melodiesoflife | Event || In Your Worst Memory

Event || In Your Worst Memory

Characters: All Heroes of Light. Only those who signed-up can start a memory.
Where: Interdimensional Rift
When: May 27th - May 30th
Summary: The Heroes of Light relive some of their worst memories, with a twist. All characters participating in this will be physically missing from Crystallis for the duration of the event.
Warning: It depends on the memory.

Where you were or what you were doing— It does not really matter. Not any more. Everything around you freezes, nearly as if time itself stopped, as if the world was frozen in time. And before you have a chance to understand what is happening, you can hear a voice right behind you.

"Kali Shashidhwaja."

Should you turn around, you may see a child who seems to be the only one aside from you unaffected by what is happening. And as she stares right at you, it makes no doubt these strange words are aimed at you. But before you can reply to her, the world around you collapses. Reality twists and shatters... Or maybe you are the one who is collapsing and shattering away from reality as you know it. No matter what the answer is, it will only take a few seconds for you to find yourself sinking into a void, Crystallis vanishing into the distance. There is nothing but darkness as far as the eye can see.

And once again you feel different: all the powers from your Jobs are fading. Not only that, but you might find that your Crystal is gone and your clothes back to what they were before you woke up in Crystallis. It is silent, cold and before long it feels as though life itself is slipping out of you... And yet, slowly the world reforms around you. The darkness fades away and a new world appears, yet at the same time this is not a world.

This is a memory. The question is, is it yours or that of someone else?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Jade finished his arte, calling forth Blessed Drops. The clear water, ice cold from the chilled air, exploded around the replica in bursts that would have given any normal human frost bites. The replica didn't even blink. Anise's Limited, Ventus's fire, those of Elizabeth's cards that connected -- nothing seemed to do more than make her white hair flutter as though in a mild breeze. The debris from Slag Assault tore into her body, and she scarcely spared Luke a glance.

"...jade... how many times... are you going to kill me?..."

How many times must you kill Professor Nebilim before you're satisfied?

Peony's words from so many years ago came unbidden into his mind. For a fleeting moment, Jade faltered. Was this the purpose of reliving his worst memory? To make him watch her die by his hand, over and over?

The moment passed, and his expression grew cold. "As many times as I must, Professor." Even though the replica looked unharmed, she wouldn't last forever. They just had to survive long enough...

"...so many... dead children..."

Nebilim shuddered, then held her shaking hands forwards. Drawing upon the Earth fonons left behind from her on Ground Dasher, she changed the arte, calling forth a black dome that crackled with electricity. The air around the dome changed, pulling the fighters towards it. Even touching the dome would slow down their movements, while being caught inside it would result in being crushed by intense gravitational pressure.

Elizabeth didn't know the context of this dialogue, nor did she really care. Humans really did like to blather on while fighting. Taunts, jeers, those sort of things made some sense, but going on about past wrongs and dreams, about children and previous fights, it all seemed like it would distract one from the thrill of the kill.

Still, she dug in her heels can changed a Mind Charge, as she moved to not touch whatever it was.

"Perhaps, if you both concentrated on the kill, this would be allow clarity."

Anise was lucky, in that since she was on the fringes of Nebilim's attack, she was only slowed down, not seriously injured.

That being said, they weren't okay. They were so not okay. Maybe Limited wasn't the strongest spell she had, but for all of their artes not to leave a mark? That was bad. To make matters worse, Anise couldn't help but shutter at Nebilim's voice. Did it have to be so creepy? And, it was clear that Nebilim was getting under the Colonel's skin, too. This was gonna be a rough fight.

Anise shoots the weird blue-haired lady a glare before starting to cast. Couldn't she tell they were trying their best? It wasn't their fault this version of Nebilim was super strong and immune to everything!

Unfortunately, with all the commotion from the battle and Nebilim's vortex, it's gonna take her a bit to actually get the spell off.

This was ridiculous -- Ven didn't recognize the others' spells and abilities, but he could tell that they weren't being gentle in their assault. For all of those hits to land and not even make her falter... and she wasn't even trying to dodge, either. Fire, ice, light, earth, everything was brushed off.

All right, he figured, forget the direct offensive -- if they could get her to stumble, even in some small way, maybe that would give them another opportunity to hit her all at once before she could counter.

