this is Salem, a land filled with magic and maladies. It is a place where witches and their elemental familiars gather, a home to legend and
lore that predates time itself. Yet of all the wicked and wonderful stories the past can tell us of, the most magical are the ones yet to happen.
This is Salem - this is the start of your very own journey. Welcome to starfall
Starfall is an animaga witch roleplay set in mostly modern times. Members play as witches in a world plagued by monsters, where the only safe spots are walled cities. Starfall strives to be a character-driven roleplay with expansive lore and a highly interactive plotline. We want to allow members to
create and look back on a magical journey, and mold the site and its plot as their characters grow.
I press the button and[break]it bursts into life[break]This time nothing will escape my sight
They skirt around the hole traps with considerable caution - though Ling confesses her attention was perhaps not as focused on the ground nor on the mission as she'd like to think (but really, who can blame her with Percy holding her hand okay she's still not over this) - and thankfully move past them without further trouble. She isn't sure what she'd do exactly should they fall in another one again, but it probably wouldn't be pretty.
Scream in frustration, most likely, and that's not a good look on her (also not really something she wants her partner to witness) - so hey, guess it's fortunate that such a situation didn't happen, right?
The sun blisters down from above its throne in the sky, gilding her skin gold and practically setting her head on fire. The struggles of having dark hair. She finds herself walking a little bit faster if only to try and finish this mission before she gets cooked alive - even Percy's company isn't worth dying of heatstroke over. Okay, so maybe she's exaggerating a little, but no one's going to find out the crazy thoughts in her head aside from Valkea. Speaking of the little white fox, he'd dematerialised a while ago when the issue with having thick fur in hot weather became apparent.
"This isn't a particularly large maze, isn't it?" Percy asks, breaking her out of her thoughts. Probably for the better.
"It shouldn't be too big-" Ling begins, only to be cut off as her partner looks around, sees her face, and begins... panicking? Yeah, panicking.
"Ahh, Percy, calm down, I'm okay!" she says hastily, waving her hands about to try and get him to stop worrying (to be honest, it's more of semi-panicked flailing than gesticulating, but that's besides the point). "Really, I'm okay, it's just- it's just, ah, the heat, yeah." It probably doesn't help her case that she feels her face grow hotter - even the tips of her ears beginning to flush red - but there's no force on earth that will get her to admit the real reason why.
He keeps looking at her though, keeps looking at her with those pretty pretty eyes - and at this rate Ling's going to die of Spontaneous Combustion Caused By Embarrassment™ long before the sun takes her out.
She's just about to open her mouth, to say something - she doesn't know what, but hey she's good at making things up as they go - when Percy speaks again. And her brain promptly short wires. Did he just offer to walk her home??! What is she supposed to say?!? Yes?? No?? Maybe?? Hotdog?? "That's really nice of you!" she hears her mouth say without input from her brain, red now inscribed permanently on her cheeks, and oh god did she just accept??
Maybe this is a good time to try and find a convenient pond to drown in.
Thankfully, if there's one thing that's saving the remains of her dignity, it's the mission she can fall back on before the world gets any weirder. She can have her little crisis later - how is kick-ass time. "Illusions?" she murmurs as Percy narrows his eyes down the corridor they're facing. Quickly, Ling fishes out a marker from her pockets and starts scrawling an Ansuz rune on her palm, bound by a basic containment circle. A flare of mana and it glows white, activating with a faint crackle of energy discharge that tingles throughout her entire bloodstream; now active, it begins to siphon a small amount of her mana at a constant rate, and will continue to do so until she deactivates it.
"It breaks illusions upon contact," Ling explains to Percy, flipping up her plan so he can see the array there more clearly. "Well, as long as they're not too high level. A solitary focus rune like this won't be enough to dispel the illusions completely - just break us out of one - so the traps will still be intact after we leave."
percival grayreme - don't worry, it's fine <3 items used so far: GENERAL: WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA, 100 MOST USEFUL RUNES: ANSUZ
Oh, the heat. Yeah, it's just the heat. The clarification eases Percy, but not completely, seeing that Ling still is red from the tips of her ears to her neck. Is it too hot for her comfort? For a moment Percy considers pouring water over the girl to somehow cool her down, but before he could even move Seraph chides him.
