Once he got his jacket free Keizeron slashed his sword down at Aster. She managed to parry the swipe easily enough, but in doing so she had to step backwards and out of his range. Now that he had some space he quickly patted out the lingering embers on his tattered shirt. He would be able to fix it, but his appearance wasn’t exactly a high priority at the moment.
“I didn't mean to trick you Aster!" Keizeron tried to explain himself through gritted teeth. He knew it was too late, but he had to try. "I didn't know we had the rod until we'd already left the temple."
“Spare me your excuses!” Aster shouted at him. She was still bleeding badly from the cut on her chest, but she didn’t seem to pay it any mind. “You ruined my life!”
Keizeron couldn’t stop himself from letting out a short laugh. In his condition it almost sounded like a bark. “Then we’re finally even.”
“Even?” Aster sounded baffled. “You’ve stolen an ancient artifact and are dangerously close to starting a war with Flolon. Keizeron you have to stop!”
“The queen has wanted this war for a while, she’ll start it regardless of who has the rod. I won’t give it back to you,” Keizeron spat at her. Maybe she thought she was doing good, but Keizeron had much less faith in the intentions of the queen of Regilis. At least while they were yelling at each other Aster wasn’t attacking him and it gave him a chance to recover. Though the burn on his collarbone hurt, the cold air was helping it cool down.
It seemed Aster finally noticed he was trying to stall, and pressed a hand to the laceration her chest. Why wasn’t she stopping him? Keizeron narrowed his eyes, she was up to something. Below them on the lower deck he could hear the shouts of the two crews facing off, and the clang of metal striking metal. He didn’t have time to spare for his crew, Aster was not the sort of enemy you could divert your attention from. But then he heard another cry, louder than the rest coming from the deck of the Perseverance.
“You’re not the only one who’s gotten new crew mates,” Aster informed him. With a wild swing Lycus jumped from the unity ship to the helm of the Fortune’s Favor. He landed with a solid thump behind Keizeron, his hooves chipping into the deck.
The minotaur man had changed since Keizeron last saw him, it was hardly noticeable but he was thinner now. They were not feeding him well in prison. Lycus’s shaggy brown fur was matted and his eyes were sunken, but they looked sharp with fury. Whatever he had been through, he still looked strong, and it was apparent he was not here to forgive Keizeron for cutting off his hand. The hand in question looked like it had been healed at least, and was wrapped neatly in a white linen bandage. In his good hand he carried a wicked looking double headed battle axe.
Seeing Aster again was already an unpleasant enough surprise, but Keizeron was not expecting this. How desperate was Aster that she would team up with a pirate that had conspired to kill her?
Lycus slammed an impatient hoof into the deck, snorting in fury as he took in the situation he now found himself in. In response Keizeron grimaced, taking a step back to keep both of them in his field of vision. Even with her sword broken and her injuries, Aster was still a powerful fire elemental who couldn’t be taken lightly. On the other side the minotuar was a wildcard, Keiz had no idea what the pirate captain was capable even with only one hand. The last time they clashed Keiz didn’t give him a chance to show off his battle prowess. He had switched to lethal damage as soon as the pirate tried to kill Aka.
This time there were too many people watching to try using his powers like that again, he just had to hope that losing a hand was enough of a disadvantage that he could duel both of them. Keizeron took a sharp breath, trying to push the dull pain in his chest out of his mind. He raised his sword, and moved forward to counter the threat he faced.
On the lower deck Mea paid for her momentary distraction. She successfully got her spell off and doused the cute enemy captain, but while she was focused on the upper deck on of the unity officers got a clear shot at her. A flare streaked across the deck, and Mea yelped as the fire seared across her shoulder and toasted the end of her tentacle hair. While her odd hair was advantageous in the water, it certainly hurt more than anyone else if it was damaged.
