The Arena of Depravity {darkest_fate&Periodical}

[darkest_fate]

the swirling magics dropped the thin girl onto the middle of the arena floor. Breathless, Garnet til Alexandros, commonly known to her friends as Dagger, looked around. Bits of her recently shorn black hair fluttered across the top of her head while she turned. Dark eyes darted around frantically, while the girl stumbled about to regain herself. She felt as though she'd been hit with a confusion effect, her mind constantly swirling. She'd heard something thud beside her: one of her friends? What had been happening?

Dagger vaguely recalled a temple... the fiends, maybe? It was all very blurry. She felt something ruffling the white of her garb, just nudging it against the leather jumper that covered most of her. Said brown leather extended over her shoulders and clung to her lithe frame, emphasizing her slight curves without making her look too slutty. It was an adventurer's outfit, which was why she'd picked it when she'd set out so very long ago now. There had been others then, Zidane, Vivi. Now Dagger didn't see anyone.

She fumbled on the ground for a moment, gloved hands kicking about the dust and cobblestones. Stones. The temple? Dagger grabbed something, her rod, and she pulled it up. At least she had that, and she could feel her magic within her. She wasn't helpless, despite looking very much like a helpless teenage girl.

"So where am I?" she wondered, blinking and looking around. It was then that she thought she noticed something, a shimmer in the distance. It seemed as though she were in some sort of strange... coliseum of some sort? An arena, perhaps? And she could swear she saw magic forming a sort of barrier to cut her off from what she assumed was the audience. So someone was watching her? Was this some sort of trap? Could her mother... no, her mother was gone. She remembered that. Dagger gripped the rod tighter. She could still summon, still cast, still use her rod if it came to it.

"So what is this about? "she wondered, taking a few cautious steps, wanting to explore around her. The air felt thick, but she couldn't say if that was with anticipation or the actual environment around her. The girl swallowed again, eyes flicking about. this felt like when she'd explored the forest of the fiends, or any of the other countless ruins they'd explored together. Except now she was alone: not a single companion, and she knew she'd miss Zidane's dagger, Vivi's magic, Steiner's sword, Freya's spear, Eiko's magical backup... yes, this did not look good.

"But I can do it," she murmured, tightening her grip on her rod. "I'm stronger now. I can do this," she took a deep breath, mentally readying summons, ready to blast the first thing that looked like a fiend breathed out of the Mist.

 

[Periodical]

Large flood lights from above began to turn on with a loud clang, and once the magical barrier was finished, the final of the five lights had illuminated nearly all of the arena. This time, the ground was cobblestone, hand placed by some poor slave. The lights, had caused a sort of spotlight effect in the center of the arena, but there was enough dark spots along the outside and near the barrier where there was literally almost zero visibility. This was for a few reasons. There would be no time to prepare, and it put an individual's ability to fight at the focus of things, as opposed to one's ability to aim.

The other point to mention about the barrier, it let in noise. Flooding and echoing now, the sound of rabid fans in the crowd started to grow and grow. They were getting so loud, it was almost as though the ground started to shake and move. They were stomping their feet, some yelling in a language similar to English, others yelling in something that was completely out of left field. Ultimately, this was an arena, and Garnet would be one of the main events.

For a moment, the crowd silenced, leaving Garnet to her own thoughts, before a shadow jumped out of the dark. The creature was a canine like creature. It's ears pointed like that of a German Shepard, but it's face was much darker and had much more pronounced angles. It's body, rippled with muscle, and long fingers were wrapped around a sort of golden staff. Standing slowly, the creature was tall, standing at more than 7 foot, but not much more than 7 and a half feet. It's ears had made up a little of the distance. Bare muscle stared down the poor girl, and the only piece of clothing on the creature was a torn loin cloth.

This was a creature that had a better sense of smell, and a better sense of hearing than a normal human would, but where it lacked was it's eyesight. It could move quick though, whether it be travelling on all fours or just running like a human would.

An announcer's voice overhead announced the loud name of the creature and the crowd sprang back to life, changing the name: "Magnus! Magnus! Magnus!"

The creature stretched for a moment, and one by one, a few more creatures, similar to the larger one stepped out. These were much smaller, wearing similar garb, but their faces and snouts were a little more rounded. They didn't look quite as strong, or fast, and these creature were completely blind.

