interstellar5555 | ☆TRACK XII: LOVE AND TRUST

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☆TRACK XII: LOVE AND TRUST

Who: Everyone!
What: The tour hits Europa, and Edward Blanche plans a trap.
When: May 25th - June 17th, 2055
Where: Any of the potential tour stops, but mostly MOSCOW.
Warnings: Probably violence.

“Oh, will you break my fall
When I climb too high?
I always lose my nerve,
It happens every time.”

☆LOVE AND TRUST

After the disaster that was the beginning of the World Tour, things from there have proceeded innocently enough in comparison. Virgo ended up being able to pull its act into some semblance of order before the festival finished, and so the magic on their side was not entirely lost. Things are tense, however, for anybody who has an idea of the stuff going on upstairs. Whatever is going on, Pride is in the lead by a landslide, and the desperation is present in the managers and the execs alike.

Lesedi, however, couldn’t be happier. In fact, she is getting cockier by the day. Her plans with Lapis went wonderfully, and wherever the gem is now is irrelevant. Barring any major disasters, she is increasingly certain of her defeat of Virgo, and is encouraging her elite members of take potshots at them any chance they get. (This includes her beginner music mages.)

The beginning of the month is spent with both labels visiting a lot of very familiar locations across Americana - most of which are places they will have visited in the past. The routes are very similar to the ones the first bands took during their opening tours last summer.

As for the rescuers, now is the time to regroup. It’s not practical to follow the musicians to ever stop they make, but Shep has apparently enabled his spaceship with a cloaking device, and will be taking all the rescuers and free musicians to the major tour centers of each continental tour - the headline festivals, each lasting for days, and each carrying an important role in the ongoing ritual.

That’s what Silver thinks, at least. As some of the rescuers may now know, Gold has apparently gone solo.

☆EUROPA TOUR

As the Americana portion of the tour comes to a close around the 25th of May, both labels will be finishing up in Britain and heading on into the conglomerate of Europa. All of these cities are basically what they are like IRL except about 50 years more future-like, and you have full creative liberty to make up some developments to the local culture and worldbuild because this is the last time these places will ever be mentioned meaningfully!

THE OFFICIAL STOPS: Paris (May 30th - 31st), Berlin (June 1st - 2nd), Madrid (June 3rd - 6th), Istanbul (June 7th - 8th), Rome (June 9th - 10th), Vienna (June 11th - 12th)
THE HEADLINER: Moscow (June 12th - 17th)

The festival in Moscow is much like the festival in Vista City - a musical blowout to end all blow outs. The two labels festival grounds are practically blending together at this point, almost as if fighting for physical territory along with fighting for the attention of the crowds. The thick energy of magic follows the tour like a comet’s tail.

► RESCUER PROMPT: Instead of cutting through all of the earlier stops, Shep loads all the rescuers up into the now-cloaked spaceship and will bring them to Moscow, the last step in the Europa tour path and the place they’ll be stopping the longest. Silver has been saying that the lot of them should start working on freeing captives at all costs, especially now that the labels are on the road and increasingly disorganized. Shep has gotten together a bunch of new material for disguises as well as more holo projectors - a lot of them have been spotted at this point, but if they can get close to the musicians and catch the labels off guard it could be their best hope of bunging up the rituals for both of them.

Meanwhile, Gold is obviously absent from the team, and some may have seen their former leader essentially announce their intent to leave during their fight with Lapis. Silver and Shep seem to have been avoiding talking about it, but occasionally it will be referenced in public places and the conversation will turn rapidly tense.

► MUSICIAN PROMPT: Everything is more or less business as normal, except for the pressure of the tour seems to be causing all the authority figures to lose their minds, especially in Virgo. Beyond that, though, it’s all deceptively the same. Both labels stop in the various cities and put on their best show, only stopping briefly to enjoy the local culture. Everyone is under very careful watch, however, no matter where they are. No one leaves the performance areas without an escort - it’s clear that both labels are desperate to hang on to musicians at this point. The gravity of the situation is increasingly obvious.

Both labels have been booked into the same hotel this time, which is essentially a castle in Moscow. It’s every bit as lavish as you would expect, and it’s easy to get distracted from the stress with the luxuries that are offered at every turn. The consistent sense of desperation that Virgo has running through it at the moment is totally absent in Pride - Lesedi seems like she’s in an absolutely fantastic mood.

