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Sakitu steps back as Fin gains more control over his body. She reaches out and holds his arm to help him stand.
”Get behind me, Hlao-roo”
Sakitu nods then shifts to behind him as he draws his bow to fire. Before he releases the arrow she touches the bow and fills it with magic.
She hears a loud cracking and snapping sound from the ice dome. Large cracks appear and the surface crumbles in a white spray of powder and glistening crystals.
"That didn't last long."
Bulvi lies almost motionless on the ground, if it weren't for the slight twitching of muscles...
Kalchine is palpably relieved as the spirit falls under the withering assault of Maka's furious fists.
"Don't mess with Maka's man," he comments but quickly moves on to the next threat.
The ones trapped within the ice wall seem contained, at least for the moment, and he really doesn't like the way that wound on Quasit is bleeding so he rushes toward her to provide assistance. Unfortunately, speed is not his forte so he does not quite get to her.
Maka's flames finally manage to banish the spirit from this world.
Bulvi's spirit vanishes from the door shortly after the evil spirit is banished.
Selena drains part of her target's energies, so when Quasit strikes it (funnily enough only hitting effectively with her offhand), the glass has lost its supernatural hardness. Cracks spread across the 'joints' of the golem where she struck it, though it doesn't yet collapse. That changes when Fin's arrow strikes, and it shatters. The remaining golem on that side of the temple attacks Quasit back.
One of its two strikes find their target.
The other two finish smashing through the ice and approach Maka, one of them swinging a glass depiction of some sort of stone tablet.
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As Quasit slashes and stabs at the glass golem, the sudden threading of an arrow over her shoulder, shattering the thing, causes her to look back and give a short whoop of relief to see Findurel on his feet again.
The momentary loss of concentration costs her however as the golem lands another brutal slice on her thigh, though she manages to duck under the second swing. Chastising herself for this clumsiness and with blood now soaking through her shredded pant leg, she continues her relentless assault.
Selena's warning not to use fire on the glass golems infuriated Maka, who wanted nothing more than to melt them down. Her draconic features grew with her rage as she unleashed a flurry of blows against the constructs.
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Kalchine isn't able to entirely engage his professional distance as Quasit gets sliced up and he winces as a fresh bleeding wound is opened on her thigh.
He steps up behind her, lightly touching her back and pulsing life energy into her to mitigate the damage.
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Seeing one of the glass creatures shatter encourages Sakitu.
"Nice job, Fin. Now it's my turn. Did Selena say they don't like cold? Well then, I've got something for them."
She takes a few steps towards the two that are advancing towards her. She positions herself to maximize the angle then blasts out a white flurry of snowballs to encompass and pelt the walking windows.
Bulvi blinked, the large Ulfen man got to his feet a little shakily and nodded to Maka. "I'll live, thanks." He assumed she and the others had helped since he was free again. He stepped closer to one to the west, part of him wanted to help Maka but she could handle herself and he didn't want to give any more encouragement for the western one to close on Sakitu.
Quasit, Fin, and Maka destroy two of the remaining golems between the three of them. Sakitu's magic visibly slows the remaining one. It makes a single attack on Bulvi.
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Kalchine's healing magic staunches Quasit's bleeding and goes a long way toward restoring her fitness. As the second golem crashes to the ground, she turns and grins at the druid. "Thanks doll! You're a handy alien to have around! 'Scuse me!"
She then dashes off toward the golems attacking Bulvi and Maka just as another of the glass constructs shatters. "Maka! Is that ghost gone?" she hollers as she sprints over.
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Selena watches impassively as Quasit scampers off, and raises an eyebrow at Kalchine before whistling to her familiar. Silver pokes its nose out from behind a bit of fallen stone and yips once.
"No, that's not how they work." she answers nonchalantly. She looks up at the nearest of the towers rising from the church, then begins to walk toward where the golems emerged from. the fox trots after her, looking about furtively.
She then dashes off toward the golems attacking Bulvi and Maka just as another of the glass constructs shatters. "Maka! Is that ghost gone?" she hollers as she sprints over.
"Yeah I burned it away! Maka growled as she continued to batter the remaining construct.
"I'm here to help," Kalchine answers simply, but as she runs off, his ears perk up and he smiles shyly.
Right up until he glances over and catches Selena's smug gaze. Immediately the smile disappears and his ears droop. He looks away guiltily then chases after the rogue, certain that his healing skills will be needed again, soon enough.
The last golem shatters under your assault. As Selena looks around, she sees that the windows are... oddly intact in spite of the golems stepping out of them. Though they now look like solid planes of glass instead of stained glass works. Unlike the other version of the temple, the tower here doesn't seem to have any openings.
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As the final golem goes down, Quasit immediately sheathes her swords and steps over to Findurel to get a good look at him.
"Jeepers, you had me scared to death. I thought that ghost sucked the soul right out of you. How do you feel? You look like you've been through the wash and put away wet." She shares a concerned look with Sakitu and Kalchine, and takes his arm to keep him from tipping over.
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After a minute or so, the halfling witch moseys back around the corner of the building, her focus still on the walls and towers of the church.
"Well, no surprise. It may be back in this world, but this is no normal building. Even allowing for alien architecture." she says smoothly to Silver. The fox makes a growling sound and trots ahead of her before looking back and giving a single yapping cry.
Selena shakes her head. "I'm not sure. But I suspect the door will be the only way in. And if I were Rasputin, that's how I'd want it."
The fox turns to her, crouches on its forepaws and gives a whining yelp.
"No. Too risky. We might end up on the negative energy plane or something."
She comes up to the group and looks over Bulvi appraisingly. "You should try flirting with Kalchine. He might heal you."
Perhaps this was a joke? At any rate, she imparts a Healing Hex on him to halt his bleeding.
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As the final golem goes down, Quasit immediately sheathes her swords and steps over to Findurel to get a good look at him.
"Jeepers, you had me scared to death. I thought that ghost sucked the soul right out of you. How do you feel? You look like you've been through the wash and put away wet." She shares a concerned look with Sakitu and Kalchine, and takes his arm to keep him from tipping over.
A pale Fin shakily stows his bow, looks to Quasit, his eyes disturbingly blank, barely murmuring. ”Like death warmed over, I guess. Literally ripped my soul out…how the hell is that even possible, Q? Words can’t describe…thought I had died and went to hell…know it wasn’t that long but it felt like…forever…”
His knees buckle, but he steadies himself with Quasit’s help. Some semblance of life returns to his eyes as he sighs and asks, ”We going in now, Q? Gimme a minute and I’ll be ready…is Bull OK?”
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A pale Fin shakily stows his bow, looks to Quasit, his eyes disturbingly blank, barely murmuring. ”Like death warmed over, I guess. Literally ripped my soul out…how the hell is that even possible, Q? Words can’t describe…thought I had died and went to hell…know it wasn’t that long but it felt like…forever…”
Something about the way Findurel speaks to her appears to chill Quasit to the bone. "Hey, it's over, everything is back where it should be now, and Maka burned up the ghost. You're gonna be fine. Having your soul sucked out would make anyone feel oogey." she says as comfortingly as she can manage. "C'mon, why don't you sit down for a minute?"
”We going in now, Q? Gimme a minute and I’ll be ready…is Bull OK?”
"Not until Kal has a look at you...wait, what happened to Bull?" She looks around to make sure the Ulfen was on his feet. "I was so busy with the glass guys I didn't see."
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Fin nods, takes her advice and sits. ”After I was able…to…I dunno what you’d call it, resist it I guess, I returned to my body…and then it must’ve went after Bull as his face appeared on the crucifixion not long after mine left…he returned to his body after Maka killed that…thing. Think he handled it better than I did…”
He starts to rise. ”I’ll be fine…feel a little week, it sucked some energy outta me or something…I need to gather my arrows…”
Kalchine scowls at Selena, his ears laying back but he quickly moves to business.
Squatting in front of Fin, he examines the man, looking at his skin, hands and eyes. The lack of focus, the focus on minor things, the pallor. Several things can cause such symptoms, but given the nature of their previous opponent, he has a suspicion about what it might be.
"That thing drained some of his essence, Quasit," he reports. "Repairing that damage is beyond my ability. It is too unnatural for me to overcome. They'll be fine in a few days, but I don't think we have that kind of time."
He looks to Bulvi where the man is being vigorously comforted and supported by Maka then back to Fin and Quasit apologetically.
Selena detects a powerful aura of Abjuration on the whole structure.
Maka drew Bulvi into a passionate embrace. As she pulled away, her jaw tightened. "Next time, warn me before you let a spooky ghost nail you to an evil door! I didn't like that." she said, worry and humor heavy in her voice.
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"That thing drained some of his essence, Quasit," he reports. "Repairing that damage is beyond my ability. It is too unnatural for me to overcome. They'll be fine in a few days, but I don't think we have that kind of time."
"Drained of his life essence. You mean, like, it sucked out part of his soul?" says Quasit, hushed worry in her voice. Her brow knits, indicating a struggle to understand what this meant. "I'm no cleric but that seems bad. Rasputin is sure to use more spells against us, and he's shown a preference for targeting Fin. Fin's gonna want all of his life essence to resist that sort of thing, isn't he?"
She looks around helplessly at Sakitu and Selena, hoping their knowledge of magic might add some other option for her to grasp at, and drops to her knees beside Findurel to rest a hand on the elf's shoulder. "Maybe there's some way we can... I don't know--temporarily boost him and Bulvi a bit? Aren't there spells that do that?"
"Yes, there are spells that can restore the loss immediately. There's also a good chance that the effect will heal itself on its own. It takes very powerful magic to weaken someone like this permanently but I think we don't have time to wait," Kalchine says.
He looks hopefully to Sakitu and Selena. "It is not a magic within my realm of understanding, but perhaps one of you?"
However, Quasit is still injured and he CAN help with that so he draws out one of his wands and ignites the magic in it before touching her with it.
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He looks hopefully to Sakitu and Selena. "It is not a magic within my realm of understanding, but perhaps one of you?"
Selena rolls her eyes. "I presume they don't have energy-draining attacks on Triaxus, otherwise you'd know what they need is a Restoration spell. It's perfectly standard magic. I believe Tezuzu bought a wand or scroll that could deliver the spell; it should be stashed in the bag of holding. But if you're not familiar with the spell, I wouldn't recommend trying to activate those items blindly. Amateurs shouldn't meddle with magic beyond their understanding." She smiles a little and favors the group with a challenging and imperious arch of the eyebrows. Notably, she does not offer to make the attempt herself.
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Quasit gratefully accepts Kalchine's healing again, but quickly become focused on finding the Restoration wand in the bag of holding. She closes her eyes as she feels about inside the extra dimensional space for a few moments before drawing the item out. She wrinkles her nose a bit.
"Ew... I think it's got Viktor on it." she says, wiping the item off on her breeches. She takes a moment to study the wand, a lightly varnished and smooth stick of off-white elm wood inscribed with a lightly traced wave motif, and with a single arcane word etched near the handle.
"OK. I'm pretty sure I can make this work. Nevar taught me all about this stuff. It's all about focus and channeling your energy... or something. Willing stuff into being. Like slipping a key into a locked door with your mind is how he described it."
She thinks a moment, then looks around at everyone else. "You may want to stand back though. In case I blow my hand off."
She steps up to Findurel, lays the point of the wand gently on his chest, closes her eyes and articulates the arcane word with precise and careful diction...
...and nothing happens. She heaves a deep breath, stares at the activation word again, making sure she's sounding it out right, then shakes out her shoulders and neck to loosen up, then holds the wand in both hands and tries again, touching the point to Findurel and speaking the word more quickly and with greater authority.