Mea spun, tears in her eyes and a spell in her hand to counter attack, when the caster who had attacked her staggered. A bullet ripped through the unity officer's hand, shattering the rune she was in the middle of drawing. Mea flinched as she shouted out in pain, and looked up. Across the deck Aka was already reloading their pistol and aiming at the elf who was dueling with Sola.
A loud shot rang out across the deck, though it was easy to miss over the din of battle. This time their bullet grazed the enemy first mate's cheek, just barely missing his eye. The elf grunted in annoyance, and shouted something about his incompetent crew mates. He looked directly at Sola, and it was clear he was trying to figure out how to get this wall of a man out of his way to stop the gun fire. Thistle narrowed his eyes with determination and drew a rune before Sola could stop him.
The first mate braced himself for whatever the rival officer was about to cast at him, but the damage never came. Sola looked at him in confusion, before it suddenly clicked that whatever spell he just cast didn’t originate at the rune like most spells. With a snap, the elf created an ear shattering ringing noise directly behind Zero and Aka.
The effect was instantaneous, with Aka crying out in pain and dropping their gun to cover their ears. Their weapon clattered across the deck as they ducked slightly, almost like they trying to get away from the noise. Aka had a better sense of hearing than the rest of the crew, making this especially painful. The attack rattled Zero violently, his lights blinking for a moment before shutting off completely. He dropped to the deck with a loud thud. And just like that they were two down.
With an intense glare Sola brought his shield around, bashing the unity officer in the face. The elf man reeled backwards, holding a broken nose that started to gush blood. Sola took a step back, taking the momentary lapse in attention from his opponent to glance back at his injured companions. There was nothing he could do about Zero, but two of the unity officers were trying to encircle the stunned Aka.
From across the deck Willow was watching the events fold out with concern, but really wasn’t in a position herself to help either of them. She would have to trust in the extra shielding she gave her first mate. Willow gave her attention back to the officer who was trying to get around her. She blocked his sword strike with her staff, though at the angle he was swinging he would have missed anyway. Willow thought these were the highest skilled members of the sailing academy?
With a snort of contentment Willow swept the staff low, knocking the officer off his feet. He landed on the deck with a pained yelp, and she used her free hand to trace a familiar rune. The wood underneath the man shook for a second, before a few thin vines wrapped around his arms, preventing him from getting up. Willow gave him a short kick to the chest to get her point across, and looks up to assess the situations her crew mates were in.
Two of the unity officers were downed, with two more of them injured by Sola. The elf man who seemed to be the first mate was still bent over, holding the broken nose he sported. However on their side Zero had short circuited and was down until someone could help him, and Aka was in no condition to keep fighting. It seemed that even though they had tried to level the playing field, they still ended up being outnumbered. Willow narrowed her eyes. They weren’t losing, but they weren’t exactly winning either.
No longer able to keep track of Keizeron, Mea was forced to focus on the battle that was surrounding her. One of the officers was pointing a short sword at her, and the other one standing around her was the spell castor. Though the woman's hand was clearly broken she was still standing and Mea knew better than to disregard an injured spell caster. She'd seen people still cast spells in worse conditions. So Mea took a short step backwards to get them both in her view and cast one of her new ice spells. Might as well take advantage of the frigid air around them.
With a flick of her wrist Mea slammed the ground, and a slick sheet of ice spread out from her palms across the deck. Tiny icicles jutted out, and the woman in front of her slipped, holding her wounded hand to her chest as she went down. The ice spread under the rest of the rival crew, and one of the men who was trying to block Sola lost his balance. He hit his jaw on the deck, grunting in pain. The rest of the unity officers were staggered, but managed to keep their footing. Mea frowned, wondering if she should have cast a spell that was damaging over just being disruptive.
On the upper deck it was becoming clear that despite being a two on one fight Keizeron was not going to be brought down so easily. He may have been surprised to see Aster working with the pirate captain that blew up the first temple of Aria, but that advantage wore off quickly. Lycus was an imposing figure, but slow and easy to avoid. Keizeron had no trouble dodging most of his attacks as long as he paid attention. Aster’s talent made up for her partner’s lack, but only just enough to prevent Keizeron from counter attacking. But it was obvious their luck would run out before they could bring down Keiz. He just needed one of them to slip up, and soon enough Aster did.
