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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2014 14:51:14 GMT -5
As soon as the contracted was done being signed, it coiled up and compressed in on itself, turning back into golden dust before floating towards the magical shell, which Ursula kept in hand. She was rather cold, now; best wrap this up quite quickly. ”Thank you for your business, your highness.” Smirking, Ursula began chanting the incantations.
”Gelum, rheum! Listen, tides of the Atlantean Sea!”
Beneath the duo, the seas buckled and washed, lapping up at the ice capping it. It wouldn’t destroy the enchanted ice, but it was alive with Ursula’s magic. The shell glowed with bright golden light. Surely nothing this bright could be bad, right? Riiight.
”Animus, sensus, animulus adamas, valet to me.”
At this point, the golden light floated around Ursula and over to Elsa, swirling warm as blood in currents. They were not like air currents or sea currents; just when their system was understood, it would reverse or change directions. The starry matter edged around Elsa’s hands and at her heart, seeking out the first part of the Exchange. Ice for normalcy.
”Don’t worry,” Ursula assured, expression of calm confidence. ”It feels nice.” The magic was tropical, refreshing as crystal clear waters and comforting as the noon breeze.
… how on earth had Ursula gotten ahold if it? This was an odd sort of dark magic.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2014 6:47:40 GMT -5
Elsa watched in silence as the scroll furled up and popped out of existence, the dust of its remains disappearing into the contours of the shell around Ursula's neck. The sea witch thanked her and smirked at her. A pit fell into Elsa's stomach, but it was too late to pull back now.
"Gelum, rheum! Listen, tides of the Atlantean Sea!"
As if the sea beneath their feet had awoken, waves began to crash against the sides of the ice bridge, making it groan. Elsa stumbled as the long strip of ice under her feet swayed. The ocean seemed to have a rowdy temper. Elsa wondered if that was a characteristic of this particular sea, or if it was because Ursula's magic was a little darker than she'd expected it to be. Perhaps she shouldn't be surprised. Xehanort hadn't been the poster boy of trustworthiness either, and yet he'd been kind of enough to send her on her way with only a small task to complete in thanks.
Maybe she was just over-thinking this.
Then the ocean glowed a bright gold, shimmering through the thick ice. Light played across Elsa's features as though she were a canvas. Gold danced across her fair skin and blonde hair. Her dress shimmered wonderfully under the effect. Had there been any other onlookers, they might have called her radiant, the way she glowed like the sea.
"Animus, sensus, animulus adamas, valet to me."
The light moved now, from the sea, to Ursula and then to Elsa. The Snow Queen stepped back as it approached her, her hands held up in front of her. The magic did not care for her laughable attempts at defence. It found her fingers and clung to them, lining her skin with stars.
"Don't worry," said Ursula, "it feels nice."
Elsa wasn't sure 'nice' was quite the right word for it. It tickled, as though someone were brushing a prickly broom across her fingertips, but warm like a heated room on a long winter night. She watched her fingers shine, unaware that another strand of magic had broken away and hung just outside her chest, aimed at her heart. When it struck, Elsa's eyes widened. She gasped, as if the wind had been knocked out of her. Unable to stop herself, she collapsed onto her knees and clutched her chest.
It was as though she was on fire from the inside out.
Something inside of her -- something crucial -- had stopped working, she was sure of it. For a moment, time hung around her, the world motionless as she examined herself mentally. Her mind, besides being rattled, was fine; her whole body shook, but other than the numbness in her legs, it responded to everything she asked of it; sweat poured from her forehead, as if she had suddenly contracted an acute fever; her lungs worked, barely, as she sat, doubled over on the ice, breaths short, fast and painful; her heart--
It was her heart.
The storm in her heart had stopped.
The snow and ice that had ruled her life sat still as a fresh puddle inside her. In fact, without it, it felt as though she was burning up. She'd never been bothered by the cold -- but suddenly, without it, it seemed like she wouldn't be able to make do without it.
And then it was over. The starry magic faded from her fingertips. The assault on her poor heart ended anti-climatically. Her body continued to shake and her forehead continued to sweat. She panted and ran a hand through her semi-wild hair. She shrieked in horror when, instead of ice-blonde bangs, beautiful auburn locks met her fingertips. Alarmed, she searched herself for other changes -- it didn't take her long to find them. Instead of the crystal-blue dress with its icicle corset and long, flowing glitter cape, she wore the same dress she'd worn on her coronation day: black sleeves, cyan body and purple-yellow diamond motif still intact. Her shoes had returned to the plain high heels she'd worn that day too. All that was missing was the purple cloak. That made sense, she supposed -- she had let it go into the wind that night.
Elsa's eyes rose to meet the witch's.
