[Team 1] Plagued and Broken (Akeya, 7, Inkormine, Arcadia)

Arcadia did a little reading in the two journals if survivors she had found along the way. She only started reading after they had journeyed far enough to be sure no more surprises from the village to hit them.  The barefoot slayer never let herself get too wrapped up in her reading. Every couple minutes she made sure to look up and around.

She kept her focus mainly with her ears. Arcadia figured with trees around giving ample hiding places, that she was likely to hear any danger before seeing it. The journals were sad reading, but informative. While reading she thought was eyestrain, but she realized quickly it was yet another one of the dram demon's headaches. She looked skyward, and once again she saw them fighting high over the trees. Both shapes suddenly began to plummet.

On the way down, Acnologia activated the series of magic circles he had placing all along. Khione Glacier's soul was rendered from her ice crystalline body. It would be her limp form that would crash into the ground. Arcadia's deep green eyes watched wide in terror and shock, tears blurring her vision. "Moooom!!!"

Acnologia emerged from the resulting dust cloud in his dreaded dragon form, prepared to finish off the fallen great ice dragon. In her grief, Arcadia rushed out and roared a torrent of freezing water and razor ice straight up at Acnologia's now draconic face. The apocalyptic monster was not fazed one bit. Acnologia just turned his gaze down at Arcadia as if only just now noticing the young dragon slayer's existence.

Arcadia was far too lost in her grief and disillusionment to show any real fear. Too shell shocked to run. She managed to choke out a few tearful sobs, "Ac-Acnoglogia... w-why?"

In the brief moment Acnologia was distracted, Khione Glacier used the last of her strength to flip and pin the future Dragon King, buying just enough time to pour the last everything else she    had, life energy and magic power, into a dying act of desperation. Khione Glacier gathered it all to cast one last ancient spell. "Sphere!"

Arcadia's world turned bright gold. She heard her foster mother's last words echo in her mind, before everything went dark. Arcadia was safely sealed away from the predations of the great and terrible Acnologia.

"I love you... Arcadia."

Stumbling over an exposed old tree root, she was pulled from the vivid flashback. The day and mission had taken its toll, plus reading up on the survivors' last days left her unable to hide or hold back tears this time. She closed the journal for now,  packing it away with the other. Arcadia was thankful to be bringing up the rear, it was less likely any of her teammates would see her like this. Mostly because this was no place to be distracted. Just when she thought her headache was lifting, it spread from her temples to around her eyes. Again,  two figures crashed into the ground from the sky above.

Acnologia emerged from the resulting dust cloud in his dreaded dragon form, prepared to finish off the fallen great ice dragon. In her grief, Arcadia rushed out and roared a torrent of freezing water and razor ice straight up at Acnologia's now draconic face. The apocalyptic monster was not fazed one bit. Acnologia just turned his gaze down at Arcadia as if only just now noticing the young dragon slayer's existence.

She did not have time for this. There was no time for any of the dream demon's games during any point in this mission. She could not let that creature distract her longer than it already had. Through sheer force of, Arcadia pulled her focus back to the present. With her reserves of mental energy mostly drained from the extraordinary demands a critical mission like this brought and fighting the dream demon all day to meet them, she could feel herself drifting back into the pit the dream demon wanted her in almost immediately. Rest is what she needed, and it could not come soon enough.

Without the energy to actively ignore the dream demon, she would have to rely completely on her teammates to notice any danger. The barefoot slayer knew she was letting her teammates down, she just could not bring her ordinarily sharp senses to focus.  Arcadia would not be the first alert if they were attacked now.

The best she could do was slog along, and keep her mind it if the dream demon's grip. The only way she even managed that was focusing on her feet and ground before her. She sniffed and dried her faerie green eyes every so often. Her thoughts never drifted much further than taking her next step or three.

It seemed forever before the team reached the spot for a makeshift camp for the night. Quite the relief when she heard the news, and quite tempting to just curl up the ground where she stood to drop straight off to sleep. Slumber was when the dream demon usually got her the hardest, but she was too mentally exhausted to care or remember that.

Sleep had to wait awhile longer though. Sadly, standing out of the way was all she had in her for the initial setup of camp. One the fire was going, Arcadia settled down by it.  Staring into the flames, she managed to listen close enough to the others to follow their thoughts and follow up to Johann's questions. If this plague was the result of some government or other group trying to weaponize it, that just made the plight of the survivors she found harder to think about. She wondered if the Alliance was in danger of repeating history on a wider scale. As tempting as it was to open a portal back to her room in Magnolia for the night, she would not want to risk carrying the plague straight into the middle of Ishgar. Staying here was the safest option.

She could feel herself begin to nod off, and back into the dream demon's clutches. Just trying to shake her head clear did not seem too be cutting it, momentarily growing lost in the campfire's flames.

Arcadia rushed out and roared a torrent of freezing water and razor ice straight up at Acnologia's now draconic face. The apocalyptic monster was not fazed one bit. Acnologia just turned his gaze down at Arcadia as if only just now noticing the young dragon slayer's existence.

Her faerie green eyes opened wide, Arcadia startling out of her flashback. Longing around she saw now it was her turn. She sat there quiet and looking kinda haggard. Arcadia just had to hold it together as few minutes longer, then she could finally get some rest.

Arcadia glanced toward the sky to gather her thoughts, and she could swear the firelight was brighter than she thought. The sky looked like morning again. Figures above single still falling.

On the way down, Acnologia activated the series of magic circles he had placing all along. Khione Glacier's soul was rendered from her ice crystalline body. It would be her limp form that would crash into the ground.

She again shook her head, unable to hide the tears her induced flashbacks were bringing. Arcadia drew a deep breath, talking through them, "I'm so.. So sorry. Can't seem to pull myself together. But I guess, I'd say... maybe we can find a cure here or maybe we can't. From what I saw and read,I think we can find something to help prevent people who don't have the plague from getting it. Helping peoples already infected, is different. I how we do find the key to a cure though."

Wiping at her eyes, Arcadia had a short-lived sense of relief.  She got out most what she meant to say without sounding overly crazy. That's what she hoped. With her relief, she spent the last of whatever strength she had been using to hold the dream demon from her mind. Her flashback returned in full.

Acnologia activated the series of magic circles he had placing all along. Khione Glacier's soul was rendered from her ice crystalline body. It would be her limp form that would crash into the ground.

Khione Glacier's soul was rendered from her ice crystalline body. It would be her limp form that would crash into the ground... limp form that would crash... ...crash...    Arcadia's deep green eyes watched over and over in wide in terror and shock, tears blurring her vision.

This time, she could not contain her desperate shout to her repeating flashback. It came out of her mouth in the here and now as if it happening this very moment. "MOOOOM!!!"

Humiliation and panic, all over her face, Arcadia realized too late how far she had slipped.  She lay over in her side, and conjured an egg shaped shell of ice around herself.  Inside it, she would sob herself to sleep. As exhausted as she was, it didn't take long to reach slumber. She would rest uneasily in her icy shell until danger or morning

As she drifted off she heard her mother's voice echo one more time.

"I love you... Arcadia."

WC: 1537
Arcadia WC: 9452/12,500

Johann quietly took the can of soup he had placed beside the crackling flames, opening the small metal container before taking a sip from its contents. It was certainly no feast, and far from an actual meal, but it was the best available to him in this situation, and even though the chicken soup wasn't exactly nourishing, it was still better than nothing. Of course, the man would have enough in storage for the other members of the group, the scouting party only needing to ask. He continued to take sips from the pitiful "meal" while listening to the answers to his question that had followed quickly after initially raising the points he had made. Panacea began, elaborating some of her findings before going into detail about a particular vial, an object that seemed to be of interest. Johann took the glass vial, turning it in the carmine glow of the flames while staring at it intently as if trying to gain some sort of insight into the importance and meaning of this object and its contents, the meaning and implications of its existence, of course, escaping the Vice President, who understood little of matters such as this one. His limited and rather basic understanding of medicine didn't exactly contribute much to the discussion, though he acknowledged Panacea's theory with a nod, handing the item back to the Lamia. She raised a fair point. Perhaps this neutralized strain of plague would prove vital to the research effort that would, in the end, manage to cure this plague once and for all? Only time could truly tell. Still, the Lamia also touched on another point that caught Johann's intention and his deeper thought. Could the effects of the plague be avoided by forming a syncretic relationship with it? One thing was certain: This affliction, whatever it ended up being, possessed mutagenic qualities that were simply astounding. That much was obvious even to a Layman like the God of Ishgar. "Indeed... a truly disturbing thought that I'd rather not consider as a possibility either. Thank you for your valuable input, Panacea", the man gave the Lamia another nod, quietly thinking to himself for but a few moments until Sivvy spoke up.

