Nightmare Incarnate

Aaron was standing on the dirt path leading into the forest, leaning up against Bane of Reality, which was already out and unwrapped. Aaron was taking no chances on being caught without his weapon ready, not after the last time he came here, luckily he hadn't kept his weapon sheathed that time, but now that he knew some of the dangers he was being doubly careful. As the memory of his mission played in his mind Aaron rubbed his shoulder, remembering the pain of his fight. The healer had been good, there wasn't even a scar left, but he still could feel the claws in his flesh.

After a few more moments Aaron sighed and turned around, looking back up the path. His partner was supposed to show up soon, though how soon was soon he didn't know, so after checking that his partner hadn't crested a nearby hill, he pulled out the journal that had arrived on his doorstep earlier this week. He didn't bother to open it, he had read it so many times he could have recited the words from memory, the lacrima had received the same treatment.

As he stared down at the cover of the journal he couldn't help but think about how odd all of this was, the sun was shining, the sky was clear, and for all intents and purposes, the day was normal, yet here he was about to go hunting for something that took out an entire squad of Rune knights. Or, he would be when his partner arrived. That was another odd thing, he had received another, less conspicuous letter this morning telling him that another mage had been contacted like he had, and that he was to meet them if he was to "hope to see the light of day ever again."

Riley ran through the streets leading towards the spooky forest. She was late for her job and the mage accompanying her would probably be pissed. She left Theo at home as she knew that this mission would be too dangerous for the young fellow.

Yesterday, Riley had received a hardcover diary of a man named Samuel Martin. Along with the diary was a voice recorder lacrima. Riley was freaked out by what she had read but none the less took up the job as curiosity was getting the best of her. What made this mission even more odd was the letter she had received this morning, telling her that she'll be working with another mage. She graciously accepted it because she knew going in there alone would be suicide.

Running, she reached the spooky forest but didn't spot the wizard she was supposed to be working with. She was currently panting heavily as her eyes roamed around until they landed on a man, leaning against his scythe. His back was turned towards her. She walked over,  but assumed he hadn't heard her footsteps since he didn't turn around. "Hi, My name is Riley. You must be the wizard i'm supposed to work with. Sorry I'm late." At the end of her sentence she stretched out her hand for a shake.

Aaron turned around at the sound of the other mages voice, and was greeted by a young woman. He looked her up and down before he grasped her proffered hand and shook it, looking directly into her eyes as he did so, gauging her reaction to his appearence. He felt no trepidation around this girl, but he could also feel her power. Admittedly it wasn't very powerful, but neither was his, and he estimated that they were pretty much equal. This bode well for Aaron, as it meant that she was likely to be a partner and not someone who would try and take command by greater strength. All that remained was to see how she reacted to him and during the mission.

Hello, and don't worry about being late, I had honestly thought that I was early. So, tell me, how did you get roped into this particular job? Aaron was hoping that This girl, Riley, might have some more information about the journal and lacrima.

Riley had to tilt her head backwards to look at her unnamed partner. "Well, Yesterday received a diary and a recorder lacrima stained with blood. After skimming through the diary, i found out that a man name Samuel Martin needed help in finding and rescuing his wife who had turned into a demonic psychopath." Riley finished her very blunt explanation of what had happened.

On he previous mission in the spooky forest, she only had to deal with goblins and wolves but in this job she might have to deal with a demon. Riley was afraid, screw that she was terrified, but at the same time she was very excited. She didn't bring Theo with her because she wasn't sure that she would make it out of there alive, she didn't want any harm to come on the young arctic wolf. Thinking about the mission, she took a good look at the tall man who was supposed to be her partner. His magic seemed equal to her but it was clear that he was physically stronger  "Anyways, I didn't catch your name." She said with a smile.

Aaron frowned. If she didn't have anymore information about this particular problem that they faced, then that made it all the more dangerous, and no inconsequentially more suspicious. Every bit of religious lore that Aaron knew of said that demons were cunning, ruthless creatures. This could all be a trap set by the demon possessing the woman to lure more victims. Unfortunately, this was all speculation, so Aaron decided not to share his worries and risk scaring his partner unnecessarily.