"How do I look?" she asked.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 31, 2014 18:02:17 GMT -5
Hm… the icy magic was really a part of this girl, wasn’t it? Not a facet, but very deeply interwoven into who Elsa was, judging by how difficult it was to extract the abilities. Yet, Ursula watched passively. The deal was done. She hadn’t any reason to fake an care, though she hadn’t become suddenly malicious. She’d just seen this enough times to know Elsa would be fine, more or less. No gain without any pain, as they say.
When the last of the golden magic retreated inside Ursula’s shell necklace, taking the ice magic with it, she finally reacted. The Sea Witch frowned, recoiling ever so slightly as she pursed her lips. Was a screech really, entirely necessary? However, the change of attire was now. While the new hair was actually kind of fitting (was this Elsa’s natural color?) the dress almost clashed with her new hair color. No, no, no that wouldn’t do at all. (Of course, with Ursula’s fashion sense… eh.)
”Mismatched,” Ursula responded without skipping a beat. ”The hair’s lovely, but the outfit… hm, aren’t you warm in that?” Beneath the duo, the ice still cried out from where the now-calm sea had previously acted out against it. Ursula looked down, noting the cracks here and there. The water might not bother her, but that gown looked rather heavy. ”Hm… might want to get off the ice, dearie. It’d be a bad start to three days of freedom, drowning that is.”
Was she being playful? Who even knew.
[ooc: this is a bad reply and im sorry]
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Post by Deleted on Apr 1, 2014 6:20:48 GMT -5
Elsa smiled when Ursula complimented her hair. It was odd -- even though the process had brought her to her knees, she felt somewhat freed by having survived it. She took a few strands of her new auburn locks into her hands. She ran her thumb over them, admired the new colour. It looked similar to Anna's, she realized. This only encouraged her timid smile to grow into a grin.
She was still breathless. She sweated. In general, she was quite uncomfortable, now that she thought of it. The bright Atlantean sun beat down on her from above, searing her skin. The ice beneath her legs grew warm after a while, as if her supercharged body was melting the ice bridge. Her coronation gown hung heavy on her shoulders, the cyan fabric sprawled across the ice in a sweeping fan. She had no doubt that Ursula was right -- it probably was her dress that was making her hot. It had been intended for a cool summer morning in Arendelle, but it seemed that Atlantean summers were even more intense than theirs.
"Yes, I'm quite warm," she admitted to the sea witch. She gave her companion a sheepish smile.
The sea witch wasn't paying attention. She was looking down at the ice, a concealed look of concern peeking through her reserved features. Elsa narrowed her eyes and followed suit. Sure enough, cast across its surface like a spider's web, tiny cracks were forming crevices in the ice bridge. Without Elsa's magic to sustain it, it had lost all forward motion, all frigic integrity -- without Elsa, it was just ice, and the sun was doing a good job of melting it. She could feel moisture on her legs already.
She stood, brushing bits of frost and icicles off her new garment. Ursula warned her that they should leave, else they'd risk her drowning. She could swim, but she couldn't deny the fact that swimming in this outfit wasn't going to do her any favours. She nodded and walked forward, towards the ice witch, inhibitions gone.
She couldn't hurt the woman anymore. Her elation wasn't going to spike out like an icicle and impale the witch. The ice beneath them only grew wetter and wetter, its impressive reach diminishing rapidly.
The storm inside her remained still and silent.
She cast her gaze past Ursula, towards the rising hills of land in the distance. She'd have to walk quickly, but she'd make it.
The necklace around Ursula's neck whirred.
"I suppose I should head back," she said. "Thank you for this chance... you've no idea what it means to me."
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Post by Deleted on Apr 2, 2014 14:59:38 GMT -5
Oh? What else could this queen who lacked a proper crown want? Ursula clicked the nails of one hand against each other as she waited on Elsa to speak. Didn’t the temporarily thawed woman know this ice wasn’t going to last long? Or, was she ready for a taste of winter already?
Realizing she was being thanked, Ursula chuckled. It was an easy laugh, familiar and a bit lazy. ”Oh, it’s nothing, darling, really.” Voice taking on a deeper, confident tone, she concluded. ”It’s what I do, you know. Helping poor, unfortunate souls--why, it’s my specialty.” Assuming that their business here was done, Ursula let her tentacles graze over the compromised ice, slush covering where her suction cups’ ‘teeth’ wore groves from their squirming. She turned her back to Elsa, waving lazily without looking again. ”I suppose I’ll see you in three days, then.”
When her first two tentacles touched the water, she realized the warm currents and the chilly waters freshly released from the icy expanse Elsa had created were mingling to make an odd sensation, like a whirlpool under the surface. However, she didn’t have the luxury of staying around to investigate. If King Triton didn’t come up to see what the disturbance was over the Atlantean Sea, then precious Princess Ariel would probably pop her big blue eyes out to check up on the sudden drop in temperature.
