Marked Ones: Origins [IC | Urban Fantasy]

[Faal Lot Himdah]

Escanor Elwyn Banaing and Ryder Elne Banaing
A Stranger on the Road
Lynwood Academy

---

"Everyone calm down. Lets think this through. No need to blast anyones brains out." Ryder spoke making his way to the front of the group along with his brohter who looked at Mandel.

"So magic that does not fall into modern classifications." Escanor spoke and looked at Mandel, and then looked to Ryder, who at this time was already using his own magic detection. "Ryder, got anything?"

"Just a shite ton of magic." Ryder said, "Doesn't match anything we've seen before either. So, definitely not normal... No offence Mandel, I just wanted to see for myself. Also... Don't look now, but I think the plants are watching us right now. Magic is coming of them as well... though, never seen anything like this before. This seems way to fishy..."

"Agreed." Escanor spoke and looked to everyone else, "I also think this is a trap. But best we do not rush things... we don't know what this is. I would think the moment we make a move on the bait there, that something will happen..."

"Something that probably isn't good for any of us." Ryder finished.

[Forest State]

Candace Francesca Miniati de Avella

Candace was uneasy as they entered the strange area where it seemed like the trees were watching them and where the ground was blackened as if there was a mysterious fire. She raised an eyebrow and she drew her sword not consciously but out of instinct, looking around from near the front of the group as they debated on what to do. Well, Candace didn’t know what was going on nor could she detect the specific kind of magic that was being used, but she stepped forward also and she pointed her sword at the girl on the ground, albeit from a safe distance that was behind the others at the front.

It wasn’t like she was going to be one of the ones to walk too close to it, she’d stay behind them and let them get caught if something did happen. “Don’t turn into a band of idiots because of a naked girl,” she warned sternly, the sword still leveled at the mysterious girl so she could move into action if something happened. “Let’s think about this objectively and not act soft because of that one circumstance. If it was an ugly golem or something, I’m sure you guys would make your decision quicker. And if you’re that desperate to see a girl without her shirt, you have the internet, or me.”

[Revlona]

Samuel Storm

The girl was naked, that was easy to see. And they had most likely strayed into a trap, that was also easy to see. But most likely isn’t good enough to blow someone’s brains out.

So, with the words of caution said, and the words of murder ignored, Sam did the stupidest thing imaginable.

He approached her. He stopped within several feet of her, and crouched so he was still in his feet supported by his haunches.

“Excuse me miss, but we’re all kind of wondering who you are? And um, also kinda wondering if you mean to kill us?”

He was tensed and ready for action, the mana already at his fingertips to immediately through fire at the girl should she do something stupid like he had.

[Forest State]

???

The girl didn’t say anything. She couldn’t, because during her creation, she had only been given enough mana to stay alive. Not enough to actually do anything such as speak or explain why she was here. But just breathing and seeing were enough for her role, and so she just stared up at Sam and blinked as he spoke to her. She did reach out, a bit, but it was rather weak and no sound came out of her mouth as she opened it, almost as if she had no voice. The truth was that she did but she wouldn’t be able to use it unless she received mana from elsewhere.

At that point, Niki pushed her way towards the front of the group and said something, placing her hands on her hips in annoyance. It wasn’t the smartest move to head to the girl and talk to her. It was actually the stupidest thing that they could have done before making sure that it was safe. But now that Sam had done it, she might as well offer advice about what she knew here.

“I believe that the thing you’re talking to is something called a homunculus. Like a human, but… Not. It’s an artificial creation, if that’s what it is. But the reason it doesn’t line up with what I know is that very few mages can make one and it usually requires a ton of mana, something that most people don’t just have sitting around. If they did, they probably wouldn’t waste it on an artificial human either,” she said. “Don’t ask how I know. I do a lot of research on things like this.”

[Revlona]

Samuel Storm

“So that just means we’re dealing with something strong then” he said. It was an interesting thought, he wondered what could have been powerful enough to do such things.

“Well, what should I do with it?” He asked, motioning towards it with his fingers.

He was still teanse he realized, and decided that was a good thing. Just because it hadn’t spoken or attacked yet didn’t mean that it wouldn’t, or even worse maybe, the thing that created it.

[Lunas Legion]

Sahara Meads

"See, I said we should shoot the bloody thing but noooooo you had to be 'calm and 'think this through' and the entire time we've been standing here there's probably been like fifty of the things moving into ambush positions while you fucking idiots have been- Urgh." Sahara spat out as she finished ranting, turning away from the obvious distraction, nervously eyeing the treeline as she flicked the safety off her Calico.

