S-Rank Trail [Mizuko, Selenia]

((Hello! This is Selenia's IC S-Rank trail. It is closed to those other than the ones mentioned in the title. Please, do not post here if you aren't in the title, you will be ignored. Selenia, your objective is to defeat Sherry, an NPC whom I will be playing. All of the information I will use to play him can be found on his Wiki page. Note, this is not saying anything IC that happened to her has happened here. Only her persona and magic are being used. As you have not finished your magic yet, you will be allowed to use your keys, each given 2 spells of your choice. I will be keeping track, so don't go over! This is the only topic in which you can do so, until your magic itself is approved. Your skill in RPing in general, and your efficiency in battling will determine what the outcome is. Good luck! ^.^))

Sherry's Attacks:

The war seemed like it would never end.

As the days dragged on, then weeks, and more and more time passed, it was getting harder to remember a time when there hadn't been endless fighting. The city was turning to rubble with every passing hour, and there was nothing Selenia had been able to do to help. Fighting in skirmishes here and there throughout Crocus, she had done what had been asked of her, but was unable to purge the enemy from the city. Even with all her strength, there was nothing she could do except for wait; the most recent battle had ended, scattering the enemy forces. But nevertheless, they would regroup and head back into the fray eventually; it was just a matter of time. And so, because of this, Selenia was making rounds through the outskirts of the city in order to find any stragglers. She was checking the northeast, near the foothills of the mountains, where there were trees and boulders from the mountainside that would provide cover for those that would hide in there. Selenia could see a small creek flowing further inside, and if there was one thing she knew, it was that where there was water there might be people to drink it. And so, moving forward cautiously she headed towards where the creek formed into a small pool, after running down the mountains from which the snow melted. She hoped that she wasn't getting herself into a situation that might be too much for her to handle, but there was no time to go back to the guild and get someone to help her. There was too much on the line, and she needed to find as many members of the dark guilds as she could before they could begin their attacks on the city anew. Taking a deep breath, she took courage and made her way into the darkness of the woods.

Bending over the water, Sherry checked on her reflection, running one hand over her bangs, pushing a few strands of them away from her eyes. She seemed acceptable. She wasn't quite sure why her group leader had left her behind. Did he not love her as much as she loved him? He'd told her to wait here, and watch out for any opposing mages, but she hadn't seen any thus far. Maybe this was too far in the woods for them? It was dreadful out here, after all. Bugs and humidity of all sorts seemed to permeate the air. Letting out a huff, Sherry straightened up once more, wandering her way over to a rock and plopping herself down on it, lifting her fingers to check her nails. Well, with luck, they'd be back soon, and then they could go back to getting rid of those irritating mages. They always seemed to want to steal her love from her. Did they not understand how important it was? One couldn't live without love!

A stem cracked in the bushes, and Sherry paused, turning her head over towards the source of the sound. Some of her hair fell over her shoulder as she did so, splitting the tide of pink that usually kept itself behind her back. "Hello?" she asked, leaning forward a bit, as it would help her better see what was in the bushes. "Is somebody there?" Her hands dropped to her lap, and she stood up on the boulder, getting up on her tippy-toes and peering around. Nothing responded, and so she shrugged. "Must've been a little bunny," she told herself, turning back to wander in her thoughts once more. Her shoes slid on the stone, and she settled back on her seat, her hands coming up to pick at her nails once more, as if she'd missed a small bit of hangnail or something when she'd done them not so long ago.

Gemini's Abilities:

Selenia's chest rose and fell rapidly as she hid behind a tree, barely having the time to duck behind it. That woman, she'd seen her somewhere before. That unnatural pink hair... Of course, it had to be. She was a major member of the dark guilds that were attacking Crocus, not just any simple grunt. Her name, if Selenia remembered correctly, was Sherry. Sherry Blendy, a powerful Mage known for turning the environment around her into an ally and scattering enemies with her awesome power. And she certainly had a lot of things to use here - tall trees, large stones, and more. Selenia was going to have to be careful if she was going to take her on, but at least she was alone, so there was at least a chance to take her down. She'd use the element of surprise to her advantage, and thankfully Selenia had just the right Celestial Spirit for the job. During the most recent fight, Selenia had noticed a powerful Shadow Magic Mage fighting another guild about half a mile away due to the devastating attacks he was able to pull off, and had Gemini copy him in order to be able to make use of his powerful magic. She'd asked about him when returning to the guild, and, if her memory served, that man was known as Varus, a force to be reckoned with. It was just her luck that she'd seen his skills in battle earlier, but also that the two of them were from the same guild. And Selenia was going to use that to her advantage. Communicating her thoughts to Gemini, she silently summoned the Zodiac Spirit. Appearing in the form she'd asked of them, a perfect copy of the Shadow Magic Mage, she was ready to carry out her plan. Nodding at Gemini-Varus, who was going through all the information pertaining to himself and Sherry, as well as anything they both might know, Gemini-Varus walked forward, cool and silent as the man they were copying certainly would be, glancing at Sherry with bored looking eyes and letting say something first.

