linkingup | FOR THOSE WE HAVE LOST

[V'rhas(?) is suddenly consumed by that dark fire from earlier. It notably doesn't hurt Argenti at all, despite their proximity, though it does vanish just as quickly as it appeared, taking V'rhas(?) with it.

He reappears several feet back, dressed in all-too-familiar armor, complete with his helmet.]

Enough! Enough— This needs to end—

[And yet it seems that it isn't ending, because he's cloaked in that fire again, the crackling flames drowning out whatever it was he was trying to say.

You may have noticed, but this whole time, V'rhas(?) hasn't been using Fray's persona. Well, the Fallen shows up now, arms out as the fire consumes it as well. It slowly, slowly fades away, leaving behind...

A Dark Knight, of course. He immediately casts Diarahan on himself, and then immediately Wild Thunder afterwards. Roll a 1d20 to see if you were hit by the massive burst of Electric damage.]

[ It's never this easy - a ton of palaces have taught them this lesson. McGillis avoids the thunder (10), which is great because it's his weakness. But trying to get out of dodge from the thunder means his Giant Slice also misses (7)...

Truly, he's here to provide identity crisis and nothing else. Rip. ]

[...Yeah. It does need to end, doesn't it? Still as she is, Kainé is a very easy target for the Wild Thunder, which will strike her (16). Only semi-altruistically, she heals the jittery burn from her body with a Media that will also go to Aerith and Rutile.

Once more, the feeling of being struck with electricity does something to interfere with her aim; she tries to cleave the knight from afar (4).]

[At least the Forget is gone even if his head still feels a little hazy… Not that he has the time to think on that when electricity starts flying everywhere, focused as he is on dodging whatever comes his way (9).

But if Fray’s starting to use electric attacks now, maybe that means he can hit a weakness?? So he’s going to fire off a Garudyne (17) and see where that gets them.]

[ Sunrise manages to dodge the thunder (6), which probably would have KO'ed her if she had gotten hit. She casts Rakukaja on Rutiel to give him a little extra safety, and then uses Megaton Raid.

...not that it lands or anything (3). ]

[ For a moment, Argenti's expression exhibited nothing but joy. Seeing that softness, he thinks that it's worked. That he's saved Fray, but...

...then all of this happens, and his heart sinks for a second.

Damn, why didn't it work? He doesn't understand...

Well, Argenti is missed by the Electric damage/attack by far (1), which makes him think that he does want it to end, but...for once he's scrambling. What's happening? But, the moment leaves as soon as it comes.

Fine then. If Fray wants to really do this the hard way, then he'll gladly continue to meet him head on. He refuses to do so with nothing less! ]

Then stop fighting us!

It doesn't need to be like this! Why...?

If you want it to end, then why? Why are you striking back, Fray?

[ Argenti strikes back with a Psiodyne (15) aimed for the knight - he isn't pulling his punches, either. Though he's frustrated, he knows...he knows that deep inside, Fray doesn't want this. He can't. ]

Return back to my side, my love!

[ Oh, that hurts. Rutile gives a little yelp when that thunder hits (18) and he realizes he's probably pretty dangerously close to being taken out for good...

So here comes a Media, one he sends out to Kainé and Aerith in addition to himself.

With another swipe of his dagger, he casts Matarukaja, raising attack for McGillis, Aaron, and Argenti. ]

Shit-

[Focused as he had been on heal/buffing Argenti, it's probably little surprise that Celeste is hit pretty hard with the electric damage (16)...

And with electricity making muscles seize, it's even less of a surprise that he can't aim a counterattack effectively at all (9).]

[ Oof… with a 19, Aerith got hit pretty hard. So, she casts Diarama on herself.

Then, she’ll send out a Media for Celeste, Rutile, Kainé. ]

[Of course it couldn't be that simple. It never is! And to make it even better, Arven takes a direct hit from the lightning (16).]

Agh--!!

[That hurts. But he's not too injured to keep up the fight. The other Utilities seem to be on top of healing, so he sends Rakunda at the Dark Knight to lower its defenses and Diarama on himself.]

Edited 2024-10-15 19:23 (UTC)

[Fortunately, Richard isn't so tired that his reflexes are completely gone, or maybe it's just a boon from his own element being Electric-- he dodges that lightning (4) with an awkward dodge roll, though he's decidedly shaky as he hauls himself back to his feet to cast a Tarunda on Fray.

Ugh. If this doesn't end soon...]

[The Dark Knight casts Shadow Wall again. The barrier glimmers faintly around him as he fights. The attacks that land hit him hard, with the Wind damage being enough to stagger him for a moment before he's back and ready for action.

Up first is Masukunda to slow you all down. Evil Smile comes next, hitting Richard, Sunrise, and Aaron. He follows this up with sword slashes on Celeste, McGillis, Argenti, Rutile, and Arven though only the first one hits (12, 4, 10, 4, 5).

The voice that follows is familiar: the one that asked you that question before. Though now you can make out one other voice that has joined in the chorus: Fray's.]

What drives you to fight here and now? What keeps you going, even at your limit?

What?

[ What is this? A question suddenly out of nowhere? No, he remembers that time before, when he was in Fray's dreamworld, a different question had been asked to him. Then, after everything he experienced in the shard, another question all the same. ]

...The belief I can bring my beloved one home, of course.

