[ SEPTEMBER CATCH-ALL ] we will welcome summer’s ghost.

[passio]

WHO: dextera and the crew
WHERE: all over!
WHEN: september… the whole 30 days.
WHAT: quests and whatever else crops up over the course of the month!
WARNINGS: nothing yet!


( i’ll put top levels in the comments for a variety of things, and as always, if you want to do something, you can PM this journal or ping me on plurk! )

Comments

[passio]

[ luckily, being quiet is something that dextera is good at. he can mask his footsteps when he needs to, sort of, but it’s really his voice that no one will ever need to worry about. he glances to akira at the sound of the whisper—honestly, he learned how to sign out of necessity, but maybe it wouldn’t be bad for the rest of the town to pick it up as well.

he shakes his head. ]

Monsters—yes. Not fairies.

[ they talked about this, sort of. “meta-beings.” ]

Have you?

[theshowsover]

[Akira can understand the signs well enough when Dex does them, but he's pretty sure if he tried to do them himself it'd be a flailing, incomprehensible mess. Maybe lessons would be a good thing...

He does remember Dex telling him about the "meta-beings," though. It's similar enough to shadows, he thinks, but maybe they don't have different identities like shadows do.

Either way, he shakes his head.]

Pixies.

[It's a little different. Pixies are also incredibly weak, which he feels like these won't be.]

[passio]

[ is there a different between pixies and fairies… it feels like a question for another day, though, when they’re chasing one and not the other. neither of them have any experience with fairies, though, which will probably not go in their favor here. ]

Close enough?

[theshowsover]

[A shrug. He has no idea. If they are like pixies, though, this might not be so bad. Pixies are weak and easy to defeat with guns, if even that much is needed.

If not... well. Guess they'll find out soon enough, because there's a sudden rustle not far from them. Akira stops, falling into a crouch.]

[passio]

—?

[ dextera misses the rustle, but of course he can see akira drop like that. did he miss something?

what’s a little easier for him to notice is the glow of fairies in the distance, cold in how colorless they are—he’s used to his crystals, which seem bright and warm with life even if they’re made from dead things.

he crouches next to akira, less practiced. ]

What do we do?

[theshowsover]

[Akira watches through the trees - he can see them now too, blending in with the colorless foliage. So far, they don't seem to notice himself or Dex.]

...Let's get the jump on them.

[If they can sneak in quietly and take some of them out before they're detected, that will be the easiest way. He doesn't know what these fairies can do, and neither does Dex, but sneaking has always worked out for him before.

So he starts to creep forward, careful not to break sticks with his feet.]

[passio]

…

[ dextera reaches into his pocket as he follows, feeling the vertebrae he carries around clacking together under his fingers, and once they’ve gotten a little closer, he reaches out to tap akira on the arm.

he had no idea akira was so sneaky. it’s a little incredible, actually. ]

I have… explosives.

[theshowsover]

[Akira's become a real sneak in the last few months. He creeps up on an enemy, then rips their mask off!

...Except there are no masks to rip off here, so he looks back at Dex instead.

Explosives... It seems risky, but Dextera seems to know what he's doing.]

You know how to use them?

[You know, without killing them?]

[passio]

[ dextera nods. the fairies haven’t noticed them yet, which is good—akira really is skilled at keeping out of sight and sound. ]

I used them… a lot. At home.

[ he pulls them out of his pocket without thinking about how they definitely do not look like explosives to the average person—because they’re not! they’re not mechanical at all, because they are part of a human spine. great! ]

[theshowsover]

[They don't look like explosives at all, that's for sure. But Akira doesn't quite catch on that they're part of a spine - probably for the best.

He nods in acknowledgement. He'll trust Dextera on this one, and so moves back a little, before nodding again, this time in the direction of the fairies.

Whenever he's ready!]

[passio]

[ luckily, they’re special bones—not enchanted, exactly, but they have unique properties engraved into them from the twisting that makes them more suited to weaponry.

he chooses one of the fairies to toss it at.

like some kind of arrow, it seems to move itself toward the group, and before the targeted fairy can even notice, it hits and promptly explodes. it’s loud, of course, but it does the damage dextera expected and the smoke should buy them a few moments. he can hear just a few fairies hit the ground, dead or incapacitated, and he motions for akira to move. ]

[theshowsover]

[Watching the bomb move itself, like it's a homing missile, is pretty cool. Akira takes a moment to be impressed, but then there's the bang, and the thumps, and Dextera's gesture, and that's all it takes for Akira to get up and go.

