comes to positions?"

Atari rolls her eyes at the idle chatter of the other Spartans and continues her work. What did the rankings matter to anyone anyway? She had long ago quit looking at them, knowing that her rank would only annoy her further. She already knew she was one of the better snipers in the group of nearly 300 Spartans, and her natural competitiveness meant that she needed no further incentive to do her best than her own drive. With her rifle clean and put away she heads off to finish her morning training.

Lockdown paint had never been her strong point, long range was much more her style, but she completed the exercise without getting hit, which was a win in her book. Hand-to-hand was also not her thing, and her performance in the training likely was bringing down her overall ranking, but with her particular skill-set she knew that she wouldn't be underestimated. It was hard being on the small side as far as Spartan soldiers go, but she had honed in her sniping skills, and excelled in that area to the point where her other training exercises seemed rather unnecessary.

The gym was busy with other Spartans who were rushing to complete their morning training exercises, but Atari took it all in stride, finishing both her strength training and her run with plenty of time for a shower before heading to the mess hall. The walk was quiet, she slipped through the other Spartans and sat down in her chair. There was an excited buzz in the air that was silenced as the superiors explained about the teams and began designating Spartans for the different positions. Her eyes scanned the groups and she stood quickly when her serial number was called.

Already lined up were 179 as Captain, she knew from her past looks at the rankings that he was towards the top. 497 as Brute, she was a giant of a girl, and was tall even for a Spartan. 561 as the Weapons Specialist, he was a wildcard to her. And 259 had taken both Ranger and Pathfinder positions. Overkill much?

"907, Stalker." Atari jogged to the front of the room and lined up next to her new squad. She glanced to the side and narrowed her eyes. This is going to be interesting...

[Assistant]
Training Day Zero

BRRRzzzzzTTT "Good morning Spartan, Are you ready for your big day? Your assignment this morning is to do your daily exercises and report to the mess hall no later than 8 hundred hours. Good luck today."

---

Solton uncurled from a set of hanging sit-ups.  "Ava don't patronize me, I am not a child in need of a wake up call" he said with a low developing voice.

Scythe Solton was 6'5" 189.5 pounds of pure muscle, hanging from the coolant pipe above his bed in nothing but compression shorts. He quickly flipped down landing softly,almost cat like, on the ground next to his bed. "Besides, what makes today any different from any other day," He said stretching and revealing every line of muscle with precision. "I'll just be surrounded by those who rank beneath me. Useless and unneeded garbage" He said finishing his stretch with a deep exhale.

He looked over the usual training schedule as he threw on his PT shirt and Shorts. He headed out and commenced with Hand to Hand and Lockdown paint. He finished Hand to Hand with 230 hits delivered - 0 taken. He only hit kill zone points as a personal goal.

Lockdown Paint was a bit different although he is a stalker. 30 enemies eliminated with stealth - 1 Spartan eliminated read across the leaderboard. Solton hated working in teams because some idiot always screwed up. 'They are not my responsibility' he would think to himself. Although, the frustration would always read across his face when he saw the individual. Rank #15 is where he landed because of this slip up. Lifting and Running were to easy to pay attention to so he left the leaderboard and entered the mess hall at 0759hrs.

Solton moved invisibly to his seat number 333. Along the way collecting intel on the assembly's purpose. He sat and surprised most who sat next to him. They didn't even notice his approach. This always made him feel a little better after a fail. Now he waited for the loud speakers to belt his serial number.'A squad, can I do this?' he thought as his mind wandered back to "1 Spartan eliminated."

The announcer called out "Serial Number 333!" Solton stood and approached the stage. He was directed to exactly the place he expected, Stalker. He looked over to examine the captain's position. It was Atticus Szabo Rank #14. Rage ached at the back of his head. '1 Spartan Eliminated' The words almost seemed tangible enough to rip from his own skull.  "I will not be bested.." he mumbled lightly.

[User]
Training Day Zero

 BRRRzzzzzTTT "Good morning Spartan, Are you ready for your big day? Your assignment this morning is to do your daily exercises and report to the mess hall no later than 8 hundred hours. Good luck today."

---

 "Your morning well-wishes have been acknowledged and reciprocated. Thank you, Ava," Ethan responded to the AI concisely, as usual. Ethan rose from the bed, taking a five-second break that he had actually recorded on his schedule; the same schedule that was planned to account for nearly every second of the day he spent conscious. Ethan briefly glanced at the next task on his schedule, though he already had it memorized.

 After Ethan spent a small duration of time dedicated to making his bed, he walked to the next designated location on the schedule in order to do his morning exercises. Ethan's daily exercises composed of a collection of different, yet standard exercises, at least by spartan standards. By the end of the various exercises, Ethan was breathing heavier than before, but his composure did not change from prior to the physical exertion.

 As was Ethan's expectations and intentions, today, his position on the leader board had been displayed in the low-thirties. He had calculated that, at his current increase in strength and other various physical values, he would get to the twenty fifth position in exactly one year, seven months, two weeks, and three days. This was satisfactory and met Ethan's standards, thus, he moved on towards the next destination he was instructed to attend: the mess hall.

 Ethan proceeded to enter the mess hall. Without even acknowledging that he was aware of the other Spartans' presence, took a look at the order of the chairs in order to find the destination of his own chair. After creating and navigating a path through the crowd of Spartans to get to his own seat, Ethan sat down.

 Ethan allowed his thoughts to wander into various possible problems he could end up facing in future missions, and how he could solve them. However, once the loud speakers turned on, Ethan gave his full attention to any and all further announcements. It took a couple of hours of Ethan sitting stationary, but he walked at a decent pace to his position when his name was called, "Spartan #643."

 Ethan made it to the stage fairly quickly, and stood near the man who was sorting the teams. When he made it, he was told his position on the team, "You will be filling the role of tactical."

 "Yes, sir," Ethan stood at the indicated spot that had been marked for the tactical Spartan. Ethan was satisfied with being the tactical member, and even anticipated his placement as one.

[Assistant]
Szabo took note of every spartan that was assigned to him. The first to do so was a very tall female spartan, number 497, He set her number into his data pad on his forearm. He set her tag to 'CYN'. He gave her a nod as she stepped up and into the 'Brute' position. Next was spartan 561. Atticus watched him and after he stepped into line at Special Weapons. Tagging him with 'EOS' for Explosive ordnance specialist. Third was Legs, Szabo knew of him, He was the kid that beat him in the placing race back when they were 13. Legs was put in the ranger/pathfinder position. A good fit in Szabo's eyes. Tagged him as 'LEGS', glanced over to him, then to the next spartan. Who was quite small to Atticus' surprise. Atari Finch, marksman. Positioned as stalker. She was kind of a mystery to Szabo, Tagged her as 'FNCH' for now. Spartan 333 stepped up to stalker as well. Szabo knew this one too well, He followed the spartan with his gaze. All the way until 333 stepped behind him, Atticus didnt look over his shoulder, implying his leadership and dominance so that he got the message across not to step out of line. Tagged him with 'SOL' Which was quite ironic since he was nearly a ghost most of the time, yet still his last name so it fit. Finally the Tactician came up, spartan 643, He was older, You could tell by his face. An easy tag for atticus, 'TAC'.

 When the whole squad was up there they were dismissed to a debrief room. Atticus lead the team out of the mess hall and down the hall, around the corner, to their assigned debrief room. Once inside Szabo turned to the rest of the squad who had made themselves comfortable in the front few seats and even sitting on the tables or leaning on a wall. Szabo stood in the middle of them all which mad a little more than a semi-circle around him. He rotated as he talked, "Listen up. I know you are all used to being freelancers, However there is a time and a place for everything, any 'lone-wolf' behaviours will not be tolerated. Clear? We were assigned one another for a reason. We will work as one, one mind, many bodies. All information needs to be shared as soon as it is acquired, Understood?" Szabo paused and waited for everyone's responses

[User]
Ethan had followed his new leader to the debrief room, keeping the same pace as his new captain. When the team had entered the room, Ethan simply moved a chair to face Atticus and sat down. Ethan listened to his speech thoroughly, mentally taking notes of everything in case it may be needed in a future situation. After ensuring that he had an absolute understanding of everything spoken, and even memorized, Ethan spoke up, "Your order has been comprehended, acknowledged, and noted for future reference," Ethan spoke out monotonously.

