Pathway to Destruction, Phase I - The Calamity Trigger IC

[NeoSeraphi]

"Argh!" Dart drops his nodachi and grabs at his chest as a floating sword stabs him in the back, piercing through his shoulder.

The woman in front of him watches. "It's over. Now come here, Dart. Let me hold you..."

She steps forward and another blade hits Dart in the back. He stumbles forward as he loses his footing and she catches him, embracing him as a wife would embrace her husband. "It's time to go, Dart..."

An enormous sword, the size of a lion, appears behind him. It skewers Dart, running him through and also piercing the woman holding him. Both of their hearts stop beating at the same moment, and she falls backward slightly. He falls on top of her. The two of them tumble off the walkway and into the pit of boiling seithr below.


-------------------------------------------------------------------

Somewhere else, a young girl looks down into her teacup. She lifts it and takes a sip. "The wheel of fate continues to spin."

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Dart frowns and looks around. The seithr is pretty thick around here. He covers his nose as he walks, the nodachi on his back feeling heavier all of the sudden.

He had managed to escape the explosion in Akitsu and made his way out of it, but now he wasn't sure where to go next. The incomplete 13th Hierarchical City, Kagutsuchi, lie to the east. And to the north is the 7th Hierarchical City, Kazamotsu. Kagutsuchi would have fewer people around to bother him, while Kazamotsu would probably be easier to nick food from.

Suddenly, Dart feels a weight on his head. What...what the hell? He looks up and sees a blonde woman in a long gothic dress standing ontop of him.

http://66.media.tumblr.com/249f5cce405ddbe26466d402a5e07866/tumblr_mud6mgnU8j1qzid6ao1_r2_1280.jpg

"Well now. What do we have here? A lost stray, seeking his next meal?" the vampire Rachel Alucard asks in her dainty, noble voice.

[Diachronos]

Dart scowls and tilts his head, hoping that it would unbalance the little vampire. Likely it wouldn't, given his past experiences, but he couldn't resist trying. "If I'm supposed to be a stray, what does that say about you for 'losing' me?"

He looks to the north, then to the east, and back to the north. I really don't need this headache right now... "Well, seeing as you've once again showed up after I nearly died, I take it you want something from me. What is it this time?"

[NeoSeraphi]

Rachel hops off of him and lands on the ground. Her umbrella closes and she pulls it back in both hands, swinging it forward. It smacks into the imp floating next to her, who screams in surprise as he flies directly at Dart.

Dart reacts quickly, catching the imp with his right hand easily.

"Not bad. You seem to have gained a bit of control over it," she says, nodding with approval. "Oh, but I am so bored."

The black bows in her hair tilt to the side, making them look even more like a rabbit's ears than they already do.

"Did you enjoy yourself in Akitsu? You really do love making trouble for your betters, don't you?"

Dart had made quite a name for himself at this point. The powerful creatures known as Cauldrons...he was on the hunt for them. He had taken out four already, and the one in Akitsu didn't even put up a fight. But he can't let the smelting finish. The face inside those cauldrons...it's a face he never wants to see again.

The Novis Orbis Librarium has branded him a terrorist and put a 90,000,000 gp bounty on his head. The SS class criminal, Dart. Known to the NOL as 'The Grim Reaper'.

He didn't need Rachel's sh*t. He knows that he's doing the right thing.

"Go to Kagutsuchi," she says, pointing her umbrella towards it. He blinks. What would Rachel want him to do in Kagutsuchi?

But before he can ask, she's vanished. Again.

Well, he hasn't destroyed the Cauldron in either Kagutsuchi or Kazamotsu. Then again, if Rachel wants him to go...but she doesn't own him.

[Diachronos]

Dart growls and looks east, toward Kagutsuchi. As much as he hated the little brat, Rachel was his sire, and deserved at least a tiny grain of respect for what she'd done for him. Since she'd given him directions on where he should go next...

He's going to do what Rachel asked. He turns on his heel and starts walking... to the north. Yes, he'd do what she wanted, but after he'd taken care of Kazamotsu. It's not disobedience if she hasn't specified for him to go to Kagutsuchi first, after all. And warriors tend to perform better when they aren't starving, so an easy and much-needed meal would be an appropriate reason for a detour.

[NeoSeraphi]

Dart heads along the snowy path, moving towards the north. As he walks, her words echo in his mind. "You seem to have gained a bit of control over it."

Dart looks down at the false arm. Was this control? He had used its power to destroy those Cauldrons. And yet, the arm feels like it has a mind of its own. A will of its own. Why had it bonded with him in the first place?

As he approaches a spot to rest for the night, Dart thinks back to when he first met Rachel...

----------------------------

Jin!

Dart sits up, looking around in shock. Where...where is he?

A young girl is sitting across from him, looking at him with a curious expression. "Hello. Are you quite well?"

[Diachronos]

Dart reaches up to clutch at his head. "Where... who..." So many questions, all of them seeming equally important and mingling in an almost annoying manner inside his mind. After a few seconds he latches onto one, the first one that had come to mind when he woke. "Where are my brother and sister? Where are Jin and Saya?!"

[NeoSeraphi]

The woman frowns. "I do not know of whom you speak. When I found you, you were lying on the ground in quite a bad state."

[Diachronos]

Dart growls and slams his fist against his leg. "What about that green-haired man? That... Yuuki Terumi person? Where did that son of a bitch go?"

[NeoSeraphi]

He sees the young girl's eyes widen for a split second of a moment. But then just like that, she's back to normal.

"Yuuki Terumi. It would seem that you are more unique than I gave you credit for. My advice to you is to not waste the second chance you were given by running off and getting yourself killed again. ...I am sorry for your loss. She was like a mother to you, was she not?"

She looks past him. Dart glances back and sees the sister laying in a heap in front of the burned down church.

[Diachronos]

Dart nods. "...She was the one who took us all in after our parents died. We owe her so much..." He looks down at his hands... or, rather, his remaining hand. He blinks and looks at his right shoulder, suddenly remembering that it had been cut off. By his own brother, no less!

Why had he done that? Sure, Dart and Jin both had their less-friendly moments with each other, but they were brothers, that sort of thing is expected. He'd always thought that he and Jin had a good, solid relationship with each other... no, no this couldn't possibly be Jin's doing. It had to be Yuuki. That bastard was controlling Jin somehow, and he'd forced him to cut Dart's arm off. That had to be what happened.

"Some older brother I am... I couldn't do anything to stop my siblings from being taken away."

[NeoSeraphi]

Dart looks at his right shoulder to see...nothing? His arm is still there. The same as it always has been. He gives it a few experimental movements. It's a bit stiff, but it feels just like his arm.

"That is not your arm. That is a parasite, drawn to your power. It is a dangerous weapon. We call it...'the Azure Grimoire'," the woman says.

'We'? Wait, who was this crazy little girl watching him sleep anyway? And why does she seem to know so much?

[Diachronos]

'Azure Grimoire'? The arm attached to his shoulder now was really some kind of parasite/weapon? "None of this... is making any sense. Who are you? Why is some kind of weapon attached to me, and why does it look like my arm?" Dart feels an unsettling sensation in his stomach. What had happened to him after he passed out? Is this some kind of hallucination caused by blood loss? Is he even still alive?

[NeoSeraphi]

The woman sniffs. "My, my. Where I come from, it is considered good manners to introduce yourself to a lady before you ask her name. ...I am Rachel Alucard. I closed the door that Death was opening for you, and just in time I would say. You may feel a bit ill, I am told that is normal. But it will pass. As for why the Azure Grimoire has bound itself to you...I can only speculate."

[Diachronos]

Dart bows his head slightly. Right... in his confusion he'd forgotten even his manners. "My name is Dart. Thank you for saving me."

[NeoSeraphi]

"Dart, is it? Well, it is lovely to make your acquaintance. Now, if you truly seek to recover what has been lost to you, I have a friend that might help..."

------------------------------------------------

Rachel could be rough around the edges, but she has always been a good person. Dart never thought to ask why she had saved him, but perhaps there would be time soon.

For now, he needed to get some sleep.

In the morning, Dart is woken by a strange sound coming from the road nearby. He wonders what could be going on.

[Diachronos]

Dart grasps the hilt of his nodachi and heads toward the road, taking care to stay back so he can slip away if he needs to.


[roll0]

[NeoSeraphi]

Dart approaches the pathway to see what the commotion is. He spies two men dressed in blue cloaks and wearing blue berets.

Dart has just enough time to think "Hey, wait, aren't those the uniforms of the Librarium?" before one of the soldiers points at him.

"Ah! I-It's the Grim Reaper! We're no match for him! Run!" The two of them turn around and sprint back towards Kazamotsu.

Dart may be able to catch them at this point if he hurries, but if he doesn't catch them he would be walking right into an armed city ready to take him out. He didn't even hear what they were talking about...

Well, he definitely can't stay here now. Either he chases after the soldiers and tries to keep them quiet, he storms Kazamotsu with them expecting him (and dies), or he could go back towards Kagutsuchi.

His clumsiness has cost him here, but he's always itching for a warm up. A fight with two privates isn't much fun but it would still give them a nice payback for waking him up. But Rachel did want him to go to Kagutsuchi anyway for...some reason.

What will he do?

[Diachronos]

Dart growls and draws his nodachi before running after the men. He can't afford to have the city on alert, or for anybody to know he's in the area at all.


Move action to draw the nodachi, then beginning the chase.

[NeoSeraphi]

The guards gasp as he starts running after them. One of the soldiers turns around and fires his pistol at Dart as the two of them run.

Attack [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Diachronos]

The bullet misses completely, and Dart can't help grinning as he charges in to strike at the man who'd shot at him.


Charging, so +2 attack, -2 AC for one round. After power attack, it's a total of +1 on the attack roll
Hit/Confirm (threat on 24-26): [roll0]/[roll1]
Damage: [roll2]/[roll3]

[NeoSeraphi]

The soldier goes down and stays down. The other man gasps and turns around. He raises his hand and a circular yellow glyph appears. Ars Magus!

A stone about the size of a cat comes flying out of the glyph at Dart.

Attack (Touch, and Dart has a -2 AC from the charge): [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] and Dart has to make a DC 12 Reflex save or he is disarmed.

[Diachronos]

Dart hefts his nodachi and charges at the remaining soldier. "Gonna have to do better than that!"


Charge + power attack
Hit/Confirm: [roll0]/[roll1]
Damage: [roll2]/[roll3]

[NeoSeraphi]

The soldier drops to the ground, also unconscious but significantly closer to death.

These guys are rank and file. They may be from the Librarium but they probably don't deserve to lose their lives just because they spotted him.

Then again, with the price on his head being so high, he might not be able to afford any risks here.

They're both unconscious. He could always just walk away and let nature take its course. If someone finds their bodies, they would probably just assume it was a highwayman.

Kazamotsu is about ten minutes away.

[Diachronos]

Dart starts to walk away after dropping the remaining soldier, but he doesn't get more than 10 feet before he stops and sighs. He's getting tired of everyone treating him like a villain, of everyone trying to kill or capture him without even stopping to ask or consider why he's become a "terrorist". But at the same time, he can't bring himself to leave someone to die out in the wild, even if they'd tried to kill him. Besides, they'd tried to run from him, and only attacked out of fear when he pursued them.

