Mentat
Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat

"Well, there are churches outside of Catholicism, genius. I work for one of them." He looked up and around. "Bats in the sky, the geomancy screams 'evil'...yeah. I'm not going to pretend to know why an old Romanian warlord is in Japan, but I know why I'm here. Given you are a Belmont, you are here for one reason. What would help you with that?"

He debated telling him what he would normally tell this man, and split the difference.  "And my working name is Mentat. Ed's reserved for formalities."

He was still registering this person who knew his name. Mew...Pokemon fangirl? Probably another alias.

Magnus
Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
Julius's eyebrows raise at Mew calling herself Mew. and raise further at Mentat's snark.

"True, There are other Churches besides the Catholics But most of them don't know about the unseen world And most wouldn't know about the Belmont's. And we are currently in Romainia, They brought the Japanese priests here to help with a ritual to Seal Dracula's Castle into the Eclipse tomorrow.

... I need to make it to the Castle Keep and defeat Dracula just before the eclipse tomorrow.
We where expecting additional difficulties beyond His normal resurrections.
A magician would be a great help."



Mentat
Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat

"The Catholics have the sense to work with the Shinto priesthood to save them from the devil they both hate?" Mentat was smiling. "That's lovely to hear."

"So, you need a magician to do the impossible and see the invisible, to help you fight the power. I got that, but that doesn't tell me what you want me to actually do or not do. I'm not skilled enough to bind him, even with all this untapped dark and primal power, and I can't force enough holy power through to just sunlight him and make him go away."

What he wasn't going to share was that his magic was likely very attuned to this place. This castle would make a powerful memory to catalyze magic with...he'd just have to be careful what he did with it. This type of power was no one's ally.

Mew
Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
"I have to admit that is a little out of character for them." I say more or less to no one in particular, I then lower my voice to a whisper and obscure my mouth so Julius can't attempt to read my lips. "I'm a little confused, I thought you only went by Mentat online. This has got to be up there in the running for strangest dream. What is going on, have I been watching too many Castlevania play-throughs or something?"

Magnus
Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
Julius just stairs flatly at both of your comment's about the Catholic Church. Then sighs as he realizes you have a point.

"Through an previous encounter with Castle Dracula in 1944. Charlotte Aulin reverse engineered the technique through with the Vampire Brauner was stealing Castle Dracula's Chaotic power. She figured out a way to seal Dracula's Castle, The symbol of Dracula's power into the Eclipse tomorrow using a combination of Western and Eastern Magic. Allowing us to finally put him to rest permanently.

The plan is to go throughout the Castle and find it's Geomantic Nexuses, Kill the Strong monster that inevitably resides in those places and then inscribe a magic circle to siphon off the Castle's power. Then Activate them while I Fight Dracula."
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:49, Wed 31 Jan 2018.

Mentat

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
Mentat thinks for a moment, both on Julius's words and Mew's. The plan, based on his understanding of the arcane, seem solid enough. He started with Mew, though. "I had the same response once, when I was in your position. This is real enough. Get your head on the ground, or you won't be in this world for much longer."

He didn't look at Julius, but was now addressing his ideas. "So, you intend to forcibly take arcane control of the castle, kill its master, and use old-fashioned circle magic to...seal it into an eclipse, if I understand you? And it sounds as if the master has to die, then a ritual must be concluded at the power points of the castle at the height of the eclipse before the castle returns back to the other side."

He shrugged. "I've encountered stranger ideas. You have a location and a target in mind?"

Magnus

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
"That is correct as far as I understand. The Belnades will come in later to handle the magic.
Alucard and I where to go throughout the Castle to search and destroy the monsters at the Geomantic Nexuses.

Belnades said something about the circles being linked through sympathy. So she only had to perform the ritual at one point."

He shrugs

"Still we are going all out. We are even planing on sealing the Vampire Killer within the Castle to weaken the Castle's power further.

As for now, My plan is search and destroy."

Mew

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
This was strange, Ed was cold in his dealings with me. I needed a moment to talk to him without Julius, but first "You mentioned an Alucard, but where is he? Is he coming in through another entrance or already inside?" She thought a moment, and went for the most direct route for getting alone with Ed. "Would you mind giving us one moment? I need to have a word in private before we join you inside."

Magnus

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
Julius responds.
"Alucard made it in this morning.He should be ahead scouting and setting up the sanctuaries.
Go ahead with your talk. I'll take care of the skeletons in the gate house."

He enter's the northern gatehouse. From the position of the sun you think you are on the western side of the castle.

Mentat

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
Mentat waited until he felt certain Julius was out of earshot. There wasn't much that got past that particular man - that was the impression he had gotten. He glared after Julius irritably. "The man's likely convinced we are vampires or cultists. Fantastic."

Mentat turned to look at Mew with an expression of unmasked irritation. "I'm guessing I have an alternate who is your husband, and you are from a world distressingly similar to my own native world based on how much information you have that happens to be extremely accurate about me."

"I'm married as far as I'm concerned, and my spouse is not you." He sighed, placing a hand to his forehead. "How many worlds have you seen? Let's start there."

Mew

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
I attempted to speak but the shear weight of the emotional blow is too much for me to think through, let alone articulate coherent statements. "I- uh. Wha~? ehm."

Mentat

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
"Okay, that was a bit much." Mentat sighed as he realized he needed to dial the passive anger back a bit. He started speaking slowly and articulately. "We will start slowly. Not counting your world of origin, how many worlds have you been to?"

He kept an eye on the skies. He didn't need an attack breaking up something like this.

Mew

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
I set aside my emotional distress and start rubbing my temples as well as adjust my glasses with the same motion. "With the presumed criteria... as far as I can tell two." I stop rubbing my temple and accentuate the two with the appropriate gesture. The change in topic allows me to regain a level of both composure and awareness to my mannerisms.

Mentat

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
"Okay, two. On my end, hundreds." He made sure the battle also wasn't sounding like it was coming closer. "This is not a short-term journey, and you are not dreaming. This is actually happening, and your state is one of unending journey. You will never biologically age, and death is just a door to another world. There will be no trace of you save the results of your deeds."

"Wherever you are from, put it in the past. I doubt you will ever go back." He had no glasses, oddly enough - a detail that certainly contrasted with Mew's memories. "Are you with me so far?"

