XianaEvermor

Titan's Fall: The Abyssal Paradox

"Me?" Asked Archer innocently. He took a deep drag on his cigarette and rested his cheek in one hand, letting the smoke drift lazily through his teeth as he slowly exhaled. He regarded Dean with an amused twinkle in his eye for a long moment.

"I was just in the neighborhood, running an errand and wouldn't you know it... Mr. Locklear and his good pal all up out of bed and shit," Archer quipped, leaning back and blowing a smoke ring. A flicker of mana curled the smoke into an array, before it imploded on itself with a dissatisfying *pop.*

"Are you assensing right now, Mr. Locklear? Seeing if I have my guard up? Trying to guess if I have any tricks up my sleeve? Figuring out if I come in peace? Relax. I just stopped by to make sure y'all aren't gonna bring the tower down," he said dismissively.

"Are you sure you don't want me to fetch you a snack or a juice box?"

Titan's Fall: The Abyssal Paradox

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[Stoneworks - Interior]

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ID... Crimson was left to her own devices following the conclusion of her deal with the Erlings. With the occasional pulse of activity rippling through the barrier there was naught to do but wait for the Hunt to end. Though she didn't take her mask off, she strolled slowly through the idyllic gardens with her hood down, allowing her long, neatly curated braid of (very slightly red tinged) black hair to swing idly between her shoulder blades. She'd taken the opportunity to change into some fresh clothes that weren't melted... a pair of rugged, pitch cargo jeans and a fitted red long sleeved top made of a proprietary fiber. The outlines of ultra-thin armor plates showed vaguely about her shoulders and vital areas, peeking out to cover over her throat. A finely etched [Array] shimmered softly through the fabrics if the light hit it just so.

Crimson would leave her old clothes at a dead drop for a courier to collect along with notes about their performance. She'd have to work with the Quartermaster to formulate an enchanted weave with higher heat resistance next time she was home. Her fingers caressed the current of [Nature/Light] radiating softly from a nearby cairn stone at the center of the garden, and the flowers all leaned towards her as she knelt down to take in the fragrance. A leisurely stroll took her past the markets where she sampled wares and restocked her supplies, then to a café where she just sat for a while in full [Dreamsight] to watch the currents and flows of the Stonework's [Domain]. She remembered when this area had once been home to a [Death] domain and was considered irrevocably haunted.

One of the merchants directed her to the temple where she purchased feed for the spectral beasts. She spread a fair bit in a trough and was rewarded a few minutes later with a pair of starlight deer coming to investigate. A smile pinched the corners of her eyes when one ate from her hand and allowed her to stroke its neck and cheek. Farther along she traded a fistful of seed to a curious corvid for a piece of shiny, polished glass. It would make a good base for a decorative amulet... The frequency of pulses through the barrier had abated, so Crimson began to make her way towards the edge of the settlement: it was time to go check in with Mother and see if the Graves Blacksites were still intact.

"Hmmm! Yes! Student of the [Will] I see? Don't see many around here," a gruff but well-articulated voice called out to her as she passed by the Temple. Crimson paused, turning towards the voice. It belonged to a quite large specimen of the Diabolus Vulgaris deviant variety... Goblinization for the layman. Or it could be an actual Orc it was difficult to tell these days. While sitting down, he was nearly as tall as she, and the healthy green buff of his massive, oak-like arms glinted gently in the light. Each of his thick digits was nearly the size of her forearm and his raw strength pummeled the air as he beckoned her over. She couldn't help herself.

"What makes you say that?" She asked, as she stepped closer.

"The [Currents] pay you respect. They part to make way for you, and wait in anticipation of your [Words]," he explained. "[Mana] pays heed to you, stops, waits for your guidance. [Will] Shapers have a particular aura because of this," he chortled, picking at something behind one of his tusks with a long, claw-like nail.

"You aren't wrong," she chuckled. "Student of the [Will] is a very old title though, most modern Awakened call us 'Black Mages.'"

"A dirty association," he shuddered audibly. "Anyone who's done a lick of study knows... the Black Mages were only a minority subset of the tradition who valued the pursuit of power above all else," he scoffed.

"An educated man. My heart," she gave a genuine laugh, bringing an enormous smile to the Orc's face. "What can I do for you?"

"Hmmm! Yes! Well! What would you say if I told you, I also was a [Will] Shaper of sorts? Belonging to a more Shamanic subset of the tradition than the 'Student's' purely academic one at least. And! And! I could tell your... FORTUNE!" He waggled his fingers dramatically at the statement. Crimson's grin wrinkled the corners of her eyes.

"I would tell you that Students of the [Will] make their own fortune," she replied, unable to suppress her amusement.