► FESTIVAL PROMPT: The festivals crowds are bigger than anything you’ve ever seen. Rescuers will easily be lost in a crowd, and musicians will be followed by a detour of body guards that honestly feel needed for reasons besides imprisonment. The stages are colourful and elaborate in set up. The musical event goes on for three full days, and most of everyone’s time will be spent backstage or in their hotels. Rescuers will have to do their best to keep up.

☆BLANCHE MAKES A MOVE

In the wake of Virgo falling behind, Edward Blanche has come up with a magical scheme of his own. Using the soul crystal of pure love from Greg Universe and pure duty from Meril, he has been devising a ritual - and with any luck, it take out two birds with one stone.

Greg and Meril, having mostly lost their real personalities after having parts of their souls torn out and crystalized, will be set up in a central location in the hotel, after the performances on the last night in Moscow. They’ll be set up to play music, and while that music is playing it will be reaching out to all of the rescuers, whether they can hear it or not. This music is going to trigger the love and duty within their own souls, and direct it to a particular cause - a sudden and desperate need to save their friends, family, or other sympathetic souls from the labels. And the need to do it tonight. This will hit them particularly hard if they are naturally of a love or duty alignment, but it will have an effect regardless. How much it gets them exactly is up to you.

Virgo’s musicians will be protected very heavily during the ritual, as Blanche is expecting the attack. His hope is to lure rescuers in and kill or capture them, having the advantage of foresight. He’s also hoping that the rescuers will go after the less protected musicians of Pride and steal them away from Lesedi, who isn’t aware that this is happening. If things go well for Blanche, both the rescuers and Pride will take a major hit, all in one go. Why not let your enemies destroy each other?

Player participation in this can go two ways: one is that your character can simply go after any of the musicians you choose, and you can work out between the players and the mod how well it goes. Alternatively, you can have your character go to the heart of the matter and try to take on Greg and Meril. The tricky part? Blanche is going to be overseeing the ritual as well. However, without the focuses of Greg and Meril’s soul crystals, the ritual will fail. Also, there will absolutely be a few opportunistic ghosts looking for the opportunity to give everyone a hand.

Communication with the mod is key for this event! Please run by plans to have any musicians successfully escape by me before going through with it, and also do let me know if you’d like the ghosts to help out! This can absolutely be combined with other player plots, such as the Pride break out initiative that’s been floating around.

The night of the ritual is June 17th, so take some time to plan things out, and then get threading. Let me know if you need help setting any scenes!

“Oh will you bring me home
When I'm barely alive?
It's the state of love and trust,
And this is for you,
And this is for us.”

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Unfortunately, Luce doesn't have any magical witch powers. It'd feel familiar if she was accused of such- the Giglio Nero had a reputation ages past because of its matriarchs' talents.

It's one of those talents she's going to use right now, in fact, even if it seems at first glance similar to the very trick Greg is pulling right now.

She grimaces at the burst of light, one hand raising up to cover her eyes while her hands fumble into her coat pocket for a pair of sunglasses. When she'd brought them, it had just been with the idea of disguise in mind. (Even if sunglasses at night look a tad toolish.) Funny how they might come in handy in a different way. Slipping them on, she takes in a deep breath and concentrates her Sky Flame deep in her throat, channeling it through her voice.

"♪ You think you're so cool
Hey big man you're old school ♪"

It doesn't have the flash and bang that Greg's music does, but she's putting all her emotion into it- trying to make Greg feel her care, love, sympathy, that desperate need behind her being here to help save him from this. She has something, someone she has to get back to...

And she can't let Blanche hold any of them back.

Greg has the same, doesn't he? He has someone too. Maybe her Harmony can remind him of that.

"♪ You think you're smart
But who the hell d'ya think you're talkin to
Everyone can see who you are
Take a look at yourself
Tell me why keep on denying ♪"

Doctor wasn't foolish enough to enter this fight without an instrument in hand or in this case an electric guitar that had either been hiding under his coat or in a pocket that was bigger on the inside. He joins the musical duel backing up Luce's song and adding a dramatic flare between her verses (Beethoven's Fifth?). Lights begin flickering and surround him and Luce. Bringing sunglasses had been a good idea indeed.

"He may go by Mr. Universe but as it turns out I've seen a lot more stars than he has." Doctor jokes. It might just be Luce's flame making him feel so confident but somehow Doctor doubts Greg could beat him in a competition of stars of all things.

Going right for the guitar? Yeesh, he knew Sans was uninspired and all, but this is just irritating. There's no class, no style to it. Mr. Universe does his best to counter with a twirl of the guitar to break that bony grip--THIS is how you do it with a little pizzazz, he internally mocks with a wagging tongue.

