Cross Effects: Rebirth (2.0) The RP

[Puck-Chan]

His presence is formidable. It put Henry at an edge despite how nonchalant he was acting. But, he didn't feel any ill-intent from this Victorian gentleman. He impatiently fidgeted with the remaining needle he had between his thumb and finger. They really needed to get a move-on before the needles' effects wear off.

"Where shall we begin? This being found his way into our castle, and, upon some perceived provocation, attacked us."

The doctor nods in agreement, "He does seem to be violent to nearly anyone he meets. But, forgive me for saying this for clarification's sake, you don't have an idea why he attacked you?"

[Knick]

Zolgen

“Well, it depends greatly on whether we are talking of Magecraft or of True Magic.” Zolgen stated.

“Magecraft follows the laws of equivalent exchange, and all magecraft is fundamentally, at some level, achievable though non-magical methods, however there are gray areas, like things such as Reality Marbles. It is what most study, however they exact basis and system they follow can vary greatly, such as Rune magic, Alchemy, and so on.”

He paused before continuing, “Magecraft is manifested though ones magical circuits, spiritual organs which allows one to convert the mana in the air or the life force of the body into prana, the energy used to actualize the mysteries of magecraft.”

“True magic is far different, they are completely unique capable of feats that are impossible by definition. There are five True Magics, all of which function differently and have their own Domains.”

Zolgen then paused before speaking again, “How about the magecraft of your world?”


Sakura

Sakura looked over a Rider, “There is a difference between “prudish” and having no reason to engage in such acts. And in the case you posed it would be pointless. A servant like you would not have prana in your sperm.

She then walked back to one of the chairs in the main room and sat down, “I could use something to pass the time, what did you have in mind?”


Amy

It was a short trip on the elevator and Amy and Fiore were downstairs, finding their way to where breakfast was being served they saw Proxy’s human construct sitting and a table while holding his real form, reading from a paper.

Taking a seat she stretched her arms a bit and let out a yawn, “Why did you have to wake me up like that Fiore? I was sleeping so well.”

“You should not be so lazy mother.” Proxy’s human form muttered as it flipped the page.


Amelia

Amelia stuttered, “U-uhh, w-want to go for a walk?” She asked with the obvious hesitation.

‘Pariah’? Who names their child Pariah? Moreover why did this boy keep calling her sister? Well, either way it felt nice to have someone to spend time with, but she would have to lose him when night came, she had someone they must hunt.


Benjamin

Benjamin watched the cat carefully as he followed Lorelei. It seems like their competition came to a premature halt.

This cat was dangerous, and despite his time in this city he has not heard of anything about it. It seems there were still things hidden in this place.

He did not talk to Lorelei, instead waiting for her to speak when she felt like it. He might not care much about her standing, but he was not stupid enough to annoy the Queen when she was already angry.


Jubei

Jubei watched calmly as the two walked off, before letting out a soft sigh. Damn kids, causing so much trouble.

He then hopped over and looked into the ruined streets around him; people were slowly coming out of buildings now that the destructive pair where gone.

“Damn it…” he muttered, his hood overshadowing his face, as he observed the wreckage.

Same people came together into groups, tears streaming down their faces. While other ones were screaming over bodies. Then finally a small girl escaped from the grasp of a woman and ran to a body. She broke down into tears and started to scream over and over again, telling her dad, who had been one of the werewolves that changed back after his death, to get up.

“Damn it all…”

[YOLF]

Uchiten

The specter had reached the tower of ice from the skies, slowly coming down as he approached the structure. The power that was called down had been mighty indeed, though the god itself had left this place already. Even without relying on sight, he would have easily identified the one responsible, but in no time at all he had found her, unexpectedly in the company of another.

Peering inside the structure, he saw a girl with vibrant red hair, struggling with unconsciousness in the arms of a rugged and imposing cowboy. The spirit medium (for it was an unmistakeable thing, especially this close up where her soul all but shone with her aptitude) was being carried down the snowy path from within the frozen spire, carefully moved by the other whose nature Uchiten could not place, but was certain of the power it hid. How curious.