"YES! Hmm! The retort of a true Student. Mana is science. Knowledge. Is. Everything," he snorted, slapping his monstrous thigh. The clap echoed through the temple like a gunshot, startling some of the other priests. "But! I would also tell you! HMM! That I do, indeed, live with one eye in the [Astral Sea] as well as you. Yes! I am afforded, a much clearer visage of the Red Thread of [Fate], tied to whom you will create your destiny...," he explained. Mysteriously, of course. "Lend me your hand," he instructed, to which Crimson obliged.

Her hand was nearly child-like in his massive mitts, though she was surprised at how positively gentle he was when he turned her hand over with one of his enormous fingers. His eyes rolled back as he delicately touched the end of her pinky. Her skin tingled, but she didn't detect any change in his Astral Form. He spoke with the voice of a dozen men and women layered on top of one another.

[Sun] and [Moon] confront at the [Shield]
Twin Dragons collide.
Great [Hunger] chases the trail
Paved by the Traveller of [Void] and [Light]
[Third Eye] ripped open
Veracity sunders souls.
The [Sun] will appoint...
Destruction - T̵̡͛ṳ̸̒r̶̟̽ṇ̶̈ ̷̗̔ã̷͙l̶͍̒l̷̟̈ ̵̗͒ṫ̷̻o̵̖͆ ̷͓̒a̷͇͒s̵̤̊ĥ̷̹.̶̮͑
Or yet... Pennance...

A crackle of thunder punctuated his fortune, causing Crimson to flinch. No... it was the barrier beginning to come down. She turned her eyes back to the priest, whose hand was still outstretched. He groaned quietly in trance with the whites of his eyes still showing. After a moment Crimson snorted, dropping a handful of coins into the Orc's palm.

"Thanks, old man," she giggled lightly. "You can read my fortune any time." Crimson scooped her braid up into her hood as she slid it back over her head and made her way towards the edge of the settlement. Looks like it was finally time to be on her way. The priest's eyes fluttered back a few minutes later, and he snorted and champed as though he were coming out of a deep sleep.

"Right! Hmm! My apologies, first I attune to the-" he blinked, staring at his palm for a long moment. "Hey check it out! I FOUND TEN CLAT!!" he bellowed excitedly into the temple, pocketing the coins with a mirthful smile. "Hmm! Yes! Lucky day, that."

Titan's Fall: The Abyssal Paradox

The spot lamps followed them intently for a brief moment. Rat shielded his face from the lights, and there was tension in the air for a tangible moment.

"Is that my Power Cell in your bag, Rat?" Wolf's voice chirped from the loudspeaker of the cannon drone as it edged in just a little closer.

"Yesyesyes! Rat delivers to Lady Wolf" he shouted back, unnecessarily loud. "...For Fred...," he muttered under his breath, clutching the bag a little tighter.

"I got two empties for recharge... extra hundo if you can take them?"

"Two hundred clatters! FOR RAT'S TROUBLES!!" He shrieked, shaking the sword at the drone. Wolf groaned audibly.

"Fine. Fine. These ruffians bothering you?" Rat froze in Maire's grip, his beady eyes darting up to look at her nervously, and then at Cat-Kitty-Bug-Lady.

"Uh...," he hesitated. The cannon spun up. "Nonono! Nonono! Rat guides them, Rat is their guide!" The spot lamps clacked off, though the cannon drone darted to the side and rolled to dump altitude, thrusters flaring brilliantly to stabilize the craft and compensate for the cannon's ridiculous recoil. *BRRRRRRT!!* The cannon screamed angrily, whipping a hail of tracers past them. A fissure had opened up near the bottom of the wall and a hulking beast with glowing veins evaporated in a plume of impacts and dust.

"Wolf I swear to Christ if you ruin the meat with your contraptions it's coming out of your cut!!" A large woman screamed up at the drone from the fortified window of one of the buildings below.

"MAMA~~ Jeezo, that one wasn't edible! I'M BEING CAREFUL!" Wolf yelled back, the shrill feedback of the drone's loudspeaker punctuating her words. "You three get behind the wall. Big man's gone out, but someone will get you sorted. Let us take care of the rest," she ordered, as the cannon drone whooshed upward to take sentry over the wall. The *crack* of smaller sporting rounds began to occasionally ring past, picking off stragglers and anything that broke from the pack.

Titan's Fall: The Abyssal Paradox

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[Stoneworks - Interior]

[A Chaotix14 / XianaEvermor Collaboration]

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"While I can assure you nobody will follow you, the ravens tend to be spread all over the Undercity and will inevitably see you. As long as I don't ask for it they won't report anything back, but as they've probably already marked you as a person of importance should they deem you to be 'in danger' they'll report that back to me, regardless of what I asked them. I have limited control over the information that falls into my lap in this manner, it's a self-taught stubbornness of them." Zolya explained. "Such an amazing mage isn't she, can't even control her pets." Raudd teased after which he got a kick to the shins from his sister, like that'd do anything to him anyways. "Ahem, if the deal still works for you knowing this I'd have no problem sealing the deal."