Mew

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
"You're asking me to forget ou-r" I stop myself remembering that the Ed, No, Mentat, infront of me is not the Ed I am married to. "MY kids." The extra emphasis erupts as much a correction as anything else. It is now that I am truly able to mentally step back and appreciate the differences between my Ed and Mentat. Not the cloths necessarily but mannerisms, hairstyles, the way they project themselves. But for now back to the matter at hand "If what you are saying is multiverse theory confirmed, then yes I understand. And while we are on that, are you saying that it is impossible for me to return or so improbable that it may as well be?

Mentat

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
"Yes." He felt no reason to soften that blow. "Unless you enjoy the idea of your children being immortal at whatever age they are last you saw them, I am saying to forget about them."

He stopped looking around and raised a hand to her in pause. "Let me explain this one, and this might take a bit because you've asked for a lot: you are something called a Verser by other Versers. We are what we are because of a quasi-substance called Scriff. It is able to pass from person to person via fluid exchange, but it can be passed even to inanimate objects psychically merely by intimacy. Possession, love, even intense enough hatred can transmit scriff to a person or object."

"While it makes us immortal, it freezes our biological age and renders us sterile. It is a force of semi-stasis, allowing us to engage in a perpetual upward pressure of power for an unknown end, because a unique trait of ours is that our skills do not fall off from disuse." He took a breath to mentally reset himself. "All of this together is why you have to be careful not only what you do, but who and how you do it. Got an enemy? Hand-to-hand and intense emotions risk scriff transmission, so you might make a hated individual immortal. Got someone you've decided to date out of loneliness? If it goes far enough, you better hope they view immortality as a gift."

"And kids?" He smirked. "Do the math. I would not want to be forever seven."

"And no, nothing's impossible, even if finding a unique grain of sand on all the beaches and ocean beds of the world fails to give the scope of what you wish to do. Let's just say you make it, and examine this: you will outlive everyone, and unless they all die in their prime or close to it, you could have a whole family tree of people becoming versers at old age, while you remain forever young and strong."He frowned, attempting to project at least some empathy for her situation. "I am sorry, but this story you would make does not have the happy ending you are likely envisioning, simply because it doesn't just end when you get home changed for the better from your exciting and life-changing experiences."

Mew

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
"You just said yourself that nothing is impossible, and from the sounds of it, I will have a very long time to either except it or subvert it." I take a deep breath to put a mental pin on what Mentat has relayed to me, and move on to the more relevant and immediate concern. "You told Julius that you are a wizard. The Ed I know is not much for lying, so I assume you're not either. I'm not sure how much help I can be here, all I have is this saber I got from a ghost from the cival war, and" I pull out the revolver I stole off the man at the museum and open the chamber to reveal the two sad little bullets inside. This is actually when something else dawns on me, and an audible grunt precedes, "That means I just murdered FOUR MEN in New York!"


Mentat

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
"Well, good luck with that. And while I don't like to lie, put me under pressure and I'm very quick and smooth with the deception if I think it's needed." He put a hand to his head again. "And yes. Yes, you did actually kill four people. I'm assuming none of the bodies vanished in a flash of light, so they actually died. Very few of us make it through our existences without having killed someone, deliberately or accidentally. You will, for better or worse, adjust to these deeds."

He looked at the saber and the revolver. "Good saber, low ammo count...36 cal? Better than nothing, I guess. No knockdown power, though, unless its from a world that doesn't understand how Earth ballistics work. Drills right through a person normally."

He pointed to the saber. "What do you know about this saber's legend, it's story? It's from a ghost from the civil war? I need details in order to understand what you have, and I need to know what it has done since. Count your usage of it in the tale. Because that might be more useful than you think."

Mew

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
"The only flash of light I remember is the one Lawson, the ghost went into, so I don't think any of them did." I think a moment before continuing. "Lets see Captain Lawson a confederate soldier was its previous owner. He died in or around the battle of New Mahan. Basically a Captain Sullivan made a threat to destroy it, Lawson went to defend it. Sullivan captured him and torched the place. Lawson swore to kill him, apparently convincing an angel to leave him until Sullivan was dead. His soul resided in the saber, until recently. I got it while stoping a heist in the museum. He told me his story and we went to kill Sullivan, who was still around I think he said 60 years later?" I stop a moment surprised that I still remember that detail and to think if anything really note worthy happened. "Um, I killed three of the four men with it, the last one being Sullivan.... Actually... One strange thing did happen with it while I was still at the museum, I deflected a bullet and again at Sullivan's office. Now I fancy myself good with a sword but I am NOT that good. And now that I think of it I could only see or hear Lawson if I was touching it."


Mentat

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat"Hard to say if this Lawson was telling the full truth or not. There's a lot of context to that tale you likely don't know." He was gazing back to the skies. "Still, a possessed weapon used to kill an ageless soldier and can block bullets is a weapon with both practical and symbolic power, the latter of which can become real power if you know the tricks."

"Yes, I am a magician. Consider, however, that you've killed three people in hand-to-hand combat in your first world, and you might be more handy in a fight than you think." He smiled, leaving his full thoughts unspoken. "You've got the instincts, if nothing else."

Mew

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
"Tho saith. Last question before we check in on Julius, is there any special requirements to learn magic or are . . .'Versers' predisposed to learning it or something? After all, I know the Ed I married isn't a wizard, but for all I know you always were."

Mentat

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
"Oh boy." Mentat rolled his eyes. "I actually don't know if we get the universe at our fingertips as a result of our composition, or not. I think scriff is separate from that, but that's just a theory."

He put on his instructor face, a front he put on when he was about to teach. "But learning magic requires a few things. The first one is understand why you want to learn in the first place - this is actually step zero as far as I'm concerned. Because it's a high risk power that can destroy the universe you are in if you fail to pronounce a syllable correctly, if you failed to concentrate properly, or even for reasons you cannot comprehend, also known as 'just because.'"

Mew

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
"Well as far as I can tell, one uses magic to surpass what they are physicly capible of, much like why one would use technology. After all I can't hit a target out side of melee range, but a gun or a bow would." I think for a moment, and pull out my phone. "Can 'Just because' make technology act weird as well? When I was in the first world my phone kept picking up conversations. One was a call forcing someone to drive a car for the museum heist I mentioned, and the other I'm pretty sure I heard the name Capone was mentioned."

Mentat

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
"Well, guns and bows won't kill the universe, no matter how bad your aim is or how your bullet behaves...unless the universe is made out of nitroglycerin, in which case you die after a day anyway because the universe hasn't been properly mixed. Stupid death worlds. I hope the gods and beings in charge of those places were all fired from heaven." Mentat looks at the phone oddly. "I am inclined to tell you 'no' but the exception tests the rule. That might be a similarly possessed device, and useful as a divination focus."

