Freyd

Frowning confusion marred the Whisper's face, brow furrowing as his finger jerked his thumb behind him and back in time. "The... wraiths? I mentioned, like... just... " He could have sworn he's just said what they were, but whatever. Freyd shook his head, making a forward lunge that caught one of the already battered creatures off guard. A pulse of light flashed between them as Samael's Pride flared, spearing the nearest wraith and bursting it open like an overinflated semi-tangible balloon. Appearing and disappearing across the battlefield, he emerged momentarily like the very cre

Jerking his arm up to point a thumb behind him, Freyd muttered something about a rare field boss spawn that he'd been camping on for awhile. "It took forever for that bloody thing to spawn. Good thing, too. It might have wreaked quite a bit of havoc on this floor." A pair of cold blue orbs, not unlike his diminutive pet's looked out at his companion from beneath his cowl. "You'd be a newbie, judging by your gear? Or you lost a bet?" He shrugged while turning his attention to the little inky horror. "Persi, what they heck were you thinking? You nearly hit this old man. No more t

“Nope!” Freyd said, hopping down to land upon an outcrop of the city’s ruined architecture - this one part of familiar royal barracks he’d visited once before with Fonsa and witnessed the price exacted from her for unrequited loyalty. “You’ve used that line before, Lun’Rael. It caused this tainted mess in the first place, fostered by mutual elven ambitions.” He wagged a scolding finger in time with the swaying serpentine heads rising from the rubble. “You don’t get to use it again.” Glancing around at the Vale of Ruin, Freyd had pieced together enough of this site’s history to know t

A crash of thunder erupted from the tree line to the west of Marius' position, followed an instant later by the form of a massive green dragon erupting from the woods and flying directly towards him. Except that its head was point in the wrong direction, and one of its wings looked to be mauled to the point of crippling. There was also that giant gash in its abdomen and the fact that its lower jaw was completely missing. Something dark and tiny was also sitting atop the maligned mob's mauled body, riding it like a surf board. Only a pair of brilliantly burning azure eyes could be seen as t

Freyd arched a single eyebrow, uncertain of what to make of their comments, but convinced that the dark elf in question had met a most unfortunate fate. "Not all dark elves are like that. I've met a few of the more decent sort." The man seemed pensive for a moment, his right hand fetching a small stone of highly polished obsidian from his pocket, the symbol of a red tower glowing upon its side. Though they caught but a glimpse of it, both Plini and Astreya noted a sliver of white, like a sword, plunged through the tower from top to bottom. Freyd thought of the tragedies that had befal

“I know your name because he does.” Montjoy’s smiling face turned slightly to point at Freyd with a flicker of his pale azure eyes. His voice was calm and soothing, no hint of threat or alarm carried in its tone. "You haven't answered my question. Who the hell are you -- or -- what are you? Are you a Gemini?" “I answered honestly: he calls me Montjoy, though I am as much Freyd as we are both Takeshi.” The man spoke simple truth wrapped in such a tangled, convoluted weave of context and fate that made it sound more like an unintended riddle. "Give me that! You -- I don't kn

Knees caving in, a backwards fall was timed to appear as fluid motion just ahead of the haft reaching his chest. If he timed it right, the system would interpret it as sparring or some alternate form of contact - anything but an attack. Frazzled as his heart might be, the machine-mind inside was always on, processing every input and dispatching responses to be executed with cold, calculated precision. Yet, in this moment, its only motivation was to spare her the consequence of an accidental orange marker. That dark thing at his core screamed for retribution. They had been attacked.

As Freya followed the others down into the newly found dungeon, Freyd's gaze fixated upon the black square into which all three had vanished. His façade was too practiced to shatter, or even slip, but she had been right. She knew very little about him. Perhaps it was because there was little actual 'him' left to know? Perhaps it was because the void he was staring at reminded him too strongly of the one that had been gnawing away, hollowing him from within? Red eyes drifted from secrets revealed to the equally dark weapon he wielded. When it shrieks, Montjoy, is it only the weapon's

