1768/B-Point: Let Flood the Catacombs

B-Point: Let Flood the Catacombs
Date of Scene:	15 July 2024
Location:	Dark Kingdom
Synopsis:	(CW: Death, Injury) Separated from the others and stalking deeper into the Dark Kingdom, Chrono, Rashmi, Jadeite, and Tuxedo Kamen face the twisted mind games of Aon, and Thetis' final great work: a flood of biblical proportion, to wash away the intruders. Six walk in, three heroic souls make their final stand - and only one will leave. God, is Mamoru tired of running.
Cast of Characters:	Beryl, Jadeite, Mamoru Chiba, Rashmi Terios, Chrono Harlaown, Doom and Gloom Girls
Tinyplot:	Dark Kingdom Finale

---

Beryl has posed:
Hours ago now, they started in the catacombs of Paris. Then, for a time, as they traversed the twisting tunnels, clamored through small holes and trudged through cracked and creaking tunnels, it was inescapably clear - the catacombs were merging with the Dark Kingdom, that malevolent realm spreading through the underground city...

But by now, the catacombs have fully given way to the Dark Kingdom, the heavy weight of Dark Energy all around, a sickening miasma of corruption swirling around our heroes' ankles, stalactites hanging from above, dripping water, drip, drip, drip.

RThe tunnel is narrow, allowing them to walk two by two, for now, and though the ceiling is high overhead, the stalactites and stalagmites narrowing the walking path.

And this quartet of heroes' hasn't been together, throughout this. They come together from shadows, likely slipping away from the groups they were in, but for now, they walk together.

Jadeite has posed:
Jadeite is using some of his power to freeze any water that's deeper than his ankles to the walls. If Thetis wants to try and use a water attack on him, she can lick it off the creep, skeletal walls. He is going to give her nothing. It's not on the floor to avoid slippage, no spikes to avoid harming any other mahou nearby - just a slow, steady trickle of magic to turn this place from, as Usagi's clock app called it, Not Another Marsh Level Swamp to A Creepy Maze. Which isn't much of an upgrade, but he'll take what he can get.

This place has warped and wound, split and met, dozens of times. He gets funneled from one group to the next. Jadeite accepts it. Soon he will be back where he belongs -

Stepping forward to his prince's side, as if he never left.

"Reporting in, my - Mamoru," Jadeite says, and he barely stops himself from saying The Phrase, but he did stop himself. His face grows graver still as he listens.

"No casualties so far on my end."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru doesn't look great. He's still in his formalwear, but his mask and cape, his gloves, they're all gone. There's saltwater stains and dirt and blood on his clothing, and his face is sticky and smudged with same, too-pale underneath all of it.

He says into the quiet as he joins the party, his steps and voice as weightless as his head feels, "Chiyo and Bow are dead. Bow got one of them."

His breathing isn't ragged or shallow, but there's definitely a quality to it-- he's someplace he doesn't like to be, after A Week, and friends have already died in front of him, and his hand slips into Jadeite's and holds it tightly. "The demon's in them, but they made a deal for it... the moth girls."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
When they first arrived, the absolute darkness prompted Rashmi to conjure a Barret for light.

This was promptly followed by a scream, and the conjuring of nine more in response to the *wall of skulls* right in front of her face.

While she hasn't done quite so much screaming in the exploration since, she *has* been more or less consistently whimpering as a corner is rounded, and *yet more bones* reveal themselves. Even being told about the catacombs beforehand couldn't prepare her for being *in* the horror movies she subjects herself to when Chiyo wants friend time.

Discovering Chrono prompted a couple minutes of just holding the Enforcer, drawing bravery enough to keep going from his simple presence, and the will to keep going from the fact that to do otherwise would leave him alone to face the dark. Because somehow, the walls of skulls giving way to sepulchrous stone and Damoclean stalactites isn't really much of an improvement.

When Jadeite and Mamoru join the pair, and Mamoru gives his report, Rashmi makes a sound not unlike the one one utters when they get punched in the gut. Her breath just *leaves* her body in a croaking rush, eyes wide and tearful as she searches Mamoru's eyes.

She would never *dare* accuse him of lying, but, the truth is too terrible to be believed. Maybe she misheard?

...No. No she did not. One of her roommates is *dead.* *Two of her friends* are dead.

This requires a moment of silence... if for no other reason than to still her whirling thoughts.

"...Then we'd better go on," she says after a moment, voice thick and hoarse with the swell of grief in her heart. "Otherwise we can't make it worth it."

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown had been... despite himself... actually startled when they arrived. There was a sharp, sudden intake of breath. He was NOT one to startle easily and it was obvious in that he hadn't screamed...

Until he'd realized he was alone. His eyes had gone wider and he'd started to walk. It was fine. It was fine. He was--

Then the scream. THEN he had run, a little orb of light radiating from his staff. His heart pounding.

No no no no please no. Let her be safe. Let her be okay. Let her be unharmed, please, on all that is--

And when they met, when she held him? He held her back. "It's okay," he whispered. "It's okay. I'm not going to let anything happen to you," he whispered.

Bones. The bones were creepy, even he couldn't deny that. This place... this place was horrific.

... But hearing Rashmi's scream, knowing she might be in danger? That.... that was far, far more terrifying. "I won't let anything hurt you.... but... we need to keep going. If we've arrived here, and separate from the others? They could be in danger."

