Surface
The petals & paper were swept away with surprising ease, the stitches that bound them together becoming undone so that they would travel in a more individual format instead. After a short while, the petals would sink past the paper & into the ground, after which delphiniums began to sprout from the ground where they were collected, with the false D'aillisioux vanishing a short while after before the area of effects around him also began to have delphiniums sprout from the earth. These flowers had bright, mint green stems that radiated the warmth & joy associated with springtime, but their dark blue petals — & the likewise dark blue sweet-smelling gas that came out of these flowers — contrasted with the stems with their mournful colors. Upon a more detailed analysis, this aura of sorrow was magically a part of the flowers & their gas, as they seemed to be draining excess stress away from D'aillisioux.
If one attempted to inhale the gas or entered these dense gardens of delphiniums, they would be overwhelmed with a combination of intense despair & terror so long as they remained inside the foliage or gas cloud; such was the magnitude of this that one would barely be able to crawl outside of the delphiniums as their body would likely be too overcome with emotion. On the other hand, the gas's tendency to slowly float straight up meant that it would hardly have an effect for long before it simply dissipated a few meters above the gardens. Overall, these flowers seemed to have little effect & were a curious spectacle at most, as the paper had folded into the shapes of lady bugs & rabbits that moved about in the delphiniums as though they were their living counterparts. Like the flowers, though, these creatures of paper seemed to be breathing out that same blue gas, albeit in smaller clouds that would hang in front of them for a moment before vanishing.
If the Sarkites attempted to analyze the atmosphere, they would find that there was a steadily rising amount of the blue gas, although the current output of the creatures & flowers made it clear that it would take weeks for a substantial amount of blue gas to pollute the nearby area to the point of interfering with combat, except for any potential organic & partially sentient projectiles or flying creatures. If shot above the gardens, it was possible that the sorrow embedded in the gas might have an effect on such sentient weaponry. So long as the gardens were avoided or more emotionless weapons were used, though, the gas would hardly have an effect. For now, though, it seemed to be managing D'aillisioux's stress, if a bit inefficiently. If the Sarkites had some way to analyze the Doll's emotional state — which could probably be done with the emotional link between him & the gardens — they would find that he had & was producing a worrying amount of sorrow, trauma, & stress inside of him that the blue gas above ground was barely able to outpace in its output.
Based off of how the boy's abilities seemed to be based on how stressed he was, perhaps slashing apart the gardens would be inadvisable. However, it was equally possible that it might be beneficial — a piece of excrement from a Sarkite biological missile had somehow managed to land on several flowers, & if D'aillisioux's state was being observed at the time, there would be a small but still palpable increase in how stressed he was. Whatever one could do to the gardens would all be risky maneuvers, although any attempts to destroy them would be helped with some sort of invisible scythe blade that would slice apart the flowers & creatures. Otherwise, the gardens would continue to exist, outputting their blue gas & trying to lower D'aillisioux's stress.
Low Earth Orbit
While all the fighting down below was occurring, a portal that would comfortably fit a person opened high in the atmosphere. "Ready to begin operations!" a male voice — a Psytrine Domeses by the name of Hermes-Hina — said from inside, the vacuum of space preventing the sound from exiting the portal. Moments later, a rush of air erupted from the portal, & anyone who tried to look up at this particular region of space would see nothing both from the sheer distance & a mixture of Air & Fire magic. This combination of magic formed a barrier of hot & cold air that refracted light severely enough that anyone behind it would seem to be several meters lower in the sky when seen from Earth. After the air blast, a dark brown-skinned man with six additional arms of fire & a wild inferno for hair exiting from it. His appearance was reminiscent of a demon, but he was a fire elemental & a Domeses of Psytronius named Agni Surtr.
Drawing out blazing swords for each of his arms, he looked around the area as embers from all of his fire gently flew throughout the space nearby. "All clear. No enemies nearby," he said, his voice enchanted with a sinister echo, "For now, that is." With this, another Psytrine — a cyborg known simply as Jefferson — sprinted out from the portal before being stabilized on a platform of air. Using his eyes & arm-based projectors, hundreds of holograms began to fly around him, seemingly analyzing both D'aillisioux & whatever else he could down in the ASP Foundation's main area, including the Sarkites. "Hah! A challenge for me, isn't it?" he said to himself, "What exotic specimens we have here!"
The rest of the Psytrines came out in the below order, a brief second between each person's exit from the portal:
After Galileo's entrance, a black sphere appeared a bit in front of the portal before quickly disappearing — it seemed to be some sort of gravity-producing spell that was keeping the rest of the team behind the barrier of refracting air. Once the rest of the group came out, most of them waited atop platforms of various media related to their affiliation, the gravity being quick to drag them back behind the air barrier if they strayed outside of it in an attempt to keep them from being detected. Ironically, the amount of magic they were outputting was somewhat palpable, although their distance from the Sarkites would likely make it difficult to discover; Stribog, Robert, Theia, & Surtr in particular were emitting the most. "Good luck, you guys," Hermes-Hina said, the team outside (except for Jefferson & Asteria) nodding in reply, "If things start getting dangerous, contact me immediately. We can make more of most of you, but we'd rather not lose anyone."