The wand flashes as currents of spectral water wash over the rogue's limbs and channel themselves into Findurel. Quasit squeaks and jumps at the sensation.
"Oh wow! That was freaky! Did it work?"
Encouraged, she now steps over to Bulvi and tries the same procedure on him...
...but mispronounces the word, stumbling over a difficult syllable.
"Gah. Hang on, I've got this." she says, then tries again.
Again the wand activates, and the healing energy washes over the Ulfen, channeled through Quasit's limbs and along the wand.
"There!" she says. "How do you guys feel? Better?
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Fin shrugs after the first tap…but after the second, he feels reinvigorated…his eyes grow wide and he stands, flexing his hands, before tapping them along his bow…
”Aye, Q…much…might take a while for me to forget those visions while ‘crucified’…but I’ll worry about that later…physically, I feel fine. Thank you, m’Lady; now let’s go kill Rasputin,” he says as he draws his bow and heads, very warily this time, towards the door…
As Quasit opened the door, Maka steped up behind them, peering into the darkness with narrowed golden eyes.
"Can I go first?" Her voice was calm, but eager. "They probably already know we're here so it doesn't matter than I'm not sneaky."
Maka gave Quasit a toothy grin and a thumbs up before she strode confidently through the doorway. Her breathing was calm and measured as she scanned the shadows ahead, her senses alert for danger.
Quasit finds no traps on the door, allowing her and Maka to remove the nails from the corpse and access the door. Maka opens the door to reveal a ruined room. The floor had once had a beautiful tile mosaic, but it is cracked and faded. Alcoves with statues line the walls... each of them weeping blood.
In the corner, an aged hag painfully drags herself to her feet, pulling herself up one of the statues. "You're late," she growls, voice rough with age. "I had to kill my son myself, but at least you provided a good distraction. Now, take me back to my Dancing Hut."
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Quasit's jaw literally drops. Throughout the quest to find Baba Yaga, part of Quasit never expected to find Baba Yaga. Yet here she was. Maybe?
Findurel's words reawaken doubt in her mind. 'Alexei's' deception was fresh in her mind. She looks back toward Selena, wondering what the little witch's response would be.
"Maybe. She's a demigod. Plus she can probably read minds." she whispers back.
The fearsome old woman obviously expected an answer. And obedience. And if it was her, best not to cross her.
"So...you're Baba Yaga. You'll have to forgive us all for being stunned to actually see you in the flesh. Are you hurt? We have a healer with us... though I suppose you can heal yourself, can't you?"
"We have a lot of questions before we go. We've spent the better part of a year tracking you down through the multiverse, fighting demons and monsters all the way, so I hope you don't mind."
"Where's Rasputin's body? We'd like to be sure he's truly dead after all he's put us through. And tell us more about how you were trapped, and how you managed to free yourself *just* before we got to you?"
As the questions come out of her mouth, Quasit's doubt begin to grow.
Kalchine is just as suspicious as the rest of them. While he isn't one to ignore good fortune when it drops at his feet, he is suspicious of it. There's no such thing as "too easy" but there is "too good to be likely."
He keeps some distance from both the witch and the other people in the party so that "Baba Yaga" can't hit them with an explosion or mass hypnosis and waits for the answers to Quasit's questions.
"Where's Rasputin's body? We'd like to be sure he's truly dead after all he's put us through. And tell us more about how you were trapped, and how you managed to free yourself *just* before we got to you?"
As the questions come out of her mouth, Quasit's doubt begin to grow.
"And what’s your hut’s name!?" Maka added, her voice sharp and accusing. She was certain this was a witch trick she needed to blast, but she waited for Quasit's signal.
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Recalling Anastasia’s brother, Fin tries to steel his mind and see thru what he thinks might be another illusion…
…and follows Maka’s lead, asking, ”What is your housekeeper’s name? And what creature is she?”
While Fin knows the answer to his first question, he does not know the answer to the second…