Behind the tree, Selenia waited and listened for what would happen next. She'd drawn Caelum's key and was ready to summon him at a moment's notice if anything went wrong, but she was hoping her plot would pay off.

Another twig snap came a moment later, but Sherry didn't react this time. Last time it had been a bunny, after all. It probably was a bunny this time too. That, or some other forest animal. A squirrel? Those were everywhere, it seemed. However, after a moment, a motioned flickered out of the corner of her eye. Something large, and something that was definitely not a cute animal. Immediately on guard, she dropped her hand to the rock, swiftly snapping her head around to see...

Varus.

Almost instantly, all signs of interest left Sherry's body and expression. "Hello, Varus," she said, turning away from him and picking up a leaf off of the boulder, starting to systematically tear it apart. "Going to complain I'm not doing my job? But see, I'm working!" Sherry threw her hands apart, flinging the leaf away. Standing, she glanced over at him, one hand coming up to her hip. "Watch duty only involves your eyes, after all. Now, why are you here? Did Ren send you back?" Her voice afflicted a happy tone at the name, her hands coming to clasp behind her back as she leaned forward excitedly. "Does he miss me and want me to come back while you take over this boring job?" Jumping off of the rock, Sherry landed lightly, one hand coming up to check her pigtails were still perfectly in place. If she was going back to the group, after all, she wanted to look her best for her love. Reaching down, she ignored Varus for the moment, pulling up at her stockings and dusting the back of her dress off from sitting on that rock. She loved forests, but all the same, she wasn't fond of the dirt that practically permeated the air whenever she was in one. It made it very hard to stay looking perfect.

"Hmph. Why am I not surprised that you're sitting around, not even paying attention for enemy wizards? You do realize we're at war, don't you?" Gemini-Varus says, playing the part skillfully.

"Anyways, Ren wanted me to pass along a message. I'm just glad he finally agreed. Someone like you... could never be worthwhile to a man of his talents. Don't you realize that Ren will never love you? That's why he's kicking you out of the guild. He got permission from the master, so it's official; that's why you were asked to stay behind. Get it now? You're not wanted in the guild anymore, but furthermore, Ren doesn't want you. He thinks you're pathetic. Doll Attack magic, really? Is that the best you could do? You're a disgrace to the team, a disgrace to the guild, and a disgrace to dark mages everywhere," Gemini-Varus stated, quickly understanding how to destroy Sherry's shallow personally with a few choice words. And although Selenia felt a little bad about doing it, she was a dark mage, and she'd hurt and probably killed people that were trying to defend Crocus from being destroyed by people like her, who joined dark guilds and cared nothing for others.

"So, now that you know, the message Ren left you is this: 'Sherry, you're worthless, and you always have been. Just die so that you don't embarrass me anymore," Gemini-Varus finished, an evil grin creeping up on their face.

"It's nothing personal. You just aren't wanted anymore. Not by anyone, and especially not by Ren," Gemini-Varus said, inflicting the final and deepest wound. Taking the opportunity and not giving Sherry time to react and take in what Gemini-Varus had said, they began.

"Shadow Orochi!" Gemini-Varus said, a large black magic circle appearing in front of them from which reared the 16 giant shadow snakes, each easily the size of one of Sherry's legs. They struck, flying forward at the pink-haired woman.

Selenia continued to wait behind the tree, key in hand, making no actions just yet. Gemini's words, acting as Varus, were meant to attack the enemy mage psychologically. That way, Gemini would have an upper hand in the battle, and maybe things wouldn't have to end badly. In fact, Selenia preferred it if they could take the woman hostage in order to use against her guild, but she know that the woman wasn't going to come easily. So Gemini had tried to put the woman in a state of shock in the hopes that she might not be able to comprehend what was going on, and attacking her would keep her from processing all that she'd just heard. It was a good plan, but Selenia wasn't going to relax just yet. So she stood and waited, just hoping she wouldn't have to kill this poor mage.