You're right, Percy says. Ling most probably won't appreciate doing the rest of the mission soaked and cold. "Are you really sure? Okay, I believe you, but tell me if you're not feeling fine."
Percy sighs in relief when Ling accepts his offer to walk her home. This way he can keep an eye out on her. While Percy continues to ponder over the trivial little things, Seraph is secretly beaming at the familiar world. She worries though, that Percy might be smothering Ling too much, but otherwise she is proud of her witch's manners. He might also be exaggerating for a bit. What else is new, Percy has always acted like that.
"Yes, illusions," Percy affirms. Satisfied with the turn of events, Percy is now ableto focus on the actual mission. He watches in awe as Ling worked her magic. He does not understand any of the scribbles, but hey, Ling says it works so it would work! Burning with curiosity Percy asks, "Is that runescripting? Man that's a very rare affinity isn't it?"
The only thing Percy finds slightly annoying is that he can't hold Ling's hand anymore now that it has a scripture. Okay, he definitely isn't taking advantage of Ling, it's just that her hand is small and cute and soft.
Before he leads Ling towards the next hallway, Percy tries to see more into the sheathed fabric of reality. "One is an illusioned rope to trip and catch, if you can visualize it. Second one is a camouflaged wall. You had to skirt on the edges to get through. Imagine if someone is to come charging on that particular hallway..." He cringes at the thought of someone tripping and hitting their head to the invisible wall before being caught in a trap.
"I'm going ahead and see where you have to touch to break the illusions." He goes and kneels at an empty area, in front of an invisible rope. "Right here," Percy says, pointing to an area. "Illusions are like coating to a cake, as long as you don't apply too much pressure this trap won't activate." Further ahead of a seemingly clear pathway is a camouflaged wall. That would be much easily solved.
I press the button and[break]it bursts into life[break]This time nothing will escape my sight
Percy confirms the presence of illusions despite there being nothing there, as far as Ling can see - but hey, she's not the illusionist. That said, she does squint down the innocent-looking corridor trying to spot any clue, and indication of the presence of traps. Aaaaaaand, nup, still nada. Aside from, you know, the suspicious complete absence of suspicious things. Yeah, no, Ling would be truly horrible at this maze.
But luckily, she's got Percy!
Speaking of Percy. "Is that runescripting?" he asks, peering down at her palm with curious eyes. "Man that's a very rare affinity isn't it?"
"It is," she agrees, equal parts relieved and glad that he hadn't made a big deal out of it, or looked at her as if she was any less. "And yeah, it's... not common anymore, which is a shame." She bites down on the familiar lecture/rant on the tip of her tongue regarding runescripting's place in modern society - now is not the time for that, not to mention Percy doesn't seem to need said rant/lecture.
Also, she kinda needs her full attention on the maze to not fall into traps. Illusions rope? Camouflaged wall? Both sound nasty, and Ling's not about to subject herself to them simply because she couldn't keep her focus. The Ansuz array on her palm tingles as if detecting the presence of illusions. Her steps become smaller, more cautious as her eyes dart from side to side.
"Right here," Percy says, kneeling down next to an innocuously empty area. Ling stares hard at the bit of ground, straining her eyes and senses to see anything. For a second, a split second, she thinks she sees a faint shimmer of mana smudging the air, but she blinks and it's gone. In all honesty, it was probably just her mind seeing what it wanted to see. Crouching down next to her partner, Ling passes a cautious hand over the indicated spot and flares her mana through her array.
-a flash, a flare, a crackle of mana like electric discharge; the air warps and shatters like glass to reveal the reality underneath-
"Holy crap!" Ling yelps a second later, darting back with her hand instinctively drawn to her chest. Tingles like champagne bubbles and lightning light up her bloodstream, running up and down her arm from the array inked on her palm. Breathless, wide-eyed, heart drumming out a cadence of holy shit against her ribcage; she blinks.
