Running, running, faster and ever faster. Sweat beaded across his uncovered scalp, leaking in and stinging the wounds that remained raw and open to the dusty night air. Around him, the screams of his comrades echoed all about. Faces he knew and voices he recognized all resonated in his brain as unknown, and all of them cried out for his help. Nothing to it, though; one by one they were eliminated as he ran, fleeing for his life from whatever pursuer had found them. He didn’t even know where he was going, just that it was out of there. A wall was in front of him just as suddenly as he’d found himself here. There wasn’t any way around it, not even any way through it. He’d designed it that way.
Turning, he could see the body of one of his dearest friends being swallowed by the darkness, and the cold nature of the beast gripped at his heart, wrenching it out of him. Something inside snapped, and the frigid grip was covered in a bath of fire. All about him, embers fell and leapt from the ground, itching to escape its grasp to combat the beast. He was the strongest of their group, and his ignorance had led them all to ruin. No, he wasn’t going to let that happen. It wasn’t too late to save them, to keep them from falling prey to this enemy’s icy grasp. One hand extended itself forward, and the light blue eyes turned their gaze to face him through the haze. Waves of heat rose, distorting his view, and he began to slide forward, shifting the very nature of his being toward this creature. He could feel it, the chill of its scales resonating through the area’s vast expanse. One punch, one plunge and its life was ended. Scales cracked and peeled backward, the watery interior they hid steaming away at his very will. It would end soon, just as soon as the center of its being was destroyed. A snap, and the whole body burst, sending billows of steam in every direction before rising to their end.
“Jed,” came the girl’s voice, and he looked down to see her all-too-familiar face for the first time, “w-what was that?” A fit of coughing erupted blood from her mouth as he knelt by her side. Crystals of ice slowly melted about the wound that caused the infraction, and her body began to phase in and out of sync. No, no, no, no, no! he pleaded while brushing the crystals away. Warm blood flowed from the wound and down to the floor, and he placed his hand over the wound. It was deep, in between the ribs just below the heart: not an instant kill, but a long, slow one. He begged, pleaded for his powers to be able to heal her, for the strength he’d discovered to undo what damage had been done. She cried out, the wound erupting in flames as he tried to contain it.
“Hold on,” he said, “just hold on!” The urgency in his voice drew forth her tears, and she placed her hand over his, the pain now almost becoming not worth it. Fire died down, and Dien looked to the injury. It had only gotten worse.
“Don’t….worry about me…” she managed, her head falling back, “I’m not… I’m not dead yet.” A weak smile was the last he saw before her body became enshrouded in a white: the same white that overtook everything before shattering like a broken mirror. Shards fell slowly downward, delayed somehow in their fall as they revealed just a dead, dull black. Nothing was left.
__________
“So you couldn’t save her after all,” The voice sent a chill down his spine. He twitched, turning to face the foe, “it’s a shame, too. You two were so close…”
“Shut up,” Dien commanded, his will to threaten the man finding fulfillment before either of them knew it, and his sword resting comfortably on the man’s neck, “I don’t know what this is, but because it’s one of your cheap tricks I won’t be falling for it.” He only laughed a sickening and depraved laughter, his voice echoing harshly in the surroundings.
“You flatter me, Dien,” he continued, only eliciting a glare from the blademaster, “but if this were one of my tricks, then how do you explain this?” Just as suddenly as Dien had moved, so wad the figure’s sword, redirecting both tips upward and slightly to the left. Following their line, the blademaster could only watch in horror as Senna’s body was pierced and frozen solid, only to fall crumbling to the ground below. A mental pang sent him to the ground. God, why?!
“If I were you,” said the man again, his golden poncho shimmering in the light of the bonfires, “I’d find a way to get over it.”
“I thought I told you to shut up!” Dien shouted, his blade pulling away from the lock and slicing clean through the man’s stomach. Clouds of black smoke poured out of the wound, but the man could only smile. He’d accomplished what he’d come to do.
The blademaster sighed, his delusion over as Senna’s body was formed once again at the power of a spell. There was something different about her movements: something much more natural and realistic. His eyes widened, and a fit of emotions boiled inside him. Rage, anger, bitterness, sorrow, compassion, all of it was alive inside him, and he had to fight with the utmost of his being to keep from lashing out at the creature that had done it. She was infected: another bystander had been ensnared in the trap of the Elites, and this time for no reason other than just having followed them. The blame couldn’t rest on the puppet: it was an AI soon defeated, and it was even less likely that Marionette could be held responsible. No, this was their own contemptible fault: Nall’s for not forcing her to leave, Dien’s for not having warned her of the dangers, Zan’s, Phoenix’ and Reinier’s for not restraining their powers and feeding her curiosity. Hell, they were all responsible!
Eyes pinched shut in an effort to hold back guilt-ridden tears, ultimately only succeeding in making them redder. Was there no way to stop it? No, there had to be a way to stop this, to keep people from falling victim to this disease. He wasn’t any doctor, but perhaps he was one of the drugs the doctor could use? Skin was growing warmer, and for a moment he thought he’d strayed near to one of the bonfires. No, the blademaster thought, looking about him and finding none for a good ten yards, not a bonfire. It was deep: deeper than perhaps anything he’d felt before. Radiating from within him, energy seemed to burn outward and salve his flesh and emotions – even feeding off of them. For a split second, his ears brought him the sounds of his own flesh popping and burning in flame, but a quick glance revealed their deception, and the sound stopped.
