>>41418317

~
The dawn brings a dull-gray light and the ceasing of the storm that rattled the cabin for hours. You slip quietly into the final pieces of your armor and secure your cloak tightly around yourself.

“Leaving so early?”

You turn to see a slightly disheveled Marissa blinking heavily at you as she rises from her small cot.

You nod. “Work.” You respond in a hushed whisper.

Her eyebrows rise for a few moments before she crawls out of bed. A few moments later, with her heavy coat and boots on, she leads you outside.
Marissa clutches at her coat as chilly breezes assault her exposed legs. “You’re leaving without saying good-bye to Izu?” She asks softly, still trying to shake sleep from her body.

With lips pursed, you look over the cabin, before returning your gaze back to Marissa. “Let him sleep.”

She sighs in response and bends down to pick up a small twig from the ground, and then another. “You’re not coming back.” She adds another stick to her clutch of kindling.

You stare at a small stick near your right foot. “Probably not any time soon.” You shake your head.

Marissa rises from the snow with a slight grunt, and nearly loses her balance in the process. “Can't say that I'm surprised, we all have our roles, right?.” She stares at you pensively.

You can hardly bring yourself to respond with an empty smile and you should be leaving soon.

>”Take care of yourself.”

>Write in.

>>41418346
>”Take care of yourself.”

Afternoon Auri

>>41418346
"Practice, both of you. I can't save everyone, even if I wanted to."

>>41418346
>>”Take care of yourself.”
How many days do we have to complete our task now?

>>41418346
"Yes, we do. Yours is to stay safe and keep him from doing something foolish Marissa. Some practice of magic not related to seduction might be in order too. Regardless, you're a good friend. Hopefully this will be over soon, and things will be better.


Placate her weariness with platitudes.

Hello everyone!

>>41418453
>>41418460
>>41418480
You're expected back the following day, but the task isn't going to be that long, probably.
>>41418485
Telling her to practice and then taking our leave.

>Writing~

>>41418525

You adjust your cloak for the trip that lies ahead of you. “Yes, we do have our roles. Yours is to-“

“Things have changed, Sophia.” Marissa interjects while neatly organizing the bundle of kindling in her hands. “You no longer get to dictate what I do and don’t do.”

You try not to show your displeasure about being interrupted but you can feel your brow furrowing regardless.

She shakes her head wearily. “Listen, I’m grateful for all the things that you’ve taught me.” She turns back to look at the cabin. “That’s why I’ll keep taking care of Izu for you. Not because you want me to, but because it’s my way of paying you back.”

You sigh heavily in dissatisfaction. Your second apprentice is now no longer so, but at the very least you won’t have to worry about Izu’s well-being for some time.

“Take care of yourself.” You respond, hollowly.

“I will.” She smiles deviously. “I know I don’t have to tell you the same.”

You don’t dignify her words with a response. A few moments later and the bitterly cold air stings both your exposed skin and wings. The weather makes your flight one of the more unpleasant you’ve had to endure, but serves to calm your disagreeable mood, at least somewhat.

Things have changed.

~

[1/2]

>>41419057

Once the dark smoke of many campfires come into view, you choose to finish the last part of your journey on foot. The occasional scurrying of small animals lets you know that this area is free of those creatures you encountered the day prior.

As the sounds of human activity finally become audible in the distance, you slow your pace greatly and pull your hood over your head. Your armor brings you a great measure of stealth, but there’s no sense in being careless at this point.

After a few minutes of watchful searching, you spot an individual uninvitingly wrapped in a dark cloak. A small glimmer of familiar blonde hair, immediately lets you know you’ve found who you’ve been looking for.

The instant you make a conscious decision to make your presence known to her, or perhaps a fraction of a second before that, Ali turns toward you.
“You’re late.” She informs you straightforwardly.

You have your reasons, but you’re not entirely sure if you want Ali to know what those reasons are.

>Get straight down to business.

>Be honest.

>Write in.

>>41419079
>There was a matter that required discretion, is here a good place to speak freely?
Can't be too careful. She's keeping an eye on BOTH of us, after all.

>>41419079
>There was a matter that required discretion, is here a good place to speak freely?

>>41419079
>Get straight down to business.
No need to say why.

