World Tree MUSH

    It's night when Yumi is finally able to return to Natsuto Harbor. A hasty jaunt about the Tree to call on friends has worn on her; not nearly enough sleep and far too much bustle will take their toll. But this is, as far as she's concerned, a big enough problem to forego some sleep. Zelda, Rydia and Terra will have been given the most direct information: 'Another one's shown up. It's in Natsuto this time.' Others that Yumi knows, will have been told something a little more general - a monster has appeared in Natsuto, a monster that hides in a sort of twisted otherspace, and she doesn't think fighting it alone would be smart.

    Those who may have wandered in on their own... well, the place /feels/ wrong. Something tense hangs in the air. Something threatening. People walking by on the street seem just a bit more irritable, walk with just a bit more force in their steps and a bit more challenge in their posture. And to magical senses, it feels as if a miasma hangs over the place. Something looming, threatening, like a cloud of emotional poison hanging in the air that refuses to drift away.

    Further to the north, at the main gate to the port's warehouse district, there's a couple of police cruisers, a few cops milling about, one talking to what looks like a dock worker in hushed, standoffish tones. Rather than head in that direction, Yumi turns, brow furrowed in concentration, and walks south. Right along the perimeter fence, passing warehouse after warehouse, until they at last come to the southermost gate - which is, mercifully, unlocked. "I... think this is the entrance. A little further back. It's not going to be pleasant going through," she adds, turning back around, "But whatever's causing this is in there." To Rydia, she adds a soft and apologetic, "...I don't think I'll be able to get away with just light and swinging my sword this time. There's probably gonna be fire. I'll try not to do it close to you, if I can help it."

    Deku is here, in his hero costume. He got permission this time and explained who would be there, and they actually let him go... but they made him promise not to try and handle something himself that will get him hurt if he can help it. So, with a worried look on his face, he shows up to the place. He arrives to hear Yumi mention something about a sword, and when he last saw her she was a pretty normal person so the questions bubble up in his mind. He has an immediate assumption that perhaps she had powers all along, since her backstory was... odd.

    "I hope I can do something to help. We don't have problems like this in my world," he mentions, rubbing the back of his neck. Still the wary worrywart, especially around unknown factors.

One good turn deserves another, so there's no way Anna and Spiral were going to miss this. Besides, the whole thing feels oddly ... familiar.

"We do in mine," says Anna, the tall young woman with the slightly androgynous voice, in response to Deku. "This is almost exactly like a Curse Phantom."

"Yeah," says the golden-furred catlike form of Spiral, floating next to her shoulder. Her eyes flicker with a pearlescent light as she looks in the direction Yumi indicated. "If it wasn't for the weird bits that make it different, I'd think we were back in Anna's home city of Brighton."

Anna nods, takes a step back, and focuses on drawing her magical energy onto herself. She's briefly surrounded by a pale blue glow, and then she's wearing a blue and white and green costume, and her hair is cobalt blue. "I can handle that kind of ... unpleasantness."

    Okay so big yellow birds are probably an out of place sight in a city like Natsuto. Especially when they're big enough for a full grown man to ride. Though the figure mounted on the great yellow bird is niether full grown, nor a man.
    Rydia of Mist guides her chocobo through the streets with one hand on the reins, the other holding up a map of the city as she scowls.
    "Zelda, this is the third time we've passed '23rd street', I hate these concrete cities." The girl grumps as she turns the map over a few times. It takes her a little bit before the pair reach the harbor and warehouses, but her chocobo comes to a stop eventually and the girl hops off the bird's back, reaching up to affectionately rub its neck as she meets up with Yumi. ... And her apologetic warning.
    "Mn... ... I'll just... Stick to the back row, if that's the case."

    Dorian would be in the latter group -- people who just walked in on their own. He has been recently ejected from Thedas, and now he's looking for a reason why. And possibly a way back home, if the fates would be so kind. Though he figures he's likely going to have to go on a big quest to find it, if one is to be found. Just like a HERO.

    Ugh.

    Well, either way, that horrible magical emotional miasma hanging over the city like a pall of death is enough to get Dorian's attention. So he's heading in the general direction that all this mess seems to be originating from.

    The upshot of this is that there is an oddly-dressed, if incredibly well-groomed guy heading for the warehouses. Ren faire re-enactor? Probably. Nobody wears medieval leather armor and carries a staff worked in the shape of three dragon heads otherwise, right?

    Eventually he'll find his way to where everyone else is gathering. "Pardon me," he pipes up, the sarcasm evident in his voice, "Is this the queue for flaying-alive by the unknown magical abomination? I do hope I'm not too late." Snarking right out the gate. But hey, it beats sniveling, right?

    Though it's worth noting that... this guy reads as pretty sharply magical. And not just that. To those who can sense such things, there's something dark about him... something deathly...

  People in Natsuto City are probably getting used to things like people riding horses down the urban street. This place is vaguely familiar to the group member who does ride a horse down the avenue beside the big yellow bird.

  It's a big dark horse and it looks kind of cranky because its ears keep going backward. The black-robed, hooded figure astride the saddle seems absurdly delicate by comparison, but seems to have no trouble controlling the animal.

  "This is the fourth time we've passed by Twenty-Third Street," Zelda says serenely in answer to her Summoner companion. "The layout isn't too difficult, if you pay attention to the names. The letters run north and south, and the numbers run east and west. For the others... well. This isn't Hyrule."

  She tips one shoulder in a shrug. Her voice is clear, well-enunciated, and gentle; it sounds way too nice for such a fearsome appearance with that hooded robe. Speaking of which, she has the hood drawn to hide her face.

  Zelda is not actually holding the reins to control her horse, using her knees; instead, she's holding a bow in one hand and has an arrow loosely strung in the other. "You'll see, when we return to Castle Town. The streets are laid out that way there, too, although the streets run outward from the citadel. So long as you know where the streets run, it's fairly difficult to get lost."

  The robed young woman on the big warhorse does, it might be noticed, seem to be radiating power. She can't quite help it. It's Power, with a capital P, to go by the strength of her presence. To those with the senses, it's like a direct line to divinity -- this is someone touched by the gods, very strongly, somehow.