Freyd watched the exchange, comfortable amidst a background of silence and shadows. He knew enough of the tension between these three not to stray into the middle of it. They needed closure. Whether this moment proved sufficient would be decided at a later date, but it made for good progress. O&I, indeed, all of Firm Anima, could only function if its members were in sync - nonsensical ramblings and quirks aside. The image of Shiina running screaming into the room, whacking someone in the face and somehow revitalizing their energy reserves before vanishing out a window came to mind. I

Surveying the scene through narrowed eyes, Freyd was pleased. Competence and confidence were powerful traits, and all three of these guild members had achieved them both. It shone through Eruda's bearing as she strode forward into the Witch's chamber, completely unafraid of what she might face. Her strength was known, her steel tempered along with her nerves. Freya's demons now fueled her passions instead of suppressing them. She had learned to trust in them - in the strength that Tuatha had fostered within. All the creepy aspects aside, the dead man had done her some big favours and a l

Jabbing his staff into the rubble-strewn crater beneath his feet, he felt as much as heard the screech of the void unleashed. The ground heaved a good six inches before collapsing, a small geyser of fractal motes spraying into the air when he pulled the weapon back. "Heh. It's like an Ugzeke depth-charge," Freyd said, making light of the moment. This was no time for somber brooding. It was a moment of celebration and elation. A quick impulse made him feel like he should dance. Let's not over-do it. I'm not sure that the Underdark is quite ready for that, and we've made quite

Thinking his enemy distracted, the raging troll burst forth from his entombment, ready to wage war on a personal scale. His reception was instantaneously applied. A swift and sudden counter, unimaginably delivered with even greater force than the last two blows, sent him back into the ground. The wind left the mob's lungs even as a fresh cascade of stones re-buried him deeper than before. Freyd practically giggled at the comedic contrast to his earlier confrontation, Ugzeke getting the distinctly shorter end of the stick in this particular bout. He'd come away without any injuries, bu

Cackling laughter rang out. Groundhog day indeed. Another burst of brilliant white and another moaning trolls sailing through the air, impacting nearly the same spot. He was red, though, so that seemed to make it fair to repeat, or so Freyd told Montjoy. Not waiting for him to re-emerge, this time, Freyd bore, full force into his opponent. A second concussive blast rocked the otherwise silent cavern an instant after the first, embedding the troll's battered body even deeper into the face of the wall. "I need to do more to help the Madrigal get back on its feet." The words came

Emerging from the rubble he'd just created, Ugzeke was in full mad-mad-mode, with red and steaming skin encrusted with dust and boulder shards that had embedded in his thick, mottle brown hide. He tried his column-spray maneuver again, but the Whisper had gotten wide. He and his doubles scattered, using the dust to cover their already stealthy advance. Unfortunately, their quarry was quicker on his feet now and also charged under cover of his own cloud. Both parties missed each other completely, having to turn and search for the other upon having traded places. Freyd just laughed when he

Gleeful laughter rang out in the darkness. One of Aincrad's edgiest edgelords had found himself, and finally found some strange degree of happiness and redemption while still within his torturer's chamber. The tide had turned in the most unlikely way, and he felt like celebrating. Feeding off the positive vibes generated by Freyd's mood, his weapon suddenly glowed, brilliant white. An instant later came the crashing sound of an airborne troll impacting a far cave wall, launched by the magnitude of a holy-infused smack to the guts. With a snap of his black-gloved hand, Freyd reformed the h

The taunt worked, compelling the lumbering brute to turn and face him - well, them. IN a bout of unexpected cleverness, the troll smashed his club against a nearby rock face, spraying stone in a wide, shrapnel arc. A stray boulder clipped Freyd's shoulder, and wiped out all his Montjoys, but it wasn't nearly enough to stymie his advance. Another barrage of bashes and beatings rained down on the mob, just as he'd delivered to Freyd's duplicates, but considerably more effective. Blood pulsed through Freyd's ears, but without the insistent, maddening war-drum effect of past battles. Th

Unlike their earlier rendition, the field boss fared far less well this time around. Samael's Pride crashed repeatedly against the beast's thick hide, fracturing, then shattering it into pieces, eating away at the whole in tiny morsels. Ugzeke, meanwhile, didn't have a clue what was going on. He'd missed the prelude and found the wayward player fallen in the middle of his tunnel path. Now he thought it some kind of malevolent booby trap that he'd inadvertently unleashed. Flailing miserably to swat the thing away proved fruitless. It was angry and persistent, and kept nibbling away at his