Whatever. Ursula made a deal. It was a good enough start. The other four tentacles waited impatiently upon the waning ice.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 2, 2014 21:20:30 GMT -5
From the dark and cold tomb like underground of the Iifa Tree to warm and overly bright light. That is what a particular white haired genome stumbled out into as he exited the dark portal and halls that had brought him to this new place. Being blinded and still a bit winded from his little “adventure” back at the Iifa Tree, Kuja stopped just short of the closing portal as he lifted his arms to block out some of bright light that assaulted him from above.
Taking the moment to catch his breath, he let his other senses fill him in on the new area he was in. He could tell as he stood there battered, bruised, and cut that the earth under his feet was softer than your average field; however, this was not the softness associated with snow or desert sands. No. This was a different sort of soft and firmness. This surface belonged to an area near water and not just any sort of water either.
Listen? You hear that? The gentle yet powerful sshhh? And what was that smell on the warm breeze that blew? Was there a hint of salt on the air? And that sound from above? That was a gull’s call was it not?
As all this filtered in and the genome’s breathing finally returned to its normal rate, the elegant and scantily clad man slowly lowered his arms, his eyes natural narrowing against the brightness of the light that filled the area. Blinking and letting his sight adjust to the new lighting, Kuja knew without really seeing that he was near a beach. While it was true, he did not spend much time in such locations in the past, he had been around the ocean enough to know it by smell and sound. He also knew as he let his arms fall to his side that the scene his slowly clearing vision was revealing would not be one from Gaia. No. No.
He had just escaped from the home, he had so sought to go back to. It wasn’t that he was terrified per se that he had fled the place, but instead he had left because the situation he had wound up in was a threat upon his life…and quite frankly now that he was back among the living fully, the prideful genome had no plans of returning to the grave until nature and nothing else caused him to cease functioning.
Closing his eyes as a warm breeze passed over him the genome took a moment to collect himself as the wind tossed his white locks and tugged at the loose half robe around his waist and the long sleeves of his top. There was a light jingling sound, as the wind shifted the small metal tassels on his clothing, but outside of that the genome was silent as his mind played back the bizarre scene at the Iifa Tree.
He had been fortunate enough to return to his home, even if the place he was dropped in happen to be the place he had died in the first go round. As pleasing as being home should’ve been thanks to the various opportunities and advantages being on his own turf had going for him, he had unfortunately been returned home at an inopportune moment. For you see, when he was returned to the Iifa tree, he had come along just as a strange darkness had decided to invade the area, filling it with malice and the strange shadow creatures known as Heartless.
He had met their “leader”. He was a strange man whose name slipped his mind at the moment, but that did not matter. What did matter was what that man had done back home with his strange dark magic and creatures. With little effort, he had revived the heart of the dead Iifa tree, the Soul Divider itself and in turn made the creature go beserk as the tree was filled with a maliciousness that struck out at everything as those dead roots surged with life and dark energy.
While it was true Kuja was indeed strong and could’ve easily wiped out the tree if given the space and room to concentrate his magic enough, the wild tree had forced him to flee from the chaos; however, it wasn’t an easy task considering that whatever that dark man had done caused the Mist that Iifa Tree produced to come back in full force. With the Mist thicker than ever, he had to fight his way back the surface where by sheer luck he had managed to tear open a dark portal and escape into its cold safety before the Iifa Tree could nab him with its thick roots.
If had been a tad bit slower, he'd probably be impaled or worse....
Talk about hellacious, the genome thought as his blue eyes snapped opened once more and he looked at his physical state of being with a frown upon his pretty face. His eyebrows furrowed slightly as he took in what damage could be hidden or erase with a spell and what he’d simply have to bare until his body naturally healed of it. Most of the minor stuff was already fading away thanks to his body’s rapid healing process, but there were still a lot of bruises and cuts that were taking their sweet time healing. He hoped these slower healing wounds wouldn't leave scars like the ropes did on his wrists. He didn't need more blemishes to add to the list after all.
"Hmph!" was the huff that came from the miffed genome.
Too bad he didn’t have a quick healing spell or a potion at his disposal at the moment to help with that worry. No matter, he would fix that issue in time. In any case, as the genome turned his eyes from his appearance to the area about him, blue orbs took in the expanse of gently waving sea grass held in place by sands and at a further distance there was the ocean gleaming brightly under the hot sun. Outside of this, he could see a castle in the distance and wondered if what he would find there should he explore it. Maybe he'd find some information about where he was and perhaps something useful to use against the mess back home.
While it was true the genome liked a good dose of chaos ever now and then, it was completely unaccepteable for anyone outside of himself wrecking it upon his home turf. He could careless about the other worlds, but his home was his to toy with and like the possessive little genome he was, he would simply have to get rid of the pest that was there. And how was he going to do that? With a very eleborate bang of course! But to do that he needed to gather more power.
