Golden Age: Revival

*Azuma throws up as they reach Ayers Rock & disappear in a bright flash of light. They reappear at the semi-abandoned university building from earlier. It is now crawling with animals. It's too dark to see, but they can see glowing eyes all over the place.*
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*When Luna reaches the cemetary, it's all trashed. A manticore is sleeping in the caved-in funeral home not giving a fuck.*

"I don't know what that was, but I'm sure it was better on the way down."

Mimiru:<Hey, Arthur, he can be cured, right?>

*Allina's glaring around threateningly.*

"Fuck my in the ovary, there be a manticore in there."

The shock just makes Luna slam on the accelerator and keep going while crying.

Arthur<Merlin possessed only secondhand accounts of the Manticore until the days of Camelot's collapse. T'was his one & only chance to study the beasts in person, when Mordred brought them to lay siege to the city. Unfortunately, he met a most untimely demise during the battle, & so never did he have the chance to extract & examine its fabled toxins.>

*He sets off towards the building. The eyes seem to shrink back as he walks. Roatha, Euryale, & Nero follow him.*

R"Weren't there like 2 other guys with you?"

Arthur<Ah, yes. Due to our shrinking numbers, & the ever-expanding passage of time, we thought it best to divide ourselves up amongst the modern territories, & regroup at a later date. At Gilgamesh's council, we were warned that a most nefarious organization would be awaiting us, & there are but a few territories that they do not yet control.>

*He pulls on the door to find that it's locked. Euryale cracks her knuckles & steps forward, but Arthur puts a hand on the frame &, seemingly without effort, causes the doors to fall out of their hinges. He keeps walking.*

Arthur<Our quest takes us within.>
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*Looking out her window, she sees the oroborus, seemingly racing her car. Beyond that is the town, now in ruins. Apparently, the Manticore decided it didn't like these people shouting at it, & began smashing faces & rib cages in with its tail. When volunteer organizations tried to stop it, it became enraged, & began attacking cars & dwellings, before finally settling down in the funeral home, after all of its opposition had either died or fled.*

Luna just keeps driving, not stopping until her petrol would run out.

"Oh. You could saved a few minutes and just said no."

*Mimiru punches his in his non-wounded arm.*

Mimiru:<Stupid. Aren't you the least bit worried?>

"Yes, but freaking out won't help. If anything it'll make things worse."

Taiyo:<Euryale, do you know of anything that might help him?>

*The Oroborus starts rolling around in circles around her car.*
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E"I already told you everything I know about Manticore venom."

<Are you here for the singing lessons?>

*One of the sisters from before is standing in the dimly-lit hall. Her face is hidden behind her hair all grudge-style, but her mirthless grin is clearly visible. Arthur draws his sword.*

R"Whoa, what the Hell, man?!"

<He's dead, isn't he?>

*Taiyo slinks back from Euryale a few steps.*

"If you're refering to Schwarz, he was technically already dead."

[Probably could've used that bite of his though.]

"But, yes, he's dead."

Allina: <Arthur doesn't say "no".>

*She hops about a few times when Arthur draws his sword.*

Allina: <Okay! So we kill the lady!>

*The woman's hands & shoes rip apart as long, bronze talons sprout from her phalanges. She screeches & runs at them. Arthur's sword, being made of iron or steel & probably magic, easily snaps her claws in half & runs her throat through. As he wrenches his sword out, she staggers back into the darkness, growling soundlessly.*

Arthur<I believe they usually come in threes. Stay alert. And if you hear singing, cover your ears immediately.>

*He sets off down the hall. The lighting is so bad that he's almost indiscernable after 3 paces.*

*The three follow. Taiyo lingering a little ways behind Euryale since she sounded rather annoyed the last time she spoke. The other two follow behind the group.*

Luna has a little fit of anger and runs over the Oroborus.

*It rolls into the outback, now a little wobbly because some bitch tried to run it over.*
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*They walk for about a half an hour in the darkness before reaching a door. Arthur opens it & turns on the lights. Inside is a science department. There's an emergency shower, a table, a large aquarium with a sheet over it, & a back room.*

R"Aside from a few blood stains, this place looks good as new."