Through all of what he said to her, Sherry's expression slowly got more complicated. More anger, more pain, more sadness, and so on, until she finally settled, glaring at him as the verbal blows hit one after another. Even through the anger, though, her legs appeared to give way, settling herself back against the boulder once more. She didn't reply through any of it either, simply staring at him, lips closed tightly. She let the anger help build her magic power, one hand coming back to rest on the rock, her blue gaze keeping hold on him, as cold as ice. She'd never been that fond of Varus. He liked trying to hurt her, and get her in trouble with Ren. So, she was't quite sure whether to believe him or not. Ren would never do that. However, if she killed him now, Ren would have no choice but to accept her.

Her mind was battling, deciding whether or not to believe him, over and over accepting then denying it. However, the urge to kill latched, and stayed. Thus, it was pure luck she chose to attack the moment he did, her eyes tearing up even as she shouted, "Rock Doll!" and the boulder she sat upon stood, lifting her up with it. She stood as it did, jumping backwards towards the back of the head as the doll formed itself into a creature, her head suddenly level with a bird's nest. She glanced over at it, then ignored it for the time being. Usually, she would have been interested, but not today. As the Doll took the attack instead of her, crumbling, she flipped backwards, the two feather-like items attached to her clothing waving in the wind as she landed on her feet, holding out her arms to keep her balance. "I've always hated you, Varus," she said sweetly, holding her hand out to a tree and speaking softly to it, naming her spell. It began to come alive, and she looked back at him once more, brushing her bangs from her eyes with the back of her hand. She was doing her best to look haughty, but she was itching to go to Ren, to see what was going on here. He'd never, ever get rid of her. Especially not in an area where her magic was by far in it's most useful state.

"It's no wonder you can never find love," she said, crossing her arms and frowning at him. "You revel in pain far too much for anybody to really love you. I do what I do for Ren, and Ren only. So, it's time we rid the world of you, so that Ren will have no choice but to keep me." she smiled now, flicking the Tree Doll forward with a snap of her arm. "After all, I'll have killed the messenger. Who would ever know I got the message?" The Doll ran forward then, letting out a roar, clawed fingers swiping down at Varus.

Caelum's Abilities:

"You really are a fool. Even if you kill me, Ren will never love you. In any case, do you think your silly dolls can stop me?" Gemini-Varus taunted, grinning and laughing a cold, heartless laugh. "Your magic may be useless, but Ren did want to give you a fair fight. That doesn't mean I did, however, so I brought some friends with me; I hope you don't mind!" Gemini-Varus stated, rolling froward as the giant hand swooped down. Moving backwards would have been tactically worthless, and the tree would likely end up grabbing them anyways. By rolling forward onto the ground, they were not only making themselves a harder target to grab but would end up nearer to Sherry, who was their real target here. However, this tree's roots were still in the way, so they wouldn't be going anywhere unless it was destroyed. Hopefully they'd get some help, otherwise they'd be in big trouble in the place they were currently in, seeing as how the giant piece of wood could just sit on them if it saw fit.

Thankfully, Selenia took what she heard from Gemini-Varus as the cue to attack, silently summoning Caelum in his cannon form as to not alert Sherry to her position. Hopefully, Sherry wouldn't be able to see them from their location in the trees, with her anger focused on who she thought was Varus. Caelum shortly assessed the situation, seeing Gemini-Varus stuck between the spell's arms and feet. Quickly taking aim, the Celestial Spirit sent an energy blast at the Tree Doll's face before trying to move back behind the tree as soon as he'd fired before the woman with pink hair saw him. If Sherry did see Caelum, however, all was not lost. She might not know what he was, but if she did, things might be trickier. If Gemini's ruse as Varus was ruined, things were going to get a whole lot more difficult. Either way, she had a choice to make: was she going to try and take control of Caelum, or was she going to stay focused on finishing off who she thought was Varus? After all, she didn't know how many other mages he'd brought for back-up, as Gemini-Varus had implied there might be more than one, even though Selenia was actually the only one there. So now all Selenia could do was wait, her heart pounding against her chest.

