From: Arcanis Date: Sun Jan 7, 2001 11:51am Subject: We are! Men! And Women! Of the Sea! Arcanis eyed the tall, narrow boat suspiciously. A clipper-- that was what the dockmaster had called it-- was supposedly one of the fastest ships in the world. Even if that wasn't true, at least it was the fastest way off of Calypso. He glanced back at the odd party as he handed the captain of the vessel a large sack of gold, enough to make the man's eyes bulge and eagerly agree to give up his quarters, along with several crew member's quarters, to make room for the several members of the party. The 'party' consisted of Pyxie, Lia, Rydia, Pokey, Bix, BahamutX, and Hiryuu, who was standing as far from the sea spray as possible and glancing nervously at Lia. Arcanis still couldn't quite believe Pokey's story. The man had come and warned him that Lia seemed to kill moogles on sight, for no particular reason. Arcanis vaguely remembered reading something about avariel forming a deep hatred for moogles during the Moogle Wars, but he was unsure of how to approach Lia about the issue. He was sure it would work out, anyway. The happily-paid captain boarded his ship in a daze, dragging the heavy bag of gold behind him. Arcanis noted, with an inward laugh, the name "S.S. Leviathan" lettered on the side of the narrow boat as he motioned for the others to follow him onto the boat. As Arcanis stepped aboard the boat, he had a sudden, sickly feeling as he noticed the unnatural swaying motion of the vessel. That was odd. He could *fly* for the goddesses' sakes, why would a slight rocking motion disturb his stomach so? But it did, none the less. Pyxie was darting about the boat in her usual hyper manner, examining everything and thoroughly disconcerting the crew members. Or maybe it wasn't Pyxie who disconcerted the crew. It may very well have been the large purple dragon landing in the middle of the deck, causing the boat to sway wildly, and for Bix to go sliding across the wooden planks and into a cabin wall. After the crew had regained their wits-- and in some cases, their consciousnesses-- the captain ordered to put down the sails, till the rudder, and all the other good seatalk this author-- er, I mean Arcanis-- couldn't place correctly. "Arrg," the eye-patched captain said, scratching his long, blue beard with a hook grafted where his hand should have been, "it look `te be a long voyage if the wind stays so calm, sir, my apologies," he said in the slurring accent it seemed that all sailors possessed. Arcanis mused on that. Maybe the salt in the air had something to do with it... Arcanis mentally shrugged and stood motionless, concentrating on casting a complex spell. He kept up his barrier to conceal his magical ability. Normally, in Abterrus, it would be considered rude to block one's aura like that, but Arcanis kept it up just in case Lia started getting light-headed again. After all, it was useful. This way no other magic-users, especially summoners, would be able to detect him, and possibly cause trouble. The captain's eye widened as suddenly a strong blast of wind picked up, filling the sails and blowing off his black, stereotypical captain's hat. The captain chased after it, shouting orders for the crew to set sail to Nikeah. As the boat lurched, Arcanis suddenly wished that he could safely levitate. As it was, half the crew would probably abandon ship if they saw him casually(and contently) standing half a foot above the lurching ship. Arcanis sighed and made his way to the railing of the ship as he began to turn a sickly shade of green, suddenly understanding why Leviathan had sometimes attacked ships for no reason, before Abterrus was sealed from Earth. -Arcanis Subj: [ffml] [HD] A dissagreeable journey. Date: 01-01-07 23:38:33 EST From: aramarth@home.com (Drew Woolley) Reply-to: ffml@egroups.com To: ffml@egroups.com Rydia sat in the cabin she had been given on the boat, trying to forget where she was. She remembered once long, long ago, a boat trip that she had enjoyed. At least the beggining of it. The encounter with Lord Leviathan still haunted her dreams. Even after she had realized the reasons behind the incident, the feeling of drowning wasnt one she was willing to try again. So she sat there, in her room, pouring over the tomes of white magic that she had been able to bring with her. White magic was one of the few forms of magic that she had difficulty grasping. She remembered a time when all forms of magic came to her as easily as breathing. Her time among the White magic deficient Summoned Monsters had changed that. *Oh well,* she thought, *I have time to catch up..* She closed the book she was reading with a dull thump and fell backward on the hard cot that passed for a bed. 'I wish this trip would end,'she muttered to herself before she fell asleep, barely remembering to snuff the light spell that she had been reading by.' 0=====================================================================0 Subj: [ffml] [HD] To sail the wide open sea... Date: 01-01-07 22:58:47 EST From: larathia@mcs.net (Larathia) Reply-to: ffml@egroups.com To: ffml@egroups.com, hilliondynasty@egroups.com Boats were a new and interesting experience, Lia quickly decided - and also one that wore thin very quickly. Being from the mountains, the sea was an interesting change - though she knew the sea bordered the mountains to the north. But it was so depressingly *flat* - even taking the waves into account. Why anyone would make a living on the sea was a mystery to her. What was also a mystery was why it was turning Master Arcanis' face an interesting shade of green. Couldn't he fly? Why did he not just fly alongside the ship as much as possible? She herself did not turn green - well, green *er* - but started keeping to the crow's nest and the air as much as possible just so she'd be the first to spot land again. She'd heard tales of the world the avariel had come from, Seromath of the infinite gates, and in those tales were stories of all the kinds of elf avariel had left behind. One kind of elf had evolved to live solely under the waves of the sea. She wondered why they had bothered. What could be more splendid than the view from the upper airs of heaven? Well. The view from the upper airs of heaven *over land*, anyway. The view from above when at sea seemed to consist solely of water, water, water...and a depressingly diminishing view of the shores they had left. It was enough to make her want to cry, except that there was already more than enough salt water in the air. Cleaning it off her wings had become an hours-long nightly chore, and if she never tasted a salty dish again in her life she could die happy. Well. At least she had those mental excercises and spells Master Arcanis