Cross Effects 3.0 - June 23, 2016—April 02, 2018

[Umbra of Chaos]

Meti

The staff in her way jarred the girl out of her pure state of mind in a particularly unpleasant way, and she found her own thoughts resonating well with the sword's own. So that only made the near growl to escape her mouth at Michael's intrusion more fitting.

"I already told you that you are not my mentor! It is not a title for you to take ." She caressed the blade lovingly, almost distractedly as she spoke. Then she ran as fast as she could through and past the crowd. Back to the entrance where her cart was. She didn't even think to separate herself and the sword but instead took the few pieces of equipment she actually needed for maintenance. But then there was the question of what exactly to do with all of these.

[YOLF]

Rafalia

It was unlike Rafalia to revel in the pain of her foes, but her veins trembled with joy at the wounding of someone who was all but the prey she had decided upon. Her expression was torn between celebrating the lesson her friend was learning, and mourning the pain of her instruction. But there was no pity to offer.

Beset by shadows made steel on all sides, the faerie hunter showed a gloating smile and spun. Her knife followed and vanquished what it reached, but her commitment left her too far to avoid them all. Like obsidian swords the threads of Methusalah's trap tore through her vest and her skin, as more passed between her steps and buried themselves in the ground or trees opposite to her.

Her cloak billowed to a stop, the gashes upon it vanishing as dark blood fell from the skewered limb that that shielded her face. She winced as she stained her now empty hand to remove the offending object, letting it fall on the grass and scatter into dust.

If it would've debilitated someone who relied on their arm, to her it meant little, and she trained her ebon bow on Methuselah once more, in her hands with the same familiarity as it always was.

"We aren't done yet, my brave fellow," she said, releasing the arrow with striking precision.

[Aiden]

Mordred

"Yup, that's a lot of change. Should be sufficient." Maybe after they're done she should encourage her to put some of that into a bank. Even with a super strength, just carrying that much money on you all the time seemed to be quite inconvenient. She could have emptied space in her bag for something else if she deposited some of her money in a relatively secure bank. It's not like Nexus was a constant warzone. It could improve, but there were relatively calm places here and there.

"Maybe someone who is quite straightforward in a style. To be honest, you're playing the game for the first time, it's no shame at playing it safe for now. Maybe one of those sword wielding warriors?" Mordred pointed at the selection screen.

Auspicious Breeze

"Hey, it's okay if you just push buttons. That's all of what I've been doing so far, Sakura!" It was pretty fun too, before she fell into The Pit. Stupid pit. She would try to break the ground and fill the pit in next time she reached it. Could the game do that? It seemed kinda limited about those things. "Just gotta stay away from the holes..."

[Elf]

Rin

"Well, I've done some freelance for the police," Rin answered as she made an other toss of the rice with a smirk.  "Which means I've gone after other magic users, werewolves, and minor undead.  Hell, I've even taken jobs for mundane concerns if my skill set is useful."

She sighed and said, "However, my main goal is cracking inter-dimensional travel."


Forest

Forest sighed, shook her head and said, "Well, we'll figure out how to repay me once we're settled, but I do have a place for you to stay.  And a job if you want it."

She then winked at him with a little giggle.  "However, it might be fun to take the virtue of a virgin, but I'm not guaranteeing anything yet."

[yinsukin]

Joe

"All that but no seamonster fights," he said, mirroring her sigh, albeit more playfully.

Then, he gave her a careful glance, examining her face for a reaction as he said, "Do you want to go home?"

Marcus

Wait, so she's not going to make me find the money first?

Her wink forced his mouth into a cocky smirk.  "Oh really?" he asked, walking back into her space.  He pressed his lips pressed against her forehead while gently grasped the back of her head.  "Well, take that as a payment anyway, or maybe a prize for knocking me off guard."

He then began walking past her.  Then, with a quick strike, his right hand slammed into her ass as he was passing her body.  "And consider that a challenge,"  he said without turning around,  "I hate losing."

He walked back over to his seat.  With a soft inhale, he twisted in his seat to look at Forest's reaction against the image of the Gothic bar.  This really is a nice place.  He thought, releasing his breath.

[Elf]

Rin

Rin grinned at his playful sigh and replied, "Well, I have no desire to punch a kraken."

