OwO

Home is where the Hearth is [Closed]

it's been ten thousand years...

Sleepless Nights\\ Iron Cages

"Oooh, I wouldn't get cozy with that book," Roqe said with a wince. Immediately after placing the book under her arm, Yasu felt it. Every so often, the book pulsed from deep within the pages. It felt alive, even if it couldn't be called that. Was it a heartbeat or was it just a supernatural quality it possessed? What would be the difference between the two?

"That's human skin, by the by."

Trying not to look at the book that Yasu now held, Roqe answered.

"I didn't try to hide earlier. But, uh, the culties got here first. One thing lead to another..." She placed her hands on her head before quickly rotating, her tongue making a clicking noise. "So I thought it was better to hide in case you lot weren't actually part of Mel's group. I wasn't actually going to jump down until I saw that dreary bitch jump in. I'd rather not spend my time killing." A pause. "More than I already have."

Sleepless Nights\\ Iron Cages

Combat has now concluded. Now it's just finishing up this little arc, then we'll probably move onto each character briefly doing their own thing like (but not limited to):

• Getting a new weapon/relic
• Spending time with Mel/Roqe (the green finger)/Honest and getting background history
• Doing their own thing to advance their personal goals
• Spending time with each other in some bonding moment
• Etc

Next big update will probably be in 9 to 11 days.

Sleepless Nights\\ Iron Cages

Final

CLEANERS Honest Tough Love: Refuses to act unless someone is in danger or it's funny Yasu Cam Niid Emma	TARGET LIST Lion-headed Ringleader [MISTED] Beast of Rage: Gain strength as wounded. Nemean: Unless annihilated, recover from lethal damage. Half-Man Sized Car [EXPLODED] Clown Car: If possible, creates another clown. Elephant-headed Unicyclist [POPPED] Elephant-headed Trapeze [SPLATTERED] Clown with Accordion Arms Clown with Oversized Axe Clown with Undersized Mallet Clown Covered in Party Poppers Clown of Normal Human Size
Special characters have special qualities that may be hidden until they become apparent. Undetected characters can freely act until detected, but can only take one action that would reveal them.	Elite entities require multiple actions to fell and have special (possibly unknown) characteristics. Greater entities may require multiple actions to fell. Lesser entities can be slain by a single action. Destroyed entities are usually out of the fight [state] denotes their current state and [#] denotes how many actions they can perform each round. > {Name} denotes who the enemy is currently focusing on.

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Yasu's blade met the ringleader's flesh. If Nils proved that hewing was not an option, then all Yasu had to do was pierce the beast. The blade became lodged in the ringleader's chest and stopped moments before touching its heart. Then, Yasu's foot met the hilt of her blade and was freed from its lodging; it had penetrated through its heart and body, handle and all. A failure to cleave was not a failure to pierce judging by the fist-sized hole in the ringleader's torso. With her foot now placed upon the ringleader, she leapt off as shadows encroached.

The hydra-lion that Emma bit into the ringleader. Hunks of flesh were torn off as the snake-like lion heads recklessly chewed through everything in front of them. Even without its heart, the ringleader wouldn't be stopped. Its muscles swelled more and more to make up for the lost mass. Its attempts to rip the shadow off itself were fruitless; each crushing attempt only made more heads.

As a final coup, Cam leapt at the lion's throat. Her claw took the beast's neck windpipe and all. It finally slumped to its knees. What once had been a countenance of magnificent showmanship had been reduced to a bleeding mass of flesh and holes.

But the beast was not slain. Sinewy flesh extended between the gaps. Strings of muscle tightened and the holes shrunk. Its body contorted as it no longer had the shape of man. No, it adopted a more primal form: a lion of flesh and verisimilitude. What stood before them was not a ringleader. It was a beast of closed wounds, swelling muscles, and true rage.

