| Main Page |
<Michelle> ::The scene is the living room of Michelle's home. All the furniture has been moved out of the room however and the floor, walls, and ceiling are covered in arcane symbols, some done in chalk, others appearing to have been done in silver, and still others in less pleasant or recognizable materials.:: <Michelle> ::In the center of the room a body lies covered with a blue silk blanket. Lisl and Michelle stand on either side of the body looking down at it. Michelle is wearing sleeveless white draperies and has a white ribbon tied about her throat. Her hair flows freely down her back.:: * Lisl stands easily though a bit warily, looking about the room, ears perked for any odd noise from outside. <Michelle> Lisl, I'll warn you right now. I'm expecting Lann, Yamato, and or their proxies to attack tonight. Both of them would know that I can't try something like this except on a full moon. That's assuming they know we recovered the mirror. <Michelle> I've put every ward, barrier, and protective spell I know on this room, but I'm going to need all my power and concentration for the resurrection, so I won't be able to revitalize or maintain any of them. Which means if Lann or Yamato do attack they'll eventually get in. <Michelle> Whatever happens I *CAN NOT* be distracted. If my concentration slips at a crucial moment nothing will be able to save Temire. <Lisl> ::nods her agreement:: I have an amount of resistance to certain things, but I can't maintain your barriers for you. You know that, don't you? Whatever happens, I'll protect you and Temire as best I may. <Lisl> ::chewing on her lip for a moment:: If I may ask...what is *supposed* to happen? I've...never attended a resurrection before. My mother doesn't deal very much with this sort of magic. I...my being here won't...cause a problem for you, will it? <Michelle> I know. I wish I could put this off until your mother could be here. I think we could find a way for her to maintain her own defensive spells while I performed the resurrection. As it is, the magical energies of any other spell caster would interfere. And Tyl'gainia's mind powers would be even worse. <Michelle> No. If anything your being here will help, precisely because of who you are. I lost my moon talisman when Arthur died, and Lann will almost certainly have Yamato summon a storm to deprive me of the moon's light. You'll be my connection, though I admit, Moon Dancer would have been better suited to the task. <Lisl> ::looking dubious:: You're sure that...natural magic won't disturb you? ::grinning slightly, without humor:: The moon is not so much a mother and mistress to me, as a distant aunt. <Michelle> As for what should happen...I'm going to perform a series of spells, first to restore Temire's body, then to free her soul from the mirror, and finally to renew the connection between her soul and her body. Fortunately the stasis spell I placed on her body wasn't disturbed when Arthur died. <Michelle> Am I certain, no. I've only ever done this once, and I had to create the spell specifically for the occasion. ::Michelle looks downcast:: I'm weaker than I was then, but Temire has not been dead for as long. Her connection to the living world should be stronger. Certainly it will be easier to restore her body. <Lisl> ::nodding:: Fair enough. And if nothing else, her connection to you, personally, should be stronger. ::looking a little more resolute:: Well, no matter what happens, I've got your back. * Michelle smiles at Lisl, then gestures causing the lights in the room to go out. "Watch your eyes." <Michelle> ::There is the sound of a blade being drawn from a wooden scabbard and the room is flooded with the light of the clearest noonday sky as Michelle draws Bai's katana and thrusts it into the floor on the opposite side of Temire's body.:: <Lisl> ::grins:: Not a problem. * Lisl 's eyes take on a strong tinge of yellow, and she squints slightly against the glare, shielding her eyes with her forearm. <Michelle> One more thing Lisl. I'm not sure how drained I'll be after this, though when I resurrected Marta I passed out almost immediately after finishing the spell. It's possible Temire will come back as an undead. ::Michelle meets Lisl's eyes, her expression completing the statement.:: * Michelle lights a candle that had been placed at the body's head. The smell of thick incense begins to permeate the room. <Lisl> ::setting her jaw:: I understand. Do you want her body preserved in that case, or...? * Lisl represses a sneeze, blows out sharply through her nose once, and settles back on her heels to watch...and wait. * Michelle shakes her head, "She'll be beyond help then."Michelle settles herself on the floor and picks up a harp, then looks to Lisl again, "Any further questions?" <Lisl> No more questions, but