World Tree MUSH

    Once again the Blue Dutchman, her stalwart crew, and intrepid captain, Captain Morris, are taking to the sea off the coast of Puerto Rico. A call had been put out, this time not for protection of the ship itself, but for the defeat of a monstrous Sea Hag by the name of Calypso.
    The ship has already set sail for a large group of rocks east of the coast and out to ocean... And the closer the ship gets to the rocks, the sunny warmth of the Caribbean ocean dies down in favor of grey skies, mist hanging over the water, and a soft drizzle pattering on the ship's deck as it swerves up to the rocks...
    In the distance the murky image of a phantasmal ghost ship looms on the horizon.
    But the pirates of Captain Storm and his crew don't dare come near, knowing what's about to happen.
    "Guh! Khh! Khhhhh!" Leviathan is here, naturally, standing at the bow of the ship, pointing emphatically at the rocky outcropping where the Sea Hag had been sighted before.
    But it's Captain Morris who speaks up.
    "Alright listen here and listen well. The cave where the witch lives is deep beneath the waters... This is as far as we can take you. But our little mascot has a neat trick she'll be using to get you all down there. Follow her. Follow the current. And whatever you do, don't let the witch stray you off the path set for you."

    Dante's been getting treatments for his sunburns, making him just a smidge paler than usual with all the work done. Normally he's not so narcissistic to go to a specialist, but with how easily he burns it's better to be safe. Even if they keep giving him absurd checks that sometimes bounce.

    In any case, the Son of Sparda's been passing the time with a little Mongolian throat singing, droning on and on in rhythmic ways that are almost hypnotic were it not for the...well, actual singing sirens they've been dealing with.

    Once it's time, Dante pops his neck. "Alright, lil' sharky, let's see some magic." He grins to Leviathan.

Itana stopped for a meal before she boarded. She learned that you do not /ask/ for the pegao. You /get/ the pegao. The pegao simply happens.

With crispy bottom-of-the-pot rice well and truly in her tummy, she's looking out over the bow of the Blue Dutchman now, hood drawn up and bow over her shoulder. Naturally, there's a fight to come, and this time she won't have rafters to knock the witch out of.

With a tilt of her head, she looks towards Morris, and then Leviathan, before blinking at Dante a moment. She clicks her tongue, then moves to the rail and lifts her chin a little.

Turns out Itana can throat-sing too. She overtones out a complex little melody before cutting it off and giving Dante a sidelong look - and a slow wink.

"I assume we are going swimming," she says as she undoes her cloak.

    Scavenger is here of course. She's opted for her 'hazard suit' rather than the battle dress she usually wears now. The disparate parts are pulled up, latched together and she's even fitting her rebreather over her mouth. "Follow the girl, don't get lost, don't follow things off the path." she summarizes. "Got it."

    She checks her weapons, securing her heavy cleaver over her back, and checking both Scalpel and her nameless other blade, as well as the various quick-pull daggers, throwing knives and other sundry sharp pointy things on her gear and webbing.

    Perhaps to no one's surprise, Lian Kamoya has shown up again. The captain and his crew have been quite warm to her, and Leviathan still needs her voice back. Those are as good of reasons as any for an itinerant knight to linger.

    This time, the old Battlemaster opts to remain close to Leviathan, arms folded; still wearing her adventurer's garb and carrying her staff. She watches the phantom ship in the distance, but this time, it's not the threat. If anything, it's a potential ally. She has much more heed to pay to Itana and Dante's singing, really. It's very interesting. Very different. Almost reminds her of some musical styles from back home.

    She doesn't flinch when Morris speaks, but she does shift her posture slightly, and turns to nod her head at the instructions. "We'll be in your care," she says to Leviathan with a faint smile, before casting off her cloak much the same way Itana did. Curiously, though she sets aside her pack, she keeps her staff in hand. Her lightsaber remains clipped to her belt, as well.

"I think she's a dragon, not a shark..." Holly can't help but to point out. She's wearing a black one-piece swimsuit with pumpkins on it instead of her usual witch's outfit with her hair tied back. She doesn't want to get her favorite outfit wet after all. "I'm glad I'm not one of those witches that dissolves in water." She wouldn't be able to go with them if that's the case. Servis and Lavaux have decided to float this one out.