>>41419079
>Get straight down to business.

>>41419119
>>41419160
The trees have eyes:
>>41419169
>>41419205
So if it's safe, let's get down to business.

>Writing~

>>41419079
Be honest

>>41419079
>Be honest
Well.

>>41419233

You survey the area warily. “There was a matter that required discretion.” You focus your eyes upon hers. “Is this a safe place to speak freely?”
A slight smile forms on Ali’s face. “You’re very wise in trusting in only yourself. This place is safe as it can be, and chose it for an important reason.”

She begins to rifle through the interior of her cloak.

“That being?” You ask, and are promptly greeted with the handle of an ornate dagger that you’ve seen before.

Once you grab it, Ali turns and walks to the reason she chose that spot to meet. She daintily seats herself upon a flat tree stump and removes her hood to reveal her long golden hair.

You walk over to her, already knowing what she wants you to do with the knife. With a handful of Ali’s beautifully maintained hair in hand, you ask. “Are you sure?”

“To the chin.” She responds firmly. “We can never be too careful, Sophia.”

You pull her hair taut and slice through with great ease.

Ali holds up her hand to receive the hair and you spot a great deal of horrid bruises, most likely self-inflicted. “In a few hours, a small group will leave the town ahead of us on a supply run to the south.” She pockets her cut hair, not leaving a single strand to the ground. “You’re going to ambush that group, with a few of The Empress’s soldiers.”

You roughly cut through a clump of Ali’s hair upon hearing your assignment, she doesn’t even flinch. “A bit lacking in discretion, don’t you think?”

[1/2]

>>41419841

“The Empress ordered it.” She stares into the snowy tree line. “Your reveal is part of a much larger plan, I’m almost certain.”

“Then why choose me?” You demand.

“You do make for quite the sight when you’re getting your hands dirty.” Ali shrugs slightly.

You despise being left in the dark. “What would I be doing exactly in this ambush?” You continue shortening Ali’s hair.

“It will be just like your first mission. Carry off a few unimportant guards in a mock kidnapping while our soldiers wreak their havoc, but this time their meeting their end some place in the woods.” She informs you flatly. “Then leave the rest to me. It’s nothing that you find easy.”

You slice off the final length of Ali’s hair. “Easy…”

You hold the jaggedly sharp dagger close to Ali’s throat, imagining how easy it would be to make beautiful crimson stain the white snow.

Ali leans her head back, the expression on her face daring you to try it. After a few tense moments later, she finally speaks up. “While we still have time, is there anything you want to ask me?” She pulls her head back forward. “Since we won’t be meeting again for some time.”

You pull the dagger away from her throat, not entirely sure what spurred the thought of killing Ali in the first place. While much knowledge can be gained from asking a question, much knowledge can be gained just from the question itself.

>"There's nothing."

>Write in.

>>41419874
>What will you be doing?

Also check ourselves for an enchantment because something is off.

>>41419874
"Why am I getting sudden bouts of homicidal tendencies?"
Because that's serious bad mojo.

>>41419943
>>41419960
That being said, my hypothesis is that it has something to do with our rampant use and practice of pyromancy. Did the Usurper have us specialize more in pyromancy because we would struggle with the pyromancy controlling us rather than the other way around?

>>41419988
We specialized in Pyromancy ourselves, but I never thought that that may be it. It makes sense in a way, good eye.

>>41419943
>>41419960
Questions and bad feelings.

>Writing~

>>41419874
>What will you be doing?
1. Because curious
2. Cuz Ali a best and we both have the same end goal in mind.
3. Because curious.

>>41420058

You hand Ali back the ornate knife and rub your eyes. “Something’s off about me. My thoughts have been getting more and more violent.”

Ali sheathes the knife, immediately stands, and approaches you. Her face is only a few inches away from your as she peers into your eyes. “It’s not my field of expertise, but you don’t seem any different to me.”

You back away from her. “Never mind. What will you be doing?”

She eyes for a few moments before speaking. “In about an hour I will make my way through the woods to the southern road. While traveling north, I’ll intercept the group and plead for refuge.” She kneels down and begins swiping away the snow. “Of course, there’s still some preparation that needs to be done before that.”