Hm? Oh, sorry. My name is Aaron Artamo, from Eclipse Soul. As Aaron spoke, another thought occurred to him, here he was, about to go into the aptly named Spooky Forest in search of a Demon, and he knew nothing about his partner. At the least he should learn what kind of magic she used, and probably warn her about his. Well, as since we're going to be working together we should probably get somewhat familiar with each others magic. I would appreciate it if you would go first. Aaron looked slightly sheepish as he continued, My magic might take a bit of explaining.

Riley smiled. "Well, Aaron, I'm from Sabertooth and I'm a requip mage. I can requip 3 different weapons made entirely of ice and can requip into a shield along with a full body armour. Is that enough information?"

Riley couldn't help but wonder about her mission. Although she was talking to her partner, her mind was elsewhere. She wondered if she should have done some research on it. In her knowledge, Demons were cunning and ferocious. They would stoop to any limit just to get what they want. Watching supernatural had to come in handy at some point. But nonetheless, the more she thought about the more excitement and fear developed inside her. She snapped out of her thoughts and looked at her partner. "Anyways what's your magic? Let's talk about it while walking." With that Riley walked into the spooky forest, waiting for Aaron to fascinate her by telling her about his magic.

As they began walking Aaron took a moment to consolidate his thoughts. The idea of requip magic that used ice made weapons and armor was fascinating, it seemed to merge regular requip magic with ice make magic, which led to some interesting possibilities. He was also wondering how to phrase his next few words. Riley had a right to know about his magic, but given the situation, some of his magic could induce uneasiness and apprehension, but at the same time if he didn't warn her then her reactions could border on hysterical when he used certain spells. On the other hand, Riley was a mage, and could likely take whatever surprises the world threw at her and might not even flinch when faced with his magic.

By the time Aaron began to speak they had entered the spooky forest, and a fog had begun to surround them. Well, my magic is called Void Wielder. As the name implies, I harness the energy and substance of the void, a space between dimensions where time, space, and physics are meaningless. Some of my spells can devour parts of this reality with a portal, while others provide a shield that eats whatever touches it. Aaron eyed the fog as he continued to talk, given the circumstances he didn't trust anything that hid the surroundings as being completely natural. I do have to warn you though. One of my spells completely removes the ability to see or hear of anyone besides myself who is caught in it, and one of the spells on my weapon causes complete sensory deprivation. I'll try to warn you before I use either of these, but you should be prepared just in case. Suddenly Aaron stopped and grabbed Rileys arm. Please promise me if you get caught by either of these spells you will not panic. I won't let you get hurt if you do, but if you go wild, you may wind up ending both of our lives.

The member 'koetsu' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

'Monster Dice' :

After he explained the magic, Riley could feel the tension in the air. Riley being herself, did not like that. "Pfft. I don't get scared that easily. It takes much more than that to scare me." Suddenly, a snake crawled near her foot, making her yelp. She stood there before looking at Aaron and giving him a sheepish grin while scratching the back of her head.

She suddenly heard very slight shuffling noises. Out of nowhere, trees started falling. Riley quickly grabbed Aaron's hand and ran as trees started fell to the ground one after the other. As they were running, a tree fell in front of them, trapping them. On their right was another tree, just about to fall and squish them to death. As it was falling, Riley decided to take the first step. "Requip: Frost devils" In both her hands appeared to swords with blades made of pure it. She clutched the black hilts before slicing the tree in half from the middle. Luckily it's branch wasn't that thick and could easily be sliced.

Frost Devils:

Aaron allowed himself to be pulled along as the forest itself attempted to destroy them, not even flinching at the thundering sounds of the falling trees. He only began to worry when their path was cut off, but apparently Riley was well prepared as she reacted even before he could to slice the next incoming tree. Unfortunately their troubles weren't quite over. Another set of shuffling noises caught Aaron's attention just before another tree began to fall towards them.

Move! Aaron pushed Riley out of the way before he jumped himself. Aaron turned his head towards Riley and shouted a warning. Cover your ears! Without waiting to see if Riley heeded his warning Aaron clapped his hands together, invoking one of the lesser abilities of his magic to create a temporary vacuum around his hands.