"Woah," she breathes, blinking a few more times and shaking out her hand. "That- I didn't expect that. Holy shit. That was- that was something." A slightly dazed look at Percy. "Let's do it again."
percival grayreme - welcome back to the land of the living ouo items used so far: GENERAL: WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA, 100 MOST USEFUL RUNES: ANSUZ
The illusionist could sense the quiet disappointment in Ling's voice. Runescripting is not his affinity, nor is he considering getting it for his second one, and so he cannot really empathize with her. But he wants to. He takes another look at characters on Ling's hand, and the decision is made.
"Tell me more about it later, okay?" he says. "It's not everyday I get to meet a person with a rare affinity, I wouldn't miss this chance."
Percy moves forward, then, kneeling in front of the illusioned rope. Ling follows closely, and soon the duo is staring at blank air. The illusion isn't a particularly strong one enough to last for a thousand of years, that is why Percy is able to detect it. He watches Ling cautiously pass her scripted palm over the general area of the rope.
The act is quiet but in a way, flashy. The moment Ling flares her mana towards the array, the illusion breaks and shatters like glass falling off the ground. A thin, mud-smeared rope is revealed a second after. He beams in joy—it's a success!
But then Ling gasps and sharply winthdraws her hand. Percy pauses in the midst of grabbing gloves and a water bottle to meet her dazed yet awed eyes. He looks at her hand, and Percy would have held it if only it isn't scripted with runes. Shame.
"Sure," he says, moving once again. "How does it feel? You just disspelled an illusion. I can dispel minor ones, like illusion over coins, but not something as complex as this." He pours small amounts of water to the rope and then gingerly peels off the softened mud with a gloved hand. "Let me just finish cleaning this rope." Within a minute he is done.
Percy steps over the rope and walks straight ahead, stopping in front of the camouflaged wall. He holds out a hand, and lays it upon thin air—which is actually the wall. The illusion does not ripple. Cleverly laid. Percy reaches up, and boy, the wall is huge. And all of it is sheathed wth fake reality. Suddenly Percy worries about its size. He reaches to the sides, but unlike what he originally thought, the wall doesn't have an opening.
But—he could feel a hinge, and some sort of lock.
Percy motions Ling forward, hand still on the wall. "The wall is qute big and tall, Ling. I believe it will... strain you quite a bit."
He taps at the air and sure enough, he taps metal. "But I believe you need not to dispell the whole illusion, only this part. I believe there is a metal door in which we can pass through." Percy steps aside to give Ling the adequate space.
"I'll probably just pour water and scrub all over this wall." They don't have an adequate water supply... what if...?
I press the button and[break]it bursts into life[break]This time nothing will escape my sight
"Tell me more about it later, okay?" Percy says regarding her runescripting, and holy heck yes. It might not be everyday that the older boy meets a runescripter, but it's certainly not everyday that Ling meets someone willing to listen to her rant and gush about an obscure affinity that is looked down upon by the general society. Honestly, if it weren't for the mission right now, she would hug him.
The thought is (temporarily) put to the side as she dispels the illusion; after that, all that's running through her mind is a litany of 'holy shit' and 'i gotta do this more often'. ( Her brain may or may not be still a little loopy from the aftereffects. ) "It feels awesome!" she says, blinking rapidly to try and clear her mind. "A little bit like lightning zapping through me, but in a good way."
She makes a mental note to test similar arrays out later, when she is free to experiment. Maybe she could even rope Percy into assisting her. It's a good thought, a good plan.
Ling follows Percy as he walks forth, very carefully stepping over the trap rope - her balance is still a little off, and she doesn't want to dispel the illusion only to step in the trap anyway! Her partner stops at a signal she cannot see, reaches out a hand to place it on... something. Something invisible. Presumably the wall? She squints at it. Yup, nup, still nothing.
