No Time for Arguing! Head for the Showdown! (2Gen, Invite)

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Besyanteo
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Unread postby Besyanteo » Sun Feb 24, 2008 7:46 pm

Michael had about a thousand choice words he might offer Zeke, after he put Zea on a horse and sent it off in whatever direction it felt like running, but there wasn't time now. Now there was only time to quickly grab her things with one arm and his own with the other; He was definitely going to lose an item here or there while running, but it wasn't going to help to worry about that just now either.

Zea's and his things in hand, he started after Azreal. He'd never catch it, but he could probably follow it's hoof prints and is tore through the forest. He was distantly worried that Solis wouldn't be present enough to save himself from the flames, but he simply didn't have any arms left for carrying things. Hopefully Goren would grab him, if need be.

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Unread postby KingOfDoma » Wed Feb 27, 2008 11:46 am

Goren was observing the entire situation, and saw Solis loading his flammable materials into his pack. How on Gaera can he think about books when the forest is on fire? "Solis!" he cried. "Leave it! They can rewrite books, but they can't rewrite you!"

At the same time, Cerene took to the sky, taking in a bird's eye view. Unfortunately for her, it was not the eyes of an owl, as darkness and fire were about the only things visible. If she squinted really hard, she could make out the road they were travelling on, but the one thing that was really highlighted was the origin of the fire.

A large house, a few hundred yards away, had its entire western wing engulfed. There were no trees around the immediate area of the house, but sillhouetted against the flames could be seen small figures watching the blaze.

Someone had just lost their home...
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Kelne
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Unread postby Kelne » Fri Feb 29, 2008 12:00 am

Well, this situation was far from ideal. Rather than moving in an organised fashion, they were instead essentially in headlong flight. And in a race between people and fire, the fire would generally win. Cerene tried to get a sense of prevailing wind direction and how wide the front of the fire was. Hopefully, they'd be able to move across its direction of travel and effectively sidestep it. These things at least, she didn't need night vision for.

She also tried to recall if she'd seen any rivers or lakes nearby during the previous day's flight. At the time, she hadn't been thinking in terms of escaping forest fires, but still.

For now, she would ignore the people and their burning house. While their plight was a sad one, getting her friends to safety definitely took priority.

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Unread postby KingOfDoma » Mon Mar 03, 2008 3:14 pm

The building seemed to be the origin of the fire, as it was the only spot in the region that was ablaze. The winds, though low, blew to the east, away from the group's position. What Cerene could not be sure of was the lack of vegetation around the house, originally (and ironically) put in place to prevent fires from reaching the home.

It seemed, thanks to limited fortune, that the home was the only thing in danger of burning today...
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Kelne
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Unread postby Kelne » Mon Mar 03, 2008 6:29 pm

Well, that was a definite case of overreaction. At least she hadn't followed through on the firebreak.

"False alarm! It's not spreading!" she shouted, dipping low enough that hopefully everyone could hear her. Now there was just the matter of reining in the runaway horse. Cerene gave chase. There was zero chance of it outdistancing her, but the only way she was going to be able to make physical contact was if it stayed out in the open. Chasing something below the canopy was just asking for a broken wing.

If all else failed, she could always wait for the horse to tire itself out, trusting to luck that it wouldn't break a leg in the darkness.

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Kai
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Unread postby Kai » Mon Mar 03, 2008 6:33 pm

John sped along beside Zea as her horse made good time away from the others. John was continually impressed by the animal, base and primitive though its mind was. It certainly didn't spook easily, and he understood why Zea had refused to leave it behind.

Slightly more worrisome was the girl herself. There was something hovering about her, and while John could definitely detect autonomous ghosts, they weren't all... they weren't whole. They were tiny scraps of creatures, looking much like ghosts did once John had torn them apart. At Zea's urging he'd ceased the activity, but he knew it when he saw it. What he couldn't tolerate was these creatures so attracted to Zea. They flittered about her and he couldn't focus on any one of them to drive them away.

Finally one settled as the leader, and John realized that they weren't just drawn to Zea. This single coherent ghost had some command over the others. Odd. Unfortunately there was no time for curiosity, because he could just barely overhear a conversation of sorts occurring in Zea's mind. Some assent was given, and suddenly the necromancer pulled herself upright, grabbed Azrael's reins, and dug her heels in to spur him forward toward the burning structure.

"Oh, hell," John muttered as he continued to glide along at her side. "Get out of there before I drive you out," he warned.

"Shh," she replied. "I only need a moment, and she wants to know."

"Know what?" he asked, humoring the idiot ghost.

"How I died."

"Oh, hell," he repeated. But it was true, this was the kind of thing she would care about, and it was entirely likely that she wouldn't want his help. Maddening as it was, John was forced once again to concede the existence of outside influences on his Zea.

Somewhere in the back of her mind where it was dark and quiet, Zea listened to the sound of Azrael's hooves digging into the grass. It wasn't too late for this one to pass on, if she finished her business quickly. Quite probably she just needed someone to know what had happened to her, deliver some message, whatever. It was common enough.

