Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
Skinning and hosting by the epically talented Kaons, and functionality fanciness by the coding magic of Neowulf. If you ever see either of them around, make sure to show them some love!
Choking on invisible tendrils that shredded the inside of his mouth and clogged his throat, the alchemist fell to his knees pawing frantically at his throat. Heaving in bursts of air when he could and coughing when he couldn't, he tried to listen to what Sam was saying, squinting through half-narrowed eyes. The was darkness on Rex's face, but she seemed alright despite the fluid leaking down her cheeks. He was crying, as was Sam. At least she couldn't feel pain, and naively, he thought that meant it would all be alright.
And suddenly...they're both gone. It is only the slight movement of the net, still held up, that gives him any indication they're still there at all. He knew Sam could become invisible and simply assumes that Rexanna can too. Still, he feels a shiver ripple down his spine, now feeling very, very alone.
And so, knowing he is now the only target, he leans into it, contorting and growing to become large. If they are going to come for him, let him be in a body large enough to bear their assaults.
Roaring loudly, the alchemist begins calling out for his fellow attuned. He isn't close enough yet, but he intends for them to hear him as soon as he is. To gather the luxere in a circle if they can, because they have a monster in tow.
THE
ALCHEMIST
Table coding by Sky
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"I ANSWERED YOUR ONE QUESTION, NOW LET ME GO." The monster demanded. Claws poked through the net trying to tear at Sam's hands before they utterly disappeared. Now, normally one would be able to look at the pressure points of the net to see where it was held, but the magic of the chip rendered a veritable glitch for the monsters, such that even this basic deduction was impossible for them to make.
"KILL THEM ALL." The one in the net screamed, and, as Remi had known they would, they flocked to him.
Tearing into his shoulder blades as if meaning to carve away his wings, they bite and sliced. The ground beneath the manticore became unstable as they tore at the bottom of his paws. Again they went for his throat, trying to clog his nostrils and force themselves into his mouth.
The voice of the monster, now clearly very angry indeed, would haunt Sam for many weeks to come. But Rexanna was bleeding from her empty eyes and Remi was being ripped apart before him and he couldn't stop now. If he was alone, he would have probably just laid down and accepted death.
The monster shouted again and almost reflexively, Sam activated his barrier, hoping he was close enough that it might shock it (and not Rexanna - he angled himself so he would hopefully not touch her). Remi was clearly hurt before them but he did not yell out, so he kept a hold of the net, stumbling from side to side as he walked with his poor balance.
Not much longer to go, he hoped. Sam could only pray this would eventually lead them to some kind of discovery.
--
Sam determinedly continues onward, his barrier activated with the hopes of shocking the monster in the net into submission (that sounds horrible but I can't think of another way to put it lol)
Roaring painfully, though not with the sort of panic meant to pull at Sam's attention, the manticore snarled and snapped, fanning his wings and stamping his paws against the ground in an effort to dislodge the monster-fly-amalgamation. It would likely do little good, but in this form there was little else to be done.
Rows of shark-like teeth snapped against the choking presence in his mouth, as his poisonous tail swung back and forth as if he might wave them all away. Ahead he could vaguely see the lights of the luxere guarding the guild.
Amalia, Deimis, Kiada, Jigano— He screamed silently, the mental pulse the the words like a wave, far more vast and powerful than any other sounds he might have sent. —a net, the monster...someone, the luxere...a circle... Remi's heart, too blackened by his past now, too covered in blood as he was, was in no condition to soothe the herd of luxere. It would take Amalia perhaps, Jigano or Lily...someone without dark magic and a kind voice.
THE
ALCHEMIST
Table coding by Sky
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
dirty laundry, hangin' out with the white lies 'til they're clean sheets
testing loyalties,
Oh no, the monster is not pleases by this development. And frankly? She’s tired of it. She’s tired of not seeing, of the pressure of the thousands of insects in her eyes that blot out her sight (granted there’s none left of it anyway) and she pauses, hesitating as Sam moves, since she can’t see shit, but she realizes it soon enough.
They’re likely invisible, and Remi the only target.
Some form of frustration and anger overtakes her, and she steps forward where she thinks they’re heading. “Remi!” She calls out, searching for that magic of Loren’s she’s stock piled away, feeling for the creature summoning. Only this time, there will be no Sparkbird. Instead, she searches for the one thing that can’t harm them, like the flame of a Sparkbird can.
Ahead of her, she summons a Luxere, hoping it’s between where the Ascended stand and the Manticore is being attacked. “Sam, help me guide it.” She tells her fellow Ascended, hand jutting forward to give the Luxere a path she cannot see. But she wants to send it to Remi, to the visible member of their party.