"Oh, and while we are on the note of trade, most of the items I make can be used by others regardless of their magical affinities, as long as one is able to channel mana they can be used. I thought such items may be of use given your profession." She quickly added before holding out her hand, leaving ID to be the one to complete the pact.

ID hesitated, thinking for a few minutes. For Raudd and Zolya it was only a handful of seconds. After coming to a conclusion she shook the kanji from her hand, whispering a new spell into her palm before holding it out again.

"Meetings like these are very delicate. Your pets may put me in danger unintentionally, and I will have to destroy any that interfere with my work. Since I don't want to harm our relationship, this revised pact will illuminate your pets for me so I can avoid them, and as long as they aren't seeking me without need I believe this arrangement will be mutually beneficial," she explained, and waited for confirmation from Zolya before grasping her hand. A gentle warmth of [Light] pulsed through them both, and after a moment the flock of ravens outside lit up amber through the walls in her [Dreamsight].

"I doubt that'll be a problem, they are quite adept at being silent observers, but if that's what makes you feel comfortable." Zolya replied after having grabbed the hand of ID.

Clearing his throat and counted out a couple reels of clat. "Onto more practical matters, we haven't exactly introduced ourselves to each other, my name is Raudd Erling and this sister of mine is Zolya Erling." He said while extending a hand of his own. "How may we refer to you? Oh, and do you have some way to travel without attracting attention? Since you'll likely have to travel to our mansions for the trades, most certainly for the enchantments, and unknown people walking onto those grounds tends to draw a lot of attention... Which is why I like to do the business side of things in this café." He explained.

ID hesitated again, considering Zolya for a long time after Raudd's question. She exhaled a controlled sigh as her mind raced, and her eyes flicked rapidly from side to side as though she were scrolling through text in that moment of intense concentration. After a minute or so she looked back up at them, blinking to clear her eyes.

"[Heat] and [Light] are closely aligned... as long as the populace doesn't make a habit of living in [Dreamsight] I should be inconspicuous enough. Names, however... carry a level of risk... that I'm uncomfortable sharing with your Runesmith at this time," she answered uneasily. "But in the spirit of cooperation, I will respond to...," she hesitated again. Word-related magic was tricky to deal with, but if theory held true, she could afford herself a modicum of protection by expanding her portfolio of aliases.

"Crimson," she answered, as her eye was drawn towards the final wisp of that signature she'd been following as it swirled into the Stoneworks' central drain.

With her moving around in the shadows he'd imagined she would have racked up quite the list of aliases, she seemed slightly panicked by the idea of giving even a false name. Something Zolya had picked up as well. "... Well then, miss Crimson, unless you have some other business to attend to perhaps we can show you to our workshops. So Zolya can show you which materials need enchanting, in the meantime I can look into setting up a meeting with your person of interest." Raudd continued as Zolya finished her drink.

"Hmmm, the hunt might delay it a bit though. I'll send a couple ravens out to find them and keep an eye on them." Zolya said as she got up from the table. Raudd soon followed, and was already out the door to pay Grigor by the time Zolya had fixed her sword strap. She looked at Crimson who had placed her sword on the table. That's probably why... This must look really clumsy. She thought before making her way out of the room as well.

"No rush. Take all the time and care you need to make sure everyone feels safe meeting with me: I have another disturbance to investigate that has... moved to a higher priority and I may be gone for some time," answered Crimson, as she flipped her sword back onto her belt, fastening the buckle with one hand as she got up. A smile creased the corners of her eyes as she followed Raudd.

Raudd placed the reels of clat onto the counter, the sound of which alerted Grigor who had his back turned to the cafe as he was preparing another order. "Thanks for the coffee and have a good afternoon." Grigor counted the clat at a glance before nodding and waving Raudd a goodbye. "As always you make the best coffee, thank you." Zolya said with a smile as she passed Grigor to which the man pulled the dishcloth out of his beltloop and with a slight smile gave her a bow using the dishcloth for flair.

Crimson slid a few coins onto the bar as she passed Grigor. Even though she didn't order anything, his time and consideration of their privacy was worth the tip. As she passed through the door, she whispered to the [Light] and a haze of heat shimmered over her for a moment before she vanished. She couldn't hide the minute distortion of the air while moving but it should be enough to escape the notice of anyone who wasn't paying extra close attention.

Titan's Fall: The Abyssal Paradox

Wolf squinted at Dean for a long... long time after his theatrics. Inwardly she heaved a sigh of relief: that "little bit" of exertion on his part took a huge amount of stress off the other defenders, and all that was really left for them to do was mop up before Wee Little Devil came to take his cut. Outwardly though...

"Next time I gotta come get you, I'm gonna tell Alex about your thing," she jabbed, as a cable tether shot from her cybernetic arm with the loud pop of compressed gas. It found purchase on something overhead, and the cable twanged like a plucked string as it became taut and whisked her away rifle and all. She pulled an eyelid down with her middle finger and stuck her tongue out at him as she swung away.

