Shamitako

I'M BACK. I'M SORRY. My old phone got to the point where it outright couldn't load a page with this many videos, so doing this daily became impossible. But I have a new one (I've actually had it for a week or so whistles), so Ima try to get back to this. Let's start of with an obvious choice. Phantom Fantasy

Lilith Lilith stared at Arturia's hand for a while before wordlessly accepting it. She knew it was a mistake, trusting people who offered to help had always been a mistake, but under the circumstances she didn't see much choice. The world around was totally destroyed, the devastation becoming all the clearer now that the sky was no longer blotted out by a curtain of dust. The forest they'd been standing in had been reduced to an empty crater. Lilith actually wasn't sure how they were supposed to get back, the edge of the crater seemed really tall and she was afraid of trying to climb it. She was also a little worried that Arturia was wrong, and their attacker was still about. Trick "I'm dead people!" Trick told the diminutive one. Alexus rubbed her eyes to make sure what she was seeing was real. "What is even happening today?" She asked rhetorically. "The magic is bent, darkness spins off-kilter." Trick answered anyways. She looked between Alexus and the diminutive one, they both seemed quite confused. She would have explained more of what was happening, but she didn't want to accidentally drive Alexus mad. Instead, she decided to get to business. "Where may we find a guardian of the future?" She asked. The question was mostly directed at the diminutive one, though there was a slight possibility Alexus might be close enough to awakening to discover the answers Trick needed.

Riley "Katja doesn't seem to have anything up her sleeve besides that hourglass. We just have to outlast her." Riley smirked, "I doubt we can kill her in here, but we can certainly make her suffer." Riley drew her rapier and flicked it up to point at Katja. As she did so, her clothes and skin rippled with a white light. Her jacket and nails changed color from navy to bright white. Her t-shirt and skirt vanished, leaving her in just her black sports bra and leggings. A white tattoo in the shape of a simple eye design emblazoned itself onto her stomach, with the same appearing in the center of her forehead and on the back of her hands. The tattoo on her forehead was especially strange, as the simple dot that served to represent the pupil moved with Riley's gaze, as though it actually served as a third eye. "Both of you hurry up and transform as well, we don't know how long we have until the loop resets." Riley instructed. Lilith This time, Arturia did manage to elicit a response, though perhaps not the one she was hoping for. With an angry hiss, Lilith grabbed Arturia's wrist and--with a surprising amount of strength--yanked Arturia towards her. Simultaneously, she rose to her feet and transformed. Before Arturia could catch her balance or attempt to shake free, Lilith's free hand was on her neck, nails biting at the skin. The look in Lilith's eyes was that of a cornered animal lashing out in fear. Several tendrils of lightning jumped out of her back and turned to point at Arturia. But they froze in place just before striking. Lilith's eyes searched Arturia, trying to discern if she was friend or foe. Finally, the tendrils vanished and Lilith released her grip. She fell back down, releasing her transformation as she went. Though she no longer whimpered and she knew of Arturia's presence. "I'm sorry, I thought you were mommy." Lilith whispered, "I want mommy. I miss mommy." Trick "At least ask next time." The diminutive girl said with a snarky tone. This prompted a flustered response from the still-confused maiden of the sea, "I'm sorry. I will. Next time? I mean, uh." Somehow Alexus turned an even deeper shade of pink than she had already. The third party, who had rushed over when she'd seen Alexus fall, lowered her head in between them, hanging upside down in the air as she was wont to do. "Hi there!" She said cheerfully. Alexus just stared in shock, that was fine, Trick wasn't actually there for Alexus. She was there for the maiden's knight, though the girl the goddess had just been fondling wasn't exactly what she'd been looking for. Still, being nearby Alexus could lead her to a compatible knight. She needed to hurry though, staying out of Mack's way had delayed her a lot, she wouldn't be able to exist in this place much longer. She was extremely lucky that Mack hadn't attacked Alexus for some reason, she didn't want to lose this chance.