I'd better get something out of the way first, in case it disturbs your spell.... * Lisl curls both hands into fists, and the air shimmers silver around them, coalescing about her forearms into the shape of her wickedly sharp Claws. <Lisl> ::holding up one hand to inspect her weaponry:: Right. All set. Go ahead. * Michelle begins playing the harp and singing in a language foreign to Faerun. <Michelle> ::Very slowly Michelle begins to glow a soft, pale, white light.:: <Michelle> ::As the song continues the light grows, slowly pushing back the light from Bai's katana:: <Michelle> ::Over the Michelle's spell the wind can be heard to be picking up outside.:: * Lisl alternates between watching the effects of the spell and keeping an ear cocked to the outside. <Michelle> ::Soon the wind has grown to a howling gale, with gusts that shake the house, and as the wind grows stronger Michelle's light grows weaker.:: * Lisl rises from her haunches and stands, listening. <Yamato> ::A deafening crash of thunder is heard as a flash of light from the window momentarily dims even Bai's sword.:: * Lisl 's eye practically glow yellow now, her lips parting in a small smile as the lightning sends prickles up her arms and she scents a coming battle along with the ozone. <Lann> ::Another flash of light, dimmer this time, but lasting longer occurs, accompanied by the sounds of roaring flames.:: <Lann> ::Lisl notices that the kitchen now appears to be on fire, though she can't smell the smoke over the incense in the room.:: <Yamato> ::Something sounding a lot like a battering ram strikes the door, shaking it on it's hinges.:: * Lisl keeps a weather eye on the spread of the flames, but doesn't move from her place. <Lisl> ::muttering to herself, as she spares a glance for the progress of Michelle's spell:: The waiting's always the worst.... <Michelle> ::The light from Bai's katana appears to have completely drowned out Michelle's light, though her song has changed.:: <Yamato> ::The howling of the wind picks up and it sounds as if something is clawing at all of the walls of the house at once.:: <Yamato> ::Suddenly there is the sound of splintering wood and Lisl notices the flaming kitchen collapse and then get swept away by the winds which strange leave the room untouched, though a faint blue glow now outlines the doorway to the kitchen.:: * Lisl bares her teeth and restrains a howl of her own as a shiver runs up her spine, making her hair stand on end. <Lann> ::Again the room appears to lie in the center of an inferno, the kitchen door flaring blue.:: <Lisl> ::keeping her back to Michelle, Lisl stalks silently around the edge of the room to stand in a half-crouch between Michelle, Temire, and the kitchen door.:: <Yamato> ::The front door explodes off its hinges showering the room in splinters and rain, extinguishing the candle Michelle had lit.:: * Lisl growls, deep in her throat. "Dammit. Two of them, one of me." <Yamato> ::Standing in the now open doorway is a man an old man in oriental robes and a young man in the latest fop styles. The old man seems to relish the rain that has soaked him to the bone, while the young man seems perfectly dry.:: * Lann laughs, "I told you she'd find a way to have a guardian. I recognize her as the woman Michelle was staying with after I trapped her apprentice's ghost. What can you tell me about her Yamato?" * Lisl moves slowly, fluidly, back towards her original place, easing herself between the spellcasting and the two strangers. <Lisl> Why don't you find out yourself...Lann, isn't it?::Lisl's voice is half-growl, belying the light tone:: A fop. How appropriate. Yamato spits on the ground, "Lisl's nothing. A werewolf too stupid to follow her mother in the art, and to cowardly to embrace her own nature." <Lisl> ::snorts:: Shows what you know, old man. You'd trust the advice of a man who doesn't know enough to come in from the rain, Lann? <Lann> How unfortunate. I've never had the pleasure of slaying a moon beast. ::Lann raises his hand, palm outward, toward Lisl. A bright yellow flame flowers from his hand and a jet of fire lances through the doorway.:: <Lann> ::As the flame passes the threshold it frays into countless tendrils which begin to inscribe runes on the inside walls of the room:: <Lann> Clever Michelle. Yamato. <Lisl> And you won't now, either, you bastard. You're not getting either of them again. <Yamato> ::Yamato raises his hand in a gesture similar to Lann's. A black, bubbling fluid streams from his palm and through the doorway, only to incinerate inches past the threshold.:: <Yamato> ::Yamato raise his other hand which is holding a whistle. He blows on the whistle and a gust of wind bursts through the doorway.:: * Lisl braces herself for the push of the wind: <Yamato> ::The wind spirals through the room, growing