had taught her. She had been mightily ashamed to have displayed such fear before the Esper, but it was a knee-jerk reaction she hadn't anticipated. *Of course* he was only trying to teach her - she must rise above her fear and learn to trust. And she'd better get used to dealing with strong magical auras too - surely if there was Something Big going on, as the high priest had said, it would be magical. She hadn't thought it would be so *far away*, though. Who would have thought the world could be so huge, yet so small that one event so far away could shake her homeland? But Master Arcanis was going with the Seducer, so that meant Lia would go too. Espers didn't just *walk around* anymore, they had to be summoned for a short time from a place the Archmages had said sounded a lot nicer than this. It didn't take a genius to figure that Master Arcanis was involved in the mysterious Big Thing - she hoped for the same reason she was herself...to stop it. The Seducer was *strange*, though. Mistress Pyxie was nobody's fool, but she'd invited an *attacker* to come with her. Lia kept a good polite distance from Pyxie; not out of any dislike, but out of distrust of her own ability to counteract Pyxie's natural charms. There was that 'trust' issue again, drat it. But Pyxie was no Esper - did she *deserve* Lia's trust? And that attacker...there was something funny about him. Well, obviously - people don't just barge into other people's rooms stark naked do they? Or wait - she could be being prejudiced again. Maybe that *was* something people did in a Seducer's household. These humans with their higgledy-piggledy manners of doing things! Why could they not just take a flight naked like any sensible avariel did when in the mood? Oh yeah. No wings. Right. Lia shook her head in anger at herself. Now she was assuming humans could fly. If they could *fly* they wouldn't need boats. Irritated, she decided to watch the people on the ship for awhile. It was better than playing tag with the gulls again - at least until she'd got the gull-crap off her boots. There was that oddball again, standing right in the middle of the ship like he didn't want to get wet - but apparently this was better than the air inside the cabins, which she'd heard described as rotting salted meat. No *way* Lia was going in the cabins; way too ceilinged and walled for her tastes. Much better to be out in the open where you could *see* that lightning bolt aiming for your ass. She could handle getting rained on, at least it would help wash the salt off her wings. And the sailors who got stationed on watch duty in the crow's nest didn't seem to mind her presence at all - though they were unusually silent when the wet plastered her tunic to her chest. She wondered if humans would tell her if she violated some dress code. Glancing up, she saw something interesting for a change; larger waves. Presumably that meant a storm would be, was, or had been in the vicinity. Seeing no clouds, she assumed it was a 'had been' - but now she watched in curiosity the strange man who was on a boat but didn't like getting wet. The first chop would send some impressive spray across the bow, and she wanted to see how he handled it. Apparently he hadn't seen it coming, as he stumbled and was splashed with spray. But when the spray cleared he was a *moogle*. Lia's eyes narrowed. They had brought a moogle spy on board! He evidently knew he was in for trouble, too - as he immediately looked up and saw her flying over the ship, staring right at him. She thought she'd never see one of those fat little flying bears move so fast as that one did, darting right for the cabin doors. Well. Let him stay trapped in there while she got the others alerted. It'd be better than a prison cell - for where would he go? And it was a simple matter to freeze the lock; it wouldn't last forever but it would definitely last long enough. She spiraled quickly down to the deck, calling for the only one she knew beyond question was trustworthy and blameless. "Master Arcanis! Master Arcanis! Moogles on board! Moogles on board!" Subj: [ffml] [HD] Into the Storm Date: 01-01-08 19:31:01 EST From: dshumate@bbtel.com (Arcanis) Reply-to: ffml@egroups.com To: ffml@egroups.com CC: HillionDynasty@egroups.com Arcanis closed his eyes, envisioning himself anywhere except where he happened to be. He imagined Abterrus, albeit a sickeningly swaying version of Abterrus. Majestic mountain peaks, grassy fields, and a crystalline, calm lake, all surrounding the tall, secluded tower he claimed as his demesnes and study. Abruptly, reality lurched and the mental image shattered. Arcanis' stomach lurched as well. He snapped open his eyes as a drenching spray of water doused the deck. He leaned back over the ships railing. Logic told him quite clearly a simple swaying motion should have no effect on his digestive system. Of course, his stomach rebelliously spit in logic's face, telling him that the S.S. Leviathan was actually wildly turning upside-down, inside-out, and a number of other implausible directions. "Master Arcanis!" He heard an alarmed voice shout. "Master Arcanis! Moogles on board! Moogles on board!" Arcanis pulled himself upright as Lia landed, composing himself as best he could. "Moogles?" He mumbled confusedly. As Lia nodded frantically, realization hit Arcanis. Of course! Hiryuu! "Lia, wait!" he shouted after the avariel, who had darted towards Pyxie's cabin. Arcanis' found, to his delight, that adrenaline seemed to drain away queasiness as he chased after Lia. Lia stood in front of the door to Pyxie's cabin, casting an ice spell Arcanis didn't think the door would survive, much less very much inside the cabin. It seemed Lia had been practicing the spells he had taught her in their first lesson quite avidly. A large icicle suddenly materialize, streaking away from Lia's outstretched has and towards the door. Arcanis muttered and made a sharp gesture as he strode towards Lia. The icicle melted instantly, inches away from the door, and splashed harmlessly on the ground. "Master Arcanis," Lia started, confused, "we can't let the moogle live! It'll--!" Arcanis cut her off with a gesture. "Lia, listen to me," he started irritably. "Moogles aren't bad guys anymore, okay?" At least, that's what the few espers Arcanis knew who had been summoned to Earth for non-combat purposes had told him. "I know they're your races enemies, but you can't go around killing them on sight, especially when they have done nothing to threaten you. Moogles are members of society now, and killing one of them is the same as killing someone of any other race. Besides, that's not a real moogle, that's Hiryuu. He is cursed with a trigger shapeshifting enchantment from moogle to human, or vice