The rose-haired Iron Dragon Slayer was straight to the point as always, Johann's gaze swerving over to the girl as once again, he would quietly listen to what the group had to say. Sivvy, too, raised a good point, elaborating how the people of this area now forever known as Tsak Ordahik had either tried to heal this phenomenon or made it worse by trying to use it for themselves, reinforcing his hope and belief that near or within one of the larger population centers the group would find more, and perhaps most importantly, reliable information. The Vice President of the West Fiore Trading Company nodded quietly. The girl continued, concluding that whatever the background of this plague and all the experimentation behind it would be, something had gone horribly wrong with it. Johann could only agree, the point she was making supporting the hypothesis that the plague itself would reshape and warp the bodies of those it affected, altering them in gruesome, disturbing ways. This meant that whatever the scouting party would face in the infected area of this land and their destination, it would likely be similarly mutated or altered. The prospect was not exactly an entertaining thought. In fact, the man felt quite uneasy with the possibility of even greater threats dwelling out there, things that wouldn't just put himself or this group in danger, but possibly the entirety of Tolgalen or even Earthland should they spread. Perhaps it would be good to put together a team to exterminate some of these threads specifically? Even if by some miracle the plague would be cured entirely, the creatures afflicted with it would remain within Tsak Ordahic. Sooner or later they would have to be taken care of still, lest they break out and wreak havoc ... which brought up the next point the girl had made. If the plague really was waterborne Tsak Ordahic was in immense trouble. The water of this land was the basis for all life within, and if the plague affected the water, it would automatically affect, by extension, the plants, the animals, everything else. It would be a nightmare to try and get rid of this pathogen. It was a concerning realization, to say the least, Johann's brows narrowing ever so slightly, nodding. "Let's hope there is some circumstance that would allow us to neutralize the plague. Thank you Sivvy, your theories are helpful, if anything, not flawed". He offered the slayer a warm smile. Johann valued everyone's input, not least due to the fact that his own lack of theory or understanding made the whole situation a little more complicated, but ... they'd have to make do with what they had. The majority of the analysis and lab work would have to be done back at one of the guilds, and until the more scientifically inclined mages from the Alliance would reach some sort of conclusion or breakthrough this was all they could do.

The next ones were the other two mages, the spider-like mage from Silver Wolf and the young Dragon Slayer from Fairy Tail. Inkormine touched on another interesting point, talking about different versions of the plague that had perhaps formed different strains while Arcadia mentioned something to help those already infected. A vaccine, perhaps? Johann nodded. Only time would tell what would come of their missions into this plague-ridden area. Though ... was the Fairy Tail mage crying? Arcadia seemed out of it, an understandable situation considering the heavy weight that was resting upon everyone's shoulders, not to mention the responsibility they would have to bear should they fail their mission, though Johann couldn't shake off the feeling he had missed something. Had the young Slayer really been in this much distress the entire time? Maybe it would be best to call off the mission and get the girl out of the area to ensure both that she wouldn't compromise their task and her own safety, Johann about to open his mouth to address the issue when the Fairy Tail mage released a shout, turning over and encasing herself in a shell of ice. The Vice President was startled, staring with open mouth for a few moments before closing his eyes, taking a deep breath. So much for that. "Well ... I suppose we should continue this another time then. All of you should try and get at least some rest while you can". Of course, it would only be natural for the God of Ishgar, who did not need to sleep for more than a few hours every now and then anyway, to stay up and aware of their surroundings. "I'll take night watch".

With that, the man sat back, closing his eyes as he focussed on the atmosphere around them, visualizing the image of their surroundings. For now, things remained eerily quiet, the only sound the flame of the fire that crackled undisturbed, and so like this, a few hours would pass, until eventually, movement caught the edge of the man's vision. One signature at first, then two, the numbers of whatever was approaching rapidly multiplying. Then, with heavy thuds, the ground began shaking ...

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Word Count: 1,227
10y Thread Word Count Total: 16,202 / 22,000

Enemies:
- 5x Tree Demon
- 5x Vine Charger
- 10x Chitin Rose
- 20x Plague Raptor

Listening to the contributions of the rest of the group Panacea had to conclude that while they had a lot of theories and possibilites they hadn't come close to an actual solution yet. She shared the hope of the rest that once they reached an actual city they'd obtain more solid answers, because as things were the best they could do was bring back some samples and journals and hope that the scientists back home would be able to figure out how to turn that information into a cure. While lots of discoveries had been made with such limited knowledge it often was a case of trial and error, and they couldn't afford to make too many mistakes with this plague. A single scientific journal from someone who'd already studied the plague would already be a godsend in this scenario.

As her eyes moved towards whoever was speaking at the time the lamia also tried to keep an eye on their surroundings. She didn't want to eat anything while in this place, although she knew that if they stayed here for much longer she would eventually have to get some nutrients inside of her. That knowledge wouldn't make her any happier about it though. Even her stomach, which would normally be growling for food by this point, was completely silent as her revulsion for their surroundings overwhelmed her hunger. Her body unanimously voted to not put anything inside of her for the duration of this expedition. Even watching Johann eat was already making her frown with mild distaste despite her attempts at hiding it.

"No problem." The serpentine woman gave this straightforward response to Johann expressing gratitude for her sharing her findings. Other than that she didn't have much comment on what the others had to say, although things got strange when it was Arcadia's turn to share her thoughts on the mission. She'd been paying attention to their surroundings so she hadn't noticed it before, but now the lamia was studying the smaller girl with a concerned expression as it quickly became clear that something wasn't right with Arcadia. While she doubted any of the mages present was having an easy time the ice dragon seemed to be suffering a lot more than just that. However since Johann had also picked up on it Panacea didn't say or do anything, until finally Arcadia yelled out and shut herself into an ice egg. She stayed silent for several seconds before nodding slowly in response to Johann. "I think we should yes." She cast another glance towards the ice that now obscured Arcadia's form before she made herself comfortable inside the coils of her own tail and closed her eyes.

---

Akeya wasn't sure what to make of Arcadia's behaviour. It was obvious something was going wrong, but it was difficult to ascertain what. It didn't look like the plague, although... Akeya had been there at the event where the first infected had revealed themselves, and they'd been rendered delusional. It could be that Arcadia had already picked up a strain which messed up the mind rather than the outward body. In which case all of them were at risk... She'd have to find some way to suggest this to Johann without alarming the rest of the group. If they ended up thinking that Akeya's alter-ego was trying to get rid of the ice mage things could get hairy very quickly.

But she was supposed to be asleep right now, which was a challenge in itself. The dragoness's sleeping pattern was one of the most erratic she'd ever heard of. In the past she was nocturnal, but ever since she'd gone from pure darkness to twilight her internal clock had gone completely haywire. So even as Panacea pretended to sleep Akeya's mind stayed awake, thinking about their circumstances and how they were to proceed from here.

---

When the ground began to shake Panacea quickly woke up, the vibrations carrying easily through her large contact area with the ground. Lifting her head and opening her red eyes the white lamia peered into the dark of night, her heat vision and enhanced eyes allowing her to get a good look at whatever was approaching them. Although it took several seconds and some rubbing of her eyes before she realized that some of the assailants were, in fact, corrupted trees. Having such large objects moving around distorted her perception before she realized it.

Along with the trees came a variety of creatures, from odd spider-like monsters with roses for heads to what looked like raptors which had their arms and skin ripped off. The lamia hissed in caution as she uncurled herself and raised herself up to her full length, but before she could get to fighting she'd have to make sure her allies wouldn't be caught unawares. Fortunately she had just the trick for that.

Raising both hands above her head she pressed them together before spreading them, an orb of light forming between them and floating upwards until it hovered several yards above their little camp. Once more clapping her hands together the orb of light began to shine brighter and brighter until there was effectively a miniature sun illuminating the team of explorers and their surroundings. This powerful light served both to wake up her allies and to blind their assailants, the monstrosities letting out a variety of odd sounds in complaint as their eyes were suddenly scorched by the merciless tiny sun.

"Don't look up!" Panacea yelled as she willed her sun to rise higher and higher until her companions wouldn't accidentally gaze into it and be blinded by it. That and given that some of their enemies were trees... they needed some space to be able to gaze at the towering giants of wood and rot without the light getting in the way. Leaving the sun to hover high above their heads the snake woman placed her hands together as she prepared her next spell, hoping that the others would wake up quickly enough to help repell the invaders.

