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[druidquest]

"It won't be a question when Constantine's armies break your skies and march on your soil," The crow guy interjected.

"Didn't feel like a question to begin with," Mina muttered, squatting in the damp tunnel again. She shot him a dirty look from the corner of her eye. "Kidnapper." He made that noise in his throat again. Something between a sigh and a growl. "What?" Mina snapped, hair whipping over her shoulder with the speed at which she turned to look at him. "What else would you call dragging me into this damp, smelly monster dungeon?"

"There are no monsters here, girl."

Mina stared at him for a moment, before waving her arm out to gesture at him. He just tilted his head and made that noise again. She clicked her tongue in response and looked away.

"I hope you're wrong about these humans being our only option," he sighed, turning back to the blue lady. Mina wasn't convinced these cinema rejects even had names. "Having our power bound to children is... distressing." Mina parrot-mouthed "distressing" while making a face. "...Especially children so unpleasant as this one," Crow Guy added after a moment. She stuck her tongue out at him.

 

[Nellancholy]

As the attendees of this strange gathering watched Hitomi and Isfrid bicker, a sense of...regret? Apologia? crept its way into Fen's head, thanks to her connection with Ryujin. The woman took in a sharp breath of dank basement air, glancing over her shoulder at Ryujin. She had a feeling it'd turn out to be something like this, the moment she mentioned "the coming incursion".

If Isfrid was to be believed (and with all that happened today, Fen was inclined to), there was some powerful evil wizard from the same dimension all these spirits were from, who banished them here at the moment of battle. And they had to get back to prevent him from continuing to oppress their world...or even threaten this one? It's just like one of those stories...

"M-my apologies, L-lady Fen. I-I had hoped to explain to you sooner..."

Fen turned the idea around in her mind. She had little to leave behind here...though she'd still prefer to be able to come back, if the mission ended up involving traveling to that world. Of course they'd be able to come back. Look at them, there were dragons and angels and that demon Ryujin seemed to really hate. That was some powerful stuff. At the same time...the whole reason they were here, disembodied, displaced...was because they already lost once.

And now they were relying on them, the humans of this world...

"Well, I'm..." Fen bit her lip. "I'm not mad at...you guys." She gestured over at the other spirits. "I'm not sure I can be a part of this...but I'm not going to scream and yell at you 'no' either. What you must be going through here is rough, and if there's any chance of finding a way back, of keeping this world out of danger, I'll do everything I can to help. Heck, if there's a way to pair Isfrid up with someone who does want to help, that'd work out, you know?" She shook her head slightly. She definitely wasn't engendering confidence in anyone. "Ryujin...what I'm saying is, wherever this takes you, I'll have your back?"

The graceful woman seemed to flush a bit. "You will have me, in spite of my withholding the truth? The danger you may face? I...I would rather not have been bonded to anyone but you."

 

[druidquest]

Mina visibly recoiled. "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeew, are we bonded?!" she complained, shooting up to her feet and stepping away from Yagi. "I don't wanna be bonded to some weird crow dude I just met like some kind of- of-"

But Yagi paid no attention to her. He leveled his gaze at, contemplating the woman while his feathers bristled in a way that made him seem... unsettled.

"How did you know Isfrid's name?" His voice echoed off the walls despite how quietly he spoke.

Mina blinked at him, looking between Yagi and the pair across the cistern several times. "What are you talking about? She probably just heard-"

"None of us have said our names." He interrupted Mina without sparing her a glance. The beak of his mask pointed toward Ryujin. "Did you tell her?"

 

[Nellancholy]

"Ahem." Ryujin gathered up her sleeves, resuming her more dignified posture. A certain authoritative air emanated from her purple eyes. "Should I not have, Ubyr-dono?" She made a point of not addressing him by name, as was the topic of conversation.

"Uh, sorry if I was supposed to wait for a proper introduction."

"She did not know any of you, and I saw fit to share those I am aware of. After all, knowing one's name makes for proper address when it comes to...negotiation. And we are all allies here, as much as some may wish otherwise."

 

[obscured_light]

"W-W-W-WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL ABOUT IT?" Ramza asked as he examined his hoof with a huff. "I ALSO THINK WE SHOULD SHARE OUR NAMES IF WE'RE BO-O-O-O-ONDED AS SOME HAVE SA-A-A-A-AID."

He looked down to get the same acceptance as Ryujin had from her human only to remember that Nefarius had been unconscious on the ground this entire time. No wonder she had been quiet. Ramza had just thought he had gotten lucky and she had accepted all of this without question. He picked her up from the ground and brushed the grime off her.

