006 ~*~ In which loyalties are tested

[not_so_great_wall]

[ Phone : Open ]
I had to go to work today. People are killing each other left and right and it was like nothing was different at school. [ Meiling's characteristic carefree nature is absent from her tone. The past few days have been hard on her, even in isolation, as she cannot escape the emotional aftermath of all this senseless bloodshed.

And the strangest part of this? She hasn't hurt a soul. ] I don't get it -- don't people care?

[ There is a brief pause. ] They had me clean up after a fight, too... [ You would think that wouldn't unnerve someone who has lived as long as she has, but... ]

I can't believe this place.

[ Her voice drops. ] What if I saw him there? I could've-- [ She cuts herself off with a sharp slam of the handset onto the receiver. ]

[ Action : 340 Brady Lane ]
[ Meiling stands at the edge of the property, the stone path behind her and strong fencing at her flanks. The concrete is cracked in a wide circle beneath her feet, as if someone had been trying to pound a heavy weight into the ground.

The post with the mailbox atop it? Distinctly absent. After receiving her letters today (there were two at once), and spying a third for Miss Patchouli, she had angrily ripped it from the ground and thrown it into the garage. When a drone had given her a questioning look, she merely smiled and waved it off stating she was doing "remodeling!", but she was all but happy about doing it.

She waited patiently and steadfast as always, with her stance wide and her arms crossed before her. There's something different about her. Maybe it's the lack of a smile. Perhaps it's a certain electricity in her blue eyes as they watch the road before her. Even her red hair is more radiant than it has been in months. It could be the light; it could be her conditioner. The truth is that Meiling is nearly whole again, and she'll need need every bit of that in order to do what must be done.

This cycle has to end.

If you approach, you'll still get a smile, but it will be somewhat forced. Empty. Distracted. ]


((OOC: Meiling made it to Round 4 without lifting a single finger. Calls may be before or after her confrontation with wizardoftheweek, but their action thread will definitely be last unless something happens with Hiccup or even Kurt!))

Comments

[wizardoftheweek.livejournal.com]

Enough. You've no place to speak to me like that. -She gives a wave of her hands, the glyphs shooting off several charges of elemental danmaku.-

[not_so_great_wall]

I didn--! [ Meiling can't even protest before she has to move, her torso twisting, legs bending, and arms fanning out to weave between the shots. Her movements are fast and fluid, but she can't hold out by dodging forever -- she'll get tired before things get worse.

Shots graze her legs as she brings her foot nearly straight up in line with her body, and then slams it down hard into the ground. The concrete ruptures with golden energy, the waves heading straight for Patchouli's feet, meant to unbalance her. ]

[wizardoftheweek.livejournal.com]

Moon and Metal Sign: "Sunshine Reflector"!!

-The blast is met by a series of reflective shields, sending it right back to Meiling.-

[not_so_great_wall]

[ Meiling rolls, right through a bush. Twigs poke and scratch at her skin, and one even catches and tears a portion of her skirt off, but she doesn't stop for a moment. Instead, she uses the momentum to take a wide curve and close the distance some. ]

[wizardoftheweek.livejournal.com]

-Patchouli waits for Meiling to get just close enough...-

Moon Sign: "Silent Selene"!!

-The trap activates, sending up high intensity lasers into Meiling.-

[not_so_great_wall]

[ She shuts her eyes against the bright blue beams of light. Though she knows that vertical clearance won't help her much, she kicks off from the ground even as the lasers sear her flesh. Her aim is to have more room to maneuver in the sky.

Meiling twirls as she soars, and disperses a colorful rain of multi-colored projectiles in all directions. It's a weak attack, scattered randomly, but should force Patchouli to move. ]

[wizardoftheweek.livejournal.com]

-Patchouli shifts to the side, grazing through the bullets as much as she could.-

[not_so_great_wall]

[ One, two, three sprays follow the first because she is hesitating. The first should have been followed up with some sort of actual offensive measure, but she just doesn't want to hurt her friend. She shouldn't have to. This wasn't a friendly duel, this was... Meiling doesn't know what this is, and she's distracted by her thoughts. ]

[wizardoftheweek.livejournal.com]

-A perfect chance, really.-

Sun Sign: "Royal Flare"!!

-And blasts away a miniature sun right towards Meiling.-

[not_so_great_wall]

[ Meiling brings up her hands and moves them a smooth, circular pattern before herself. The motions cause the very air to take on a vibrant rainbow hue and the ripples of the energy she expends protects her from most of the blast. The heat and light is intense, and even behind closed eyes it stings at every part of her. It was better to have her hair and skin and clothes singed and burned in places than to be completely obliterated.

This was Patchouli's power; her strength. Her weakness, however, is obvious to anyone who knows her well...

Arms tucked her arms in close, dropped to the ground, and then bounded swiftly toward the wizard. She just needs to be a little closer... ]

[wizardoftheweek.livejournal.com]

-Patchouli was, above all things, a strategist. And she knew that Meiling only had two options. Either backing away from the heat, a path Meiling would not take. Or, conversely, she would push through it with a chi shield in order to force Patchouli into a physical confrontation.

Which was, incidentally, exactly where Patchouli wanted her.-

Moon and Sun Sign: "Royal Diamond Ring"!! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPbdgNZOwGw&feature=player_detailpage#t=141s)

-This would, hopefully, put the gatekeeper down.-

1/2

[not_so_great_wall]

[ She expected another Flare. She would have had time to block another Flare. This golden light was bright but, unlike the last attack, it did not originate from a single point and Meiling was moving too fast. Her only chance was a suicidal move: dance through the rain.