WC: 1,009
TWC: 10,596/12,500

Again, Sivvy seemed pleased with the praise from her mentor, gathering the plagued treasures back up and placing them safely in her bag so stay in the best condition for the scientists and researchers. She quietly listened to everyone else, Arcadia drawing her slight interest but perhaps not eliciting the same amount of concern as the others in the group. Sure, she thought it odd, but she didn't know this girl, nor did she recognize the deep emotions at play as anything other than an overreaction to the devastating environmental stimuli. The clone had noticed her tears earlier. Honestly, almost every time she'd caught a glimpse of the girl she was in some sort of emotional turmoil, so Sivvy took it as her default setting and put it out of her mind. Even the cry for her mother was lost on the artificial human since she had no parents. The family dynamic was a complete mystery. Even if 7 had understood, she was the last person to know how to provide any comfort to anyone as she was right now.

Though Johann took night watch, Sivvy had no intentions of sleeping. She remained by her mentor's side as everyone else bedded down for some rest. She'd hoped to perhaps occupy the hours with a bit of conversing with the man, but his closed eyes and attentiveness to the surroundings made it clear now wasn't the time. After shifting restlessly under her blanket, eating all the snacks in her bag, and accidentally speed reading the remainder of her travel book, Sivvy was bored. Leaving her alone with nothing to do never boded well. There was too much time to think and worry. Already her teeth were gnawing little sores on the inside of her lip. Rising to her feet, she crept quietly over to the sturdiest, driest tree nearby. Within seconds she'd climbed it, carefully standing against the trunk on a branch about six meters in the air. At least roving her eyes over the ravaged landscape occupied her brain enough to make the downtime somewhat bearable. She'd be one of the first to physically see any threats coming, she just didn't know it'd be so soon.

At first, her slayer's vision caught what looked like swaying trees. They weren't too far from their location, and under any other circumstance Sivvy'd have chalked it up to a breeze. However, breezes weren't exactly all that common in Tsak Ordahic from her observations. The lumbering creakiness of the rotting bark splintering with movement was unnerving, as was the very subtle vibration. They were moving...and in their camp's direction, too. The only reason she didn't jump down and sound the alarm was she'd held a hope that they weren't targeting her group and would change direction if left unbothered. By the time she'd come to terms with the five zombie trees' intents being the annihilation of the intruders, smaller ground forces had begun to converge on all sides. Some lookout she'd been. The scent and her focus on the horrifyingly large 'living' trees had kept her from noticing all the other large threats, like the pack of mutated bipeds, the little blob fungus spiders, and the mossy skull-headed creatures.

Just as she was about to leap down to wake everyone up and formulate some sort of coordinated attack as their best chance of survival, Sivvy was blinded! "Gah!" A mini sun formed below her, wrecking her dragon vision and sending her reeling off the tree branch. At the last second, a metal-clawed hand jabbed into the trunk and the descent slowed for the young woman who had her eyes clamped shut and her brows furrowed. Worse yet, the sun seemed to be rising toward her in her elevated position, making it that much harder to adjust her eyes so she could see!

Eventually, her vision returned, but it was just in time for her to take action. Getting to the ground became pointless since the monsters were converging on everyone below and no doubt the thunderous steps had been enough to wake everyone. Yet another failure on her part. However, the clone would do her best not to fail them again. 

Sivvy seemed to see fit to just light everything on fire. 

Nothing usually caused more damage to plants and bacteria than heat and flame. Leaping down to a lower branch that was still slightly above the vine chargers, in an anxiety-fueled move, metal shot from her body and formed into a flame thrower. She pulled the trigger, raining a steady stream of fire down upon two nearby skull-headed terrors and three of the deformed plant spider things. Hearing them screech as they ignited at least told her they were taking damage. In fact, the three smaller monsters met their fiery demises, but the larger two wouldn't be felled so easily. One reached up and clipped the branch she'd been perched on, but not matter. She somersaulted off of it and landed cleanly on her feet, using her smaller size to dart around their legs and flame them some more. One crackled like a forest fire and succumbed, but the other lashed out a humongous, powerful claw in a shocking burst of speed. With ease, it clipped the end off her flamethrower while the other seemed to be inclined to do the same to her head. Sivvy had just enough time to leap into the air, landing on top of the claw meaning to behead her. There was a momentary pause as the creature digested this unexpected movement, leaving a window for Sivvy to send a burst of needles flying into its head, torso, and arms. It released a monstrous howl, though how was a mystery. She didn't see a throat behind the open boney jaw, but as usuall, the biology of these mutants was nonsensical at best. Anyway, before the young woman could make her next move, the beast yanked its arm up with stunning force and rocketed her into the air behind it. 

As she sailed through the air, 7 noticed her trajectory was rather unfortunate. Bringing up the rear of the mutant mob were still those ginormous, lumbering tree demons. One, in particular, was stepping right into where she'd land, and there was little she could do about it. Bracing for impact, the dragon slayer's skin hardened and took on a metallic scale protective layer and she summoned a melting clock shield. Seconds later she was crashing right into the side of one of the huge zombie trees, disappearing inside the twisting roots it was made of. Well, this was horrible!


WC: 1100
TWC: 17,302 / 22,000

Inkormine sighed a bit as he sat a little more into the mat he'd made on the ground, making sure nothing was poking through to get nasty infected plant stuff on him, trying to let himself relax some. And the moment he wasn't tense from watching out for danger or carefully avoiding rotted piles of plant matter or the like, a mild throbbing kicked on from all over as the stress and tension started making itself known. "ow..." He muttered to himself, reaching back to rub at the nasty scratch marks that had nearly been fang holes into his back, and still throbbed. Something had made it so they barely even coagulated over the day, and he could still feel the pain. But his only hope at this point was that was an effect of the atmosphere or their fangs or something. He couldn't be sick, after all. He didn't get sick. He also didn't come to wastelands made entirely of horrifying magic enhanced diseases trying to animate the very dead around him to drag him down and devour his mind and body, leaving him a brainless puppet looking to harm anyone he could, even his friends and family. That was one thing that both scared him and helped him, the worry about all this. If this disease were to ever escape this quarantine, if it weren't destroyed, Song would have to deal with this too, but at their new home, the guardians of the guild hall turned to undead ethereal monstrosities trying to kill and consume everyone...

Inky shook his head rapidly, forcing his eyes back open despite his tired state. No, he couldn't let thoughts like that get to him. He wouldn't let them become fact, so there was no reason to dwell on them. Better to focus on making sure they got through this, he got enough rest to last the day. He was no stranger to going day to day, although usually not with the direct association with others all the time like this. It was unusual, but, not unpleasant, even if it was unusual company. He unslung his backpack, setting it gently on the blankets in front of him, making sure not to jostle the vials and such with samples of assorted things he'd taken from the town and after. He opened it, digging in to find the small box he'd gotten and carefully tucked away in the bottom so it wouldn't take up much space. Reaching into said box, he drew out the small wrapped things held within, a couple of them, and opened one to show... a small loaf of soft bread, bits of something else on top of it, a mild garlicky smell showing it wasn't just plain bread. He had travel rations packed in there too, but he'd picked these up as special treats for a little while as well, figuring going into a place like this, he might want some kind of indulgence. And boy did he.

Volunteering to come into this place was intimidating, but being in here? Honestly, it was kind of terrifying. Almost as bad as leaving his home city had been. Nothing but a bag on his back, the memory of a peek at the foreign doctors map years ago, and the hope that he'd managed to save up (or pilfer, but that merchant was a wealthy asshole who purposefully upcharged anyone who he could get away with. Plus he'd overheard he was planning to throw that food out anyway because it wasnt perfect anymore, rather then give it to someone who could use it) enough supplies to make the trip. Just him and desert sprawling out unceasingly, city out of sight and nobody else there, completly alone. He might have had a little curling up and trying not to cry too hard because you dont cry tears in the desert unless you want to dehydrate then. Now though, instead of the uncaring heat and sand, every blade of grass was against him, every rustle in a dead bush or blow of the wind was actively seeking his death. Even his only unerring companions in the sky weren't properly visible through haze and ancient sealing magic, although at least he could feel them still, the distant pulsing of the pair of great bodies still echoing through his form.

Looking around, Inky noticed that Johann was sipping something out of a small can. But that was it, there was no evidence of him even having any other food here. If that was even food, although it smelled like it from here. A barely audible sigh, and Inky gently put his chewed on bread down in his bag, he'd finish it in a moment. Then he held up the small wrapped loaf he had in hand. "Hey, Johann? You want some bread to go with... whatever that is?" Sure he liked it, but couldn't leave someone to just have a can of whatever when there was some substantial food here. Although speaking of, he hadn't seen anyone else eat yet. He was looking towards the woman who kept sticking close to Johann, his guild member, about to ask her, when Arcadia suddenly screamed, making him nearly drop the bread he was holding as he leapt up, already starting to glow as he went straight into overdrive. After the repeated attacks all day, his first thought was an ambush. Only to then process what she'd said, and her expression. Oh. The glow faded as he recognized what was happening, at least somewhat. He knew that look and that cry from his own experience, although he'd never gotten it bad enough to hit him like that while he was awake. He sighed as the girl curled up and encased herself in a cocoon of ice, and started walking over with an apologetic little wave to Johann. "Ill get you one in just a sec." He said, walking over to the cocoon.