Arturia Lilith still didn't respond, and it still seemed as though she had yet to register Arturia's presence. It didn't seem like there was anything Arturia could do to gain Lilith's attention, at least not without startling the poor girl. As she observed Lilith to find a solution, Arturia began to notice more details about the girl. She wasn't just small, as she might seem at first glance, she looked rather bony, or even malnourished. And the bruise wasn't the only thing visible on her stomach, there were a dozen scars from what must have been knife wounds. But most disturbingly were the things that came from within the girl's whimpers. They were words so soft that Arturia could barely make them out, even when she went quiet to listen. Though it at first seemed like gibberish, listening long enough would reveal a string of phrases being repeated over and over. "...No, don't put it in there. The pressure, suffocating pressure. Mommy, mommy. The ashes, dying black ashes. Don't make me go in there. The smoke, empty grey smoke. The things they do, they hurt. The fire, lovely white fire. Don't you love me? Fire, fire, fire. Make them stop, mommy. What is power? Eden's curse is coming. No, don't put it in there..." The evidence seemed to point to a pretty clear conclusion, one that any sane person would try to deny they had reached. Arturia had heard plenty of horror stories about Laylites. With how much of a pariah Laylites were, rumors of heinous acts were abundantly available. Occasionally one would be arrested for doing something particularly cruel, but those seemed like outliers to those who weren't already convinced of their evil disposition. Yet even if Arturia had believed such stories, the impact of seeing the results with her own eyes, hearing a child's lament with her own ears... There was no preparation for that.

Natalie Natalie shut her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them again, they were like hardened ice. It was a false determination, only granted by her faith in her mother and in Arya, but it was enough to give her strength. With as calm a voice as she could muster, she told her mother, "Alright, what do I have to do?" Mother Opium opened the jar. "Reach inside, take hold of what you find, and pull it out." She answered. Natalie nodded, took another breath, and reached down towards the jar. The instant her fingers touched the liquid metal, there was a burning sensation. She tried to recoil, but it was too late. The metal jumped out of the tube, travelling up her arm. There was a sharp pain as it stabbed through her shoulder. The burning intensified as the metal moved under her skin, travelling from shoulder to neck, onto the cheek, and finally resting behind Natalie's right eyebrow, where it spiked outwards in two painful bursts of flame. Natalie sat up, she hadn't realized she'd fallen on her back. At some point during the ordeal, she'd heard her mother cry out in surprise and concern. The burning had mostly faded, but there was still some residue of the sensation coming from the side of her face where it had spiked. She reached up to touch it, and was almost unsurprised to find that the spiking flames had been the formation of two literal spikes exiting her skin. The spikes were small, half and a quarter inch respectively, and curved upwards just slightly from the side of Natalie's face, just inside the temple of her glasses. The larger one, the one placed slightly higher on her face, had a tiny bulge that felt like a gem embedded in it. She paused to consider that she might have to switch to contacts instead of her stylish glasses, before remembering that there were more important things at hand than fashion. It was then that Natalie finally notice her mother's voice again, "Natalie, are you okay?" Though it was slightly muffled still, Natalie could tell by her tone that this was the third or fourth time the question had been asked. "I think... I think so." Natalie answered, suddenly feeling extremely winded. "I think so isn't good enough right now. That's not supposed to happen!" Natalie could hear the panic in her mother's voice. She was worried, she always worried. "It's alright mom, I'm okay." She reassured, "I don't really understand, but I think this is exactly what was supposed to happen. It seems not every weapon is made to be held in hand." The hand touching the spikes lowered, almost of its own accord. Natalie instinctively knew how to use her weapon, as though her mind itself were connected to it. She pulled her hand back so that her palm pointed up, and with a short, almost unnoticeable jolt of that burning pain--which she now realized was the burn of ice and not the burn of flame--a metal spike emerged from her palm. "Or maybe they are." She said with a giggle. Platinum As Platinum lamented over her inability to solve the mystery (though she hadn't exactly tried very hard), the ground beneath her suddenly began to shake. Alongside it, a loud rumbling came from the forest where Arturia and Layla had run off to. A cloud of dust emerged from it, followed by the trees starting to thin out as the furthest trees visible through the foliage were toppled. The rumbling reached its peak as a wall of dirt and stone rose up, crushing and toppling a large chunk of the treeline. The event caused a panic as the ground roared in anger, and most of the girls scrambled to escape in the opposite direction of the devastation. In the ensuing chaos, Platinum found herself barreled into by one of the fleeing girls and easily knocked down due to her small stature. There was a short moment of blackness, though she couldn't tell if she'd hit her head or simply closed her eyes out of fear. As the ground stabilized itself once more, Platinum found vision returned. The first thing she saw with it was the face of a girl, Lexi Aislin to be precise. Lexi seemed a little dazed, groaning as she too returned her eyes to an open state. She didn't seem to realize what had happened. With a confused look, she tried to sort out what was beneath her with her hands, squishing at what little breast Platinum had. After ten or twenty seconds, realization dawned on her face alongside embarrassment. She jumped to full cognition and scrambled backwards, her face flushing bright pink. "By Nayru! I'm sorry sorry!" Her apology scrambled itself as she rushed to get it out. Platinum is now a Water Pulse