"Y-Y-Y-Y-YEAH. I WOULD TOTALLY LOVE TO KNOW RA-A-A-AMZA-A-A-A-A'S NAME," Ramza said in a high pitched tone as he tried to mimic Nefarius' way of speaking. He held her by the collar of her shirt, moving her mouth to make it seem like she was the one talking. He paused, realizing he had just revealed his own name. "I-I-I-I MEAN, NOT RAMZA. THE NOT RAMZA'S NAME... MAN IS HE HA-A-A-A-A-NDSO-O-O-O-ME."

 

[druidquest]

Yagi sighed.

 

[PiePillager]

"All this talk of bonding...I d not like this," Ryugami shook his head. "You all are simply okay with this? Placing human children in the middle of matters they cannot comprehend...May I suggest a shift in topics? Have any of you found something substantial in our quest to return home and put an end to Constantine. Any of you?! .....Aside from Ramza."

 

[Wing06]

Hitmoi chewed her bottom lip. The tension in the air was nearly tangible, and the Spirits began losing their patience with the gathered humans. Bonding with Isfrid wasn't on her list of things to do with her life, but part of her couldn't bring herself to walk away.

Isfrid turned their attention to Ryugami, "No, I woke up to discover Hitomi looking over me before she cooked me a meal. There's been no time for anything else, only questions." The angel sighed and looked at Hitomi, "We may have no choice in who we bond with, but there is some reason we haven't discovered yet. We need you to help us at least protect your world."

"W-what do we have to do?" Hitomi asked softly, trying to find her resolve. It made no sense to her, and she was scared out of her mind, but something told her to trust Isfrid and the other spirits. "I wouldn't be able to accept people getting hurt because I chose not to trust you..." she looked down at her feet, coming to terms with the strange hand fate had dealt her.

 

[obscured_light]

"PE-E-E-E-OPLE ARE GOING TO BE HURT REGARDLE-E-ESS," Ramza piped up, the unconscious Nefarious now over his shoulder. "I-I-I-IT IS MORE OF A MATTER OF WHETHER YOU WILL BE THE ONE TRYING TO STOP IT OR LETTING SOMEONE ELSE TAKE THE RE-E-E-I-INS."

Truthfully, Ramza didn't know if another human could even take the reins to begin with. This was new to all of them and an unwilling partner could make things extremely difficult for them to fight Constantine. Too bad it wasn't the girl on his shoulder. They could have taken her out pretty much instantly. Though if she knew these thoughts, Ramza could find himself in a similar situation to the girl before him. Though it wasn't just the humans who were having doubts.

"THI-I-I-S GIRL WAS MY BEST BE-E-E-ET," Ramza said as he hoisted Nefarious up a little despite being excluded from the question on new news on Constantine. "THO-O-OUGH I FIND IT FUNNY YOU JUDGE US FOR HAVING CHILDREN WHEN YOU HAVE A BA-A-A-BY."

 

[PiePillager]

"Perhaps the fault is my own for not making my plight more readily apparent, but herein lies the issue with me..." Ryugami gently shifted the cloth knapsack over his shoulder to reveal his charge to the others as best he could. "The only one able to sense me is but an infant! I cannot risk her life as you all propose, it is too absurd!"

He let loose a deep sigh. "Ah, but we will talk in circles all day at this rate! I suggest we put this up to a vote. That's the easiest way to resolve this! Let those who are bonded vote as well as they should have a say in such matters before we choose to thrust them headlong into the fire..."

 

[druidquest]

Mina's hand shot up immediately. "I vote against! I refuse to be stuck with a weird crow guy like Yagi." She stuck her tongue out at him before turning back to the others and letting her hand fall. "Besides, I have a moral com... cumpuh... objection to kidnapping and military drafts."

 

[Shy2Infinity]

When the mysterious, angelic being began speaking, it tugged on a chord in her. Somehow, a part of her knew that this was all true. And yet, as she looked from spirit to spirit to the one attached to her side, she found herself begging the cosmos that this was all just some weird, fever dream. Because there was no way that she had something to do with not just saving her world, but these spirits worlds too! That was something straight out of a fantasy book! Or an Isekai. Or... Something.

Something that should have nothing to do with her.

Her fingernails were sinking into her arms. Panic. This was complete, and utter panic. Suddenly, being surrounded by this many people and spirits was not doing so good for her sensitivity. Her eyes fluttered shut as she breathed in, and then breathed out. Over and over and over again, until her racing heart had been able to slow its pace.