The resulting thunder clap echoed throughout the forest as Aaron kept alert for any more 'pranks', he hoped the noise was loud enough to scare off whatever was behind all this, and barring the chance that they were created by beings strong enough to survive a gunshot or a lightning strike, the noise should have scared them off. If the culprits had been less physical, well beings like that tended to dislike sudden air currents such as the ones created when a vacuum was filled, air currents now made visible by the rapidly swirling fog. After he was sure that the trouble was past, at least for now, Aaron turned back to Riley, offering her a hand to help pull her up.

Riley quickly shut her ears, as she was told. Her hands were occupied. Suddenly, even though her ears were shut, she heard the loud noise. "I might have to see a doctor after this." She muttered to herself as she clutched her ears tightly, trying to block out the noise.

After his spell was over, he offered a hand to Riley. Riley let go of her ears and accepted his help. After getting up she dusted her clothes. "Wow, that was-" She paused "-SO COOL!" She jumped like a little kid. Excitement was bubbling up inside her. Sure, her ears were ringing from what just happened, but she couldn't control the excitement.

"Anyways, that should get rid of those falling trees." She took a moment to think about it "Hopefully" She stood there with Aaron for some time . After several minutes, nothing had happened. "Yup, the coast is clear." But if only she knew how wrong she was.

The member 'Riley Nightwalker' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

'Monster Dice' :

Aaron smiled at the enthusiasm that Riley was showing, but he didn't feel that he had honestly earned it. It's not that big of a deal, it wasn't even a spell, more of an involuntary manifestation of inter-dimensional potentialities withing the matrix of my magical aura. It happens whenever I clap, I can't control it. Aaron began to look around, his features taking on a darker tone. He didn't like this, the forest was supposed to be home to natural, if hostile, creatures. The name was just a reference to the appearance of the forest, right?

As if summoned by his thoughts more shuffling sounds began to echo through the trees. Riley, I don't think that I managed to scare whatever was causing that off for long, they seem to be back. No sooner had Aaron finished speaking then he felt something grab his ankle and pull. Instinctively Aaron swung Bane of Reality down and embedded the blade into the ground as he fell. The force tried to pull him, but his grip on the weapon was to strong and it gave up after a moment. The fun had only just begun however. Riley, watch out, they're invisible! Aaron frantically began to search through his memory for something that could match the evidence. Invisible, incorporeal and without form until contact is made, strong enough to topple trees, unlikely to be raw telekinetic force as there is to much intelligence behind it, that leaves few options, most likely being, poltergeists! No wonder they weren't scared off, they thrive on chaos, but a rapid temperature change might cause a decrease in entropy that will send them away. Riley! Make it cold! Make it as cold as you possibly can!

The member 'koetsu' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

'Monster Dice' :

Riley didn't think twice before acting on what Aaron had told her. Although she couldn't summon more than one weapon at a time she could make the temperature a little more colder. "Requip: Moonlight talon" From all her weapons, this was the one that could generate ice. She stabbed the soft soil with it. The ground around the blade slowly turned to ice. She closed her eyes and focused her magical energy on the blade. She could feel the temperature dropping slightly. Soon, it was cold enough to scare off the poltergeists. She had figured it out and apparently, so did Aaron, but she was surprised when he thought of a solution before her.

When Riley knew it was safe and that her magic worked, her sword disappeared. Matters became much worse as Riley's magical energy had dropped rapidly because of this tactic. She was able to stand but she knew that she wouldn't be of much help for sometime as she would not be able to use magic. She decided to restore her magical energy by laying back but she also felt bad that Aaron would have to do all the fighting. Shaking those thoughts our of her mind, she asked. "Are you okay?"

They soon began walking further. Things were quiet, a little too quiet. Riley was getting a very uneasy feeling.  Suddenly, the air was filled with a eerie laughter. It sounded like a woman's. Riley was frightened on the inside but kept her calm. She knew that if she freaked out, matters might get worse.