"My lovely dolls aren't silly. It works quite well against summoners, for example. Maybe one day I can figure out how to include humans in it." she smiled, leaning to the side, one hand coming to rest on her hip. "Of course, you'll be dead then, so it won't matter all that much to you." Even as she said that her eyes widened in surprise as a burst of light appeared behind the tree, a robot of some sort coming out behind it and shooting her lovely doll in the face! Letting out a scream of indignation, Sherry, as one last action of the poor tree, let it drop back down onto the base of it's trunk, hopefully flattening Varus flat. She then turned, running quickly out of the way of the soon-to-topple tree.

"Who's there?" she asked, stopping by a patch of dirt and lifting her arm. A Mud Doll slowly formed, and she kept her eyes locked on the tree. She would've seen the robot had it been behind the tree before. It was big and round, after all. So how did it appear? Sherry smiled, wondering what sort of aid Varus had decided to bring with him. Sending her arm forward, she directed the Mud Doll behind the tree, where it ran, disappearing behind the trunk to attack whatever was there. That done, she walked over to the tree, setting her hand upon the trunk sadly. She hated when nature took the brunt of the damage from other mages. It was unfair, in a way. Well, it was unfair no matter how you looked at it. Humans would be so much better to control. Ren would love that. Maybe he'd even keep her close by, so that she could aid him in interrogations when need be? The very thought made Sherry excited, and she clapped her hands, letting out a little giggle of happiness. "Are you done yet, my lovely?" she asked, referring to the Mud Doll she'd sent to attack whatever was behind the tree. Turning, she drifted over curiously, glancing around as she went. There! Another rock, not far away, perfect for a new Rock Doll, if she needed to make one. Hopefully, she wouldn't have to, but it was always good to have spares around, right?

"Caelum, Sword Form!" Selenia said as the Mud Doll came barreling towards them, forcing them away from the tree and into Sherry's sights. Glowing in white light, the Celestial Spirit became a chisel-like sword, slashing through the Mud Doll to cut it down the middle, straight through its face.  

Wiping the sweat from her brow, Selenia breathed out as she turned to face the pink-haired woman; that had been a very close call, and now Sherry was now able to see them, which presented a whole new problem in of itself.

Thankfully, although one of the tree's roots momentarily squashed Gemini-Varus who tried but failed to completely get out of the way, it didn't send them back to the Celestial Spirit; after all, this was a Zodiac Spirit, and the tree had been practically brought down by Caelum's earlier attack. With some struggling, Gemini-Varus managed to extricate themselves from under the thing's roots. Now that Sherry could see Selenia and Caelum, time was of the essence before Sherry started to figure things out.

"Give up, Sherry, there's no way you can win this! You're outnumbered and outgunned. You're weak and useless, and your magic is pathetic. Not only will Ren never love you, but your whole guild doesn't want you. Don't you understand that? Why did you even join a Dark Guild in the first place? You're not evil in any sense of the word, really. You only joined because Ren did, isn't that right? You don't really belong in the guild, but you don't realize that. You live only for Ren, and that isn't helping anyone, especially not yourself. So just cut the act already why don't you? We both know you're not cut out for a dark guild, but you don't want to believe the truth that's staring you in the face. You don't belong with Ren and you don't belong in a dark guild. How many times do I have to say it?" Gemini-Varus continued taunting, grinning as they tried to keep Sherry on her toes now that Selenia was in the picture. As they spoke, they cast Binding Shadow, which streamed forward on the ground straight at Sherry; with all that was happening, they hoped she wouldn't noticed, but even so it wouldn't be a big deal. The shadows would chase her if she tried to run away, and if she tried to create another Doll, Shadow Orochi would deal with it.

"It's over, Sherry. Just give up," Gemini-Varus stated with finality.

As a blonde haired mage came into view, and ordered that summon about, Sherry narrowed her eyes. A summoner! This couldn't get any better. If there was one magic that was weak against hers, it was definitely summoners. Turning, she set her hands toward Caelum, a smile coming on her face. At this point, she was ignoring Varus. Who cared what that lowlife thought? He knew nothing of love, and never would, after all. It was the reason she'd hated him since she met him. Only men such as Ren, who know of love, can ever be worthy of it. Thus, his words of hate and evil meant nothing to her. She knew who she was, even if he didn't.