Everything that keeps me going, no matter what, is the faith that I shall succeed; that there is a way, even in the darkest of times. I will not give in so easily, even when the odds seem hardly in my favor. Even should I be surrounded by an innumerable amount of opponents.

This remains true even now.

...That is why, no matter how much you resist, I shall continue to put all of my being into bringing you back.

[ Argenti speaks his truth as always. Then, he rushes towards The Dark Knight, and unleashes a Megaton Raid upon him, for severe physical damage (16), and his will is strong, unwavering in the face of the Shadow Wall, does not even come close to shattering (20)! ]

( mafuyu's been here the whole time do NOT worry about it, it's fine-

anyways, she's casting amrita shower on richard, sunrise and aaron, and then mediarama for celeste, alongside arven and aerith given their injuries from the last round- )

... I... have been denied my own person. And now you're doing the same to yourself. I can't accept it.

[ Sunrises manages to push through the fear, but not enough to actually land her Garudyne (1). Still, she has the presence of mind to answer: ]

Because...Mr. Fray is important to several people, and I do not want anyone to live with more regret.

[ Again with the loaded questions. This one is harder to answer - why is he here, why is he fighting right now? In a very narrow sense it is to escape the Palace. To survive. Simple base motivations that are always applicable.

Yet on a larger scale, he'd already made up his mind to fight here before he'd ever spawned into the Palace. Why was that? Mere routine? That is certainly part of it. They go to palaces, they learn something, they fight. Rinse and repeat. McGillis knows that going along with it is the path of least resistance.

But even deeper... ]

I'm doing this for Argenti.

[ McGillis likes Fray, certainly. Thinks that Fray should have a shot at existence, the same way Kirumi now gets to redefine who she is. But he's not doing this for Fray. He's doing this because Argenti needs this man back. And why Argenti...?

Because Argenti shines very brightly. Because Argenti should defy his stupid Goddess and love a shadow being instead. Fuck the Path. Fuck being the good and kind version of yourself.

Argenti and Fray should stray from what is right and proper together.

And McGillis wants to see it, selfishly, as an affirmation he can also hold onto.

With that resolve in his heart, he casts another Garudyne and it hits (17) without Shadow Wall having any impact on him (16). ]

[ Oh goodness. That was a close one...

As he's crouched, avoiding the slash, the voice comes. He knows immediately what his answer is, and so he replies before he even decides what he's going to do. ]

My friends, my family. The people and places I love and love me back. [ But that's not all, is it? ] I have to go home, because I have a duty to protect everyone there.

I'm not alone in my duty, though. They're not complete without me, just like how I'm not complete without them.

[ He casts Matarunda on Fray, to hopefully bring his attack down. Stop hurting his new friends. ]

[fear counter: 4…………

But just like last time, he’s able to shake off the worst of it (1) and scoff at the question.]

Like you even need to ask! I’m here ‘cause some chickenshit god keeps jerking us around, so like hell I’m gonna let that asswipe get one over on us!

[that doesn’t even answer the second question but whatever!! he’s said his piece for now.

And since the wind attack was so effective last time, he’s going to launch yet another Garudyne (17) at the Shadow. He’s definitely close to the end of his SP reserves after that, which is just as well because Shadow Wall triggers (9), taking his ability to use his Persona (1) along with a memory.]

... for the sake of the people here who have shown me kindness.

[It still isn't something he's sure he can fully believe in, but... over and over again people have helped him without expecting anything in return. Surely it's all right to trust in that much for now.]

I count Fray among them.

[Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), that fear means that his Tiger's Prowl (9) will miss its mark.]

Because you still need to learn how to make decent onigiri, you moron.

[ Affectionate.

Diarama for Celeste. ]

--Eh?

[Arven manages to dodge the sword slash, and he leaps back to stand steadfast with Mabosstiff at his side.]

Because I wanna look out for my buds in their time of need, and Fray's one of them! And...I wanna see this mission through so I can go home!

[He has friends waiting for him back home, along with a whole world for him to show to Mafuyu. That's his drive.

He makes another attempt to show his resolve by launching another fireball...to no avail (7). Oh well. He's not a fighter okay--]

[The Dark Knight hears all the answers, though he doesn't react to any of them. Each response is important in its own right and something that he is considering carefully, but that is not immediately obvious given he instead decides to smack more people around.

Another sword slash goes out, hitting Yoon, McGillis, Richard, and Mafuyu (14, 17, 15, 13). Thankfully, this is not followed by any more debuffs this round.]

You will face the God of Conflict. Are you strong enough to defeat him? Will you hold tight to what it is you fight for?

Prove it. Show me what you are capable of.

[Roll with advantage this round! The Dark Knight is looking a little worse for the wear, but he's not out just yet!]

[ Ow. At this point, McGillis is getting pretty used to being sliced up. Palaces, his own boyfriend, it doesn't even matter anymore... It's just cut after cut, these days.

But it still throws him off enough that his Giant Slice misses totally... (6, 7).

Well, he's bleeding a good bit so maybe he can be forgiven?? ]

Of course. Do not expect any less from those have been pulled into that God's machinations. Fray included.

[ Yi Sang has a Diarama for Mafuyu and a Mediarama for Yoon, McGillis, and Richard. ]

PHASE 3

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