[RP] Witches of Aether

[OOC: Going to move Poppy and Emily away for now, so we can move on with planned things~
Also, sorry if my posts are getting crapper with each instalment...:sad3:]

Emily was not pleased. She was playing dumb, claiming she had no idea, that she hadn’t done anything…what bullshit. She might be blind, but she clearly wasn’t just an ordinary girl. She might not be able to see with her eyes – but when Emily could create illusions, it was possible this girl could as well – but she could definetely see. She wasn’t as innocent as she pretended to be, and she was having none of it. “You think I’m stupid or something? No normal girl survives an explosion like that. You’re a witch, and if you think I’m going to sit around and wait for you to catch up with me and kill me, you can fucking well think again.”

Another woman entered then, although Emily barely heard her. But she did, however, catch her tone, and the whiff of stale alcohol. “This is none of your fucking business.” Emily snapped, not taking her eyes off the blind girl. Who the hell did she think she was? Emily had not been spoken to like that since she was a child, and she didn’t care for it at all. Judging from the smell, she was either drunk or hung-over. Emily didn’t care which: she had incinerated people for less, and this bitch was asking for it. Clearly, she had no idea of the mistake she had just made. “I make my own rules, and I’m not going to listen to some drink-addled whore who just crawled in off the streets. Now, shut the fuck up, before I splatter you across the fucking walls as well!”

“Big sister!” the little girl exclaimed then, the aura of hostility vanishing from her instantly as, ignoring Emily entirely, she jumped up and moved to take the girl in a hug, radiating such affection that even Emily felt a strange pang of…longing. What was with this girl? It was like she could get anyone to do anything she wanted. Emily frowned then, as she regained control of her senses. Big sister? Had these others formed some kind of sisterhood or something? How fucking ridiculous! Were they all out to get her now? She turned back then to face Emily, and the look the girl gave her chilled her to the very core. “Nobody talks to my big sister like that. I don’t like you.”

“The feeling is mutual.” Snarling, Emily took a step back, bringing the force of her power to bear. A beam of light shot through the roof, blasting it to pieces and bringing down chunks of rubble – it was a bit harder to aim when she couldn’t actually see the Sun - and she simultaneously raised an illusion, rendering herself invisible, taking advantage of their momentary blindness and confusion to leave. No way in hell was she taking on two, maybe even three, witches at once, not even in the middle of the day. She could take any of them individually, but all of them at once? She wasn’t willing to test the theory. It was time to leave. However, one of them clearly had other ideas. Something cold, hard and wet struck her in the back, propelling her out through the glass – jagged spikes of glass cut into her hands, which she had raised reflexively to cover her face – and into the street, where she landed painfully on the concrete, soaking and winded. Her illusion shattered as she lost concentration, and she looked up, glaring at the little girl, who opened the door of the café and stepped outside, a watering can in one hand. Her? Seriously? She couldn’t be sixteen! She couldn’t be even thirteen! How the hell had she acquired a witch’s powers? She had a small, devious smile on her face, like a child who had just been caught doing something they shouldn’t have been doing, but wasn’t remotely sorry about it, because they knew they wouldn’t get punished for it. That smile; everything about her, angered Emily immensely then, as she put two-and-two together.

“I take it you’re the little bitch who made it rain earlier.” Emily gasped for breath, standing up, the heat drying her in a matter of seconds as she recovered her bearings. She had been taken by surprise, but that wouldn’t happen a second time. The others hadn’t emerged from the building yet – they must still be alive, because she hadn’t received any of their powers, but clearly they weren’t about to step in here – and it was one against one. Emily liked those odds.

“You shouldn’t use such nasty words.” Came the singsong reply from the girl, a little reprimanding. Was she mocking her? Another stream of water came from the watering can, hissing and steaming in the heat, and rather than attempt to deflect it – Emily had never tried such a thing before – she threw herself to the side, sending illusions of herself off in every direction, whilst increasing the pressure of the Sun overhead. She wouldn’t be able to use her powers if it was too hot…

---

Poppy watched as four more women, all identical to the first, appeared in the street, and laughed in delight. That was a clever trick! She risked a quick glance over one shoulder. The woman had missed - she had a bad aim - and nobody had been harmed as a result, but even so, Poppy didn’t want any of them interfering. They were her toys, and this was her fight. She wasn’t about to let any harm come to her toys…or her big sister. Not before she had had a chance to punish her big sister for abandoning her, either.

“Poppy will handle the mean girl. Big sister should take care of Jenny and Katty.” She called over her shoulder, making it more a suggestion than an outright command. She had to handle her big sister a little different from everyone else and, now that she had been forced to reveal her powers to all of them, she was going to have to tread a little more carefully. She couldn’t issue commands anymore, even if they would still work, it’d attract suspicion. She’d have to be more subtle about things. But then, as long as she didn’t reveal her second element, she was still relatively safe: nobody could resist her charms, and when she was fighting to protect them, how could they possibly think ill of her? She was still the same Poppy, just…special. People wanted Poppy to be what she appeared to be, so it didn’t really matter what she did…within reason. She hadn’t crossed that line…yet. She could still keep her toys on a leash.

“This is going to be fun!” she exclaimed, dancing to one side as a wave of light struck the spot where she had been standing, sending up shards of concrete and dust. That had been a little too close…she didn’t much fancy getting hit by that. "I don't meet special people very often! What's your name?"

Her power seemed to come from the Sun, or light…that explained why it was so hot out here. She was so nasty, as well! Poppy decided then that she didn’t really want this girl as a toy after all. She’d much rather have her powers for herself – think of all the flowers she could make with nature, water and light! She could cover the entire city, maybe even the entire country, in trees and flowers if she wanted to, and nobody would be able to stop her. She could deal with her big sister later. She had hurt Poppy, and she wasn’t about to let that slide. A part of her was delighted, though. Two new toys, her big sister, and a new power, all in one day!

It was getting hotter. She seemed to think that Poppy wouldn’t be able to use her powers if it was too hot…unfortunately for her, even without using her other abilities, Poppy still had the power of two elements, so they were far stronger than that. She drew on the clouds she had previously discarded, noting with dismay how small they had gotten, and started to bring them back around to cover the Sun. If she was trying to take Poppy’s power away, Poppy would take hers from her first. It was only fair. She smiled serenely at the illusions arrayed in front of her, not bothering to openly attack them…not yet, at least. She had nothing to worry about, after all. If worst came to worse…she could just utilise the water in the sewers below and wash the woman away. It’d be a bit smelly, but it couldn’t be helped. She’d just have to make sure not to actually touch any of it herself…

---

Lily was young indeed, so very young…which was why it wasn’t fair, that such things should be happening to her. These things shouldn’t happen to anyone. Supernatural beings, elemental powers…this was reality, not some comic book, or role-playing game, or whatever else. It was ridiculous…Lily had waited several times to wake up from a bad dream, but it hadn’t happen. This was reality.

Yet something bothered her. She had something was heavily affecting her. What could possibly be more damaging for a girl her age than what she had just described? Well, Lily could think of several things, but then, none of them had clearly happened to Freya. She hadn’t been possessed by a demonic entity and had her life as a human end…how could she possibly understand that, even with what she’d been through? But a part of Lily, the selfish part, welcomed the attention. She wanted nothing more than for Freya to leave, yet she knew that when she did, she would be alone again. She could easily tell her everything, and that would no doubt drive her away, but she couldn’t bear to see any more hatred directed at her. It hurt. It was rare, so very rare, for someone to look at her without hatred or scorn or even pity in their eyes, and she didn’t want that to go away. She cursed herself for her behaviour, for she did not deserve such compassion, but then…she couldn’t help herself. She had found, however, that she was fresh out of tears…she had cried herself out, leaving only a hollow core.

“You’re wrong.” Lily said quietly, shaking her head. “It was all over for me…months ago. I never had a choice. I never will.” She coughed again, although it was a weak cough. She found that she didn’t feel quite as bad as she had first thought…but then, she had never felt like she was dying. She had been cold, and then numb, and now she was cold again. Maybe she hadn’t been dying after all. The thought depressed her. She had been living this hollow existence for months, and it showed no signs of ending soon. Worse, she had gotten someone else involved in her mess. What if what happened to Katyusha happened to Freya if she got closer to her? Or something worse? Lily was sure Katyusha was alright, but she had ruined that poor girl’s life…she couldn’t afford to do it again.