A more attentive look revealed that the girl was obviously hurt, and he chuckled. Of course, using the power of a god, especially in such a blatant and likely rushed display, was no light burden. It was not surprising she had suffered some backlash.

Uchiten struggled to wipe the smile of schadenfreude from his face, adjusting the curve of his lips to a polite one, and floated down to intercept the girl and her companion at the base of the tower. He landed softly on the snow, beholding the two with an air of pleasant greeting.

"Hello there." he began, "Might you be in need of some assistance?"

The onmyoji made to offer a handshake, but jerked back before even extending his hand. An eye twitched once behind his shades, off put by the mantle around the girl's shoulder, its material and make repulsing him like a cloak of pins.

[Knick]

Shiro

“Hmm, I’ll have the grilled chicken and steamed vegetables.” He then looked back at his glass before turning his head back to the waitress, “Oh, and some more water if you will.”

[Ivan The Mouse]

Gabriel almost laughed.  He couldn't help himself, it was just too amusing.  A smirk crossed his features as he said, "Well, the lady of the house has her hands full right now.  There's apparently someone rotting in the basement and an elemental with concrete through his torso or some such.  I will warn you, if you try to talk to her now she might become quite cross."

Then he tilted his head and asked, "You really have no idea who lives here, do you?"

"No, I don't." Rattus again outright said, not minding the jet-black haired man's amused laugh or seemingly condescending smirk. "How am I supposed to have any assumption about the lady's personality and background if all I have seen is this structure's exterior and all I have concluded are based from deductions and observations?"

He then continued. "However, with you making statements about the contents of your basement and who the occupants in the house are right now, I can safely assure to myself that she is a woman of paranormal, mythical, magical or otherwise supernatural nature. For me, it is a perfect opportunity to present some deals regarding my merchandise, might it be that she would reject my offer. That would be a better conclusion for my business than to have never presented at all, letting slip of a potential buyer."

"And of course..." He then tipped his glasses back by the bridge. "...I can understand the infuriation and annoyance that a door-to-door salesman like me would bring whether someone has themselves occupied with something, especially of great importance or relevance to their interests. As such, all I am asking you is to allow me to enter and stay at your premises. Then, I would wait for her to take care of her own matters first, before she entertains me and we talk of any deals that I want to offer to her. If it seems to you that I am persistent or insistent, that's because I am a salesman and such trait should be a part of my profession."

"But," he went on, in his pedantic monotone. "As much I am an arms dealer, I can already tell right from the start that this is not an ordinary household, as exemplified by the unnatural color of your hair. I have to then tell you then that, I might not be as powerful or as extraordinary as the lady of this residence, but I am not also as mundane as I appear to be."

[Brahmastra]

Sakura

Sakura looked over a Rider, “There is a difference between “prudish” and having no reason to engage in such acts. And in the case you posed it would be pointless. A servant like you would not have prana in your sperm.

She then walked back to one of the chairs in the main room and sat down, “I could use something to pass the time, what did you have in mind?”

"Reason? A reason?! Ha-ha, hahaha, hahahahaahahahahahah!" Rider dissolved into a fit of laughter, hands on his stomach as he rolled back and forth on the couch for a good minute.

With an exasperated "haaaaaaaah", he finally regained some semblance of ability to speak.

"There's never a reason for something like sex, dear. People fuck because it feels good. Therefor, there's no valid accusation in it being "pointless".

"And I was, in fact, asking you if you had anything fun we could do, given that I'm lost on options other than drinking, fighting or the subject you shy away from. Although admittedly it was a bad idea to ask, given that you don't really do fun", Rider ended with a snicker. Drop-dead gorgeous magus heiress she might be, but fuck if anyone's gonna put an heir in someone that anti-fun.

Amy

It was a short trip on the elevator and Amy and Fiore were downstairs, finding their way to where breakfast was being served they saw Proxy’s human construct sitting and a table while holding his real form, reading from a paper.

Taking a seat she stretched her arms a bit and let out a yawn, “Why did you have to wake me up like that Fiore? I was sleeping so well.”

“You should not be so lazy mother.” Proxy’s human form muttered as it flipped the page.