    Ever quiet, rarely one to complain, Terra has tagged along with Rydia and Zelda. Because of course she is; who wants to be alone somewhere cold and remote when you can cringe at this crawling, awful feeling of evil with friends?!

    Since Zelda's brought along the nicest, most affectionate (only) horse she's ever met, the half-esper has opted to ride behind the princess in exile. The animal shouldn't be bothered too much, right? In fact, until she pipes up it might be easy to forget she's even there at all. Really, though, she doesn't pipe up all that much. Especially with that awful magical sensation in the air.

    Though the conversation about streets does warrant some helpful word-giving, "I think the map was upside-down, at first." That is, until Rydia started twirling it like a steering wheel trying to figure it out. Now quickly, back to being an unobtrusive passenger.

    Although, nearing the point of interest, she does lean to one side to peer around Zelda at Yumi. And... someone dressed not unlike most people she's seen. Her way of saying hello to new people is to stare. So she stares very impassively at Dorian. Inside, she's probably in a panic. Quick, something comforting- Anna and her not-pet. They're more familiar. Maybe. Maybe she should stare at them instead?! "..."

    All Yumi can really do is give Rydia a small nod. It can't really be helped, can it? She does, however, give Anna a small smile. "That's good. Someone with experience in this kind of thing." As Anna transforms, Yumi turns; there's a newcomer here. She regards Dorian for a moment, wondering if she's seen him before, but then finally decides to respond in the affirmative. "You're just in time. It's a one-night only engagement, if we do it right." She's not turning away help, no siree. But Deku gets a brief squeeze on the shoulder. "It's fine. If it's anything like the last one, you're perfectly suited to help. This time I'll be right there with you." Pause. "...Oh, um. I've learned some things about myself. I guess you'll find out." Zelda and Terra both receive a silent, 'here goes nothing' sort of look, and then she addresses Deku, Anna and Dorian once more. "Alright, um. Just follow me, and when you feel the entrance, take it. It's... I'm describing it bad, but I think you'll eg it."

    Then, she turns and slips in the gate, leading the way - crossing the gap between the outer fence and the nearest couple of warehouses. About halfway across that gap, the entrance to the creature's lair can be found, and with a grimace, the redhead keeps walking.

    It's an eerie sensation. Something at a very basic level, a feeling like you could take another path, if only you wanted. A small effort of will is all it takes for anyone passing through the spot to move 'sideways', so to speak, without changing direction. But the result, familiar to four of those present, is rather unsettling. Like coming against a thicket of cobwebs, pushing through, feeling them tug as you go by.

    Space itself seems to expand as the group moves forward. The scenery grows larger, dimensions expanding, angles shifting just slightly. Something in the atmosphere of the place seems to change, to intensify. Where the shopping district loomed with cold indifference, the atmosphere here assails with a sense of active malice, a dull and otherworldly purple light in the clouded sky seeming to promise retribution entirely out of scale for any slight. This place hates, actively and forcefully. The air reeks of the sea, in the worst way; salt water, the scent of decay and mildew, a cold and hostile moisture in the air that clings to the skin. The warehouse buildings decay as the group presses into the strange realm - or were they always decayed? What were once solid buildings now look more creaking and rickety, patches of exposed timber like the sides of a wrecked ship.

    Even the ground beneath their feet, despite being solid, unmoving blacktop and concrete, emits a faint creaking noise as if a ship pitching on rough waves. Somewhere in the distance, there's a sound of scraping metal, and out from the water, the distorted noise of a bouy. One building springs a leak almost as soon as the group lays eyes on it, impossibly spraying a thin stream of seawater. Where the seawater lands, it puddles, then begins to flow... no, to slither, a serpentine stream towards the wharf moving over level ground. Somewhere, a soft and furious voice hisses, '...your fault...!'

    Yumi stops in her tracks; sheets of gold-white energy wrap themselves around her, transforming her into a white-armored, knightly magical girl. There's a distinct tension in her gaze. "...This is pretty different than the last one." She looks left, looks right. "I'm... I'm not sure which way. Maybe towards the front gate."

    "That's exactly what the line is for, take a number, we're all here for the ride." Rydia asides to the mustachioed gentleman as she gives her chocobo a light swat and send off, before she starts checking her equipment.
    Dagger... Bow... Whip. Everything is accounted for, and she tugs the white fur of her wolfos skin cloak a little tighter about herself before she scowls again.
    "I wasn't holding the map upside down." She asides to Terra. "The city was upside down." She wields as her excuse, in spite of Zelda explaining how urban navigation works just mere seconds before.
    And then the spiderweb sensation.
    "sgssfdgdf!" The girl squeaks on her way 'through' into the new realm beyond. Only for the child to scrunch her nose.
    The smell of the sea is not pleasant here, and the looming warehouses do not look inviting in the least; and the child's hand ventures a little too close to the hilt of her dagger.
    "... Yumi. Yumi that building is leaking." Rydia points out the obvious in a helplessly flummoxed fashion.

Spiral looks over curiously at Dorian, and her eyes flicker with a pearlescent light as she scans him. "... Huh," she murmurs under her breath.

Anna nods to the Rydia-Zelda-Terra trio as they arrive, as one professional to another. When she sees Terra's stare, she just gives her a gentle warm smile and a wave.

But now it's time for the group to head in.

Anna looks around and whistles. Even she can't entirely keep her composure. "Yyyep, this is just like a Distortion," she says. "Spiral, any idea what the threat level would be? Or where the boss is?"

Spiral's eyes flicker as she regards the scenery. "None whatsoever," she says uneasily. "It's like ... a Distortion, except ... the very concept of a Distortion itself was distorted."

Anna takes a deep breath and closes her eyes for a moment. "Remember, everyone," she says. "This 'feeling' isn't you! It's an external force that's trying to mess with you! Don't let it bring you down!"

