Cross Effects 3.0 - April 13, 2015—June 23, 2016

[SINIB]

Irisviel

Irisviel smiled at him. “I’m sorry I was being so rude myself, my name is Irisviel von Einzbern, and I am the lady of this castle. I’d be really curious to hear more about your palaces, if they’re more extravagant than this.”

[Panda]

Seras

The vampire was interrupted in her walking by a sudden outburst in front of her, looking up to find a young girl blathering at her in what seemed to be an attempt at starting a conversation. In all fairness to the girl, Seras was still wearing her police uniform, albeit rather tattered. That didn't make the quip sting any less, though. Resisting the brief temptation to hit the girl, Seras stared glumly at the woman before allowing a brief sigh.

With that, Seras stared into the woman's eyes, letting her presence envelop the woman like thick mist as she spoke, her voice laden with a hypnotic air.

"Sod off," Seras said simply.

[Kat]

Noriko

"Rude.",  replied Noriko, resisting Seras' compulsion to back away. It was pretty clear for a practicioner of Mind Arcanum that the other woman tried to play such a trick on her. Thankfully, her mind was particularly resistant to hypnosis, the result of her extensive training in traditions of her Legacy. She had more clue now what she could be, though she wasn't completely sure. Still, she had to now taste her own poison. "You better apologize, you know?" she weaved a spell, trying to have the girl rectify her impudent behavior.

[Panda]

Seras

Seras raised an eyebrow when the girl responded to her suggestion with a reply in a tone that suggested that she was attempting to do the same to her.

"You're the one who jumped to conclusions," Seras shot back, "I just got kicked off for trying to help someone."

[Umbra of Chaos]

Urthemiel

The magus let out a good-natured laugh. "I'm afraid that I wasn't talking about simple castles, Lady Einzbern. My family was responsible for the creation of and owned entire cities. The finest monuments and greatest shrines were designed by my hands, and I personally had influence over a vast amount of the empire. Minrathous was a prized jewel of mine. It was the largest city on the continent, and it was beautiful. Twisting spires of silverite and white stone kissed the sky, common structures of jet rock mined from the area in which another city would be built, catacombs were carved into the depths of the earth and were both enormous and grand, and impossible monuments of worship were held up by magic alone. Its grand walls were graced with the protection of golems, and its streets had never in all history been sullied with the feet of invaders. During the golden age of the Imperium it was the capital of the entirety of the known world. It was grand. I'm sure you now understand why I do not praise your own home, Lady Einzbern. Compared to what I have seen few things in this new land barely scrape by as passable, however your home is still quite fine compared to the rest of the city."

[SINIB]

Lady Einzbern

Irisviel was surprised. She hadn't expected to be entertaining a king, well, ever. It was quite a shock.

"Oh—I can't say I had any idea that you were such a prestigious guest. I completely understand, I personally have a fondness for more humble things, myself. It is truely an honour to have you."

Irisviel finally came to a stop and opened a door. "We can do it in here." She said. It was a room that stood in contrast to the rest of the castle, it was designed purely for function. It had a singular white light that permeated the room with a large white table in the center of the room. It was clean, almost like a surgeon's table.

"Can you put her on that table, I'm not particularly strong." Irisviel asked him graciously.

[Kat]

Seras

Seras raised an eyebrow when the girl responded to her suggestion with a reply in a tone that suggested that she was attempting to do the same to her.

"You're the one who jumped to conclusions," Seras shot back, "I just got kicked off for trying to help someone."

Noriko

Her spell proved to be completely ineffective against the (former) policegirl. While slightly unhappy that she failed to bend her mind, that only made her more interesting. Now Noriko respected her. Slightly. "Okay, I don't have idea how did you resist my compulsion, but yours also haven't affected me, so I guess it's no big deal. You should do something about those clothes though, you shouldn't fool people like that. You have an apartment right? I'll buy you clothes if you let me stay. Not feeling like going to some stinky motel." she shrugged, trying to bribe Seras into letting her stay. That would give her more time to figure out who she is.

[Umbra of Chaos]

Urthemiel

It was easy to see what the woman thought he was from her tone and what he had said. It would offend his pride to allow her to think that he was some mere ruler. As he gently placed the girl on the table he began to speak again. "I know that you may think that I am some king or emperor but that is a bit incorrect. An Archon ruled the Tevinter Imperium and the Tevinter Imperial Senate acted as the legislative body, but while I and my colleagues never held an official title within the government neither the Archon or senate would dream of disobeying us. A single whisper from one of us could end the reign of Archons or end wars. To the people the very thought of rebellion was impossible, and we could never be thought of as evil for we defined morality itself. Our rule lasted centuries, but I'm sure that this is a topic for another time."