With more power he'd wipe out every bit of that dark magic and the man who had sunk it into his land! It was a thought that should've brought joy to him, but instead it made him moodier. This was annoying. Having to clean up the mess, but he simply could not allow the chaos to exist if it was not his doing.
Selfish? Maybe, but Kuja could care less as he began his walk in the direction of the castle, his body glowing slightly as he used a bit of magic to fix his clothing and hide some of the bruising and cuts he had gained. That dark being had made an attack on his home and himself, so it would not be forgiven; however, until he had enough firepower to make the demise of the pest beautiful, he would simply concentrate on his current little project of exploring this world and gaining what he could from it.
As he moved along the grass, down a hill, and across some sand dunes, the genome began taking what he thought was the shortest path to the castle; however, about two minutes into this little trek, the genome stopped as the familiar tug of another in the area caught his attention, but even stronger than that was a huge surge of magic that had come from the direction of the sea. Pausing atop the sand dune, Kuja’ s blue eyes turned to the ocean and observed it carefully.
It was then as he fully took in the water that he noticed something peculiar about it. While the water did move, there was one particular area that seemed like it had been frozen in time…no frozen with something that glittered like crystals. It was also from this odd spot that he had sensed the surge of magic. In fact, he could still feel lingering wisps of whatever was used.
Curious, Kuja bad mood vanished as he put going to the castle on the back burner for now and instead made his way towards the water and that peculiar spot. As he walked with the grace and ease of a cat, the genome was not bothered by the warmth of the area since he had dealt with heat far worse than this thanks to living in a desert; however as he got closer to that area of crystal water, he felt the temperature drop as he neared the strange crystal slab and finally came to a rest before a very strange scene indeed. Shifting his weight to the left, Kuja folded his arms lightly across his chest and tilted his head at what he saw not being bothered by the chill as a quizzical look came upon his face.
This strange substance that held the might sea still in its grasp...this was not crystal. No…this was…
Kuja unfolded his arms and moved closer to the substance before cautiously nudging the edge of the semi-transparent, slick, and white substance that stuck to the sand and extended out into the water with the tip of his boot. As the substance groaned and cracked lightly under the nudge, the genome pulled his foot back as he watched the crack spread out in a spiderweb fashion along the glistening surface.
Well, that is definitely ice caused by a powerful spell. But it seems to be wearing off now. So where is the caster? Kuja wondered to himself before his eyes looked up and traveled across what could only be described as an ice bridge. The bridge extended further out into the ocean, so maybe the caster was out there. He certainly sensed something out there, but he couldn't decipher what it was.
Pop! Crack!
The light sound of the ice steadily melting and cracking caused the genome to look back down at the spot he had nudged. It was slowly widening as the sun beat mercilessly upon the substance. Perhaps he shouldn’t have nudged the ice bridge. He was sure those cracks he caused only made the ice’s disappearance quicker placing whoever was out there on the bridge in even more peril of falling into the waves when the bridge did disappear.
Did he feel guilty about what he had done? Absolutely not.
In fact as Kuja moved a little to the left of the bridge, a small smirk crossed his lips as he decided to wait and see what would happen to the one out there on the bridge. Sure, it was a waste of time and a bit on the rude side to not try and warn whatever was out there of the issue; however, in the genome’s mind the fate that awaited whoever was out there wouldn’t be fatal unless it didn’t know how swim. And if this was the case, why create an ice bridge that went out so far knowing full well this sun would demolish it? But then again... The ice was pretty thick, so maybe the caster was a bit overconfident in how well the ice would hold up in the situation.
A fool or a novice caster, Kuja thought as his eyes returned to the sea and the horizon beyond.
Whatever the case was, whoever laid the ice down had apparently either screwed up or left the bridge long enough to draw something all too curious and foolish out onto the ice that was now melting and putting whatever was out there on a rather short leash of time.