    Lancelot stepped out of his cabin, seeming to take in every scent and step, and walked out onto the main deck. "Sea Hags are no joke, for the most part, unless you happen to have an amazing amount of magic resistance." He didn't know a single soul aboard this vessel, and so he took on the role of advisor... until the fighting started, of course. His armor moved seamlessly with his gait, and he took a look around.

    "Never been here... anything I should know?" Gauntleted hands on the railing seemed to imply that he wasn't concerned with the water itself, though his face did wear a concealed mien of awe. The call to arms had been good to see and hear, and this particular man was ready for it.

    Dante and Itana's singing quiets Leviathan down pretty fast, vivid scarlet eyes staring at the two for a long, intense, beat; the sea-nymph's fin-like ears perked up.
    That is something she is going to have to learn.
    But for now, Captain Morris motions for his men to bring out several sets of... Pretty modern looking air tanks for people to use, if they... You know. Need air.
    "Now I'd be careful if I were you lot. They say hags are most powerful in their lairs. And you'll be on her turf." He says to Lancelot's question.
    This has Leviathan nodding emphatically before she points to her throat and opens her mouth.
    "Guh!" She says very pointedly about this matter. But then she nods to Itana's assessment as well. There will be swimming.
    Once everyone has taken an oxygen tank (if they want or need) it, Leviathan promptly leaps over the bow of the ship, landing with a small splash in the water.
    She waits until the others join her in the water, either splashing down or taking the rope ladders tossed over the sides of the boat.
    That's when she starts to swim circles around the group. Just a few passes to start a little current. ... A little current that becomes a POWERFUL sucking rip-current a moment later, starting to drag the group under the water. With Leviathan at the head of the pack, she pulls the others, towing them forward and under towards a cave deep under the water with her current but... 
    But.

    "Hear my voice beneath the waves...
    Sleeping now so peacefully, at the bottom of the sea...
    Sleep for all eternity...!"

    There's that voice again... The lulling tones of a siren song as the Sea Hag already works to defend her lair; trying to lull the swimmers into a slumber beneath the waves. Some might see... Illusions as well. Visions of loved ones long gone and lost, beckoning out to sea and out of the path of Leviathan's current as the witch continues to sing.

    "Sailors live so restlessly... Come with me, sleep peacefully.
    Listen to this siren's song... Worry not for nothing's wrong~.
    Let my voice lead you this way, I will not lead you astray...
    Trust me as we reach the side. Jumping out where men have died~!"

    Scavenger leaps over the side without much more ado. Her rebreather is rated for several hours in all conditions, so she doesn't need the tank... it'd slow her down anyway. She's also come prepared, as just before Leviathan starts that ripcurrent to take them to the hag's lair, she reaches up to insert something into her ears, then settles a pair of goggles over her eyes to keep out the saltwater.

    Even with the earplugs, that song seeps in, making the Zalak frown as she sees the wispy shapes of... "... Piper..." she shakes her head, violently, to dislodge the image. Focus, on, the mission.

    Dante grins at Itana, "Didn't think your culture was of the steppe. Nice." He says with a possibly flirty wink back and chuckle. "I'm a sucker for The Hu, had it on the brain when I got here." He also notices Lian bobbing her head, and snickers. Seems even the space monk approves, so does 'lil Sharky.

    "At least you're dressed for a dip, Itana. Is it a 'try and kill me if I'm so vulnerable' thing or a 'God it's boiling hot' thing?" He wonders, motioning to Itana's outfit. "Either way, I'm not complaining." Dante gives that insufferably cheeky smile.

    Once it's time to dive, Dante strips to swim trunks and grabs Rebellion, taking an oxygen tank and LEAPING dramatically into the waters! He's a pretty good swimmer, his legs sending him down to the depths. Ears plugged, it's still hard to ignore the song. But he's got experience with this hag, and other similar beings like Nevan...worse comes to worse, he'll just play countersong.

Itana has a few loose bits of drapery to remove. There's a bit around her hips that goes; so do a few assorted tassels. What's left is basically swimwear. Leaning over the side a moment, she frowns and murmurs, "I hope whatever she can do is enough that I can shoot in water."

She picks up an eight-foot-long boathook from one of the crew, just in case. It would not do to be unprepared.