A pair of them lance her shoulder directly. Another set streak far too close to her face for comfort and, had she been wearing the hat, it surely would have pierced her star. She cries out and stomps the ground again as she runs. It's hard enough to buckle the concrete even as it is peppered with magical energy, and she uses that force to propel her forward at an incredible speed. Her foot trails a red flare of light behind it as she arcs through the distance between them. ]

[not_so_great_wall]

[ --but it doesn't work. Even her Sky Dragon Kick doesn't move fast enough, and a tighter barrage sends her crashing to the ground. If she gets closer at all, it's only because of the way she rolls. ]

1/3

[there-were-none.livejournal.com]

[School was done for the day; it had been for awhile. Meiling had usually come to get her by now.

But she hadn't.

Normally a patient creature, Flandre had started to wander; out of boredom, some sense of unease that had permeated this dream-space. A lot of people were hiding.

At first she didn't go far; just around the schoolyard...then across this street, then another, then towards those bright lights in the distance. Sometimes they looked like rainbows.

It was in this fashion she stumbled upon the scene; at first, unbearably bright--so much that she couldn't bear looking at it. But when she could again--]

Patchouli?

...Meiling?

[What was happening? What was going on?]

2/3

[there-were-none.livejournal.com]

[Meiling was on the ground, Patchouli was over there, okay--but why was there light?





...why wasn't Meiling getting up?]

Meiling?

[Flandre starts walking towards them, taking only a very distant notice of the signs of battle; cracked concrete, burnt stones and earth and green things and why wasn't Meiling getting up.]

Meiling, Meiling!

3/3

[there-were-none.livejournal.com]

Meiling! Meiling!

[Flandre's running now; calling her guardian's name over and over and over. She seems to have forgotten Patchouli was there at all. Running, sprinting, scrambling over the fence instead of the gate, backpack and all.]

Meiling!

[wizardoftheweek.livejournal.com]

-Patchouli stood, panting, only thinking of her victory before Flandre appeared on the scene. At first, it was difficult to even notice she as there. There was none of the familiar jingling of the crystals on her "wings". No, the reality of the situation hadn't set in until...

That distressed voice. Calling out. It was... disturbingly familiar. The images of Westport flashed in her mind. Of slowly suffocating to death while Flandre cried. She had sworn that day to make certain she never had to cry like that again.

What had she done? The fight ran from her, and she found herself collapsing to her hands and knees. Was this all really worth it? What would Shiki and Alice say to her, seeing her like this? What would Remi have said? Or even Marisa?

Disgusting... she was disgusting.-

[not_so_great_wall]

[ For a while, there was nothing but darkness, and the smell of burned flesh and cloth and earth. She couldn't move a muscle. She couldn't even open her eyes. Meiling wanted nothing more than to take hold of the ground, to push herself upright, to get back into the fight.

Was the fight over? Did she lose? Is that... it?

Who is that calling?
I'm here!
I'm right here!!
Hello!?

No sounds made it into the air, and the flexing of her fingers became a desperate fight to just do something. Anything. Move! ]

--dre? [ It's Flandre. That can only be Flandre calling her like that. But what's with that tone? ]

[ No. No no no NO. She should not be here. She should be at school! She should be safe and waiting for her and not here where this was happening. Come on, Meiling. GET. UP.

She coughed. ] --n.

[there-were-none.livejournal.com]

[Flandre reached the gatekeeper's side, fretting and worrying all the more when she didn't move. Flandre started to shake Meiling's shoulder, as if trying to wake her from sleep.]

Meiling, Meiling! Get up, Meiling!

[...she heard a little something. A little bit of her guardian's voice. The little vampire grabbed one of Meiling's arms and tried to lift her up, but she was very, very small. And weak. At most she barely managed to lift one of her shoulders off the scorched ground.

But Flandre kept trying; too distressed to stop.]

[wizardoftheweek.livejournal.com]

-Very slowly, Patchouli crawled over to the other two. She could... She could still do this, at least...-

Sun and Wood Sign: "Photosynthesis"...

-The gentle light washed over Meiling, hopefully restoring at least a little bit of the damage Patchouli had done in her selfish rage...-

[not_so_great_wall]

[ Meiling took in a loud, pained breath. Her shoulder was most certainly dislocated from the way she hit the ground, and though the smaller girl was trying to help, it was not working as she hoped. ] --n't, aah!

[ But that was motion. Her own muscles responded, to try and tug the arm away. As the healing energy washed over her, she cracked open first one eye, then the other.

She rolled over onto her back, and squinted up at the faces she saw. Blond and ... purple? Her face was turned toward the wizard, no matter if she had to crane her neck uncomfortably to do so. ] ....why?

[there-were-none.livejournal.com]

[Flandre paused when she heard Meiling cry out--then froze up, even though her instinct was to hang on when the gatekeeper tried to pull away. The magic startled her, though--and she dropped Meiling's arm as if it burned.

Then she backed away, hands folded awkwardly behind her (there was still a backpack in the way). She had messed up again.

The vampire made a whining, keening noise; partly apologetic, mostly worried.]

[wizardoftheweek.livejournal.com]

It's alright, Flandre... Meiling and I just had a small fight. It's all better now...

-She began to tear up.-

I can't ask you to forgive me...

[not_so_great_wall]

That's-- [ Deep breaths, Meiling. Talking was still kind of hard. ] That's right, Flandre... I'll be okay.

[ Then she turns her attention to her friend, and reaches up with the arm she can actually move, to put her hand on the wizard's cheek. There is such relief to be found in the woman's remorse, and Meiling manages a smile. ] You don't have to ask. I knew you'd be back.

[there-were-none.livejournal.com]

[Another whine. That didn't...seem to explain everything. Or most things.

And why was Patchouli crying?]

...will Meiling get up?