As the dome began its pull, Ven hit the ground in a crouch to concentrate his weight and resist, only sparing one hand to keep his Keyblade raised. At the same time he focused, and after only a brief pause he cast Tornado -- literally conjuring a miniature tornado that he directed towards the replica. It was a strong spell -- major, by his universe's standards -- but damage wasn't his priority; hopefully the cutting winds would at least make her stagger, if not knock her over as it would normal enemies. Unfortunately, it was difficult to control the trajectory even with Ven's affinity for wind; it took nothing short of complete concentration to direct that spell with his will, leaving him exposed for the next several seconds.

He didn't hear anything anyone else said, though it was only because he was...suddenly being drawn closer to Nebilim herself.

Getting sucked into that dome... hurt. Not long into it, he was dropping to a knee. A strained growl was released. Only one eye managed to remain open as he glared at the woman with all his might. Once it was over, he was left panting as he forced himself to his feet. He...

...didn't have much of a choice, did he? There was a chance that his next move could kill him, but--

A glance was sent to Anise and Jade. They were...worth it. If he could possibly keep them alive, it was more than worth the chance. It always had been- no... always would be. He wasn't going to assume he'd die, because it would take a hell of a lot more than this to do it! He'd never stop fighting... ever. A wry smile was given for a split second, before he was directing a determined smirk at their enemy, "Heh- bring in on!"

Drawing his arms to his side, he unleashed his fonons in a short burst. What seemed like a gush of air escaped around him as his body glowed brightly for a moment. Bright lights swirled around him as he rushed in to attack her. He slashed her once, and then jumped back, before hitting her with Sonic Blast.

"You're mine!"

With a shout, he unleashed his Mystic Arte - Radiant Howl - and trapped her within the powerful attack of fonons. An even brighter light than before surrounded them both, the powerful wave of attacks striking Nebilim repeatedly. His hands shot forward as he concentrated the last bit of energy within the attack directly on her person, "Just die already!!!"

One final attack was given...and then his body threatened to have him stumbling forward once it was all over. Panting heavily, he took a few steps away from her, hand on sword as he watched her very closely. It wasn't over... was it?

Edited (sob so sorry) 2015-08-18 07:45 (UTC)

Jade braced himself against the pull, digging his heels into the snowy ground. Anise would be slowed down for the next minute or so, while Luke had taken the full brunt of the attack. Without a full-fledged healer at their side, every bit of damage they took was going to be costly. Jade was about cast another arte of his own, hoping to take advantage of the few seconds Ven's Tornado bought them -- only for his eyes to widen in alarm as he realized what Luke was about to do.

"Luke, stop!"

It worked. Thanks to the Tornado staggering the replica, she was caught inside Luke's Mystic Arte. The power of hyperresonance achieved what their normal attacks had been unable to; Nebilim's body was lifted off the ground, ravaged by the destructive force of colliding fonons that tore down her defenses at atomic level. It worked, but...

That idiot. Luke's body had been coming apart as is -- it was a miracle he was still alive. What was he thinking, using hyperresonance? If this triggered his fonon separation again--

Nebilim stumbled back, looking down at herself what seemed like vague confusion. Then she slowly raised her head to stare at Luke. "...you're... like me...?"

Jade rushed forward, summoned his spear, and planted himself between Nebilim and Luke, raising the weapon to block any incoming attacks. It figured the boy was going to do something stupid like this and leave himself vulnerable...

"jade..." Nebilim's replica seemed to be making a stronger effort to speak, her blank eyes focusing on Jade. "...you threw so many... away... why is this one... different to you...?"

"Now!" Jade called to the others, bracing himself to shield Luke from any misdirected attacks with Magic Guard. "She's weakened! Attack!"

Elizabeth nods at this and reaches into her book, "Now, what will come out?"

There is a flash of white around the replica's feet as a circle appears and she grins, "White card!"

With that a flash of holy energy surges up in several quick successions, powered up by the previous mind charge.

Nebilim actually taking damage instead of just shrugging it off, should've made Anise feel better, but it didn't. The longer the fight went on, the more awful she felt, and the less she felt they were all gonna make it out of this.

Luke rushing forward was already worrying enough, but Nebilim kept talking. She kept using that creepy voice to say those awful things, and it was pretty clear the Luke and the Colonel were hurting pretty bad. Nobody hurt her friends and got away with it. Nobody. In a weird way, it almost felt like she was insulting Ion's memory too, and that made her even angrier.

"Ugh, just shut up already!"

