lucetilogs | Zompania Draft - Draftees and Reinforcements, mid-day 4-early 7

[It's late in the day, and Billy's had enough mental breakdowns to last him a month. People are dead, and more people are dying, and he's finally reached the point of enough is enough, re-entering the fray despite his better judgement. It's because of this that he's flying over the battlefield, shooting bolts of lightning at the enemies in the air, scattering electricity over the ground below to take out as many of the cultists as he possibly can, or at least stunning them enough so that his allies down below can finish the job. He's still against killing - no amount of trauma can change that part of him - but as long as he's not a part of the killing blow, he just... can't fight it anymore. He's too tired of feeling helpless and watching other people die.

His protection and assistance goes to literally anyone who needs it, and the magical light around him is too bright to really see the faces, but thankfully the giant wings of the cultists allow him to easily tell who the enemy is. The light also means that he doesn't see the attacks of them coming at him, either, but he's trusting his forcefield to protect him from those anyway. Hopefully. In theory, it's working.]

[It hasn't been all that long since the Hoshiko spirit took over Kari's body. Sensing her mental disturbance at the sight of all the corpses and blood filling the battlefield, it made sure that when it took over, Kari's mind wouldn't still be there to watch. She's having a nice rest, and the Hoshiko gets a chance to stretch its legs. Everyone wins, right?]

[But stretching isn't the only thing it wants to do right now. The magic hanging above its head feels familiar, and when it looks up, it realizes just who it is fighting up there. The cultists in the area have been easy enough so far to deal with, thanks to Kari unlocking more of the spirit's magic potential. So easy, in fact, that it feels like switching targets for a little while.]

[Powering up its sword, it raises the blade into the air and collects energy into it, before firing out dozens of star-shaped balls of light, the bulk of which home in on the nearby cultist's wings... but two of three of which break away and land right on the side of Billy's forcefield, as if trying to knock him out of the sky. And for anyone paying attention, there's no way that could have been an accident.]

[He sees a flash in his peripheral, but it's coming at him too fast to dodge; instead he lets his forcefield handle the impact. It's stronger than he'd expected, and with a gasp the energy bubble he's in is suddenly pushed several meters to the side, and he tumbles within it like a hamster trapped in a glowing roller ball. For half a second the shield flickers, and he falls, but he manages to catch himself before it can go too far.

Dizzily he straightens himself, looking around to find the source of the attack. He'd never seen a cultist attack with that kind of-

....

Wait, is that-]

Hey- was that you? Be careful where you're shooting those things, you could kill someone!

[The sight of Billy falling down brings a small grin to the spirit's face, though it knows it needs to be careful. Kari had some sort of friendly connection with this person, but they also held a frighteningly strong amount of power. As much as it wanted to mess with him, it needed to show some restraint.]

[Not much, but some.]

Oh, I doubt that. My magic isn't strong enough to kill on it's own. [It holds up its sword to show him, grinning. The voice is a far more monotone voice than Kari would ever use -- and is probably even stranger coming from Hoshikyo's body.] That's what I have this for.

[...Hold on, what did she just say?

His eyes widen, startled; that's the last thing he'd expected her to say. "Sorry", maybe, or "whatever" if she didn't care, or "mind your own business" if she was going to be a brat about it, or maybe she wouldn't have answered at all. He hadn't really cared as long as she didn't do it again. But that response...

Was that a threat? Was that intentional?]

...What the hell is that supposed to mean?

[Does she not see what's going on here?]

I meant only what I said. You claimed my magic could have killed someone, and I corrected you.

[As it spoke, one of the soldiers stunned by the earlier magic attack started to move up off the ground, and Hoshiko was quick to swing down its sword, slicing off a part of their wings in a quick motion. The soldier cried out before falling once more to the ground, white hot flames erupting over where the wing was cut and quickly burning them away.]

[Its expression is entirely indifferent to the obvious suffering of the soldier, who mercifully doesn't last long once the wings catch fire.]

...see? That's what I have this for.