Lily had formed a pact first with a demon, and then with a psychotic killer, both against her will. But then, would they have been able to force her into something like that? She had not only the capacity for evil, she had already committed evil, and if she continued to exist, she no doubt would do so again. That was why she needed to end her life, sooner rather than later, before she did any more damage. She couldn’t get Freya to understand that, without spelling it out for her, and she didn’t have the courage to do so, even though she knew she should. It was wrong to deceive such a kind-hearted and gentle person this way…but what else could she do?

Freya asked her then if she wanted to go for coffee. Lily’s stomach protested loudly at the thought, and she clutched at it with one hand, trying to silence it. Why was it that even monsters needed to eat and drink?

“Why are you being so nice to me? You don’t know anything about me, or what I-“ Lily stopped herself, shaking her head. “It doesn’t matter. I guess, if you’re not going to leave me alone…” she stopped herself a second time, thinking about how terrible a thing that was to say. The girl wouldn’t leave her alone, so she’d impose herself on her? “I…don’t know if that’s such a good idea.” She finished rather lamely, lowering he head, unable to meet the girl’s gaze. She’d made a mess of things, again.

The Sun had now fully emerged from behind the clouds, and she smiled in spite of herself. The breeze, combined with the heat of the Sun, felt nice against her clammy skin. It was odd, how one could only fully appreciate a warm breeze when they were soaking wet. At least she could still enjoy that much…
 
[OOC: Short post, I know. However, there’s not too much I can do at the moment. :gasp: ]

Please come back, please come back, please come back, Katyusha thought. There was so much noise that she couldn’t concentrate. However, she had to be able to see. Before it was no issue because Poppy had her hand, but with the roof (was it the roof?) crashing down she would need it to make it out of here. She didn’t know what the crazy lady was doing, or if she still had her focus on Katyusha… she just wanted to get as far away from everyone as possible.

For some reason, she felt… more energetic than before. As she shuddered on the ground, her sight came back on. Because of how sudden it was, she jumped a little bit out of shock alone. From there, she stood up and ran off after the woman that was heading down towards a nearby alleyway. It didn’t matter much now to hide the fact that she could see after the crazy lady outed her as a Witch. Even if she was still trying to hide it, all she really cared about at the moment was getting out of the coffee shop alive.

As she ran, she made sure to hold on to her coffee as tightly as possible. Although things were beyond out of hand, she still wanted her coffee. It was one of the only good things she had gotten all day.
 
Jacob noticed how cold Crimson was. Had he been a position to be a friend or merely an acquaintance of some sort, he would have offered his coat. But it would have seemed too suspicious, too ... friendly. There were few, or perhaps none, who received that rare treatment. He was about to reassure her about bumping into him when there was another that joined their company. Another girl.

He took note of the newcomer, slightly annoyed that their casual conversation had been rudely interrupted. But he masked his minor frustration with a curious glance at her, observing her appearance and mannerisms. Was it chance or fate that two girls had encountered him, two girls that could have been witches? The Knight within him was talking once again. He had to keep that stance at bay for now; after all, he was merely a civilian to them so far.

Once Crimson spoke again, Jacob silently diverted his attention to the umbrella she spoke of. He quickly noticed the burn marks and glanced back at the newcomer again, before looking at Crimson again. Something inside urged him to move on, to forget this chance encounter. But then the Knight within him was fighting hard to keep him pinned to this very moment, to see what would unfold. And if he were wrong, then there would be no consequence. The umbrella was away quicker than he'd seen it and pushed the mystery of the burn marks to the back of his mind. Now he could focus once more on the suspicious girl.

And then he noticed it: the eye patch.

Who in London would wear one of those? It was peculiar indeed, to say the least. He listened to the girl speak and noticed how overly curious she was about the umbrella. Jacob did not know what his role was here, however, he felt he was about to find out.

"I'm Jacob," he nodded towards her in response to her introduction.

He kept his guard up. He had numerous backup stories he could implement at any moment, should the opportunity and necessity to use one arrived. And if this Alyss persisted, then he had to act ... normal. Something was not normal from when he'd seen the state of the umbrella. He dared not to ask about the umbrella like Alyss was. It was too suspicious. Playing the role of the civilian seemed to be – at least for now – satisfying enough.

Jacob was beginning to get annoyed when Alyss announced her "job". He could clearly see something was not right. It seemed odd for Crimson to bump into him and then this girl turned up out of the blue. Everything seemed connected so far. Now if he could only just put it all together and uncover whether Crimson or Alyss – or both – were sworn enemies of his.

"Perhaps we can speak of this somewhere drier," he responded cunningly to Alyss.

Then he turned his attention to Crimson, offering her a warm smile.

"I was about to say this before, but there's nothing to apologise for. The vast majority of the people in this city only care about themselves. At the very least, allow me to buy you a warm beverage of your choice. It'll get us out of the rain and I'm sure Alyss can have her questions answered."
 
Alyss didn’t enjoy the company of men too much. From the way Jacob was speaking and from the way he held himself, Alyss found that she didn’t like him very much. His tone was pompous and his voice was lined with what she considered to be concentrated smug. In all reality, she didn’t like him simply because she was guilty of the same vices. “I suppose we can go somewhere drier…” Alyss said. She really didn’t want to be around either one of these people for longer than necessary. All she had wanted was to find out more about the umbrella… and as usual, people were disappointing her.

Why couldn’t the girl, Crimson, just say, “oh, it burst when I walked by a rather angry looking woman”? That would give her all the information she needed and she would have been on her way. As things stood right now, she didn’t want to be around them for much longer. At least, she didn’t want to be around Jacob for too much longer. The girl was quite alright… if not a little useless so far. However, even though she didn’t like him, she had to agree that getting somewhere dry was a good idea.

Should things get heated, she would want nothing more than to knock him to the ground while he wasn’t looking. Alyss ran her fingers through her black hair and folded her arms against her chest and didn’t say much else. She was far too annoyed now. If she were back at the office, she would have started yelling at them for being incompetent… sadly, she didn’t have that luxury now. However, before she could stop herself, she shot out a rather annoyed, “any day now would be nice…”
 
Everything was getting awkward, this new black haired woman spun some story about how she was a reporter and was studying weather, it sounded like a right lot of baloney but she found curiosity got the better of her and Crimson wanted to see where this would go.

Jacob, the young man she'd nearly toppled over then suggested a rather good idea. Going somewhere dry would suit the Fire Witch perfectly, the rain was soaking her to the bone, she was surely going to catch a cold by the end of the day. But before she could even answer him the black haired woman snapped in a slightly bitchy tone.

“Any day now would be nice…” came her impatient remark. Crimson shot her a small glare. She could tell they weren't going to get along very well.

"Sorry, yeah somewhere dry would be great." She smiled lightly, wiping the red locks from her face "And a nice warm drink would be much appreciated too! I know a nice little coffee shop around the corner, let's talk there. I'll tell you more about my umbrella." the last part was directed at the woman. Perhaps Crimson would tell her the truth, about the umbrella bursting... just for fun, what normal person would believe that?

"Well follow me, then." she said as she began to walk towards the coffee shop, knowing the others would follow. She then entered, the little bells on the door jingling to let the staff know someone had arrived. She peered around, it was rather empty, everyone was probably at home snug in their warm living rooms. Crimson envied them. A table by the window was free and she decided that would be the best place to sit. She then waited for the others to join her.
 
Big...sister? Tristana's eyes widened, her face taking on a shocked expression as she looked down at the girl whose arms were now wrapped around her tightly, seeming so happy out of literally nowhere.

Tristana was usually opposed to such direct physical contact as this. But now...this felt different. Something wasn't the same. And Tristana wasn't sure if she liked it or not.

And then the aggressive looking older woman took action, a blast of light annihilating the ceiling in a single explosion and sending Tristana staggering as the rubble plummeted, throwing herself to a side of the building where it was safe.

After a few moments, the same girl that had hugged her, calling her big sister, approached her with that same innocent smile, telling her to look after "Jenny and Katty.". Her eyes narrowed, and she was about to ask why she should.

"Tch." She gave up. "Run, now." She snapped, and left the cafe. She looked at the girl who had called her big sister, and her eyes softened. "Don't die." She vanished into the alleyway.
 
