Loyalties and Lies


Nocturi targets Runealy again. This time, Rune gets some explanations. She just can't believe them...

Date: 2016-10-03
Pose Count: 20
Odila Fairune 2016-10-03 04:15:41 56641
    It's a late and cool night, after a warm day that assured there were still a few summery days left. People are already heading home, getting ready for work or school tomorrow. Sunday nights kinda suck that way, although there are always a few stragglers here and there, trying to enjoy the last few hours of the weekend before the Monday grind.

    The clover tower is closed by this time, although a lone figure lurks in the shadows near the top. She goes largely unnoticed by all but those who might be sensitive to such dark magics. As she leans against the railing, it's obvious she is still weak, still wounded from her last battle with the pink-haired princess.

    Even so, she has sent her shocking swan shadow, ruby lightning to scan the city, searching for the princess. As that large, shadowy swan glides above the city, it keeps an eye out for the pink-haired princess, the one known best as Princess Runealy.

    Occasionally its massive figure casts an ominous shadow across the ground below, startling a few late night stragglers as it continues its hunt..
Runealy Waldia 2016-10-03 04:20:20 56644
Rune is among those out late at night, curious about something near Clover Tower. She isn't immediately accompanied by anyone, but has made sure she knows what direction her friends are in and that they know basically where she is; recent assassination attempts have made her wary about that.

Regardless, she begins pacing toward the base of the tower. With the late hour, and the sheer height involved, she's not immediately aware anyone is watching from above. The shadow sweeping by the area /does/ eventually get noticed though, and while she isn't checking the sky yet... Runealy looks surprised, head turning all sorts of directions to see if she can pin down what's happening.
Odila Fairune 2016-10-03 04:27:36 56648
    It doesn't take long for the scarlet thunder to spy the girl below. She is familiar at least, from their last encounter, and the creature still shakes with fury at the memory of how that battle went. With a blood-curdling shriek, it dives downwards towards Runealy, openning its mouth to unleash a bolt of lightning towards her..However, nothing comes out. Instead, it lands on the ground, stumbling a bit before righting itself, snarling at the girl but not yet attacking. Odd, it seems..Unbalanced, somehow, not entiredly as menacing and strong as the last time they met..
Runealy Waldia 2016-10-03 04:32:59 56650
That shout causes Rune to go tense with a gasp, quickly spotting the swan-beast now that she has a sound to track. A hurried backwards leap takes her out of its path, though she hasn't quite caught on to the fact its attacks are diminished. "Summoning Princess' Tiara!" It's a shout made from alarm and fright, as it may be a few minutes before friends can arrive to help.

Jeweled headwear appears in hand, a high-pitched and pulsing energy-hum noise emitting from it. "The Line of Succession..." One hand passes it to the next, which brings it to her forehead in the same motion. "Transform!"

A flash of red light engulfs her, and then Runealy is in full magical attire. "You again!?" Again, she remains more worried than angry. With wand in hand, she quickly lashes out at the monster by launching a green wand-tip gem. Whether it makes contact with the enemy or something else, it will 'explode' with lingering green sparkles drifting about as if they were smoke.
Odila Fairune 2016-10-03 04:37:53 56653
    The swan shrieks again; That hauntingly beautiful yet horrifying swan song as it arches its neck back and launches a bolt of red lightning in reaction, nullifying the green sparkles. "...Why...? Murderer..." it seems to struggle to speak, with the voice of the girl and not the swan creature now. Even as the swan speaks, openning its mouth to ready another bolt of lightning, it seems to falter again, seemingly straining to use energy to fight, struggling to maintain its solid form for some reason.

    With a snarl, it unleashes another half-hearted bolt, before spreading its wings, flying upwards towards the top of the tower. It peers towards a moving figure near the top of the tower whose glowing, blood red pendant seems to pulse in tandem with the swan's own glowing red eyes, as if she were calling it back to her..
Runealy Waldia 2016-10-03 04:42:20 56654
Now that she has some idea what to expect, and an apparent advantage, Rune's boot wings light up and launch her aside from the lightning. It came close, and she still winces as it goes where she had been just a moment ago, but it's a clean evasion. "You're not getting away!"

