Re: Two Guys, One Girl and a Battle Tournament (Lamia Tourney Topic)

[Ren Caverly]

Comparisons could be made between Ren and a skittish forest animal. Like maybe a baby deer, or a rabbit. She certainly wasn’t any kind of predator. It was unnatural and uncomfortable for her to be pushing her own boundaries, but she really didn’t want Zahn to be so upset. People shouldn’t be upset if they didn’t do anything wrong. It was hypocritical, but at least it was correct.

Ren nodded, “Uh-huh!” she said with a bit more volume than usual. That meant that she really did want Zahn to stay. And really, no one had thought him leaving was a good idea except him. He was a lot like Ren, except he was more emotional. She kept her emotions more bottled up than anything else. He sort of threw them about on a display. It could be intimidating to her, especially since she felt as if she really should be helping him out. She didn’t know how, but she felt she should.

“Can, um… we… um… I mean, should we maybe go looking for… whatever is doing this stuff?” Ren asked nervously. Making a suggestion, about as foreign of territory as standing up for herself. Still, she thought the team might like something to focus on besides Zahn thinking he messed up, and them generally being upset. Happy team building exercise and all.

[PatriotArrow]

This is the final encounter. It might last longer than the others, depending on how you role play it out.

-ENCOUNTER-
Name: Revelation
Type: Neutral
Description: The shadowy woman appears before you, her features still cloaked in the black smoke. It's obviously a female, wearing dark clothing and a witch's hat. She sounds young, and her eyes are brown, as noticeable through the smoke as the glare accompanying them.

Her attitude is direct and forceful. She isn't overly rude, but she doesn't waste time with niceties either.

At first, she insists the group are fools and that they should leave the island now. If attacked, she will defend herself with terrifying yet nonlethal force, using a combination of S-rank wind magic and powerful sorcery, themed with the black smoke.

If the group insists upon working together as a team to beat her, she eventually drops the facade, the smoke disappearing completely to reveal a beautiful young woman with long green hair. She expresses pride in her old friends the guild masters raising such talented and smart young wizards.

If the group fails to come together as a team, she expresses  disappointment, claiming that she thought the guilds were closer than this.

The group cannot actually beat her; she is as powerful as the guild masters.

Either way, she eventually admits that she was there to test them with powerful illusions to see how the guilds came together. If one of the characters has met up with another guild in a thread on friendly terms, she tells the ones that have done so that their willingness to work together with the other groups is what the games were supposed to inspire. She also introduces herself as Sonata Elswere, Sister of the old codger, Ranor Taiga.

After a short conversation, she tells them that the tournament is over early, because she is bored of games and the guild masters didn't tell her she *had* to make the tournament last as long as was announced. With that, she disappears into smoke again, promising to see them soon on friendlier terms.

[Zahn Skye]

Zahn finally broke into a genuine smile. He was really wanted by someone. He was just about to respond when something extremely unexpected happened. A woman appeared right out of nowhere. Zahn jumped back, ripping off his eye-patch and casting a spell to make a pitfall almost on instinct. Something was very wrong here... A few seconds later, the woman was still standing there, as if nothing had happened. She called the group fools and demand they leave.

No... something about this is wrong. Totally wrong. She's acting like the pitfall isn't even there... so...

Zahn growled. He knew that if he was going to have any chance of beating the woman it wouldn't be alone.

"I'll back you guys up. It doesn't seem like I can take her alone..."

Zahn starred at the woman for a few moments, trying to feel his way into this fight. Something was still bothering him. She didn't seem to be using any magic, but the smoke billowing off her indicated something to Zahn he hadn't thought of before. None of them could defeat her. Not alone at least.

"... in fact, this is gonna have to be a team effort for all of us. This feeling. The Guild masters had this same feeling when they tournament started... Oh. So that's what this is all about..."

Zahn absently wondered if the woman could read his mind. After all, he suspected that this was more than just simple illusion magic. Kade seemed to believe he normally would've been able to handle normal illusions. The ethereal and ephemeral qualities this woman possessed as she stood before the trio convince Zahn that she had some yet unrevealed power. She was just here to play with the three.

"... I don't think she's even really here..."

Zahn mumbled the last part to himself. He wasn't going to attack her again. His previous move did nothing. He knew he needed help and he wanted to make sure he would be capable of helping his teamma-... no. He wanted to help his FRIENDS. He wanted desperately to be able to help Kade and Ren if they needed it. He wasn't alone anymore so it was time to stop thinking he was. Even if the future scared him, and the prospect of meeting new people and being hurt by them scared him, the thought of having real friends gave him enough comfort to last a lifetime. So he waited for Kade's instructions and made sure Ren was also on with them. After all, wasn't this just another test of their teamwork?