Technically, so could they. But he glossed over that part.

Only for, unfortunately, the worst to be confirmed soon after.

Two of their number had died. And he'd... he'd been lost. But he forced that smile on his lips. An enforcer's smile. Calm. Collected.

"Exactly," he said, in a calm, gentle tone, to Rashmi's words.

There would be time for pain and grief later. For now? Now they had a duty.

To make sure as few lives as possible were lost. That Bow and Chiyo hadn't died for nothing. His voice was still soft, still warm... but not filled with grief. He didn't cry, in fact, you'd possibly even think he didn't care at all. But truth was? He... was scared. He was legitimately scared... if this continued on? If they were too slow?

... if more of their friends were lost, because they'd been too busy grieving?

That was a pain he didn't desire to endure. And he started walking again.

"Our enemies, what do you know about their capabilities?"

Beryl has posed:
A moment of silence, but then, as they continue on, they'll find that the tunnel is getting narrower - forced them to move in single file. The stones jutting from ceiling and floor force them to move gingerly, if they want to avoid tripping into a deadly situation.

Water continues to drip and drip and drip down in erratic rhythms.

Jadeite has posed:
Jadeite squeezes Mamoru's hand, leans in for a quick, chaste kiss. "My condolances," he says, and presses their foreheads together. "We WILL avenge them."

Do, or do not. He is not going to lay down and die of despair this time around.

As for enemies - Jadeite answers as he takes the lead, his ice shield raised in preperation and continuing to freeze puddles to the wall:

"Magical rats which swarm in the thousands and attack with claws and teeth. Plant youma which attack with vines, nettles and other violent vegetation. The DG Girls, who - I'm not that familiar with their powers off the top of my head, but ranged dark energy attacks are likely. Thetis, Beryl's right hand - can control water in a liquid state and prefers using it to drown and incapacitate victims or to flood rooms to hinder movement. If you have a face mask, now is the time to use it. I haven't see any of Beryl or Metallia yet, though."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"I'm sorry," Mamoru half-whispers at the sound in Rashmi's voice, and then there's something about the sound in Chrono's that's related, dimly, to something else he's familiar with deep in the recesses of his past. A little bit of the tension in the back of his neck bleeds off. Someone here is capable of suppressing emotion enough to sound calm without sounding anything else.

"You saw-- some of what Metalia's capable of, when fighting yesterday. But if someone possessed by her takes enough damage to incapacitate them, the demon knits them together with dark energy, walks them around on injured limbs," Mamoru continues where Jadeite left off. His voice is steadier for the recitation the report.

"DG-- right. Doom and Gloom Girla. There's one with fire that Hinoiri trained, there was one with plants but she's dead now, there's one with illusions who screams them into being and says she's the best, there's one with gravity manipulation powers, and... there's another, and she was shooting pink light around. They can all fly, but there's not generally a lot of clearance for that here..."

He frowns at the dripping, but... it's the Dark Kingdom and the rock itself drips sometimes, nevermind water on it. But no-- no. "Thetis also called up a whole whirlpool out in Japanese waters, not too too far from the coast. She's very strong. She's also the one who kidnapped me, for what it's worth."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Rashmi can only shake her head at Mamoru's apology, her smile telling the tale; thank you, but, it's not your fault and now is not the time to unpack that horrifying grief. She will simply let the tears fall on their own as they creep further into the depths of the Dark Kingdom.

As they descend into the gloom, Rashmi slips in front of Chrono, her conjured Barrets bobbing as if straining to be loosed at a target, and she nods slowly as the capabilities of their enemies are revealed. "Well... We have three ice specialists, so, that'll help... I only ever fought a couple of the DG Girls, and I'm pretty sure that was before-- They *chose* to deal with Me-- that?! ...I'd ask what they were thinking, but I can probably guess."

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown gave a small nod. "I see, thank you," he said, firm, matter of factly. There was a job to do. A duty to continue.

And so long as he focused on the task at hand, he could ignore the fact that two more people were dead who he couldn't--

That two more people were dead. There would be time for grieving later. Once this was over. Once those they could save, were saved.

"I see. A hydromancer, pyromancer, plantaemancer, Hannahmancer, lumimancer and an illusionist. Rashmi, ensure that your device is enacting regular scans, it is the best attuned for detecting any such fakes."

Of course, he was doing his own scans as they walked. In darkness like this, the scans of his device would be, in many cases, more effective than his eyes.

... And yes. He did, in fact, make a joke.

Beryl has posed:
A rattle is the first sign, the ground shaking beneath their feet, chunks of stone falling from the ground above - an earthquake?

No, worse - a stalactite falls in the distance behind them, crashing to the earth, and then another, another, another, falling down far behind them but rapidly gaining. An ice shield won't fix this, unfortunately - there's nothing to do but run!

And when they do so (or perhaps, risk flier fin in this narrow space), they'll find the stalactites falling faster, clearly trying to fall atop them, plunging down all around. The light from Rashmi's light barrets reveals skeletal faces pressing against the stone, as though people had been trapped in the setting stone - but these faces, and the impressions of boney fingers - are still pressing, still moving.

There are screams - but not from the long-decayed throats of these pitiful fools.

No, it's the anxious and hopeful voice of a young boy, from the distance, calling to them, "Whoa, what's with all the crashes? Wait! I think there's someone coming - hey! This way! You're almost here, whoever you are!"

