Shadows of the Past

Monu:<We can bring her betrothed to her and see if he can wake her up.>
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*Safian continues to follow Lilith*
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<I guess so.>

*And so Artexi heads back their*

As Monu told his story Mortal's mind drifted off as she imagined true love's kiss. She shook her head slightly to free herself of her rosy daydream, then looked at the rest with a lingering smile. The smile was replaced quickly when she saw Thiera checking her out, "Uh, something on your mind?"

--

Noct shrugs, and follows Artexi back.

T"I was just thinking, if her fiance doesn't work out, then maybe you could try to...nevermind, Monu, where is this person?"
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L"Even if you reform them, more will just form from the electrical grid!"

*Things go from bad to worse as a massive [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] comes soaring over the top of the castle.*
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*And so they return back to the Castle That Never Was, the Dark Portal opening up on the Altar of Naught. Nero looks around.*

N"Damn, he's not here. Where does he even go?"
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Avici<Unlikely. Did you forget how I sealed away your Gliders? In this digital world, I control all that you see & hear.>

*He spreads his arms, releasing a pulse of purple electricity from himself. The gridlines of the city turn purple & the buildings behind them move together to block them off from outside aid. At this point, the music [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. Furthermore, he materializes glowing blue-green blades in each hand, with stylized handles resembling clock hands. Finally, he gestures to the I/O Tower, blocking off the entrance by forming a purple beehive barrier. Tron tries to hit him with his disc during all of this setup, but he deflects it away with his other blade without looking. Sark moves in front of Avici & hurls his disc back. As he does so, 2 of the Black Guards take up rank on either side of him, while the remaining 4 take to the air. Roatha calls up his Keyblade & knocks one out of the sky with a lightning bolt.*

R"So you're a program? Why do you have Senthose's face?!"

Monu:<Maleficant probably has him locked up somewhere.>
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*Safian fires at the Heartless with her laser*
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<No idea.>

Azuma calls his Keyblade.

Azuma: "Maybe it's an improvement over his own ugly mug."

Hitomi calls up her Keyblades and fires at the flying Black Guards.

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Taiyo flies off to not be in front of the thing.

Mortal frowned as she caught Thiera's drift, "We're better off finding the guy. If it requires true love's kiss then what use would I be?"

--

"Ditto what Artexi said," Noctis said, "Maybe we could ask around. Where is Keter?"

T"Realistically, we don't know if they even want to get married, much less are each other's true loves. Whatever that means. But, still, I suppose it's worth a try."

*She walks up to the flames & shoots a beam of light at them. They contort & blow out like a candle.*
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*Lilith also fires a few lasers until Dustflier starts spitting meteors at them. Then she flies around it, narrowly avoiding them.*
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*Roatha runs to attack the grounded Black Guard, but it blocks his slash with its staff. The others strafe to avoid Hitomi's shots, & Tron rolls to avoid Sark's disc, catching his own. As Sark's disc flies back into his hand, the Black Guards on either side of him rush towards Tron. A flying guard makes a pass overhead, dropping bombs around the group. Avici links up his Ethereal Blades by their points, the handle on one becoming like an arrow, & extends it towards Azuma.*
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N"She's probably not going to help us. Not unless we do something humiliating, at any rate. We should find someone else from the Inner Organization."

Artexi:<I can think of one person...who's not very friendly.>
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*Safian flies around the meteors as well, still following Lilith*
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<Unfortunately, they might not have seen each other since Aurora was a baby.>

*Monu walks up to Thiera*

Hitomi fires at the Black Guards, aiming at where they're going.

Azuma parries and counters with Brave Shot.

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Taiyo flies over the Dustflier and degliders, jumping on its back. Absolutely terrified, she attacks it.