"Perhaps it would help if I demonstrate
How the center can keep up its sickening spin"

What catches him completely off guard, however, is Luce. It shouldn't be a shock to see here here so much, beyond that he hasn't crossed paths since her escape. More, it's what she's doing that bewilders him. Luce has no magical music, he's sure... he never sensed it on her in any capacity, not even now, yet there's undeniably something else than just her melody pulling at him as she sings, separate from the more familiar but equally dangerous tune Doctor's playing.

The gem above glints with warm golden light, and Mr. Universe doubles down with a glower. There's no time to be so easily distracted with Sans still trying to pull away his guitar. Branches of the ostentatious indoor trees tremble a moment, before whipping forward to grab at the skeleton.

"Thank you, my treacherous friends
Perhaps for my future your service will smile."

Sans isn't a very strong guy, so wrenching the guitar away from him physically probably isn't much of a problem. If he's anything, though, it's quick. He sees the tree attack coming and pops himself up into the air with a burst of blue magic, before shortcutting to the back of the stage and behind Greg's back.

He's not exactly sure what Luce and the Doc are trying to accomplish but sure, why the hell not, he'll just keep doing his thing over here - even though he's sure, with a growing sense of dread, that he must only be seconds from destruction. Blanche already feels later to the punch than he has to be.

His focus catches on the golden gem hanging above them, though - not totally dissimilar from the one he'd held between his hands days before. The one that he knew contained an entire soul. For a few fractions of a moment, he has the chance to think about what he's seeing - Greg and Meril, two stones hanging above them - a song that seems to suck him in...

He comes back to reality with a jolt, concepts aligning in his head as the fire in his left eye socket starts to truly burn. He jumps again, trying to grab the stone into a spacial pocket, or to drag it down with a shift in gravity. Even as he begins working his magic, however, he can already feel a power rising up to resist him.

Edited 2016-06-16 19:07 (UTC)

Blanche is honestly shocked by the audacity of these people - he'd held back only a moment, curiosity getting the best of him as he paused to observe Greg and Meril's reaction from between the fabric of space-time. Greg has been steadily improving, but he's still no master. It's already clear that Blanche will have to take this into his hands.

Starting with the skeleton, already going obnoxiously far by zeroing in on that gem.

Blanche snatches Sans out of the air in an effortless blur, his hand becoming blackened and wispy as it closes around his throat. He walks to the edge of the stage, holding the small figure up in the air very casually as he addresses Luce and the Doctor with a most contempt look.

"I'm not sure what you're hoping for, Luce," he says. "You've never had the talent required for this. And you." He turns to Doctor. "Still barely a fledging sorcerer."

He whips his other hand in the direction of Luce and Doctor, a deep thundering sound of bass coursing through the floor beneath them, hard enough to crack the marble.

"I'm pretty sure I didn't ask for your opinion, darling~," Luce coos back in a singsong voice, even as her legs shake as she tries to evade any gaping cracks that are too large for comfort. Honestly. Blanche getting involved makes things so much more difficult.... And she's worried for Sans.

Gotta think quick, gotta think quick...

He doesn't see me as a threat just yet she mentally whispers to the two, hoping that it stays that way. I'll try and play at distraction, Doctor, figure out a way to help Sans out!

And Luce... Luce keeps singing. She just changes her tune as she starts to stride calmly up to the stage.

"♪ The race is on to get out of the bottom,
The top is so high so your roots are forgotten,
Giving is good as long as you're getting,
What's driving you is ambition and betting ♪"

Anger, this time. She concentrates every bit of it into her Flame, into her voice, trying to will Greg into feeling it all too. The anger at Blanche for disrupting and tearing apart their lives, the bitterness that he used them as pawns, the feeling of being strapped in and torn apart and so upset that she couldn't do anything to help her friends...

"♪ I said
Who do you think you are? ♪"

Ha! This'll show them. With his boss here, they don't stand a chance. They should have known... that...

Mr. Universe stares at Blanche's back, Sans held fast in that cosmic claw. This... this is like before. The last time Sans tried to get him away, tried to face off against Blanche, it had... it had set all this off, hadn't it?

Whatever Luce is doing, it's on a different frequency than he's used to. The anger flares up--so much anger, at her, at these heroes, at.. the gleaming gem above seems to highlight the rising fury. None of this is his. All he has in him is what other people want.