The fire elemental was still using her broken blade, and it seemed she was having trouble adjusting. She swung too wide, having accounted for the reach she didn’t have. Lycus gave a grunt, but there was no way he could cover her in time. With a swift kick Keizeron swept her feet out from under her, sending the other captain crashing to the deck. Aster gasped loudly as the wind was knocked out of her lungs, her hands curling in pain.
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Immediately Keiz whirred around, parrying Lycus’s ax and driving it into the deck where it became wedged. Lycus let out a snort of frustration, and attempted to tug the handle of his ax which only splintered the already burnt wood of the upper deck. The minotaur managed to free his weapon, but looked up to see Keizeron drawing a large rune. He shoved his hand into his opponents chest, the magical blast sent Lycus flying backwards. He crashed into the railing and fell to his knees, coughing painfully.
“Give it up Aster! You'd never been able to best me!” Keizeron panted, lowering his sword into her throat.
Aster snarled in response, her hair starting to flicker back to life with her rage. Back when they went to school together it was all the same. No matter what she did she couldn’t beat Keizeron. It didn't matter how they were dueling, or what lessons or spells they were working on. His talent was just better than her hard work. But they weren’t in school anymore, and she didn’t have to care about playing fair. Not after what he had done to her.
“No.” Aster admitted, lifting herself up slightly, and pressing his sword into her neck. She sneered at the look of surprise on his face, he wasn’t planning on killing her. Nor on her calling out his bluff, giving her the chance to raise her hand. “I can’t beat you. But what about them?”
He flinched as she prepped a spell, only to stare as she dropped her hand and send a blast to the lower deck instead. A bead of orange light blossomed along the deck where Sola had gone to assist Aka, and exploded with enough force to send the surprised pair backwards. Both of them smashed through the ships railing and flipped off the edge of the Fortune’s Favor.
((“You liar!” Zenith shouted, pointing an accusing finger at his partner. “You said that Keizeron would take care of Aster and we wouldn’t have to fight her!”
“You’re not really fighting her now are you? Besides, I specifically told you guys to watch out for cross fire, and that was before Mea attacked her. Stenographer, roll the tape back!” Caine yelled back, a wild grin on their face. Misleading your players was half the fun of being a dungeon master after all.
The rest of the players exchanged a glance.
“Should we stop them?” Lucky asked.
“Nah, just a classic couples fight.” Ren replied with a shrug. “Everyone argues about trying to murder your favorite ocs on live radio.”
“I don’t think anything you just said was true, but I don’t think it matters.” Winter sighed, before clearing her throat to get the dm's attention. “Aka rolled a crit fail on their dex save.”))
Sola was completely disorientated. He had been trying to help Aka when he saw a bright orange light and suddenly he had no idea which way was up. The first mate crashed through the railing of the ship, something he had not thought possible given how sturdy it was. He reached out blindly, grabbing the broken wood to keep from falling off the ship. Sharp splinters cut into his hand, but he managed to get a grip and hold on.
And then he felt something soft brush past him.
Sola instinctively tried to grab it, but didn’t move fast enough as the fabric brushed past his side. He could only stare blankly at the open air that Aka’s coat used to occupy. Still stunned from the attack, the navigator didn’t make a sound as they plummeted from the side of the ship past him. A beat passed before he realized what was happening, but as soon as his mind caught up Sola did the only thing he could think to do. He let go of the broken railing, falling after them.
((“Welp, we decided to fight them and that’s on us. A TPK isn’t the worst way to end the podcast,” Blair sighed, leaning back in their chair and tossing their paper into the air.
“Yes it is, and you pick that up. We’re not done here.” Caine commanded.
“What’s a TPK?” Ren asked.
