soul_logs | EVENT: The Great BREW Malfunction Pt 1 [OPEN]

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EVENT: The Great BREW Malfunction Pt 1 [OPEN]

Characters: Everyone and anyone
Location: Anywhere in Death City!
Rating: PG-13
Time: Starting July 14 after 11am to July 15
Description: ...something strange is going on here.

At some point, something strange begins to happen. People start randomly disappearing. Sometimes they reappear immediately after and they may not even notice, but sometimes there's a noticeable lag between their disappearance and their reappearance.

Sometimes, they don't even reappear in the same place!

At least it doesn't seem to be dangerous. Unless you disappeared from your kitchen and reappeared at the other end of the city. In which case, you might want to start running.

Either everything sort of points at this being BREW related (after all, if it were Witches, there would be a lot more danger).

((OOC: Create your own threads! Remember to put [ Character | Location | Date/Time | OPEN/CLOSED ] in your subject! This log will cover July 14th to July 15th!]

Open Threads
Lily
Josuke
Psii
Mello
Karkat
Hiro
Valentine
Akiha
Chika
Sugata
Hamel
Hyoubu
Fujino
Trucy
L
Auron
Alucard
Near
Minako
Light
Sephiroth and Cloud
Karina
Duo
Bakura
Johan
Clopin
Sheena
Amaterasu
Asuka
Shinji

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The exclamation was only partially expected; turning quickly, Lezard bore witness to the witch's stumbling and subsequent... transformation...

A brow furrowed. How peculiar that she would shapeshift. Was she not a Meister? Yet the more he thought about it, the more he realized that the core of his soul felt strange, lightly put. He needn't any sort of further proof of her change of designation, the rather nude illustration on the page matching his own in his alternate form. He stooped and picked up the book, keeping it upon the page that had fallen open.

"Truly we are kin, dearest! You shift into a book of spells as well as I! Which leads me to wonder why..." Hmm. She swapped, it seemed. Had... he?

The trigger was gone. There was nothing there to leave his form and acquire a new one for use in combat. Rather, he felt the small tug behind his navel again, and jumped three feet from his prior position. He could now teleport, rather than transform.

He lifted a hand, brushed his fingers together, and focused.

...Nothing. Not so much of a conjuring of his own aura.

"A pity. Perhaps I've instead become the Meister."

Still dazed, Lily wondered why it was suddenly so dark and where that green glow was coming from. The power didn't go out in her apartment, did it? But even if it did, it was morning and there should have been natural light (if you could call that laughing sun natural) from the windows.

Then, came the strange sensation of being lifted yet not feeling hands on her to do so. And Lezard's remark about shifting into a book of spells.

"What in tarnation are you talking about? Surely, it's too early to be drinking." The dizziness had put her into a slightly irritable mood and she only slowly realized now that she could see beyond the darkness and that she was looking up at Lezard. But this angle made no sense...

The jump only served to disorient her more and what was he saying now about becoming a Meister?

"Don't be ridiculous. How would that ever happen?"

But her exasperated huff turned into a shriek as her gaze moved down and she finally realized her dress had performed a vanishing act. "Land sakes! Where are my clothes?! And why am I glowing? What did you do to me?!"

Cheeks burning, she belatedly crossed her arms over her chest to cover herself, tugged her long wavy locks to the front to help conceal her bare torso.

"This has got to be a bad dream..."

"Your guess would be as good as any theory I could concoct," he replied loftily, grinning like a devil. There was nothing quite as amusing as the scrambling attempts to preserve decency!

"But the fact of the matter is, something decided we ought swap designations. But to what end, I cannot say."

The grin lowered, and he canted his head. "...Why do you fret over modesty, dearest? You've seen me aplenty. The... hm, wardrobe change, is something that cannot be helped, unfortunately."

"You're saying we've switched roles? That I'm the Weapon now?!" She gaped, her tone incredulous and her expression distressed as she continued clutching the hair to herself.

And she didn't like that grin of his. He was enjoying her predicament too much, wasn't he? If it were possible, her face became even redder. How much had he seen before she realized?!

"But that's different! This—this is just indecent! There has to be some trick to it. If I concentrate hard enough, I'm sure I can conjure some clothes!"

Lily tried to focus as best she could, imagining the dress she had been wearing when he suddenly appeared. Nothing. Then, the white dress she usually wore for missions. Still nothing. Jeans and a t-shirt. Nothing. A swimsuit? Nope. Heck, she'd even settle for a sheet! But no matter how much she scrunched her face up in concentration and tried to visual something, anything to hide her nakedness, nothing worked.

His eyebrows lifted. Different in what way, Lily? Lezard was getting the very wrong idea here, but he chose not to voice it.

"At the very least, we are resonating at present, and only I can bear witness to the illustration upon the page. Were I to stand atop Shibusen and turn the contents of the book to the public, they would see naught but blank pages," he assured her with an odd pat to the book's back cover.

"The query becomes what we do now, and how we proceed. Do we cease our campaign? Are you permitted to absorb souls?" He brought a hand to his chin.

"...What of the souls I absorbed thus far...?"