With a clump of soggy dirt in her hand, Ali begins to ruin her perfectly clean hair, and slathers her skin and clothes strategically.

The heavy bruising on her body and her current filthiness bring up the memory of the very first time you met her.

“We do what we must.” You utter, almost instinctively.

Ali stands and then begins to stomp dirt into the hem of her cloak. Once satisfied, she stops and turns back to you. “Head to the southern road and wait for the group. Be sure to begin your ambush shortly after I encounter them. The flesh soldiers will attack the moment you do.”

“Understood.” You respond with full composure of yourself.

She stares at you for a moment and then sighs. “Never trust anyone, Sophia. Even me.” She finishes her words and then stands in front of you with arms on her hips. “Now, punch as hard you can under my left eye.”

You raise your eyebrows skeptically, does she have any idea of how hard you can punch?

“It’s the finishing touch, Sophia.” She informs you and then laughs. “Plus, it’s sure to make you feel at least a little better.”

Her commitment to her role is terrifying, but do you really need to give her your all for this to work?

>Punch her as hard as you can.

>Punch her fairly hard.

>Write in.

>>41420649
>Punch her as hard as you can.
Don't say i didn't warn you.

>>41420649
>Punch her fairly hard.
Should we set her back on fire, too? The weak kind, that you can literally spend more than a minute just running around in a panic before it actually starts to hurt you enough to throw the cloak down and stomp on it.

>>41420649
>>Punch her as hard as you can.
Hope this doesn't knock her out.

>>41420649
>>Punch her as hard as you can.

think the Usurper has an enchantment on us to make us more loyal to her, and more bloodthirsty to anyone else.

>>41420649
>>Punch her as hard as you can.
She a tough girl.

>>41420758
>>41420787
>>41420805
>>41420806

Be sure to follow through.

>Writing~

File: 1433211664632.jpg (62 KB, 430x244)

62 KB JPG

>>41420649
>Punch her fairly hard.
I don't like how things are going...
this is bad.

Oh goddamnit of all the votes to miss

Well it was nice knowing Ali before we broke her neck.

>>41420815

If she’s completely willing to take the hit, then why not enjoy this a bit?

You nod your acceptance, and Ali clenches her eyes shut in expectation. After stretching your and open and closed for a few moments you position yourself nearby Ali and take aim at the requested spot.

The skin beneath her eye is completely unblemished and you can see the spongy softness from where you stand.

“Here we go.” You warn her. In one fluid motion you raise your right arm with hand opened slightly, your right leg raises and then comes down with great force as you push your entire body forward, clenching your fist shut at the last moment and punching not at her, but through her.

Because of your height, the downward angle of your fist comes down on her cheek hard, spinning her slightly in the air before she collapses to the ground completely.

The bones in your hand ache as you kneel down to make sure she’s not unconscious. Ali’s breath quavers as both her hands cover the point of impact. Tears stream from her eye, almost uncontrollably as her once flawless skin begins to swell with violent purple color. Her legs scramble as she writhes in agony on the floor.

She stumbles on the ground for a few minutes before finally rising to her feet shakily. The majority of the left side of her face is a complete mess, and her left eye is vivid red with blood. “I-I said to punch me as h-hard as you could.”

Her words send you into a laughing fit, which you try your hardest to mask remembering that you’re in enemy territory.

~

[1/2]

>>41421467

You proceed a ways down the southern road, before stopping to wait for the ambush. A faint smile has yet to leave your face after punching Ali. Even as tough as she is, she took your punch strangely well. It really makes you want to do it again…

You shake your head, and immediately begin to check if you sense any foreign enchantments on your own body…Nothing.

Shouts of panic catch your ear and you proceed toward their direction. While hidden, you spot a group of human soldiers attempting to stop a slowly trudging Ali. The expression on her face is completely blank, she’s walking with a limp, and she’s now covered with drying blood. Their shouts of concern are completely lost upon her as she looks like she just witnessed the entire world be destroyed.

Impressive performance, but there’s no need to have her force herself in her current state any longer than she has to.

You focus your eyes upon an older looking soldier at the edge of the group. Time to begin…

>Fly through and carry him off into the woods.

>Burn him with your flames from where you are.

>Write in.

