Ringing the Dinner Bell [Closed]

Rory began shooting rounds as Cheshire teleported to the trigger.

"Aeden, help me!" she cried out.

The women had suddenly scattered towards their leader and Rory focused hard on shooting down the guards as they tried to harm them.

Down below, Liseran stood struck in awe as Cheshire stood in front of Zan and here.

"Cheshire..." Liseran muttered. "What...what are you..."

She  couldn't speak. She didn't know what to feel. That Cheshire was here right now filled her with happiness, but at the same time a terrible dread. From where Zan was, he was surprised by the sudden escalation of the events. He motioned his hands to the guards to stop intervening. There were people above, he knew. He gave his pager a tap in hopes to send some guards there. He then looked at Cheshire with disgust.

"And who are you supposed to be, animal?" Zan said. He raised his own gun at Cheshire. "If you want  to know, I'm not afraid of being shot."

It was then that Zan noticed the expression on Liseran's face and that on Cheshire's. He raised his eyebrows.

"What's this?" Zan smiled. "Don't actually tell me, Lise...have you been seeing someone else while I was gone? And a faunus for that matter? That's hilarious!"

He laughed out hysterically. He pointed the gun at Cheshire again, ready to pull the trigger.

"Hand over the remote," Zan said. "Or I'll shoot your brains out."

OOC: Inside the catacomb-like library

"Sounds like the fight has started up there..."

Gunfire's sounds are loudly echoing from above, making the patrolling guards distracted. Sylvian's blood is now on fire, as she craves to destroy the ceiling and comes to where Liseran is. But Vixen's touch stops her from doing so.

"Damnit... Gotta be calm... " Sylvian engages her Impala Gracia into combat shields mode and unleashes her aura. "I'll be charging in. Lucina, cover my back, would you?"

Sylvian's semblance activates, as she jumps into the panicked guards' formation and breaks them down with her shields. Immediately, all of the remaining guards around the area turn their guns toward her and launch their barrage.

"Not that easy!" She covers herself with the shields to block the bullet shower. This should keep them companied long enough for Vixen to reach the bomb.

Aeden scanned the bottom trying to pick out some easy targets. He notices a small group of guards within the same general area heading for some of the women. "Rory I'm going to give you an opening!" Aeden loads in ice dust and takes aim at the men. Either I kill them or this plan works. Sounds like a win-win. Aeden fires three consecutive rounds of ice dust at the men aiming for their feet. Aeden's plan is to stop their movements giving Rory some easy targets to hit with her rifle. Aeden also loads lightning dust into Deception X and fires random bolts of the dust at enemies hoping to paralyze them.

As some of the guards stood frozen in Aeden's ice trap, Rory shot more rounds knocking them out. It was only then that she saw Cheshire and Zan were pointing guns at one another.

"Dang it," Rory said. She aimed her gun at slowly towards Zan. He was a bit farther than the rest and she suddenly found her hands shaking. "I can't miss this..."

She was about to pull the trigger until she heard the sound of light footsteps running up the stairs.

"Aeden, the door!" she said. "Stop them! I need to make this shot!"

***

Vixen was impressed by Sylvian's boldness, but she had no time to make remarks. As she waited for Lucina to take out the rest of the guards, she slithered through the free aisles, trying to open her Sight in order to see which book it was. She saw herself headed towards a shelf of red books and pulling out one, but that was all.

We need to hurry, Vixen thought as she heard the gunfire. Things don't sound like they're going well up there. That bomb can be triggered any minute!

Aeden turns away from the balcony and focuses on the door. Not wasting any time, he begins to fire Ice dust from both his weapons at the door's edges to make it harder for them to open it. Aeden then switches Frost Fang to fire dust. He shoots ice dust from Deception X around the door and simultaneously melts it with the fire dust creating a puddle of water around the door. Switching back to lightning dust Aeden points Deception X at the puddle and waits for the attackers to break through the door, ready to shock them as they touch the puddle all around them. This is plan A. Plan B is kick them in the head as they come in. I really hope Plan A works I just bought these shoes.

"Is that so?" Cheshire asked blankly, "Well before you start shooting, let me tell you the one thing that makes us similar..."