Obvious trap is obvious. Obvious ambush spot is obvious.

But... Where the hell was it? Did someone not get a memo or something. She kicked a foot angrily at the dirt. C'mon, you little... Where were you? Or was this a stalling tactic? She hated uncertainty. Stalling for time for something, or stopping them for an ambush? She growled to herself as she let her magic flicker into life, a dark purple haze enveloping her body as she brought her shield up.

[Faal Lot Himdah]

Ryder Elne Banaing
Facing a Homunculus
On the Road

---

"Homunculus." Ryder said and looked at the homunculus in question before quickly looking away, "That's good to know. Though something still is strange. Why would there be a homunculus here? Especially one that doesn't seem to possess any aggressive intentions... So, its likely a distraction. So it would be best to continue on."

It was then that Ryder looked at Niki, "Unless you, who have done research on this sort of thing, has noticed anything note worth about our new friend?"

[The Cross and Davids Star]

Nev Hurn

Nev backed away when Aureo brandished his blade at him, he was not looking for a fight, but it was clear that he knew who Nev was, which wasn’t too fun. Either way, he found the group to be stopped by something, that something being a naked woman in the path. Nev charged his cane and sent himself over the group, landing at the other side of the woman.

“Come on guys, we need to continue. Go around the woman and get your hands out of your pants. We have an objective, and that will only serve as a distraction. I’m sure the rest of you can agree.”

[Forest State]

???

“I don’t know shit about this, unfortunately. While I’ve studied the subject, I have no clue what kind of magic is around here and it doesn’t seem like anything that we’ve seen before. Which makes sense because it might explain how someone was able to create a homunculus without having tons of extra mana sitting around, which could be used on more valuable-” started Niki, before she was cut off by a loud sound coming from the ground. However, there wasn't much time at all before the source of that sound made itself seen, and there definitely wasn’t time to do anything about it.

Roots shot through the dirt like bullets and reached around Sam’s ankles, pulling him into the dirt very painfully and brutally, not showing any signs of being slowed down by resistance from the ground. They wrapped around Sam’s ankles with enough force to break bones, and Sam would quickly find himself waist deep in the ground before being pulled even deeper, the roots moving slower because of the difficulty of pulling Sam’s arms through the growing hole in the ground. At the same time, roots came out of the ground around Nev, but there would be a bit more time to get away than Sam had. After all, it seemed like they were focusing on him.

At the same time, roots tightened around Sam’s body as it was submerged under the dirt and began to squeezed down, constricting around his abdomen also and choking the air out of him, something that would make it much harder to fight. With his arms still aboveground, there wouldn’t be much to fight them off with, and it was like a boa constrictor that was much more aggressive and able to kill even faster. Sam wasn't dead yet, yes, but it would be hard to get him out without digging at the ground, and he was soon heading in that direction.

”Malaka,” muttered Niki, watching in silence as she backed up. If the roots in that area were active, she wasn’t going to stay around them. At the same time, there was another presence that could be felt entering the area, one that was much stronger and one that felt… Distinctly more dangerous.

[Faal Lot Himdah]

Escanor and Ryder Banaing
Shit Hitting the Fan
On the Road

---

"Shit!" Ryder shouted, and heard Escanor draw his sword. As his twin brother stood ready for more roots, Ryder looked around to the rest of the other marked. Ryder couldn't help Sam directly, but he had an idea. "Someone hit me with magic."

"Something else is coming..." Escanor spoke, and began his magic detection, as whatever was coming, if it came close enough, he would be able to have a general idea of what it was... Hopefully.

[The Cross and Davids Star]

Nev Hurn

—FUCK FUCK FUCK—

Nev watched in shock as roots suddenly exploded from the ground to put Sam into an early grave. He quickly looked down to realize those same roots were coming after him as well, and so his instincts screamed at him to get the fuck away. He manifested his cards around him and sent them at the roots, shredding the ones trying to grab him as he charged another shot and blasted back to the group, since he did not want to get stuck in the same situation that Sam was, though he had no doubt in his mind that a certain sword wielding asshole was hoping for Nev’s situation to go bad.

“Hey light mages, we need this place lit up!”

[Lunas Legion]

Sahara Meads

"Well one of you can go around or walk across the mobile magical landmine-in-waiting then." Sahara snarked, not turning around, her eyes still roaming warily across the treeline, watching for any signs of movement. She twitched as one of the plants moved, levelling her Calico at it and watching it suspiciously for a few seconds before relaxing when it didn't move again.