Thankfully, she's able to keep focused enough to finish the spell, even if it takes longer.

"O hellion whose roar chills the very soul, resound! Bloody Howling!"

It's not as powerful as the magic that the Colonel and the white-haired lady are using, but it's all she's got.

Ven shot a concerned look in Luke's direction, noticing what looked like exhaustion -- but Jade's call redirected his attention and he instantly moved to obey. If they could finish this now, there would be plenty of time for healing up afterwards.

With that in mind, Ven's thoughts quickly flitted through his mental list of more powerful techniques -- maybe they hadn't actually killed Nebilim before, maybe there was a trick to it, maybe if they hit her as hard as possible and left no room for doubt--

He launched up from his crouch to risk closing the distance a little more, mind already reaching into his reserves for his other primary element--

"Light!"

The casting time was instantaneous: white light flashed from his upraised weapon, conjuring several upright blades that stood erect around him. Rather than carrying through with the normal technique to attack on all sides, Ven instantly manipulated the spell, redirecting the sharpened pillars so that they lifted off the ground and shot straight for the group's opponent all at once.

An ironically brutal attack, considering both its bright appearance and the reason he could control the element so finely, but he was done underestimating this fight. Strangers or not, he had this group to look after, and that did away with what was left of his hesitation.

Luke stared at the other replica for several seconds, "No."

Firming his expression, he turned his expression as harsh as he could manage. While steadying himself on his feet the best he could manage, his tone softened just a little. He could only shake his head with a somewhat... sad smile as he spoke, "I'm nothing like you."

But, then he was dropping to one knee all over again, right as Jade was rushing in to stand directly between them. His expression softened a little in surprise at the older man, "Jade...?"

Heh...guess he really had been an idiot. He was just glad he hadn't done something that might go to waste - even if he couldn't be sure that she'd stay down that time, at least there was a chance. Some things apparently could never change. He recognized the feeling in his body, however. Looking down at the left hand that had previously been clutching his sword, his expression tensed.

Fortunately, everyone was likely going to be too engrossed in the fight to notice. Plus, he was going to be moving it close to his thigh to conceal it. Even at that angle, Jade might be able to notice if he were to glance back - Luke seriously hoped he wouldn't, though.

For the time being, he was going to be taking the moment to catch his breath (and hope that he could at least last long enough to see the fight through to the end).

The replica didn't seem to realize she was in danger now. Not even as Anise's Bloody Howling lifted her off her feet, catching her in the vortex of darkness. The lifeless eyes continued to stare at Luke, expressionless, as she slowly reached out a hand...

Blood splattered on the snow. The replica halted, and looked down at the blade of light that had torn through her chest, appearing almost confused for one fleeting second-- only to lurch in mid-air as the remainder of Ventus's onslaught followed, piercing the previously impenetrable flesh, one after another. It was only then that she tried to move, but Bloody Howling held her in place -- just long enough.

The surge of holy light, called forth by Elizabeth, tore through the replica at full force. Nebilim opened her mouth as if to scream, yet no sound came out. In that moment, as her body began to come apart within the brightness, her eyes found Jade again.

A glance back at Luke's translucent hand told Jade all he needed to know. When he returned his gaze to the replica Nebilim, his face was a mask of cold fury.

"Enough." He called forth one last fonic arte, once again drawing upong the fonons left behind by Anise. "Slumber in this horrid sepulcher of merciful ice. Frigid Coffin!"

Sharp, jagged icicles spouted forth from the ground, ramming into the replica and trapping her within a frozen prison. Even with her powers, she couldn't survive the cold in this state. Jade let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. Let it be over with this; perhaps now, at last, he'd never have to witness the pain on Professor Nebilim's face...

And then, once again, came the sound of a screeching record.

"...but with fomicry..."

Jade stood completely still, staring at the spot where the dying replica had been a mere second ago. Then, slowly, he turned around. The scene had begun again, except...

He was no longer a child. The Jade kneeling by Professor Nebilim's body was older, in his early twenties, as was Saphir, standing nervously to watch the replication. Both of them wore lab coats over their Malkuth military uniforms; the coats were splattered with blood.

It was the apathy. The absolute worst part, the one that made Jade's blood boil with a sudden rush of hatred, was the expression of complete detachment on the face of his younger self. He should have known better -- he had known better. He had known exactly what he was doing, how many corpses of failed replicas they had disposed of, and he had refused to care -- all because he couldn't accept his guilt, couldn't accept that there was no cheating death, and that the Professor would never come back...