Rexanna uses Loren’s magic to summon a Luxere and tries to send it to Remi to guide the path to the MHG!
As Sam's upgrade sends out a crackle of electricity, the monster in the netting goes silent for a moment and if possible, it seems to darken. There's a brief clunking and whirring, though given how far away Remi is, how wounded Sam's ears are, and how disoriented Rex is, it would be a wonder if any had the wherewithal to hear it.
As the alchemist charges forward, the creatures continue to bite against him, thick sludge now pouring out of his own wounds. Not blighted, no, but certainly a dark sort of poison begins to infect the revealed flesh.
And then, there is light. It beams strongly, casting away the darkness. In steadily it makes its way forward, guided only by Rexanna rather than any descriptions Sam might provide, and so there is a temporary transition as the information is passed from lips to ears. A magic user in her own right, Rex is able to control the beast far better than others might, and both its light and magical presence are strong causing the monsters clinging to Remi's fur to screech and depart back into the night.
His barrier seemed to work, the creature falling silent. Sam did not hear the whirring, was barely aware of the noise of his own footsteps over the ringing in his ears and the concentration needed to walk somewhat straight. Ahead of them, the lights of the Luxere at the Guild gleamed and he felt himself fill with hope - looking across, he could see Rexanna was struggling. No surprise, since she'd just lost her eyes.
"Rexanna. Go ahead. I think I can hold it - Bastien gave you his board, right? If you just sit on it and go forward...you'll reach the Luxere with Remi and he can help you get in. I'll...be behind you." If she went he would watch her go, then before he continued on himself, turn towards the net.
With one last push with his barrier to try and make sure the monster was truly stunned, Sam turned it off and looking to make sure Remi and Rexanna weren't watching, plunged his hand into the net. If there was one way to know if the monsters were once people, it was feeling them. With his upgrade from Remi he had more touch sense than the average Ascended, and he wanted to use it while he had the beast caught.
--
Sam keeps his barrier on and tells Rex to go ahead on the board and he'll take the net himself. He then touches the monster inside the net. Potentially a very bad idea.
As the light flooded around him and the darkness slowly departed, the alchemist cast a weary and weighty glance behind him. In the pitch he could see almost nothing, given that both Sam and Rex were invisible. The movement of the bag was the only indication of anything really, until he saw the vague shine of the hoverboard. Not daring to shift back lest the monsters return, the manitcore halted and roared unsteadily back at his companions, wondering why they had stopped.
Should Rex fly his way, steady or not, he'd extend a wing if she needed it for balance or simply to let him know she was there.
THE
ALCHEMIST
Table coding by Sky
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
dirty laundry, hangin' out with the white lies 'til they're clean sheets
testing loyalties,
Did he… Did he not hear the part where she said she was blinded? She doesn’t even know if the Luxere has worked, but there’s a feeling of it as things seem to calm and she focuses on the Luxere, keeping her concentration the best she can as she tries to fiddle with the board, putting a foot on it and stepping off with it. There’s the muffle of Remi’s roar; and she uses it for guidance, aiming herself and the Luxere in that direction, silent, focused, blinded.
Rex hops on the board and tries to go toward Remi’s voice while focusing on the Luxere!
Well, in true scoobydoo fashion, absolutely everything goes to shit. Only this isn't the G rated version and the blood isn't cartoon.
What evidence Sam had in thinking the monster was stunned, giving he didn't hear the sounds and only felt it cease to move and possibly darken a few shades, the admin doesn't know. So while yes, the static shock from his shield indeed does something, it isn't...what he thinks. Can't be, given that he's just shoved his hand into the netting.
With a horrific CROMCH sound of breaking bones, the ascended will find he is missing three fingers on his right hand. And because of that oh-so delightful patch that the monster was aiming for, he will absolutely feel every excruciating moment of it. Black sludge coats the nubs of his hand, clotting against the ascended fluid as the monster within cackles viciously. Reaching through the netting to swipe at Sam, claws tear through his coat as eyes appear from within, shining with bright and intense malice.
But that wasn't the critical failure. Oh no. That comes from our once-queen, blinded now, riding off on a hoverboard. If you've ever even tried to stand on one foot with your eyes closed much less take a few steps forward, you will know how immediately disorienting it can be. Now imagine trying to concentrate all your focus on the spell you have cast using someone else's magic, instead of blindly balancing on a flying piece of metal.
plot twist: it doesn't go well.
Veering towards the sound of Remi's voice is a good idea, if only Rex's balance matched the trajectory of the hoverboard. Instead, she turns, overcompensating without her eyes to temper her movements, and goes flying, crashing landing into the side of a building. Her nose breaks, as do both of her wrists as she instinctively tries to stop herself. Her shins are torn nearly down to the bone and at least three of her ribs are broken. Though she has no lungs to puncture, she has been impaled by a piece of metal that was likely supposed to be a railing.