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Unread postby Besyanteo » Mon Mar 03, 2008 9:36 pm

Michael had long since lost the horse. He could tell himself that he was a tracker all he liked, but that didn't make it true. Smelling it out, even with his nose, wouldn't work either; There were a million animal scents in this forest and regardless of physical resemblance, Garoujin just didn't have the olfactory sensitivity of dogs or wolves. Worse, he was also fairly lost now himself. The scent of smoke had faded, and he couldn't hear anyone else around him.

So now what?

He considered his options; He could try to look for their auras with astral vision! Yes, that's what he would do! He took a look... And was disappointed to discover that life that ran on two legs and talked wasn't the only life possessing an aura. Further, he couldn't make out anything with clarity beyond a few meters. Well shit. What else could he do?

He dug into his pack, and after some digging pulled out a compass. There was probably no way he could find the others again in the dark, and if the woods were still burning then he couldn't stop until he was out of them. They were headed north, originally... or mostly north, he thought. He summoned some light in his free hand and read the compass... East by North East. He could have walked all night in this direction and never come out of the woods. That didn't bear thinking about... He turn due north, and began forward. With any luck, he'd meet up with them all again at the border. ... Or a Rivan patrol would pick him up, but that didn't really bear thinking about either. Nor did the possibility that the others wouldn't be as able to escape the fire...

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Unread postby Nakibe » Tue Mar 04, 2008 8:53 pm

Solis stops in his running a moment, panting and puffing. He wasn't really in the right shape for all of this anyway, although that thought did not stop him from wanting to flee the fire, the oppressive heat that would attempt to char the flesh from his bones and... Hey... are those flames going in a different direction? He stopped to consider the wind, and wondered if he could do ANYTHING about the flames.

Realizing not, he started forwards once more. Hopefully the others hadn't left him TOO far behind...

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Unread postby Kelne » Tue Mar 04, 2008 9:18 pm

Well, the horse might not be able to outrun her, but it could certainly hide from her in the dark. There was no sign of it whatsoever along the course she'd originally seen it following. Nor, come to that, was there any sign of the others.

Swearing vehemently to herself, Cerene considered her next move. Oh, sure, she could wait for morning and track everyone down then. But she'd really prefer to have everybody back together now.

One possibility came to mind, she decided, clawing her way up to a higher altitude. Grab the attention of anyone looking upwards. She might not be able to light up the landscape, but she could certainly turn herself into a beacon.

No sooner thought than done. Fire wrapped itself around her form, lturning her into a spark of light in the darkness. She began to circle once more, giving people a chance to spot her before making for their original campsite.

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Unread postby Besyanteo » Tue Mar 04, 2008 9:38 pm

Cerene had a great idea! It was a fairly sound means of gathering the wayward members of her group back together after their original panic stricken exodus from the campsite. Unless, of course, they weren't looking in the right direction to see her, in which case the whole thing sort of fell apart. Michael, having set off in a set direction a little while ago and lacking eyes in the back of his head, simply wasn't going to see her.

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Unread postby Dragon Sage007 » Sat Mar 08, 2008 5:21 pm

There was another being in that forest too-this one was a rather lanky fellow, a bit on the plain side but handsome in his own way. He was wearing a green cloak made of cotton, green pants of the same, and a green shirt made of...silk. It wasn't a bad combination, even if he was wearing boots with them, and the large staff in his hands was perfect for travelling.

None of this fine clothing did anything to ease Sorune's temper however. He was standing atop a 3-foot mound of dirt that was moving towards the forest at an incredible rate, faster than most Chocobo could move. And he looked pissed beyond all measure.

All I wanted was a nice little trip out of the country. Something to relax by, get away from it all in the nice, crowded city. No birds coming to me with broke wings, no lions wanting me to read him a bedtime story, no lizards wanting help with their mating problems. And then that...disgusting...darkness I felt while en route, that I was too late to do anything about. And now a damned forest fire. I swear Sorune, you need to start taking vacations from your vacations. And another thi-wait a moment. There's darkness in that fire aside from the burning...and the fire doesn't seem -too- bad...

Fleeing people might notice the Druid fleeing -toward- the fire, instead of away from it. Some people might even recognize him![/i]

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Unread postby Kai » Sun Mar 09, 2008 12:22 am

Sorune found himself gaining quickly on the fire, and as he did so he noticed that there was a figure heading in the same direction as he was. Slightly different angle, though. There must have been other people out here.

Even on horseback, this other person was not travelling as quickly as he was mounted on his speeding mogul. It was unclear what they were trying to accomplish, but odds are it was someone hoping to help out. After all, folk who start forest fires don't generally ride off into them. At any rate, he'd have a better idea once he gained on them a little more.

Up with Zea and whoever had taken up temporary residence inside her, John's irritation grew. "Give me your name."