 Ethan took a moment to observe the rest of the team, and he was satisfied with the potential plans and strategies that could be carried out should they need them. Ethan had already decided to mentally consider scenarios in which the team may face, and how to counter any threats while he was listening to them. There is no logic, he had already discovered long ago, in remaining mentally idle when there are opportunities to test his mental capabilities.

 Ethan also awaited for any further speech from his new teammates, deciding to memorize what they say for further any information that could be utilized.


[System]
Serafina

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." -Eleanor Roosevelt

---

---

Personal Information
Nickname:
Fin, Lils to close friends

Birth Date:
September 24, 1992

Age:
23

Gender:
Female

Sexuality:
Straight

---

In The Mirror

In Depth Appearance:
Serafina has long brown hair with bangs sweeping over her forehead. Her eyes are hazel, and a bit bigger than the eyes of most girls her age. She's lightly tanned and her skin is fairly unblemished, with only the occasional small scar from childhood accidents. Standing at 5'5", she's rather short for her age, although she doesn't mind. Her ears are pierced, but she won't pierce anything else, no matter what. Her somewhat-guilty secret is a tattoo of a peacock on her back; its head reaches almost to her neck, and it covers most of her back. Her hands and feet are small, and she's not too curvy, but still looks feminine.

Clothing Style:
Serafina tends to dress in cream, gold, and brown, with the occasional splash of blue or green. She favors overlarge sweaters, leggings, and tall boots in the colder months, along with a fluffy scarf. When it's warmer outside, she wears shorts of a modest length and tank tops, paired with Roman-style sandals, although she will sometimes wear a sundress. The only jewelry she wears is a pair of blue sapphire earrings, which were a gift from her father.

---

Delving Deeper

Likes:
* Faithful romantic partners
* Chocolate
* "Adopting" younger demigods
* Bollywood romcoms, especially one called Jab We Met
* Singing

Dislikes:
* Cheaters
* Zucchini
* Mean people
* People who mess with people's hearts
* People hearing her singing

Fears:
* Failing to protect her "children"
* Small spaces
* Being unable to breathe

Habits:
* Mothering people in distress
* Humming
* Replacing an English word with a word in another language, usually Hindi

Personality:
♦ Motherliness ♦ Loyalty ♦ Calmness ♦ Insecurity
Serafina is a natural mother; she wants to take care of everyone, and usually does. Anyone she takes under her wing, she is loyal to until the very end. She's very calm in a crisis, and good at giving advice; at least, in certain subjects. She'll always be the first to encourage someone to believe in themselves and their dreams. However, she's secretly rather insecure about herself. She won't sing for anyone, because she thinks she's not that good at it. She thinks she's not very attractive, and won't listen when anyone says otherwise.

Background:
Serafina grew up with a father who loved her, no siblings, and no mother. She didn't mind it too much; she had her father, and that was enough for her. Starting school was a bit scary for her, but she made a few good friends, and "adopted" them all.
In her group of friends, Serafina was obviously the mother figure. She looked after them all, sometimes without them knowing, and would do anything to protect them. However, she always kept her problems secret from them. The bullies in her middle school caused serious damage to her self-esteem. Despite her loving father and loyal friends, she believed the bullies when they said she would never amount to anything much. The issues she gained from school stayed with her all her life. Since she came to Olympus Academy, however, she's regained a bit of her self-confidence. After all, she is the daughter of the queen of the gods.

Extra:
Like I said before, Poseidon and Hestia~
(Also, I think Serafina would be able to officiate demigod weddings, yes?)

---

Godly Information
Godly Parent:
Hera, wife of Zeus and queen of the gods, goddess of marriage and faithfulness.

Relationship With Godly Parent:
Serafina has always been a bit in awe of her mother, which Hera has been patiently working to dispel. Hera just wants a loving mother-daughter relationship, but Serafina is a bit too respectful and polite for them to really bond. Secretly, Serafina wants to make sure she doesn't drive off the only mother she's ever known.

Godly Abilities:
Summoning - Serafina can summon peacocks, her mother's sacred animals, to defend herself.
Knowledge of Love - Serafina can sense when a relationship is going well, and when a couple are nearing divorce.

[User]
Raven Daemon
Location:Power Management!
Interacting With:No One

---

---

Raven, after looking over the map for the hundredth time, was able to make her way to her Power Management class. She raised her eyebrows at the people who were taking it before going and sitting down in her chair. She pulled it out and plopped down in it, setting her bag down next to her chair. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and looked around. The people here... Jeez, they were strange, but less strange than some of the people that she had met before.

She pulled out her locket once again and began playing with it on her desk. She never took the locket off, even when she went to bed at night. It was the last thing that remained of her mother's. Everything else had either been sold to help pay for her living or had been stolen or taken by the orphanage women. They didn't want the children to have anything about where they had come from. Raven had hidden the locket every day under her pillow and she had remembered to grab it when she ran away. Now, she always wore it, making sure that it still worked. She would always clean it and keep it in pristine condition.

She turned it over carefully again, examining the gears and knobs on the back. The heart had a clear case over it, so you could see the mechanism that would work the music box itself. She carefully twisted the knob to make it go, watching the wind up mechanism, and then watch it as it began to spin the opposite direction and the music began to pour out of it again. She began humming some of the notes to it, whenever she recognized it and she sat back in her chair with a sigh, memories of her mother fluttering back to her.

---

---

Ever Tidus
Location: Physical Education
Interacting With: Peter Sköjare @MiddleEarthRoze

---

---

Ever carefully slid her arm underneath his and they began to walk, Charlie trotting in between them. "Love triangle?" Ever said with slight interest. "That sounds most fascinating. Love is a curious thing... then again, Curiosity did kill the cat. It is best to just avoid love at all costs. It is easier for me because I am blind, and, well, who would really want to date me? With my creepy eyes and creepy powers?" Ever let out a light laugh as they turned to head toward the Physical Education room.

"I believe that they have put me in Physical Education this morning," Ever said, in response to his last question. "The Gods only know why they would put a blind girl in the Phys Ed class, but I guess I can help out. Preventing things before they happen in all." Ever laughed as they turned the corner again and she carefully picked up Charlie's harness as they entered the room. "Thanks for helping me out, Peter. I hope you get to feeling better." Gently reaching out, she gave him a quick hug before making her way over to the nearest seat, with help from Charlie, who managed to run her into four chairs on the way.

She would not be able to tell who was in the class with her until someone began talking or there was a roll call, though there rarely was ever one to help her out. Many of the people who took Phys Ed had already been here for a few years and many of the teachers knew them by name. She was one of the more known ones, but for the reason that she was blind rather than anything else. She was mainly in the class to help prevent injuries, lest the Gods be angry with the teacher... She smiled slightly. She at least was important. She was literally protecting people from getting killed.

[Assistant]
Jeremiah Howard Tomers

Location: Campus>First Class
Interacting With: Clarissa Price @GoddessSophia, Skye Woodsen, Stella McGuire @HushedWhispers

---

---

Jay was still trying to gather himself. He didn't mean to bump into anyone, but he did and the initial feeling wasn't a pleasant one. He slightly got the wind kicked out of him, so he was trying to do all that he could just to get control of his senses. That wouldn't take long, but when Jay would apologize to the person he bumped into, he noticed that the person was the last person in the entire academy that Jay wanted to see/talk to, let alone bump into.

"Y-Yes, I am, but I prefer Jay, if you don't mind," Jay said, stating he preferred to be called Jay and not Jeremiah.

What nerve he must have had though? There he was, being eyed by Skye as if the latter were a predator and Jay were his prey. Jay noticed that his right thumb and index finger were on his chin as if trying to get a good look at him - examine him. Jay couldn't do anything but stand there, waiting for some situation to arise where he could get away from him.