She frowned at his second question and then met his eyes.  Then she sighed before looking back at the wok.

"Yes and no," Rin answered in a soft voice, "Here I have access to things I never would back home.  However, my real sister is probably blaming herself for my disappearance.   Yet if I left here, it would hurt this Sakura.  So, it's a double edged sword."


Forest

Forest heard Marcus's elated thought before he decided to tease her again.  Before she could retort, he kissed her forehead and she gasped, her eyes widening before he walked past her.

Slapping her on the rear as he did.

Her eyes widened even more and she seemed to vibrate somewhere between anger and embarrassment.  The urge to bite him and to get him to cream himself was strong.  She could feel her fangs starting to ache at the thought as he walked back to his seat before turning to watch her.

"You cheeky cosmic wanker," she said without looking him in the face.

[yinsukin]

Joe

In that moment, Joe pictured Rin punching a cracken in the face.  Cool.

His gaze softened as she turned around.  He would have admired her lovely back more, if he weren't so intrigued by what she was saying.  "Wow, thats a rough position to be in," he said, tilting his head slightly.  "You know, I would have thought you would prefer to stay here, since it sounds like there is a lot of pain back in your old home."

[Kat]

Urho

He was 'swimming' through the ground? What a peculiar dragon indeed! As they travelled further and further from the forest, the boy also noticed first signs of the civilization. Some sort of a castle? Someone standing on the roof of that structure? Oren leaped on the building.

"Whoa, Oren, be careful!" The boy yelled out as the ground dragon cracked the side of the building they landed on. That portion of the building could not survive if Oren moved in any sudden and forceful fashion. Petting her like a dog was out of question right now.

"Hello, everything's alright?" The boy waved to the old timer. After all, anyone could be startled if a giant wingless dragon crashed on a top of a castle.

[SINIB]

Anastasia

"Tried ever chasing that Regice you mentioned? That it's just a rumor doesn't matter, sounds more interesting that what I wanted to do this night. Those bloodsucking humanoid monsters people keep rambling about seem to be kinda boring..." She wondered if she had to call off this 'vampire hunting trip'. She was just having too much fun learning about those Pokemon. "I'm game if you ever want to look for it."

Paladin

The man nodded but there was a cautious tone in his voice when he said, "It is a fast approach yes, but I would caution you with patrons. They can be fickle beings, and it is more often than not that they attempt to misuse the institutions they support for their own purposes."

But that did not stop Paladin from giving the man his address in case he require it later. Then he departed, in search of the vendor of the creature that the couple had owned. It was not incredibly peculiar, but he could sense a strange potential in it.

Eventually he stumbled upon what seemed to be creatures similar in nature to the one he saw along with... another Sakura. Or at least someone who seemed remarkably similar looking. This was beginning to become disconcerting.

Yet nonetheless he approached the two and waved a hand. "Greetings, have you two seen any creature resembling this?" He held out his own rough sketch of the animal he had seen with the couple prior.

Oka Kurosawa

"Well, it miiiight be here, I guess." Oka said. "Where I'm from though, it didn't live anywhere near where I did. It was rumored to live in the Hoenn region, all the way across the world from
where I lived. I wouldn't mind hanging out and looking for it though." Oka said as she spied a large armour-enthusiast walking towards her, holding a paper of some kind.

Oka glanced at the paper, instantly recognizing it as an eevee. "Yeah, that's an eevee. I just sold one to some man. Are you looking to purchase one as well?" Oka asked, looking over him from head to toe. "For you, I'd reccomend something bigger and sturdier though, like a mudsdale or a swampert."

[Thedoctor]

Neptune

Oh it was on now, it was so on. You didn't make a challenge like that to the CPU of Planeptune and expect to walk home tonight, or the entire weekend for that matter. "You could just start talking right now, cause you're not gonna win!" She rushed over to the the sofa and dived into it.

"Ah it's so soft" Neptune squirmed around for a moment before settling in and casting an amused at him. "Will ya stop oggling me and get over here Gaddy. I'd rather beat you fairly and not because you were distracted by me."

[Kotomine_Rin]

Rafalia

It was unlike Rafalia to revel in the pain of her foes, but her veins trembled with joy at the wounding of someone who was all but the prey she had decided upon. Her expression was torn between celebrating the lesson her friend was learning, and mourning the pain of her instruction. But there was no pity to offer.