*Arthur opens the back room. From the door, most of the original building materials have been pulled out to make space for a mortuary. He grabs a random drawer & pulls it open, to reveal the corpse of a man with silver hair. His eyes, deep red, stare emptily at the ceiling. Roatha stumbles back, but Euryale catches him.*

R"That's--"

Arthur<Senthose Rasheverk. Or, to be more accurate, his corpse. But if my suspicions are accurate, then in order to make these monsters, they need living tissue.>

"So we should dice this 'corpse' up before it wakes up?"

[And this is the part where it sits up.]

Allina: <Anyone else think he's gonna wake up and kill us all?>

*She slowly steps forward and stares at the corpse.*

Allina: <Vampiwwwe.>

Arthur<Make no mistake, Senthose Rasheverek is dead. If there is anything left behind, it will be a ghost. Should he have made a ghost of himself, I don't know what its intentions would be, but it will gain power as it feeds off of emotion, so please try to keep your panic to a minimum.>

*He walks towards the tank & takes off the sheet, prompting Roatha to scream like a little girl again. In the tank is a large, amorphous mass of emaciated, ghostly white arms, legs, & stretched faces. The creature is translucent. A single red, reptillian eye opens up in the center. Closer inspection reveals that parts of it are covered with a silvery fuzz.*

Arthur<It seems to be a chimera of sorts. Part Senthose, part of what...appears to be a jellyfish. Honestly, I am baffled.>

N"They did say on the news that they were doing experiments involving a jellyfish. They're probably trying to find a way to mass-produce vampires by transplanting Senthose's genes."

Arthur<What are these "genes" of which you speak?>

N"After your time."

Allina: <That's nice. KILL IT!>

*She pushes Nero forward.*

"Did you hear that? Try to keep your panic to a minimum."

*Azuma looks towards Mimiru who glares at him looking like she's going to beat the shit out of him.*

[I'm sure my asshole rank went up a few pegs. And I'm sure Allina's going to incure the wrath of some ghost on us.]

"If there is a ghost and it's decided to be angry at us, is there anything we can do to stop it?"

Luna ends up at another town and just checks into a motel before crying herself to sleep on the bed.

In her dreams, she could see the corpses of all of her family members walking and acting as normal.
She ran to her mother and father, only to find that they had no eyes and they bodies were rotting.
She ran to her favourite cousin, only to find that there was a gaping hole where his heart should be.

When she woke up, she discovered that her power had been awake all night and everybody in the motel was stuck in a trance, as though they were seeing nothing but a constant barrage of horrors. Once she figured out how to stop it, she left.

<A ghost can only be banished to the netherworld against its own volition by the destruction of the delicate sorcery emanating from the body part to which it is bound. However, I would rather avoid defacing the dead, even those of my own enemies, unless it is absolutely vital.>

*Nero leans over towards Mimiru.*

N"(We curb stomp our enemies to death. This fucker's making us look bad.)"

R"Well, as long as they half Senthose's body, we can kill the jellyfish-monster, but they can just make another one. In fact, they may just be able to use the animal-monsters they have guarding the place."
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*While walking back to her car, she hears a voice from the darkness. It sounds a bit hoarse, but calm & collected. There's an underlying hint of something that could either be concern or menace.*

???<I saw your illusion. It reminded me of home.>

"What do you want?" She swings around, looking for the speaker.

Mimiru:<(That's not hard to do.)>

"I suppose it would be in bad taste to suggest we deface the body while you wait outside for a few minutes."

Allina: <And I was starting to enjoy kicking freaks around too!>

*She sighs and backs away from the ghost thing, looking from Roatha to Arthur.*

Allina: <So creepy.>

*Roatha stabs through the glass & electrocutes the jellyfish monster.*

R"Jellyfish don't have brains or hearts. How do I know if it's dead?"

*After a while, the creature pretty much falls apart in a bunch of goop.*

<The beast is no more.>

R"Good. Now, with all due respect to you, I have my own plans."

*Roatha walks up to the corpse & punches it in the face.*

R"You dickhead. You always have to fuck everything up, don't you? Why can't you just stay in Hell where you belong? Someone help me lift him, we're gonna burn him & bury whatever's left."
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<I can't tell you that.>