genessia | Ruins Adventure!

Xul had felt the disturbance in the ruins first, but quickly found out more when he went into town to gather supplies and picked up a paper. The paper confirmed his suspicions that the disturbance was not something natural for this place and after a few minutes to gather his armor and prepare for the trek, he headed toward the ruins, dismissing the steel golem that he had animated from his communicator.

The area was damp, humid, and warm as he approached the entrance to the ruins. He mused for a second about feeling oddly at home, remembering the jungles of Kurast in Sanctuary. Such musing was quickly dashed, however, at the memory of what lay in the catacombs of Kurast's jungles.

"Honored dead I address you, the Great Cycle has need of your power. Rise and serve the living once more..." he hissed into the air as pale blue wisps of smoke seemed to rise from his mouth and eyes before zipping off in all directions. Moments later, a small squad of skeletons clattered into sight around him. Some wore rudimentary armor, wielding swords, maces, and other physical forms of inflicting pain, while others held nothing, orbs of magic crackling around their hands.

"Whatever evil lurks within these ruins, I will snuff it out and restore balance."

Mavis was not going to let people fight to protect Fayren without trying to do something to help them out. The disease seemed to have let up, so the probability of Mavis (or Zeref) catching it was not so high anymore. But whatever the case, Mavis was willing to take the risk. How could she in good conscience be candidate to become Fayren's next guardian if she let the citizens of Fayren in such dire circumstances?

She was approaching the entrance of the ruins, her bare feet leaving small prints into the humid earth, when she noticed Xul. He was apparently performing some kind of... ritual? The blond girl stopped to watch him. When she saw the skeletons appear, there was no more doubt what kind of spell he'd used. Necromancy.

Mavis briefly turned back to see if Zeref was following her. This was sure to catch the Black Wizard's interest.

As Xul seemed ready to get inside, she ran to catch up with him. "Wait! We came to help." A young girl, barefoot, with long white blond hair almost reaching her knees and wearing a pink dress might not look like an impressive back up. But if Xul could sense magic, he would be able to tell that she was more than met the eye. And so was the young man following her.

Oh, it had. Mavis was right; Zeref had seen necromancy in practice a few times, but this was new. It wasn't like the necromancy practiced by Keyes or Bloodman, or even the few necromancy spells August had learnt over the years. It was fascinating to watch.

Following a step or two behind Mavis, Zeref was dressed in his usual attire. Unfortunately, his outfit Invel had given him wasn't brought to this world, but that mattered very little. As Mavis gained his attention, Zeref said nothing; his black eyes shifted from face to face - a term applied loosely to skeletons - before fixating on Xul.

Xul's magic was certainly interesting. Even if, at first, he was only agreeing to this because Mavis wanted to go, at least now it would be as much of a learning experience for him as it would be a chance to fight at her side.

Xul was trained in reading leylines, but wasn't able to sense magic auras. However, the skeletons did alert him to Mavis and Zeref's presence long before they made themselves known. At first he assumed they were simply civilians that had wandered too close to the ruins. Once Mavis made herself known, the skeletons all turned their heads to inspect her as did Xul. Beneath his cowl he grinned at the pair.

"It is not often I travel with others, but if you offer aid, I will not turn it away."

He lifts his small pack off his back, opening it and pulling a couple large bottles of bubbling purple liquid, offering it to Mavis and Zeref.

"However if we are to venture in together, I suggest we're all properly prepared. These potions will return you to the peak of your abilities, both physical and magical, over the course of a second. They have saved me many a time in my travels."

Mavis nodded firmly. "We are offering help."

The blond girl noticed his grin under the cowl and spontaneously smiled back. Then she took a few steps closer to him and took one of the bottles he was handing them.

"Thank you." She paused, peering through the glass. "Are you certain they would work for us too? I wouldn't want you to waste some of your potions on us."

She then looked at the skeletons again. Mavis would easily be able to create illusions that would look just like those. But these skeletons were no illusions, that was for sure. Xul's skills were kind of impressive.

Zeref nodded in greeting, his attention immediately turning to the bottles of purple liquid. While he had no doubt in his mind that Xul's intentions were genuine, Mavis was right; ethernano didn't quite work like that, but maybe that didn't matter. But even if it didn't...