She meant more that men could appear shirtless in public without it being considered indecent but that comment did lend itself to being misconstrued, didn't it?

"Don't you dare test that theory out!" She tugged at the bottom of the illustration panel, trying to bring it up to her chin but it stayed stubbornly at waist level. And much to her dismay, an attempt to walk past the side of the panel just resulted in the outline following her.

But the more serious question soon distracted her from her clothing woes. "...I don't know." Dag nab it! Why did this have to happen before their mission? "I don't want to leave that Baba Yaga running loose but how are we supposed to fight like this? And I'm certainly not absorbing any demon souls!" She tugged on her hair in frustration.

"And how would I know about what happened to them? I have even less of an idea about this than you!"

"...Then perhaps Shibusen would have no issue keeping the souls we collect housed in some shape or form. I can imagine every new Meister is dismayed at the loss of their progress, and rumor has it that another pair is very close to Deathscythe status... it would be no surprise if they were the most distraught of the bunch, ha ha ha!"

But he adjusted his glasses. "Fortunately, I am a mage with no need for staves or wands of any kind. Should we keep our distance, our Baba Yaga should be no issue, even with our swap. Shall we have our field test proceed unhindered, my beloved?"

"You mean Kanji and Naoto? They're supposed to hunt a witch soon but there's no reason to believe anything like this happened to them!" Honestly, Lily thought if this wasn't just a nightmare that it was BREW trying to inconvenience her as much as possible.

Their resonance felt as normal and he'd likely fought dozens of monsters with his magic back in his world. But she couldn't help feeling somewhat insecure about this. "Are you sure about this? I never was much good with fighting magic back home and most of the spells I used weren't meant to harm."

"There lingers an air of mystery, I admit, but with my teleportation, there is a safety net at the very least should something go wrong." But he pointed to the spell written on the page.

"I would say discomfort and driving one to madness is harmful enough! Every Weapon has its potential... all that remains is discovering said possibilities and unlocking the potential. I'm eager to learn what it is we can use from these peculiar pages."

Teleportation... So, that explained how he'd suddenly appeared in her apartment and would help if they found themselves in trouble. And he seemed eager to experiment with her magic.

But still, she hesitated. Could she trust him enough to carry her around like this? Let him look through and use her spells? Even if he'd come to her rescue a few times, she still had a few reservations about him.

Finally, she sighed and said, "All right." Lily wasn't completely comfortable with the situation but it wouldn't do to leave Baba Yaga to claim more victims. "But if there's trouble, promise me you'll run. You don't need another spear in the stomach."

"A mage who remains bullheaded in the line of fire will only add to the ashes," he recited, wondering where he'd heard it from. Or perhaps he made that up just now. The world may never know.

"Spears were the exception, of course." He dipped into a light bow, balancing the book upon a palm.

"Now, let's see..." Straightening up, he checked his watch.

"If we leave now, we will arrive in the Death Room in time for our mission. Shall we? I can instruct you on transformation along the way."

She raised an eyebrow. "Is that something they taught you at that magic academy?" It had the feel of the type of things Graciela would often remind her of, not letting any of her hair fall into the brew or never letting her mind wander while spellcasting.

And they were running late by now, weren't they? But...

"Shouldn't I change clothes first? I can't walk in those heels." Unless he intended to carry her the whole time until they got back. She had been more appropriately dressed for the mission but then BREW messed that up, too.

"Hm. Surely Shibusen can grant a slight extension on arrival time. A crash course, then, but I'm having a feeling we ought make this quick." He cleared his throat.

"As a fellow spellcaster, your strength of mind is suited best for this sort of thing. To switch between forms takes a sort of spark- such a spark is typically triggered through surprise or stress, a Weapon choosing to transform as a defense mechanism, but turning back is actually quite simple. Think of this book as a shell, one you wish to shed. To reach over your head, grab the top, and 'pull yourself out' while visualizing your true shape is the key to resuming your normal form. To actualize that you are safe, that for the moment there is nothing that needs protecting, will aid to speed the process. It is normal for this to take a few tries."

"You sure as shootin' surprised me, suddenly appearing in here like that!" No wonder she had transformed if that was all it took to bring on the change. "A shell as a defense mechanism? Makes it sound like I'm supposed to be a turtle or snail or some kind of critter like that."

But she tried to visualize climbing out of the book as he instructed, becoming human again. The book in his hands glowed a moment but stopped and didn't change. After several minutes of false starts, she finally managed to change back and immediately felt the pinch of those uncomfortable heels.

Lily quickly threw her arms around his neck and leaned heavily to help steady herself—the last thing she needed was to immediately change back to a book—and kicked the dang shoes away. "Is it always this hard?"

"The resilience of a Weapon is unmatched! To withstand such blows and somehow heal as I have, in light of the spear that struck me... were I mere man, the injury would have been grave," he replied loftily. Yes, he could have died from the injury, but that was water under the bridge now, wasn't it?