The woman flew up towards a tall pylon at the edge of town. The repulsor sled parked there rocketed along the pair of tension cables, dragging her off into the darkness past the influence of the local Sun Lamps. The sled's thruster briefly illuminated a large camouflaged structure suspended high over the Earth a fair distance outside of town. It was held up by a spider webs of tension cables disappearing up into the darkness towards a Sun Lamp that was "curiously" not working. A Thresher that had leapt out of the pack energetically at the trio scaling the wall turned into a shower of meat and gore. The *CRUMP* of mass-reactive explosive rounds made Rat's ears ring, and a couple moments later the energetic *POW* of a light duty .50 BMG echoed like distant thunder.

"Shieldtown protects!" he squeaked up at Maire, awe and anxiety ringing through his voice in equal measure... like he wasn't really sure they were the ones Shieldtown would protect.

As if in response to that sentiment, a dark shape swooped through the darkness, just outside the effect of Sun Lamp-overhead. Some residual light glinted off the rounded tips of the trio of armor defeating missiles slung under the drone's central pylon. It banked sharply, and the crackling roar of its turbines suddenly cut the moment of silence as the targeting pod on its nose swiveled to keep them in view. A plume of blue light illuminated the hanging structure for a few moments preceding the distant roar of thrusters as another drone was launched. Little more than a mass of repulsor turbines and stabilizers, manned by a targeting pod and a massive rotary cannon probably ripped straight out of an old military plane swooped out to get an angle on the chitin covered woman flying over the wall.

Back in town, Dean only got several minutes of quiet "rest" before he was approached by more footsteps. A pair of fine dress shoes crunched in the nearby dirt conspicuously loud, though presumably the owner could have chosen to be silent... at least judging by his confident gait. A tarot card curved around Dean, halting in the air as though it had struck something just a few feet away from his "chair." A small ripple of [Force] warped the air as the dark-haired stranger stepped past to sit on it like a stool and light his cigarette. Archer's blue eyes gleamed with amusement at Dean as he took a deep first drag and exhaled with a note of satisfaction.

"Heeeeey there, honey. How ya doing? Can I get you a water? Maybe a snack?"

Titan's Fall: The Abyssal Paradox

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[Undercity - Forges Outskirts]

[A Fate001 / XianaEvermor Collaboration]

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Yue's feet found purchase, though at first they slid uncomfortably on the slick, glass-like surface of Aegis' barriers. It was enough to catch her breath. Thankfully "danger close, giant AOE" and "air mobility assistance required" sounded so similar... Yue punched a black disc in the palm of her gauntlet with three fingers, trailing her hand. The platform splintered as she pushed off and a hammer with a massive hexagonal head materialized in a flash of white as she streaked towards the next platform.

The hammer's head opened up as Yue inhaled. Power coiled in her muscles and the hammer's soothing bass tone rose to a shriek as the [Crimson] thundered loudly around her, spiraling into the hammer's open panels. The head slammed shut as her feet planted on a barrier platform, her body coiled into a low crouch a few dozen meters above the creature.

She launched, uncoiling as she fell like a meteor and brought the hammer down on the creature's exposed back.

Tail smashes the mountain.

A shockwave ripped through the arena, the earth shattered beneath them. An explosion of coarse dust chased the thunder high into the air.

Unable to hold his fields up from the strain, Alex's barriers began to stutter. Dropping to a knee, he pulled his helmet off to gasp at air that wasn't coming through electronic filters. his head was pounding as he gripped at his temples and hissed in pain.

Through pain blurred vision, Alex looked towards the impact site. Yue with her hammer embedded in the hydra's back. An almost picturesque image of a triumphant hero slaying a foul beast. A small part of him that wasn't dealing with the skull splitting pain would have wanted to take a picture. He almost wanted to drop there and finally relax.

Almost.

The moment was soured however when even through his pain addled mind he could see that the Hydra's glow wasn't fading. Shit! The bastard wasn't dead from that?!

He tried to stand, to warn Yue that it wasn't over. What he was met with however was staring down the gullet of one of the Hydra's reptilian heads as it's teeth closed around him. It happened in a blink of a second, so fast that he barely could process how the thing had even managed it.

He could only let out a single word before the titanic jaws snapped shut on him. "Fuck!"

As the hydra began to move, Yue leapt back. The hammer dissolved into white light as she witnessed the creature snap him up in its jaws. Time stopped, her heart was pounding. Throat raw. She was screaming something... maybe just screaming.

It's happening again.

Yue's vision was tinted red. The [Crimson] stormed around her, lashing out at anything it could reach, splintering the ground at her feet, smashing at the rubble. She felt the tremors in the ground... maybe it was just her body shaking uncontrollably.

It's happening again. The monster won't stop.

She stood next to where the Sword of Justice had landed, embedded half way into the rubble. It sang, even through the time dilation, battered by the [Crimson] escaping her. She hesitated to grasp it, hands shaking.