The guitar squeals a chord--still in time with the music, as he tries to fend off her influence. Get out, get out, get out. This is his head, you can't take it from him.

Part of Sans is screaming that he needs to fight this, but while he's trapped in Blanche's grip like this he's practically too afraid to move. He clutches at the arm that's holding him, trying to pull the weight from his neck. It could all be over so quickly. Blanche could snap his throat in an instant.

Yet, the true fear lies in what happens if it doesn't end. He knows that if they take him again, it never truly will. He can't take it.

But he can't keep himself from craning to look at Greg behind him, his eye lights flickering with strain. This had happened because Greg came to get him out of that place. He can't let this happen again without trying to make it worth it.

"Buddy," he forces out between closed teeth, trying not to gain Blanche's attention. "C'mon. Please."

It's unlikely some sort of projectile attack will take Blanche off guard when he has the upper hand like this. How about something up close and personal? Like making Sans very uncomfortable to hold like that.

"Always underestimating Flowers Over Bones. We could have been your biggest hit in history. Guess that's what happens when you put all your eggs in the Defying Atmosphere basket."

Doctor strums away on the guitar and gives Blanche a defiant grin. With his magic he fans the flame inside of Sans, enchanting the skeleton's body to feel like its burning to Blanche's touch and hopefully giving Sans a boost to fight back.

What does it feel like when someone sets your soul on fire? Well, it probably feels like something else all together when your physical form is almost entirely made of soul to begin with. He can feel the dust that gives him a solid form shiver all the way down to his core, suddenly fragile in the face of the blaze of magic it contains.

He's felt himself overload like this before, he thinks, but not with the same source. One of those times was not long ago at all, and it had left him nearly shattered - and while this time feels not nearly as violent, the complete lack of control he has over what happens is shocking. His jaw opens into a meaningless gasp, the magical energy in his skull blazing out of his sockets.

He doesn't know what's causing it. As far as he knows, it could be Blanche getting into his spirit yet again. In that moment, he's not sure it really matters. He can't think coherently enough to know the difference.

Blanche just stares at the skeleton in his hand as its magical aura seems to set it alight. At first it's just a feeling of warmth and turbulence, but quickly it feels like holding onto an overly hot mug of coffee. He grimaces in disgust, feeling the magic the Doctor is crafting swirl around the sensation. Objects around the stage begin lifting off the ground as if being affected by anti-gravity. He can feel the monster's magic strain against his own, trying to get away.

The sparkling blackness of Blanche's spacial claws spreads down his arm and up to his shoulder. Sneering, he gives Sans's shaking form one last look over before simply seeming to allow the wisping claws of his hand to detach from the rest of his more human body, leaving a swirling miasma of blackness around Sans's neck and hands. He hurls him to the floor off to the side of the stage, and then turns his focus to the two so called musicians challenging him.

The black stump of his arm swirls and reforms in a matter of moments.

"Enough," he says, and releases the form of his hand again, as if it is a gaseous cloud. It pours over the forms of Luce and the Doctor and then suddenly constricts, looking to trap their bodies in crushing bonds of concentrated space.

Doctor's spell ends and Sans' essence returns to something more manageable as if a wind had just puffed out some of its excess flames. Mission... sort of accomplished. At least Blanche wasn't about to crush the skeleton.

Maybe I should set the two of us aflame? Doctor jokes to Luce as he strains against Blanche's crushing spell. His one active heart starts racing as it gets harder to breathe. How to escape? Ignoring the pain takes enough focus on its own.

The sight of Sans so overloaded with energy sparks the memory of him, bound and broken on the table. He didn't want this then, why does he want it now? With a gesture, Blanche binds Doctor and Luce, and the image of the both of them similarly tied and tortured swims all too readily in his mind's eye.

Greg lets out a small noise from the back of his throat, in fear and protest. Mr. Universe shakes his head. That's their influence talking, making him worry about them. They're trying to confuse him, use him for their purposes, for...

He glances behind him. A battle between literal goddesses has unfolded between Meril and the other women. Reimu--she's been dragged into all of this, in the middle of a battlefield. For what? What are they doing?

Without realizing, he's stopped playing, cutting himself off from the magic. He can't think, can't focus. Something's got to give.

Sans hit the floor with a clatter of bones, his arms and neck bound with what used to be Blanche's hand, and is now all too reminiscent of the tendrils that have trapped him the first time they fought. The energy isn't attempting to crush him like it is with the other two - maybe Blanche realizes how easy it could kill him, now, and doesn't want to risk being that merciful - but it only takes a moment to realize that its keeping him from taking a shortcut.