"Because I'm sure as hell not going anywhere near the obvious 'bad things here do not touch' sign. Shotgun not." It was a bit immature of her, perhaps, but old habits died hard.

And then the roots happened. She found herself smirking, a small piece of schadenfreude, of being proven right. And she could feel the other presence off in the distance. Great. Just... Great. She let out a small sigh as her eyes flickered to her Calico's safety, making sure it was off as she turned her eyes back to the treeline, cursing herself for the momentary distraction. No idea how fast the presence was moving, it could be here any second. She couldn't afford to let her guard down.

---

Gabriella Sara Bianchi-Costa de Inferenza

Saying Gabriella had no idea what was going on was an understatement. She couldn't really see what was happening since she'd elected to stick by Aureo rather than going forwards, and being rather short wasn't exactly helpful and given all the chaos and pandemonium and shouting she... Literally couldn't tell what was happening at all, nor did she really think going forwards to check was a good idea.

So she instead hung back, just keeping the ball of light shining above Aureo's head, summoning her own shield, a flickering thing of gold just above her skin, into existence, paying no mind to the voice of the dark mage asking for more light.

Maybe he should've learned to do it himself, rather than choosing to be a filthy heretic.

[Revlona]

Samuel Storm

Pain.

That was the one thing in his mind as he felt his ankles crack at the pressure from whatever had grabbed him. The air was immediately torn away from him as he was thrown to the ground.

With panicked gulps of air he realized he couldn’t breathe, the things had wrapped around his chest and had begun to pull him down.

It was then that the tears appeared on his face, forced by both the pain his entire body felt, and the mind rending terror that racked him as he realized his was about to die.

Even his sobs of pain and terror where weak from low oxygen, and he felt his head begin to be dizzy, and he saw as he sighs flickered.

Finally he saw blinding light, and what seemed to be a female figure.

It was when he realized who she was that the nothingness came.

He was almost grateful for it, the nothingness, because it replaced the pain.

[Vanquaria]

Sun Yi Jong

So there was something out of the ordinary happening. Or maybe everything was happening as according to plan. Sun could not care less. After all, he had all others to do the dirty work for him.

Surely those of the Inquisition would come to his aid as per their supposed duty? But as he stood back and watched from the shadows, he played witnessed to their reluctance to help Nev, possibly because his religious views may have been considered anathema in their scriptures.

Sun grit his teeth but remained firm in his position. Surely, someone would come to Sam's aid? Anyone?!

He closed his eyes as he felt the soul of Sam weakening by the second. He was beyond saving now. Sun's mana was too precious to waste on someone in that situation. The Korean gave a brief prayer to Somnus then his eyes flashed open, his face contorted in an expression of disgust.

"Fall back! We cannot help him, he is done for!" Sun roared to his fellow Marked before rushing forwards to shout at Nev.

"The Inquisition wishes for your death, do not satisfy their desires by dying here like that poor soul! Run!"

[Durmatagno]

Aria Liva

Aria's eyes snapped to the treeline as soon as the homunculus had appeared, she had little care for the people that approached the thing, but herself, Niki, and now Kana in a way, those she did have concern for. When the roots jumped out and grabbed Sam, she'd already had her glaive at the ready, never taking her eyes off the tree line. She reminded herself she wasn't alone anymore, and spoke.

"Gabriella, I think we could actually use t-...."

While it was only above Aureo, it shed light over the area at the back here were Aria was, so that was better.

"Kana, be ready for anything, we've got trouble."

Aria felt the mana in her slowly begin to trickle away as she enhanced her reflexes and agility as much as she could. The trap had been sprung, but there could be more left to the trap. Aria moved her gun forward and after checking it with one hand, offered it to Kana behind her.

"It's set to burst, recoil shouldn't be to bad, and it's better than that little snubnose you have."

[Lessoni]

Jack

Jack was more than a little shook when he saw what happened to Sam. He was terrified. But his instincts were kicking in, bred into him since birth. First, he electrified his skin. Anything that grabbed him was in for a nasty shock. Next, he called over his shoulder, yelling, "No one run off alone! We fall back together. And everyone get close to someone who can shield! If we stay together we'll get out of this just fine. Sun, calm down! And light mages, we really could use some light up here. The flashlight's gone."

With nothing left to say, Jack just hoped he'd put enough authority in his voice to make anyone listen. If he didn't... well, that would be less than ideal. For now, he surged electricity into his sword and put himself on guard. No way he was going like Sam.