"I already told you why I woke you up, Amy. In fact, I remember doing so about five times; You were fondling me in my sleep", she pouted as she began cutting the finely done eggs on her plate, "Anyone would wake up from that, or so I'd hope at least."

[Alice]

Revya

Revya took the chance to peruse the menu some more while Shiro was ordering before just doing a mental shrug. She wrote on a clean spot on her paper once more before tearing it off and giving it to the waitress.

I'll have what he's having, but with a ginger ale.

Soda was a relatively new concept in Protesto. Vitali was going to experiment a bit and try installing some machines for it in his restaurant, but it was still in the process of getting set up. So Revya was eager to try some for curiosity's sake. Not that she knew what ginger ale would taste like, but eh, it was the one that stuck out to her at the time.

[Dallas]

"Magic... vampiric... dinosaurs. I, uh, I don't even know where to start on that one. I do hope the Mages' Association was not involved in you're, uh, conception?", Caules said awkwardly. He was so utterly stunned by the idea  that someone actually came up with an idea this outrageous.

"It don't really matter to me who did what. That ain't gonna change what I am. Way I see it the good Lord put me on this fine Earth for a reason. His methods may be questionable but a whale never swallowed Jonah just because the big old motherfucker was hungry now did he?" He could tell he confused both of these gentlemen quite a bit already, and felt he didn't need to add more confusion to their meal. "Though I've probably said quite enough about myself, good'n introduction as ever don't you agree? Enough about me, I doubt a couple of folks like yourself wanna listen to this nigga chatting away whilst you try to eat. Don't mind me, please continue your business."

[Sakura Alter]

Entertainment District.

A slight whimpering of a child pierced the absolute silence, and the voice of bare foot against the cold concrete followed it.
The shadow of a female walked to the cowering child slowly. As she walked further from the shadows, the sun-light caused her to be seen by the little boy. He let out a broken, shaking scream that was cut by his own hands pressing against his mouth. He crawled to the wall more and more, like he wanted to get in the wall and disappear completely.

The female didn't stop nor slow down a bit. Her leisurely steps kept coming closer. Finally she sat on her knees, and gently stroked his hair. The face that was expressionless all that time gave off a slight, loving smile.
The child saw everything. How his dad and his friends were slaughtered by the woman. The cold hand on his head gave a chill down his spine, yet, he was brave enough to look up at her right in the eyes with his teary ones.
 
Sakura didn't wait a second. As soon as their eyes met, her both hands grabbed the child by his neck, pinned him against the wall and started tightening.
The voices coming from the child wasn't as adorable as his face. He was squeaking like a pig, kicking the air, as his saliva ran down to his chin, then her bloody, cold hands. He dug his nails in Sakura's hands, causing them to bleed and her blood mixing with the victims'.
His eyes were locked to her frozen, red ones that reminded the child the flavor of dried blood in that moment. He tried to scream, scream with all his might, yet, nothing but a weak squeaking came out. As he tried to breathe again to try to scream once more, he simply couldn't. The hands on his neck didn't let him to do so. It was too tight now. And in that moment, he knew that it was time to die.
 
Sakura tightened her hands a bit more just to feel the neck cracking in her hands. She kept her hands there a few seconds more, just to be sure. When she couldn't feel the pulse any longer, she let go of it.
His body fell to the left side, his deep blue eyes still open and his long eye leashes were still wet.
Sakura stayed there for a moment, staring at the grey wall. Then she stood up slowly, pulling the child by his long, black hair and started walking without knowing where she'd go.

[Knick]

Sakura

Sakura was annoyed. That was it. There was not anger, just pure annoyance at Rider.

“Whatever, do what you wish with your time, when night comes we will move out.” And with that Sakura left for her workshop.

There was no point in this conversation anymore; there is an enemy servant here and apparently a Grail War. Her priority was clear at the moment, to find enemies to crush.


Amy

Amy picked up a piece of buttered piece of toast and took a bite out of it. “Fiore is so mean.” She mumbled as she pouted. “Wonder what is taking Mille so long?”

Amy was always more at ease in the morning, more relaxed and calm. What happened in the room this morning was only because Fiore was so easy to tease.