A familiar sound came from behind the cleaners. The revving of an engine. The rattling of a chain. Honest had leapt into action as she bounded across the hall in a single leap. It was the acknowledgement of a fatal combo. One that had to be dealt with swiftly, otherwise it would perhaps never end.

But it was not Honest who reached the Nemean's true form first.

A figure leapt from the projection room and collided with the Nemean. With a single crack, the former-ringleader erupted into a red mist that covered the stage and filled the air.

An eccentric-looking woman holding a plastic bag turned around and faced the cleaners. Emma's lack of combat instinct prevented her from feeling fear, but she still understood that this person was bad news. In comparison, Cam's animalistic intuition screamed at her. She was no longer an apex predator. It was as though she was a mouse staring down a hawk. Yasu understood the truth of what she felt in the projector room: the danger came from the realization of their insignificance. It was as though their lives were meaningless before such a person. They were insects who had hidden themselves in the corners of a room and had to pray that they would not be noticed.

"That's probably enough entertainment, yea~?"

Immediately, Honest's chain glaive cut into the woman's skull. A putrid purple liquid spun as the saw dug deeper and deeper into the woman's skull. Quickly, the chain on the glaive shattered and spat its teeth into the woman.

With a mere gesture from the eccentric, Honest had been pushed back. The woman's split face stretched. The dripping purple fluid formed into strings between each half and pulled itself together. It looked as though nothing had ever happened.

"Hey now, I didn't come here to fight~!" She exclaimed. "Besides, do you really want to endanger these chiclets to capture a fraction of me?"

Honest paused for a moment. "Tch."

"Man, you really put me in a tough spot~" she said as she turned to Yasu. "The dreamer told me that it was just going to be someone shady who would have given up trying to get in. Made me think that dumping the bodies of those culties in there would be safe. You have no idea how hard it is to try to hide yourself~!"

"Get to the point, Roqe." Honest interrupted. She was still gripping onto the broken glaive, seemingly seconds away from pouncing.

"Can't have a pleasant conversation now, can I?" She sighed as she tossed the plastic bag at the cleaners. It struck the ground and its contents slid out. While the bag said "Yum-Pyang! Heart Food", what was inside was a book bound in patchwork leathers.

"Eurgh, can't stand looking at that thing..." The woman winced as it came out of the bag.

"But this is all out of love for the 10th. You'd hardly find someone else who's still so attached to it like I am. Give this to Mel and tell her that he is returning to the 10th. She'll figure out what it means."

Decibitus

Lucian

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~1445 | PARIS | FASHION SHOW VENUE

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"I'm okay, thank you for asking. Lucian pleasantly replied as he took a few steps away from the grooving skeletons. He wasn't about to trust some skeleton near him after being crushed into a wall by one. "Oh, and she was carried off by some monkeys." He flatly stated. His general airheadedness made it difficult to determine how accurate his observation was.

Then, after finally giving his brain time to finish processing the battle and everything that happened, a grimace came over Lucian's face.

Lucian wasn't a super human. Well, he was as much as reaper could be. Now that there wasn't multiple things going on, Lucian's brain cells could finally interpret what happened to his body.

Rather than crumple to the floor in pain, Lucian's body acted autonomously with its experience. No, he fell attractively. It was like he was at a model shoot where pictures would share with the world how meek, vulnerable, and pounceable he was.

Sleepless Nights\\ Iron Cages

Update post probably on Thursday.

Expedition to Isekai

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The Inaba junkyard was always full of treasures. The bits of sharp dented metal and broken vehicles--things that could hurt a child--were far away from where Rin had been cordoned off. The Inaba family was always busy. Always something to do, always something to fix. They could only give Rin a watchful eye and whatever cleaned up junk a child would enjoy. The young Rin didn't mind, however. She didn't really feel frustration when her family couldn't play with her. Even as a youngling, her mind wandered away from emotions and towards the objects in front of her.

