Scene #5713: Not Enough Time

Owner	Pose
Krusty	Another request from the Round Table Alliance, but this time the designated meeting point is not in the city of Akihabara. Instead, those who sign up for the request are directed to meet at a set of coordinates at the designated time. Said coordinates lead to a ridge overlooking a village, presumably the one mentioned in the request: Longfeld. The village is of moderate size as far as 'villages' go, looking to have a population of around a thousand people. There's nothing obviously unusual about the village from the exterior. No signs of attack or strange happenings. People can be seen walking its streets, happily going about their day like any other. Also unlike previous quests, it is not Krusty who meets the party that have signed up for today's quest. Instead a young woman with impressively large, blonde hair patiently awaits the arrival of everyone. Where Krusty gives off a sense of laid-back charm, looking at this woman instead suggests an attitude of calm refinement. When people begin arriving, the woman gives them polite greetings but waits until all have arrived before she starts, "Greetings, everyone. My name is Rieze. I am one of the second-in-commands of D.D.D. Unfortunately my lord, Krusty, is occupied with Alliance business and could not act as guide today so I am here in his place." Rieze sweeps her hand out towards the village before them, "This is the town of Longfeld, belonging to the People of the Land. As mentioned in the quest description, traffic in and out of the town has all but halted. Long range scouting has not revealed any obvious reason for this, so we will have to investigate more closely." Hands clasped in front of her again, she looks at those gathered, "Any questions?"
Silica	Silica comes flying in on her yellow fairy wings made of light. They trail little motes in her wake, absorbing the midday sunlight to maintain power. Pina flies along beside the Cait Sith, winging over in formation as Silica turns to begin descending. She circles down, bleeding off speed before landing near to Rieze, the wings folding down then vanishing without a trace. She listens to the explanation, ears twitching a little before she looks over to the village. "Yeah... where would be the best place to start?" she asks, petting Pina as the dragonling lands on her shoulder.
Ryu	Today, a dragon has showed up to help. When he arrives, he does so without much of a word of introduction besides "Ryu," which the Japanese people that might be present would know just means 'Dragon.' He doesn't seem to be trying to be clever. He arrived abruptly from the sky, as if he had been invisible until he was about twenty feet above everyone. (He was.) "No," Ryu answers, not knowing what he should be looking for. He sets a serious look on his face for a second, and with a shimmer of gentle light he changes shape from that of a fae-like dragon to that of a blue-haired young man. He checks the satchel on his hip -- which he had been carrying in his dragon form -- to make sure everything is in order, and then he begins to approach the village. He doesn't wait for Silica's question to get answered, too impulsive to stand around twiddling his thumbs. If allowed, he'll try to approach the town, his eyes and nose tuned for anything magical or strange in scent. Ryu's intention is to just ask the residents why they aren't leaving town.
Yuuki Konno	Yuuki's approach is a little more reckless than Silica's. She doesn't try to keep up with a tiny dragon for one thing, or with Silica for that matter. Her black-and-starry-sky wings blur as she zooms around to check one thing and another before zooming back to keep company with her flying frineds. When Yuuki DOES touch down, she does so in an abrupt and literally headlong plummet. At the last moment she flares her wings, pulling out of the dive in a maneuver that would do an eagle proud, and turns a midair somersault before touching daintily to the ground, obviously in complete control. The girl's addicted to speed, or rather to velocity, but at the same time seems to be perfectly in control of that addiction. Doing it because she enjoys it, not because she has to. Once down she bounds over enthusiastially to Silica, glomping onto the other small girl's arm. She raises one hand when asked for questions. "Oooh!" she calls out, bouncing up and down as much as she can while still clinging to her friend. "What does DDD stand for again?" she asks. "And why would people normally visit this place anyways? Like, for reasons that would normally make them want to stay? Or are they like being kidnapped or murdered on the road or something? OH! And are the cakes REALLY good?"
