Liliana / Carroll / Cecilia
ATTN: @PaulHaynek, @Rezod92, @Restalaan (GRI), @AzureKnight(ATS)
Alice stepped forward, as Kerry made her plans known, and Liliana started to oblige her. "Is this how you wish to serve your role, Bladeflower, mine,” she asked, hands on her hips, as she stared at the castle.
Having raised her sword to buff Kerry, Liliana would look at Alice confused; dark circles under her eyes spoke clear enough about the fairy’s state of mind. “I…no but…I’m no good like this,” Liliana said, wings drooping. “I’m even hallucinating a Lady Alice scolding me…”
"You imagine nothing of the sort. I am,” Alice says, "You need sleep."
"I’m fine," Liliana insisted, brushing past Alice to get closer to the gate.
Liliana would find herself behind Alice again, looping seamlessly, as she surpassed ten feet away from Alice.
"Oof!" Liliana blurted out, running into Alice’s backside and bouncing back.
"Ever-clumsy. You are far from fine,” Alice says. "Lying about it, and putting on a front is no sign of bravery. Just foolishness”
Liliana would grit her teeth, getting up and picking up Whimsy, only to find that her sword had turned to petrified wood. …Whimsy…was in agreement with Alice, it seemed. "...Whimsy, please!"
"Even the imp understands, you've reached a limitation that you've never been dealt before," Alice says, "Cowardice is something unbecoming of you, Bladeflower, o’ brave Knight,” she kept her back to Liliana, "Yet here you are, fearing not the most imminent threat, but the most internal threat: breaking a promise to a dead woman.”
Clutching Whimsy to her chest, Liliana would shudder behind in Alice’s shadow. "I promised Cecilia…and I promised Lady Alice. I…Knights keep promises. They always do. I promised to see Cecilia. I promised Lady Alice I’d see her again. I can’t do both…"
"Your allegiance is to the Fairy Queen, Titania,” Alice says, "Honor and Duty are the blades of a true knight. You display one at a time, limiting yourself from your potential...”
"Titania…maybe…I was never fit to be a Knight to her…maybe that’s why she sent me here," Liliana said, wings losing color as she started to dread countless possibilities.
"Maybes are poison to the self,” Alice says, "Pity isn't something I will impart upon you. That's for others, like Marigold, to do.”
"Even so…" Liliana said, rising to her feet with the petrified Whimsy in her arms, starting to try to walk past Alice again. "Even if I don’t think that I’m a very good knight…Titania thought I was. And Lady Alice did too. And I won’t disappoint them."
Liliana would loop back.
"A good knight understands her limitations, and doesn't run from them, but faces them,” Alice says.
"Yeah…but right now, limits or whatever, I gotta get us past that big door," Liliana said, looking up at it, the gate easily towering over every member of the task force, let alone its smallest.
"You believe you can bypass that gate, when you cannot even pass by me,” Alice asks.
Liliana would smile at Alice’s back, saying: "I gotta try! I definitely won’t if I don’t, and I wanna, so I gots-ta!"
"Says who,” Alice asks, looking back, her expression devoid of warmth, a convalescence of seriousness and confrontation, "If you backed down, it would not be a strike against you. Yet you struggle onwards," she says, "To accomplish what? To prove your worth to... Marigold, that one that raised you? Daisy, the one you succeeded? Rosebud, the one you idolize? Titania, the one you serve? Or..." Alice returned her attention forward, "...this foolish Queen of Nothing that stands before you, taking promises without reward...”
"Everyone, of course! But…" Liliana would suddenly step forward, hugging Alice. "Right now, its just you here, Lady Alice. O-Or Cecilia…whichever is right here, that’s who I’ll keep my promise to, the whole way!"
Alice wouldn't rebuff her, chuckling. "Honor and Duty are the blades of a true knight. It's certainly true to say that Whimsy is a Blade of Duty,” she would turn, and draw Carroll, "You're in need of a Blade of Honor, in that case."
"Whimsy’s honorable though," Liliana said, Whimsy coming to life once more on her back.
Alice chuckled, again, before presenting Carroll for Liliana without saying anything.
Reaching her left hand out, Liliana would carefully take hold of her handle.
“This is quite the arrangement...”
"A-Are you sure? You and Carroll have a special bond…like me and Whimsy," Liliana asked, gently handling Carroll while awaiting Alice’s answer.
Alice returned her attention to the gate, crossing her arms, as her feet started to petrify. The effective area of [O’ Frabjous Day!] would start to extend, encroaching upon the castle, as she extended her invitation upon the Taskforce and started to fiddle with Time Magic.