versa." Lia looked at him with a mixture of shock, probably from what he had just told her, and a look of pure fright, probably because, Arcanis realized, this was the first time he had raised her voice to her. He didn't like scaring the girl, but there were a few things they needed to get straight. "And another thing," Arcanis started, wincing as Lia shrank back. "I, nor any other esper, is a god. Immortal, yes, powerful, yes, but not a god. I know that you avariel look at them that way, but if I *were* a god, I'd be pretty pissed at finding out that my people were worshipping lesser entities as if they were equals." Lia seemed to be trying to come up with some elaborate apology, but couldn't manage to get any words out. "Now then," Arcanis said more calmly. "I'm not angry with you, but please don't kill moogles or worship espers, okay?" He waited until Lia managed to recover to nod. Arcanis nodded dismissively, knowing quite well that Lia probably despised him now. *I was too hard on her,* he thought as he hurriedly flew away. *And where did that thing about worshipping espers come from?* Arcanis wondered. It was as if the thought had been implanted in his mind during the tirade. Subj: [ffml] [HD] You want your fortune told? Date: 01-01-08 10:32:33 EST From: larathia@mcs.net (Larathia) Reply-to: ffml@egroups.com To: ffml@egroups.com, hilliondynasty@egroups.com In a universe without gravity, or in fact much of anything but the occasional cottonball cloud or chunk of floating rock, Aerdrie Faenya watched the worlds where her children walked - well, most of the time. Some of the time. As goddesses went, Aerdrie was considered one of the more bubbleheaded ones, almost as likely to be playing tag with the elementals as to be getting on with proper deific concerns. But she'd developed a particular soft spot for her children that were abandoned on the inhospitable Moogle world, if for no other reason than their ability to *always* get things wrong on the first try. Or the second. Or sometimes even the third. You had to admire a race that could survive their own mistakes like that. By rights they should all have died off centuries ago. So, occasionally, she'd drop them a hint and see how long it took them to grasp it. So it had been, not long ago. Sending an unmistakable bad omen - causing every bird in their kingdom to roost in the Temple - had definitely prompted them to action. Where they went wrong was in sending a half-trained mageling because she was the first to show up; Aerdrie had had nothing to do with that. Lia just happened to have a stronger gift of Foresight than any other mage in the kingdom. Aerdrie had *hoped* such an ominous sign would have prompted the priests to call a Council, work together with the mages, identify the *really glaring* problem they were practically standing on, and deal with it. Honestly, sometimes her children were more trouble than they were worth. But at least their boneheadedness had prompted her to pay attention for a while, and so she saw for the first time that the avariel had expanded their pantheon a good deal farther than was wise for them. That would have to be dealt with. Learning from the Espers was fine. Worshipping them as gods was not. Well. She couldn't just manifest down there and berate them. There were Rules, for one thing - her brothers and sisters would have Words with her if she tried something so drastic. And there were gods native to the moogle world who were stronger than she would be alone. Nor could she simply abandon them - again, her brothers and sisters had Views on the gods abandoning their post, as it were. Aerdrie dealt herself a hand of cards, laying them on the air as if it were a board, and considered. In style they were not far from Tarot cards, but *these* cards showed very specific, very important avariel figures. The Emperor was a white-winged avariel wearing a gold circlet - the local King. The High Priestess was a blue-winged woman with a falcon on her wrist. Briefly, her fingers rested on the green-winged Magician card....tapped...no. Thinking, her fingers passed over the black-winged Death card. There were possibilites there, assuming she could decide on a specific target; Death after all had no sting unless one was talking in specifics. First things first; let her children know she was mightily unhappy with them. The mirror of Air through which she watched the moogle world rippled as she touched it. Let them know she was displeased; she would be interested in knowing how long it took them to get *that* hint. * * * * * * * * * Flying over the ship, deeply upset over her Master's chastisement, Lia looked once again back to the lands they had left. Only the peaks of the Phoenix Star mountains were visible, the rest of the land having disappeared over the horizon. So she had a pretty good view of the sudden massing of clouds over the peaks, the tiny flashes of lightning. Her eyes widened in shock - but widened even further in terror as her holy symbol crumbled to dust around her neck. In almost comic haste, Lia aimed straight for the crow's nest and huddled clutching the mast (surprising the sailor currently on watch). There was no way to tell whether her Lady's displeasure would cause a storm over the ship, too. She'd never seen such a storm blow up out of nowhere, and the loss of the symbol only made it definite. Somebody somewhere had screwed up Big Time. She wondered whether Master Arcanis would be willing to see her long enough to help her figure out what was going on. Larathia Subj: [ffml] [HD] Card Skills Date: 01-01-08 15:05:05 EST From: jaypyx@yahoo.com (pyxie ) Reply-to: ffml@egroups.com To: ffml@egroups.com "Wahaha!", shouted Bix as he thwaped his cards onto the table, "full house baby! Try and beat that!" Pyxie and Pokey groaned in defeat. Playing strip poker with a professional like Bix was turning out to be no fun at all. While he was still fully clothed, Pyxie was down to her undies and bra while Pokey had only his boxers and vest on.. "I can't believe you Bix!" Pyxie complained. "Can't you let me win just once?!?!" "Naaaah," boasted Bix. "There's no fun in that. Now which will you take off this time?" Bix waited with eagerness as Pyxie pouted some more. Pokey grudgingly stripped his vest away and tossed it among the pile of clothes behind him. Crossing his arms across his chest, he too turned towards Pyxie with a sheepish smile on his face. Muttering about how GENTLE-men were suppose to let women win a couple of times first, Pyxie pondered the advantages of baring either the bottom half her body...or her top. Just as she deicded that baring top first would be more appropriate, the cabin door busted open and a furry white moogle dashed into the room. Hiryuu