Krusty	Rieze has had enough experience in the Multiverse that she is not surprised as the faeries arrive on wings of light. Pina does draw a little smile from Rieze, being a little cute dragon and all. The somewhat larger dragon that is Ryu is a bit more surprising to her, especially as he talks. However she takes his existence, and his transformation, in stride. But it's Yuuki's initial question that draws the most reaction from the calm woman, Rieze smiling as she responds, "I'll leave it to my lord to answer that at some point." Addressing Yuuki's second question, Rieze explains, "The People of the Land are very attached to their home towns, so while they do travel often, primarily for trade, they rarely stay for very long. Especially in a town such as this, which is not well known for its trade." It might make sense for a trader to stay some time at one of the large towns with larger markets, but not this place. At the question of greatest importance, Rieze nods with a smile, "Oh, of course. Kanako and her guild, Danceteria, are well known for making excellent cakes." But finally it's Silica's question which encourages the group to begin, "Well, I believe the ideal starting point is-" Rieze pauses for a moment as she watches Ryu begin to head off towards the town. She looks a little amused as she finishes, "-to head into town and start asking around." That said, Rieze begins to follow the dragon-man. Heading into town is relatively uneventful. Walking down one of the main streets results in neither surprise monster attacks nor unusual happenings. The people of the town are all rather friendly towards the newcomers. There are actually quite a few of them who are visitors to the town. And when approached with questions, they all respond with the same general responses along the lines of 'I haven't yet finished my business yet.' or 'I only just arrived!' In fact, the more that the party questions, the more they might begin to realize that there are in fact a lot of visitors, and a lot of them have apparently only arrived within the past day.
Silica	Silica oofs as she's glommed on by Yuuki. She lifts her free hand, and boops the Imp on the nose lightly. "I need that arm, Miss Zekken." she says good naturedly. She tugs on her arm to get it out of Yuuki's grasp, then heads over to follow the others. Asking questions starts to make the young looking Cait Sith frown. "This is odd... It's like they don't know time's passed or something. There's so many visitors here, it's hard to find a local." She heads over towards a shop, poking in to ask the owner about the visitors instead of stopping random folks on the street.
Yuuki Konno	Yuuki's completely oblivious to personal space, largely due to her having spent most of her formative years either in a hospital or in a MMO where NPCs have no grasp of the concept. Still she isn't one to ignore a friend's simple request and so lets Silica reclaim her arm, grinning all the while. She moves enthusiastically into position with the group, heading into town with a bounce to her step. Well, more of a step to her bounce. She only slows as the group begins to get answers and, well, confusion sets in. "Wait, this can't be right!" Yuuki complains to no one in particular. "How long did people take to get here? They can't ALL just be arriving can they?" she asks, then glances up at Riese. "Do you know of anyone in particular? Can you identify anyone who's gone missing and how long they've been gone for?" Yuuki's not dumb, after all. She seems flighty, but that's only because she has fun with her full heart, holding nothing back. When it comes time to act, or even time to think, she does THAT with her full heart as well.
Ryu	The more Ryu talks to people, the more it seems like nobody that is here actually belongs here. He looks increasingly confused, until he gets a very uncomfortable with what's going on here. He stops speaking to the visitors and tries to seek out some townsfolk to talk to. Unfortunately, this does not mean he does anything sensible like check a bar or a local store. No, he finds the nearest actual house. Then he'd just try to walk right in without a second thought. If the door's unlocked, he'll try to step inside without knocking. Otherwise, he'll loudly rattle doorknobs or latches and check windows for activity. "Hello? Can anyone answer some questions? It's very important."
Krusty	Rieze starts to look a little concerned as the group keeps questioning the visitors. Like the others she's definitely getting the feeling that something odd is happening. As Yuuki asks her about specifics, Rieze does nod, "We've been given the names of about a dozen people confirmed as missing. Some have been gone for at least a couple of weeks. Considering the dangerous nature of this world, the occasional person going missing while travelling isn't that unusual. Typically they run afoul of some monsters. So it wasn't until more such events emerged that the nobles of these lands started to see a pattern and put the request in to the Alliance." Unfortunately for Silica, she happens to find the one unfriendly person around. The grumpy shop owner barks, "Whaddya want?" At the question he huffs, "Yeah, too many visitors if you ask me. Bunch of strangers just showing up all at the same time. It's like some kind of freaky whatchamacallit thing. Probably that damn mage's doing." He wipes his nose on his shirt sleeve, "Can't complain though, good for business." He eyes Silica, "Now you gonna buy something or what?" He grumbles something about 'darned kids' under his breath. As Ryu walks through the unlocked door into the nearest home, he can see a young woman cooking in the kitchen. As he speaks up, she doesn't seem startled by his entrance. Instead she turns to smile at him, "Oh, hello! You look new to town, you must be one of those Adventurers. Please, have this as a welcoming gift to our town!" She produces a bottle with a red liquid in it, handing it over to Ryu. As he begins to ask the same questions as others, the housewife hmmms in thought then says, "If you're looking into something strange, then you could try looking at the Mage Tower at the other end of town?"