Boosting into the water, Itana floats there with anticipation before blinking as the current picks up. Instinct urges her to try and hold her breath as they're dragged beneath the waves. But it's unnecessary - Leviathan's taking care of them. Down and down they go, and Itana swims along with the boathook hanging from one hand. Her hair streams behind her in a silvery comet tail.

The beckoning song reaches her hears through the rippling water. For just a moment, Itana slows down, blinking rapidly to try and clear her vision. The shimmer of light and shadow in the waves brings back thoughts - like an oasis in the deserts of Damcyan. It shimmers entirely too painfully.

She could /see/ them in the distance. The ones taken from her. The ones she could not find after that day. The babbling old mage was not the only one to suffer. She could never have let them see what she lost - that would be to admit things she would not share with outsiders.

Itana floats there a moment before, abruptly, digging her nails into her opposite arm. She gags out a stream of bubbles, digging her grip in hard enough that a couple thin streams of blood seep into the water around her. It hurts like knife cuts.

Sleep retreats from the sting. She grits her teeth and suppresses a flood of shame.

    "We go to a place where evil hangs on the air," Lian replies to Lancelot, greeting the knight with a slight nod. "Keep your wits and will about you." She leaps into the water with no fear, sliding a simple rebreather into her mouth as she does so; and then off they go, pulled along with Leviathan's waters. Somehow, even without a Jedi's foresight, it's no surprise that the witch first assails them with her voice. A powerful hypnotic compulsion, all the moreso as they near her lair...

    There is no emotion; there is peace.

    ...and it rolls right around Lian like flowing water. Awash in the Force, her will and focus steeled, the old Master presses on without paying it any heed. She does, however, begin looking around. She can't use her own voice down here to counter the Hag's sirensong, so instead she'll watch for anyone being ensnared by it, and move to awaken them.

Holly takes an oxygen tank, despite her magical nature she's still a human and doesn't really have a way to breath underwater on her own. It doesn't really slow her down though she's strong and not the most graceful swimmer to begin with. She can't really counter the singing since she's focused on breathing but it doesn't really bother her. Her loved ones are already spirits, undead or still alive so there isn't really anyone to lure her.

    Lancelot allows himself a smirk. Evil? Of course it was, and he was itching for the fight. Leaping over into the water, his armor seemed to have no effect on his buoyancy, and neither did it seem like the man needed air to breathe underwater. He seemed to be content to follow the group presently, and when Leviathan began the charge, he did not resist.

    As the singing began, he saw her. /Them/. Her, the one he had loved more than anything, and Her, the one who dictated his life willingly. Lancelot closed his eyes, focused on himself, and touched the hilt of the chained sword on his belt. Fairy lettering appeared briefly, and his face relaxed, no longer pained with the past...

    Though she's at the lead of the pack, Leviathan peeks over her shoulder when the siren's song starts. If anyone encounters issue, they'll have both Lian and Leviathan helping them out; but the current continues to rip the party under the waves.

    "Let the ocean fill your lungs!
    Struggle not soon peace will come...
    Taking in your final breath...
    Sink down to the ocean's depths...!"

    For all the witch tries with her song though, eventually the party reaches the cave and is able to enter.
    There's air here. Stagnant, old, sea-smelling air and the smell of death.
    The cave is massive though, the silhouettes of wrecked ships visible in every direction.
    Leviathan pauses, shrinking in visible fear for a beat before she steels herself and moves to check on Scavenger and Itana. Even Lancelot gets a curious glance. But then she's rummaging amongst the things she brought with her, and pulls out a small waterproof container...
    It is a first aid kit. And she applies some quick bandaging to Itana's gashed arm if allowed as the singing begins to die down.

    "I wish I could always be... In the ocean's arms you see...
    He who'd wanted nothing more, sleeps now on the ocean floor..."

    With that final lyric, the Hag emerges- taking on the form of a pretty sea-nymph just like Leviathan, but with lank black hair and cold blue eyes.
    "Heh... Come for the little one's voice have you? Well I'll be keeping it, I think." She says, tapping a clawed finger to her chin. "I hope you all don't mind playing with my pet in the meantime. It's been forever since I fed him."
    Her 'pet' being the sudden rising massive form of a giant squid in the murky waters that mark the grave of so many ships, tentacles lashing out at the party.
    "Ak... N... Ak-n...!" Leviathan gurgles in panic.
    She means 'Kraken', by the way.