Maria The house Victoria was lead through was large and expensive, but sparsely decorated and far from extravagant, leaving a sensation of emptiness. The walls were painted a rich red-brown and the floors covered by a purple carpet with golden swirls patterning it. Doors were crafted from a deep red wood and seemed quite heavy. The halls were lit from within, white squares dotting their upper recesses in an oddly dissonant modern style, further clashed with by the rather ornate golden chandeliers in every room. Very quickly after they began walking, Victoria would realize that she wasn't being led directly to her quarters, but rather that Maria was giving her a tour of the premises. After visiting every room on the ground and second floors, except for Isis's workshop on the first floor and her bedroom on the second, Maria led Victoria up to the third floor where the servants stayed. There were nine rooms in the third floor hall, though Victoria had only seen one other servant beyond herself and Maria--another maid who looked much like Maria, but with longer hair, blue eyes, and actual expressions (including a smile that she had directed towards Victoria). Maria directed Victoria to one of them. "You will be staying here." She said, "The bathroom is at the end of the hall. Aria will supply you with a uniform and toiletries once she completes the wash, in the meantime, feel free to roam the premises. And though you are allowed once you're in uniform, I would suggest not disturbing the lady. She's been gone for several days, likely with little rest." Maria waited patiently in case Victoria had any questions. Otherwise, she would leave once Victoria entered the room. The room was rather sparse, furnished only with a queen sized bed with plain white sheets and a moderately sized wooden dresser. There was a small, open closet and a single window with purple curtains. Instead of a chandelier like the other rooms, Victoria's quarters were lit by a simple shaded lamp on the dresser and what little of the morning sunlight spilled over the curtains.

Swag Though slower in responsiveness than the AI, Swag's jets triggered and he strafed in tandem with his opponent, easily matching the Revenant's speed. Certainly Ragnarok was a frightening force, but Swag figured if he just kept pace with Sully, there'd be too great a risk for collateral damage. "You know, I wonder. What are you here for?" Swag asked, "You don't seem like you want to be a god. Perhaps I've misjudged you and you're here because you want to save people from Nil?" Swag was fairly certain he hadn't misjudged, but his goal was to get Sully to be the one to reveal the truth. In the meantime, Swag prepared to counter if his opponent went for a melee attack.