[Theyra]

Ikram el-Amara

"Noo, No, did Sam just....." Ikram shook himself out of it. Now is not the time to be stuck on what happened to Sam and while the person that laid this trap is most likely around. He was scared but, he has been in fights before and he needs to stay focus in order to stay alive. Ikram listened to what Jack said and pulled out his staff in one hand and scimitar in another. Extending the staff to it true height and used it fire enchantment to light up the top end of his staff. Causing a light lit up the area around Ikram. "Listen to Jack; we need to stick together, whoever did this is still out there and probably watching us!". He said in a focused tone. He prepared himself for whatever comes next and scanned the darkness for any sign of movement. "Come on, show yourself so Sam can be averaged", Ikram thought to himself.

[Khasinkonia]

Hlaing Muireall Tamboli
Lynwood Academy

The night march had started in a deathly silence, and continued as we walked. The deathly silence and intense darkness were staved off solely by the light in our front, and the gentle talking...and sometimes yelling...of my teammates. Suddenly, it was interrupted by the rustling, and by our professor’s warning. Some sort of unnatural human...and darkness about. Something had seemed terribly off, and I was dearly thankful I wasn’t the fool to ignore the teacher’s warning. He died. Torn beneath the ground, and the light was gone. Darkness. Danger.

What could I do to help? Portals and tractor beams. We needed light. Where in the world was light? The opposite side of the world...Chicago! I’d visited there! The park near the university’s campus would be perfect. But of course, I likely didn’t have enough mana to do so. Surely someone had left a light on, right? The quad had had a few lights...with the main ones being near the gates. That would suffice. On the side of a tree, using what light another teammate had just made in fire, I opened up a tall slit of a portal on the tree, corresponding with another tree right near the gates. The light...and wind...came through clearly, and, for those of us who were thin, it also provided a possible escape if only the enemy didn’t block it...not that I couldn’t make a new one elsewhere.

[Lunas Legion]

Sahara Meads

Sahara wanted to turn away from the treeline. She wasn't sure why, but there was... A morbid curiosity, perhaps, to be taken to watching someone die in front of her while she did nothing. But she didn't, because turning away from the treeline was stupid. And stupidity got you killed. The bait had been obvious, even if the nature of the trap had not been, but one only needed to see the bait.

Springing a trap wasn't always a bad idea, but it was when one didn't take sufficient precautions. And what she termed sufficient precautions, everyone else would call overkill. She just called it being prepared.

"So," She called out, not turning around. To divert her eyes for the sake of talking would be a... Grave error of judgement. "Are we retreating like cowards, or going forwards like idiots? For all we know this was a stalling tactic while something worse happens further on down that we could be interrupting. I don't feel like fighting a demonic 50-foot elephant or whatever that's been summoned to go stomp all over our home." She quite liked the monastery, to be honest. "Equally I don't feel like running into more fucking vine mines so... Just pick something." She shrugged. If in doubt, follow the pack.

---

Gabriella Sara Bianchi-Costa de Inferenza

She still didn't know what was going on, not really. Chaos and shouting, someone was dead, someone shouting about the Inquisition which just confused her, they were the good guys. Someone else, she couldn't tell who but it wasn't that creepy dark mage, asked for more light and so she poured more mana into her own light, causing it to brighten noticeably, casting a yellow glow over the area around it as she reinforced her shield, the faint golden glow becoming more intense, more solid as it flickered around her.

"Um..." Gabriella's voice was soft and worried, small in comparison to those around her. "Shouldn't we go and check on the village? There's... Quite a few people there and if there's something going on, they'd, um, be a good power source for... Bigger things."

[Union Princes]

Her heart felt squeezed by an iron glove when Sienna saw Sam get dragged under the dirt by tentacle roots. She tried to scream or act in his defense by summoning her constructs, but she was paralyzed by fear. Sienna wanted to run away but with the dark closing in on them without the flashlight, there's no telling which way was safe. Shouts and sudden light further her confusion until Siena saw Hliang open a portal. She may not know where it lead to but it may as well be safer than their current predicament. "Hliang. wait!" Sienna called out after her as she reached out her hand to the portal

[Lessoni]

Jack

Over the general confusion of the situation, Jack heard Gabriella's voice suggesting they move to the village. To Jack, that seemed quite a wonderful idea. Making a last sweeping glance over the jungle in front of him, making sure nothing was lurking, he turned to face the group.

"Everybody listen up! Gabriella just made quite a good suggestion. We should head to the village, if for nothing else than to get out of this jungle. Everybody keep your heads on a swivel and make sure to stay within 5 feet of someone else. We don't need anyone else getting grabbed. And if a light mage would get up here and light the path, that'd be wonderful. Now, if no one has any objections, let's move. Every second we spend here is another second whatever just killed Sam gets to plan another murder.", Jack bellowed to the group.