“It stands for total party kill, it’s when everyone in the group dies in an encounter and you have to start over. But that’s not whats going to happen here.” Caine explained, before glancing over to a nervous looking Zenith.
Ren caught the look, and snapped his fingers. “Oh right! Sola has secret magic!” He pointed out with excitement. “Does he have one of those slow fall spells or something like that?”
Zenith looked up at his partner and frowned, knowing they did this to him on purpose. His other half. The love of his life. Caine tilted their head, the little fox ears on their hoodie flopping innocently to the side, and smiled at him.
“Yeah, something like that.”))
The wind rushed through Sola’s hair as he fell. He wasn’t even sure when he lost his hat, when he got hit or when he jumped off the boat. At this speed he could feel the cold, and his eyes quickly began to water. No good, he already couldn’t see very well. The ground was coming up for them at an alarming rate, and Sola grimaced as he reached an arm out for Aka. The navigator’s eyes were wide with terror, but unfocused and blurry. He wasn’t even sure if they knew what was going on. He could only hope that meant they wouldn’t notice what he was about to do.
He had cast minor spells from time to time. Small things he didn’t think anyone would notice. But this? This he hadn’t done in over a decade. He wasn’t even sure if he still could, he might have just doomed the both of them by jumping off the boat. But he wouldn’t have been able to live with himself if he didn’t try. He could hardly live with himself as it was.
Sola managed to grab a hold of the edge of Aka’s jacket, and immediately pulled the lamb faun close to his chest. He held them tightly, and with a flourish of dark blue magic he spread his wings out, trying to slow their fall. The toll of not using his magic in years was apparent almost as soon as they were out, he knew he would not be getting them back up to the boat with the first beat. It was a wonder he could make a difference in their speed at all, especially since he was holding another person. They were still falling, but at a noticeably slower rate now.
Much to his surprise, Sola managed to slow them down to almost a stop before they reached the top of the tree line. His relief was short lived however. It was exhausting, keeping his wings out like this, and his magic would fade fast. Sola tried to navigate the branches and bring them down quickly, but he could hardly see and it was too hard to concentrate. While they were still twenty feet in the air his magic gave out completely and the pair dropped the rest of the way.
Sola hoped that the white patch he saw was a snow bank, but at this point he had no way of controlling where they fell even if he could see. They plunged into the fresh snow, but there was something hard hidden under the white sheet. Whether it was a rock or a frozen log it didn’t matter, and Sola heard a loud crack as his ankle snapped on impact. He gasped in pain, but kept his arms wrapped protectively around Aka as they rolled to a stop on the forest floor. Hurt, but alive.
~*~
Willow felt her stomach drop as she saw her friends disappear off the side of the boat. This is what she had been afraid of isn't it? Even if it wasn’t happening to her she felt a certain nausea. She couldn’t help it, Willow let out a frightened scream as she took a step back closer to the center of the deck. As far away from the edge as she could get.
The healer looked around frantically to see if any of her crew mates were in a better position to help. Zero was laying unmoving on the ground, sparks coming out of his head in a concerning way and had two of the injured unity soldiers around him. Mea was standing behind Willow, prepping a spell but both of them knew she didn’t have the right type of magic to fix this.
Finally she looked up at the top deck, and locked eyes with her captain. He looked stunned that something like this could happen so quickly, or that the fight that he had been trying to control escaped his influence. “Keizeron!” Willow shouted desperately. “Help!”
His eyes snapped into focus, and began to glow gold.
~*~
Keizeron looked down at Aster in disbelief before looking up to where his crew had just fallen off the boat. He had never known her to be the sort of coward that attacked others when a fight wasn’t going her way. Maybe he didn’t realize how much working in the coalition would change her, or maybe he underestimated how truly desperate she was to have the rod back.
Behind him he heard Lycus getting to his hooves, but he didn’t react. Instead he met Willow’s gaze as she shouted for his help. And suddenly any sympathy he still had for Aster and her crew was gone, replaced by a swelling fury he had not felt in a long time.