Ryu	Ryu looks briefly startled when he's handed a bottle with something red in it. He accepts it with a smile, and then digs in his bag and produces a little jar and puts it on her counter. "Healing herbs," he tells her, "They're a moderate natural painkiller. Thanks!" He doesn't even question what the bottle is supposed to be, he just puts it in his bag. He then turns to leave, because he's got his lead. He soon returns to the others and lingers near them after telling them... "There's a mage nearby, in a tower," he says, with an animated conversational gesture, "This looks like some serious magic. These people are trapped in some kind of loop. Fixing this would take me too much time to do one at a time..." He glances around, frowning in concern at all of the seemingly trapped visitors. "The missing people are probably like this, too." "If the mage didn't cause it, they're probably looking into it. No one in their right mind would see this kind of thing and not immediately start worrying," he says, deeply discomforted by the unknowing capture of these poor souls. "Keep on guard," he adds, "If we got directed there, the townsfolk are probably hit, too, and are only telling us to pull us into a trap." That's... a lot more talking than he did initially. He seems confident about this now that he thinks it could be a magical curse.
Yuuki Konno	Given some degree of confirmation of her worries, Yuuki immediately dashes off to accost some of the visitors to the town. Fortunately her bright demeanor and nonthreatening stature make this sort of dash-and-chat more endearing than hostile to most. She treats them like NPCs in a VRMMO. That is, she treats them like people. Having lived so long in a 'real' MMO, she doesn't particularly see differences between the two even though she knows intellectually they exist. "So where are you from?" "Oh really? It must have taken you WEEKS to get here!" "How were the roads?" "When are you going home?" The questions go quickly, often several to one particular group, then some of them repeated to others. She's not rude about it. Well, not deliberately-so. A bit abrupt, but with an artless innocence to it that tends to make adults go 'ah kids' rather than get upset. She also keeps an eye out for her teammates too, of course. One eye on the shop where Silica went to, and one on the house Ryu entered. And two eyes on whoever she's speaking to... not all at once of course. She's fast but she's not THAT fast. She is pretty good at multitasking though, and at positioning herself in battle. This, despite being conversation, is a lot like a battle... and she just happens to approach people from an angle that lets her naturally face her friends and see what's up.
Silica	Silica assumes a very carefully cultivated neutral face at the rude shopkeeper. "The mage? Where would I find the Mage?" she asks, picking up an item from the shelf, setting it on the counter with a small handful of coins, and leaning in. "I will pay for the information, of course." The Cait Sith and her little familiar both stare intently at the shopkeeper, an air of menace emanating from them even with the pleasant smile set on Silica's lips.
Krusty	As the Imp darts from visitor to visitor she gets numerous responses to her questions: 'Maihama.' 'Oou city.' 'Loweroll.' 'None of your business.' 'Several days for sure.' 'Nah, it's only about a day's travel.' 'Just about a week. To take even longer you'd have to be from one of the other territories!' 'A little rough, but fine.' 'A few monsters got close, but thankfully didn't attack.' 'Oh, I'm just here for the afternoon.' 'I'll probably be a few days.' 'You're cute, will you be my girlfriend?' The shop owner engages in a staredown with Silica and Pina which lasts for several loooong moments... Until he finally gives in, taking the coins and mumbling, "South end of town, large stone tower. Can't miss it." He then turns away, making himself look busy. As the group all rejoin with their results, Rieze nods along as she listens. To provide some background, she explains, "While most magic in this world is performed by us Adventurers, there are occasionally some People of the Land who use magic. Mage is the general term for them." She looks to the south, "I suggest we start there." It doesn't take too long for the group to make their way through the town. There are a few large buildings in it, but none really match the description as precisely as the tower that comes into view. It's a little separated from the other buildings around it, sitting within a well-maintained plot of grass. It definitely fits the bill: A somewhat large stone tower. As they get close, those attuned to magic can definitely sense something unusual coming from inside.
Silica	Silica gives a big sweet smile to the shopkeeper. "Thank you for your time~." she trills merrily, before turning to leave. She radios her intent to the others, before heading towards the large stone tower on the south edge of town. "Why is it always 'A Wizard Did It'? I mean, c'mon, that's so cliche it isn't even funny anymore." she grumbles, earning a cheekbump from Pina. "Okay, okay..." Silica scritches under Pina's chin, giggling softly. "Sorry Pina."
Ryu	Ryu dutifully follows along with others. While not exactly in one cohesive group, he does eventually get to the tower. He just uses a different methods. Soft light shines around him, and then his wings spread, and he flies up into the air. His ascent is so rapid that if you blinked you would miss it, and all that he leaves behind is a soft breeze. Then he makes his way over to the tower and approaches it from the sky, and hovers in the air, his wings sparkling and glowing like stationary dragonfly wings, the veins glowing with powerful light in arcane patterns. He doesn't state the obvious here, when he senses magic from a mage's house. Instead, he deigns to approach the front door and doesn't seem perturbed by the idea of doing so in the least. Whoops, there he goes again, looking for a door to just go inside the building without even knocking.