"Redda," she replied absently as she spurred Azrael to run harder. The horse was beginning to tire, and steady as he was... it didn't seem to John like any mortal creature would be thrilled by being directed toward a conflagration. Seemed like a reasonable conclusion given what he'd observed of mortals. Death and pain tended to be excellent disincentives for them.

"So why are you borrowing this body?"

The answer came without hesitation. "I'm going to kill that son of a bitch."

John didn't have an answer. Seemed like a satisfactory goal to him, but if it was going to put Zea at risk he wasn't certain he approved.

Meanwhile, Sorune was getting closer to them, and even in the dark he could see that the figure on horseback was a woman. A rather determined woman from the speed at which she was headed toward the source of the fire. Woman with... blue hair? Not so unusual. There were always some Valthi about.

They weren't all Valthi he knew, though. This one... he did.

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Unread postby Dragon Sage007 » Sun Mar 09, 2008 12:48 am

Sorune was more than a little distracted by the heat and flames that was burning in front of him...and when he did finally notice that there was someone else around, he was horrified.

Oh goddess. She must be going back for someone in the fire!

Sorune pressed himself harder at that point, trying to draw himself parallel to the woman as he shouted, "Who's still in ther-Zea? What the bloody hell are -you- doing here?"

If the Gods that are currently watching my life like some sort of hilarious play are listening...cut it out. Go away.

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Unread postby Kai » Sun Mar 09, 2008 1:06 am

Zea turned and glanced at Sorune, seemingly without recognition. "I have more reason to be here than you do," she replied in annoyance. "And you'd better stay out of my way."

Definitely not a Zea response.

The oppressively dark presence tailing Zea coalesced into her familiar, dark-clad and vaguely smug as always. He appeared behind her on Azrael with his arms laced around her waist, allowing her to drag him along with her without having to propel himself. Lazy bastard. It was something he tried not to do in public, since there was always the chance that someone would notice his hands passed right through any clothing or other objects straight to her skin. She really was the only corporeal thing he could touch, and that realization always led to far too many questions.

"Hello, Mister Yohlm. Zea is otherwise occupied, and this seems to be Redda. If you're keeping an eye on things here and do not object, I may go try and check on the others. They seem to have become somewhat disorderly in the face of this unpleasantness."

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Unread postby Besyanteo » Sun Mar 09, 2008 11:37 am

The night had worn on only a few minutes, but they felt like hours. Michael had tripped over a stray root and lost his compass a while back, and was now more lost than ever. Not wanting to panic, and to do something constructive to improve his situation, he began to curse. True, it wasn't technically contructive, but it helped stave off panic. He couldn't help feeling like a dunce, though. This was fast becoming ridiculous.

He wandered fairly aimlessly now, hoping to find someone or something that would guide him. Finally, he saw something ahead. It looked vaguely like firelight. While that would normally set him going the other way, this didn't take up the entire horizon like the previous light had seemed to. He just needed to clear the tree line, and he'd meet up with some people maybe. Yes, it would be another small camp, much like their own. And they're be friendly and help him to find his friends again, and see them on their way. Yes, that made perfect sense to Michael. He walked fast, and then broke into a run. Yes, he was going to get out of this situation and be the hero!

And then he skidded to a stop, caught his foot on yet another sinister root, and landed hard on his back, facing what was probably the back side of a cabin, engulfed in flames. Well, fuck.

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Unread postby Dragon Sage007 » Mon Mar 10, 2008 11:32 pm

Sorune sighed, shaking his head as he followed closely behind Zea. "Others? Gaaah...times like this, I wish I knew how to make four or five of me. Yes, go help them-I'll keep a close eye on Zea. Redda. Whichever she is now."

And a fat lot of good I'll be for an exorcism.

Sorune turned his gaze directly back at Zea/Redda after that, intent on making sense of this. "So you think you have more reason to head towards a forest fire than a Druid does? Do entertain. You're inhabiting my friend's body, so you're going to at least let me make sure you don't damage it. And you may as well let me know what's going on...I'm no stranger to souls with duty unfinished, and I can probably help."

And if I can't, I can find a way to convince you I did anyway so you can bloody well cross over and stop haunting her. Bloody ghosts.

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Unread postby Kai » Thu Mar 13, 2008 1:00 pm

With a silent, gracious nod John winked out of sight behind Zea. Left alone with Sorune now, the possessed young woman gave Sorune a quick glance. "I'm not going to damage her. I just need to get home, and she can help me. She knows that." As she spurred the horse harder and harder, Sorune could see that the animal was starting to show the strain. He was willing to run himself ragged for Zea, but no amount of obedience and loyalty could keep a horse going forever.

Meanwhile, John sped back toward the others as best he could. He couldn't get a sense for them as quickly as he could for Zea, if he got close enough he might be able to sense them magically. At the very least he could cover ground more quickly than they could. The closest one was Michael, mainly because he'd ended up wandering forward to the burning structure.

Not bothering to manifest himself visually, John simply ensured that his voice could carry to mortal ears. "Master Michael," he began. "Take care with this fire, but wait around here and Zea should be along shortly."

