|
Post by demikara on Aug 8, 2020 16:50:34 GMT -6
"I'm no longer-" He gasped and jerked as magic tore through him, pouring out of his eyes and his mouth and his hands. Screaming, he slammed his hands down on the ground and tried to direct the surge down and out. Down and out, it had to go down and out. His fangs descended and he glowed with the force of a super nova until the sigil broke. It didn't last long until he collapsed boneless to the ground, the magic still rolling through him, shimmering in waves over his body.
The mage groaned, and didn't move a muscle as he lay there, insensate. Unable to move his body, his mind reached out for those around him, touching each mind roughly, with little control breaking through shielding without even a desire to do so. Half-dead, his mind had one thing on it, and it was near a chant. 'Blood. Need blood.' Human food would no longer work to soothe the aches and pains from his magic.
|
|
|
Post by littlekreen on Aug 8, 2020 16:53:51 GMT -6
The small creature raced over to the bit of bread as it passed by that shortly draw the attention of others. The bread shook and jostled as the bread turned to carbon. Ephemeral patterns with a current and abnormal taste to take the metal element then shot off in direction of the cylinder.
~~
Though not only storms raged near the place Catherine was but also the small creatures barred by barriers as Zhen went to inspect her. Though as the storms raged the faint chimes of the cylinder attracting creatures to balance its artificial efforts did give them unusual habits. Especially by something so suitable for a nest this terribly close to the surface of the aether. As Zhen passed interior doors gouts of creatures slip through under doors via the lake of his shadow. The sudden frenzy at a path finally made did disturb the floor patterns just slightly. The flock of Jīnglíng entered, nibbled and balanced by minuscule amounts as they desired, trading shredded bits of local entropy to balance weaknesses the storm left. More in aim though just to feed themselves by the work thereby extracted.
The schools as well understood the need behind that pull of the chimes even though an alien nest it may be. A school of those small dust devils floods around a heavy bit of metal. Slowly a car with one missing door drifts over a long way toward the cylinder. Tires bobbing off the ground as a flood that wasn't water buoys the wheels by just enough to move as the school desires.
|
|
|
Post by Circe on Aug 8, 2020 17:28:58 GMT -6
Meanwhile across the ranch where Catherine lay, the magic surged forth explosively from it's second outlet. There was little she could do to resist it or quell it. Xiaolian's paralytic with Zhen's reenforcements had so far prevented her from doing much other than letting out a weak cry of pain and surprise as the magic further warped the grove around her. The ground around the now massive oak she had sought shelter, cracked, and was soon thrown violently into the air under such cataclysmic forces. The landscape was being reshaped under the will of the wild and unbridled magic as strange and primordial place, with floating islands of rock surrounding a singular massive oak.
--
Xiaolian had been about to say something smart in return when things exploded literally. "Gǒu zǎizi!" She swore tossing new mental shields up and motioning to Zhen to do the same. She had held back on the paralytic, and a few other sigils, but that seemed to be their undoing.
There was little Xiaolian or Zhen could do to mitigate things short of a purification rite, and with Xiaolian being the weaker of the two combined with Zhen's inexperience, it was bound to fail. "Li... what do we do?" Zhen asked frightened and with little idea how to manage things.
Looking over at Tyrus, she quickly made up her mind. Becoming his next meal was off the table. "They taught you the imperial style, yes?" She asked looking over at her brother. "Vengeance of Heaven. We'll cut him off from the source." Xiaolian continued hoping that would work. If anything it would reduce the firehose to a trickle for the rest of the day.
|
|
|
Post by demikara on Aug 8, 2020 17:42:14 GMT -6
Tyrus' magic continued to move over him, and he groaned, and moved, or tried to. He was so thirsty. And his body couldn't handle much more of this. But he was beginning to come to, at least mentally. 'Contact Brandon Hammerstein. Tell him we need blood.' He was clearly begging even mentally, as he spoke to whatever mind was listening. His phone was on the ground near him. Hopefully they'd just use that. The man forced himself to stay still, even as he could smell two highly magical sources of blood near him.
The magic continued to pulse over his body, leaking from his eyes and his hands and his feet. They would be delicious. But they weren't food, and he fought his instincts hard on it. They were helping him. They weren't food. But he was losing the battle 'paralyze me.' He ordered Xiaolian. He was not going to hurt them. He refused despite the siren call of their blood.
|
|
|
Post by Circe on Aug 8, 2020 18:46:02 GMT -6
"Wait... you're asking me to help you cast that one?! Imperial style?!!!" Zhen sputtered. "Jeijei... that's... that's... you can't do that!" He finally managed to spit out. That wasn't something they had trained him in, it was a method that had long since died out due to the risks it posed to the caster or casters and potentially the subject. It was an emergency fail safe that had been used during the war when magic would get out of hand.