Shaking his head lightly as light chuckle escaped him at this rather entertaining situation, Kuja would continue to watch and wait to see if what was out on the bridge would rush to the shore in a panic or simply disappear into the ocean below when the solid landing vanished.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2014 14:10:17 GMT -5
"Yes," said Elsa. "See you in three days." She turned away from the sea witch. The ice was really starting to melt now. She'd have to hurry. She started walking, but already she felt as if the whole world was spinning. The ice swayed under her feet and she stumbled. Unlike before, when every frigid contour felt as though it had been a part of her, the icy terrain seemed somehow foreign now. Strange, alien. Adversarial. She took a deep breath and took small steps until she readjusted herself to the slippery surface. It didn't take her too long -- she had been around ice all her life, after all. With her feet firmly planet against the shining surface beneath them, she made quick progress across the ice bridge. The sea breeze returned, more briskly than she'd remembered. She shivered. She shivered. She was COLD. The revelation filled her with a weird, horrible sort of elation. She clasped her hands together as she picked up speed, anxious to get off the ice and back on land where it might be warmer and she could revel in the experience. She could scarcely believe it -- the cold had never bothered her before! She knew what it felt like to be cold, to feel the harsh winds on her skin and surrender to the snow's frigid embrace, it just... never bothered her. Perhaps she never got as cold as other people, or perhaps she just liked it -- she'd never known any other life. People usually dreaded the winter. She had always embraced it. Winter had always made her life easier -- she could disguise her powers as a sudden draft or the results of a bad storm. Not that they were going to be a problem anymore. Three days. Three. Whole. Days. She was grinning by the time land came back into view. The low rim of green on the horizon stuck out from the endless expanse of blue and its shimmering top-layer. She could see the edges of her bridge beginning to melt away and urged herself forward. She was about to make the jump to land when she noticed the figure standing on the hill. Not paying attention, her foot slipped past the edge of the ice bridge. She tumbled forward into the water with a shriek. ((I'll wait until Ursula heads back to her house / elsewhere to put in my bit for you, Ursula. ))
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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2014 15:46:34 GMT -5
When the temporarily-out-of-her-element queen began making her way back towards the shore, the Sea Witch fully submerged herself in the water. She didn’t swim very deeply, languidly moving. She really just let herself sink, actually. With the fresh, cold water fighting the warm, native Atlantean currents, it was as if Ursula was walking through an underwater breeze. Feeling herself out of sight, the witch grinned under the waves.
As her tentacles touched sand, she chuckled. She’d made her first deal in a very, very long time, and it felt wonderful. She lifted the necklace up to where she could see it. Oh, should she try out the powers here, or at home? Ariel’s voice hadn’t been particularly powerful, just hauntingly beautiful, the little wretched siren of a niece. This ice, however, might be something best tested at a drop off or somewhere she wouldn’t accidentally lock herself up in.
Maybe she could free Morg--nah. Even if she could free her halfwit sister, that shrimpy little squid would be of no help. Not against Triton, anyway.
Unaware of the boy who bore witness to the aftermath of Elsa’s now-gone troubles or the fact he was about to encounter her customer, Ursula revealed in the events which had taken place on the ice as she stood in its shadow. Even if she had been, it was unlikely Ursula would do anything. When she wasn’t putting on a show, she was painfully negligent.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2014 16:09:11 GMT -5
The necklace hummed beneath her fingertips. Nothing audible, of course, the sounds it made were far too faint to be heard by human ears, octopi ears or any other kind of ears, for that matter. But what did matter was that it was humming. Even though the magical golden glow had long faded, the deal written on the contract agreed to and the transformative magic accomplished, it was as if something still hadn't completed its part of the exchange. And it was struggling.
But not for long. Again, though she wouldn't hear anything or see anything, the sea witch knew not what her greedy touch had done. Her dark fingers wrapped around the shell and gave the uncompleted contract the thing it needed most --
A host.
It crept in through her skin, like a virus. Leaving the shell and travelling down her fingers, through her bloodstream, to the place where it needed to live in order to survive. Ursula's heart. When it arrived, basking in the glory of all four chambers pumping, pounding and pulsing in rhythmic union, like a child to a newfound toy, it gloried in its discovery. It took its time to examine every inch of the space, mapping out its new route. It would be unable to stick a thorn in, as it had with its true owner, but that was alright. It would suffice. It would live.
And that's all that mattered. The most of it may still be locked away in Ursula's shell, but the core of it was something that could not be so easily contained.
Slowly, it began to form the crux of its operation. One, miniature snowflake to another. To another. To a few more. To a hundred more, until the storm was set in place. All it took now -- and there it came, a spark of excitement as Ursula considered her newfound power -- was to make it spin. It was a slow rotation, a lazy orbit through the chambers. It would cause nothing more than a heightened sense of anxiety for the time being, but if left to fester long enough... well, Ursula had seen what it had made of Elsa.
Three days?
Plenty of time.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2014 22:27:32 GMT -5
Kuja remained on the beach by the popping and cracking ice bridge, his eyes shifting from the aquamarine expanse beyond to the ice that had now cracked so badly that the sea which battered it so began to pull it apart. Not really feeling anything at all for the destruction and danger to another he had caused, Kuja watched as small chunks began to drift away from the shore and bridge out into the choppy sea.
Without looking, his senses told him what was happening further out on the ice. He could still sense two presences; however, one of those presences was fading away. Like it was moving further out of range and with its movement that great magic that had drawn him out here in the first place was fading with it.
Disappointing. He would’ve liked to examine that magic up close, but seeing as it seemed like whatever had it was sinking into the sea, it looked like he would not be able to examine this power at all. He didn’t care if the magic holder did like to swim or what not, he was certainly not about to go swimming when he didn’t need to. Magic while fascinating, was simply not worth the effort of all the work that would be needed to be done to get himself presentable once more after a swim, so he let the power get away having no clue that the one who held could potential cause danger to this world with the new found power; however, even if he had known, the genome would not have cared as long as said wielder did not cause harm towards him.
