[PQ+] [SE] tearing open the sky

Elizabeth

Happiness is when
what you think,
what you say,

Elizabeth hadn't realized that smashing an entire bundle of spiders would prove to be such a confidence boost. However, with each swing of her staff, she felt the motion releasing adrenaline and beating down the tension in her shoulders. By the end, she was shooting both Hotaru and Deimos a self-satisfied smile. 

When the powder settled to reveal some remaining frostblooms, Elizabeth got to work. She began sweeping her staff across the plants, hoping to snap their stems and render them useless. During her razing of the field, she made sure to keep her distance from the demigod's next attack. 

---

Elizabeth uses her staff to continue attacking the frostblooms.

and what you do
are in harmony.

and the only solution was to stand and fight

They should’ve been satisfied – this portion of the hunt was relatively straightforward. With no real means of defense, unless anyone touched them directly, the frostblooms remained stagnant and moored by the range of assaults – icy projectiles, the rush of a staff, and for finishing touches, the Sword’s dominion of fire. They were swept away in embers and ashes by the end of it, and they could have a moment of contentment before Deimos arched his brow and nodded his head. “All right. On to the echoes.”

While Belial continued to scout for the ursur, it must’ve been tucked away somewhere for the peryton to not have already snagged at it, the rest of the group could follow the Warden. He kept his eyes along the surroundings as they crossed over snow and miniature rivulets, narrowed and examining to ensure they didn’t run into any other trouble.

And come to find out, he didn’t have to leave his wooden markings at all – because as if it had sensed their approach, the void echoes had formed into something very blob-like. The snow looked as though it had additional appendages, and it gave off a deep rumble – but otherwise didn’t seem to advance. “Bizarre,” he uttered in response. “We should keep our distance.” Ranged attacks and assaults would do best (and if someone didn’t have any, there was always rocks nearby); and he began his fire incantations once more.

--

The frostblooms have also been destroyed! Time to attack the void echoes! No post order!

DEIMOS

Elizabeth

Happiness is when
what you think,
what you say,

With the frostblooms properly disposed of, Elizabeth sighed in relief. She hadn't really been expecting a pat on the back, but Deimos's quick shift of attention pulled her from the satisfaction with a harsh tug. This was only the beginning. It was supposed to be the easy part. That's why they'd started here. So, with that in mind, Elizabeth followed diligently behind, keeping on the alert for their next target.

When they found it, her eyes widened and the grip on her staff tightened. What was happening to it? The way it seemed to meld together into a single mass of indistinguishable extremities had her slowing to stay with the others.

Her staff obviously wouldn't do much against the rumbling snow mound. It didn't seem like the best idea to aggravate the creature, but seeing as there was no lightning around (>.>), Elizabeth settled for grabbing any nearby projectiles, which happened to be a bunch of rocks. 

---

Elizabeth starts throwing rocks.

and what you do
are in harmony.

Hotaru

Open up the gates, I feel close enough to heaven
To go, to stay, to leave, to pray

Similarly satisfied with the destruction and devastation they’d so quickly wreaked, Hotaru grins back at Elizabeth, her previously ruffled feathers smoothed with the first satiation of bloodlust. Keeping her sling out as they venture onward is habit and an abundance of caution. It ends up becoming useful - as it often does - when the void echoes manifest a touch sooner than planned.

Intrigued, Hotaru nevertheless slips another sphere of ice into her sling from her endless bag. The ice itself might normally be familiar to the snowy entity, but the explosive nature of the spheres will hopefully do damage even if the element won’t. Launching it, Hotaru watches Elizabeth from the corner of her eye; all signs point to either an untrained Abandoned or Accepted, but until she discerns which, the Valkyrie can’t help support her offensively.

- - -

Ru launches another sphere!

But I guess they didn't like my confession
I know it's just a bad religion

and the only solution was to stand and fight

The void echo rumbled and grumbled, an indistinct mass of maneuvering limbs, and in some portion, a segment of eyeballs clustered within the lefthand side of its rolling mass. A bizarre sight to be certain, and as they readily applied their efforts and incantations into the fray, more of the strangeness persevered.

Without her own ranged portions, Elizabeth was forced to use rocks – but they pummeled, heading straight into the snow’s…head? It jerked and lessened along the top anyway, seemingly crumbling into itself, and inched closer to them, sluggish and slow.

Deimos and his fire power weren’t an unfamiliar sight – the inferno grew massive and overwhelming, intending to melt the pile of maneuvering parts. There was a keening set of growls behind the creature as it began to lessen and drain into the grass, flailing its multiple extremities around in a dizzying and protuberant haze.

