Missions and Misdirections (Eridanus)

[Mirage]

The left path seemed to stretch on for an eternity. Vines would slip from the surrounding foliage, grasping and tearing at clothes and limbs in a desperate attempt to pull them down and under the hedges, however, the longer he ran Eridanus might notice that the number and frequency of vines began to shrink until he reached another crossroads after almost 8 chimes of running. The burden of carrying the children and using flux would weigh heavily on the man's shoulders, but he could not give up. There was no telling what dangers waited for them just around the next bend... The children were quite still, Bell simply looked around with eyes that spoke of her uncertainty and confusion. Softly she whispered in Eridanus' ear, "The man said to never come here... W-we should leave quickly." A cryptic warning from a man whom knew far too much than he should about this place. What could it mean? What was the cause of all these strange events? The other child would shift on Eridanus' shoulder, moaning softly as if caught within a nightmare. His first priority, the true mission Eridanus had taken upon his shoulders, was to protect these children and escape with them. But where were they to go? The path straight looked exactly as the length of hedges that they had just run down. it was possible that this path would simply continue on forever, never siecing until Eridanus collapsed in weariness. The left path was clear as well, and it had a clear left turn not too far down. It was possible that it would imply take them back to where they started. The right path, however, shown out with an interesting detail that did not appear in the other two. Along its length flowers began to dot the hedges, ranging in species and color. At the end there appeared a large space, an opening of sorts that held what looked to be a rose bush at its center. Bell shifted on Eridanus' back, squeezing him tighter as she whispered soft words, "Mister, the man used to tell us a story about this place. H-he said t-to follow the flowers, and they would let us find peace..."

[Eridanus]

Exhaustion was beginning to set in as he ran, but he could not allow himself to stop until he could bring these children to safety. They were defenseless against the dangers in this maze, and he would not allow them to fall into danger because of his laziness.

Fortunately, the vines began to lessen, and he stopped using flux. It would ease the strain djed-wise, but did nothing to solve his physical fatigue. Still, it was a better alternative than overgiving.

As they neared the crossroads, he briefly considered his choices. The warnings of a man to children did not mean much, for he could simply be wanting to keep them away from personal places. Yet, from Bell's descriptions of the man he seemed to be generally friendly to the children unless they trespassed certain areas. Thus, he would not likely be antagonistic to them on purpose.

"The flowers it is," He agreed, heading towards that path.

[Mirage]

The path had been chosen, and now that Eridanus began to make his way along the flowery path he could not undo his decision. Just as the group exited into the small space the hedges behind them knitted together, sealing off all exits. Now that he had moved closer the details of the space would be revealed. The circular area was bout 45 ft in diameter. The walls of plants stretched another good 20 feet around them, and along them there were hundreds of flowers of differing types and colorations. At the center of the space the rose bush stood, but now as Eridanus looked closer he might notice that the flowers were slowly shifting from shades of red, to blues and to yellows. Also, at the base of the bush there was a wooden plaque inlaid with gold letters that said: Rest In Peace For the time being the place seemed safe, and Bell would struggle until she was let down on her own feet. Walking over to the bush she would gengerly touch one of the blooms petals, "We... will find peace here. Won't we mister?" She looked over her shoulder to ask Eridanus, just as the petals widened and the stem wrapped itself around the girls arm, pulling with such force that Bell was trapped against the bush, her arm engulfed by leaves and colorful flowers. She would scream loud and long, a scream of distress and utter fear as she looked to Eridanus for help. OOCThe bush can be cut but the vines regrow instantly, and if the girl's arm is pulled out forcefully she will be scared by the thorns that dot all the stems. Feel free to save her but keep these things in mind

[Eridanus]

"Rest In Peace?" Eridanus muttered in astonishment as he took in this intriguing sight. Evidently he had stumbled upon some sort of grave, and somehow this grave was connected to the phenomena around the maze. The children were connected somehow, as well as that strange man that Bell mentioned. It was then quite clear to him that Supervisor Swivle intended him to investigate the link between all these occurrences.

"Reports, reports," He shook his head as he carefully inspected and took in his surroundings so that he could more accurately reproduce them in his report. However, Bell began to go closer to the grave, and he warned, "Don't go near the-"

But it was too late.