“Strange,” he muttered to himself, but even stranger was the fact that he’d been voided of the emotional surge he’d felt before. Yes, he was still resolute and still embittered by Primal’s heartlessness, but no more did rage eat at his insides. Anyone watching him would have noticed a brief orange flare over his eyes, but at that point in time most everyone in the room was focused on their swinging boss. Dien’s own eyes were drawn downward to a more needing target: the girl now stuck with them and without much choice.
So she’s infected, too, he thought, looking over to Senna. Her movements had changed, become much more natural and life-like. That, and she was actually reacting to the room’s stimuli as though she were actually in it. Deciding it best not to rub it in, he walked up and sat down beside her, hand placed calmly on her back.
“Welcome to the club,” he said, a small smirk sadly crossing his lips. A new kind of pain wrenched at his insides, the pain of seeing another person needlessly falling into the clutches of this virus, and he winced his eyes shut. God, how he wished he hadn't started this conversation in the first place. There was only one way for it to go, and he did not want to proctor it.
At first, when she turned to look at him, her expression was confused. “Welcome to... oh.” She smiled, a bit thinly, then added, “It’s fine. All the more reason to kick its ass?”
“Yeah,” he said, turning away to stare at one of the nearby bonfires, “I don't mean to foster false hope, but have you tried logging out?”
She shook her head. “No. Not yet. I’ll worry about it later.” she said. “But... thanks for asking. If this is.. well, I might have some questions for you. After. If it’s okay.” He smiled, oddly comforted by her thanks.
“Just to warn you, I hear the first you take after being infected is gonna suck,” pausing, he stood, “probably because you won’t expect the pain with it. Oh, and I’ll answer all that I can when you’re ready, I just thought I’d make myself available.” Already he could feel his heartbeat growing unsteady. What was this empathy so foreign to him? No, he couldn't be distracted, despite the emotional black hole he felt in his solar plexus, he had to focus on this boss. A tear fell from his eye, and he quickly raised his arm to wipe it from his cheek before anyone could notice.
There was a pause from the Long Arm. Then, “I appreciate the warning. But let’s not worry about the rest now, huh?” She laughed, a little thinly. “Immediate concerns. Like what to try next on that thing. Any ideas?”
“...none,” he said weakly, “Phoenix seems to be onto something by destroying things, though, so it might be worth a shot to see what else we can get rid of.”
Senna hummed thoughtfully a moment. “If we had a way, I”d say try to electrify the metal bars. But unless there’s something like Phoenix has for Rai...”
“I’m pretty sure that's a negative," he said, sighing, but then thinking on her comment a moment. Off in the short distance, a small group of bars remained yet untouched by Phoenix's fire attacks, and it appeared every material was represented, and all in close range to one another – and to Primal. “Senna, what elements do you have as far as spells are concerned?” It was time to play the scientist again.
“Ani, Rue, Rai and Juk,” she ticked off.
“Alright, so we’ve got all the bases covered,” he switched equipment to afford him Gan Rom, and turned towards the group, “if I’m right, then the only thing needed is the right element.” His arm raised towards the test target as the dragon's fire consumed the wooden bar that had been there. Still three for four, he thought before speaking again, “See that cluster of bars over there? One at a time, we’re gonna try out different elemental spells on them.” His mind worked quickly to sort through the SP requirements, formulae playing their dance before him as they hadn’t done in days, “if you cast two elements, I’ll cast my Gan spell, and then you can cast your other two. If this works, we'll know exactly what needs to be applied to what.”
There was no hesitation, just a nod. “Just give the word.”
“Now.” The first spell was cast: Ani Zot. The rising claws fell just high enough to touch the bars in the group, and yet nothing happened. Most probably, the bones would have reacted in some way to the sheer death being thrust upon them, but no such reaction came. Next up was GiRue Kruz. The massive crystals of ice formed about, and then crashed into the cluster, shattering on impact with the few bars that remained in the vicinity. Before Dien could cast his Gan Rom, though, something strange happened. Small shards of ice landed on the stone bars, before melting into them. Before either player could blink, the affected bars of clay broke apart and fell, a thin coating of ice over all the pieces.
Success, the blademaster thought, making a mental note of his findings, before proceeding onward. Gan Rom was the next spell to be cast, and the stones erupted from the center of the cluster. As the rocks bowled about, he could see some of the bars being pulverized: all made of bone. In a single moment, the spell was over, and only one type of bar remained. The stainless steel or aluminum pipes remained floating at random intervals in the target zone, and Dien smiled. Next up was Senna’s Rai Rom. Half expecting it to electrocute the unpronounced metal, he was disappointed when, in fact, nothing happened at all: well, nothing visible anyway. Only one element remained: arguably one of the weakest in the game, and there was no logical reason why it would do anything to that which remained. Juk Kruz was called, and clusters of branches shot inward from unbeknownst origins at the remaining metal bars, only shattering themselves on impact and doing nothing to their advantage.
From: Dien
To: Party
Re: Jungle Gym
Message:
All that matters is the element and what type of bar you’re trying to take out. Rue spells destroy stone bars, Vak spells destroy wooden bars, and Gan spells destroy the bone bars. I can’t speak for the metal bars, as the other elements seemed to have nothing on them, but that at least will even up the odds a little.
At that, the message was sent, and the blademaster sat near one of the fires, content to have done his investigative part.
(OOC: Edit: Just a clarification. The beginning of my post is a dream-flashback thingy to help set off the story for my upcoming solo. It does not depict events that anyone else can see. It is not in reference to anyone else in this quest. He is brought back to reality when he sees Senna get killed. That is all.)