"Arcadia?" The spider asked, a hand resting on the ice before wincing a little. That was so cold, it felt unreal. Of course even normal ice did that to him, but, regardless. He could just make out soft sounds of crying, but he couldn't exactly offer water through a dome of solid water. "It's Inkormine. If you want to talk about it... I have some idea of what it feels like." He sort of crouched by the ice for a moment or two, but with no response, he sighed gently, rapping a knuckle against the ice. "The offer is always open." He said, standing up. She was so young, or at least looked it. Seemed too young to be on an assignment like this, regardless of her guild or abilities. She was hurting, and a place like this would only hurt her more. He turned to return to his sleeping space, and give Johann the bread if he wanted, eating his own food before gratefully laying down on his mat. "Wake me for the next watch, I dont mind the dark." He said, then went to sleep himself.

It was in the middle of some rather poor dreams involving being stuck in an oven with angry fruit that things started going wrong. But he was only barely waking up with a bleary confused look before the light of a sun blasted the whole camp, bringing him awake real quick, eyes shooting open as the tiny fires in them burned and counteracted the blinding light of the rising ball to show that the camp was already halfway to overrun with more monsters, not even going to give them a good nights sleep! "Freaking sick things!" He shouted, as fire started whipping out from him as he started casting, trying to get a nova rolling before the icky fleshy bipedal things closed in on him, not about to get taken down like the bug incident. Only to suddenly have this strange green gas suddenly billowing at him from the side chewing up his blankets and knocking his focus for a loop, the nova fizzling out as he lashed out with a bolt of solar fire, grabbing up his bag as he went to run, get an area where he wasn't half surrounded - when the bolt hit the strange gas and suddenly the spider was flying away, ears ringing and he suddenly couldnt here as he landed on the other side of the little campsite, twitching, his backpack landing next to him and rolling along for a little bit. What the hell was that all about? He managed to push himself up despite the dizziness and looked to see scorched ground and tiny tattered fragments of blanket burning merrily through the air, although at least it looked like the creatures that had been there were also gone. Of course, both his rearmost legs were feeling kinda numb.

When he experimentally put some weight on them, Inky had to bite back anything more then a whimper at the pain that shot through them. Yeah, that was not a good sign. He could still move but whatever was wrong there was probobly serious... Suddenly he was even more glad they had someone along with healing magic... although speaking of, it looked like everyone was having some trouble as monsters were attacking everyone. He shook his head, only to stagger as he lost the visual sense of balance, before clenching his hands and stabilizing himself. At least the light was still there so everyone would be able to see fine.

And he could see just fine as well, seeing Seven, Johan's guildmate, flying through the air and straight into a tree... and the tree was moving, that wasnt good. Even less good was the sudden leaping vine-y motions as soon as Seven hit the tree, starting to engulf the woman and drag her in almost immediately. "Crap, Seven!" He looked around but everyone was fighting, and he could see some kind of large creature, taller then him, was looking awful aggressive towards him, but for just a moment, the explosion had left him an opening in the fight. It really wasn't even a decision as he started casting, mixing his whips and the opening of a nova to lash a searing barrage against the tree, whips lasting longer then usual as he tried to simply rip the side of the tree open, before a nasty detonation engulfed the entire side of the tree in searing fire, as the spider tried to break open a hole for Seven to escape before the tree ate her or killed her or whatever it was going to do, before turning and half falling over as he leapt aside from the vine charger's rush, the things claws only barely missing the already hurt wizard, who stumbled to a standstill as the thing wheeled on him. All he could do for Seven now was hope he'd managed to open up enough of a gap for her to escape, or at least for someone else to capatilize on and help her before the thing could do more.

WC: 1902
TWC: 8198/8700

1x Chitin Rose defeated
5x Plague Raptor Defeated

Drifting between in the twilight between sleep and waking, Arcadia heard Inkormine's reassuring words. In her almost asleep-but-not-totally-asleep state, the barefoot slayer's mind took a few moments more to register as real. She stirred awake inside her shell out ice. The slayer was not sure how long it had been since Inkormine had spoken, but she was sure those kind words were not just dreamed up.

Arcadia thought them over more thoroughly, now that she was mostly awake. She could not quite being herself to open her icy shell to talk, but she spoke out, hoping Inkormine was still listening. "Thanks Inkormine. I know I'm not that only one to ever lose family. There's no real reason I should keep thinking of my mom at time like an important mission. Except... There's this dream demon, a creature that can only be seen in dreams or the mind. It keeps quite vividly triggering her last moments over and over again. I just wish it would leave me alone. I don't want to let anyone down. I. I don't know what would happen if I gave in. I. I'm sorry. This is my problem. I shouldn't trouble anyone else with something like this. It's nothing."

Still not sure anyone was there to listen, Arcadia was to embarrassed to double check if anyone was. She fell silent again and drifted back to sleep, despite a growing and renewed headache.

The morning sun was already well above the horizon in the Kingdom of Dragnof. It's warmth was burning off the morning dew, bringing a blanket of mist to the field young Arcadia now stood in. She rubbed sleep from her heavy-lidded deep green eyes, and turned them up to her adopted mother, the great ice dragon, Khione Glacier. Arcadia still wrestling with the demons of sleep, lodged protest, 'Mooom, why can't we just get a few more minutes of sleep?'

The way Khione Glacier's frozen body of living ice sparkled in the morning sun, Arcadia had to be about the only human who could read the disappointment in her mother's icy draconic features. Frosty breath  poured from nostrils in her disapproving snort. Khione Glacier rumbled to her comparatively tiny teenage ward, 'Have I been wasting my time, little one? Are you not the same child who was brought to me in tears after her family and village were destroyed by my more callous brethren? The same child who pleaded with me to teach her the secret of Ice Dragon Slayer magic, so that she could one day fight by my side, and bring Justice to those same callous siblings of mine? Do you think Acnologia complained to his guardian?'

Arcadia hung her head, her great mother being absolutely right. If she ever wanted to be as a great a hero as Acnologia and the other dragon slayers who made it possible for the dragons and humans of Dragnof to live side by side, then she had to stop whining about small things. She would never find  Justice for her fallen family that way either.

Closing her eyes, Arcadia centered herself, allowing the magic power of the land to flow through and awaken her senses. Her sharpened green gaze spotted a stack of two boulders with a crude face etched onto the side.  She sighed, glancing back up to Khione Glacier, 'Seriously, Mom? I know you're right about all that, and one day I WILL be a great hero like Acnologia. But how am I gonna be ready to do that just fighting rocks?'

Khione Glacier lowered her massive, icy head toward the ground, so she could be eye to eye with her ward. 'First you must get a better handle on never staying in one place. The power of my ice will lend you its strength and durability, true. You should never depend on that power alone. Never leave the enemy time to focus in on you.'

Turning her focus back toward the makeshift training target, Arcadia took her mentor's words to heart. Then she noticed Khione Glacier's head lingering closer to the ground, which meant there something more on her foster mother's mind? 'What is it, Mom?'

The great ice dragon paused before answering, 'Nothing, little one. Nothing but rumors. We may talk about them later.' Khione Glacier lifted her great head up high once more with her best approximation of a smile.  Dragon smiles can be scary things, if you don't know them very well. 'Right now you've got an adversary who's not just going to wait around for you, little one.'

Arcadia nodded, 'Right, Mom! That guy doesn't stand a chance!' The young slayer was at once surrounded in a raging magical field of frigid air and tiny glittering ice crystals suspended in the space around her.  Staring down her rocky opponent, Arcadia first took on the strength and then the durability of an ancient glacier. When she was ready, a predatory grin spread across her young face, her magical field of chilled air and ice dissipating.

Her attention and deep green eyes sharply focused on her target, Arcadia's long pale blonde hair trailed out behind her with her bare feet pounding the ground to charge the waiting stack of rocks.  Halfway there, she roared a swirling torrent of super-chilled water and razor-sharp flecks of ice. The water instantly freezing on contact, leaving the rock target coated in a splattering of ice. Arcadia's path to the stacked rocks was not a straight one. Taking Khione Glacier's advice closer to heart, Arcadia did not wish to give even a makeshift training dummy a chance to get a bead on her.