The phenomena that was absent in this clearing activated, and the same thing happened while in that large area they were in before. Swearing as he drew out his blades, the swordsman slammed into the vines repeatedly, the fatigue reminding him that his muscles were not exactly well-rested sufficiently. Regardless, he plowed on, drawing strength from the necessity of his mission and his promise to his gods. He would not give up!

Alternating as he slashed at the vines, taking care to avoid Bell's arms, he used his legs to roughly kick her away at the brief moment when her arms were free from the flora in between his frenzied slashing. For a moment, he hoped that Myri was not watching him, for what would the Goddess of War say if she saw him hacking away at vines with his longswords - instruments of soldiery and war?

Shaking his head, he kept the children further away from the grave, not sheathing his blades as he scrutinized any further disturbances. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw that she did not escape unscathed, but the injury was acceptable; he could get it healed by a Rak'keli Faithful in Ionu's Mercy.

"If anyone's here or watching, now might be a damn fine time to appear and give me some explanations!" He yelled somewhat half-heartedly, continuing to keep his guard up as he pondered his next steps.

[Mirage]

There was no shouted reply in return to Eridanus' call. Instead there was a tremor that shook the ground, causing Bell to gasp and hold onto her friend in fright. The wall of hedges seemed to lean in toward the group, creating a partial dome over them and sending shadows dancing about as the limbs and vines moved of their own accord. Then, in the very center where the bush sat the ground began to crack, vines shooting up from the earth and wrapping about themselves, pulling the entire plant out of the ground so that only roots remained buried. Vines wrapped themselves to become arms, flowers bloomed into twisted shadows of their former beutiy, and thorns grew to inch long spikes all over the creature. The bush itself became a sort of head, the flowers upon its surface turning into multiple eyes and a great, gaping hole appearing in the center as some mockery of a mouth. The creatures eyes fell on Eridanus, seeming to stare through his very soul, and then the vines lashed out, reaching forward and around him to attack the children.

[Eridanus]

Eridanus stared at awe at the phenomenon that was forming right in front of his very eyes. What a magnificent creature! The beauty of the transformation struck the scholar as the flora magically twisted and turned into an intimidating shape. He could only gasp as the entire monster was literally constructed before him in real time.

And then it reached out and attacked.

The stupor lasted only for a split second as danger screamed into his mind, and he reached out with his blades slicing at the part of the vines that was reaching for the children. The vines were cut away, keeping them safe for the time being, but the creature was unperturbed as more vines crept into it as the flora rearranged themselves within its body, essentially regrowing the amputated 'limb'.

He growled, yelling for the children to run further back away from the clearing and towards the corridor that they came from as he swiped away at the creature. His dual swords style dealt considerable damage as he cut way vine after vine, but it seemed to have no effect even as the creature did not even bother dodging for it could regrow them at ease.

Dodging an attack that he could not parry, he tumbled away and rolled further to create a larger distance between the two of them.

Damn vines...

Wait a minute... vines. Vegetables? Grass??

He focused on the core of his body, tugging at the astral fabric that made his soul. Eyes still trained on the creature as he brandished both his blades protectively in front of him, he continued coaxing a part of his soul out, gradually and carefully. An unearthly roar emanated from the creature, chilling the very bones of his body, but Eridanus refused to allow himself to be stricken with fear. Muttering prayers to Wysar to maintain his conviction, he continued pushing out a bit of his soul, feeling a coldness in his arm when he reached the point he needed.

Without even glancing, he could feel that part of his soul pulsing at the cold part of his wrist, and he pushed it out forcefully. Glowing res of the purest white formed into a rough and vague sphere before his wrist, looking like a rough mockery of the moon. The creature lumbered towards him, and he directed his gaze forward, setting a mental trajectory towards the center of the creature.

Huffing as he suddenly exhaled sharply, the ball of res flew straight towards the creature, and honestly it was hard to miss a monster that size when one was aiming at the center of all that mass. It was not difficult to channel the battle fury into the part of his soul that he was ejecting, and he roared as the res exploded in a burst of fire as it hit the creature, hopefully igniting it.