    Deku has a questioning smile for Yumi at her note about herself. Her assurance was simply accepted for what it was-- no, he's blushing, a girl just touched him. Such a nerd. The freckle-faced by steps through with everyone else, lightly wincing at the bizarre sensation as they slip through the aperture to a strange pseudo-realm. He turns his head to observe the water over yonder, and squints past the haze of mucky smells that an old wharf has.

    His eyes flick over the decay, and spots the oddly flowing water. His eyes follow it suspiciously, its physical properties nothing like actual seawater. He quirks a corner of his mouth, and muses aloud, "Probably a water-related danger, keep an eye on anything like that..." He adjusts his gloves and waits for the others to advance, as he's not magical and doesn't have the expertise to handle water-related problems. "I wish Tsu was here..."

    "Nothing like fighting villains," he adds, finally deciding that perhaps a different mode of thought will need to be made for the paradigm shift that his world's exposure to this will cause. As a young man learning to be a hero, that's important to think about. "How would I deal with this, if it came home with me...?" he mutters to himself.

    Mutter mutter. Yeah, he's doing a lot of that over there.

    And soon he realizes... "... when did that happen?!" he questions Yumi, whose body is adorned in shining armor now.

    Dorian can't help but notice the great amount of power radiating from the figure on the horse. He looks towards Zelda in a bit of surprise, blinking gray eyes as if he's just... stunned into speechlessness. Which does not happen very often. But, well, the group likely doesn't know that at this venture. About all they'd know about him right now is that he's well-groomed, probably from an archaic world, and a smartass.

    Terra's stare... there's something about it that's palpable. And it draws his attention away from Zelda. Of course, he completely misinterprets the stare, noting, "Oh, don't be awed by me quite yet, my dear. You'll need your wits about you momentarily, otherwise you may end up a pretty little snack for something horrible." Is... is he flirting? Maybe? It's hard to tell; he just doesn't seem to take anything seriously.

    Yumi responds in the positive, and Dorian nods. "Aha, I thought so. In that case, I suppose introductions are in order. I'll make it quick." Since he can tell their time is short. "Dorian Pavus," he offers, to the group at large. "Pleasure to meet you all. I would wish for better conditions, but well. That tends to be the way of things, doesn't it?" Rydia's words get a genuine laugh, and he nods. "Ah, good. Strap in well, yes?"

    Dorian will follow Yumi's lead, though if the gap between the fence and the warehouses proves too small for him (he IS a pretty well-built guy) he'll have to use a trick -- dissolving into blue-white smoke long enough to 'blur' through the gap. The sensation of moving 'sideways' gets a bit of a frown from him, it's not a sensation he especially likes. Reminds him too much of his Harrowing -- the feeling of entering a space he's not supposed to be in. Which of course he has to comment on.

    "Appropriate -- the whole place turns into a cesspit as soon as we get to where the abomination is," he notes. "Why is it always decay and rot? Why can't it be sunny in the eldritch abomination's lair for once?" It's kind of half-complaining and half being a smartass, really. Though, he's snarking because he's SCARED.

    And not just being scared, either. "...I'm beginning to get mildly seasick," he comments, at all the indications of a boat at sea. Yeah, he doesn't get along with boats very well...

    Though Deku's observation of water-based danger gets a nod. "Do you suppose lightning would injure it more?" he asks of the freckled teen. He's not altogether certain of the 'rules' of these domains. Anna's reassurance gets a tilted head. "This thing is actively messing with our minds, then? Wonderful. An abomination with mind control."

  Anna's greeting nod earns one in kind. Zelda tilts her head sidelong a little, inclining deeply; the respectful greeting of equals, despite her royal blood. Her gaze slides right off the magical girl and her pet, surveying the area.

  When Yumi gives her a look that seems to say 'here goes nothing,' the princess merely lifts one shoulder in a faint shrug, tipping her hooded head to one side. For a brief instant the others might catch the gleam of reflected light from her eye, under the hood's shadow. Whatever the person is under the hood, she's some kind of humanoid, at least.

  Her head turns to regard the path forward, then inclines slightly as though she were made uncomfortable by the road ahead. She can feel that tug at her very psyche, and the sensation of subtle wrongness the area exudes.

  "Not a very welcoming part of the city, yes?" she murmurs, still in that serene tone. The hood turns this way and that, looking around at the surrounding streets, "I see why you hesitated to go alone, Tachibana Yumi. This is quite the aura."

  Small wonder. At least the girl had the wisdom to seek allies. As Rydia dismounts from the cheery yellow bird, the robed figure slides from the saddle of the enormous warhorse, gathering the reins and tying them around what appears to be the post of a street lamp. Reaching up with one hand, momentarily clutching bow and arrow both with the other, she sweeps the hood aside--

  --and reveals a young woman in her early twenties, delicate and refined, who looks as though she could be an aristocrat in any European society. Well, except for the pointed ears, anyway. She must be some kind of elf.

  Zelda's hands return to the bow, laying the arrow across the string and fitting the end, narrowing her eyes just slightly. She delicately wrinkles her nose in mild distaste at the smell of saltspray, rotting fish and kelp, and mildew; a cocktail that speaks of the poorest, most wretched settlements along Hyrule's seas.

  Places she's never gone, but can readily imagine. They'd be just as welcoming as this place.

  "Like the Twilight," she murmurs, distastefully. "I feel it crawling..." Her voice changes, and a brow slowly arches. "And I see it, too. What fresh hell is this, I wonder?"

  Yumi transforms nearby, and she lets herself bask a moment in the sensation of white-hot energy, eyes closing for a half-instant, like the cleansing fire of the sun. When she opens them, Yumi is in her altered form, and her eyes slide right over the knightly girl.

  "We are ready to follow, Tachibana Yumi." Zelda runs a finger along the limb of her bow, eyes lifting from the richly-carved and gold-accented weapon, which is probably luxuriously crafted enough to belong to royalty, to regard the warped streets. "I feel it."

    Terra can only stare so hard with just two eyes! Her attention shifts once Anna offers that warm, silent greeting. A quick look to the muttering boy she last saw while raiding that awful tower. It's good to know he's okay! Back to Anna, she manages a quick nod, then looks elsewhere.

