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

[Panda]

Guts, for one, is not impressed by this display. At all.

"You're quick on the draw," Guts admits, "But I know a little girl who makes that kind of stuff look like cheap parlor tricks. As for actually hurting an Apostle with that...You just scorched it a bit. And pissed it off."

[Knick]

Rebeca

As everyone was ready to go to sleep Rebeca was finally able to lay on her bed. She looked up at the roof, her hair spread across the fabric as she laid there in a lose tee-shirt and shorts.

She couldn’t sleep, she… she could hear them just beyond the wall. The people she asked to stay and the others in the building as soft music played in her soundproofed room. She couldn’t increase the music more without risking waking them up. But the sounds were insufferable. She couldn’t sleep like this.

And so she curled up in a ball and placed her hands over her ears, trying to block off their thoughts, their brain functions, and their dreams. But it did not work.

And then she got an idea. She didn’t want to, but if she didn’t it was unlikely she would get any sleep at all. She focused on Aki’s thoughts, and looked deep. And the world changed.

Rebeca sat, her legs held to her naked chest as she looked at the pool before her. Around her was a boundless darkness, but she paid it no mind, and her eyes remained trained on the glowing still pool before her.

And eventually was drop of water fell from nowhere and impacted the surface of the water. And then an image manifested on the water. The image shifted from the Her and Donkey, to the Gym, to the city as a whole.

And then another droplet fell, revealing more images. Of a world she did not know, of a place of cold but also incredible beauty.

And another, and another and another droplet fell. And the enteirty of the person know to her as Aki was revealed to Rebeca, her journey, the places she has seen, the places she has been. The people she has met and the battles she has faught.

And so Rebeca watched the reflecting pool as a magnificent story of dragons and men was told to her.


In the real world Rebeca began to lightly snore, as her mind found comfort learning and understanding another. One she would hope would call her a friend.

And like that Rebeca slept peacefully.

[Kaze]

EMIYA SHIROU

The first thing Shirou was aware of was that his back was sore. The second was that his watch was beeping. With a groan, he sat upright and opened his eyes to a room that he didn’t recognize. For a brief moment, he panicked at the unfamiliar surroundings before last night’s events came back to him.

Right, we all ate dinner and came back to Saber’s apartment to sleep. The archer reset the alarm on his watch and stood upright and stretched, trying to loosen up his body, stiff from having slept on the floor. Three and a half hours of sleep wasn’t nearly as much as he would have liked, but Saber had important work to do today and he didn’t want to impose on her generosity any more than he had to.

Saber. She was here and he was currently inside her apartment. Tohsaka was here too, somewhere. It was just too surreal, he could barely believe it even after having had dinner with them both several hours before. Shirou didn’t know what to make of it, it had been over a decade since he had last seen his old Servant. It was… good to see her again, but at the same time, both of them were different people now.

Might as well make breakfast. Shirou wandered into the tiny kitchen corner just a few paces away, intent on distracting himself and opened up the fridge to see what was inside. Dang, western food. Since becoming a hero/freelance magus, cooking had fallen to the wayside, and his western cooking hadn’t been particularly amazing to begin with. At least the food here was healthy.

It was only when Shirou was mostly done preparing breakfast that he noticed the sticky note on his shirt.

“Oh shit,” he whispered to himself. Mia had gone off on her own to do lord knows what. There was no way to predict what trouble she could get into – or cause. Clicking his tongue angrily, the freelance magus left the kitchen and made his way to the bedroom where Saber and Rin were sleeping.

“Saber, Tohsaka, are you awake?” he asked while rapping on the door sharply with his knuckles.

[Kotomine_Rin]

"Well bloody hell, how the hell is a big chunk of iron going to do the job if that doesn't cut it?", he barked in annoyance. After going as far as to put such a display, he expected at least some reaction.

"Besides, I wasn't even trying. And you call that a cheap parlour trick? I feel hurt mate." With that, the fiery bird that Lorenzo conjured earlier in order to heat himself perched on the armoured man's back, chirping before pecking at his ear.

"Hey, stop that, now!", he yelled angrily at the bird. Quickly, the bird left the man's side in order to rest on the pirate's head.

"Jeez... anyhow, you haven't told me your name."

[Umbra of Chaos]

Ann

"You've been very temperamental today, Little Angel. A little gratitude is always welcome."

She was mocking him, but she did let go and began a casual stroll towards the metal puddle that was cordoned off. Even a blind man could tell that the police were not in the mood to deal with a civilian as they watched the subdued Ascended and counted the dead.

"Miss, I'm afraid you need to-"

The policewoman's order was interrupted by a sound akin to porcelain cracking. A tiny crack had formed on Ann's cheek and the cold temperature had plummeted even further. The Enforcers were certainly disciplined and if it was only this unnatural chill they would have held their position, but there was something else.

A fear as old as humanity itself screamed at them as Death stared at them. A primal urge that wanted them to runscatterhide. Some broke off from the group and raced away from the area while those that stayed grew pale and cadaverous as they broke out into a cold sweat.

The world moved to strike out against this alien presence but Ann pushed back. The power she released wasn't great enough to incur further force and she could withstand this much. The local law enforcement couldn't even raise a hand as the woman in the nurse's outfit walked past them and annihilated the tape blocking the area off. The Ascended sensed what stood above it and for the first time in its life it felt unrestrained fear. Its spirit thrashed and moved as Ann's hand slowly descended and the tip of her finger touched the liquid metal.

The copper color began to shift to black and the change spread out from where her finger was. This entity could not be incorporated into her, so she would simply destroy it completely and utterly. It didn't take long before the metal was left a toxic black and even the spirit of the entity was no more. For a few moments it would sizzle and shake but ultimately even the dark liquid vanished as if it was swallowed by the floor below it.