Suddenly, Cheshire disappeared and his he reappeared again, but this time he was only a floating head, hovering inches away from Zan's face, looking him dead in the eye with absolute rage and fury in his topaz eyes.

"I'm not afraid of getting shot either," Cheshire's disembodied head murmured before disappearing. He appears fully again up in the air at an eighty degree angle from Zan. He winds his arm back and throws Helsingr like a spear at Zan before teleporting again. This time he moves about a meter directly behind Zan.

The remote is no longer in either of his hands and Cheshire draws both Vladimir and Elizebeth. He slashes both in horizontal strike, one slashing at his neck while the other aims for his legs.

Zan merely smirked as he watched Cheshire disappeared and reappeared.

"Surprisingly impressive," he said calmly.

Zan dodged the weapon above just barely. Just as Cheshire's weapons slashed forward, Zan's body became transparent and he slid through the blades unharmed. Just an inch behind Cheshire, he became tangible again and reached for his sai blades, attempting to strike Cheshire from behind.

***

"Damn it!" Rory shouted as Cheshire and Zan started moving too fast, the latter turning tangible and intangible at an alarming rate. Her chance at a steady target was gone. The guards had been taken care of and now only Zan was left. "We have to get down there, Aeden!"

Just as she said this, the footsteps of two men drew closer. She focused Fusilier at the door.

"Aeden, they're here," she said.

***

Liseran watched in panic as Cheshire and Zan began to fight and she tried to do the golden a cord, but it wouldn't do. She took it into her mouth and tried chewing it off and it managed to loosen up.

Please, please come off! she begged. I can't let that vision happen! I can't!

As Zan slides pass Cheshire, the faunus already activates his semblance again, Disappearing right before Zan was about to stab him and appears right behind him at the same time. Simultaneously he slashes with both of his swords in a cross.

The little disappearing act startled Zan this time and as Cheshire came behind him again, the swords hit him slashing through his coat and forcing him against the floor. Were it not for his armor underneath, he could have actually been injured. Weeping Cerinthe rang wildly as Zan hit the floor, signaling Liseran to get closer.

"If attacking you directly isn't going to work..." Zan grunted.

He took Liseran by the collar and drew her closer.

"Then I'll have to do this."

Before Liseran could speak, Zan's free arm became transparent and dug its way into her stomach. Become whole again, Liseran let out a scream of pain and almost doubled on the floor.

"Gaaaaah!" she screamed. She tried to comprehend what was happening, but Zan's arm began moving, twisting her organs from the inside and she yelled in pain again.

"You know I'd never kill her," Zan smiled inhumanly at Cheshire. "But just how much pain are you willing to let her put up with?"

From her stomach, Zan's arm slid to the middle of the chest and tugged at her heart from the inside. Liseran gasped, unable to speak or breath, her eyes widening and her teeth trying to bite back another scream.

"No...Cheshire...don't listen to--"

She screamed again. Zan laughed.

"Drop your weapons now," Zan said. "And just trying using your semblance, I'll literally pull out Liseran's heart."

***

Cheshire's hands shook, his eyes enraged as Zan continued to torment Liseran from the inside. Cheshire gritted his teeth. He wanted to tear the man apart, rip him to shreds and slice up his entrails. Cheshire could barely hear Liseran pleading with him not to listen. Cheshire's hands continued to shake... then they went limp as he allowed his weapons to drop and clatter on the ground. His arms raised above his head, Cheshire kicked away Vladimir and Elizebeth. Helsingr was stabbed into the ground a few meters away far out of arm's reach.

"Do not... hurt her," Cheshire murmured, his eyes looking down, covered by the shadows of his bangs.

Aeden kept his eyes locked on the door tightening his grip on his weapons. Aeden nods at Rory signaling he is ready to shock the people as soon as they enter. He loads ice dust into Frost Fang and points it at the door in case he should need to immobilize them further to give Rory a better chance at shooting them to neutralize the threat.

"Cheshire...no," Liseran said with teary eyes. She let out a groan as Zan slowly slipped his hand out of her chest, making her fall to her knees. He tugged on her rope as he smiled smugly at Cheshire.