She walks up and stops beside him, carefully reaching out and prodding at the air Percy indicates ( though not with the hand that has her array scribbled on it ). There is... definitely something there. She considers her partner's suggests, biting her lip as she runs through ideas in her head. Dispelling just a portion of the illusion might be easier - but then again, it could also backfire, given that Ling isn't as comfortably with intent-based singular focus runes as she is with her more prescripted barriers. And also... wouldn't it be easier for them to clean the wall if they could see all of it?
"Maybe... Or, if I inscribe an active short-term runic array on the wall here, it should dispel the illusion on the entire thing - though probably only for a short time. It's easier to clean if we can actually see the thing, right?" She tilts her head at the invisible wall, thoughts racing along experimental tangents. "Or maybe a passive array might work better... Depends on how fast we can clean."
percival grayreme - /o////// items used so far: GENERAL: WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA, 100 MOST USEFUL RUNES: ANSUZ
Ling's enthusiasm is contagious. A smile does not leave Percy's face, and Ling just makes it grow wider and fonder. He could see how her eyes brighten at the mention of her affinity, and honestly? That's the best that has happened today.
He is still concerned with the way her voice sways, though. He knows it's not normal, but she already said it's like electricity, but in a good way. "I don't know how lightning can be good in any way, but if you say so. I practice water element, so I don't really like lightning," he says as a matter-of-fact, not that it matters in today's situation.
Percy steps aside as Ling investigates the said wall. She touches right where the metal door is, and she arrives at the same conclusion, but not the same decision. "I have technique that is similar to a hose sprouting water, though in a much more explosive degree." He calls Seraph, and in a poof of feathers the mute swan materializes beside Percy, floating in a blob of water in the air. "We can control that explosive degree, though, reducing it to a somehow tolerable flow," Percy reassures with a nod.
"Oh, and have I introduced to you my familiar?" Percy realizes, that in fact he has not introduced the swan yet. Seraph floats near Ling and offers a courteous dip of her small head. "Her name is Seraph, and she is the most beautiful swan in the world," the boy says, proud and almost teary-eyed.
"He flatters me too much," Seraph says instead, chuckling quietly as she retreats.
"So getting the wall soaking will be easy. The scrubbing is what would make it time consuming. Maybe a passive array would work better?" Percy looks up, to the height of the wall that remains hidden to the naked eye. It certainly would not be a piece of cake to scrub, much less clean. "It depends on you, sweet lady." He pays no mind in the compliment, for it is all too familiar with him. He looks at Ling with genuine concern. "If you should choose the former, I will do my best to speed up the cleaning."
Percy then grabs the cleaning supplies, and poses as if he is going to antagonize the wall. It's all just for flare and the joy of acting, but still, Percy's eyes glint dangerously. He licks his lips, waiting to pounce. "At your signal, madame," he says to Ling.
I press the button and[break]it bursts into life[break]This time nothing will escape my sight
She brightens as Percy mentions a potential water technique. "That should make things easier then," she says enthusiastically. Reducing the amount of time and effort spent toiling under the harsh glare of the sun is definitely a plus in her book.
Ling can't help but grin when her mission partner introduces his familiar, pride and delight evident in his tone. "On the contrary, I think he's very accurate," she counters the swan, mischief sparking in her eyes. And she's hardly lying - feathers white like calla lilies and a beautifully elegant arc to her neck, Seraph, she thinks, is very aptly named. "Nice to meet you!"
Which reminds her. Valkea slips into reality, long and sleek at her side with an amused air to his bearing. "This is Valkea," Ling introduces, waving a hand towards her familiar. Said fox dips his head in greeting - far more dignified than she could ever hope to be. "I'm Ling's minder," he says, deadpan, even as she nudges him in recompense.
He doesn't dematerialise like Seraph does, instead choosing to lounge by Ling's side as she begins to scrawl a containment cluster for the runic array onto the invisible wall. She hasn't quite decided whether an active or a passive would be best, but both are built upon the same basic principle - at least on the rudimentary level Ling is currently attempting. "Hm... you're probably right. A passive would need more energy to activate, but it would probably be more mana-efficient in the long run," she muses.