A soft, white glow covered his hands. An obvious sign of healing magic. "My skills are not based in healing so I am not sure of how much help I can be but if you require it I will be more than willing to give it."

[Panda]

Seras

The vampire stared at the girl for a moment, unsure of when she'd tried to hypnotize her. Ultimately, it didn't really matter, though. The more interesting matter, however, was the girl's offer. While Seras did still have a fair bit of money saved up, the fact remained that she'd need more sooner or later, and that getting fired from the force had basically black-listed her from most public jobs. If she could play this right...

"I was heading home anyway," Seras pointed out, "And I've got plenty of spare clothes there. If you could chip in to help with the rent, however, I suppose I could let you stay over."

[Kat]

Noriko

"I have spare cash, and I'm good at earning more. Who knows, when I get richer, I'll put in a good word for you and get you a new job in exchange." she smiled, brimming with confidence about her own capabilities. And of course she would keep her word. If she didn't disappoint her.

[SINIB]

Irisviel

Irisviel nodded, and her hands began to glow as she placed them over the girl’s head. She bit her lip as she activated one circuit after another, bringing them to life one at a time. They whirred and whirred and whirred inside her, vibrating with usage. She took in more and more prana from the outside, channeling it into the purple-haired girl’s wounds and willing them to close, to regenerate.

And slowly but surely, it began to work. Her breathing became more stable and less laborious, and her facial expression quieted down. With just a bit more, she’d be done. Irisviel laboriously panted, putting her all into it as all her circuits whirred away.

[Umbra of Chaos]

Urthemiel

The Old God raised an eyebrow as the master of the household healed the girl on her own. Was she truly going to do this all on her own? It would be rude for him to have brought a burden to her home and make her work hard to fix it when he could provide aid. He tentatively reached for the energy around him and could barely restrain his glee as it responded to his will. It was almost like the world when it was younger. Before the Veil.

He grasped onto a large amount of the power around him and placed his hand over Irisviel's. She gave the spell direction and fueled it herself but he could also link himself to it and provide another source of power. It had been done before with much more powerful and volatile magic, and he was sure that something as simple a this would prove to be no trouble. As his energy fed into her spell he said, "Draw on me as well. There is no need to do this alone." 

[Kaze]

EMIYA SHIROU

Shirou watched with a mixture of awe and horror as Mia carved the immensely powerful dragon into pieces, her unreadable sword moving so fast it was all a blur to his human eyes. He might have been able to keep up with the movement if he reinforced his eyes, but he didn’t want to risk it as exhausted as he was.

And then, before he realized it, Shendu put himself back together faster than Mia could tear him apart and caught the young girl with a wild strike, sending her flying, crashing into a nearby wall.

No.

The freelancer’s eyes widened with horror, a sinking feeling settling in his gut. This wasn’t a fight they were going to win.

Mia is going to die, he thought as panic began to well up within him.

There were two options available to him. He could either throw all caution to the wind and project the strongest sword he could in hopes of sneak attacking Shendu, attempting to disable him long enough to escape, or he could try to plead with the enraged dragon for their lives. Neither option was likely to succeed.

Fleeing and abandoning Mia was out of the question.

“I love you, onii-chan,” the snow fairy said in a quiet voice, her pained eyes struggling to look at him.

Making a snap decision, Shirou placed himself between Shendu and the girl he was trying to protect, praying that the dragon didn’t just vaporize both of them.

“Shendu, please! She’s a kid, she doesn’t understand what she’s doing. Please don’t kill her!” he beseeched desperately.

[SINIB]

Irisviel

Irisviel nodded. “Thank you.” She said as she began to sweat. With the man’s help, it became significantly easier on her body, and after about maybe ten or twenty minutes, she was done. She collapsed to the ground as she finished, the exhaustion finally catching up to her.

[Umbra of Chaos]

Urthemiel

When Irisviel collapsed Urthemiel acted immediately and proceeded to lift the woman in a bridal style carry. A dull flare of blue light signaled the use of magic as the air chilled in an attempt to cool off the mistress of the household. She had just saved someone he had fond beautiful, and the Dragon of Beauty could be a generous god. With the slightest bit of concern added to his tone the Old god asked, "Will you be alright, Lady Einzbern? Are you capable of walking or would you wish me to carry you?"