towerofanimus | monsters in the dark

[The attempt at charging the monster was very brave. Valiant, even.

Unfortunately, though, Luke would find that as he approaches, there'll be something approaching him - the body of a pink-clad pigtailed girl, thrown from the violently thrashing puppet. She hadn't been able to keep her grip on it, hadn't been able to return it back to its small size.]

OW! You bastard, that hurt! [She's screaming at the monster, promise.] How dare you do that to Tokunaga?! I'll kill you!

[And then she realizes...] ...L-Luke?! [Crap he's never going to think she's a refined lady and choose to marry her and make her a duchess now--]

[The monster only turns its focus toward where the two bodies are now sprawled across the doll-strewn floor.

It ignores Tokunaga, which in turn seems to be ignoring--or at least resisting--Anise.

Whimpering in a way that betrays a fear unlike the menacing stance and barred teeth, it begins to stalk toward them, picking up speed.

The closer it becomes, the more the two may begin to become afraid and the more their most fear-filled memories begin to surface.]

[Wups, that wasn't a good catching position he was in, and he wasn't expecting it besides, so they both tumble to the floor.]

Agh! Anise, what--

[And then a change of plans. That is, get Anise out of his lap and get ready to fight...

...In a manner of speaking, because he has his blade out in front of him, both hands wrapped around the hilt, but his hands are shaking. While he was willing to attack and kill it just a minute ago, now he's afraid to go after it. Or move, for that matter.]

I didn't do it on purpose!

[She's almost grumbling. Any other time, she might have been absolutely thrilled about getting to be so close to a member of the Kimlascan royal family, but right now? There's more important things at hand. One of them is surviving.

She gets to her feet, with every intention of running back to Tokunaga - that had been weird, but it was her weapon, she could fix it, she had to fix it - but before she can even take a step, she shudders. The monster is inching towards them and -

Ion's going to die and it's my fault and I can't stop it I have to do something Mohs is taking him why didn't I tell someone--

- Anise is remembering things she doesn't want to remember. She squeezes her eyes shut and thrusts her hands forward.]

St.. stay back! Oh twisted door of distortion, open wide! [She's shaking, and her voice is unsteady, but she's trying to cast quickly. Especially since Luke seems too frightened to move.

Truth be told, she's on the verge of being petrified herself. If the monster gets much closer...] N-... Negative Gate!

[The monster wouldn't stop its screaming. Each one was almost more tremor-inducing than the last. It backed up, though, reeling like a frustrated, caged animal at Anise's attack, barely avoiding getting an arm blown off in the process.

But they'd both continue to grow more afraid, like wading deeper into a pool or sinking slowly into quicksand. The piercing note of the monster's screams would punctuate each spike of fear.

And Anise might begin to feel her memory overpowering her sense of reason. She might begin to feel the fear do more than just shock her into immobility or clumsiness. She might begin to feel it twist her body away from the monster--and encourage her to switch her focus to Luke, as if he were the one to attack.

As if it would make the fear stop. Or maybe just as if she had no choice.]

[Had to be a fear-inducing monster, had to. It wasn't bad enough that he had nightmares about death--his family dying, the soldiers and bandits he managed to fatally wound replayed their deaths periodically...Asch. He was ten again, trying to fix his brother's wound, trying to hold it together, trying to keep the blood from getting out and all over his hands and failing.

...He wasn't ten. He was 17, and he could fight. It was just a memory, he could fight, he...he couldn't fight, he was too scared. But he didn't want to die again, and even Anise was doing a better job than he was at the moment.]

S-stay away from me! Raging B-blast!

[Anise is so afraid that it's almost painful - there's an unpleasant churning in her gut and a ringing in her ears. She can't block out the memories. The countless battles she's been through - the many times she's been in danger - that doesn't both her. But -

I'm going to lose him.

Her eyes are wide and fearful.

He's going to be taken away from me!

She's not seeing the monster in front of her, or the scattered dolls or knocked-over shelves. She is seeing Luke - but not this Luke, and not the other Luke in the Tower. The Luke she's seeing has short hair, and he's holding Ion in his arms as Ion fades away and he's not doing anything to stop it, no one can, and Anise is going to lose him for real--]

Oh hellion whose roar chills the soul, resound...

[It's an incantation. It should be directed at the monster, but Luke will find that there's a faint purple light forming at his feet instead. ...he might want to move before a vortex of darkness forms above him.]

BLOODY HOWLING! I won't let you take Ion away from me..!!

[With Anise turning on Luke as well as his panic influencing his attack, the monster is able to dodge the attack with only minimal damage.

And with Anise's back exposed, Tokunaga standing passive and forgotten, Luke forced to train his attention on saving himself from his pigtailed friend--the monster charges at full speed.

Its forearms and hind legs leave the ground as it jumps, mouth opening wide and fanged. Unless it's stopped, it'll pin her to her stomach and attempt to rip through her collar and into the soft flesh of her neck.]

[And Luke thought it was directed at the monster, assuming it was, so it's a huge shock when he notices the purple light under him. Was Anise's aim off? Whatever the reason, he was standing in the wrong spot, and needed to...

