Much of what is going on doesn't make sense to Lionel. But it seems the Cultist is after Pouch's heart, and it's clear they can't let that happen. Lionel scrambles back to his feet. Eddy's maneuver bought him time, but he's still not sure what to do -- he's not much of a dueler. He flips through the Rolodex of spells in his mind, trying to pick one that makes sense. Ventus? Bombarda? Then-- a thought. These Cultists clearly are using magic but... they're muggles right? Wasn't that the thing? And if they're muggles...
"Repello Muggletum," he says, brandishing his wand in a circle around himself and Eddy (and Pouch's heart).
A faint shimmer in the air is all that can be seen when Lionel puts up a muggle repelling charm (ROLLED 8). The Cultist descends, a dark cloud ready to settle over the two boys once more, but the moment it touches the magical barrier, it stops and begins to slide off, like they're protected by a solid dome. The Cultist can't reach them.
Shoved up on her feet, Jupiter spares not a second. She takes several great lumbering steps forward, ax high, and tries to bring her weapon down on the Cultist sliding across Lionel's protective barrier.
Jupiter's ax (ROLLED 9) finds its mark, neatly cutting through the back of the shadowy figure and splitting its mask in twain. Utterly destroyed, the creature explodes in sunlight, but before Jupiter can celebrate (ROLLED 1) she catches a shadow right to the gut.
ONE CULTIST HAS BEEN DEFEATED.
The other Cultist is still up and it's angry, charging Jupiter and knocking her hard to the ground. Thorntrail's quidditch captain is looking a little worse for wear, burnt and scraped and dazed. [For her next three tags, Jupiter will be weakened and unable to perform any great acrobatic or strength feats.]
Still slumped against the tree but still hungry for another peep at the horrors that lie beneath, Armani holds up his wand and keeps repeating, "Accio Mask, Accio Mask, Accio Mask!"
Armani (ROLLED 8, ROLLED 10, ROLLED 7) demands the mask from the last remaining Cultist. It twists and turns, scrapes at its porcelain face as the mask starts to slip away, but it just can't fight the Thorntrailer's will.
The mask goes flying into Armani's hands. The Cultist reels as the purple flowers crowding its face are exposed. The air seems to wilt them, turning them black and then gray, and they fall delicately to the ground.
Beneath is the face of a man, unfamiliar, who stares up at the sky and lets out a triumphant cry as sunlight bursts from his mouth. He is gone.
The dust has hardly settled to the ground when the memory begins again. Burton Bland finishes the transaction, takes the seed from Pouch's palm. He smiles sweet, and hardly notices the way the color seems to fade from the trees and grass around him.
Power fades from the clearing.
The chill in the air disperses.
Pouch loves humans just a little bit less.
"Thank you so much. You won't regret this, Peter Pan," says the man in the tweed jacket, taking one large step back.
Pouch smiles a crooked grin, already starting to swirl away like snow blown by a strong wind. It's done. "Sure do hope not," he says, though it seems he already does.
When Pouch disappears, the memory freezes once more. The grass within the fairy ring changes, revealing a portal back to Peckenpaugh.
[MEMORY COMPLETE! NPCs Defeated and linchpin located! You can stay here and scene, but I bet Pouch wants that back!]
Jupiter coughs a puff of smoke, mutters some curses and takes Lionel's hand. She's rises slowly, and though she tries to stand on her own, she finds she has to lean a little on Lionel for support.
"Sounded happy, right?" she wheezes, rubbing an eye.
Armani's breathing heavily, staring at the mask in his hand. What a rush.
"It kills the parasite controlling them. Lets them know one last moment of freedom. Of joy. It's a kinder death."
He looks up at Jupiter. "I have a healing salve," he tells her, reaching into his garter pouch for just that. He grunts as he stands and moves to meet her. "It'll help."
As the cultists are destroyed, Eddy reaches inside his hoodie and encloses the maple key in his fingers. Tactile confirmation that it's still safe. Even if it was more than capable of protecting itself. He lets out a heavy sigh.