Shina sighed and grimaced as they brought their focus back to Ryugami. "I will say, ever since I came to this world it felt like I was in a daze. One that I couldn't force myself out of. I felt like little more than a wandering specter. Or that I couldn't fully 'wake up'. But then I met this girl," and here they gesture to Madeline. "and I felt a jolt right through my system and I was able to fully 'wake up'." They look away, frowning off into the distance. "Normally I wouldn't suggest that civilians fight our own fights, adult or child. But..." They were too prideful to admit that they were feeling just a tad desperate to end the mad emperor's reign before it was too late.

"Well, I want no part of this." Madeline raised her hand, glaring openly at Shina. "Let's say this isn't all just some freakin... I dunno, a shared delusion? You're still asking us to potentially lay down our lives! You can choose someone else!"

Shina's jaw clenched. "I don't believe we have the luxury of choice anymore."

 

[egglover]

The storm drain, which led directly to the ocean, was nestled into the side of the cliff beside Shari's house. It had just so happened that she was walking along the beach when she spotted several extremely suspicious figures disappear into the gated drain, but it was hard to tell who they were through the large rocks that bordered the drain. Curiosity grasped Shari, along with the strange memory of a water creature that had appeared that afternoon, so quietly she began to tiptoe toward the drain under the cover of dusk. As she approached she heard many voices and frowned.

"....moral objection to kidnapping and military drafts."

"....You're still asking us to potentially lay down our lives!..."

A baby cooed. Wait...a baby?!?! Kidnapping, military drafts and sacrificing children?! Holy shit! She should call the police!

Just as Shari pulled out her phone and was dialing the emergency number she found her hands shaking so badly that she fumbled and dropped the phone on the rocky surface of the beach. Almost immediately the conversation halted at the sound. Echoing in the dank darkness that the group found themselves in, a female voice began to talk from the phone:

"911 whats your emergency? Hello? Police, ambulance or fire brigade?"

 

[DarKnight36]

"W-what do you have to say about this, Aika?" Fiona asked cautiously, staring up at the warrior. "I'd have a hard time believing the story, yet... here you all are."

"Hmph," Aika said, arms folded. Fiona couldn't see his eyes through the visor he wore, but perhaps he was staring at the others. He raised his voice. "Are all the citizens of this world so weak-willed?" The warrior stepped forward. "Whining and complaining won't help you. You'll all die anyway when the real Constantine, Emperor and Dread Mage, appears again. He destroyed our world, much to my annoyance, and pretending it is a vision or dream will not help you when true hell breaks loose around you."

Fiona looked down as Aika glanced at her. "If we are truly bonded, then you are not fighting with your own strength, you are fighting with ours." Aika stared at the other warriors who he had fought alongside. "Do none of you have confidence in your abilities? Danger & death is coming! There is no place for cowardice!"

 

[Nellancholy]

"I-I'm not scared, or unconfident." Fen looked at the disconsolate dragon and the large, hairy warrior. She really wasn't, but she was also having the tiniest bit of trouble forming words at the present. "I-if Ryujin has my back, I'll have hers."

"It is all I can do for the people of Denkoshima to renew this fight. It is what I have, after..." Ryujin suddenly stopped. A certain sensation of regret crept into Fen's mind, an unspoken loss and grief that Ryujin had yet to share with her.

"Well!" Fen raised her hand, like a student about to answer a question. "I vote in favor...of my own participation at least. We're not going to be the ones to force anyone else to fight." But she looked back at Mina. "I-I think those against should stick around for a while, though. Until we figure out this whole...bonding situation."

 

[Wing06]

Hitomi sighed. She'd heard enough. All this talk of bonds, power, and war? It was enough to make her head spin. Yet, the undeniable gnawing in the pit of her stomach told her she was meant to be in this place with these other young women and fantastical creatures. Was it to save the world? Was it to be killed like a lamb at slaughter? Time will tell.

"Fine, I'm in...doing nothing when presented with the power to make a difference is the same as taking that mad emperor's side. I won't let our world be turned to ruin."

"You've made a wise decision, and the one I knew you would make, Mistress Hitomi." Isfrid praised.

 

[obscured_light]

Ramza was a little distracted as the others made more talk. Nefarious was starting to wake up and amidst the chatter and resolutions, he heard a woman's voice asking questions completely not relevant to the situation.

"W-WHO IS THA-AT?" he asked, wondering if it was just his sensitive hearing as he looked around. Nef began to squirm on his shoulder as she heard someone say something about wise decisions. It made her pause, wondering if letting the ghost demon beast goat know she was actually awake. It didn't matter as moments later he was dumping her back onto the floor with a loud THUMP so he could find the mysterious hidden woman.