screeched to a halt and stared up at the almost naked Pyxie, his tiny antena perked up straight above his head. "Oh how adooooorable!!!" Pyxie quickly reached down and cuddled the moogle to her, laughing at how soft and fuzzy the little bear-like creature was. A faint sqeak could be heard from the face that was burrowed between Pyxie's breasts. I've died and gone to heaven, thought Hiryuu faintly. "Wonder where that chump came from," Bix thought out loud, scratching his beer-belly. "Isn't he so cute, Pokey?" the harem mistress eagerly asked, turning the moogle to face the silent warrior. Something about that thing looks familiar, thought Pokey. He looked into the apprehensive eyes that watched him and frowned. The creature was wearing a vest made out of dragon scales. Why if it isn't Hiryuu! Just can't keep his filthy hands of Mistress Pyxie, that pervert! As Pokey angrily stomped over to where Pyx stood coddling Hiryuu, the sudden lurch of the ship caused everyone to stumble. "What was that?" Bix grabbed onto the stable legs, which were secured to the boat with bolts to prevent it from moving. "Are you ok, mistress?" Pokey held onto Pyx while at the same trying to yank the moogle away from her arms. "I'm fine, thank you," she replied. "Will you stop that? Pokey, leave the moogle alone! He might get hurt if I let him on the ground." With a final tug, Pyxie held tightly to Hiryuu while Pokey just fumed inside. Leaning forward so only the Hiryuu could hear him, Pokey said, "I'm letting you go this time. But if you try any more moves on Pyx, we'll be having moogle soup for dinner. You hear me?!?!" Hiryuu nodded, then turned his white head and burrowed it between Pyxie's breasts again. "Is something wrong?," chided Pyx. "You're turning red again." Pokey just shook his head and helped Bix get onto his feet. Another dip rocked the ship sideways but this time everyone kept their balance. "This must be one helluva storm brewin' outside!" "Bix, let's go and find out what's going on! Pyxie, see if Rydia's ok!" Pokey had to yell to be heard with the noise going on above them. With a nod, all three with Hiryuu clinging onto Pyxie, made their way out the cabin. Subj: [ffml] [HD] Into the Storm Date: 01-01-08 19:31:01 EST From: dshumate@bbtel.com (Arcanis) Arcanis sighed and decided not to try to calm Hiryuu down. Hell, the moogle would probably attack the first person to enter the cabin, though that wasn't much threat. Arcanis had magic, after all, to which fighting skills could not compare. Truth be told, some fighting techniques actually implemented magic, though a martial artist would rather die than admit it. They called it 'chi' or some nonsense, when it was really just mana. Arcanis noted, oddly, that his queasiness had stopped. That was weird. He took a step forward, then back. It didn't return. He was starting to dance a happy jig when the world exploded. Well, at first it seemed like that. There was a violent peal of thunder and lighting, just as a massive waves slammed against the ship. Arcanis caught himself in a levitation spell before he hit the deck, and hastily got to his feet. He peered back the way they had come. The Phoenix Star mountains were visible in the distance, the home of the avariel, as he recalled, and seemed to be the source of an expanding wave of black thunderclouds. In minutes, the clouds swept all the from the mountains, over the long stretch of sea behind them, and past the ship, bringing sudden, driving rains with it. Arcanis, undistracted by the rain, sent a web of mana into the sky above him, feeling that the storm was, as it was obvious, magically induced. He invoked a powerful dispellation spell that should have left the sky blue, and was rewarded with what felt like being struck with an eight-ton carrot. He reeled across the deck an into a cabin wall, cursing and clutching at his throbbing head. Arcanis, when his head had cleared enough to think, gaped openly. No-one could do that! Not Ramuh, not Quezacotl, not any esper in Abterrus or elsewhere, probably not even Kefka, had enough power to summon a storm that fast, control and maintain it, AND defend it so strongly, enough to almost knock him, mighty psionist and Archmage, nearly unconscious. That left one alternative. A god. Or goddess. That was the only explanation. Not all the espers ever born could stop that storm if a deity had started it, so he didn't even try again. "We're all dead," Arcanis muttered, sliding down a cabin wall. -Arcanis From: "Hiryuu" Date: Mon Jan 8, 2001 8:10pm Subject: [HD] Enter Akuryuu Hiryuu detached himself from Pyxie's clevage and headed towards the galley. "There will be time enough for that later." Hiryuu chided himself. He burst into the small area the ship used as a kitchen, and scanned for a possible source of hot water. After digging throught some dirty dishes he spotted a pot of cold soup. "This will have to do" He sighed as his aura sprang to life. Hiryuu cupped his hands at his sides and a small ball of energy began to form between them. Thrusting his palms forward it exploded into a bolt of energy that hit the pot directly in the side. Hiryuu grabbed it and dumped the now boiling soup over his head, growing several feet and filling out his clothes. Grabbing a few packages of saran-wrap® he headed towards the deck. Pokey gave the door another heave. "It won't budge." He gave the door one last shove. "Dammit!" He was pushed out of the way by Bix. Mr Bix charged at the door in his half drunken haze. "GYAAAHHHHHH!!" The door buckled under the tremendous force and finally gave. Pokey and Mr Bix emerged to the chaos on deck to find Arcanis slumped and seemingly in pain. Pokey rushed to his side to check for possible injury. Arcanis shrugged him off. "I'm fine!" he yelled above the raging storm. "I would worry more about that!" Arcanis pointed towards the bubbling black storm that was quickly decending upon them. Pokey nodded as he stared wide eyed. "Oh shit." Mr Bix grabbed the captain by the scruff of his shirt and screamed "Do something!" The captain straightened and firmed his resolve. The look on his face was one made of pure authority and years of experience on the sea. "We're all fucked! abandon ship!" He jumped over the side. Mr Bix stared. "What the.." The Captain suddenly sprang up from the side of the ship, causing Bix to retreat a few steps. He appeared to be suspended by a tentacle wrapped around his torso. The captains screams were barely heard above the din. "Its the fabled squid of the serpent trench! No wait.. its the feared octopus of Ebots rock!" A blast of energy hit the tentacle causing it to release its hold on the captain, who fell harmlessly on the deck. Hiryuu stood with his arms extended and slightly smoking. "Its