Shiro

Shiro smiled as the woman took the menus and left, “So, what is it like in your world.” Shiro started, “I bet you have some interesting stories you can tell.”


Cina Prayer

Cina was surprised when the man lifted her up. But she has no choice in the matter; she was exhausted and would die here if he did not come along.

So Cina simply stayed still in his arm, trying to warm herself up with the heat of the man’s body as her body shivered from the cold, the benefits of the god’s power fading from her. As the man carried her she tried to feel the connections to her spirits.

It was then she noticed the oddity, the connections were not broken, they were still there. But rather whatever brought her here seemed to almost make it like a wall existed between them. It was fading, but it would take at least until either late tonight or tomorrow until she could call on them in any meaningful way.

And then a man floated down from the sky in front of them.

"Hello there." he began, "Might you be in need of some assistance?"

She turned her head, seeing him pull back his outstretched hand for some reason, her mouth opened and she was about to speak. But then she froze as she felt it.

A spirit with a physical form, it was something that is an impossibility without being bound to a medium or though powerful rituals. And so she stuttered out her next words in a soft whisper, “W-w-what are you.”

[Mooncake]

The man that floated down to the two of them was well-dressed, with dark shades hiding his eyes. Even as he tried to wipe the sickly glee of his face and made to greet them, Wanderer took a single step back, his own eyes still covered by the brim of his hat.

"Hello there." he began, "Might you be in need of some assistance?"

"Your help is not needed, Curse Master. Excuse us."

Wanderer began to walk forward again as the man offered a handshake, only to snatch his hand back as it came near the redheaded girl's form. Whatever holy power stayed within her - and it must have been holy, judging by the speed of which the man withdrew his hand - had proved repulsive to him.

The mantle.

So that was the source of the medium's power. Wanderer carefully shifted the girl in his arms so that the most of her mantle showed towards the man, and slowly walked past him. He did not desire this girl to spend another moment in the curse's presence.

“W-w-what are you?”

It seemed that the girl was cold, so the wanderer, without thinking, pulled her closer to his unnaturally warm chest. Facing the man, he spoke in the redhead's ear.

"I am not surprised that you have noticed it. He is a spirit, a jumble of curses fouler than a rotting corpse. Such a thing is a powerful source of evil, and a beacon to others like it."

Though Cina could not see it, Wanderer's changing eyes fell upon Uchiten's as they faced each other.

"What say you, Curse Master? Have I spoken wrong?

[Umbra of Chaos]

Grigori

“Well, it depends greatly on whether we are talking of Magecraft or of True Magic.” Zolgen stated.

“Magecraft follows the laws of equivalent exchange, and all magecraft is fundamentally, at some level, achievable though non-magical methods, however there are gray areas, like things such as Reality Marbles. It is what most study, however they exact basis and system they follow can vary greatly, such as Rune magic, Alchemy, and so on.”

He paused before continuing, “Magecraft is manifested though ones magical circuits, spiritual organs which allows one to convert the mana in the air or the life force of the body into prana, the energy used to actualize the mysteries of magecraft.”

“True magic is far different, they are completely unique capable of feats that are impossible by definition. There are five True Magics, all of which function differently and have their own Domains.”

Zolgen then paused before speaking again, “How about the magecraft of your world?”

"Magic in my world follows on basic principle. If you can imagine it, you can achieve it. You force the world to conform to your idea of what should happen using mana. Of course there are limiting factors to this. Elemental affinities can restrict the effects, and a lapse in concentration can result in unfortunate accidents. It is much easier to have people memorize spells that have already been created and use words or movements to focus themselves, but it turns into a crutch. They lack the ability to improvise spells, and the results are almost always poor."

Grigori frowned as if she had remembered something very unpleasant.

"Anyways, there seems to be a difference in the ways that we use magic. You use external or internal mana and transform them into prana. Magi from my world don't. We can use it to power our magic without transforming it into a different kind of energy."

Grigori stopped speaking and took another sip of wine before starting again, "So what are these True Magics capable of?"


PARIAH

Amelia stuttered, “U-uhh, w-want to go for a walk?” She asked with the obvious hesitation.