She tilts her head, looking at what she has so far. It's a little weird to see markings hanging in what looks to be mid-air, but hey, she's seen weirder. Yeah, no, passive, she decides, and adds the runes in accordingly. Ansuz, thankfully, is a focus rune she's familiar enough with to build an array around it on the spot. It's kinda rough, yeah, and super messy, but it will work, and that's what's important.
"Done!" she exclaims, stepping back to examine her handiwork. Turning to Percy, whatever words she was going to say die in her mouth as she takes in his pose, cleaning supplies held up as if it were a sword. Ling dissolves into laughter. "In three," she says, still giggling, "two, one-"
Mana surges through her veins as she slaps her hand over her array and activates it; a flash, brilliant and static like the aftermath of lightning; a breathless quality to the air; the air shimmers, wavers, and the illusion shatters like a tinkling rain of fine glass.
She sits down. That... took a lot more out of her than she had thought it would - the wall was bigger than she had anticipated. Her arms feel disgustingly wobbly; man does she need to work on her mana pool.
percival grayreme - sorry for the wait!! items used so far: GENERAL: WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA, 100 MOST USEFUL RUNES: ANSUZ
"Yeah! It's like--" How does one even describe a pillar of water? Percy blanks on adjectives, and so he says a string of barely coherent string of words. "A burst of water. A sort-of fountain, maybe a faucet that flows upwards. It's like, boom!" He even opts to gesture how the technique works by raising his arms, then bringing it down again in frustration. "Never mind, I'll show how it's done later!"
Contrary to Percy's boisterous personality, Seraph is the complete opposite of her witch. "Oh, I can relate," Seraph stresses. His protests and nudges comes soon after, but Seraph merely gets out of his reach, waddling on the ground.
Percy lowers his stance just a little bit to whine. "But I'm a good egg," Percy complains, but eventually just let the matter slide. Ling turns to him and exclaim a proud and merry "done!" Percy pauses to give her a look of amazement, then proceeds to examine her handiwork. Characters hang on the invisible wall. A passive array, if he is not mistaken? To be honest Percy has no idea of what consists an active and passive array and how to tell them apart.
With an audible crackle of mana, the characters glow to life and in their wake reveals the huge wall blocking their path. As expected, there is a metal door in the middle, its lock worn and rusty. In fact, the wall is smudged with dirt, grime, and moss. Seraph takes the initiative and spreads her wings. She conjures a pillar of water, strength and direction controlled so it looks like a friendly hose of water.
"One second," Percy says, and proceeds to work with his cleaning supplies. But even if he tries his best to hurry, it still takes him about five minutes to actually get the wall shiny and shimmering. It takes another three minutes to get the lock clean.
Snap--
Percy steps back, surprised. The lock has given away. The metal door swings open, and that's what reminded Percy. He has to clean the other side of the wall, too. For a moment, he panics. What if the array wears off? "Hey, Ling, can you tell me how many minutes do I still have?"
Percy would listen for an answer, but his actions would not depend on it. He hurries across, almost tripping in his way, and proceeds to scrub, brush, and spray. Seraph also flies across and conjures another pillar.
I press the button and[break]it bursts into life[break]This time nothing will escape my sight
Percy shoots her a look as she finishes the array, amazement glowing gold in his eyes like sunlight through whiskey; she all but beams in pride. It is... an amazing feeling to have done something useful, to have done something worthy of admiration, to have done something that the cute older boy appreciates - too often is she the one who hinders her comrades instead of helps.
Sitting back on the ground and watching Percy work, she feels more than a little guilty that she's not able to help more, the rags by her side staring pointedly at her. But she's pretty sure that even if she were to get up, she wouldn't actually be able to do much as her system recovers from the shock she had given it. Still...