She began to glow and he braced the book atop both hands. The false starts didn't incite any sort of change in his expression, for he knew she would be able to succeed. When she did he widened his stance, but for a moment a look of surprise flit across his features, arms around his neck and her weight - if he could call it that; did this woman have hollow bones? - upon him as his arms shot out to grab hold before balance was thrown completely. The shoes fell away with a pair of thumps against the floor, and Lily was an inch or two shorter than she was before.

The amusement followed, and with a smile he chose simply to remain as he was. "At first, it is. We are born as we are, human in every way and in no other form. To be asked to shed one's own skin and remain as something else entirely, an object one simply perceives... it lies high upon the list of things that require the strength of mind and soul. The extraordinary witch is a quick study on transformation as well! But take heart in the fact that transformation does require some level of your soul's energy as well- should you exhaust yourself, you will change back to your original form until you have spared the time to rest."

The corners of her lips turned downwards at the mention of that injury. "I hope we don't have to test that again. I need a spear in the stomach about as much as I need to be tied to a stake in the middle of a bonfire."

"And that's a relief but I'd rather not have to wear myself out completely to change back. You said I was a book of spells..." It had been a bit difficult to tell exactly what this looked like in her alternate form, much like how a mirror was needed to see one's own face. "How does that transformation work other than stress?"

Now that she was steady on her feet again, she detached herself from him and went to grab a pair of her usual canvas sneakers. And what happened to her usual white dress for casting? Was it back in her closet again?

"Primarily a desire to protect the person you're with. The theory is that your will is what allows your soul to react, shedding your original form for something that can be utilized to accomplish that desire turned will."

Well, that was a little thrill, wasn't it? His heart was still racing, despite casually brushing off his coat and watching her depart for comfortable shoes.

"To think, the original creator of the Weapon likely had no idea what it was she birthed..."

"So, I'm supposed to think of protecting you?" She quirked an eyebrow at him before turning to go into the bedroom. From there, she called...

"The original creator? But aren't the folks in this world who are Weapons just born that way?"

"Well, there is also a tumble down the stairs as they all say. Which would be simpler?" He asked with a small grin.

"Currently, yes. But the original Demon Weapons were created by the spider witch, Arachne. Through human sacrifice and the harvested soul of a witch who could change the shape of her body at will, the very first few were born. The gene, as it were, was passed onto their offspring through the millennia."

He rubbed his chin. "Which leads me to wonder of Meister genes as well. Should a Meister and Weapon pair, have children together... what would become of such a union?"

Lily just rolled her eyes at the stairs comment. She'd prefer to transform without tripping again when the time came!

The door closed for a minute and there was a trace of horror on her face when she emerged again in a plain black dress.

"...Human sacrifice and transforming witches? You mean Weapons came about because of some twisted genetic engineering?" There was so much strange in this world, she'd never given much thought to the possibility that even Weapons weren't natural for this place.

"And that sounds more like a question for those folks at the school." A pause as a thought occurred to her. "...You don't think that's what's gotten us into this mess, do you? Would a child like that inherit both and be able to switch between the two?"

His heart swelled with the opportunity to divulge his knowledge, and the grin spread across his face quickly enough.

"That is precisely the spark that ignited the flames of war. When Arachne sacrificed a human, her fellow witch, and placed their souls within an inanimate object, such an act not only angered her fellow witches, but caught the attention of the Shinigami as well... the one who had passed. Arachne fled 800 years ago, her soul divided into small spiders to hide and lie in wait. In the interim, the weapons made families, continued the bloodline and spread, using their power to defeat the witches that swore allegiance to Arachne, hoping to drive her out if not eliminate her completely. ...For she, and her family, are not only influential to other witches seeking to spread chaos, but they are fond of human experimentation as well."

"Arachne was defeated a year ago. Her soul created the Deathscythe 'Soul Eater' Evans. But the war is far from over. Her dear sister, Medusa, the witch of snakes... she is Shibusen's current target. She created the Black Blood of Madness in hopes to make 'perfect weapons' in her sister's stead. The witches we fight now work directly beneath Medusa, testing the black blood's effects on the world while capturing humans and driving them to madness, feeding them to each other to create new kishin eggs. As for the remaining witches, the ones who feel no love for Arachne or her wicked sister... they exist, but have presumably gone into hiding. I suppose when a witch and her forces are able to kill the Shinigami, death itself... it pays to be cautious, hm?"

As he explained, she sat in a kitchen chair, pulled her Keds on and tied the laces. Her brow furrowed as she tried to take it all in.

"This all sounds rather difficult to believe. Are you telling me one single witch started this whole mess? And why make Weapons if they're capable of killing their own kind? That seems like playing with fire."

Okay, she's ready to leave now...

"My suspicions speak of the possibility of using the humans for her own ends. To have humans under her thrall that can change forms to something she can use herself, perhaps... but such a theory is far-fetched."

He tipped his head.

"...Shall we be off?"

"So, an army of minions? That still sounds like a risky way of doing things." But then, it was kind of like people who tried to summon and control demons, wasn't it?

She nodded as she stood up.

"All right. Let's go find this Baba Yaga and put an end to her troublemaking."

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EVENT: The Great BREW Malfunction Pt 1 [OPEN]

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