⚓ 003; [video]

[estantiga.livejournal.com]

[It's the Dark Hour. Do you know where your Rider is?]

[Because as it happens, she is out and about fighting Shadows with no more than a pair of flintlock pistols. Which happen to be a pain to reload when your ammunition isn't magical in nature, so she might be in a little trouble. Not that she seems to mind, based on the huge grin on her face and all that laughing she's doing. Amidst the chaos of cackling and one last Visceral Maya that just won't go down, an ethereal figure about six feet tall appeared in front of Rider. With it came a sudden rush of water, dissolving the last Shadow and clearing the street.]

I̹̟̹̟ͮ ̺̤̻̜̞̼͖ͣͮͩá̤̥̣̻̓̏̿m͔̹̟̥͍͎̟̓͂ͫ ̭͎ͥ͛̒̚tͫḫ͈̫̳̗o̼̻̭̞u̺̳̬̝̺͇̜̎͌ ̠̣̯͚ͩ͋ͯ͌ā̹̟̭̙͆̉ͯ̔̚n͓͍̗̭͔̣ͭ̽ͨd̹̦̹̦ͤ͒̄̐ ͕̪̳̹̘̝̔̾̈́͑ͧ̅̓ͅt̖̮̗̟̺h͎͖͑́ͮ̓ó͎̯͕̝̹͇́ͬͪ̄̇̚ȕ̜̩͈͙̹ͤ ̼͋̅̎̀́a̟̹͕̗ͥ̍̈́r̮͂ͯͩ̆ͪ͂t̺̝͕̱̫ͅ ̫̤͉̪̤͖͍͑̆͋I͇̞̺̭͕͈͗̿ͣ̇͋̽.̓̆ͦ̌.̜̠̺̩̃ͥ͊.̼̪͎̦̍
̠̟̪̙̤̣ͅT͆̋͆̒ͥ̏h̻̞̗̑̓̇̌ͭ̓̚a͔̗̥ͮͅt̹͉͚̠̰ ͙͔̳ͣͅͅi̯̲̔ͅs͙̬͕͋ͫ̉ͮ̄ ̜̦̟̘̼̱̟̏̃́ͮn͉̞̦͈͚͌ͨŏ̼̥̙̥̟͇͒̅ͩ̔͑̍t̠ ̜̦̾͗ͭ̄d͙͇͌̂ͩ̓̒͑͊ẻ̚a̯̦͙̼̣͔̒̄̈́d̤̣̟̙̥̦ ̙̪̪̂̈̉ͩ̑ͭ̓w̰͎͙̲̤̦h̰̠̦ͮ͒̂̈́̌͊ͬi̘̇̈c̖̤̦̣̒ͪͅh̘̳ͩ̏̇͋ͭͦ ͇͎̉͐͑c͔̣̣̯̖͔͐ͤ͊ͅā̳ͫ̌ͯͩͫn͕ ̦̟̱̯͚̭̌̂ͅẽ͎̯̺̃ͤ̾̚t̜̆̏͋̉̇̍͌e̤̲͇̅̉́ͨr̺͕ͬ͊̀n͖̤͖̻͕̓̅ͩͅă̊ͮl̼̜̯ ̳̞̤̟̠̳̒͂̾ͥͅl͉͇̞͉̺͍̗͑i͆ë͇̻̹̰͖̗̒ͪ̓̄ͦͩͅ,̥̩̹ͬ͛͂͗ͧ
̖̇̉ͅẠ̫̝͒n̙͖̤͙̟̮͂̋́̽̆ͩd̥̹̯̳͎̆̽͋ͩ̈́̾̚ ͖̪̼̦ͮͪw͓̜̙̤̗̹̐ͥͪͤḯ̼̎t̻̪̬̘̯h̬̩̠͍̰́̂̌̏́̈́ ͔̳͑ͨͮͭs͚̬͚̿̊͆ͫ̈́ͬ͐t͇r̹̦̬̺̳ͩă̞̆͛n̮̤ͩ̋ͫͬg͖͉͙̃̂̎ê̑ ̹̩̫̞ͪͦ̐̎͒̒ͫa̮̻̳e̹͈̙̻̲͋̾́ͧ̊ͅo̟ͭͮͬ̚n̜̮s̭̲͋̊ͦ͌̓ ̹̳̥̘̌̊e̥̬̒̆ͨ̃͗̄̍v̪̥̫̥̥̈͂ͭ̔̏ͤͪe͎̞̓n ̘̭͈͍̋ͨͤ̍̉d̯̘͈̞̝ͦ̓͋̎ͬͮͤe̥͈ͮ̿ạ̾̍̐ͦ͊͊̆t̓ͯh̟̰̮̺͙̓ͮ̊́ ̘͍̘̱̲̺m̳͙̗̤̪̈́̃a͂̏ͦͯy̩͇͔̜̩̪͒ͨ̉͆̉̚ ͔͚̝̟͈̟̩ͦ̄ͤ͒͂̒̚d̲̜̉̋ͯ̓̐i̻̖̫̤̭ͫ̃̋̂ͭͬ̂e̝̦̮͖̼̽ͭ͛̍̈́ͫͫ.̻͇̹͎̓ͨ̂̋̆̽̃

...You want to run that by me again? [With that, the figure vanishes and the video cuts out.]