    To Dorian, who is answering her stare with- Huh? Awe? Such is her uncertainty about the propriety of things that she starts to utter an apology, face flush if for no other reason than she has no idea how to react to the good natured sass or even being described as pretty.

    She manages not to make a total fool of herself while dismounting Zelda's battletank-horse, even thinking to offer the surly animal a pat even if she has no apples to spoil the poor beast with. Then it's on to the serious matter of whatever lies beyond that strange, unearthly margin.

    The approach is familiar and the transition is unfamiliar AND unwelcome. She grips the hilt of her curved blade; clutching for comfort as the sensations of this pocket world quite literally make her feel ill. Deep breath.

    The sights and other sensations, on top of the horrid vibe, rub her nerves absolutely bare. The weirdly flowing water gets a look but. It's just water, right? The one normal-ish thing here.

    Yumi stares quietly for a second, then turns to Rydia. "It... it is, yeah." That's disconcerting. There's a grateful look Anna's way, then - having her to reassure them that the feeling of malice in the air is external, that's a help to morale. And she seems to have a better clue how to handle herself than even Yumi does. So the redhead watches her for cues.

    Izuku asks her a question, though. "Hard to say," she replies, shaking her head faintly. "I first discovered it a couple months ago. But I think it's been possible longer. I can tell you more later. For now, uh..." He's the analytical type, right? "I'm really strong and really tough. My personal element is sunlight - fire, light and heat - and I can either channel it through a great big sword, or infuse it into my body or objects around me, and I can also fire off bursts of it at short range. That should about cover it." It's enough that he can plan around her, at least.

    Slowly, Yumi turns, looking this way and that, before nodding faintly. "Alright, I... think the front gate is the right way." She takes the lead as asked by Zelda, turning north (inasmuch as direction applies anymore) to lead the group between two hulks that were ordinary buildings on the outside. Now, they show bare patches of timber, encrusted with barnacles and full of holes. There's a soft, frustrated murmur on the air. '...always about you...!'

    Down one side path between two towering wrecks, a common photo booth lies tipped over, covered in mold and decay as if left out for ages on the beach. Leaned against the side of a building, a single link of an anchor's chain, as big as a forearm and deeply rusted. More of those leaks spray from the buildings, here and there, and a serpentine 'stream' carries along with it a stop sign in some foreign language, flowing towards the wharf to pitch into the sea. All the while, that soft creaking reverberates, the sound of a ship that doesn't exist, following the group on land that should by all rights be dry. From somewhere up ahead and around a corner, there's a tense mutter, a barely audible '-away from everything I ever-' and a soft rustle of metal-

    -and then a loud and worrying CLUNK as something slams into Yumi from the side, knocking her head over heels. She comes to her feet quickly, frowning- and then barely dodges the huge link of anchor chain as it smashes past her and through the building behind. Then another one erupts from the wall on the opposite side. Crossing from right to left. From the direction of the fence, towards the water. They don't seem to care that there are buildings in the way. Or people.

    Deku is a very analytical person, and smiles in patient observation as he's given the rundown on what Yumi has in her loadout. Right... sunlight is a good quirk, with a lot of utility. The ability to infuse it into her weapon and project it standalone is good, making him nod... but infusing it into her body? He's briefly impressed. And soon they start moving again.

    Dorian receives a response, "Ice would slow it down or stop it. Lightning might just heat it up--" He's cut off by the sound of a CLUNK. His Quirk is immediately activated, lines of red power crawling along his skin and sparking for a moment before this vague aura of strength is all that remains. He reacts quickly, and moves to grab or push people out of the way if they're in the path of the anchor chain. That much metal could easily shatter bone, and he's not going to let his companions get hurt if he can help it.

The fact that Anna is casual towards an actual princess says a lot about her attitude towards authority figures.

She grins at Dorian. "Eldritch abominations made out of negative emotions seems to be a whole 'thing' in the multiverse," she says. "Or at least, in this world and my homeworld --"

And then the chain links start attacking. "Okay, yikes!" she says. She grabs Spiral and holds her onto her shoulder, and starts evasively zipping back and forth at superhuman speeds, her body surrounded by a pale blue glow. She pauses briefly to gather Heart Power into her hands, and then throws a blast at one of the flying chain links, hoping to deflect so it's no longer heading right towards the group!

"Heart Mage Anna Freeman, by the way!" she adds. "And this is Spiral!"

    The decrepit architecture and terrible smell aside, the severe sense of malice and borderline hostility that the very world itself emanates... Makes Rydia raise her hand.
    "I'm out." She says. "I'm out. I want off the ride."
    She's... Just going to hang out in the back row for now. If anyone gets hurt she'll help out with some first aid White Magic, but Rydia is officially turning in her 'get out of hazard' card that she has earned by now.

    Dorian listens to Yumi's explanation, not only about the area, but about her own powers. "Light, hm?" His voice is thoughtful. He's getting some ideas here. He's also following, since she seems to know the most about whatever this thing is. The whisper, it's closer now. "That voice..." he begins...

    Only to find Yumi getting knocked over, and an anchor chain swinging at pretty much everybody in range. Dorian dissolves into blue-white mist and zips to the side, barely out of the way in time, the edge of the icy mist cloud getting clipped. He stumbles as he reforms, planting the staff upon the ground hard to maintain his balance. And since he didn't have time to do it BEFORE he had to dodge, he does it after. What is this thing that's so important?

    Why, cursing, of course.

    "Kaffas," he mutters, as he stands straight again. "What in the..." He pauses. Deku's words are heard, though, and he nods once before Deku starts doing his hero thing. Ice. It's not Dorian's most expansive school, but he has a handful of tricks up his sleeve that should do some good. Anna's are also helpful! "Negative energy, eh? I suppose necromancy would be of little use here, then..."

    Rydia retreats back, and Dorian nods. "Be careful," he notes. "This thing may have eyes everywhere." For now his onw part, though, he's waiting, to see what exactly he has to zap, and hopefully make an educated guess on WHERE, and with WHAT.