much worse than any of those" he grumbled. The sea spray sheaned off the water-tight plastic he had wrapped himself with. A second blast of ice hit the appendage and it slithered out of sight. Lia nimbly landed next to Hiryuu. "First the storm and now this.." She turned to Hiryuu. "I'll deal with you later. Do you know what that 'thing' was?" "An old friend" Hiryuu replied. He quickly grabbed Lia and lept straight up, a tentacle making kindling of the piece of deck where they once stood. "Dammit!" Hiryuu thought. "It's me he's after." The tentacles began to spill on deck and tilt the ship under their weight. Setting Lia down, Hiryuu lept towards the demon. "Don't you know when to quit, Akuryuu? METEOR KICK!" Hiryuu's foot began to glow like an object entering the atmosphere as he arced towards Akuryuu. The intense heat melted the plastic wrap right before a wave caught him head on. "Shiiiiiiii--" Hiryuu's voice rose higher in octave until he was silenced by a tentacle that wrapped itself firlmy around him. Arcanis just then recovered his berings and saw the huge monster a few feet away. He immediately charged a huge concussive blast that sent it spiraling into the air. Lia ran to the edge of the deck. "It still had Hiryuu in its grasp!" Pyxie and Rydia burst through the tattered doorway as Arcanis got to his feet. Arcanis looked around. "oops." - HIRYUU Subj: [HillionDynasty] [HD] Oops! Date: 01-01-08 22:44:31 EST From: dshumate@bbtel.com (Arcanis) Reply-to: HillionDynasty@egroups.com To: ffml@egroups.com CC: HillionDynasty@egroups.com * Not much, but I like taking these other chapters and doing them from my char's point of view, if you hadn't noticed. This also defends my character against looking like a bumbling idiot, like he did in Hiryuu's post, heheh, not to mention explaining why he can't just wrap the ship in a calm, protective bubble, which would take all the fun outta this. ^_^ ------------------------------------------- Arcanis wiped rain water away from his brow and looked out as the door to the cabins buckled outward, creaking in agony before exploding outward in a shower of splinters. Bix came out with it, Pokey following close behind. Pokey spotted Arcanis slumped against the wall and rushed to him, trying to check for injuries. "I'm fine!" Arcanis yelled over the storm, pushing Pokey away and vainly trying to ignore what felt like a thousand bolts of energy rebounding inside his skull. *Mental note:* he would have added, if the pain had left room for coherent thoughts. *Do not screw around with the magic of gods*. "I'd be more worried about that!" Arcanis shouted again, gesturing towards the sky so that they would leave him to his massive pain without worrying. He heard Pokey mutter an explicative and Bix scream at the captain. The pain in his head made it so he couldn't hear anything, even thinking felt painful. Arcanis thought nothing even of the captain jumping overboard. At least, not until he reappeared in the grasp of a giant tentacle. Hiryuu blasted the tentacle with a spell-- again, a martial artist would never call it that, but it was a common, albeit powerful, energy beam spell-- severing it and dropping the captain to the deck. Lia, descending from the blackened sky quite dramatically, sent a blast of ice at the retreating tentacle. Another tentacle rushed downwards and Hiryuu leapt away with Lia, just in time to avoid being crushed. *Get up a help them you stupid, idiotic, foolish esper!* Arcanis' mind screamed through the flurry of pain in his head. He watched as Hiryuu flew towards the monster, casting a spell that immolated his foot in flame, and incidentally exposing him to the cold water of a wave as the plastic he had been covered with peeled away. The monster plucked the now-moogled Hiryuu out of the air with ease. *HELP THEM!* Arcanis' mind shouted again. Arcanis fumbled mentally for a spell. Something to cut the tentacle. Something to kill the monster. A levitation spell to free Hiryuu. Anything! But a thousand peals of thunder echoed in his skull. He wasn't even sure if he could light a candle, just then. He knew it would wear off with time, but that was a commodity he didn't have. Arcanis' hand brushed a wand. He remembered it as the one Lia had given to him, but he couldn't recall more than the fact that it was dangerous. Dangerous. That sounded good. At least, to his throbbing skull. He drew it out and unsteadily aimed it at the huge monster, trying to aim to sever the tentacle that held Hiryuu. Arcanis couldn't read the command word on the side of the wand, his vision was too blurred. Of course, he could still invoke it manually. He poured every ounce of concentration his throbbing head would allow into one of the most simple spells he knew, that of invocation. Arcanis felt the wand pulse with power. The spurt of pain in his head the invocation had caused made him convulse, and the wand jerked across as it fired a small, compact orb of pure energy at the midsection of the monster. The quick-moving orb slammed into the monster, and a shockwave of concussive mana exploded outward, throwing the monster flying backwards, so that it disappeared into the driving rain. Arcanis scrambled unsteadily to his feet, dropping the wand as Rydia and Pyxie burst out of the cabin. Lia shouted something about Hiryuu still being held by the monster. "Oops..." Arcanis mumbled, clutching at his head as he tried to think of a more appropriate curse. He stumbled towards the railing, trying to see if the monster was still in sight. Everything fuzzed, and Arcanis' stumbled. He was almost to the support of the railing before darkness washed over his vision, and he blacked out, falling to the slick deck unconscious. -Arcanis Subj: [ffml] [HD] Tentacle Orgy Date: 01-01-09 12:52:04 EST From: jaypyx@yahoo.com (pyxie ) Reply-to: ffml@egroups.com To: ffml@egroups.com "We're going to die, aren't we?" Rydia's trembling voice caused Pyx to keep a calm face, holding tightly onto the childlike summoner's hands. "Naaah, don't worry toots," she said cheerfully, while inside her stomach was cramping with fear. "I'm sure this storm will pass soon. A lil' dunking never hurt anyone!" Pyxie couldn't believe her eyes. A monstrous storm was about to crush the ship and there was Hiryuu being mauled by some tentacles. Pyx looked around for Arcanis, but the poor esper was unconscious, barely hanging onto the railing. A huge wave came upon them at that moment, and easily plucked Arc's body from the ship. "ARCY!!!!!" Before Arcanis was sucked into the ocean, BahamutX's quickly dove and caught him right in time. The two girls barely had time to sigh their relief as they saw Hiryuu continue to struggle with the tentacle. Since Bix and Pokey were hacking