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

[YOLF]

Tar

"There's such a thing as being suspicious on principle, lady," Henry grumbled. It had been his bread and butter for as long as he could call himself a person.

The detective forced the tension to leave his body and said to Noel, "Let's just go."

[SINIB]

Noel

Noel nodded and floated away with Henry, keeping a close watch on Mata as she exited. As soon as she reached the manhole, she willed her swords to slam into it in unison, forcing it open with a loud clang as it opened on the pavement next to her. She floated out and put Henry on the ground carefully, transforming in a flash of blueish yellow and landing on the ground with a gentle tap. She then extended her hand towards Henry with a smile.

“Do you want me to keep carrying you, or can you walk?” She asked.

[YOLF]

Tar

Henry could've almost forgotten how unnerving her previous appearance was between all the crap they had been putting up with. But that would require him to be able to forget. He didn't conceal the relief from showing on his face - on his relaxed brows and less strained expression - when Noel returned to the form he met her in.

With a sigh, he reached for her. "Just need some help getting up...", he said, grasping her hand. He felt the strain on his shoulder as he forced himself to get up, but though he swayed, he managed to right his posture.

Letting go of the elite, he supported his arm and called for the officers who were already circling towards them. "Hey! Someone who didn't fail first aid give me a hand here."

He probably wasn't showing it as much as he should, but it really did hurt. Like something was out of place and gears were locked wrongly inside his arm, somewhat. It was a sensation he had no adequate experience with, and it made him very uncomfortable.

[Kat]

Mordred

Guard duty. Such a convenient excuse to get away for a short break. Lighting a cigarette, she cherished both the flavor and fleeting moments of peace.

That is, until she noticed commotion around the manhole guarded by a police barricade, not too far away from the hotel. Maybe she should have left coppers alone and not get into any more trouble, but curiosity won over her survival instincts. It wouldn't hurt if she just took a look at the site. Sneaking around like a "pro", she climbed a tree to get a better view.

Then she saw them. The police officer she met before, accompanied by a blonde girl who helped him walk around. Damn it, she felt slightly jealous now. However, she quickly realized her new friend looked injured. Just what he had gone through in those sewers? Unable to resist out of worry, she called out in hope that he would hear her: "Hey, remember me? We've meet at the police station. What the heck happened to you, you look like you got hit by a bus".

[SINIB]

Irisviel

The man’s comment flustered Irisviel even more, causing her to blush harder. She nodded, and began walking towards her room. “Can you stay here, I’ll be back shortly but I don’t want to leave her unattended.”

[SINIB]

HERE'S FLUFFYKINS!!!

Fluffykins was angry. He'd been left in the ground to die. Like trash. This hadn't been enough to kill him, obviously. He'd slowly begun bashing his way out, digging through the solid rock. And now, finally, he'd gotten free. And there was fresh meat. Two men and a woman. His singular eye peered through the ground.

I should be unseen from here He thought to himself. He waited for them to get over him before bursting forth, bursting into a spiked ball of death in an instant!

[Kotomine_Rin]

Richard Maxwell

"Tch." Richard grunted in annoyance. This was beginning to take too long. Rubbing his temple, he began to rock his head in annoy-

Ah?

"KAH!" Richard suddenly spat. Something, something happened. He felt nauseous, dizzy. Something was hot and burning in his chest, something wet. The pain was chilling in comparison, and-

Richard quivered qeakly, blood spurting from his mouth like a fountain. His eyes were blanking out and his whole body was limping, barely standing. Turning back weakly, he saw it. In his heart. Done. Even if he tried to resist, he didn't have much time. His face was falling flat and his body was weakening with each pained breath and grunt and wail. But then, something happened.

Yes, something horrifying was taking place. Even as he had no heart, his blood moved on its own, pumping itself into his body with magic. It was as if he was dead on his feet, and yet he kept living like a zombie. And then, cold fury filled his eyes as he glared at the thing. Sweat dripped on his face, more blood spurted out. He had three minutes at best. Careless. Idiotic. He had been...

 But that...

"...monster. You....damn...you...." He whimpered, spewing more mouth and a strange green liquid from his mouth. His voice was filled with hate, scorn and fury. Water circled the two madly, like never before, and thick tendrils of water and ice wrapped the two together, encasing their bodies into place in an icy prison. Despite the pain, the tiredness, everything, the man kept smiling. No, his smile was growing feral, hungry. It seemed the demon threw itself in a beast's mouth.

Yes, even dying, Richard still fought back. Like he always did. Even desperate and falling apart, he tried to bite back Slowly but surely, more water collected around the two.

