The Citadel of Sorcery

[SINIB]

Tsumiko

By the time her headache had dispersed and she'd gotten herself dressed in her fancy new clothes, Archer had already left, leaving a note telling her he had bussiness to attend to, and wouldn't be home soon. While she'd been a bit disappointed to be left home alone, it hadn't bothered her much beyond the initial moment. Solitude suited her. She enjoyed the loneliness as much as she did the company.

So she'd eaten a full breakfast and headed out. The voices whispering at her in her head were quiet. Almost absent.

"..."

Actually, they were absent—in their entirety. Only the dull, faint throbbing at the back of her head accompanied her! "Silence!" She cried out in ecstatic joy. "It's wonderful! This is like living in a dream!" The young child danced around inside of her shadow, containing her outburst to her most private place. Here, nobody could ever get her. Here, she was alone. Here, she was in control.

Here, she was safe.

From inside of her command center, Tsumiko artfully directed her shadows, searching for harm being done, people to covertly save, and criminals to punish.

Her search soon lead her to the Citadel, where she quickly spread out the scope of her search. Small shadows rushed through pipes and along walls, scouring the area for injustice which needed attention. It burst forth from underneath Mai, seeking to wrap its tentacled darkness around both her and her assailant to draw her in!

[Umbra of Chaos]

Mai

It was a rudely interrupted silence.

Her footing is steady; her focus is pure. A ripple on the surface of a lake may seem unnoticeable, but if the waters are tranquil even the mildest disturbance is as noticeable as a writhing wave. So she feels the earth below her shift. Her awareness extends to the minute cracks in the asphalt of the street below her. She moves.

Living shadow erupts from the place where she stood. It coils like a serpent, wrapping itself around the knight as Mai warily watches its movements. It is fast, certainly. From what she saw it may even be faster than her, and it was certainly stronger if its ability to restrain the knight was any indication. It was... a challenge. A thing without skin or sinew, something that seemed to share more in common with a twisted spirit than a man.

She feels her heart beat. The air grows sharp. Her tongue tastes blood.

Fingers bloom from her back.

She raises her sword. Is she smiling? She does not want to know. There is no usefulness in knowing. Right now, there is only her and an enemy. "Will you chase me? Or should I cut you down there?"

[SINIB]

Mai

It was a rudely interrupted silence.

Her footing is steady; her focus is pure. A ripple on the surface of a lake may seem unnoticeable, but if the waters are tranquil even the mildest disturbance is as noticeable as a writhing wave. So she feels the earth below her shift. Her awareness extends to the minute cracks in the asphalt of the street below her. She moves.

Living shadow erupts from the place where she stood. It coils like a serpent, wrapping itself around the knight as Mai warily watches its movements. It is fast, certainly. From what she saw it may even be faster than her, and it was certainly stronger if its ability to restrain the knight was any indication. It was... a challenge. A thing without skin or sinew, something that seemed to share more in common with a twisted spirit than a man.

She feels her heart beat. The air grows sharp. Her tongue tastes blood.

Fingers bloom from her back.

She raises her sword. Is she smiling? She does not want to know. There is no usefulness in knowing. Right now, there is only her and an enemy. "Will you chase me? Or should I cut you down there?"

Tsumiko

The shadows coiled around the knight's body, feeding into his wounds and dragged him down through the world, into the abyss beneath.

"Why!" A distorted yet human voice reverberated through the shadow. "Why were you fighting this man!"

[Umbra of Chaos]

Mai

It can talk?

The disappointment rips through Mai's body like a spasm, her grip on her sword violently tightening until her knuckles whiten. Her veins are flush against her hand as she presses the tip of her sword against the ground. She takes in the moment then, a brief exhale attempting to dismiss the trembling in her free hand.

If only it was fear that made it shake.

After a scant few seconds, habit reasserts itself. Measured, even breaths escape Mai as she stares at the shadowy mass before her. It is alive, perhaps? Or some sort of familiar. Could she cut a shadow with her sword...? It has form, even as it shifts. All things with form will shatter. Her finger thumbs the hilt of her blade as a more calm confidence reasserts itself. Yes, if needed she can certainly cut it. But was there any point in battle?

Mai's dull, almost blank eyes gave nothing of her swirling thoughts away. Instead, she tilted her head just a tad. A sliver of inquisitiveness slipping into her frame as she responds. "It attacked me first. Why is such a thing your concern?"