Jefferson's attention shifted from the Sarkites to D'aillisioux, keeping several of his analysis programs running on the former & focusing most of his programs on the latter. "He is so foreign, yet so... so... familiar," he said, his voice having an uncharacteristically wistful tone. He paused before speaking again to nobody in particular, seemingly stunned at something involving the boy. "As expected, his stress levels are double over where his expected burning point should be, & it is steadily falling. Based on analyses of those flowers & paper creatures on the surface, his ability seems to be trying to mitigate his stress before it elevates to unfathomable levels. This I must research, for it is the most unique anti-stress behavior I have seen employed by a Doll."
Yet at the same time, his eyes — which were normally covered by his cybernetic enhancements — had a palpable sort of sadness & regret to them. My operation here is to research, yet why does this child feel so familiar? he thought to himself, Why does he remind me of myself...? We share that untamed spirit of risk, I sense... the unfettered resolve to push onwards despite all manner of danger! Perhaps it is merely coincidence... yet, I can't shake the feeling that I know him. He turned his head a short way to the left left, in the direction of Stribog. "Hmm... A'Doll!" he called out, using his usual simplified nicknames that he employed for everyone, "Who of our universe is down there?"
"Sekka Verndara, Vaalkyne of the Syhi..." Stribog began in his usual Greek accent.
"Oh, that sweet-smelling honey-mouthed—," he was cut off when a horde of clouds blockaded his mouth, & although he did not turn to see it, he could sense Cirrius's infamously mischievous smile. She was known to be something of a prankster, & was often seen in tandem with the equally fun-loving Stribog.
"... & D'aillisioux," the Doll finished after Jefferson's interruption.
"Picture of number three, A'Doll!" the cyborg ordered, with Stribog immediately reaching into a portal, retrieving a piece of paper, & throwing it to the other in the form of a well-aimed paper airplane. "Ah, thank you," Jefferson then said without looking away from his analytical holograms, catching the airplane by solidifying light around it in the form of a cube. After moving the cube near his eyes, he removed the light wrapping it except for at the bottom of it & unfolded the airplane, looking at the image inside of D'aillisioux's smile during an April Fools contest. He tilted his head quizzically, yet still smiled mainly because he found the boy's beaming expression to be contagious.
"Well?" asked Stribog, "Anything conclusive?"
"He's smilin'!" said Cirrius, her voice that of an adventurous school-age girl, "Surely that'll count for something."
"Hmm, no, no..." Jefferson replied in a despondent tone, shaking his head & swiping one of his mechanically-augmented arms with enough speed to throw the image back over to Stribog, "Take it back. I don't want it anymore." Confused by the strange tone of despair & ferocity in his words, the Doll took a few moments to react & thankfully caught it before it fell anywhere. What's wrong with him? This is not how he usually acts... he then thought, looking at the picture of D'aillisioux & back to Jefferson, What relevance does some random assassin have to him?.
With that in mind, Stribog nervously flew up to the cyborg. "Oi, Jefferson... there somethin' about this Doll boy that's special?"
"Hmph, nothing," the other said, not even looking away from his analyzing holograms, albeit seemingly more just to avoid Stribog's gaze, "Just wanted to know what he looked like, I suppose."
"I-I think there's more to it than that," the Doll nervously pressed on, noting the hesitant aura emitting from Jefferson.
The cyborg's next move was to shut off all of his holograms, resulting in everyone's gazes shifting towards him as he rarely ever stopped his research. "Ahem..." he began, his face contorting into a neutral expression that contrasted with the growl of his voice, "If you know what is good for you... Drop. This. Now, Stribog."
"Akh! So sorry!" the Doll frantically replied, madly bowing to relay his sincerest apologies. Moments after, he blasted himself away (still remaining behind the refracting air barrier) nearby Cirrius.
"I wonder what's with D'aillisioux that bothers him. He's a Doll like some of us... it's nothing new..." Cirrius said to herself.
Atkemri wrote:Cavalier came out of the secret door...
ASP Foundation, Floor 1
D'aillisioux's skin suddenly began to lose its cracks. "I-I'm feeling much better now," he told Sekka, "I can feel something gr-growing on the surface. It's... calming." He breathed in deeply, releasing that same blue gas that the plants above produced with his exhalation moments later. "Eh? What's this?" Sekka said, stepping towards the blue gas.
"I don't know, but i-it's calming..." the Doll said, sounding sleepy.
"Try not to fall asleep right now."
"Don't worry," the boy yawned, a blanket of butterfly wings suddenly surrounding him, "I'll be fine."
Deciding not to question the blanket, Sekka summoned a small purple orb in front of him & another one just outside the doorway, peering out of the one next to him to observe ASP 007 & its interactions. D'aillisioux, meanwhile, was standing & simply smiling in his blanket made of butterfly wings.
