[Just staring at a ghostly, transparent white sword on the ground]
This is a problem...
Kastal: yeah.... i don't actually know what it is. it's spooky though.
*she had approached a minute before to investigate the area.*
Well uh, don't touch it. If you're not pure of heart, you die. Just a rumor though.
Kastal: ooooof course. lemme grab a pureheart from one of my cults.
[Staring at it still]
But what if I touch it anyway..?
Kastal: if you wanna do so, do it now, i wanna see what happens.
[I suddenly picked up]
Huh... guess the rumors were-
[Immediately collapses and stops responding]
kastal: sonuva- *she crouches next to you, using a pair of tongs to nudge the sword out of your hand, before casting Ressurection.*
[Spell Failed. Target isn't dead]
Kastal: sighh.... *she uses a sending conch to send a quick message... somewhere.*
kastal: need pure of heart- send directly through fiddle.
[Just laying there, unconscious]
*a little while later, Kastal pulls out her fiddle and pulls out a pure-of-heart child.*
???: oh! who're you?
Kastal: I'm a fellow worker for Solarys. would you be a helpful fellow to these old bones and pick up that sword? i'm sure it's got mighty magic to help us save everyone.
[Suddenly, I woke up, looking slighlty panicked]
*you wake up just as the child picks up the sword.*
???: ooo fancy swordddddd
[Recovering from whatever I had apparently witnessed]
Well, THAT's a lot cheaper than therapy...
Kastal: well that's nice. anyways I've effectively got it now s-
*red lightning streaks through sky and hits the boy in the hand, causing him to disappear and drop the sword.*
Kastal: oh for the love of-
Well I'm just gonnaaaaaaa...
[I pick it up and am now completely unaffected]
This really shouldn't be in this dimension...
???: no, it shouldn't.
*kastal starts booking it.*
No sense in just leaving it here for others to encounter...
I could find someone to return it to the correct dimension...
But that'll take a while...
???: don't worry. i already know the correct dimension.
*he picks it up, casually handling it despite the curse it holds.*
???: good to see the purity enchantment remains.
So you saw me pass out for like an hour, saw a child who was supposed to be pure of heart get evaporated, and you choose to touch it?
[this guy is not the one who just booked it. the previous person was Kastal, a notoriously un-pure of heart]
???: of course! i made the damn thing.
Well, I kinda need them so I can send them to the right dimension, or else someone's gonna find them and be corrupted, as power does corrupt.
???: what.
I have only 2 of them right now. The Icedagger and the Venomshank. All that's left is your sword, aka the Ghostwalker, Firebrand, Windforce, Darkheart, and Illumina.
???: yeah, i'm sure you want this, Muspelheim, Jet Spear, Singularity, and Eclipse, but you are not getting any of them.
???: also- please give back Envenom and Niflheim, too.
I mean, I stopped Envenom and Niflheim from being wielded by worse people. So at least I did something useful.
[I handed back Envenom and Niflheim]
???: i suppose you're right there- thank you.
if you ever need a good weapon, you can also find me selling services at @dragons-den-forging !
I'll think about it if you sell like magic wands or staffs or whatever.
Akari: sometimes, but they're addmittedly not my best work.
Akari: my best work is for warriors and warmages.
Ah, that's fi-
[Suddenly, a star the size of a penny falls onto my head from the sky] -ACK
Goddammit... another anomaly... been happening all week...
Akari: mmm/. could swear... oh- that's why.
Akari: it's probably Anomaly in this area.
Akari: want to help me find it?
Yeah, I'd like to not have things fall onto my head every 15 minutes.
Akari: yeah... feels like its West. *he begins walking that direction.*
[I followed them]
What do you think the anomaly is?
Akari: it's possibly my weirdest weapon- a weapon possessing power over statistical and probabilistic anomalies. it's said to be similar in effect to an incredibly lucky person, but that's only the surface level use. it can do so much more.
*you reach a clearing surrounded by carnage. what looks like an entire army met a brutal and unfortunate end here, all around the entrance to a small cave.*
Akari: this is the place. looks like someone used it to level an army.
[Investigating the star]
Is creating interdimensional displacement one of its abilities?