And Remi? Well, he's fine. Except insofar as he was supposed to be the tank and has done fuck all.
Sam had expected to feel something disgusting with his fingers, something that he wouldn't want to feel. Possibly a little bit of discomfort or tingling, light pain. He had not expected the crunch and the sound came before the pain - for a second he was confused, unsure what had happened.
And then oh, did he find out. He pulled his hand back, unable to see the stubs that had once been his fingers clearly through the tears that pooled in his eyes. From what he could see though, it didn't look good at all. There were spaces were he had used to have fingers. His brain could hardly catch up with the image.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, he let go of the net. He almost stayed there, kneeling on the ground and staring at his hand, until he heard a crash from the direction he'd sent Rex in. Only the concern for another was enough to get him up to his feet (or at least, stumbling on his knees, feet, and sometimes putting a hand down, screaming when it was his injured one) and walking towards where he'd heard the noise.
He found her at the side of a building. Near the Guild, but not quite. While he couldn't see her, he could see the mess she'd left in her wake. Guilt pouring through him, he crawled up by her. "Rexanna...? C-Can you hear me?" Whether she could or not, she certainly wasn't going to be able to get into the Guild by herself. Hoping his chip would make it so his voice did not reveal his location, he yelled out towards the Luxere: "CAN SOMEONE PLEASE HELP? REXANNA IS VERY HURT I THINK!"
---
Sam lets go of the net and runs to rex, then yells for someone to come help him take her inside.
Their voices was all the alchemist had. The luxere was still at his side, so in the seconds following the crash he thought perhaps the sound somehow extraneous to their little adventure. But oh how wrong that fleeting thought proved to be.
Hearing Sam's voice tinged with fright and pain and anxiety made Remi's blood run cold as he immediately halted, spun, and charged back in the direction he'd come. Whether or not the luxere came with him (likely not, as Rexanna couldn't see to guide it) was entirely unimportant. The tension between returning back to Ronin and Aoife alive, versus leaving his friends out here to die was a constant chord against his thoughts, but though injured already, he'd sustained worse. He had more to give, and he'd gladly give it for Rex and Sam.
Like Sam, Remi couldn't see Rexanna (or the bookmaker) but he too could follow the wake. He saw the crashed hoverboard, ears straining forward to try and pick out precisely where Sam was. Shifting enough of his face to talk regardless of how uncomfortable it was, the manticore fanned his large wings hoping to provide a barrier between himself and whatever else might be coming.
"Rex? Can you hear me? I...I cannot see either of you. Can you climb on? I can carry you back. Sam, help her"
THE
ALCHEMIST
Table coding by Sky
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
dirty laundry, hangin' out with the white lies 'til they're clean sheets
testing loyalties,
Yeah, no. It doesn’t go well. It doesn’t go well at fucking all. But she thanks the Voice that she no longer feels pain, for the eyes that have gone missing, for the wrists that have broken, for the legs that have been skinned, for the nose that’s broken, and most of all, the metal beam sticking out of her chest.
She doesn’t know where she is, but of course, how could she? She can’t see, can’t feel, the Luxere is lost as well as almost everything else, and while she can’t feel pain, she still can feel the sense of being helpless. Like before, when prison walls and orders had kept her barred in.
Is she dying? She doesn’t think so. But her system shutters and Sam manages to find her, broken body and pieces strewn about. She can’t think, she can’t spend the moment to think about what’s happened. All she can do is think of Bastien, the worry, the fear. Once a pumpkin, then a tree, and now this. Perhaps she shouldn’t have to put him through all of this, if she’s not meant to be anyway.
She can’t even find it in her to reply to Samuel, letting him call out for help. Remi is there soon too, she can hear the voice that sounds so much like Bastien it only adds to the heartache she feels. And she deactivates her invisibility chip, praying to all gods this time, that they might get back to safety.
The monsters know not when it is that hides the ascended from view, but they waste little time on it. There are other matters at hand.
While the red-haired one yells, the other one is impaled, and the larger one runs, the monsters slip towards the netting. Uncovering it to free the one inside. Instantly, it rushes towards Remi, him being the only one visible. Even as Rex reveals herself, the manticore is simply far too large and inviting a target.
Claws rake down his back and spine, pulling the flesh from his flanks nearly down to his ribs as teeth bite against his tail seemingly unbothered by the poison within. It's hard to be poisoned after all, when you aren't alive. Then back into the shadows they recede as a strong wind wafts the fresh smell of blood into the air.
