A Tale of Two Masters [Castlevania crew]

[notquitedracula]

Who: Castlevania crew (Dracula, Lisa, Alucard, Remilia, Flandre, Patchy, Sakuya, Soma)
What: Plot conclusion for the Rain of Blood event
When: Backdated very slightly to August 9 (5 days after the initial rain)
Where: Castlevania subarch, possibly spilling into Everglade
Why: Because Dracula is a dick.
Warnings: Language, violence, possible gore, cuddles. ...okay that last one might be a lie.

[There is an area in Castlevania where only its master may go. It's sealed off by a door of black smoke through which not even the most powerful of magics may penetrate, and it leads into the realm of Chaos. A place where monsters orders of magnitude stronger than anything else in the castle roam, and where the spirit of chaos itself resides, whispering its secrets and lies to those it deems worthy of attention.]

[It's been several weeks since Lisa Tepes' arrival set it to whispering in Vlad's ear. During that time, Vlad called down a rain of blood on Everglade, and with it the beginnings of a repeat of Targoviste. Thanks to the guardian of Everglade and her allies, there haven't been any deaths - not yet, at least - but this is just the calm before the storm. The time for talk has passed.]

[The plan, such as it is, is simple: Remilia and Alucard will distract Dracula and defend Lisa while Soma, with the assistance of one of Alucard's familiars, enters the realm of chaos and silences the spirit. Which task is the more dangerous? Who can truly say?]

Comments

[scarlet_devil]

As she powers up, she goes through a change, her clothes becoming more ornate and what's more, a second set of wings sprout from her back...

"Come on now... I could dodge that in my sleep!" But still, this is not a spell card battle, which means Remilia is summoning not an indistinct spear-shaped bolt of energy, but the true Gungnir. She moves quickly, bringing her spear to bear with skill she has not shown before being trained in its use.

[sakuya_izayoi]

Sakuya was right behind, her eyes burning red as she grabbed hold of the room's space-time. She dashed to one side- a dark echo mirroring her movements, before they both vanished.

Dracula would find his projectiles altered as entire chunks of space were displaced, several lines cleaving through him in various, seemingly-impossible directions. Even by the castle's standards. It was some sort of structured chaos... or some type of chaotic structure? A distortion adhering to non-static but strict rules with no rhyme or reason?

whatever it was, it made it exceedingly difficult to get his bearings and aim properly in the ever-shifting timescape.

The oddness would also disrupt Remilia and Flandre, though Sakuya would not actively attempt to disrupt their attacks. There was also the small advantage of the sisters being more used to such distortions from the maid when sparring with her.

[prismaticdestruction]

For now, Flandre kept to dodging about, although she summoned Lævateinn to help bat away projectiles when she couldn't just squeeze through.

Best to keep her own barrage to herself for the time being and hang back. Adding to the chaos too early might not be the best idea.

[what_is_a_man]

For anyone other than Dracula, this may have been an overwhelming assault. However, with Vlad feeding directly off the power of Chaos, he was a monster without peer, especially in his own domain.

The Allfather's spear was intercepted by one of the massive hands as Remilia brought it to bear. However, despite its outward appearance as being a hard surface with bones that mimicked a normal hand, the spear sunk into the flesh as if she had stabbed a barrel of tar that held the spear as hard as possible as the arm flailed, attempting to separate the spear from its wielder.

Meanwhile, Sakuya would have to contend with the three demon heads at the center of the beastly form. Even as they vanished, the heads jutted their necks out, snapping at the distorted space almost before they became distorted. Whatever the case, it was clear that the demon heads were capable of following Sakuya's movements.

What appeared to be a succubus' torso attached to the shoulder of the demon turned its gaze to Flandre, calling up a pillar of flames at the young vampire's feet.

[scarlet_devil]

While her strength was great, trying to keep a grip and pull the weapon free really was easier said than done, but stubbornly, she tries with all her might to pull it free. She'll end up letting go... to avoid getting slammed into something. But then, she will retaliate with powerful blasts of energy of her own...

[sakuya_izayoi]

It was impressive the heads were able to keep up with her. Time shifted again, Sakuya extending the periods she had time halted.

Both she and her parallel dopple were setting up knives, cleaving the fabric of reality apart in tandem, striking anywhere the beast looked soft.

She knew her attacks wouldn't be enough to kill dracula. Not even close. No, she only wanted to slow him down.

[prismaticdestruction]

Flandre was watching everyone else closely and nearly missed the glow below her. There is a squeak of surprise as she jumps back and lets loose with her own barrage of projectiles to try and help now. Still holding off on doing too much for now.

Although she does split off into her clones who each started to shoot as well.