The larger creature Magnus was staring down the girl. Tension filled the air, and after less than a minute, Magnus raised his finger to point at the girl and the smaller creatures sort of sprang into action.

Charging Garnet, their only goal really was to get her on the ground, and to get her ready. They wouldn't overwhelm her though, they were more apt to go in one by one, and take whatever shots they needed to take.

 

[darkest_fate]

The shouts dazed Dagger. They had seemed to come from no where, though she should have expected as much. No one went through this much effort without putting an audience down to watch. The princess couldn't determine why it had all been done however. No one announced anything. Instead a creature appeared.

Dagger wasn't certain if it were fiend or a creature with a working mind. It could be like Freya's people, or any of the other members of the thinking world who happened to have faces that looked more animal than human. She took a step back nonetheless: the creature intimidated by sheer presence. The girl also had trouble believing that they would drop someone in an arena, someone who looked like that, just to speak with her.

"Wait for it to move," she whispered to herself, pulling her staff against her body, readying spells. She could hit it hard, perhaps summon Bahamut against it, or perhaps test to see if it had some elemental weakness she could exploit. The chanting began as Dagger thought, the constant reiteration of the name beating against her.

more fiends appeared. Dagger nearly thought this an advantage. More meant weaker, and these looked nearly pathetic next to the larger one. They also bore no signs of intelligence. "I don't want to fight you!" she called, gripping the staff tightly. They moved, sprung. Dagger reacted. she'd stored up a charge from the Dragon Lord, and a blast of pure magical energy ripped in a column, chewing into the first few charging dogs. Dagger stood, nearly gaping. Her nerves had cost her dearly in her magical reserves: she'd have to be more cautious. She wasn't even sure that had done the task, though she seriously doubted they'd survive something like that...

 

[Periodical]

Her words fell on deaf ears. If these creatures were intelligent enough, there was little to no chance of them understanding her native tongue. Besides, the language they dealt in was ultimately universal. Instead of words, actions conveyed needs, wants, and opinions. Instead of talking, they used force. One of the creatures began to charge at her, and when it jumped aiming to take a bite out of the princess's shoulder, it was blasted in the face with the energy from the staff. The creature and some of it's pack behind it disintegrated almost immediately, and were reduced to ash that was lightly floating back to the ground. The action had drawn a reaction from the crowd as the cheering got louder. Here they thought it was just going to be a slaughter going the other way.

The smaller creatures didn't seem to have an end to them. They were easy enough to bring down, and in most cases she wouldn't even need a full magical blast. The bigger one would prove tougher. It's species had some innate arcane resistance. It would hurt him, sting for the beast even, but it was little more than a minor inconvenience. The the dogs were lucky enough to get to her, just by sheer number, they never struck flesh. At most, they would get a small clawful of clothing, revealing just enough of Garnet to keep the crowd interested. They were here to see a show after all.

The little creatures didn't really serve as much of a challenge really. As Magnus stepped forward, he swung his massive staff in her direction. Something was very clear though. Magnus was swinging to debilitate, to stun, rather than swinging to kill. For every swing, it's muscles strained and it let out a grunt, a reaction to just how heavy the staff was that he was wielding. Some swings would hit the ground and cause the rocks to split and crack. Sometimes he would miss and hit the magical barrier, and his staff would just bounce right off, and it would take him a moment or two to recover. Hell, other times, one of the smaller, weaker dogs would get in the way, and the large staff would obliterate it. Magnus still had yet to connect, but when he did, it would be game over for her.

 

[darkest_fate]

Definitely too much magic in that first blast. There were just so many of the little dogs that Dagger had to keep moving and keep trying just to keep them off. She could feel bits of her clothing going with each attack. Long tears showed in her top, the thinner fabric not offering nearly enough protection. The scratches even got to Dagger's protective leather, and once or twice she could feel it grating against her own magical endurance. If she couldn't stop them, she'd end up going down from dozens of tiny wounds.

Except she couldn't fully focus upon them because of their leader. Dagger managed to just stay ahead of his blows, dodging clumsily. She'd learned some from Zidane, some from simply fighting enough times. There generally was someone to stand between her and something, someone like this. The princess could feel the air vibrating, and once or twice she lost her stance from the nearby tremors.