Then the crack repaired itself, and as the policemen released the breathe they didn't know that they had been holding and slowly began to regain color Ann walked back to Sarse and leaned on his shoulder. "Better now, Little Angel?"

[MissingMandible]

Corporal Mathew Blackburn:

Of course she never tastes her food! It all makes sense now! He finished his plate, Harlech Honor sated. There is no need for a round two. "No thanks, I'm full" he said, smile still on his face.

His mind is still sobbing.

"May I have a glass of water, please?"

[YOLF]

Sarse

The angel shook. Holding a hand to his mouth he tried not to retch as the undiluted music of death and rot seeped out of Ann. He watched her go, and he saw her undo that foreign, twisted symphony on the pool, rotting it to nothing. He forced himself to swallow the knot in his throat, and watched her return.

He exhaled deeply as she leaned on his shoulder again, and his face relaxed.

"Yes," he answered. "Thank you."

[Elf]

Forest

Forest raised her eyebrow and said, "I doubt it.  I mean, I'm not going to discount your angst because everyone has their own angst, but I really doubt you went through something 'similiar' to me."

Then she heard the conversation with the voice in his head, Xarrest.  Of course he wants to offer himself up as a donor, because why not.  Sacrificial lamb.  That's what this one wants to be, a martyr who still breathes.  Bloody hell.

And if I did bite him he's going to just cum buckets and that's not going to be awkward.

She said, "Look, you're wanting to donate, and that's sweet, but you really don't know what goes hand in hand with that.  And I'm bloody old.  I've learned control by now.  I'm not going to rip out some innocent wanker's throat."


The Fanged Foursome

Buffy pivoted away from the strike at her midsection.  She saw what that thing did to Dru and Spike, and she wasn't about to follow their footsteps.  Angel started to move towards her, and her eyes met his.  She shook her head ever so slightly and he stepped back.

She threw a punch, and wished she had a weapon at the moment.


Saber

The blond heard a rapping at her door.  Rin was sleeping beside her, sprawled out and she'd taken all of the covers during the night.  Saber rubbed her arms as she realized she smelled food cooking and padded over to the door.

The bedroom was covered in various stuffed animals, mostly lions, and one ridiculously large dragon named Charles.  Clutching Charles, she opened the door to see Shirou there.  Her hair was tumbling around her face and she was wearing grey fleece sweats.  Smiling in her half sleep state, she lifted Charles up and said, "This is Charles.  I was told that naming something was a great responsibility, and that he needed a name."

[SINIB]

Sakura paused at his question. What does he mean, what is she to me? Rider is Rider. There’s nothing more that matters.

“What are you getting at?” Sakura asked suspiciously. “Rider is Rider, and of course I know what she is. She’s my servant! But more importantly, she’s my friend. She’ll protect me no matter what!” Sakura continued, getting more and more animated with each word.

[Lycodrake]

Than'Sanel

The half-elf wished he could have turned away his senses when Ann used her power on the remains of the strange, Archon-like and -unlike being, but he could not. The feeling of Ann's power was etched into his mind - whimsical Blackness overcoming the apathetically destructive White. A part of him flinched, a part of him wretched, a part of him nodded in approval. He was glad that Ann had not rotted away the law enforcers, instead opting to scare them off so she could end it.

"Not meaning to interrupt either of you, but I'm extremely exhausted and prefer the creature comfort of a bed. Any ideas?"

[SINIB]

“Aw, you’re full... Oh well, it can’t be helped.” Noel said, deflating a bit. “Sure, you sure you only want water? I have sodas and juices as well.” She said while walking into the kitchen to get his drink.

[Panda]

"Well, I don't know exactly what you went through, and you don't know exactly what I went through. But, and correct me if I'm wrong, both of us have been changed by others in ways that we didn't want at first, but grew used to over time. Neither of us had someone to save us from the situations we were left in, so we saved ourselves. But that's besides the point."

"As for my donating some blood," Adjutor says, "I'm not trying to be sweet. This is simply the most effective way that I can repay you for your kindness, and I am sorry for my assertions that you might lack control. Furthermore, if there's some kind of weird side-effect to being bitten, then I'm fairly sure that either the side-effects don't result in any long-term harm or you can easily find a lot of people you don't mind hurting. And I'm willing to bet that the former is the case, though I'm not entirely discounting the latter. Regardless, if it makes your life easier at next to no inconvenience to me, I see no harm in letting you have a few pints of my blood whenever you need some."

In all fairness, you kinda cheat.

What part of time out do you not understand?!

The part where both of us have an equal degree of control over this mindscape.

You should be thinking on the error of your ways.

Says the person who decided to try logic'ing our hostess's reasons for not taking what was freely offered out loud.

She can hear us in here anyways.

[MissingMandible]

Corporal Mathew Blackburn:

"J-just regular water is fine," Mathew stammered.

If he went with the other drinks, who knows what the woman would mix with them. When she came back with the glass, he downed it after thanking her, trying to get the taste out of his mouth.Upon sitting the glass down, he had to ask about what she said earlier, "So, who do you owe money to, again?"

[SINIB]

“Ehehe-- I owe a good deal of money to the home shopping networks and penny auction websites. It’s big enough that I’m embarrassed to say exactly how much. Let’s just say I need that job I was talking about pretty badly.”

[Panda]

"All you did was give the Apostle surface burns, which they'll ignore easily enough in favor of tearing you to pieces. This," Guts says, hefting the blade with ease in his right hand, "Gives them something they can't ignore or just power through. You need more than just energy, you need something to put all that energy behind."

The bird is hardly a nuisance, and disappears quickly all the same.

"Guts, if you must know."