His soul has stopped pulsing uncontrollably, but that burning rush and the rough handling has left him strung out on the marble floor. He feels like his magic is being smothered out, and his focus is gone. His head is flooded with images of what comes next, now that he's trapped, and at first he feels like succumbing to it is inevitable.

But then he sees Greg stop playing, and a sliver of hope returns. He struggles to pull himself up enough to speak, Blanche's grip still closed around him tightly and trying to pull him back down to the floor. He just wants Greg to hear him. Even if it doesn't accomplish anything.

"Greg," he calls out over the general chaos. "Hey, buddy. One time... you told me that if you ever started putting stuff like money and power before the fun, you wanted me to take you out." He laughs grimly at that, but it's rasping and brief. "I don't think I've got it in me, but... this hasn't been fun for a while, huh?"

His eyes snap over to Sans. He'd... he'd said that. It comes back to him, clear as day. It had been right as the seed had been planted, the barest inkling of how far Virgo would go. He could never have predicted then how far things would go, but he'd still known. Known that if he ever put fame before friendship... it wouldn't be him anymore.

Something's been done to him. He'd known it all along, had seen it happen, but had somehow never cared. That had been done to him also, the inability to realize that he hadn't wanted this.

These people came here to help, and he can't understand why... but he knows that he should. And he knows that he doesn't need to understand in order to respond in kind.

With a few steps forward to close the space, he moves in behind Blanche, grits his teeth, and the greenish swirl of his protective bubble seals the two of them inside. Protecting them from any attack outside, sure... and hopefully, cutting off any of Blanche's attacks outside of it.

It catches him by surprise, mostly because at first Blanche can't for the life of him figure out what Greg is trying to accomplish. For a rare, optimistic moment he thinks the fool might be trying to contribute somehow, by protecting their side from kind of attack - but no. No, nothing so harmlessly pointless.

He can practically sense the defiance, and the sheer audacity of it is enough to draw his attention from his attack against Luce and the Doctor. The cloud doesn't dissipate, but the pressure will stop building. Instead, all of that desire to hurt seems to channel into the scowl that he gives his not-quite acolyte.

"What possible reason could you have to do this now?" he asks, his tone edged and deeply incredulous. "They mean nothing to you!"

A bubble- now that's a good idea. Thanks Greg. More than 'Thanks Greg.' 'Good to see you acting somewhat like yourself.' Who can say how long it'll last with Blanche right there next to him? Doctor doesn't waste another second, he focuses his efforts on closing Luce and himself in a couple of protective bubbles.

At first his spell looks more like a golden shimmery protective coating around their bodies but as he plays the guitar and Blanche scolds Greg, the barriers expand and push against Blanche's suffocating cloud.

His ribs still hurt and Luce's do too no doubt but they can't afford to let Greg's trap merely free them temporarily. Doctor groans and pushes himself to put out more power. Greg's crystal where it floats in the air starts to grow a set of legs and arms. Said limbs immediately begin flailing and attempting to move in Sans' direction. It doesn't make much progress but it's a start.

Get that crystal! Doctor sends his thoughts to the others. Next he'll try sprouting some wings on it. Anything to move it away from Blanche. (If he's offended Greg can complain that Doctor used the dancing bagel spell on his soul fragment crystal later.)

Not only her ribs, but her lungs ache like hell too. It'd cut off her voice, stopping her singing, and Luce takes in a deep breath as she feels herself freed. It burns her throat a little, inhaling so fast, but at least it matches the fire in her eyes. There's only a flicker of mental gratitude aimed Doctor's way before she focuses on the matter at hand.

Get the crystal. She can do that! She thinks. Well, she's not sure, but no better time to find out, right?

The Mare Ring is warm on her finger, but the flames she gathers feel warmer still. Taking aim quickly, she gathers Flames all around her hand and shoots it off as fast as she can. Just like all the times she's practiced, what becomes a fireball of flame seems to take the faint shape of a squirrel.

She really hopes that thing isn't fragile, because she just wants to steal it or knock it further away from Blanche- preferably towards Sans, but she's not picky. Just 'away' will do for now.

...But really, really hoping it's not fragile, ha ha. Ha.

Attempting to transfigure the soul gem won't work - especially not with the Doctor already distracted. The form of the crystal resists the attempts to change it it, a pulse of energy bouncing back through the magic in rebuke. Blanche senses it happen but ignores it, focusing on Greg instead.