in intensity as the runes on the walls grow brighter. Suddenly, the walls give and what remains of the house gets blown to the four winds.:: * Lisl quirks a sudden, tight smile. "Well, now Michelle and I are even, at least." <Lann> Now then. Michelle once told me that werewolves were creatures of the moon. Therefore, you most likely fear the sun. Leave her to us, or taste it's fire. ::Lann hold his palm up and a ball of fire like a miniature sun appears there.:: <Yamato> ::Yamato puts the whistle away.:: <Lisl> ::her smile breaks into a full-blown laugh:: You may be powerful, Lann, but by Aerdrie, what an idiot. Go ahead. Burn me. ::her rather frightening smile reveals sharply pointed teeth, now:: <Yamato> ::Yamato holds his hands slightly apart, fingers curled like claws, palms facing each other. Sparks begin to fly between his hands, slowly growing in intensity.:: <Lann> I had hoped things would be different. ::Lann suddenly flicks his wrist sending the small sun flying towards Michelle's exposed back.:: <Lisl> Hey! ::Lisl somersaults through the air to intercept the burning sphere, weapons reaching for it. One claw catches it, slicing it in half and sending the fire shivering down the length of the curved silver blades. With a flick of her wrist, half the fireball lobs back towards Lann. The other half catches Lisl full in the chest, and her tortured scream lengthens into a howl as she turns into a living flame. * Lann stands unmoving as the half sun impacts him in the chest, "Thank you my dear." <Lisl> ::The pillar of fire Lisl has become retains a dark heart, and the ear-wrenching howl goes on and on, blending somehow into Michelle's chant. As the fires begin to lapse, a claw of still-bright silver emerges from it, clasped to a fire-blackened arm. <Yamato> ::As the flames engulf Lisl, Yamato shoves his hands forward, lightning streaming from them like a swarm of locusts, engulfing Lisl, Michelle, and Temire's body.:: <Lisl> ::She steps forward with a sickening crunch...black crusts crumble away, revealing healthy, pink flesh beneath.:: * Lann rushes forward and as Lisl begins to recover swings a glowing long sword at her clearly meaning to take her head off. * Lisl shakes her head, sending a spray of charcoal outward, just in time to see the sword coming at her head. She drops to the floor like a stone, ducking the blow. * Lann thrusts his off hand into Lisl's face, engulfing it in a burst of flames. * Lisl rears back, regaining flexibility and mobility the more she moves. One hand hits the ground behind her and her feet shoot out towards Lann's kneecaps with punishing intent. * Yamato begins to circle around so that he can attack either Lisl or Michelle without endangering Lann. * Lann collapse to the ground as his knee shatters under Lisl's kick and he drops his long sword, which fizzles into nothingness as it strikes the ground. * Yamato hurls a black, bubbling sphere at Lisl, the trajectory such that if Lisl dodges, it'll hit Michelle. * Lann wraps his hands around his knee and a white light surrounds it. <Lisl> ::off-balance and temporarily out of options, Lisl tucks into a ball, pointy bits out, as the sphere comes for her:: * Yamato places his whistle in his mouth, then stands rigidly, palms pointed towards the earth, fingers splayed, blowing lightly on the whistle. <Yamato> ::The wind begins to circle around Yamato, quickly picking up speed and force.:: <Lisl> ::the black mass hits her and splashes over her like a globe of water. Where it touches, flesh begins to sizzle anew, and she howls.:: * Lann surges forward, his knee apparently uninjured. The light in his hands reforms his sword as he takes a clumsy swing at Lisl's chest. <Lisl> ::the rain drives down from above, starting to wash away the black acid. Lisl clenches her teeth against the pain as nerve endings die under the deep touch of the caustic goop, only to flare into painful life again as they regenerate. Parrying Lann's swing easily with her claws, she rises from the floor like an uncoiling spring and launches herself into him, embracing him with the acid on her own skin.:: * Lann screams once, a sound so piercing as to give any creature pause.' <Lisl> ::holds him in the mockery of a loving embrace, her acid-burned face twisted in a death's-head grin:: * Lisl releases him to clap her hands to her ears in agony, as the scream goes on in her mind. * Yamato unleashes his wind. It races over Lann, Lisl, Michelle and Temire's body. Strangely, while Lann and Lisl are both covered by cuts as if they had been dropped into a shredder, neither Michelle's hair, nor Temire's blanket are disturbed. * Michelle gracefully sets her harp down and rises to her feet. "Returning her this evening was foolish Yamato. I thought either you or Lann would have had the wisdom to realize