Yuuki Konno	Yuuki's responses to the various people are generally polite and friendly. She thanks them, or offers them a nice day. Yes, even the one who told her none of her business. The only one that gets an odd response is the one asking her to be a girlfriend. She gets a weird look on her face, troubled and withdrawn for just a moment, before she grins widely and laughs in appreciation of what she seems to think is a joke. That laugh, however, is the first non-genuine thing she's really done all day. She's quick to dash away though, after that, waiting only long enough to not be outright rude. She joins up with the others, and by that time she seems to have returned to her default state of genuine cheer. "So. Mage tower? Mage tower." she nods. She can't tell much about the mage tower when they arrive, other than that it's a tower, yep. "So what do we have to check out? Should we knock, fly up, or just start kicking in doors and taking names?" she asks, half-joking. She doesn't really know what the others have learned yet after all.
Krusty	At Yuuki's question, Rieze opens her mouth to say something... But then Ryu just goes and enters the tower. Rieze shrugs at Yuuki and proceeds to follow him in. Assuming A Wizard Did It, one wouldn't be blamed to expect some dungeon of mystical horrors upon entering the tower. But what the group find when they enter through the once-again unlocked front door is actually a rather scholarly interior. The main room consists of two levels, the ground floor and a second floor that is partly open in the center, where the first staircase joins the two. The ground floor contains many tables and apparatuses one might expect a typical mage to have, along with a small living area. The second floor is primarily a massive bookcase stretching across almost the entire wall. The only point where it breaks is the second staircase which circles up the wall to the enclosed third floor. Judging by the sounds of magic coming from that floor, it's likely the source of whatever's happening. Going up the staircase to reach the third floor, the party is met with a concerning sight: At the center of the room there is a table, upon which sits a cube made out of a dark, pristine looking stone. Lines of glowing light trace across the surface of the cube, almost looking like circuitry. There's a hum of gathering energy coming from the cube. Surrounding the cube is a trio of dark misty figures, shadow creatures from some distant realm. They are barely humanoid in appearance, having vague shapes of arms, legs, a torso and head. Twin orbs of a dark purple glow from within their 'heads'. Two of them are roughly the same size, while the third is a fair bit larger than them. There's three swirling trails of magic passing from the cube to each of the three 'shadows', ending roughly where their mouth would be... If they had one. Meanwhile, near to where the staircase comes out a young man in robes stands, a barrier of magic light flared up around him. He looks to be struggling, but when the party arrives up the staircase, his eyes go wide, "No! No! Not now! Not enough time!" As if to emphasise the man's concern, the volume of energy from the cube begins to rise more quickly. And immediately everyone in the party will begin to feel their bodies slowly weakening, as if their life energy was being drained out.
Ryu	Ryu isn't one to sit around and talk about it with people. It's not his most redeeming quality, but it means they have someone to stand behind if something goes south. He spares the lower two floors very little notice when he realizes the occupant isn't there. The books get only a passing lookover, but a couple of apparati are named as soon as Ryu sees them, recognizing their purpose due to his experience in mystical pharmacology. He breathes a heavy sigh, realizing this is quite the collection for this mage to have collected. Stepping into the next room is... unpleasant. Ryu feels his life force weaken, but he hasn't much time to think about it. He steps forward a few steps, and his nose wrinkles as he grows nearer to the cube than the others, in case whatever is in it proves to be hostile in a moment, and he snaps at the mage...! His claws extend to full and his pupils shrink. He's pissed. He doesn't like walking into situations like this. "EXPLAIN. NOW!" His voice booms over the sounds around him.
Yuuki Konno	Not enough ... time? Yuuki's puzzled by this. She tends to let Silica take care of the more sciency stuff, at least when she's not with her fellow nerds of the Sleeping Knights. So yeah, she's a bit baffled by what's going on and just playing things by ear as they enter the wizard's tower. Only now she finds herself feeling weak, tired. Not an unusual feeling really. Since getting out of the hospital by literally transforming her life, she's had to deal with her body's incessant weakness. The avatar form is strong, healthy and able to drive Yuuki to extreme feats of speed and endurance. The body within that form, however, is frail and underdeveloped. And right now, she could really use a nap. This isn't an unusual situation, sadly. But since the effect is draining Yuuki's life force, it's not actually tapping her avatar's source of potency. She scowls, raising a hand. With a few arcane gestures she finishes, a sheathed sword materializing on her hip. The hand falls, coming to rest on the blade's pommel. And... and Yuuki begins to smile.
