voidtreckermods: (train)
VoidTrecker Express Mods ([personal profile] voidtreckermods) wrote in [community profile] middleofsomewhere2021-03-26 04:46 am

The Will to Fight: Conclusion

The battles rage loud and ferocious at the gates of the city and off in the ruined wastelands of Erda, and on the walls a struggle of a different kind occurs. The team who stayed behind at the towers are small but determined as they move stoically across the walls to right the stones that have become misaligned, even as their friends battle not too far away.

The city begins to hum. It's a quiet hum, not loud enough to be heard out where the others are fighting but it vibrates even through stone. The recovering monks assure them that it is done, the wards are back up and no demon will be able to enter the city.

Eventually the battle is won, all three battles. The demons fought back and killed, a major blow to their gate system that will keep them back for hopefully a long time. Those waiting in the caverns return to the city and by the time they get there the illusions are gone. Everyone can see the world for what it really is.

But despite the ruins of their world the people are relieved, the adrenaline of the fight coursing through their veins and the mood is one of hope. They will build again, their people will survive.

All Voidtreckers please return to the Voidtrecker Express. Departure will be in a few hours

It has landed not too far from the city, cloaked to make it unnoticeable to the citizens, for all the good that does. No one has been particularly subtle this last week. People can begin regrouping, packing up the camp and getting any wounded not already healed to the train.

However roughly half an hour later another message appears on their SCA.

Passenger Persephone has requested we remain on system System #86525656412355 for an additional day to further assist the people of Erda. The Voidtrecker Express will depart on the morning of Day Fifteen of the month of Kazoo.

The train remains where it is, so the voidtreckers can use its facilities. There is definitely a lot that can be done to assist those of this world and the citizens will welcome any helping hands.

After an extra day they finally depart, returning to the void once more.

(OOC Note: Once the wards are up any characters who are demonic in nature will not be able to enter the city either!)
wishalone: (090 ≬ manga ≬ uncolored)

[personal profile] wishalone 2021-03-28 05:01 am (UTC)(link)
"Normally... There's no way I would've been able to last this long." Definitely not. Fighting Mami, then... Sayaka... and then that next witch -- That was her limit. She didn't even get through that last one. She wouldn't have survived a week-long fight without Grief Seeds.

"But a..." Here, Kyoko stumbles on her words. Putting one on Mami is -- It's just... complicated. Friend would cover it, she knows, but. "... Another magical girl. She has a pet that takes care of that for us."

She takes a bite out of the apple, takes her time savoring it.

"So, I'm fine." She'd say that even if she wasn't, probably. And she still feels exhausted, anyway, even with her Soul Gem clear. "But I'll keep it in mind. It's good to know, 'cause I know she won't always be around to help. We're on different teams."
Edited 2021-03-28 05:02 (UTC)
yondu: (2 2 1)

[personal profile] yondu 2021-03-28 05:08 am (UTC)(link)
"...Blond one or the one with the dead-eyed stare?" He doesn't suggest the other Kyoko since she figures she'd name an alternate of herself. And Yondu's pretty familiar with alternates, as there are three versions of two of his roommates, all of them married.

"I think I saw her use it." After he'd gotten his vision back.

"She also dumped a whole big buncha muskets out her skirt an' I was like, 'What the heeell?' but I guess y'all gonna do what y'all gonna do!" He just laughs that off rather than making Kyoko linger on it.

"I tell ya what, I think you're a smart girl. You need me to help ya find somethin', I'll keep an ear out. That way you don't gotta ask for it, I can sorta steer ya towards a target."
wishalone: (014 ≬ anime)

[personal profile] wishalone 2021-03-28 05:27 am (UTC)(link)
"Yeah, the blonde one." 'Dead-eyed stare' is a good description for Homura. "If you think that's impressive, you should see one of her Tiro Finales. She's been doing this longer than any of us." As far as she knows. Actually... She can make an amendment to that. "Any of us from the same place, anyway. There's another magical girl here who's from another world. She's been at it even longer than Mami."

