First Blood Shed

OOC: You should submit a mer-form in the sign-up topic for approval. I probably should've told you that before. But I didn't. But should have. But didn't.

*Euryale turns to Thiera, looking expectant. Thiera raises her eyebrow.*

E"I want to know if you think we should check Port Royal first."

*So she takes a quick look around.*

Th"Oh. Hmm...no, I do not believe that will be necessary. I see no evidence of abnormal darkness activity. Either the pirates aren't here, or they are laying low."

E"They could be planning some evil scheme."

Th"Outside of the safety of a ship? Even if Lilith did destroy their freighter, invincible pirates could easily pilfer a new vessel. If the Keyblades could not harm them, I strongly doubt that any weapon here could stop them."

E"Alright, then let's get changed."

*Euryale takes Taiyo's hand, leading her into the water, which proves surprisingly warm. When she has waded in up to her waist, bubbles froth and she falls forward. When her legs kick up behind her, Hinode can see them bending at odd angles, twisting, fusing together & growing scales, until her fully formed tail dips below the surface & she raises her head back out of the sea, hair dripping with water she doesn't seem to mind.*

E"It's so good to be back in the sea again! C'mon in, the water's fine!"

*Thiera turns to Hinode, materializing the Oathkeeper and gesturing with it towards the water.*

Th"I think I should transform you first. If you are too frightened to enter the water prior to the spell's casting, then you should at least get closer, so that we may hastily escape from prying eyes. Euryale's species has very poor mobility on dry land. Oh, and do try to avoid that crab."

*She gestures to a crab by Hinode's foot, shaking its pincers threateningly at him.*
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*The shield holds for a short while, but once it runs out, he's fried & shredded by their attacks. He doesn't even feel hitting the ground & being hauled into the infirmary. Their task complete, the vision of Marluxia swirls his coat, gathering himself & Larxene in a torrent of darkness & petals, vanishing before Phil even finishes announcing their victory.*
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R"Neither do I. I attack you losers in specific."
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*[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Aside from the ticking of the clock tower, everything seems peaceful.*

Artexi:<And Daisy, Vega, Xyukuse, though I don't blame that one on you, and some others whose names I can't remember.>
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*Safian looks up at Kyoukaku*

Safian:<Come on, let's get closer to the water.>

*She leads the way to the waters edge*

OOC: Would you mind giving me a few pointers on how to do it? Should I just write up a short paragraph on it the same way that I did with my attacks and go through a similar approval process, or am I supposed to do something else?

IC: There was one thing that Kyohaku truly didn't like above all else including water, and that was being cared frightened. Nothing scared him, or so he thought. Scoffing, he was going to give a smart remark back before he actually jumped out of the way to avoid the crab, thus ruining any opportunity at having made it look like he truly wasn't frightened. Looking up slowly at Thiera and then inching toward her, he exhaled and frowned, acting more demurely all of a sudden.

"I guess I'm not frightened the way that someone of your species might get. Like...I actually have a programmed in aversion to water. It's a defense mechanism of my species. Surely you can understand that, right?"

Turning to Safian, he swallowed again. "Is it really all that safe?"

Taiyo follows suit although with none of that flowery leg fusion because ain't no one got time for that. She swims around behind Euryale, wrapping her arms around her waist.

How the bell on Taiyo's collar isn't haggard is a mystery. Or it's magic. A magic mystery.

Taiyo: "How are we going to go to Atlantica if we're not allowed there?"

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They land on the clock tower as it seems like the kind of place someone would arrive to ask "Who the hell are you?"

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Off in the distance, Xyukuse starts swearing up a storm with some very colorful metaphors.

R"I specified 'losers.'"

*Vexen peers at Xyukuse in a way that's not at all creepy.*

Vexen<...Someone should fetch the boy. Senthose wants us to RTC for a pivotal announcement.>

N"He wants us to what?"

Daisy<It stands for 'Return to the Castle.'"

N"...What hopeless idiot came up with that sad excuse for slang?"
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*You would think so, but no. However, a ship that appears misplaced in time, an olde style pirate freighter, complete with Jolly Roger, emerges from a fog that drifts over the harbor. This likely classifies as abnormal activity, particularly given the flying shapes that circle it before dispersing throughout the city.*
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*Euryale absent-mindedly brushes Taiyo's arms with the fingers of her right hand as she looks back.*

E"I guess we'll just have to keep our distance, and sneak around the kingdom. Ursula shouldn't be there anyway, and if she is, well, then all bets are off."