"Slow!" she tried, flinging the spell at the larger creature. If she could just slow it enough to pull away. Small ones leaped, and Dagger barely dodged those hits as well, jerking her rod up. A handful attacked one after another, catching her off balance. The mage barely had enough time to process that when the larger creature swung again.

No time to dodge: Dagger jerked her rod up to try and intercept the attack. Still she could feel the blow reverberating throughout her entire body, sending her to her knees. She quickly slapped a hand upon her chest, sending healing magics into herself. The problem was that she hit her knees just as she could see the lesser beasts circling.

"What do you want?" she demanded, fighting the panic entering her voice. "What do you want with me?" Because she was losing this battle, admittedly by a slow margin, but definitely losing. There were only so many tricks left that she could pull, and Dagger wasn't certain that any could actually work.

 

[Periodical]

The crowd was starting to get really into the match. The girl in the arena was lasting a whole lot longer than the normal participant. There hadn't been a winner in the arena in a good while. Not to mention, Magnus was all but undefeated, and he seemed to be on the path for continuing the streak here today. The other creatures which served as fodder were doing their job. They were there to figure out what kind of skill the combatant had, as well as tire them out a little bit. To dodge at the beginning of a fight was one thing, to expend yourself and try dodging when one was tired was another. The crowd let out a cry - some in excitement, others in acknowledgement - when she tried to block the attack and knocked her to the ground.

On one knee, Magnus walked to her slowly. Her demands and her questions fell on deaf ears though. A few of the lesser creatures circling around her. As the larger creature walked towards her, two of them made their way to her, grabbing her arms and holding them back. It only normally took one blow to end the fight. If Magnus touched you, you were going down. It seemed to be the way now, and Magnus knew it. His steps were slow and confident, just drinking in his apparent victory.

The smaller creatures didn't really have enough foresight to take her rod from her, the girl still had some options. There were only a few of them left, nothing else hidden in the shadows. All she really needed to do was to get past the creatures and find a way to kill the larger gladiator in front of her, but of course, it was a task easier said than done.

Finally, Magnus revealed his true intention. The loin cloth before that was doing an alright job of covering up the user was ripped from the creatures hip, revealing a sizable member, that was all ready to go. The smaller creatures pushed Garnet's face into the ground, propping her ass up, and Magnus was making his way towards her. In this interaction, the crowd started cheering much louder. This is what they were here to see. This is what they had paid for. There was no better answer to her question than the one she had just gotten. After all, actions speak louder than words.

 

[darkest_fate]

Dagger breathed hard, trying yet again to regain sense of what was happening. This whole affair, the environment, the creatures, it all baffled and surprised the young princess. What was this about? Why her? Why were these creatures approaching? The intimidating dog creature kept moving steadily forward, and Dagger found herself trembling. Some deep fear seized hold of her, as it had in the past. It held her back, denied her action.

The girl didn't initially resist, therefore, as the smaller creatures shoved her toward the floor of the arena. The collision between floor and girl did knock some sense into her. Dagger gasped. She quickly healed herself, her eyes darting around. It was then that she saw what Magnus had revealed, what had driven the crowd to cheer. The thing that surged upward looked unreal, particularly to Dagger's inexperienced eyes. She had seen Zidane's before, even touched it, but it couldn't be anywhere close to the thing that bobbed between this creature's leg.

The fear that held her quickly turned to panic. Dagger gripped the rod yet again, using what strength she had to try and pull herself upright. She jerked, pointing the rod, hoping to hit the creature again. "Bahamut!" she screamed, her voice almost raw with emotion. The rod sparked with her energies, and Dagger could feel more of her magical source dwindling. Yet the impressive blast of energy formed, very nearly hitting Dagger herself. She could feel the crackling power of it, so very near, no doubt hurting the creatures around her.

Had that been it? Dagger didn't have enough energy for another blast like that. She knew she still had some, could cast some of her white magic, possibly even call upon one of her lesser Eidolins. But Bahamut would require her to replenish her stores. She could only hope that through some twist of fate, her last blast had been enough.