Cross Effects 3.0 - October 21, 2015—June 23, 2016

[SINIB]

Oka

Oka sat on her bike and looked down at the red haired girl. “I guess I do look pretty lost, don’t I?” She laughed with a smile. “You look fairly lost yourself though. Did you get into a scuffle with someone?” She said as she dismounted and sat down on Wormy, kicking her feet in the air as her pokemon continued to float comfortably, buzzing contentedly. “So do you know where we are?” She asked nonchalantly, without much care.

[Panda]

Emily

Emily quirked an eyebrow as the girl sat down on the worm-thing, the creature not seeming to mind its new burden at all.

"I'm not quite lost, just going for a walk," Emily explained, "As for where we are, it's a really big city, but I don't know the name of it yet."

[SINIB]

Oka

“Hm, I see. That’s unfortunate.” Oka said with disappointment lacing her face. “Well uh...how did you expect to help me then?” She said with a giggle.

[Panda]

Emily

Emily met the giggle with a smile of her own, the girl did have a bit of a point there.

"Well, just because I don't know the name of the city doesn't mean I don't know where things are," Emily pointed out, "Or that I can't find out if the need arises. In truth, there aren't really any signboards or anything like that proclaiming the name of this city that I've found thus far."

Wait a minute, I got here through the Hedge, but this girl doesn't seem like a Changeling, and that thing doesn't look like any Hedge Beast I've seen before. So how did she get here?

"So...how did you find your way here?" the Changeling asked after a moment's pause.

[Kat]

The Old God smiled and took Mordred by the arm before leading her out of the store. While normally the employees would have attempted to stop the pair casually leaving with the clothes an occasional glyph of paralysis left them frozen in their tracks. As they left Urthemiel mentally noted with a degree of actual happiness that the horrid suns had vanished and there was a degree of more amiability in her features now.

It took a little while but they eventually arrive in a clearing a bit farther away from the more industrious parts of the city. The area sat on the border between the forest and the more urban area. Here she left Mordred and took a few steps forward on her own. She placed a cup on the ground and a spike of ice burst from the ground to let her cut her palm. Then she transformed.

Gleaming and mighty stood Urthemiel the Dragon of Beauty. Her scales were glory incarnate. Perfection unrivaled in all the world except for the wound on its hand. Regardless, she was beautiful, and as the blood dripped into the cup she was still unrivaled.

Once it had nearly filled the Old God shifted back and held out her hand towards the cup. The magic of blood was indeed potent and she would draw out the draconic power from her blood. From life it would transform into a font of power. Something that was not quite consumed but infused. It was one of the few things that Urthemiel believed would help accelerate the Changeling’s process.

“Drink, Mordred. There is power in this. Strength derived from the essence of a dragon. If anything will accelerate your transformation it is this.”

Mordred

Words were inadequate to describe the might and beauty that this dragon embodied in her true form. Its beauty outshined brightest stars that adorned the night sky. Not even the self inflicted wound could mar her looks. Indeed, she was the most beautiful even if she couldn't compare her with any other dragons.

The dragon shifted in the form in which she met Mordred. She offered her a cup with her blood. She didn't exactly fancy idea of drinking blood like those leeches, but on another hand it wasn't human blood. "If there is no other method, I will do it." She reached for the cup and downed it. And the transformation began.

Her body began changing further, Mordred gasping from pain as the transformation was sudden and forceful. From her tailbone a scale covered tail formed, piercing through her armor and being as durable as the steel that clad her. The body under her armor covered crimson scales, adding further protection to her body. Her canines lengthened slightly, giving her teeth more predatory look. From the gauntlet that covered her hand sprout claws. Her face didn't change any further, but she brimmed with more confidence than ever. After the pain faded, she sensed power coursing through her veins and that felt so good. Oddly enough, any mundane person wouldn't still see any changes, her suit undamaged in spite of developing a tail so forcefully.

[SINIB]

Oka

“I have no clue. I took a nap on drifblim, was on my way to meet Shiro, and then, boom I’m here, surrounded by crazy people!”

