Cross Effects 3.0 - November 16, 2014—April 13, 2015

[YOLF]

Butler

The sorcerer rose from his seat and moved behind the seat of the butler immediately. His Wings of Heart materialized in a flash of light but instead of continuing their circular pattern the dagger-like constructs floated around the abhuman and began to shift hues extraordinarily quick. "I have to admit that I have never seen a case as unique as your own, Butler. Brace yourself, this may be a little invasive.

The prismatic constructs pressed themselves against the servant as Wiseman moved his hand to grasp some invisible force. Then, seemingly holding nothing but air, he yanked his hand back and light began to emanate from Butler's back.

Wiseman made a small frown. If this had been any human the wings should have already emerged. This was odd but could be ascribed to the servant's strange nature. So instead of pondering this more Wiseman gave another yank as he coaxed the soul out. Then the manifestation fully burst out of the butler's back. Its form was still fluid considering how the light continued to shift and change but they were vaguely wing shaped and that was fine for now. Something as immaterial as the soul took a little while to adjust to the physical world.

Wiseman's own Wing's of Heart withdrew and floated behind his back as he pulled back and sat back down in his seat and broke his perfect posture in order to lean back a little bit. That was slightly more taxing than it should have been. "Give it a little while. You're human enough to have wings but it'll take a few minutes before your soul manages to express itself correctly. It won't even take a moment after this time since the manifestation would already have a defined form."

Butler's skull was unchanging, though the light in his eye socket flickered, and an inexplicable chill gripped his core as Wiseman reached into... somewhere that tugged on the very edges of his heart. Light emanated and then burst from his back, surprising him with the accompanying rush of, for lack of a better word, lightness on his body.

The servant marveled silently as the lights stirred and swayed, in shapes that vaguely resembled wide wings, while the wizard leaned back in his seat. With a thankful nod, Butler sat quietly, saying "I see. Let us wait then", and reached forward to refill both of their cups.

The two did not have to wait long to see the results of Wiseman's research. Little over a minute in patient quiet had gone by when there was a definite change in the manifestation of Butler's soul. The forms of light from his back flashed black, and a third section rose between them. From vaguely rectangular shapes, strands extended from the shifting wings; and the new section stretched over the center of Butler's back, expanding at the top, over his head. Then the dark shine blew away, unveiling Butler's Wings Of Heart.

Featherless and fleshless, they floated behind him. Like charred dead hands of wide and flat palms, five dark skeletal fingers extended from each of two ornate black gates with complex golden markings that formed the centers of their structure. Hovering in the middle, a black spine that connected them, ending in a large animal-like skull with curling horns. In equivalence to Butler's own, a yellow light shone on the left eye socket of the skull, the same side where its horn was broken.

Spoiler for Hiden:

"Ohhh...."

Allowing himself to, Butler released a breath of surprise. His wings had a strange shape, but he could genuinely feel them - as a true extension of himself. So, experimentally, he attempted something. The "hands" slowly closed up, and then opened.

Chuckling, he turned to Wiseman, eye glinting, and asked him, "What do you make of this then, Wiseman?"

[SINIB]

Faust aimlessly wandered around with no destination in mind. He walked around, casually observing the people meandering through the streets with him.

Suddenly, he noticed a familiar blond-haired girl.

"Mordred, I see you escaped the hospital without harm. How are you doing?" He called out to her.

[Kat]

Mordred

The familiar magus greeted her. She still remembered the misunderstanding that lead to their first meeting, as well as she knew his help bailed her out from being smeared on the sidewalk by the mysterious mad warrior. A new acquittance he was, but he proved to be trustworthy. Also her guilt about abandoning him and his companions to his own devices lessened somewhat as she knew he was in one piece.

"Uh, hi" She reciprocated, and then apologized "You know, I feel awkward I left you and your apprentice without checking on. I'm glad you pulled through that mess. Where is she now?"

[SINIB]

"Ah, Sakura is back at the mansion; probably eating breakfast with Rider right now." He paused, and then continued. "I'm glad to see that you pulled through the battle as well. The black berserker was a dangerous enemy, I wasn't sure you'd made it out."

[Kat]

Mordred

"Rider? I don't remember anyone with such name in your company" The odd name reminded her somewhat of how oddly her 'doppelganger' was named. "It sounds really strange, but maybe it's some peculiar naming fashion here in the city. There is a police officer named Saber."

[SINIB]

"There's a police officer named Saber? How many servants are here, jeez. Well, you see Mordred, I'm a Caster class servant. I'm a heroic spirit summoned from the past to fight in a war to obtain the holy grail. There are seven different classes, Saber, Archer, Lancer, Rider, Caster, Assassin, and Berserker. We often go by our class names to hide our identities. Do you know what this police officer looks like?"

[Kat]

Mordred

"I think you lost me" she laughed awkwardly, scratching her temple in confusion "I've never heard about this 'war for holy grail' or 'heroic spirits'. I know there are Ghosts out there, but you must be joking about heroes from the past part, right?"

[SINIB]

"No, seven mages summoned seven great heros from the past to fight for the holy grail, a magical wish granting device said to be able to grant you anything your heart desires. For example, I lived and died centuries ago, and many of the heros summoned are far older. Do you know what this Saber looks like perchance?"

[Kat]

Mordred

"But you don't look like a Ghost, though, you are not a spectre that mundanes cannot see." It was hard for her to believe his words. Certainly he did not match her preconception of a Ghost "Wait, that Saber girl is a ghost of a hero too? Gosh, what an awkward coincidence. I'm named after a figure of the past after all..." Then something dawned on her and she asked an odd question out of sudden "I do look like a normal human to your eyes?"