Silica	Silica blinks a bit as she enters the tower. The overall draining of her life force makes her wobble a bit, but that only urges her to action. She makes the same gestures as Yuuki, opening her menu and equipping her Dagger, hand then moving to grasp the grip and draw it. "Start talking and we'll shank you." Pina chirrups softly. "Oh... Start talking /or/ we'll shank you."
Krusty	The man, presumably the Mage, already looks far too concerned by what's already happening to be intimidated or even surprised by Ryu's transforming features or Silica's demand for information. He's still very forthcoming though, "The artifact is drawing life from the entire town and the creatures appear to be feeding on it, it needs to be destroyed!" Before the party has time to question the Mage further, the sound of gathering energy from the cube changes pitch, apparently reaching a critical point. The flow of magic from the cube to the three shadows suddenly cuts off. The Mage quickly looks at the changing situation, "Nonono... It's too soon! Why..." His head then quickly turns back to the party on realization and he asks, "You're Adventurers!?" Unfortunately before the party can respond, the large shadow raises its arms into the air. A beam of light launches from its chest and strikes the cube. The clash of energies is incredibly excited, unleashing a massive blast of light... ... Going up the staircase to reach the third floor, the party is met with a concerning, and familiar, sight: The cube artifact again sits upon the table in the center, the three shadows surrounding it drawing energy from it once more. Somehow, things have reset back to the point where the party arrived. Their health has been restored, but is once more being drained. However, their memories remain intact. Rieze looks quite concerned at this development, but remains quiet as she looks expectantly at the Mage. Panting heavily now, the Mage falls to one knee as he continues to maintain the magical barrier around him, "I can't hold this up much longer..." He looks pleadingly at the arriving party, "Please, you have to stop this. We've been trapped for weeks! Everything keeps resetting. At first it was only happening on a daily basis. But now that you're here..." He ponders, "Adventurers are well known to have much greater reservoirs of health. I believe it's sped up the process!"
Silica	Silica blinks as the world resets, glancing at Yuuki and giving the Imp a nod, before she brings her hands up. The Cait Sith begins to chant, norse words spinning around her, lock into place as they're spoken. She then opens her eyes and focusses on the closest 'Shadow' as she speaks the final Word of Power, firing a large ice shard at it. Whether this does anything or not is largely moot, gotta start somewhere.
Ryu	Ryu growls at the cube, and lifts his claw-tipped hands to strike the nearest target after the mage explains what this is about, but hesitates when the figure inside gestures upwards to attack. He almost manages to attack, and then the world goes white-- He's standing there, in a different posture, and has a reaction like he had just violently awoken from a dream where he was falling. His body hunches forward and his wings almost smack the others right in the face in his spasm. The change in position and the weird time ripple was not a small effect, and for someone who relies on his quick reaction speed to fight, it was the equivilant of a mental frame jump. "FINE!" He launches himself at one of the shadows. This is only apparent at the end of his arc when his claws come swinging out in several smooth arcs at the shadow, trying to cut the figure to ribbons on the spot. He is not slow or hesitant about it, and his posture is practiced and solid. Each attack is accompanied by a terrifying gust of wind...!
Yuuki Konno	Adventurers? Yuuki's grin broadens, if that's even possible. A shame her teeth aren't pointy, because it'd be appropriate right about now. It fades again however, when she realizes she's abruptly outside once again. It doesn't take much time for her to realize what's going on though. Time, resetting. The imp glances at Silica, seeing her start to chant spells. Yuuki's sword is gone again it seems, reset to back in her inventory. Well no matter, she doesn't really need a sword. Her true weapon is herself! Yuuki breaks into a run, heading for the chamber with the three shadows. She doesn't bother with stairs, letting others take that route while she wall-runs instead. On the way she calls out her wings for more speed. It's that or her sword, and really she'd rather get there fast! "I'll show you the health of an adventurer!" Yuuki calls out, launching into a flying kick at one of the shadows. Faster than a speeding bullet, perhaps not... but a speeding imp is still pretty fast!