  The Hylian is quick to pad after the redhead, keeping an arrow strung and ready. She follows as she had indicated, heading north behind Yumi and keeping her attention focused mostly on the shadows, to protect the others. The expression on her face seems to say she considers it her responsibility.

  Zelda pauses to regard the downed photo booth, the heavy chain, the foreign stop sign whose writing she can't read. She can hear the creak of timbers of a ship riding at anchor, but there is no ship here. Not that her eyes can see--

  CLUNK.

  Yumi is bowled over by something, and Zelda's bow immediately moves in that direction, the arrowhead gleaming in the dim light. She does not release, though, and the shadow of the anchor chain flickers over her head. Chains erupt from the buildings. The Hylian wisely throws herself to the ground before one of those chains knocks her head off its shoulders.

  Maybe, she decides, she should have gone with Rydia. Zelda rolls, bringing the bow back around to fix the arrow on the most recent chain to erupt. There's nothing to fire on, though. It's just a steel chain. What do?

  "Sheik," she hisses out between her teeth, when introductions are going around, "but best save the introductions for another time! Tachibana Yumi, what is this?"

  Necromancy? Is that dapper fellow over there talking about necromancy? The princess' expression hardens, and that oppressive aura of light around her presses down just a little bit more. Dorian might well notice that...

    The scenery, the smell! Terra cups a hand over her mouth and nose, though that does little to truly eliminate the scent of mildew and decay. Glancing here and there at the broken terrain, along with Dorian's complaint of feeling almost seasick due to the nautical motif only add to her discomfort.

    Just as she's about to say something to join in with the introductions, Yumi is swatted away suddenly. She yelps in surprise, draws her sword and then it's chaos.

    With chains smashing and whipping about, she glances away to where Rydia had fled, sparing not a moment to think of her own safety. Good thing there's a Hero present, right?

    The half-esper grunts as she's swept aside by Midoriya's very sudden but fortuitous move. "Ah! I'm sorry!" About the loudest she's spoken in some time! And THAT's her introduction! Or maybe she's just apologizing for her sword tumbling out of her grasp, clattering and spinning on the ground. "Are you alright?" Whether she's merely being shoved to safety by Deku or carried, she's still markedly more concerned for his safety than her own. Aww?

    Between Deku's protective efforts and Anna's firepower, the number of massive, disconnected chain links that actually go through the group is pretty small. They're easily evaded without that sense of surprise, leaving little behind but holes in the walls... though as Dorian lets one brush past him in mist form, he may just feel a flash of sheer fury from the piece of metal. But the sound of smashing through rotted planks is joined by the repeated sound of splashes, heavy objects pitching themselves off the side of the wharf and into the water below.

    '...all your fault, dragging me...' One, two, five, ten- the splashes keep happening, the number of individual links hurling themselves into the ocean keeps increasing. "I don't know," Yumi calls back to Zelda; she shifts her hand out, and the tremendous form of Prominence etches itself into existence. It's a massive blade, etched with runes along either side, and some here may be seeing it for the first time. "The whispers are getting angrier, like-"

    'I hate it here!'

    The sound of ocean being pushed aside by something massive can be heard, a churning of water that presages something... big. Up it rises, up, high enough to loom over the warehouses, filling the air even more with the appalling smell of ocean decay. A huge, serpentine form, winding and coiling upward, dripping with filthy ocean water, draped with scraps of seaweed, barnacles, pieces of flotsam, bits of old school uniforms, tatters of posters, dangling pieces of life preservers- and somewhere under all that, the chain links. All come together, somehow, formed into one massive, heavy chain... with the mangled remains of an anchor at one end, looking down on the group with eyes that don't exist.

    'Give me my life back!'

    The anchor serpent hauls its body up, and then brings it straight down upon the wharf, with a roar not heard at all but rather felt, reverberating in reality itself. It smashes into the concrete and blacktop with colossal force... and the ground under everyone's feet lurches.

    The ground upends. The entire warehouse district - no, the entire port - tilts like a vessel that's just been hit with tremendous force, pushing everything past a 45 degree angle for a heart-stopping moment. The wharf dips below the waves, and for just a blink of the eyes, the only view is one of the endless, hungry depths of the water, an infinite abyss full of nothing but a cold and lonely death and the detritus of human life. Foreign traffic signs, a school blackboard, a tattered old futon, countless toys-

    The ground comes back to horizontal before anyone can go tumbling off... but only just. And it comes down with such force that it shatters, splitting the warehouse district into several large, floating chunks, slowly drifting apart. With everyone on them.

Anna sends a worried look towards Rydia, but she knows the girl can handle herself, so she focuses on evasive maneuvers.

... Evasive maneuvers which just happen to keep bringing her near beacons-of-Light Sheik and Yumi, fancy that. She does, however, pause to grab Terra's sword, and she zips on over to her and Deku. "Here!" she says, handing the sword back over to Terra. "Are you all right?"

And then the ground shakes. "MOTHERF --" Anna boosts up the sloped port, just so she can stay on her feet!

Spiral clings to Anna's shoulder. "Okay, just going by the size, if that was a Curse Phantom I'd say it looks like a threat-level four or five!"

Anna starts zigzagging around, throwing blasts of Heart Power up at the monster whenever she can. It's clearly not a good idea to get up close and personal with it, so she's just sticking with what works at the moment.

    Dorian does indeed notice the suddenly oppressive aura of light from 'Sheik', and flicks a look in Zelda's direction, a bit confused. Though he likely assumes it's because of the sudden increase in relative danger, and not anything that he's done. Besides, he rather doesn't have time to consider that it might be. Because a few moments later, their target makes itself known... and it is HUGE. "...Maker's Breath," Dorian mutters. The snark comes a moment later, though even it is muted. "...Drat. I've left my anti-giant serpent charm at home, haven't I...?"

    Suddenly the ground under their feet shifts, dropping Dorian to his back on the sharply-tilted ground. He starts to slide, but before he can slide into the water, only just barely, the tipping-up of the chunk of land pops him back and up, leaving him to collapse on the ground on his back, with a grunt. That dazes him a bit, knocking the wind out of him. He doesn't realize until he's managed to struggle to his feet again that the lands is floating apart in chunks. He makes a face. "Oh, just bloody wonderful," he mutters.