In any case, the melting ice was only able to hold the attention of the genome for only so long before he was looking back up at the ice as the presence that had remained on the “surface” got closer. As the figure appeared in the distance, Kuja narrowed his eyes slightly as he tried to make out what the dark blurb was as it made its way across the ice a bit unsteadily as the ice continued to melt becoming shiny and slippery in the heat of the sun. Not bothering to even try and help the person stumbling across, Kuja continued to watch as the person got closer slowly revealing itself to be a young lady with orangish colored hair that fell in a braid down her shoulder. Her bangs were messy and she wore a dark dress that while beautiful seemed way too heavy and wrong for this hot weather.
Wondering if the woman had been the caster of the ice bridge or just an unfortunate person that was perhaps plopped into the wrong spot of the world when she was taken from wherever it was she was came from, Kuja’s smirk faded as curiosity filled him as he continued to watch the lovely out of place lady make her way across the ice.
Maybe he should help her. After all, she did appear to be a upper class lady instead of the ordinary one with her fancy dress wear…and it was very rude to simply watch a lady struggle, but then again maybe it was best to let her be. She was making good progress across the ice on her own. Maybe it would be more insulting to aid than to watch? Hmm….choices.
Kuja debated for a moment and was actually quite pleased when the girl was very close to being on land again. She had a triumphant grin on her face as she concentrated on beating the melting bridge. She didn’t seem to notice the genome who was perpared to give her a well deserved applause should she actually make it to land on her own. After all, he could admire even the shimmer of strength in anything including women, who it only made more lovely in the genome’s eyes; however, just when the young lady looked as if she was about to jump to land, her hands gathering up a bit of her long dress as she perpared herself for the action, she made the mistake of looking at Kuja and in turn, lost her concentration and slipped off the edge of the bridge with a shriek.
While it was true his beauty was very distracting, one should know better than to be distracted when safety was more important. Placing his head in his hand as he bowed it slight, the genome shook his head lightly as he closed his eyes with a small smile upon his lips.
She was so close to success too. Maybe he should’ve kept himself hidden to play fair. Oh well. As amusing as the thought was, the genome would push away the self centered thoughts quickly as he dropped his arms to his side and waded out into the waters made icy by the bridge. Ignoring the coldness against his bare skin, he let the waves tug at the robe around his waist as he made his way to the woman that had fallen in the shallow. He assumed as the water reached his waist that the woman would probably need a hand getting out of the water. He could be wrong, but that dress did not exactly look light. In fact, it looked like it would sink rather than float. Besides it was his fault in a way that the woman had failed in her moment of triumph, so he supposed to repay her for the error, he would help her out. It was the gentlemanly thing to do, no?
In any case, the genome easily waded against the strong currents until he was within range of the woman. Reaching out towards her calmly, he would let her grasp his arms for support should she choose to before helping her stand in the water.
Whether the woman took his aid or not, he would escort her to the warmer shores and give her room to recover as he took the moment to squeeze salt water out of his dripping robe. Not really pleased that he would be smelling like salt water and potentially fish later, the genome would eventually let the damp material go being careful not to sling any water on the lady not too far from him.
As the wind begin to dry the robe and the water on his skin, he looked over at the woman with a look of concern on his face.
“That was quite a slip you had back there, my lady. Are you alright?” he would ask, playing his part as the concerned helper as he watched the strange woman carefully, trying to understand why such a strange woman was in this place…and why she had been out on the ice bridge in the first place.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 9, 2014 16:26:03 GMT -5
Ursula felt chilled, which, considering the pure amount of padding she tended to carry around under her skin, was saying something. This chill was internal, beginning at her heart and flowing out. Her fingers felt particularly cold. Maybe she’d stayed on that ice too long.
But, she couldn’t risk surfacing in this form. If Elsa was still out there, she might suspect something. Furthermore, if she went too near the castle in her true form, what would ha--what? Why was she so worried? The castle belonging to the twitterpated beloved was a good while away. This anxiety was undue.
Chanting a bit under her breath, Ursula swam up to the surface, away from the chilled waters where the ice expanse had been, of course, as she shapeshifted into her alternate form. “Vanessa” surfaced, flipping her brunette hair back quite dramatically. Stepping out of the surface and onto the sand, the Sea Witch wondered how much sunbathing it would take to warm her up. Relaxing on the beach in relative solitude among sand dunes, she kind of enjoyed the feeling of her simple black dress drying in the sunlight.