Akari: no, but retroactively calling down meteors from centuries ago is one of its specialties.
*you begin to climb up the central pile of bodies to get to the cave. it's wet, smells terrible, and is disgusting, But Akari seems unbothered.*
Ah, that's ni-
[Suddenly is a protogen king]
...
I feel like my body has been changed...
*you reach the crest of the pile and begin to descend the other side. the sound of a crying emanates from the cave.*
Akari: does that happen often?
Not-
[Suddenly is an anthro crow in a lab cost]
Not involuntary...
Someone's probably doing it. Probably not the anomaly...
Akari: certainly not. Anomaly doesn't have the power of full-form transmutation.
*you reach the entrance to the cave.*
*a small girl kneels over a corpse, a strange polearm right next to her. the small girl is crying, until she hears you. she whips around and sees you.*
???: Your men died stopping me from saving her, and you're hungry for more?
Akari: i'm not here to fight. i'm here to talk.
???: oh really? I DONT THINK SO! *she grabs the polearm from the floor and levels it at you.*
[She could see a 3rd person that I and Akari couldn't. They were a blacked-out figure floating with a punch of holographic panels floating around them]
I don't want to fight either. I'm not really getting forms that are combat material anyway.
???: then why are you here?
Akari: because whether or not you believe me, that's *my* Anomaly you're weilding.
???: wh- you're not after my ma?
Akari: not even slightly.
I don't even know you. Even though I don't like children I'm not gonna just go up and punch them.
*??? slightly relaxes her grip on the polearm.*
???: how about this- save my ma, and i give you your weapon back.
Akari: hm....
Akari: deal.
Akari: i will need to administer a ressurection at touch range though.
???: alright, but don't try anything.
Akari: understood. *he walks up and gently traces a symbol with chalk on hte corpses forehead. with a gasp, the corpse reanimates- a woman with a haggard face- and looks around.*
??2: what.....
[I suddenly am back to my normal form as a Drakiti]
That's a lot better... [I mumbled to myself]
Akari: there. now- the halber-
*the young girl drops the halberd and dives into the woman's arms- Akari quickly catches it.*
Akari: wasn't as hard as i was expecting, i suppose.
Hey, am I supposed to hear whispering in my head when I'm near it, or is it just the voices in my head acting up again?
Akari: thats just your voices acting up. anyway, thank you for- *TOOOOOOOT*
*the sounds of an approaching army come rumbling from outside the cave.*
Akari: they seriously sent another army to its death. i've gotta find whatever general's doing this and give him a stern talking to.
Akari: should i bring us all out of here, or is there something that needs doing in this cave?
???: deeper in there's a secret only Mom knows- she has to show it to me.
Akari: gotcha- i'll hold them off then.
I'll join you in holding them off. After all, I know how this mini-star works, but it's probably gonna be a bit painful...
[Holding the mini star from earlier]
Akari: you uh... don't have to.
I can fight, just gotta... plunge this into my chest... it'll probably be temporary with such an improper... procedure...
Akari: and you're sure it's necessary?
*the army's sounds draw closer*
Yes. I wanna fight because I haven't been able to do anything combat related.
So lemme just-
[I suddenly plunged it into my chest]
-AGH FUCK.
Akari: that seems counterproductive- I would- *a scout comes over the pile of bodies and sees you.*
?S?: They're still here! Quickly!!!
Akari: let's hope you'll be ready for a fight before i'm done here.
[A pair of crystal wings suddenly sprouted from my back. It sounded very painful. They were pure white, before turning a deep purple]
Ugh, fucking hell... Hope I don't overexert myself...
Akari: good technique- could use some safety precautions though. anyway.
*the army begins charging over the mound, brandishing pikes and running straight for you.*
*before you get a chance to do anything, akari pulls out a strange, half-broken-looking blade, and flicks it....*
*a phantom cut of energy pulses from the blade, cutting directly through the visible force- flesh, bone, and steel are all perfectly split in an instant.*
Akari: you want to show me what you can do?
Uhhh, this thing is versatile on steroids... hmmmmm...
[I suddenly threw three explosive energy disks as my wings turned a bright cyan]