[Knick]

Hamara

Hamara sat on the ground with his legs crossed. His eyes closed and the room around him in complete silence. He was at peace. And while he was a peace he thought. He felt creation flow through him, and with it images filled his mind. Images of origin, of the first days, of the first light that shined upon existence and made it true, and that truth, the way things meant to be was clear to him.

This was the duty of the Saint, he was to understand how things where meant to be, and then enforce that upon the world and purge it free of lies. 

And so Hamara sat, allowing his mind to view creation, and with that he observed the events that transpired the last night. The escape of the Nothing. The strange city he and his guard arrived in. The not-sister and the brother that could not recognize him. The beasts  that were able to flee from his light, for as momentary that would be. For the many monstrosities that filled the woods.

And then the final thought entered his mind. The girl he encountered in that forest. When his eyes were laid on her he immediately knew what she was.

She was human.

She was MORE human than even the guard that stood at his side.

She was closer to the truth than any other Hamara has ever seen, the only exception being Just’s granddaughter who was purified before she was born by Hamara’s light, to give her the strength to enter this world. 

And that alone, that single trait the girl processed, was worth more than even the most precious of treasures. She was something that was long lost to the world. Something that almost brought tears to Hamara's eyes.

In a way Hamara wondered if he ever had a child would he see the same thing in them. If he would feel this urge to protect them so completely, so utterly…

And so Hamara meditated in silence, pondering these thoughts.

[SINIB]

"Yes, you look normal enough to me, although I know you must not be. By the way, are you looking for something? You helped me earlier, it's only fair I return the favor."

[Umbra of Chaos]

PARIAH

"Let us go, PARIAH."

The childlike virus walked over to the cowboy and grasped his hand. His gaze met his 'uncle's' and PARIAH stopped breathing. He ceased all movement and even the Leader hunter was unnaturally still. If he didn't move and didn't make a sound maybe the night would last forever.

But it won't.

So PARIAH burned the image into his perfect memory and began to tug Wanderer away with a small smile on his face as the Leader hunter trailed after them. Even if the night wouldn't last he would remember it. PARIAH never forgets.

[YOLF]

Sarse

Sarse sighed with exertion as he finished waving goodbye to the child had just finished guiding out of the mall and reuniting with her parents. Looking back to the devastated section of the mall, he supressed the whine of the symphony ringing in his ears. The lights of the emergency services, the sirens of the ambulances and the actual cries of relief or shock of the evacuated were a haunting, but welcome distraction. If not from the proper symphony, filled with sorrow, from the lingering sound of the one that had caused this destruction to begin with.

Testimonies to the police had been given after their unfortunately (or maybe fortunately, given what could have happened) delayed arrival, and Sarse had carefully omitted any mentions of his actual nature or powers despite explaining how he and his companions had fought the thing that caused the incident before it collapsed on itself. He feared for a second they would actually get detained, and the inevitable "making everything worse" reaction of death herself to it, but other eyewitness accounts had thankfully liberated them of that.

And now, he overlooked the damages with Than'Sanel and the now awake Ann as relief teams moved in.

"It's still there, even as nothing but a puddle," he said aloud.

[Cherry Lover]

Rider simply glared at Faust as he responded to her question in a highly patronising manner, before turning and walking out the door.

Asshole, she thought as he left, still somewhat surprised that there could be someone who wouldn't eat just about anything Sakura put in front of him.

Meanwhile, she saw Vanguard approaching Sakura, screwing his head on before explaining his true nature.

"But make no mistake, this is my burden and mine alone, so please rest at ease. I do not wish to be pitied, for even if I may not posses mortal flesh any longer, my spirit is human", he said.

Hmm, interesting. So, he's a spirit like me? she thought.

Still, she felt he had got the worse deal out of the two of them. She was still capable of normal human actions, after all.

Before she could respond, Sakura picked up the food she had cooked and carried it into the dining room, setting it down on the table. Rider followed her. Before she could take a seat, though, Sakura addressed her, clearly somewhat uncomfortable.

"Um, Rider. Could you not be so pushy when talking to Caster? I know you didn't mean any harm, but...", she said with her head bowed.

"Sorry, Sakura", Rider said, genuinely upset at causing Sakura discomfort. "I simply couldn't believe that someone could taste your cooking and choose not to eat it."

Then, she turned to Vanguard.

"There is indeed nothing wrong with lacking a body. In fact, I myself do not possess a true body", she said, briefly turning into spirit form to demonstrate. "But, nevertheless, it must be difficult to be unable to experience simple human pleasures. I am fortunate in that regard, whilst my spiritual nature does not require me to perform human functions, I am nevertheless capable of doing so", she said as she prepared to sit down in whichever seat Sakura had allocated to her.

[MissingMandible]

Corporal Mathew Blackburn:

Mathew grumbled as he was shoved back into the wheelchair, but didn't fight it. He let Halliday's Chainsword and his Volleygun be put in the back of the transport along with his rucksack, though he kept his Hellpistol on his person. It would be too clustered in the back of the vehicle to check on the Volleygun's severed cord anyways, so repair is going to have to wait until he gets to Noel's apartment.

He was going to a woman's apartment...

He wasn't sure why he was getting a bit flustered about this; Blackburn had his fair share of co-ed barracks. Maybe it was because this was a more...private location? The barracks were essentially one large room with a series of bunk beds in arranged columns, but this is a woman's actual home...

When the driver finished loading up the trunk, Blackburn was carted up  to one of the passenger's doors. He quickly climbed in, and dug out his Uplifting Primer to distract himself from his thoughts. The spine was now a bit bent and the cover scuffed up, but the book as a whole managed to survive the crash just fine.  He flipped it open to a random page, only to find that it was the Tyranid section. The artwork of the creatures brought a sickening feeling to his stomach, prompting him to slam the book shut again as quickly as he opened it.