"I appreciate the offer, but I will have to decline. With all due respect... my magic is dangerous enough as it is." Not that Xul's life mattered to Zeref (and he really, really wouldn't want it to matter to him), but as a matter of tactics, friendly fire is a non-starter. And Xul was simply too useful for Zeref to allow that to happen.

"But if I become wounded or exhaust too much of my magic, I will give it a try."

"I have not met a being in all Creation that did not benefit from these potions. Even the angels and demons revitalize themselves with them."

He hands the potion over to Mavis, pocketing the other since Zeref seemed so against it. Still, it hung on his belt for easy access should he need to toss the potion to Zeref. He stands, drawing his jade-bladed knife and scythe as he turned toward the opening of the ruins, where his skeletons were already slowly advancing and inspecting the place for traps.

"Well, evil awaits us within. I suggest we not keep it waiting. The dead hunger for more to join their ranks."

"In that case," Mavis takes the potion. "Thank you."

The blonde uses one of her bows to tie the phial safely at waist level. She observed the skeletons curiously, silently wondering if the Contradiction Curse would affect them.

"Let's go!" The Fairy Tail Guild Master seconds with a nod. The last part has her pause. "We're here to put it on a diet." She knew that was not how it worked but still, her version sounded more optimistic.

"Duly noted. If it comes to that, I'll try it, then." Gods and demons? Huh. Well, Zeref had no reason not to believe Xul; the man didn't strike Zeref as a liar, or even someone prone to exaggeration. Mavis, at least, seemed to trust him, too.

Her boasts were typical of somebody from Fairy Tail, though. "Unfortunately for the dead, death has eluded me no matter how hard I've chased it. They're going to be sorely disappointed."

Still... that was a bit of a problem. Zeref's Ankhseram Black Magic, born from him intentionally turning his curse into a weapon, was tailor-made to kill. He knew it didn't work on the immortal, like Mavis (at least... no, best not to think about that right now). He's never tested it on the undead. Or on elementals, for that matter, but elementals, at least, were alive. In theory, anyway.

Zeref followed the two into the ruins. He's not sure what to expect. The last real fight he had was against Natsu (according to the Dream Docks), and he kind of... threw it.

Edited 2017-06-11 21:30 (UTC)

Xul made note of the remark from Zeref, adding that to the list of things to investigate about this world. But for now, he was concentrating on the enemies before them. Water elementals had already began to engage his skeletons. While the warriors were having little luck inflicting any damage, the mages seemed to be having a better go of things.

Without even so much as a gesture he ordered the warriors to form up in a protective line, shoulder to shoulder with their shields blunting most of the attacks while the mages flung their elemental spells over the shoulders of the warriors. It was an effective tactic for cramped quarters, but as with most ruins he had explored there were many branching paths that allowed for attacks at the sides.

Still, Xul showed himself more than capable in combat himself. He made a gesture at a group of elementals charging down a side passage as a shower of red sparks fell on them, small flame-like markings showing on the surface of their watery forms. "Focus your efforts on the ones coming at the sides. I will curse them as they approach to lessen their abilities."

He gestures to the opposite side of the hall where more were coming, causing a similar effect while a fan of luminescent fangs seemed to spring up from the blade of his scythe as he swung it at the previously cursed elementals. It felled a couple but only those in front. He quickly thanked Trag'oul for the help as he had not anticipated his many fiends all at once.

Mavis quickly fell into a defensive stance as she turned towards the direction Xul had indicated. And sure enough a group of elementals were coming at them.

The blonde was tempted to use Fairy Law but what if a greater opponent was to come their way? She decides to go for something different instead. Mavis raises her arms above her head and creates an illusion of a whole army. All of the "knights" wield a sword, shield with an insignia of wings, and wear armor. She gestures for her army to charge at the elementals. Now here's to hope, these creatures don't have the ability to detect illusions.

She turns towards Zeref and Xul. "My knights should distract them and act as a screen while you attack them."