[Kade Lazarus]

Zahn was… really dramatic. It wasn’t that Kade minded, it just struck him as odd. His immediate reaction to a strange woman was to cast a spell on her. Not that it harmed her. He was just surprised to see the generally non-aggressive Zahn going for that as his immediate response. Then getting worked up, and deciding this was what the guild masters had intended all along? Where was he reading this? Uh… alright, I’ll go with that. It wasn’t that he sounded wrong, it was just that it was such a quick and adamant conclusion.

“Oh, I think she’s really there, just shrouded in some pretty strong magic…” Kade said quietly. Okay, they needed a plan. Zahn had asked for one, so Kade intended to supply. “I’m a long range fighter who can take hits up close. I’m not someone who can hit her. Its pretty clear from your attack that she knows how to handle ranged attacks.” He was thinking things out aloud, looking from Zahn to the woman, to Ren, to the woman. “You’re fast,” Kade said to Ren, “Can you do anything up close?”

She was inevitably uncomfortable and awkward, but he knew she knew it was important. Even if nothing they did today was dire, it mattered. Even if it was some insane test, they were here to be tested. She said she had something she could do up close. It didn’t surprise him. He wasn’t sure what her fighting abilities were, but she seemed the sort to have a backup for her close proximity. “Alright. I know our magic is contradictory… but this will help you.”

He created a wall of light in front of them, as a defensive magic, and focused the buff powers on Ren, giving her increased agility. She was already the fastest person he had ever encountered, even without seeing it in action, and this was just going to help. “If Ren can weaken the woman, or even distract her… you should try another hex. Or I can try a ranged attack.”

[Used: Solar Panel. Sustained]

[Ren Caverly]

Oh boy. Oh boy. Oh boy. Ren closed her eyes tight. Oh boy. Fighting, this was not… oh boy. Zahn seemed really upset, and tried to hex the lady, but it didn’t work. She seemed ethereal, except in a really dark way. Ren could get behind that, except apparently that wasn’t all she needed to do. Kade quickly went to work creating the plan Zahn said they needed. It involved Ren. Oh boy.

Kade asked if Ren could do anything up close. “Yes…” she said, gulping. Oh boy. She didn’t want people seeing her use her magic… again. She didn’t want to, but she mentally told herself to stop whining and focused. So Kade was going to buff her? Apparently… and she knew what she needed to do. Her new blinding spell. Well, not that new, but it was new to her. And a shadow drain. Yep… it sounded dangerous. How dangerous was this woman? She’d just shrugged off an attack, and been eluding Kade this whole time. Well, Ren supposed she wouldn’t die… probably.

Kade created a wall of light, which seemed extremely weird for Ren. She created darkness, he created light. Still, she felt… brighter? Faster. Okay, she could deal with that. Ren moved aside from the wall of light and went running toward the woman. Inevitably she nearly tripped right off the bat, and then on her own feet, and ended up hopping awkwardly to one side when she lost her balance. She could hardly see the shadows just missing hitting her and sending her back away from the woman. She somehow knew she was dodging things, but it all felt so clumsy to her. Still she got up to the woman. Still pretty. Stilly scary. The woman was not happy.

Ren grabbed her arm, immediately casting her Shadow Drain on her, lowering her agility just as much as Kade had raised Ren’s. She then threw out two more spells, knowing this wasn’t giving her much time. A Smoke Grenade, filling the area with even more darkness. This darkness was almost impenetrable, and Ren was lucky she could see through it. She put up her arms to shield herself from the incoming smack, and her arm coated in a Shadow Gauntlet. Usually this would send someone back with a painful force of their own attack, but not this time. It sort of looked like it hurt the woman, but Ren was the one flying backward. Luckily she flipped in the air and landed on her feet. She was wide eyed and stunned, blood pumping so hard she struggled to hear. Fighting intimidating people, not fun. She sustained the debuff on the woman and continued backing away, hoping someone else did something now to distract.

[Used: Shadow Drain, Smoke Grenade, Shadow Gauntlet]

[Zahn Skye]

As Kade worked out a plan, Zahn nodded, willing to follow his lead. However, somewhere in the back of his mind he knew they weren't going to win this fight. As Ren awkwardly closed in on the woman and hit her with magic Zahn decided that even if he couldn't be of much use, he'd still try. The woman dodged his pitfall somehow. Maybe she had a form of flight, though, as Zahn looked closely under her feet and saw his pitfall was still there. She hadn't dispelled his magic, but was just didn't bother being affected by it. The Jinx mage growled and concentrated for a few seconds. He was gathering his strength to put into his next attack.

"Ren, make sure you dodge this! I'm attacking!"