The voice of Rune's mother rings in her mind, reminding her that chasing a 'wounded demon' can be a trap. This is advice the princess has heard many times in training, yet frustration has gotten the best of her now. After so many attacks that have gone largely unanswered, Rune wants to make some kind of progress against her problem here and now!

So with only a moment's hesitation to overcome those reservations, she begins a series of boosted leaps to bring her up part of the tower, then to another section... and so on, rising to pursue the swan. That she might be rushing toward a trap /does/ occur to her, but the princess carries on regardless; it just means she keeps her eyes open for ambushes.
Odila Fairune 2016-10-03 04:55:18 56658
    The swan continues to speed upwards, pausing only briefly to launch bolts of lightning here and there towards the girl who follows behind her. But as the creatures body begins to crackle and blink, it's clear that it is breaking up. By the time the scarlet thunder reaches the top of the tower, the shadowy figure at the top reaches her hand out towards the bird, and absorbs it into her body, wincing in pain as she does so.

    Stumbling back a bit, she grasps the railing for support. Although she's no longer wounded or bleeding from before, she still seems exhausted, and yet as Princess Runealy arrives, she glares at her, summoning her glaive, pointing the ruby encrusted crescent moon tip towards the pink-haired princess.

    "I knew I would find you again..It's time we finished what we started.." Even so, she doesnt look like she's in any position to fight..
Runealy Waldia 2016-10-03 05:00:50 56659
For the most part, Rune is unharmed; she usually manages to bring up her red energy-bubble shield in time to stop most of the lightning, or winces as she's glanced on an arm... which hurts, but isn't nearly as bad as what happened last time. It does nothing to deter her pursuit, as she finishes her string of jumps only to be met with another foe. The loss of the swan seems to even things up, though.

Her wide eyes fix on the polearm, deciding it amounts to a very real threat. "So, what are you? Are you a demon? Mom never made it sound like they'd take on human disguise /and/ have some part of themselves or another demon attached they can go fight with, though." It's very possible Rune's guess here is extremely wrong.

"Nothing else makes sense," she adds. The princess hasn't attacked just yet, but she looks ready to; her wand is pointed back at her attacker just as the glaive is aimed, threat meeting threat.
Odila Fairune 2016-10-03 05:17:29 56664
    Nocturi glares back at the girl who looks like she could be similar in age to herself. It's strange, how wars pass on through the generations. She hasnt lowered her own weapon but she hasn't attacked either.

    It's not that Nocturi cares to talk it out or come to some peaceful resolution. No, she's just very exhausted right now, for some reason - enough that she actually leans forward on the polearm for support.

    The suggestion that she might be a demon is met with a disgusted snort from the ruby-haired girl. "Me? A demon?! Hardly..I'm just a mortal girl who lost everything...Because of you and your mother!"

    She glares with hatred at the girl, "You're right! Nothing makes sense! You've labelled me as a monster, when YOU are the true monster!" As for that swan, if Runealy looks carefully at Nocturi's shadow, she may notice it looks a lot like a swan..
Runealy Waldia 2016-10-08 02:28:36 57019
Rune is missing finer details right now, as she physically recoils from Nocturi's remarks. Worse, she misunderstands precisely what events are in controversy here and snaps back: "You leave her out of this! /I/ made the decision to attack Tokyo, not her! If you got hurt because of that, take it up with me! Not her, not random people in this city, but me, right here!"

"So," Rune's voice is tense, her anger obvious; apparently Nocturi hit a nerve. "Start talking. There's probably something I still have to answer for when I did that, but I can't know what that would be if you're taking it out on everyone but me."
Odila Fairune 2016-10-08 02:43:16 57021
    She arches a brow now, truly surprised. Honestly, she hadnt researched current events here in Tokyo in too much detail, although her mysterious mentor had mentionned something about Runealy coming to earth to finish what she had started on their home planet.

    "This isn't about Tokyo. This is about before. Or have you truly forsaken our home planet so you could terrorize the people of this world as well? Was it not enough that you tormented your own people and caused them endless suffering?!"