[...And turns on just after the Dark Hour ends, voluntarily this time. Rider seems to have taken over a couch in a house someone will find familiar (hi Waver~). She's got a cigar in her mouth and is smoking like a goddamn chimney.]

That was pretty different. Never had an octopus help me in a fight before.

Comments

[stripping.livejournal.com]

Hm, I like mine better.

[estantiga.livejournal.com]

That's cute, you think I give a damn.

[stripping.livejournal.com]

I'm only saying.

[estantiga.livejournal.com]

I've got a giant winged octopus. I think mine's pretty cool.

....So what is it, anyway?

[stripping.livejournal.com]

Did it ever give you a name? Most of them do.

[estantiga.livejournal.com]

No idea. I could barely understand it.

[stripping.livejournal.com]

Huh. That's strange.

[estantiga.livejournal.com]

[Well, Issei, we're just all lucky we're still sane after seeing a sleeping Old One wander by, much less hearing it.]

Don't suppose you caught any of that garbled mess, kid?

[Audio]

[princesszero]

[Wow, you can't go around making people lose their sanity like that, it's so rude.]

So you got a cryptic one.

[action]

[profcharisma.livejournal.com]

[It was one in the morning, why were there voices coming out of his living room?]

[Waver walked out of his bedroom, clad only in boxers, and found his couch occupied by a pirate with two huge tracts of land. And she was smoking his good Cuban cigars.]

Wh--

[His good Cuban cigars, the ones that he'd had in his pocket with him when he came here, and ones that he couldn't get more of because of the United States' stupid embargo on Cuban goods.]

What the hell are you doing here!

[Audio]

[estantiga.livejournal.com]

[Please register all complaints with the Great Old One in question. He will then drive you insane and probably eat you, rendering all complaints null and void.]

Looks that way.

[estantiga.livejournal.com]

Needed somewhere to get away from those Shadows, figured this was as good a place as any.

[Translation: 'I've been staking out this house for days.']

As for what I'm doing right now, sure looks like I'm smoking.

[Audio]

[princesszero]

The communication must be nice.

[Audio]

[estantiga.livejournal.com]

If you call that garbled fuckup 'communicating' at all. I don't know what it even said.

[Audio]

[princesszero]

[... Totally didn't get a word either.]

Has it tried to talk to you again anyway?

[profcharisma.livejournal.com]

So you decided to break into my house?! How did you even find out where I live?!

[GDIT WOMAN]

You are smoking my good Cuban cigars! And, even worse, you aren't doing it properly! Haven't you ever smoked a cigar before, or do you prefer to ruin it?

[He's going to take that cigar from you because goddammit if you're going to smoke his cigars, at least have the decency to smoke it properly.]

[estantiga.livejournal.com]

I circumnavigated the world, one city isn't any trouble. You were easy to find.

[don't you mean GDIT RIDER]

Hey--! The hell, I figured it out well enough!

[Audio]

[estantiga.livejournal.com]

Nope, not since the first few what I assume were sentences.

[Audio]

[princesszero]

I suppose you can call it good fortune. It would be worse if it were a chatty one.

[Audio]

[estantiga.livejournal.com]

Suppose so. Wouldn't mind knowing just what it was saying, though.

[Audio]

[princesszero]

There is always a chance of it eventually growing annoyed by the lack of understanding and deciding to speak slower.

[Not that she believes it would happen. It's just funny.]

[profcharisma.livejournal.com]

[GDIT RIDER, too.]

First of all, you didn't cut it straight across, so now it's burning unevenly. If you're going to cut a cigar, at least bloody well use a sharp knife or the proper utensil so that it isn't a mess.

[Now he has to stub it out and re-cut it for you, neatly this time.]

Secondly, I have cedar matches for lighting cigars. If you use a wax match or, God forbid, a petrol lighter, the cigar will absorb the odors from it and ruin the taste.

[So now he's re-lighting it with one of the cedar matches he keeps in a drawer.]

Thirdly, you've been tapping the ashes off, all over my bloody floor I might add, which only an idiot or someone who knows nothing of cigars does. It's not a cigarette, let the ash fall off on its own. And use a damn ashtray.

[Not that he's letting you have any of these cigars back, dammit.]

[theheirofbreath.livejournal.com]

That was awesome, Rider! Was that your persona?

[estantiga.livejournal.com]

My 'persona'?

[estantiga.livejournal.com]

Ooh, aren't we a smartass. Don't need to flip out over it, Lord Melonhead.