    Scavenger waves Leviathan off, giving her a pat on the head for the trouble though. "I'm fine." she says, pulling her reabreather down... before pulling it back up again. "Urgh." Yeah, she'll take the recycled air over this death stank thankyouverymuch.

    As Calypso reveals herself, Scavenger sets her stance, one hand hovering over Scalpel's pommel at her hip. Yellow eyes fixed on the witch. She takes a breath... then takes a tentacle lash to the side.

    The force sends the Zalak skipping across the floor, and into the rotten hull of one of the ships, caving it in and buring the Zalak in sea rotted splinters.

>> SUMMARY[Scavenger] >> Azai Slash provides an Attack of Opportunity.

Sore but focused, Itana pulls her nails away from her arm. The cuts left behind are shallow, but stinging. She can't answer Dante in the water - she'd dove in before he'd finished - but thinking about the ham-handed flirtation at least puts something else in her thoughts. When finally there's air, she glances to the side, a little paler, but with a nod for Dante's sake. "...I am from a desert, but we do sing like that."

That's when tiny hands touch to her arm. She looks down with a blink, blushing slightly as Leviathan moves to be helpful. Every instinct tells her to recoil and reject the help.

She resists the impulses. In spite of herself, she smiles wanly, brushing fingers through the tiny girl's hair.

They're moving forward soon enough. The bow feels like it'd be a tough sell down here, in a huge cave where there's water all over. With her wound patched, she twirls her boathook into both hands and holds it up above her head and at a downward angle, one knee drawn up. Her eyes narrow slightly.

"I am not /food,/" she says shortly before snapping that raised foot to the ground and bounding forward. She takes a few strides, picks up speed --

-- And drives the point of the boathook into the ground, pivots and twirls around it before vaulting herself into the air with a soaring leap. Itana's legs come up over her head as she vaults into the air high over the sea hag and her kraken companion. Both hands grip the haft of the boathook as she plants the arch of one heel on the curved component and lets her momentum carry her downward, on a plummeting course towards the centre of the kraken's mass.

It's a Jump that'd impress a Baronian Dragoon.

>> SUMMARY[Itana el-Zayl] >> Kain! Jump!

    As soon as Lian comes up out of the water, she's turning to help the others out as well, offering staff and hand as needed. Somewhere in there, a gentle hand gives Leviathan's shoulder a brief squeeze as well. She can feel the poor girl's terror. Only once she's seen to the girl does the Jedi turn and stand up, watching the rest of the cave while the girl tends to Itana's self-inflicted wound.

    "In my younger years, I might have pressed you to yield it up and leave in peace," Lian replies to the Hag, tossing aside her staff and reaching for the leather-wrapped metal cylinder at her belt, "But I'm old enough I've no patience for that sort of foregone conclusion. I must say, however, you've awful taste in pets." As the massive kraken arises, a sky-blue light fills the cavern in a rush and hum of energy. The Jedi doesn't seem to even react to a tentacle swinging straight towards her-

    -until the last possible second, when she shifts just so, and brings the saber up in a vertical cut aimed to slice the tentacle clean off. And it's only the first cut, at that. She becomes a steady, forward flow of attacks and dodges, lightsaber whirling around her, a beacon of cyan light in the darkness.

>> SUMMARY[Lian Kamoya] >> The Jedi starts prepping dinner.

    "Aren't flowy robes better for the desert?" Dante says. He shrugs his shoulder either way as they climb up to air in the cavern. Leviathan being adorable certainly gets a genuine warm smile out of Dante. SHe's just so darn cute.

    He draws Rebellion when he hears something, and then rushes towards the massive kraken. He's never killed a sea monster, so this'll be fun!

    Dante rushes swiftly before he goes into the fray with his sword swiping back and forth, chopping up tentacles like shashimi with immense speed.

"Why do you want her voice so badly?!" Holly's not sure how coherent she sounds but she can't help but to ask before they're attacked by the krakken. She tries to think of a spell that might help with the situation. The creature was likely hungry so maybe she could summon for it to eat besides people. She waves her lollipop shaped staff around with a trail of orange magical energy.