Ignoring Aster and Lycus he raised a hand, and with a snap and a golden flash a white stone appeared in his hand. Aster looked at him in confusion, finally starting to sit back up. There was a beat, and then the Perseverance shuddered. The rival ship started to sink and Aster's eyes went wide. What he was holding was their lev stone.
“How the fuck did you-” She started to say as she got to her feet. On the lower deck the rest of her crew was starting to panic as they watched their ship slowly fall from the sky. Before she could finish Keiz glared at her and crushed the stone in his hand. The golden glow around him grew more intense, absorbing into him. This kind of magic would have one hell of a kick back, but Aster realized too late that provoking him had been the wrong decision.
Keizeron held both hands out now, wincing in pain as he used the lev stone’s stolen magic to cast a short range teleportation spell on the entire unity crew. With a small pop all the officers along with Aster and Lycus were returned to the Perseverance as it started to fall even faster from the sky. From where she landed on her deck Keiz could tell she was trying to shout something at him, but he couldn’t hear her over the dull roar in his ears.
He had gone too far this time. Keizeron had used runeless magic in front of almost a dozen people, including two of his crew mates. And he was already paying for his actions. Cannibalizing the lev stone had over saturated him, but it was the only thing he could think of that would have ended the fight fast enough.
The captain staggered to the railing, looking down on the other ship as it slowly sank out of the sky. He needed to make sure they had no way back up to them, but the edges of his vision were tinged with gold. A wave of nausea rolled over him, and he felt incredibly dizzy for a moment. Keizeron doubled over, vomiting a golden essence onto the deck before sitting down. He didn’t have time for this, they had to turn the ship around to get back to where his first mate and navigator fell.
“Keizeron!” He could only barely hear her over the pounding in his ears, but Keiz looked up as Mea made her way to the top deck. Her eyes were wide with fear, looking from him to glancing down to where the enemy ship was falling. Her hands were up in a defensive gesture. She looked so scared. Fuck. This isn’t how he wanted them to find out.
“Are, are you alright?” Mea asked hesitantly. Keizeron’s eyes were still glowing with a golden energy, and he looked enraged even though whatever he had done had clearly made him sick. She glanced to the lower deck for support, but Willow was kneeling next to Zero, trying to get him back online. Mea was alone in this. She knew she should have asked him the night before. “What’s going on? What did you do?”
“I-” Keiz wiped his mouth. He held a shaky hand out and grabbed the railing, trying to pull himself back to his feet only to stop when his vision started to blur again. “I’m sorry Mea, but I can’t really explain myself right now. We need to find Sola and Aka first.”
She hesitated.
“Please, I’ll tell you everything, just trust me right now.” Keizeron pleaded with her.
((Caine and Ren stared at each other intently.
“You said that magic in this universe works by channeling it through special runes. How can Keizeron use magic without that?” He asked slowly.
“Yeah I did say that didn’t I?” Caine grinned, his head propped up on his hands. The silence stretched out for a moment. “do you want me, Caine, to explain it, or does Mea want Keizeron to explain himself?”
A beat passed.))
“Fine.” Mea said flatly. “What do you need?”
“One of you needs to fly the ship.”
“Kezeron, neither of us know how to do that.” Mea frowned. This fight could not have gone worse for them. They had trained two thirds of the ship how to fly so this exact situation didn’t happen. Yet here they were. “Willow? Could you-” Mea asked hopefully, but with one look at Willow’s terrified face she knew it was out of the question.
“I can talk you through it,” Keiz offered. He at least managed to pull himself into a sitting position, with his back against the railing. It the most he could do at the moment without his head spinning painfully. “it’ll just have to be,, from here.”
“Fuck. Fuck! Okay, Willow, see if you can get Zero to wake up.” Mea swore loudly, grabbing the handles of the wheel and dispelling the auto pilot. “Alright captain, how do I do this?”