He did not wait for a response, instead diving back through the trees to see who was still nearby. Such things were easier without a body to worry about, and he could take straight lines through whatever objects came his way. Eventually a great light passed above him and he shot straight up to meet it, still little more than a voice on the wind with a very dark astral signature. "Good of you to head back, Miss Cerene, but I think we could use your help up at the source of the fire.

He swung by Solis and Goren with a brief, "Make a circuit round and go ahead and to your left for the source of the fire. Zea and Mister Yohlm are likely already there by now, and if you'll excuse me..." At which point his voice stopped and the dark aura he carried sped off to find Zea's father.

This one was easier, and John noted it with some surprise. He didn't know Zeke Mazuo very well but he certainly knew his daughter, and the two felt somewhat similar. "Thank you for your assistance, Mister Mazuo," John told him, this time manifesting visually to travel alongside the Valthi mercenary. Running was too complicated an action to mimic, so he simply stood with his hands in his pockets and sped along with him. After a short pause he continued, "Zea's gone on ahead and I've sent the others as well. The source of the fire seems to be on ahead, but I've no doubt that it'll be taken care of. Meanwhile, when we get there... don't be alarmed but Zea's picked up a guide of sorts who has more information."

Unlike with the others, John didn't vanish immediately. He still wasn't sure how to feel about this paternal figure, though he seemed well-intentioned and reliable enough considering he'd only spoken twice to his adult daughter. A pressing question was just how useful Mazuo would be until he became an unwelcome distraction. John hadn't quite figured that out yet, but it was worth mulling over while he still had the chance.

Ahead of the others, Zea and Sorune finally found their way to the clearing with the burning building at the center. There were about a dozen young people standing outside, ranging from a five year old to a twelve-year-old holding a toddler. Zea/Redda yanked Azrael to a stop and cursed in frustration as she had to unknot herself from her saddle with fingers she wasn't used to operating.

As soon as she'd freed herself she jumped down from her exhausted mount. "Kids!" She yelled. They turned to look at her with the numb expressions of people who couldn't quite believe what they were watching. "Redda sent me. Are you guys okay?" They looked at each other and nodded before glancing over to Sorune. Evidently choosing not to question it, they said nothing further. "I'm going to try and figure out what happened, okay? You guys just stay back."

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Unread postby Besyanteo » Thu Mar 13, 2008 1:37 pm

Michael started at the sourceless voice, but he recognized it quickly enough; John, that floating ghost that Zea kept around. Or that stayed with Zea. Whichever. He stood up and brushed off. While he didn't know John well, he hadn't been openly hostile to Michael yet, and he seemed to like Zea, so he didn't seem likely to lie about this.

He headed around to the other side of the building, careful to give it wide berth, in case it should suddenly collapse: He'd died once already this week, and wasn't keen on a repeat of history. As he made his way around the corner, he spotted Azreal, and some man on a mound of dirt. The former was enough to disarm any immediate concerns he might have about the latter, especially since Zea didn't seem to be present. He ran headlong and heedless of the fire, to reach the dark horse and see where it's master might have gotten to. He quickly dismissed the idea that Zea might have fallen off before the horse came here, seeing as animals tended to run from fire rather than toward it. That meant someone had directed him here.

"Zea! Are you there!?"

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Unread postby KingOfDoma » Thu Mar 13, 2008 4:04 pm

By Him, I'm late. BY HIM, I'M LATE.

Murray Zelorno's redpaneled chariot blazed through the moonlit path in the woods, buzzing past overhanging branches and clueless wildlife. Of all the times... I should be fired. I should be cast into Darkness Central for this... those poor little...

Bug. All of a sudden, Murray was hacking and spitting up the remnants of a fly caught in his throat before he knew it. It's a sign, he realized. I should have been intangible from word one. With that, he made a slight left turn, and started passing through the trees. That is to say, the trees starting passing through him, and his vehicle.

As Murray drew closer to the scene, he sensed the presence of someone familiar. Someone young... really young.

"Zea?"
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Unread postby Kelne » Thu Mar 13, 2008 4:41 pm

Cerene was getting fairly good at repressing her start whenever John turned up. Besides, it was very difficult to jump while airborne.

In response to his request, she folded her wings, trading altitude for speed. With the altitude she'd achieved, it didn't take her long at all to reach the fire. In fact, she had to spend a fair amount of effort bleeding off excess velocity. Spotting Azrael and Michael (plus some strange person standing on a pile of dirt), she flared through her transformation, dropping the last few feet to the ground and rolling to absorb the impact.

Coming straight back to her feet, she took in the situation. Michael looked fine, but Azrael did not look happy. As for the bystanders, their attention was no longer on the fire, but on the newcomers. More specifically, on Zea. So she was up and about, but something still seemed wrong here. Nevertheless, she strode forward to stand by her friend.