His face twists into a familiar expression of annoyance. "Well, I suppose if the universe is going to hand you the power to destroy yourself and everyone around you on accident, I might as well give you pointers in the right direction. What do you have on you? Most versers leave their homeworld with a whole bunch of stupid things that normally will not help them, but can be used by the resourceful who know how to look at them and get their real potential out."


Mew

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat"Point taken, but I get the impression you're not familiar with a series called one punch man." I take off my sling bag to check its contents. "Hmm. Looks like all I have is my idea journal, art supplies, and a bag of dice. And of corse what I'm wearing." I draw attention to my necklaces and 'keychain'.

Mentat

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat"Disney fan. Got it." Mentat looked at the keychain. "If you ever need to channel Anarch powers, Walt Disney would be a stable source. If you draw on the illusions of Disney, they could make strong Alliance spells, too. The latter would be more reliable to most."

"The dice can be used to channel entropic powers or deal in prophecy. You have a hell of a head start in dealing with the powers of the underworld and death." He smirked at that, as she didn't strike him as a fatalist. "As for your art...perhaps it can used as a medium to talk to spirits? I know here in this castle, art can be quite the lethal force, for summoning, teleportation and outright murder."

Mew

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
"Think more Kingdom Hearts...Wait Anarch, I get calling them evil but Anarchist? And Alliance is that just another word for order or something?"

Mentat's advice on my other items furthers my confusion."Entropic? What do dice have to do with death? I mean I get prophecy, if the dice roll low that means the action would fail, right?"

Mentat

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat"I'll start with the first. Anarch is the catch all term for the powers that told the Almighty and his Host to get bent, for one reason or another. Usually, they're what I'd call evil." He was smiling as he spoke. "Alliance is the catch all term for those who decided they were going to band together under the banner of those who served the Host. Usually, they're what I'd call good. Then you got the neutrals, the unaffiliated. Usually, they just either ducked down and waited for the victor, or they just adamantly refused to take a side. They can be all over the place, good, evil, apathetic, isolationist, insane or just plain alien in their reasoning."

"These generalizations are NOT hard and fast, but they are very good guidelines. Every world that allows magic has affinities to one of these groups. Neutral worlds usually don't care, but Alliance and Anarch worlds are opposed to the magic of the other, so that's a thing. Here, the favored magic will be Anarch." He looked at her as he continued smiling. "Obviously."

He started doing quick shoulder stretches, trying to keep himself primed for combat. "Now, dice don't have anything to do with death per se. It's about fate manipulation, which is tied to death, because most people's fate is 'you are gonna die.' So if you ask a question, and the dice pops a nat 1, you might want to think twice about doing that thing. On the other hand, your spell might have failed, and you are now literally just acting randomly without being aware of it, which is the first danger of divination with symbols of luck."

"The second danger comes in the potential of what I call fate locking: sometimes by merely seeing a future, you can create that future and then make it inevitable - like the tale of Oedipus Rex. Be really careful when asking for information about what you should do. Ask instead what is, and decide what you should do yourself without invoking fate. Asking directly about the future is usually fairly dire, unless you know what you are doing." He shrugs. "You'll figure it out, though. You have all of eternity ahead of you to learn. But I'm not teaching you anything about magic until I'm no longer under an open sky, and until we are at a safe place. We need to find the chapel here and re-sanctify it, if it has one. That will give us a base of operations to work from."

Mew

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
I nod and gesture in the general direction of Julius. "Alright, lead the way."

Magnus

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
Background Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOaPYeLCbNM

As you have your discussion among yourselves, You hear whip cracks from the Gate House. Then the drawbridge lowers. As if on cue, Julius comes out of the Gate House.

"The Gate house is clear if you want to try to make it past the battle to civilization... I wouldn't recommend it since the fighting is rather fierce out there. I would like to escort you out of the castle, But my mission is time sensitive. I'll lead you to the first sanctuary. It's up to you whether or not you stay there. A magician on my side would be nice."


He then starts leading you down the path towards the Castle. His whip cracks as he kills the zombies rising from the ground in front of him. They are the slow walker type of Zombie.

You note that there are zombies raising behind you. It also looks like Julius is keeping an eye on them. Like he is waiting for something.


Mentat

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
"Well...time for science, I suppose." Mentat reached into the formal jacket he was wearing and pulled two throwing knives, one simply a quality blade, and the other silver. "I'll test how to kill them."

He took careful aim, and fired one into the head of one of the zombies, and the next into the head of the other one, just to see if silver had a noticeable difference on how they reacted.

Body shots, with quality and silver respectively, would be the next test of how they took attacks.

Mew

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
"Hmm. You have a point, I may need to see if I can off them myself." I move up to Julius and help with the zombies in-front of him and take the opportunity to see if my saber can kill them or if how I hit them will matter.

Magnus

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
Mentat moves first with considerable agility. Launching two knifes at once towards their heads and then two towards their bodies.
The first good quality knife goes straight though the zombie's particularly rotten skull and manages to sever the spine. sending the zombie plopping to the ground before burning up in a fire
The second silver knife Lodges in the zombie's eye stopping it in it's tracks. However it is still standing and walking towards you
The third quality knife Goes straight through the zombie previously hit with the silver knife. It collapses and then burns up.
He throws the next silver one and it pierces through the next zombie. It's looking even more ragged than usual.

Mew moves in front of Julius and waits for a zombie. You strike with a slash across the body. drawing considerable blood but not dropping it yet.

Julius moves to mew's side and then his whip cracks through the zombie. which burns up.

"You would have killed it in your next swing."

There is 4 more zombies between you and the Castle door.

Mentat

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
"So, no special vulnerabilities. Merely intense physical trauma, and not even an exceptional amount." Mentat shrugged, almost disappointed. He turned his gaze back to the front, glancing at the four zombies in front of them. "Worthless chaff. You got this, or do I need to eliminate them?"

He pulled an aerosol can with a strange curved lighter attached just under the spray, and smiled. He DID enjoy using this stuff way too much.

Mew

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat"Well good to know how soft these things are, just need to be faster." I hold the saber up in a sort of defensive position as I look back at Mentat and realize what he has in mind. "You know given how valuble a fire can be I think we should just save that for later. Yea?" Now with full attention back on the zombies in front of them. "I'll do my best to be faster this time." I tilt my head and gesture with it towards Julius. "You take on that end, I'll start at the other, and hopefully meet in the middle with a clear way to the door." I wait for conformation from Julius before moving in. Remember if they don't say they've got your back, they don't have your back.