Even at her best, over such a massive area and with no ritual prep time, she could only dull the reaction speeds of her - no, of their enemies. Still, it would have to be enough. Time Magic was a difficult magic, but it was the specialty of Mad Hatters.
This was something that only she could do.
“An encore, I see...” Carroll understood the assignment, before she would surge over Liliana, and enter Whimsy’s mindscape.
"What’s your plan, Carroll," Whimsy demanded.
“Oh, don't you struggle with that, little petal,” Carroll purred, fingerwalking from her left shoulder to her right, “You and I have a more important task...” she says, her tone dipping into sultry, as she whispered into Whimsy's ear, “Merging Duty and Honor to create Bravery.”
"........."
"H-Huh?" Whimsy questioned as her eyes followed Carroll’s fingers, then shuddering as the wood elemental’s ears were pricked by her whispering. "M-M-M-Merging what and huh to WHAT!?" she questioned. "Liliana, don’t j-just stand there! Do something!"
Liliana stared at Carroll’s goop covering her sword, weakly offering a thumbs-up. "Be brave, Whimsy! I will never forget you!"
Carroll netted her fingers with Whimsy's from behind, bringing her into a hug, before twirling her as she hummed. As if she'd been born to, Whimsy’s feet would twist and turn with Carroll’s, as she led her through a dance - familiar, subdued steps, entering and exiting a perfect circle.
The Waltz of a Wallflower.
“Be honored, little petal,” Carroll says, “I don't dance with just anyone. The Wallflower Waltz is my creation, made for the woman I loved and lost...” she would draw Whimsy close, and rest her chin upon her shoulder, “I'm sharing my very soul with you. I was created to cut and you to bind. We're well matched.”
Carroll would draw her head back, before looking face-to-face with Whimsy, “I'll cut. You sew. Together, Honor and Duty make Bravery, and create a brave heart...”
Uncharacteristically gentle, Carroll would bring her lips to Whimsy's, as she closed her eyes, and left it to her to close the gap.
Whimsy would squeeze her eyes shut and close the distance and…
Some things lead to other things, and Liliana was starting to wonder if this was just an elaborate scheme by Alice to get their swords to date. Which was…cute? Kinda? Liliana wasn’t sure.
Elaborate schemes, while the forte of a Mad Hatter, usually didn't involve self-sacrificing. Regardless, Liliana would feel a far more powerful weapon coming to life in her hands - a heavy weapon unfit for a Fairy. A greatsword - no, a hand-and-a-half sword, better known as a bastard sword - with a gleaming blade of silver and an emerald handle with a rosebud pommel, three blossomed roses upon the European-style cross guard - one in the center, and one of each end - and a network of thorny vines that created a lattice, not unlike a fencing sword.
It took elements from Carroll and from Whimsy to create a heavy sword that was balanced for both sweeping and thrusting attacks.
Liliana would have to maintain her Human-size to have the physicality to wield it due to the fusion.
"Alright…its time to get this siege started! Kerry, poof!" Liliana said, pointing her blade at Kerry, causing her to turn invisible as she’d requested.
"Gringor, hit ‘em hard!" Liliana said, casting Giant’s Strength upon Gringor, feeling the orc’s strength multiplied would let him just tear the gate apart like paper.
"Atsuha, let’s keep you safe," Liliana said, casting Ironhide on Atsuha, her skin gaining a magical barrier just an inch above it that would deflect most physical attacks.
"Now…let’s knock this place down, and save Takeshi’s dad! This is how I’m gonna ruin their beauty sleep! Summoooooooooooon! Vorpalllllllllll! Cow!" Liliana cried out, drawing a circle with her blade before the gate before a bull larger than any of the many assembled warriors had ever seen, nearly twelve feet tall with horns spanning the length of a man. What very well may be the strongest bovine on the planet would grind its hoof against the ground before glowering at the gate, sweeping its head once before cleaving the wall before it, then charging a gaping hole through it with the same ease a scythe cuts through grass.
Leveling Whimsy and Carroll’s united form on her shoulder, Liliana would point forward. "For Shizuyama!"
Alice would watch, slowly freezing in place. Time for Time, a fair trade for an unparalleled advantage. Silently, she'd simply approve of Liliana taking charge. All she could do now was hope for the best…
"We’ll be back, Lady Alice!" Liliana made one last promise before stepping in, ready for an all-out battle.
"Do your best, my First and Only Bladeflower..." Alice smirked.
Having raised her sword to buff Kerry, Liliana would look at Alice confused; dark circles under her eyes spoke clear enough about the fairy’s state of mind. “I…no but…I’m no good like this,” Liliana said, wings drooping. “I’m even hallucinating a Lady Alice scolding me…”
"You imagine nothing of the sort. I am,” Alice says, "You need sleep."