She groaned as she picked herself up and brushed herself off. Her eyes slowly wandered up, noticing the dank darkness, and the assortment of people and other demon beast things that somehow no one was freaking out about.

Was she actually seeing this or was it a concussion?

"Hello, fellow summoners," she said casually in case this wasn't just some fever dream. "We almost done here or uh, should I call my boss and tell him I'll be late coming back from my lunch break?"

"HE-HEL-L-LO?" Ramza asked faintly in the background.

 

[druidquest]

The cistern fell silent for a moment as the unconscious girl became conscious again. "Fellow summoners", huh. Mina could almost feel Yagi want to object to that, but instead he just made that noise in his chest again and looked away.

"I suppose so," he answered, not bothering to spare the Constantine girl a further glance. "Standing here arguing back and forth is pointless. Aika and Shina are right. If there was a choice, it's already passed. The war will come, and you all will fight. It's only an issue of time."

Mina stomped her feet and planted her hands on her hips in indignation, rounding on the spirit one last time. This whole situation was absurd, and this guy's stubborn refusal to accept any sort of objection was obnoxious and infuriating. "How the- How are we supposed to fight?!" she demanded, squaring her shoulders in an attempt to make herself appear even slightly taller. "None of us are- Some of us aren't even adults! That guy has a baby!" She pointed accusingly up at the grate. "Why even bother with us at all? Go to the government, or the military, or- or-" Mina spun on her heel, gesturing widely to one of the drain outlets. "Someone just called the cops on us! You could try them!"

Her hand dropped. Hair hung in her face, a few strands clinging to her lips. She blew a breath at it, which accomplished not much of anything, so she brushed it away with her hand. She looked around at the others for a moment, catching her breath as thoughts whirled in her head. She should get home soon. Had she left her bag at the cafe? Shouldn't-

"Is it a good idea to let the goat guy check on that by himself?" she asked, voicing her last thought.

 

[druidquest]

Arna’s hands chafed inside her bindings. Black stone, the same make as the tower, fully encased her hands and feet, keeping her suspended high enough that the leg-like tendrils of her segmented, insectoid tail barely reached the ground if she really strained to reach it. She twisted her hands inside the cuffs, but made no attempt to pull them free- she had tried, many times, but had only succeeded in nearly dislocating her shoulder.

The mad emperor paced slowly below, the sound of his shoes striking the surface of the floor crisp and clean. His eyes had remained fixed on this fissure between the stars for the past several days - Arna suspected he was sustaining himself with the power of the Oblivion Needle. Food and water had been brought in, twice a day, each day, but only ever for her. The emperor had eaten nothing, had not slept, had not left the top of the spire at any point that she had seen.

All he did was watch the fissure, mutter to himself, occasionally raise a page into the air to scribble more notes before letting it fall back to the floor. Arna couldn’t tell exactly what was catching his interest enough that he felt he needed to make a note of it; the view through the fissure didn’t change much, only switching between the same subjects.

Subjects she recognized, of course. Subjects she was glad to see, even if she couldn’t reach them. The others had survived their trip through the fissure, for the most part. Most of them, anyway. There was one face the fissure had stubbornly refused to follow yet, who didn’t appear even when her companions gathered together.

Arna hoped they were alright.

“Well, would you look at that!” Constantine remarked, raising his hands up toward the fissure. “Finally, something new.”

Arna’s eyes were drawn back up toward the fissure. It showed somewhere dark and damp, a cave or tunnel system of some kind. It was a familiar sight - the others had gathered there or in places like it some few times since making it to that other world - but this time they weren’t alone.

There were humans with them, some quite young. Her brow furrowed. “Who are they?” she asked, before she could stop herself.

“Like I said, something new.” Constantine didn’t seem to mind her interruption. “It’s so… strange, isn’t it. Fraternizing with the children of their enemy. What are they for, do you think? Sacrifices, maybe? Food, or- or-”

He scoffed at his own joke. A page whipped into the air, presenting itself at his side. The emperor’s hand hovered just over it as he gazed heavensward, words scrawling themselves onto the paper’s surface of their own accord.

“No, this is progress. Good, good progress,” he mused to himself. “Our little test subjects have been performing a lot- a lot better than I expected, actually.” Constantine glanced up at Arna as he spoke, turning away from the fissure and pulling up various pages to find the ones he wanted.