>>41421487
>Fly through and carry him off into the woods.

>>41421487
>>Burn him with your flames from where you are.

>>41421487
>>Burn him with your flames from where you are.

>>41421487
>Flameslash him
>Fly to another soldier and lift him up to lethal heights before sealing him in place.

>>41421538
>>41421590
Signal fire to start the games.

>Writing~

Weren't we supposed to leave nobody who has seen our flames? You know, because flames are very much NOT flesh-people trademarks?

>>41421720
All our stuff is not flesh people trademarks. If we were supposed to pretend to be flesh people Ali would have chosen someone else. Instead she specifically requested our flashy moves.

File: 1437605853507.gif (1.99 MB, 310x382)

1.99 MB GIF

Here it comes
Prepare for impact

>>41421645

Fifteen soldiers, including the unfortunate man you’re choosing to begin with. Since you’re not sure how many flesh soldiers you have lurking under the ground, you decide to start with a ranged attack.

You hand still aches from the punch you delivered to Ali, but the sensation is quickly lost to the prickling of your flame.
Here’s your debut.

In a flash, your bolt of flame connects with the old soldier’s armor and erupts. The blue flames stick to his skin and in futility he tries to snuff the flames by rolling frantically on the ground.

Ali unleashes a bone-chillingly shrill scream, and immediately five flesh soldiers erupt from the ground and begin assaulting your target. Four are caught off-guard and immediately succumb to your soldier’s attacks. One helmeted human adeptly rolls away and orders her remaining allies to fall in.

Before the can form a protective circle, you rush through with stunning speed and pick one of the lagging humans. She flails at you, helplessly since you flung away her short sword, and once in the woods you snap her neck and drop her small body into the snow.

[1/3]

File: ft1.jpg (78 KB, 635x1024)

78 KB JPG

>>41422270

By the time you return, their numbers have dwindled to seven, but your flesh soldiers are being successfully held back. You quickly seal the two more talented looking fighters in place, allowing you opportunity to abscond with another human in your grasp.

Snap, drop, and return. You can’t say that you’re not enjoying yourself.

Four flesh soldiers, six of them left alive. One more fake kidnapping ought to be enough, so you take a risky maneuver and fly directly into the remains of them. You snatch yourself a young man, who has opportunity to smack into your ribs with his elbow.

Thankfully the armor is doing its job, but cheekiness ought to be returned in kind. You sear through one of his arms, causing him to vomit from shock. Not wanting to get any of that on yourself, you drop him immediately, where the impact finishes him off.

Well, you’ve done what was asked of you, but you quietly return to the assault to see just how it ends.

Three versus three, although two of them are rooted in place, so it can’t be called a fair fight.

The only available fighter does his best to repel the triple assault, but gets caught several times with nasty rakes from claws.

A flesh soldier smacks into one of the rooted humans, flinging off her helmet and revealing large burn scars on the left side of her face.

File: ft3.jpg (100 KB, 715x1000)

100 KB JPG

>>41422277

Then, a single individual appeared from the north and rushed to meet the three remaining flesh soldiers. With a flurry, he unleashes a vivid ball of orange flame directly into two of your flesh soldiers, and then slashes through them with skilled finesse. A large crow appears from the woods and begins to claw at the last flesh soldier’s head. The rescuer takes advantage of the opening to carve the remaining flesh soldier in half.

You stand there in an impressed awe, not noticing how close you’ve approached. His crow familiar perches on his shoulder and begins to caw furiously in your direction.

Your stealth enchantment still hasn’t recharged, so there you stand, staring directly into the eyes of man with an annoyingly familiar face, not entirely sure what to do.

He instantly recognizes your power, but he doesn’t back down a single inch.

Ali’s eyes lock onto your own, and she’s aggressively urging you to leave without any more conflict.

You stare back at the unflinching man.

>Leave.

>Write in.

>>41422334
>Ask his name
>Don't fight, if he doesn't answer us just leave.

>>41422334
>Leave.

>>41422386
You're not entirely sure, yet.

>>41422334
Does he look like Matthias, that Laurent or That one guy who was working with Carmina?
>Ask his name
>Don't fight, if he doesn't answer us just leave

>>41422397
>>41422457
A cigarette would've put more doubt in your mind.