Isis Isis nodded her agreement. It would indeed have been rather conspicuous, though it wouldn't have lasted for long. "Yes, good thinking, Saber." She complimented her servant before heading for the entrance to the house. When she neared, it opened of its own accord, or rather a young woman wearing the attire of a maid opened it from within. "Welcome back, Lady Isis." The maid said, bowing deeply. She had lightly tanned skin, shaggy blonde hair cut to a very short length, and dull grey eyes which betrayed no emotion, all of which combined to give her a rather mysterious look. "Thank you, Maria, I presume all was well in my absence?" Isis responded. "Yes, my lady, no issues arose." Maria affirmed. She rose back to her full height and eyed Victoria curiously. "If I may be so bold, who is this you've brought with you?" Isis couldn't well call Victoria by her True Name, nor could she reveal her as Saber, so she quickly thought up a new name for Victoria to use more publicly. "This is my new servant, her name is Satania Actualis." She explained. "Oh, a new servant, Aria and Renton will be pleased to hear that." Maria answered in a completely flat tone. "I'm sure they will. I'll be retiring to my workshop for the evening, do see to it that Satania finds her quarters and a uniform, as well as instructing her on her duties." Isis passed Maria and walked briskly into the house. "Yes, my lady." Maria bowed again, remaining in that state until Isis was out of sight and she was alone with Victoria. Upon returning to a standing position once more, Maria looked directly into Victoria's eyes. She stared for some time, continuing even when Victoria instinctively glanced away. Finally, she spoke. "You're not human." Her tone was blunt and empty, matching her eyes in lack of emotion. She looked away from Victoria and continued as if she hadn't spoken at all, "Follow me." She quickly went inside, though she took a much slower pace than her mistress so that Victoria could keep up.

Arturia Lilith didn't respond, it seemed like Arturia's presence hadn't even registered with her. It was like she'd retreated inside herself to escape the events that had just occurred. Arturia would find it hard to blame her as the dust all around was slowly beginning to settle, revealing that this tree was far from the only result of the destruction wrought by the ground's upheaval. She couldn't see more than a few meters (still much better than struggling to see her hand in front of her face), but Arturia could see enough. Not a single tree remained upright, all were lopsided or outright uprooted. The undergrowth was almost totally gone, buried as dirt and stone had torn across it, now only present as sparse strands of green and upturned roots littered through the uneven earth. Arturia even spied the fresh carcasses of a few small mammals that had been crushed by the earth or flung through the air as she was. She could only imagine how much worse it was outside her narrow field of view.

Arturia As she neared the tree's tattered roots, Arturia began to hear a sound. A whimper not unlike a wounded animal. The sound came from past the base of the uprooted tree, where a terrified mass of blood, flesh, and dirt that Arturia recognized as Lilith was huddled. The blood seemed to be coming from a multitude of smaller scratches rather than any sort of major wound, though Arturia could see a rather nasty looking bruise through a hole in the stomach of Lilith's shirt.

Arturia Arturia did, in fact, run into a tree. But her hand was incapable of guarding her from it, as it was her feet that discovered it half-buried in the ground. She tripped over it, though she didn't fall. She did, however, managed to catch notice of a rope tied to one of the branches. Following it led downwards, under the tree.

Riley Katja shrugged. "You come with Katja eventually." She said nonchalantly. "It take time, but Katja has lots of time." Riley glared at her in a quiet rage. Once again she was trapped in this frustrating loop, and as best she could tell, the only way out was for Alva to capitulate. In a way, this was even worse, at least last time she had been at the center of it, she'd had some sense of control. This time, everything was in Alva's hands. This would have been so much easier if she'd just killed Alva a little earlier, before Katja found them. It seemed that now she had a new goal. "Kaede." She said finally, "It seems my priorities have changed, keeping Alva from them now seems to coincide with keeping her alive. I don't know how we can defeat this time loop, but we stand a better chance if we work to fight Katja together." Arturia The ground had ceased its rage, and a deathly silence hung over the world along side the dust. Arturia couldn't see much through the cloud, a dull brown obscured her vision in every direction. No response came to her call, not even an echo. If Lilith really was nearby, she was in no condition to respond.

