Post by Alex McCeol on Dec 10, 2010 1:36:17 GMT -5
Day 2 of the Sixth Grail War, 5:30 AM
Alex was tired.
She had flown in to Lucca from her detour to Ireland to pick up the package, arriving at ten at night yesterday. She had spent the time since then preparing the room that had been reserved for her, above the music store that belonged to a man she suspected was a spy for her father. She had not slept on the flight here, and neither did she intend to until this ritual was done.
She was crouched over the wooden floor in the center of the room she was staying in, drawing out the sigil needed to summon a "Servant" for this "Holy Grail War". Beside her was the book, her family bibliography, opened to the sigil she was copying, along with the incantation for it. A single lightbulb lit the room, other then the very little light of the city outside that came sifting in from the windows like water leaving a leaking tub.
"This had better be worth it. All of this had better be worth it." she thought to herself crassly, as she finished the sigil for the ritual. The circle was made in cow blood, bought from a shop in Monte San Quirico that specialized in restoring old paintings. Alex found the thought unappetizing, but she supposed a little cow blood beat having to use her own.
Alex was dressed in nightclothes, wearing nothing but a sleeveless wifebeater with red stains on it that was two sizes too small for her, cloth pants, and a brimmed cap that was pointed low on her face that seemed like it would be more at home on the head of a cab driver then a 19 year old girl. Her face was in a permanent half scowl, and her eyes were sunken in from lack of rest. Bare feet touched the cold wooden floor of the old building, toes squirming to keep warm.
Turning back to her bed and rubbing her bare arms, Alex looked over the three items upon it. An unopened suitcase, her prized guitar, and the package, a long black wooden box tyed shut with a red ribbon. A note had been attached, which had been promptly read then thrown on the floor. Alex now walked towards the package, and nodded before opening it.
Inside the package was an antique blade, on red velvet pillows. It was a gladius, simply made of steel, with a bronze handle that was well polished. The blade was well scuffed, and it was obvious, even to Alex's untrained eye, that whoever had used it had fought in pitched battle many times. A large scratch ran down the blade diagonally, as if it's user had blocked a blade with an impact so hard that it deeply scarred the metal. Alex took the blade from it's resting place in the box, and felt a shiver down her spine. She could practically feel the history in this blade and she wondered, as a morsel of doubt appeared in the back of her mind, what that said of things to come.
Shaking her head, Alex placed the sword within the circle. The conduit was in place, the sigils perfect. All that the summoning required now, was Prana. Alex should of felt relief, but all she felt was a tingling in her ears. "Something is wrong. I can't place it, but something is wrong." she thought, before releasing all the air from her lungs, seeing her breath as she did so.
"Wait a minute... Since when can I see my own breath in...?" The thought had just caught up with her, just as the ancient lightbulb, which suddenly exploded from the heat of the coil within versus the sudden coldness of the room. Alex realised that something was really wrong, and did the first thing she could think of. Squinting in the now suddenly dark room, she began to read the incantation.
[]Theme Music for this scene[]
"Ye first, Oh Silver, Oh Iron. Oh Stone of the Foundation, O Archduke of the Contract." she began, as hairs began rising on her neck as the room became colder. The magic circle, actually several designs to indicate the flow of power from caller to called, began to glow a blue tint, while the sword within it seemed to turn bloodred. "Wonderful." Alex thought, hoping it was a good sign and not an indication to run as she continued the incantation.
Alex watched as some sort of shadowy creature seemed to pour into the room, underneath the thin door way, defusing through the windows, through cracks in the ceiling, even out of the faucet in the restroom. They slimed and oozed their way into this one apartment, like they were called there by some unknown force. Several groups of these shadows seemed to combine with each other, forming larger, more corperal forms. The first one formed right in front of Alex as she spoke the words of the spell, knowing it was her best chance. However, even as she did so, she also pulled plan A.
"Let the descending winds be as a wall..."