"I'm glad we understand each other," Zan said. He snapped his fingers.

It was only then that something else appeared at the door. Two men in dark cloaks. Each of them carried a steel club. Zan turned to Liseran.

"You should know better than to consort with those lower than you," Zan said. "And now I'm going to teach you a lesson."

He turned to Cheshire.

"Fight even the smallest bit and I'll torture her again," Zan said. He then looked at the two guards. "Beat him up."

***

The door burst open and two cloaked men appeared. Rory began firing her shots, but the bullets began to deflect. Before Rory could comprehend, one of them raised a gun and shot an electric round at her. She groaned as she fell to the floor.

"Aeden, run!" she said.

Aeden takes a stance in front of Rory and prepares his weapons. "Rory, how could you expect your Onii-chan to leave you? I'm going to take care of these guys and get you somewhere safe." Aeden begins to fire ice rounds at the attackers and shoots his lightning dust at them. "How dare you attack Rory! I'm going to make you pay!"

The ice did little damage, but the lightning was taking it's toll on the iron armor of the two intruders. Rory is trying to get up, the lightning round having paralyzed her foot, she's there helpless. She looked down to where Liseran was and saw that Cheshire had surrendered.

Oh no, the trigger...I only hope Vixen and the others are deactivating it right this moment...

Rory struggled to get Fusilier but the shots were in vain. It was only then that Rory sensed something coming from above. Rory's eyes widened.

"A-Aeden!" she yelled. "From above!"

A large, dark and clawed hand came over Aeden's head, ready to clasp down on it.

***

"No!" Liseran yelled. "No, please, don't!"

Zan ignored her and the two cloaked men approached Cheshire, one of them with two hands on his bat.

"Of course, we have to do the dirty work," one of them said coarsely with a grin. "Dealing with scum is our specialty."

The other took Cheshire's hands and cuffed them and forced him to kneel.

"Permission to start, Lord Zan," one of them said.

"Granted."

With a strong swing, the club connected with Cheshire's head, pushing him with great force while the other kicked him back to keep him standing.

"Faunus scum!" one of them yelled taking another swing to his head.

"CHESHIRE!" Liseran cried.

Again and again, the club swung at Cheshire's head, its coarse surface grazing against him. When they were satisfied with the damage, they dropped Cheshire to the ground, ready to crush his legs with their weapons.

"No! NO! NO!" Liseran screamed again. She tried to get closer but Zan held her back. Where the Dormirse women were, they were together and watched helplessly, their eyes wide with shock. "Please don't! Stop! Cheshire!"

"Disgusting animal!" another of the guards yelled. The slammed down their clubs against his limbs, though they weren't sure if they had broken them yet or not. Liseran stood in horror, her heart breaking with each swing the bat made. She turned over to Zan, her two hands grabbing at his color.

"LET HIM GO!" she yelled, her eyes filled with tears. "Please! I'll do anything!"

"Anything?" Zan said calmly. "Then marry me."

Liseran clutched Zan's collar tighter and then let go. Half of her face shadowed. "Yes. Please. Just let him go. Let them all go. And deactivate the bomb. I'll marry you. I'll do whatever you want."

Just as the guards were about to swing one more time, Zan raised his hand for them to stop. He looked at Cheshire with a mocking triumph and keeping his eyes on him, he forced Liseran into another kiss. Liseran's tears fell, but this time she kissed him back, pain filling every part of her heart. When Zan let go, he took Liseran's hand and pulled off her ring.

"You won't need this trash anymore," Zan said. He tossed it to the ground and it rolled right in front of Cheshire, the topaz stone chipping. "Take him to the dungeon. And you, my fiancee, will follow me."

"LISERAN NO!" Cheshire roared getting up. He tried to sprint towards them but Cheshire collapsed to the ground immediately groaning. "Don't Liseran... you can't...."

Liseran didn't face Cheshire, but she spoke.

"Just leave me..." she said.

As Cheshire fell, Liseran felt the last piece of her heart shatter, and she walked with Zan cold and empty.