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Unread postby Dragon Sage007 » Fri Mar 14, 2008 2:06 pm

Sorune quickly checked on Zea's horse first, just to make sure the poor thing wouldn't collapse after such a hard run, and then strode over to Zea as quickly as he could while letting the mound disappear back into the ground. It probably wasn't a good sign that he was sweating himself, nearly as much as the horse was.

"Zea? Who're these children? Did they...live here?"

Sorune couldn't really believe that-there were no adults, and the oldest one wasn't even a teenager yet. In the middle of the woods. Blast and damnation.

"On second thought, don't answer that. Just tell me whether it's better to stop the fire or stop whatever caused it."

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Unread postby Nakibe » Sat Mar 15, 2008 5:12 pm

Just when he thought that everything was going the way tht it should for him, he heard John's voice speaking in his head. A flash of customary anger directed itself at the ghost. One of these days he would cross the line, that one. And when he Wait, did he say something about Zea? Going back towards the fire?!? "What the hell?!?" He stood there for a moment, wondering if he even could do anything if she WAS in trouble. No. Yes. Maybe? The realization that he couldn't tell until he got there was a hard one.

But I have to do SOMETHING. Fear gripping his chest, Solis turned back towards the raging fire and the friend possibly trapped within it.

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Unread postby Archmage » Sun Mar 16, 2008 6:50 pm

Zeke's head swiveled about to try to locate John, somewhat bothered by the fact that the ghost had decided to manifest, but not bothered to detail such formalities of physics as having to move his legs to run. "She's what!?" Damn. He'd lost track of her in the chaos of the fire, assuming that the horse would bear his daughter to safety. Granted, Cerene seemed to think that the blaze was contained, despite appearances, but that didn't mean that going toward the fire was a sound idea. "You said she was just ahead? The source of a fire's no place to be in her condition, y'hear!? Girl's not capable of sitting up, last I checked. Why didn't you stop her, huh?"

This whole situation was terrible.

"I hope y'don't expect me to wait here until she gets back," spat Zeke, continuing to run in the indicated direction. "Because I'm not gonna do that."
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Unread postby Kai » Sun Mar 16, 2008 9:28 pm

"No, Mister Mazuo, you're making precisely the correct decision as I see it," John replied. Somehow even his votes of confidence were annoying.

"I just wanted to alert you that we were assembling further up. I didn't stop her because I believe this is a task she would want to complete. Otherwise this little pest of a ghost would be floating anchorless waiting to dissolve in the corrosion of time. However. The fact remains this entity has business to complete and I know Zea well enough to see when my aid is not needed." The unspoken implication that John knew the girl better than her father remained unspoken. John knew better. "However, rest assured that Mister Darylshield and I are the best qualified to intervene should there be a problem."

When the two of them reached the cabin, John and Zeke found themselves in a gathering of their allies. In addition to their friends, the travellers found several silent children and one familiar face talking to Zea.

"Stop the fire," Zea replied to Sorune. "The person who did it is my business." Still watching silently, the children looked up at the teenaged girl swearing vengeance for their home and just looked back over toward the fire. "Ahearn Osman is his name. Stop the fire. I need to get in there."

Those who knew Zea well, mainly Sorune and Solis, could see the little differences in her behavior. Her words were too clipped and brief, her gestures too sharp and truncated. Just didn't seem like her, and it wasn't hard to guess why.

"Redda, meet Zea's allies. Will you please explain why you have decided to sit in?" John asked with a sneer of distaste.

She snorted derisively, a quick little exhalation of air through her nose. "Welcome to the Ultus McNabb Home For Children. I worked with Ahearn and he betrayed us. I don't understand it all, but she will," Redda finished, jerking a thumb toward herself. "At least she thinks so. And I want to know what she knows."

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Unread postby Besyanteo » Sun Mar 16, 2008 10:45 pm

Michael stood catching his breathe. Well, there was Zea. Apparently. Kind of. But between what she was saying and her gestures, it looked like she was on the job at the moment. Further, she looked ready to take on the world, other than the small problem of not being the one in charge of her body at the moment.

She was telling that guy to put out the fire... He wasn't a student of water magic, or weather spells, or even fire magic to suppress the flames in a more direct fashion. He couldn't help with that project, so what else could he do to speed things along? He could see that most of the original group had gathered by now, so he'd wait and let one of them start making some kind of attempt first. If he could help what they did, he'd do that. It was potentially something at least.

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Unread postby Archmage » Mon Mar 17, 2008 11:17 am

"Dead people," quipped Zeke, "are precisely one-hundred percent less important to me than my daughter. So whatever use you think she has to you, you'd better not hurt her in the process." The mercenary glared coldly at Redda. This was precisely why he hated incorporeals as a matter of principle. They never seemed to have any respect for the fact that people who had bodies were not always willing to share them. That, and they weren't affected by bullets.

Zeke had a propensity to distrust anything that wasn't affected by bullets.