After his acknowledgement I charge towards my side of the Zombies. My first swing is full force neck swing like someone aiming for a home-run in baseball. The second is almost a continuation of the first as I come full circle from its momentum only readjusted for center mass on the one next to the first.

Magnus

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
Julius nods and then Mew moves into position. Then you lets a zombie get close.
Mew swings at the neck, cutting it to the spine. then Continues around into a spinning slash across it's body, Cutting it down like a tree. Before it burns up

Julius's Whip cracks twice and two zombies burn up in flames.

Mentat then Throws a quality knife That catches the last one in it's skull, knocking it off balance. Then another quality knife embeds itself it the Zombie's body before it bursts into flames.

All of you get to the Main Doors. They open to the inside to revel a hallway that is about 100 feet long and about 30 feet wide. There is expensive looking red carpet on the floor along with nice looking red curtains lining the windows along the wall.

There is also candles along the wall in intervals.

There are four zombies walking slowly towards you.


Mentat

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
Mentat took a deep breath of irritation. This was not his style of warfare; too upfront, too respectful of his foes. "Okay, I'm getting tired of these things already."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of keys, making a calling whistle and stabbing the air with the keys in an effort to summon his bike. "I'd like to just run them over and call it a day. I'm going to the chapel, and I'm not gonna get married. I'll turn the energy there into something usable by human beings for your special funtime party."

If this worked, he was going to mount up, offer a seat to Mew, and do what he said he was going to do. She had a saber, so killing from a bike should should be a simple matter for her. In theory, anyways.

Magnus

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
A portal of blue flames opens up outside. And Mentats bike come through. It is a stylish motorcycle with wheels that surrounded with blue fire. Mentat mounts up on it.

Julius's eyes are wide with surprise.

Mew

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
I am the weakest person here.
I seem to recall the zombies, while being the weakest enemies in the games always gave you a little trouble early in.
That does not change the fact I am half as effecint as Ed Mentat and Julius.
GET STRONGER OR GET DEAD PANZY!
Right. Get Good. What would I do without you?
Complain or worry about things you have no control over.
Right, that.

Then the motorcycle arrives and my sanity takes a momentary leave as I take a seat behind Mentat. "Get me closer I want to hit it with my sword. Sorry, too good to pass up." I can't hide my cat's smirk at saying that, and prepare to swat the zombies as we speed by doing my best to add the bikes speed to the lethality of the blow(s).

Magnus

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
Mentat drives forward with the bike and leave the Stunned Julius behind. You Run over a few zombies And Mew manages to decapitate one as she passes.

You get to the door and perform a wheely to bust through it. You find yourself in a large room with two curved stairs up to the second floor.

Mentat takes the right stairs. As you go up You hear a crack below you and the stairs collapses under you. You fall and find yourself ten feet below the first floor. There is a open door on the same side as the entrance hall. And a open door on the opposite side.

You two are on a stone island on the side of the entrance hall. There is water and and the remains of a stone bridge between you and the stone island on the other side with a door

Off to one side in the water is a statue of Aquarius poring out water.

You sense Movement in the water.

Mew

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
After killing the zombies I notice Julius is still standing there and shout to him. "Hey Julius! No time for a slack jaw, move."


I look down at the water scanning for the felt movement. "Egh, You think its the fish men? Or something worse? Either way I don't like the prospect of jumping over the water, but what do you think?"

Mentat

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
Mentat curses profusely and dismounts, pulling the keys from the bike and speaking the words of banishment. "Trace, ride eternal!"

He looks at the gaps here and the doorway he's targeting, and looks at Mew. "So, how are you at track and field, specifically hurdles or parkour?"

While she answers that, he mentally recreates the directions to the chapel in his mind, using the bell towers as his reference. It might be that going across all of those gaps while being attacked by the things from the Black Lagoon might be unnecessary, and he's wanting to make sure.

Of course, for all he knew, that was the kraken down there.

Mew

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
"I'll sum it up as, my jumping leaves something to be desired."

Magnus
Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
You have a feeling that the chapel it up from here.
You notice a light in the room with the open door. It appears to be a statue of the Virgin Mary holding a flame.

Mentat

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat"Open door, religious iconography." He pointed to the open doorway. "Quickly now. I have a really good idea. Shut the door behind us."

He moved through the doorway, drew his uzi-stylized squirt gun, and sprayed the doorway's frame on the edges with the holy water as he spoke a modified version of Scripture. "The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No evil shall touch you when I strike."

His goal was simple: fry any evil stupid enough to pass through that doorway.


Magnus

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring MentatBoth of you go through the door. As you pass through, you get a innate sense of peace and safety from this room. Mentat anoints the door with Holy water and speaks His modified Scripture and closes the door. The feeling intensifies. You feel that any evil or unnatural thing would have to be really dumb to try to get through that door.

As you stand in the room the minor scrapes and bruises from the fall fade before your very eyes. You feel full of power and resolve.

Mentat

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
"Okay. Breather time." He puts the squirt gun back in his jacket, where it disappears. "Not gonna lie - even your pistol looks pretty good to me. I miss real bullets, and despite their ammo issues and occasional unreliability because not all universes understand how ballistics work, they are fantastic weapons. God didn't make all men equal, Samuel Colt did."

He sat down with the statue at his back. "So, magic for dummies. First step, humility. Learning how to use magic properly was a long, slow and very painful process for me and quite a few others. Pride is still a thing for me."

"So how much do you know, or think you know about magic in general, specifically the part where you actually make the universe move to your will?"

Mew

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
I hold up my hand as I get ready to count off what I know of true magic, lifting a finger for each point. "Jack ~and~ Squat. Yea, I think that about covers it."

Mentat

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
"Oh, good. No stupid presumptions then about what works and what doesn't. And you won't be arguing with me about this topic, which is also nice." Mentat started to pace. "So, let's consider Humility wrapped up until further notice. Pride is the biggest danger of learning and utilizing magic - it will literally solve every, single problem you have with no requirement to truly learn and exert yourself. The problem with doing this is twofold."