 A small yellow fish with black stripes appears in front of the witch and starts to swim around. The halloween darter struggles to breath being a freshwater fish summoned in saltwater. "Sorry!" She can't help but to feel a bit about that.

    Time slowed to a crawl from Lancelot's perspective. This being had just insulted the memories of the dead, two people who were extremely near and dear to his heart and soul. Then it dared to summon a Kraken as an apertif?

    Even in the water, the sound of chains vibrating, rattling, and then exploding could easily be heard. Arondight came free of its scabbard, and sunlight cast off of a faraway lake flooded the area. Lancelot's two hands gripped the sword and memory flooded in. Standing with his fellows, with his King, against the tides of evils not seen since Camelot stood. The camraderie. The love. It wrapped around him like the caress of an old lover, so familiar was the weapon in his hands, and all fears of having lost a step while he was 'away' fled in an instant.

    Time begins again.

    There's a tentacle headed towards the best combatant of the Round Table. With no hesitation, he steps forward and swings his weapon. The sword sings, even in the deep water, as it parts those waves to meet the tentacle head on. The fairy letters emblazoned on the blade glowed, and for those who had ever seen the sword Excalibur, they might think it was here with them, until that fae-blue light crept in. Forget everything else. Lancelot knew combat, knew how to fight evil, and the sea hag had made a critical error:

    It had pissed off Camelot's weaponsmaster.

>> GAME >> Lancelot commits an Edge for: The party is assailed by evil. Evil that can bring forth remembrances of the dead. It may be able to do more, and the last thing we need is... them... to return. Arondight, to my side!

    For a moment. For a brief moment in the depths of the dark cave. Everything is okay. Leviathan is practically beaming once Itana's bandaging is done, but then. Everything goes so very south.
    A kraken... A terrible creature of the deeps that has dragged countless ships beneath the waves and feasted on their crews... And now the party must face one.
    It is as Scavenger is slammed by the initial tentacle that Leviathan skids beneath a flailing tendril, darting through the Zalak-shaped hole in the wrecked ship, shaking Scavenger gently to make sure she's okay.
    "Ugh! Guh!" She says emphatically as the beast swings wildly all over the cave.
    Calypso leans back in her perch atop a wrecked ship's bow, watching with a pleased smirk as her pet goes to town.
    Up until the light of a blade of hope ignites in the darkness. And when the Jedi Battlemaster hacks a giant tencacle off in entirety, the witch loses her smirk fast.
    This might not go the way she had forseen as Itana's vaulting leap carries her well over the grasp of another tentacle, her weaponized boathook impaling a gigantic eye causing the beast to shriek while Rebellion hacks and slashes into it.
    "Her voice is special. I must keep it." She deigns to reply to Holly as the halloween witch summons a fish.
    "..." It's enough to flummox Calypso for a moment.
    Before The Unfading Light of the Lake is drawn.
    The great sword forged by the faries- a heavenly construct that could not have possibly been forged by mortal hands cleaves another tentacle off in entirety.
    "No." Calypso hisses, snarling and baring rows of shark fangs in fury.
    The mere sight of Lancelot's blade makes Leviathan recoil with a squawk and a squeak, the sea-nymph choosing this moment to hide under some flotsam while the remaining tentacles flail and swing wildly.

    "I'm... Fine..." grunts Scavenger, hauling herself up from the rotted deck and giving Leviathan a pat on the head as she pushes herself back to her feet. She steps back out the hole she made, draws her heavy blade from her back and grasps it two-handed...

    She then hauls back and HURLS the giant weapon at the Kraken's center mass, following that up with a ground cracking LEAP to chase it. Red lightning crackles along her body as she channels Arts through her muscles, shortening her life by another few hours to pour on the power. She grabs the hilt of her sword, pivots around it and angles downwards in a flying, superpowered slam-slash, while unleashing a throaty kiai.

>> GAME >> Scavenger spends an Edge for: Damage Alpha, overhead leaping slamstrike.

Close-range combat is a lot gorier than Itana normally indulges in. It's nothing /new,/ mind, but jabbing out a giant squid's eye sure is something.

With a flourish, Itana wrenches her boathook free and twirls away from close range as quick as she can, counting on Dante's hacking and slashing to keep the worst of the tentacles off of her. She is only partially successful. Flailing pseudopods slap and writhe around her, one of them smacking her violently across the flank and leg and tripping her up.

