And then he dreams of cutting foreign throats [ Open! ]

[secondcity_npc]

Characters: Anyone interested in fighting off a giant tiger and the Unseelie Queen
Time: April 16th-April 17th
Location: The University of Chicago campus
Content: Round one is a celestial guardian. Round two is the Queen of Winter. Round three will hopefully be Hungry Hungry Hippos.
Format: Poster's choice
Warnings: None. No tag order.

Comments

[secondcity_npc]

The high-arched ceilings of Hutchinson Hall currently resembled an immense wintry cave, stalactites of ice dripping dangerously from wooden beams and broken chandeliers. A thick frost had coated the windows high up on the walls, and the day was so gray and tumultuous that hardly any rays of light pierced through the blue-iced shell. The temperature hovered far below freezing, a chill that pierced like a double-edged dagger into your lungs, numbed hands and feet in seconds, and delved past even the heaviest of coats

[noimgeorge]

Fred winced. Now there was a scream he never would have expected from a woman, let alone one as beautiful as Queen Mab. It was better likened to the roars of the dragons Charlie worked with, rather than one of the Sidhe. And before he had much of a chance to react, she was on the attack once more, deadly ice lancing toward him. He managed to evade it due the adrenaline racing through his veins, and even then, only just.

"Bloody hell," he muttered, watching the attack pass, its wind stream rustling his hair. Turning back to the Queen, he took the most logical method of action he could think of at the moment, sending another spell racing up the ice back toward her.

Incendio!

[scarfandknives]

[secondcity_npc]

In the blinding chaos that was the blizzard, there was a dull telltale thunk as Pandora's box hit the snow-covered floors, its feline guardian currently wrangling viciously with Knives.

The moment fire had been called into the heart of the room, Queen Mab's attention had completely turned to Fred. It was magic, furious and gold, but unlike any of his previous spells, it had been peppered with motes of greenish light, as hot as the heart of a candle. In Fred's spell, there had been Summer fire as well as his own and Mab knew it. She was walking towards him now, unaffected by the bone-chilling winds or the rain of razor-sharp icicles.

"You dare use Summer fire against me, mortal?" she hissed, her lovely voice and face suddenly twisted and alien in rage. In her anger, she turned her back to those fighting the shadows only a few feet away. "Insignificant child, you will be the first

[noimgeorge]

Fred's thoughts screeched to a halt, invisibility charm failing suddenly. Dimly, he remembered expecting that to happen once he truly got into the fray, but it wasn't as if it mattered anymore, at this point. She knew he was here, where he was, and she was coming for him. He hadn't the slightest idea what she meant by "Summer fire," or why this would be such a particular offense, but it was too late to wonder now.

He hardly had time to realize what was going on before his legs were inescapably trapped. A frantically muttered Repello spell - this one for ice, not snow - died on his lips, failing repeatedly. The ice already had him in its grip, steadily creeping forwards and bringing numbness with it, which made the situation all the more frustrating. If there was one thing he'd learned to not appreciate early on, it was being numb, losing the ability to feel, physically or otherwise. If Fred had to die - and he wasn't too fond of the idea, mind you! - he would much prefer to go down in a blaze of glory, if you will. He could take the

[iamaman_punch]

Linkara knew Terra had darkness issues, but somehow seeing it firsthand - seeing that darkness around him reach for darkness that was coming from a decidedly unstable enemy, and knowing that Terra had something like that in him - was more than a little unsettling, in a cosmic horror sort of way

[secondcity_npc]

In the way most of these incidents unravel, it seemed as if time abruptly slowed as several things happened at the same time

[eroded_earth]

Things got wobbly for Terra after that. He ignored the shouts from his Master and Linkara, still fighting to get to that damned box. However, the ice and snow continued to fall from the ceiling and his injury was not helping with his movements. He then realized he didn't have to watch his magical usage any more and just cast Cure on himself, healing the wound the best he could for now before fighting on

[hiptobe_eraqus]

In the chaos of the snow, the shouting and the attacks, Eraqus almost missed Linkara making it to the box and managing to close it. It was impossible to miss the effects of it, though...the dark tendrils suddenly falling away from them, that hot pulse, and the shudder in the walls and ceiling. When the icicles came down on them, he raised his Keyblade and commanded a barrier spell over them as far as it would reach. It deflected a good amount of the ice.

There was a long moment of silence as everything settled. It took Eraqus a moment to realize that, at last, they had accomplished their goal: Mab and her pet were both gone. He exhaled slowly.

Glancing it around, it looked like everyone was okay...until he noticed the young man who had stood up to Mab herself. Even though most of the snow and ice in the building had dispersed, it still held him fast. Eraqus had never seen a blizzard spell like that before, and he didn't know if either fire or cure could fix it. Still, he made his way over to Fred, worry on his face.

[noimgeorge]

His fire spell flared, leaving his free arm full of warmth, even as the ice kept growing. It was on his chest now, just getting to his ribs. Fred's eyes flicked past the flames and the Unseelie Queen, watching Linkara sprint to the box. It was theirs. He hadn't reached it yet, but there was nothing left to stop him from getting to it. They'd won. Morgana had lost another battle.

But Queen Mab had won hers.

Fred smiled, looking back at her. The fury in her eyes was clear and cold, just like the ice creeping toward his heart. It felt as if everything had slowed down, even as a thousand thoughts flew through his mind all at once.

Not so insignificant, eh?

Hurry up, mate, get it, you can do it.

The spell doesn't look any different to me, dunno what she's all up in arms about...And then he thought of friends. Their faces passed through his mind, as his heartbeat grew steadily more sluggish. Friends, from home and from the fake Chicago. Clare, who'd fallen in a clumsy heap before one of the greatest wizards to ever live, and how Merlin

[iamaman_punch]

Waist-deep in snow, holding a box that felt like it'd been sitting in the sun for a few hours, blinking in surprise, and entirely intact was not how Linkara expected to end this battle. Then again, given how most of his fights ended, this was a step up. The lid of the box was firmly closed, the Fae queen was still there but not completely nuts anymore - or so it seemed - and the darkness was gone, even if there was still a ton of snow

[secondcity_npc]

It was the calm after the storm.

As the snow gently and silently fell onto the ruined floors of Hutchinson Hall, the Unseelie Queen turned that terrible gaze from Fred's prone body to Linkara, a small and almost unconcerned frown on her dark lips.

"Titania," she said, her voice alien and dark and cold, "was settling a score by using this boy." She stood up straighter then, unaffected by the rage or sorrow that permeated the room from the others - not that she didn't care but the idea of mortal emotions was so completely foreign to her, it hardly mattered to her what their opinion of her actions was.

She smiled plainly at Linkara, gesturing elegantly to the warm box in his hand. "You mortals have waved magical battles for eras. If you want to know your last step, I suggest finding the two who started all of this."