Moonlight talon:

Aaron stood back up and brushed himself off before wrenching his weapon out of the ground. He was beginning to get angry, these events were unnatural and unnerving to him, and he drew power from a place where natural and calm meant nothing! If he had his way he would leave now, but he had come to find out what had happened, and he was determined to figure it out.

Yes, I'm fine, and good work with the ice. Aaron responded to Rileys question a bit curtly, but not impolitely, though he wouldn't admit it he was starting to feel afraid, and when he got scared he got angry and tried to remove the cause of his fear, but he had no target as of now, and that only served to further raise his ire, if he didn't get some answers, and something to hit, soon, he was going to start yelling at shadows.

Suddenly the hideous cackle of a mad woman echoed through the trees, the harsh sound grating on his ears. The sound continued to echo until he had had enough. BE SILENT! Aaron began to shout at the surrounding area, enraged by the utter insanity of his position, none of this made any sense, if there was a demon here, then they should be trying to lure them in, not frighten them off, and if there was something trying to scare them off, why would it try pulling him deeper into the forest? This was madness, and it was infuriating. Show yourselves you blighted whelps or I'll send you all into the void!

The member 'koetsu' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

'Monster Dice' :

Riley flinched at Aaron's tone. It was quiet clear that he was starting to get frustrated and she couldn't blame him. Even she was getting quite frustrated but she kept a calm face. Matters were getting out of hand. They didn't know what they were dealing with. At this point, Riley found it hard to believe that this was actually the work of a demon.

Maybe.....just maybe, this was some sick plan. Riley kept her thoughts to herself. She knew that she should say something to calm Aaron down but she would just increase his frustration. It's better if he just yells it all out. The laughter increased and along with that, Riley could hear footsteps, footsteps that belonged to neither her partner or herself. She tried to remain calm but her heartbeat increased rapidly. This could not end well.

She turned around and looked in the direction the steps came from but found no one. Fog formed around the forest making it look even more creepier. This mission was getting more and more freaky by the minute.

Aaron heard the footsteps as well, and that was the final straw. Whatever was causing these problems was hiding in the mist, so all he had to do was remove the mist right? Aaron planted his feet firmly into the ground and gathered his magic power. Through his anger Aaron did remember that he had a partner though, so he took a moment to give her a warning. Riley, get behind me now!

With that out of the way there was nothing stopping Aaron from releasing his pent up frustration on the environment, so he let loose with a passion that surprised even himself. Void Breath! In the back of Aaron's mouth a small void portal formed while a magic circle appeared in front of his mouth before it was engulfed in the sudden vortex emanating from Aaron's mouth Fog was captured by the vortex, and as the fog directly in front of him began to disappear the air currents moved more fog into the vortex, but that wasn't the only effect. Branches large and small began breaking off of trees on the edge of the vortex and were sucked smashed into small pieces by the power of the void before being absorbed, pieces of bark and chunks of trees were ripped out of the trunks of trees caught directly in the vortex, and they were subjected to the same treatment as the limbs.

Unfortunately, it seemed that no matter how much fog he absorbed and how much damage he did to the surrounding flora more fog just seemed to roll in, but even so Aaron felt his anger ebbing as the damage progressed, and was finally he was able to grab hold of his fear and rage and ball it back up into an all to familiar cold and efficient lump.

Spell used: Void Breath
Cooldown to use again: 4 posts
MP: 90%

Riley quickly jumps behind Aaron as soon as she gets the warning. She looks at Aaron as he uses his magic, sucking all the fog in. It was truly a great power. What seemed to confuse her was that the fog kept rolling in. No matter how much Aaron absorbed, it didn't seem to have an effect. She stood there thinking, why this was happening but unfortunately she didn't get any answers.

Riley suddenly heard louder laughing sounds. She couldn't take it anymore. This sound was driving her insane. Without a second thought, Riley ran towards the direction of the sound. She didn't stop or look back. She kept running until she reached deeper into the forest, where she got tired. She bent down to catch her breath. Her eyes widened as she realized that she was standing on something. It was blood. 'Blood....Who's blood could it be?" Suddenly realization hit her. Some rune knights had come here and went missing. She prayed that they were still alive and that this blood belonged to some animal.