Hotaru and her aim should’ve been top notch, given her experience, but maybe it was a combined effort of too many branches and boughs to keep track of; for the icy sphere veered sharply to the right. The orb did, however, manage to break off a limb and send it flying towards the Valkyrie, so there was suddenly an icy and snowy arm landing a few feet from her. Lovely.

--

The void echo is trying to crawl near them, but is being melted in the process. One of its arms has landed by Hotaru.

No post order!

Void Echo Mass: 93.5/175

DEIMOS

Elizabeth

Happiness is when
what you think,
what you say,

Encouraged by the slight tumbling of snow from its head(?), Elizabeth took aim again towards its bundle of eyes. She then continued to launch rocks in hopes of blinding the Void Echo Mass. Maybe if she threw enough rocks, a few of them would land a critical hit on the creature(s). 

Meanwhile, she made sure to stick close to the others, watching behind them for any other signs of danger. Maybe that was to avoid looking at the strange mound of snowy appendages or maybe she really was concerned for their surroundings. 

---

Elizabeth keeps throwing rocks but aims for the eyes.

and what you do
are in harmony.

Hotaru

Open up the gates, I feel close enough to heaven
To go, to stay, to leave, to pray

Distracted or simply unlucky, Hotaru watches as the...arms(?) come sailing her way, and can't help but snort a small laugh to herself despite the otherwise serious nature of the hunt. It's simply too ridiculous otherwise. However, unless one of those severed arms begins doodlebob-ing its way toward the Valkyrie, they can remain where they've landed.

Loading another sphere, she takes aim - trying for improved accuracy this time in case the issue had been a matter of distraction or not taking wind or other elements into consideration - and shoots it into the melee of rocks, fire, void-snow, and whatever other detritus is hiding beneath the strange semi-sentient substance they're attacking.

- - -

Ru eyes the severed arm suspiciously but otherwise shoots another ice sphere!

But I guess they didn't like my confession
I know it's just a bad religion

and the only solution was to stand and fight

Deimos couldn’t stop the chuckle warring its way through his chest as the arm landed near Ru; because while all these manifestations were very serious, that moment didn’t have to be. Glancing at her from the corner of his eye, he pushed his focus back upon the layers of fire brimming over the surface of the beast, slowly watching it simmer and sink.

One of Elizabeth ’s rocks pummeled straight into the one of the many eyes – closing it entirely and five more beginning to form underneath. Ew. One could always appreciate her willingness to be shielded; the Sword had known many in her same circumstance who thought themselves quite high and mighty…and subsequently very dead.

The Valkyrie’s icy sphere also did some damage once more – the orb floating and piercing through the side (?) of the blobby snow form’s body, causing it to pulse and shake and shudder. Hotaru would be able to see it wince and seemingly give out; like one last breath.

Before melting entirely, leaving behind a bunch of sticks, stones, and whatever else it had managed to utilize in its brief existence.

Deimos blinked, head tilting, waiting for something else to happen. “All right…we ought to see if there is anything else underneath this,” pointing out the rest of the melted mass of boughs, “and then move on.”

--

The void echo mass has succumbed! Clean up and inspect the area! No post order!

DEIMOS

Elizabeth

Happiness is when
what you think,
what you say,

The 'pop' of the eye had Elizabeth flinching back reflexively and scrunching her nose as the five others took its place. It induced a subtle urge to gag, but she held it together, lifting another rock as the others' attacks landed the death(?) blows. Her traveling comrades seemed to make these encounters extremely easy and she blushed slightly at her meager means of assistance. Dropping her big scary pebble back onto the ground, she hugged her staff close as she lifted onto her tiptoes to look over the mess of snow and twisted body parts. 

Sifting through the mounds wasn't exactly on her fun color-coordinated to-do list, but she couldn't deny that it was necessary. Elizabeth gave a brave smile and carefully stepped forward away from the others. Using her staff, she prodded and pushed aside sections of the snow, looking for anything that moved or otherwise caught her attention.

---

Elizabeth uses her staff to cautiously sift through the snowy piles.

and what you do
are in harmony.

Hotaru

Open up the gates, I feel close enough to heaven
To go, to stay, to leave, to pray

Ru can't help her own little laugh as Deimos catches her eyes, suspicious side-eye for the arm melting into humor. Heh, melting.

Speaking of melting, it's not so much that as a flumph and a collapse that is equally as comical as the strange disembodied stick-arm. Like watching a tiny avalanche and a man falling over drunk combine into some vague, snowy form. Deimos' instruction has her playfully wrinkling her nose and purposefully trailing quite slowly behind Elizabeth, hoping the woman will be more inclined to poke around in the puddle given the weapon she has on hand.