[SINIB]

Tsumiko

Tsumiko recognized those eyes. She'd seen them in the mirror every day of her life—dead, lifeless eyes of someone just trying to get through the day to day without breaking; without despair. The shadow puppet retreated, retracting its tendrils back into its abyssal corpse and morphing back into a pool on the ground which lead to another world.

The purple-haired child emerged from within, draped in the same shadows which had assaulted Mai. They tightly covered her torso, while she wore a loose pair of shorts underneath, her legs covered up by more of her familars. "I'm sorry, then. I was just trying to break up the fight." Tsumiko bowed at her politely with the mannerisms of her hosts. She took a step forwards, staring at Mai with curious eyes which looked much like her own. "My name is Tsumiko. What's yours?"

[Umbra of Chaos]

Mai

Mai warily eyes the knight as it is drawn into the shadow. Sorcery was not a field she was familiar with, and there was something unnerving in the ways the shadows shifted and skittered. She did not want to be touched by it. But she was not so rude to make that discomfort visible. So she bows in turn, back straight but not bent low enough to assume inferiority. It was simply a show of respect towards a powerful stranger.

"I am Mai. What is it that you plan to do with that knight? I will not allow him to be killed." There was no heat in her voice. In fact, her body grew almost unnaturally still. There was only a firmness to her tone. At the very least, she would not allow for senseless killing.

[SINIB]

Tsumiko

"I'm holding him prisoner, just as I was trying to do to you. I saw a fight, I wanted to break it up. Figure out what's going on before taking any steps too drastic. Try to prevent either of you from killing the other."

Tsumiko straightened up and began to nervously shuffle her feet. She wasn't used to really talking so much with strangers like this, and it showed. Nervous energy barely contained by a force of will greater than her own was bundled up, present in her every movement. "So, were you... not trying to kill him?"

[Umbra of Chaos]

Mai

"No." Her answer is short and blunt. She considers the careless movements, how the other girl almost shuffles in place simply from having to talk. To have all that power despite that might be something worth praising... or it was something to be concerned about. She kept her distance regardless, always keeping several steps away from the other girl. "I am no judge. It is not in my purview to weigh the lives of others, and I will not allow others to do so either."

"It seems you think similarly?" She raises a single, elegant brow. Mai's eyes watch the shadows for any possible threat. Sorcery was... distasteful. It was easy to know the character of a swordsman. If their hands do not tremble, they cannot be trusted. But those who practice the arts can kill without a care, sometimes without meaning to. It made them much more difficult to evaluate.

[SINIB]

Tsumiko

"Well, I don't know about all that." She replied with a sheepish expression that spoke of her inexperience with these matters. "I've never had the chance to discuss such matters, or to give too much thought to whom should and should not be meeting out the fist of justice. Still—I don't think anyone who doesn't deserve it should die."

The inescapable, cavernous maw of Tsumiko's shadow opened up, ejecting the now-shivering man from its gullet. "I'm sorry for making an assumption."

[Umbra of Chaos]

Mai

Mai spares the man a quick, careful glance. Her piercing gaze checks his armor for any damage, any hint of blood, but only the gap she had carved early remained. For now, it seems she can trust the other girl's word. That was... relieving. While she did not look much older than her, there was a newness and uncertainty to Tsumiko's face like a child's. It would not bring her any joy to shed her blood. Still, her sword is as ready as ever even as she gives the knight a dismissive look. Her eyes only slightly narrowed, she points away towards the grand spires of the Citadel proper.

"Go, pawn. May this stranger's interference be satisfactory enough to spare your life, should you return to your master." Stumbling to his feet, she notices the hesitation in his posture for a moment. But perhaps the experience taught him enough wisdom. The knight stumbles off back to the depths of the city. Mai almost... no, she does feel pity for him. If only because he returns since he knows nothing else.

But she cannot shoulder the responsibility of all who suffer. Instead, she looks towards Tsumiko with the vaguest tinge of curiosity. "Where will you go now?" It felt too cruel to simply leave. Even she was not so heartless as to abandon children on the street.

[SINIB]

Mai

Mai spares the man a quick, careful glance. Her piercing gaze checks his armor for any damage, any hint of blood, but only the gap she had carved early remained. For now, it seems she can trust the other girl's word. That was... relieving. While she did not look much older than her, there was a newness and uncertainty to Tsumiko's face like a child's. It would not bring her any joy to shed her blood. Still, her sword is as ready as ever even as she gives the knight a dismissive look. Her eyes only slightly narrowed, she points away towards the grand spires of the Citadel proper.