Maybe if Blanche had been less distracted with being furious, he would have more casually been able to keep hold on the gem he's suspending up above. Unfortunately for him, this is not truly the case. Luce's flames sear through the field holding it, just enough that it begins to fall.

But not before the soul flames rake across that portion of Greg's spirit, like a flood of heat that will pour through the lingering connection and into the rest of Greg's consciousness. What's done to that gem is done to him, and it echoes through to his physical reality too. The pain is not unbearable, but it is present.

Edited 2016-06-20 03:18 (UTC)

Sans's sockets widen in shock as the flame streaks into Greg's gem. Can a soul be hurt? Can it be destroyed? He doesn't know how these things work here, or how dangerous the flame is - he's just suddenly filled with dread at the idea that he might be about to watch Greg shatter-

-and as the gem tumbles, he reaches out for it, managing to break through Blanche's magical dampening just enough to open a small portal from the air to inside of his closed palm. One moment the gem is about to fall, and the next its smooth surface is burning against the inside of his skeletal fingers.

It's still there. It's still in one piece.

It took about 5.27 seconds for the bubble to pop after going up. Coincidentally, that's around the amount of time it took for Blanche to understand what was happening and turn to the novice mage. Then again, whole idea in the first place had been just to weaken or cut off the magic, so even if that glare hadn't been enough to cut his resolve (and it is) he would have dropped it all the same.

So, he thinks, as his boss of infinite power and malice turns full attention to him, this is basically like what he wanted in the first place, right?

Rooted to the spot by fear and panic, he can't think of a single word to say to Blanche. Perhaps it's all the better he doesn't get the chance.

The magical flame scorches at his soul, and he somehow manages to feel an indescribably amount of pain and numbness at the same time. It's like heartburn spread all across his body, blurring thoughts out of his mind. What's left of his soul inside him shrinks from the phantom pain of its missing half, duty and passion and hope aching at the memory of love.

He gives a short cry, staggering--catching himself on the form before him is all that keeps him from collapsing entirely on the ground.

Good news, everyone- that gem is probably more durable than thought! So everything is going better than expected, really.

Bad news- it still did some form of damage to Greg, and that's the opposite of what she wants.

We have to get Blanche's attention away from them! she thinks to the Doctor, already moving forward. The feeling that she'll be okay is still riding strong in her, but she can't be so confident for any of the others. Not right now. So if she gets Blanche's attention...

The burst of squirrel-shaped flame from before has already faded, having set out to- sort of- do what it meant to do. With her ringed hand, she sweeps her arm forward to send out another pair of fiery squirrels towards Blanche. While she'd be more than happy to set his pants flame, she doubts it'll happen. That's fine.

She just has to get his attention away from Sans and Greg.

Buying time with distractions- now that's something The Doctor typically excels at.

"How would you like to be the next one set on fire Blanche? Luce and I have plenty of firepower saved just for you! In case you couldn't tell already a fire extinguisher won't do you much good once you start sparking."

He doesn't expect Blanche would be hit by a regular ol' fireball from music magic. Luce's flame is something new and unpredictable though; better to take a gamble on that. Doctor concentrates his efforts on the flame squirrels running across the floor and tries to conjure up the illusion of several more of them being created as if Luce was responsible.

Blanche would normally be focusing entirely on where the gem was just whisked off to. Or he would have been, if Greg hadn't immediately toppled over onto him in a truly undignified manner. Blanche snarls, and it seems that for a moment his anger actually gets the better of him.

He lashes out his arm at the crumpled musician, knocking him back and across the stage as he clutches for support. His impatience with this human is incredible. Was tearing out part of his soul truly not enough?

In the next moment, he lashes his astral arm back around to the squirrels Luce has sent running, allowing them to smash into the whisping starlight energy. Both his arm and the squirrels discorporate, though his arms is quick to shutter and start to reform, with an almost glitch-like effect. That actually hurt.

It's hard to measure exactly what combination of factors result in him at least partially slipping his binds. Maybe its Blanche's distraction, or maybe it's the warmth and direction of the gem cradled in his palm. Either way, when he sees Greg go flying, he lashes out instinctively. He doesn't think about whether or not he can do it, he just tries.

It turns out, he can.

The strength of his blue magic pours through the stone and through to the rest of Greg's soul, enchanting its gravity and catching him before he can hit the ground, a soft glow surrounding the musician's body.

☆TRACK XII: LOVE AND TRUST

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