[what_is_a_man]

This was quickly getting out of hand. Between the two Sakuyas, the four Flandres, and Remilia's assault, Dracula was hard pressed to protect himself. Thankfully, the beast serving as a host for him wasn't exactly on the same material plane as the rest of them, but even it couldn't block all the projectiles with its hands alone.

As such, the wings of the beast beat, sending him retreating backward into the nothingness that surrounded them as a large ornate crimson magic circle materialized in the air. The barrier it provided was enough to block the projectiles as well as channeling a large sphere of black and crimson energy through it. Throughout the chamber, two words could be heard spoken casually yet ringing from every angle possible.

"Demonic Megido."

[scarlet_devil]

Remilia quickly both banishes and resummons Gungnir, when suddenly Dracula gathers his power for his next spell...

It'll force her to have to go on the defence, because... there is no telling how powerful this magic is.

[sakuya_izayoi]

Remilia could sense Sakuya moving to either side of her, still distorting time and space. Both flickered into existence briefly before the parallel version simply vanished for now. No use in wasting extra energy.

Sakuya drew more knives, still shivering in and out of reality, primed to react. If dracula struck at her she would be gone before the attack got to her location.

[prismaticdestruction]

The four little vampires knew better then to just stand and watch, shuffling about to try and hide the true one and getting closer to Remilia and Sakuya. If anything- she was ready to dart off into four directions, even maybe using her clones to try and take some damage if needed.

She's slightly shaking out of nervousness. This was a lot more that what she expected.

[what_is_a_man]

The spell was among the most powerful in Dracula's arsenal. A ball of energy that would explode upon making contact with anything. It was aimed more at the wall behind the girls, however. The intent being to force them forward as Dracula advanced, putting all of them within range of the hands and demonic heads.

[scarlet_devil]

Remilia acts quickly, taking the form of intangible mist to better avoid it before reforming... and resummoning her spear, before she begins launching spells of her own through it.

Have fun with all the lasers, Dracula.

Apologies for the delay

[sakuya_izayoi]

Sakuya reacted just as fast. She darted to one side, time stopping as she gathered Flandre and her clones in her arms, speeding to the other side of the room, flickering only twice during that trip so Flandre would get some sense of motion before depositing her as far away as possible on that side.

Not for her protection. But so she would have a moment to re-orient herself after being moved.

Sakuya's barrage resumed full force. She was aiming for his eyes now. Or his throat. Anywhere that looked softer.

[prismaticdestruction]

The shuffle had been a ruse to get the real one behind the clones, preparing for what was coming. She still couldn't figure out how to go into mist so dealing with it somewhat spread out would have to do...or would have. She squeaks in surprise, but doesn't fight as she's gathered up and moved.

Once she's been put down, there is a moment of figure out where she was and what was going on before the clones dart away from her a bit. Once in position, her own orbs start flying once more. No need to charge straight in for her yet...

[what_is_a_man]

The demon heads on the front of the beastly form snapped at the clones as they darted away from Flandre, but the battle was very apparently shifting away from Dracula's favor. The massive hands did a decent job of blocking most of the normal projectiles, however Remilia's lasers did something fairly noteworthy. They seemed to pass through what appeared to be Dracula's normal body as if it wasn't there. In fact, all the attacks that made it that far did the same, it just was more noticeable with the lasers.

However, using that information would have to wait as several fire pillars erupted from the ground around the girls as the hands came together and summoned multiple orbs of molten lava that traveled outward in a circular pattern, weaving between the pillars of flame.

[scarlet_devil]

That she'll wonder about in a moment, because for now she is forced to dodge his attacks before she can try hitting him somewhere else.

Well, if she can at least distract him...

[sakuya_izayoi]

Remilia and Flandre both would find themselves tugged while they were dodging. Sakuya was ever-present, ensuring that neither of the sisters were hit by the flames. She, herself maintained a presence where Dracula would assume she was. Physically and visibly, though she did seem to flicker in and out a little.

She weaved easily around the fire pillars, trying to hide the sweat on her brow as she sent a larger knife straight at Dracula's eye the moment there was an opening, several more loosed at different areas of his body. She was determined to find where he was vulnerable and her time-bending made it easier to get those shots through than Remilia or Flandre.

[prismaticdestruction]

Every bit of help getting out of the way was appreciated as Flandre would have had many close calls. Trying to focus on everything and her clones were showing the reasons that this wasn't the best idea for her to use. The clones quickly start heading towards the original- ducking and dodging as the could.

As this is going on, Flandre had noticed the lasers doing more then bullets had been. She frowns as she dodges about, still trying to get close the the clones to re-absorb them so she could try once more to throw a more effective idea into the frey.