    Her voice rises dangerously now, although as she clutches the railing for support, it's obvious she's pretty tired for some reason right now.

    "But that doesn't matter. You abandonned your people back home and for that, you must pay! I only did what I did here in Tokyo, so I could get your attention.." she smiles coldly.
Runealy Waldia 2016-10-08 02:51:39 57024
Being unaware that there's a second, or possibly three or even more narratives going around of what she has and hasn't done leaves the princess unable to effectively respond to a lot of what's happening here. She's caught between anger and confusion, as Nocturi admits to the events leading to their previous battle mostly serving as a lure to bring Runealy out... and now is lashing out with accusations about things that simply do not match the princess' understanding of her world.

Worse, having a censored understanding of history means she's continuing to respond to entirely the wrong things and her temper is rising as a result. "What was I supposed to do!? I tried over and over to restore the Barrier, and I just couldn't do it! So we came here, and I'm amazed they helped after what I did... but that's exactly what happened. They came back with us and set it right. ...Wait."

A horrified realization hits her. "We were gone for a few months. The Barrier was still barely up when we got there, but our world has always had a few demons that were never sealed in the first place. They..."

She staggers back a step, going pale. "Did a demon attack your home while I was gone?" Now she is not so angry. A perfectly plausible explanation has just come to Rune's mind.
Odila Fairune 2016-10-08 03:29:03 57027
    Nocturi just laughs and shakes her head. "You were so focused on fighting the demons and being a hero that you missed the big picture! We were starving in Lormia! your people were sick and dying! And you did nothing but run away!"

    Wait, they helped her? But...No, it's still wrong! She's blinded by anger! "You should never have left! You should have saved us! No, we attacked each other we were poor, destitute.."
Runealy Waldia 2016-10-08 03:37:35 57029
As Nocturi's accusations grow closer to reality, the princess ends up having the opposite reaction. "I ran, but what are you talking about?! People starving? I... I guess maybe one or two here and there are, but we have initiatives in place to help out! All you have to do is ask, and we offer a hand up while figuring out what you're good at so you don't have to rely on that help any more!"

This is, technically speaking, quite true. And in more prosperous regions back home, it's even true in practice. That there are areas where this aid is subtly misdirected to benefit those who already have plenty simply doesn't occur to her, and Rune isn't taking this well. "So I won't hear any more of your slander." Her eyes narrow. "If you need help, ask for it. But you're going to stop attacking people to get my attention, and then blowing the problem out of proportion. Is that understood!?"
Odila Fairune 2016-10-08 03:45:46 57032
    Nocturi's eyes widen in surprise, disbelief..And eventually anger! "How...How dare you say those things! I, a slanderer? You are the one who is a liar. Open your eyes! You never helped my people! You abandonned Lormia, all of your kind did! You left us for dead and that is the truth. If you werent so busy galavanting around in some other world instead of paying attention to the people who needed you, you might have realized that!"

    She stands up straighter now, some of her strength coming back, and summons her cresent glaive. But she does not point it at Runealy. Instead it is aimed at the people walking down below. The civilians. "But I see that you are loyal to the people of this world now, and have turned your back on the Lormians for good.."

    That cold, cruel smile appears on her face once more. "Very well! I will continue to hurt these people that you have adopted, and make you feel the same pain you made my people feel! Take this!"

    Angling her weapon to a spot on the ground down below, she launches a series of thunder bolts at some trees near some people, instantly starting a fire. More and more lightning bolts launch from her weapon until she's created a fire in three separate areas.
Runealy Waldia 2016-10-08 03:52:41 57033
Even at this hour, there probably are some people still out and about in Tokyo. While the traffic flow by this time of night usually is down to single digits back home, here it could well be a few dozen or more still around Clover Tower. That's just a fact of life when the population is orders of magnitude higher.

Thus the threat is credible, though it's something Rune only realizes a few moments too late. She spends the first few moments just as puzzled as Nocturi. "What's a Lor... /who's/ a Lormia!?" It's a stuttering, frustrated random attempt at a question; she's not even picking out the right words.