As for looking for alternatives... "Problem is, I don't know what to look for. If somebody told me before I came here that a weird walking bush could purify my Soul Gem, I'd tell them they were crazy. There was only ever one thing that could do that back home, something called a Grief Seed. We'd get them when we killed witches, and if we didn't get them... well. It's a big deal when a magical girl survives longer than a year." That's all she's willing to say about that. "So... If there's more stuff around that could do a Grief Seed's job, I wouldn't even know what that'd look like."
yondu: (1 3 2)

[personal profile] yondu 2021-03-28 05:41 am (UTC)(link)
"So she got a ton of experience with it, then." Well, that's helpful. But if something did happen to Mami they'd need that Soul Gem cleanse.

Soul Gem, though? That don't sound good. It don't sound 'Infinity Stone' bad, but it don't sound good. "How much purifyin' does it need? Wait. Hold on."

He puts his pack down, reaches in his holster, and pulls out his arrow. To be fair, he holds that out to her. "This is my Yaka arrow. Made from a metal only on my homeworld. Real unique. Especially one made with so much of it.

"I figure if you're tellin' me about that, that's a big deal, an' I oughta be fair with it by lettin' you see this." He whistles and the light to it turns on, the fin on his head lighting up. It doesn't fly, though, all he does is start it up.
wishalone: (068 ≬ manga ≬ color)

[personal profile] wishalone 2021-04-02 07:41 am (UTC)(link)
It's a good thing he brought the arrow out, because Kyoko honestly doesn't know how to answer that question. How much purifying does a Soul Gem need? However much it takes until it's clear. She can tell when a Grief Seed has enough in it to cleanse however much of a Soul Gem, but she doesn't know if she could quantify it in words.

But Yondu holds out an arrow to her, and explains why he's showing it to her, and she doesn't have to try. Kyoko accepts the arrow, tilting it this way and that in her hands. Sleek, gold, with what looks to her are red jewels inset. He whistles, and it lights up, along with that thing on his head.

"Cool. Looks like something I could make with my magic." She holds it up by the middle, pointy end upward. And... notices the distinctive light trail when she does. She turns it around so the glowy end is up, instead, and waggles it. "I'm guessing this is more than just a light trick. What does it do?"
yondu: (2 1 3)

[personal profile] yondu 2021-04-04 01:02 pm (UTC)(link)
"Here, I'll show ya." He walks over to some of the ruins, picks up a frying pan. He thumps it against a rock to be sure it's as sturdy as it looks. Straight up cast iron. Good.

He comes back to Kyoko and takes the arrow back.

"Trust me. I been usin' this thing for the better chunk o' my life, so I've gotten good at it."

He tosses it, whistles and off it goes in a red streak pathing into the distance. But then it stops, turns when Yondu whistles again, and he holds out the frying pan.

It bobs and weaves through some rubble, broken buildings, old fixtures before it it flies through that frying pan and stops dead, hovering in the air. Worst part? It didn't move the frying pan. Barely even nudged Yondu's hand. The thing is just there with a hole in it.
wishalone: (047 ≬ anime)

[personal profile] wishalone 2021-04-05 07:00 am (UTC)(link)
The thing zips off, faster than Kyoko can track if it weren't for its light trail. Which by itself is enough to get her eyebrows up on her forehead in surprise, but then it comes zagging back around obstacles to rocket through that cast iron.

"Eeeeeehhhh?! Whoa! That was so fucking cool!" Kyoko is bouncing a little as she runs up to get a better look at the smouldering hole in the frying pan. "It's like it wasn't even there. How does it work?"
yondu: (1 8 1)

[personal profile] yondu 2021-04-05 07:38 am (UTC)(link)
He makes it zip to where he catches it right out of the air. Not that it's all that big a feat for a magical girl, but Yondu's just wielding a weapon.