Sorune could handle the fire. Druids were a lot better at environmental control than he was, he figured. There wasn't anything Zeke could do, in fact, and that was starting to bother him. Some wayward ghost was inhabiting his daughter's body and he couldn't force the spirit out because he didn't know a damn thing about exorcisms. He was a hired gun, not a priest. And he wasn't a firefighter. No water nearby, and no means to create any. Better to leave that to Sorune.

In his younger days, he might've emptied a few rounds at the fire just to blow off frustration. But that would be highly immature, not to mention a waste of ammo. It would appear highly unprofessional to his traveling companions.

Zeke would just have to sit and watch. He ground his back teeth together and crossed his arms, knowing that slinging threats at Redda would be completely empty. He had to hope that John would be able to do something if Redda didn't abandon his daughter's body in a timely manner once her business was completed.

That was probably the worst part of this whole scenario. He had to rely on John.
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Unread postby Dragon Sage007 » Tue Mar 18, 2008 7:50 pm

Sorune gave a curt nod to Zea, beginning to wave his arms in an attempt to put out the fire. He wasn't using water, though...he was bringing clay from the deeper ground, using that to smother the fire a little more messily than regular water would. In truth, he just wanted a back-up weapon available in case things turned nasty...he worked much more easily with clay than with evaporated water, and things weren't going his way today.

It probably didn't help matters much that he damn near lost his mind when Zeke came around and said Zea was his daughter. He vaguely remembered such an event about her meeting her paternal figure, but it had slipped his mind...and he had certainly wanted to meet him under better circumstances.

"Ghost or no ghost, I'm still staying to make sure you don't damage Zea...physically or mentally." he managed to say after loading quite a bit of clay onto the house, sure that even if some of the flame was left, it wouldn't be doing any damage. "And I apologize for making a mess, children. I'll clean up after we're done, I promise."

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Unread postby Kai » Tue Mar 18, 2008 8:57 pm

Taking a quick look around at her allies, Redda strode forward toward the muddied house. She briefly laid a comforting hand on the shoulder of one child as she passed, but didn't break stride. She dug her fingers into the clay near the scorched front door and pried something out. Peeling the clay off, she dropped it onto the ground and took a few steps closer to the others.

It was a little plaque, the kind that usually bear some form of mission statement proudly enshrined where all guests could see and admire it. With an angry little growl, Redda pried the thin layer of horn laminating the parchment sheet and pulled the sheet out. Sure enough it bore little verses about virtue and love for the needy, but when she turned it over she revealed something distinctly more unusual. On the back, drawn in dark ink, was an elaborate arcane sigil.

She closed her eyes and took a step forward, as if catching herself before a fall. "Ah, she's still not right. But she does know." Squinting at it, Redda tightened her fingers on the creased edge of the parchment. "You son of a bitch." She closed her eyes again to commune with the necromancer whose body she shared. "Dissipation. It's the opposite of--" She appeared confused. "Who's John?"

Next to Zeke, John cleared his illusory throat politely. "Oh. Well that makes sense, then. That son of a bitch," she cursed again. "How long was he planning this..."

"What do you mean the opposite? The opposite of what she's done with me? That would be troubling," John concluded.

"She-- fuck! She doesn't know if it's reversible." At Redda's continually-deteriorating language, some of the children gave each other wary looks. None of this made any sense, but that girl was using all kinds of words she shouldn't. "But if we get... Damn it she isn't being clear. What's wrong with her?" She pointed at Sorune, who seemed to know her host the best. "You talk to her."

A pained expression crossed her face as the reality of her position finally seemed to hit her. Redda gave one agonized look over her shoulder toward the crowd of children before dropping to the ground, barely managing to catch herself on her hands and knees. Zea sat up and her head rolled backward to bring her eyes up facing the stars overhead. "Ah she had to go... they all have to go, but they... they can't all go..." Solis and Sorune had seen Zea like this before, though she was certainly more in command of herself than last time.

John had never felt an itch with his own shadowy form, but he imagined it felt something like the lingering nagging desire to tear Redda apart like the worthless scrap of ethereal mass she was. But Zea had ordered him to cease such attacks, and because of situations like this. "The belladonna. It's not out of her yet." He turned over what Redda had told them. Dissipation. By a mortal man, no less? Certainly intriguing, and John hoped that Zea and her mortal henchmen would be able to remedy it before she was caused any further undue stress.

"...ah, they..." Zea pressed her palms to her temples as if to block everything out, and gave a long low whine of distress. "...ah, make them be quiet..."

John's visual form disappeared as he leapt forward and his aura slammed into Zea's. The weak whispering battering harrying ghosts collecting around the young woman's aura were repelled backward by the familiar spirit clinging to her. She dropped her hands, staring into the grass. "Ruining all the exits." She looked around her, clearly confused and disoriented. "He knew they can't get out if you ruin them and ruin the exits."

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Unread postby Dragon Sage007 » Tue Mar 18, 2008 9:13 pm

Sorune sighed, kneeling beside Zea's hunched form and hugging her. Not too tightly-he was sure John wouldn't appreciate sharing the space, incorporeal or not. And he thought he'd gotten the general gist of what was going on, though it was still very, very confusing. Bugger-he'd been hoping for a nice, easy night.