[Billy flinches, visibly uncomfortable by the cultist's demise and creeped out by her calm expression, but he doesn't object to it, much as he'd like to. He's past the point of demanding that people uphold his ideals about not killing their enemies here. Even he has to admit that it's getting harder and harder to fight so many without taking a life.

Her response doesn't reassure him about the blast that had sent him flying, either; it felt too deliberate, too unrepentant. It doesn't feel right. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, he lifts his hands to use his magic to push him away from where she's fighting, glancing away.]

Just... watch where you're firing next time.

I will be certain to watch very carefully where I am firing my magic next time.

[There's still no apology in there, but hopefully it's enough to get Billy floating away. For now. Because the spirit enjoyed that little talk just now, and trying to see just how much it can get away with could prove to be rather interesting.]

[But it'll play nice for a little while, and just go right back to taking out any cultists who approach it. It doesn't go out of its way to kill them just yet, focusing more of just protecting its vessel's body.]

[Though it does take care not to go too far from wherever Billy is, waiting for another opening...]

[It's easy to lose himself in the battle again, ignoring her in favour of fending off the various cultists scattered throughout the field and the city around them. He ignores her at first, then stops looking for her entirely, forgetting the incident because there's too much else going on to bother worrying about it. He keeps on floating above the main force, taking out the stray flyers and ensuring that they can't ambush the soldiers from above, chasing the solo enemies through the sky and knocking them out of the air and hopefully out of commission at the same time. Over the last several days he's found himself a well-rehearsed method for it all, and so long as he's careful not to get overwhelmed or left alone in a fight, and has someone to watch his back, he's been doing okay.

Unfortunately, today... how the hell does he keep ending up with just her as that one person around to do that?]

[For the most part, the spirit isn't really that bad a person to have around as back-up. Although it may not dive in the line of fire to save someone else's life, it's good at cutting down just about anything and everything in its path. Unlike Kari, the spirit is a master swordsman, and for each magic attack Kari has unlocked, the spirit has perfected it.]

[But when things seem to be winding down for a bit and the spirit finds it doesn't need to devote quite as many resources to defense as it had been previously, it decides now would be a good time for messing with Billy again.]

[So there's another few star-shaped balls of light coming his way, obviously intending to knock him back just as they had before.]

[Just like before, he barely sees it coming, and just like before, he's sent tumbling away. However, this time it feels like even less of an accident, and the sky feels clear enough for him to feel safe about floating down near the ground and really let loose. What a stupid, stupid thing to do to your allies- he's pissed, and it's pretty obvious from his expression. His sore head isn't helping his attitude any, but even without it, he'd be annoyed to have been the victim of friendly fire twice in such a short span.]

What the hell is your problem!? Stop hitting me like that! Can't you see we have more important things we should be doing here!?

[The Hoshiko doesn't shy away from Billy's anger at all. In fact, by the look on its face, it almost seems amused by how upset he is. He wasn't even hurt, just what was he even upset about?]

More important? Perhaps to you, but I don't think there's anything more important than what I have been doing since I woke up. I'm only dealing with whatever I have come to see as a threat.

That you just so happen to fall under the category is no fault of mine.

How am I a threat? I'm not attacking you at all! You're the one who's been following me!

[Is this girl freaking insane? He doesn't get it at all.]

No, you are not attacking me. However, you did use your magic to will me out of existence a number of months ago.

[The memory of which causes its expression to sour, tightening its grip on its sword.]

My vessel may have forgiven you for that display of magic, but in truth she was not the one who required an apology.

[Her- vessel-

Oh god. Oh god, that's right. Kari- Hoshikyo-

Shit.

He flinches and jerks back, putting some distance between them. He'd been so out of his mind when she'd told him that it was easy to forget, and... truth be told, he'd tried his best to put all of that behind him. Months ago, maybe he'd have just let her do as she pleased, but now, knowing what he knows, with all the progress he's made?