He begins working on stabilizing the men, before dragging them off the road and out of sight. Leaving them here would be a bad idea even if they're stable, what with the wild animals, and there's still a chance that he could learn something from them. Once the men are out of sight, he searches them for any other weapons, as well as anything he could use to patch himself up or get the men conscious again.

[NeoSeraphi]

Dart searches the two men. He finds a standard issue pistol on both of them, as well as a scroll for using Ars Magus on each one of them. Dart is not particularly skilled with Ars Magus, but he could still make use of the scrolls. However, stealing Ars Magus from the Librarium is a capital offense that no one would 'listen to his side of the story' on. Dart could reasonably expect his ransom to double if he decides to take these scrolls.

The scrolls, after he gives them a cursory look, include the one that launches rocks that the second guy had used, as well as an Ars Magus that creates fire. Not like a weapon, it just starts fires. Probably used for camping out, cooking, scouting missions and the like. Though, fire also burns seithr faster than it does oxygen, so if Dart was in an area with an unhealthy amount of seithr, he could use this Ars Magus to keep himself safe.

With a bit more searching, Dart finds something he actually cares about.

It's not bandages.

It's not secret documents.

It is a flask. And a quick pop off the cap reveals...mm, yes. That is some cheap sake. But it's definitely sake.

[Diachronos]

Dart decides to take the pistols, for now at least. Maybe he'll give them back once the men are awake, but that'll depend on their behavior. The scrolls he leaves alone; as useful as they'd be, adding more capital offenses on top of his "terrorism" of destroying the Cauldrons wouldn't help matters in any way.

The sake he takes without a second thought. Maybe it's his thirst, or maybe it's just the fact that this is probably the first luxury he's had in quite some time, but he could use a drink right now. He takes a long swig of the sake and sits back, waiting for one of the men to come around.

[NeoSeraphi]

Dart knocked these guys the f*ck out, so it does take a while for one of them to stir. After about four hours, he sits up, rubbing his head.

"Ah! Y-You? ..." he reaches for his gun and realizes it's not there, then backs up into a tree, staring at Dart in fear.

[Diachronos]

"Chill. If I wanted you or your buddy dead, you'd both be out on the road with your heads on pikes." He passes the flask back to the man, and the sloshing inside reveals that it still has some sake left. "What I want is to know what had you two making such a racket that you woke me up earlier."

[NeoSeraphi]

The man frowns. He takes the sake and takes a drink, sighing after a moment. "Sure. The Librarium is buzzing. Apparently, the top pupil of the Master of the Ikaruga Federation has been spotted in Kagutsuchi's Orient Town. They say he's sworn revenge on Major Kisaragi. It's been three years since the Second War of Ars Magus. For one of the most powerful ninjas in Ikaruga to still be alive...well, excuse me for saying so, Mr. Reaper, but it's possible that he may be just as big a threat to the Librarium as you are."

[Diachronos]

"'They say' a lot of things that aren't true. You're sure this isn't just somebody in the Librarium trying to stir up trouble or get people scared enough to blindly cling to them for protection?" He sighs and flexes his right hand. Rachel probably wanted him to go to Kagutsuchi so he'd get mixed up in that clusterf*ck. "Frankly, I don't care what grudge the Librarium and Ikaruga have with each other. It's got nothing to do with me"

[NeoSeraphi]

The man frowns. "The common people aren't afraid of those rebels, sir. The only people who might be scared by this news are NOL officers. So...I don't have any proof, but I also can't see what anyone might stand to gain from lying about it."

[Diachronos]

Dart thinks. Was there anybody bold enough to pull a stunt like that to get at the NOL officers? None that he knows of, but you can never be sure. "What were you two doing out here, anyway? I figured you'd have stuck close to the city, where it's safer."

[NeoSeraphi]

"If I may, sir, you are very strong and dangerous, but you're also quite predictable. Kazomotsu is having guards patrol this area round the clock in case you came here after that stunt you pulled in Akitsu. In fact, the next shift should have already started."

No wonder he was so calm and talkative! Bastard probably realize reinforcements were coming either way.

[Diachronos]

Figures. Of course they'd have started sending out more frequent patrols after what he's done so far, especially with how things had turned out in Akitsu. Maybe he'd be better off going to Kagutsuchi after all. "Judging from how fast you two bolted, I take it you're just supposed to alert the city if I'm spotted?"

[NeoSeraphi]

The man laughs. "Um, truth be told sir, we were supposed to engage and capture you like anyone else, but there's no one in the city who could possibly hope to do that except First Lieutenant Yayoi."

Sh*t! There's an actual top brass in this throwaway city? With teleportation Ars Magus being available, if Dart gets found now he is one hundred percent screwed.

...Come to think of it, maybe Rachel wasn't so much asking him to go to Kagutsuchi as she was trying to dissuade him from coming to Kazomotsu.

[Diachronos]

Well, there goes his plan of going to Kazomotsu first. "Well then, I guess I'd better get lost before one of your comrades decides he can take me on his own." He stands up and starts walking toward the road, intending to head back toward Kagutsuchi.

[NeoSeraphi]

As Dart stands up to go, he gets hit in the back. Glancing down, he sees an Ars Magus scroll. "Take it. For my life. I'll tell them the 'bandits' who 'robbed us' got them. It's not like I can confess to seeing you after we tried to run away."

A quick glance at the scroll reveals that it is the fire-starting scroll. Dart rushes away, though his wounds are still pretty bad. He should do his best to avoid any confrontations for the time being.

After a while, Dart arrives at the entrance to the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi. He gazes down the hill to see the bottom floor is actually coated in seithr. Normally, humans can't see seithr, but Dart can feel a stinging from his Azure Grimoire, which he figured out after a while means that there's a lot of seithr in one place.

There's a path to take him to the first floor of Kagustsuchi, which looks to be some kind of market. But he could also slide down the hill and explore the abandoned-looking bottom floor for a while. Seithr isn't particularly toxic, but it can be dangerous if you are exposed to too much for too long.

[Diachronos]

Dart steps out and begins his descent to the bottom floor. Despite the amount of seithr in the area, it was probably still safer than walking into the city proper without getting his wounds treated first. Plus the place looks abandoned, so it's unlikely anybody would be around to stop him from nabbing anything of value that was left down there, and he has the Ars Magus scroll that the soldier had given him so he could always start a fire to burn away the seithr if it came to that.

[NeoSeraphi]

Dart heads down into the bottom area of Kagutsuchi. It seems to be some kind of really dark forest, but there is a hut that appears to be abandoned not too far inside the forest.

[Diachronos]

Drawing his nodachi, Dart starts toward the hut, keeping an eye out for any sign of trouble.


[roll0]

[NeoSeraphi]

Dart draws up to the edge of the house. He sees and hears nothing in the area.

[Diachronos]

Seeing no apparent sign of danger, Dart knocks on the door. If there's no answer, he tries it to see if it opens.

[NeoSeraphi]

There's no answer. After a moment Dart opens the door...and it falls inward. This place has clearly not been touched in ages, and it seems dark and tired. There are only two rooms in the hut. The first room has a few sheets of paper stacked neatly on a desk with a drawer. The second room is a bedroom with a closet.

[Diachronos]

Dart decides to check the desk first, scanning through it for anything of note or value, then moving on to check the bedroom.

[NeoSeraphi]

Dart is in luck! Inside the desk drawer, he finds a pouch with 50 gp in it!

The papers appear to be a letter of some kind. If Dart is interested he can sit down and read it.

The bedroom is empty, though inside the closet is a bag larger than the one Dart has been carrying. He can likely fit more objects he finds in this one.

[Diachronos]

Dart gladly pockets the coins and takes the backpack from the closet, deciding to stuff his old bag into it for now. The letter has him curious, so he decides to sit down and glance over the papers to at least get an idea of their contents. A more thorough reading should probably wait until he's in town and away from all this seithr.

[NeoSeraphi]

Dart's cursory glance over the letter's contents reveals a word that shocks him to his core.

The first line reads: "Dear Jubei"

Jubei is one of the Six Heroes, and the only member of the Six Heroes that is still alive today. No one is quite certain how he has managed to live for one hundred years, but it has been theorized that the outbreak of seithr is actually quite beneficial to the health of catfolk, as opposed to how it has a negative impact on humans.

Jubei met Dart when he was young. Rachel had requested that Jubei train Dart in the ways of the sword, and Dart had received his nodachi and cloak from Jubei as a gift when he went on his journey five years ago.

Who could be writing to Jubei?

He skips to the end of the document. It's signed ...Yuuki Terumi?!

[Diachronos]

Dart looks up from the letter and at the rest of the room. Why was a letter to Jubei in a place like this? Is this where the Hero had been living? Or is this where Yuuki had been hiding out?

No, it couldn't be, there was no way anybody had lived here recently. Dart settles in to read over the letter. Maybe there was a clue as to Jin and Saya's whereabouts in it?

[NeoSeraphi]

"Dear Jubei -

It's your old pal Terumi! You know, I thought cats were the ones who had nine lives, but you know me! Since I took Nine's life, I guess I ended up with a spare! Hehehehehe!

Whoa there, alleycat. Don't throw this in the trash just yet. Look, I know last time we were together, we said some things. You said that I killed your girlfriend, and I said "But I left her on the rug for you! Isn't that what cats like to do with their prey?"

Oh man, I am a riot. Nothing? Tough crowd. This silence is as dead as your girlfriend. I kid, I kid, no but seriously you should have heard how she screamed, Jubei. I thought you were sneaking up on me and I had stepped on your tail!

Anyway, after you and old Haku shoved me into the Boundary, well, I had a lot of thinking to do. A lot. And I decided, eh, why not? An eye for an eye, right? Wait, is that offensive? I'm sorry, sometimes I can be so blind to the obvious social cues of a situation. (I mean, not as blind as you, but let's not get into details, shall we?)

What matters is, I'm back. And this time, things are gonna be different. I've had one hundred years to plan this out, Cat, and believe me when I say you are going to regret ever crossing me.

Sincerely yours,
Yuuki Terumi

PS: I heard you have a kid now? Oh, I hope she screams as loud as her mother."

[Diachronos]

Dart frowns. Nothing in the letter was going to help him find Jin and Saya... but maybe Jerubi would be willing to help him. Especially if it would mean saving his own daughter.

He pockets the letter and heads out, putting the door back into place before leaving the hut behind. First things first, he was going to get something to patch up his wounds in town, then get something to eat. Jerubi won't be able to help him if he collapses before even finding the old cat.

[NeoSeraphi]

Dart heads up into the city. Would he be able to find a doctor in the middle of all this?

The lower city seems bustling, and Dart finds out why after a moment. Seems like, in all his travels, he had forgotten the date. It's December 29th, and people are very excited for the New Year's celebration in a few days. He sees people running around buying food from the market to cook, and a few people selling fireworks. Maybe this would be of an advantage to him. He would be able to blend in pretty easily.

Dart takes one of the alleys to try and avoid the crowd. He spies some trash laying in the middle of the alley, but casually steps over it and heads on his way.

"Meat..."

Huh?

He figures he must be hearing things and keeps walking, but suddenly...his leg is grabbed!

"Meat!"

What the hell? The garbage is alive!

From below him, a strange person leaps into the air and swings at him with a mighty punch!

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/IekijBDYxFU/maxresdefault.jpg

Attack: (Not counting Dart as flat-footed because I streamlined this scene and therefore you didn't actually make the decision to ignore the trash yourself) [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Diachronos]

Dart reaches to draw his sword when he sees the fist start flying up, but the trash heap lands a solid punch right in his stomach. It was a hard hit, but one that he'd normally be able to take... if he wasn't already injured from fighting the soldiers and weak from having nothing to eat or drink other than melted snow and a few mouthfuls of cheap sake for the past several days. He doubles over and falls to the ground, clutching at his stomach as everything goes dark.

[NeoSeraphi]

"Honestly Tao, how many times have I told you to be careful in the streets?"

"Mew...Tao is very sorry, meow. That's why Tao brought him to mew, boobie lady!"

"Oh? Wait, is that movement?"

Dart's eyes slowly open up.

http://www.vgmuseum.com/end/arcade/b/bbctlit-4.png

He sees a beautiful Chinese woman glancing down at him. "Oh, thank goodness. Please don't move too quickly, your wounds are still closing. But you should be fine to get up in a bit."

Dart touches his stomach to find that he's been wrapped up, but he feels even better than when he came into the city. The strangely dressed person who attacked him for no reason is peering over the woman's shoulder, looking worried as well. At least, he thinks she looks worried. He can't see her face under that hood.

Dart is healed to full health.

[Diachronos]

Dart slowly sits up and looks over at the hooded girl. "Do you attack every person you meet in an alleyway? Or did I break some Kagustsuchi law that I didn't know about?"

[NeoSeraphi]

The woman who is not wearing the hood smiles. "Please don't be upset at her. Taokaka attacked you because she thought you were the SS class criminal, Dart the Grim Reaper, and she was looking to get the reward money to help her family."

"Tao is a vigilante, meow! But when I looked closely, I realized you don't look anything like the Wanted Poster!"

The hooded figure holds it up and shows Dart a picture of what looks like a five-year-old's sketch of his face. His nose is way too big and his hair is matted over his face. The shape of his face makes him look like he's about thirty pounds overweight. Who drew this?

"Now now, Tao did the right thing and brought you here so I could patch you up. I suggest you don't remain too upset over a misunderstanding," the woman, presumably a doctor, says.

Her voice is dangerous and from the look in her eyes, Dart can tell she knows exactly who he is. But then, why isn't she just turning him in herself? Well, better to play dumb for now so that this cat woman won't beat him up again.

[Diachronos]

"Well... you're right, that poster looks nothing like me." He rubs the back of his neck. Doing that for her family, huh? Well, he has no right to judge her for that after everything he's done and gone through. "It's alright, no hard feelings. Just... just take a close look before you attack somebody next time, alright? The next guy might not go down as easy as I did, or be as forgiving."

And now the part that was going to be worse than he'd intended when he got to the city. "Thanks for patching me up, Doctor. How much do I owe you for the treatment?"

[NeoSeraphi]

Tao bows her head and apologizes. "Tao is sorry, mew. If you want, Tao has an idea to make it up to mew. There's a great sushi bar in Orient Town that Tao knows about!"

Food? Food sounds amazing right about now.

The doctor looks at him with amusement. "Please, call me Doctor Faye-Ling. And as for the fee, don't worry about it. This is your first time in Kagutsuchi, so I don't blame you for not knowing, but this clinic is actually free to the public."

[Diachronos]

Dart chuckles. "I'd love to take you up on your offer, but if you're that desperate for money then I'm not going to make you pay for my food. Just point me in the right direction and I'll consider us even."

He looks up at the doctor. "A clinic that gives free treatment? How do you afford the upkeep on this place if you don't charge anybody?"

[NeoSeraphi]

Taokaka looks at him curiously. "Mew? Tao isn't going to pay for you, silly! Tao doesn't have any money! Tao was going to take you there and then you were going to treat Tao to a delicious meal for slowing down her pursuit of the Grim Reaper, meow!" She smiles and nods as if it's the most practical thing anyone has ever said.

"Oh? My, but isn't someone a bit bold, to pry into a woman's finances like that?" Doctor Faye-Ling responds. "If you must know, my last job was...rather lucrative. I gain nothing from cutting my patient numbers by 80% and only treating those who can afford it."

[Diachronos]

Dart sighs. "Should've seen that coming..." Somehow, he gets the feeling that he's not going to have any money left after going to the sushi bar if he's paying for Taokaka.

He stands up. "Thanks again, Doctor Faye-Ling. I should probably get going, I doubt you want me in your hair for much longer."

[NeoSeraphi]

"Do come back any time dear. And please be careful...there are a lot of vigilantes in Kagutsuchi right now. Wouldn't want someone else to 'mistake' you for that bad man."

She seems sincere in her warning to him. But Dart is back to his full strength, he's confident he can take on some thugs who can't even use Ars Magus.

Tao leads him to the sushi bar and the two of them order. "So, what brings you to Kagutsuchi, meow?" she asks with a smile.

[Diachronos]

Dart ponders over the doctor's words on the way to the bar. Why had she treated him and let him go without any trouble? She'd mentioned her last 'job' being lucrative, but could it possibly be as lucrative as someone with a 90 million gp bounty on their head being dropped in her lap?

He considers how to answer Taokaka's question without raising any red flags. "Oh, just business that my... mentor asked me to take care of. That, and I'm looking for an old friend of mine."

[NeoSeraphi]

Tao tilts her head. "Looking for your friend, meow? Why didn't you ask Boobie Lady if she's seen them?"

Hm. Good point. Boobie Lady - no, Doctor Boobie La- no, Dart, that's the wrong thing to correct!

Doctor Faye-Ling seems to have a lot of clients, since she sees people for free. Maybe she's the best person to ask about where someone might be in the town? He may need to swing over there later.

"Oooh, sushi sushi sushi! Itadakimeowsu!" The waiter sets a plate in front of the two of them and Tao scarfs it down instantly. "You treated Tao to food! Tao is sooo hungry, Tao hasn't had a good meal in days after she trekked all the way up here from the Lower City, meow. You're a good guy. I'm gonna call you Good Guy, meow!"

[Diachronos]

"That's a good idea. I'll stop back and ask her if she's seen him after we-" What just happened? Did the food teleport off the plate? How had Tao put away so much in the blink of an eye? "-eat..."

Well, so much for that order. He puts in another order with the waiter; hopefully she wouldn't scarf this one down instantly.

[NeoSeraphi]

Dart tries again, and again. And after the fourth time, he finally gets his own plate. Tao sits back and sighs happily while Dart adds up the cost...

...57 gp. That's not good. He needs to make a run for it. Well, he's an SS class criminal. One dine and dash won't kill him. Stupid cat!

[Diachronos]

You've got to be kidding me... Dart searches through his belongings, hoping that he'd managed to miss seven or so gold pieces the last twenty times he'd turned out his pockets. Of course, he comes up empty, and he's stuck with a bill that he's just short of being able to pay for.

...Well, seeing as his bill was only this high because that stupid cat had scarfed down four plates of sushi after he'd "inconvenienced her" by resembling a poorly-drawn wanted poster, she could deal with the rest. He digs out a few gold from the pouch he'd found at the hut and pockets it before dropping the pouch on the table. There's still 45gp in the bag, so it wasn't like he was trying to get out of paying the bill completely... just paying for all of that gluttonous catfolk's meal.

Once the waiter's back is turned, Dart gets up and starts walking, hoping to disappear into the crowd before anybody notices that he was short.


Please don't be a bad roll...
[roll0]

[NeoSeraphi]

Dart isn't able to get out past the waiters near the entrance, so he has to duck out the back, but when he does so no one notices him. However...

"Is this Orient Town?" he mutters, walking through the streets of Kagutsuchi in confusion. This appears to be a business sector, and there...oh crap, that's the NOL's district office.

He's going to have to go there at some point, that's where the Cauldron is, but...

Dart gasps in shock as a searing pain shoots up his right arm. What in the hell? The Azure Grimoire...is it trying to tell him something?

[Diachronos]

Dart grips his arm and ducks into an alley. What was making it flare up like this? A large concentration of seithr? Or was it something else?

What are you trying to tell me?

[NeoSeraphi]

It's not seithr, Dart knows that much. That sensation is more like he's being drawn to it. This is...intensity. Or is it...fear?

"Well well. If it isn't Mr. Dart the Grim Reaper?" a young man asks.

http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/incognitoinside/images/6/6f/2_395605018l.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20100529155211

Dart barely has time to dash out of the way. The Azure Grimoire was telling him something. The strange woman standing behind that boy. She's dangerous.

"My my. You're pretty quick on your feet. But will you dodge the next one?" the boy asks. He looks almost as young as Rachel does. But there's no way this kid is a vampire. What does he want?

[Diachronos]

Dart shakes off the pain in his arm and grasps the hilt of his nodachi. "I think you've got me confused with someone else. Have you seen the picture on those wanted posters? They look nothing like me." This isn't good, not at all. The kid looks young, but if he's picking a fight with Dart he's either stupid or strong. And the woman behind him... there's no denying it, she's definitely a match for him. "Mind telling me why you're attacking random people in the streets?"

[NeoSeraphi]

The boy adjusts his glasses with a smile. "Wanted posters? Hm. It's irrelevant. I don't want to kill you for the money, Mr. Dart the Grim Reaper. Even if you aren't the man on the wanted posters, you are the holder of the Azure Grimoire, without a doubt."

Wow, that's...that's new. Usually the only people who can tell that are the ones on his side.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Dart the Grim Reaper. I really don't care about your crimes or your reasons or anything like that. All I know is that you have the power of the Azure, and I need that power to help my sister."

The automaton behind him moves forward.

The boy smiles. "Yes, exactly, Onee-san*. There's no reason for us to try and converse with a dead man. Let's just kill him quickly and take the Grimoire!"

Initiative: [roll0]

*A term in Japanese that literally translates to 'older sister'. In Japan, children show deference by referring to individuals solely by title (similarly to how the US refers to a parent as Mother or Father), but it doesn't translate well into English. Onii-san is the male equivalent.

Carl has the young (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/basics-ability-scores/more-character-options/young-characters) template, so despite it being two on one you shouldn't be too worried.

[Diachronos]

"Is that so? Well, I need this power to save my brother and sister. So giving it up might be a bit of a problem." He draws his sword. "Look, if you want it that bad, you can have it after they're safe."


[roll0]

[NeoSeraphi]

The boy frowns.

"I can have it 'later'? Is that a 'promise' you're making to me? Grr....Just shut up! I'm sick of all the lies adults tell me! Onee-san!"

The large robotic woman dashes forward and attempts to wrap Dart in a bear hug. Meanwhile the boy moves behind him and stabs him in the back with some kind of sharp cog piece.

Niravana's CMB check - [roll0]
If Dart is grabbed, Carl's movement does not provoke an AoO. Otherwise you get one.

Carl's flank attack [roll1]
Damage [roll2] minimum 1

Carl's Heat Meter - 15
Dart's Heat Meter - 10

[Diachronos]

Dart grunts as he narrowly avoids the boy's weapon, and he works to push himself out of the robot's grasp.


[roll0]

[NeoSeraphi]

Dart throws the woman off. The boy frowns and lashes out with his cog again while the woman slams her fist forward.

Flank Carl [roll0]
Damage [roll1]

Flank Nirvana [roll2]
Damage [roll3]

Carl Heat 30
Dart Heat 45

[Diachronos]

Dart growls and turns to the robotic woman, bringing his sword down on her with all his might.


Hit/Confirm: [roll0]/[roll1]
Damage: [roll2]/[roll3]

[NeoSeraphi]

The woman's eyes widen and she doubles over, sparks flying. The boy gasps in shock. "Onee-san!"

He pushes past Dart, their fight forgotten for the moment.

[Diachronos]

Dart sheathes his sword. "Look, kid, I don't want to fight you, and I don't want to hurt you or your sister if I don't have to. But if you're going to insist on trying to kill people to get what you want, you'd better be ready for them to defend themselves."

[NeoSeraphi]

The boy backs away slowly and then darts down an alley. The powerful woman follows him. Finally, the pain in Dart's arm subsides. Hm, now where to go next?

[Diachronos]

Dart looks down at the cut in his side. The doctor probably isn't going to be happy seeing him again so soon, but he needs to ask her about Jubei anyway, so that's the most logical place to go. He heads out, trying to find his way back to the main streets so he can get back to the clinic.

[NeoSeraphi]

Dart walks through the streets with a frown. Hm. That busty doctor's office is somewhere around here, right?

He bumps into a man wearing a blue gi, and a mask over his face. "Oh, excuse me. Are you lost, stranger?"

Another man stops next to him. He's wearing a red gi and mask.

[Diachronos]

Dart frowns when he runs into the men. Martial arts uniforms, masks... dammit, can't he go one day without people trying to pick a fight with him?!

"Yeah, I'm looking for the clinic."

[NeoSeraphi]

The men look at each other. "Sorry to tell you, stranger, but that clinic is in Orient Town, on the other side of the city. Listen, our boss is no doctor, but he's got some medicine and may even offer you a place to stay."

It is getting dark, and Dart doesn't sense any hostility from these men.

[Diachronos]

He considers that for a moment. "...Alright, that sounds like a better idea. Doctor Faye-Ling probably isn't even there anymore, unless she lives at the clinic."

[NeoSeraphi]

The men lead him through the area they are in. Lots of people are walking by, but they all seem...meager, compared to the ones who were hanging around Orient Town.

"This is Ronin-Gai," one of the men explains. "It's a neighborhood that the remnants of the Ikaruga Federation fled to after the war. Kagutsuchi is the city with the lowest level of Library activity, and we had to take refuge from the seithr somewhere."

Dart recalls that 'the Library' is a derogatory term that citizens use to describe the Librarium, implying that the organization is more interested in censoring free information by 'shhhing' everyone than storing Ars Magus.

The two of them stop in front of a house and knock on the door. "Boss! Boss, we've got another injured!"

'Another'?

The door opens and Dart has to pause to take in...this sight.

http://66.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m6hw5pbcVu1qdbdhjo1_500.png

The man before him has a giant nail strapped to his back. He is wearing...sleeves without a shirt? How do they even stay on? And a long red scarf wrapped around his neck. Across his face is a giant X-shaped scar. Whatever wound inflicted that would have killed a man. It must have been an enormous blade.

"Ah! You are...the one who hurt Master Carl's sister!" the man exclaims.

Oh, crap.

"Hooooargh! I cannot fathom why a man like you would be willing to pick fights with a mere child, stranger, but I can assure you that that is not justice!" He clenches his fist and Dart blinks. Is he...becoming even more manly somehow?

"I should strike you down, evildoer! But...that would be wrong of me." He relaxes and shakes his head with a smile.

The two men stare at him in confusion. "Boss?"

"There is no honor in attacking a man who is already injured. A duel must be fought when both parties are at full strength. Come inside, stranger. Your wounds will be treated, and you will be fed. In the morning, I shall escort you to Orient Town myself. You can be treated by the lovely Miss Litchi, and you will feel revitalized."

This man seems to have a strong sense of justice. And with what the guys said about him being a Boss and the remnants of the Ikaruga Federation...no doubt about it. He's definitely the former student of the Ikaruga master.

"Well then. Introductions are in order. I am the leader of Ronin-Gai, master ninja Bang Shishigami!" the man belts out, clasping Dart's hand eagerly. "Where do you hail from, stranger?"

[Diachronos]

He wants to point out that it's hardly "villainous" to defend yourself against two unprovoked assailants, but now might not be the best time for that. "I'm not really 'from' anywhere. I'm just a drifter looking for a little closure with the past."

[NeoSeraphi]

Bang nods. "We are similar then, you and I. I will find the horrible villain Jin Kisaragi and pay him back for killing my master, Tenjo. Who are you seeking closure from? Have they wronged you?"

[Diachronos]

"He burned down the orphanage I called home, murdered the woman who raised me and my siblings, and kidnapped my brother and sister. I've spent the last 13 years training for the day I finally find him again."

[NeoSeraphi]

The ninja shakes his head. "To attack children! Such malice is inexcusable...." He gives Dart a pointed look before standing up and going to check on Nirvana.

One of the men comes over and applies some medicine to the scratch on Dart's leg. "We're getting ready for the New Year's celebration. It's the Boss's birthday, you know? Want to help out after you get checked out?"

[Diachronos]

Dart shrugs. "I might as well, it's the least I can do after you all took me in for the night."

[NeoSeraphi]

Dart has a chance to relax and rest. Carl and Bang are both in this place, and neither of them is likely to attack him at the moment.

Dart grows to level 2!

[Diachronos]

Since he finally has some peace and quiet, Dart starts prepping his spells. With his luck, he gets the feeling he'll need them later.


Going to prepare shocking grasp, shield, and expeditious retreat

[NeoSeraphi]

Dart heads to sleep for the night and when he wakes up, he takes some time to prepare his spells. The food given to him by Bang is almost as good as the sushi bar...oh. Right. Dart wonders idly for a moment what happened to the strange girl with the hood.

Well, she's probably off causing trouble again.

------------------------------------------

Somewhere else...

"So, that's the 13th Hierarchical City, Kagutsuchi, huh?" says a man with green hair covered by a black hat and a snazzy suit.

"Major Kisaragi is down there somewhere," the woman next to him mutters, tensing up. She's wearing a standard NOL uniform and biting her lip.

"It's quite alright, Lieutenant Vermillion. As long as you apprehend Major Kisaragi and bring him in, I'll make certain there are no punishments for his desertion. It's more important that we keep up the appearance that the Hero of Ikaruga is a loyal knight than anything else," the man says with a nod.

Noel glances to her side. "Captain Hazama...you seem awfully calm about this situation."

Hazama chuckles. "Don't know what you're referring to. But don't bother with that rank stuff while I'm undercover, alright? It's a bit hard for me to gather intel when people hear NOL officers addressing me as 'Captain'."

"My apologies, sir," Noel replies, saluting him. They weren't off the plane yet, after all.

"Right. Now, there's also a report saying that the Grim Reaper is in the city. Were you informed about that?"

Noel looks surprised. "Yes. I was told to keep my distance and restrict myself to observation only."

"Is that so? Well, good. You should stay focused on your mission, after all. We need to find out why Major Kisaragi came here."

Noel clutches at her shirt. She knows why he's here, he left the second he got that classified document she handed him. She just doesn't know what was on it. But if he's here because of information the NOL gave him, why would that qualify as desertion?

The plane lands and the two of them get off, ready to explore the city.

--------------------------------------------------------------

In the morning, Bang is already working out when Dart wakes up. He glances at the criminal with a nod. "Are you feeling better, stranger? Do you have any business you would like to take care of before we leave for Orient Town?"

[Diachronos]

Dart shakes his head. "All of the business I have in Kagutsuchi is somewhere else. And I'd rather get out of here before those kids decide to take another shot at me."

[NeoSeraphi]

Bang nods. "Well then! We should get going!" He takes Dart through Ronin-Gai. After about half an hour, they arrive at Litchi's clinic.

"That's odd. It seems the office is closed during her normal business hours," Bang notes, knocking on the door.

The young assistant opens and smiles. "Hello, Mr. Bang."

"And a good day to you as well, Linhua! Do you know where Miss Litchi is?"

"Ah, Doctor Faye-Ling was in the middle of opening the store when a strange man with red skin appeared. He started talking to her and the two of them left together."

Bang's eyes widen. "Miss Litchi...left...with a strange man? Ooooh, but I was so close to pouring out my heart to her! I only needed a bit more courage!" He slumps down sadly.

Linhua turns to Dart. "That cut doesn't look too bad. I can probably take care of it for you, if you like. In exchange, can you look around Orient Town and see if you can find Doctor Faye-Ling? She has an appointment soon."

[Diachronos]

Dart nods. "I have a few questions I wanted to ask her anyway, so finding her helps me too."

[NeoSeraphi]

Bang takes his leave, and Linhua gets started on the procedure. She cleans up the wound and then stops and glances down at Dart.

"Doctor Faye-Ling says you're a dangerous person," she comments idly. "I'm a nurse, so I'm going to treat anyone's wound regardless, but...I hope for your sake, you don't harm a woman who is kind enough to run a pro bono operation in the middle of the poorest city in the world." She shakes her head. "That's bad karma, you know?"

It's not a threat, and Linhua is clearly too young and normal to hurt him. More like...advice, while she's trying to seem as tough as her mentor.

[Diachronos]

"I'm not going to hurt her. I just need to ask if she's seen a friend of mine. And... I need to know why she let me walk away."

[NeoSeraphi]

Linhua sighs. "If you don't want to hurt anyone you shouldn't be walking around with a giant weapon in the first place," she mutters, stepping back. "There, you're all fixed up."

"Excuse me?" a voice calls. "Doctor Faye-Ling? I'm here for my appointment!"

Linhua gasps. "Oh no! He's here already!"

She runs into the entrance hall and greets the man. "Hello, please come in! Doctor Faye-Ling has stepped out for just a moment, but if you would like to wait..."

"Is that so?"

Hmm...well, if Dart wants to butt his head into this, he could always clear things up with the guy before he heads out. Then again...there's a window in this room. He can just climb on to the street without having to deal with more strangers and head directly to find Litchi. What will he do?

------------------------------------------

Elsewhere...

A young girl with bunny ear ribbons sits at a table, sipping her tea in a garden of roses.

"The wheel of fate continues to spin. We are approaching the predictable ending."

She sighs in disappointment.

[Diachronos]

"Thanks, Linhua." He looks up when he hears the man call out from the front door.

Running into more people is the last thing he wants to do right now. Once Linhua is out of the room, he slips out the window and starts heading back toward Orient Town to look for Doctor Faye-Ling.

[NeoSeraphi]

Dart looks around for a bit before spotting them. He sees Litchi second, which given her figure, he never thought he would do. But the man she's with!

http://www.vgmuseum.com/end/arcade/b/bbcttag-5.png

An enormous red-skinned man, just like Linhua said. The two of them seem to be discussing something over tea. Litchi looks upset. Neither of them have seen Dart yet.

[Diachronos]

Dart approaches the table, but stops a few yards away. Would interrupting them be a good idea? Litchi has her appointment to attend to, but something's bothering her and he doesn't know if the giant man is causing the problem or helping her with it.

After a moment he sighs and comes up to the table. "Sorry to interrupt, but your assistant was looking for you, Doctor Faye-Ling. Something about someone with an appointment showing up?"

[NeoSeraphi]

The red man stiffens in shock. "What the hell? The Grim Reaper?"

Oh, right. He probably should stop acting like he's not a wanted criminal.

Litchi quickly stands up but the man raises his wrist to his lips. Some kind of communicator?

"Kokonoe? This is Tager. Come in."

"Tager, that lousy doctor can plead with me til she's blue in the face, I'm not going to listen to her sob story."

"No, Kokonoe, I've confirmed the location of the Azure Grimoire!"

"Seriously? Well, hack it off and bring it here. Kid should be able to live without an arm. There's a doctor right there after all."

"Acknowledged! Iron Tager, entering combat mode!"

[Diachronos]

Dart narrows his eyes and reaches for his sword. "Do you really want to make a scene here? Over something as pointless as my arm?"

[NeoSeraphi]

Tager chuckles. "A soldier knows better than to question orders from his superiors."

Before he can swing one of his truck sized fists, a long staff strikes him in the chest.

"Litchi? Litchi what is the meaning of this?"

Litchi nods to an alley near them. "Go!"

[Diachronos]

Dart looks over at Litchi. "What? And just leave you to handle Tiny here by yourself?"

[NeoSeraphi]

She rolls her eyes. "He doesn't want to hurt me! I'm not in any danger, you are. Now go!"

Tager raises his fist and a bolt of electricity charges inside it. Litchi dips under it and knocks him back with an uppercut. The bolt of lightning fires off into the air and explodes harmlessly.

[Diachronos]

"If you insist." Dart takes off, ducking into the first alley he finds. If he can lose the man in the alley, he can probably make it out of the district without any issue.

[NeoSeraphi]

Dart doesn't see anyone chasing him. After a while he comes to a stop and considers his options.

He can probably make it back to Ronin-Gai on his own. If he does so, Bang may want to duel him while he's at full strength. And there's no telling whether Carl and Nirvana will be hanging around. He did agree to help them prepare for the new year though.

Or he could stop screwing around and go beat the crap out of that Cauldron. Compared to Kazomotsu the Librarium's defenses here are pretty weak.

...Wait. Come to think of it, he hasn't seen a single NOL soldier since he got here. Not even a traffic guard. That's...not normal...

[Diachronos]

Dart considers the lack of NOL troops. There were nowhere near as many on the streets as there should be, so they were likely positioned somewhere else. If his encounter with the soldiers the morning before was any indication, they were likely positioned around the Cauldron to defend it.

He decides to make his way back to Ronin-Gai. Even with Bang wanting to fight him and those two kids there, Bang and his men were probably the only ones who either knew or would be willing to disclose anything about the NOL's troop movements in the city.

[NeoSeraphi]

Dart returns to Ronin-Gai. When he arrives, Bang's cry of passion can be heard throughout Kagutsuchi.

"Hoooooooargh! You have returned to see your just rewards, evildoer! I shall teach you the punishment for harming children in this city. I, Bang Shishigami, the Hero of Justice, will demonstrate to you the power of my ninja way! Hoo-agh!"

It's a Heat Battle!

Initiative: [roll0]

[Diachronos]

Dart sighs and draws his sword. "Alright, alright, let's get this over with. I have business with the Librarium to take care of."


[roll0]

[NeoSeraphi]

Bang charges forward and punches one of his gauntlets forward. Dart doesn't even have to try and move, he's a full five feet short of hitting him. But all of a sudden, a blast of fire erupts from his gauntlets and strikes him!

Dart manages to back away and avoid any serious injury. But a strange feeling from his Azure Grimoire. The same feeling that he had around that robot woman. Is this ninja hiding some secret weapon?

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Diachronos]

Dart sidesteps the flames and moves in, aiming a vicious strike at Bang's side.


Power Attack
Hit/Confirm: [roll0]/[roll1]
Damage: [roll2]/[roll3]

[NeoSeraphi]

Bang deflects the attack and pulls his fist back to deliver a pounding blow.

Bang's Burning Heart deals additional damage, but the windup provokes an attack of opportunity. However, the large gauntlets do provide additional protection, giving him +2 AC against these AoOs only.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] plus [roll2] fire

[Diachronos]

Dart takes a quick swipe at Bang during his wind-up before sidestepping his punch and taking a step back. His hand crackles with electricity as he grasps his sword's hilt.


AoO:
Hit/Confirm: [roll0]/[roll1]
Damage: [roll2]/[roll3]

5' step back, casting shocking grasp, but holding the charge for now

[NeoSeraphi]

Bang staggers back from the blow. "What unholy might is this? But I...I will not back down from a fight! Hiyah!"

He throws his weight into his shoulder and rams it into Dart.

Bull Rush: [roll0]
Bang Heat: 10
Dart Heat: 25

[Diachronos]

Dart frowns. "So let me get this straight... you're supposed to be the boss of this group, and the strongest fighter?"


Not going to use power attack this time
Hit/Confirm: [roll0]/[roll1]
Damage: [roll2]/[roll3]
Shocking Grasp: [roll4] electricity

[NeoSeraphi]

Bang's eyes widen and he raises his fists angrily, shaking off the blow. "I wasn't using all of my...argh..." the electric attack surprises him and he staggers backward.

"Sigh. Humbly, do I admit defeat, stranger. I can feel the passion in your blows. Your attacks carry no evil behind them. I bid you welcome to Ronin-Gai, for as long as you like. Now, what can I do for you while you are here?"

[Diachronos]

Dart sheathes his sword and takes a seat. Well, at least he'd gotten through that fight unscathed. "Well, for one, I was hoping you might know where all of the Librarium soldiers are. There should be way more troops in the streets than there currently are, which means they must've been moved elsewhere."

[NeoSeraphi]

Bang glances at his men curiously.

For a man that just got a savage thrashing he...doesn't seem particularly injured.

The Azure Grimoire hurts a bit still. There's no doubt about it that this ninja wasn't fighting him seriously. Probably against his sense of 'justice' or whatever. But still, it would be a mistake to assume this guy is a pushover.

"You are correct in saying that the Librarium's forces have been mysteriously absent for the last two days or so. All we can tell you is that this is...unusual!" Bang declares, crossing his arms. "I don't know what you expect from me, outsider, but I am merely the boss of a small district in the Kagutsuchi slums. I am in no position to keep tabs on the Library or send men after them. We have lost that war, and it is a painful experience that none of us wish to repeat."

The rumor that Bang had sworn revenge on Jin Kisaragi surfaces in Dart's mind. He could confirm that, if he wants, or he could just accept that he's not getting any help here and move on.

[Diachronos]

"Does that mean that you're not actually out for Major Kisaragi's head?" If Bang is that concerned over another loss against the Librarium, it's unlikely that he's intending to carry out this alleged threat of vengeance. Then again, he could simply be biding his time for the right moment to strike.

"I do have another question. I'm looking for an old acquaintance of mine... I don't suppose you or one of your men has run into a catfolk named Jubei lately, have you?"

[NeoSeraphi]

Bang raises an eyebrow. "The villain Jin Kisaragi is...an exception," he replies. Unlike his normal shouting and exuberance, the mention of the name has given him a furrowed brow. He speaks very quietly, and with an anger that sends quivers into his voice. No doubt, Bang means Kisaragi true harm.

"Jubei? As in, one of the Six Heroes, Jubei? Is he in Kagutsuchi?" Bang asks, glancing at his men. They shrug and shake their heads. "I am sorry, my friend. A man like that will not be seen if he does not wish to be seen. I may be a ninja, but none can hope to compare to the skills of a warrior who has evaded death for a century."

[Diachronos]

"I see..." Dart sighs and stands up. "Thanks. I'll get out of your hair now."

[NeoSeraphi]

Bang nods. "I enjoyed our duel, stranger. I hope next time we meet, you honor me with your name."

Where will Dart head to now?

[Diachronos]

Well, that was a complete waste of time... Dart looks down at the Azure Grimoire. At least two people in the city know he has it, and both of them are trying to take it from him. Is it really safe to remain in the city, or to go wandering around without any direction?

After a moment he sighs and starts heading back to Litchi's clinic, taking care to remain in the back alleys whenever possible to lower is chances of being seen.

[NeoSeraphi]

Litchi looks very upset when Dart enters, and more than a little frazzled. Her normally calm, cool demeanor has been shaken by...something.

"Oh, hello Dart. What can I do for you?" she asks.

[Diachronos]

"...Sorry for any trouble I caused earlier." He leans against the wall. "From the look of things earlier, I'm guessing that Tager guy's been giving you trouble?"

[NeoSeraphi]

Litchi looks up at him in confusion. "What? Oh, no. Nothing like that. Tager and I are former colleagues, and I was trying to get in touch with my old boss, who he still works for. She's refusing to speak to me, of course."

"Linhua said you had something you wanted to ask me?"

[Diachronos]

"Two things, actually. The first is... do you know a catfolk named Jubei?"

[NeoSeraphi]

Litchi crosses her arms. "I'm fairly certain everyone knows of the legendary Jubei of the Six Heroes. If you're asking if I have ever met him personally, no. I can't say that I've had the pleasure."

[Diachronos]

Dammit... "Should've known. That old cat's probably relaxing on a beach somewhere for all I know."

He crosses his arms and looks up at the ceiling. "...Why did you let me walk out of here yesterday?"

[NeoSeraphi]

Litchi sighs. "Don't bring that up. I'm already regretting it. I thought that what you pulled in Iwatsuchi was just harmless protesting of the Librarium's censorship. And then I find out that you caused an explosion in Akitsu, killing innocent people!"

Dart, of course, had no way to know that destroying that Cauldron would cause an explosion. It hadn't happened the last three times he did it. But she was right, there was blood on his hands. It was an accident, though.

"Until yesterday, I was convinced that your antics were victimless crimes. I don't think you are completely blameless, but I wasn't going to turn you over to the Librarium for a few bits of vandalism. That's why I let you walk out."

[Diachronos]

Dart closes his eyes. "I'd be lying if I said that I'm innocent. But... there's more to it than what the Librarium is releasing to the public."

[NeoSeraphi]

Litchi sighs. "Alright. Well, be careful. Don't cause any more trouble while you're here." She nods towards the door.

[Diachronos]

"I don't intend to." Taking the hint, Dart walks out.

Well, he's back to square one. No sign of Jubei, and no way of knowing what's in the NOL building. Maybe he should just storm the place and find the Cauldron?

[NeoSeraphi]

As Dart approaches the NOL building, he smells something strange. Is that...roses?

A portal opens up and the sound of wind blows through the area. Emerging from the black portal is Rachel Alucard. She looks up at Dart with her blood-red eyes.

"My, my. You've been quite busy since you arrived here. ...A full day after I requested it, no less."

She sounds cross, but also tired. This isn't Rachel's normal demeanor at all. Something is bothering her.

[Diachronos]

"Well, you never said to come here first." He decides to drop his normal semi-defiant act when he sees the mood she's in. "Something troubling you?"

[NeoSeraphi]

Rachel sighs. "Oh, Dart, why would you ask? You know I'm not going to answer and I'm in no mood to think up a witty evasion at the moment."

She turns to look at the building behind her. "He's in there, waiting for you. The question is, do you have the strength to get past him?"

[Diachronos]

Dart feels his fists clench. "...only one way to find out, I guess."

Recalling Jubei's and Rachel's friendship, he digs out the letter. "You wouldn't happen to know where Jubei is, would you? I found this yesterday, and I think he'll want to see it if he hasn't already."

[NeoSeraphi]

Rachel raises an eyebrow. "How curious...you never mentioned anything like that to me before..." She closes her eyes.

"Jubei is currently...on his way here. He should be arriving in two days," she comments.

[Diachronos]

Dart frowns. "I guess I'll show him after I deal with the Cauldron, then." He puts the letter away. "Oh, by the way, I wanted to ask... just how many people are after my damned arm?"

[NeoSeraphi]

Rachel's eyes open wide with anger.

"...I see, I was wrong to praise you just now."

She didn't praise him.

"Your attitude clearly needs some adjustment. It seems you have yet to learn anything. If you continue as you are now...you will be blood on the wall before Terumi even lifts a finger."

She raises her umbrella. "Come. I will remind you of the fear you have forgotten."

It's a Heat Battle!
Initative: [roll0]

[Diachronos]

Dart sighs. Ask a simple question, get my ass handed to me by an angry little vampire girl... He draws his sword, but he doesn't see much point. She was going to crush him without even trying, why make him go through the motions?


[roll0]

Dart's going to take a total defense action to get +4 dodge AC for the round

[NeoSeraphi]

Rachel closes her eyes. She raises one hand and her imp turns into a cannon that fires three balls, which land in the ground around Dart and stick out as long spears towering ten feet tall. She opens her eyes.

"Dart, you have made a grave mistake, and you do not even realize that mistake. That makes it all the more likely that you will make it again in the future."

She lowers her chin and glowers at him. "Never think of the Azure Grimoire as 'yours'! The moment you let your guard down, the moment you accept it as 'your' power, as a part of you, that's when you will lose control of it!" She snaps her fingers. "Baden Baden Lily!"

The towering poles around Dart are charred to dust and Gii clambers out of the ground, moaning in pain. They were spaced just far enough apart that Dart wasn't harmed in any of those blasts.

Rachel shakes her head. "The Azure Grimoire is not your arm. I told you, the moment we met. I told you, it is a parasite. It seeks to consume you. To use you. You have avoided that for thirteen years because you were never in a situation where you needed its power to survive. But now you will find yourself backed into many a corner. I would rather you perish than surrender your will to it."

[Diachronos]

Dart looks down at the Grimoire. Of course he'd started to think of it as his arm; it hasn't done anything in the last 13 years to give him reason to fear it. It felt like his own flesh and blood, like it was truly a part of his body, and if anything he'd only benefited from having it until yesterday.

...But Rachel hadn't steered him completely wrong on anything before. She's right, he needs to be careful with this thing. "And I take it you'd rather I keep it with me instead of someone else getting their hands on it, too, right?"

[NeoSeraphi]

She frowns. "I'd rather it didn't attach itself to you in the first place, but I suppose if it hadn't, you wouldn't be here right now. The Grimoire is dangerous in the hands of your enemies, Dart. Your training with Jubei allows you to keep the power in check most of the time, but someone who does not have that experience will likely be overwhelmed if they try to use it. Keep it safe with you, but use its power sparingly."

She turns around and disappears.

[Diachronos]

Dart frowns and sheathes his sword, continuing toward the NOL building. Somehow he gets the feeling that he's going to be reprimanded for something else by the time he's done in this city, but that'll have to wait until he's dealt with the Cauldron.

[NeoSeraphi]

As Dart enters the building he sees...no one. No one is inside the NOL quarters at all. That's ridiculous. Even with an incomplete city with few officers, there should be at least a thousand soldiers here. They couldn't have all vanished.

As Dart is lost in thought, a chill comes over the room. Dart exhales, and can see his breath.

Stepping out from behind a pillar, a familiar blonde face grins at him.

http://img.wallpaperfolder.com/f/5CF0740AF949/video-games-blazblue-jin-kisaragi.jpg

"It's been a long time, Nii-san."

The Hero of Ikaruga, Major in the NOL's Praetorian Guard...and the little sh*t who cut off Dart's arm thirteen years ago. Jin Kisaragi.

[Diachronos]

Dart's eyes widen when he sees the young blonde man. "Wha... Jin? Is that really you?" Frankly, he's not sure whether he should be pissed about Jin cutting his arm off, or relieved to see that his brother is alive.

[NeoSeraphi]

Jin walks towards Dart slowly. As he steps, the floor around him gets covered in more and more ice. "That's my line. I can't believe you survived that. And you got a new arm, huh? It looks pretty sturdy. I might not be able to cut this one off."

He grips his sword eagerly. "Let's find out, shall we?"

[Diachronos]

Dart draws his nodachi. Sounds like the correct reaction to Jin being here would be "pissed about his arm". "Before we start, would you mind telling me why you're trying to kill your own brother, or where Saya is?"

[NeoSeraphi]

Jin laughs as if Dart has told a hilarious joke. "Why? Because if I don't kill you, then Terumi will. And I don't want him to take that from me. No one can take that from me. No one else deserves to kill you, Dart. Only me, I'm the only one...I'm the only one who can fight with you, who can bleed with you, who can give you exactly what you need! I'm the only one who can push you to your limits and still make you scream for more! Let's kill each other, Nii-san! Let's fight and fight and fight until one of us can't get up anymore!"

[Diachronos]

Dart raises an eyebrow. "And you want me dead... why, exactly? I know we got into a few fights when we were kids, but I never saw you as the kind to hold a grudge over something stupid like what we fought over."

[NeoSeraphi]

Jin frowns. "What a stupid question! If I don't kill you this time, you'll run away again! You'll be gone for another thirteen years, or maybe even longer. I don't want you to leave, Dart, but I can't tolerate you staying either. If you stay, then you will merely be a disruption...grrr! Don't you see? I have to kill you!"

It's becoming very apparent to Dart that Jin is not in a normal state of mind. His eyes are darting about and he's gripping his sword almost as if he will fall without holding on to it. Either something is influencing him, or Jin really has lost it. Either way, talking is not going to solve this problem.

[Diachronos]

"...If you insist, then." He motions with his hand, and a disc of force appears in front of him, hovering in mid-air. "Looks like I've got to beat some sense into you."


Casting shield

Initiative: [roll0]

[NeoSeraphi]

Jin grins and draws his sword. "There we go, that's the attitude! Don't hold anything back, Nii-san!"

It's a Heat Battle!

Initiative: [roll0]

[NeoSeraphi]

Jin quickly launches forward, swinging his sword down.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] plus [roll2]

[Diachronos]

Dart deflects Jin's strike and retaliates with a hard blow of his own.


Hit/Confirm: [roll0]/[roll1]
Damage: [roll2]/[roll3]

[NeoSeraphi]

Jin nimbly dodges out of the way and smashes into Dart's barrier with his weapon angrily.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] plus [roll2]

Jin Heat: 25
Dart Heat: 10

[Diachronos]

Dart grunts as the weapon connects, and brings his nodachi down on Jin with all his might.

Power Attack again, going to spend an arcane pool point to give the weapon an extra +1 for one minute.
Hit/Confirm: [roll0]/[roll1]
Damage: [roll2]/[roll3]
Duration left on arcane pool: 10 rounds

[NeoSeraphi]

Jin blocks the sword and laughs. "What's wrong, Nii-san? Your new arm is so slow! Your attacks can't connect like that!"

He dashes back and raises one hand, and an icicle comes flying at Dart.

Ranged attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Diachronos]

Dart growls and steps up for another swing.


Forgoing Power Attack this time
Hit/Confirm: [roll0]/[roll1]
Damage: [roll2]/[roll3]

[NeoSeraphi]

Jin is caught off-guard and takes the blade to his side. He growls and swings his sword upward in a wide arc. ...Huh? It's like he intended to miss...

Jin Heat: 35
Dart Heat: 35

[Diachronos]

Dart raises an eyebrow. "What are you up to, Jin? Trying to make me drop my guard?"


Hit/Confirm: [roll0]/[roll1]
Damage: [roll2]/[roll3]

[NeoSeraphi]

Jin gasps in surprise and falls back, before chuckling. "I've got you now, Nii-san!" He swings his high blade down into the ground and creates a huge explosion of ice.

Dart needs to make a DC 15 Reflex save or take [roll0] ice damage and be knocked prone. Successful save halves the damage and prevents him from being knocked prone.

Jin Heat: 70
Dart Heat: 70

[Diachronos]

Dart manages to avoid getting knocked off his feet, but he's in bad shape. One more hit is likely to bring him down.

Here's hoping I can bring Jin down first...


Hit/Confirm: [roll0]/[roll1]
Damage: [roll2]/[roll3]

[NeoSeraphi]

The glove on Dart's right hand starts to glow black. Dart looks in confusion as he swings his blade, and it strikes true. Jin gasps in shock as he feels his shoulder disconnect.

The man falls to the ground, unconscious. Dart needs to hurry. With any luck, the Cauldron this time won't fight back either. If there really is no one here...well, there's no one to stop him!

[Diachronos]

Dart takes a moment to stabilize Jin before heading deeper into the building. Attempted murder or not, Jin's still his brother, and he's not acting like himself... Terumi must have brainwashed him or something.

But figuring that out will have to wait until the Cauldron is destroyed. Here's hoping that this one's destruction won't cause an explosion like in Akitsu...

[NeoSeraphi]

Dart takes the elevator down to the basement. There is no sign of anyone. This building really is deserted...

He walks into the depths to find the real entrance to the cauldron. But...

"Welcome, O Dark One," a voice echoes through the room.

The voice is male. It's very deep, but sounds almost...hollow?

http://static.zerochan.net/Hakumen.full.986281.jpg

The man is wearing white armor and a mask that doesn't even have eye holes. Around his armor, red eyes seem to look out at Dart.

As Dart steps forward, his arm shudders. This is...what is this feeling? Like...the desire to run away?



-----------------------------------

"That fear is correct," Rachel says as she sips her tea. "Despite having clashed with him hundreds of times already, you've never won once. The Azure Grimoire has no hope against him."

She sets her cup down. "The wheel of fate continues to spin. We are reaching the inevitable end."

[Diachronos]

Dart takes a few steps back when he finds the white-armored man. He's so close to his goal... but at the same time, the Azure Grimoire's feeling of wanting to flee is making him pause. He'd felt fear and worry from it before, but he couldn't really recall a time when it wanted to run away.

Deciding to err on the side of caution, he turns and bolts for the elevator.

[NeoSeraphi]

The man in white armor watches silently as Dart runs away.

Dart makes it back up the stairs and...Jin is gone? But he was out cold, who could have moved him?

This...doesn't make any sense! What can he do now?

[Diachronos]

Dart curses when he sees that Jin is gone. He was so close to getting his brother back, and somebody snatched that chance away from him.

With a sigh he starts making his way back to Ronin-Gai. There's likely no other safe place in the city for him right now, and it might help to have someone who also has a reason to fight Jin on his side.

[NeoSeraphi]

Dart returns to Ronin-Gai. The other men are astonished at his wounds and quickly help him to bed.