And if there's still more to investigate, well...Ru pokes at the debris with her foot, clearly unimpressed and silently expressing how above all this she thinks she is. (In reality, she's just missing her encyclopedia of magic that once would have allowed her to do this sort of menial work without lifting a rather literal finger.)

- - -

Ru reluctantly and slowly pokes around with her foot.

But I guess they didn't like my confession
I know it's just a bad religion

and the only solution was to stand and fight

Taking his time to ensure the remains of the bestial creature were truly smothered and gone, the Sword’s flames conjured ash and nothingness at each turn, though he did take an opportunity to have the arm wave a dismal goodbye to Hotaru before it too vanished into naught. He kept his eyes trained on the ground, finding nothing significant either, save for the Valkyrie’s lackluster enthusiasm – pondering over the why without calling it into question out loud.

Likewise, the demigod wouldn’t find anything significant either – but Elizabeth, through lifting and sifting along leaf litter, would. Underneath some portions, from whatever had been making and churning through the once-grotesque display, were a hoard of eyeballs staring back at her! What a lovely find – though she could decide what she wanted to do with them.

Deimos wrinkled his nose at the display, but took the opportunity to check in with Belial – still aloft, churning along in slow drifts as if doing nothing at all. When the survey said no alteration in any ursur course, the Warden resumed them all back to the eventuality of other pending things. “Foxes next then,” and he while he didn’t break into a frown at the notion, he certainly didn’t like the idea of mauling the creatures. They were a fond favorite – but he’d have to remind himself that these portions were fauna of the void, and not the gentle, revered individuals. “Belial has not seen the ursur yet, but stay alert.”

--

Elizabeth has found eyes from the void echoes! Nice!

Follow Deimos to the void foxes, and stay alert. You may seen some things.

No post order!

DEIMOS

Hotaru

Open up the gates, I feel close enough to heaven
To go, to stay, to leave, to pray

Why? Because it’s essentially muck, thank you, and as lovely and golden as she is the Valkyrie most certainly does not have Phoebe’s particular Frey-blessing of being naturally impermeable to such muck and yuck. Plus given what Elizabeth finds, she clearly wasn’t missing out on much right? Her boots may be waterproofed but she still has standards for trophies desirable enough to suffer through the indignity of sorting slush.

Her frown is slight and therefore sincere, unlike most of her expressions, as she follows silently in Deimos’ wake. All her least favorite s-words and all the more telling of her reluctance in this matter that they are all combined at once. Withdrawing an ice sphere, she fiddles with it in her fingertips to distract herself, all the while combing the horizon with her eyes. 

- - -

Ru follows Deimos and holds one of her ice spheres (fushigi!)

But I guess they didn't like my confession
I know it's just a bad religion

Elizabeth

Happiness is when
what you think,
what you say,

As she brushed aside the snow to reveal the bundle of staring eyes, Elizabeth was caught between the urge to scream or gag. It ended up coming out as a garbled gasp that transitioned into a cough. She wanted to trample them beneath her feet, but she imagined the squelching and promptly pushed the idea from her mind. Instead, she used her foot to cover them back up with snow, hoping an animal found them or, better yet, let them decompose. 

Elizabeth glanced up at the mention of Belial and silently thanked the gods that he wasn't nearby. Just in case he changed his mind, she returned to Deimos's side to use him as a buffer if necessary and escape the gazes of the creepy eyes. With a somber heart for the poor foxes, she raised her staff and kept her own eyes peeled for any signs of trouble. 

---

Elizabeth follows the others and keeps her staff at the ready.

and what you do
are in harmony.

and the only solution was to stand and fight

They roamed closer to the intended spot, quiet and solemn perhaps, given everything already seen and what was to come. But then the Sword gave pause, brows furrowed, as whispering began – low, like faint murmurs in the rustling portion of wind. ”Hear that?” he rumbled to both Hotaru and Elizabeth, partially to ensure he wasn’t being thwarted into delusions or hallucinations, and to give them a moment to collect themselves.

The foxes must have gone into hiding; because there was naught overt in anything nearby save for the muffled sounds. Flashes of purple would’ve been distinct against the outline of ivory snow. Glancing upward, watching as Belial circled above and still sighted naught, he opted for another strategy. He didn’t want to send any of them outward, where they could be caught on singular movements. “We can try to draw them out,” he opted instead, beginning to unravel portions of his air incantations, seeing if the ruffling breeze and distorted scents would unfurl the creatures from their chosen designations.

--

There’s some creepy whispering going on. Try something to draw the foxes out! No post order!

DEIMOS