    However, despite the churning he can feel beginning in his stomach, Dorian steels is resolve. This thing has got to go. But first, Dorian wants to try to limit its mobility. He raises a hand into the air, and speaks a Word. It's not a vile Word, so Zelda can be at least about that anyway. A crackling orb appears in the air, connected to his upraised hand by a 'string' of lightning. A moment later he pulls his arm down, in a sudden movement. The string snaps, and the orb pops. That seems to be... about it, actually.

    Though what the serpent may or may not know... is that Dorian has attempted to place a perimeter around it. Sure, it's lightning, but if the serpent tries to move outside that perimeter, with any luck it'll get zapped by the lightning orb in the air!

    Deku had swept Terra up, and set her down at a safer spot, without really thinking about it. When she asks if he's okay, he's briefly thrown off-kilter, and blinks at her in an owlish way. "Yeah!" he replies, confidently, with a big smile that betrays his nervousness. Then the great anchor beast emerges from the water, and his head lifts. His face briefly blanks and his eyes stare in empty shock at the oddity before him. A great leviathan of debris and metal. The first thing he says is to Dorian, "Nevermind, lightning will work!"

    Aaaand then the world is tilting. He sucks in a breath, and tilts, sliding along the concrete and blacktop with his feet and a single hand to guide his descent. And he uses a curb and the wall of a building to catch the nearest person that might be struggling to maintain their footing, and pull them to safety, before the world realigns itself, but breaks apart into islands of rotting wharf.

    "..." His eyes briefly lower as he imagines the sort of feelings that could spawn this hatred. He closes his eyes and shakes it off for now. He can't ruminate when the manifestation of it is trying to KILL him. So, he seeks out a shattered bit hunk of concrete and rebar, and picks it up in his arms with a 'hup,' lifting it up.

    He'd grab one of the rebar bits, and just fling the concrete at an apparent weak point in the creature. Sure, it isn't as impressive as burning swords or balls of lightning, but getting hit by flying chunks of concrete and metal can do serious damage even to things made of metal. Recognizing the creature's motif -- someone 'chained down' in a place they don't want to live -- he aims for the chain links and not the anchor itself, to see if that will do the job.

  Zelda frowns, but she doesn't back away from the stench of rot. The ocean is a beautiful wonder in her eyes, but this is somthing by far more sinister. This is pain and anger. This is confusion. Desolation.

  She looks up and forces herself to mark the position of the details and landmarks around them. The angry voice, the serpentine form unfurling to reveal its burden of detritus. The shadow of ruin that stretches across the sky when it straightens. She frowns, straining to pierce the gloom and pick out the individual pieces. Barnacles, seaweed, scraps of posters, bits of uniform, chain. Children's toys. Signs that she can't read. A slate of some kind. Something that might be a mattress, maybe. While Zelda can pick out some of the objects, others are modern contrivances that she doesn't quite identify.

  She's forced to slap a hand against the ground underfoot and hang on when everything starts to tilt. Her boots skid against the wet ground, and she finds herself gritting her teeth against the strain of not falling into the hungering depths. A good swimmer or no, something tells her she wouldn't find her way back out again. Not here.

  The others might hear the princess bleating curses that would do any sailor of any wharf district proud. It's not very aristocratic or royal. She doesn't much care; she's not going to give herself up meekly. She has things to do, still. People to save.

  Zelda can feel her fingers slipping.

  Before she can let go, gravity reasserts itself, with great enthusiasm. The Hylian is bowled over onto a chunk of warehouse, where she scrabbles to right herself and hang onto all of her weapons. Her arrow spins away into the depths, bobbing atop the reeking water.

  It takes Zelda only a second or two to snatch another arrow and slap it across the string. She draws it back to her pointed ear, raising it to take aim at the serpentine hulk. Without a point of reference, she'll have to hope 'centre of mass' is good enough.

    Being saved. Now, that's perhaps a tiny bit embarassing. Maybe. Terra's rather glad for it, though. She dips her head in acknowledgement of Deku's deed and his assertion that he's fine. Then Anna's bringing her sword! Oh! She accepts the weapon with another nod, "Thank-"

    Then chaos becomes bedlam. The ground tilts as the sea churns and she loses her footing. Her own boots are certainly not the best at traction and there's little to grab onto but Deku.

    She punches out with her sword arm, carefully keeping the blade away from the young hero and hooks the inside of her elbow over, hopefully enough to offer a firm grip.

    Her free hand comes up and, as she prepares to push against the debris-choked waters with a blast of fire, the world rights itself again. Their solid ground becomes a series of mock islands. "Thank you again." Then, well.

    The problem seems to have presented itself. Though she looks almost ashen from the toxic magical atmosphere, she lifts that free hand and lets fly at the garbage dump leviathan.

    Sodden debris may not catch immediately. They may not even dry. Illuminating the thing even more with an assault of magical fire might, at least, make the thing even easier to hit.

    Or make it very, very upset.

    Our half-esper, despite her own fear and flagging constitution, maintains a stoic deadpan.

    Heart Power proves perfectly effective against a monstrous magical serpent of chain and debris, each of the first few shots sending the serpent reeling back - until it musters itself and drops its head low, not so much lunging as diving over the chunk of land Anna is on, in a bid to smash right through her. It turns right back around as soon as it hits the water on the other side of her platform, lifting that anchor/head in preparation to dive again- only to suddenly writhe in mute agony when it passes the boundary set by Dorian.