away at their own problems, Pyx quickly reach into her hair and pulled out two 8-inch silver hair sticks. With a flick of her wrist, Pyxie sent the sticks flying towards Hiryuu. One stabbed deep into the tentacle on his legs while the other aimed true and wedged into the one by his neck. A tiny click sounded before the tips separated into 3 razor-sharp blades and cleanly sliced apart the flesh of tentacles. Slime splattered all over Hiryuu, but he was too busy detangling himself. Just as he slung the last tentacle off his arm, a brand new one grabbed onto his thigh and dragged him across the deck. Seeing Hiryuu fly overboard, Pyxie made a move to go after him. But she noticed the ugly tentacle making it's way towards her and Rydia. Pyx raised her arms up in the air and focused her concentration to her silver wristbands, a faint glow emanating from them as the danger came closer. The twin hair sticks came flying through the air aiming for Pyxie, but as she lowered her arms down and together in a fluid motion, the sticks separated to the sides and came back in together and pierced the tentacle arms not 2 feet away from the girls. The lifeless end slumped onto the deck while the remaining part of the body slithered back into the sea. "My goddess," exclaimed Pyx. "That was just waaaay too close! Are you ok, Ry?" When no reply came, Pyxie looked down in concern at Rydia. Her eyes widened in surprise. It wasn't a young girl clutching at her skirts now. Subj: [ffml] [HD] Just one bite o' this apple, ma'am... Date: 01-01-09 17:05:56 EST From: larathia@mcs.net (Larathia) Reply-to: ffml@egroups.com To: ffml@egroups.com, hilliondynasty@egroups.com The rain lashed the deck so often there was a constant depth of running water down its planks, yet Lia stood rooted. The storm she had seen massing over the mountains that were Home had come here, too. Whatever it was, it was something every avariel was guilty of. The Lady tended to be specific when meting out punishment. And now she knew what it was that had angered Her so. When Master Arcanis spoke of worshipping Espers, just for a moment, his eyes had glowed blue. Not just the pupils, but the whole eye...bright, clear-sky blue. He had echoed the words the Lady had wanted her to hear, and made sure she knew it. Lia was crying now, but thankfully the storm hid all signs of it. The words said why the Lady was angry, and the storm said in no uncertain terms just *how* angry She was about it. The entire ship was in danger because Lia was on it - but with the storm making flight impossible, how could she get herself away from the others? So preoccupied, she did not notice until too late that Arcanis was not shielding his aura. Reaching out with it, in fact, towards the clouds...Lia reached out an arm, opened her mouth to warn him not to try...but too late. Almost immediately, she saw him grimacing in pain, swaying on his feet. Nor could she concentrate on this, for Hiryuu and the others burst onto the deck. Lia screamed, "Get back below! There is nothing you can do!" - but no one could hear her. The storm winds, the thunder, the driving rain...all contrived to whirl her cries into nothing over such a distance. She could not let them suffer for what was not their fault! But what to do? She was no Jay, vouchsafed the path to the Lady's ear. She could not plead with the Lady to calm the storm. She turned to face them, fully prepared to shove them down below decks again and seal the broken doorway with ice. In the salt spray her ice would not last long - but perhaps it would last long enough.... She was not thinking clearly, or quickly enough. Pokey broke from the others and ran to Arcanis. Lia stepped back, and away - worried that Arcanis would know the storm's cause, and call just blame on her before she could do anything to help. She saw MrBix run to the captain and grab him, presumably shouting...and saw the captain go mad and dive overboard. So she was in quite a good position to see the tentacles. And there was no way she was going to be responsible for any deaths she had any choice on, so she immediately started casting ice lances at the creature - forcing it to release the panicked man. And as Hiryuu seemed to be the only human (hah! weremoogle, and not to be trusted) who wasn't immediately fazed by the sight of it, she risked a quick jump to land beside him. "First the storm and now this..," she muttered, dismayed. She turned to Hiryuu. "I'll deal with you later. Do you know what that 'thing' was?" "An old friend" Hiryuu replied. He quickly grabbed Lia and lept straight up, a tentacle making kindling of the piece of deck where they once stood. "Dammit!" Hiryuu thought. "It's me he's after." The tentacles began to spill on deck and tilt the ship under their weight. Well, at least *something* in this carnage wasn't her fault - but surely the storm had brought it. She saw Hiryuu try one of his magical kicks, and saw his rather clever protection (she knew how tough that plastic was from the results of the Wand) melt in its energy. She was grateful for her enchanted boots that gave her a firm footing in slick places, because another wave washed over the deck and the human became the moogle just in time for a tentacle to grab it. Lia didn't think of hurling more ice at it; it was Hiryuu's problem - and he'd just turned into a moogle again which made it hard to reach out a helping hand. But she *did* see Arcanis draw the Wand of Wonder and aim it, and even invoke it without his lips moving. The ball of energy was quite impressive, and just as effective. A part of her wanted very much for Hiryuu to disappear, taking his cursed moogleness with him...but Arcanis had made it plain he did not feel the same way. So she ran to the edge of the deck...but no sign of the creature. She turned back, and told him. "It still had Hiryuu in its grasp!" Arcanis looked embarassed. "Ooops" was all he said, clutching at his head. He stumbled towards the railing, and was almost to its support before he blacked out, falling to the slick deck unconscious. A huge wave came upon them at that moment, and easily plucked Arc's body from the ship...and lo and behold yet more tentacles came and kept everyone busy. "ARCY!!!!!" Much to Lia's surprise, Pyxie's scream carried over the storm. And before Arcanis was sucked into the ocean, BahamutX quickly dove and caught him right in time. Lia took a quick moment to cast a block of ice that would temporarily bond Arcanis' feet to the deck, hoping he'd come round before his toes got frostbite or the ice was washed away. Pyxie *had* to be new to the fight, but she dove right in - temporarily freeing Hiryuu (though when another tentacle snatched him off Lia didn't much mind) and successfully driving tentacles