She drives the boathook into the ground again, pushing off with one hand as she lands with a wet thud, but boosting up quickly and suppressing a wince. Hooking her legs around the weapon, she pivots upside-down quickly before flipping off the hook and righting herself, boathook tugged free again and spun above her head dramatically. As she comes around once more, it's with a scowl. "I have heard this from too many people lately," she says with a scowl. "That you must have a thing because it is special and therefore you get to take it. Nonsense. That voice--"

She gestures towards where Leviathan was standing fifteen seconds ago with a jerk of her chin. "--belongs to that little girl. Prepare to have it taken back."

Itana launches herself forward; she's still focusing on the Kraken. The boathook dips low as she appears to come in for a ramming attack.

No attack comes. Itana launches herself over a wriggling tentacle, hits the ground on her hands and cartwheels several times until she comes out on the other side of the enormous creature. She snaps her arm back, flicking her wrist and reversing her grip on the boathook before launching it like a javelin for the kraken's centre of mass. She can't adapt her archery skills to this weapon, but she's definitely thrown polearms from chocoback before.

    Vaulting and diving, Dante proceeds to constantly dash and slash through the throng of tentacles until he finds the beast's face. Driving his sword into the Kraken's ugly mug, Dante saws through sinew and other fleshy bits he can't identify as he carves the beast up like sushi. They're gonna eat damn well after this, for sure.

    "WOO! We're eatin' calamari after this!" He says with a huge grin even as blood and ichor soaks him, he'll wash it off don't worry.

    Balancing off of his sword, Dante produces Ebony and Ivory before blasting point blank into the creature's mass, unloading round after round after round ruthlessly before he charges up with his guns glowing with red auras.

    Leaping off of Rebellion's pommel, Dante does a pirouette before twisting mid-air and aiming his guns in a cross-arm stance.

    "JACKPOT!" Both guns let off a thunderous echo in the cavern as they fire upon the monster one last time in a double-barreled blast of unholy lead, with Dante zipping to grab his sword before falling into the water.

    If Lancelot can spare even an instant to watch Lian Kamoya work, he'll see a comrade in arms... quite literally. Her swordsmanship is masterful. No wasted movements, every swing precise, flowing from one to the next as if she breathes lightsaber technique. The sky-colored bar of light weaves about her, striking any tentacle that draws near, and she moves as if she can read the creature's movements perfectly. But as the team surges forward, as all of them move closer towards the Kraken and its end, the emotions of the one behind the beast begin to shift.

    Violet eyes briefly dart over, meeting Calypso's gaze exactly. She can feel the confidence turning to fear there. And having the witch run while they're finishing off her pet simply won't do.

    "Knight of the glowing blade," the Jedi Master calls out, addressing Lancelot. "Guard me for a few moments!"

    Her steps take her to a spot that will be just a bit easier for the Servant to reach, but she begins her task regardless of whether he's there or not. Shifting her lightsaber aside, the woman stretches out her right hand... and closes her eyes.

    Something in the air shifts. Something in the air moves.

    It's not magic. There is no flow of mana. But there is something... primal. Powerful. A shift in the air, a wind that brushes past the soul rather than the skin. Lian Kamoya sinks herself into the Force, deep in concentration. Feeling the cave. The lives around her. The stone, the kraken, the water..

    Underneath Calypso, the wrecked ship creaks. It trembles. And then quite suddenly, it wrenches, straight towards the heroes, crumbling beneath her as it does so. A force so great pulls at the wreckage that the rotten wood cannot endure it.

>> SUMMARY[Lian Kamoya] >> There is no 'try'.

>> GAME >> Lian Kamoya spends an Edge for: Force Pull to the limit

    "Face me, Calypso, and fight with honor!" Lancelot was a blur with Arondight, each swing whittling down the current tentacle like so much sushi in the hands of a legendary Chef. Lancelot's voice wasn't even remotely winded as he worked, simultaneously calling out to the true foe. "Return the voice, or feel my wrath!" So much blood and flesh in the water, and yet Lancelot pressed on, paying no mind to the murk he left in his wake. He had to trust that the others knew their limits, though as he got closer to the Kraken itself, his broad swipes of Arondight damaged and destroyed other nearby tentacles.