Th"Only in the vaguest possible terms. But observe the logic of the situation--"

*Without waiting for Thiera to finish, Euryale gives a mighty flick of her tail, drenching Hinode with water. Fortunately for him, he is unharmed. Thiera stares at her, mouth agape, the finger she raised falling back to her side. Euryale just looks at her and shrugs.*

E"What? It's going to rain eventually, we needed to know what would happen. Plus, it sounded like you were confident."
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*Monu awakens to the pungent smell of flowers. When he opens his eyes, he sees a concerned Lilith standing over him, assisting his healing with her magic. Displaying uncharacteristic affection, Lilith ducks down to squeeze him into a tight embrace.*

L"Oh, thank goodness you're alright! Wait--you ARE alright, aren't you?"

*She backs off, looking sternly into his eyes as though expecting to detect something amiss.*

Taiyo looks over Euryale's shoulder to Hinode. Even if he's not shorting out, maybe he has a phobia.

Taiyo: "Are you all right?"

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Then they take flight and head towards the ship as that is definitely not right. Or maybe it is. They don't know.

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While it's probably in their best interest to at least restrain him, Vega takes it upon himself to subdue Xyukuse, having previously threatened him before.

Xyukuse: "Son of a motherfucking piece of shit bitch fucking they have fucking less reason to exist-"

Vega: "We're to return to the castle."

Xyukuse: "Like I give a fuck. Or what, you'll break my arm? You weren't shit in Radiant Garden and you're not shit anywhere else."

Water itself was actually an insulator in its pure state. The reason that it appeared to conduct electricity was the fact that running water became mildly ionized on top of the fact that it contained impurities. Therefore, the vast majority of water was a dangerously powerful conductor. Salt water was especially damaging, and yet Kyohaku didn't seem influenced by what Euryale had done to him at all. He just honestly seemed wet.

At that point he did the only thing that he could have thought to do, and that was to reach his palms down and make plenty of a splash directed at the girl who got him wet. Hey, turn about was fair play, wasn't it? For the first time in his life, Kyohaku actually smiled as he experienced that fluid.

OOC: You can look what I did for Safian. I'm sure you'll be fine!

*Safian turns back to look at Kyouhaku*

Safian:<See, you'll be fine! I don't really like water either, but it's nothing to be scared of.>
---
*Monu blinks for a second, surprised but delighted at Lilith's show of affection*

Monu:<Don't worry, I'm quite alright now. I'm glad you weren't hurt too badly. Those two...are very formidable.>

*He moves to sit up*
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*Artexi stands up*

<Not it. I don't want to be attacked by another idiot today.>

*She starts heading over to find a corner to open a dark corridor in*

*Being an ocean-creature, Euryale is relatively non-responsive.*

E"See? Water's great. And my skin never gets all dry like it does on land."

*Thiera massages her eyes with her left hand, looking like an overworked parent who's sick of her children's shenanigans & possibly considering drowning them. Abruptly, she points the Keyblade at Safian, a beam of light striking the tide as it rises around her, causing frothing bubbles that magically remold her into a shark.*
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*Lilith steps back, breathing a sigh of relief.*

L"That's good. If something were to happen & the last thing I did was snap at you...& now that you mention it, I should also be ashamed of being so easily knocked out by what seems to be some French metrosexual."
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*Roatha strides after Vega, who made it down the stairs at shocking speed. Daisy follows a wary distance behind him.*

R"If you need help, I could give him a savage beating for ya."

Daisy<...You are speaking to Mr. Vega, correct?>

*Roatha shrugs.*

R"Iunno, whichever offers me more. Not like I know their names anyway."

*Meanwhile, Nero & most of the remaining Organization--Lexeaus lingers behind in case things get ugly--follow Artexi.*

N"Hey, should we really just leave the Order here?"

Demyx<Yes! I don't want to get beaten on again!>

Zexion<They are not our mission. Besides, it would be much too suspicious to assassinate them now. Why are you so concerned about them, anyway? Perhaps you feel you have something to prove?>
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*As they get closer, they catch a glimpse at 1 of the shapes flitting through the buildings below. It's apparently some kind of pirate-themed Heartless with wings.*

Taiyo: "Being on land isn't so bad. There's cats and...legs?"

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Azuma moves in close to cut it up with his glider.

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Xyukuse: "Go ahead and tr-"

He begins gagging following a serpent strike to the throat from Vega who then grabs him by the shirt and pulls him in close.

Vega: "There will be order and discipline. Or I'll be taking your head. And I will take it again should you come back."