"Zea? Are you back with us now? I think I got...some understanding from your conversation with yourself. Someone is blocking these ghosts from being able to cross over, I'm guessing?"

Sorune sighed. A nice, easy night...such an impossible dream, but it didn't matter right now. And it certainly didn't help that the ghosts covering her were more than a little disgusting to the Druid...he was having to suppress childish thoughts like 'Icky, icky, eeeeeew!' in his heart of hearts. Not the best things to think while hugging someone you care about.

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Unread postby Kai » Tue Mar 18, 2008 9:25 pm

"No....." she shook her head, though she didn't protest Sorune's presence. "No they could go if... they... could go... oh, I can't explain it." She sighed in frustration. "I just couldn't sleep and then now I can't--agh." She shook her head, clearly concentrating very hard. "John can do it. But I said no. Because it... it's....so bad." She waved one hand emphatically, as if to better convey what so bad meant. "But I don't... I don't know why. Why the man did."

Zea rather feebly pulled away from Sorune to look behind her at the orphanage. "But the exits. Take them down. The--Them. Those." She pointed at the inscribed parchment sitting in the grass next to her. "And I have to... I..." Zea squeezed her eyes shut. "They might not be... be too far gone. But you have to get the sides and... and the bottom and... and the top. I'll... I'll get it. I can get it."

She wasn't actually at all sure that she could 'get it' in this state. Her mind was still racing in circles and burning with a hundred images that might or might not have anything to do with anything. How much had she taken? It hadn't seemed like that much more...

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Unread postby Besyanteo » Tue Mar 18, 2008 9:39 pm

Well, one thing was now certain: Michael couldn't do shit to help right now. He didn't like that, not at all. Still, there were a great number of people present. Maybe one of them could be of assistance? Nothing to do but ask, it seemed like. He' try Solis first; He seemed like a reasonable sort.

"Mister Solis? We know she's still drugged... can you do something about that?"

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Unread postby Kelne » Wed Mar 19, 2008 2:02 am

Cerne wasn't feeling particularly useful herself. But one thing she was sure of, if someone could get rid of all the arcane symbols, that would do a lot for Zea's peace of mind. Accordingly, she examined the symbol, taking particular note of its aura. That ought to be sufficient for her to spot the cursed things.

She began with the exterior of the house, before working her way inwards.

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Unread postby Nakibe » Wed Mar 19, 2008 2:35 am

Solis's arrival on the scene was one that at first confused him, considering that Zea seemed to be acting oddly. As if she wasn't herself. Ah, she's back on the job again. he groused to himself. And this one is willing to run her into a FOREST FIRE for... whatever the hell it is. The business of ghosts has always freaked Solis out a bit, and even moreso after the incident with Jezreel and his cult. But by this time Solis had at least noticed that John, for all of his imperious aggravations, probably would have kicked this ghost out of Zea were she (yes, he was sure this ghost was a she this time) putting Zea in danger.

Even so, he'd begun watching her anyway. For what, he wasn't really sure. It was still odd even now seeing Zea being led by the ghost. Ah, wait, she's coming out of it now... wait... what is she doing? For a moment it seemed as if... maybe the ghost was confused? But no, John was suddenly driving the other spirits away from Zea once more, and yet she still seemed out of it. As if she could barely stand on her own. "What the?" he asked, and then Michael asked him what he could do about it. "I... I think so, just... Zea? What have you been taking?" Speeding up her metabolism could work, if whatever it was could be easily passed...

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Unread postby Kai » Wed Mar 19, 2008 1:50 pm

"Oh, I.... I just couldn't... sleep. You know?" Zea pressed her palm to her forehead. "I guess it just kind of... was... was too much. Belladonna y'know... it's good but... you know if they come they... they can..." She turned to watch Cerene, evidently forgetting that anyone else was even there. "Oh, good," she told herself.

Cerene found three more doors, one on each cardinal point of the house, each 'blocked' symbolically by a rolled-up piece of parchment tacked to the doorframe. The low humming vibration of death energy coming from the orphanage slackened a bit, but seemed to be sustained by something up toward the roof, and down below the ground. Zea had mentioned the top and the bottom. The attic and the basement, perhaps?

"I want--" Zea began, trying to get up and having little success. "I want to go in. I need to use the-- the house. The top. To fix the bottom." The others were beginning to get the hang of this 'Zea is babbling semi-coherently' thing. She wanted to get inside to use the attic's ritual circle to fix whatever had been done in the basement. "Got to balance it."

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Unread postby Besyanteo » Wed Mar 19, 2008 2:20 pm

The young garoujin could see that Zea was having trouble standing, He went to her side and carefully helped her up. With the fire out, and the house apparently still standing despite hundreds and hundreds of pounds of clay all over it, he felt pretty good about taking her inside it. If it was going to collapse, it would have already. ... Right?