    "So, you like to collect special things? Allow me to introduce you to the Unfading Light of the Lake. Sister sword to the Sword of Promised Victory. Know the name of Arondight, and weep, for justice comes to cross swords with thee!" Years... decades... nay, /centuries/ of inactivity rose to the forefront. Out of the corner of his vision, he saw the Jedi Master, admiring the form and splendor of her combat, and at her address to him, he shifted in the water. Lancelot moved in front of Lian Kamoya, not knowing what she was doing, but he had protected his fair share of magic casters, and so he knew the routine. Anything that came even remotely close to the Jedi was rent into many pieces, the light from Arondight blazing ever brighter as her wielder defended the distracted and eviscerated the evil.

>> SUMMARY[Lancelot] >> Jedi Knight + Knight of Camelot = like, twice the knight. 200% knight.

"You're already a powerful witch, you don't need her voice! Wait, are you using her voice do all of this?" Holly puts two and two together. Maybe she isn't as dangerous as they thought. "Look I want to be a great witch too but you can't go around stealing people's voices in order to so!" She can kind of understand where Calypso is ocming from. The others don't seem to need her help with the Kraken.

    If Scavenger is fine, then Leviathan shrinks back once she gets that pat on the head; making sure not to be in the Zalak's way when that great blade is flung- and then the woman follows after it.
    Because a lot happens in a very short span of time.
    Dante goes full ham, as Dante does, and he does it well; driving Rebellion into the monster's facial region causing it to recoil with a screech as he unloads Ebony and Ivory into it.
    Then Itana takes another great leap once again, the archer putting that boathook to use in a way that would certainly impress even the captain of the Baron Dragoons as both she and Scavenger impact at nearly the same instant- the Zalak's great blade and the humble but stalwart boathook impaling the beast's brain and heart causing it to spasm- great flailing tentacles only swinging even more wildly as Arondight cuts them to pieces before they can reach the Jedi as she calls upon the Force...
    "I did not TAKE her voice, the brat GAVE it to me!" Calypso snarls. "I gave her what she wanted- a human body for a small price, is that not too much to ask!?" She seethes.
    "GUHH!" Leviathan snaps back, stamping her foot angrily and gesticulating wildly at the hag.
    "So WHAT if I left the price out of our deal until it was too late, 'twas a deal fair and square!"
    That... Doesn't sound fair at all but it matters not as the ship Calypso rests upon begins... To tremble.
    "... What are you doing? You wouldn't dare- NO! NO!"
    It is then that the wreckage is ripped violently from the water, flinging Calypso towards the party as the ship breaks apart into tattered splinters.
    Flailing as she sails through the air, something- a small necklace- detaches from the hag's neck before she lands in a tumble at Lian and Lancelot's feet.
    Leviathan takes a leaping dive to catch the glimmering speck of light, landing in a tumble of her own.
    "..." There's silence for a beat as cold blue eyes peer up at the pair of knights, and then look to the others.
    "Well. Get on with it. You'll all be killing me now, won't you?" She spits. ... When another voice sighs...

    "Leave her Johnny, leave her... Oh leave her, Johnny, leave her.
    For the voyage is long, and the winds don't blow, and it's time for us to leave her.
    Oh the times was hard, and the wages low. Leave her, Johnny, leave her.
    But now once more ashore we'll go-- and it's time for us to leave her."

    Leviathan does not speak her opinion on the matter of killing Calypso. She sings it; haunting and melodic.

    "I thought I heard the old man say... 'Leave her, Johnny, leave her'.
    And tomorrow ye shall get your pay- and it's time for us to leave her."

    Swimming to the rocks, Dante shakes water out of his hair and storms towards Calypso as she monologues. He lets her talk, talk and talk like all villains like to do. They do so love the sound of their own voice.

    Aiming Ebony to her head, Dante scowls. "Should've given your price before the deal was struck. That's how it works." He says with distaste. He's so tempted to blow her brains out. And then Leviathan grabs something, a necklace, a speck of light...

    Her voice.

    Dante lowers his gun as Levi sings. "I think we got what we came for. What's next is up to you. Considering we just made mincemeat out of a kraken, I don't fancy your chances, so you can either stay here and die or crawl off to find some other cave to lurk in. I don't really care either way."