It's happening again. I'm losing someone.

Get a grip. The barriers were still active, though they were dissolving. He would probably live... if she acted now. If she acted right now... RIGHT NOW!

I can't fail again...

It was a flash of motion. All at once she and the sword were gone. With a thunderous CRACK the head holding Alex was severed, and for a split second she was crouched on one of Alex's failing barriers. It shattered as she launched; lightning raked through its second neck, crawling down its spine as the head flipped away and she touched the second barrier for the barest moment.

She launched diagonally, ripping the sword of Justice savagely through the skull of the feline head. Her momentum pushed her into a crouch against Alex's last barrier directly over the beast's exposed heart. She felt her body slam hard into the suit's limiters, and every indicator on her HUD flashed red as she broke through.

Dragon roars.

Yue was carried by a bolt of lightning, plunging the sword to the hilt into the creature's heart. Her HUD lit up like a Christmas tree as the wind was knocked out of her. Time resumed, and for a second all she could see was lightning crashing all around her. And then as something hit her, she blacked out.

The world had been plunged into darkness. Alex struggling against disgusting, undulating wet flesh and muscle. He had tried to grip, to claw and fight his way out of the hydras throat. Desperately trying to find purchase only to have his grip slip again and again as he slid towards the things stomach.

Panic drowned his mind, the mental pain becoming nothing but numb white noise. Sparks of blue light flickered around him in disjointed geometric patterns. Alex didn't feel like he had control. His mind was burning And his bones felt like static.
That's when the darkness was suddenly filled With noise.

Without his helmet, Alex had no way to drown out the volume of the Apex's core detonating. His saving grace being still lodged in one of the hydra's necks. Which was currently flying through the air along with the hail of gore that was what remains of its once resilient body.

Alex clawed his way out of the gaping neck hole gasping for breath. Everything felt wrong, his head was so overstimulated. His ears rang and everything looked blurry. He wasn't of much use, probably couldn't even stand up straight. despite everything his body was probably unscratched and he had the energy to Spare. Screw that though.

He was just gonna lay down for a bit. And god help any other beast that tried chewing on him while he caught his breath and waited out the pain.

Titan's Fall: The Abyssal Paradox

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[Undercity - Stoneworks Interior]

[A Chaotix14 / XianaEvermor collaboration]

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Of course the place she'd mention was that place, and by process of elimination there really was only one person it could be. "Yeah, that would be the place where your person of interest and the shapeshifting menace that came to harass you earlier got into a fight, at least I hope there aren't multiple of those running amok." Raudd explained as he grabbed the rock and gave it a little toss with some spin. Could be turned into a nice trinket, but likely much more work than it's worth given the hairline cracks on it.

Zolya buried her face deeper into her drink as Raudd continued. "So as you might have guessed I have a pretty good grasp on who your person of interest is. Arranging a meeting on the other hand that's going to be complicated. There will have to be a significant benefit to the person in question for a meeting to be arrangeable, and money or fire crystals aren't going to work for that." For Raudd this was just business as usual, except in this particular case he didn't know exactly what his represented party would need. That would be his sisters part, he just needed to pull out what was on offer.

ID nodded, contemplating their answer. Moreover, she was processing their mannerisms as they spoke. Clearly this person was under their protection for some reason, or her presence in relation to them was alarming. She considered her response carefully.

"Maybe it would ease your conscience if I explained what I do," she began. "As I mentioned, I'm extremely sensitive to any disruption of the natural Manascape. I follow these disturbances to uncover the source, and if necessary sort out any natural cause and restore the balance. Sometimes I find artifacts or people and... I collect the shiny things," she explained with a bit of a sheepish sigh.

"People are interviewed to determine their knowledge of the Awakened World, if any. Afterwards, I either help them find a mentor so they can learn to properly control their magic, or try to convince them to stop using their powers," she concluded.

"I can sense your concern for this person. I assure you I have only their wellbeing in mind: anyone who can cause a disturbance that warrants my investigation without training is a danger to themselves and others. Don't trouble yourself, however: I understand that trust is earned. For the time being, why don't we focus on what I can do to compensate for the damage that I caused."

Neither of the siblings quite knew what to make of the statements and suggestions from ID. Zolya just gave her brother a quiet nod as he glanced over to her for advice. Secret organizations weren't uncommon among the mage society, but she came on quite strong in her desires to pull this particular mage to her side, especially given this particular mage has been under the protection of the Black moon society... As of 20 seconds ago. Regardless arranging a meeting likely wasn't going to cause any harm, providing the meeting happened on their turf.

"Hmm yes, the damages. As mentioned earlier I'd like to have you perform some enchanting work, but to make sure this arrangement works for both of us I have some questions. Assuming all mana needs are provided what's the amount of mundane fire affinity materials you could enchant to low level magic materials in... Hmm, let's say an hour, and would that be one large singular piece or can it be a fine powder?" She asked the lady as Raudd finished his coffee.