Edited 2017-06-22 22:53 (UTC)

A side passage. Perfect. While Zeref wasn't sure if elementals would fall for an illusion, he only needed a second of them being distracted. The knights were illusions; they weren't even real. Zeref had no reason to even consider them as possible collateral damage. He raised one hand, palm upward, and a thick sphere of black energy the size of a basketball appeared in his hand. Mavis would already be familiar with how dark Zeref's magic feels; if Xul's capable of sensing it, he should be able to notice, as well.

"They're forced into a chokepoint. Mavis, would you please make the walls look as if they're closing in?" His voice would sound... slightly different. Monotonous, cold, calculating; no longer the melancholic, quiet boy he was just minutes earlier, but the Black Wizard of legend. Indeed, he wouldn't even look the same; his pupil-less eyes would be replaced by bright red eyes, with small, black circles making his pupils look almost like a bullseye.

Zeref hurled the sphere of Ankhseram Black Magic. Any moss, spiders, or anything living in its path wouldn't just die, it would disintegrate instantly. Normally, Zeref's waves of dark magic simply killed anything alive while desiccating anything else; in the cases of these spheres of dark magic, anything that touched it was reduced to dust, as the now perfectly-symmetrical hole at the end of the tunnel would indicate.

All that was left afterward would be to judge the death toll, assuming his spell landed. It would continue in a straight line for several meters.

Xul for his part had cleared the hallway with the teeth of Trag'Oul while his minions struggled with holding back the tide of elementals from the front. He turned slightly, hand extended down the side passage, his magic searching for a corpse to detonate only to find nothing. Interesting. He'll have to investigate that later.

The more pressing matter was coming from the front now as an elemental had begun tossing the skeletons at the fore around as if they were twigs. "I believe that is their leader. If we can cut off the head, perhaps the rest will scatter. But we will need something a bit more... substantive to deal keep it from breaching my defenses."

He tosses the scythe ahead, the weapon fading from existence as he brought his jade dagger to his now empty hand, slicing a gash across his hand. He splattered some of this blood to the ground as the scythe reappeared behind the elemental, spinning and slicing its way back to Xul. He quickly knelt down, stabbing at the blood stain with his dagger, and as he rose an amalgam of flesh, blood, and bone expanded from the drops of blood for a truly grotesque blood golem appeared. It lumbered forward, wrapping its massive arms around the elemental as best it could, attempting to either grapple it or restrain it long enough for the skeletal mages to pummel it.

Well the way he summoned the blood golem was... impressive to say the least. She studied the structure of the golem with rapt attention, not looking disgusted by it at all, as one might have expected from someone as young and girly looking as her.

She looks back at Zeref, curious to see its reaction to Xul's newest minion. The Fairy Tail Guild Master also wondered if they should help or wait to see if the skeletal mages could defeat the elemental on their own. Sometimes, interfering with someone else's magic could have quite unpredictable and potentially disastrous results.

Well, that was... an interesting minion. Zeref's etherious could look pretty monstrous, but none of them were downright grotesque, like that thing was.

But cutting off its head wasn't quite something Zeref's magic was equipped for. At least... not his magic, specifically. "Knock some debris loose," Zeref replied, folding his hands in front of himself. More magic formed around him, only this magic was a dark violet, instead of black. Mavis would recognize it instantly as Living Magic. "The more this creature destroys the environment around him... the more overwhelmed he will be."

Indeed, small rocks and sediment around them would begin glowing the same color as Zeref. Just a little bit more...

Xul was glad that Mavis and Zeref were taking caution when dealing with the blood golem. After all his own life was tied to the golem's, an arrangement that had its advantages as well as weaknesses. At Zeref's command, however he nodded wordlessly as the mages - who were dealing relatively little damage to the creature - shifted their attack, blasting away at the ruins around them.

Xul joins in as well, sheathing the knife and pulling back an arm as if to throw a javelin as a long pointed bone materializes in his hand before being hurled at the ceiling, knocking loose a good deal of debris all while the golem struggled to restrain the beast.

"Whatever you're planning, I only ask that you give me a moment's notice before attacking. Whatever damage the golem takes is applied to myself as well."

Ruins Adventure!

Water elemental boss

Let's do this!

Yes!

To adventure!

Yay! \o/

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Sorry this is late, busy week!

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