Alyss sighed. She obviously wasn’t going to be getting any information as soon as she would have hoped. A part of her wanted to shock Jacob into a coma and force the information out of the girl. However, that would make her no better than the Witch she was trying to track down. It was at times like these she really hated dealing with people. Why couldn’t she just answer her question as soon as she asked it? Surely it wasn’t that difficult.

She noticed the girl shoot her a rather mean spirited glance as soon as Alyss had shown her impatience. It was a rather good thing that she wasn’t here to make friends. Crimson had mentioned something about a coffee shop and Alyss only nodded her head. This would mark the second time she entered a coffee shop today… she wasn’t really in the mood for coffee. However, she would have to deal with it if she wanted her information.

The trip to the shop wasn’t very long at all, which Alyss thought to be a good thing. As they walked in, she noticed the shop was mostly empty. This was also another good thing. The less people around the better. If things got out of hand, Alyss wouldn’t want a scene. She knew neither Jacob or Crimson trusted her, and she didn’t quite like either of them so far. Jacob annoyed her, and Crimson was more or less incompetent as far as Alyss was concerned.

It was simply in her nature to be harsh with others. She found that placing trust in others was usually a horrible idea… which only got her thinking about Lily again. She sat at the table with Crimson and sighed again. This time, not out of annoyance, but out of curiosity of her own emotions. It was funny that she went around thinking such awful things about people, yet she couldn’t hold any animosity towards Lily, who was essentially her polar opposite.

As she thought about that, she looked towards the window. She had a very clear view of the street from it. Three good things in a row… that didn’t happen often. If she had to teleport out of the building, it would be a cinch. From there, Alyss smiled an actual genuine smile as she looked back at Crimson. “So… about this umbrella…”, she said as she ran her hand through her hair. “I am somewhat in a hurry, so if you would please tell me, that would be grand. You would really be helping me out…”
 
“Your words mean nothing, creature. Did I not say that there was nothing you could do to me that would be worse than what you had done already? By all means, kill me. I am unarmed and defenceless. What’s one more life on top of hundreds already taken? Do it.”

Sophia's eyes widened with surprise when her mother leaned forward to scratch her own neck on the sword. She has puzzled out the reason for her mother's aberrant behavior, yes. However, the depth of Rosaline's self-delusion continued to surprise Sophia. Nothing was effective. Measure words, reason, and even threats of force were having no effect...visibly, at least.

It seems my mother truly has been lost. I thought that I could make her see...and perhaps I can, someday. Apparently, today is not that day.

“You’re going to attract attention if you keep this up. You have me entirely at your mercy; a perfect opportunity to rid yourself of one of the biggest threats to your existence. I’m waiting. Kill me, as you killed my daughter…if you have the courage.”

Attracting attention was something that Sophia had not quite considered...especially since another Witchslayer was presumably still nearby. It was definitely time to bring this little confrontation to a close...but how to do so, without harming her mother? Sophia was certainly no liar, there was a myriad of ways to kill her mother given the amount of metal that was within easy reach.

What am I, then? If I kill her...I'm no better than the other Witches. No, that won't do. I'll have to restrain her somehow.

A nearby parked car gave Sophia the answer she needed.

This is sure to attract attention...but I've gone too far now to concern myself with that.

Rosaline's sword clattered to the ground as Sophia focused her attention on the nearby car. After a few seconds, its shape began to distort and warp, which drew a few odd glances from passersby. Once the car began to levitate and float towards Rosaline, the screams of fear began. Sophia, her eyes closed in concentration, couldn't actually see the scene, but she could draw a pretty clear picture in her mind's eye.

Regular people always panicked as a default reaction to strange phenomena...she had learned long ago to quell that base instinct. That was the key to survival.

Sophia continued to twist the car's shape until she was able to wrap the chassis around her mother's struggling form. She went out of her way to ensure that the little "prison" that she had fabricated allowed no wiggle room...and yet would not break any bones. It took a measure of finesse...but Sophia had over a decade of practice. Once the task was done, she sighed.

"I'm sorry, mum...but it's clear that you've decided to not listen to me. You may have lost faith in me. That's fine, but hear me now...I have not lost mine yet."
 
[FONT=&quot][OOC: Sorry for such a crappy debut, Eva...][/FONT][FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Eva[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Look at them tremble. Look at them frantically run. Look at them all, deluded into thinking that they were all about to die in a matter of minutes. It wouldn’t matter to me as much if you weren’t colliding with me, running in the opposite direction to where I’m heading. And before I know it, the impact against the cold, hard pavement sends rushes of pain filtering into my knees and shins.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]No word of apology? No one to help her up at all? She expected no less. This was only a metropolis of selfish scum anyway. The vast majority of the people around her thrived in privilege and materialism and never experienced the kind of screwing over that she had as a child. Nearly every last one of them, desperate to stay alive in order to return home while the sun dies and bask in their privileged life – and no one bothering to stop by to help her back on to her feet, let alone ensure whether she sported any injuries after that shove. While they run, she soldiered on in the opposite direction, determined to catch a glimpse of the very revered creatures that had descended on this city today to invite such carnage along. This very element that had wrecked Covent Garden asunder today, leaving nothing but a bastion of fear and of unrecoverable destruction; this was no doubt the handiwork of one of His maidens. Whatever His motives were, he had appointed maidens with control over the forces of nature this destructive and wondrous to wreck these scum in His stead. Fire was undoubtedly the culprit today, twisting and contorting her streams of fire and hurling them at unsuspecting targets? Even if this was not the handiwork of Fire, it wouldn’t matter to her. As long as she would receive something, something...[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]She had caught glimpse of one of the maidens that she was hoping to see with her own eyes. This had been several hours ago as she surmised, not that she bothered to keep track of the time. Time was merely an inconvenience to her on the whole; for it was time that seemed to be mocking her with those long years of abuse, the long years of inaction by Jessica and the long years of wait for her own prize. Soldiering on through the crowds, hastily pushing through and battling to cease inhaling the smoking air that was proving hazardous to her delicate lungs and throat, she had finally caught sight of a sight she desperately sought to see. There was not one, but two witches at that time. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Locked in a desperate fight, it looked like a duel to the death. This was the fate of a witch? To struggle for survival and to fight to the death for another’s power? Eva could only imagine her deceased sister. How would that bitch have managed? Eva could only imagine her death and the sheer agony of it. When her remains were found, it illustrated fuzzily just how much hell her final moments were. Yet Eva could hardly care. When one refused to liberate herself and her only other loved one from such hell, she received hell in return.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Two witches in this city. Oh, how delightful was this? Watching them duel to the death, watching one easily trample over the other and indulging on such sweet bitterness and fury. Is there no sight as wondrous and inspiring as this? If only one day I can find the very witch I’m seeking and just take everything from her. The very powers I can take from her with force shall be my trophy. Then dear Jess - wherever you are wandering disembodied around this world – maybe I can finally feel more fulfilled than I’ve ever been. I will be able to control water just as you did. The tidal waves you made in the bathtub to amaze me? I will be able to go further. I can summon real waves to drown a seaside resort if I wanted to. I could flood this city in a heartbeat. To claim the powers you’ve had would be my ultimate trophy. Maybe then I can finally shed you and every memory of you away from my life. You deserve no less, and no better. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Eva had contemplated stepping into the fray and finish off one of the witches, namely the woman with the eyepatch who had been lying defeated on the concrete and allowing the victor to carve scorches on her body. But a death wish she did not have. She knew better than to waltz in as an ordinary human, as mortal as they can come and as powerless as each and every one of them. No…one day she may return. One day perhaps she can return and do exactly what was heavily tempting her now. Her arms twitched, aching to do it. There was a knife in her arsenal, concealed and anticipating the taste of another’s blood. Her head however, held them all back. Eva may have been ambitious, but she was not stupid. As disappointing as this was, to make a foolish move now even with one of the witches down, would be fatal. If the Witch of the Light – her motivations entirely driven by rage no doubt, poor one – hadn’t killed her by then, the crowd would be the witnesses. Then how could she possibly stalk her targets in peace uninterrupted? [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]It was when she turned away that she came across another peculiar sight. A girl, shrouded with panic and insurmountable fear – seldom had she ever seen such fear etched on a person’s face bar her own as a child – her state pathetic, yet the shadows around her seemed to be dancing on their own, as if alive. At that point, a thought raced across her mind. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Had she come across another witch? Her hand gripped on the handle of her concealed blade? Could it be? Three witches in this city? Her hand twitched uncontrollably now. Another witch this helpless and pathetic? The blade was close to being unsheathed from her hidden pocket. An easy trophy for her? The blade was coming out now, drawn with her right hand. Could this simply be too true for her? The blade had come out, gleaming in the sunlight, when it was uninterrupted by falling rain. Eva could only have looked up in brief surprise. Rain? Where on earth had this come from? Barely a moment passed before a man had accidentally rammed into her – how the blade never pierced his back unintentionally was a mystery – sending her knife catapulting into the ground, sliding beneath the feet of a crowd…and lost. Eva could only cuss and when she directed her attention at the mysterious girl with the dancing shadows again, she had disappeared like the very fading shadows – and so had the Lightning Witch. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I’m tracking you down. If you are a third witch in this city, I want to take a closer look at you…[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]And it would take a few hours until I do find you again. Your very pathetic figure, drenched in this torrential rain and sobbing near an alleyway of all places. Just how have I managed to detect you? Is fate guiding my hand again? If you truly are a witch, this astounds even more, for you are even more pathetic than Jessica ever was. Step aside girl; don’t bother stopping to see what’s up with her. Leave her to mope and wallow in despair in peace. Her shadows still weakly dance and your presence disturbs them. While shadows dance, a witch silently weeps. Who has ever heard of a weeping witch? The more I see of this sobbing and worthless girl – ignoring the girl trying to comfort her – the more I see of Jessica in her. [/FONT]