"It depends on the quality of the source material," she answered after a while, after considering their request carefully. "Without going into specifics... what you're asking can be done. The amount is inconsequential as long as the source material is free of contaminants. Powders are less than ideal: they tend to carry trace contaminants from the tools that were used to create them," she explained, casually spreading some sparkling red dust onto the table. She traced a magatama into it and a handful of rough kanji before reaching over and placing the sheared rock in the eye.

"The more contaminants in the source material, the weaker the enchantment... Affinities also matter: Fire and Water are opposed elements, so fire aspecting something that will be diluted in liquid (like ink or paint) will result in an weaker overall affinity," concluded ID, pressing her fingertips to the edge of the illustration.

"However, contrary to traditional enchanting conventions... I've found the two most important factors of material enchanting are the quality of the base material, and the preparation of the area. Everything else has a negligible effect on the final product." ID tilted her head a bit, making direct eye contact with Zolya. The mana surrounding her shuddered and swirled. An invisible breeze stirred the room, and ID illuminated brilliantly in the [Immaterial], not unlike a star. Wisps of amber rose out of her skin, caught up in the breeze to disperse around the table and after a few moments she was sitting in the center of a small, but strong Domain of [Fire/Light].

A vent in her mask clicked open, and she gently breathed into her free palm. A snap of her fingers created a spark and ignited the gas, which she let cascade onto the stone. A surge of mana pressed the flames and a substantial amount of her Domain into the stone, flashing the dust and the design onto the stone's surface. ID let the rest of her Domain fade into the background noise and get reclaimed by [Nature] as she rolled the now strongly aspected stone towards Zolya.

"Will that suit your needs? A sample with fewer contaminants would result in a stronger enchantment, but much more than that will require a specially prepared area."

Zolya carefully took the stone to her hand, observing it for a little while. "Do you know what kind of rock this is? She asked her brother. "Not a geologist, but it's not an igneous rock, if that's what you're asking." Raudd replied with some annoyance at the magical bullshit he just witnessed.

"Common shale, bit of limestone. Some concrete and other contaminants," she answered blithely. "The imbuement process gives me some knowledge of the makeup of the material."

After looking over the stone a few moments longer and dwelling on the design left over on the stone Zolya spoke up once more. "Am I right in assuming that damage to this design on the stone will weaken or even ruin the enchantment? As you might imagine an important detail with all the carving done to the runestones you've seen outside."

"That would be the case if this were made with traditional methods, since the array would have been the anchor for the enchantment.

"The array runs throughout. Cut it up a thousand times and it will remain unbroken. Crush it to powder, dilute it to ink, paste, chalks, thread. Matters not: the material is the anchor for the enchantment. It's saturated; same as if it'd formed naturally in a Domain. The array is the medium, the crystal dust a binding agent. The imprint is a byproduct of the process. Anything can be enchanted, not just what an array will survive on," she explained, with a hint of passion in her voice. ID cleared her throat anxiously after a second.

"That sounds just about perfect for my purposes." Zolya mused before taking another sip.

"Sorry... anyway... I have a condition: I will freely give any enchantment that you desire. If you wish, I can also stop by and trade my goods when I'm in the area. However, none of your pets, friends, family, or other affiliates may follow me," she stated, holding out her hand. It came alight with mana, forming kanji on her palm [盟約]. "This pact will be binding, and if it's broken I'll know. Do we have an agreement?"

Titan's Fall: The Abyssal Paradox

Rat hustled. While scampering on all fours he was surprisingly quick. His breath came in gasping pants as he darted over and around Threshers and other creatures burrowing up from beneath them, all the while, the swords that chased him slashed at anything that got too close. The reinforced steel walls of Shieldtown had begun to crest over the hill. The thunderous stomps of re-purposed construction Frames resonated through the distance as they swung huge slabs of concrete and steel to funnel the swarm into narrow, reinforced corridors.

A fissure opened up in front of Rat and he skittered to a halt just in time, leaping back and grasping instinctually for purchase he might pull himself up onto. His spindly fingers grasped something firmly, though rather than pulling him up to safety, he was swung in an arc at the end of a floating sword, cleanly slashing the emerging Thresher in twain. He stood, dumbfounded as his gaze slowly switched between the weapon and the slain beast. His eyes became wide as dinner plates as he sucked in a breath.

"RAT HAS PROWESS OVER THE BLADE!!!!" He shrieked triumphantly.

---

"DEEEEAAAAAN~~! Vi and Jade are down for the count, along with half the defenders," Wolf shouted as she pounded on the door of Alex's home. The Synthflesh of her cybernetic arm resonated through the reinforced structure. She sighed, leaning on her rifle as she tried, unsuccessfully, to pull a strand of white hair out of her sweat slicked face. "DEAN! I swear to Gods, if you are not bleeding from the eyes, nose, and mouth when I break this door down... We're seriously short handed out here! I need help!"