Xiaolian and Zhen bickered back and forth for a time being, debating the best way to take care of the problem at hand before Tyrus interupted them again. "Báichī... You mages are all the same. Think you're hot shit till things go so far south you can't control it anymore." She spat at Tyrus. "Zhen.. call Brandon, he's in my phone too. Tell him Lt. Boyuan has a favor to ask, and remind him he owes me." Xiaolian added tossing her brother her phone. The only way she would be getting close to Tyrus would be to place the paralytic and other spell on him.
Zhen nodded dumbly as he unlocked the phone and scrolled through the contacts, looking for the individual in question. He would much rather this, than have his sister demand he help her cast a now illegal spell. Zhen understood bending some rules, especially given everything now, but these were mitigation strategies that seemed over kill to him.
"But if that's what you want, then I'll gladly paralyze you and then some for good measure." Xiaolian grinned at Tyrus, more than happy to oblige to put an end this insanity. However briefly it might be for.
Producing another slip of paper, this one was different from the rest. Instead of black characters, they were a harsh, bloody red color. "Gods of the four seas, fend off a hundred demons and drive back the fierce disaster. Order!"* Xiaolian recited, her voice rich and resonant. A voice that was meant to be imbued with the authority of heaven. It was certainly different than in anything else she had previously demonstrated during her time with MCU.
As the words fell from her lips, mandala appeared, shimmering in the air. Full of a litany of colors, some known and not known to man, as it moved to encircle Tyrus. Brilliant lavender flames then enveloped the new charm before it was applied to the vampire. They would not kill, but certainly would burn before extinguishing themselves onto Tyrus's chest, leaving a mark.
"Be careful what you wish for mage." She finished, more than pleased with herself for persuading the ambient magic to tie the two spells together into one. "You will be temporarily cut off from the veil and unable to render harm to me or my brother until I will it."
*Yes I totally swiped this from anime.. until I can figure out something else out.
|
|
|
Post by littlekreen on Aug 8, 2020 18:46:20 GMT -6
An open sending tended to catch ears one didn't expect. Especially by afterimage a thundering swirl of a single luminous eye staring through a stone pinhole yet the size of a city block. The Jinhai were not close anymore in roaming while they could but not so far Myrkul's curiosity on the ranch could not overhear the overcharged mage shout. Though the overbeing could tell little difference between the ones it had interacted with earlier and the new voice it heard now from behind their wards. In a case of mistaken identity, Myrkul presumed Rahal one of the former two Guardians it hadn't yet seen.
"BY DICTA, WE WILL NOT DO SO." Thundered a mountainous mind back at Rahal in emotion as flat as its tone.
The mind of Myrkul's Vein had neither malice nor admonishment for the nature of the request; that situation simply was. It sensed the nature of the being well enough and the request could not be as they would harm humankind.
~~~
As the other dervish swirled around Catherine they ate of the greenery in any shape warped into by her prodigious but wild will. Creatures of more natural forces wither shaped like a deer or a flower uprooting itself then walking off it bothered them little. As the explosion of magic rocked the ranch strange creatures and other living things hail in ghostly shapes from above. Each careened helplessly through the too-solid air to detonate in a school of squirming Jīnglíng. A flood of dust devils that might unseat the unprepared when scattering upon impact with the earth.
|
|
|
Post by demikara on Aug 8, 2020 18:58:05 GMT -6
He screamed at the burn and forced himself to take it. He could feel the magic cut off from him though. It felt like his strings had been cut. but he couldn't move and the magic was no longer pouring through him. He couldn't feel magic at all, actually and it caused a moment's panic. His eyes opened and he frowned. That wasn't right. His eyes were open weren't they? He closed them and opened again and the situation didn't improve. Everything was...it was like there were shades of grey and it was blurry besides. What the hell happened to his vision?
'Thank you. I have no desire to hurt you, despite what my instincts are demanding. But what did you do? I can't feel my magic at all.' Cut off from the veil entirely. Did that really cut all his magic off? It must. He pushed his hunger to the side. He couldn't move, which meant he couldn't hurt them. He obviously had enough magic to still be alive and be a vampire and for now, that would do. Once the solstice was over, or at least mostly over, he'd see about regaining the rest. Even if it did feel rather like a gaping hole in his chest. He had to trust Xiaolian on this matter.
The mental backlash from the creatures gave him a migraine though. Right. No help from the jingling. Who apparently had a hive mind. You learned something new every day.