*They somehow manage to avoid the meteors. Dustflier glances back coldly at Taiyo & does a flip, trying to shake her off. Lilith takes aim at the Heartless, but does not fire.*
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*The Black Guards are knocked to the ground, & Avici into the sky, but the favor is returned when the bombs explode. Azuma is sent fighting, but Tron leaps to Hitomi, pulling her out of the way & rolling. He then hurls his disc into the face of the Black Guard sparring with Roatha, destroying it. Avici lands & flicks his wrist, causing an Ethereal Blade to become like a rope & tie up Roatha's Keyblade. Using the other, he stabs the Keyblade wielder in the chest. As the lines on Roatha's armor begin to fade, Sark throws a disc at Hitomi & 2 Black Guards attack Azuma from either side.*
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N"Well, will she help or not?"
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*Thiera turns to Monu.*

T"Then what do you want to do?"

Hitomi directs her Keyblades to block the disk them fires back while Azuma conjures a shield of darkness around himself.

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Taiyo tries to stab into the monster to hold on to it.

<I hope so.>
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Monu:<I still think finding him is our best option.>
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*Safian also takes aim, but doesn't fire as she's afraid of hitting Taiyo*

*When it doesn't shake her off, it turns upside-down, tilts, & tucks its wings in, going into free fall towards the city below.*

L"Taiyo!"

*Lilith speeds after it.*
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*Sark is hit in the chest by a few blasts, staggering slightly. Tron catches his disc & runs towards a Black Guard, dis-arming him as he tries to stand. The other tosses bombs, which roll under Tron & Azuma's shield as the Black Guards continue hacking away at it with their staffs. As the final Black Guard runs towards Hitomi, an explosion of moon power knocks Avici back. He rolls back to a standing position as Roatha's grid lines turn red, red cubes of data spilling out of his chest like blood. Supporting himself on the 2 Keyblades, Roatha glares at Avici, grinding his teeth.*

Avici<If I extract & download your heart, the plan will only be accelerated. One of those should come with it.>

*Roatha thrusts out the Ultima Weapon without warning, forcing Avici to carthweel away from a funnel of flame that Roatha swings around.*

R"Aren't hearts religious zealot talk!?"
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"Alright."

*Of course, no sooner do they step into the forest than the brambles shift around them & the light fades. Thiera causes the tip of her Keyblade to glow, casting a pale light around. For a moment, all that can be seen in the immediate distance are twisted branches with thick thorns. Then, the ghostly images of Thornbites emerge from the bushes, waving their vine arms & closing in on them.*
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*Nero shrugs.*

"Lead the way, then."

*Safian dives down as well, trying to catch Taiyo if she falls off*
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*Monu throws his keyblade, using Air Raid on the Thornbites*
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*Artexi heads off to wherever scientists hang out*

Hitomi blasts the Black Guard with a multitude of Blizzard spells while Azuma Dodge Rushes another.

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Taiyo jumps off, going in the direction of whoever is closest.

Noctis lets out a sigh, and follows after Artexi.

--

Mortal smiled, and drew her keyblades. "Our enemy wastes no time, huh?" She mused before launching a fireball at one.

OOC: The version of Blizzard you picked does not fire that fast, damn it.

*One on one, the Black Guard isn't able to compete with Hitomi's range, & is derezzed. The other Black Guard catches himself as he & his comrade continue attacking Azuma. Tron forces the Black Guard that he is attacking onto the mines. As the explosion derezzes it & its body protects Tron, he throws his disc in such a way that it knocks the weapon from the last Black Guard's hand & Sark narrowly manages to duck under it. He tosses his own disc.*

Sark<You're very persistent, Tron!>

*Tron's disc comes back, striking Sark's. He catches each disc in one of his hands.*

Tron<I'm also better than you!>

*Meanwhile, Roatha slashes with rapid-fire lightning blasts, keeping Avici ducking & leaping to avoid being hit.*
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*Once Taiyo has been caught by Safian, Lilith opens fire on Dustflier's head. The creature roars in pain. To keep it from falling on a house, she speeds up & rams it. Her Glider sparks & she falls to the ground, her Keyblade by her side, where more Claymores materialize near her. Dustflier regains its composure over the canyon, & turns to glare at them over the empty streets & shuttered up windows. The monster retaliates by breathing meteors at all of them.*
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*Presumably, they head to a lab that she has somewhere in the castle, probably connected to her chambers.*
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*Thiera protects their rears with a blast of ice. The Thornbites stagger back, with Mortal & Monu successfully destroying those in front of them. The ones at the sides dart in & rapidly lash their tentacles at Monu & Thiera, respectively.*

Mortal cross slashes at the one attacking Taiyo.