Looking up Aeden saw the hand coming toward him. He considered rolling out of the way but remembered how close Rory was and worried that it would go after her instead. Aeden decides to face it head on and transforms Frost Fang to dagger form and Deception X back to ice dust. He channels the ice dust along the edges of his weapons and brings them both up over his head. When the hand is close enough Aeden cuts across with both blades and letting the ice dust fill and expand where he cut, forming an 'X' pattern where the blades moved across.  Aeden quickly brings Frost Fang back and changes it to revolver form. Using regular bullets, he fires that the center of the 'X' where both blades met. "Intersection Destruction!" 

The hand shattered to pieces but it gave time for the guards to run over to Rory and point again to her head.

"Stop right now!" one of them said. "Or I shoot the girl!"

It was only then that the loud screech of invisible speakers came on.

As requested by the future Lady Fares, all guards are to leave the vicinity now. The bomb has been deactivated. Whatever intruders that tried to stop past interventions shall be kept in the dungeon until the airship leaves. Those are orders.

The voice had been Zan and Rory had actually heard all the commotion downstairs, had half-seen Cheshire being beaten up and as Liseran gave herself in exchange for everyone else, Rory's heart broke.

The guard took Rory up, her body still unable to move and Fusilier on the floor with her axes.

"Drop your guns," the guard said again.

***

From below, Vixen's hands dropped just as she had found the bomb inside a book, already deactivated. It was only then that she felt the presence of someone behind her. A cloaked man with a gun right at her forehead.

More cloaked men intercepted and the guards had ceased fire on Sylvian, while the others showed her Lucina with another gun to her head.

"To the dungeon with all of you," he said. "We wouldn't want to go against Lady Liseran's words now, do we?"

OOC: Catacomb

"Lady Liseran's words, eh...?" Sylvian drops her shields upon hearing the name, and stands up with her hands in the air. At the same time, she rolls her eyes around to analyze the circumstances.

Vixen is not within sight, which means she must be with the bomb. Lucina is upstairs, also surrounded by those cloaked men. "If I recall right, she knows how to teleport... Alright then, gotta buy times..."

"I doubt that this is my friend's order. But if it's true, then you men should have a brief explaining here, shouldn't you? What about that "past interventions" part anyway?" She asks.

Aeden's body shook with anger. Trying as hard as he can to not attack the men holding Rory, Aeden bit his lip in frustration drawing blood. He squeezed his weapons fearing he would break them. With a look of pure hatred in his eyes he drops his weapons. "You call yourselves men? Holding a 15 year old girl hostage?" Aeden raised his hands over his head showing he was no longer a threat and glared into the eyes of the man holding Rory. "You hurt her in anyway and I'll still be digging you flesh from under my fingernails a week from now."

"I have nothing to explain to you," the guard spat at Sylvian. "But it appears that Lord Zan has succeeded in having Lady Liseran agree to marry him. That is enough for us comprehend."

Vixen appeared from one of the bookshelves, another man behind her with another gun to her head.

"I'm so sorry, Sylvian," Vixen said. "There is no way we're saving Liseran tonight."

The other men surrounded Lucina, waiting for her own response.

"Drop whatever weapon you have," they demanded. "It's up to the dungeons with all of you."

***

As Aeden dropped his weapon, the guards put him and Rory in linked cuffs. Rory's body trembled furiously as they nudged them to go down the stairway.

"Aeden..." Rory said. "We've failed. We couldn't save her. I'm so sorry..."

***

Zan looked at Head Mistress Stay, satisfied with the fact that she looked and felt so helpless. Liseran followed lifeless behind him, she looked at no one and at nothing. A doll being dragged along.

"It's been nice working with you," Zan said as he and Liseran moved away.

In the middle of the room, the guards dragged Cheshire's limp body away, leaving behind the mess from beating him behind. The little gold ring with a topaz stone gilded with bells laid there untouched.

As Liseran boarded the airship, everyone was tossed into the dungeon, a Binder's spell cast on them so they could neither use dust, weapon nor aura to be set free. Only until the Dormirse clan received the signal would they be let go.

"Damnit..." Sylvian curses herself in the dungeon. It seems like each of them has been jailed in seperated cells. They also took her armor and shields away.