It wasn't like Jay was deathly afraid of Skye, but he's heard the rumors. He's heard that the Son of Aphrodite was a bit overprotective over his sister, and Jay was the guy who had gotten pretty close with that very sister. What else was Jay to feel aside from uneasiness and a large hint of fear? He didn't know if Skye was going to attack him right then and there or do something far worse. He didn't know if Skye would plot to kill him later down the road or do right at the very moment. Every possible thought was going through Jay's mind - none of them good.

And then he stopped in front of Jay. The latter was sweating bullets inside. Skye would ask the dreaded question and Jay looked up, meadow green eyes filled with anxiety, "It's just as you said," Jay said, his voice teetering a bit in clearness.

In-between his response, there was a silence from Jay. He was pondering his next sequence of words. He wanted to make sure he did not say the wrong thing or the right thing in the right way. He had no idea of knowing how Skye would react to it(if he would at all). He had no idea of knowing that words of stating how he cared for Clarissa would help or hurt his impression of himself to Skye. There was no way of telling if Skye would back off slightly if he stated he cared for Clarissa a lot and wouldn't let anything happen to her or if that would make Skye push even further with his interrogation, because, despite what it appeared to most, this was as anxiety-filled as any interrogation Jay has seen on cop shows.

When Jay took a deep breath, he looked Skye directly in the eyes. He kept that for a moment or two until his mouth formed words and his voice matched to boot, "I care for Clarissa a lot. I--" Just as Jay was going to complete what he was going to say, he noticed Clarissa stepping in-between the two of them, sort of like how Jay did for Clarissa when Stella was confronting her.

As she had pleaded her brother to be nice to him, a look of relief came over his face. Jay was about to say something that would have most likely gotten him in even deeper waters with Skye than he already was.

"It's alright." Jay said, smiling gently at Clarissa, "I'm late for my first class anyways. Nice meeting you, Skye," Jay said nervously, but his eyes fell to his sister, "I'll see you later, Clarissa," Jay said, getting up. As he dusted himself off and grabbed his shoulder bag, Jay gave a wave goodbye to Clarissa as he headed off to the direction of his first class.

It was probably five or so minutes of on-and-off again sprint-to-jog running that Jay did to get to his first class. He knew he was late, but based on the dwindling numbers of the students out and about, Jay knew he was running later than preferred.

I'm so late.

Jay turned corners, ran down hallways, and just five minutes more of doing that, he came to where his first class was being held: Physical Training.

When Jay entered the building, he noticed desks. "Well this is odd," Jay commented lowly, but the echo of building probably hinted his arrival to the other students.

He looked around to find a suitable desk and as he looked to the left, he saw one Stella McGuire - the person that Jay didn't  want to see; though, the same could be said for Skye too. Should Jay just make the effort to smooth things over with her as well or evade her for as long as possible? Swallowing a anxiety-filled dose of saliva, Jay chose to the former category.

Deciding to be the bigger man or whatever, Jay took a seat next to Stella, trying to avoid as much as eye contact as humanly possible. When Jay would look over at Stella, something came over him. There was a look of nervousness, but also one that had a slight apologetic feeling to him. Sighing, Jay would speak, "funny seeing desks in here.." Jay said awkwardly, trying his hardest to kind of break the ice between the two of them. Perhaps it was too early for that to happen. Maybe what Jay just did made things even worse.

Mother, I hope this was the right thing to do.

[User]
Serafina Lewison
Location; Classroom
Interacting With; No one, but open

---

---

Serafina sighed with relief. Nothing major had happened. Smiling, she stood and started to make her way to class. Physical Training, probably her least favorite class, but it was necessary. The life of a demigod was dangerous, and she knew she needed to be able to protect herself, but still. Hera's daughter did not like fighting. She would much rather look after her family in peace, but that was not always possible.

Entering the classroom, Serafina sat down at a desk, somewhere in the middle and close to the other people there. She busied herself quietly, working on a macrame bracelet. It was a nice one, she thought; green and gold and blue in a zigzag pattern. It would probably be gifted to one of her children at some point. That was the usual for her crafts. She would much rather give something to someone who would use it than keep it in a drawer somewhere.

She was nearing the end of this bracelet. Serafina measured it around her wrist and gave a small, satisfied smile. It looked like she had estimated right on the thread length for this one. She was getting better, mostly thanks to the help of an artsy friend of hers. As her hands worked on the bracelet in front of her, she was already mentally planning out her next one: shades of blue, in a wavy pattern. It would be lovely.


[System]
"Even if I am the spirit who represents Death, I will fight for the lives of everyone!"
Age: 15
Gender: Male
Universe: Sonic Universe OC
Personality: Kula is really kind and calm, always thinking first instead of acting rashly. He's really gentle and
Bio: Kula is one of the two Chaos Sprites that were created 1000 years before the present events of Sonic by the Chaos Emeralds. The main objective of his creation was to keep the balance of the world, since the emeralds were relics of destruction if used by the wrong hands. Of course, he wasn't released in the world immediately, being maintained inside the Master Emerald so he could gain a form. When the disaster at the Angel Island happened, the echidna Tikal was the only one who knew about his existence in the Master Emerald, so she sent him and the other sprite down to earth by using a prayer to release them from the Master Emerald. He landed on Mobius, at the point of being found by royal retainers of the king. They took him to the king's castle, where by his decision, decided to stay with Kula. He was cared by all the retainers and learned most of the things he know. Then, the king perished, when he was still 5, and Kula was directly put as the prince of Mobius.
At his 10 years, Kula was kidnapped by Dr. Eggman in order to transform him into a Chaos Emerald powered robot. However, in the transformation process, the machine started to malfunction and Kula ended up having his hands transformed into frostbite. Since he saw that it was dangerous, Eggman created special gloves thet would hold the frostbite, but it would still allow him to use his abilites. At the end, Kula was saved by Sonic and brought back to the castle. In the three years that remained, he trained himself as a knight, choosing a rapier as his weapon.
Kula's own story begins when the Ye Olde Villa, a big village of Mobius that refused to accept the technological changes, decided to throw a rebellion and take his life away. In the middle of the fight, Kula met Sula Sapphire, the one responsible for throwing the rebellion and after a hard fight between them, both are hit by a laser programmed by the castle's inventor. Alongside Sula, Kula was thrown away from Mobius by a cannon. The two, lost in the world, made a truce and decided to help each other, with the deal that in the end, Sula would execute Kula in front of everyone. In the middle of their journey to return to Mobius, both learned the truth about theirselves. Upon discovering that he actually represented death, Kula fell in despair and even tried to finish his own life, but was stopped by Sula and regained some hope to move on.
When they returned to Mobius, they found out that the chancellor, the general and the inventor were trying to take Mobius away from Kula and that they used him for doing their own deeds. After a hard fight against them, Kula managed to take Mobius back. In the end of everything, he asked for Sula and his friend Flanoir to live with him.
Equipment: Kula carries with him his Gemtail Rapier.
Cryokinesis: Kula's main ability is to generate and manipulate ice. He uses it mainly to generate ice walls or to shoot ice crystals at his enemies. When he removes his gloves and let his frostbite hand touch things, he'll immediately freeze it, not mattering which material the thing he touches is made of.
Umbrakinesis: Kula's secondary ability was to generate and manipulate light, but after he discovered who he truly is, that ability converted to the manipulation and generation of darkness. He shoots spheres made of dark energy.
Cryokinesis:
- Crystal Shoot (Special): Kula shoots crystal-shaped projectiles.
- Ice Infusion (Special): Kula can sharpen his rapier or any weapon by infusing ice on it.
- Frigid Shield (Special): Kula generates an ice wall in front of him.
- Waltz Performance (Special): Instead of simply running, Kula can freeze the ground under him and slide across the field.
- Cocytus (Super): Kula disperses a frigid storm in the area, damaging all enemies.
- Niflheim (Hyper): A considerably EX version of Cocytus. After releasing an even more powerful frigid storm, Kula freezes the entire area. After some seconds, he breaks the ice, damaging all enemies.