[Umbra of Chaos]

Erica

The light was held off without an issue by the Mantle which was unsurprising. What was surprising was the sudden disappearance of of the suns but even that was meant with a rather lackluster blink. In fact, her concern with her surroundings was incredibly lacking as she focused on what had just happened a few moments ago. The dark claws shifted to wings to allow her to maintain her position as she hugged herself for a moment. She was beyond happiness. In her joy she had forgotten to emulate breathing. The fact that the beautiful, wondrous woman had protected her, had seen her as something worth protecting. That was worth more than anything she had ever experienced. More fulfilling than drawing the essence out of the greatest fallen heroes and monarchs.

She twisted around in the air to track the focus of her attentions and carefully examined the two others who had appeared earlier in an instant. Peering into their souls revealed nothing related to the Malicious so she simply ignored them in favor of watching the blonde. When she introduced herself Erica bent and twisted within to carve each letter with special care inside the shell where her heart would be. But it was her question that stunned the blue haired girl. Never once since her creation had her name ever been asked of her. Names made you more than a thing. It made you important. Real.

The Spirit Vessel froze suddenly and completely for a few moments as she tried to unearth anything in her memories of a name. To the experienced eye the cessation of movement was almost frightening in its absolute nature. There was not even the slightest twitch for a moment or two before she suddenly returned to her normal functions. It was a ghost of a memory but she had found her name. The small smile that appeared on her face was remarkably genuine but was banished as she returned to her normal, stoic visage. However, while her face was cool her normally calm, azure eyes blazed a brilliant blue and yellow glyphs burned faintly on her right cheek as she began to speak.

"My name is Erica, but that isn't important. I love you. I want to protect you. Please let me!" Her face was still calm but the earnestness and near desperation in her tone was almost palpable.


Urthemiel   

The cool feel of healing magic quickly knit the Old God's skin back together and special attention was done to make sure it left not even the slightest trace. She smiled at the shift in song. The sudden increase in volume of the dragon that sang in Mordred's veins. This was because of her. She had enhanced this girl and made her someone worth having.

There was no urgency in Urthemiel's movement and she took her time getting to Mordred before leaning in and allowing her lips to just barely brush against the Changeling's own. A teasing gesture but not much else. "I assume your change feels satisfactory, Mordred? If so, it would be kind of you to provide a place to rest for the night. This night has been taxing and I feel we could both use some time to recuperate."

[Panda]

Emily

The Changeling shot her a curious look at the term she used.

"...I'm sorry, but what is a...drif...blim?" Emily asked, sounding it out in her head first to try to get a feel for the work, "...More important is, well...if you've just arrived here, I take it you don't have a place to stay."

[Kotomine_Rin]

Tohuw Balagan

Tohuw snorted at the hilary that was the manga he was reading. Wow, could Kubo get any more of a troll? Like, hyping a bananakai only to have it job horribly and have some random chick he dind't even remember since 600 chapters win in his place? The wonders of Shonen Jump...

"Aaah, what a pleasant read. Surely manga is the greatest form of litterature!" He chuckled, shutting the book in his hand before realizing the sky was not as bright as before. Looking around the demon blinked in a mixture of astonishment, disbelief and dumbfoundedment. The suns were simply... gone. What even happened?

Did this just go down without even a bossfight? No, surely he must've missed the whole thing. There's no way, simply no way. Except that's exactly what happened!

"Hehehehehehe. Lol... Wow, that's just sad."

Tohuw kinda felt bad for whoever did this. Like, really. The psychopathic demon of chaos and madness was now feeling kinda sorry. Sorry enough to have the building stop sinking. Man, this was such an headache. He was getting serious for once!

Disappointed, the demon put the magazine in his pocket and leapt off his sofa. At the same time, a box with a black forest chocolate cake appeared right before the exit. At the very least, the cake might cheer someone up. Pffft. Like, come on, how can someone suck so much that the whole thing falls on itself before anyone does anything!? Either that, or the boss got wrecked by someone else. In that case, there was no reason to go trough all this trouble in the first place.