He uses the smoke and chaos from the explosive to mask his movements, catching a few of the stragglers with his knives. He doesn't know if Dextera followed him, but his eyes watch so he doesn't accidentally catch him in a friendly knife stab.

One of the fairies tries to come toward him, and he calls on his Persona Queen Mab, readying an Agidyne fire spell -

which flares almost uselessly around the fairy, and Akira hisses under his breath. Magic isn't effective, and now he's exposed.]

[passio]

[ it’s not unexpected, though—the fairies are tricksters in their own right, and although the smoke got them a few seconds to advance, this is the faes’ home turf. the fairy that akira attacked coughs, clearing the spell from its little face, before it slings something that looks like electricity out in a wide arc around it. ]

Ah?!

[ it sends a volt all through his body, tensing and paralyzing his muscles for just a moment.

he has experience in battle, but it’s not like he’s an expert. ]

[theshowsover]

[Crap.

Okay. If he can't use his magic against the fairies, he can still use it for support. He switches from Queen Mab, calling on Oberon instead.]

Matarukaja!

[There's a flash of light that envelops both himself and Dextera, who should feel a rush of energy as the spell boosts his strength. Then he draws his knives, and lunges, trying to get an opening to stab the fairy before it can throw another bolt of lightning at Dex or anyone else.]

[passio]

Huh?

[ dextera does feel that rush. there’s strength pulsing in his muscles, and he’s never felt anything like it before—this artificial adrenaline. it’s not a bad feeling, though. although it surprises him at first, he’s quick to act on it in case it isn’t permanent.

he’s not as fast as akira, but he’s not useless. while akira dives after a fairy, he goes in with his bare hands. maybe a bad idea, but as long as they’re glowing with his purification then surely it’s fine.

surely! it’s not like the fairy wings are bad for them, or anything—but at least like this, he can at least take out the one he’s targeted. ]

[theshowsover]

[Good! Good. It worked on Dextera, just as he was hoping.

And so Akira will dodge past him, and go for another that is trying to flank his companion, daggers drawn. If magic won't work, then he'll just have to go with brute strength. He's nowhere near as strong as his Persona, but he's not exactly passive in battle, either.

So his daggers hit home, and that's one more down! Only a few left...!]

[passio]

[ dextera keeps trying to stop to thank akira for all of this—he’s not used to fighting around another person at all, let alone fighting in tandem with someone. he tosses another bone at a fairy that’s a little further off, which buys him enough time to take one more down, and then…

it seems like they’re done. ]

…

[ his breathing is coming heavy, and he looks to akira for confirmation. is that all of them? ]

[theshowsover]

[Akira, meanwhile, is very used to this - in fact if he and Dextera had fought together before, Akira might have tried to high-five him at some point. It gets the other person pumped up, after all!

But as it is, he just straightens up and looks around. It seems like they're in the clear, and he starts to speak.]

That's-

[And right then, one last one pops out of the bushes!

As quick as he can, Akira pulls his gun out of his belt and aims. It's really just a model, but the fairy doesn't know that, and now that Akira really does think it can fire-

BAM!

One downed fairy later, and Akira sighs, rubbing the back of his neck.]

...I wouldn't have thought that would work.

[passio]

—?!

[ dextera jolts, because he’s never seen anything move as quickly as that. he knows what a gun is, but that’s some incredible reflex that akira has! he also can’t tell the difference between a fake and a real gun, but he wouldn’t be any less impressed if he knew. ]

What…?

[ what was that! ]

[theshowsover]

[He has to move fast when he's in a dungeon!

Though Akira thinks his surprise is due to the gun, so Akira lowers it and holds it out for him to see.]

It's a model. [So now that Dextera knows that, it probably can't shoot him, but it's not like that matters.] It only works if your target thinks it will... Confusing, I know.

[It all has to do with cognition and other things Akira sometimes barely understands.]