Umbrakinesis:
- Sphere Shoot (Special): Kula creates a sphere of darkness and shoots it at the enemy.
- Embraced by Shadows (Special): Kula can paralyze an enemy by enveloping him in darkness.
Other: In the back of his cloth, there is a big blue butterfly mark, representing him as the Chaos Buttefly of Death.

"Heh, don't blame me if I take your life. You're the one who decided to enter in my way."

Name: Sula Sapphire
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Universe: Sonic Universe OC
Personality: Unlike Kula, Sula's really forceful and can be short-tempered in many occasions. He's not a nice person and he doesn't care with anything that's not important to him or that he can acknowledge as strong. He loves to fight and doesn't like the pacifist way of acting. Sula cares a lot for Kula, since they are brothers and that he doesn't want Kula to fall in despair.
Bio: Sula is one of the two Chaos Sprites that were created 1000 years before the present events of Sonic by the Chaos Emeralds. The main objective of his creation was to keep the balance of the world, since the emeralds were relics of destruction if used by the wrong hands. Of course, he wasn't released in the world immediately, being maintained inside the Master Emerald so he could gain a form. When the disaster at the Angel Island happened, the echidna Tikal was the only one who knew about his existence in the Master Emerald, so she sent him and the other sprite down to earth by using a prayer to release them from the Master Emerald. He landed on Mobius, in the Ye Olde Villa, being found by his best friend Flanoir.
On one day, Sula gathered all the people from the Ye Olde Villa and led a rebellion against the Prince of Mobius, Kula Alexandrite. However, while battling with Kula, he was hit by a laser created by the kingdom's inventor and was send away from Mobius alongside Kula. The two, lost in the world, made a truce and decided to help each other, with the deal that in the end, Sula would execute Kula in front of everyone. In the middle of their journey to return to Mobius, both learned the truth about theirselves. Upon discovering that he actually represented life, Sula did his first action by stopping Kula, who was filled with despair, from killing himself, saying that there's no reason for Kula to die.
When they returned to Mobius, they found out that the chancellor, the general and the inventor were trying to take Mobius away from Kula and that they used him for doing their own deeds. After a hard fight against them, Sula managed to take Mobius back. In the end of everything, he and Flanoir ended up living at the castle with Kula.
Equipment: Sula carries with him his giant war axe, named Oblivion.
Supernatural Strength: Sula's main ability is the possession of an abnormal strength classified as a Type II. He's able to lift many heavy things, such as massive aircrafts, but nothing more than that, like mountains or other stuff.
Pyrokinesis: After discovering the truth about himself, Sula managed to gain the ability to manipulate and generate fire. He uses that more in combat, since he's not a fan of projectiles.
Supernatural Strength:
- Quake Zero (Special): Sula punches the ground, breaking it.
- Throw of Atlas (Super): Sula grabs his enemy and after a full spin, throws them away.

Pyrokinesis:
- Blazing Knuckle (Special): Sula envelops his fist in fire and dashes at his enemy.
- Heat Impulse (Special): Sula releases a wave of heat to tire enemies.
- Indiscriminate (Special): Sula charges up, raising his strength.
- Volcano Drive (Super): Sula dashes towards enemies being enveloped in fire.
- Phoenix Flight (Hyper): Sula envelops himself in flames and takes form of a phoenix, dashing towards his enemies and burning everything that he passes through.
Other: In the back of his jacket, there is a big phoenix mark, representing him as the Chaos Pheonix of Life.

[User]
Lex said "Very impressive. Ive built drones myself." lex looked down at the fox thing and said "Nice to meet you. Yes I do work with machinery." He saw the shuttle and said "Excuse me." Lex boarded the 11th shuttle and sat in the back.
Lex walked into the shuttle and took out his laptop. he began looking at all the files his phone managed to steal from the shuttle.If he could, he might be able to use this information to help his suit travel the multiverse. He then smirked and see if he could hack into the shuttle right now. He looked keeping a eye on all the passengers. He looked seeing the redhead from earlier not to far from him. He opened his briefcase with a gun, and slipped it into his coat pocket. Lex has dealt with fighters before, and he could tell she could be one.
Lex smirked as he sat back watching as his computer was downloading the files for LexCorp to analyze

[Assistant] Being the trained spy that she was, Natasha could tell that the bald man near her had a gun. Her cover, however, would not know, so she didn't show any indication that she had noticed.

[User]
Tails stepped aside for Lex and the went to grab his own bags, and then boarded the shuttle deciding to sit near Lex who seemed to be interested in the same sort of things.

He let Lex relax for a while as he sat there and Tails looked and saw the man had a computer of sorts obiously a thing called a 'Laptop' Tails had seen these in the real world.

Lex seemed to be gloating about something silently to himself, the man seemed sly and cunning, almost devious Tails didn't really care if the man was evil but the man didn't seem evil it just seemed that he obviously liked to be powerful and have what he wants.

"Of what kind of machinery do you specialize in?"

He asked Lex who sat looking at his computer.

"I sometimes like to make robots and assorted weapons, maybe an airplane or two"

Tails said.

[Assistant]
There was a suspicious lack of staff, from what Mortimer could tell, and he cautiously slid up in the seat to look around.

The shuttle was almost full (well, there were at least a good percentage of the people from outside now having boarded, but the shuttle itself was hardly full) and Mortimer relaxed a little bit. He knew this role very well; act like you're supposed to be there, smile--the "nothing's amiss here" kind of act. Heck, he could go to sleep, no one would try to throw a sleeping dude out, hopefully.

A fox, similar to the ones he'd seen earlier--actually familiar, this one--was speaking animatedly to a really scary, bald dude with a laptop, and Mort happened to overhear the last part of what he was saying. The kid was a mechanic? That was...really cool.

"Wait, really?" He grinned and leaned over the seat in front of him, trying to get the fox's attention. "You're a mechanic, bro? What types of aircrafts?"

@Zerofighter

[User]
Tails looked over and saw an odd green man trying to get his attention, he smiled at the man.

Sanchez

"Yeah I am a mechanic and an inventor, my names Tails"

He smiled at the frog man and looked him over, he wore ragged clothing and looked very odd but obviously his intentions were to just get a ride on the shuttle.

"And not to be rude or anything sir but what are you?"

Tails asked the man wondering where he had come from.

[Assistant]
Mean while else where on the shuttle...

Although blatant and obnoxious as ever Wade or Deadpool as people called him-

"Yeah that's me!"

Do you mind?

"Well yeah since I am the character of this survival I have the freedom of-"

Just be quiet so we can make this whole thing progress.

"Ugh fine!"

Anyways, Deadpool sat amongst the other people or creatures "Or Freaks!" Deadpool interrupted the Narrator so impolitely.

"Oh come on I was just kidding go on!"

So Deadpool sat in the shuttle among the otherworldly people as if it were another day in his life and everyone and then he got the odd look because he talked to the Narrator.

"Hey!"

He waved into the space to no one, many think him insane yet he isn't insane he is a Marvel character so he can do that.

So he pulled a Chimichanga from nowhere and started munching down on it letting the Narrator take a lunch break.

[User]
Kula Alexandrite, Sula Sapphire and Magio Toadstool & Argento von Karmia

Kula and Sula listened to the conersation a bit. They looked behind and saw Tails. "Hey, isn't that Sonic's inventor buddy? What was his name again?", Sula asked. "He is Tails. Sonic had told me about him when he came to the castle. I never managed to meet all of his friends, just him, Shadow and Silver.", Kula said. Sula scratched his head. How come Kula never met anyone but Sonic, Shadow and Silver? Maybe he was over restrict guard before so they weren't able to meet. "Then how about we go and say our hi? It must be really strage for the guy to see two people from Mobius and not know them.", Sula said, getting up. However, Kula held him before he could walk to the corridor. "It is best if we leave him be for now. He is already in a discussion.", Kula spoke, a little serious. Sula nodded and sat back, but soon started to complain. "Gaaaah, it's hot... when they're going to turn the air conditioners on?", he said.