Krusty	The first to strike is Silica. Her large ice shard streaks across the room to strike one of the two small shadows. It unleashes an unholy cry as it evaporates into nothing. The other small shadow acts almost immediately, halting its feeding and raising its pseudo-arm towards Silica. The swirling darkness that makes it up suddenly reshapes into a spike form and extends rapidly at a speed unable to be tracked by all but those with the most superhuman levels of reflexes. Unfortunately for her, Silica is unlikely to qualify. The resulting damage from the arm-stab can only be described as Critical. It's only moments after launching its attack that the remaining small shadow is struck down by Ryu's claws. Like its fellow it unleashes a cry before evaporating. That simply leaves the large one remaining. Yuuki's speed-kick strikes the large shadow, causing it to let out a cry similar to others. However, unlike them it doesn't vanish. It simply floats backwards, as if stumbling. Apparently the large one is a bit stronger than the other two Sensing the threat, the large shadow ends its feeding and raises its arms once more. And in a repeat of previous events, a beam of light launches from its chest and strikes the cube artifact. The reaction is exciting as there is a large blast of light... ... Going up the staircase to reach the third floor, the party is met with a concerning, and familiar, sight: Everything is back to how it was when they first arrived. Even the two smaller shadows that had been struck down have returned. Once more all three are content to feed off the artifact. The Mage groans from his fatigue, before finally succumbing, "No more..." The magic barrier around him vanishes and he falls to his knees. Rieze moves over and kneels beside the Mage, checking his condition, before turning her head to inform the others, "He's exhausted." The Mage looks up from his kneeling position, pleading with what strength he has left, "This needs to stop..." With a flourish of her cape, Rieze stands once more. A few swipes of her finger later and a wand materializes in the air in front of her. Grabbing the weapon, she raises it towards the shadows, "I recommend we concentrate on the large one. It appears to be the cause of the reset."
Ryu	Ryu appears where he was before, and his head snaps to the side. He looks right at that artifact. And a dumb idea rolls through his head. He moves with speed only Yuuki would be able to track, clearing the space to the cube in the blink of an eye. His claws go out to grab at the cube, and almost as soon as he's got his claws around it, he picks the nearest available window, crouches in the next visible fraction of a second, and leaves nothing but shattered furniture behind him and a blown-out window in front of him as he fires himself out of the tower as fast as he possibly can. It is very loud and sudden. It might be hard to spot what he just did if one is distracted. And that is the intent. He just... isn't considering the shrapnel and pain that he will experience due to his recklessness, or the horrific energy drain he might get.
Yuuki Konno	Yuuki lets out a cry of frustration as they're reset again. Well okay... she does realize that the large shadowy thing deliberately chose to stop its action to reset time. So the time of their arrival itself doesn't matter so much, just as long as they arrive with sufficient speed to stop it from acting. "Silica!" Yuuki calls. "Hit it as close to my attack time as you can. Maximum damage on first strike!" she calls. She nods to Rieze, taking the time to summon her sword and her wings. Maximum damage... that means she's going to have to lead with her strongest attack. She takes a few more moments, gathering her energy. Giving Ryu time to get ahead. Then with a cry of fury, Yuuki launches herself like a missile at the largest shadow. Her sword comes back, couched low, and she all but stalls midair as she flares her wings and thrusts out. One attack.... no, five, striking back and forth so quickly it's like a single slash. Then back again, another five thrusts, blade blurring like the needle of a sewing machine. A flare of violet light and one last mighty thrust as her momentum carries her into the shadow itself... possibly even through it, depending on how successful they are.
Silica	Silica screams as the arm stabs through her chest, emerging from the other side. Her HP bar plummets, passing yellow, to orange, to red, before winking out completely. She starts to tumble backwards, her Cait Sith avatar shattering as the normal form of Keiko Ayano falls, blood soaking her clothes. Then the world reverts, and Silica gasps, clutching quickly at her chest. Yuuki's cry gets her moving, summoning her Dagger and deploying her pets. Nana the Winged Serpent, Nana the Boarfrost, and Kobayashi the Hawkbat. She clicks her tongue, ordering the pets into action as she follows Yuuki up the stairs, wallrunning behind her. She leaps up and over, landing opposide the Shadow as Yuuki begins her attack. Silica clicks her tongue, and time seems to slow for her perspective. She sees the rapid flashes of Zekken's Ultimate Blade Technique, barely even able to track them with her SAO honed reflexes. That doesn't stop her from joining in, giving a kiai as Kobayashi uses a Buff spell, boosting her Agility. Pina and Nana work to smother the shadow with Crowd Control effects, while Nana imbues Silica's blade with Wind element magic. The blade itself glows, forming a mix of Ice and Wind that boils along the blade edge, while she works to stab the Shadow. Three rapid strikes, a downward hack then an uppercut slash, causing her to backflip away into a crouch.
