Disgaea H: The Lust Rebellion

[Voff]

"Ahh, sorry about that", Sander say while scratching the back of his head, "Tend to be a bit clumsy at times". Their transportation to the next realm might give some new results though. "Oh, hi there", Sander responded as a unknown figure approached the two mages. The shear size of fellow made Varen think that if this is going to be an obsticle it might be best solved without violence, "well we're just a bit curious of nature and came here to explore a bit, not meaning to be of any inconvenience". Land of harboured souls? Would that make this fellow one of these harbored souls? And is there anything interesting to be learned from them? For each tidbit Sander learned about this place it would seem dozens of new questions would appear. "Who might you be"? Sander asked hoping to see if he could get somewhere with some simple conversation.

[MelissaB]

"Of course i was screaming i was being attacked!" Delzia glares before casting her gaze down. "i'm sorry but i'm not making it up. purple fog surrounded me then i was in some sort of arena and this hue warrior attacked me couldn't even use my own weapon to defend myself it became too large to wield."

[LoneWolf]

Draco blinks for a moment as he suddenly finds himself in the next level, then shrugs in response to Sander's apology. "It almost feels like something is trying to hurry us along. Things just seem to be happening out of nowhere."

He turns his attention to the towering figure approaching them. There's a big, skeletal guy with an oar challenging them, and the next portal seems to be in a boat - that can't be a coincedence. Presumably this is some kind of guardian, but does that mean they'll have to fight him or what? The man's words sound like they're some form of ritual challenge; how he reacts to Sander's reply might tell them whether that's 'ritual' in the sense of a guard's 'Halt! Who goes there?', or 'Ritual' in the sense that might be expected from, say, a magical guardian found in the Item World of a mysterious, arcane book. For now, he contents himself with watching and waiting for the giant's answer.

[That_One_Guy]

When Garian had left, he had gone to the Rosen Tent to see if they had new stock, and when they did, he realized he didn't have enough Hells to get what he wanted just yet and sighed, "I'll be back, mark my words." He said to the items and turned away towards the Interdimensional portal, "Alright, let's get this over with, grab and go." He told the keeper of the portal, smiling.

[Goryokaku]

Kal satisfied with her new spell headed towards the portal room, Taria had mentioned she had a job but Denmar wanted a rest first. So Kal had decided to wait where they were likely to set off from till then she would try to calm her body down somewhat.

[MiscChaos]

Mana raises an eyebrow at Hister's lack of answer, but she's fairly certain that if the beetle woman didn't want to, she'd at least say something quick like "No" or something to that effect. She figures it's better to follow then ask again right now, so she follows Hister to the Courtyard. With how the space looks, she's almost certain that her challenge has been accepted, but she wants to be 100% sure before she makes a move. To that end she places her right hand on Sekai kiri's hilt, signalling her readiness to start, but willingness not to draw at all if she's misinterpreted things.

[Taria]

Book of Souls: Level 2
"I am Charon, the ferryman of souls. You are more than just a curious traveler, your deceit does nothing for you. Knowledge however, can be it's own punishment." Charon slowly drags his oar through the sand as he steps onto the small boat and it creaks under his weight. He stand at the head of the boat, his oar resting placidly against the ground as he make no further movement. "There is but only one way to go. This way brings a tale and a curse."

Delzia
"There was nothing in there." Contests Aiya, "What could have possibly been attacking you? You were alone in the room, holding onto that wierd orb like your life depended on it." Aiya calmly struts through the halls of the somewhat empty feeling castle that is her home as she speaks. You begin to notice the others walking about as the two of you come near the main room once more, everyone seems to be either heading away determinately or wandering about in a confused maner.

Portal Room
Claravoy begins charging up a spell as Garian speaks to here. She closes her eyes and lifts up her arms in a meditative poses as she goes to stand beside a curious-looking Alrune girl who is tenderly clutching a large ominous looking book. Suddenly a jolt of lightning zips from the portalway, directly towards Clara's body and she falls over with a tiny shriek. "Clara?" Empee asks as she looks around blindly. "Uhh... I'm okay." Claravoy responds. "Umm... I'm really sorry Garian, I think this may take a while. This isn't the normal type of travel that I'm used to... Though, in the meant time Empee here can help transport you into some items if you are seeking to improve your equipment." Claravoy pats her arm onto Empee's shoulder and she jumps in surprise at the unexpected touch. "Yes... I am the resident Item Worlder for Queen Taria." She announces pushing her apparently pointless spectacles against the bridge of her nose.

Anamana
"Always so eager to fight." Hister states calmly as she stands across the field from you. "Demons these days are all drive and no discipline." Hister looks off into the sky with a distant expression as she crosses one pair of arms across her chest. "You may come at me if you wish, but do not expect things to turn out as you plan. This is the type of fight you cannot win."