BGM: Diamond Dust

"Why would you need an air conditioner?", Kula asked and aimed up. He started to blow an icy breeze to the ambient to make it less hot. "... Alright, I was dumb to forget that. My bad.", Sula said, scratching his head.

Magio and Argento noticed that the air had gone a little colder than usual, but the sensation felt really nice. When they looked behind, they saw Kula blowing ice to refresh. "Wow, isn't that convenient. We practically don't need those air conditioners.", Magio spoke. Argento kept looking at them while thinking. Those two... are they the Twin Sprites of Chaos from Mobius?, he thought while staring. Magio's attention diversed back to Argento, who seemed puzzled. I wonder what's with Argento... he's been so thoughtful ever since we left The End of Everything and came here. I know he's moody, but not so moody like that., Magio thought.


[System]
*Sexual Abuse Trigger Warning*
Age: 14

Gender: Female

Appearance:

"I am unbreakable, I am unyielding, I am impenetrable."

Personality: Eponine comes off as robotic to most. She values order above all else and believes that to achieve order, the ends justify the means. Her form of altruism is the cold, calculated utilitarianism that the incubators also happen to follow, that the good of the few can be easily sacrificed for the good of the many. She is for the most part, obedient and unquestioning of her orders and tries to the best of her ability to fulfill her missions to the letter. She cannot tolerate insubordination or rebellion, unless it promises an even better organization, an even tighter grip on chaos and human free will. She has a strong desire to protect her sister Fantine, her allies, and the majority of her vassals, though she will sacrifice a few of them if it meant protecting most of them. Eponine has a soft spot for Fantine. Eponine worries that soon, she will lose her ability to love her sister due to the negative side effects of her wish.

Bio: Eponine was born in a slum of North Africans in the outskirts of Aurora. She lived with her father, mother, and two younger siblings: fraternal twins, a boy and a girl. Due to their destitute living conditions, the community became disgruntled with the ruling magical girls. Eponine grew up hating magical girls for not protecting and providing for her town. When a group of militants came to 'liberate' them from magical girls, the militants were welcomed with open arms. However, their talk of 'revolution', 'liberation', and 'equality' was empty; they were little more than bandits expanding their territory and winning support by throwing around high-minded ideals. Life under this militant group was worse than the neglect they faced when under magical girl rule. When the North African community decided that they had had enough, they revolted and failed miserably. The militants suppressed the revolt swiftly and Eponine saw both her father and mother brutally physically and sexually assaulted by the militants. Then she became their next victim. At this point she was already broken, and she simply let it happen, but when she saw others reach for her sister and brother, she snapped, and an incubator appeared before her. When she became a magical girl for the first time, it was a night of blood as Eponine cleansed the slum of the militants. In the aftermath, her brother had died from injuries he had sustained while he was being raped, while her sister, Fantine, survived. Seeing Eponine as their saviour from oppression, the community changed their minds about magical girls. Eponine sought out the magical girl that governed over her region, Maria Goethe, and swore fealty to her, aligning herself and her community to Aurora. Now she rules over and protects the slum, which has become her fief, her territory which is part of Maria's larger domain. She keeps Fantine safe in Maria's HQ.

Allegiance: Aurora City Authority, Maria Goethe

Skills: Very few, maybe a proficiency with polearms having swung her warhammer around enough times. She has the tactics of a juggernaut.

Weapons: None

Other: Eponine's diet has gotten increasingly spicy as her sense of taste has deteriorated to the point that she can barely taste anything anymore. She also sometimes bites her own tongue and inside of her cheek when she is speaking quickly, so she often bleeds from the mouth. She calls her force-field the Zone of Absolute Terror.

Theme Song: Croatian Rhapsody - Maksim Mrvica

Magical Girl Appearance:

Eponine keeps her eye, hair, and skin color of course. Also, no bonnet and no katana.

Wish: "I never want to be hurt again." Her wish not only granted her an impenetrable force field ability, but has significantly reduced her ability to feel pain. Because she will feel pain if those close to her are harmed, her ability includes the bonus of being able to protect others. However, she can feel her sense of touch overall deteriorating, including her sense of taste. It has also slowly affected her ability to feel emotions, as emotions are ultimately the true source of pain. This last bit worries her, since loving Fantine is the one thing she has left.

Weapons: Eponine summons and wields a warhammer. She can summon more as necessary and as part of a way to extend her magic.

Powers: Force Field - Eponine's force field is a thin, impenetrable layer covering her body when activated. It can be extended to her warhammer, making the weapon indestructible. She can also extend it to allies if she touches them. Keeping it on drains her magic so she lets it down when she feels she is safe. It can be further activated with 'Rejection', which sends all things touching it to go shooting off in the opposite direction. She cannot use 'Rejection' to propel herself. She can summon multiple hammers and stand them with the head on the ground and the shaft pointing up. She needs a minimum of three set out in a ring to activate a larger force field, a hemisphere of protection projected from the shafts of the hammers.

[User]
Because Eponine's body was slowly losing the ability to feel due to her wish, and cold already had a numbing effect, cold became one of the first sensations she stopped being able to notice easily. So the cold wasn't bothering her as Violetta expected though, it did make her muscle movements alternate between sluggish and erratic at times, the effects of slowed muscle metabolism combined with the instinct to shiver. This didn't make it any easier for her to traverse the ice trees as she followed Violetta, lagging a bit behind.

When they saw the giant ball of ice hovering below them, Eponine was bit relieved. It was large enough that she could land on it without slipping and falling into the endless sky, and it seemed like the likeliest place for the witch to be. Without another word, Eponine jumped down from the branch she was one and right before she hit the ice ball, turned on her shield and activated 'reject', making sure that she incurred none of the damage from the fall while transferring all the force of the impact into the ball. What happened next would depend entirely on how strong the ball was; would it absorb the shock, would it shatter, or would it do something else entirely?

[Assistant]
Violetta took a moment to steady herself, and sat in the nook of a tree while her companion tried to play interlabyrinthine snooker with the nine-ball somewhere far below. No need for her to get her hands dirty when there were dirty hands to do it for her. She snuggled into the warmth of her coat, and bit down on a lump of leftover tobacco. With any luck, all she'd have to do was wait, and the lilac revolutionary would come around this way. And then the two girls would fight. And then, either one of them would die, and their friends would get all pissy and revengey, or they'd back away, letting their views of the othet side fester and sour. Hell. maybe this would finally be the spark that sets the powder keg alight.

Even though, Violetta privately observed, this was probably not the best choice of firestarters. Between the two of them, she judged, they had about as much malice as the dalai lama, and almost as much polititcal sway. A silent bodyguard who let nothing slip and a revolutionary who probably thought Gavroche was a kind of broccoli. Hardly the spitting fire to start a neverending inferno with. But you made do with what you had. The girl snuggled down undee the tree, jaw bobbing up and down, rhythmically, and pretty thoughts of wanton cruelty running through her head.

[User]
book of bad juju@TrixyTrix

Violetta and Alice would probably go unmolested beyond the continued Familiar attacks, though they diminished in intensity with Eponine beginning to attack the Witch. If they were close enough the two might be able to see the cloud from the shattered ice thrown into the air. It wouldn't do anything for them, but it would be a sign that something was happening.

The two were out of sight of each other for the moment, but it was likely that they would be able to hear the other fighting if they were particularly violent about it. And that left out the possibility of one of them going to aid in this fight that would yield a Grief Seed and the destruction of the labyrinth.

It was inevitable that the thing would get new tricks though, and new Familiars emerged to fight the Girls in the barrier, but not fighting the Witch itself. They rose from the branches themselves, earmuff wearing snowmen with icicle arms and razor teeth, clawing and snapping as they separately moved towards the two. It seemed that not fighting the Witch would not make things easy either, and it would be up to them to decide if they wanted to go help, stay here and fight, or to move on and avoid a major conflict.

---

Algorithm

The ice held for brief moments under the impact of the collision, given the full force of the collision as a result of Eponine's magic. It held for a few, brief moments, before shattering into a jagged hole that dropped the magical girl inside the spherical construct. Fortunately the entire thing didn't break, just the portion she had landed on.