Mack "If you insist." Mack raised herself to her full height and held the bat out in front of her, pointed towards the ground. "Droppin' the bat." In the same instant she released her grip, energy flowed from Mack's fingertips into the bat, causing it to glow white once more. Its tip struck the ground and a massive shockwave exploded outwards from it, upturning the ground as it rapidly tore through the forest. Trees were toppled and consumed by the crushing wave of dirt and stone. Arturia and Mack were flung far away from one another as a thick cloud of dust rose around them. Though perhaps impossible to hear over the rumbling of the raging earth, a squeal of terror echoed out nearby the place Arturia landed (and was partially buried). Natalie Natalie's mother joined in Arya's assurances. "Yes, it's perfectly understandable. I'm just glad you've come back." She said kindly, "I just finished giving Arya a gift, and I have one for you as well." She retrieved another jar like the one she'd given Arya and set it in front of Natalie. "This jar contains a powerful weapon, like the one carried by the inquisitor, that you can use to protect yourself. It's yours on one condition: You keep yourself and Arya safe." Natalie looked nervously at Arya and then back to her mother. "I'm not sure I can. I don't have the same sort of resolve that Arya does... I'm not sure I can fight someone like that again."

Yes

Mack Even if the war cry hadn't alerted her, Mack knew Arturia was coming. She had mere moments to get ahold of her bat, just barelyu managing to get a decent grip around the handle with her good arm. This time, not only did the gem on the end glow white, the entire bat joined in. As Arturia's blade came down, it was met with a desperate swing, one that, had this been any other bat, would have been easily knocked aside by the force of Arturia's blow. But this wasn't any other bat, and instead Arturia's blade was met with a completely unstoppable force. It was only a glancing blow, a more direct strike and it was likely Arturia would have found the bones of her wrists shattered from the force of the blow. But instead all that happened was her blade being redirected and slowed, such that it flew over Mack instead of cleaving her in half. Mack used the time she'd bought to roll away and back to her feet, or at least a kneeling position from which she could more easily get to her feet. "Seems you're more of a problem to kill than I was thinkin'." Mack admitted through heavy breaths, "I'll give you this one, but only 'cause you're cute. Layla's hangin' from a tree about twenty meters back thataway." Mack pointed past Arturia. "Don't worry 'bout that bein' a lie, I ain't goin' nowhere carryin' her over my shoulder, not like this, I ain't got a reason to keep her." She made no effort to move, it was likely that if Arturia continued attacking, she could win out and kill Mack here and now.

Red Red followed her master through the streets. She didn't respond to his comments about the inn. It wasn't that she wasn't interested, she was just busy trying to figure out how to best explain her capabilities when they arrived. If she was to succeed in acquiring the Grail and achieve her wish, she needed to keep him on her side. But the unnatural nature of her abilities had a tendency to be offputting at best. Taking creatures into herself was a violent and disturbing act, and the results were rarely pretty. Red herself took little issue with the matter, but those few who bore witness to it were often filled with fear and disgust. She needed to ensure her master had fully accepted her before she revealed the full extent of her powers and her purpose. But she couldn't withhold such things forever, eventually she would have to tell him. And though he was such a perfect master, she was more than willing to cast him aside if it meant achieving her goals.

Isis "Of course I've looked at your Noble Phantasm." Isis scoffed, "It turns you into some destructive monster thing. Are you looking to try it?" The question was spoken as a threat, Isis didn't feel like continuing this ridiculous argument with her mistaken servant and hoped that it would silence her. To further assist in ending their discussion, they were arriving at their destination. Isis's home was a rather large suburban house just short of being a mansion in a neighborhood full of equally decadent houses. "Take physical form again before we enter, it would be problematic to explain to my other servants how you can vanish at will." Isis instructed.