To those who've met him, the voice is recognizable as Cure Wing, who most certainly had been with them when they teleported from the Shed, but who none of these four have seen since.

There's still darkness, far ahead, but there's a shape, growing in the darkness - the end of a tunnel, with plenty of room for them to shoot out of it.

"I think I see you! Be careful, the ground's really shaky here, and these rocks are still falling - whoaaAARGH!"

Cure Wing's voice breaks into an agonized scream, as the sound of rocking giving way reaches their ears from ahead now, joining with the cachophany of sound chasing them.

As Cure Wing said, the stalactites are falling ahead of them, now. They can be dodged, but they're filling the escape way, making it so by the time the last of them gets out, it's a narrow escape -

And when they get out, into a cave that's some fifteen feet wide at this end, and littered with stone, including more fallen stalactites. The ceiling is high and craggly, with gaping spots and stone spurs to mark where the sharp stones fell... and the farther end, some forty-feet away, is blocked off, where more than just the stalacties fell - it looks like the whole ceiling collapsed in.

And what seems like half of has fallen right on top of Cure Wing.

His uniform is marred with the signs of battle and plenty of dust and smaller chunks of stone, but it's clearly the falling stone that did the majority of the damage, with his entire lower half buried. There's a spreading pool of blood, and even from this angle they can see that there's little hope for saving his legs and pelvis, not with how decidedly squished the cut-off point looks. One arm stretches ahead, the fingers still twitching, grasping at the ground in vain attempt to crawl away. His eyes, at the moment, are clenched shut against the pain, and little, bitten-back whimpers leave his throat as he tries and fails not to cry.

It would seem they've hit a dead end - and so will Cure Wing, if they can't help him.

Jadeite has posed:
Those stalactites are too much for his shields to take - so Jadeite RUNS, taking the lead and getting them to the clearing with time to spare.

The boy is familiar, but Jadeite doesn't know his name. The boy is injured - but his prince is the healer. They don't have enough time to do one task at a time.

"I'll look for a way out. You take care of the kid," he tells Mamoru, then looks to Chrono. "Help me scan the walls?

It's handy that there's ice users here - especially since right now, Jadeite looks as cold as ice and just as unmoved. (He is a guard, a soldier, a killer. Two lives mix into one; he cannot heal, so his priority is to protect from other threats.)

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Hannahmancer," Mamoru repeats uncertainly, as if he's not sure he correctly heard Chrono -- a joke? He's silent for a half second, then snorts quietly.

"I don't know why they made the deal, different people have different selling points, but it doesn't matter. They--"

And then the ceiling's chasing them.

Mamoru's breathing quickly as they come in to the bigger space, and as he keeps moving Wingwards he tells Jadeite automatically, "You're not the boss of me."

It's such a rote response at this point--

Mamoru's bare hand reaches out to Cure Wing's even before he's all the way there, and his hand's already glowing, prepared to take away the pain and see what he can to to keep the kid stabilized while rocks get moved off him.

With absolutely no warning, Mamoru's other hand stabs forward with a rose, stem-first, right into Cure Wing's head.

... the boy collapses into a puddle of water in and under the rocks, and Mamoru stands up and backs away from it quickly. "Never mind the walls, Jadeite, we have bigger problems right now."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
One does not stand still when the ceiling is falling around you. With Chrono behind her and Mamoru in front, Rashmi conjures a shield as wide as she can--

--the passage is too narow to protect anyone else OKAY THAT'S AWFUL--

So her shield hangs back over Chrono's head as she pelts further into the rumbling dark.

Cringing visibly at the scream, when she skids into the widening chamber and sees the devastation before them, her hands fly up to her face and a strangled "Ohmigod--" upon seeing the ruin of a boy younger than she.

When Jadeites asks for help scanning the walls, she nods jerkily, eyes wide as dinnerplates, and the book floating behind her head *pings!*

    << INVESTIGATION >>

A pulse of translucent golden energy washes out before and behind them, painting some rocks as real and some rocks with a yellow-grid holodeck sort of pattern, and she's about to report that Cure Wing is real--

Until Mamoru stabs a rose into the poor boy, revealing him to be a mass of mana-infused water, and things get *incredibly concerning.*

Luckily she has nearly a dozen Barrets out and ready to launch...

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown was, admittedly, already kind of... suspicious of everyone. Jadeite and Tuxedo Kamen had warned him that there was an illusionist. Still, as they ran he was doing many scans... including of their two allies.

Good. It was the real them. It was--

As they ran, however, the rocks were real. Good. Very good. It was--

Cure Wing?!

And for a moment, there was worry. But then, his scans told him that there was definitely... something wrong here. And as Mamoru went forward, he was prepping his spell...

And as the rose thrust, he gripped Rashmi's hand and he used it to pull/push/shove her to Jadeite. "Jadeite, shield!" he ordered. He turned, stepped back to group with them...

            <<Subzero Boundary!>>

Ice would form around them, expanding out from his staff and coiling around all of them in a tight, frozen sphere of protection, before expanding outwards, to try and cover the area, snaking along the walls, the floor, and crawling over anything and everything there...

And hopefully over their targets. Unfortunately, the ice likely wouldn't last long, but hopefully it would lock up their enemies and protect them from a sneak attack.