"Its outer hull is made of a metal from my planet. Called 'yaka'. Responds to sounds. So I can pretty much make it go where I wanna. It took a hell of a lot of practice, though."

Years and years of it. Of course, the practice hadn't been by choice in the beginning. He didn't even like the thing very much at the start. But eventually he felt a connection between him and it. It became his. And the day he earned his freedom, it was with its help and it came with him on that day.

That's the big chunk of story that doesn't come out of his mouth. What does? "Maybe after ya get your soul gem all cleaned up you can show me somethin' you can do."
wishalone: (014 ≬ anime)

[personal profile] wishalone 2021-04-05 07:55 am (UTC)(link)
He doesn't say it, but Kyoko has enough dots to connect to understand what matters, she thinks. He's showing her this in exchange for her telling him about Soul Gems -- He acknowledged that it was important. He thinks his arrow is the same level as important as her Soul Gem, which, sure, he doesn't know. But it's there in the name, enough of a dot for him to connect.

It's more than any adult's done for her in...

...

Does she even know the answer to that?

"Oh, that. I could do it now, easy. It's clear." Kyoko shakes one hand out of her hoodie pocket, fingers curled, then she folds them out, palm up. The silver ring there glows, the light floating away from her finger and taking the shape of an egg -- Or, a red jewel in the shape of an egg, nestled into a golden frame. Just as she said, her Soul Gem is crystal clear, no sign of impurity. Now formed, it settles onto her palm.
yondu: (1 9 0)

[personal profile] yondu 2021-04-05 06:18 pm (UTC)(link)
He crouches to better look at it, red gem reflected in red eyes. Guessing from the name alone it's super intimately connected to all of them.

He stands back up without offering to touch it, content to just know what it looks like. Better to know at least what he's looking for if something happens, then steps back to give her some space.

"Already, let's see what ya got, Ragdoll. Go tear it up."
wishalone: (142 ≬ anime)

mood music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSqmNLRyUjI

[personal profile] wishalone 2021-05-10 04:37 am (UTC)(link)
Kyoko inhales deeply through her nose... and then grins sharply.

If there's ever a time to be flashy, it's now.

Her Soul Gem begins to glow, brighter, brighter, too bright. Her fingers curl into a fist around it as if to contain it, but then she lifts her fist up over her head --

And flings the brilliant red light to the ground. Fire flares into life at her feet.

She begins to twirl. The flames lick up her legs, traveling up, up, up her body, leaving behind a trail of that red energy, until finally every inch of her glows, down to the ends of every strand of hair.

An eye seems to open on her chest, just below the hollow of her throat. With a flash, it solidifies: her Soul Gem, transformed, now a long, thin oval, the pupil of the eye. Kyoko clasps her hands before her, as if in prayer, and the moment her hands make contact with each other, they, too, solidify. The energy is peeling away, flickering and disappearing into the air like embers escaping a campfire, revealing aspects of a new outfit as it leaves.

Thick black cuffs at the end of long white sleeves exposing bare shoulders. A high collar on a long red dress, simple and unadorned until it ends in white ruffles. A school girl's pleated skirt, solid pink. High black socks, tall red boots. The only thing that hasn't changed is the black ribbon still holding her hair high.

Kyoko's hands shift, no longer holding on to each other, but apparently grasping something unseen between them. She pulls, and a golden rod emerges between her hands, growing the further out she pulls them -- keeps growing even after she stops to instead seize it. The end of the rod glows red as she spins it like a staff -- No, like a spear, it becomes clear as the red light flashes one last time, creating a large triangular red and white spearhead.

The last trick is unnecessary showing off: she twirls the spear in practiced movements, a cocky grin on her face, until she plants the spearhead in the ground and uses her weapon as a lever to launch herself into the air. She lands easily atop a column from a ruined building with a final splash of fire and sparks at her feet.

"And I'm just gettin' started."