Invasion of Figaro

[sonoffigaro]

Characters: Anyone in Figaro, Lufene, Kuja, random villains!
Progress: In progress
Summary: Lufene wants something. Figaro's got it. She's going to get her hands on it, whatever it takes.
Location: Figaro, castle and town.
Date: February 11, 1804
Warnings: Fights, craziness, possibly gore? We'll find out

Comments

Reserved - Lufene!

[sonoffigaro]

Both the guards' call over the Phone and Celes' successive calls had Edgar out of his office in less than three seconds. Thanking the goddesses for his habit of never entirely removing his armor, Edgar was fully dressed and ready to go in less than three minutes after reaching his bedroom. He could already feel the gears in the castle starting to turn as he closed and locked the windows of his room, then slung the autocrossbow across his back and ran up to the roof, sword in hand. Half-submerged as the castle was, it was incredibly easy for a dragoon to leap off the building and come down on an long, centipede-like Mistodon, causing the beast to cry in pain and shy sideways in search of less dangerous prey.

His Sky Phone was active, hooked to a specially built latch on his arm, and he was shouting into it only seconds after he landed. "Secure the town! Celes, organize the guards to guard the entrances! Ranged attackers, to the roofs, fire as soon as you have a clear target! Gather the civilians together-"

Reserved - Lufene!

[ultimategenome]

Lufene watched with a bland form of amusement as everyone scurried about on the ground as a countermeasure. She herself sat side-saddle on a silver dragon, idly petting the creature and twirling a long curl around her finger. There was an objective here for the Angel of Death, and she meant to get what she wanted. Rumors of pretty stones of power. She wanted them all.

Only by chance did she happen to look the direction of the castle as Edgar took a leap off its roof. A foolhardy move and yet daring. A feline smile grew on her face and she directed her mount to go closer. The man himself wasn't so bad on the eyes, a rare find in this annoying world. She couldn't help but giggle at his attempts to gather attackers. Just because she brought in monsters to do her dirty work, they were going to launch a full offensive? Really, all they ever seemed to do was her own work for her. Just how she preferred things to be.

Reserved - Lufene!

[sonoffigaro]

Edgar's spear sliced through a group of the creatures known as Movers before the shadow crossed over his head. All of the enemies brought to bear on Figaro were fierce, but none had been big enough to cast out the sun-

-until the dragon. The king cursed under his breath a little, then spoke into the Sky Phone again. "Celes, there's a silver dragon approaching the castle. Find a couple of good black mages to target it, I'm going to see if I can bring it down." He wasn't so foolhardy to think he could kill a silver dragon by himself - but hurt its wing, forcing it to land? That, he could do. Edgar whipped the autocrossbow out, firing all the bolts in one volley at the incoming dragon, then was in the air in another leap bare seconds later, spear aimed directly at the beast.

[ultimategenome]

The incoming bolts startled Lufene and she directed the dragon to dodge out of their way. So doing, it put the creature out of the direct line of Edgar's attempt to skewer her pet too, which was a good thing. She sighed and rolled her eyes, irritated that she was going to have to dirty her own hands after all.

Tossing her hair over her shoulder, a nasty smirk lit on her face. Silly fool. By launching himself into the air, he made himself a far easier target for Lufene. She drew out her Blood Sword and executed a Crushing Blow. At the very least it would hurt the man for daring to target her pet. If she was fortunate, it would inflict Stop on him and then she could do as she wished with him.

[sonoffigaro]

Not quite so lucky as she wanted, but the blast certainly hit him head on - and for a dragoon in midair, that wasn't a good thing. Edgar yelled as the Crushing Blow slammed into him, knocking him back to the ground forcefully and making it impossible for him to stand up for a moment, although he managed to get himself up eventually. He wasn't going down quite that easily - not even once he saw his real opponent on the back of the dragon.

"It's Lufene! Guard the civilians!"

[ultimategenome]

Now that Edgar was on the ground, Lufene ordered her draconic mount to descend. She easily slid to the earth herself, graceful as a cat with the added benefit of revealing a choice amount of leg from the slit in her dress. Soldiers who weren't hit by her finger flicking which lobbed Stop at them, either took off running to do their master's bidding or stared dumbfounded at the vixen that'd joined them. Like king, like guards.

"You really know how to make a lady feel welcome, don't you?" She stroked the neck of her dragon and lay her cheek against those marvelously beautiful scales. "I expected better, you know."

[sonoffigaro]

Even Edgar was distracted by that leg - for a second. By the time she'd hit the ground and maintained her balance, Edgar had recovered his scattered wits and raised his spear in front of him. What he wouldn't give for his bio blaster right now - but that was sunk in the ground around him.

"Ladies are always welcome at my castle, and given a warm reception. As soon as a lady shows herself, she will have the finest hospitality. I've yet to see any ladies today, however." As a dig at Lufene, it wasn't the best, and Edgar's smooth phrasing wasn't as smooth as it normally was. But it was the best he could do, especially as his eyes were narrowing as she casually Stopped the guards lurking in the area of the king. Edgar could only hope those black mages would arrive soon - and white mages, from the way things looked to be going. "We have nothing here for you. Take your little pet and go."

[ultimategenome]

The lame attempt at an insult Lufene blatantly ignored. The man was no better at it than her brother's frumpy little wife. Although in his favor, he was far more attractive. She always had an eye for beautiful things.