It did not matter to him, for even as the res was flying he was already running, blades whirling like a lethal whirlwind of steel as he assaulted it steadily. Blades flashed in a consistent motion as he sought to equalize the strength in both arms as he slashed, keeping the vine-like arms away from his body as he attempted to carve a significant hole into the creature.

Hopefully the simultaneous combined attack of both physical and magical would deal some serious damage, and hopefully the constant ignition of fire would counteract the regrowth of its parts and actually give him some hope of defeating it.

[Mirage]

An unearthly call echoed from the beast as flames began to lick at its floral form. It turned and twisted, trying to escape from the fire that began to make its way up every vine, leaf and flower... but something was wrong. As quick as the fire was burning the vines more sprouted to take their place. Soon the pace at which the vines grew began to slowly overtake the spread of the fire. With a careless hand the creature swatted away the mightily warrior with one flaming hand just before it was engulfed and reformed once more. The damage he had done was sealing itself, and as moments passed the fire was slowly being smothered and extinguished by the unnaturally growing vines. It seemed impossible to defeat. Nothing could stop it, it could regenerate endlessly, and its focus was on killing every single person in this space... but there was something odd. In the light of the fire something new had shown itself. A glimmer, a slight sparkle at the very base of the creature near its roots. Waving vines and burning flames would cover it from normal eyes, but those that could see beyond might just notice that it radiated with a strange energy very much like the energy that flowed through the creature itself. A tiny object, no larger than a marble, was planted firmly near the roots of the creature. Vines in this area were heavy, on fire and very aggressive. Whatever it was it had to be important, but there was little time. Even as Eridanus looked the creature would nearly have the fire extinguished and its eyes would turn on the two frighten girls once more.

[Eridanus]

"Agh," Eridanus granted as the elemental swiped away at him with an arm. It seemed almost careless of it in the way it did so, as if a giant casually flicking away a tiny fly. Alarm bells rang as the shield around him blurred and broke due to the impact. His eyes widened in despair as the flames from the arms continued to lick around his body as he continued to be pushed against the wall.

However, he was no green warrior. The battle-seasoned warrior's mind worked furiously, automatically pulling djed out from his body and forming on his pams. There could be better ways to do so, but it was all muscle memory. The only conscious thought was the need to do so, but everything else was an instinct. Gathering the djed before his palms as he struggled to block the monster's continuous strike, the scholar focused the djed into one point before him and basically hardened it into one solid mass. A crude shield formed as it absorbed the rest of the impact. Absorbing the rest of the damage, it then shattered again due to the weak foundations from which it was built.

Still, the pure impact of the blow flung him against the brambles of a nearby hedge, and he groaned as he dropped to the ground, recovering himself as he gathered his senses.

The creature was healing!

As despair began to wash over him, he spotted something that might spell hope. There was an object of some sort, and he recognized it to be similar to the strength that flows throughout the elemental. His passive senses from Auristics was enough to tell him that, for it appeared as a gut feeling of a sort. If direct assault did not work, it could at least serve as a distraction as plans formed in his mind for an alternative course of action.

Gripping his blades nervously as he stared ahead, he remembered the last feeling from his spell, pulling djed out again. Another coldness struck his arm, this time up to his shoulder, and he realized that this was the last time that he could hope to use such a spell. That meant that his gamble had to be correct, or he would be wasting this last advantage.

Pushing out the djed, materialized as the physical embodiment of his soul, the rough-looking sphere of pure white res glowed menacingly as it hovered before the scholar's panting body. Placing his rage, his hope, all of his emotions into the sphere, he roared as he threw the cracking ball of energy towards the base of the creature, running alongside it as he whirled his blades expertly.

Several vines shot out, but he cut them off with one blade, keeping the other in order to protect from the other. His dual-wielding tendencies were now utilized in a purely defensive manner as he protected himself from oncoming attacks. Parrying and cutting weaker ones, while dodging and sidestepping stronger ones. The res struck the base of the creature and exploded into brilliant flames upon his command, the anger that he directed towards the res emphasizing the explosion.

The strange object glinted again as it once again saw fresh air, and the agent reached for it. Stabbing a sword temporarily into the mass of vines, he used it as if he were using a toothpick to pick open a cloyfish. Using his free hand to reach in, he grasped the object with his last two fingers, pulling out and grabbing the sword as he ducked away from the creature.