*Safian, completely shocked at suddenly changing species, starts flopping around in the shallow water*

Safian:<Th-Thiera! Some warning next time!>

*She starts to try and swim towards Euryale and Taiyo*
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*Artexi opens a dark corridor and heads through it. She leaves it open long enough for the group following her to go through*
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*Monu blushes and grins at Lilith*

Monu:<Don't worry about either of those. We did the best we could, right?>

*He stands up and stretches*

<Now that we're out of the tournament, we should go join Hitomi and Azuma in Neverland.>

Eventually it looked like Kyohaku had gotten over his fear. Well, once again, it actually wasn't an aspect of fear so much as it was actually the way that he was programmed. His designer had wanted him to live that way in order to ensure that he would have been safe if he ever met actual water in his original state. Irony of course came in the form of the fact that the energy fluid he nourished himself with on the Grid actually had resembled water. Standing up close, he leaned his head up toward Thiera and Euryale. Finally he was ready for whatever it was that the two of them were going to throw at him. This was a great deal more dramatic for him then it was for them after all.

*Thiera works her magic on Hinode, whose feet twist together & grow colored scales, the tail seemingly sucking up his shirt.*

E"That's a very unusual coloration."

Th"Well, his name is Japanese, so I chose to model the tail after the koi carp. Do you think it will stand out too much?"

E"I don't know what any of that means, but colorful tails aren't exactly rare in Atlantica."

*She waves her own ruby red tail above the water.*

Th"All the same, I think I will stick with white."

E"Of course you would."

*As Thiera enters the water, she touches the Keyblade to the surface, & the hem of her wet dress elongates, twists around, & sprouts scales, until it becomes a mermaid tail. But unlike Euryale's, it has a longer, "frillier" fin, including small, ribbon-like side & dorsal fins. The top of her dress splits off, becoming more like a blouse.*

E"Now that top is gonna stand out. You need some of these."

*She raps her fist against the shell covering her right breast.*

Th"I am NOT wearing that."

E"C'mon, I wanna see it! I'm sure you'll look great!"

Th"I said no."
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*So I suppose he turns around & speeds after this Heartless, which hears him coming & flips over in midair. Seeing him coming, it tries to aim a punch at him, but is knocked-off balance & now has a huge gash in its stomach. It flails its wings to right itself & wind up another punch.*
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L"Right."

*On their way out, they see that the trophy has been brought into the antechamber. It is basically a high-footed, deep chalice with long, sloping handles & a stand colored gold. The image is also gold-colored, & depicts a winged & robed fighter with long hair & a long, axe-like weapon shooting a fire blast at what appears to be a bunch of snakes emerging from a whirlpool. After following the crowd, they are able to slip out of the city gates, don their gliders, & head into space. Once they find themselves in the asteroid belt outside of Neverland, submarine-like Heartless emerge from behind the rocks to torpedo them, & they can see something much larger approaching from the clouds.*
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*Lexeaus comes down, clapping his hands.*

Lexeaus<Easy, there. Let's all just take a nice stroll back to the castle.>

*Nero takes a look back before following Artexi.*
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*They presumably enter the castle antechamber, & begin climbing towards the Altar of Naught.*

Taiyo: "We're supposed to be blend in, aren't we?"

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Azuma moves to put some distance between the Heartless and the glider, Hitomi directing one of her Keyblades to make like AlChestBreach and shoot it in the mouth.

*Artexi leads the way up there*
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*Monu flies out of the way of the torpedo, then begins gesturing furiously at the big this approaching*

<Whatever that is, I don't think we should wait to find out*
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*Safian sticks her head out of the water*

Safian:<We're all a little...>

*She sticks her head underwater then pops up again*

<...Uncomfortable here. You can do it!>

*She swims over to nuzzle Thiera*

While Kyohaku was rather buff and that was obvious now, his previous vanity didn't seem to make any appearance now, though he was admiring what Thiera had done to him. With a lopsided grin he gave her a thumbs up sign to indicate that he totally approved of the initiative that she had taken. "Well, yeah, my program designer was from Japan and had originally coded me in Matsumoto Yukihiro-sensei's Ruby code. It makes sense that I'd look this way." That would have suggested that Kyohaku at least knew enough about water to say that he knew what a koi carp actually was.

*Thiera pushes Safian away.*

Th"Ursula didn't wear a brassiere fashioned from clam shells, so I know it isn't necessary!"

*Euryale tears herself away from staring vacantly at Hinode to cock an eyebrow at Thiera.

E"You want to look like Ursula?"