The guilt gets the better of her about four minutes in. Ling struggles to her ( still wobbly ) feet and staggers over to the wall, intent on lending a hand to the last bit at the very least. At least, that was her plan. Said plan flies out the window when the lock snaps under Percy's ministrations, leaving the door free to swing open. "Hey, Ling, can you tell me how many minutes do I still have?" her partner adds, an odd note of... panic? in his voice.
"Uh," she says intelligently, staring at her array. Good question. She reaches out and brushes a hand over the thrumming runes, gauging the amount of mana still running through it. And- oh. That's why she'd felt so tired after activating this one singular array. She'd put nearly all of her mana into it, forgetting to regulate to more reasonable amounts. Yeah... she really should work on her passives instead of focusing so much attention on her actives. "You've got a while," she calls back, a little sheepishly. "I may have used a little more mana than I needed to. Or a lot more."
But her partner's already rushing through the door, all but tripping over in his haste. Oh right. The realisation strikes Ling. Yeah, there are two sides to a wall. She follows him through - noting, with distant pleasure, that strength is seeping back into her limbs - and, cloth in hand, joins him in the cleaning task.
percival grayreme - sorry for the wait!! items used so far: GENERAL: WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA, 100 MOST USEFUL RUNES: ANSUZ
Scrub, brush, rinse, the process goes on. Slowly the fruits of Percy's hard work begin to show. The bricks start to gleam, cracks begin to actually be cracks on the wall, not layers and layers of grime and dirt.
"A little bit too much?" Percy repeats, with a question mark. The boy is thankful for Ling's presence. Her cute face and brilliant mind is a plus, to be honest she's the one doing the harder job between the two. She is doing exceptionally well, and Percy will not get left behind.
"Done!" Percy says, stepping--scratch that, staggering back to admire his handiwork. He turns to Ling with a proud look, similar to that of a child doing a chore successfully for the first time. Seraph is seen folding her wings and looking fondly at Percy. "Looks good as new. Well, not quite, but close enough. Thanks! I think we can leave it now, just wait for the array to wear off--"
The dangling lock breaks Percy's voice mid-sentence. Yeah... that. For a while he stands there, at a loss of what to do. "I'm not confident enough on my skills yet, but..." He steps forward and pries the lock off completely. Recalling the contents of the Scroll of Vanity, the area of the the lock turns into a mirror, and it reflects the image of Ling and Percy standing before it. Another breath, Percy conjures an illusion of metal door, with, you guess it, a lock.
"I think that should do? It's a scroll that turns any surface into a mirror, and the reflection itself can be manipulated."
If the Leviathan's estimates are right, the array should wear off soon. Just in time, at least it's clean and both of them are already past it. Satisfied, Percy turns around and walks next to a completely empty hallway.
"Odd, I don't sense any illusion," Percy says, squinting at the suspiciously empty air. Instinctively Percy holds out his hand, a gesture for the smaller woman. "Just to be safe."
I press the button and[break]it bursts into life[break]This time nothing will escape my sight
She's... a little embarrassed to note that Percy's making far more progress on cleaning the wall than she is, but her limbs simply refuse to work any faster. Ling takes out her aggression on the wall instead; glaring at the bricks, she swears she'll work harder on improving her efficiency and mana regulation- and probably physical conditioning as well. Maybe.
It's a rhythm settled into the repetitive movements of rinsing, scrubbing, brushing, repeat, enough so that Ling doesn't even notice their task's completion until Percy steps back with a satisfied expression and an exclamation of "done!" She blinks, looks at the now clean wall, blinks again, before she whoops in glee, a wide smile spreading across her face as she skips forward and impulsively hugs the other witch. "Heck yeah!"
She watches with awe as Percy steps forth and casts a spell unknown to her on the broken lock, morphing it into a mirror before an illusion of an undamaged lock appears back in place. "That's... so cool," she breathes. She wants to be as cool as Percy someday. Ling moves closer to take in the detail of the illusion with wide eyes ( in the back of her mind, ideas begin to form on how she might be able to create a similar rune based illusion, but that's a thought for another time. )
Speaking of arrays though- as her mission partner turns to go forward into the rest of the maze, Ling calls a quick "hang on, I'll be right there, gotta take care of the array first!" and darts back through the door to where her inscribed array lies scrawled on the otherwise clean wall. Brushing her fingers against the array, the low-level thrum beneath her hand tells her that the effects are wearing off. Perfect. That makes the array easier to break. Quickly, efficiently, Ling adds four precise lines to the array and watches in satisfaction as it flares, then dies, the wall shimmering back into invisibility as it does so.