_________________________________

[FONT=&quot]Freya[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]She took one quick glance over her shoulder. Was it her imagination, or was someone watching them, aided by the darkness of the shadows and eavesdropping? Dismissing it as being paranoid fabricated thoughts again, she slowly picked up the gentle breeze. As the rain was subsiding and the sun was about to break through again, having gentle blasts of air against their skin to blow away the drops of water was perhaps the best sensation she has had all day. She turned her attention to the girl, who thankfully, seemed to have ceased her sobbing and was hopefully beginning to recover at last. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“I… don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” came her proper response to her coffee question, and as Freya anticipated, it was hardly anything close to an enthusiastic response, but the nature of it still puzzled her. What was wrong with going for a coffee? It was only an innocuous suggestion and besides, with their exceptionally wet clothing and the frequent shivering, they needed to evacuate into someplace warm and inviting straightaway, and the coffee store she had recently come out from was the best bet. It was just too bad that she couldn’t find a closer shelter or even any taxis passing by to escort them to her home. While the girl had no wish of moving from her spot, she didn’t seem like she was going to resist. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“Only coffee,” Freya responded, battling to keep the strands of hair from her eyes. It was astonishing to see how much the strands would stick to one another as if glued whenever heavy rain greeted them. “And even if you don’t want any, at least get dried up a bit. It’s a lot cosier in there than being out here in the rain. Or if not, maybe some hot chocolate at least to warm you up a bit inside? You may not, but I can see you really could do with one.” As she spoke, she realised that the sun had finally broken through, shining in earnest and irradiating them once again with its familiar warmth that funnily enough, was only unbearable this morning in the dry heatwave. The girl’s facial expression now caught her attention. Was there the flicker of a slight smile? Her face was still lowered as if afraid to even catch Freya’s gaze, but that momentary flicker felt unmistakeable. Perhaps nature really was on their side now, despite the freakish abnormalities of witchcraft that had just put the entire city in a state of emergency today…[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“If the wind feels nice,” said Freya, looking up into the air to allow the gentle wind to brush against her face, “then let’s take a slow walk there! The rain’s stopped and the sun is out again, so I guess there’s no reason to rush now. How about it?” [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Getting away from here was now certainly one big thing on her mind. Waiting for the girl to hopefully agree to go along with her was all Freya wanted now because unless her paranoid imagination was kicking into overdrive again and in earnest, she had caught a glimpse once again of a shadowy figure…watching them? It was a figure rather small in stature like…a girl? A young girl cloaked in the darkness watching them?

What do you want?
[/FONT]
 
[OOC: Shit post is shit, but we're just trying to get things moving to night at this point, where everything will be going batshit crazy :gasp:]

Poppy had just enough time to see Katyusha tearing down the street…wait, she was running? How could she know which way to go? She could see? So, she was special after all! Very special, if she could see whilst she was blind. Poppy would have to find out more about her after she was finished with this one.

“Don’t even fucking think about it!” all five figures mouths moved at once, yet the sound was…distant, as though it hadn’t come from any of them. Poppy sent a stream of water across the street, drawing back her attention.

“I said to leave Katty alone.” she said firmly, crossing her arms. This woman was starting to irritate her: Poppy never had to repeat herself. That she had to say it again was bothersome. Jenny hadn’t emerged from the café yet, and she started to worry a little. What if she had been damaged? Poppy would hate to have to throw her away before she had the chance to play with her properly…

“Fuck off.” Was the short, snappish reply, irritating her again. She had such a foul mouth! Someone ought to wash it out with soap, as her father used to say. Poppy didn’t have any soap handy, but she could probably find some. She wondered then if that actually had any effect on how people spoke. She’d probably need a lot of soap for this lady.

The water in her watering can had evaporated due to the heat shortly before she had to drop it due to the plastic warping, and she was beginning to feel it herself; this crazy lady was sucking the moisture from the air. With light came heat, which she could evidently shield herself from. Poppy was beginning to sweat, and she didn’t like it at all. She could have easily killed this one by now; she had plenty of seeds, all she’d need to do was throw one at her and then force it to bloom. There were hundreds of different ways in which she could do it, but…no. She had revealed herself to have water, and she must appear to have only that, at least until the time was right, which wasn’t yet. She wasn’t really in the mood to draw attention to herself at the moment…although it was a little late for that, given this highly public spectacle the two were putting on.

But still, that didn’t mean she couldn’t cheat a little.

Narrowly avoiding an explosion as light coalesced above her, Poppy danced to one side, pulling out a small packet of seeds, and threw them down the nearby drain cover, forcing them to grow even as they left her hand, feeling a sharp stab of pain which diminished as they hit the water, and began to grow using the natural resources around them. A wall of vines, to block off the passageway, to force the sewer to overflow, giving her plenty to use against this crazy lady. The pavement below her cracked then, accompanied by a hollow ringing sound, and the rushing of fast-moving water.

A smile lit her face then, no doubt enraging her opponent further. She had burst a water pipe. In a matter of seconds, the street would flood, and then the tables would turn in her favour. It was a bother, keeping her second ability secret, but if the others discovered that she had already killed one of them, then they wouldn’t want to play with her…and she so desperately wanted to play with them. Poor, blind little Katty, who wasn’t blind at all, and all the others. They were her toys, each and every one of them. Except for this one.

This one could die right here and now.

---

This little bitch was so hard to hit! She just wouldn’t. Sit. STILL. Emily was growing frustrated, although a small part of her, the calm part, told her that it was only a matter of time before she grew tired. She couldn’t attack any more with that watering can, and the real Emily wasn’t even amongst those illusions: she had cloaked her-self from sight again, and stood a little way off. Yes, it was only a matter of time…

She didn’t notice anything awry until her illusions vanished, quite suddenly, as though each one had been struck by something. Yet the girl hadn’t attacked her at all since Emily had melted that stupid watering can of hers: she had only dodged, and now she just stood near a drainage cover, eyes closed, seemingly concentrating. She’d fry that bitch right here and now.

Splashing sounds then as she moved, and she looked down, to find herself ankle-deep in water. When had that happened? How had that happened?! The sky was mostly clear, and the sewer wouldn’t have had that much water in it. What had she done? Dread that had nothing to do with the girl’s strange influence flooded Emily then, colder than the rain had ever been, as the water sloshed higher, and then higher still. She was flooding the street! The little bitch was flooding the street!
Emily looked up again, just in time to see a wave of water rushing to engulf her, blocking out the sunlight overhead, the little girl at the top of it, as though she were surfing. The power this brat had was huge…maybe her victory wasn’t so certain, after all. It looked like she was about to get wet for the second time today.

“Oh, fuck me.”