*When Thiera just continues to stare at her angrily, Euryale raises her hands in a gesture of surrender.*

E"Alright, fine, but you should at least accessorize it. Follow me."

*Euryale does a sort of flip to dive under the waves without showing too much of her tail. Thiera follows her instructions, & anyone else who does so will hear, as they descend the continental shelf, the music above being replaced by [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]*

Th"Do you really listen to this all of the time?"

E"Under the sea! Trust me it's better, down where it's wetter, take it from me."

Th"As I recall our last visit, I would like to thank you for not trying to sing that."

*As they go, Euryale tickles clams until they open, snatching the pearls inside. Thiera attempts to mimic Euryale's motions, presently short bursts from the tip of her tail fin to propel herself along, keeping her arms free for pearl-hunting.*
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L"We don't have much of a choice, it's standing between us & the world."

*Lilith kills her thrusters, the loss of momentum causing the torpedoes to fall short of her, & begins firing on the submarine Heartless. She then rolls to avoid an asteroid, which continues on its path towards Monu. The object becomes clearer, some kind of pirate ship surrounded by ghosts, which proceed towards them--the ship itself does not fire.*
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*This causes it to spin off-course & slam into a building, the impact of which is what finally destroys it. As the heart drifts into the clouds, it is recaptured by darkness. They are now left with a choice between pursuing the Heartless in the city or going after the ship, which appears to have docked.*
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*This being a long, awkward trip, most of the Organization is now in the giant elevator thing heading up the castle.*

Demyx<So...is there something going on between you 2?>

N"Are you assuming that because she's the only girl in the Organization?"

Demyx<What about Daisy?>

N"Daisy's a girl?"

Demyx<Or Keter?>

N"Keter's an old, dried-up bitch."

*Keter, standing behind him, promptly decks him in the back of the head, before furiously brushing hair out of her face.*

*Artexi looks like she's about to hit Nero herself, but holds back*

Artexi:<...Thanks...And Daisy is a girl, idiot. There's also Eve.>
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*Eve is in the Alter of Naught, I suppose*
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*Monu flies at the submarine, avoiding any projectiles, and uses his spinning attack on it*
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*Safian follows behind Euryale and Thiera*

<I don't get it. What's wrong with the song?>

As Taiyo is apparently no longer hanging off of Euryale, she mostly swims about, watching those two do horrible sickening things with oysters.

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As Hitomi's glider is probably kaput for the remainder of the thread or something, they pursue the Heartless, Hitomi weaving a message to send to Lilith saying "Heartless dispatching ship in harbor. Pursuing Heartless."

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Vega stands by silently while Xyukuse mutters under his breath, occasionally glaring in Vega's direction.

"Who is Ursula exactly? Ah, I guess people you must have met from before." Kyohaku then grinned finally feeling comfortable with essentially being part fish at this point. He didn't think that was ever going to happen especially considering that he wasn't supposed to be someone who avoided all that water. One thing was still lame, though, and that was the music.

"Wait a minute Thiera, you mean there are words to this song? I can't stand songs with words." Being from the Grid, Kyohaku had a tendency to not like music that wasn't, well, measured in bits. He thought most of the music played when they were beating up on Avici was sort of lame too if the others remembered.

He then smiled more genuinely. "Hey, uh you two. Thanks. I mean really, thank you for transforming me and getting me over that. I really appreciate it."

E"No problem."

Th"Most songs do have words, yes. This one is quite annoying. So I would not thank me just yet, as we will probably have to listen to it for quite a while."

E"Oh, just wait, it'll grow on ya. Like barnacles or algae that you'll just have to shake-shake-shake off."

*She gives a little sashay of her hips for emphasis.*

Th"I very much doubt that."

*Arching her back & raising her arms, Euryale does a kind of undersea somersault to give the pearls she's collected to Thiera.*

E"Here, use these to decorate your shirt, then maybe people will think you're a foreign dignitary, or something."

Th"There are other kingdoms of merpeople?"

E"Oh yeah, loads. The ocean is a big place, y'know. That's why we'll need to be using this current in order to travel."

*She points to a kind of rolling, churning stream of bubbles that leads deeper out to sea.*

E"Once we get farther away from the humans, things will get more interesting, but also more dangerous. Large, predatory animals like some sharks and giant squid or octopi have been known to attack Atlanticans. So be on the lookout for that."

Th"Also Ursula--who is an evil sea witch who's half-octopus, by the way--and any Heartless or Unversed that may still be lurking around...did you just say, 'giant squid?'"