"Go, pawn. May this stranger's interference be satisfactory enough to spare your life, should you return to your master." Stumbling to his feet, she notices the hesitation in his posture for a moment. But perhaps the experience taught him enough wisdom. The knight stumbles off back to the depths of the city. Mai almost... no, she does feel pity for him. If only because he returns since he knows nothing else.

But she cannot shoulder the responsibility of all who suffer. Instead, she looks towards Tsumiko with the vaguest tinge of curiosity. "Where will you go now?" It felt too cruel to simply leave. Even she was not so heartless as to abandon children on the street.

Tsumiko

"So what did you do? To be chased, hounded, and assaulted as such?" Tsumiko asked with a plain, casual expression. "What is your sin?" She didn't seem to be too concerned with the knight anymore. Her interest had vanished the moment that she'd released him and he fled from the young girls before him.

She knew it. She knew that Mai had a deep scar, the same as her. And she wanted to learn more.

[Panda]

Nanako

Some time later...

It had taken around half an hour for the wound to close up, and about an hour after that for the internal damage to heal, by which time the squirrel girl'd had plenty of time to clean off the blood, take a shower, and get a fresh change of clothes that didn't smell like burned flesh and gore. Putting the incident behind her both figuratively and literally, the squirrel girl had since made her way to the Citadel, figuring that it was about time she got her hands on some armor, at least for her arms and legs.

_{Sure you need that, ma?}

Nanako started for a moment, then shook it off and went back to roaming the streets, looking for the right shop. Since the seraph's fire had washed over her, that presence in the back of her head seemed to have awakened, crawling up her spine from where the feathers had implanted into her up into her mind. Whatever it was, it was surprisingly talkative, considering that Zeke had said it was basically a baby.

Heaving a quiet sigh, the squirrel girl finally found a shop promising decent armor, zipping inside and searching the shelves for something that would meet her standards, fluffy tail swishing excitedly behind her as she went.

[Bern]

Lulu

If one thing could be said about the blonde Angel, it was that she embodied femininity. That was the first thought most people would have when they gazed upon her form. It was a heavenly feast for your visions, so soft you could feel it with your very eyes, and with curves in just the right places that would entrance most men and make women question their own looks. Yet that was a fleeting emotion, for even more overwhelming to behold than her beauty was her divine radience. That aura of calm that swept over you like the gentle rocking of the waves at the beach, such was her presence.

And now in her haste to rush in the squirrel girl had slammed right into the Angel's front who had teleported into that one store just for the sake of her own amusement. And that was how she ended up on her back with the taller girl on top of her. With how soft her body surely it must have felt for Nanako like she was landing on a pillow.

"Oh my how violent, I haven't seen you in... You're hurt?" She could feel the taint of something thay ought not be on this girl, something she did not have the last time they'd met.

[Panda]

Nanako

To Nanako's surprise, the step that should've taken her inside the shop was interrupted by a very pretty blonde, one that she could've sworn she recognized, at that. She didn't have the time to think it over, however, her momentum carrying her face-first into the busty blonde and bowling her over. When the dust settled, Nanako was the one on top, face buried in that soft chest and soothed by the woman's calm aura.

The squirrel girl wondered how she'd run into a pillow for a moment before reaching about blindly with her hands, finding something surprisingly soft to brace herself on, and pushed up to free her head from the comforting confines of those tits.

"Hm? Yeah, got impaled an hour ago, but that should finish healing up soon," Nanako said, giving the blonde beneath her a curious look, "Hm...We've met before, but I don't think I got your name."

[Bern]

Lulu

"Heh getting to second base without even knowing my name, how naughty Nanako. And you do know me. It's Lulu, the bouncy Angel of Lust.." Lulu answered while giggling at the mishaps of the squirrel girl. In her attempt to get up up she'd grabbed her boobs, and now those sturdy hands were sinking into her soft cloud like tits, with only the soft fabric of her dress in the way of direct skin contact.

"By heavenly law groping the breasts of a high ranking Angel  is a sin. " A complete lie, but it would be fun to see if she could prank Nanako "Are you a sinner Nanako?" The Angel asked while barely holding her laughter back.
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