All of it -- fomicry, the abandoned replicas, the near-destruction of Auldrant -- had begun here. Because he had been such a shameless, unrepentant coward.

"Enough!" Jade broke into a run, past the glow of the replication process, and in one swift movement seized his younger self by the throat, lifting him in the air. The young Jade gave no reaction, his face remaining just as impassive as it always was. Somehow, that was even more enraging.

Without a thought, Jade extended his free arm and summoned his spear. It wouldn't change anything, he knew that, and yet... It was such a tempting thought, to end it right here...

"Jade, stop!"

That voice. Jade froze, staring down at... It had to be the replica, but... Not the violent, arrogant monster, nor the lifeless, walking corpse. Professor Nebilim, looking exactly as she had when she was live, in her usual long coat and skirt, stared up at him beseechingly. As though they were in class and he was about to do something wrong--

The shock was such that he didn't see the attack coming. Nebilim struck out an arm, and the massive blast of energy struck Jade squarely in the chest. The collision flung him backward through the air with such force that Jade lost his grip on both his weapon and his younger self, hitting the ground hard several feet away, glasses flying off his face.

As he lay in the snow, stunned, Nebilim picked up the fallen spear and -- sparing the other Heroes only a sad glance -- lunged in for the kill.

Meanwhile someone had remained back in the distance, keeping away from where the memory merged from passive into interactive. Sephiroth had watched them all fight, over and over, yet had not twitched even a finger in response. He wanted to learn all that he could first, and by the second reset he'd learned more than enough.

A black smear in roughly the shape of a man rushed in, stark against the snow, and settled between Nebilim and where she might have brought the spear down into Jade. The clear, sharp sound of keen edged metal sung against the spear as it was blocked and then it seemed that vision might catch up. Silver pauldrons at his shoulders and a long flowing trail of silver behind as his hair still settled, as if in slow motion, from the faster-than-human momentum that Sephiroth had dashed forwards with. The long, lightly arched curve to Masamune came into focus last, where it held biting into the spear blocked but it seemed only for long enough to be registered.

"It's over."

He narrowed eyes, a flare of mako-energy within them as Sephiroth pushed off and away with a strength legendary even by his own worlds' standard. No hesitation at all as the super-SOLDIER twisted, turned his stance and followed up with a quick, long uppercut vertically in counter. The beginning of a chain (before the limit move) which took only two-seconds yet, should it be anywhere near as successful as the power Sephiroth put behind might cleave any monster clean in two, or at the very least put distance between Nebilim, Jade and himself.

An angel now, and it wanted in on the fight. It wasn't on her side, it wasn't on the copy's side. It apparently wanted a Battle Royale and Liz LOVED Battle Royales!

"So, a new challenger has appeared. Then I accept!"

Grinning gleefully she waved her hand, her book flipping over and floating in the air as another card came out, "BLACK CARD!"

With that a laser like line of dark energy assaulted the copy and now the angel nearby with the restraint of a fire hose.

Maybe Anise wasn't as good as Guy at reading Luke, or as good as Peony at reading Jade, but she could still tell something was wrong. Luke was looking exhausted, and Jade was looking angrier than she'd ever seen him.

And that was before Nebilim caught the Colonel off guard and nearly impaled him.

Everything that happened next happened almost too quickly for her to register. One second, Jade's on the ground and it looks like it's all over, then some weird one-winged angel shows up (Whose side was he on, anyway? And why hadn't he helped out earlier?), and then the white-haired lady was shooting fire all over the place and what was she supposed to do.

If there's one thing that's certain right now, it's that Anise is not only very very angry, but she's also very confused and very scared. As much as she wants to just thrash into Nebilim, it's not worth chancing the fire and steel fight going on. Instead, she'll rush over to Jade on Tokunaga, and offer him a hand (paw?) to help get up.

When the scene reset -- again -- Ven felt a blend of dread and irritation, edging on pure anger. Not because of the need to fight, not even because of the danger, necessarily -- but because this wasn't a natural occurrence. This, like everything else since the Heroes had been transported, was a deliberate act of someone or something; all the memories and events therein that he'd seen so far were too different from one to the next to suggest that each situation was fitted to the same pattern. He wasn't very tactically inclined, not as much of a thinker as he was a doer, but he'd picked up on that much.