He was probably one of the most scared of them, but he wouldn't show it. He had an obligation to his fellow Marked to stay cool, at least until they were in a little safer spot.

[Forest State]

Jochim Mandel

It was too late to do anything when Sam was pulled into the ground, but that was just what happened when someone didn’t pay attention to the advice of their more careful allies who had suggested maybe figuring out more about what was happening before they stepped forward and took a risk like that. Mandel just sighed. Death wasn’t something that you wanted to see but the point of an instructor wasn’t to panic when something happened, but to be a leader to everyone else and help them get out of the bad situation without it getting worse. After listening to everyone discuss what they would do now, Mandel turned and pointed towards the route they had come.

“As much as it would be useful to investigate the path ahead and see where this is coming from, it’s night and we have no idea what else is in store for us or what we’re even fighting here. It would be unsafe to continue, and while risks are a good thing sometimes, we shouldn’t throw more lives away for no reason,” he said, starting to walk back. “Let’s head back to the monastery from the way that we came. And everyone, keep your eyes on the sides of the road. If anything is going to come for us while we’re in retreat, we’re going to stay calm and fight it off as a team. A number of us are more useful than one of us is.”

Right. They were more useful in numbers. It sounded good on paper, but those numbers hadn’t kept them from losing one of their own to the roots that had come from the ground by complete surprise, nor had their numbers told them anything useful that indicated the attack from the roots was coming in the first place. Then again, Sam had been stupid, and stupidity wasn’t something that numbers could protect you from in most cases. As long as they were smart, they would survive. After all, it didn’t feel like the new presence was coming any closer than it had been when it first showed up.

[Khasinkonia]

Hlaing Muireall Tamboli
Lynwood Academy

My portal was, thanks to the absolute size of jungle trees, large enough for pretty much anybody to get through. We’d be in much less danger if we just each slipped through, at least to my knowledge, and I could then close it. That way whatever was out here wouldn’t necessarily be able to follow us back at all. I needed to announce it quick, before we started our tactical retreat.

“Mr. Mandel!” I exclaimed in the sharpest and clearest Queen’s English my tired and shaken mind could summon as I pointed to my portal, “A made a portal leading right tae our gates on tha’ tree over there. Can we use tha’ instead? Tha’ way the beast coudnae follow us back, even if it wanted tae!”

[Vanquaria]

Sun Yi Jong

Glad he did not have to use any of his powers for that particular incident, Sun walked back. His thoughts, well his thoughts were a mixture of things but a common theme was him simply being glad he was still very full of mana.

He twirled the kitchen knife in his hand, yes, the dude who had died had indeed been an idiot. It was up to him to avoid the same fate. Therefore, he reminded himself of the mission. Get the training he was here for and then return to his family back in Asia.

No point in doing anything beyond shouting and pretending he actually cared about these fuckers, the lower-class ones in particular. The one who had died was certainly not of importance if Somnus had allowed his death to pass. Not that Sun enjoyed seeing innocents die, he was not a messed up fucker...at least at that very moment he wasn't. His feelings of disgust for what had transpired confirmed that.

"Ptoo!" Sun spat onto the earth. He would dutifully complete everything the instructors would ask of him as long as he felt his already formidable powers were actually increasing. He glanced down at his kitchen knife, wondering about what this unexpected weapon would look like once augmented by his magic. It would become a weapon capable of killing most of the people here, he thought grimly. Yet there were limits to his power, limits he believed the instructors could help him surpass.

Sun habitually caressed the skin of his back, where his family's tattoo was. He needed to grow stronger, for there were wars back home to be fought.

[Forest State]

Jochim Mandel

The opening of the portal was something of a relief. Was easier to get away when they wouldn’t have to double back and walk the way they came when they had no idea if there were enemies waiting for them in the trees to the side of the road. After all, they hadn’t seen the attack from the roots coming, and there was no reason to assume that they would be able to see another attack before it happened. Not when the magic around here was this strange, a type that none of them had been able to recognize or decipher beyond the fact that it was alien and almost certainly malevolent in nature.

“Change of plans, we’ll head through the portal,” said Mandel, not moving through it just yet but rather waiting for the others to return back to the front gates through the newly created portal. It was best to not head through until it was confirmed that the others had gotten through and that they weren’t leaving anyone behind here, where anything could happen to someone who missed their chance to leave.