Pulling out the small but deadly fire arm she kept on her person at all times from the folds of her clothing, Alex fired a shot at the oncoming shadow. The .357 SIG round, manufactured by Speer Ammunitions, sent 125 grains at a velocity of over a 1357 feet per second. The bullet caught the shadow just when it had solidified, and sent it flying, spilling ectoplasmic goo over the walls like black blood. Alex almost smirked in satisfaction before catching herself, and continued her incantation, firing a shot at any beast that got too close.
" Shut. Shut. Shut. Shut. Shut. Five perfections for each repetition... "
Alex knew she was in trouble as the shadowbeasts got back up, unphased by having been ventilated by mundane weapons. The floor was practically covered in the smaller forms, except for around the circle, which had increased in brightness and intensity, where for some strange reason they kept away. Then it hit Alex. "They must be weak to magic. But I can't use any spells while I continue this ritual. Shit."
" If thou submittest to the call of the Holy Grail and if thou wilt obey this mind, this reason, then thou shalt respond... "
Alex was surrounded from all sides by the shadowbeasts. The only thing keeping them back was the circle, which now seemed to be burning like a star, blue and red. Alex herself was getting dizzy from all this prana usage. "I won't die here. Not when I've come this far." Alex continued reading, practically shouting in defiance of what fate had set forth for her.
" I make my oath here.
I Am That Person Who Is To Become The Virtue Of All Heavens!
I AM THAT PERSON WHO IS COVERED WITH THE EVIL OF ALL HADES!"
With those words, a threshold seemed to have been passed. The blue flames of the circle shot outward, a flaming ring which sent a blast of concussive force which blew out the windows, sent what little furniture there was in the room flying, and sent Alex into the wall behind the unmoving bed, which had apparently been bolted to the floor. It also had the sideeffect of causing several of the smaller shadows to explode, creating several large holes in the floor, giving a view of the music store below. Alex groaned as she lifted herself to a sitting position, her guitar having fallen at her side and the book having impacted on her stomach. She looked up and saw that though the blast had taken the smaller ones, ten of the larger of these beings of nothingness still remained, moving toward her. In barely a whisper, she finished the incantation.
"thou seven heavens, clad in a trinity of words,
come past thy restraining rings, and be thou the hands that protect the balance."
The flames disappeared, as did the sigil they were based on.
[]Theme Music for this scene[]
Alex was tired.
She had flown in to Lucca from her detour to Ireland to pick up the package, arriving at ten at night yesterday. She had spent the time since then preparing the room that had been reserved for her, above the music store that belonged to a man she suspected was a spy for her father. She had not slept on the flight here, and neither did she intend to until this ritual was done.
She was crouched over the wooden floor in the center of the room she was staying in, drawing out the sigil needed to summon a "Servant" for this "Holy Grail War". Beside her was the book, her family bibliography, opened to the sigil she was copying, along with the incantation for it. A single lightbulb lit the room, other then the very little light of the city outside that came sifting in from the windows like water leaving a leaking tub.
"This had better be worth it. All of this had better be worth it." she thought to herself crassly, as she finished the sigil for the ritual. The circle was made in cow blood, bought from a shop in Monte San Quirico that specialized in restoring old paintings. Alex found the thought unappetizing, but she supposed a little cow blood beat having to use her own.
Alex was dressed in nightclothes, wearing nothing but a sleeveless wifebeater with red stains on it that was two sizes too small for her, cloth pants, and a brimmed cap that was pointed low on her face that seemed like it would be more at home on the head of a cab driver then a 19 year old girl. Her face was in a permanent half scowl, and her eyes were sunken in from lack of rest. Bare feet touched the cold wooden floor of the old building, toes squirming to keep warm.
Turning back to her bed and rubbing her bare arms, Alex looked over the three items upon it. An unopened suitcase, her prized guitar, and the package, a long black wooden box tyed shut with a red ribbon. A note had been attached, which had been promptly read then thrown on the floor. Alex now walked towards the package, and nodded before opening it.
Inside the package was an antique blade, on red velvet pillows. It was a gladius, simply made of steel, with a bronze handle that was well polished. The blade was well scuffed, and it was obvious, even to Alex's untrained eye, that whoever had used it had fought in pitched battle many times. A large scratch ran down the blade diagonally, as if it's user had blocked a blade with an impact so hard that it deeply scarred the metal. Alex took the blade from it's resting place in the box, and felt a shiver down her spine. She could practically feel the history in this blade and she wondered, as a morsel of doubt appeared in the back of her mind, what that said of things to come.