---

Rosaline sensed her hesitation, and moved as soon as her sword dropped…unfortunately, not quickly enough, as a car appeared in her field of vision and then proceeded to wrap her in a rather terrifying embrace, shifting to compensate for her movements rather like a boa constrictor. Her power did not diminish, but she could barely move. It was going to take some time for her to break free of this, even with her Goddess’ strength in her. All she could do was flex her muscles and hands…she was going to need some time to create enough space for her to start wrecking things. People were screaming and pointing, but she paid them no attention. If they had any sense whatsoever, they’d run, because she was surely about to go on a killing spree.

The creature spoke then. Faith? What was she talking about? The only faith Rosaline had lost was that her daughter was still alive. Evidently, she was hoping that her mind games would still work. Well, she was dead wrong. In revealing herself to Rosaline here and now, she had brought the full wrath of the Grey Order down upon her. She would die soon, and Rosaline would see to it personally.

“Do not think this will hold me for long.” She said from between gritted teeth, fingers grasping at metal and pulling it upwards, accomplishing very little, “I will not stop hunting you. I will see you dead and my daughter avenged. This I promise you.”

---

Slowly, surprised by how heavy she felt, Lily got to her feet, shuddering as she stepped out into the light. Im-mediately, she felt better. Was the darkness what kept her in such a state of misery? Even now, it called to her, tendrils crawling across the ground to reach her. She couldn’t see them, but she could feel them. Alarmed, she stepped jerkily away, out into the sunlight, which was now blazing overhead again. The weather was extremely strange today…

“I…guess.” Lily replied nervously, keeping her face downcast. She really did not feel comfortable doing this…but what else could she do? From the look of consternation on Freya’s face, she was as concerned about something as Lily was…was she just now realising what she was getting herself into? Lily sighed inwardly. It was only a matter of time before Freya saw what a horrible person she was and abandoned her, just like everyone else.

“You can call me Lily.” She said then, remembering her manners, and changing her mind. If this girl wasn’t a witch, what was the harm of giving her her alias? It’d be fine…she could always change it again if she needed to. She fell into step beside her, saying nothing, feeling acutely awkward, as she always did in a situation that was even remotely social. She just wasn’t cut out for talking to people like this…
A loud clanging made her jump then, as a grate on the opposite side of the road popped free from its place, allowing water to flow freely into the road. There was a lot of water, actually…a small stream, growing large by the second. Lily tugged on Freya’s arm, pointing nervously at the flow of water.

“Do you suppose there is a flood up ahead, or something? I’ve never seen that before…”
 
As she ran off, Katyusha could swear that the crazy woman said something again. But Katyusha wasn’t stopping this time. There was nothing anyone could say or do to make her stop. She was outright terrified… not to mention for some reason (other than the fact that she was scared) she felt like running and never stopping. It was almost as if she was filled to the brim with energy that she hadn’t ever had before. All in all, she was just thankful that she could see again.

Once again, she found herself running down the street not paying attention to where she was going in the slightest. She wasn’t taking into account landmarks or shops that would look familiar. While the realization that she was going to get lost and confused again should have hit her, she didn’t care enough to let it. Being so filled with energy, she just ignored everything… save for the fact that behind her there was a very angry witch out to murder her.

She continued running as she turned around to look behind her to check if the mad woman was still on her trail. As she did so, she ran into something… hard. All of the air escaped from her lungs as she fell to the ground. Gasping for air, she looked up at she ran into. From the looks of it, it was a man in armor. In fact, it was almost exactly like Rosaline’s armor. The man was kind of tall, and from the looks of it he had a beard. In all honesty, he looked kind of old.

Katyusha was just about to apologize to him when she remembered that she was supposed to be blind. She would have to pretend as if she didn’t see him at all. “Oww…” she gasped as she took another breath of air. “W-what did I just hit?”
 