"See yah!" He sneered before landing gracefully on the ground, the impact practically non existing. Then, he simply walked away, snickering all the while and trying to contain his laughter.

Wow, I can't believe it lol.

Maybe he could go play some games or something.


Tohuw was walking on the street, his tail wagging while he wasminding his own business. Dogs need to take walks frequently, and Tohuw was no exception. While he was no mere mongrel, it was always nice to parade in this form.

A pristine white scottish terrier with a white, pink polka dotted top hat and a monocle is always an amusing sight to see.

Suddenly, he saw a familiar face. Or rather, the back of a familiar head. Feeling cheeky, he decided to sneak up behind her and tugged at her sleeve. Smiling gleefully like a dog would, he cheered!

"Guess who's baaack~!"

[SINIB]

Sakura Matou

Sakura gloatfully pulled a small box out of her bag and showed it to Shirou. “Nope!” She said, handing it to him. “I b e a t you!” She giggled creppily again as she pushed it into his hands. “Now do it right!” She commanded seriously.

[SINIB]

Noel Vermillion

Noel didn’t notice Rachel leaving behind her. She was  too busy being caught completely off guard by this Erica’s strangeness. Who greeted someone like that, geez! “Uh-uh-uh-sure?” Noel said uncomfortably, taking a small step back. "What do you mean...?"

[SINIB]

Oka

“Good god, how do you all not know what pokemon are? They’re like...omnipresent. Do you live under a rock?” She asked dead seriously. Suddenly, she felt a tug on her sleeve.
"Guess who's baaack~!"

She twirled around only to find...the most ridiculous looking herdier she’d ever seen. It must be a trainer’s, so she decided not to try to catch it. She already had fifteen in her pc anyway. She rolled her eyes at the pokemon before turning back to the red haired girl. “Is this yours? It isn’t funny if it is.”

[Panda]

Emily

Emily's mouth dropped open slightly at the term the girl used, one she'd honestly never heard before. It honestly sounded like some creature out of some kid's show, except the kind that would somehow work its way into the hearts and minds of even adults and reduce them to squabbling children bickering about their personal favorites.

...Actually...probably not.

"...No, I actually don't know what a pokemon is, despite having never lived under a rock," Emily explained, just before she spotted a curious...what the...? Was a monocle? And a tophat? On a dog?

Okay, that's definitely the strangest thing I've seen today.

And then it proceeded to talk. This was rapidly moving from strange to utterly alien. For a brief moment, Emily was seized by the possibility of this possibly being her Keeper before shaking that idea off with everything she could muster. If even the Keepers had found their way to this place...no, the possibility was one that she didn't even want to consider.

"No, it's not," Emily said with a frown, "I don't even have any pokemon."

[Umbra of Chaos]

Erica

The blue haired girl noted the disappearance of the parasite but was by far more focused on Noel. As she took in every movement the light of her eyes dimmed as the artificial being stepped back. The Spirit Vessel nearly wilted at the discomfort in the blonde's voice. She wrapped her arms around herself and her head slowly tilted until she was looking at the ground. If she had blood Erica's cheeks would be a deep red from shame alone.

"Thank you for letting me do this, but I am sorry for making you uncomfortable. It was and never will be my intention to bring you discomfort. I beg your forgiveness, Noel Vermillion."

[Kotomine_Rin]

Tohuw Balagan

Tohuw frowned at the girl's actions. It seemed he was wrong, she wasn't the Sakura he knew. She looked younger, cuter and more of an annoying piece of trash than her by far. But worse of all, she ignored him and turned her back from him and spoke of him using it, as if he was a thing.

That could only mean one thing. That girl was in fact a megabitch. And he knew exactly how to negotiate with one.

"Hey, why are you ignoring me? Ignoring someone like that is the worst thing you can do to someone! Are you trying to be a bitch nigga or something?"