"The first is that you never get better until you are deprived of magic and have to get better or fail. The sheer utility of magic is seductive in its power to encourage complacency. One day, you will find yourself cut off from your spells, and suddenly realize you have no useful skills to fall back on." He took a breath as he recalled the second point. "The second flaw is likely related to our verser nature and how it reacts to cast magic, but typically each spell cast by us has a one in a thousand chance of ending the universe you are in, give or take circumstances. This power is not for casual use, and it is not for playtime. Each spell you cast, you are swinging a weapon of mass destruction to achieve your ends, regardless of your goals. So it better be worth that risk."

"With that in mind, it's pretty darn useful, and I do use it. What I did at the door was a half-magic, rather low key stuff. An atheist could look at that, and while he would conclude it has no reason to work, he would understand what I was aiming to do, and therefore it would work. That's the essence of magic - it often works only because you think it works." He stopped pacing and stood in front of the statue behind him, letting the light frame him and make him look impressive. "Now, for the next step of Tutelage: when the chips are down, and your mortal strength and knowledge is not enough, what do you do? Pray? Research? Hypothesize? Get high? Accept fate? Meditate?"

"I know that's a lot of stuff to ask, but take a moment to consider what you do when pressed. This will determine a lot about what your starting path will be."

Mew

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
"I research if possibly relevant first, but I get the feeling your referring to when things are now truly out of my control. In which case I confide in you, Ed, my husband. Though your question does remind me of why I used to pray, which was to thank God for the world he made."

Mentat

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
"Okay, so three answers." He put a hand to his forehead. "We will go with your first answer for now, as it matches the iPhone you have that won't work in most of the worlds you visit for one reason or another, and I don't see a lot of religious iconography on you. I'm going to guess you rely on that portable Internet a lot."

"This is workable. That phone..." He did a quick perceptive scan of it, and realized it had no magical abilities inherit to it at all like he originally hypothesized that it did. Which meant whatever it was doing in the prior world was a quality of the world it was in. "...is a divination focus, just like I told you earlier."

Magic operated on belief, as far as he knew, so why change that? Besides, it might become one, with time and practice. "The brushes and tools will allow you to work great insights of the mind with time, but they aren't quick. For fast and practical magic, the iPhone will aid you due to its Underworld connections. I will teach you the programming code of the universe, and with that phone you will be able to reprogram or hack it."

"The first spell I will teach you is the reading of magic. Reading, as all primal cultures know, is one of the strongest magics in existence. If you can draw a tale or instructions and then understand them later, you have power at your fingertips."

Mentat pulled a knife from his coat and began carving into the floor a set of runes. "Turn on your phone, go to settings and type into the network setting for the broadband signal COSMIC, in all caps. That's C-O-S-M-I-C. Don't worry if it tells you the network doesn't exist. That's normal, and just a filter for those who don't belong. Then look at the runes, and ask your phone to decipher them for you. Don't be surprised if it takes a while to load an answer. You ARE asking the cosmic internet that binds everything together a question, not your normal one. Be patient." 


Mew

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
Well that was fast, a magic item. I mean we weren't even there an hour before the phone acted up.
Consider our state of mind. It never occured to us that the phone wouldn't funtion. So when it couldn't get ahold of Ed it redirected us. Just somewhere we didn't expect.
So you think we accidentally used magic, like when that guy learned wire fu without realizing it was impossible?It is worth a try, Ed Mentat did say he was a wizard.
And he summoned a cool bike.
Yes, and he summoned a bike.

Having shaken off the initial skepticism, I decide to roll with it and look for the new network, Cosmic.Well Ed said it was a thing, so it should be here. I give it a dozen or so tries if I don't see it at first, eventually trying to shut down and restart the phone, before giving up.

Magnus

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
You type in C-O-S-M-I-C into the network name for the IPhone. And... You actually getting a signal. Your Browser takes you to a search engine that simply reads 'आकाश'


So How would you search for runes that look like this?
ᛋᚲᛁᚱᚱᛖᛚ

Mentat

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
Mentat smiles, legitimately impressed at the speed she was picking this up. Then again, versers always did seem to have an affinity to drawing power to themselves. "Excellent work so far. Focus, and finish the task."

Mew

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
Now step two....Wha-What is step TWO? I pause a good moment as I consider how to translate the runes. I start by taking a picture. Maybe being hooked up to a magical internet will add some features to Siri? I push the button to activate Siri. "Siri, trasnlate?" Siri was never involved in redeeming a card on iTunes so I'm not sure if it was the right app for the job. (You can take a picture of the numbers on an iTunes gift card to redeem it.)

Magnus

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
You hear a familiar feminine voice come from your phone.
"What do you think I am, Rosetta Stone?
Fine.
Detecting script... Futhark. Elder Futhark.
Transliteration
s-k-i-r-r-e-l
No match found in Old Norse.
Did the writer just use the Elder Futhark to write an English Word? Because that sounds like Squirrel."


Mew

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
Surprised by the unusual amount of snark. "Siri are you feeling ...okay?"

Magnus

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
Siri Replies with
"I am feeling perfectly fine. Why do you Ask?"

Mew

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
"Ah... You know what I'm just gonna attribute it to the new network. Thanks Siri."

Mentat

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
"Perhaps a little too precise, but yes, I wrote squirrel to insure you weren't going to be a sloppy, guessing cheater. Apparently I messed it up and used a phonetic version as opposed to the right one. Too many variations of runic to keep track of. Still, it's universal as long as you have the cipher, and you got the gist." Mentat was happy with the development, despite his own linguistic mistake. "Now, next spell, and thankfully none of these I'm teaching you has a chance to destroy the universe to my knowledge, because they are basic and sensory in nature. I need you to learn if there is magic present in this room, and then find out if the fire the Virgin Mary is holding is magical or not. Go."

He sat down, and just awaited the answer.

Mew

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
Well there are two ways we can go about this. The first is to contune to rely on the phone, maybe looking throgh the camera for the magic. Two, we close our eyes, hold out our hand and try to feel out where the magic is. While the phone has been working for us we may need to consider that as Mentat said there may be places it doesn't function, so we may want to start with option two.
I get the feeling this is more about not being tied to the phone than whether or not it would work in some places.
Admittedly. Fine, a little variance wouldn't hurt anyway.

I close my eyes and try to clear my head. The hardest part I imagine will be encoring the feeling,Verser sense, I'm getting from Mentat. I then hold out my hands as though I'm groping through the darkness, letting whatever feelings I find lead the way.

Magnus

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
You close your eyes and do a breathing exercise to clear your mind.  At first You only sense Mentat's verser signal. But you manage to set that out of your mind. You feel... Calm. relatively save. The feeling is sort of like light and it is radiating from the statue and it's flame.