The insides was strange, but Eponine wouldn't fall too far once breaching the surface of the sphere. The inside was cold, bright with refracting light off of the various surfaces inside as ice branches ran from one section of the sphere to the other, some acting like bridges while other portions terminated and branched out, still leaving large gaps for things to move. At least she wouldn't have to worry about falling to her death anymore, probably, as the ice surface she had so recently plunged through reformed, patterns different but solidity the same. There would be no retreat that way.

More important to her though would be the opponent she found in there. The Witch, hovering near the center of the ball of interwoven ice, awoke, a shriek emanating forth as it noted the intruder. It was hidden, to some extent it's physical form hidden in what seemed weird kinds of rainbow scarves, hats, mittens, and the lice. Beneath there were glimpses of white, but nothing could be gained from that. She would, however, be able to make out runes in that strange script, labeling this Witch as Byrea, for what that was worth.

With another cry a trio of icicle-esque projectiles were fired at Eponine from it's 'sleeve', and the fight began.

---

The guards glanced about as Maria introduced herself and presented her cargo, the hovering crates a bit unnerving. They knew she wasn't an immediate threat, but that didn't change the intimidation factor involved. Just as she had been aiming for.

It didn't see much of a realization though as a girl approached. It wasn't Alexandra herself but rather Caroline, her second in command and follower. The girl eyed Maria and her entourage with a hint of distrust, but said nothing of it. If Maria was going to go through with her plan in the future, this girl was going to be someone she would have to deal with.

"Welcome Maria Goethe," she replied as was customary. "Follow me." She turned about, moving inside whilst guards advanced to retrieve the crates, so they could be taken off to the store rooms to be put with the others. That was part of the business of being in charge, and Alexandra would want to speak with Maria as a matter of course.

The elevator she stopped in front of arrived with a ding, and Caroline gestured for the faux-wheelchair bound girl to enter before doing so herself, and setting it for the level below the penthouse. Assuming that Maria was coming along anyway. The doors slid close and the elevator into motion. Time to meet the boss.

[Assistant]
Maria was amused by the nervousness of the guards, and rightly so. An occasional trick or two is good for keeping appearances, not letting even close servants forget their inferiority. Maria was glad to see Caroline was punctual as always, and returned her greeting in customary manner.
She gently placed the crates down, and followed after Caroline, rolling into the elevator once prompted.

It wasn't that uncommon for Alexandra to want a quick report, since it was convenient to do so as part of the tax delivery, though more serious discussions about Aurora were made during conferences, where more Nobles were attending. Maria had absolutely no reason to decline, even if she was going to meet the very person she was later going to usurp the throne from eye-to-eye.

Regular commoners may have enjoyed small talk when going up such a long way, but the both of them knew they were far above such impolite nonsense. Maria spent the time quietly listening to the almost silent humming of the elevator as it rose up.

[User]
Eponine had half-expected to land on the tiny ice planetoid, and that the witch would come hovering over the horizon to attack her, so she was slightly surprised to have actually broken through the surface, though she did manage to land on her feet and activate her shield right before making impact with the far side of the inner wall of the ice sphere. When the witch launched icicles at her, Eponine reactively enabled her shield to shrug off the projectiles, feeling her magic drop for each icicle that bounced off of her. She looked up expectantly, waiting for Violetta to jump down, melt a hole through the ice ball and join her in her fight against the witch. It took a moment before it dawned on Eponine that Violetta may not be joining her as soon as she liked, and standing there looking upwards only made Eponine an easy target for the hostile magical abomination directly above her.

Dodging another flurry of icicles, Eponine summoned a second hammer and began spinning in place like a top, her arms outstretched, swing the hammers. After gaining enough rotational inertia, she tilted her spin slightly and launched one, and then the other hammer at the witch, hoping to do some damage. Before the hammers hit, Eponine summoned another hammer and prepared for a retaliation from Byrea.


[System]
Age: 18/2
Species: Human (kinda)
Gender: Female
Personality:
Arrogant, self-assured, and ruthless. Darquesse is devoid of empathy, completely incapable of understanding human emotion. She further believes herself to be superior to all other forces, and enjoys the worship of less powerful beings. She is also intensely curious, to the extent of lowering her defences just to find out how much damage an attack would do, and how much it would hurt. While she lacks all empathy she isn't completely devoid of a conscience somehow, and almost paradoxically enjoys performing the occasional act of good alongside the meaningless slaughter.

Bio:
When Darquesse fully emerged from Valkyrie Cain during the battle with the Remnants, she went on a killing spree. While Pleasant attempted to talk her down, she merely ignored him and continued slaughtering the Remnants. While her efforts ended the Remnant threat to the world, she had no intention of stopping there, and proceeded to leave entire cities dead in her wake. A team of shunters (dimension-porting mages) was assembled as a last-hope defence against the unstoppable Darquesse, and she was cast into another reality. Left to wander the Multiverse, Darquesse was instantly pulled into the events of the Multiversal war between the Empire and the Resistance.

Abilities:
[Magical Prodigy]
Darquesse is able to see magic, and can interact with intangible magical beings as if they were physical. She also possesses the ability to negate or destroy magical spells weaker than her own arcane powers. She isn't able to negate offensive magic, but could for example destroy the enchantment on a magical sword. Her knowledge and understanding of magic also allow her to analyze magic, and she will often understand the function of a spell or enchantment after studying it for a minute or so.

[Elemental Magic]
The first school of magic she learned allows Darquesse to utilize and manipulate the elements. She is able to create infernos, fly, shatter rocks with a thought, and create vast cyclones of water. Her mastery of elemental magic is nearly unmatched, and her flames possess the ability to melt through steel and stone with relative ease.

[Necromancy]
While not nearly as advanced as the knowledge of older necromancers, Darquesse is able to use several aspects of Necromancy. She's able to create and control solid shadows with the power to throw cars and tear through steel. Her shadow walls are bullet-proof, and the strength of her shadows increases the more death is nearby. She furthermore possesses the ability to sense living beings, and is able to exert some level of control over mindless undead beings. However, she vastly prefers the destructive aspects of necromancy.

[Augmented Body]
By enhancing her physical form with magic, Darquesse is able to achieve inhuman feats. She can move near the speed of sound both during flight and on the ground. She possesses the physical strength to throw cars and punch through brick walls with ease. Her skin is also incredibly resistant, able to resist being thrown through buildings and hit with missiles. However, she often lowers her durability to allow hits to damage her, her curiosity driving her to find out how much something hurts, and how much damage it would do. She possesses the ability to heal her body nearly instantly, making nearly any damage dealt to her body pointless. The only way to kill her is to destroy the brain. Her healing can also be applied to others with a touch.
Universe of Origin: Skullduggery Pleasant

Other:

[User]
As Darquesse propelled herself through the air, she noticed the entire company readying it's heavy explosives. She smiled, as she prepared to guard herself with her powers. She could use her wind magic to stop most projectiles mid-air, or even send them straight back. While it was most certainly a valiant effort, there was no way such mundane weaponry would stop her. She flew closer, surrounded by her own little air vortex as she moved like a blur. Most normal humans wouldn't even be able to keep up with her at this point, and she wasn't certain she would even need to block the projectiles, as she could just weave through the explosions. In fact, she wanted to test just that, when things suddenly started going south far too quickly.

First she was hit by a blast of immense sound. She could feel it shaking in her bones as her eardrums burst, her mind temporarily flooded by pain before she turned it off. But the blast of sound had succeeded at stunning her, halting her flight midair. And as she blinked to recover, she noticed a barrage of missiles and grenades heading her way at high speed, already too close and too many for her to be able to effectively dodge them. Annoyed, she stretched out her hands in protest. A shockwave propelled itself through the air from her, blasting the grenades back towards the company of soldiers who had thrown them. The missiles were merely slowed down for a moment though, and she had no way of deflecting them before they struck her. Shadows sprung from her flesh, and she cocooned herself in solid darkness before they struck her. The barrier held as she was engulfed in flames, but only barely. It was annoying to admit, but those missiles could have done some serious damage if she'd been just a moment later with her shadow barrier.