Krusty	Horrific energy drain indeed! From the moment that Ryu touches the cube artifact the drain on his life increases exponentially! By an estimate, he probably couldn't hold onto the thing for more than a minute or two before it drains him dry. But for now, a minute is all he needs as he's suddenly blasting out of the tower, beginning to speed away from it and the town. Back inside the tower, the shadows halt their feeding now that their food source is gone. They don't show any other reaction to his setback, making one wonder if they even have emotions... Well, they do have the capacity for pain. Or so their cries suggest. As the large shadow comes under attack from a combination by both Yuuki and Silica, its body distorts, forming long misty spikes of darkness all across it. With each strike against it the two need to get close, risking their arms and bodies getting cut up by those sharp points of nothingness. But the pain is worth it, as the shadow's cries suggest. Rieze was about to join in with her own magic, however it seems unnecessary as the large shadow suddenly evaporates from the final strikes. She looks relieved... That is until she notices the movement from the other two. The two small shadows fly across the room, colliding into each other and swirling around for a few moments. Their forms merge, growing together until finally there is just one... A larger one. Turning towards the now empty table, the newly formed large shadow raises its arms in the air. Surely it isn't...? Indeed, a beam fires from its chests towards the point where the cube artifact used to be. But it's not there now, right? No, it isn't, but it WAS there and in a potentially revealing display of their nature and connection to time, the beam strikes that supposedly empty spot. A familiar reaction ignites, a large flash of light engulfing the room. But it doesn't end there, from his path through the sky, Ryu can see the light spreading out across the whole town and even further and it's not something he can outfly. The light engulfs him too, before finally fading away some distance outside of town... ...... Going up the staircase to reach the third floor, the party is met with a concerning, and by now very familiar sight. Sighing somewhat in frustration, Rieze moves to check on the Mage, who is currently on his knees, panting. He looks up, pleading with what strength he has left, "This needs to stop..." Apparently that barrier was maintaining his existence outside of the resets... But no more. Standing once more, Rieze hmmms, "There's four of us... It took two to destroy the large one." She looks at the shadows still content to feed off the artifact, "I would hope you all understand what needs to be done?"
Silica	Silica growls in frustration more than pain. The large shadow goes down, but the smaller ones unite, and before she can release from Skill Stun... Running back up the stairs, she leaps back at the large shadow, releasing her pets in the same manner as before and setting up for the cross strike with Yuuki. She holds, letting the power well up inside, letting it bubble, build, until it reaches its peak. While this happens, she gives a plan over radio, hoping everyone can hear it. Magenta eyes dart, taking in the others positions. "SWITCH!" she cries, then plows into Undyne's Requiem once more, taking the damage by proxy from the shadow. She only has to hope the others make it in time.
Ryu	Ryu feels his life drain from him, but surely this affected the outcome. The frustration is already getting to him, and he glances back as the light catches up to him even at the speeds he is going. His eyes widen, and he braces this time, because if it didn't work he'll have to try a new idea. Which-- He's standing there in the third floor again, but already getting into a ready posture. He coils like a spring, and when instructed to attack on time with the others, he nods and smiles with a mixture of mania and fury. "Got it!" Then they start, and he doesn't mess around. His feet push off the ground, and he balls up into the air. His wings flutter to push him along at the right angle, and his body uncoils. His feet, taloned almost in a manner like a dinosaur, are both pushed out for the center of mass of the shadow he was assigned to attack.
Yuuki Konno	Reset once again, Yuuki lets out a moan of frustration. She nods, however, as Rieze hints at a plan. While Yuuki could carve up more than one shadow if she chose to use something other than Mother's Rosario to attack with, nothing put out the pure DPS like her signature move. She could attack that fast easily enough, but it's the Sword Skill's ability to channel mana into extra attack that really makes it shine. So to speak. She grins at Silica, mopping at her headband more out of habit than tiredness. This may be mentally-exhausting, but physically she's as strong as ever. And then she's off, blurring up to speed, breaking into the same combo as before. Because hey, why not? It's not like the shadow creature has much chance of bypassing her speed and somehow defending itself even if it knows what's coming, right? She'll take damage, but then that's what her armor's for. It keeps her most vital areas protected, channeling the deeper strikes to her extremities while rendering vital-area strikes shallow. Painful, yes, but so what? Pain is something she can live with.