Next morning, 12/30

One day until the New Year

Bang helps Dart out, and he does his absolute best to treat the wounds. Dart gets some good breakfast and after a night's rest he feels a lot better.

Healing: [roll0] plus Con x level for a night's rest.

[Diachronos]

Dart thanks Bang for the care, and while everybody else is setting up for the New Year he asks Bang if they can talk in private.

[NeoSeraphi]

Bang nods and walks to the other end of the room with him.

"How can I help you, stranger?" he asks with a smile.

[Diachronos]

"...I found out what happened to my brother. I don't know why, or how, but... he's Jin Kisaragi. I cut his arm off in the NOL building, but he vanished when I came back to that room. I have no idea how he got away when he was unconscious, but I'm assuming that somebody came to rescue him while I was taking care of other business."

[NeoSeraphi]

Bang frowns. "Oh, that reminds me! After what you asked me yesterday, I had some of my men scour the city, and they spotted a single NOL officer on the streets. She doesn't look like anyone from around here though. Maybe she's the one who rescued Kisaragi?"

[Diachronos]

"It's possible. I'm pretty sure the other guy I ran into there didn't have anything to do with Jin's disappearance. Do you know where she is now?"

[NeoSeraphi]

Bang glances at his men. "A! B! Report on that Library woman!"

"Sir! She boarded an airship and left about an hour ago, sir!"

An hour? Dart was still descending to the Cauldron an hour ago. So they just missed each other. But now she, and Jin, are no longer in Kagutsuchi...

[Diachronos]

"Dammit... do you know where the airship was going?"

[NeoSeraphi]

The men shake their heads. "Sorry, stranger, but all we can do is watch from a distance. We couldn't get close enough to hear anything that was said."

[Diachronos]

Dart curses and slams his fist against the wall. Of course, this would happen. He can't reach the Cauldron, and he's lost what was likely his only chance to get Jin back. Just his luck.

Screw it. He needs to get rid of the Cauldron as soon as possible, and he's not going to do that by running at the first sign of trouble. If he dies... well, he's dead if the NOL ever catch him anyway. What difference does it make whether the NOL execute him or he dies trying to do what needs to be done?

After preparing his spells for the day, he starts out for the NOL building again.

[NeoSeraphi]

Again, the building is dead. And again, when Dart arrives, the man in armor is waiting.

"You have come to meet your fate, Dark One. Good. I have no interest in cowards."

Whoever this masked freak is, Dart needs to get past him so he can deal with the Cauldron and track down Jin. He knows his name, he knows his rank, he can find out about it in some other city where the NOL actually has members who show up to work.

Hakumen gives Dart the first move. Dart automatically wins initiative.

[Diachronos]

"Why not just do yourself a favor and get out of my way before I have to force my way through you?"


Casting shield, spending a swift action and an arcane pool point to enhance the nodachi by +1

[NeoSeraphi]

The man in the mask remains silent for a moment. He assumes a defensive stance.

Hakumen Heat 20

[Diachronos]

"Have it your way, then!" Dart charges in, his blade crackling with electricity as he strikes.


Charging, trying to hit him with Shocking Grasp/Spellstrike and Power Attack

Hit/Confirm: [roll0]/[roll1]
Damage: [roll2]/[roll3]
Shocking grasp: [roll4]

[NeoSeraphi]

The masked man deflects the attack and smacks Dart in the chest, knocking him back.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

Hakumen Heat: 40
Dart Heat: 10

[Diachronos]

Dart growls and moves in to strike again.


Power Attack
Hit/Confirm: [roll0]/[roll1]
Damage: [roll2]/[roll3]
Shocking Grasp: [roll4]

[NeoSeraphi]

The attack bounces off the masked man's armor. He pulls his nodachi back in both hands and swings it forward.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
Hakumen Heat: 60

[Diachronos]

Dart knocks the masked man's blade aside and puts all his might behind his next swing.

Power Attack
Hit/Confirm: [roll0]/[roll1]
Damage: [roll2]/[roll3]
Shocking Grasp: [roll4]

[NeoSeraphi]

Again, Dart's attack fails to connect. The masked man frowns.

"I cannot let you pass!"

His sword begins to glow as he raises it over his head in both hands. "Empty Sky...Summer's Advance!"

The attack sends a shockwave of light directly at Dart, connecting harshly.

Damage: [roll0]
Reflex save DC 12 for half

As soon as the attack hits, however, there is a shift. The masked man's movements, which have been precise and agile up til now, seize up. He looks around in confusion as a yellow glyph appears on his left shoulder. Then his right. Then around his arms, his hands, and his waist. His blade lowers to the ground as he struggles against the magic bonds.

"Do not interfere with me, Grimalkin!"

A voice speaks to Dart, from inside his head. "You! You need to run! Hurry up and get to the Cauldron already. I'll hold this guy off!"

[Diachronos]

Dart doesn't need to be told a second time. He bolts past the masked man, running to find the Cauldron so he can put an end to it.

[NeoSeraphi]

Roses....why now?

With the wind appearing, Rachel steps into view. She frowns and looks at Dart's beaten state. "Honestly, this is what happens when you play around too much...Here."

She holds up a vial. Dart is shocked to see that it is full of human blood.

Despite Rachel being a vampire, she never touches the stuff. As far as Dart can tell, despite Rachel being over one hundred years old, he is the only vampire she has ever sired, and she always seems content with her tea and scones.

"Do not give me that look. You need to be at your best. Just take it."

[Diachronos]

Dart sighs and grabs the vial, chugging its contents. Something about drinking the stuff makes him sick to his stomach, though he's still unsure if it's the taste, the fact that he's drinking human blood, or some effect of being half-vampire that causes it.

[NeoSeraphi]

Dart's muscles swell and his skin feels like it's stinging as his body hurriedly repairs itself.

"Well then, I need to be going," Rachel says, dully. She rarely seems to show any sort of emotion, but in this instance she seems particularly nonplussed. What's that about?

Dart enters the last room to find the enormous link to the Boundary, which everyone calls a 'Cauldron' sitting under a large cocoon. Damn, was this one done smelting already?

The cocoon opens and a body steps out.

http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/blazblue/images/c/cd/BlazBlue_wallpaper_-_Nu-13_(4).jpg/revision/latest?cb=20120211161754

"Scanning...scanning....scanning...scanning. No errors detected. Murakumo Unit, activated."

She opens her eyes. Damn, this was going to be an issue...

"Ah? Dart? Dart! It's been a long time!" the woman exclaims, her robotic voice replaced by an eager teenager's.

"Let's see...this is the third time, right?"

It's the fourth.

"Last time in Akitsu, you stabbed me before I could even emerge from the cocoon...but now things are different! Look, I have a body now, and I can talk! Oh, but maybe you would prefer things like last time?" She smiles.

That face...her hair may be different, and that stupid eyepatch may be covering things up, but she looks just like the other ones. They all...why? Why do they all look like Saya? Her face, her voice, the way she smiles at him and says his name...she's not Saya!

[Diachronos]

Dart grips the hilt of his nodachi. "...I'd rather get this over with without causing any unnecessary deaths." Or hearing you use Saya's voice... He raises his sword. "Please, don't make this any harder than it needs to be."

[NeoSeraphi]

Nu smiles. "So destructive! ...I know. I know you want to hurt people. I know you want to hurt yourself. I know you want to destroy and destroy and destroy, because when you're fighting you can forget the pain. You can forget how lonely and sad you are. I'm the same way, Dart. We don't need this world. The two of us can destroy it together. That's what we were made for, isn't it?" She opens her arms warmly.

[Diachronos]

Dart shakes his head. "No. Just because we suffer doesn't mean we should make everyone else suffer too." His hands tremble slightly as he grips his nodachi. "Sister or not... at least you'll be free of your pain soon..."

[NeoSeraphi]

Nu nods. "You want to get in the right mood first, huh? Okay then. Let's warm up with a nice exchange of our love, and then we can destroy this whole world together. Hiyah!"

Nu raises her hand and a portal opens behind her. A sword launches out of it, flying directly at Dart.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Diachronos]

Dart knocks the sword away and charges his weapon before moving in to attack.


Swift action for arcane pool, casting shocking grasp and moving in with Power Attack

Hit/Confirm: [roll0]/[roll1]
Damage: [roll2]/[roll3]
Shocking grasp: [roll4]

[NeoSeraphi]

Nu gasps as she is electrocuted. "Ah...such passion! I'm so glad the two of us are alone, Dart. We can go all out like this with no one watching. Do you want me to scream even louder for you? Do you want to hear my pained cries more? I'll scream as loud as you like..."

She swings her leg up and Dart notices she has a long blade strapped to it from the knee down.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]'

Nu Heat: 10
Dart Heat: 25

[Diachronos]

Dart snarls and deflects her attack. Just shut up and die you f*cking imposter! He shifts his stance and puts all his weight into his next swing.

Hit/Confirm: [roll0]/[roll1]
Damage: [roll2]/[roll3]

[NeoSeraphi]

His attack doesn't connect and Nu opens a portal up on the ground. A large sawing blade emerges, moving towards him.

[roll0] damage, but if Dart makes a DC 13 Reflex save he avoids the damage entirely. In either case, the attack or avoiding the attack pushes Dart back 15'

[Diachronos]

Dart leaps back from the blade and charges around it, getting back in Nu's face without a second thought.


Charging, +2 to hit and -2 AC for one round
Hit/Confirm: [roll0]/[roll1]
Damage: [roll2]/[roll3]

[NeoSeraphi]

She raises one hand and a sword flies upward from the ground, slicing into him.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Diachronos]

Dart twists away from the sword, using the momentum of his dodge to lead into his next attack.


Hit/Confirm: [roll0]/[roll1]
Damage: [roll2]/[roll3]

[NeoSeraphi]

Again, Nu deflects his attack. She grins. "This is fun! This is fun, right? Fighting, clashing, trying to destroy each other? This is what you want for the rest of your life, right?"

It unnerves him. Saya was never a violent person. She was as sweet and kind as any other ten year old could be. This woman is...annoying.

"Take this, Dart!"

She conjures a hole on the ground and dashes backwards, as the hole begins to pull Dart down towards it.

Dart needs to make a DC 13 Fort save or become entangled

[Diachronos]

Dart finds himself stuck in place, barely able to move from his spot. Dammit... focus, Dart, focus. Don't let her get to you. He looks at Nu. "You're not my sister. Saya was never like this. She could never be like this. You're just a machine wearing her face... a weapon that needs to be destroyed before you can hurt innocent people."

[NeoSeraphi]

Nu tilts her head. "Saya? Nu is Nu, Dart. I'm not your sister. I'm your girl. I'm going to destroy the world together with you. We can fight and fight and fight until no one is left. We can destroy cities, and buildings, and forests, and animals. We can burn this entire world until there's nothing left, you and I. We're strong enough to do it. No one can stop us."

As insane as this girl is, she seems completely perplexed by his assertion that she is not his sister. And she doesn't seem to recognize Saya's name either.

"Well, whatever. Time for the real fun to begin!" She fires a barrage of swords at Dart.

Nu full attack: [roll0] [roll1] [roll2] (Dart has a -2 penalty to his AC because of the entangled condition)

Damage: [roll3] [roll4] [roll5]

Nu Heat: 60
Dart Heat: 45

[Diachronos]

Dart forces his way toward Nu and lashes out at her with his sword.