Finally closing the distance, Arcadia spun her left foot around and hard into the icy side of the rocks. On impact, her foot cratered through the ice. Her body carried through on it's twirling momentum, bringing the hard crunch of her right fist. A hard jab from her left struck to the rock doll's midsection. Imagining her foe to be staggered, Arcadia vaulted into a backflip away from the practice doll for a little breathing room.

She inhaled deep before she even landed, unleashing a second swirling maelstrom. The freezing waterspout and razor ice gave the stacked rocks a second coating of ice. Rushing back in, Arcadia noticed cracks in the rock underneath the icy coating after leading back in with a high sideways kick that sent bits of ice and rock in all directions. Arcadia followed up with another flurry of two punches. Both focus in on where the cracks were forming beneath the ice. Her right went high and her left went low, creating twin craters in the rock doll's icy veneer.

Spreading both of of her arms out like wings, Arcadia lurched back a few steps.  Swirling razor ice gathered about her outspread arms in vaguely draconic wing-shaped formations. Arcadia stomped forward, swinging her arms together, sending her wings of razor ice flinging past and through the rock doll.  

The frigid cold and power of each blow crumbled the rock doll down into a pile of smaller rocks and debris ice. Arcadia bared her cute little fangs in big grin and pumped one fist into the air in victory. Breathing harder from the flurry of exertion, she laughed as she started back to Khione Glacier. She wore a proud grin across her young features.  The glimmer of pride in Khione Glacier's crystal ice eyes made it all worth it.

A mentor's critique followed just the same. Khione Glacier bellowed to her mortal daughter, 'Very nice, very nice! You were excellent... right up until the point you slowed down at the end, little one. A real wizard or a real dragon will be hitting you back, not just sitting there like that rock doll.'

Arcadia was still trying to catch her breath as she reached her foster mother's side. She sighed, 'Aww, Mom. That thing woulda been hurting too much to fight back, even of he was real.'

The great ice dragon chuckled, 'Perhaps there is nothing more I can teach you with lifeless dolls alone.  Tomorrow I will ask the queen to lend me one of her marionette wizards, and you will see how much harder it is when the dolls hit back. I-'

Khione Glacier's manner suddenly went completely serious. They had a visitor. Arcadia couldn't see or sense them herself though. She glanced up to her foster mother, 'Mom! What.. or who is it?' As soon as she asked Arcadia began to sense then catch sight of the long haired figure in the distance. It was coming their way.

Arcadia jumped and waved in excited greeting once she realized who it was. 'Acnologia! Hey Acnologia! Ove-'

Her foster mother silenced Arcadia with one harsh reprimand. 'Arcadia! Calm down and be silent, little one! Wait back in your hut. Acnologia and I have a couple things to discuss first. I'll call for you when we're ready for you.'

Taken aback by her foster mother's sharp tone, Arcadia reluctantly and quietly retreated back to her own little hut. From there she watched as Khione Glacier flew out to meet the figure of Acnologia. Gone was her earlier excitement at seeing one of her heroes. Instead, Arcadia couldn't help a certain sense of foreboding.

Khione Glacier greeted the stone-faced Acnologia. 'So... Acnologia, are the rumors true? Have you turned against even those of us who taught you the power to stand up for your people?'

The legendary dragon slayer remained expressionless, coldly responding,'All dragons must perish. There can be no peace as long as even one still lives.'

With nothing else to say, Khione Glacier took to the skies and Acnologia followed. Arcadia felt her heart leap up into her throat. She knew she shouldn't call out, but it couldn't be helped. 'Acnologia!! What're you doing?! That's my mom!'

Arcadia watched the life and death struggle wheel around the sky above. Either they could not hear her or just ignored her calls. To Arcadia's growing sense of relief, Khione Glacier was slowly gaining the upper hand. Her foster mother finally managed to throw Acnologia off her back. Khione Glacier positioned herself in a steep dive to drive and crush Acnologia into the ground.

On the way down, Acnologia activated the series of magic circles he had placing all along. Khione Glacier's soul was rendered from her ice crystalline body. It would be her limp form that would crash into the ground. Arcadia's deep green eyes watched wide in terror and shock, tears blurring her vision. 'Moooom!!!'

Acnologia emerged from the resulting dust cloud in his dreaded dragon form, prepared to finish off the fallen great ice dragon. In her grief, Arcadia rushed out and roared a torrent of freezing water and razor ice straight up at Acnologia's now draconic face. The apocalyptic monster was not fazed one bit. Acnologia just turned his gaze down at Arcadia as if only just now noticing the young dragon slayer's existence.

Arcadia was far too lost in her grief and disillusionment to show any real fear. Too shell shocked to run. She managed to choke out a few tearful sobs, 'Ac-Acnoglogia... w-why?'

Something about the dreamed memory rolled off it well worn scripted rails. Arcadia felt very different... disconnected... lost. She was now consciously aware this was all just a memory or dream. This was usually where she awoke or shook herself beak to the real world.

The barefoot slayer found herself still staring down Acnologia, and already her concept of the real world was starting to slip. There was something different about Acnologia too. The Dragon King's eyes were not his own. They belonged to the dream demon that had been haunting her all this time, and she knew exactly what it wanted before it could speak. The combined rage at the monster that had stolen her mother and the monster who had forced her to relive it cemented her will.

Arcadia grew slowly into a fearless dragon of living ice of immense size and power, greater than she could achieve currently in the real world. An ice dragon to rival the dream demon incarnation of Acnologia. She growled, "I'll never make any deal with you."

________________________

In the waking world, Arcadia's ice shell burst open afoot the time she began to feel that great disconnect. It was also the about the time the plague creatures had closed in on the team camp. The slayer inside the ice egg burst out by growing into a 15 meter long dragon of living ice. Gone were her usually sparkling faerie green eyes. In their place were dead, feral eyes made of the same ice as the rest of the now wild ice dragon. A creature of pure instinct who potentially no longer recognized friend from foe. Panacea's summoned sun briefly blinded the feral dragoness from her friends, and steered her toward the true enemies.

Arcadia as Young Adult Ice Dragon:

________________________

A sudden blinding flash of the morning sun momentarily hindered Arcadia's vision of the dream demon in Acnologia-form. When she could see him clearly again, Acnologia had seemingly grown in nightmarish appearance if that was possible. His blue-black dragonhide was bad enough, but in the flash it grown into paled plague-ridden flesh covered in rotting pustules between its scales that threatened to spread disease if burst open.  Already terrifying teeth had grown ever longer, as giant re-curved needles lining its giant maw. Arcadia had just enough time to summon icy armor around her already icy dragon body, before Plague Acnologia managed to strike first, sinking those giant curved needle-like teeth into her back.

The great ice dragoness barely felt it though, her icy hide and icy armor not so soft a thing to break. Unrestrained rage let her easily ignore the pain that did seep through. The park ground trembled as the two titanic dragons tangled.  Arcadia lunging into Acnologia, flipping the dream demon over as her own icy maw and one terrible icy foreleg worked together to wrench her foe from her back and onto the ground. Leaping into flight, the great ice dragoness spread and beat her wings to hover over her prone enemy. One great breath, and she unleashed  winter's breath to devastating effect on the plague-ridden flesh and all its rotten pustules. When the frozen flesh flaked away, it slowly began to reveal Acnologia's true blue-black scaly hide beneath.

She plunged down, driving her icy foretalons deep into the dream demon's sides. Acnologia countered with a tremendous swipe of its claws, but again her icy armor and the icy flesh it protected showed the slightest injury of shallow scrapes and  minor surface stress fracture. Arcadia folded in her wings and rolled on off Acnologia, going for its throat with her great icy maw, and swinging her bladed tail around to slice up its exposed belly.

The dream demon in Acnologia form roared out, it's armor of plague-ridden flesh boiling away, yet her greatest foe was far from beaten. The rotten flesh boiled away from Acnologia's blue and black scales into a poisonous mist that hid its next transformation. Arcadia tried to hold her breath, but too late. The poison working almost instantly, even on a dragon of Acradia's size. She stumbled back a few steps in  a fit of coughing. When she raised her faerie green gaze, the combinations of dream demon and Acnologia had risen back to its feet. The dragon of apocalypse now covered in moss and flowers.

________________________

Back in the waking world, the feral dragon picked out the first tree demon it saw, charging away from the camp to intercept it, only to be intercepted herself by the pack of remaining Plague Raptors. Normally a feral dragon would flee when confronted rather than risk injury. These creatures had invaded her territory though, and that could not be tolerated. She instinctively summoned an armor of protective ice around her already hard icy flesh.  The plague raptors had her surrounded, each of them covered in plague-ridden skin and rotting pustules. One of them beat the feral dragoness to the punch, leaping on her back to deliver a bite with its curved needle-like teeth.