off. Lia would have clapped, had anyone noticed, and had not numbness started quickly spreading through her limbs. Too much, said a voice in the back of Lia's brain. Much too much too much toomuch toomuchtoomuch.... Too much magic (icicles and frozen locks and cemented feet). Too much rain (soaking through her wings, making them heavy.) Too much seawater (caking salt in her hair, her feathers, slicking the deck, melting her ice). Everyone else was busy, or at least moving, but Lia stood in the middle of a calm place where she could see everything. And everything seemed to be going as well as could be expected given that divine wrath had combined with an old enemy and an inconvenient curse at exactly the wrong time (apparently, to judge by Pyxie at least, during a stripping game of some sort). She turned to the prostrate Arcanis, who was rapidly becoming movable as the salt waves washed over her ice. "And so I must know beyond doubt you are no god, no saint," she murmered sadly, her words lost in the wind and rain. "A god would not have fallen, a saint could have turned back the storm." She watched as the last of the bonding ice melted, and quickly scooped up the prostrate esper before he could be washed overboard again. Who knew where BahamutX was - but *she* was here *now*. And this, at least, she had a direct hand in and could help with. She stepped quickly past all the others, fighting tentacles, her booted feet sure on the slick deck. She got to the ruined doorway that led to the hall of cabins and the galley, and made sure Arcanis was on the 'hold' side. Then she used her ice to seal the doorframe tighter than any door could have, and made it as thick as she had the power to do. She was sure it would still be there by the time the esper recovered, and remembering the fire spell he'd cast she was sure he could free himself. In the meantime, he would be free of the dangers of frostbite and being washed overboard...and one hoped also beyond the reach of the tentacles. Well, if the Lady was angry, she deserved it; Arcanis' speech had probably been dead-on. And if the storm was aimed just at her, then leaving the ship should calm it down again. Lia stepped back to the stern, away from whatever had all the tentacles, and stared into the churning sea. There *was* a spell that turned water into air, and she could probably survive down there for a while. Long enough to let the ship get storm-tossed out of range of her, at any rate. And after the ship was away from her goddess' wrath (though the waves would take longer to die down), she could make a raft of ice to dry out on once the storm itself cleared. Her boots would keep her from freezing, or sliding off. And once dry, she could fly to Nikeah; if there was one thing a flying race had no trouble with, it was navigation - and she knew what the ship's course had been. She looked back, and noted that there were still tentacles everywhere, and everyone else still on deck was busy fighting them, except for Pyxie who seemed to be preoccupied with something (someone?) out of sight. Then she looked back down at the sea. If her teachers back home had been correct, the air bubble would last only a few hours - but surely, with the current winds, that was long enough. Hoping she remembered it right, Lia cast the spell and leaped overboard, into the churning sea. Her final leaving thought was that if all else failed and the storm never cleared over her head, at least she'd be in a damn good position to freeze whatever had all the tentacles. Larathia From: "pyxie " Date: Wed Jan 10, 2001 11:55am Subject: [HD] Smooth Sailin' Hiryuu was gone, the monster with him. Lia had bailed ship, not telling anyone where she was going.. The storm still raged on, ticking everyone off! Bix yelled curses and shook his fist to the black clouds. BahamutX kept a watchful eye on everyone else, unconcerned by the rain and wind splashing on his scales. To him it was just a tiny storm, insignificant really. If worse comes to worse, he will valiantly use his body has a lifeboat. Envisioning a purple blob bobbing on the waves, a tiny bubble of laughter jiggled the dragon's body. "Whatcha laughing at you big oaf?!?!" Bix gave a swift kick to Baha's claw while keeping a death grip on the railing. [Nothing to concern thy intelligent head with. *snicker*] Meanwhile, Rydia was silently battling her own problems. No longer was she frightened by the storm. When she realized that a tentacle was aiming to hurt Pyxie and herself, a simmering irritation started to well inside her. Rydia felt her childlike body morph into her adult form as she struggled with her anger. *No!* she thought to herself. *Summoning Titan or the Mist Dragon now won't help didlly squat with this stupid storm! Now that the monster is gone, the only danger is our ship sinking." Rydia inhaled deeply, gradually calming herself and turning back to her child form. When she looked up, she saw the puzzled look on Pyxie's face and put on an innocent face. "A-are you ok Ry?" Pyx asked anxiously. This was the first time that she had seen Rydia in her adult form, and it quite shocked her to her toes! "Don't worry about me, mistress. I'm not scared anymore!" Plastering a bright smile on her face, Rydia grabbed Pyxie's hand and started tugging her towards the deck in search for Arcanis. Maybe he can figure out how to get rid of the storm. "Umm, where IS Arcy? And Lia?" Both of them scanned the ship deck. A few feet away BahamutX and Bix arguing about something. Pokey was busy untangling the captain and some crew members from the leftover tentacles. A sudden blast from the cabins caused the girls to hit the ground, covering their heads while coughing from the smoke. Splintered wood lay scattered around them. "Oops," Arc quickly walked over and knelt down beside the girls. "You weren't hurt were you?" The deep concern in his voice kept BahamutX from toasting the man for harming his mistress. Bix wasn't thinking in the same line though. "You retarded donkey's ass!!! Whatcha tryin' to do? Cook us alive?!?!" "Well how else was I suppose to get out of the damn room, huh?!" "How the hell am I suppose to know? Do I look like a stupid goddess to you?!?!?!" A ferocious wind burst at that moment, causing everyone to struggle with their balance. Pokey saw the two men facing off. Obviously the stress and tension of the past hours have finally caused them to snap. Leaving the captain to man the ship, he made his way to the group. "Now hold on there," he patiently said. With one hand raised to Bix and the other to Arc, Pokey stepped between the two to get their attention. "Now's not the time to argue unless you relish the thought of living underwater for the rest of your life." Bix and Arcanis both