...move faster. He gets caught in the edge of the spell's effect, trying and failing to block the arte's hits--at least until he gets tossed into a nearby shelf of dolls.]

Owww...A-Anise, what the hell...?

[She'll have to (try to) fend for herself for a minute while he tries to pull himself off of the floor. It feels like he broke something, or maybe several somethings.]

NO--!

[Whether the cry is in response to seeing what she's done to look, or in response to being charged by the masked monster - it's hard to tell. Anise hears it coming and manages to turn, but doesn't manage to dodge. It pins her to her back and she hits the ground hard, her vision blurring and stars dancing behind her eyes from the pain of the rather forceful smack to the back of her head.

But she's not going to sit there and die! She brings up her arms to defend her neck and lets out another cry as the monster's sharp fangs sink into her flesh. There are tears in the corner of her eyes and she's struggling, as much as she possibly can while pinned under this thing.]

No - I don't want to die - g-get off--!

S-someone-- [It's not like her, but she knows her limits. She knows she can't cast like this, and Tokunaga's too far away, and--] Help--!

[And the instant its teeth broke through her skin, Anise would feel the terror that had been rising and rising inside of her come to a horrible crescendo. It'll be hard to fight back now--to encourage her body to do anything other than freeze as it eats away at her piece by painful piece, splattering blood and carnage across her body.

For the moment, it's all but forgotten about Luke, too enthused with the activity of ripping Anise open and letting her life bleed away. For the moment, its guard is completely lowered.]

Edited (I can grammar) 2013-06-12 05:38 (UTC)

[Luke's going to feel so bad about this next time he sees Anise. He can hear her calling for help, and manages to pull himself into a kneeling position, one hand wrapped around his chest. Battles were so much easier when there was a healer in the party, and he had no idea where Tear even was at the moment.

Not that it mattered too much. It was too late, at least for Anise. Sure, he thinks she's annoying, but the sight of her body covered in blood still isn't something he wants to see, and he gags, causing pain to shoot up his right side. Good for him the monster is paying more attention to his snack than Luke, because he's rushing the thing, aiming for a slice up it's side.]

Get away from her! Fang Blade!

[Struggling is doing her no good, and so it feels almost natural that she'd go still. It's inevitable, and fighting it won't help. There's only the barest movements as the monster rips and tears into her - except for her eyes. They're wide with terror, and are darting around the room looking for something - anything - to get her out of this.

But her life is fading quickly, and the light is fading from her eyes. She knows she's not going to last. She's too far gone by the time Luke attacks, in that awkward state between life and death. She knows there's something she still has to fight for, but -]

No... I... have to... protect... Ion...

[It's the Fon Master's name on her dying breath, and then she goes absolutely still as the monster enjoys its meal.]

[The attack hits the monster full blast, and it goes flying a few feet back, screaming in a near-hysteric fashion from where it writhes on the ground. It claws at the air, and its dark blood spurts and gushes from the open wound, mixing with Anise's and flooding the floor to make it slick and red.

With effort, it manages to struggle to its feet, still screaming, but stumbles as it tries to charge Luke. It's clearly too weak and in pain to attack, but it will continue to try until it has been felled completely.]

[Whyy all the screaming? He uses his free hand to cover one ear to block out some of the noise, even though it doesn't help all that much. He almost preferred the monster with the white mask, at least in terms of volume, though he would've preferred not to deal with any of them at all.

Fortunately, he's gained an advantage finally, as he's not nearly as injured. The blood covering the floor causes him to nearly lose his footing (and he's being extremely careful not to step on Anise's body--illusory body he guesses, he's still trying to wrap his head around the concept of everyone is wireframes--as he moves to meet the monster. Now that it's weakened, he's aiming for where he thinks vitals might be located.)

[As Luke and the monster near one another, the monster makes one final lunge to collide head on with the redhead.

Even as the redhead's sword pushes into its organs, it uses the last of its energy to try and bite into the redhead.

To attempt to make him feel the same fear it caused Anise to feel, even if it is unable to kill him as it wants so desperately to do.]

[The monster's attempt is successful, and Luke yelps when teeth sink into his shoulder, sending pain shooting down his right arm--his whole right side is going to be useless if he manages to get out alive. That'd be embarrassing, killing a monster by himself and then dying of blood loss on the stairs or something.

The feeling of fear has effectively paralyzed him from doing anything that isn't standing or keeping his blade wedged in the monster's flesh.]

Hurry up and...die already...

[For a long minute that must have felt like an eternity due to the fear and the pain, the monster shows no signs of dying. Rather, now that it has a good grip on Luke, it seems to latch on completely, not wanting to let go of the prey it finally got a lock onto.

And yet...it can't do anything. It can't rip or tear into the redhead any further and its strength is fading fast against the blade stuck inside of it.

All at once, the hold it had on Luke slackens as the monster dies without even seeming to notice for itself. Heavily, it falls into a monstrous black-and-red heap.]

monsters in the dark

YAY THREADJACKING :'D

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