what tonight means."Michelle's voice fluctuates between Michelle's bright, clear tones and Brad's's inflectionless monotone and her draperies are constantly shifting from white to black and back to white again. * Lisl falls to her knees, scoured by wind and tortured by sound, too dazed to move. <Yamato> Tonight is an eclipse. You can not draw upon the moon for power, and you lack your talismans. ::Yamato hurls a handful of lightning at Michelle.:: <Michelle> ::The lightning stops just short of Michelle as she produces a ring set with a large black pearl.:: * Michelle places the ring on her finger as she slowly begins to walk towards Yamato. * Yamato continues to throw lightning at Michelle, the bolts having become a river of electrical energy connecting the two, but while Yamato is clearly tiring, Michelle seems perfectly unaffected. * Lisl blinks, and squints up through the knife-edged pain behind her eyes as she senses someone new moving towards her...her gasp is almost a sob as she realizes it's Michelle. * Michelle extends her arm, presenting the ring to Yamato. As she does so the lightning begins to spiral into the pearl, vanishing utterly as it reaches the pearls surface. * Lann rises to his feet slowly. Seeing Michelle's back to him he readies his long sword and rushes her. <Yamato> ::The lightning is flows from Yamato as if the flood gates of his soul had been opened up and where pouring into the bottomless darkness of the pearl Michelle wears.:: * Lisl shakes her head to clear it and stands slowly, woozily, drawing herself up in an attempt to go after Lann:: <Lann> ::Lann's swing is blocked halfway through it's arc by a matte black sabre. At the end of the sabre is Temire, naked, wet, tired, and extremely pissed off.:: * Yamato howls once, then with a few last sparks of lightning collapse to the ground. * Lisl pauses with a tired smile as she sees Temire, and bends to prop her hands on her knees, catching her breath. <Michelle> ::As the long sword and the sabre meet there is a flash of light, then the long sword becomes a river of light, plunging into the dark abyss of the sabre blade.:: * Lann screams and attempts to release his sword and back away, but the light continues to connect him to the sabre as it flows from his body. * Lisl straightens slowly, watching, her bloodshot eyes reverting to normal with every blink:: * Michelle turns to face Lann, "It was the mirror magics that brought you to me in this world, and as such it should have been I who faced you. One of us would have survived to possess the magics, the other would never be capable of magic again." <Michelle> But then you brought forth Yamato, creating a test far truer than you would have presented. Sunlight is not meant for mirrors after all, water and moonlight are. <Lisl> ::eyes widen a little, as she realizes what was really at stake, but she continues to take in the spectacle silently:: <Michelle> And so, by attempting to shift the odds in your favor, you arranged to die at my apprentice's hand. * Lann screams one last time. Then his body fades and distorts, becoming the last of the river of light and vanishing into the lifeless sabre blade. <Lisl> ::Something draws Lisl's attention, and she looks up, past the non-existent roof into the clearing, patchy clouds, and to the moon, finally sliding free of Faerun's shadow:: Michelle...look. She's back. * Michelle walks over to Lisl as Temire leans on her own knees, "Are you alright Lisl?" Michelle's voice has returned to its normal bright tones. <Lisl> ::wincing a little as even the pale light of the moon is enough to bring her headache raging to the fore:: I've been better, but I'll live. And you're going to live to pay my tailor bill. * Michelle and Temire both look to the moon, "Yes she is. That's the part Lann forgot for some reason. Both the sun and the moon die, and both are reborn again, and in the time between times a great deal is possible." * Michelle extends her hand to Lisl's forehead, a soft white glow washing over Lisl's face. Slowly the pain recedes and the wounds close. <Temire> So, where are we anyway? I thought you said we were going to be doing this at home? <Lisl> Well, I've certainly been reborn enough for one night.::looking at her acid-crazed hand, slowly returning to normal::Ahhh....thank you. I think that would have scarred, without help. If they weren't such sick bastards that they like to toy with their "lessers," they could have killed me. <Lisl> ::with a touch of her old life:: And what in the nine Hells ever prompted you to marry such an utter idiot, anyway?? "A creature of the moon must fear the sun" indeed! <Michelle> You'll have to tell me about the fight sometime, but I suspect they weren't toying with you that much. Lann's heard enough tales about werecreatures to be hesitant to engage one in melee, which is the surest way they had of killing you. From the looks of things, Yamato wasn't holding back at all. * Michelle smiles at Lisl, "He was quite charming when I met him. I suspect being killed by his bride at the altar and then having his soul consigned to the tender mercies of his demonic masters soured his disposition some." <Lisl> Oh, good. I think. ::shakes her head:: Gods above, I need a drink. He's certainly not much of a hand-to-hand fighter.::grinning a little:: If I'd know he was that bad, I would have gone for his stones instead of just his kneecaps. I'd like to see him heal *that.