Wolf groaned at the notification chirp from her earpiece. Her left eye flashed red as she flicked through the viewpoints of the drones hovering over the wall. She took a knee, turning and hefting her enormous rifle up into a firing position. She closed her right eye. The HUD flashed orange as it synced to her weapon, displaying the reticle and firing solution. The weapon rocked against the recoil dampeners in her cybernetic arm as she squeezed the trigger. A thunderous *BOOM* thudded against the structure as the shockwave from the weapon's discharge showered Dean's entryway with dust and peppered the structure with gravel.

The 20mm canister sailed over the wall, only just clearing the edge as it detonated and showered the swarm in brilliant flashes. She racked her second shot, adjusting her aim. A second crash of thunder sent a shell arcing over the wall where it detonated near the side of one of the swarms in a brilliant plume of dust and fire. The concussion wave hurled a group of stray Threshers that had broken away from the pack towards the the funnel.

"DEEEEEAAAAN~! Wake! Up!"

Titan's Fall: The Abyssal Paradox

"Omigosh, Rat!" Rat cried as he scurried towards the turmoil, seemingly unheeding of the danger. "Where been?? Come to find Rat, rescue we have!" Explained Rat to Rat... though not the Rat they knew, a different Rat... though Rat they be all the same.

Dressed in the same rough tunic, baggy canvas pants... though the stains differed in location they were identical down to the knapsack secured over one shoulder.

"Absconded! Impounded!! Templar have come, crusade is at hand!!"

"Oh Gods! Oh no!"

"Oh no!" Echoed Rat. "Rescue us!"

"Rat will! Scurry this way, Rat!" Beckoned Rat. Rat hesitated for only a moment as the Cat-Kitty set upon one of the beasts, taking a quick glance to make sure his path was clear. That was all it took, a fissure opened up behind the other Rat and a tentacle whipped out, grabbing his ankle and dragging him into one of the threshing mouths of the swarm of flailing creatures that spilled out.

"Rat, no!!" Screeched Rat, reaching towards the scene in a futile gesture.

"Rat delivers... For Fred...," gurgled Rat, as the Threshers fought savagely over his corpse.

"For Fred..., echoed Rat solemnly as he clutched his knapsack. For a long moment he just stood there with the carnage erupting all around him, dumbfounded. He took a deep breath and seemed to snap out of it... long enough to start panicking again at least. Rat flailed his arms and started running, in circles at first until he seemed to catch his bearings.

"East! EAST!! SHIELDTOWN PROTECTS!" He screeched, while running for a gap between Threshers.

Titan's Fall: The Abyssal Paradox

[ Titan’s Fall, Eagle’s Nest, R&D Division, Laboratory 3]

[A ZombiesAnHyenas / XianaEvermor collaboration]

---

“Oh my fucking GOD! I’m so BORED! Sovereign, I’m so so BORED! I’ve been spamming this dumbass for TWENTY MINUTES! I send one letter, and then I send ONE word, and he STILL isn’t answering.”

Felix paced around his work station, the base of his A.R.I. goggles hovering on a thin metal stand. The goggles were in their component parts. There were capacitors, a twin pair of what looked like overly complicated motherboards, and other assorted pieces of technology.
Even then, he could see the HUD that accompanied the goggles. His eyes bloomed with a gentle golden light, irises segmented with lines of luminance. The implants he had, eh, given himself, were still operating at maximum … Maximumness.

Sai probably knew the word. Speaking of.

There was a circling symbol in the top leftmost corner of his vision, indicating an incoming response from the chattiest AI in the hemisphere.

“Would you like me to forward your messages to his location, mister Lanning—”

“Felix! Man, Felix! Please. Jeez. Just… call me Felix.”

A moment of silence… Then.

“As you wish, mister Lanning.” Sovereign replied, causing Felix to throw his hands up in both agitation, and amusement.

“Yes, could you send my messages directly to his location?” He groaned, collapsing into the seat in front of his goggles.

There was a moment of silence, before Sovereign beeped an affirmative.

It took a few minutes, before Felix FINALLY got a reply.

‘Who the fuck is this?! This is a private line!’

Well… That was rude of him! Felix took a moment to piece his A.R.I. goggles back together, using his eyes to type on a keyboard that floated up in his HUD.

‘Yeah hey hi, FINALLY. My name is Lux Discord. You can call me LD! Uh. Don’t scream.’

‘What? What the fuck does that mean?

And with that wonderful exchange complete, Felix closed the connection. His attention returned to the world at his glowing fingertips, a smile spread over his lips, as he spoke aloud again.

“Hhhhey Sovereign. Could you direct me to Sai’s current location?”

“… What‘s the magic word, mister Lanning?” Murmured the AI, polite, but tone colored by the sound of a cheeky, shit-eating grin. Felix could almost see the digital canines…

“The magic word is, ‘oh wonderful digital space daddy, could you please direct me to where the other wonderful digital space daddy is?’” He replied, smiling ever so sweetly at the open air.