Still, she wanted to get over that barrier. She wanted to see what objects lay beyond the wall. Her body was too weak and stubby to climb or push it. The most she had was the objects in front of her. A circular thing, a length of rope, and a bunch more bits that she enjoyed playing with. Her mind immediately went to work. The weakness of her stubby little form had been overcome with instinctive mechanics. The wall had been torn down. Of course, her mother was watching the whole thing and immediately ran out to grab her before she could explore. Ever since that day, Rin was intoxicated by the power mechanics could bring.

...

Rin waking up was always a strange thing to watch. Where normal people would stew in their bed on the verge of consciousness, Rin would rocket to a sitting position with her mind functioning at 100% capacity. Unfortunately, for Sohei, his moment of gentle bonding was cut short. Her head glanced a strike against his and her body straightened until he was forced to drop her.

"Sorry it happened again," Rin said with an anxious look on her face. Not because she had impacted Sohei's head again, but because of her tools. She had her hammer, but not having anything else made her feel naked. Immediately, she ran back to the dead beast that had launched her sky high. She needed her tools.

Her bag was donezo, but that didn't mean she had no way of storing it. She had pockets and socks. If she needed to, she would tuck her pants into her socks and use her entire set of overalls as a new bag. Recollecting her tools were of the upmost important. It was a good thing she kept spares in her bag. Even if one was permanently lost, she might luck her way into its double.

...

Collecting what she could, she returned to the group with her mind calmed. She did her best to ignore the screams and sobs. She'd join up with the shelter-team. Building was always one of Rin's forte. Even if the concepts to her blueprints weren't sound, her techniques were. Her role was more leaning towards advisement. How to tie knots, how to put the structure together, etc. What she was really doing was sharpening sticks that seemed particularly strong.

She was making simple spears. Just in case.

Decibitus

Lucian

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~1444 | PARIS | FASHION SHOW VENUE

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Slipping on his own balls was mildly embarrassing. Well, it would have been if Lucian had been aware of what happened. From his point of view, his face was suddenly touching the floor. He wasn't the type to stare at his own feet, so how could he tell that he owned himself like that?

"C-curse you!" He yelled out as though the skeletal dragon had attacked him. He rose from his position, ready for his next move.

After all that, it was apparent that object permanence wasn't exactly one of Lucian's fortes. Apparently, neither was attacking the enemy. Lucian did what Lucian did best: stand there and look pretty.

Moral support was his big idea for helping in the fight.

He cheered and clapped on as his teammates fought the beast. He probably should have attacked or tracked down the monkeys. He did neither, of course.

Persona ~ Alone at Sea (PERSONA WITH A BOAT 𓊝)

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Unsurprisingly, Maive did not wake up when Verity let her fall nor did she wake when Imogen half-dragged her and submerged her in water. She only woke when Imogen nudged her; a holdover from having early-rising children nudging her awake. From Maive's perspective, she had summoned a persona, been flung into a tree, had a fuzzy conversation, then woke up in a bathroom. A normal person would take it all as a dream induced by some toilet-related disaster were it not for the sand and water.

The first words out of Maive were not of existential dread as Imogen would quip. Instead, it was of worry.

"Is everyone okay?"

She shot up from Imogen's side and glanced every which way. Just her and Imogen. It made sense that it would be that way. After all, having two people in a stall together was already a tight fit. Cooperative toiletry was not exactly an spacious experience for either party.

Like a bat out of hell (more accurately, a magic roach in a public restroom), she quickly sprinted out of the stall. Her worn-down and wet soles squeaked as she slid into a stop. Then, she turned and faced Imogen. Their eyes met and Maive's body bent into a fierce bow. Then she spun again and ran out of the washroom.

Of course, she didn't exactly think her next move through. Traumatic brain injuries did that to a person. It would be her first time storming a men's washroom. Thank goodness there was nobody there to watch, save for the group being put through the way-home-randomizer.

Or maybe it wasn't a good thing they were there, considering how Maive immediately ran into a sopping wet Swim McTrunks.