[FONT=&quot]Freya[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The moment she began glancing around her surroundings in hopes of confirming her suspicions, the inking feeling of someone nearby within the shadows watching them subsided. Could the girl sense it, or was this just the work of her imagination, weaving tricks within her mind in hopes of driving her insane? Still, as long that feeling of being watched had disappeared, Freya could now focus again on getting the girl up and to walk with her to the coffee store again. The sun’s rays began pouring down on the city once again. The wet pavements and roads gleamed brilliantly as a torrent of sunlight washed down, enchanting the ground and shrouding the city in that familiar heat again. Suddenly, all that talk about getting out of the rain and finding a shelter to warm up and to dry off seemed a world away. The hot, humid day that Freya had been familiar with this morning had returned to reclaim its right, beginning to shove apart the rain clouds that had undoubtedly baffled the weather experts earlier.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The girl produced numerous sighs, but to Freya’s relief, she was on her feet at last. Her dress – antiquated by the looks of it – was dripping wet, and heavy droplets ran down her hair, but at least Freya could now get a clearer view of the very girl she had hopefully comforted. Slightly gaunt in appearance, this girl projected a vague flicker of ghostly beauty. If she were only happier and her personality brighter and bubblier, she would undoubtedly be a lot more beautiful. If only then, this girl could smile more often and push aside all the demons that were haunting her long enough to do so. Perhaps then Freya would be able to see a completely different person within, and hopefully pull that happier side of the girl out into the surface. Though as she stood up, the girl’s very expression only told Freya one thing. She didn’t seem comfortable getting up, she was still very reluctant. Oh well, at least she achieved one thing…[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“You can call me Lily,” the girl suddenly uttered, which did catch Freya by momentary surprise. The girl – Lily – why was she so reluctant at first to provide Freya with her name? It was like Lily had to give it an adequate bit of thinking first before finally settling on giving her a name. A name was…just a name. It was only for Freya that she had to stick to her alias from now on rather than fix on Zephyra in fear of providing the Order with enough leash to rein her in. Lily however, would have no need to be anything other than straightforward when it came to her name, so why she seemed afraid to reveal to Freya what it was before seemed odd. Perhaps she was just shy? Perhaps she just didn’t want to trust Freya or any stranger in fact? Both those reasons seemed like common sense. It must have taken some traumatic past experience to completely destroy one’s trust in others. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“Lily’s a pretty name,” Freya could only utter in return, but it didn’t seem like Lily herself was paying her full attention. Was she that indulged by the seeming awkwardness of talking to someone who was still essentially a stranger to her, or did she too begin to garner the suspicion that the pair of them was being watched by someone close by? Whatever it had been, it made her jump. Come to think of it, Freya thought, what was that clang just then? [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]As soon as she could identify what the source of the sound was, Lily began tugging on her arm, nervous and frightened. Her finger protruded ahead, pointing to what appeared to be a rapidly growing stream of water flowing unobstructed out from the ground and onto the road. What the heck? The grate had been blown right off by it? What the heck was happening?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]“Do you suppose there is a flood up ahead, or something?” Lily quietly muttered, “I’ve never seen that before…”[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Come to think of it, Freya thought to herself, it did seem like the likely work of a flood – but why the heck was there a flood? The rain was no worse than what it usually was in this country and that couldn’t have possibly caused any river or nearby body of water to flood their banks. In fact, only the River Thames could possibly flood being that they were in [/FONT][FONT=&quot]London[/FONT][FONT=&quot], and when had anyone heard of the [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Thames[/FONT][FONT=&quot] flooding after a bit of rain? Or did something happen to the sewage system? [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]“Lily!” Freya cried out, instinctively grabbing a hold of her by the arm, like she would to her younger twin sisters back in the day, “Come on, let’s not stick around. The water’s getting pretty bad!” [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]As she spoke, the mayhem only began to register to the few numbers of pedestrians and drivers in the area. One vehicle completely ignored the vast amounts of flowing water and his Volkswagen plunged straight through the growing pool of dirty water, sending waves crashing against the pavements. Freya and Lily narrowly avoided it as the pair of them began frantically darting ahead, in the opposite direction to where Lily had suggested there may have been a flood. Freya was not about to risk the pair of them to go and see what was actually happening up there. They just needed to avoid that water, which was still torrentially pouring out of the ground and sweeping across the roads and the pavements with no signs of stopping. If there was a flood somewhere up there near where the coffee shop was, there was now certainly another flood here. Just what on earth was going on? [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Then, a horrific and at the same time, otherworldly sight came into Freya’s view. In the distance behind them, she could see what appeared to be, a substantially huge wave of water. It seemed to be building up, hungry to swallow everything around it. To Freya’s horror, she could deduce that the coffee store she had come out from earlier – and incidentally, where she wanted to take Lily as well – was in that approximate area. In fact, this wave by the looks of it didn’t seem too far away at all. What the heck was a tidal wave doing in the middle of [/FONT][FONT=&quot]London[/FONT][FONT=&quot]? No sooner had she and Lily made about over [/FONT][FONT=&quot]30 yards[/FONT][FONT=&quot] did it occur to them that the water was…beginning to submerge their footwear nearly completely? In fact, the flowing water was beginning to reach the upper-foot level. There was nothing stopping it from rapidly rising now, but the fact that it had started flooding the area so suddenly and so viciously quickly began terrifying Freya.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Eva[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]She darted behind the cover of the shadows. Did the girl suddenly grow perceptive, suspecting someone of watching? Not that it really mattered to her anyhow as she had seen all there was to see. The maiden with control of darkness was nothing but a pathetic little whore who had been sitting there in the rain, crying her eyes out while her shadows danced around beside her. At the rate this was going, Eva wouldn’t be too surprised if the shadows themselves were forging their very own plans now. When one was this weak – even weaker than Jessica ashamedly – and with powers to control something as potent as frightening as the shadows themselves, the very element they were supposed to be manipulating would begin to control them instead. Were it not for this girl – Freya was it? – Eva could have easily put the witch out of her misery. Aside from the few cars rushing by and the very limited number of pedestrians on the other side of the road, the witch would have been all alone. She would be all alone to cry and mope for hours like a child who had her toy taken away from her. How pathetic. What a waste of the darkness powers this was. She turned round to see her own shadows flickering slightly, as if it had been watching her in return.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]“Tell me,” she said to her own shadow, delicately watching it and eager to catch its very independent movements, “who is the better master? That girl or I?”[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]A loud clang had quickly registered in her. Eva spun round; careful not to reveal her presence to the Freya girl and the witch company she was with. A grate on the opposite side of the road had decided to spring free from where it was nailed down, surprising several pedestrians within a five meter radius of it. What the heck was this? From the ground, water began bursting out with such enthusiasm and energy, like slaves that had been freed from their hellish prison. Rapidly forming streams of water were gushing out from the ground, unhindered and seemingly infinite in amount. The road was quickly becoming its first victim, as the water sloshed across the surface with no drains capable of regulating them. A portion of the road was now forced underwater and now even the slightly raised pavements were coming under attack as the torrents of water began slamming against the side of buildings – particularly of closed and boarded up takeaways. The gallons continued to leak out and it was now clear. They were hungry for a flood.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]It didn’t take long for Eva to see a rather fascinating sight in front of her. If this was not the very physical manifestation of fun and excitement for her, she had no idea what was. She could just about make out an entire wave of water in the close distance, eager to engulf and eager to destroy. Poor London, Eva could only sweetly say in her mind to herself, it had gone through so much today and it was still sometime in the afternoon. The fireball explosions, the reports of angels sent from an angry deity to wreck havoc and destruction, the masses of deaths and injuries, the sudden arrival of abrupt and heavy rain…and now this. Only a city that had sinned incessantly would deserve something this painful. And as this was [/FONT][FONT=&quot]London[/FONT][FONT=&quot], a place of hell that had bred monsters like her father, this would come to no surprise for her. If there was one city in the world that deserved as much punishment as ever possible, it would be [/FONT][FONT=&quot]London[/FONT][FONT=&quot].[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Still, seeing this tidal wave brought back only memories of her and Jessica when they were younger. At that time, Jessica was an innocent sixteen year old who had only recently attained her witch powers. Eva could recall that hellhole they called “home”, particularly that bathroom with the horrid pale teal colour and the peeling plaster. The bath itself was growing old with the taps beginning to rust and the shower curtains by now already starting to be plagued with mould. At the time, their mother had fled to work as usual while their bastard of a father had fled to the pub again, perhaps gambling at the same time. The sisters were alone in the house and the bathroom was the perfect place for Jessica to test her powers.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]“Make it rain outside for about 10 seconds!” Eva could remember saying to her sister, as a first request. Naturally, this was what Jessica did. It took a bit of effort at first to know what she was doing, but when she did eventually manage, rain clouds had built up outside and watching from the bathroom window, Eva could see rainfall abruptly fall from the skies before mysteriously ceasing briefly afterwards. Being the child she was, Eva could have responded to that with nothing but overwhelming wonder and excitement. If Jessica could control water, they could do anything![/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“Do a tidal wave in the bath!” Eva then remember saying to her sister. The bath had already been filled up fifteen minutes ago and all Eva wanted now more than anything was for Mr. Ducky (that was the plastic duck she had sitting on the surface of the water) to surf. Jessica did just that, causing small but handsome tidal waves across the surface of the bathtub, sending Mr. Ducky bobbling gracefully around. Though significant amounts of water had splashed all over the bathroom floor, Eva could hardly care less. This to her as a naïve child at the time, was the epitome of wonder and excitement, even if their father beat them afterwards for causing a mess and for water to drip into the living room. Yet though Jessica complied with harmless demands such as rain and bath tidal waves, she could never comply with Eva’s most ambitious demand:[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“Jess…can you….make a real tidal wave here and drown dad? I really hate him and I know you do too. You want to see him drown too, right?”[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“What’s gotten into you, Eva? I could never do that! I don’t want to hear that again!”[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“….oh, kay then…”[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]After that moment sis, all the respect I had for you began to vanish…[/FONT]
 
Walking through the streets, lost in thought about the recent events Richard pondered his chance encounter with those Order enthusiasts, the explosion itself as well as whether these events were connected. Could those women be connected to that event? Or is it complete coincidence they approached him and knew so much about the Order and the Witches, moreso the older woman than the younger ones.

Pondering this he was completely unaware of his surroundings as his third young girl of the day bumped into him, this was becoming too strange to be a coincidence...

“W-what did I just hit?”

Finding this strange, as it was perfectly clear what she hit, he was hardly inconspicuous, it then hit him, she must be blind. Either that or heavily distracted like himself. At any rate she needed helping up so he offered his hand to her "Are you okay? Here, take my hand"
 
Jacob was usually the dark, mysterious and silent type. He was showing that, but his voice was breaking through the silence that usually emanated from him. He found that he didn't like Alyss very much. She had interrupted the nice meeting between himself and Crimson. People like that irritated him to no end. But like the gentleman he was, he kept his thoughts and feelings to himself, preferring to keep the peace. Which was unusual for a Knight in his opinion.

He wanted Alyss to go away, to leave him and Crimson alone. Not that he was implying anything ... Jacob just didn't seem the type. The inner Knight within him urged him to investigate some more and find out what Alyss was up to. No suspicion was being pointed at Crimson, however. She was innocent. Or so far, at the very least. And then he heard her remark. Jacob shook his head, sighing loudly. He was beginning to loathe this woman ...

Out of the corner of his eye, Jacob saw Crimson glare at Alyss. He smiled weakly, somewhat relieved he wasn't the only one who was annoyed. When she agreed to go to the coffee shop, he felt that his investigation was getting closer. He eagerly followed Crimson to the coffee shop and entered after her, watching her sit down at a table. Jacob put his hands in his jacket pocket, quite pleased with how everything had progressed so far. Alyss was getting annoyed with how long this was taking; the frustration that was being oozed out of her clearly stated that she was more than a journalist or whatever she claimed to be.

"Three coffees, please," he said to the lady behind the counter.

"That'll be six eighty, please," she replied, as she turned to start the machine.

"Keep the change," smiled Jacob in a charming manner, which sent the coffee woman blushing. He handed over a ten-pound note and received the three coffees a minute or two later. He walked over to the table and placed them down. "Three fresh coffees. Enjoy."

He had returned just in time to hear what Alyss had to say to Crimson. He briefly averted his eye towards the rain outside and then back at Alyss. Was she ever going to give up? This was beginning to give him a headache.

"Maybe the umbrella burst because it was fate that she'd run into my charming, dashing self," Jacob joked. He smiled at Crimson, looked back at Alyss and then sipped his coffee.
 

“Do not think this will hold me for long. I will not stop hunting you. I will see you dead and my daughter avenged. This I promise you.”

Well, that settles it.

Sophia had reached the end of her perseverance. This experience with her mother had shook her to her very core. The whole thing was actually quite ironic...Sophia had always assumed that she would be the one to respond in anger if she was ever reunited with her mother. Not only had Rosaline been the angry, unforgiving one...she seemed to have totally lost her grasp on reality.