"I think... that can be arranged, Mr. Lanning.” Came the response, vindictive and serious, playful and vicious in equal measure.

---

[Eagle's Nest - Lobby]

---

”Ma’am? Ma’am?! This isn’t… Ma’am, you can’t just-,” one of the security personnel stammered nervously as he was half dragged through the front doors by a well dressed blonde woman. His arm was hooked in hers and their fingers interlocked in what was clearly a forced handhold.

"Oh don’t be so stodgy, my brother works here. He’s late for our lunch date. Besiiiiides, you’re escorting me aren’t you? How much trouble could I get into?" She deflected dismissively, her designer heels clacking authoritatively on the marble. She perked up as her golden eyes swept the lobby and landed on Archer, who was sitting at the front desk with a labored expression.

"Oh! HERM-... LO! DEAREST…. BROTHER!" She forced awkwardly, when Archer met the pair with a gaze that said I’ll kill you, right as Felix was exiting from the elevator.

"What are you doing?"

"I could ask you the same thing… ‘Fabian!’ We had a re-ser-va-tion," she quipped, impatiently.

"This is a restricted area," replied Archer curtly, folding his arms and raising an eyebrow at the guard.

”U-um…”

"I’m being escorted," she replied cheekily, holding up the guard’s hand.

Felix, in all his glory as it were, simply watched. His eyes locked first on the ‘guard’ in question. Poor man looked extremely uncomfortable, and while Felix would’ve wanted nothing more than to laugh at his predicament…

Sometimes being a not-a-huge-prick took precedence.

And so did the luminous limbed lackadaisical ‘laze-about’ laboriously lumber over, in the way that a man who barely stood at five five could lumber. Which is to say; Felix slid in between the guard— Douglas, that was his name!— and whoever blondie was.

His hardlight fingers pried her digits away from Douglas’, and instead filled her hand with Felix’s as he smiled warmly at Archer. Then his gaze flicked to the blonde who now found her fingers held tightly in Felix’s grip.

The other hand dipped around to clutch at her side, as Felix’ voice leapt into the air in a horrific mockery of Sairyn’s accent. “Oh muai lahve muai lahve, woaiye donchew leave dat poor sod alowne, eh?”

”That you would deign to butcher the Queen’s English in such a manner is… you do the nation’s education system a disservice, Mister Lanning,” Sovereign whispered into Felix’s HUD.

He held a smile for a moment longer, before he cackled. And spun himself around to fill up her vision and hide Archer. He took a bow, raised her hand, and kissed the knuckles of her fingers. His other arm had slid behind his back, seemingly to commit to the part. Never mind that he was clearly showing Archer that his fingers had become claw-like, and decidedly more ominous.

“No but seriously, good, ahhh… Morning? Evening? Day! To you! How are you, miss…?” He intoned, straightening and keeping his other arm behind his back in a gesture of formality.

The woman shivered and blushed as Felix took her hand, and for a precariously long moment she just regarded him, her golden eyes iridescent… a trick of the light? Her glossy lips slowly spread into a sly smile before she leaned to look at Archer over Felix’s shoulder.

"Daphne-"

"And who do we have here, ’Fabian’?" she asked with smug curiosity.

"Daphne, no!" Archer flustered, uncharacteristically.

"He doesn’t look like a Daphne," she retorted. Archer spluttered out a few syllables, causing her to giggle maniacally as she met Felix’s eyes again. "I don’t think he remembers your name," she informed in exaggerated offense. She spun on her heels, hooking Felix’s arm and walking towards the door.

"Let’s go. Tell me about this," she grinned, gently flicking the hardlight projection with the back of one of her manicured nails. A wave of iridescence traveled up one of his arms and down the other, bursting gently out of his claws into a kaleidoscope of golden butterflies.

His eyebrows shot upwards as the butterflies leapt from his claws. Taking amusement in the fact that she effectively knew what was happening… And also apparently knew Archer. He turned and winked at Archer, eyes darting towards the communications indicator on the counter top, before he returned his gaze to ‘Daphne. “I think you might be right! I’m wounded! Wounded!! I can’t believe this!” He chirped, bursting into a fit of chuckles.

Felix sighed as they walked away, focusing on the butterflies of light before snapping his eyes to meet Daphne’s. His gaze was intense, and no more or less kind than a cat's, if the feline was inspecting a mouse.

“Tell you about this!? I’d much rather know how you made the butterflies happen! That was magical!” The sound of Archer choking behind them sent Daphne into a fit of giggles.

“I assume it’s more ‘esperness’ than ‘deviantness’, unless I’m wrong? Oh! I’m Felix by the way,” Felix rambled, thoughts clocked into overdrive as amusement and curiosity overtook him.

"In a manner of speaking," she answered slyly.