>Writing~

>still no competent male characters
sigh

>>41422792
Did you read the latest update? Lol

>>41422818
First one and he's an enemy and he was just introduced.

I was hoping for a decent male ally. But up until no Matthias was the only relevant male character in the quest.

>>41422514

There’s a few minor differences in his face, but it’s been too long since you’ve last seen Matthias to remove all doubt from your mind.

You need to ask him something so you release the seals on his two companions as an odd act of good will.

“YOU VILE SHIT! I’ll carve your pretty fucking head from your body!” The woman with the heavy burn scars quickly scoops up and equips her helmet, and then begins to charge at you, before she is tackled to the ground by her recently unsealed companion.

“Stop! She’ll kill you!” The other young woman pleads with her and then turns to look at you. “Leave us be! Please, we’re just trying to live our lives!”

The man with the crow steps in front of them, and the both of and they are instantly silenced.

Perhaps you should’ve asked before you unsealed them. Well, whatever, here he is now.

“What is your name?”

He stares silently in the face of your question, but then after a few moments, he sheathes his long sword and opens his mouth to speak. “If you’re done here, then leave.” He chooses not to look at you anymore, turns his attention to a heavily injured man on the ground, and immediately dressing his wounds.

His voice is entirely different. The low pitch, the snarky charm, the warmth, all replaced with cold and calculatingly chosen words.

You unfurl your crimson wings and begin to rise from the ground. The three set of newly met eyes all bear witness to your departure. Hatred, fear, and indifference all bore into at once. Before you leave to clean up your mess in the woods, Ali mouths two words, only visible to your eyes, that confirm your suspicions about this man and why Ali was assigned to infiltrate this group.

“Chosen one.”

~

>>41422906
Okay, that's where I'm going to end it for tonight. As always, I want to thank everyone that played tonight! If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post them in the thread, and I will do my best to respond to them.

If not, then I wish you a good day/night and hope to see you again next time!

>(Twitter)
https://twitter.com/QM_Auri

>>41422943
thx 4 runin budi gud thred

>>41422943
So that was Matthias? Let me guess he got cast back into the world but his Aya was forced to stay? Sophia have any reasons or suspicions about why she's feeling so bloodthirsty?

>>41422943
whats up with the homicidal urges? shouldn't our cloak be protecting us?

Also what did the words chosen one mean to Sophia?

>>41422967
You're very welcome, anon!
>>41422992
It was not actually Matthias, only a man who looks incredibly like him and has similar abilities. Sophia has some reason to suspect her emotions, but she also finds that she enjoys them quite a bit.
>>41423022
That is a very good question. Think about what the cloak can and can't protect against, and consider where the emotions might be coming from.

The Empress spoke about the Chosen One earlier, and Sophia's beginning to suspect that The Empress finds him more important than she originally lead everyone to believe.

>>41423072
It only protects against full mind control so people can still influence us with urges? Shiiieeeet, we need to figure out the source or protect ourselves with magic or something.

Also damnit that past reference. I swear I'm gonna copy your whole next quest into a text document for easy review.

>>41423072
>Sophia has some reason to suspect her emotions, but she also finds that she enjoys them quite a bit.

Wouldn't she be worried/freaked about mental influence, and more than a little upset about it?

Unless you're saying our intent to kill the Usurper is bleeding over to everyone else? Also does Sophia think of her as the Usurper or Empress? That's kinda telling

>>41423072
>consider where the emotions might be coming from.
aw fuck was it Philomena
did seeing her true form put a mind whammy on us
is this how she rekt that whole village alone? seeing her made them all want to kill each other?
shiieeeeeeeet

>>41423170
That's quite the ambitious ploy the for the future. I'm impressed by your commitment!
>>41423181
Well, to be perfectly fair, forceful mental influence doesn't always need to be negative for the one being influenced. That is, if that's what's going on here.

Very, very good on the second part. Sophia almost always thinks of her as The Empress, for a number of reasons. But mainly because she respects her power.

>>41423239
Enemies abound, but where...

>>41423271
......... Is it coming from Izu? Because it's either that or Marissa laying a hate plague on us.