Point being: this cycle was no accident. It was made to keep going, by someone or some force. Someone or something that had to know how very personal this was for the one the memories belonged to.

That was partly why Ven didn't immediately react when Jade attacked his younger self. He had a deeply rooted respect for the fact that this was, first and foremost, Jade's memory -- his scenario, his pain, his call -- and while Ven was here to lend a hand, that was it. He was still an outsider, and unless the safety of innocent people came into question, he had no right to say what was an appropriate reaction and what wasn't.

At least, those were his thoughts right up until the replica knocked Jade back. Ven reacted, but half a beat too slowly -- but then someone else, someone faster than him, even, was already darting past, and then--

--and then things got crazy.

It was clear to Ven that the newcomer was an ally -- but then why was that lady attacking him--

"Wait!" Again, too late -- and the dark aura permeating from her spell was enough to make him mentally stumble, assaulting his light-tuned senses the same way a normal person might falter against an unexpectedly strong (and unpleasant) smell. Enough to distract him, just long enough that he was too late in trying to throw out a counter-spell to intercept hers--

--but he still tried, a hasty casting of Thundara meant to come down on that spell and catch it. Unfortunately, Ven was pretty tired at this point; he'd used several high-level spells nearly back-to-back, all while keeping Firestorm restrained to avoid unleashing it at the wrong time, and his attention was still unconsciously divided between the entire party since he had been acting as the impromptu healer. Trying to pull his focus back into one point in the blink of an eye, cast a mid-level spell, aim, hold back Firestorm, and recover from that surprising touch of darkness just now, all while fighting fatigue?

Not happening too well.

Lightning magic tore over the ground, wildly enough to knock up small waves of snow with a crackling roar. No one was in its direct path, thankfully, but considering how closely grouped they all were, it wouldn't take much movement to step into the danger zone

In his exhausted state, it took a lot for his mind to catch up... yet--

"Jade!"

Even being weakened, he tried his best to move in time to block the spear. Only... it seemed someone else was moving even faster, "You..."

It was the guy from his own nightmare. He... wasn't sure how to feel about it, considering how all of that had been a total mess. A look of relief flashed on his face at seeing that he was there to help, only...to quickly be replaced, "What--?!"

In the split second it hit that the attack was heading their way, he quickly moved to shield Jade with his own body. They were right there by the silver-haired man. He wasn't going to let his friend get hurt in the crossfire, even if it meant he'd be the one taking the damage as a result. A glare was on his face... and then it was directed straight at the white-haired woman.

"What the hell are you doing??"

Fortunately, it looked like the other young man was trying to keep it from hitting anyone aside from Nebilim... He moved back and looked up to Anise after she came over. He let her try and help Jade up first, before he was moving to his own feet immediately after to assist Anise's efforts.

He looked them both over for injuries (while wondering if he should...maybe use Guardian Field with them both standing here) as he asked, "How are you two holding up?"

The impact of Masamune clashing against the stolen spear made the air itself vibrate. Nebilim's eyes met Sephiroth's -- and she smiled. It wasn't the crazed grin of the monster Nebilim they had first fought, but a gentle one. Almost encouraging.

"Sorry. Not quite."

By all logic, Nebilim's thin arms should not have possessed the strength to match Sephiroth's powerful strikes; and yet, as she met him blow by blow, her stance didn't so much as buckle. In the instant before the long blade came up at her in an uppercut, Nebilim's gaze darted to the side -- towards Elizabeth -- and she jumped away, missing Masamune's edge by just an inch, to remove herself from harm's way.

On the ground, Jade was struggling up on his elbows, trying to focus his jumbled mind on the battle before him. In the next moment, the air was full of dark energy and Jade found his vision obstructed by Luke. He was briefly taken aback -- stupid, stupid, stupid, he wasn't in a state to be shielding anybody -- but there was scarcely time to think clearly. Ventus's lightning crackled around them, adding to the chaos of Elizabeth's friendly fire. A few fleeting seconds was all it had taken for their formation to crumble.

"That's enough!" Jade gripped Tokunaga's arm and attempted to rise, only for a sharp, strangled cry to escape his throat. Pain rippled along his torso -- caused by several broken bones, by the feel of it -- and forced him to fall back on one elbow, gripping his side with his free arm. "Stand down, all of you! We need to regroup!"