mumbled a reply, keeping their opinions to themselves...for the moment. "Arc, can you please tell us what happened to you? And where did Lia go? And how about Hiryuu?" Arcanis explained how he fuzzily remembered Lia carrying him to one of the cabins and freezing the door to keep him inside. He had a hunch that she did it to keep him safe from the tentacles and from getting thrown into the ocean again. "As for Hiryuu, the last I saw him was when he rushed into Pyxie's cabin." "He's gone, Pokey!" Pyxie suddenly piped in. "I tried to save him, but more tentacles came and dragged him overboard." "He's probably monster bait right now. I wonder if moogle flesh taste any good." Rydia giggled while BahamutX gave the obnoxious man a light whap behind the head with his tail. "Yeow!" Bix grumbles, rubbing his head. "Geez, I was just kiddin'!" Arcanis tried not to let Bix see the smirk on his face and felt a tug on his cloak. Rydia looked up at him and asked if the missing people were alive. "Well little one, I really don't know about Hiryuu." Arcanis rubbed his cheek in thought. "But I sense that Lia's is still alive." "Ha! That snobby she-bird is too stubborn to die so easily!" A loud thump and Bix's angry yell could be heard. They just ignored him this time. "Everyone! Looks like we're passing the storm!" Pokey pointed behind the ship where the mass of thunderous clouds looked like a huge tidal wave upon the sky. The ship's erratic rocking gradually quieted and calmed. "Woohooooo!! We all survived!! Well...except for Hiryuu. At least I hope he survived." Rydia did a victory twirl, causing everyone to laugh in relief. Pokey lifted the green-haired girl onto his shoulders. "Now you can be our look-out, Ry," said Pyx looking up at Rydia. "Keep a sharp eye out for Hiryuu or Lia -k-?" "Aye aye, cap'n!" With a salute, Pokey and Rydia wandered off to where the real captain stood behind the wheels. And so the group resumed on their journey, tried and spent from the struggles that passed. Subj: [HillionDynasty] [HD] Would you like to see my impersonation of Drowned Rat? Date: 01-01-10 15:23:53 EST From: larathia@mcs.net (Larathia) Reply-to: HillionDynasty@egroups.com To: ffml@egroups.com, hilliondynasty@egroups.com Lia hacked and sputtered until the last of the seawater was out of her lungs. The storm had definitely been aimed at her. Given her average competence as a mage, she considered it overkill on the part of her goddess. Once in the sea, her wings had absorbed water like a heavy woolen blanket, and she'd sunk tens of feet before she'd realized what was going on. Her airy-water spell had thankfully worked, allowing her to breathe, but the experience was one she would happily do just about anything not to have to repeat. When lightning had struck the water, she had been grateful for the depth; it had made sure the power of the bolt was dispersed to harmlessness by the time it reached her. So she'd stayed down there until the last disruptions of the surface had cleared - meaning that the rain had stopped. Shortly thereafter the sunlight had returned (proving again that the storm was a summoning), and she had used that as a guide to begin the laborious swim back up. Avariel were never taught to swim; they had all the grace in the water of a budgerigar chucked in a pool. Lia swam by trying to flap her wings, grabing the water with her hands, and kicking furiously. It was slow going, and exhausting work. She'd been panting heavily when her spell expired, some six feet below the surface. Those last six feet would probably come back to haunt her, most likely around 3 a.m. when she was trying to sleep. As soon as she broke to the surface, she spat water until she could gasp out her most powerful ice spell. A part of her was proud she'd pulled it off under such conditions; surely her great-uncle would be proud. A decent-sized iceberg, perhaps six feet across and ten feet down, formed. And then Lia realized exactly what kind of effort was required to get an exhausted, half-drowned, waterlogged avariel onto any floating surface. In the end only fear of returning to the depths had provided the needed strength, and once on her precarious raft, she had stretched flat out on her stomach, heaving water out of her lungs and spreading her wings out to let the water drip off of them. During this, she felt the unmistakable touch of an esper's power, but had no energy left to form thoughts. She was on her ice now, and so long as she could keep it from melting under her, she would not drown. Her boots gave her complete protection from the effects of cold, and allowed her to move on ice as if it were earth; no slipping or sliding. Of course, they were also filled to the brim with water, but she was able to take them off and empty them one at a time before pulling them back on. It was several hours before she was alert enough to sit up and take her bearings, and by then it was well into night. The sea was calm and still, no breezes. The stars over her head said that she was far off the original course of the ship. And her wings would not dry well at night. Shaking her salt-crusted hair at this latest turn of events, she started working on getting the salt out of her feathers. Come dawn, they would be cleaned if not dry, and hopefully the sun would evaporate the dampness away. And then.... She didn't know where Nikeah was; although she could navigate by the sun and stars and had been taught where land was, where mountain ranges and islands and continents were, and all the names...her teachers had never bothered with things like where human cities were other than the trading contact of Tzen. In their experience, few human cities stayed put for even a few hundred years without at least changing their name, and often being completely obliterated by something and possibly being rebuilt somewhere else. She'd just have to follow the course of the ship as she had last known it, and hope that would take her to Nikeah. Even if not, she would at least strike land that way, and perhaps find a guide. And in the meantime, there was all the electrocuted raw fish she could eat, floating in the water around her little iceberg. She wrinkled her nose in distaste, and wished for deer. But it was better than starving. Larathia http://www.mcs.net/~larathia ICQ: 22170253 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Everything you need to know is in there somewhere, you just maybe haven't been to the right group yet. The golden rules are: crossposting is better than multiple posting, killfiles are better than flaming and long signatures are conceited. -- Simon Travaglia, "Most of what I needed to know about life I learnt from Usenet News" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------