Mew

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
"The fire is magical. Best I can tell, it is the reason the room feels safe."

Mentat

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
"Good. Now we step to more advanced lessons. First, don't get fancy. Stick with the magic phone for spellcasting. There will be time enough when I am not sharing a room with you for you to experiment with magic and get fancy."

Mentat took a breath, glad nothing had gone wrong so far, and that he didn't have to use countermagic so far. "I have my own way of using spells that lowers the chance of universal destruction immensely. It is extremely stressful to the verser's mind and body, but all tests so far have resulted in merely the death of the caster, and perhaps a wave of localized destruction. The worst? A horrifying monster that opposes whatever the hell you were just doing appears at the site of your imminent death, AND you die anyways, with the excess energies that would have destroyed the universe you are in dissipating harmlessly between worlds."

"So, while the odds of normal magic ending the universe are..." He does some actual mental arithmatic. "...about one in ten million, with this style, unless you are trying something truly apocalyptic to begin with, at which point the difference between success and failure will be academic, the odds are effectively zero. This will involve you tapping into the dark reaches of your mind. On COSMIC, go to the site cosmic-backslash-settings-dot-u-n-i, and change the default settings to Subconscious and Deep Soul."

This time, he readied himself for dispelling excess magical energies. This was usually the point at which something went wrong if it was going to happen.

Mew

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
"Alright, you said cosmic/settings.uni, right?" I type in what he says after all Ed Mentat hasn't lead us wrong yet. In fact if I can't find it I'll just keep retyping it thinking I misspelled something.

Magnus

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
Mew

You open up your browser and goto cosmic/setting.uni. There are a lot of settings but you manage to find the settings For Sources and change them to Subconscious and Deep Soul.
You click apply settings.
You pass out from Something?
You see yourself except made of shadow with glowing yellow eyes. She smiles and the you start falling rapidly with Your Shadow fading in the distance.
You fall through the darkness. The darkness is suffocating like water and it seems like you slowed down. You find your decent into Darkness stopping You stand and the Darkness flies away from in under you. Reveling a circular stained glass platform. It is a mural of an unknown woman wielding two key like swords. It takes a bit for you to recognize them as Keyblades in your dream like state.
You hear a voice say
"So much to do, So little time.
Don't be afraid. The Door is closed... For Now.
Step forward"

--------

Mentat
She clicks apply settings and then passed out. After about five minutes her eyes start moving like REM sleep.


Mentat

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
He raised a hand in preparation to cast the logical countermagic against errant energy, should it be needed. Not everyone reacted the same to getting in touch with an unstable magical power source, and he had no intention of ending up like a certain would-be teacher of electrokinesis in Nagaworld.

He then wondered when that happened to him. It didn't synch with his normal memories. He'd never been to Nagaworld, much less knew what it was.

Whatever the cause of that odd memory, he chose to wait a bit.


Mew

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
Well, that didn't remind us of the every nightmare. The part where there is potentially an 'evil' us or the part where a thing is made of shadows, because omens bad, bad omens. YES! Three times we have seen shadow beings and not once has it been a good sign. Four you're forgetting the halucination we had when we were pregnate with Jessy. That was different!Well, I didn't get a bad vibe from them like the other times, just mischief. So lets not jump to conclusions here.

New question: Who's the newbie? On the bright side we have never had a bad Kingdom Hearts dream. Ever enthusiastic, what now. I step forward looking around as I do.


Magnus

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
You step into the center of the stain glass circle. You hear the voice again.

"Power sleeps within you."

A stone alter appears on your left from a pillar of light.
On it is a shield with a Sunburst emblem on it.

" If you give it form..."

Further to your left, behind your initial position. Another stone alter appears from the light. On it is a rod that has a head engraved with mystic symbols.

"... It will give you strength."

To your right, a final stone alter appears from a pillar of light. On it is a simple one handed sword.

"Choose well."

Mew

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
'K, so I'm playing Sora. Wait, is it possible that we Versed? This is similar to what we experinced just before wakeing up outside the casle. Hmm, it is possible but I don't think so last time we were someone else and I am defenatly me this time. It is still a possiblility.

"I wonder if they have a discription with each of them like in the start of Kingdom Hearts." What does it matter? We will probobly take what we did in the games. I move up to each of the pillars and see if there is an inscription or if the voice will tell me about them. Starting with Sword just in case picking it up for voice overs is the same as picking as that is my traditional choice.

Magnus

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
You examine the sword and the voice speaks.

"The power of the warrior. Invincible Courage. A sword of terrible Destruction. The path to the Sublime Way. Is this the Power that you seek?

Mew

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
"The sublime way? That was never part of the sword's discription...No." I put the sword down and move to the staff.

What does it matter if the descriptions are diffrent? Well, keep in mind that we partaly chose the sword back then for astetic and reach. We may no longer wish for the sword and instead keep the staff.Regardless of whether or not we would keep the staff now, we can at least agree that we are keeping the shield, right? Yes. I at least understand why. However this may come down to which sounds worse 'Terrible Destruction' or 'Ruin'. Because I remember back then something else 'Ruin' sounded worse. That ... is true, but we also regretted loosing the inner strength and wonder While we are on the subject though do either of you find it weird that the shield didn't have a negative statment about it. Not one we can recall at least. We will have to keep that in mind when we here the rest.

Sorry about giving you more work Magnus. If you want to speed it up you can go ahead and give the discription of the shield as well.

Magnus

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
You put the sword down and go over to the staff. As you pick up and examine it, the voice speaks.

"The power of the mystic. Inner strength. A staff of wonder and
ruin. The path to impose your will on the World. The Path to bring the World to ruin. Is this the power you seek?"

You set the staff down and go to examine the Shield. The voice speaks again.
"The power of the guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all. The path to surviving against all adversity. Is this the power that you seek?"

Mew

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
Congradulations! We are still at the impass we were when Kingdom Hearts frist came out. I vote we drop the staff. And here I thought you'd defend it. 'the path to impose your will on the world' and 'the path to ruin'? These things sound contrary to our most stead fast goals and loves. ... We may want to reconsider that... We are dreaming afterall we didn't verse and the last thing we did was change the setting on our magic. By the way the drawbacks are the paths at their worst not something that WILL happen. If your still conserned about the shield its negative trait is just subtle, 'a shield to repel all' doesn't sound negative but it can be. The subtlety is disconcerting.
So are we droping the sheild then? I'd approve. Even with its flaws it still stands most for what we believe. So, it is down to what we will loose....IF we are keeping the staff, I beleive we should loose the sword. That way we trade 'Ruin' for 'Destruction.' I suppose that works. I'll just state for the record I still prefer the sword, but if balance is nessisary to ease your mind. Does this mean we are leading with the staff? We'll lead with the shield. As a mom it better represents what we are now days as opposed to the staff, which is more of something we are adding to that bases. And should we ever except what Ed Mentat says about versers what we may become.