Beryl has posed:
Once the fake-Cure Wing is destroyed, ice creeps up as Subzero Boundary is deployed, and the rocks - some of them at least - many of them at least - flicker and fade, as magical ice spreads through them, revealing them for the illusions they were.

It's not just rocks, though - there are watery cries of frustration, as half a dozen other water youma leap from puddles on the ground and freeze instantly as they fail to avoid the spread. They'll be easy to destroy, trapped like this...

There are bigger fish to fry, anyway.

With false rocks out of the way, it's clear that the cave is actually much longer than they could see before, an enormous pathway with branching tunnels - and ahead of them is a blue-skinned youma with long, dark hair in a deep blue body suit, gloves past her elbows. There's a golden crest on her forehead with a curved base, and her red eyes are narrowed in focus, arms moving in constant circles -

As she draws in water. So much water. The cave is easily sixty or seventy feet high, and yet the water she's drawn is reaching to the ceiling and growing, growing, growing. She's drawing more and more in...

The naked eye can see that it's a ton of water. Scans will show that it's far more than a single ton. It's water from centuries worth of rain, collected and pool in various tunnels, pulled from the catacombs and the earth together to form what would be a flood of near biblical proportions if released.

Thetis looks across the tunnel, and her eyes narrow in irritation. The majority of her face is featureless, but a dark mark mars that perfect smoothness, a battle scar from an old fight.

"Shouldn't you be dead with the others?"

A voice rings out, familiar, in pain and fear - "Princess! No!"

Sailor Pluto's.

"Supreme ThundAAAAH-!" Sailor Jupiter's.

More water youma rise, outside the ranger of the ice, nine feet tall and lashing out with arms that carry the force of a pressurized firehose.

Thetis keeps drawing in the water.

"No matter. You'll all drown, soon enough."

Jadeite has posed:
Mamoru destroys the illusion of the boy with pinprick precision. Rashmi and Chrono destroy the rest of the illusions, swift as a flick of the wrist, and Jadeite is glad he doesn't have to give orders now. What they need to do now is clear.

A flood. Water youma. Thetis.

His lips curl. "I like your new look. Your outsides are finally starting to match your insides."

And then there is ice, ice, ice - this room cannot flood if it is frozen, water youma will no longer be water if they are torn to pieces by freezing, and he had spent the week of Mamoru's kidnapping meditating and waiting, gathering as much power as he could for the inevitable counterattack. He can do this all night. He'll turn this tomb into a glacier.

His legs shift, just in case - he's still in front, ready to move if an attack comes screaming in, or if he needs to drag Mamoru out of the way.

Frost crackles into snowflakes and freezes dark water pale and eerie, just like the manic glow in Jadeite's eyes.

He will not fail.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Like fuck I'll die to you," Mamoru spits out, standing his ground but ready to move like a featherlight arrow the second any of that water starts coming their way. "You've got the illusionist with you, the one with the good comebacks."

The back of his head is floating, weightless, unable to stick to anything, unable to stop and dwell on 'yes my Queen' and another torrent of saltwater, unable to stop and think about drowning, untethered and clear and free where nothing can touch him--

There's nothing grounded about the Earth prince right now. That's fine. It's going to be fine. Bow said he'd help, later. It's going to be fine. This is not the time for any of this, there's a fight right now, it's time for payback right now, Bow said.

Bow said.

Bow on the ground under rocks ripped up by an explosion next to Chiyo bleeding out.

He's charging it before the ice barrier opens. "Tuxedo," he breathes, pulling his hale and pale right hand to his chest in a glowing fist. It charges. The second the barrier comes down, he flings out his hand and yells it so it echoes:

"Tuxedo la Smoking Bomber!"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Grabbed by Chrono, pulled and off-balance and *shoved* into Jadeite, Rashmi fetches up against the man who, last she spent any amount of time in his presence, was half out of his mind and exploding her into construction supplies.

But none of that matters in this moment, because Usagi trusts him and Mamoru trusts him and Chrono ordered him to protect her, which means she has room to do what she does best; help others get the most out of what they do.

    << *BONG!* >> << DELTA BARRET -- BOOST UP >>

A trio of foxfire lights resolve around her, darting to her allies, lending power to Tuxedo's La Smoking Bomber, filling Jadeite and Chrono briefly with the potential to strike harder than they ever could on their own. As the Subzero Barrier washes out, and more youma rise behind it, her cloud of Barrets disappears, flickering back into life outside the shield's perimeter.

    << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR BARRET -- BLAZE SHIFT >>

Glowing golden orbs *burst* into bright yellow-white fire, speeding out and weaving, juking around the youmas' water streams to slam home in center mass.

It's a spell she always flinches at when using against people. She knows all too well, what the application of fire can do to a living being. But these creatures of Darkness, of Water, of the deep and fathomless trenches that crush all life? They are not people.

They are *threats,* and there's only one answer to a threat; kill it with fire.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown turned about, lowering his staff and searching through the ice. As the youma were frozen around them, it already was beginning to collapse around them. After all, it was just a quick, defensively assaulty spell. One designed to lash out with ice while shielding the wielder for the counter. It wasn't a true, permanent shield.

But, fortunately, Jadeite was already moving. And as the barrier began to fall away, leaving frozen youma in their wake, Jadeite's ice was helping to cover the area, to freeze the threat in place.

And as Tuxedo Kamen charged, the shielding ice finally began to fade away, freeing the way for his assault.