Shaking her head, Alex placed the sword within the circle. The conduit was in place, the sigils perfect. All that the summoning required now, was Prana. Alex should of felt relief, but all she felt was a tingling in her ears. "Something is wrong. I can't place it, but something is wrong." she thought, before releasing all the air from her lungs, seeing her breath as she did so.
"Wait a minute... Since when can I see my own breath in...?" The thought had just caught up with her, just as the ancient lightbulb, which suddenly exploded from the heat of the coil within versus the sudden coldness of the room. Alex realised that something was really wrong, and did the first thing she could think of. Squinting in the now suddenly dark room, she began to read the incantation.
[]Theme Music for this scene[]
"Ye first, Oh Silver, Oh Iron. Oh Stone of the Foundation, O Archduke of the Contract." she began, as hairs began rising on her neck as the room became colder. The magic circle, actually several designs to indicate the flow of power from caller to called, began to glow a blue tint, while the sword within it seemed to turn bloodred. "Wonderful." Alex thought, hoping it was a good sign and not an indication to run as she continued the incantation.
Alex watched as some sort of shadowy creature seemed to pour into the room, underneath the thin door way, defusing through the windows, through cracks in the ceiling, even out of the faucet in the restroom. They slimed and oozed their way into this one apartment, like they were called there by some unknown force. Several groups of these shadows seemed to combine with each other, forming larger, more corperal forms. The first one formed right in front of Alex as she spoke the words of the spell, knowing it was her best chance. However, even as she did so, she also pulled plan A.
"Let the descending winds be as a wall..."
Pulling out the small but deadly fire arm she kept on her person at all times from the folds of her clothing, Alex fired a shot at the oncoming shadow. The .357 SIG round, manufactured by Speer Ammunitions, sent 125 grains at a velocity of over a 1357 feet per second. The bullet caught the shadow just when it had solidified, and sent it flying, spilling ectoplasmic goo over the walls like black blood. Alex almost smirked in satisfaction before catching herself, and continued her incantation, firing a shot at any beast that got too close.
" Shut. Shut. Shut. Shut. Shut. Five perfections for each repetition... "
Alex knew she was in trouble as the shadowbeasts got back up, unphased by having been ventilated by mundane weapons. The floor was practically covered in the smaller forms, except for around the circle, which had increased in brightness and intensity, where for some strange reason they kept away. Then it hit Alex. "They must be weak to magic. But I can't use any spells while I continue this ritual. Shit."
" If thou submittest to the call of the Holy Grail and if thou wilt obey this mind, this reason, then thou shalt respond... "
Alex was surrounded from all sides by the shadowbeasts. The only thing keeping them back was the circle, which now seemed to be burning like a star, blue and red. Alex herself was getting dizzy from all this prana usage. "I won't die here. Not when I've come this far." Alex continued reading, practically shouting in defiance of what fate had set forth for her.
" I make my oath here.
I Am That Person Who Is To Become The Virtue Of All Heavens!
I AM THAT PERSON WHO IS COVERED WITH THE EVIL OF ALL HADES!"
With those words, a threshold seemed to have been passed. The blue flames of the circle shot outward, a flaming ring which sent a blast of concussive force which blew out the windows, sent what little furniture there was in the room flying, and sent Alex into the wall behind the unmoving bed, which had apparently been bolted to the floor. It also had the sideeffect of causing several of the smaller shadows to explode, creating several large holes in the floor, giving a view of the music store below. Alex groaned as she lifted herself to a sitting position, her guitar having fallen at her side and the book having impacted on her stomach. She looked up and saw that though the blast had taken the smaller ones, ten of the larger of these beings of nothingness still remained, moving toward her. In barely a whisper, she finished the incantation.
"thou seven heavens, clad in a trinity of words,
come past thy restraining rings, and be thou the hands that protect the balance."
The flames disappeared, as did the sigil they were based on.
[]Theme Music for this scene[]