The feral dragoness's icy armor and icy flesh protected her from most of the harm, reducing the  creature's  bite to barely scratching her surface. A scratch the creature would for with its life, as the feral dragoness swung her head around, and chomped lethally over the top. She flung it's limp form away, leaping up into flight to hover up out of their reach. One bite was a scratch, bites from the whole pack would start to get serious.

Breathing deep, she unleashed the breath of winter's fury, sweeping the torrent over the gather pack below.. Their numbers were devastated, leaving only five plague raptors. The wild ice dragon dove down on them, striking two with her outstretched foretalons, and and rolling over another to her side. One more raptor leaped onto her back, delivering another bite, but she crunched that one as she had the first. Her bladed tail sweeping around to slice open the last one as it charged her.

Yet no sooner had she wiped out the remaining plague raptors than had the remaining chitin roses gathered to press the attack. Too late to join their raptor brethren in the initial attack on the ice dragon, they did pick up right where the raptors left off. One of the small plant spiders unleashed a cloud of poisonous mist that sent the wild dragon reeling. Choking and coughing on the mist, the feral ice dragon tried to back out of the cloud, all while the plant spiders continued to move in.

________________________

Even as the poison mist slowly cleared, Acnologia put the power of its new skin to work. The great moss and flower covered dragon breathed deep and exhaled acid all over Arcadia's icy form.  Her icy armor and icy flesh great at taking physical punishment were not so great at absorbing the magical. The acid widened the fissures already in her back and burned a few new ones on  her side to add to the poison working through her system to add small micro-fissures all over her body.

Though her wounds were starting to add up, she would not give in to the dream demon. No matter what.  She drew more of winter's freeze deep into her own being, allowing it to begin freezing over a few of her wounds.  The spell would continue to heal over fissures already suffered, even as she fought on.

She took the fight back to the mossy Acnologia, conjuring ice to spread and keep her adversary in place if only momentarily.  She let one furious roar and a deadly needle of ice grown from a talon fly.  The needle struck deep into the mossy dream demon-possessed dragon's side.  She followed a slice of her tail's blade and hindclaw kick. She kept the mossy Acnologia on the ropes  with variatins on that combination, of flinging an icy dart, and two or three physical attacks. The mossy dragon got in a couple licks on the ice dragon, but Arcadia seemed to have regained the upper hand.

It was an advantage she was looking to press, when the dream demon-possessed Acnologia released another gas, and sparked it to explode. Again the monster released its explosive gas, triggering it to explosion.  They left Arcadia grievously injured and limping. They took a greater toll on the mossy dragon though, and all the great ice dragoness had to do was roll over, rocking back and forth until the dream demon and the Dragon King it possessed were both crushed into mossy mush under the weight of a great dragon glacier.  Her dream Acnologia would not be rising from defeat a second time. With its defeat, she no longer feel the dream demon's presence. Slowly, the haze of her dreamed memory began to fade. Her connection to reality seeping back through.

Arcadia's world turned bright gold. She heard her foster mother's last words echo in her mind one more time before she woke.


'I love you... Arcadia.'

________________________

Once more back in the waking world, the feral dragon's wild gaze once more regained intelligence and Arcadia's sparkling faerie green. Gaining her sense of her surroundings, she saw the aftermath of the mirror battle her feral self had conducted against the remaining plant spiders.  She felt the same healing chill her feral-self had used soothe  her quite real wounds.  She could also feel in just how bad of shape the plant spider's explosions had left her. Blood seeped from the worst fissures in her armor and flesh, but her battle with the dream demon was behind her.

The dream demon's defeat meant she was ready to help her teammates anyway she could.  The remaining plague raptors and remaining chitin roses had all fallen as external casualties to her internal battle with the dream demon, however, she saw more than a couple stronger plague monsters remaining, demon trees and skull-headed vine monsters. The ice dragon waited for the best opening to help her teammates.

She decided to help Seven first. Being as long as the tree was tall, she figured the best help she could give was to keep one of the trees occupied. The heavily wounded ice dragon tackled one of the giant trees toppling it away from any possibility of harming her friends. She used her length and glacier weight to keep it down. It was a titanic struggle against the zombie tree, but nothing compared to the one she just won in her dreams.

WC: 3597
Arcadia WC: 13,049/12,500

All remaining Plague Raptors defeated
All remaining Chitin Roses defeated

Panacea knew that there was the risk that her sun would blind her allies as well, which is why she would have preferred not to use it. However given the circumstances she didn't think there was a better option: while her companions might have their vision stolen for a moment the enemy would certainly suffer the same fate, and perhaps more so since they were all facing the sun whereas the defenders could look away from it. Furthermore she'd created the sun quickly enough that they at the very least had a couple of seconds to recover from the initial blinding light before they'd have to worry about defending themselves from the plague monsters that were attacking from every direction. And once that blindness was gone they'd benefit more from that sun than their enemies, since not everyone in the group was guaranteed to be capable of seeing in the dark.

Fortunately it also looked like her little bet had paid off, and that aside from some initial stumbling all the other mages quickly got to work protecting the campsite and one another from the onslaught. As the lamia summoned several rays of light to eliminate some of the smaller monsters she watched as the girl who was always following Johann around was decimating several stronger creatures with a flamethrower... until she ended up being swallowed by one of those giant rotting trees. While the white-scaled serpent launched some beams towards the tree it quickly became apparent that the monstrosity was too durable to easily be taken down, and its plague-ridden bark was too rotten and stained with nasty fluids to easily catch fire either. While she wanted to help Seven out Panacea couldn't afford to spend time preparing big enough an attack to destroy the tree, given that she had to stem the flow of smaller threats with a constant barrage of concentrated light lances. Especially since she'd have to devise an attack which would both inflict great damage to the tree without harming the girl within...

Speaking to herself the lamia had to admit that the trees were worrying her the most. The other creatures... they were certainly a threat, each and every one of them capable of spreading one mutation of the plague which had destroyed this land or another, but at the end they were similar to what they had already found in the village. That the plague could even mutate trees into mobile monsters, apparently capable of enough thought to move with purpose and hostility... She'd hoped that those grass serpents she'd encountered in that little hut had been the worst of it. If trees could be turned into that could the ground also become afflicted? Were they about to be toppled over by corrupted rock monsters?

Her thoughts were wrenched in another direction when a shockwave rippled over the campsite, nearly pushing her off balance before her strong tail managed to push her back upright. Looking towards the source she saw that Inkormine, the dancing spider, had been launched from one side of the camp to another, followed by a trail of smoke. Where he'd been before there was a small crater, and the splattered remains of one of those strange insect-looking things which had a flower for a head and a body which looked most like a pustulent orb. It didn't take a genius to figure out that those gas-spewing things could explode if exposed to enough heat. She was counting herself lucky that she had yet to target one of them when she realized that might actually be an opportunity.

Quickly looking around she picked up some more of those vile skitterers and pierced their bodies with more lances. The result of her experiment was very solid: several explosions devastated the area around the camp, taking out several of the smaller nocturnal ambushers while some of the bigger threats were momentarily caught off guard. Panacea would have tried to target some more of those rose-headed bugs but that was the point where Arcadia broke out of her shell and charged straight into the middle of things, trampling and crushing the plague's apostles in the form of a large ice dragon. The white lamia was simultaneously glad to see her wipe out the threats so quickly, and somewhat worried by the savage behaviour. And with the remaining exploding roses quickly converging on the ice drake the serpent couldn't just blow them up. On the other hand, now she had some breathing room to speed up the elimination of what threats remained.

The sun was still burning brightly up high, illuminating all and drawing sharp shadows below. Taking a deep breath she poured some more energy into the sun, then made it send a particularly strong beam of light directly downwards, basking herself in an intense light that would have struck anyone else blind if they'd been the target. Closing her red eyes the white serpentine lady began to dance, her long scaled tail forming intricate patterns as her upper body swayed to an unheard rhythm. Where her white scales were hit by the intense light they reflected it, sending rays of light in every direction that burned straight through trees and even some smaller stones. While her dance may have appeared rather random and inappropriate for the occasion it actually served an important purpose: she could channel all her energy into the sun above to enhance the power of her light attacks, then use her reflective scales to aim with pinpoint precision. A significantly stronger attack than her original technique of just launching bullets of light, although she wasn't as capable of reacting to sudden attacks now that she was in the middle of her dance.

Which was why she was grateful that the rest of her team was doing a good job keeping the enemies at bay. She could focus fully on being the nucleus of a show of light and death, powerful rays dropping enemies like flies and giving her allies some breathing room as well.

She'd have liked for this to be the end of it, as even as she danced she could see that others were helping Seven out before that tree could digest her or whatever it is that a plague tree wants to do to you, but even as most of the initial ambush was now dead it looked like there was much worse on the horizon...