Skipping back through the door (held open by her helpful familiar, thank you Valkea!), Ling catches up to Percy with quiet pride in her eyes. "Odd, I don't sense any illusion," her partner says as she makes her way to his side, squinting at the empty space that stretches forth ahead of them. "That is kinda suspicious," she agrees. And then he holds out a hand, smiling at her in that too-nice too-pretty sunlight-through-whiskey way, and she just wants to melt into a hole in the ground.
"A-ah-" she stutters, feeling heat beginning to spread across the bridge of her nose again; when no coherent thought untangles itself from the mess of fragmented syllables on her tongue, she decides to just shut up, slip her hand into his, and tries not to die of embarrassment.
percival grayreme - sorry for the wait!! items used so far: GENERAL: WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA, 100 MOST USEFUL RUNES: ANSUZ
"It is, isn't it?" Percy beams. He had copied the exact layout of the door and lock, minus the grease, grime, and scratches (which are probably made with countless attempts to unlock the thing). Ling races back to undo the array, and in the exact moment the invisibility illusions cloaks the entire wall, Percy realized that the rather rare occurrence.
"It became an illusion within an illusion," the leviathan muses. "So cool," he sighs dreamily. He is prepared to encounter another illusion as he turns, but then he remembers--he can't feel any.
It can only mean two things--first, is that the illusions cast is notches higher than what Percy's limited mind can sense. Second, is that there really is no hidden reality in this suspiciously empty corridor. Both options are dangerous, as Percy puts it, hence the reason he firmly holds Ling's hand.
It feels safe, that is all. And soft, too.
Cautiously Percy takes a step, and then another, and another. So far nothing has sprung to them, but then Percy trips on a thread. He feels the thin string press against his skin, and he knows it. "Crap," he says, as a matter-of-fact, wanting to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. Of course. No illusion means real-life traps. Of course.
In an instant vines shoot from the grass-covered walls. The vines wrap along their limbs, and with a might pull, breaks apart the two young and naive witches. Percy tries hard to hold onto Ling's wrist, but alas--he is pinned to the wall. Green snakes of vines hold his arms against the wall, like a crucifix. They still for a moment, giving the witches breathing space.
"Wow," Percy says dryly. He flexes his biceps, and they push against the constrictions. "Are these real plants? Maybe plants with lingering plantshaping magic? Hey, what are these things--"
Percy tries. He always tries. He tries hard, he tries his damn best. This time, it's all for naught. He bursts out laughing, and seriously? He feels like dying because oxygen is slipping away from his lungs with every fit.
I press the button and[break]it bursts into life[break]This time nothing will escape my sight
His hand is warm in hers; soft. Their fingers intertwine in a net of safety as they step forth into the unknown, Percy crowned in sunlight and gold and leading the way with Ling a step behind. There is nothing at first, no warping of reality or illusion or trick to signify the activation of a trap - just as she is beginning to believe that the empty corridor is a mere psychological trick rather than a trap, Percy trips.
A spilt second later, so does Ling.
"Crap," her partner says, so matter-of-factly that she would have laughed had she, you know, not been busy freaking out about the vines that come shooting out at them. She swears as they drag her away from Percy, pinning her to a wall and wrapping around her limbs in such a way that there's no way for Ling to even attempt to draw runes; trapped, she struggles against her bonds ineffectively for a few moments before giving up and slumping back.