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Unread postby Nakibe » Wed Mar 19, 2008 7:41 pm

"Belladonna?!? Zea you..." Solis yells out before catching himself, and tries to think this through. After all, Zea probably knows more about her poisonous plants than he EVER would, so she would at least have TRIED to be sensible in her usage of it. Besides, now was clearly not the time to berate her for her actions. Now was the time to DO something about things. Solis decided that his first, simplistic plan wouldn't really work. Speeding up her metabolism might do more harm than good. Best not to try the shortcuts, then. he thought as he started up a rather powerful chant. A glow of white surrounded him as he laid hands on Zea and started his work... "This'll only take a minute, so just wait, okay? We'll get you in there soon enough." He blinks, finally realizing... "Hey, Sorune. What're you doing here?"

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Unread postby Dragon Sage007 » Wed Mar 19, 2008 7:44 pm

Sorune nodded a bit as he let go of Zea, letting the garou take care of her instead. He didn't like this any more than the others did, but he gave them a nod as he realized that hey, there -were- other people around!

"Er. So. Someone fill me in-what's Zea doing so far from home, and with a handful of people I recognize?"

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Unread postby Kai » Wed Mar 19, 2008 10:30 pm

As Solis stood with Zea and started purging the poison from her system, there was a faint tremor from the collection of entities gathered around her. Some of the weaker ghosts were frightened off by the life-aligned energy, and eventually even John dislodged from her. It was just as well, though. He'd done his job.

Zea closed her eyes and lifted one hand to hold onto Solis' arm as he worked. She blinked several times as her thoughts started to move in straight lines again. Something about the holy energy behind his spell felt wholesome and foreign at the same time. It was more than being unaccustomed to it. Zea just... it felt far too different from herself. She should really have expected it, and by the time Solis was done she realized she'd been analyzing her astral reaction to the foreign life-aligned energy and attempting to infer from that what sensation a normal aura would give to incorporeal undead.

In other words, she felt like herself again. She twisted her fingers in Solis' sleeve and pulled to get his attention as she stood away from Michael. "There's a circle down in the basement. I don't care about that, but if I can get up into the attic I think I can repair the damage that's been done." She looked around her at the others. "Someone needs to find him. I'm sure he ran off. Redda seemed to think so. Hm." She frowned. There were so many people here, but there was the complicating matter of the children. They weren't of pressing importance, but Redda would likely have more trouble passing on if anything further happened to them, and that Zea could not allow. It meant something would have to be done about them.

"Someone ought to watch the children, but I don't think they're going to do anything stupid. Someone... I don't know. Someone reassure them." What did Zea know about these things? She'd known more dead people than living as a child, and in fact her best friend had been a dead little girl. Someone else needed to handle it.

"Someone needs to find... find Ahearn Osman," Zea continued. "I need to get up to the top floor of that orphanage, and I will probably need your help." Zea pointed to her father. "My mother told me you're a mage, and with enough shadow magic to make a difference. It won't be the same as with James, but the same principles will apply." That sting again. Nothing would be the same as with James. Seemed like somehow he'd gotten into every part of life, but there was no room to consider that now. "And someone should... I don't know. Search the house for bodies or survivors or anything like that. Bodies I can take care of, but survivors'll fall to someone else."

Finally finished laying out the commands she'd only barely been able to articulate before, Zea fell silent to take a breath. "Other than that. Can anyone think of anything?"

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Unread postby Besyanteo » Wed Mar 19, 2008 10:48 pm

Kids. Survivors. Bodies. Tough call. There were more than enough people gathered to get the tasks in question done and done well, he just needed to pick a detail. Zea had already called bodies. So that left the children, and the survivors. ... He'd taken care of the cousins now and again. That hadn't been so very bad.

He looked to Solis. He'd done healing more than once on this little trip, and there was a good chance survivors, if there were any, would need some of that.

"Solis, you look for survivors. I'll handle the kids and send someone in to help you."

And, that's what he did. Of those gathered, who was left that could best help Solis hunt around? ... Well, any of them, short of Goren. His appearance was a bit on the disturbing side for dealing with people who had just been traumatized this way. So that left... Cerene. He called out to her:

"Cerene! Go in and help Solis look for anyone else that might be- "

He stopped short of saying "still alive", remembering the kids. It just.... wouldn't do.

"Might still be inside."

He looked at the kids, checking quickly to see any of them were burnt or otherwise injured. At the same time, he crouched down a little, so he was closer to eye level with them. That helped kids sometimes. Still, they were going to need more right now. Something to get their minds off of what had happened for a few minutes. He didn't expect that that was possible, but he was going to try anyway.

"It's gonna be alright, guys. Can you tell me your names?"

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Unread postby Kelne » Wed Mar 19, 2008 11:50 pm

Cerene simply nodded, taking Michael's meaning. Having canvassed the outside, she moved on to the inside, intending to make her way to the attic and whatever might be waiting there.

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