Sophia did the only thing she knew to do in this situation. Rosaline had said that she would hunt and kill her...and her mother was nothing if not true to her word. She could not continue to restrain her mother...eventually Rosaline was likely to get the upper hand. Only one course of action was left...one that Sophia had taken before, many years ago.

She turned and ran away from her mother for the second time in her life.

Sophia charged blindly ahead, making random turns down side streets and alleys. She was a slave now to primal instinct...she was the hunted once more. The details of their accidental rendezvous whirled through her mind as she ran.

This may be the most dangerous adversary that I've ever faced. Not only is she a Witchslayer...but she's my mother. I can't bring myself to hurt her. But...am I willing to die just to prove a point to her? It's obvious that she is oblivious to reason at this juncture...so what do I do? Damn it, what do I do?!?

Sophia abruptly stopped running and ducked into the nearest alley. As she stood in the darkness, breathing heavily from running, her pent-up emotions finally caught up with her. She sobbed once...and this broke the damn behind which her tears had remained hidden. Sophia sunk to the ground, crying loudly and not particularly caring who heard her.

For the second time in her life, Sophia Hart had no idea what she should do...
 
“R-right…” Lily followed as Freya pulled on her arm, splashing…splashing? She glanced down, surprised and hor-rified to find that the water was already up to her toes and slowly rising. Panic flooded through her, far colder than anything she had felt a moment ago. Where had all this water come from? People were beginning to abandon their cars and move away as the water picked up both pace and depth. Soon, it felt as though Lily were standing in the middle of a river…a shallow one, but for how long?
The Sun behind her suddenly vanished. Alarmed, Lily turned around, wondering if it was about to rain again. What she found was even more terrifying: a tidal wave – how could there be a tidal wave in London? – had risen, and was heading towards them. Lily froze. There was absolutely no way she could run from that fast enough, and her shadows were not responding to her needs and, even if they did, she didn’t really want Freya to despise her…so she’d rather have her die here and now with her. Even at the last, Lily was a selfish monster. She watched helplessly, awaiting her fate.

However, miraculously (or perhaps not, for such a thing could not be natural) it began to die down, the closer it came. On the corner of the street near to an alley, all that Lily felt was the water suddenly rising up to her chest – which was a shock in itself – before lowering again as the wave swept past her down the road, as though it were simply part of the traffic following a route. Lily clung helplessly to Freya, feeling more powerless than she ever had. If a witch had caused that, how could she possibly hope to stand against her? Buildings exploding, tidal waves in the middle of the street, freak rainstorms…what was next? Hurricanes? Fireballs raining from the sky? At this point, nothing would surprise her.

Something struck an abandoned taxi in the road then, and Lily cried out in shock at sound of the impact. It was roughly human-sized, so what else could it be but a body? Another casualty in this stupid war being fought by…her kind. Would the street be littered with bodies once the water had subsided? Would the water ever stop anyway? As soon as she had asked herself that, it began to slow, before finally reducing itself to a mere trickle, now just above Lily’s ankles. She stood, petrified, her eyes on the taxi, waiting to see if the figure inside was still alive. It seemed unlikely…should she go and look? Stirring, then rocking and, finally, swearing, as someone clambered out, slamming the door behind them with such ferocity that they set the alarm off. By this point, several people had gathered, wondering, like Lily, where the unusual flood had come from. It had sud-denly gotten a lot hotter, and this did nothing to ease Lily’s worries. In fact, it only served to strengthen them. Please, not her again…

Lily’s worst nightmare emerged: the woman that had almost killed her earlier, and was almost certainly here to kill her now. She had arrived on a tidal wave – or had she just battled another witch with the power to control water? – and now she was surely going to finish what she had started earlier. Lily screamed, unmindful of the shocked looks passers-by gave her, or what Freya thought of this. She knew what was coming next….

---

Against such an attack, there could be no defence. Assuming she could even evaporate such a large body of water, no doubt another would quickly be on the way, and she couldn’t stop what could be an entire river. Emily barely had time to hold her breath before it struck her with the force of a truck, picking her up and carrying her off, helplessly tossed by the icy currents like a leaf in a hurricane. Disorientated and confused, she could do nothing but hope and pray that she’d hit something, anything, to slow her down, or that her outstretched hand would grab a hold of something…

Emily’s forward momentum abruptly came to a halt as she was slammed against the windscreen of a car, which cracked and then shattered under her weight, throwing her into the passenger’s seat and pinning her there. A moment of surreal calm, as her lungs began to burn, and then suddenly air was rushing into her lungs once more as the torrent of water subsided. Wincing, Emily opened the door of the car – which, of all things, turned out to be a taxi – and staggered out, slamming it behind her with such force that she set off the alarm. She considered blowing it up, just to shut the noise off, but decided against it…she didn’t feel like doing much of anything at the moment, and the water was still ankle deep. No sign of the little bitch that had caused that tidal wave, though. Just as well.

“Fucking hell, that hurts.” She winced as a spasm of pain shot up her leg when she placed her weight on it. She was bloody lucky she hadn’t broken anything…or maybe she had and just didn’t know it yet. Either way, she had probably bitten off a little more than she could chew. Well, that was just fantastic. Now she had THREE of the bitches to worry about, and one of them was clearly more powerful than she was…or just luckier. Where had all that water come from anyway? She found it hard to believe that anyone could be more powerful in daylight than she – after all, she had an infinite amount of light energy from the fucking Sun to draw from! She could turn this entire city into a smoking wreck just by snapping her fingers and thinking about it! How could anyone possibly hope to compete against that?!

…ah, but the day was almost over. The Sun would be gone in about four hours, and then there would be a long night ahead of her. For a moment, Emily felt a flicker of something like fear. She wasn’t nearly so powerful at night; the moon and stars didn’t offer her anywhere near as much power, and street lights were next to useless. She needed to find somewhere to lay low until she could sort everything out – she had been the victim of some very unlucky circumstances, but she would be damned if she was going to pay the ultimate price for them…

Screaming from the side of the road brought her head around, and she saw a young girl, audible even over the car alarm, pointing at her as though she were some sort of demon. She was…familiar, somehow. She reminded Emily of herself when she had first been shipped off to that hell hole she had grown up in – scared and profoundly alone. It only served to annoy her further. She hated weak girls who were too scared to do anything for themselves. Just standing there and screaming, waiting for someone to just come along and have their way with them…it angered her more than anything else. Spineless, weak little brats, they deserved everything that came to them.

Then it hit her – that was the girl who had been in the back of the taxi earlier, with that little blind bitch! Well, that was just brilliant, wasn’t it? Now she had FOUR of them to worry about, because this one had obviously used her powers to escape that explosion as well. Jesus Christ, that hadn’t even been her targets! She didn’t give a damn about any of them, why did they insist on getting in the way like this? Feeling the light of the Sun slowly dry her clothes – her hair was plastered against her face – Emily started walking towards her, limping slightly, glancing around for the other girl. She couldn’t be too far away, and Emily had no desire to face off against her again with all of this water in the street.

“You’re not escaping this time, bitch. I’m going to light you up like a fucking Christmas tree before I watch you burn. I’ve had it with all of you stupid little girls getting in my fucking way.”
 
This...this girl was going to get herself into trouble if she ran into that light using witch. And the one who had called her big sister was in danger.

Could it be...no. That was impossible. She had died back then. To even consider that she was still alive was not only an insult to her memory. It was an insult to her common sense. She had died long ago. She was sure of it.

But...the girl was in danger. And despite her bluster and bravado, and the clear power she possessed, she was still a child. She couldn't do much by herself, could she? Then again, she was a witch. But still....

Tristana sighed. Suddenly she was playing babysitter. Disappearing into the alleyways, she started her search for the child.
 