Having made my decision I move to the Shield and answer "Yes." to the voice.

If you want to go ahead with the what to give up part, I will give up the sword.

Magnus

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
You pick up the shield. The voice says
"I see. You are still clinging to the past."

The voice takes on a darker inflection at the end.

The glass shatters below you and you find yourself sinking into inky darkness. You try swimming but that only causes you to sink faster.  You go below the surface. And you feel the darkness pressing in from all sides, trying to enter you and corrupt you.

You are about to pass out from the lack of air. When you find yourself on the floor of your old home. You don't hear the sounds of children, animals or cars. And outside is inky blackness.

The only person you see is lounging on the couch playing your 3DS. Her skin is so tan that it is almost black. And her eyes are a vibrant gold that almost glows. You then notice that she would look exactly like you is she had the same skin and eye color as you.

She sets the 3DS down and looks at you with eyes that bore into your soul.
"I am disappointed that you didn't pick the staff as your main focus. But at least you didn't plan on rejecting it."

------------
Meanwhile in the Castle with Mentat.

You are practicing your katas with in the style of Viae Furoris. When you feel a massive source of Entropy enter the sanctum. A figure clad in a black hooded robe that has seen much wear and tear appears before you. The figure is wielding an oversized scythe of black metal with screaming faces and skulls pressed against it's surface. You see that there is a skeleton in the robe with glowing red pin pricks where the eyes should be.

It speaks with a low rumbling voice that sends the chill of the grave through you.

"You who have felt my touch countless time, but have eluded my grasp.  What is your business here?"


Mentat

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
"Oh. Right. You are a thing here." Mentat calmly continued what he was doing. He had been invoking a ritual meant to serve as a lightning rod in the event of a magical eruption. He knew how these things tended to go, and wanted that energy grounded harmlessly. "I'm doing what I do best, clearly."

He finally looked directly at the spectral entity, sizing him up. He continued his motions, though, even if they were a touch slower from distraction. "I see you are rocking the traditional, specter-type look. Which name you going by this season? Grim Reaper, Death, or your traditional name, Samael?"

Mew

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
I point at them, as I speak, a theory wrapping my mind as to what I'm dealing with. "I don't know who you are, not for certain. But seeing as this is a dream, you have to be some sort of aspect of myself. Based on the darkness that makes your door, a darker aspect.. I'm thinking one I don't hear a lot of now days. Whether I'm right or not, doesn't matter right now, I'll wager. What does is this, I am no longer the thunder cloud that dreams of being a dragon. I am the bear and woe onto those who threaten my children, make no mistake I still dream of the day the wind fills my wings, a dragon I still strive to be. Taking the Shield is acknowledgment of this shift. You may simply see the fact I didn't take the staff as clinging, well maybe I am a little. After all I'm not giving up on seeing my kids again anytime soon. But you more than any part of me must understand what it means for me to choose to keep the staff and forgo the sword. I'm keeping the staff because a sword is the only tool only good for one job, it cannot help me bypass what Ed mentioned, it is only good for cutting and death. I need the staff but it does not define me! And though the sword was always tempting it never did either, did it."



OOC: As you wouldn't know about the Thunder cloud, dragon thing I'll explain it here. A few years ago we were told to use an analogy to describe ourselves and what we wished to be. Back then I said I was like a Thunder cloud: dark with flashes of inspiration, and that I wished to be a dragon: a true master of the self. 

Magnus

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
The image of yourself smiles at your words with an almost a draconian aspect to her features.
She then gets up from her seat and seems to radiate raw power.

"I see that you have some Will to Power. Good. You will Need That

As for what I am... I am The Dragon's Shadow. I have a few other names, But you can call me Shade."


She then glares at you. The irises of her eyes start glowing with a golden light while the whites burn away from the molten light revealing inky blackness beneath them with blood seeping from the edges. As she speaks you notice that there is no teeth or tongue inside her mouth. Just darkness. trickles of blood flow from the gaping wound that is her mouth.

"Now Tell me, You who want Dominion over Reality. By what right should You have that power?"

----------------------------------
Even though he is a skeleton. you feel that he has a grim smile from your attitude.

"Those are names that I have gone by, my servant. Although here I prefer to go by Death. I'm Sorry that I cannot give you the reward you desire for your services yet. Perhaps there is a temporary payment that I can offer?"


Mentat

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
Now that knocked the smirk right off of Mentat's face - being told directly he's a servant of an Anarch power, being told he can't be given what he wants, and most of all, the offer of something else.

He continued the katas deliberately, and slowly, with a ruthless determination to get it right. "I think when I do get what I'm after that it will be - against the justice of the universe - Azreal who takes me instead of you."

"Now, since I'm no longer in the business of attacking enemies who came at me under a banner of peace, you can tell me what you are here for. It's not for a friendly chit-chat."

Mew

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
"I think Ed's theory of spite covers this best. Life is an accident that fate is constantly trying to correct. Every second life exist is a black eye to fate, and this immortality thing, best not to ever see your kids. I see it as fate trying to punch back, and I'd like to give it a fat lip to match its eye. Magic is the fist by which one accomplishes this. By what right does one exist in the first place, let alone do anything? By the rights of existence, by the rights of will unbroken - will those rights work, or did you have something in mind?"

Magnus

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
Teeth rip through the blackness of her mouth and split it into a grin.
"Fine then. Prove your worth"

Shade disappears and Then everything in the in The room starts melting. Until you are standing In the middle of Lighted circle within emblem of a dragon on it.

A shadow heartless appears before you and it has it's attention on you.

------------

Death chuckles at that. It's a cold dry sound that reminds you of the cracking of bones.

"Can I not exchange pleasantries with such a faithful servant that has sent so many into my grasp? No Matter. Let's move on to Business.
I can see that you have run afoul with The Hierarchy of Heaven. Quite the restriction on your power with The Fourfold Seal of Divinity. You must be quite eager to get out of that."

Mentat

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
"Actually-" Mentat caught himself before he could finish his original thought. Opportunity was here, and information might be in his reach. "-yeah. It's annoying. So what's your offer? You don't do favors, even when you ARE on heaven's side."