---

Keeping two personalities alive at the same time was a serious headache, especially if at the same time you were doing things which required extreme precision. Of course Panacea was just a fake personality but Akeya had to make it as realistic and complete as possible for it to work. As her external ego, the dancing white serpent, was essentially acting as light artillery the twilight dragoness was more concerned by what she could sense approaching with haste. There were three presences, each of them much, much more powerful than anything which had gathered here. If she had to guess at their raw power she'd think that even their leader, Johann, could not just brush them aside. The only advantage they were likely to have was that this plague didn't leave anything sane and intelligent, so raw power aside they'd still be beasts which could be outwitted.

However two of those presences appeared to be flying. That was an issue. She couldn't be sure, but there was a good chance that not everyone in the group could fly. If large enough a percentage of the mages here was grounded that meant two powerful flying monsters, mindless or not, could wreak endless amounts of havoc before they were dealt with. If they wanted to get everyone out of here alive that couldn't be permitted. Akeya might not care that much for the lives of others but she also didn't see much use in having them die pointlessly. And she did care for fulfilling missions as perfectly as possible. They might all have come here willing to sacrifice themselves if that was needed to safeguard the future against this epidemic, but a perfect completion of the mission would require everyone to be alive.

She didn't necessarily want to do this, but everyone here was part of the alliance between guilds. Them figuring out that Panacea wasn't all that she seemed was not the end of the world. And it'd beat the alternative.

---

Panacea's dance slowed down as the enemies were disappearing in great numbers. Already it looked like Johann and Arcadia were taking down the remaining tree monsters. The lamia would have congratulated them on a job well done, but she had more pressing matters to attend to. Above the sun still shone brightly, but the beam of light that had shone down straight on the dancing snake had disappeared. Creating a magical matrix around the sun she tied it off, cutting it off from her own magic but giving it some mana as a battery while protecting it from outside influences. The sun would keep shining for a while longer before dissipating, and with some luck nothing would attack it with enough force to destroy it.

This left Panacea's hands free, and she gathered another burst of magic inside herself which she then allowed to explode into a bright flash of light, blinding anyone who was looking straight at her as she disappeared into the flash itself.

While she was willing to expose her secret if that was needed to defeat the plague, she would rather at least make some attempt to keep the truth hidden for a while longer.

---

Abandoning the Panacea persona Akeya shot up into the sky, merging with both light and dark to turn fully invisible as she spread her hidden wings and turned towards where two large airborne figures were rapidly coming closer. Judging by how fast they were moving she wouldn't be able to outpace them in a straight line. In short distances however...

As the first of the plague wyverns got close enough to begin releasing its breath Akeya shot past it, hidden claws raking its side to create multiple bloody tears which leaked pus and more plague-ridden blood. As the wyvern cried out and stopped its breath attack to instead face this invisible assailant the dragoness realized that this blood could be a problem in itself. A wave of darkness washed over the plague wyvern, harmless but pushing all the blood back inside the wounds before sealing them with dense dark. As dangerous as the plague was it couldn't mutate something as non-biological as manifested shadows, which was why Akeya was even willing to touch these monsters in the first place.

She didn't have much time to think about what to do next, as a white and black tail threatened to swat her out of the sky. Dodging upwards she had to turn into a beam of light and jinx to the side before a cone of searing blue flames erased her from the sky entirely. The second plague wyvern had caught up, and the two of them had together decided that this invisible dragon wasn't going to live much longer. They couldn't see her, and she'd also covered her magic and scent as any sensible assassin would, but apparently whatever the plague had done to them had left them with enough cunning to guess at her location based on how she was attacking them.

Below the bone drake was quickly approaching the camp, big enough to make the plague wyverns look positively tiny in comparison and covered in a sturdy exoskeleton which looked like it wouldn't break if you dropped a palace onto it. Akeya hoped that the people below were up to the task of taking that behemoth down, because she was pretty sure she would need some time to take care of these two flying beasts. And she might not even be capable of that.

Still, so far as she could tell she was the strongest of the mages present in this expedition, not counting Johann himself. She wasn't stupid enough to think she was on the same level as that monster. She'd have to make do on her own while those down below worked together against arguably a much bigger threat.

Dodging about she could tell that these plague wyverns may no longer be sane, but they weren't stupid. They cooperated, one of them always striking first and giving the second an opportunity to follow up. They also limited the directions she could move in, constantly circling about so she couldn't just move outside of their sphere of influence. Their destructive breaths lit up the sky as invisible the dragoness danced about, occasionally raking their bodies with shadow-clad claws which tore open surprisingly smooth skin, leaving behind darkness to seal the wounds before any blood dripped onto the lands below. But if she couldn't make them bleed out taking them down would become even harder than it already was...

On the other hand, she'd now had plenty of time to drink in the darkness of the night and the light of the stars above. even if there was a barrier covering this land, preventing the plague from spreading across the world, the world outside could still filter in. Slowly her movements were becoming faster, her claws were digging deeper and her emerald eyes, even as they were hidden from view, grew sharper.

Eventually she began to shoot about at a level of speed even the plague wyverns had trouble keeping up with, leaving pure darkness in her wake. When she passed one of her flying adversaries she left another deep gash, then another and another. Zipping about as the edge of night, a blade of darkness, Akeya began to slowly overwhelm the two wyverns. While they were bigger, stronger, tougher and probably faster across long distances, they were at a disadvantage where accuracy was concerned since their opponent was hidden, and they were large and clad with bright white scales on the back and pure black scales on the front. The sun below was still shining, removing any form of camouflage they might have been depending on. And they also didn't have Akeya's advantage that she could slowly gain more and more power from the dark and the light.

That said the plague wyverns weren't easy prey either: despite them being covered in wounds they weren't showing any sign of suffering from them or slowing down. They also were adapting to Akeya's new speed, forcing the ethereal dragoness to swerve and dodge as more breaths of blue flame shot through the night sky and deadly claws, fangs and tails threatened to tear her apart and break every bone in her body. There were enough wounds on them, sealed with dark, that most of their white scales were now gone and replaced with vicious looking dark markings. It was time for her to move into the endgame.

If she was purely dark, like she used to be, then she'd need more time to devise a plan to take these creatures down. She may have hit them quite a bit, and it may have looked impressive from the outside, but she could tell that she couldn't take these plague wyverns down like this. It'd take ages and they'd probably just eventually flee, which could be considered a victory if it wasn't for the fact that she suspected they'd recover quickly and return again, this time remembering that there was an invisible dragon who liked to dance circles around them.

It was a good thing she had both light and dark for this. She preferred the dark, even now, for she found it more flexible and fitting for her cunning nature. But when you needed raw power, and in sudden bursts... light definitely came out on top.

Suddenly shooting upwards Akeya dodged two gouts of flame, one of them missing her by a mere inch. The heat in itself scorched her body, forcing her to grit her teeth and endure it as she gained some altitude. The plague wyverns, not about to let her do as she pleased, immediately flew upwards to follow her, but the twilight dragon placed her clawed hands together and whispered two words, which travelled throughout the night sky as if carried by an unseen wind.

"Full Cycle."

Night and Day. Day and Night. Two halves of the same coin. A time of activity and a time of rest. Moon and sun eternally chasing one another. Night would pass into day and day would pass into night.

And all the darkness that Akeya had been pouring into the wounds she had been inflicting on the plague wyverns would turn into the brightest light.

The people on the ground far below would suddenly see two new suns in the sky, if only briefly. Both plague wyverns lit up as they were suddenly practically engulfed in a searing light, burning deep into their bodies and vaporizing skin and flesh. Unearthly shrieks resounded, loud enough to make the trees shiver and the earth tremble, as both plague wyverns twisted and struggled. Above them Akeya pressed her claws harder together, not allowing it to end with just this. While the two twisted monstrosities, these airborne plague spreaders, were definitely hurting now she couldn't guarantee it to be fatal yet.

"Horizon."

Some might consider using the name of your own family as the name of a spell to be arrogant. Akeya thought it practical. Moving both claws to opposite sides she released a wave of what could best be described as twilight, the edge between day and night and light and dark. A metaphorical concept, so thin that it could barely be said to exist.

So thin that it would cut through anything.

The move which turned her darkness into light had been potent, but brief. Already the light was weakening, the plague wyverns recovering from a shock that would have sent any sane creature into cardiac arrest and a quick demise. Their mad, abominable, rotting selves had been protected from a clean end. Which was why what actually killed them was the horizon, slicing their weakened bodies cleanly into twain. No more shrieks arose from their throats as this time they simply fell, their bodies seared, ravaged and broken and their wings missing most of their membrane. Akeya just hoped that she'd led them far enough away from her allies that they wouldn't have to worry about two giant carcasses dropping onto their heads.