Meanwhile, the company of soldiers was suddenly dealing with a rain of grenades. Without immediate action, everything besides heavy ordinance would find itself suddenly wiped out by the explosive rain. Luckily for the soldiers, Corban seemed to pop into the battlefield from thin air at that exact moment. As Darquesse was getting slammed by missiles, he formed a barrier that saved the soldiers from an explosive death, fulfilling his role as Guardian rather aptly. A thin shield of diamond formed like a canopy over the sodliers, and while it was shattered by the barrage of explosions it had taken the damage rather than the men themselves. Something that surely they were all grateful for.

Darquesse looked down, as she realized another magic-user had joined the battle. She could tell from his aura that this guy also used some strange school of magic, although it seemed slightly akin to what fancy suit man had used. Perhaps they were from the same universe? She'd need to figure out how this whole thing worked, but that was for later. She also noticed that there was a rather special figure among the soldiers, clad in heavy mechanized armour of some kind. This was most likely the figure responsible for the sonic scream a bit ago. She grinned, as she realized she'd be able to coerce the mech guy into getting her power armour. Or perhaps she could take this suit, if she didn't bang it up all too badly in the fight that would no doubt follow.

Regenerating her eardrums, Darquesse spoke to the couple as they no doubt prepared for another assault. "Hey, nice move with the sound wave thing. That nearly got me. Round of applause." Darquesse could practically taste the fear in the human soldiers below. A number of them fired, but these weapons weren't powerful enough to pierce her magical protection, and they were ignored. "So I figured I was just going to be killing mooks, but it looks like you've got a cool suit. And THIS guy" Darquesse gestured at Corban "has cool powers. So I think I'm going to take your suit, and I'm going to beat the shit out of that guy with it. If you give it to me nicely I probably won't even kill you." Darquesse refrained from attacking, giving them a moment to consider her offer.

[Assistant]
Alexandria Skye

"All units, fall back to cover! Do NOT engage in combat with the witch! I repeat, do not engage! I will handle her." With that command through the intercom her squad sounded retreat and pulled back. As this was happening, Alexandria activated her cloak and turned on her hologram to look as if she was still standing there, when in all actuality she was digging a small hole and placing a C4 sticking bomb into the hole then burying it. She programed the hologram to turn towards the mysterious wizard @Divinity who had just saved her squad from certain death. Using her sound manipulation, she talked through the hologram to the wizard. "I do not know who you are, but you saved my men, and for that, you have my sincerest gratitude."

The Hologram then turned towards the witch and talked from the hologram, all the while Alexandria was using her anti-gravity thrusters to levitate off the ground as not to leave footprints in the sand, then using her sound manipulation to mask the sound of her thrusters as she started floating until she was 100 yards east from her starting position and crouched behind a dune, Automatic Railgun armed and ready to fire. She then had the hologram speak. "As for you! You can have this suit when hell freezes over! And if you don't surrender in the next 3 seconds, I'll blow your brains out!" She then had the hologram lift her pulse rifle up and aimed it at the witch. She then started the countdown.

[User]
As the figure in mechanized armour spoke, she seemed to shimmer. No magic was being used, but Darquesse could tell something was off. Her skill in the art of necromancy allowed her to sense the souls of living beings, and she could track Alexandria as she walked away from where she appeared to be standing. Darquesse couldn't help but smile as she realized what was going on. Sneaky beaky. While she wasn't able to discern the exact actions Alexandria was performing, she did notice the slight change in the Earth when the C4 stick was buried. It was rather clear to her that this soldier was a strategic fighter, and that she was being set up. It amused her, the fact that this human thought that the great Darquesse could be fooled by parlor tricks. But the hologram and invisibility tech only made her want the suit more.

As Alexandria started the countdown, Darquesse would mockingly raise her hands. "Oh my. I'm terrified. Of course I'll surrender." As she spoke, the shadows behind the actual Vakyria rose up like a wall. Moments later they would descend like a blanket, covering Alexandria's invisible form with a layer of solid shadows as she suddenly found herself pinned to the ground. Darquesse meanwhile moved sideways, avoiding any reflex-fire that might occur by moving out of the line of fire. "So, you know where hell is? Cuz I bet that, given some time, I could freeze it. And you're about to give me your suit, so I might as well, you know?" The other magic-user was being mostly ignored here, but Darquesse had not forgotten about him, and her magical senses were primed for any attack coming from his direction.


[System]
ABSTRACT: Sweethearted aristocrat-to-be (unless she has anything to say about it).

DETAIL: Maria was born to a pair of middle-class citizens who run a candy shop on the banks of the Seventh River, with their apartment on the second floor. Growing up, she learned how to make her own sweets, and even helped out in the shop from time to time. Every night, she would lie on her bed and look outside at the Wall, and try to see what had been added on since the last night. Eventually, the people she saw began to take on lives of their own in her head, and she started imagining what their lives were like, up there in the clouds, looking down at the rest of them, who surely seemed so tiny amidst the great wide majesty of the sky and the lands beyond the Wall. Unfortunately, her parents' candy shop began to go into decline, and her father, with nowhere else to go, beseeched an influential billionaire for his help. He gave it, but under one condition; that he take Maria as a wife. Naturally, this did not appeal at all to Maria or her parents, so they accepted his aid, then had Maria flee onto the Wall. She came equipped with as much candy and as many clothes as she could pack, a pad of paper and a pencil (for her sigil), and mixed emotions; she was finally going to be able to work on the Wall and see beyond it, like she'd always dreamed, but she was also being pursued by a ruthless billionaire who wanted her for a wife. Nonetheless, she won't let that dampen her good spirits, and greets everyone with a sunny smile and a piece of homemade candy.

MAGICAL INVENTORY: Maria has one sigil, which she memorized just before she left for the Wall. It turns whatever it's written on into what's essentially a mine, but instead of exploding, it emits a great burst of air, enough to propel someone several steps back or into the air briefly. Normally, this only acts as a distraction while Maria legs it, but up on the Wall, one wrong step can mean your doom.

THEME: Unidentified Flavorful Object

[User]
Vincent barely registered the book the servant held as he left the ballroom and went down the hallway to the library. There were only a few books he knew he needed. Applications of the Soul of Advanced Devices by Saul Thorn and Regarding Dreams and the Application of the Soul by Rounard Skip. He knew the basics of soul application, which would help for simple objects that have no mechanical parts, but when it came to slightly more advanced techniques -- like the pen his father made for him -- he was completely out of his league.

He nearly burst through the door into the library and halted immediately when he saw the blood. He glanced around quickly to see that the blood streaked its way out an open window. Vincent bared his teeth at the thought of an intruder in his house. A killer. He cautiously made his way to the fireplace in the lounge area of the library and pulled the antique spear displayed over the fireplace. It was heavier than he expected and he nearly dropped it. The need for a weapon became very clear to him, and he needed to improve it quickly.

The spear was something from before Periphery and the fact that it was still in acceptable condition could be considered nothing but a miracle in Vincent's eyes. This was something from when humans still were in danger from the wild and magic hadn't been mastered yet. He felt that his father's mad desire to collect such antiques to be a waste of time, but now he was grateful for it. He laid the spear on the sofa in front of the fireplace and whipped his pen out and started writing the sigils required to absorb a soul and improve the weapon. Upon completion of the sigils he prepared Randy's soul and put the entire thing into the spear.

He couldn't help but feel a thrill and excitement over committing a taboo such as this. To use an entire soul on an item. Often times such an act was considered suicide and the ultimate act of a madman or self-sacrifice in a desperate time for a runemage. It was an unspoken taboo to use all of one's soul, so for Vincent to use the entire soul of another human could only be considered something even worse. He felt a thrill he had never felt before. Almost as if something about this filled in a void he hadn't realized he felt until now.

He licked his lips and grinned excitedly. "Thank you for your sacrifice, Randy. How about we go hunting for Grit?"

