Fantasy Cursed Island

[Darkling0096]

Jerry chuckled and got up briefly to turn out the light before crawing into bed after Asta, snuggling up against the chimera for warmth.

-----------

Now both eyebrows were raised. "Well then. I've got some surprises for you too." He pushed off of the tree to go work on something and check on Emil once again.

 

[Fangs9090]

Asta smiled and likewise cuddled against her.

—————

Erina giggled. “You’re getting me excited.” She headed back to her loom.

Niudisa was still fluttering around near Emil, keeping watch from outside the barrier.

 

[Darkling0096]

"Any progress?", Adran asked when he got to Emil's table. The little bard hadn't moved much, or at all as far as he could tell.

 

[Fangs9090]

“Not really. He hasn’t moved and there hasn’t been any physical change. I have noticed that his mana pool seems to be growing. Whatever this thing is, it’s giving him power.”

 

[Darkling0096]

"What do you mean 'growing'? You sure this isn't a possession?" Adran worked the spell for True Sight and took a look himself. Sure enough, the mana signature for the little bard had almost tripled in strength. If it kept growing at this rate he'd be an esper by morning. "Can you slow it down, at all?"

 

[Fangs9090]

“I can drain his mana, but I can’t do anything about the size of his mana pool.”

 

[Darkling0096]

Adran prodded at the barrier to check its strength, "We might have a problem if his pool keeps growing." Generally speaking, ones pool didn't really develop while drained, so "See what you can do about draining his mana." Niudisa's pool was massive, based on what Adran was seeing Emil's wouldn't be enough to put the fairy in danger, and as fey they could handle more mana than most.

 

[Fangs9090]

“Alright.” Niudisa got out one of the many vials of hydra blood she’d collected. She only took a little bit before putting the vial away, using the blood to channel her magic. It took her a moment since she had to cast through the barrier, but she was soon siphoning mana from Emil.

~~~~~~~~~~

Emil, in his head, had just finished another song lesson. He was glad he couldn’t get tired here, as there was a lot to learn.

Aria smiled and applauded. “Well done, well done. You’re making good progress.”

 

[Darkling0096]

Once the mana pool was dimming, no longer growing but draining," Adran's shoulders dropped, calmer in this situation. If something happened to Emil Veo was going to kill him.

Beri padded by to look for Asta, but not finding the chimera, he instead went to look for Fia, and found himself entranced in the story Nyah was telling, Lyak had beaten him to it for a while now. Unfortunately, it was the tail end, and Nyah soon finished the story and closed the illusion. "That's it, guys." She smiled and ruffled hair, "Time for bed."

 

[Fangs9090]

“Alright. At least now if he suddenly bursts with magic, it won’t be as bad.”


Shuffle smiled before letting out a yawn. Fia glanced at her. “Guess it’s bedtime.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Emil dipped his head. “Thank you. I feel like I’ve learned...” He trailed off as a strange sensation passed over him. Like being tired but not quite the same. “Ugh, what is that...?”

Aria glanced around. “Hm... I think your friend may be trying to interfere. They likely don’t know what’s going on.”

“Ah, right. I hadn’t considered how they would be reacting...”

“You’ve learned a lot already. Perhaps it would be best for you to wake. You can learn the rest when you sleep.”

 

[Darkling0096]

Adran nodded, "If we keep his pool from growing, he'll be in less danger."


"Come on, children," Nyah led the little ones towards the children's tent.

 

[Fangs9090]

“Yep...”

Shuffle got up and followed along with her. Fia and Raine went as well, despite the fact that they weren’t really children. They didn’t feel out of place.


As Emil lay on the table, he started to move, shifting just a little before opening his eyes. “Mm... Whoever’s doing that, I’d like to request that you stop...”

 

[Darkling0096]

Lyak didn't go into the kids' tent, going to find Erina like she normally did to sleep in her pile of spools.


"Emil!", Adran slammed his hands down on the table, "Am I talking to Emil or the asshole possessed him?" Adran was not afraid to perform an exorcism right there if he had to.

 

[Fangs9090]

Erina was just wrapping up her work for the day, glancing over at Adran’s yelling.


Emil shook his head. “I am not possessed. And please stop shouting.” He sat up, pausing as the pebble dropped in his ear. “Gah. What..?” He tilted his head, reaching a finger in to try and fish the pebble out.

 

[Darkling0096]

"When we first found you, how did I kill everything in the room to get you out?" Just saying you weren't possessed was rarely good measure to confirm it.

 

[Fangs9090]

“Fireball. If not for Jerry’s enchantment, you would’ve incinerated us both.” He let out a grunt as he got the pebble out, flicking it away only for it to bounce back at his nose.

 

[Darkling0096]

"It's Emil," Adran backed away, "Jerry put a barrier circle around you in case whatever was in you decided to come out, hang on, I'll let you out. He started scraping at the runes tobreak the circle.

 

[Fangs9090]

Niudisa lowered her arms as she stopped the mana drain. “What is it anyway? Or do you know?”

“Ah, she’s a spirit, of sorts. She’s become my muse.” He looked past them to where he could see Aria swimming through the air. To the others, though, there was nothing there. Niudisa could only just barely feel a presence, but she couldn’t locate it.

 

[Darkling0096]

"What's that, like a patron?", Adran rolled his eyes, "You touched a cursed item, Emil, and we never got Jerry to identify what it did. It might be messing with your head."

 

[Fangs9090]

“Sort of like a patron, but specific to a bard or other artist. She augments my creative ability and lets me use more advanced bardic techniques. And the item is not cursed, it was simply corrupted when we found it.”

 

[Darkling0096]

"I don't care what it is, that thing couldn't be removed from you, and that's a property of cursed items," Adran shook his head, "Unless you want me to go wake Jerry up and she can figure it out."

 

[Fangs9090]

“I doubt she would appreciate that. But I’m fine, really. If anything I feel better than before.”

 

[Darkling0096]

"Fine, but you better go see Veo, she's been panicking all day," Adran pointed at Veo's tent, "And she's pissed at me for what I had to do to keep her from making things worse."

 

[Fangs9090]

"Ah, right." Emil took a breath before hopping off the table, only then noticing he was still gripping the violin in his sore hand.

Aria spoke up. "You can set it down. It's fine."

Emil gave a nod as only he heard her and placed the violin on the table before heading for the tent, bracing himself for...anything. He wasn't sure how she'd react. Possibly scold him for touching the violin against her warning. Possibly snap his bones in an embrace. Likely both. He took another breath as he looked into the tent.

 

[Darkling0096]

Once the violin was on the table, Adran put a spell bubble around it to keep anything else from getting into it.

Inside the tent, Veo looked up from the bed where she'd been sitting and wringing her hands. When she saw Emil, a teleport spell would have been slower and hit with less force than when Veo tackled Emil into a bone-crushing hug.