>>41423288
It's definitely not Marissa, we already know her effects are blocked by the cloak. I'm really thinking it's Philomena. It explains how she soloed that village when we needed ourselves plus 60 flesh soldiers.

So this guy is the PC hero that will save the world? Heh.
>>41423288
What?

>>41423328
She also turned into a giant flesh monster, and had some flesh troops hold them in while she mauled them.

>>41423331
Izu get emotions from us, why not vice versa? Especially since he hates Marissa and likes the Empress apparently.

>>41423288
You know I can't answer that. But I do appreciate your thinking about this, very much.

>>41423360
>Especially since he hates Marissa and likes the Empress apparently.
neither of those are true

>>41423360
>and had some flesh troops hold them in while she mauled them.
this isn't true either
she was alone in that village
maybe because anyone who sees her gets uncontrollable homicidal urges so no one could back her up

>>41423384
He's cold and distant and she's note there is no affection for her from him at all. Furthermore he really wanted to meet her. Factor in WE respect her for her power.......

>>41423375
Hey I was the anon that figured out her ancestry. I try. I fuck up a lot but I try. We still have the tome of sealing, teleporting and interplanar travel correct?

>>41423415
I didn't mean it offensively at all, sorry if it came across that way. And you do still have that tome.

>>41423409
>Interesting fact that she chose not to consume all of the flesh soldiers assigned to her, you note as you gain altitude. Whether or not this was a decision made prior to her transformation remains a mystery to you, for now.


>>41423451
Would it be possible for us to trace wherever it was coming from? Also we need to learn interplanar travel so we will never be stranded.

>>41423483
fuck I need to reread

>>41423483
If you're referring to the thoughts, then the source can be traced. If you're referring to the tome, you already know the origin of it. I will be having you use interplanar travel to make your way back home.

>>41423522
Thoughts. I'd imagine whether or not she liked it, the fact it was foreign would get her to look it up, if only to find out the source and maybe learn the magic. How good are we at interplanar travel? I thought the Empress moved us?

>>41423522
oh thank god
lets get on tracing those shits

>>41423553
Sophia's wondering if they truly are foreign. The Empress did move you, I was referring to when you return home in the future, so you still don't know how good you'll be at it.

>>41423592
>Sophia's wondering if they truly are foreign.
Oh fuck, that's not good. Are you saying we turned Sophia into a sociopathic murderer?

>>41423641
Keep in mind that Sophia has been hearing quite a few voices in her head up until this point, as well.

>>41423665
You referring to us not having the hair pin? That it either drove us crazy or kept her sane? Why would it have taken over a month to surface though?

>>41423665
oh god is it the cloak itself?

>>41423692
>>41423694
I'm not referring to any one thing in particular, I'm just letting you know that Sophia would have greater pause than most people when it came to strange thoughts.

>>41423716
and? Killing allies for no real reason other than minor inconveniences at beast is not a good thing. Thinking killing is beautiful and fun has to date not been something in her line of thought. Sounds more like Justinia than Sophia.

>>41423758
A point that I agree with, I'm only trying to get the point across that Sophia would be less certain about her thoughts than we are about her.

With that, I'll be heading out for the night. Until next time!

I think everyone is looking a little too far into this whole thing.

>>41423758
He's not saying it's nothing, he's saying a ton of people speak right into our mind so there's tons of potential sources. Or they could be something inherent to her. Which is why we should trace them to the source asap.

>>41423800
Considering killing Izu and Marissa for a blanker and ALi just to make a pretty and bloody sight is pretty bad anon.
>>41423789
Fair enough Night Auri!
>>41423808
Agreed.

>>41423830
We weren't seriously considering it. And everyone thinks about killing a person or two every now and then.

>>41423944
Anon We were considering it before we pulled a wait what am I thinking?


>If you were just to… kill the boy, wouldn’t you be able to claim the rough covers for your own and sleep in whichever way you wanted? It would be shockingly easy, but then there’s the matter of the other one sleeping in her own cot a few feet away.

>Perhaps both at the same time?

>Wow, you must be tired if you’re thinking about such wearisome plots to secure a more comfortable sleep. Wouldn’t it be more practical to just flip the boy off your arm and take what you need to be warm?

We need to take a look.