Sleepless Nights\\ Iron Cages

CLEANERS Honest Tough Love: Refuses to act unless ??? or ??? Yasu Cam Niid Emma	TARGET LIST Lion-headed Ringleader [BLINDED; NEUTERED] [2] Beast of Rage: Gain strength as wounded. Nemean: ??? Half-Man Sized Car [EXPLODED] Clown Car: If possible, creates another clown. Elephant-headed Unicyclist [POPPED] Elephant-headed Trapeze [VERY MUCH FUCKED] [1?] Clown with Accordion Arms Clown with Oversized Axe Clown with Undersized Mallet Clown Covered in Party Poppers Clown of Normal Human Size
Special characters have special qualities that may be hidden until they become apparent. Undetected characters can freely act until detected, but can only take one action that would reveal them.	Elite entities require multiple actions to fell and have special (possibly unknown) characteristics. Greater entities may require multiple actions to fell. Lesser entities can be slain by a single action. Destroyed entities are usually out of the fight [state] denotes their current state and [#] denotes how many actions they can perform each round. > {Name} denotes who the enemy is currently focusing on.

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Yasu's blade met the whip as she charged forward. Each Yasu felt the full strength of what they had faced. Their shoulders screamed out in agony, desperate to pop out of their sockets. The vibration melted their hands, even if it was just sensory. The air pressure cut into their faces, small rivers of blood forming and clotting in an instant.

But Yasu won. The whip was cut before Yasu was torn asunder. The beast could only respond with its anger, its muscles continuing to bulge larger with rage.

They all had an opening.

Niid, on the other hand, was less fortunate. What had been cut remained in motion. Disconnected from its handle, a portion of the whip quickly spun its way over to him to strike him in the skull. If it struck his skull, there would have likely been a fracture. Fortune favoured metal more than bone, however. While his brain rattled around in its cage, the remains of the whip only wrapped around his head and pulled him to the ground. He'd live, even if his pride was continually wounded.

The snake-like clone that Emma birthed from the cyclist's own shadow was enough. No matter how fast one could be, one couldn't outrun their own shadow. Well, one could provided they were sufficiently airborne, but a single metre was not enough. The unicyclist was dragged back towards the ground, its wheel millimetres away from grinding Emma's face to the bone. The shadow constricted the cyclist. It tightened and tightened. Did the supernatural feel pain? Its writing certainly made it seem so. Its joints popped. Its bones cracked. Its head rattled and shook until finally...

Like a grape.

Cam's kick put a firm dent into the door. Another clown appeared within and pushed against the dented door. It wouldn't open. Her plan to block the door seemed to work. A second clown appeared and went for the opposite side. The door that Cam was eagerly awaiting at was, by some miracle, locked. The car spawned another clown. No luck opening the doors. Rapidly, the car became filled with malformed and underdeveloped clowns as it struggled to spew more at the beast who had killed its brood. Again and again, clowns of progressively worse development filled up the supernatural compartment until the car began to bulge, the metal--if it was even metal--weakening under the stress of so much pressure.

The windows gave way first. The glass pane was pushed out by a torrent of cream, confetti, and clown consistencies. The pressure inside was enough to destroy the hardened entity from the inside. While the frame was undamaged save for the Cam's dents, the synchronized detachment of each wheel signified its demise.

There would be no more funny business on this day.

Of course, with her focused on the car, Cam failed to notice what remained of the trapeze. With surprising agility, it leapt at the bestial woman from behind and subsumed her upper body within its butterflied flesh. It tightened around her and...

Well, that's all it did. Unlike the unicyclist, it didn't have a heavy spinning wheel that could grind others with. It didn't have the strength of the ringleader. It certainly didn't have the comical weaponry of the clowns. It would seem that the trapeze's main purpose was to pick someone up, throw them around, and be a general nuisance from the ceiling. Fortunately for the cleaners, they had dealt with it before it had come up.

Cam only had to deal with the death rattle of a sad performer who hadn't had a chance to shine.