Krusty	The one to take charge of the plan and the timing is Silica! Their food source isn't stolen this time, so the shadows appear content to continue feeding... At least, the two smaller ones do. The larger one, in a potential display of intelligence, recognises the threat. It ceases feeding just as the group begin their attack. Unlike its attackers, it doesn't repeat the same move. Instead it chooses a different one and as the two fairies cut and slice and stab into its misty form, it forms countless small spikes across its body, which then shoot outwards in all directions. No where in the room is safe as the spike sweep through the air. Just as Yuuki and Silica are caught by the spikes in their attack, so too are Ryu and Rieze. However, the spikes are not enough to stop the four. As Silica and Yuuki finish their combined assault against the large shadow, Ryu's double-talon-dropkick strikes the center of one of the smaller shadows. At the same time, the spell that Rieze had been preparing is unleashed, spears of light piercing through the other small shadow. All three shadows evaporate with a cry and the room goes silent... ... Silent except for the hum of gathering energy coming from the artifact. The four can feel it. It's still draining their health. At least, it is until Rieze raises her wand towards it. Magic flares around her and without hesitation she says, "Energy Fraction." The artifact glows and then their is a massive burst of light... ... The light fades and everyone is still in place. On the table, the shattered stone remains of the cube artifact. Rieze slowly lowers her wand, satisfied that the situation has been resolved. From his position on the floor, injured from the spike attack but not dead, the Mage breathes a sigh of relief, "It's over..."
Ryu	Splut! Blood spatters the floor from Ryu getting hit by the spikes...! But he hadn't been stopped, and when all is said and done, he's standing there with his eyes adjusting to the flash and his mind adjusting to temporal vertigo. He checks his body for any embedded shadow spikes, sneering at the damage, and he spends a minute regenerating his wounds. He feels exhausted from phantom wounds and all the effort he went into, and he may not have been able to deal with the time loops forever. "I can tend to everyone's wounds in a minute," he announces, as he settles on the floor and lets his mind catch up with this just being over.
Yuuki Konno	Yuuki collapses, more from mental exhaustion than physical injury, as her final strike tears through the shadow. She can see the others striking home, see and hear the shadows cry, and then there's only silence. Silence broken by the hum of the crystal, and the power that breaks it. With a huge sigh, Yuuki looks up. "You're a pretty amazing mage!" she grins to Rieze. She doesn't know many who specialize in magic to the exclusion of weapon play. Siune's one of course, and Asuna and Silica both mix magic with weapons, but most of the rest of her friends are hardcore melee specialists.
Silica	Those spikes strike the metal brestplate covering Silica's vitals. They nearly knock her out of her Sword Skill, but she finishes, red damage decals showing all across her body as she flops down onto her back. The mental acrobatics needed to keep up with all this taxing her to her limit. "It's over..." she parrots the local Mage, before sitting back up, staring at him. "Okay, so, spill. What the everloving monkey doodle did you DO!?"
Krusty	As Ryu offers to assist with her wounds, Rieze responds, "Thank you, but perhaps your healing efforts are better spent on the mage here. The fortitude of the People of the Land is not quite at the same level as an Adventurer like myself." Granted, as a Mage he's probably tougher then the average person, but still no where near an Adventurer. Besides, Rieze proves herself prepared as she reaches beneath her guild uniform, her hand returning with a familiar looking bottle of red liquid. Drinking the healing potion down, she lets it slowly work its magic restoring her HP. At Yuuki's compliment, Rieze responds with a soft smile, "Thanks. Your swordsmanship is certainly on par with some of the best Akihabara has to offer." The Mage takes a few more moments to recover from his fatigue, before explaining, "Some miners uncovered the artifact while digging a new tunnel. Recognizing its magical nature, they brought it to me for study." He laughs a little sheepishly, "During which I maaaaay have accidentally activated it." He goes a little more solemn though, "After further study I realized it was draining the Essence of everyone in town." At the no doubt blank looks, he explains, "Essence is essentially the energy of the body." He looks at Rieze, "You Adventurers refer to it as Health Points." The Mage continues, "Fortunately it was only draining small amounts... But with all these people, it added up. And shortly after... They appeared." He speaks of the shadows, "From observation, I could tell they were eating the essence that the artifact was gathering. Initially I didn't realise what the daily releases of light were... Until I started noticing an odd trend in town. More and more visitors arriving in town on the same day. And after consulting the locations of star constellations and long distance observation of our surroundings... I realised we were repeating the same day. I was thankfully able to form a barrier to protect my memories, but it took a toll on my mind." He breathes for a moment, then says, "As for what those creatures were... I'm not entirely sure..." To the above, Rieze ponders out loud, "There exist manifestations of the elements in this world." To Silica and Yuuki she says, "The Undine that you fought with during your last quest are an example of a water elemental monster." Apparently someone has been telling her about what has been happening in previous quests! Rieze continues with her thought process, "Just as there exists magic skills of the water element, there are skills that have a time element to them. They're not common, but they do exist. Perhaps these monsters were one variety of that elemental manifestation."