… did the sun feel cooler?
not sure if it's needed BUT!! Shapeshift -- Ursula can change someone's appearance. Typically, she changes herself into her "Vanessa" form. Others she may change in polyps... Has no use in battle, and to be activated it requires that the shifted party have previously either signed or given explicit verbal consent to be touched by Ursula's magic.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 10, 2014 21:10:17 GMT -5
He had gotten used to the rather peculiar feeling of using the Corridor. The sand gave way to three sets of boots. The oh so familiar smell of sea salt surged into his nostrils. The warm sun flicked rays of light upon his pristine face. Preferring a hat this time, Lord Cutler Beckett was finely flanked by two Black Coats. As if the surge of dark energy wasn't enough, Beckett felt a lurching sense of unease as to his subtlety. Yet there she was.
My my, she looks nothing like as described.
Yet Beckett would not be swayed by ruses. The immaterial world had its tendencies, yet it was not nonexistent. The chest was still out of reach, yet its nature still existed. The heart had yet to be found, but the world it existed in left imprints upon the ignorant world he himself lived in. Yet there it was. The rope that no doubt had the shell resting at its end, hung around her neck like a noose waiting to be tightened.
One can only imagine what foul creature this guise contains.
His voice shifted into its commanding, arrogant tone as he took his steps forwards from her flank, "Having a bit of fun in the sun now, are we?"
A slight sly smile crept its way across his face, "Ursula."
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Post by Deleted on Apr 13, 2014 16:43:26 GMT -5
Elsa hit the water hard.
She didn't know what surprised her most: the smack sound her body made as it hit the water, the surprising weight to her coronation gown which threatened to drown her or the shocking frigidity of the sea. It took her a few moments to realize she was sinking, and another few more to start treading water with her arms, only to find that her dress really was heavier than she'd remembered and began to sink again anyway.
Way to start three days of freedom... just like Ursula said.
She threw her arms up over her head, then pulled them back down through the water as fast she could, struggling to return to the surface. Even her overexaggerated strokes barely earned her a few seconds of cool, sweet air. Her heart began to pound. Her eyes widened.
Oh no, not here... conceal, don't feel, con--
The ice wasn't forming. Wasn't going to lock her in a block of ice under the ocean for eternity. Nothing was happening. Nothing was changing.
The magic was really gone. Or at least, so it seemed. It should be a lot colder -- she had frozen this half of the sea to begin the ice bridge after all, and yet the water felt as warm and fresh to her as a spring day. Perhaps the witch's magic operated over time as well, or she simply was more adjusted to the cold naturally than she expected.
Either way, whether the water was cold or warm, her dress light or heavy, she was sinking. And she couldn't resurface.
A hand -- perhaps the hand of the figure she'd seen on the hill - entered the water, reaching down. Without thinking, she grabbed it and allowed it to pull her upwards, past the watery threshold and back into the air. She emerged, sputtering and coughing, as the figure led her to the beach and withdrew his hand. She bent over, clutching her chest. Water sprayed past her lips onto the sand, which welled around her shoes. When she'd finished, without looking up at the figure, she adjusted her dress and ran a hand through her hair, groaning.
She lifted her head to her rescuer now, putting a smile on her face. Every inch of her dripped onto the sand.
"Thank you so much," she said. "I thought I was going to drown... you surprised me, I hadn't seen anyone else on the hill. I..."
She paused, about to introduce herself, yet something stopped her. She knew nothing of this man. She didn't even know if it was him who had been on the hill. Her smile faded slightly.
"I'm glad you came when you did. Thank you. Do you know where I might be able to buy some new clothes?"
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Post by Deleted on Apr 15, 2014 22:01:22 GMT -5
Anxious due to being the new host of the ice powers Elsa was temporarily free of, Ursula jolted up when she heard the tale-tell crunch of boots over sand. Dark hair swirling around her false form, the Sea Witch glared at the approaching trio. Her now slender, deliate fingers dug into the sand and, after a second, she noticed that the sand had frosted over ever so slightly.
Her eyes widened a bit, facade dropping as she realized her magic had backfired. That explained the anxiety. However, where hte previous host became worried, now that she knew what was going on, “Vanessa” became aggressive. A scowl marked her otherwise gorgeous features and as she stood her shoulder squared. The air around her chilled as if a malicious spectre had made itself present.
Facing the man and his lackies with her back to the sea, her home turf, Ursula didn’t waste time with pleasantries. If he knew who she was, she doubted the land dweller intended to strike a deal. Furthermore, she could only contain one item within her necklace at a time; even if he was interested in business, until this contract was fulfilled, Ursula was not.
”Can I help you?” Ugh, land dwellers had this nasty habit of sticking their noses where it didn’t belong.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2014 5:20:31 GMT -5
Kuja could sense the presence of others arriving in this world. Those that held the same bitterness that he was learning to assossiate with those cursed shadows called Heartless. It was a bitterness that made him feel sick and agitated; however, lucky for the genome and whoever new that had entered this strange world, their aura was not strong enough to cause major concerns for the genome. On top of the sensation being as weak as water down wine, the presences he sensed were too far away from where he was and since they did not move towards him or even away, the genome did not find the need to go poking about to find out what the source of the foul presence was.