His remark about taking her pet and leaving gave her a deliciously tempting idea. Any whyever not? "A pet? Why yes, I believe I am in the market for one of those." She came for stones, but if she picked up a spare gift or two for herself, who could really blame her. "I'd as soon shatter a fine piece of art as your body. Lower your weapon and let us speak, hmm?"

Unconcerned that he had a mid-range sharp ready to go, Lufene sauntered closer as if out for a casual stroll, with a sway to her hips. "You're terribly wrong. I think you've more for me here than I realized."

[sonoffigaro]

Usually he was better at it. Today was just an off-day for him.

And sexy though she was, she was also incredibly malevolent, as her words indicated. Even if Edgar could be tempted by her body, he was interested in being no one's pet - even Terra's. He tied himself down to what he chose, and nothing else.

"There is nothing for you here," he spoke coldly, raising the spear instead of lowering it. Where were those black mages?! "You are not welcome in the Kingdom of Figaro. As ruler and lord of these lands, I hereby cast you out for all time!"

And, not waiting an instant longer, he struck. Edgar dove forward, driving his spear straight at his enemy. A bravado attack, but if he could keep her off-balance, surely help would arrive... And he was only bare feet away from her. Hopefully proximity would help him somehow.

[ultimategenome]

"I think you're working under misinformation. I don't take orders from anyone." Not even pretty boy kings. "I'll come and go when I please."

Lufene would have spent more of her time taunting him but she had the very annoying issue of having a spear thrust at her. She shifted to avoid it, but it grazed her side, leaving a nasty gash in her clothing and ruining it with blood that was starting to well up.

There was an easy way to deal with injuries. She used her still drawn Blood Sword to inscribe Shadowblade into the air. An ominous eye appeared over one of the guards and then a mystic blade shot up through the man from the ground, replenishing the genome's health as if she'd never taken a scratch. Pity about the clothes. She was so fond of them.

Opting to take quick action against Edgar before he could attempt another strike, she swayed back and forth with an ominous cackle as she attempted to Entice him to her side. If he could be stopped from harming her, she could work her magic on finding out where her stones were.

[sonoffigaro]

Edgar had landed, spun, and turned for another strike - when the Entice hit him full force. Crying out with a strangled groan and dropping his spear, Edgar immediately raised both hands to his head as he tried to fight the spell - he wasn't sure what the effects were, but he could tell they wouldn't be good.

He could only manage a couple of words before the spell took hold. "Ter... Terra... need..."

And then the king fell silent, his PHS still open and transmitting, as he slowly straightened, his eyes open but strangely blank. His pupils followed Lufene's movements, but he didn't seem to actually be watching her, caught in the web of magic she'd induced.

[ultimategenome]

Lufene closed in on him the rest of the way like a cat stalking prey. One of her manicured hands raised and touched his cheek, just to insure he was fully ensnared in the magic. "Not what I was after here, but you'll do as a consolation prize."

Her gaze drew down to the phone dropped on the ground. Calling for help. How quaint. She lifted her foot and stomped down on the device, pleased as it gave off a crunching sound. No need to broadcast what was going to end up being a private moment.

"Now then. You have something pretty here and I want it. Where are those stones?"

[sonoffigaro]

Edgar made no move to react to the touch on his cheek, his eyes still blankly unfocused. While normally he would have pushed her off, almost shuddering, now - he just stood there.

But what the Entice couldn't do was make him answer a question with too little information. There were any number of stones in Figaro, most of which Edgar knew the location of. "They are scattered over the desert, my lady," he said, his voice strangely blank. "Large and small, collecting the sun's energy."

[ultimategenome]

How terribly exasperating. Either he was willfully being dense or the spell had worked too well on the man. Those strange black stones in the desert were of no interest to her at all. Well too bad. Her collection of undead would just have to rip the town apart until they found them. If they were in the castle, she'd come back and with a plan to keep it from slipping past her grasp.

Lufene huffed at Edgar and feigned a hurt pout. "And I thought you'd give them to me." Seeing more guards coming and others being freed from Stop as it wore off, she tapped her fingers idly on Edgar's shoulder. "I'll have to show you what real hospitality is. Come, mount the dragon." She turned to sashay to the draconic creature, expecting to be obeyed.

[sonoffigaro]

At that moment, the black mages that Edgar had called for, busy defending the other sides of the castle and the town, finally showed up. Edgar ignored them, turning towards the dragon and climbing up without any difficulty as the mages yelled after the king - the king who had seemingly lost his mind. He didn't look back once, bound in her spell well enough for the moment.

The mages, though, started throwing their strongest spells at Lufene. They weren't stupid, they knew she'd probably done something to him - they had to stop her. Thundagas and Flares raced across the distance.

[ultimategenome]

Settling herself behind Edgar to ensure he didn't attempt a retreat off her mount, Lufene urged the dragon into the air, using the flight to dodge the spells being thrown at her. Foolish of them to try to cast so close to their ruler, but then she didn't much care for the collection of mages in the least. As a parting gift, she sent out a mass wave of Petrify, purring with pleasure as the ground found itself suddenly littered with a collection of black mage statues in all stages of casting.

"They're not terribly intelligent. I do hope you like the redecoration effort. It was a hasty job, but the results are satisfying."