And Rashmi had followed up. Fire and ice.

However, there was one threat more clear than any. And, if anyone watched him, they might think he'd let his guard down...

But the truth was, as Jadeite's ice, as Rashmi's fire, as Tuxedo Kamen's blast tore through the world? He did what he could do best in this situation.

He watched and analyzed. They knew where the hydromancer was. So where was the illusionist?

And so, silently, invisibly, magical traps were being set throughout the area, his specialty of binding magic coming into play as he left traps throughout the area. Just waiting for the invisible threat to trigger them.... and then be struck with the full might of their assault. The binds even amplified by Rashmi's magic, allowing them to turn so much more solid and bindy in a moment.

Beryl has posed:
The attacks come, hard and heavy, all of them boosted by Rashmi's spell -

Ice, thrown out to freeze in place every single youma Thetis had thrown, and her brows furrow in dark anger as her flood begins to freeze - even with all the power Jadeite has stored, however, there's too much to freeze it all solid, in one go. There's a flood here, waiting, and the ice that forms cracks and creaks ominously, as the water churns and churns, drawn ever forth.

She doesn't quite flinch when he talks about her look, but instead says, slowly, with the voice of realization dawning, "Your judgement always was skin deep."
    his is her true form, after all. The girl with blue-green hair and large eyes was only skin-deep.

But then Mamoru is lashing out, empowered, wrathful, and preoccupied as she is with the water, she can't dodge as effectively, and her attempt to side step sees her taking the blow to the arm - sees the arm blown clean off at the shoulder, cracks spreading up her form.

The water is dropped, and the creaking, heavy ice groans in warning, but holds, the flood halted in it's tracks for the moment -

for the moment.

Rashmi's fiery barrets are enough to destroy what youma Jadeite hasn't trapped, and the binds are not activated, not just yet, as Thetis turns with wide, furious eyes, and summons a towering wave of water to throw them back, before lunging at Mamoru in particular, her remaining arm turned to a narrow stream of water moving at bullet-esque speeds, closing the distance fast.

Jadeite has posed:
Time slows.

Jadeite could say something about the person he was before, who he didn't remember - the person who, apparantly, had gained and lost Thetis's affections. The one who saw her in her human skin.

He could say something to Rashmi and Chrono - thank you for helping us, though this is not your fight. Be careful. Be safe. I know you can win. I was your shield because I believed in your power.

Jadeite could say something to Mamoru. I'm sorry, maybe. I know you'll fix this. Don't hate yourself over what I'm going to do. I will see you again in the next life -

But the water stream is racing fast as a bullet, and Jadeite barely has seconds to act. To narrow his freezing powers to the stream attacking, to try and slow it, slow it, slow it, sapping it with cold and ice and freeze and -

It would have hit him either way, probably. He is the shield. He is in front of his prince. He could move. But Mamoru knows that Jadeite as he is now would never move.

(Would Thetis's Jadeite have moved? He will never be able to ask. )

The ice bulges - the shot moves again, faster than sound, and Jadeite uses all his power to freeze, freeze, freeze. As it pierces his forehead, he lets his power gush from the wound on his head, like Athena from Zeus. Freeze, freeze, freeze - it might go as far as Thetis herself if she's careless.

The attack is stopped.

In front of the three mahou, blood oozes out from Jadeite's lower neck. His body staggers back, falls. His face is frozen in determination, his eyes glassy. Blood paints down his face as ice crackles and melts from the tiny wound.

(Just hours ago, Tamaki had talked about getting hotel rooms for everyone if the search went long. He'd told his parents that there was a potential school trip to France.)

The good news is: it was so fast that the only pain would come from using every drop of magic to stop it. The good news is: he died with no regrets.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
He left his cape in a coffin-shaped tunnel, but it's a liability in a flood anyway, tanking capability traded out for better manueverability--

Mamoru jumps the wave, trying to avoid losing his position entirely and getting relocated wherever the wave would put him, but that puts him in a bad place to dodge the Thetis bullet, actually. He sees her coming even as he's coming in for a landing right where she's headed, Jadeite nearby, and in slow motion he pulls out a rose, intending to stab her the same way Bow stabbed Zwei, even if there'd be no explosion, even if the bullet-water went through his jacket, he might -- he might be able to heal it this time --

But he lands and Jadeite's moving and Jadeite is dead, staring, falling back in his arms, and

there's a tiny choked sound from Mamoru and there's no Jadeite in there, his glowing touch finds no soul, ripped away from him on a soul deep level

and Thetis is still coming for him, and Jadeite's dead in his arm, and the dirty, bloodied, maskless Prince of Earth moves without thinking about it.

The rose is loosed from his fingers, aimed straight for the empty place in her chest that would hold a heart were she even close to human.

"Then WHY DON'T YOU TEAR OFF YOUR OWN FACE AND MAKE A NEW ONE!" he screams incongruously, clutching Jadeite's body to him, tears hot and grounding on his face just when he doesn't want them, doesn't want to feel, doesn't want to feel this agony of loss in the deepest part of his foundation, one of his pillars fallen, one of the ties to his heart snapped--

Beryl has posed:
The rose buries itself in Thetis' chest, the furious howl of the prince echoing in the chasm, and he is the last thing she sees -

As the cracks from her already broken-off arm spread.

She disintegrates, purple-black mist floating up, up, up.