Aaron snapped his mouth shut and ended the spell just in time to hear Riley run off. He had managed to calm himself some, but apparently Riley was having her own issues with the stress of the problems they were facing. Aaron gritted his teeth as the laughter and steps echoed through the forest again, but he didn't lose himself a second time. Instead he started to run after Riley, determinedly ignoring the sounds around him as he followed the signs of Rileys passage. Luckily for Aaron she wasn't subtle in her running, and even though Aaron was no woodsman, he was still able to follow the trail of broken limbs and crushed leaves that she left in her wake.

In only a few minutes he caught up to Riley. He was about to scold her when he saw the blood, and shut his mouth just as quickly as he had opened it. From the expression on her face he could tell that this bothered her, and he had a sinking feeling he knew why, but without being certain he wouldn't make any claims beyond what he knew about the blood itself. That blood is relatively fresh, probably from an animal that was scared off by the noises we, and whatever is doing that- laughter echoed again through the forest to emphasize Aarons point- and is unlikely to be human.

That little hope that Riley had of this entire thing being a prank, was crushed by Aaron's words. But she couldn't blame him. Somewhere inside, she knew that this was real, she knew that this couldn't have been caused by a human. She just held on to hope, which was now to be let go off.

She looked at Aaron, who stood there beside her. The eerie laughter echoed through the forest, sending chills through her body. Somewhere behind Aaron, in the dark, she felt as if she saw a silhouette. A small smile carved it's way on to her lips. "Maybe one of the Rune Knights survived?" But then again, it could be the enemy she dreaded to face. She looked at Aaron. She didn't know whether to go and look there or to stay. If it was a rune knight, they would be able to save at least one life, but if it is the demon possessed woman then going there would end up leading them to their death. Confusion was prominent on her face.

If Aaron hadn't been gripped in the cold embrace of his rage against their situation his features would have softened. It would have taken a deaf man to miss the slightly desperate hope in Riley's voice. That being said, Aaron wasn't totally unaffected, and as he turned away to look into the surrounding forest in yet another futile attempt to pinpoint the source of the laughter Aaron spoke.

It's possible that it could be a rune knight that shed that blood, but it is nearly certain that it wasn't. You heard the dates on that lacrima, and anyone left in these woods for this long would either have escaped, and in that case reported back to the rune knights, or died. The likelihood of survival in that situation is almost nonexistent. I'm sorry Riley, but we won't be saving anyone but ourselves, and maybe not even that. If you want you can leave and I won't blame you, but I am going to continue on and attempt to find whatever's causing this. If I do I can at least attempt to avenge the slain. I would greatly appreciate your continued help, but I won't force you.

After Aaron has spoken, Riley looked at him. He was right. Somewhere inside she knew that it was nearly impossible for anyone to survive but she wouldn't give up. She spoke with a serious tone "I would never give up on this mission. I chose to come here because i wanted to know what happened, because I wanted to do something to help and if avenging the people who died here is the way to do it, then i'll gladly give up my life to do it."

She turned towards Aaron and smiled. "We can do this. We're not gonna die here. Come on, let's go catch a ourselves a demonic possessed lady." Her smiled soon faded away as the laughter echoed through the forest once again. Now, she was clearly more aggravated  than afraid. She did not know what to do about this. At the rate they were going, Riley knew they wouldn't reach anywhere anytime soon.

Despite himself Aaron smiled back at Riley, she was proving herself to be a very worthy ally, and someone he might look up to work with again, at least he might if they were able to get out of this alive. Neither of them were about to leave without getting something done, and while in many cases that tenacity might be beneficial, in this case it might just be suicidal.

As they walked through the forest Aaron began to relax some more, the voices had faded, and his feelings of apprehension with them. Perhaps they would be alright after all, perhaps they would wind up at the other side of the forest without spotting anything. Aaron started as he thought that, he didn't want to have an inconclusive mission here, but here he was thinking about such a thing with fondness. Aaron sharpened his focus, while it was possible that his more relaxed state was to blame for his wandering and unwelcome thoughts, he didn't want to risk that something else might be influencing him.