Who: Lulu What: Hunting Where:Great Plains of Esthar When: Backdated to Sunday, November 9 Warning: Language, Violence.
The bag was getting noticeably heavy as the Star Fragment dropped inside her bag, clanking audibly when ore scraped against ore. That was six. She needed one more. Five for Seifer and two for her own purposes. Seifer had mentioned that partial orders would be accepted, but Lulu was not the type of person to deliver part of anything. Kill or overkill, that was her philosophy. Hiking up her skirts, the SeeD climbed back up the small hill that she had made her base of operations for this little mission. The objective was simple and so was its execution. Spot an Iron Giant, Blind it, Mug it, retreat. There was no point engaging in battle beyond the sufferance of needless danger.
It was a cool day and, for that, Lulu was thankful. Coming from the northern regions of the world she hated being hot. Snow had already descended in the top of the Esthar Region, easy to see because of how flat the the Great Plains were. Lulu briefly wondered how long it would be before it began to dust the remaining parts of the world that received true winter. The grass was varying shades of green to brown beneath her feet. The land was ready to sleep.
One hand swept her hair away from her face, the other holding tightly to the Onion Knight. She scanned the perimeter, red eyes squinting against the active breeze. It wasn't that Iron Giants were difficult to spot. Obviously, it was quite the contrary. Rather, Lulu enjoyed having the tactical advantage of knowing what other monsters were in the area. As she hit ten o'clock in her rotation, Lulu saw her target. It lumbered slowly onward. What was it searching for, she wondered? Would it resent her for being blitzed and robbed blind, quite literally? The quandary had little time to occupy her mind. It was time for action.
Lulu's fingers rapidly traced a sigil into the air. Bright energy coalesced around her, drawn out by the power that was stored in the Junction point between her and her Guardian Force. It was such a strange sensation, manipulating forces that were alien to the human body. It reared back like a snake about to attack. When Lulu's hand pressed against the air, she felt it strike forward. The rush of energy caused her to take a sharp breath. The Haste spell made every part of her move quicker. Her mind raced, lungs fluttered, and heart raced. The grass splintered around her as she moved, cleaved by the kinetic energy of her running.
She was nearly done with her next spell when the Iron Giant noticed her. Its body swung around slowly, hindered by its size. The sigil glowed brightly in the air, lit up by the power Lulu had Drawn from herself. Her palm slammed against it, causing the sigil to shatter into ether as the spell cast. The Giant reared back as a cloud of thick, inky darkness clung to its eyes. It clawed at itself with one hand, trying to tear the spell away. The opening allowed Lulu to shoot forward, ducking under the swinging sword. The Giant's foot was her first springboard. Bending her knees, she leapt up off the conical appendage. She landed on the armor guard just off its knee, facing outward so she could use the heels of her boots as leverage. They hooked on the edge of the guard and Lulu's body teetered forward for just a second to gain momentum. She threw herself backward toward the Giant's body, causing her torso to flip once before her feet planted down on the monster's bent thigh. Lulu followed the motion through, landing crouched with hands planted on the cold, metallic skin to stop the momentum.
Launching up one last time, Lulu spun as she came level with the Giant's chest. The Star Fragment was jutting out of its chest, a chink in its armor obtained sometime before it fell to the planet. Lulu drew on her Guardian Force, hand wrapping around the stone to yank it free. The Mug was successful and, as she fell back down toward the ground, Lulu's fingers wrapped around the stone triumphantly. She looked down, bracing herself to hit the ground and abruptly roll away from the flailing Giant. That moment didn't come.
The Protect spell constantly generated by her Guardian Force absorbed half the impact. The rest of it hit Lulu square in the stomach. The Giant's hand sent her flying so hard that her body rebounded off the ground before coming to rest.
"Fucking...hell--" she gasped as her muscles spasmed. Looking up, she watched Iron Giant rip away the rest of the Darkness and level its eyes upon her. Lumbering toward her, it raised its sword. Lulu held what breath she could and rolled as the sword came crashing down. Her fingers grabbed handfuls of grass that helped her pull her torso forward. Her feet found themselves under her, knees bent like a rabbit before she sprang out in order to put some distance between herself and the monster. Onion Knight. Where was it? Lulu's eyes flicked left to right as she noticed her spell focus was missing. There. Two o'clock. Three meters.
Her teeth clenched around a grunt of pain. It's not a broken rib, Lulu, you're fine. Keep moving. Her feet touched the grass and moved in rapid succession toward the doll. She could feel the heat of the Giant behind her. Just a little further...
Scooping down, Lulu snatched up the fallen doll and jumped. Her torso turned in a tour en l'air, allowing the SeeD to hit the ground facing her assailant. The force of her Haste-powered run caused her to continue sliding back while grass shot up all around her. "Alright," Lulu grimaced, "let's dance."
The Giant charged with a hollow, metallic roar. Lulu's fingers went to work, the sigil drawn in orange-red light. The heel of her palm slammed against it, causing the spell to cast. Beams of fiery light shot into the Giant's core. The metal heated rapidly as it started to glow hot. "Burn," Lulu growled, triggering an explosion that erupted from inside of it.
It staggered, the gaping hole in its chest bleeding liquefied, molten iron. The monster's instinct to protect itself caused it to step back. Magical energy flared around it in a protective shell. Mighty Guard. Lulu was counting on that. Her fingers squeezed around the Onion Knight, the Para-Magic modifications helping her access her Guardian Force's Junction point quicker. She felt the Death Seraph's aegis surround her as the Summoning ritual began, making Lulu feel no pain when the Giant's sword was brought down on top of her. It shrieked in her mind. Good, feel that pain. Now condemn it to fatal suffering. Zalera!
Her body faded from time and space, replaced by the Guardian Force made manifest through her. Its howl was a dirge, not for those departed, but for the Giant that would soon join their ranks. Its shrieks reached a fevered pitch as an onslaught of doom was brought to bear before the creature. The souls of the dead ripped limb from limb, the screams creating a cacophony that swelled impossibly before all sound was extinguished and life rendered naught. Silence.