"If I was up there... If only I was up there! Liseran would definitely not be taken away! What were you men doing all the time?! Where were you when she was being taken away?!!"

She yells out loud with rage, blaming Chesire and Aeden, who are jailed in the opposite cells. Then she drops on her knee and starts to cries.

"What were I doing... It was all my fault from the very beginning... I shouldn't have left her side during the dinner... Where were I when she needs me...? Liseran..."

Rory had been listening quietly to Sylvian's shouts, her energy drained and her will dying.

"It's not your fault, Sylvian..." Rory said softly. "You never knew what was going on...I did. If I..."

Rory turned away, clenching her teeth in frustration.

"If only I had gotten to her sooner...if only I was able to warn her before all of this happened...she wouldn't be gone. Who was I kidding? What could I have possibly done? I'm just a kid. Uncle never should have trusted me..."

"Both of you stop your whining," Vixen snapped. "Playing the blame game will do nothing for us now. Even though I am the one who started all this, after all. But we can't lose faith yet. The Sight's crossroads are still intersecting and that means the future is still changeable. The minute we're released, we'll try again to track her down. Understood?"

Vixen, through her fox mask, stared blankly at the wall.

"I we fail...if I fail...I can never forgive myself.

Rory sighed. She tried to hear from beyond the wall, wondering how Aeden and Cheshire were feeling. Aeden who so desperately wanted to save his friend. Cheshire who...stated he'd be damned if he lost Liseran.

"Lise..." Rory said with teary eyes. "Lise, please don't leave us."

She's gone... Cheshire thought to himself silently. He was sitting down, his back against the wall. a blank, empty look on his face. He stared off into space. He looked like a corpse, beaten and lifeless, laying still against the wall. In his mind he was playing off the scenario over and over again, thinking, trying, to find a different way. One different move, one different action, the smallest thing could have changed this entire endeavor. He thought of a thousand different ways it could have happened but each of them ended in his failure. That was because that was simply the truth. He failed. After everything he has done he has failed.

Liseran is gone... but not dead... Cheshire thought to himself. As long as she is alive I will find her... I will search for her... I promise Liseran... I will bring you back... by any means necessary... Even if it means my death...

Aeden sat in the cell with look of defeat, staring down at the ground. He could hear Rory's sadness, Sylvian crying, and Vixen blaming herself. He wanted to say something, something that would lift their spirits and give them new hope but nothing came to his mind. If he couldn't find hope for himself what could he possibly give to them? Aeden just sat in his cell waiting for the time to slowly tick by until some sort of news came to them.

After about an hour, footsteps made their way through the dark dungeons and catacombs. There were two women in the Dormirse uniform, their faces covered by silver domino masks.

The Binder spells on the captives was replaced from the wall to their feet, making them stuck to the ground, though still standing.

"We're leading you out now," one of the women said. "An airship has been provided that will immediately send you back to the main district of Vale."

With their silver swords, they directed the Binder spell to force the intruders to walk towards the spiraling staircase, to the empty and quiet wide corridors and eventually to the outside where the docks were. More Dormirse women were on board and the passengers were bound by yet more emblems to keep them sitting in place.

The ride was quiet and no one said a word. It took about an hour, but even that seemed like an eternity. Reaching the docks of Vale, they were brought back to the cliff where Liseran's house had been only to find it been destroyed. The windows were broken, the door had been broken down. Liseran's little garden had been pulled apart. It was fortunate the godmothers had left.

The passengers were let off.

"Don't even try to follow," the women told them.

The airship left and everyone stood there as it flew away. It was around midnight now and the moon shone brightly. There was a cold wind in the air along with the sense of helplessness to what might occur in the remains of the night.

Sylvian silently puts on her armor they've thrown on the ground. And she notices that Liseran's dress she was wearing is badly damaged. Then she takes a long look at the burnt-down resident, then the soulless people. They seem to have no differences. Cold, lonely and helpless.

"Like hell I would accept this! Wake up! People!! No time to be gloomy now! We're back to square one!!" Sylvian's shout awakes them. "As Vixen said, we still have this chance, the only chance left. We cannot afford to lose this time! Not with those gloomy faces!!"