---
Brandon picked up the phone on the otherside. "Lieutenant Boyuan. You almost never call me. What case could MCU use a necromancer for on the solstice?" He assumed it was a case after all. She had never called for pleasure before and they had worked together in the past. He was one of the very few state-sanctioned necromancers in existence and didn't actually know of any others. He was just sure they existed and they were all kept far apart on purpose.
|
|
|
Post by Circe on Aug 8, 2020 19:17:11 GMT -6
Xiaolian crouched down so her face was level with Tyrus's, all pretensions of being human gone. In it's wake was an unsympathetic human like creature with a mildly curious expression and bright jade green eyes, a halmark of all Guardians, once previously hidden. It looked at him as if he were just another thing to encounter in her duties to Heaven. At this point it would be made apparent that the siblings bore only a resemblance to humans, but that was where it stopped. They had been trained since young children in the ancient manners and ways of the Ba-Shu Gaurdians; masters of traveling the world tree and the ancient magics of heaven. "It is called Tiāntáng de fùchóu or I believe in your tongue the Vengence of Heaven, not everything translates just so you're aware. I'm particularly fond of the imperial style methods for casting it too. It's a very old method of binding a rouge mage, but quite effective and appropriate given the situation." She hadn't expected it to work quite so well, but it had and that was more than enough to satisfy her. "I cut you off from the source. To allow you to continue would risk corruption, and as much as I've come to like this world... I will still do my duty as Heaven commands."
-- "Hi Mr. Hammerstein.. the uh.. Lieutenant is busy at the moment. Long story short, I'm her brother Zhen and she asked I call you on her phone. She said something about you owing her something.. and some guy named Tyrus needing blood and to call you." He stammered. What had even happened to normal, or what even was normal, and how did he even get dragged into this mess.
|
|
|
Post by demikara on Aug 8, 2020 19:25:37 GMT -6
"The prince himself seeking blood from his brother and cousin? Dire straits. I'll pay off my favor to Xiaolian of course. Describe the situation so I know how much blood to bring and tell me where I'm bringing it." Vampire lineage could be twisted and nothing was more true than the lineage of the current royal family. Brandon was both nephew to the princess and little brother to the prince who was his older brother and the princess' son. It was a complicated relationship. "Though if it's on court properties, I'm banned from those, so you'll have to arrange something Zhen." He practically purred the name. Xiaolian was an attractive woman. He had no doubt her brother, who was infinitely more his type, was at least as attractive.
--
She certainly didn't blend well with the humans right now. She did so well at pretending that he had forgotten. She wasn't just a human with extra duties at all, was she? No human would have eyes that glowed quite like that. And given her abilities, he found himself exceedingly happy they were on the same side. Or at least, were allies of a sort. 'It worked well. And I appreciate it. I hope it's reversible though, once this damned day has passed?' He was never looking forward to another solstice again. And realistically, he only had until the next equinox to find something, even if the boost was less on an equinox than it was on a solstice. 'Is this supposed to effect my vision by the way?'
|
|
|
Post by littlekreen on Aug 8, 2020 19:41:45 GMT -6
Perhaps to Tyrus' dismay at being frozen in place a throng of fervent dust slowly stole his car as it slid past a path in the distance. As they got closer to the canister and its raucous noises at being unbalanced it slowly got easier for the throng to move the solid object toward their intended nest. The front passenger door flew open bouncing in some unseen wind drawing it closer. Shortly after it bent a bit too far cleaving from its bolts free to tumble away somewhere in the distance.
|
|
|
Post by Circe on Aug 8, 2020 19:51:08 GMT -6
"Uhh.. I guess?" Zhen replied unsure what sort of mess he had just stumbled into. His job was to watch and report, and occasionally offer an additional hand should one be needed. He really didn't think much about the vampire courts at all, they were just another thing on this particular plane that tended to stir up chaos, and something he was almost certain was out of the scope of his duties. "Well I'm not really sure where we are to be honest.. some weird grove or ranch? Xiaolian really didn't explain. You know how it is with her." He laughed nervously. In truth he wasn't sure how much blood a vampire needed, "Just bring the normal amount? Is that okay?" Zhen questioned, finding himself drawn in and almost invested in the voice on the other end of the phone. This world was truly strange, and its inhabitants were even stranger.
--
Xiaolian considered Tyrus's question, like a cat playing with a mouse. The mage was having to learn the uncomfortable lesson that there were bigger fish out there. While those fish had little interest in eating him for now, they also were not fond of him either at that very moment. "Allow me to be frank with you my little mage, I will remove or reverse it when I feel is appropriate." She answered. "If your vision is affected then that is not my doing. Perhaps it is something you've come to rely on too much in your magics?" Xiaolian added, tilting her head to the side with that same disconcerting curiosity. It was as if she was analyzing him, and breaking him down into his singular and core components.