That feeling of color being drained away is one he's experienced before firsthand. It felt invasive then, and it does again now. Still, knowing everything that came after, it's odd to see how peacefully this memory ends. Everyone makes mistakes, but when you're a what? A whole damn forest? Those mistakes can become cataclysmic fast.
"Better. Whatever it did," he agrees, as he pushes himself to his feet gingerly. His legs no longer burn, having settled into a dull ache—irritating, but not debilitating. Jupiter seems to have all the help she needs, but he offers his captain a slight nod. She'd wrecked it good. The cultist and herself.
He waits at the edge of the fairy ring, small precious thing still enclosed in his hand.
"Thanks," Jupiter says with a wink and a click of the tongue as she accepts Armani's offered salve. Still in good spirits, despite getting tossed around. "You sure you don't need some?"
She's hobbling after Eddy, though. Ready to get back to it. Find her brother, find Kermit, get this whole thing squared away. "Ya ready?"
Armani, Eddy, Jupiter and Lionel completed the memory "Have A Heart"!
By completing the memory, two Infinity Cultist spirits were freed. You have found Pouch's Heart!
Upon emerging from the memory, the portal snaps shut behind them. Outside, Pouch is waiting, eager, anxious, bouncing on the balls of his feet.
"Izzat...?" he asks, eyes wide as he thrusts out his hands. "I can tell. I can feel it. It is!"
Pouch holds his linchpin gentle and reverent, the mischievous smile he wears growing wider and brighter. The malignant maple begins to shake, creak and groan, furious at what's been taken. The magimagicicada looks up at the four gathered students, beaming with pride, utterly disinterested in the protests of the tree.
"Got my heart back," he chirrups, taunting the awful thing surrounding them, closing his hands around the little seed. The burst of silver that issues forth nearly knocks the four students off of their feet.
It blasts away vines and hidden birds and bugs in the branches. The leaves of the nightmare tree curl away from its light. As it dims, the hot, rank air of the upper levels chills, crisp and clean as a February morning. Pouch is bigger, somehow, not physically, but in presence. So much more than he had been a moment before. Frost creeps across his face, his fingertips. His one wing glitters like fresh fallen snow in the sun. Steam wafts from his mouth when he exhales a laugh, and that laugh climbs right up to a triumphant crow.
The tree answers with a roar, begins to shake and shift, but still finds itself stuck fast in place. But for how much longer?
"Can't thank you enough—mainly 'cuz we don't have time," Pouch says, his warm voice carried on a cold winter breeze. He starts to disappear, falling apart like snow, passing through the branches back down to the base of the tree. "C'mon! Gotta pull up the roots if you wanna kill weeds."
Armani, Eddy, Jupiter and Lionel each earned 5 Tokens for completing the memory.
They earned an additional 5 Tokens for defeating a difficult memory encounter.
They earned 2 Tokens for finding Pouch's Heart before the memory completed.
You can check your token totals in Pouch's shop here, and maybe see if there's anything worth grabbing while you're there!
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peckenpaugh2020-06-01 11:18 am
MEMORY: Have A Heart
"Repello Muggletum," he says, brandishing his wand in a circle around himself and Eddy (and Pouch's heart).
MEMORY: Have A Heart
MEMORY: Have A Heart
MEMORY: Have A Heart
ONE CULTIST HAS BEEN DEFEATED.
The other Cultist is still up and it's angry, charging Jupiter and knocking her hard to the ground. Thorntrail's quidditch captain is looking a little worse for wear, burnt and scraped and dazed. [For her next three tags, Jupiter will be weakened and unable to perform any great acrobatic or strength feats.]
MEMORY: Have A Heart
MEMORY: Have A Heart
The mask goes flying into Armani's hands. The Cultist reels as the purple flowers crowding its face are exposed. The air seems to wilt them, turning them black and then gray, and they fall delicately to the ground.