    In the opening that creates, Yumi moves. Prominence suddenly catches light in her hands, the runes glowing a bright gold before the blade itself erupts into flame. She leaps from one platform to the next, skidding to a stop at the base of the monster and swinging two great, big blows. "Haa!" Half-molten gouges open up in the chains with a hiss of steam, only for the serpent to turn its head downward and smash right down at her. She avoids a direct strike, but the glancing hit is enough to belt her clean back across the platform. It dives to follow up-

    Only to take a hit from Deku's projectile debris. Rebar and concrete seem perfectly serviceable when thrown with superhuman strength, to judge by the way it wobbles; the chain now shows a fair bit of wear. But the anchor serpent utters another silent, reverberating roar of fury, turning its nonexistent gaze to the hero in training- when an arrow pierces right through its serpentine chain, somehow widening the seared injury from Yumi's attacks. And Terra? Terra blasts it full in the anchor, its 'face' engulfed in a torrent of blazing magic. It proves more effective than she might have hoped, so injured is the monster. The very malice in the air wavers, and there's a brief, soft whisper on the wind, so quiet it might almost be imagination. '...your fault, dad...'

    The long chain and anchor drop limply onto the largest chunk of ground at last, falling still. Slowly, from both ends at the same time, a wispy and shimmering smoke begins to trail upward, its iron-and-debris body dissolving away until not a trace of it remains... save, that is, for the dark purple gemstone that falls to the ground, not far from where Yumi regains her footing.

    Then the entire strange realm around them seems to shudder, reality itself rippling, then dissolving... leaving the entire group standing in the alleyway between warehouses, out in the real world again. Not a sign remains of the beast or its lair but that lone gemstone.

  Quick as thought, the princess slaps another arrow onto her bow, drawing and releasing with the mechanical precision of long years of practise. Her eyes are hard as she fires into the beast and tries not to pay attention to the devastation and loss all around her, or the stench of fetid ocean.

  Staring at Yumi's swordplay is an acceptable substitute, and so Zelda's gaze is drawn to the molten ruin Prominence leaves in its wake, even as she fires another arrow, and another; aiming for what she hopes is its central mass.

  All too soon the altercation is over. Zelda relaxes the draw of her bow and lowers it, staring up in awe as the monster wavers. She cocks her head at the whisper on the wind, frowning, marking the violet jewel that falls from the disintegrating body, to Yumi's feet.

  Almost against her will she finds herself sidling towards the paladin. She pauses for a moment, adjusting the focus of her eyes as the landscape around them abruptly changes.

  "It is done." Zelda's observation is soft, and spoken gently right behind Yumi. Surprise. Then, "That is corruption." The princess is staring very intently at the gemstone, summer-blue eyes almost hawk-like in her singularity of focus. She reaches out as though to touch it, but she maintains a short distance between her fingertips and the stone, frowning as though in great concentration.

Anna yelps and dodges out of the way! She boosts towards the next available halfway-stable footing, and actually glides though the air! "Yeah okay!" she says. "Spiral, take a step back!" She starts gathering Heart Power into her hands ... but she doesn't fire it all at once. She's charging it up!

Spiral groans. "Please tell me you're not about to pull that stunt like you did in the Distortion --"

But it turns out to be unnecessary. "... Oh." Anna carefully lets the energy dissipate, and she heaves a sigh of relief. "So what's the gem?" she says, looking over at Yumi. "Do you know?"

    As the anchor beast is beaten, and shatters and dissolves, Deku finds a melancholy feeling sweep over him at the echoing words that ring in his head following the beast's destruction. He doesn't understand magic, or Distortions or anything about what could cause this, but he does know one thing: Whatever this was, it was once a person. Maybe a fragment of them, a dream, something like that... but it's connected to someone's heart. A broken heart, caused by being torn from a life they loved.

    Deku rubs one of his forearms in the wake of the fight, and walks up to look down at the gemstone. He stares at it with an uncertain frown. This is really heavy for him, because it's the type of thing he has no power to solve as it is now. What he's going to do is simply observe what Zelda tries to do here. He looks up at Yumi's question, also interested in the answer to that. He doesn't want to make any assumptions about its nature, after all, despite his inner analysis of it. Bright eyes look to her, the teen looking emotional worn by the physical manifestation of emotional conflict they just encountered.

    "Was that... a person?" he wonders.

    Dorian's ready to keep the fight going -- though his stomach is definitely on the verge of rebelling against him, which is something he DEFINITELY doesn't need in the thick of battle. Fortunately, the combined attacks of the group seem to ease the thing's pain -- or just take the damn thing apart, whichever's actually going on -- and so the thing fades away. And just like that, they're standing on in the alley again.

    His usual snark, however, doesn't come immediately. He hesitates, thinking about what he heard just before the end of the battle. That whisper. Imagination or not, it was clear enough to him. And not just in hearing it. Whatever negative feelings gave rise to that thing... they're feelings that he can relate to. Very much so. His own father, the two of them parted under... less than pleasant circumstances.

    Nonetheless, that thing is dead. Dorian crosses his arms and observes, "Well, THIS is a fine 'how-do-you-do'. But, I suppose, better to get used to the insanity sooner rather than later, yes?" He does have a half-smirk on his face though, mind. More seriously, he notes, "Is everyone all right? I can offer healing if not."

    Terra, rather surprised at herself, lets her hands drop. The fight was so sudden, so quick- She swallows a lump as that melancholy weighs down on her. A quick glance around assures her that everyone's okay, if a bit rattled.

    The events unfolding transpire without any further intervention from the half-esper. Not because she's unwilling, more because she's quite simply drained.

    She still approaches the group, curious. Dorian gets a curious look. Other than being splashed, hauled around and slightly poisoned by the miasma of this departure from normal reality, she's fine. "Are you alright?" There. That is her best attempt at sass ever.

    "It's just like the one from last time," Yumi murmurs. With reality reasserted, she turns and just... sits right down, right there, with a clunk of armor. The crisis is averted, and her exhaustion finally hits her; she reaches out to take hold of the gemstone as others move in to examine it, shaking her head in reply to Anna. "Don't know. But the last one we fought, it left one behind too. It should be safe now. None of... whatever magic that was, is left on this thing." Zelda's own senses will confirm that; it's largely inert.

    Izuku, on the other hand, raises a question she's asked herself more than once about the last time, and now twice... "I... I'm not sure," is all she can offer the hero. "I'll get in touch with you soon, so we can go over what I do know." Then, to Dorian. "Kind of a trial by fire, yeah... I'm a little achey, but I'll be alright. Thank you for joining us... Dorian, right? I'm Yumi. Tachibana Yumi." With a soft groan of effort, the magical girl shifts her weight, moving to stand up-

    Clap. Clap. Clap.