The flood creaks, the ice Jadeite solidified looking unsteady. It's so much water.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
They're doing it. They're gaining ground even though the fight has never been more desperate or filled with horror but they're *doing it,* they're *winning back ground* because they're fighting together--

--no--

Rashmi's eyes widen so much they *ache* as Jadeite falls back, an icicle protruding from his head and some distant, detached corner of her mind has to tell another one that now is not the time for unicorn jokes oh god oh god she's going to throw up but she's too shocked for her stomach to work it can't be real it can't be real it's just another illusion why is Mamoru so furious if it's just an--

    << MASTER. YOU KNOW. THREAT REMAINS. >>

Even Nicomachea's voice is less cheerful, shattering through the whirling storm of a frantic mind, and the tears flow freely once again.

Jadeite was the first monster that haunted her dreams.

Jadeite died to protect Mamoru, and in so doing protect them all.

    << MASTER. THREAT REMAINS. >>

Devices don't really display emotion in their voice like people do, but there's *no mistaking* that sense of urgency, or the way the creaking ice threatens to give way under the flood, and if they all drown here then Jadeite's sacrifice was *for nothing* and as the kami are her witness she will

*Not*

    LET THAT

        *HAPPEN.*

    << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR BARRAGE -- GLACE SHIFT >>

Her heart swells with raw emotion, determination, an almost animal sense of NO, as golden clumps of ice rocket into the ice barrier, shoring it up to prevent the flood, covering Chrono's works, Jadeite's works, with a thick layer of golden, near-crystal mana constructs.

And with every Barret she launches, the canister on her back glows brighter, and brighter, and brighter. Energy expended now, to ruin someone's day a little later. That Thetis is dead barely registers, so focused is she on ensuring that her vile works remain fruitless.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown had it all under control. Jadeite's ice was powerful, his capabilities were well within expected limits. Better than his own control of ice, at least. But that made sense. Jadeite was an ice mage, while Chrono was better with temperature manipulation, often in the form of ice.

The monster's arm is blown off, and they were one step closer to victory. The ice held and a wave of water was sent. They were displaced, just for a moment and--

And he saw it. His eyes wide, and--

A small shield appeared... A small, tiny, fist sized shield. A desperate gamble. In the path of the water blast.

A tenth of a second too late. For all the speed his chosen device game him, that extra half a second could often mean so much...

... And sometimes it meant nothing. His eyes wide as Jadeite took the blast. As Jadeite fell. As...

As Chrono failed. As another mark was placed on his heart. Another civilian. Another innocent soul. Another person who didn't choose this life, who had it forced on them. Who *should* have been safe. Who *should* have been protected. Who should have had the *option* to choose this life, instead had their life taken in a war they were dragged in to to protect the people they cared for.

And there was still no time to grieve. He turned towards the ice.

            <<Subzero Tomb!>>

And, as expected... Rashmi was with him already. He slammed his staff down and the ice would rise out. Streaking out from him, across the cavern, and into the water itself. Freezing it.

Jadeite's ice had started... and he'd be damned if he'd let the other warrior's sacrifice be in vain. This was a battle he NEVER should have died for but it would NOT be meaningless.

Doom and Gloom Girls has posed:

Ice climbs and climbs and packs and holds and the creaking slows.

Stops.

The flood is trapped. The water is pinned in place, as the work of three overwhelms the will of one.

For a long moment, there is no sound but the drip, drip, drip of Jadeite's blood.

"Too bad you couldn't let Jadeite kill me," Thetis says, standing behind Mamoru, draping an arm over him, and it feels real to every sense but his empathy, better than any scan - nothing more than an ever so advanced illusion. "That would have been awfully poetic."

Chrono's binds are effective and strong - if triggered. He placed them in so many places, to catch an unseen foe, someone trying to twist their hearts and distract their minds - but they still need to be touched.

Much of these tunnels, these caves, these caverns, are narrow and thin, hard to maneuver in. But for Thetis' great work, this cave is tall and wide and deep, the better to store the water, the better to call the flood.

And that means there's room to fly. Room to hover above the rest and watch, assess and twist. The air shimmers, and seven identical girls, blue-furred and golden-haired, with headpieces on their foreheads, between their moth-wing eyebrows, appear in the air.

To scans, they all seem to be real, magic spread equally between them.

Aon of the Doom and Gloom Girls is all that remains. The girls who know Takako Fujiwara are not here. One of them is already dead.

There's hate in those dark, eerie eyes - fourteen eyes with black sclera and white iris, red pupils gleaming from the dark.

A cacophony of stolen voices ring out from the seven girls, as attacks rain down -

"Supreme Thunder!"

"...dead scream."

"Snow Heart Solstice!"

"Soaring Wing Attack!"

"Flaming Asteroid Slash!"

"Supreme Thunder!"

Hey, one of those was repeated!

Most of the attacks are illusions, though the illusion has feeling - the feeling of cold, of flaming, of air whipping in a slash -

But only the lightning is real. It's no true Supreme Thunder, but it sure is an an electric shock.

The seventh Aon, who didn't attack at all, is facing the ice, and her hands glow and glow and glow with green light.

Plants burst from the ground near the ice, striking out to punch.

Punch.

PUNCH.

