ROUND 1-2 ;; BATTLE LOG

[lufenia]

Who: Everyone. Every single character in dissideo. Yes, including you.
When: Midnight, between Friday and Saturday. (The battle itself will last most of Saturday, in IC-time).
Where: A run-down warehouse complex. (Details below.)
What: Once again, the forces of Cosmos and Chaos meet on the battlefield, with a few warriors lost and many gained. AKA: Round

Comments

Open-Lights On (beginning)-Cosmos Level (heading to Neutral)

[heavenslament]

Terra peers around as the flash of light fades, almost getting used to the abrupt shift in surroundings. The area itself grated at her, though. She far preferred the Steppe to this industrial room. While she wasn't exactly claustrophobic, the young woman disliked the limited space she would have, by comparison. It reminded her a bit of Kefka's Tower, hardly a pleasant place.

There was no time to quibble about such issues, however. She would have to work with what she was given, and aid Cosmos once more. To that end, Terra tore her gaze away from their surrounding and looked around for familiar faces with which to pair up. Such pairings were unlikely to last the entire duration of the battle, but it wouldn't hurt to have someone at her back for as long as it could be managed.

Open-Lights On (beginning)-Cosmos Level (heading to Neutral)

[aurabolt]

The industrial surroundings were a bit of a curve ball to Sabin as well, who was quite used to wide-open spaces himself. It wasn't much of a lingering thought, for Sabin was ready to lay the smack down on some enemy fighters. Eagerly, he looked through the fellow warriors until he spotted a familiar face: Terra. Even if they didn't manage to stick together, he thought it wise to stick with her as best as he could while he could.

"Terra!" he called out, hurrying over before she could get too far. "Think you could use a 'bear' like me?"

[heavenslament]

Terra perked up...and stared at him for a moment. That question sounded so familiar. It almost felt as though she could remember why, but then Terra realized that he was waiting for an answer. She nodded with a slightly sheepish smile. "I would like that very much! This isn't the place I was drawn to for the last battle, so I don't know the layout...but I'm sure we'll find out where we need to go, if we explore."

[aurabolt]

"No problem. We'll wing it if we have to!" Sabin answered confidently.

He took another quick look around, at their allies, before his attention returned wholly to Terra. "There anyone else you were looking for before we booked it towards the crystal? ...Should we try to find Celes?"

Since Terra had done this before and he had faith in her judgment, he was content to letting her take the lead.

[heavenslament]

Terra shook her head. "I would like to include Celes, but she's going to stay behind to guard the crystal here with Saleh. It's alright, though. If we find Cecil or Tidus or Shadow along the way, we'll have all the help we need." There were others she could count on as well and that eased the heartache of not seeing Bartz or Zidane in the crowd.

She glanced around, then pointed to the nearest doorway. Honestly, she didn't know that much more about what to expect than Sabin, but getting out of the crystal room seemed to be a good start to finding the Chaos-held one. "Let's see what's over there?"

[aurabolt]

"Got it--! ...Wait. Shadow's here?"

Of course, Sabin's imagining Shadow the Guy Who'd Slit His Mama's Throat for a Nickel and not Shadow the Hedgehog. Now probably wasn't the best time to get into that, though, so he waved his hand dismissively and decided he'd ask later. He glanced over to the door Terra was pointing at and nodded enthusiastically.

"Sounds good to me!"

He took up the front just long enough to look through to the other side and take a good, hard look for any enemy fighters.

[heavenslament]

Terra started to nod and explain about the Shadow she knew, but then he was off and she decided it could wait. Upon reaching the doorway, she peered around Sabin and saw a long, grey hallway stretching forth before them. No enemy fighters yet, but if everyone started at the same time, that was no surprise. They would need a while to meet up, as with last time.

Resting a hand on her sword, though not drawing it, Terra entered the hallway. She said little at first, listening for any noise despite being certain there would be nothing to encounter for a bit. After all, if anything, her experience with the war had taught her that past impressions could be wrong.

When she spoke her, her voice was muted, slightly tense. "Sabin, this place feels a little familiar. Did we ever visit anything like it?"

[aurabolt]

Likewise, Sabin stayed on guard in spite of the seeming emptiness. Having an extra pair of eyes to help look out was definitely a plus, but it wasn't an invitation to get reckless, after all. He took a few steps in, letting his eyes wander a bit. It was the tense quality of Terra's question that made him look over at her with a frown.

Mulling over the inquiry for a moment, he put his hands on his hips and took another long look around.

"Now that you mention it, it... kinda reminds me a little bit of the magitek factory Kefka ran," he mused with a frown of disgust before his eyes fell back on his friend. "That ring any bells?"