[Umbra of Chaos]

Urthemiel

"There is no need to ask, Lady Einzbern. I am more than willing to wait for you to return." As she left there was a flare of mana as he began to conjure thick spikes of ice in the room. With a flick of his finger pieces were removed and dissolved as the spikes rapidly began to resemble Irisviel. From what he recalled nobles were more flattered by statues than offended as long as they were done right, and he had little to do for the moment. He might as well exercise his creativity for the moment. It was a steady change as more fancy clothing that would be seen from the elites of Tevinter and even Orlais was substituted for simpler gowns and dresses.

The level of detail was exquisite. Frozen drops of sweat for those who would have worked during the hotter months, arms wrapped around each other under thick clothing for the colder climates, and looks ranging from calm and happy to angry and sad. It was a relatively decent experiment in his modeling. These were just ice sculptures after all. He would have prefered to work with metals or stone. Something more permanent he could have magic woven into. Regardless, beggars couldn't be choosers. As he waited he continued to perfect his work while paying a bit of attention to the girl he had brought in.

[Cherry Lover]

Sakura

Sakura watched with bemusement as Togan began to make a theatrical speech about how can'ts do not exist, wondering what the hell he was talking about. The theatrics continued as he started to wave his cane about, chanting some sort of weird mantra as he did so, about how nothing was impossible.

Well, judging by what he's done before, I guess that's not so surprising for him..., she thought.

She continued to watch as light gathered behind him, and something began to form. After a few seconds, it solidified, producing a bright pink mobile phone tower, with "TOE" written in flashy neon letters. And fireworks.

Will that let me call Shirou? Sakura thought, excitedly.

Before she could make the attempt, though, Togan snatched the phone out of her hand, beginning to dial what was, presumably, Shirou. Sakura considered reaching out to grab the phone, but she felt it was better to let him do it, at least for the moment. She had no idea what magic he was using, or how it might work. However, then, she heard a muffled noise coming from the speaker, followed quickly by Toe's response.

"Hello? Heeeeeeloooo!? Um, this is Emiya Shirou. Right? Just making extra sure. Good number, righto?" he said.

Sakura smiled broadly.

"Thank you, Togan!" she said, reaching out her hand for the phone expectantly.

Shirou and Rider

Shirou frowned as he heard a voice that was not Sakura's come from the other end of the phone. Had something bad happened to her?

"Yes, I am Emiya Shirou. Is my wife OK? Can I speak to her, please?" he said, full of concern.

"What's wrong, Shirou?" Rider asked.

"I don't know, someone else is using Sakura's phone. I hope she's OK...", he replied.

All sorts of scenarios raced through his mind. Had she been kidnapped, and they were calling him to put her up for ransom? Had she been hurt somehow? He just hoped there was a more innocent explanation.

[SINIB]

Sakura

Sakura felt like she’d errantly found her way into a vast minefield. She hadn’t wanted to upset her sister, just give her some encouragement. Maybe her social skills had rusted in the three long years. She wondered if she’d lost touch with them. She felt terrible because Rin felt terrible. And it was entirely her fault.

However, she didn’t show any of her inner turmoil. She just let the topic drop and nodded. “Yeah, that’s a good idea.” She said calmly, as if nothing had happened. She wouldn’t bring this up again.

She hoped.

[Elf]

Rin

Rin sighed at Sakura going quiet.  On the outside, Sakura looked composed, but she was quiet and it wasn't Rin asking for her to drop the subject.  It wasn't Sakura's fault that Rin was picky to a fault and that Rin was alone.

She bit her lip and said, "Look, I'll go try this on and we'll go look at rings."


Saber

Saber eyed Mata and asked, "And what do you do when you come face to face with something you cannot handle?"


Forest

Forest grinned at Kenzo's blank look on his face before he hugged her arm and said, "U-um, okay. We should get going... thanks anyway."   Then he looked at her and asked, "Um, why are you cold?"

"Because I'm a vampire and I haven't fed tonight," she answered with a shrug.

[SINIB]

Sakura

Sakura smiled at Rin and nodded, biting her lip slightly. “Yeah, that sounds good. Do you need anything else here?”

[Elf]

Rin

Rin frowned and said, "A coat!  Really need a coat and maybe a few skirts . . ." 

They walked past the dress section and she paused to look at a really gorgeous black dress with red accents.  She bit her lip, wondering the last time she'd dressed up in something like that.  Or had a reason to.

[SINIB]

Sakura

Sakura was torn. She wanted to buy that for her sister, it was pretty, and would look amazing on her. But...she wasn’t sure if this was desire or melancholy. It was terrible! Why can’t everything be easy! She wondered.

After a few seconds, she spoke up. “Um--Nee-san...do you want that?” She asked her tentatively.

[Elf]

Rin

 “Um--Nee-san...do you want that?” Sakura asked in a gentle voice.

Rin blinked, realizing that her and had been going to the rack to see if she could find one in her size.  She gave a winsome smile and said, "It's lovely . . . I'd just have to find some place to wear it.  And makeup . . . "