[FONT=&quot]Her heart went ballistic, thumping horrifically rapidly, thudding her ribs with such force that it could have been burrowing out. Freya’s grasp on Lily’s arm remained unwavering and she was determined not to let her go. Taking Lily to safety away from the oncoming wave and the ominously growing flood around them was her number one priority. Nothing else seemed to matter to her now. This sensation, albeit familiar, was not one she had felt for years. At this moment in time, Lily was the new Natalie and Amelia to her – Freya’s own younger twin sisters – and her safety was now of paramount importance. Glancing down, all she could was the water, building up still, imminently seeking to advance up to their ankles. Behind them, the wave’s fury was accumulating second by second, unabated. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Just a bit further, just a bit further! But where do I go? How can we outrun a flood and a tidal wave? Just how on earth is there a tidal wave in the middle of a city? It doesn’t make sense! Unless…but how? How could there possibly be yet another witch in this city? Those fiery explosions from earlier and the fact that I’m the wind witch – three may not usually be the very definition of a lot, but out of all places in the world there are at least THREE witches here…no…I can’t…I can’t stay here any longer. My very presence in this city may well be attracting witch attention. If I stick around, I am only putting innocents at risk…[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Freya daren’t look back. With Lily firmly in tow, the pair of them continued running – just running. The road stretched ahead with the pavements and 1960s buildings alongside it, yet it continued to feel like they were hardly getting anywhere despite the frantic running. Whether they had any realistic chance of outrunning the washout that was imminently looming down on them by now, and where they could run to in order to seek refuge, running was all she could think of. Funnily enough, Freya imagined herself as being a child for the first time, frightened to death and trying to escape. The child would have no idea where to run to and what to do next, its only desire would be to outrun the pursuer. If she were imagining herself as a helpless child running away at this moment in time, what hope did she have for protecting Lily? It didn’t matter to her now that Lily was to her still essentially a stranger she had just met not so long ago. Lily was special because of her vulnerability and the fact that she reminded Freya so much of her sisters.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Then, all she could feel was the tide of water mercilessly tearing into her. The icy water slammed against her with horrific force, throwing her with Lily in tow forward with astounding power. Seldom had she ever considered the potential physical might of water and for this brief instant, it was perfectly clear to Freya just how tidal waves and tsunamis could manage to kill so many around the world. Inhaling deeply and holding her breath in anticipation of being submerged into the icy torrent, Freya expected the worst, while tightly clutching onto Lily. Yet the worst never really came. The wave had hit them, but only at the chest level before it subsided, dying down until it lowered substantially, at knee level – then at the shins. A momentary cry from Lily diverted Freya’s attention to her, then immediately at what had caught her attention. At first, she was dreading the thought of perhaps another tidal wave looming down on them – was that what Lily was crying with surprise at?[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]It turned out that something had slammed into a taxi, shattering its front windscreen with brutal force. What it had been, Freya couldn’t identify until the water level dropped substantially enough to get a clearer view. To her astonishment, it was a person. The wave had just carried a victim, sending him or her smashing into an abandoned vehicle that had been perched helplessly on the road. At closer examination, Freya could identify that it was a woman – a rather tall one by the looks of it, donning a sopping wet brown trenchcoat of some sort.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Oh my God…please say you’re alright…[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Mercifully as it seemed, the woman stirred within the vehicle, despite having been hurled through the windscreen like that with such terrifying force. The door was rammed open and the figure staggered out, leaving shards of glass cascading out into the wet ground. Miraculously, despite her rather battered shape, it didn’t seem like she had suffered any broken limbs or any real form of physical decapitation. Inspiringly, she was still able to stand on their own two feet, though the ferocious slamming of the door and triggering the alarm caused Freya to jump. As she managed this impressive feat despite what had happened to her, she could only spout out expletive after expletive, while exercising winces and displays of pain. Freya contemplated calling an ambulance, but with the small crowd of bewildered passer-bys building up by now, it seemed likely that someone would have already hurried to dial 999. What also seemed to be a miracle was that there seemed no sign of anyone else, or morbidly, any corpses washed up anywhere. Lily’s bloodcurdling scream struck the atmosphere chillingly. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“Lil?” was her immediate response, turning to see Lily seemingly paralysed on the spot, her eyes fixed on the woman that had been washed up straight into an empty taxi vehicle, and her eyes displaying nothing but sheer terror. The scream felt like a delayed reaction to what had just happened, though Freya couldn’t blame her. Come to think of it, Freya herself was at a loss at just what to do – how to respond and what to do next. This wasn’t any mere figment of her paranoid imagination. A tidal wave in the middle of [/FONT][FONT=&quot]London[/FONT][FONT=&quot] had just crashed down on them and had hurtled a woman straight through the windscreen of a taxi. Who wouldn’t be chained down by sheer horror and confusion at this moment in time? Yet the sheer display of fear in its purest form, lingering in Lily’s eyes of which Freya had hardly ever seen in anyone before told her that this was something else. No, Lily was horrified at that woman…but why?[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]She turned her attention to the tall woman. She was ominously heading towards them, though with an awkward limp that told Freya that perhaps she was severely wounded after all. The sense of menace exuded by the woman didn’t seem immediate and clear to Freya until she began to spoke, her tone with such vicious malice that began to degrade even Freya’s own composure. This woman was just screwed in the head.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]“You’re not escaping this time, bitch. I’m going to light you up like a fucking Christmas tree before I watch you burn. I’ve had it with all of you stupid little girls getting in my fucking way.” The fact that the witnesses looked utterly perplexed didn’t bother her. It didn’t bother Freya either. She had realised that the woman’s threats were directed towards Lily (much to her horror – just what had Lily done to antagonise this woman?) and no matter what the crowd was thinking, Freya had to step in now. If she wanted something with Lily, she would have to get through Freya herself first.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Gallantly, albeit foolishly as it seemed, Freya edged herself in front of Lily. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]“Wait,” she sternly interjected, “who are you? What do you want with her?” As she spoke, her mind simply dashed with excited frenzy. Freya had no idea who this woman was and what her relationship with Lily was exactly, but instinctively she had acted to defend her. There was just no turning back now. Her very words however, resonated strongly in her mind. Light…burn…[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]No…can it be?

You...are you -
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]What…what can I do? I can’t –

How can I afford to -
[/FONT]
 
[OOC: I hate... I really hate writing up short posts. :hmph:]



Katyusha smiled somewhat as the man offered her his hand. Of course, she was still trying to ensure that there was no way that he could know she could see, so as she reached for his hand she deliberately missed a few times. As she pulled herself up, she realized that she hadn’t dropped her coffee. How odd… I don’t remember keeping hold of it. Her body ached from the impact of running into his armor… but for some reason, she felt that she could handle it… which was odd, because she normally could never handle any kind of pain.

“I-I’m so sorry. I’m blind,” was the first thing that slipped past her lips. She gasped as she finished it. What had gotten into her? Something was... wrong. She knew something wasn’t right, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. It was almost as if during the last ten minutes she had acquired ADD. She felt energetic and talkative. Neither of which was anything like her. “Goodness… I-I umm… this is very awkward.” Suddenly she was blushing hard. She couldn’t see it, but she knew it was there.
 
Alyss was the first to join Crimson at the table in the warm cafe. Jacob had wandered in after but he'd gone to grab some coffee's for them all. Crimson thought that was rather nice. She'd never really met anyone who'd happily buy a coffee for strangers but she wondered if he had ulterior motives...she smiled slightly to herself, she was sounding like that woman she met in the rain earlier.

The red head took her trench coat off and placed it on the back of the chair, she instantly felt warmer, the cold material was the reason she was so freezing to begin with she decided. Then being a fire witch and all she began to raise the temperature of her body, no one would notice? She was sure she was doing it subtly enough so that no ordinary person would realise she was drying off rather fast.

"So, About this Umbrella" Came the woman's voice, breaking the silence that was getting a little awkward.

"Oh, yes..." Crimson responded, running her fingers through her hair to untangle the wet locks. She thought a moment, it would be fun to toy with this 'reporters' mind, if she brought up that she thought a witch burst her umbrella she'd just think she was crazy, that could be fun!

Jacob then sat down and gave the girls their drink. Crimson nodded in thanks, poured a little extra sugar into the cup and took a sip.

"Maybe the umbrella burst because it was fate that she'd run into my charming, dashing self," the man joked. Crimson couldn't help but smirk, he obviously thought he was a charmer.

"Well I guess if you believe in fate..." Crimson replied before turning her attention back to Alyss. "Anyway, I was walking in the rain and came across a woman... I tried to do the friendly thing and offer her some shelter from the rain and suddenly she goes all berserk at me so I said something rather mean... I can't hold my temper sometimes, and then as I walked away she exploded my Umbrella!! Poof!! Like magic!" She used her arms to imitate an explosion.

"Pretty silly right??" she smiled before taking another sip of the warm coffee, Crimson was completely dry now, her hair soft and wavy against her shoulders and back.
 
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