Taking the proffered coffee with a nod of thanks, Freyd paused to take in the room once more. The mirror beckoned at the edge of sight, but he refused to be baited by it. Whatever all of this meant between Simmone and Freya was for them to sort out. He lifted the cup to his lips, interrupted at the last second by a query. "Freyd, after I sleep, I will be going hunting. You care to tag along..." Freyd. Not Takeshi. Good. That's not me anymore. His eye twitched, but resisted still. Montjoy's gaze was likewise burning a frigid hole into the back of his head. Finishing th

Feathers and bellhop caps rained from the sky to the captain's great satisfaction. Sam and Freya were wreaking a more than satisfactory level of havoc. "They've both come far," he said aloud, for Eruda's benefit. "You have too. I've seen you in action more often recently. It seems fair to say that we're both a long way from our first outing against the Hoya." A small grin graced the edge of his lips as the cowl turned her way. It nodded on the Whisper's behalf as he vanished into the cloud of feathers-turned-to-fractals. "Raidou is proud of you." Hope and pride invested, he mo

As if waking from a dream, Freyd found himself back where he started: inverted, facing oversized beady black eyes the size of bowling balls. A giant fist with immense sausage-like fingers wrap around his legs, dangling him in a dank, dark cave and glaring at him with suspicious intensity. Something warm and comforting spread from within. A sense of irrepressible joy and harmony pervaded every inch of Freyd's body. "Hey, Uggy," he joked, a happy smirk spreading between his ears. "Nice to see you again. Happy Groundhog Day. Oh, and sorry, not-sorry for what's about to happen, again.

His sight was unchanged. All things remained as they were, yet Freyd's perspective had somehow and irrevocably changed. Cupping his grandson's face with a pair of gnarled, arthritic hands, the figure before him smiled and nodded, affirming what he already knew. "You have what you need," he said, his voice croaking through the a throat and lungs that were as ravaged by cancer in Freyd's memories as they had been when they last saw each other. "Go, Takeshi. Listen to your friend's advice. Give them all the hope you can, and they will always rise to aid with the challenges set before yo

That proved to be enough: a simple gesture of acknowledgement and consideration, laden with sincerity. Takeshi had always managed to navigate through the courtesies as a matter of protocol, but the nuance of genuine gratitude had always eluded him. Here was a figment of a man who had shown him infinite tolerance and compassion, and he had callously dismissed it, over and over again. Lifting his head, he found his grandfather standing before him, barely taller than his own seated vantage, with a withered, veiny hand pressed tenderly into Freyd's unruly mop. He swore that his hair actually r

A grimace found purchase on his face, even as his face fell into his hands. "I feel like some damned, stupid child again. Is there ever going to be an end to this? Any opportunity to move beyond it?" "That's really up to you, isn't it, kiddo?" His grandfather chuckled softly. "You have everything you need. It's just a matter of choice: do you stay in the nice, safe, comfy corner that you've created for yourself, where everything makes sense, or do you venture into the unknown?" The bobber did a thing. Grandad's eyes never veered away from the water, consummate fisher that he w

"Accepting that change means casting aside the only thing that ever gave me the power and courage to contend with this utterly stupid existence." Another soft chuckle echoed across the dreamscape. "Look up, Takeshi. The truth has been staring you in the face for so long that you've lost your ability to see it. What else does the universe need to offer for you to save yourself?" Elongated ears. Vibrant, blue eyes filled with hope and promise. The laughter and thumping heart from a race against waterfalls in search of a stubborn pile of stones. Hiding, exhausted in the woods,

The feeling of cool, slick leather palmed his face. "Really? REALLY? You went there?" Grandad gave his victory wheeze, nearly folding forward into himself from the coughing fit that swallowed him. Tell him, Freyd. You may never get another chance. "But, he's just..." Be a goddamn human being for once, even if he isn't. Say what you should have said so long ago. ... "I'm sorry." Silence fell over the scene, like a lid had been dropped over the rest of the world to drown out its cacophonous clutter. "I'm sorry that I screwed up so bad that w