On the battlefield, Nebilim was gracefully hopping over the lightning bolts, the long coat fluttering behind her. Though she seemed to lack both the arrogance of her first form and the apathy of the second one, she didn't appear worried, either.

"You're not going to beat me if you don't work together, you know." With that, she suddenly sprinted straight at Elizabeth. Once she was few feet away from the Persona user, a flurry of light rays rose to lift her target in the air. "Rending Saber!" A glyph appeared beneath their feet and Nebilim slammed her hands down into the ground; bright blue energy burst from the ground, dealing severe damage.

It was impossible. He knew the perfection behind those strikes and for that last uppercutting motion of keen edge to miss-

Sephiroth had barely the time for the great cloak of his hair to settle behind him, much less for him to turn in the direction that Nebilim had darted before the dark energy beam was registered without even a split-second to react and do anything about it. Gritting teeth as the energy tore at his magic resistance, he drew an arm up and head down as if between that and his shoulder armor it might weather the beam. Boots dug as deep into the snow as they could go-

It was almost as if he'd imagined the lightning before Thundara came to attempt to contain the blast but the way the voltage intermingled wasn't helping his concentration. Sephiroth was better than this, he had to weather it. Still with his guard fully up he glanced around the others just as Jade called out, directing his focus immediately back and then leaped back behind what might be considered the 'line' of their loose formation. Masamune hummed with the remains of the electrical charge the same way as it rang in his ears and through the fine strands of his silver hair.

Still that creature was taunting and instantly snapped his attention back to Nebilim as she caught up to Elizabeth and sprung her attack. Everything in Sephiroth's frame seemed to pulsate with the natural reaction to jump immediately back in to defend even the one who had blasted at him but he managed to hold back, glancing around towards the others who were still capable of finishing this.

Ready stance was held, for now. The First-class SOLDIER wouldn't admit to his own pulse racing in his chest.

Elizabeth was knocked back up into the air, but managed to jump off seemingly nothing, looking winded and in pain as a cyclone surrounded her feet and she twisted back for her opponent, "I shall not concede defeat yet!"

With that Thanatos appeared behind her opponent and thrust up with his sword as Elizabeth brought her cyclone encircled heel down on her foe.

The battlefield was covered in various attacks and spells, and Anise wasn't able to see where Nebilim's attacks ended and their allies attacks began. Between the thunder and the fire and Nebilim's attacks, Anise was afraid to step out. Instead, she heeded the Colonel's advice and dropped down, putting Tokunaga between everything else and her.

She glanced at Luke; it was clear from her expression that she was physically okay, but was somewhere between really pissed off and really worried.

"Ugh, this is awful! We're gonna end up killing each other at this rate!"

Nebilim was already a big enough threat without the infighting. Judging from the way he was grimacing, Jade was really injured, too. If he was out of commission, they were screwed. They were so screwed.

The only thing she can do is glance around the room again, desparetly looking for some way to help or something to do.

Combined with Jade's order, that near-screw-up was enough to make Ven rethink his entire approach to this fight. There were way too many unknowns present, and they were all probably lucky to have gotten this far without seriously hurting one another -- but as the battle went on and they continued to wear down, those odds would only rise.

It took one glance over his allies once to make up his mind. Ven dismissed his Keyblade in a flash of light and took off at a swift run across the field, slamming a fist against the spaulder on his left shoulder. Another flash, this one bright enough to conceal him entirely for a brief couple seconds, and when it cleared he was donning his full suit of armor, still outlined in colors of flame. It had definitely reached the point where it was necessary, and he'd need the extra protection for what he planned to do.

Despite the added weight of all that steel, his speed didn't falter. With the other two confronting Nebilim directly, Ven cast another Mine Shield in front of Jade's group for some extra defense, just in case the replica changed course. A second later he slid -- half-dropped -- onto his knees beside the trio with a rapid double-cast of Cura on Jade.

The one-way glass protecting Ven's eyes was starting to fog with his panting, his joints aching with the familiar fatigue that served as a warning. That was three mid-level spells on top of two back-to-back forms of summoning. Hopefully, he'd have a lull for the next few moments to let his magic reserves recover; otherwise he'd risk passing out at best.

Nebilim didn't turn to look at Thanatos coming up behind her. The blade tore across her back, splattering blood on her coat; and still her eyes never left Elizabeth, coming down from above. In a swift movement, Nebilim thrust her stolen spear into the ground, calling out: "Sovereign Gale!" A strong gust of wind whipped around her, colliding with the cyclone encircling Elizabeth's heel. In that instant, as Elizabeth was knocked off balance, Nebilim struck again.