    Instantly, the redhead is on her feet and brandishing Prominence. The clapping comes from above, right on the rooftop of the nearest warehouse. A girl about Yumi's age stands up there, a blonde dressed both elegantly and trendily. A cheerful smile tugs at her lips as a few stray bats flutter about. "Hai, hai, well done, all of you~! Tachibana, you're a natural at this. You even brought backup!" She giggles, then adds, "I'll be in touch. And don't worry, if there's another youma, I'll take care of it for you." Something about her tone sounds... not quite mocking, but certainly there's some hint of humor there. The group is spared any more, however, when the blonde steps out of view.

    There's a sound of wings unfurling, flapping, and then nothing.

Anna nods at Yumi's limited explanation. "... Wow. What do you think, Spiral?"

Spiral peers at it, and her eyes flicker. "Nope, it's pretty much inert." She looks up at Yumi. "Looks like you get a prize for beating these things!"

And then the clapping draws their attention, and Anna whirls around. "... Um ... thanks?" she says, furrowing her brow. She looks between Yumi, and the girl who just showed up and disappeared. "... What the hell was that all about?"

  The princess glances very slightly to one side, but she doesn't turn her head or lift her gaze enough to look at anybody directly. Noticing the movement does allow her to take a half-step around Yumi, dipping her head and regarding the girl with great scrutiny. 

  Dorian's commentary earns a brief look from Zelda, something dimming in her summer-blue eyes as her attenion shifts to him. There's nothing in particular she says or does, only something about her countenance that drops about eighty degrees in temperature. Cold, cold, cold. Civil, and even polite, but cold, as though she knows what manner of twisted power he possesses on the inside. She doesn't... but Hylia does.

  He asks about the group's general wellness. That hawk-like stare doesn't break away until Terra asks her question, gaze flicking over to the half-Esper, almost baffled. Terra's the one looking sick, and she's asking about the others?

  That clouded gem earns her full attenion as Yumi comments on it, though. For a moment, the fact that Dorian's presence makes her teeth itch is forgotten, however briefly. She seems to be looking at the stone and maybe thinking at it very hard, as though she were wracking her brain for something important, but after a moment she only shakes her head.

  The gesture is one of sheer emotional exhaustion. She might not be showing her reaction to the emotional aura as readily as Izuku, but it's there. Zelda is much more emotionally sensitive than her aloof behaviour might suggest, and she feels things very deeply. The fact that she's also felt harrowing emotional pain in her lifetime can help her relate to that poor girl.

  "Dorian." Zelda tilts her head as she repeats the name, as though to experience how it spills over the tongue. "I see. Sheik. My name is Sheik--"

  The sound of applause draws a blank look from Zelda, and she looks up a moment later, squinting to the blonde girl on the roof. Somewhere between one breath and the next, her royal bow is back in hand, and an arrow has been slapped onto the string and drawn to her ear.

  Its sinews creak loudly as the girl speaks--

  CRACK. The bowstring releases as the girl steps aside, a shot meant to pin a limb and immobilize, but she'sgone from view and the steel arrowhead clatters off the front of a building, striking sparks from the red brick.

  She stares impassively after where the girl had been standing.

  "What a sarcastic and wearisome brat," she sighs. Her gaze swivels back around to Yumi. "Tachibana Yumi. We will be returning to Hyrule, soon. Do you know her...?"

    When the girl is finally gone, Prominence dissolves in a scattering of sparkles, and Yumi practically slumps where she stands. Her answer to both Anna and Zelda comes with a shake of the head, and a soft. "Dunno. Never seen her before. But she seems to know me. I... nn. Kinda hard to think right now, the adrenaline's running out." She has been up rather a while. "I think I'm gonna head home and crash."

Anna sighs. "Jeez ... Well, we'll probably find out about whatever crap she's gonna throw at us sooner or later." She frowns, and in a surge of light, she's back in her civilian form. She looks around at the group with concern, particularly towards Terra. "Also, Spiral ... think we should go for chocolate?"

"Maybe," says Spiral. She glances around the group. "Back in our homeworld, on Earth we prescribe chocolate after dealing with Distortions, which are emotional-disaster-areas like the one we just left," she says by way of explanation. "It helps counteract all that crap. It's the, uh, the endorphins, or something."

  As Yumi wavers on her feet, the princess twists in a bid to try and catch her, but her bow gets in the way.

  "Rest, Tachibana Yumi. We will seek answers, but not now. You must rest. I must return to Hyrule. And," she adds, a little wryly, "I understand your point on fading adrenaline." There are shadows under her eyes. No kidding, she gets it.

  Chocolate, huh? The robed Hylian shrugs. It couldn't hurt. What's one more outing on a night spent battling the darkness of the heart?

  "Chocolate?" Zelda quirks a brow. "While I appreciate the sentiment, I really must pass. There is a place I must return to, with the utmost haste." Places to be, things to do, coups to plan. Mostly, she looks exhausted and something of a wreck. "If you will excuse me. Tachibana Yumi, call upon me if you should have need of me again."

  With that, provides nobody stops her, she'll return to her Sherman tank of a horse and go right back the way she came, hitching vines all the way back to Hyrule, because sleeping for a week sounds really good to her right about now.

    Hardly able to do much more than look up at the strange newcomer, Terra stares dimly. Zelda's shot startles her out of her own numb, exhausted state and she shakes her head.

    At least now that suffocating aura isn't sapping her strength. Still, she's left feeling rather unwell. "... I'm Terra." At least she's stable! Yay.

    Then, "Chocolate?" Echo? Has she ever had that? She supposes she knows what it is but. The half-esper, despite her pallor, does look up. However. Her ride is leaving! So it's a scramble to catch up and not stumble after Zelda! 

    She does shoot one more look back over her shoulder at everyone. Even if she doesn't exactly wave, consider that a parting gesture!