Hit/Confirm: [roll0]/[roll1]
Damage: [roll2]/[roll3]

[NeoSeraphi]

Nu dodges the attack and swings around, backing up to the entrance of the room and leaving Dart alone standing over the cauldron. An enormous portal opens up behind her. "Legacy Edge!" she cries.

A storm of blades flies out from behind her, crashing into Dart even as he braces himself with his sword.

Dart takes [roll0] damage, plus an additional 50% of the total (25). He can halve this damage with a successful DC 13 Reflex save.

Dart Heat: 55
Nu Heat: 10

[NeoSeraphi]

"Argh!" Dart drops his nodachi and grabs at his chest as a floating sword stabs him in the back, piercing through his shoulder.

The woman in front of him watches. "It's over. Now come here, Dart. Let me hold you..."

She steps forward and another blade hits Dart in the back. He stumbles forward as he loses his footing and she catches him, embracing him as a wife would embrace her husband. "It's time to go, Dart..."

An enormous sword, the size of a lion, appears behind him. It skewers Dart, running him through and also piercing the woman holding him. Both of their hearts stop beating at the same moment, and she falls backward slightly. He falls on top of her. The two of them tumble off the walkway and into the pit of boiling seithr below.


-------------------------------------------------------------------

Somewhere else, a young girl looks down into her teacup. She lifts it and takes a sip. "The wheel of fate continues to spin."

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Dart frowns and looks around. The seithr is pretty thick around here. He covers his nose as he walks, the nodachi on his back feeling heavier all of the sudden.

He had managed to escape the explosion in Akitsu and made his way out of it, but now he wasn't sure where to go next. The incomplete 13th Hierarchical City, Kagutsuchi, lie to the east. And to the north is the 7th Hierarchical City, Kazamotsu. Kagutsuchi would have fewer people around to bother him, while Kazamotsu would probably be easier to nick food from.

Suddenly, Dart feels a weight on his head. What...what the hell? He looks up and sees a blonde woman in a long gothic dress standing ontop of him.

"Well now. What do we have here? A lost stray, seeking his next meal?" the vampire Rachel Alucard asks in her dainty, noble voice.

[Diachronos]

Dart sighs. "Nice to see you too, Rachel." He keeps walking east, ignoring the fact that the vampire girl is perched on his head. "Are you here to chew me out over what happened in Akitsu, or just to make jokes at my expense?"

[NeoSeraphi]

"I'm pleased to see that after all this time at least one of us still has the ability to smile and laugh."

She hops off his head and frowns. "Dart, I...I'm worried that you might be in danger if you go to Kazamotsu right now."

[Diachronos]

"How is that any different from anywhere else I go?" He sighs and brushes his hair out of his face. "...How bad is it there?"

[NeoSeraphi]

"There is a young woman there who is looking for someone unrelated to you. But if she finds you...I can guarantee you there will be hell to pay."

That's rather direct of her, actually. Rachel usually speaks in metaphors and very vague warnings.

[Diachronos]

"So either someone who'd turn me over to the NOL in a heartbeat, or someone who's after this." He holds up his arm.

[NeoSeraphi]

"Something like that," she answers. "Of course, after your antics in Akitsu I don't imagine Kagutsuchi is much safer for you. But at least you have more places to hide out there. Just take your time and don't do anything reckless."

[Diachronos]

"You say that like I blew the place up intentionally." He sighs and nods. "Thanks for the heads-up. I'll hold off on going to Kazamotsu for now."

[NeoSeraphi]

She nods and heads out.

Dart heads into Kagutsuchi, having the option to either travel into town towards what looks like a merchant area, or heading into the Low Town.

[Diachronos]

Figuring that food would be easier to find there, Dart heads to the Low Town first.

[NeoSeraphi]

Dart finds the letter and the gold (we can skip that scene because there's no interaction).

After he finds food and this interesting tidbit of information, plus the bag, he can either go deeper into Low Town or head to the surface and find some place to buy lunch.

[Diachronos]

Dart heads further into Low Town. Food was probably less expensive down here, or he'd be able to find an abandoned place that hadn't already been cleaned out.

[NeoSeraphi]

Dart heads into what appears to be a sewer of some kind. He feels a bit strange and looks around. What kind of weird area was this? Was someone down here?

He hears skittering on the walls. What...what's going on?

"...ure...Azure....Azure....smell it..." a strange voice that sounds like three or four people whispering at once calls, and then from around the wall a creature crawls out of nowhere and attacks Dart!

http://www.fightersgeneration.com/np5/blaz-cs/art/arakune-cs.jpeg

It's a Heat Battle!

Initiative: [roll0]

[Diachronos]

"What the hell?!" Dart draws his sword and readies himself for a fight.


[roll0]

[Diachronos]

Dart empowers his nodachi with arcane energy and electricity, then charges in.


Spending an arcane pool point and casting shocking grasp with Spellstrike and Power Attack, not charging so no +2 on the attack roll

Hit/Confirm: [roll0]/[roll1]
Damage: [roll2]/[roll3]
Shocking grasp: [roll4]

[NeoSeraphi]

The blob splits apart when his strike lands and some insects spill out of it.

It moves towards him and the insects start to pour out, trying to eat him. "AzureAzureAzureAZURE ....devour...devour...hehehehehehAHAHAHAHA!"

As a reminder, swarms take 50% damage from weapon attacks.

Distraction: [roll0] damage and Dart has to make a DC 13 Fort save or be nauseated for 1 round.

Dart Heat: 35
Arakune Heat: 35

[Diachronos]

Dart gags from the sensation of the insects crawling all over him, and it's all he can do to stagger away from the swarm. His sword was no good against this thing, and neither were the spells he'd prepared for the day.


Taking his 1 move action for the turn to move 30' back toward the entrance

[NeoSeraphi]

The monster hisses after him as he runs away.

Heading into a different part of Low Town, Dart can hear...mewing?

He spies a bunch of catfolk kittens walking around. Some of them hide behind rocks when they see him, they look scared of his large weapon.

As a friendly reminder, Dart no longer has his campfire Ars Magus spell.

[Diachronos]

Dart sheathes his nodachi. "It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you." He looks around; why were there so many catfolk children in a place like this without someone watching them. "Are you all here by yourselves?"

[NeoSeraphi]

The children shake their heads. "We're just out playing, Mister. Our village isn't too far from here."

Ah, right. Seithr doesn't hurt catfolk like it does humans, so these kids and their families would have no trouble living this close to the ground.

[Diachronos]

"Ah... Well, stay safe." If they lived nearby, their parents or caretaker couldn't be too far away. And they don't have anything like the Azure Grimoire as far as he could tell, so they should be safe from that... thing in the sewers.

He heads back toward the main city entrance, intending to head into the merchant district.

[NeoSeraphi]

One of the kittens tugs on his arm as he turns to go. "Are you lost, Mister? I bet Torakaka can help you find your way."

[Diachronos]

"Well... a little, yeah. I'm trying to find the NOL building." He'd send this 'Torakaka' person away once he knows where the place is. There's no sense in dragging them any further than necessary, and he'd rather not put anybody in danger if he can avoid it.

[NeoSeraphi]

The kittens lead him to a place with lots of small huts, and they knock on a door, saying it's where the village elder lives.

http://orig06.deviantart.net/0bba/f/2015/321/0/c/torakaka_by_kaka_clan-d9h051r.png

"Hello, little Kaka kittens. How can I...oh. You are...Jubei's pupil, are you not?" she asks with surprise, seeing Dart.

[Diachronos]

Dart nods and bows slightly. "Yes, I am. My name is Dart."

[NeoSeraphi]

She nods. "Torakaka. Please, come in." She moves out of the way and pulls out a chair for Dart to join her at her kitchen table.

"Are you feeling well? If you need to sleep off the effects of the seithr, I'm happy to provide you with somewhere to stay for a while," she offers.

[Diachronos]

"I'm feeling fine, other than a few bites from some... thing that attacked me in the sewers. I appreciate the offer, though." He takes the offered seat. "One of the kittens said that you might be able to direct me to the NOL district office in Kagutsuchi."

[NeoSeraphi]

Torakaka nods. "I certainly can. There's a path from here that leads to a staircase that takes you right up into Orient Town. After you get there, you simply take your first left and look for the tallest building in the city." She stands up and walks into the kitchen, picking up a plate with some sardines on it and placing it in front of Dart. "I apologize, I don't get many human guests. But you do look rather hungry, Dart."

[Diachronos]

Even the stench of sardines is enough to make his mouth water at this point; as hungry as he is, the foul-smelling fish might as well be gourmet salmon filets to him. "You have no idea." He eagerly digs into the food, grateful to finally have something in his stomach again. "Thank you, Torakaka."

[NeoSeraphi]

She waits for him to finish and then rubs her arm, looking lost in thought. "I admit, I'm not entirely selfless in my actions. I was wondering, have you seen your master lately? Things have been getting strange in Kagutsuchi, and I worry for his safety."

The letter rears its head in Dart's mind. Terumi clearly stated that he was going after Jubei. But...Jubei was strong enough to take out Terumi, right? Right? ...Dart isn't sure.

[Diachronos]

"No, unfortunately. I haven't seen him in quite some time. Although... I think I may know why." He places the letter on the table. "I'm not sure if this letter has already passed through Jubei's hands, or how long ago it might have been if he's read it, but I found it in an abandoned shack near the edge of the Low Town."

[NeoSeraphi]

Torakaka reads the letter and looks up with confusion. "Who is...this 'Terumi' person? He sounds...rather childish."

[Diachronos]

"A maniac, and the bastard who burned down my home and abducted my brother and sister 13 years ago. From what I remember he's not so much 'childish' as 'psychotic' or 'sociopathic'... although I suppose those would go hand-in-hand." He shakes his head. "But in any case, he's a legitimate threat, especially if what he wrote in that letter is to be believed."

[NeoSeraphi]

Toraka pushes the letter across the table. "I see....well, thank you for being honest. I don't mean to be rude, but I would rather be alone right now."

[Diachronos]

Dart nods. "Thanks again for the help. And... sorry if I brought up any unpleasant thoughts." He leaves and heads to find the staircase she'd pointed him toward.

[NeoSeraphi]

Dart heads up into Orient Town, a nice little area that has lots of Chinese flair. Immediately as Dart looks around, he realizes this place has very weak security. There's no NOL anywhere. Well, that was going to make it way easier for him to move around.

"Excuse me!" a woman calls, running up to him. She frowns as she looks at his arm. "Oh, I knew it!"

What? Did this woman want to pick a fight with him over his Grimoire?

"Sir, I don't mean to pry, but...were you attacked by a strange creature in Low Town? A creature that seems to have an odd manner of speaking?" she asks, looking at him hopefully.

[Diachronos]

Dart narrows his eyes, wondering if he's going to be forced to fight or if she's just curious. "Yeah. Big blob creature that was talking about devouring me, and split into a swarm of bugs when it attacked me."

[NeoSeraphi]

The woman relaxes. "Thank goodness...My name is Litchi Faye-Ling. I run a medical clinic nearby. If you don't mind, why don't you let me treat that wound for you? In exchange, please tell me where you found that creature. I'm looking for him."