The water - for at the core of that ice is unfrozen water, for ice freezes from the outside in - churns, a faint roar from deep within the ice, and it becomes clear that she will carry on this work.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Attacks rain down; Endymion ignores this at the same time as he ignores the Thetis that isn't there, just long enough to crouch and lay Jadeite on the ground and close his eyes. He doesn't want to leave him here in the Dark Kingdom, attached to the twisted magical version of the catacombs under Paris, but he has very little choice.

Then he stands up and expressionlessly takes out another rose, flinging it at one of the illusory Aons a second before he's hit with a fake dead scream and staggers--

--and then he reaches up to stick his hand either on or in fake-Thetis' head and see if Aon gets any psychic feedback from Empathy Uno Reverso of stinging wrenching horrifying gut-level grief. And a side case of what it felt like to be Endymion a couple of days ago.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
When Thetis reappears, Rashmi very nearly turns the Barrage right onto her face.

The only, *only* thing that stops her is Mamoru and Jadeite (poor Jadeite) are *right there* and friendly fire is the worst possible thing in this place.

And that pause is just enough to lower her guard against the attacks from above. Wish.com Thunder strikes her arm, and the only thing that keeps her from dropping Nicomachea as her arm jerks spasmodically, is the fact that he can hover on his own.

THere are so many copies of their foe, and *all of them* read as physical-but-magical, and it's *so frustrating* that she looks back over her shoulder, eyes wounded and streaming tears and utterly furious. "SHE'S BREAKING THE ICE. I'll get the rest."

This last, said through gritted teeth, and she is too furious to care about conserving power. They win here, or not at all.

<< *BONG!* >> << BARRET -- BOOST UP >>

    << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR BARRET >>

Rashmi almost never empowers herself, the way she does others, never guides that memory-of-summer foxfire into her own heart. It almost feels like cheating. But she has enough emotion welling through her that it was a good choice; fourteen Barrets resolve into view, *seething* with power, and streak upward; two each for every target above their heads.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
And lost, amid the din of battle and the crash of plant matter on ice; A quiet *ping!* from the canister on her back. It'll take no more charge.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown was panting by the end. Still, they'd done it. The water was stopped. Jadeite's sacrifice wasn't in vain. It--

And there she was, the illusionist. Damn it. That was the problem with a person like that. A person who could mess with your senses. It was, in many ways, so much worse than a 'powerful' foe. A foe who couldn't be seen well. It was hard to lay a trap unless she came close enough to trigger the traps.

And now? Now the focus had to be on the illusionist. He took off towards her, not even confirming what Rashmi said. She had the fakes, he'd handle the real thing. As the attacks rained down around him and a flaming glaive struck him, it.... hurt nothing even remotely akin to Fate's blade. There was no bisection this time...

            <<Stinger Move!>>

And he was a bolt of blue magic, bounding across the floor before he stopped, over Aon.

            <<Impact Cannon!>>

A quick, concentrated blast, to try and knock her away from the ice, to try and send her directly into one of his binds and...

            <<Stinger Blade!>>

Eight blades of magic, appearing around her, four by four... Spinning once...

Then collecting, slamming at her in one violent, painful burst. Not fatal, at least. But still, likely to hurt and at least *feel* like one was being skewered. A rapid flurry assault, and him planning to continue on, to push her harder, to stop her assault on the ice... To end her threat once and for all.

LAter, he might ask himself why he didn't use lethal blasts then. Perhaps... it was all of the magical people he'd met, rubbing off on him.

Doom and Gloom Girls has posed:
Takako Fujiwara didn't want to die. Of course she didn't want to die. As she'd put it, in her own words, what kind of idiot wants to die? you only get one shot! She wasn't the dutiful type, either, ready to put it all on the line for a cause.

Obsidian made her the leader of the Doom and Gloom Girls because she had the strongest will, and because she had the sort of fierce will to make the others shut up and listen.

The Doom and Gloom Girls made her their leader because against all reason, she cared about them. It didn't make sense. It didn't make sense at all, because Takako had never been a particularly good person. She'd lost her fame and popularity when it came out she'd been using burner accounts and bots to harass and spread rumors about her competition. She wasn't a team player, not the least.

But in the wake of a certain unicorn's attack on Chaar and Drie - on Noriko Motosugi and Rie Mori, she'd realized she was worried. She'd realized she cared. And they'd all realized, in the same moment, the truth -

That without their magic, loaned from Obsidian as it was, they would lose everything. That care. Those memories. The love -

Because Noriko, burned and terrified, had had to be strapped down in the hospital, because she didn't remember a damn thing about what had been the biggest part of her life for months. Had looked at them with blank eyes and sneered, self-protectively, demanded to know why they'd come to gawk -

Trusting Beryl as foolish, but there was no one to trust in Obsidian, not when their mentors set them up to be beaten down as lessons in humility, not when they were replaceable, dime a dozen, easy to get rid of. Beryl had offered strength.

What's left of Takako regrets not asking more questions.

It's too late, now.

She doesn't want to die, but Youko is dead. Zwei, is dead. There's no more running, no way to go. They made a deal and now the time is come to pay up, and Mamoru's grief lashes out at her, through the illusion, and it's deeper and truer than her own, but an ocean to a lake, but she's already suffering, she's already grieving.

She already knows she fucked up. She already knows she can't stop.

Commit.

There's nothing to do but commit.

The illusions of Aon are struck with solar barrets and they vanish, one after the other after the other after the other and Aon is struck and her wing splits and she lurches and screams and the greenery continues to launch forward.