"I’m fine," Liliana insisted, brushing past Alice to get closer to the gate.
Liliana would find herself behind Alice again, looping seamlessly, as she surpassed ten feet away from Alice.
"Oof!" Liliana blurted out, running into Alice’s backside and bouncing back.
"Ever-clumsy. You are far from fine,” Alice says. "Lying about it, and putting on a front is no sign of bravery. Just foolishness”
Liliana would grit her teeth, getting up and picking up Whimsy, only to find that her sword had turned to petrified wood. …Whimsy…was in agreement with Alice, it seemed. "...Whimsy, please!"
"Even the imp understands, you've reached a limitation that you've never been dealt before," Alice says, "Cowardice is something unbecoming of you, Bladeflower, o’ brave Knight,” she kept her back to Liliana, "Yet here you are, fearing not the most imminent threat, but the most internal threat: breaking a promise to a dead woman.”
Clutching Whimsy to her chest, Liliana would shudder behind in Alice’s shadow. "I promised Cecilia…and I promised Lady Alice. I…Knights keep promises. They always do. I promised to see Cecilia. I promised Lady Alice I’d see her again. I can’t do both…"
"Your allegiance is to the Fairy Queen, Titania,” Alice says, "Honor and Duty are the blades of a true knight. You display one at a time, limiting yourself from your potential...”
"Titania…maybe…I was never fit to be a Knight to her…maybe that’s why she sent me here," Liliana said, wings losing color as she started to dread countless possibilities.
"Maybes are poison to the self,” Alice says, "Pity isn't something I will impart upon you. That's for others, like Marigold, to do.”
"Even so…" Liliana said, rising to her feet with the petrified Whimsy in her arms, starting to try to walk past Alice again. "Even if I don’t think that I’m a very good knight…Titania thought I was. And Lady Alice did too. And I won’t disappoint them."
Liliana would loop back.
"A good knight understands her limitations, and doesn't run from them, but faces them,” Alice says.
"Yeah…but right now, limits or whatever, I gotta get us past that big door," Liliana said, looking up at it, the gate easily towering over every member of the task force, let alone its smallest.
"You believe you can bypass that gate, when you cannot even pass by me,” Alice asks.
Liliana would smile at Alice’s back, saying: "I gotta try! I definitely won’t if I don’t, and I wanna, so I gots-ta!"
"Says who,” Alice asks, looking back, her expression devoid of warmth, a convalescence of seriousness and confrontation, "If you backed down, it would not be a strike against you. Yet you struggle onwards," she says, "To accomplish what? To prove your worth to... Marigold, that one that raised you? Daisy, the one you succeeded? Rosebud, the one you idolize? Titania, the one you serve? Or..." Alice returned her attention forward, "...this foolish Queen of Nothing that stands before you, taking promises without reward...”
"Everyone, of course! But…" Liliana would suddenly step forward, hugging Alice. "Right now, its just you here, Lady Alice. O-Or Cecilia…whichever is right here, that’s who I’ll keep my promise to, the whole way!"
Alice wouldn't rebuff her, chuckling. "Honor and Duty are the blades of a true knight. It's certainly true to say that Whimsy is a Blade of Duty,” she would turn, and draw Carroll, "You're in need of a Blade of Honor, in that case."
"Whimsy’s honorable though," Liliana said, Whimsy coming to life once more on her back.
Alice chuckled, again, before presenting Carroll for Liliana without saying anything.
Reaching her left hand out, Liliana would carefully take hold of her handle.
“This is quite the arrangement...”
"A-Are you sure? You and Carroll have a special bond…like me and Whimsy," Liliana asked, gently handling Carroll while awaiting Alice’s answer.
Alice returned her attention to the gate, crossing her arms, as her feet started to petrify. The effective area of [O’ Frabjous Day!] would start to extend, encroaching upon the castle, as she extended her invitation upon the Taskforce and started to fiddle with Time Magic.
Even at her best, over such a massive area and with no ritual prep time, she could only dull the reaction speeds of her - no, of their enemies. Still, it would have to be enough. Time Magic was a difficult magic, but it was the specialty of Mad Hatters.
This was something that only she could do.
“An encore, I see...” Carroll understood the assignment, before she would surge over Liliana, and enter Whimsy’s mindscape.
"What’s your plan, Carroll," Whimsy demanded.
“Oh, don't you struggle with that, little petal,” Carroll purred, fingerwalking from her left shoulder to her right, “You and I have a more important task...” she says, her tone dipping into sultry, as she whispered into Whimsy's ear, “Merging Duty and Honor to create Bravery.”
"........."