--
"Well the situation is this.. it's chaos. The poor guy has been resisting all help with the solstice today, and seems to have burned all his reserves. The other one is paralyzed and out of their misery..." Zhen explained watching with mild horror as the Jingling carried an entire car off in the distance. "Jeijei... did you bring a car?" He shouted over at Xiaolian, who just shook her head in reply. Next to go was the cylinder that the Jinhai had given them. "If you could bring something so I'm not lunch... that'd be greatgottagothanks!" He finished before running after the Jingling carting off the aether shunt. "Hey! HEY! HEEEY!!" Zhen shouted bounding over rocks and tree roots to rescue their device.
|
|
|
Post by demikara on Aug 8, 2020 20:00:48 GMT -6
Brandon blinked. "...I suppose I can break the rules to go to the ranch." He grumbled. "And it's the solstice and the ranch and apparently there's another one." He'd bring enough blood for three, just to be sure. And he'd take a mirror. He was fairly certain there was one on the ranch at least. That had been the rumor. Which meant tracking down the mirror location, or getting close enough to default to it. That would be fun.
The necromancer gathered up enough blood for four in a cooler before setting out to the nearest mirror station. Some people didn't have mirrors on their property after all. They drove like normal people.
---
'So long as its reversible I'm content. You're the expert in this situation, not me. I trust you to know when it's safe. And I don't tend to use magic that effects my vision.' Which meant something had gone wrong. He had lost vision to magic earlier, which meant magic itself had screwed up his vision. Hopefully not irreversibly. 'All I'm seeing is blurry black and white.' He felt like he needed glasses. The mage closed his eyes, no desire to actually meet the gaze od someone who looked like they would eat him alive if he pissed her off too much. Best to let her be. And also to not ever believe she's a null ever again. Maybe she had the symptoms of being a null, but he knew when magic was cast on him. And nulls couldn't cast. Whatever she was, she wasn't a null despite having some signs of it.
And he doubted she was actually going to let him look into it. Frankly, she was scary enough he didn't want to look into it without her willing and freely given consent either.
|
|
|
Post by littlekreen on Aug 8, 2020 20:07:32 GMT -6
The school waited eagerly at the shunt as they sensed the car starting to arrive. The movement frothed and spat rocks in every direction even as they still raced in and out while going about their feeding. The shunt listed badly toward Catherine and screeched at the unbalanced forces. Though much like a dog that knew it had something they shouldn't, chasing near the car only redoubled their efforts. The weight spun and listed as they pushed it on even as the freed door arrived to collapse in that same shower of purple sparks. Mass conserved if not its space now weighed two car doors more than it started as the flotilla of thieves fled the oncoming Zhen. Magic flooding in and out of the device through the land plus their individual efforts glued it to the spot despite their efforts to move the two things closer.
The shunt's squeals quieted slightly as it grew an inch in diameter then sank into ground turned a moment fluid. Riots of magic quelled slightly as the two potentials neared. So much poured through the aether shunt as creatures aimed to build a nest inside of the bloated well. All they knew of its strain was simply that the nest was not solid enough for the entropy of its insides.
|
|
|
Post by Circe on Aug 8, 2020 20:23:48 GMT -6
Panting and doubled over gasping for air, Zhen sputtered and spat a few choice words about sisters and the jingling. "Oh come on!" He complained putting up his hands to protect himself from the rocks thrown in his direction by the school of small fish like creatures. "You don't even need that!" He added redoubling his efforts to try and catch the jingling. Xiaolian was right, they were more bothersome than anything else. "Here jingling... nice jingling... I have bread. You want bread?" Zhen said slowly creeping up towards the creatures, waving a half eaten slice of bread at the fish. The car was one thing and could be ignored, but the cylinder was something that Xiaolian had said he would need to keep an eye on.
--
"It is." Xiaolian confirmed. She suspected that the symptoms he was experiencing were due to a conflict with his own magics. There was something strange about the way this one was put together, like it was a deliberate attempt to copy something more naturally occuring. "Again, perhaps this is a complication due to your efforts to resist assistance?" She asked sitting down on the ground across from Tyrus. "You did decline the use of a paralytic, which I might add has proven beneficial to your sire. So why would you resist help if its in your best interest?"
|
|
|
Post by demikara on Aug 8, 2020 20:30:38 GMT -6
'Hubris mostly.' He admitted. 'Which will be my downfall one day.' He had been convinced he could handle it with just the shunt. That clearly was not the case. The mage didn't have much of a choice but to rest where he lay. At least he had gotten mostly comfortable first. He was still going to have a terrible crick in his neck though. 'My sire tends to be infinitely wiser than I am. I had assumed that being less connected to the veil I would be less affected and able to handle it with only some help.'
He could admit that Catherine was the wiser of the two. The allure of magic had never been something he had resisted and it tended to lead to him over his head in situations that no other on the planet could manage. Or no other he knew of, and he was fairly certain he at least knew of most of the magic users with his level of expertise. There was only a scant handful with his power levels though, and all of those were pre-veil people. He was the youngest with such large magic reserves on the planet. It led to hubris more than he was comfortable admitting.
|
|