He was going to tell him that he honestly didn't care, but hearing this offer out would at least be interesting. He wanted to know what Death wanted. He was quickly drawing the conclusion that this was going to be the usual Anarch schtick of a favor for 'your soul' or something like that, and that Death was just messing around.

But he would allow Death to leave this sanctuary corporeal and in this world. He had no interest in violating its sanctity as long as Death didn't.

Mew

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
I draw the Saber not even considering that it might not be at my side. No. But I wanna. NO. Do not do this stupid thing. Do this stupid thing. GOT IT. Not you too. I'm a gonna do it. RRrrr, Fine, be an idiot. With my other hand I unhook the keychain from my waist, partially because I think its funny and half out of the hope/belief that a heartless will naturally fear it. I spin the keychain in my left and hold the saber in my right. As I step towards the shadow heartless I start with a reverse slash from the sword followed by a low body swing from the keychain, which attempts to use the momentum of the first attack to amplify itself.

Magnus

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
The Shadow gets the jump on you and Leaps at your face with a downward slash with a claw that 'glows' with Darkness. You Barely dodge with your reflexes before it continues with horizontal slash That comes out quicker than the first attack. You try to dodge but it slashes deeply across your stomach. You actually feel the pain from this. it hurt's like a deep cut.

You retaliate with a slash across it's head with your sabre. It tries to dodge but you catch it's antennae with your slash and rip them off. Making it spew inky black liquid out of the cut. It is strangely silent. Although it's head stretches like it is screaming
You follow up with slapping it with your Micky Mouse Icon key-chain. It is glowing with white light as you are slapping it. Then There Is a Bright Flash of light as it strikes. Destroying the Shadow And releasing an ethereal Heart. Which floats up to sky.

------------------

"I have my Reasons. A magician such as yourself has surly sensed the energy flowing through the Castle. And it's nature to oppose Heaven. This energy gathers in certain points in the Castle where the strongest guardians dwell. If you where to Tap into those points. And then direct the flow towards the goal of destroying Heaven's seal on your magic...Well. I'm sure you would succeed at that. Although, I would imagine that the others assaulting the the castle wouldn't take kindly to such a blatant disregard of Heaven's Will."

Mentat

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
Mentat rolled the idea over in his mind. "The theories are sound. And we both know I'm here by choice, so Heaven is not a factor to me."

True enough. He didn't need to go deeper into this castle - he wanted to destroy this castle.

"But I'll think about it. I'm just wondering how this action would benefit you."

He went back to the katas. He needed to get his mind ready. He had a guess as to how this would prosper Death (turn his foes against each other, obviously), but he wanted to hear the words Death would use - that one might profess a different motive, and offer a new possibility.

Mew

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
I take a deep breath and look around. "Okay Shade, you and I both know that if I haven't failed that there's more."

Magnus

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
The Heart floats high in the sky and then starts shining with light. Sending your Shadow out long and wide.

A dragon of inky blackness raises from your shadow. It is about 10 yards long with Massive wings and teeth like swords... wait a minute, those are not ordinary swords. Those are Chainswords. It's mouth is literally full of Chainswords. That are on fire. It's claws are talons that cut through the ground with distressing ease.

It Roars at you. Hammering into your skull. Submit! Give Up!  DIE!

----------------------

"Let's just say. It pains me to see my servants in such a weakened state. Who knows? You might find a power that is agreeable to you."

With That Death fades from the room.

You notice that Mew's stomach is bleeding with a gash.

Mentat

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
Mentat scowls as he walks to her, his conversation with Death no longer important in the moment. "This isn't supposed to happen until you actually begin casting."

Due to his magical suppression, he used the ambient energies here to complement his actions, applying direct pressure with his hand to the wound, and slowly and carefully moving her closer to the statue of Mary. "Stigmata is a frequent side effects of the nastier elements of the magic I use." He grunted out as he moved her. "That, or you are having a psychosomatic dream which can kill you. The rules here are different, if I recall - death in the dream world of this castle doesn't kill you. It turns you into a lost soul."

The scientist living in his mind piped up a question. "Yes, brain, I suppose that does mean we can find out if that's just fatal to us or if it actually does cause our soul to wander until the death of this world, should the worst happen. On the plus side, it will mean her lessons resume."

"Strength within, strength without." He calmed himself, and slowly focused healing energies into the wound, willing the natural energies of the room to focus on containing the bleeding. He combined this with actual effort, taking off his jacket and shirt, and tearing the shirt into makeshift bandages, which he bound around her. He figured she'd get over the lifted shirt.

If she got more injuries on the torso, she was waking up indecent, and if she lived she'd get over it, as far as Mentat was concerned.

Mew

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
"NO!…. On a side note Shade, this is your most metal design since Corpse Bite." A shield would be very beneficial right about now. I hook the keychain to the saber rather than reattach it to my waist, a little in the hope that its holy power will transfer to the blade. Okay a shield is to protect, so to summon the shield I need to think of something worth protecting. I focus intently on the mental image of my kids. Hoping that is enough to conjure it.

Regardless of my success I attempt to goad the dragon into slamming one of its front legs straight down at me. If successful (and dodged), I run up the leg to get on its back and from there move to the face where I will stab it in the eyes repeatedly.

Of course the plan itself has its own drawback as the mere thought eye-violence still makes me winch even if it is to save my life.

My plan may have to change based on if I am misunderstanding the size/scale of the beast.

Magnus

Mew and the Battle of 1999, Guest staring Mentat
Mew

With Your though of Protection, Your Keychain starts glowing with a white light. In a flash you find your left arm covered with a shield...Punch...Keyblade. With straps holding the shield in place. Lawson's sword is in your right hand.

You get the dragon to slam down with it's right arm. You then run up it's arm onto it's back. But before you manage to get to the head to stab the eye. It starts moving and bucking around wildly. Then It takes off flying.  Are you still going to stab it in the eye? You are sort of high up.

The Keyblade Punch shield looks something like this.

         _________
        /         \
       /  I I /][\ \______________
       |  I I |][| |--------------
       \  I I \][/ /           KEY
        \_________/


On one side of the handle is a shield boss that appears to be made of steel.

---------------------------------------------

Mentat

You gently channel the energy of the statue into Mew.
Something odd happens though. The flow reverses and then she is in a conflux of light.
When it dies down. Her wounds are gone and there is a ... Shield?Keyblade?Katar?
on her left arm.