"Okay!" PARIAH's grasp on her hand tightened as he pulled her towards the shopping districts.


Asileron

The former demon lord examined the leader of Aegis carefully. The white haired commander was drinking coffee, and he was wearing a new suit. "What happened to the other suit?"

[YOLF]

Uchiten

Uchiten clasped his hands behind his back. His eyes narrowed as he faced the cowboy, but he smiled in amusement.

"You have guessed correctly. I make no attempt to hide my nature, but few can easily recognize it. Sharp wits about you, I see." He said, neutrally, and then his lips curved deeper and with a sardonic edge. "But... however you have discerned what I am, you would deign to know already who I am? I feel slighted."

He hiccuped a chuckle and stifled it inside his mouth in a movement that showed his pristine teeth, then waved a hand dismissively at his side.

"Well, in this case the two are not far, but I ask that you do not mistake my singular being as the representative of an equally singular personality. Besides, I wish no harm to the girl, and in fact am concerned for her health at the moment."

One could easily mistake his words as sarcastic jive, but any with a modicum of attention would recognize his genuine offer of help. Not to say that it was not fueled by less savory feelings, but truthful it was.

[Knick]

Zolgen

“True Magics preform the impossible, but I only know the exact domains of two. The second true magic is called the Kaleidoscope, and it domain is the operation of parallel worlds, and does as it would imply. The third is called Heavens Feel, a magic that materializes the souls, allowing it to exist in the world without an anchor, along with accomplishing many other feats involving manipulation of the soul.”

Zolgen simply looked at Grigori, “There is no learning them, rather they must be inherited from one user to the next.”

“The true magics are truly odd things.” He mentioned in a subdued tone, nostalgia swimming in the back of his mind, careful not to show it in anyway.

“Now for my question, you mentioned how you only use one source of energy, do you have a system that processes it? A special organ, a function of the spell, anything?”


Amelia

“Ahh!” a surprised left Amelia’s mouth as she was helplessly pulled by the small boy named Pariah.

The boy was strong, even stronger than her. Also he was heavy, how was a small child so heavy.

But even still Amelia was pulled along at the whims of the small child.


Cina Prayer

"I am not surprised that you have noticed it. He is a spirit, a jumble of curses fouler than a rotting corpse. Such a thing is a powerful source of evil, and a beacon to others like it."

“I-I don’t...” Cina started to say before she trailed off.

Cina was confused. She knew spirits and the one truth that she has learned that no spirit is truly evil. Even those that become demons are merely twisted, negative feeling changing them from what they once were.  Some spirits were considered evil by most humans, but Cina knew better. Spirits reflected traits of the world, features, laws, ideas. They are not things that humans could apply their logic to.

Sure, the spirit in front of them manifested in the world somehow, and might feel odd and dark. But certainly it was not evil. Not even Valthos, a god who became a demon, was evil, if anything he was a pitiful existence Cina felt nothing but sorrow for.

But still, Cina felt nothing but fear when she looked upon this spirit. She knew that was a poor judge, she felt fear when she looked upon the Grave Keeper for the first time.

Despite this however the fear was enough to stop her from talking, simply observing the spirit as it conversed with the man who was held her close his chest, sharing his warmth with her.

[YOLF]

Fate

"It was ruined from the spar. I sent it to be repaired." the mage answered simply. Luckily, Nexus City had at least one or two excellent tailors. He did not dislike the strong metallic grey of his current suit, but he preferred either a lighter tone or white. And the suit that had gotten wrecked happened to be his favorite.

He took another gulp of coffee before putting the cup down and facing his guest solemnly. The mage was interested in what the supposed demon wanted with him. He hadn't seen many similar beings in Nexus City, and it seemed powerfull. He did not think this because the maybe-demon exuded strong magic or any other obvious tells, but simply because of the way he carried himself. And it was odd that Fate had not heard of someone like that following his investigation, so he surmised that the monstrous being must have arrived recently.

Those questions, however, could be clarified in proper conversation.

"I don't think we have introduced ourselves yet. My name is Fate Averruncus. As you already know, I am the leader of AEGIS." he began, courteously. "Why was it that you wished to speak with me, mister...?"