The greenery gives her a place to land, hands against the ice, even as the stingerblades fall, even as they tear into flesh, cutting at arms and legs and they aren't fatal blows, but Aon does not care about the pain.

Metallia is a burning force in her heart, but Aon thinks about Zwei. About Drie. About Fem. About Chaar.

She thinks about her sisters and how she damned them and how there's nothing to do with all but commit.

And the scream that echoes from her throat is as bad as Sailor Moon's Super Sonic Waves, a terrible-wrenching cry, and the ice shatters.

The water trapped pours out in spurts and bursts, frigid as arctic waters, tearing away yet more of the ice, bringing it all down. There are side paths in this cave, ready to fill with water, the gushing torrent already beginning to siphon, threatening to bring it all down on their heads.

So be it. She's already damned herself. Already damned her sisters. She doesn't want to die, but when you and yours are headed to hell no matter what, you might as well bring the rest down with you.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown blinked and... oh. He'd heard that scream before. He knew it well. He lifted his staff...

But it was too late. The ice was shattered. Perhaps if, instead of mercy, he'd struck...

The water was already pouring. They had to stop it. In these catacombs, it would decimate them. Bones mixed with water mixed with claustrophobic and confusing tunnels, it...

It would kill them. Possibly all of them. IT had to stop here... It had to end here.

<< Run. >> He told Mamoru, directly into his head. As he was driven back by the water... They had seconds...

But to Rashmi, he sent something different.

<< Rashmi... I have one thing that may be able to stop this. One spell. But... it's a doozy. I don't know if I can do it alone. Jewel seeds... are dangerous and powerful. I won't tell you you have to. It won't kill us, though. It'll trap us. I don't know how long. A decade. A century. A millenia. When we are free from it... the world could be something entirely new. The people we knew, we loved, all gone. You won't die... but you may not have a life afterwards. Not the one you knew. If you can't... then take Mamoru and run. There's... a chance I can manage it alone. And please know, either way, you've always made me proud. >>

And then, he pulled something from his device. A small, golden crystal. One that radiated power. Power to destroy civilizations. Power that could not be wielded for any but the best situations.

The power of a wish that should never be asked.

A gift that should never be given.

The power to bring a smile to a child's grieving, dying mother.

The power to give them hope. Held in one hand... the one closest to Rashmi...

Rashmi Terios has posed:
There's no time.

Activating her accumulator requires verbal command, and she *doesn't have a spell* for pouring that much power into freezing that much water. She could come up with one on the fly, but she'd need to concentrate and speak a nonsense prayer to cover for Nico doing all the math from scratch and--

Everything stops, when Chrono brings out the Jewel Seed.

She looks into his eyes, as he tells her exactly what he plans to do, and yet again -- *again!* after she confirmed she'd never leave his side! -- gave her an out.

Turning, she reaches back and pops the canister off her belt with a faint *hsss* and a puff of sparkling golden steam. Seconds before the water comes to drive them back, she shouts for Mamoru's attention, and when he looks their way, hurls the 2-liter-sized canister at him, filled with roiling, shining golden light.

<< GET THAT TO KUNZITE, HE MIGHT NEED IT >> she shouts into his head. << GO! GO! GO! And tell everyone we don't have regrets, so you don't either! >>

I mean, that might be a little bit of a lie. She regrets that it's gonna be up to Hannah and Hanzo to fix Molly's Device, now.

But she turns, and takes hold of Chrono's hand.

The hand that bears the weight of a wish.

"What happens to you," she says, for him alone, "happens to us."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Glancing back at the 'run' and seeing the CRACK-- and the beginning waves of the flood-- Mamoru's heart stutters in his chest. He glances down at Jadeite, ignoring everything for a split second, but no: Jadeite saved him.

And now Chrono and Rashmi are going to save them all. And he'll have to bring word of their deaths to everyone else too--

It's a perfect catch and a jerky nod of his head, and Endymion runs, singlemindedly, swiftly, like there were wings on his feet in the dark of the night on the capital city's hill, through riots, through brambles, through death and chaos--

--and he flees into the dark with the glowing canister lighting his path, ignoring the salt tracking down preestablished courses on his dirty face.

Weightless.

He'll find the others somehow.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown holds Rashmi's hand and he... smiles. A genuine smile. He knew she'd say yes. He knew she'd say nothing less. He knew she could say nothing less.

She was his Pagemage.

She was his Enforcer.

And she was by his side.

And he kissed her.

<< Please, don't let Setsuna isolate herself again... and take care of Molly. >> Last words to Mamoru.

Then, there was silence. It was as if the world was silenced. And then... the words.

            << Eternal Coffin >>

It wasn't loud words. It wasn't terrible words. In fact, it was easy to miss.

And then there was ice. Starting from the two of them. One moment, there was flowing water. Then, silence. As the ice... just froze. Gathered up into a blast, the waves, everything....

And, in that moment, there was nothing. Just... ice. Ice colder than the arctic. Ice that the sun itself would struggle to melt. Little snow flakes radiating around it, pure, gentle. Kind.

And, if one stared intently... they might might see two young souls. Trapped, eternally, in each other's arms. A soft, gentle, delicate glow in their hands. Trapped in ice fueled by love, friendship, duty, devotion...

And this magical bullshit they found.