--

Noct looks around, "So, who is this person we're looking for anyway?"

*Monu slashes at the tentacles approaching him and Thiera, then proceeds to use Air Raid on the owner*
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*Artexi knocks on the door to Eve's chambers*

<Hello?>

*No answer from Eve*
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*Safian flies down towards Lilith, firing on the Claymores*

"See if it is locked..." Noct suggested.

*Artexi shrugs, and is about to try the door when it opens from the inside, revealing a tired looking Eve*

Eve:<What.>

Artexi:<Hey Eve...>

*Artexi gives a little wave*

Azuma attacks a Black Guard with Brave Shot while Hitomi fires at another.

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Taiyo fires bubbles at the Dustflier.

N"Yo. Where's the boss?"

*Eve had in fact been told where Senthose is. But she was told to say, if she preferred to answer at all, that he was "out" & would take care of whatever was needed when he got back.*
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*The weapons just stab uselessly into the ground, except one that stabs into her back, eliciting a scream from her. She screams again when the Claymores form under her & stab into her. Grabbing her Keyblade, she crawls to avoid any more, but they follow her even when she tries to lose them by rolling into an aqueduct. Taiyo also finds herself pursued by Claymores when she falls off of Safian's Glider, & all of them find themselves buffeted by a barrage of fireballs.*
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*Assuming she's protecting THIERA, only a trio of Thornbites are left. Thiera generates a ring of fire around them to keep the Unversed at bay, then looks up at Mortal.*

"Uh...thank you...."

*Also left are the Mandragora hidden in the darkness & thickets, which I totally did not forget about. Their spinning razor blades bounce off of Thiera's ring of fire.*
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*Tron throws the discs diagonally in either direction. While Sark attempts to catch them, Tron dropkicks him in the chest, causing him to smack into Avici's barrier. One after another, the discs tear through his cranium, exposing his electronic brain. Sark glows red & explodes, spraying cubes of data everywhere. All of the blows to the barrier cause a spiderweb fracture. All the meanwhile, Roatha continues his assault. Avici glances at where Sark was destroyed now & again.*

R"Feeling afraid, program?"

Avici<Not yet.>

R"Well, you will!"

Avici<One can only hope.>

*With all of his allies derezzed, Avici combines his blades into a dual-bladed staff. He then leaps at Roatha, spinning the weapon to block the lightning. Roatha barely blocks, & is knocked down. Avici separates his Ethereal Blades, & then he separates himself. A clone stays with Roatha, while 3 others run towards Azuma, Tron & Hitomi, respectively. Avici Prime tries to stab Roatha in the neck, but he grabs the blade, forcing it into his shoulder, & then grabs Avici's wrist.*

R"Destroy the original!"

*Avici Prime wields his other Ethereal Blade in a reverse-grip, preparing to slash. The Avici clones crackle with purple energy, forming electric rings around themselves.*

"You're welcome," Mortal said with a smile, "There is still more to do though." As Mortal finished talking she stabbed into the ground creating a geyser of lava underneath one of the Mandragora.

--

Noctis raises an eyebrow at the khakis but doesn't say anything.

<He's certainly not here, but it's none of your business anyway.>

*Eve sighs*
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*Seeing as the Mandragora is about to be toasted, Monu attacks the trio of Thornbites with Air Raid*
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*Safian flies out of the fireballs' path, then roars, sending a sphere of darkness at the Claymores*