Mako
You wonder about aimlessly until you finally arrive in the kitchen. It is pretty much empty, with the fridge all the way at the other side of the room. You think you hear something shuffling and get the feeling you are being watching. Maybe it's just your imagination...

[Laughing Hyena]

Lucien in the meantime would remain seated however he turned his head when he heard a familiar voice now speaking nearby. He had his lip curl into a faint smile recognizing Aiya, the daughter of Lady Taria and the first person he had the fortune to run literally into. Some would consider it pure suicide to remain close to a woman like her but hey a demon should live dangerously or he ain't living at all. Sides if he bites the dust he might as well be happy. Standing up he would put his book aside and approach Aiya and Delzia whom seemed to be having a heated argument. Lucien was many things but even he knew better then to approach a pair of girls when an argument was currently happening. Of course it could have been far too late for him to try and turn away now.

[Voff]

A bit of a gloomy fellow this one. The whole situation seemed a bit fishy to Sander, but there seemed to only be one way forward. "As he says that seems to be the only way forward and of course it doesn't come without a price", Sander said to Draco, "well, I haven't come this far to turn back and nothing is ever free". Always eager to learn more, he added with a smile, "well I am always up for a good tale so I'll chance it. What about you Draco"?

[That_One_Guy]

Garian sighed, he should have known that this would get complicated, "No, I will later." He said and smiled, "Thank you for your help, you two, and if you ever need anything, anything at all, just ask." He told them with a bright smile and turned away, he will go and speak to Taria about it, even if she was doing something important, this was also important.

[LoneWolf]

"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but no-one ever died of a surfeit of it." Draco's first comment is aimed as much at Charon as at Sander, then he turns to reply to the other mage directly. "We haven't even reached the first hurdle yet. I'm not about to turn back the first time we hear of difficulties ahead." Suiting his actions to his words, he walks forward and steps onto the boat behind Charon.

[MiscChaos]

"In my eyes, there are two different types of fights: Fights in which you must win and fights in which you must learn. Oftentimes, these two kinds of fights meld, but I believe it is important to know the difference and when each type of fight occurs. Therefore, I don't go into this fight expecting to win, only to learn." Mana explains, just so Hister knows where she's coming from before she kicks off, coming at Hister with maximum speed to transfer momentum to her strike, a simple horizontal cut across the body to start things off. She's not trying to kill Hister after all and Anamana only has two modes: Training and Killing. So if she's not in Training mode... well, she wants to be 100% sure Hister can train with her Killing mode before she switches to it. This blow should help prove decide that point.

[Zeus Kabob]

After finishing his meal, Denmar heads to his room, but hears HIster and Anamana outside. Looking out, he sees Anamana's first attack.

'Ah, it's another recruit challenging Hister it seems. She never seems to catch a break.', he thinks to himself.

'Anamana seems fairly impressive, so this should be an interesting fight.'

He steps outside and stands at the edge of the arena they've started in.

[Zender_Solarheart]

Having trekked his way to the kitchen, Mako finds the area completely empty. Figuring he might as well help himself, he starts walking towards the fridge...but then, he gets that familiar gut feeling. The feeling that came as a side-effect of his training...the feeling that he's being watched from the shadows. Unlike most, however, Mako's "being watched" sensation is a bit more accurate. If he feels it, 999/1000 odds say there's really someone there.

Turning around to look at where his gut tells him the observer is, Mako raises his arms in a defensive stance, ready to fight if need be. At present though, he'd prefer to just have his meal in peace...

[Taria]

Lucien
Delzia seems either upset or preocupied with something else as she wanders off into some othe direction, leaving Aiya as the only one you end up approaching. She turns her attention away from the diesengaging Delzia and back towards you with a curious expression. Her wings folds against her shoulders and back demurely as she tries to hide her face. "Oh... um, hello. You're that guy from ealier, aren't you? Celtor?" Aiya does not have a book with which to hide her face this time, however her demeanor does not seem to be much changed.

Book of Souls: Level 3
The duo step into the boat, activating the portal as it hums lightely and then disappears. The invisible walls that seem to limite the space between level disappears as Charon begins rowing his boat forward, and it is understood that this path is now the next stage. "Long ago, there was a devourer." Charon begins to murmur grumbley, his voice seem low and almost hoarse. "A creature that new nothing but hunger. However, it did not exist withing the physical realm, as most things do. Instead it was more of a being of energy. As such, no physical foe could oppose it. No physical prison could contain it. So, ancient mages decided to use something else. They created a prison, an entire realm that existed outside the bounds of the physical world. The Devourer unfortunately, was not so easily contained. Many many souls were consumed, and even more imprisoned. In this place, innocene has no meaning. All things here are tainted by the beast. My duty has always been to harbor lost souls, and as such I lead them to this prison. However, those that arrive here no longer need use of my services, this remains their home." As the boat flows down the river, the two of you slowly notice a greater abundance of ice crystal formations, and the faces of humanoid being appear to become more and more appart of the unusual structure to this castle. As you continue further, deeper into the fortress, the progression of figures can be seen telling a story of slowly being consumed into nothningness while trapped in a glacial prison. The further in the river goes, the "fresher" these souls appear to be. Eventualy Charon begins to become ethereal and faded, before disappearing entirely while the boat floats onwards on its own.