"They seem stronger than real plants," Ling says to Percy glumly, glaring down at the vines. "Can't access runes without my hands too." And he laughs, loud and humourless and slightly wild - she completely and entirely sympathises. Honestly, she kinda feels like laughing herself. All this, and to be trapped by a few vines? There's got to be something she can do, some way she could free her hands to draw a kenaz-focused array, or even attempt another ansuz-centric one to remove the enchantment, or-
Wait. What if- "I... think I may have overthought this," she tells her partner in the tone one uses when discovering their own massive idiocy and/or short-sightedness. Focusing, she breathes, concentrates on a spot just in front of her, and blinks-
Success! Ling cheers as she finds herself free of the trap vines, turning to Percy with a beaming grin. "It worked!" She bounds to his side, beginning to untangle the vines from his limbs while careful not to ruin the trap. "I didn't really expect it to work, but it did!" Just goes to show that sometimes the simplest solutions are the best, really.
percival grayreme items used so far: WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA, 100 MOST USEFUL RUNES: ANSUZ, BLINKING SCROLL
Even Seraph can't understand why is her witch laughing. After a half a minute of hopeless, desensitized laughter, Seraph finally comes to the conclusion that Percy somehow, might be becoming desperate. 'Poor child,' the mute swan thinks. Percy has no idea of what difficulties he will face should he continue his conquest of power.
Percy breathes, inhales and exhales. "Yeah," he agrees, once he could gather air into his lungs. He tries to wiggle, but finds very little space to move. He strains against the confines, and with enough strength it actually loosens a bit. Percy almost wants to try it out, but then again, it'll take half a day and whole of his energy. "Stupid traps and stupid vines."
But Ling, the oh-so-talented, beautiful, cheerful Ling. Percy looks at her figure pinned to the wall. The sun glares as he looks up, and so he blinks and--she is gone?
"Merlin," he says in relief. "Ling, you're a lifesaver. Literally! I owe my life to you!" That is obviously an exaggeration, but Percy likes to put it that way. Just what would happen if he is to pass out after struggling against the vine until they loosen up? He does not even know if he should just crawl his way out, or to actually, legitimately cry for help, should that happen. With her cute hands she frees him from the stupid vines, and it takes almost all of his willpower to not hug her right there and then.
"What was that scroll? Or is that even a scroll? What is that sorcery?" Percy's guess is that it's teleportation magic. He needs to know, so he can look for it. Gotta save up! His excitement would have continued building up had not a vine crept out to the boy's shoulder.
He gasps. Quickly slaps the vines away. He calls the mute swan, and with Seraph as lead, conjures several small pillars of water. The torrent engulfs the vines, and so they harmlessly slosh inside, like sea snakes, unable to move past the pillar because of its upward flow.
I press the button and[break]it bursts into life[break]This time nothing will escape my sight
She glows in pride at Percy's praise, giggling at his hyperbolic and exaggerated words while a blush spreads across her face. Honestly, she feels like any more praise and she'll burst or something - let it be said that she's really really glad there's the excuse of the hot midday sun for the blood she can feel burning in her cheeks. "You're too nice," she tells him, grinning as she pulls the last of the vines free.
"What was that scroll?" her partner asks, and she looks up at him in mild surprise. The blinking scroll, as far as she knows, is a common and pretty basic scroll, one of the first she'd learnt actually. But then she remembers, runescripting as a whole is a lot less offensive and a lot slower than most other affinities - to counteract this 'weakness' Ling has focused on learning quite a few general scrolls.
"It's a blinking scroll," she begins, only to blink as Percy gasps, slaps his shoulder, then summons up several pillars of water. "Wha-?" Her confusion turns to comprehension when she sees the water wash away several vines that had been creeping back towards them; she gives him a double thumbs up in approval before she levitates her mop to her hand and strikes a ridiculous pose.
"How fast do you think we can clean this bit of corridor?" she muses, before flashing her partner a mischievous grin. "Split it in half, and I'll race you," she challenges, bouncing on the balls of her feet. An impish smile. "Bet you I won't get tangled in any vines."
percival grayreme - hella items used so far: WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA, 100 MOST USEFUL RUNES: ANSUZ, BLINKING SCROLL