The boathook is out of Itana's hands, but not for long - she reaches for it amidst the heap of dead Kraken. The presence of air down here was a surprise - though not nearly as much as Lian raising an entire ship. She stares as the ship breaks apart before her. Only survival instinct drives her to lunge away at the last second, tumbling, hitting the ground and rolling.

She ends up clear and within sight of Leviathan and the beaten hag. The chocobo rider settles to one knee, other leg outstretched and boathook held in a two-handed grip with the point and hook held low but ready. Narrow eyes follow the sullen creature... and then track towards Leviathan.

For a moment she's quiet, before closing her eyes for several seconds. When she reopens them, it's to drive the point of her hook into the rocks. She stands, heel planted on the hook arch.

"If it were up to me I would gut you like a swordrat," she says flatly. "Be glad that I choose to leave it to the girl whether you live or die."

"I just came here to get my friend's voice back." Holly doesn't feel any malice towards Calypso, "Besides she might just come back as a ghost if we kill her." The woman seems to have an affinity towards ghosts after all. "It's a shame, because I'm sure you could use your magic to help a lot of people if you wanted to." She sounds more disapponted in her than anything else.

    It is only as Calypso comes to rest at their feet, that Lian finally opens her eyes again. The hum of her lightsaber shifts as the blade deactivates, as if the energy itself were vanishing; she clips it to her belt, and gives Lancelot a respectful nod, a brief smile. "Well-fought. You have my gratitude."

    Then, her eyes turn down to Calypso, and all trace of warmth is gone. There is no anger, no ire; only a cold, unfeeling neutrality. A complete absence of emotion. "How many asked you for clemency? How many did you deceive into deals they never would have accepted? Where I come from, a lie of omission is still considered a lie, and I have no doubt you have done worse than you did to Leviathan."

    The elder Jedi looks up to the girl in question, her face softening at the sound of her voice. Pure, clear, and beautiful.

    Then, back down to Calypso again, she adds, "I'd advise you to think long and hard about whether you do so again in the future. Only her mercy is saving your life. You don't want to see the glow of my lightsaber again."

    Scavenger's blade strikes true. She twists it and wrenches it to do as much damage as possible, before yanking it free. Blood sprays in a wide arc the blade shedding 'flecks' of angry red energy as the enhancement fades.

    Calypso lands near the group and Scavenger strides over toward the felled hag, her eyes are shadowed, glowing faint pinpoints of yellow locked on Calypso's form. She lifts her great blade in one hand, hanging like the Sword of Damoclese above the hag...

    And then Leviathan starts to sing.

    "You better remember that failing to adapt, makes you a useless burden." she states sourly. "You get no sympathy from me... but the girl has decided your fate."

    She turns away then, clamping the blade to her back once more. "Lets go, before I change my mind."

    Arondight is held ready to strike Calypso as Lancelot returns Lian's nod. "It is what I am, and I am glad to assist." He looks once more to Calypso, and shakes his head. "These good people are granting you clemency. If it were up to me, Arondight would remove thy head." The blade is sheathed, and the light fades. Chains appear from nowhere to lash the blade back into secure holding, and Lancelot shakes his head. "Better folk than I, leaving evil to perhaps fight another day, but I shall abide." With this, he begins to move up out of the cave.

>> SUMMARY[Lancelot] >> Lancelot's Master (??????) gets 482 QP, gains 437 Bond with Lancelot. No drops.

    Needless to say... Calypso seems quite shocked to be leaving this battle with her life. But the hag says nothing, choosing to sulk in the shame of her defeat and stare at the mossy, rocky, floor of her cave as Leviathan's song dies down.
    NEEDLESS TO FURTHER SAY, Leviathan can't help but huff, clutching her throat with one hand as she flashes a sheepish smile at the group while idly hugging Holly's arm to her chest.
    Thus it's time to leave the witch's lair, and once again Leviathan stirs up a current that yanks the party back to the surface where their ship awaits to take them all home. ... Amidst the cheerful shanties of the crew... And one happy young sea-nymph.

    Scavenger is silent on the trip back to the surface. She remains silent during the shanty singing and trip back home, and she then continues to be silent as she disembarks to head back to where she came from.