One that can't be pursued any further, as Nocturi has turned to arson. "Wh... stop!" The princess can't tell whether this is intentional, or simply a case of missing the intended target... but the possibility it was meant for those walking below weighs heavily on her mind.

And she takes a rather extreme option for trying to stop it: Runealy's boot wings light up with a silver glow, and rocket her toward Nocturi with a shoulder pointed out... the princess intends to outright ram her off the tower! That Rune will effectively be 'going along for the ride' if this succeeds has crossed her mind, but she intends to deal with that when and if it actually happens
Odila Fairune 2016-10-08 04:15:52 57035
    Nocturi had half-expected Runealy to leap from the tower and put the fire out. However, when she goes for Nocturi herself, the girl is surprised, but amused. She is shoved off the edge, but reaches out to try and grab Runealy and take her with her.

t"Really? I guess what they said about you is right! You really ARE in it for the glory! You'd rather beat the bloody pulp out of me, rather than save those innocents below!"

    She smiles and spreads her wings, slowing her descent to the ground below. If Runealy clings onto her, she may go for the ride or she may drag her into the ground. Either way, they land on the ground and Nocturi struggles to get free.

    "What will you do princess? Will you continue to fight me, or will you save your new subjects?" she points towards one clump of trees ablaze, the fire rapidly spreading and now encircling a small family of four who shriek in fear.
Runealy Waldia 2016-10-08 04:27:47 57036
"Stopping you saves more of them, faster!" Rune retorts, but there's a problem with this line of thought. Two problems, actually. First, she had expected Nocturi to put up some kind of fight in mid-air. Instead, she's doing a relatively controlled descent and isn't doing anything to really prompt the princess to begin any serious display of acrobatics. Runealy's tiara gems light up, /preparing/ to unleash a weak barrage of projectiles right up close and personal...

...yet she does not actually carry out this attack, noticing the lack of any retaliation just yet. Instead, the princess springboards off of Nocturi and begins a series of boot-wing leaps against Clover Tower to carry herself back down. She nonetheless ends up having to land near where Nocturi intended, and now sees the blaze spreading. "They're not my citizens, you...!" She cuts off, mind busy with making some quick 'calculations' (not on the same sort of intellectual level that the likes of Sailor Mercury might manage, however).

The conclusion she reaches is that she has anywhere from half a minute, to three minutes, before complications from the blaze would cause serious harm to those within. Smoke inhalation is the most obvious problem. How willing they are to sprint through flames is another; it's possible they might just stay within, unwilling to risk something so obviously dangerous. Can she win a fight within that time frame? Well, if it's measured in minutes, plural, that might be enough.

The problem is she's not sure she has minutes. It may well be toward the lower end of her guess. "...Ch! You're horrible!" A shout to Nocturi. Yet this uncertainty prompts Rune to rush the flames, encasing herself in a red bubble of energy as a forcefield.

She's essentially trying to create a hole in the fire, shouting as she goes, "Run by me!" Whether this goes as planned is up for debate, however.
Odila Fairune 2016-10-08 04:53:10 57039
    Nocturi eyes Runealy warily as she prepares to do battle. The swan girl would like nothing more than to destroy the other girl, but right now, in her weakened state is not the time. She needs to recharge nad recuperate first. Besides this will work a lot better.

    "Go on then, they ARE your new citizens! Otherwise, you wouldn't have abandonned us and run off here!" she smiles coldly as the girl runs off to help the family, and rather than attack her from behind, Nocturi simply...Walks away, and then vanishes quickly, as if she had teleported away into the night..

    The panicking family nod, glancing up at Runealy thankfully as they rush through the forcefield to safety. "Thank you miss, you are a life saver!"
Runealy Waldia 2016-10-08 04:56:06 57040
Being hit by Nocturi is a possiblity that Rune had imagined would come up, and she stands tense within her forcefield expecting it to happen. When it doesn't, she looks over shoulder to see that her enemy is simply not here anymore. "What the? Why would... mm." Anger fades as she leaps away from the flames, shaking her head at those thanking her. Without a word, Rune paces away... she has a lot to think about now, and talk of having abandoned the people she's supposed to be caring for is eating at the princess already. Head low, her transformation fades once she's basically away from the area...