Beneath is the face of a man, unfamiliar, who stares up at the sky and lets out a triumphant cry as sunlight bursts from his mouth. He is gone.
The dust has hardly settled to the ground when the memory begins again. Burton Bland finishes the transaction, takes the seed from Pouch's palm. He smiles sweet, and hardly notices the way the color seems to fade from the trees and grass around him.
Power fades from the clearing.
The chill in the air disperses.
Pouch loves humans just a little bit less.
"Thank you so much. You won't regret this, Peter Pan," says the man in the tweed jacket, taking one large step back.
Pouch smiles a crooked grin, already starting to swirl away like snow blown by a strong wind. It's done. "Sure do hope not," he says, though it seems he already does.
When Pouch disappears, the memory freezes once more. The grass within the fairy ring changes, revealing a portal back to Peckenpaugh.
[MEMORY COMPLETE! NPCs Defeated and linchpin located! You can stay here and scene, but I bet Pouch wants that back!]
MEMORY: Have A Heart
MEMORY: Have A Heart
"Sounded happy, right?" she wheezes, rubbing an eye.
MEMORY: Have A Heart
"It kills the parasite controlling them. Lets them know one last moment of freedom. Of joy. It's a kinder death."
He looks up at Jupiter. "I have a healing salve," he tells her, reaching into his garter pouch for just that. He grunts as he stands and moves to meet her. "It'll help."
MEMORY: Have A Heart
That feeling of color being drained away is one he's experienced before firsthand. It felt invasive then, and it does again now. Still, knowing everything that came after, it's odd to see how peacefully this memory ends. Everyone makes mistakes, but when you're a what? A whole damn forest? Those mistakes can become cataclysmic fast.
"Better. Whatever it did," he agrees, as he pushes himself to his feet gingerly. His legs no longer burn, having settled into a dull ache—irritating, but not debilitating. Jupiter seems to have all the help she needs, but he offers his captain a slight nod. She'd wrecked it good. The cultist and herself.
He waits at the edge of the fairy ring, small precious thing still enclosed in his hand.
MEMORY: Have A Heart
She's hobbling after Eddy, though. Ready to get back to it. Find her brother, find Kermit, get this whole thing squared away. "Ya ready?"
MEMORY: Have A Heart - TOKENS & A HEART!
By completing the memory, two Infinity Cultist spirits were freed. You have found Pouch's Heart!
Upon emerging from the memory, the portal snaps shut behind them. Outside, Pouch is waiting, eager, anxious, bouncing on the balls of his feet.
"Izzat...?" he asks, eyes wide as he thrusts out his hands. "I can tell. I can feel it. It is!"
Pouch holds his linchpin gentle and reverent, the mischievous smile he wears growing wider and brighter. The malignant maple begins to shake, creak and groan, furious at what's been taken. The magimagicicada looks up at the four gathered students, beaming with pride, utterly disinterested in the protests of the tree.
"Got my heart back," he chirrups, taunting the awful thing surrounding them, closing his hands around the little seed. The burst of silver that issues forth nearly knocks the four students off of their feet.
It blasts away vines and hidden birds and bugs in the branches. The leaves of the nightmare tree curl away from its light. As it dims, the hot, rank air of the upper levels chills, crisp and clean as a February morning. Pouch is bigger, somehow, not physically, but in presence. So much more than he had been a moment before. Frost creeps across his face, his fingertips. His one wing glitters like fresh fallen snow in the sun. Steam wafts from his mouth when he exhales a laugh, and that laugh climbs right up to a triumphant crow.
The tree answers with a roar, begins to shake and shift, but still finds itself stuck fast in place. But for how much longer?
"Can't thank you enough—mainly 'cuz we don't have time," Pouch says, his warm voice carried on a cold winter breeze. He starts to disappear, falling apart like snow, passing through the branches back down to the base of the tree. "C'mon! Gotta pull up the roots if you wanna kill weeds."
You can check your token totals in Pouch's shop here, and maybe see if there's anything worth grabbing while you're there!