Garian
You turn away from the portal room and begin treking up a long flight of stairs that your presume leads to the master chambers. It's seems like such an incredibly long way up, and goes through several twists and turn seemingly without any reason other than providing more direction for one's path to branch off and become more lost in the process. Finally you reach a tall, steel door, colored a warm pink and stylized with an elegent heart motif. The door seem firmly locked, but there is a knocker.

Anamana
Hister seems to move sluggishly as the adrenaline of combat kicks in. Your body moves forward at high speed, yet the sense of urgency seems completely lost on her. As if in slow motion, she steps to the opposite direction of your swing, never making it far enough to completely escape the arc of your strike. Your body follows through as you make a wounding slash across her torso. You are unable to stop your momentum as you find a sturdy elbow directly in the path of where your face should be, and you are knocked aside reeling with a firm blow as if your blade had never made contact in the first place. A lesser trained warrior would have probably lost their grip of the sword from such an impact. Hister remains standing there impassively, making to movement to stop your recovery while bleed drips down her belly.

Mako
You follow your sharp sense and turn 180 degrees to face the sneaky little... pile of pots and pans? Well now, that's certainly no opponent, or threat of any sort for that matter. Sure, it might look a little messy, someone just leaving a used pile of dishes to just lay there near the sink. There's totally nothing here. In fact, this room is so empty, it practically taunting you emptiness while you act on edge. Haha, just look at yourself. Yes, that's right, you are totally thinking hahahaha at yourself. There's definately no foreign influence here.

[That_One_Guy]

Garian looks at the door before him and looks around before he knocks using the knocker three times as loud as he can and waited there until someone opened the door for him. He was a patient man and would stand there all day if needed to.

[MiscChaos]

For a second, Mana is shocked that Hister was cut, that initial slash supposed to be nothing more than a quick test of the Beetle woman's dodge speed. She quickly learns WHY that is though as she's knocked aside with a good elbow to the face. Oh wow was that a solid elbow! She doesn't even have to think on keeping her hand on her sword though. The sword is a part of her, as natural as her hands and feet are, so losing a limb that carelessly would just be silly. Gripping her forehead to make the room stop spinning, Anamana gets back into the fight, assessing what she's learned thus far. And that is don't fucking eat another elbow. She still doesn't know Hister's dodge speed because she doesn't believe that the slow movement of before is all the woman can do, but she DOES know the woman's not afraid of getting cut if it means she can return a hit and that's dangerous. It means that she must remain on guard at all times and always be able to jump back from an attack at any time.

Taking a deep breath, Mana mutters "Test 2" to herself before taking off again, aiming to cut diagonally from the bottom up across Hister then jumping away before the slash fully finishes. That'll cut some of the damage out of the end of the attack, but it should prevent her from getting hit again unless Hister's much quicker than she lets on.

[Voff]

Sander is looking about, taking in the surroundings, while listening to Charon. A being of energy trapped in a prison and Charon used to lead lost souls to the prison. This could add up to become trouble. Sander kept loosing his eyes in the ice crystals they were floating by. Sander suddenly noticed that Charon stopped talking. As he turned to look at Charon, Sander found that he had disappeared. This wasn't good. "Great, now we are the only two passengers of a boat drifting towards what I can only assume is the prison this Charon fellow spoke of, without any apparent way of directing the boat. Well, as far as I can see we are along for the ride", he said to Draco while keeping a watchful eye on the surroundings.

[Zender_Solarheart]

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

(not much I could think of to write for this one. Guess I'll go with the short version here, then. )

Kitchenware. Mako felt like he was being spied on...by kitchenware? That can't be right; this is too ridiculous. So ridiculous it's laughable. Haha, just look at yourself!

...wait...that's not his thoughts...

Shifting to a stance built better for guarding on multiple angles, Mako glances around for who or what is apparently playing tricks with his head. "Alright. Show yourself. I can't eat right when someone's toying with my mind."

[Laughing Hyena]

Lucien had Aiya all to himself once more. Why she wished to hide her face from him was always making him curious. She did recognize him but got his name wrong. It's alright he could understand it as well... It wouldn't be the first time that a woman has forgotten his name. He shook his head as he then cheerful spoke. "No my name is Lucien actually. But all the same its good to see you again Aiya." Lucien would take out a second manga and then asked. "So what kind of books do you read by chance?" He figured to make small talk at least, try and help her feel more relaxed by picking up a subject she enjoyed..