Her thoughts were interrupted as Caelum cleaved through her Mud Doll, and she let out a little squeak as it dissolved, falling to the ground harmlessly.  "How dare you!" she gasped, her fingers clenching once into a fist as she glared at the offending spirit. Snapping her hand open once more, she shouted "Puppeteer!" It took only a moment for her spell to take hold, and she smiled, turning her finger about and forcing Caelum back at it's owner, it's sword coming around towards Selenia. At the same moment, she pulled up her other hand, glancing over at Varus and clenching it into a fist, watching as her Rock Doll formed itself, ready to defend her, as always. "No mere summoner can beat a puppeteer!" she laughed, dropping her hands to allow her lovlies to fight, and placing one on her hip. The other came up, brushing her bangs away from her eye with a simple flick of her hand. Nothing could beat her now. Not when she had the summoner's summon, and her Rock Doll to protect her. And very soon, she'd be able to use her Tree as well. Then nothing could stop her.

Selenia's Spells:

It all happened in a moment. The Puppeteer spell Sherry cast took Caelum over in an instant, and before Selenia could do anything to stop her Celestial Spirit from striking her, she was flying through the air, quickly crashing into a tree as pain arced through her body. She slumped down against the rough bark, her hands at her sides with the air knocked out of her lungs. The agony, both physically, but more importantly emotionally, of being attacked by her own Celestial Spirit affected her greatly. However, if there was one thing she knew, it was that it hadn't been Caelum's will. This... this woman had manipulated a Celestial Spirit Selenia could trust with her life. And there was no way that she was going to let her continue to do that; she would stop Caelum's suffering, even if it meant risking the entire battle. Once she did this, however, there was no going back, and Selenia was going to be left practically defenseless, even if it was for a moment. Even a second could be the difference between life and death in battle, and so the Celestial Spirit mage was putting everything into Gemini's hands now. She believed in her Spirits, and she knew that they believed in her too.

Stumbling to her feet, Selenia grabbed the key from her chain, her body still aching but her will remaining unbroken. She forced herself to grab Caelum's key from her side, moving her hand upward in order to hold it out in front of her. Taking a deep breath, she focused her magic power into the key and did what she had only done a handful of times before.

"Close, Gate of the Chisel, Caelum!" she said, speaking the words with all her might as she stood, tears now flowing down her face as she thought of how Caelum felt about having hit her. It took a few moments, but at last the Celestial Spirit began to disappear into the air, glowing in golden bits of light as he returned to the Celestial Spirit World.

Craning her neck up to look at Sherry dead in the eyes, Selenia's intent was beyond serious. This woman had crossed the line, and now... now she was going to pay. Although Selenia herself couldn't do anything just yet, thankfully she still had Gemini. And with her Zodiac Spirit, that was all she needed.

"Now, Gemini!" she shouted, getting down into a running stance that would allow her to make the most of her increased speed once Gemini-Varus attacked.

They simply nodded, grinning as they began to make their move. "Shadow Orochi!" they cried once more, creating the 16 giant shadow snakes which shot forth to destroy the Rock Doll, which Sherry stood behind, using the creation as a shield. Their goal, however, was to destroy it, and the rest would be up to Selenia.

The spell struck the Rock Doll and caused it to fracture before rumbling to the ground, the pieces piling up in front of the enemy mage. It was then that Selenia took off, moving towards the hated woman as fast as she could in order to deliver a blow which would be her repayment for the treatment of Caelum. Selenia moved from her spot in just moments, making her way up the pile of rubble that had been the Rock Doll, reaching back with her right leg before kicking the pink haired woman square in the face as she jumped from the rock pile.  

Selenia couldn't say it didn't feel good. At last she was able to defeat her opponent, making her pay for what she'd forced Caelum to do, and she was happy that it was over. Breathing hard, she took her time to recover as Gemini disappeared back to the Celestial Spirit World, the Spirit's job completed. Having thanked them for all they'd done, Selenia used the magical chain around her waist which she used to hold her keys to tie Sherry up so that she could hold her over her shoulder; the chain was just there to keep her from causing any trouble if the other woman woke up.

With that, she made her way back to her own guild, glad to have something to show for her efforts. She hadn't killed the woman, and now they might be able to use their captive to their advantage. If the real Ren cared for her at all, Selenia knew that he'd do anything to get her back, which was just fine with her. It was about time the light guilds had an advantage, after all. No matter what, they had to win this war.