“I really thought they might just die, to be honest. But no, not- not dead, not yet anyway. Well, most of them. There’s one- one missing, sadly, but not everyone can impress.” Arna spit at him and he deflected it with a flick of his hand, not looking in her direction. “Still, the- the- Oh, what would you call it? Immaterialization? That they underwent upon arrival is- it’s something, I’ll say that. I was wondering how I might- might work my way around that. But I- I think they might have given me an idea.”

Constantine turned on his heel, gesturing at the fissure again. “They can touch things, but not people, that’s what I assumed were the laws we were operating under, but it- it looks like that wasn’t entirely the case. Ex- exceptions to the rule, I suppose. I wonder what makes this bunch different. All women, I notice. Maybe. The baby could be an exception? Still, though. Is- is that important? No- no, that would be absurd. Well- maybe?”

He brought page after page up to his face before flicking each away again. “No, maybe- maybe I need more experimentation. The- the bit with the exceptions to the people rule is too hit and miss, it would take too- too long to work with. I suppose I should just focus on the object manipulation for now.”

He huffed, planting his hands on the back of his hips. “The immaterialization, though. Your little alliance really did a number on my guys, I’m not really sure I can risk losing more just yet. I’ll- I’ll need a different sample population to start from. Any- any ideas?”

“Could always try throwing yourself in,” Arna suggested. “See what effect it has on creepy old corpses.”

“Hurtful! And- and very rude,” Constantine chastised, wagging his finger at her. “A- a princess should know better than throwing insults. Really, what did your father teach you?”

“Fuck yourself.”

Constantine flinched back, doing a double take. “He- he taught you that? I- I hope you weren’t too- too young of a child, that… I mean, I’ve heard your kind were savages, but that’s-”

“UGH! Fuck you!”

Constantine blinked, cut off mid sentence. “... Ah.”

“Ah, I see. You were just- just shouting profanity at me. Very mature.” He heaved a sigh, looking about the space. “No, I- I suppose that’s to be expected. No decorum from insects. Or- well, I suppose you’re just mad about your little plan failing. That’s understandable. But- but really, you shouldn’t let it get to you. You were never going to win this, not- not when-”

He faltered, his eyes stuck on the stairs leading back down the tower. He started to point, then brought his hand up to scratch his head instead. “Well. Well that’s- I mean. I mean, I suppose-”

“Do you stumble over your words like this when you give public speeches, too?” Arna spat, craning her neck to try and see the emperor behind her.

“No, I don’t- I have people for that,” Constantine muttered, too distracted by the thought forming in his head. “What do you know about necromancy?” he asked suddenly, twirling back around to face her.

Arna’s restraints spun her around so fast she heard her neck crack. “Ow.”

Constantine waved his hand at her to answer the question, sparing no thought for any potential injury or whiplash she might have sustained from the magical manhandling. “Oh, come now, I know you were with that- that- the faceless vampire freak. What do you call them?”

Arna breathed sharply through her nose, tilting her head this way and that to stretch her neck. “Ubyr.”

Constantine snapped his fingers. “That’s the one. You do know what I was talking about. Go on then.” Arna remained silent. The emperor waited several moments for her to say something, before finally clicking his tongue and continuing on his own.

“Its- It really is remarkable, those things. ‘People.’ This whole- they pour so much effort into manipulating the dead, such- such surgical precision, tender, almost reverent care, and- and for what? And then- and then we learn the practice, by- from one of their own! And start using it for a genuine, practical purpose. And they act like we fucked their mother, pardon my language. It really does just- just befuddle me.”

He huffed, shaking his head and planting his hands back on his hips. “Story of the whole world, isn’t it? All these monsters with their little kingdoms, hoarding their little magics, and none of them realize what they have.” He shot Arna a look as though only just remembering she was there. “Well, the- the ones who have magic, I suppose I should say.”

He sighed again, his face slowly tracing upward as though the fissure were pulling on it like gravity. “What- what was I saying, again?” He asked after a moment.

“You’re a prick?”

Constantine rounded on her, raising his finger again. “We- we need to work on your mouth, young lady. It’s very unbecoming. Necromancy! That’s what I was saying. See, you did help me.”

He cleared his throat, waving his hand out over the floor. Several pages floated up, presenting themselves in a line before him. “Yeah, necromancy. I’m- Well, I’m not sure it’ll work, honestly. We’ve seen what the crossing does to physical bodies, it- it could have much… much worse effects on naked souls. Still, the little lady empress did do me the favor of providing such a large sample base to pull from. It- it would be disrespectful of me to let it go to waste. And you- you know what they say, about nothing being ventured.”