"Hmph!" Ulrich harrumphed but offered his wry grin to her,
"That's quite fine! I don't plan on bringing harm to myself from this moment forward!" To which Marianne replied with a decidedly Ursula-like smirk,
"Good. I'll hold you to your words, then."But she soon averted her gaze from him, as if staring at his eyes made her feel strangely uncomfortable. Ulrich reminded herself how selfish she could be sometimes, and she was ashamed by it.
Rularu, meanwhile, created an important discovery. Seeing the rat get impaled by her arrow, she triumphantly called out to the others.
"Good news! Regular weapons seem to work on these things!""They do!" Marianne beamed,
"Good one, Rularu!" while Fiora muttered to herself,
"It is a good thing they don't take the arrows with them."
One. Two. Three. Three arrows from the Rito. The hapless Gibdo which was caught in Marianne's shadowy hand did not have a chance. Fiora's arrows pierced it all in vital spots, leaving it dead (again). Marianne quickly moved towards where the Gibdo was, hoping to detect anything -faint Twilight influence, ancient magic, anything- from the Gibdo while some of its essence might linger still.
"Here, Fiora," she said, handing her the arrows she pulled out from the Gibdo.
"You are too kind, Your Highness. Thank you." Fiora said humbly, moving towards the restrained Gibdo. Once close to the restrained monster she sheathed her bow and in turn the blades in her wings flared.
It would be a swift end for the Gibdo.
"Whew-hee!" Ulrich sighed with a wipe of his brow, "The lot of you use so much magic to take care of me and this rabble! The thought of it tires me so!"
'Tires you?' Marianne smirked to herself, 'I haven't even started.' So, maybe Mrs. von Brandt did not tell her brother all about Marianne. That would be a relief. Out of all the people here, she might be the frailest. But when it came to sheer magic potential she was confident that she had them all beat by miles, her brother included. Her magic reserve was absolutely massive, in a scale which shocked many who had a glimpse of it in her training. And it regenerated very fast. It was a very rare blessing, even considering her heritage.
Or maybe a curse, too, she reminded herself. Maybe it was the reason why she was not as tall as she wanted herself to be....
But of course she was not the type to flaunt this. After all, it would serve her better if she was forced to conduct her fail-safe plan later.
And Marianne did not realize it before, but the hallway was actually lined with several dozen cells. Naturally, she passed by the cell one-by-one, peering into them without actually opening it, trying to see whether there was anything that might help or hinder them within the cells. The dark never bothered her anyway -she could see in darkness just fine. Perhaps the missing cogs were within the cells?
"Hear that?" said Mr. Vladimir in a low tone.
Marianne wanted to reply when, suddenly, a massive headache gripped her.
"What…?"
She is dying. She is dying. She is dying. She is dying. She was dying. She is dying. She is dying. She is dying. She is dying. She was dying. She is dying. She is dying....A castle. Abandoned. Blanketed in sunset.
Don’t go. Don’t go. Don’t go. Don’t go. Do go. Don’t go. Don’t go. Don’t go. Don’t go. Do go. Don’t go. Don’t go. Don’t go. Don’t go. Do go. Don’t go. Don’t go. Don’t go....A land. Deserted. Forever stuck in sunrise.
The wind has stopped blowing. The water has stopped flowing.
Dying. Dying. Dying. Dying. Lying. Dying. Dying. Dying. Dying. Lying. Dying. Dying. Dying. Dying. Lying. Dying. Dying. Dying. Dying. Lying. Dying. Dying. Dying....Hands were raised -whose hands??- Underneath the cowl, a set of yellow eyes. Staring straight. At her. Or not her.
No, not her. At least not her her.
A smile.
'Daughter of light and shadow...
why did you run away?'
"Uuhh...."
Almost losing consciousness, Marianne held onto one of the iron rails, while her other hand held her head as if in agony. That again. That strange images again. It was the same as in Forest Temple before....
Thankfully, it went away as fast as it came. Marianne stood still, as her heavy breathing gradually returned to normal.
Interaction:
With Ulrich and Rularu
For DM:
- Fiora brutally strikes at the last Gibdo.
- Marianne peers inside each cells (without opening any yet) in case there is something interesting. But she seems a little unwell....