"H-Huh?" Whimsy questioned as her eyes followed Carroll’s fingers, then shuddering as the wood elemental’s ears were pricked by her whispering. "M-M-M-Merging what and huh to WHAT!?" she questioned. "Liliana, don’t j-just stand there! Do something!"
Liliana stared at Carroll’s goop covering her sword, weakly offering a thumbs-up. "Be brave, Whimsy! I will never forget you!"
Carroll netted her fingers with Whimsy's from behind, bringing her into a hug, before twirling her as she hummed. As if she'd been born to, Whimsy’s feet would twist and turn with Carroll’s, as she led her through a dance - familiar, subdued steps, entering and exiting a perfect circle.
The Waltz of a Wallflower.
“Be honored, little petal,” Carroll says, “I don't dance with just anyone. The Wallflower Waltz is my creation, made for the woman I loved and lost...” she would draw Whimsy close, and rest her chin upon her shoulder, “I'm sharing my very soul with you. I was created to cut and you to bind. We're well matched.”
Carroll would draw her head back, before looking face-to-face with Whimsy, “I'll cut. You sew. Together, Honor and Duty make Bravery, and create a brave heart...”
Uncharacteristically gentle, Carroll would bring her lips to Whimsy's, as she closed her eyes, and left it to her to close the gap.
Whimsy would squeeze her eyes shut and close the distance and…
Some things lead to other things, and Liliana was starting to wonder if this was just an elaborate scheme by Alice to get their swords to date. Which was…cute? Kinda? Liliana wasn’t sure.
Elaborate schemes, while the forte of a Mad Hatter, usually didn't involve self-sacrificing. Regardless, Liliana would feel a far more powerful weapon coming to life in her hands - a heavy weapon unfit for a Fairy. A greatsword - no, a hand-and-a-half sword, better known as a bastard sword - with a gleaming blade of silver and an emerald handle with a rosebud pommel, three blossomed roses upon the European-style cross guard - one in the center, and one of each end - and a network of thorny vines that created a lattice, not unlike a fencing sword.
It took elements from Carroll and from Whimsy to create a heavy sword that was balanced for both sweeping and thrusting attacks.
Liliana would have to maintain her Human-size to have the physicality to wield it due to the fusion.
"Alright…its time to get this siege started! Kerry, poof!" Liliana said, pointing her blade at Kerry, causing her to turn invisible as she’d requested.
"Gringor, hit ‘em hard!" Liliana said, casting Giant’s Strength upon Gringor, feeling the orc’s strength multiplied would let him just tear the gate apart like paper.
"Atsuha, let’s keep you safe," Liliana said, casting Ironhide on Atsuha, her skin gaining a magical barrier just an inch above it that would deflect most physical attacks.
"Now…let’s knock this place down, and save Takeshi’s dad! This is how I’m gonna ruin their beauty sleep! Summoooooooooooon! Vorpalllllllllll! Cow!" Liliana cried out, drawing a circle with her blade before the gate before a bull larger than any of the many assembled warriors had ever seen, nearly twelve feet tall with horns spanning the length of a man. What very well may be the strongest bovine on the planet would grind its hoof against the ground before glowering at the gate, sweeping its head once before cleaving the wall before it, then charging a gaping hole through it with the same ease a scythe cuts through grass.
Leveling Whimsy and Carroll’s united form on her shoulder, Liliana would point forward. "For Shizuyama!"
Alice would watch, slowly freezing in place. Time for Time, a fair trade for an unparalleled advantage. Silently, she'd simply approve of Liliana taking charge. All she could do now was hope for the best…
"We’ll be back, Lady Alice!" Liliana made one last promise before stepping in, ready for an all-out battle.
"Do your best, my First and Only Bladeflower..." Alice smirked.
Eula
@Restalaan (SKA) @AzureKnight (HIN & SHI)
Scaling the stony walls of the castle was trivial to Eula, her steel fingers easily able to dig into the wall when she couldn’t find footing. Making her way along with the rest of the team to go over their plan within a gap in the wall, Eula would listen to Takeshi’s plan before formulating her own. Skarsneek’s idea was a well-suited one for controlling the flow of reinforcements to the gate front, but Eula felt that the hobgoblin would be best suited with support from someone else.
Then, a change was tangible in the air. As if there was a protective aura that was enshrouding those who were allied with the task force. Recognizing this as Alice’s ability, Eula would clench her fist before looking to Takeshi as he started to scale the mountain face.
"Takeshi will need some support. The Varjans will likely have extremely powerful guards inside the castle, so I will follow to back him up. Best of luck, everyone," Eula said before kicking off the wall to start pursuing Takeshi, hoping that whatever distraction was being concocted at the gate would be enough to let them slip into the castle.