Zahn's mind was focused on keeping the woman at bay. Kade had seemed surprised that Zahn had immediately chosen to attack the newcomer, but the truth was that it was completely instinctual. Zahn felt the woman's vast power resonate when he gazed at her with his magical eye. He even felt it when she'd appeared and the eye-patch was designed to dampen the magic that the eye exuded and detected. He'd felt the same way around the Guild Masters when the tournament started. Like they were somehow just too powerful to contain their own magic. Zahn, who'd spent his life trying to avoid others, had learned to detect magic from others. He never wanted trouble, and he was fairly quick-witted coming to correct conclusions fairly fast. So, to him, it seemed perfectly normal to assume that the woman had something in common with the Guild Masters. After all, she was probably as powerful as they were... and he'd been feeling like this ever since he heard the master's speech at the beginning of the event. Like somehow they were being tested. Kade mentioned the master's wouldn't let any harm come to them... and so far, none had. Which meant, to Zahn, the masters' plan was working perfectly. As the trees splinted and cracked Zahn grunted, all his effort focused on bringing the large objects down on the woman. Three trees fell, threatening to flatten the shady witch. He wasn't sure what had Ren had done but the area surrounding the woman was covered in darkness. She shouldn't be able to dodge Zahn's attack, especially if she couldn't see it.

Let's see how she handles this! If Ren and Kade keep up their assault, maybe we'll drive off this girl. I think the best we can hope for is surviving though. I don't know why or how, but I think we're not going to 'win' the fight. Her power... I feel like I'm trying to fight the ocean with my bare fists. I can make a few splashes, but in the end all we might be able to do is accept the tide and be swept away with it...

The trees fell and Zahn waited to hear the satisfying smack. He'd been working on the trick ever since he fought Atrum. He'd only managed on tree then, but hopefully with three he'd have a better result this time. After all, even some of the most powerful mages weren't immune to a giant, solid piece of wood falling on top of them... Except that apparently, this woman had expected that the group was just as capable as she was. From inside the darkness, Zahn heard the sound of wood being sheered and the pieces of the trees exploded forth from the darkness, luckily missing all three of the Lamia team completely.

Or maybe that was on purpose. Is she just playing with us...? How was she able to do that?!

Zahn quickly picked up one of the pieces that had landed nearby and his eyes went wide. She'd blasted the trees apart with some sort of wind attack. This was bad. It wasn't just illusions she was capable of using. He turned to Kade and started speaking.

"Watch out! She can control air as we-"

"Enough! That's enough!"

The woman's voice rang out again. What was going on now? The woman positioned herself in the middle of the group, and began explaining everything to them. She stated that she didn't need to test them anymore and went on to inform them of everything that had transpired. She introduced herself as Sonata, a name Zahn didn't recognize. She mentioned the Fairy Tail's master's name and Zahn sighed. So, it was a plan by the masters, as he'd thought. She looked at Zahn directly, smirking. The Jinx mage shrank back, taking up a defensive position. The girl tilted her head in confusion, but didn't say anything.

"Only two people on the island did something the Guild Masters hoped the teams would figure out. Zahn Skye, you met with a girl named Kayoko Sasaki, did you not?"

The Jinx mage's gazed darkened. Of course. The Lacrima cameras were everywhere for a reason. He was a little slow on the uptake this time, but now that he thought about it... what prevented the Guild Masters from watching the cameras themselves? He'd been so nervous about the guild members and random viewers he forgot who was testing him... and that was probably for the best. After all he was a Guildless mage... he didn't usually associate with the Guilds or their leaders.

"... yes."

The woman smiled, knowingly, as if his thoughts were being spoken aloud. He doubted she could read is mind, but it still irritated him a little. He always wanted the power to have people hear his thoughts, but some people would certainly annoy him if they could. The girl nodded to herself and continued speaking, this time to the whole group.

"Blue Pegasus and Lamia... oh, no, wait. I suppose that would be wrong of me to say. A Guildless mage grasping the ability to want to work with the other Guilds... interesting, to say the least."

Zahn sneered. Well, if it was still a secret to some, it wasn't now. Everyone knew he was a Guildless now. Honestly though he was planning to follow Kade and Ren as long as he needed to, which meant he'd probably be joining with Lamia after. The woman continued on, seemingly oblivious to any comments or feelings the three Lamia team members were expressing.

"... and as much as I respect my brother's guild, I do have to say I was honestly surprised by the teamwork team Fairy Tail showed at the end."

Zahn smirked at that comment. He'd always heard Fairy Tail was quirky. It didn't really lend itself to working together, even if they did care about their friends just the same. With that the girl announced the end of the tournament and promised to meet them again on friendlier terms, disappearing into the smoke after everyone had spoken their minds.

"As for your group... I would commend you on teamwork, but there were a few things you could all improve on. I'd like to help each of you, but I can see each of you is a powerful mage in their own right. You must all know what you lack and I feel safe leaving your training up to you. Let us met again, hopefully on friendlier terms."

The woman vanished into thin air and Zahn mentally growled. He hated being jerked around by anyone. If he met the woman again he'd likely have a few words for her... and the Guildmasters. Still, they group had made it through the event safely. That was enough for now, he supposed.

=EVENT END=

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