Beset by shadows made steel on all sides, the faerie hunter showed a gloating smile and spun. Her knife followed and vanquished what it reached, but her commitment left her too far to avoid them all. Like obsidian swords the threads of Methusalah's trap tore through her vest and her skin, as more passed between her steps and buried themselves in the ground or trees opposite to her.

Her cloak billowed to a stop, the gashes upon it vanishing as dark blood fell from the skewered limb that that shielded her face. She winced as she stained her now empty hand to remove the offending object, letting it fall on the grass and scatter into dust.

If it would've debilitated someone who relied on their arm, to her it meant little, and she trained her ebon bow on Methuselah once more, in her hands with the same familiarity as it always was.

"We aren't done yet, my brave fellow," she said, releasing the arrow with striking precision.

Methuselah

The dark one grit its teeth as he fled to safer grounds so disgracefully, but his eyes didn't miss the little nuisance that fired yet another arrow. It wasn't speed or instinct that saved him, but merely the reflex to  wave his arm forth, sending a wave of darkness against the arrow. However, it wasn't fast or strong enough, so the violent blast left a grievous wound on his chest, like a porcelain pot that had just been cracked.

It felt wonderful.

His expression suddenly shifted. It wasn't just agony, but pure fear not directed towards the monster before him, but the one inside him. The dark god howled in pain, clutching at his wounded arm as if to keep something from leaking out.

"S-stop!" He whined, trying to keep his mind and soul in check, begging for the daemonic pain of the blade not to make him lose reason. Whatever that blade was, its nature had dragged something out from his soul, something that he had rather kept buried.

The shadows in his cloak bulged and erupted like serpents, wrapping over the god as quickly as they could in order to form an orb of darkness and shadows to shield him from harm.

Or perhaps it was to shield her.

[Kat]

Anastasia

Huh, even she adapted and didn't wear any traditional clothes anymore. Why did he walk around in a suit of armor, then? How odd. "Uh, hello, why do you ask?"

[SINIB]

Jeanne

The Saint felt relief at not having to diclose that topic at this point. It wasn't really something she felt like talking about at all. Ah so he was asleep after all, She noticed as she looked into the room.  Sakura closed the door, obviously with the intent of letting him rest before asking her if she wanted to have something to eat.

"I would love to, if it's your making. The practice was more intense than usual and it seems like Shirou is getting worse somehow. Or maybe he's doing badly on purpose because he enjoys getting beaten up."

Sakura Matou

After Jeanne left, Sakura descended into her shadow, waiting for her servant to arrive at the gate. When she did, she emerged from her shadow behind a nearby tree, from which she walked out, taking her place behind Jeanne. "May I ask what your bussiness is, sir?"

[Kotomine_Rin]

Sassguard

Despite its stone hardness and stoic gaze, if you could describe this subtle change of facial features you could almost say Vanguard brightened up.

"Ah, lady Sakura! It is good to see you, you've grown taller since the last time I've been in your presence." He said with a smile, only to put his hands on his waist and pouting with a haughty grin.

"Why, is visiting an old friend not business enough for thee? I hope I have not come in an inopportune time, to disturb you would bring me much displeasure."

[Aiden]

Meti

The staff in her way jarred the girl out of her pure state of mind in a particularly unpleasant way, and she found her own thoughts resonating well with the sword's own. So that only made the near growl to escape her mouth at Michael's intrusion more fitting.

"I already told you that you are not my mentor! It is not a title for you to take ." She caressed the blade lovingly, almost distractedly as she spoke. Then she ran as fast as she could through and past the crowd. Back to the entrance where her cart was. She didn't even think to separate herself and the sword but instead took the few pieces of equipment she actually needed for maintenance. But then there was the question of what exactly to do with all of these.

Muramasa Katase

That felt unreasonably nice, actually. It was tempting to just let this Meti girl keep holding her, but despite the girl's wonderful attempt to satisfy her needs Katase wasn't quite ready to trust her that way. Some of Mitsuba's paranoia had rubbed off on her, she supposed. It mixed rather poorly with her own dubious opinion of the human species.

So another puppet began to take form next to her and her strange cart, in the image of the one Meti had slain before. Then the pretty young blue-eyed girl held her hand out as if to say 'give it back.'