"Searing Sorrow!"

A massive ball of fire formed above Nebilim's head; and in the next moment, it fell at an angle and crashed right into Elizabeth. A pillar of fire burst out, illuminating the battlefield -- and behind Nebilim, Thanatos vanished.

When the smoke and steam finally cleared, there was no sign of Elizabeth.

Jade forced himself unsteadily on his feet. Ven's Cura spells had healed his wounds somewhat... but that wasn't much of a comfort. They'd just lost a fighter, Luke and Ventus were not in a good shape, and Jade himself was not at his best. Sephiroth and Anise were the only ones able to fight the replica directly.

For the moment, however, Nebilim was paying them no heed. She was watching the spot where Elizabeth had been, sadness etched on her face. It looked far too genuine, far too much like the real Nebilim--

"Keep her busy." Jade's voice was sharp. With no thought of retrieving his glasses, he prepared to cast. If there was ever a time for a Mystic Arte, it was now. Knowing that an unrestrained Indignation could backfire horribly made no difference -- this needed to end.

The flash of a ray of hope that Thanatos' appearance and attack had afforded them turned quickly in on itself and a weight of dread fell in the back of Sephiroth's mind as he observed the massive fireball forming and promptly fell down onto Elizabeth...all while his boots remained deep in the snow. It was so cold even he could feel it through the thick leather and for that moment Sephiroth felt rooted to the spot.

How could they even hope to come together against this nemesis with more than half of their force clinging onto their last threads of energy? Sephiroth sternly shook it off and flexed his grip around the handle of his overlong sword. Jade didn't need to tell him twice-

He brought his other hand across to wield Masamune two-handed...but then paused, re-thinking his first reaction. Calling upon the magic within another of his equipped materia Sephiroth's fist became outlined with a green fire and then was raised with his cast. All members left of their party would find a multi-colored protect-and-shell shield going up around them (link: Wall) and once cast Sephiroth returned to his initial intention and -keen edge singing in the frigid air- dashed back in to assault Nebilim with a fresh combination of attacks, each one nearly surgical in their precision but mindful of his defense should he need to block as well.

Edited 2015-11-25 20:39 (UTC)

"You've got it!"

Anise's voice sounded significantly less sure than it did before, especially since she was pretty sure that the white-haired lady wasn't coming back. Nebilim had been terrifying before, and she was getting stronger with each form. She'd never really heard that tone of voice from Jade before, but it was clear that things were about to get very messy, very quickly.

As she unleashed a string of words that even a sailor might not touch, she dove back into the battle, full force. This time, she wasn't using artes, but rather focusing on stacking physical attacks to distract Nebilim and cover any gaps in Sephiroth's assault.

The disappearance of an ally was unnerving, to say the least, but Ven had seen a lot of death in the last few days, or hours, or however long this had all been going on. Later, it would hit him that he had just seen a real person expire, not another memory figment, but for now his adrenaline was running high enough that he pushed it aside. If they wavered now, more of them would die, without a doubt.

He hated to waste it, but he decided to let Firestorm go. The flames around him quickly flickered and died out, but the Shell/Protect combo was reassuring. As the others moved to attack, Ven stayed where he was, still recovering but remaining alert, his focus following Nebilim first and foremost. He still hurt, but he could feel the threat of lethal overexertion swiftly ebbing away. He moved onto one knee, his right hand flexing experimentally.

"I can do a full heal on all of us if I have to," he said, risking a sidelong glance at Jade. As focused as the man was, Ven didn't know if he would be acknowledged, but it was worth throwing it out. Better safe than sorry. "A group Curaga, but I'll need everyone together. It should hold her off, too, for a little bit." It would be on par with the Faith he'd used earlier, but with one condition given his current state: "Only once, though."

And given Salvation's level, that might be the last thing he could manage in this fight.

Event || In Your Worst Memory

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the rare reason to use this icon lmfao

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Sorry for the delay.

Sorry for the delay on my end, too!

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/inserts a stupidly over-powered SOLDIER here

I'm so sorry for the friendly fire incident about to happen

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omg this is such a mess

the biggest mess!!! xD

It's a thing of beauty

so much going on O.o

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1/2

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