[heavenslament]

"Magitek factory...." Terra frowned, brow furrowing. "There used to be a realm within that set that you now know, called Kefka's Tower. It was multi-layered and had a factory feel to it, with large capsules and catwalks and pipes. There were many low ceilings...I didn't like it, because it didn't give me much room to move. Was it like that?"

She always felt uneasy in Kefka's Tower, though figured it was because of the enclosed spaces and the fact that Kefka had claimed it for his own. If it was similar to what Sabin had mentioned, though, perhaps there was another, subconscious, reason for her revulsion of the place. She wasn't sure how to feel about that, wondering what else she needed to know that hadn't been said.

Sorry D8 So late!

[aurabolt]

The Magitek factory was one place you just couldn't forget. With all the countless Espers that were sapped dry in there, it was a lonesome and miserable place. It was tight, crowded, and full of signs of experimentation. From Terra's description, Kefka's Tower and the Magitek factory was one and the same, it sounded like.

"Exactly like that, actually," Sabin replied,. "Except... in the capsules in the factory, Kefka held Espers prisoner and drained them of their magic. To use it for himself. "

Although he did his best to keep his tone even and purely explanatory, anger edged his words. What he did to innocent beings was horrible and unforgivable. Even if it was hard to talk about, Terra had every right to know just what Kefka did in their world that made him such an awful man.

It's okay! <3

[heavenslament]

"...drained them?" Terra looked somewhat nauseated at the thought and shuddered. "I didn't think it was possible for me to dislike him anymore than I already do, but the more I hear about him...."

She trailed off, then straightened. Not too far ahead of them, a Kefka mannequin bounded into view. Before she could speak up or make a movement, the mannequin conjured a large block of ice. It sped toward them, then shattered, sending shards over a wide area.

[aurabolt]

Sabin grimaced a little at the look on her face, but put a reassuring hand on her shoulder to go with a smile. A way to say: 'You're not alone.' Before he got a chance to say much else, Sabin noticed her tense and saw exactly what caught her eye

[heavenslament]

The personal space invasion was of course sudden, but Terra wasn't going to make a big deal out of it, especially since it was done to protect her. She winced at the sound of the ice shattering, but smiled a bit in response as Sabin didn't seem that affected by it. That resilience was contagious, as she could hardly shrink away when having such a person at her side.

"Yes, let's." Nodding, Terra then turned her attention to the mannequin. It attempted another Blizzaga spell, but Terra conjured ice of her own in order to deflect the attack. As Sabin closed in for pummeling purposes, Terra focused on her own attack. She somersaulted, conjuring three bursts of water that blasted underneath 'Kefka'. That combined with Sabin's blows ought to launch the mannequin into the air.

[aurabolt]

"Man, have I missed that!" Sabin exclaimed at the show of magic tossing "Kefka" around.

It'd been a year since the world went to ruin-- since he'd seen all his friends, and it was refreshing to be in battle with one of 'em once again. He might have been enjoying beating the snot out of the mannequin a bit much, but this was what Sabin was built for. The mannequin seemed to recover and retaliate with what was, at first, a small orb that was dodged easily enough. And then it erupted into several larger explosions that had Sabin jumping around trying to avoid getting popped by one.

Eventually, he landed back near Terra, surprised but not daunted. In fact, he passed off nearly getting turned into a human pinball with a lighthearted, "Never saw that one before."

He followed up the assault with a long-distance attack of his own, opting to draw together enough spiritual energy to launch an aurabolt in "Kefka"'s direction.

[heavenslament]

Terra glanced at him, surprised. "You haven't?" She would have thought he had known about that spell, seeing as how he knew so much about Kefka, too. But Celes had commented earlier about how one of Terra's spells appeared different. Maybe Kefka was also different, away from home. It was possible...but that discussion would have to wait for another time.

She remained close to his side, ready to cast a spell that, combined with whatever he was doing, might be enough to shatter the mannequin for good. Of course, the mannequin wasn't quite done with either of them, sending a barrage of lightning bolts in their direction. Terra took a quick leap forward, trying to give Sabin enough room, and conjured three tornadoes that spun about her. As they began to combine into one, deflecting attacks in the process, she cried out to Sabin. "Now!" While she had him distracted, and her spell was ending, he would hopefully have a clear shot....

[aurabolt]

Sabin watched for a moment, impressed by the three tornadoes that swooped up around her. His eyes went a little wide, talking mostly to himself when he uttered, "Yeah... Never saw that one either."

She was making good work of the mannequin's attacks, though, and kept that spiritual charge running though his body. Adjusting his stance, he kept his eyes intent on the fake Kefka waiting for his cue -- "Now!" At Terra's word, he waited only a moment for the tornadoes to begin to dissipate before he thrust his hands forward. A large beam of pure energy surged out from the palms of his hands and went crashing into the mannequin.