[Mirage]

The affects were instant. Just as the man's hand closed about the object the creatures otherworldly shrieks amplified and it whipped its arms back, trying to be rid of Eridanus before he could complete his task, however, the nimble swordsman would manage to roll clear just in time, stumbling and falling to the ground as exhaustion overcame his trembling limbs. Vines would lash out, streaking forward to wrap about Eridanus' ankles, dragging him back toward the creature. Its full attention was on the man now, mouth agape and vines lashing about in fury as it pulled him closer and closer. Three vines would shoot out at once to take ahold of Eri's blades, securing his hands and grasping his neck to prevent any movement at all. He could only watch... watch in horror as the beast dragged him closer, the roots opening to a black pit in the ground where he would soon find himself ending his life... Then a miracle happened, and the holds of the vines would loosen. The creature would sway, the tight nots of ivy and foliage loosening and coming free. Swaying unsteadily the entire monster seemed to be coming apart at the seems. Soon the holds on Eridanus would be gone entirely and the man could easily escape just before the creature fell forward, falling apart entirely to become simple flowers and vines splayed across the ground. It seemed that it was over. There was no further movement in the plants, and it seems that they were indeed simply plants once more. The object in Eridanus' hand still pulsed with energy, and an observant person might also notice that the entire area pulsed with a similar energy as well. In his palm Eridanus now held a single copper miza, simple and plain looking, yet given all that had happened one could not simply judge based on appearances. Bell and her friend were still where Eridanus had left them. Beads of scarlet life flowed down the child's arm, and her pale expression and uncertain eyes spoke a lot for her current state of mind. Her friend still did not stir, and her face did not seem to have gained any more color. Bell would look at Eridanus, her mouth opening and closing several times but no sounds coming out. As he watched the tears would begin to well in the girls eyes, and choked sobs escaped trembling lips as she ducked her head and pulled her knees closer to her body, cradling her injured arm.

[Eridanus]

Eridanus breathed harshly as his lungs burned and his muscles trembled uncontrollably. He had finally overcome this strange monster by picking what seemed to be a copper miza from the base of its roots. Yet, this copper miza was unlike any, for it pulsed with the strange energy that resonated and hummed within all the other plants throughout the area. The urge to peer into the miza's magical activity pulled at him, but his fatigue was enough to discourage him from doing so. Logically, the multiple uses of Auristics from earlier, of Flux and the two reimancy spells that drained him already took a toll on him. His body was unnaturally clammy despite the heavy physical exertion, and he felt like he was walking naked in the middle of Morwen's Snow Palace in Avanthal.

He was lucky that his body had not imploded from the possible overuse of djed.

Blades clattering to the ground as his fingers went numb from lack of feeling, the scholar trudged to the devastated child. A small well of compassion began to well from him, and he looked at it with a tinge of surprise. Was that compassion genuine? Over years of interaction with mortals he had assimilated many culturally accepted expressions and he had learned to portray them with shocking ease. Yet, this time the growing compassion within him came unsummoned. Was it a reflex action, one that unconsciously came about because of his familiarity with mortal feelings?

Or... was it a a genuine emotion triggered by his increasing attempts to reconcile with humanity and to align himself with the 'good' pantheon of divinity?

Shaking his head as he pushed such thoughts away from his mind for the time being, he moved forward to embrace the scared child, reassuring her with a warm voice full of confidence and security, even if he did not feel like it at the moment. It did not matter, for she was under his protection. That was the only thing that mattered currently.

Patting her softly on the head, he muttered gentle praises on how well she has been doing to keep her cool, and to promise her that it would all be over soon.

"Just believe in me, child... You will be safe," He crooned softly, even as the exhaustion threatened to make his body collapse, and even as an intangible pain began to tear away at his chest as his heart and lungs throbbed with unnatural vigour.

But he could not fall, nor could he fail. Now when the child could still be in danger. That was his personal pride and honor, and even without the gods' guidance he had his personal code to adhere to.

One that he would follow through or die. That was how important his personal code was to him, for even before adopting the ideals of the gods it was the only beacon to him. His lighthouse in a sea of tumultuous storms that were human treachery and evil.