Breathing heavily the invisible dragoness tried to steady herself. Both the horizon and the full switch between light and dark weren't exactly easy techniques. If the people on the ground took their time taking down that absolute monster of a bone drake she might be able to regain her breath and come to help out, but she hoped that by the time she came down it would already be long dead.

For now she'd just be making sure that any threat which tried to traverse the skies was immediately cut down.

WC: 3,173
TWC: 13,769/12,500 (completed)

2x Plague Wyverns defeated [Akeya close to zero mana, also high up in the sky and hidden]

The tree was trying to absorb her. This was definitely a problem. Inside it seemed like vines and bark had become sinew capable of forming around her like a cage, then slowly wrapping her up and pulling her deeper. She felt thick vegetation coiling around her neck, pinning her to the raw wood that sank deeper and deeper. Metallic scales or no, the pressure was immense and she wasn't strong enough to pull free. Even the needle-like spikes she had frantically protruding from her body had no effect on the undead tree's innards, and the lights and sounds from outside were starting to fade and become muffled as bark formed to enclose her entirely. No matter what spell she threw out, none of them had any lasting damage to get her free, and a particularly thick branch clamped her mouth shut so no screams could reach her allies. What a pathetically stupid mistake she'd made. Sivvy admonished herself harshly as her mind came to grips with becoming the team's first casualty despite working so very hard to be useful and strong. So, she really would meet her end before serving any purpose at all. Sivvy faced complete and total failure and honestly the death she deserved for her lackluster existence.

Suddenly, there was splintering and light filtered into her squinting eyes. The noises of a fierce battle filtered in. Vines different from the tree's were whipping and breaking the wooden prison building around her, restoring some hope that she might escape and redeem herself in the eyes of her mentor. The clone began her struggle anew, viciously thrashing her body against the slick, disgusting restraints. Whoever had offered their aid renewed her fighting spirit. Perhaps not all was lost.

Trying to stay positive was proving difficult. Just like in the basement of that home where the fleshy chimera had taken advantage of the darkness and tore into her leg to disable her, here she was again, falling victim. Her spikes tore a vine or splintered a branch every now and then, but another came just that much quicker to deliver a powerful blow. In fact, the more she tried to free herself, the more bark grew over her. It...it was tightening. Agonizingly tight. It constricted her limbs and neck with a snake-like vice grip, starting to crinkle her metal scales like a soda can. The pain was shocking. There was just enough of a gap between her nose and a root for her to inhale sharply through her nostrils and silently, fruitlessly scream into the wood trying to cut off her air supply. Metal dragon slayer or not, her bones were not made of steel. Even if they had been, they'd likely have snapped and warped under the strength of the tree demon's mammoth strength. She was little more than an insect to the plagued creature and no amount of training could have prepared her for this situation. In fact, that creeping fear she'd felt when they arrived here, that familiar horror that terrorized her in the form of nightmares and things that defied the laws of physics and nature spiked drastically as she realized what was truly going to happen to her. A giant, fifty-foot tall living tree was going to consume her whole and keep squeezing until her blood and body pulp nourished its fibrous trunk. Was this indeed a nightmare? Had she fallen asleep? If so, she desperately wanted to wake up. Were her lungs being compressed or was she hyperventilating?

Just as darkness began edging her vision from lack of air, she felt the creature stagger. Nnngh, where was this heat coming from? It was getting blistering quickly, and she only had a matter of milliseconds to process this before everything busted and splintered into explosive flames around her. Though it was obviously a deadly attack that would claim her as well as the monstrous enemy, Sivvy couldn't help but smile. The magic, despite its terrible power, was familiar. The idea of going out by her ally's attack was an improvement over succumbing to the enemy. As the full brunt hit her, the darkness took her.

There was a blinding orb for just a moment at the center of the inferno, as if the magical fire was warping around something but being unable to touch it. Was that the form of a woman with luminous white hair tousling about in the updraft brought by the flame? It hovered there for a few seconds until the worse of the spell passed. As quickly as the strange bubble formed, it retracted and instead left a female silhouette descending slowly to the burning ground, then making her way toward the edge of the tree demon's rapidly oxidizing and dissipating remains.

Emerging from the flames without a shred of clothing, the bloody and bruised girl with loose primrose locks was mostly unburned and simply steaming. Embers fluttered around her like demonic fairies with deathwishes, rapidly flickering out and turning to puffs of ash. Her flesh had new glowing etchings of brilliant white, some in the form of ancient words along her spine while others were just lines extending down her limbs and across her abdomen and chest. Sivvy was awake and curiously determined to have just been through such a disturbing experience. She stalked forward, the blade in her hand dragging the ground and tinkling against every little rock the tip hit. It was as if she lacked the energy to even lift the weapon, but she seemed bent on mounting an offense. The fact was that she had many broken bones, but wouldn't allow such a thing to hold her back, not when she was granted another chance to prove herself and fight for her primary purpose. At first, her steps were slow, more like a stalk, but gradually they picked up speed once her eyes settled on the newly approaching foe. Something in her eyes was crazed and on smoldering, as if instead of taking damage from the explosive blast from her mentor, she'd collected all its ferocity and transformed it into reckless determination deep inside her. It was as if Johann had exploded her soul. Faster and faster her feet moved, bare and bloody on the ravaged earth beneath them.

She'd have to be crazed to be moving inside the long-stretching shadow of their latest foe, the hulking bone behemoth that loomed over all of them, drawn in by the carnage of its diseased bretheren. Yet this tiny, battered woman and this mind-blowingly enormous armored drake were running at each other, both working up to a roar though hers would be lost within the monster deafening battlecry. The roar alone caused the trees to quiver and uproot with the same force its thundering footfalls did, but Sivvy was not deterred. Her speed turned inhuman, and while she sped at the beast she swung her Darkened Blessings sword in the air. Surprisingly, with only a mere ripple in the air from her toothpick in comparison to her enemy, the bone drake was stopped hard in its tracks and toppled backward as a powerful knockback slammed into it. The burning effect would do nothing to the impervious bone protrusions, but the dragon slayer didn't care. Her aim hadn't been damage, but instead to stop it and down it. Her speed hit its impressive peak and she rocketed up into the air as a personified projectile, blasting its mountainous side and slicing along the way. Between the force of her Silver 7 Bullet attack and the sword adding lasting damage, the clone managed to hurt the beast on her way up. She overshot the height of the knocked down drake, hovering only a moment over top of it to glare down into its gaping maw. It was already apparent early on that she'd do little to hurt it from the outside. If it was to be defeated quickly and without loss of life, the better bet was taking it down from within. Initiating her spell again, her body shot down into its mouth like a bullet, stabbing it in the back of the throat just as the toothy jaws clamped shut.

On the way down its gullet, she hacked and slashed, unleashing sword and spell attacks in a berserk frenzy. She gave it her all, flooding lungs with goopy molten gold and filling it with rusty spiders. Muffled explosions and the general sounds of warfare echoed out its mighty nose holes, and soon out its mouth as well when it roared in rage and pain. Her own metal dragon's roar could be heard from within, shredding tissue again and again. Like she predicted, its insides were just as soft and gushy as any other creature's innards. The damage was adding up. Time marched on, and even as the air got scarce inside and bodily fluids coated her and tried to corrode her skin, she fought on as if she'd become a drake herself. Every fiber of her being was stretched to breaking. Muscles felt like they were tearing as she pushed them beyond their capabilities. Every drop of magical power in her was being wrung out of her like water from a sponge. Finally, she felt the weakness wash over the plagued creature and the earth-shaking thud of monster knees giving out. It fell, bleeding from its nose and mouth and feebly struggling against death.

Now for the true trial. She needed to pull off one last blast as well as blow a hole through its weakened abdomen to free herself, lest she die inside along with the bone drake. Her lungs couldn't find enough air for one last dragon's roar, so instead, she held out her palm and concentrated her power there. Blood was rapidly filling the stomach cavity she was in. Drowning in it would be macabre indeed. A hole opened in the outstretched palm and her entire arm turned to metal and glowed. Down to the last whiff of her magic, a mini-nuke formed in her cannon-like arm. Sivvy launched it at the weakest spot, knowing she would be caught in her own blast radius. As the final decisive blow ended the bone drake, it's stomach burst open. The vortex of escaping blood took her exhausted and now limp body with it, washing her out the hole and back into the destroyed forest. For a few tense moments, she laid as still as the defeated creature, face down in the ichor. However, at last, a rattling inhale broke the silence left in the wake, followed by weak coughs. The girl turned her head just enough to get more air, but was otherwise unable to move a muscle.



[Bone Drake down.
WC: 1781
TWC: 22,025/ 22,000 YEET!]