*Thiera looks up from affixing the pearls to her outfit to raise an eyebrow at Euryale, who waves her concerns off.*

E"Oh, don't worry, we probably won't run into 1 of those. Probably."
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*1 of the submarines explodes, the other 2 circling them & firing more torpedoes. The ship settles in the distance in front of them like it's blockading the world, but still does not fire, instead the ghosts making a beeline towards Monu. Though a few of its gun ports appear to have exploded, it still has several left.*

L"It must not want to hit the other Heartless! Hitomi says there's another Heartless ship in the world!"

*While she talks, she turns about, avoiding a torpedo & firing at the submarine behind her.*
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Affirmative. Battling another Heartless ship in the skies. It seems to have been damaged, but has back-up.

*The Heartless are spread fairly wide throughout the city. They soar around & occasionally glance through windows. None of them seem to be attacking. Eventually, they cross paths with another Air Pirate flying by, which banks a hard turn & comes rocketing at them with its fist outstretched.*
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*Eventually, the Organization has all gathered in the Altar of Naught, where Senthose stands framed by the heart-shaped moon. He signals for quiet.*

S<Are you wondering why I called you out here? Or perhaps you can already guess?>

Keter<Hopefully, you intend to finally attack Binah Psyche.>

*She folds her arms, & Senthose points dramatically at her. Nero stops rubbing his head & Daisy stops hissing at him from under her breath.*

S<Ding-ding-ding! Eve, tell the lovely lady what she's won!>

Safian:<I can scare off any sharks that come around! Not so sure about a giant squid though, but I think we could all take it.>
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*Monu maneuvers around the torpedoes fired at him, attempting to stay as far away as possible from ghosts. He moves in to use his spinning attack on the submarine Lilith did not target*
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*Artexi looks over at Nero, slightly shocked. Meanwhile, Eve steps forward and clears her voice*

Eve:<We've found a way to prevent Binah, or anyone else for that matter, from using any magic for a limited amount of time. Keyblades, armor, and gliders will still be usable, however. And, while space is no infinite, we should be able to prevent magic from being used throughout the Order's Castle in the Land of Departure.>

Taiyo swims about looking at her tail.

Taiyo: "I don't want things growing on me."

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Azuma climbs to avoid that silly stuff while Hitomi casts Thunder a bunch of times.

Well, Kyohaku wasn't focused on the music for very long, especially considering that Euryale had told him just to give it a chance. For the time being, he was pleasing himself by making gentle graceful motions through the water. It was so very drastically different from what everyone had ever explained to him about what water was, and it certainly flew in the face of the fears that his original creator had placed into his programming. His User cared about him, but things were of course quite different now.

Eventually, though, the conversation caught his attention. "If we weren't going to see any Heartless, then why were we here in the first place again?" He then looked back toward Safian, "You were asking what was wrong with the song, right? I guess I'm just used to only ever hearing electronic music, being that I used to live inside of a video game."

*Euryale smiles, holding a hand out to Taiyo.*

E"It's a figure of speech, Cuttlefish. Parasites usually take days without washing to accumulate."

Th"I believe we should focus instead on the fact that Euryale just stated that we may be attacked by giant squid."

E"I said probably not, they usually hang out in the deep sea! Usually. Anyway, let's just grab hands & enter the current, you don't want to hang around in muddy clam land all night, do you?"

*She flicks the silt with her tail, kicking up a small cloud.*
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*Caught off-guard, & Thunder being pretty powerful, the Air Pirate is obliterated in a single blast. But now the shapes seem to be retreating back towards the ship, indeed taking the fog with them.*
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*With the remaining submarines destroyed, the ghosts swarm them as a cloud, but keep a wide berth around the asteroids. Taking advantage of this, Lilith turns around & weaves between them, firing, the ghosts weak enough that each dies in a single blast.*
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*Nero's eyes briefly widen, but he does his best to stare ahead, appearing unconcerned.*

S<Well, technically that's just the area of the device. They can only negate magic within their vicinity.>

Luxord<So what you're saying is that this is a game which poses as much, if not greater risk to us than to our opponents? My favorite kind.>

*Everyone who's not a lunatic gambler begins to grumble.*

S<You'll be thankful when her powers can't reach you, though you could always use the Dark Corridors to go closer to her, if you're willing to risk it. As we have 3 devices, each carried by a Dark Follower, I plan to keep 1 in reserve with which to ambush her. I'd like to attack Yen Sid at the same time, but unfortunately, I do not know where he has hidden.>