Maybe if he was bored and with nothing to do, he might’ve debated about investigating. After all…he had just come back from a rather unpleasant run in with the most unpleasant of all the bitter auras and had managed to lose something precious on his way out of his world and away from it. He wasn’t sure what it was that the twisted version of the Soul Divider managed to rip from him when it whacked him with that tentacle, but the genome could feel something was not right inside.
It was a bothersome note; however, for the moment the genome was able to push his concern for himself away as he instead focused on a problem before him that overrode personal concerns and curiosity. You see, there was a woman who had slipped into the sea and from the way she was flailing around in the ocean, said woman appeared to be on the edge of drowning as her clothing more so than her skill in swimming worked against her.
Now, Kuja was no stranger to watching things die. He had seen many things die, never shedding a tear, or feeling anything for the sight he saw. He just wasn’t taught those sort of things when he was created. Sure, he was taught to act and could react to things in an appropiate fashion, but it did not change the fact that these feelings were never geniune. The only true emotions he had were pleasure when things went his way, anger, and despair. Outside of this, the genome did not know how to feel for another or express his emotions in a geniune way. So one would have to wonder why the elegant and graceful man entered those freezing waters to save the woman floundering around from drowning.
The answer was simple. He felt that he needed to fix a small error he had made - distracting one from a task and thus causing them to fail where they should’ve succeeded.
Sure, Kuja felt no remorse for what happened to the woman, but he did believe in some form of fair play and so with that small shred of “honor” in mind, he had gone to the woman’s aid. She was in quite a panic and in the perfect state to take down another should they too be to hasty in their actions; however, Kuja was not hasty.
In fact, he was quite calm as he reached into the water, allowing drowning woman to grab onto him and splash him with more sea water than he cared to be assualted with, but that is what happened when one entered such an arena. In any case, after getting a good grip on his rather heavy, coughing and sputtering catch, Kuja had led her to the shore before carefully releasing her and backing off to deal with his own water logged clothing and hair as the woman did what she could to regain herself.
While she did that, Kuja had asked his question before shifting his weight slightly and feeling the squish of the liquid that had logged itself in its boots. Knowing that feeling would drive him up the wall later, the genome plopped on the sandy earth before carefully working to empty each boot out as he kept an ear out for any response from the woman if she chose to give it. He heard her groan as he worked, but barely looked up at the woman as he pulled a strand of sea weed off the edge of his boot with a lightl frown as he checked the boot for any other “oddities” before slipping it back over his black nailed toes and pale leg. With one boot done, he worked on the other in the same fashion. He remained quiet as he let the sea breeze cooled by the cracked and slowly drifting apart ice bridge and the warm sun above dry his damp locks and skin.
Small chill bumps appeared along his skin, but the genome did not shiver as he finished cleaning his boot and pulled it back on. As he was completing this task, he heard the woman speak. As she thanked him, the genome nodded lightly with a small smile in return to the one she gave him. Then looking away from her, he extended his legs before him in a V shape before he leaned and back used his arms as support to remain at an angle while he sat. Kuja closed his eyes and enjoyed the more or less pleasant atomsphere despite the chill.
He was relaxed, but fully aware of the woman. He listened to her talk and took note of when her speech went from rambling to a sudden pause before shifting into more formal tones. As he heard the change, the genome cracked opened one eye and looked over at the woman as she continued on. As she asked her question, the genome opened his other eye as his eyebrows rose slightly at the question.
“I am afraid you asking the wrong person for that sort of information. You see, I am quite new to this place myself, my lady. However,” the genome paused as he took a moment to get back to his feet, dusting the sand off of himself and his hands as he moved.
Frowning at a particularly stubborn spot, he brushed it off a bit more before finally giving up and looking up at the woman with a slightly sheepish smile as if he was actually embarrassed to show his love for presentation and material things before someone else. In any case, the smile remained as the pretty genome continued where he left off as he shook his head lightly as if to clear it.
“If we were to check say over there,” he paused as he turned slightly sideways and pointed in the direction of the castle that rested a distances away before looking back at the woman with a friendly smile. “I am sure we would be able to find some locals that maybe live near or around the castle and in turn, could help you with the clothing issue. I can accompany you if you want,” Kuja said before his smile faded as an apologetic look crossed his face.
“Oh dear. There I go rambling again and forgetting my manners,” the genome said with a light chuckle. Then becoming a bit more serious, he took a light step back from the lady and leaned forward as he spread his arms to either side of him pulling off still rather elegant and graceful bow despite being soaked from the earlier rescue.
“I am Kuja,” he said and then pausing he would lift his head and look up at the woman with that friendly smile and sky blue orbs. “And you are?”
Kuja finished his words keeping his voice friendly and jovial as usual as he gave off the air of something harmless rather than a very cautious creature that would have no problem biting should this lady take the wrong step.
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