* <Lisl> ::sourly:: Well, he's still an idiot. <Michelle> Actually, Lann is...was, a very skilled warrior. But anyone can be surprised, and I don't think he ever saw someone take as much damage as you did and still fight. * Michelle surveys the battlefield, "Lisl, could we impose on you again. We appear to have lost everything except the clothes on our backs, and Temire doesn't even have that. <Lisl> Well, he's powerful as all hell, but he's nowhere near as crafty as a red dragon. And I would *still* swear he was holding back. I shouldn't have been able to spit half that fireball back at him, if he knew his business. * Temire finally notices her state of undress and wraps herself in the blanket she had been covered with. <Michelle> I'm not certain that Yohko could split a fireball and throw half of it back at it's caster. Particularly if that caster was Lann. <Lisl> ::chuckles dryly and brushes the ashes of a leather hood out of her hair:: I imagine I'm not much better off. But you're welcome to my roof, as long as you don't treat it like you did this one. <Lisl> Yohko doesn't have a pair of these ::gesturing with a tired hand, her claws gleaming redly in the fires of what remains of Michelle's house::, and I *knew* he wasn't expecting it, or I couldn't have. * Michelle giggles lightly. "I'd have done this at the Hall, but I knew that they'd continue to haunt us until we defeated them. Better to fight them when I'm expecting the attack and have some hopefully unexpected tricks than letting them choice the time and place." <Lisl> I know something about the walls surprised them both...and Temire surprised me. I nearly thought you were undead, girl! Thank all the gods you weren't. * Michelle glances at the claws, "No, Yohko doesn't possess any claws, but she's as skilled at the creation of soul weapons as Lann. Possibly more so, since she, Brad, and I can share our knowledge concerning such things." * Temire blushes slightly. Mistress Michelle said that I had to take them by surprise, and that we couldn't tell you or Lann would sense from you that we had something planned. <Lisl> ::shakes her head:: I know very little about how these were made...all I know is that they didn't come from anywhere around here, but they decided they...liked me. ::finishing lamely, trying to explain it:: <Lisl> ::nods:: Well, it worked. On all of us, it seems.::smiling a little as she delivers a vicious kick to Yamato's unconscious form:: What do we do with him, anyway? We can't very well leave him here. <Michelle> Yohko and I would like to examine them sometime. We have to craft our weapons from pieces of our own souls. Needless to say, it's dangerous to give such weapons to someone else. <Lisl> Well, I can't give these away...but they were...sort of given to me. It's a long story...one you'll have plenty of time to hear, if you're staying with me. ::grinning:: * Michelle pulls Bai's katana out of the ground. "In all humanity we'd best finish him off. His soul's already been destroyed, but it could take days for his body to die, and there are still infernals wandering this town. Like the one that killed Lucius." <Lisl> ::nodding somberly:: Well, he was part of you, it's your decision. * Michelle walks over to Yamato, raises the katana over her head, and brings it down again, decapitating the body. <Michelle> He was the worst within us. Somehow, I expected to feel vindicated by finally defeating him. Now I just feel disappointed that we couldn't find someway to live together. <Lisl> ::nods again, once:: Cleaner than he would have given you, I'm sure. I'd say he's not worth your regret, but at least it shows you're a better person than he was. <Lisl> So....home? * Michelle giggles again, "Careful Lisl. Do you really want two more roommates? Or would that be eight?" * Temire gathers up what few possessions survived the fight. <Lisl> ::Shakes her head and waves her hand in an "aw, go on"motion:: Stop it. My brain's been turned into the mental equivalent of slime mold, and you want me to do higher math? * Michelle giggles again and pats Lisl on the back as she wraps an arm around Temire's shoulders and leads the group towards Lisl's home. |
|
|