Saving the city meant destroying all the Grit. Therefor he had to create weapons to destroy them. He had seen the futility of basic weapons. Now he held a superweapon he wanted to see just how effective it was.

[Assistant]
Berry
"Well…" Berry considered Roy's question for a moment. "I would very much like to bring everyone back as soon as possible; safety in numbers and means that the Grit can't use the soul gems."

Berry breathed. Fear was pooling in her stomach, coiling like a snake around her in the darkness. She gripped the bridge of her nose and then looked up at Roy.

"Currently I feel the best course of action is to leave everyone here as they are so at least we know that they're safe. Meanwhile, Roy if I may ask that you go hunt for whoever or whatever our intruder is."
A number of prods and presses brought the map to focus in on the extra dot.

"It's somewhere down one of the corridors…I think." Again the completeness of the map she held left a number of rooms and hallways incomplete or even non-existent, so she simply pointed vaguely to the Ballrooms main doorway. "If we can secure the parameter, as they say, we can then gain a foothold and 'drive off those filthy scallywags' as Sargent Barnsley is fond of saying." She chuckled hesitantly.
Berry was a big fan of radio dramas.

"With that said I suppose the rest of us had better stick together. Don't suppose anyone saw which way Vincent ran off to?" Berry was already fiddling with the map as she asked. "Goodness I do hope he's okay…the other dot is getting very close to…him." Berry's voice dropped off into a petrified silence.

"Good heavens it's right on top of him!"

[User]
"I'd rather not," said the spear.

The voice filled the room -- everywhere but nowhere -- and it sounded very much like Randy himself. The spear, counter to common assumption, did not glow, was not warm or cold to the touch, made no significant indication following the initial imbuement of Randy's soul that it was at all different from any other heirloom weapon. Vincent, however, would feel an unexplainable heaviness and a sense of great importance upon holding it.

"I expect you plan on swinging me about like a monkey with a stick, hoping to smack something. I expect you'll feel proud of yourself while I do all the work. I expect you'll get yourself into deep shit and assume I'll dig you out of it. On the contrary, your dad's not around and I have no more use for a paycheck or this job. I quit."

The spear gave no indication that he was in the least upset that he'd lost his body, or that his soul now resided in a piece of wood and metal, or that the city now depended on his cooperation. In fact, he felt much better to have finally given Vincent a piece of his mind.

Something moved in the bushes; Vincent might hear the scratch and slurp of something licking the blood off the outside wall. After a moment, a gigantic snake slid over the windowsill and into the library; it had the disarming and haunting face of a sheep and the black spines of a fish, and its long body was twice as round as Vincent's. It slithered slickly across the floor and ducked between the shelves at the far end of the library; it had not yet noticed Vincent, but was winding its way closer to the pool of blood at Vincent's feet.

---

Roy had been listening attentively, nodding every once in awhile, truly impressed at Berry's assessment of the situation. Find the intruder! Secure the mansion! Keep this area safe for rescuees! He was very much keen on following Berry's leadership, and was on his way to the door closest to the anomaly intruder when Berry exclaimed.

"I'll find him, Miss Berry!" he promised. "Don't you worry." He took a glance over her shoulder at her map, then dashed off across the shining ballroom floor and disappeared through the door through which Vincent had gone.

The door fell slowly shut behind him. The click of the lock echoed ominously.

Everything fell silent.

The statue of the servant on the stage lay pathetically on its side, still clutching the book that he had given his life for. The servant's soulstone was missing.

A flash of lights passed by the farthest window. According to Berry's map, a single grit glided past the mansion and continued on toward the Spire.

Berry could see everything on her map: Vincent's dot was accompanied by a second dot of the same color, which identified that he carried a soulstone with him -- or that someone else was with him. She saw a grit come in through the window and wind haphazardly through the library, getting closer to Vincent's dot, which appeared for the moment not to have noticed the intruder.

Meanwhile, Roy's dot sprinted up the stairs and made a beeline for the library -- but he stopped suddenly in the hallway and didn't move again.

Roy's dot appeared suspended in the upstairs corridor -- the robot was at this moment pinned to the ceiling, caught by one of Vincent's father's booby traps made to protect his secrets -- and the Grit was getting closer to Vincent.

Another Grit appeared on the map -- close to Berry herself -- as if it had just materialized out of nothing. The dot indicated this new threat was on the stage, behind the half-closed curtain. It didn't move.

Everything remained still and silent.

---

The portal closed behind Berry, and the Queen released a slow breath. Her fingers stiffly clasped the ruffles of her dress. She lowered her head, her shoulders slumped, and forbade herself from crying.

She knew what had caused all of this. She knew that most -- if not all -- of her people would never breathe again. She knew all of it was her own fault.

A sound of shuffling and breathing drew up her head again. Someone was still here. Someone had stayed behind while the others traversed the deadly streets where the Grit roamed. A scent like sugar wafted through the empty cold cavern where the floating gems glowed crimson.

She turned around and gave Maria a smile. "Are you all right?" she asked gently, and she took a step forward. Her hands were still secured to her dress, subconsciously stuck there. She tipped her head. "I feel like I've met you before. A candy shop, maybe?" She glanced back at the sigil drawn on the wall, where a softly glowing dot pulsed at the location of Vincent's home. "I'm sure they'll be all right." She wasn't at all confident.

[Assistant]
Vincent stared at the spear with an expression that mixed surprise with curiosity. Then a smile grew onto his face. This was certainly a fascinating turn of events. While the fact that the spear said something negative was in fact a problem; Vincent felt certain he could work something out one way or another.

Vincent's smile turned into a grin. That grin turned into a chuckle. He almost started to laugh in near hysterics. "Oh, wow! I would have never expected this." Well who would have? "I never pegged you for a quitter, Randy. You certainly wouldn't have kept working for my father just for the money with how difficult I know I can be."

He made a mental note to not use an entire soul on the next attempt just a large part of it. "So... can you see? Hear? Smell? Well... I figure you can hear since you can talk."

Vincent then heard the sound of a creature licking the blood off the wall on the other side of the room. He readied Randy for emergency use as he stepped clear of the blood to grab the book Applications of the Soul of Advanced Devices, but he quickly noticed that the spot Regarding Dreams and the Application of the Soul was supposed to be was empty and the neighboring book was now leaning over the vacant spot like some lazy bumpkin. He could hear the Grit approaching quietly behind him.

He placed the book in his jacket's inside pocket where the volume barely fit. He then tiptoed to the opposite side of the Grit with Randy ready to strike. If he were to test out if Randy would work or not regardless of his apparent apathy then sooner was better than later. While it was still occupied with licking up the fresh blood, Vincent thrust into its spine fiercely, and then quickly retreated away from it. If problems arose he knew of a servant's corridor he could quickly escape through.

[User]
As the portal closed behind Berry and all the rest, Maria felt a mix of emotions swirl through her gut. There was fear for their safety, hope that they'd succeed in their mission, confidence that they'd be fine, even without her, and, of course, a bit of anxiety to the tune of "I should have gone with them, they need me." Maria took a deep breath and let it out slowly, evenly. They'd be fine. All of her friends were competent, good people. Even though she hadn't known them for very long, she had to believe that they would all come back just fine. And if they didn't... Well, let's just not think about that just yet. Maria bowed her head, offering up a plea to whatever nameless being still listened to Periphery that all her friends would come back hale and hearty.

The rustle of fabric and a slow, shaky not-sob drew her head up again. Someone was still here. There was still someone around, someone who it seemed needed her help. Before Maria could say something, the Queen turned around and asked her if she was alright, and whether she knew Maria from somewhere. Maria immediately came out with "That line's a bit cliche, my lady, don't you think?" She stifled the growing bubble of horror-shame-excitement, cleared her throat, and continued, more gently. "I'm fine, my lady, and I thank you for asking, but I think the real question is: are you all right? I thought I may have heard you crying just now, and..." Maria took a step forwards, placed her hand on the Queen's shoulder, and looked her in the eyes, smiling. "I know we've only just met, and we're just about utter strangers to each other, but please, tell me everything. It doesn't do to keep your emotions all bottled up like that, you know."