[right][color=57a345][i]Eli		[/i][/color][/right]
Eli fell and plunged into the floor, just as Mariette wanted her to, quickly lifting her head to ensure “Libby” was still in her sights. Her eyes remained wide and expression twisted by fear, as Caroline revealed who she truly was, and began speaking. She had… gained powers for consuming Deni. And… she wanted more.

[color=57a345]‘… Aaah…’[/color] Eli, being made of slime, couldn’t properly cry. But, her eyes felt like they wanted to. The being that had eaten Deni was right there, and now she was coming for her and Mariette. Eli lay there without being able to get more. It hurt. She felt so tiny and useless, alone. It was a helpless feeling, leaving her cowering in place...

… Mariette, however, stood focused. A vile frown directed itself at the speaking enemy before her. Anyone nearby felt the magical energy she was channeling. She was feeling… anger. Far more anger than she was used to experiencing. This creature, the same had taken Deni from her, had now stepped close and dared terrify Eli. How [i]DARE[/i] she? 

Mariette stood in the forefront, and Caroline was addressing her. Caroline wanted to play. Who was she to deny the experience? 
[center][color=4d000d][i][h1]Mariette[/h1][/i][/color][/center]

Not waiting for anyone else in any shape or form, Mariette swung her arm and hand-mirror weapon, without a word of communication to her allies and barely restrained anger in her movements as she swung open the mana font Asengav had granted her.

A stream of portals flung open all over the area between her and Caroline, the other ends directed into the floor around her, from which tentacles sprung and swung through the portals for a swift strike at Caroline. Mariette didn’t expect to hit, but that frankly didn’t matter.

Across the Bastion dark circles formed, like purple marshes on the deck, among allies as well as elsewhere. From these, creatures appeared, creatures called from Asengav himself. Nimble, dark, humanoid in shape with white glowing eyes, seemingly made of slime or ink just like Eli, but they were mindless monsters. 

Monsters whose eyes were all fixed on the foe on the ship as they growled or leaped, dashing to action, gathering around Mariette or spread across the ship. With loud snarls they threw their arms, which stretched far and fast with ends shaped as sharp points at their enemy. They were numerous, around thirty spread and jumping across the ship to get into position to attack at Caroline. 

[hider=Shadows of Asengav][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/BSYE4pvm.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/5MigfLPm.jpg[/img][img]https://i.imgur.com/kAtuAOUm.jpg[/img][/center]
[sub]These are approximations, I searched for anything that matched my mental image of her minions.[/sub][/hider]

Then started the true game. Mariette was going to hound every step of Caroline with every fabric of her being. Using her awareness and previous experience with the devil to attempt to track the superior fighter’s movements, smaller portals swung open to take the stretched attacks of her minions’ arms and set them again on track for their target. Portals opened in attempt to block Caroline in any direction she headed, with the attacks of her minions flying through numerous portals before they finally headed to strike at Caroline from difficult angles.

Quickly, a maze of dark arms would form, intent on trapping Caroline between numerous portals that could or could not shoot arms at the enemy. If Mariette’s allies were shooting projectiles as well, Mariette would reroute as many as possible of those back at Caroline the same way as well. Each attack that was rerouted flew through a string of portals just large enough for the attack to pass through pointing at one another to keep the projectiles afloat at the predicted next locations the target could be. All for the purpose of hunting Caroline down.

If Caroline hunted at her allies and Mariette could react in time, she’d open portals to attempt protecting them, and if possible catch Caroline in the portals to send her a distance away so more distance where Mariette could unload her minions’ and allies’ attacks on Caroline for the additional distance, while portals with tentacles clawing at Caroline from the floor around Mariette clawed at her in directions the portal witch didn’t want the vampire-girl to go. If Caroline attempted attacking through these portals, the attacks would go straight down into the floor of the Bastion around Mariette. Hopefully a god’s blessing made that too hard to crack.

If allies were in obvious danger, Mariette would open portals under them to relocate elsewhere on the Bastion, unless they were the ones who charged in on their own. No sense moving away a close-combat nut from close combat. Mariette would try to take advantage of such circumstances, instead, having her minions’ arms fly through more portals to punish Caroline for staying in a fight. If Caroline happened to grab any of the minions’ arms that came attacking, she’d simply command them to leap at her to make some use of their last time in existence, they’re already as good as dead if that happened.

This wasn’t hide and seek anymore. It was a frenzied game of tag where one party was extremely fast and powerful while the other had access to portals and plentiful of projectiles. Mariette would chase this girl down with all of her power.

She couldn’t keep this up indefinitely, but right now, she was charging as much of her magic as she could, perhaps unreasonably so. As soon as they were inside the castle, her bane would probably prevent her from going further. Here, she could still go all out. Besides, this was the girl that killed Deni. It was possible Mariette wasn’t acting completely rationally.

In her mind, Mariette blamed Justine far more for Deni’s death than she did Caroline, who she viewed as a being of inferior intellect. What would be more just than the possibility of murdering Justine’s precious sister in return?

[color=186cc7][i]… She cannot be allowed to get away…![/i][/color]

Edit: Since tactics-talk apparently took place on the lake shore, Mariette would have approached to speak. Meaning all this time she was in fact on the lake shore, and not on the Bastion, apparently. The portals described as going into the Bastion floor instead goes into the lake shore ground. Still needing to be close to Mariette because tentacles don't have a long range.