Like hell. Not here, not when one wrong move can get a lot of people killed. Apologizing is one thing- he'll never stop apologizing for that horrible week he'd created for everyone involved. But anything else, and he's out of here.]

That wasn't... really me. I didn't want that to happen... I'm sorry.

[There's not much change in its disposition, even with the apology. Truth be told, even if he had somehow known about the existence of the spirit and apologized, without doing something in the spirit's favor to make up for it, the apology wouldn't have done much good on its own.]

An apology carries no weight if you do not truly understand the gravity of what you did. How am I to believe such a thing couldn't come to pass a second time? My vessel and I are tied together by a powerful physical and spiritual connection. You may have gotten lucky the first time, but there's no guarantee that my host's body would survive being severed like that again.

[Just as there's no guarantee that severing that connection would do any harm to Kari -- but Billy doesn't need to know that.]

No... I get that. I know what I did was practically unforgivable.

[Kari was pretty chill about it, but the reaction of everyone affected had been very different. He would never assume that saying sorry would fix everything, even months later.]

I stopped using magic for six months because I thought that would help to prevent it from happening again. But I know now that it won't- that I have to keep using it, practice it and master my own powers. That's the only way I can make sure that I can't be used to hurt people like that again.

And you believe such a strategy will work out in your favor, do you...

[How foolish. Kari believed in the same strategy -- she believed that by perfecting her own magic, she could gain control over the spirit residing in her body. Little did she know, that strategy was only strengthening its hold over her...]

[But if this boy believed in that same strategy, perhaps it would be better to keep him around after all? It would be more beneficial to have a potential enemy as an ally instead. If it worked with the shrine girl, it could probably work with him, too.]

...I suppose I could find it in me to forgive you. That is, on one condition.

[Hey, all he can really do is try, right? Especially when there doesn't seem to be a better alternative available.

The forgiveness is another big surprise, though, and his brows lift, only to narrow slightly as she finishes.]

What's the condition?

The true owner of this body is likewise working on refining her own magical ability. However, even with my attempts at assisting her, she has been rather slow on the uptake. Even now, I'm certain she has only unlocked less than 15% of her magical potential.

[A truly sad amount, given how long she's had her powers. A stronger vessel might have been fully corrupted by now, but as it is, the spirit can only take control for so long before it's forced to return control to Kari.]

But if someone with more developed powers were to assist her, I am confident she would be able to greatly expand that potential. And then perhaps I wouldn't need to worry over her well-being quite as much in situations such as this.

[...it's not technically lying when it says it worries about her. It just worries for all the wrong reasons.]

[...Is she trying to make him die of shock, here? Nothing she says is what he expects her to say. Geez.]

You... want me to help her learn magic? There's so many people more qualified to do that kind of thing, though...

That is true. You would be far from my first choice to do so. [Wow rude.] However, there is no one else who I believe she would willingly accept help from. Her personality is not the sort that meshes well with others, whether in her true form or this one. [So rude.]

And for that matter, you are one of the few who knows of her two forms... and now, I suppose, the third as well.

[This... sounds complicated. And probably more trouble than he ought to be digging his hands into. But he likes Kari, and he feels like he does kind of owe this... person... whatever's possessing her, even if he doesn't want to trust it.

Even if he's unqualified, hopefully it won't hurt to help.]

...Okay. I'll do what I can to help her, then.

There's a good boy. [Gee, that was easier than it thought it would be! Perhaps it was too quick to judge this boy. Certainly with his influence, its vessel's skills could grow even faster than they had been before!]

Of course, you will need to be the one to bring it up yourself. She will retain little, if any memory of our little conversation here. It was all I could do to preserve her sanity when she arrived here on this battlefield, after all.

[He grimaces at that, glancing around. Speaking of which...]

Yeah... yeah, I'll do that. But we should talk about this later- back at the village, maybe, or when we've won. When we're safe.

[He's just. Going to assume that they'll both survive until then, because the alternative is unacceptable.]

There's still fighting going on out there... we should be helping.

day 4!

day 4!

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject