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Post by Ashe on Oct 12, 2019 14:14:17 GMT -6
Ashe watched the candles, his eyes flicking from one to the other. Was Obsidion doing this? Or was it just a coincidence that the flames were dancing during this conversation? His eyes darted back to the planchette when it started moving again. He was really quite impressed with this, and completely floored by the fact that they had actually reached the spirit of his best friend and they were able to interact with each other on such a level. Obs could understand them on their plane, and interact with them via a physical object. This was completely crazy! He loved it, for multiple reasons. So when Obs spelled out the location, 'east' and 'all alone', Ashe as able to decipher that the tree would be to the east, and it would be the only oak tree there. He sure hoped it was that easy when he actually went out there! He was eager to get going and he stood up, taking his hands off the planchette. "Alright, let's go find your body!" Inyala gave a screech of alarm, her eyes on his hands, hands that no longer completed the 'circle', so to speak. But Ashe didn't know the rules.
1 4/5
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Jinx
New Member
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Post by Jinx on Oct 12, 2019 14:14:35 GMT -6
Jinx had been quiet to allow the friends to focus on and talk to each other. She kept her hands on the planchette and followed it around as the chatty ghost gave Ashe insights to the location of his body. What a weird conversation this was turning out to be! She couldn't help but be amused. Though she felt she had to keep her expression serious while the seance was going on, so she had to bite back the smile that was threatening to stretch her lips. She focused instead on the feel of the eye moving on its own, trying to sense the spirit herself and visualize what Obs was doing and where he was at. Hovering around Ashe, most likely. She was just the assisting medium trying to make this possible; Ashe was the main course.
Speaking of main courses... Ashe would quickly make himself one if this was how he treated seances! Jinx looked up sharply as Ashe stood up. "Sit! Hands back on, you can't break the circle!" she snapped at him, alarmed. "We have to say goodbye first!" She couldn't believe he was just going to get up and leave this doorway open!
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Post by Ashe on Oct 12, 2019 14:18:51 GMT -6
Ashe was so shocked at the tone of her voice that he dropped his rear right back into the seat he'd just vacated, eyes wide. What'd he do? He was just going to go look for what they had come here to find! He wasn't going to do anything stupid, she should know that... Wait, what was she talking about? Saying goodbye? He thought that was kind of silly, and he would have just kept walking away but the way Jinx reacted sounded absolutely genuine, she was actually freaked out by his actions. Not to mention, Inyala had had her issues with what he'd done as well. Was this common knowledge to everyone but him? Better not tempt fate if he didn't need to. So he quickly took up his position on his side of the planchette again and looked at Jinx, waiting. He couldn't believe they really had to say Goodbye to Obs.. Surely he would be able to see that it wouldn't be a 'goodbye' so much as a 'see you soon, we're going to your body!'
2 0/5
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Jinx
New Member
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Post by Jinx on Oct 12, 2019 14:24:44 GMT -6
When Ashe sat back down and took up his place once again, Jinx allowed herself to exhale slowly and deeply, releasing all of the stress she'd just built up in these final moments. Men! No wonder they always got haunted, they didn't know what they were doing. She inhaled deeply as well, centering herself and getting rid of any negative energies she might have picked up. "We thank you, spirit, for speaking with us. For now, Goodbye." She gently urged the planchette to the 'goodbye' printed on the board, and only after that was complete did she pick her hands up off the board too. She looked over at Ashe, her eyes narrowed. "You always have to say Goodbye. That closes the connection so nothing can slip through. I know it was just your best friend we were talking to - right at this moment - but who knows what else could come later while we're gone??"
With a sigh, she stood up and folded the board closed. "I've helped you as much as I could," She told him. "Good luck with your hunt!"
1 1/5
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Post by Ashe on Oct 12, 2019 14:56:54 GMT -6
Ashe felt the planchette move, but this time it felt more real, more urgent. He supposed that was the difference between Obs moving the eye and Jinx moving it; spirit versus the physical. There was no way anyone could mistake the difference, and it had to have been a legit experience. He shook his head slightly, still reveling in the idea that he might actually find his friend's bones and reanimate them. He frowned slightly at Jinx's explanation, once they were done. "These things actually-" He paused, thinking, as if the gravity of the fact that he just talked to the ghost of his friend hit him. If Obs could communicate with them through this thing, what was to stop others from doing the same? If ghosts really existed, then what else was out there, waiting, unseen? To think he could have opened the door for a demon or two to enter...
He was almost sad he'd shut the door, in the end. Another demon to enslave? Who could turn that down?
Not about to be distracted for long, Ashe stood up, Inyala jumping up onto his shoulder once she realized they were about to head out, and turned to Jinx. "Thank you for your help. You're amazing. I gotta go hunt these bones down now, though!" He lifted a hand in farewell, then he and Inyala hurried out the door. Ashe paused long enough to make sure he had all of his nodes, and his restore orb, and anything else he could think that he might need. Then he set out for the wall.
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Post by Ashe on Oct 20, 2019 16:13:54 GMT -6
It didn't take Ashe too long to get to the wall, especially considering he had multiple fast flying pets at his disposal. Today, he chose Maverick, and with Inyala hanging onto his shoulder, the Equillion easily soared up into the sky, out of view, and out over the wall of the city. Ashe guided him to the East, and when they were far enough, he dipped back down below the clouds, and lower still so he could see the trees. It took a little bit of searching, mostly because they'd been to high the first pass and he had missed it causing them to double back, but eventually Ashe found a tree that appeared to be an Oak, standing all alone. He was no arborist, but this tree definitely looked different than the others. Taller, thicker, leaves turning brown. He indicated the tree to Maverick and the stallion started his descent.
Lightly landing on cloven hooves, Maverick took to the ground at a brisk trot, slowing his speed until he came to a stop in front of the great tree. It looked old, and sorta gnarly on one side, some roots poking up through the ground like a Pliathor in the sea. The stallion furled his wings and tilted a pinion to the side, letting Ashe slide down off him. Inyala hopped from Ashe's shoulder to perch on one of the roots, watching. She was ready to assist Ashe if he needed her.
2 2/5
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Post by Ashe on Oct 20, 2019 16:22:25 GMT -6
Ashe had no idea what his best friend had been doing out here all alone anyway, but he'd been going through some stuff at the time and was probably upset, doing drastic things like people feel they have to do to make it better. Ashe had been there many a time, before he'd finally leveled out. Someone had helped him through that, though she didn't know the full extent of his demons. And she never would. But Obsidion hadn't had that someone, Ashe couldn't have been that someone to help. He'd been drowning nearly as much as his friend, they would have taken each other down.
The man walked around the tree, trying to 'feel' for the body's location. He wasn't sure how far his spell would reach. He didn't want to be out of range and run out of mana before he could make it work. Hell, for all he knew, he'd cast the spell and just raise a squirrel skeleton or something. He gnawed at his lower lip, tension making him shudder, his fingers growing cold from an inner chill.
"Alright. I gotta try."
With Inyala and Maverick standing in support behind him, Ashe felt a little confidence starting to creep in. He was awesome, he was amazing, he was going to complete a dream of resurrecting someone and it was going to be his best friend after all these years! He put his hands together, then raised them, rolling the left hand and spreading his fingers (so his thumb was pointing down to his head, his pinky sky high), and the other hand rested palm outward, so the back of his right hand was cupped in the left, same position. "I summon thee, to do my bidding. Arise!" Ashe called, invoking the spell to raise a skeleton from the ground.
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Post by Ashe on Oct 20, 2019 16:40:55 GMT -6
All around them, everything stilled. The breeze through the trees, the rustle of leaves, the birds in the woods. The air even seemed to be holding its breath, holding back the oxygen so it was harder to breathe. Ashe waited, patiently, using his will over the Node to cast the magic, to enforce it and shape it and send it to do his bidding. It was a wild thing, magic, but Ashe had been working on it as much as he could, and he was relatively decent. Wouldn't be winning any duels against Jack any time soon, but who could?
Then he felt things begin to move. It was like stitches knitting skin together, it was like a bone mending itself, rapidly instead of over weeks of time. Maverick's ears swiveled forward, also feeling it; Inyala was braced, in case something backfired and she needed to protect her master. So far, so good, as long as Ashe wasn't wasting time pulling another skeleton out of the ground.
Something was moving toward the surface of the ground. A faint tremor, a crackle of dried dirt chunks splitting- and bones started to appear. Bones linking together, hauling each other up, clinking together with that 'hollow bone' sound. Pretty soon - actually pretty fast, but time seemed to stand still for our friends here, because of the tense nature of the summon - there was a full human skeleton standing in front of Ashe.
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Post by Ashe on Oct 20, 2019 17:06:11 GMT -6
"Obs?" Ashe asked, looking at the skeleton. Of course, being under Ashe's thrall as all summoned things were, it wasn't going to answer. It needed more help, more... to put back together. He swallowed thickly, slightly concerned about this next task. He had thought long and hard about where to go for help after this part; archmage's understudy was quite possibly his best bet! And how would he get the skeleton back?
"Mav..." Ashe murmured, eyes on the skeleton.
"Yes?" Mav replied, though his tone hinted that he already knew what Ashe was going to ask of him. And, just to prove it and get things moving, the stallion sighed heavily and said, "Fine." He dropped a wing again, signaling that it would be okay for Ashe to load up the skeleton and hop on himself. Ashe ordered the skeleton to mount up, but that appeared to be above the skeleton's capabilities, so the budding necromancer helped scoop the Skeleton up and over onto Mav's back. Inyala climbed up, sitting on Ashe's shoulder more toward the back of his neck, while the skeleton was in Ashe's lap so he could keep his arms around the bones, keep him from falling.
With a blast of G force, Maverick leaped into the air, flapping his wings rapidly until he gained control of the winds and soared into the clouds, flying back over the wall into the city and taking a few minutes to drop back down into view. He flew through the sky with ease, the second passenger obviously not weighing too much.
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Post by Ashe on Oct 20, 2019 17:30:43 GMT -6
["Do you know where Jack lives?"] Ashe asked, choosing to ask telepathically because it would be hard for them to hear each other with the wind roaring in their ears.
["No, I do not,"] Mav replied. Ashe marveled for a second at the finality of it; if Maverick had been a human, even though they were speaking silently, there would have been a headshake for emphasis. But not with the Equillion, who did not have the same human habits most of Ashe's species did. Sometimes he forgot he wasn't a person in the shape of a pet; he was just a creation from the Lab itself, made intelligent by items and magic.
Morbid.
["Alright, I'll guide you, then. Take a left here."] Out of habit with his Equillion, Ashe also applied leg pressure, which Maverick didn't seem to mind terribly. He followed the orders and soon they were flying over the Earthen Farm. Ashe swung around by the back door, not quite wanting to parade a skeleton possibly within view of the street. He landed, slid off, helped the skeleton off, and bid Maverick to keep guard in case Jack had a guard creature prowling. Then he knocked at the door.
"JACK!" Ashe called. While he waited for an answer, Inyala crept up to the skeleton. She gingerly touched the leg bones, testing. The skeleton, not really threatened, did nothing. Soon, the Imp was climbing the bones to sit on the shoulder, curious about this... This abomination. 3 1/5
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Post by Jack on Oct 20, 2019 18:08:06 GMT -6
Things had been full lately, even with the addition of a familiar. Tok wasn't sure what to do whenever the knock came at the door, not many people sounded quite that frantic. He chittered in her ear as she yawned, got up, and went over to the back door. "What Ashe?" she asked, seeing him with a smile that slowly faltered when she saw it. "So uh... Come on in, man," she said, pushing the door open. Jack shook her head a little as she walked through the kitchen and into the living room, silently warning all of her animals to back off with a gesture or a thought. She wasn't too sure what to think as she settled down on a couch and motioned for Ashe to sit across from her. While she knew what Ashe wanted to be, she never expected him to show up with a skeleton at her door. "So what do you need?"
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Post by Ashe on Oct 21, 2019 18:23:06 GMT -6
"Stay," Ashe told Beelzebub. "We'll be right back. I hope." Ashe walked in through the door, not paying too much attention, honestly, to the creature on Jack's shoulder. She always had a bunch of pets running around, this was nothing new; perhaps later they would have the 'omg you too!' familiar discussion, but for now, Ashe's mind was consumed with thoughts of Obs and what he was in the process of doing. He didn't know what he should do next, all he did know was that he was too far along to turn back now.
The skeleton stood where it was outside, until Ashe noticed. "Come inside," Ashe told it, gesturing into the house. The skeleton moved, emotionless and with the fluid grace of someone under a trance. Its bones clacked as it walked, and that was the only sound it made.
Ashe walked over to the couch and sat where directed. Once he was down, Inyala hopped onto the cushion next to him, sitting like she was going to be a part of this conversation when really she would love nothing more than to tattle to Jack just what naughty stuff Ashe had been up to. He was her master and she supported him in all things, but she was also wiser and knew there were just some things not to be mettled with!
The skeleton came to stand to the side of Ashe's couch, staring blankly ahead...at Jack, or perhaps a spot right behind Jack.
Ashe took a deep breath. "So I've been practicing," He started. Then paused. Then the rest came out in a jumble of a breath and a half. "I learned how to summon skeletons, and I realized that Obs had a skeleton - Obs is my friend, I don't know if I've talked about him much, he died - so I got to thinking, why not reanimate his skeleton? But see the thing is these skeletons don't stay around forever, but I figured if we could use magic to bind the skeleton, and then restore the body and organs and stuff, it'll take a few days because I have a Restore Orb but I can't use it more than once a day, and - do you have any healing magic that can heal the internal stuff? Maybe we could work together on this." He spoke with the urgency of a man who literally just dug up his best friend's bones and wanted to revive them... A combination of freaked out and excited.
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Post by Jack on Oct 21, 2019 20:15:12 GMT -6
Jack and Tok listened to the whole thing, Jack's fingers stroking Tok's feathers as Tok gorged on blueberries in a bowl on the nearby end table. Her fingers tightened a moment when he asked for her help, but he was her best friend. Eyes slid over to the skeleton and she tried to picture what the man looked like with skin. It was hard to imagine, and goosebumps slowly rose on her head, making her hair stand straight a little bit.
The Archmage wouldn't like this, but nothing was said against necromancy, just... Frowned on, sometimes. She had a feeling she would be in for it if she helped, but she had no choice when it came to something Ashe asked her to do.
"I have a light node, and I've learned the spell Major Healing. If we're lucky, that will help to grow internal organs. Your Restore Orb is a good idea for the rest, muscles, tendons, skin and the like, but it might not be that powerful. I have an Amphadron who knows the spell Restore as well, he regrew my leg when it was crushed, together, my Major Healing with you and Bane casting Restore, might just work to bring him back," Jack finally told him, making Tok squeak a little. He stared at her, he wasn't clever enough to follow a conversation, but he know she was considering something with bringing this thing back to life. He didn't expect that out of her!
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Post by Ashe on Oct 22, 2019 18:02:59 GMT -6
Ashe was not one to concern himself with what the 'authority' thought of him or his actions. He was constantly pushing the envelope, he'd been a pain in powerful peoples' sides as long as he could remember. From flirting with Alan for discounts, to harassing Yamase and Kagatoh, to now... reviving dead corpses. He had strived to reach this goal for years, a decade or more. From the birth of Beelzebub at the labs, his failed attempts to personally revive a creature on his own. And now he had, and he just... didn't have the healing magic to bring back the organs and the blood. And would they be able to harness a soul? Would Obs' soul return on its own? Ashe knew a little bit about the shady things the Labs did... He and Spencer had infiltrated the buildings multiple times. But could he do it?
"Sweet. Awesome. Maybe all of us casting at the same time, we can boost each others' magic, and get things done faster?" Ashe suggested. He wasn't sure how long the body would live without decaying, if they had to wait a few days while they recharged their mana. "If we can't get it all done in one go... I do have a meat freezer, where I keep the Pliathor food. Keep the corpse in there overnight, finish it tomorrow..." He trailed off, thinking. It was too much to hope for to do this in one night, but two nights instead of a week would be awesome. There was a lot of stuff to regrow - countless organs, veins, arteries, blood cells. Hopefully the light magic would replenish the blood; Ashe didn't think he could donate enough to get a full body moving. "Brain maybe last, I don't know if the brain could survive cold storage overnight, or lack of blood, and might be harder to restart. But if everything else is going, and we pop the brain in..."
Yeah, he was probably creeping Jack out a little more than intended. He certainly had tunnel vision right now, focused on the one thing and one thing only. Inyala knew she was feeling her skin crawl, realizing just how deep into this stuff her master was. The potential had always been there, she supposed. He'd just never had the catalyst before.
"Let's get started." He pulled out his Restore Orb.
3 3/5
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Post by Jack on Oct 22, 2019 18:28:16 GMT -6
Jack listened to him with interest as Tok buried himself into her shoulder, scampering up her arm to do so. She stroked his feathers a little more and then smiled and nodded, "We can certainly try. Let's do this outside though, just in case, it'll be easier to get things cleaned up if something goes wrong outside." Standing up, she stretched out a little, toppling Tok from her shoulder and into her hands before she motioned for the three guests of hers to follow her outside. Jack went out the back door again and looked toward the pond with a small smile on her face. "Bane! Where are you Bane?" the woman called, striding quickly toward the pond.
The Amphadron slowly poked his head out of the water and then tilted it as he listened to her. There was something there... He exited the water as slowly as he could and made his way to meet her, touching her leg for a moment as though to test it to make sure it was still good and secure. "Yes Bane, I'm fine," Jack told him as his hollow eyes stared at her, "We need you to do what you do and see if we can't revive this person though." He stared at her for a little while longer before looking over at the skeleton and poking at it a little bit as though to make sure it was real. Bobbing his head, he got into place.
Taking a deep breath, Jack put Tok on her shoulder again, making sure to tell him to hold onto her hair for a moment, "Are you ready Ashe?" She pushed up her sleeves and held out a hand to touch the skeleton with so she could cast her magic, as did the Amphadron, only waiting on Ashe.
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