Valla wants more than just vengeance (the_nephalem) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2017-08-21 15:45:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, ahsoka tano, li-ming, maia amell (the warden), morrigan |
Who: Li, Ahsoka, Maia and Morrigan
What: Confrontation with Diablo himself!
When: This afternoon
Where: Garden Grove, Orange County
Warnings: High for violence and injuries and also Diablo's death
To say that Li had been on edge ever since the star had fallen from the sky two days before and the dead had begun to rise was an understatement. Then yesterday when demons started coming, Li knew it was only a matter of time before Diablo, or any of his brethren, showed up. She’d warned everyone on the network about the demons, that they were from her world.
What she dreamt of was the stuff of intense nightmares. Some of the worst horror movies were put to shame by what Li dreamt of. And now everyone in Orange County was being subjected to it. She felt responsible, but she wasn’t letting that distract her. She needed to find Diablo and put a stop to his evil once again.
Li was wearing her Firebird’s Finery armor and wielded her wand. She’d taken to the streets with Ahsoka, fighting their way through countless demons of various types. Li was following the corruption paths, knowing that Diablo would be wherever the corruption was the worst.
She hurled a meteor down that took out a large group of demons just ahead of her. “We are going the right way. The corruption is getting worse here.” Li could see what looked to be a building of glass up ahead.
Morrigan, meanwhile, was sticking close to Ahsoka and Li. She’d been called to be on-hand for healing, which she was more than happy to do. Considering what had happened to Li in her dreams when she’d fought Diablo, it was best that a healer was there.
Ahsoka hadn’t blamed Li. It wasn’t her fault the dreams had become reality. After all, Ahsoka’s had on occasion too. As far as she was concerned, whatever magic affected Orange County was entirely to blame. Unless there was some god-like deity who enjoyed messing with them. Like that one dude from Star Trek.
It was kind of refreshing to be able to slice and dice something without worrying about it. The skeletons and demons were like droids. Not real people, and even worse than droids, really. She almost enjoyed cutting through them, her lightsaber sizzling through demon flesh and bone.
“So far this isn’t so bad,” Ahsoka quipped, though from the tone of her voice it was actually really, really bad. As bad as the worse of the Clone Wars or Imperial atrocities.
“If this isn’t bad luv, I’m curious to see what is!” Maia leaned on her staff, regarding the scene before them curiously.
Li looked at Ahsoka, knowing it was the opposite of what she said. She then looked to Maia. “You will see what is bad when we find Diablo.” The fact that the world was plunged into darkness with the unnatural eclipse was a little unnerving, but Li kept pushing ahead.
“Tis worse than the Blight,” Morrigan commented. Sure the darkspawn had their own kind corruption that they brought, but it wasn’t anything like the corruption that was spreading across the city.
There seemed to be no end to the demons running amok in the city. Li cast her Incinerate beam, the beam coming from her hands as she pressed them together. The beam branched off and hit other demons that got close, incinerating most of them. Morrigan launched a fireball at a group of demons coming up from behind them.
“We cannot get bogged down here. We must keep moving!” Li said. She then ran ahead a little, far enough that she could cast her Archon spell without fear of hurting her companions. There was an explosion as her body changed, any demons in the blast radius got blasted backwards. Li now hovered in the air, looking almost incorporeal. She launched another beam attack, this one instantly killing anything it touched. She flew forward, carving a path for them to follow her.
“I’ve been conserving my lyrium,” Maia assured Li, waving her hand and sending a fireball into a horde of undead. She was saving the good stuff for when it was needed most. Her battle plan tended to be shoot first and quip later - she’d unload her most powerful spells the second Li gave the word.
Maybe a second before.
Ahsoka kept close. People like mages were glass cannons and she ran intercept, deflecting attacks with her lightsabers or taking out flankers. She moved closer to Li. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
Ahsoka certainly had her work cut out for her currently. Having three mages wasn’t easy. Though at least Li was immune to any and all damage while in her Archon form. However, that didn’t last forever, and she had to wait a little while before she could cast it again. Coming out of the Archon form, she drew in a breath, looking around.
“I know, but we can’t turn back. Diablo must be stopped.” She knew that Ahsoka knew that, but it didn’t hurt anything to say it anyways.
Morrigan was saving her strength for shapeshifting and healing. She was ready to turn into a dragon if Li wanted her to, though Li had told them fire didn’t hurt Diablo much, that he was susceptible to cold. Morrigan would let Maia handle that, she’d ensure everyone stayed alive.
There seemed to be quite the mass of demons down the street by the glass building that almost seemed to be a church of some sort. Li frowned a bit.
“It is said that demons are left in the wake of the demon lords. The fact that there seems to be an increasing number of demons suggests that Diablo must be nearby.” She glanced back at Maia. “Your larger spells may come in handy here.”
"Thunderbolt and lightning~" Maia sang, holding her hands out. "Very, very frightening me!"
Her spell created a localized thunderstorm, flashes of lightning clearing a path between them and the church. Her eyes glowed, and she started throwing bolts of ice. She might have to miss the big battle, but she thought she had a good idea. "I'll keep your arses covered!"
"Great, that's going to be stuck in my head all day." Ahsoka pushed her hands out, shoving demons to either side and directing them into the path of Maia's spells.
“Do not overtax yourself, love. I want you in one piece when this is over,” Morrigan cautioned Maia. She did worry that Maia would over-exert herself
“Thank you, Maia,” Li said, moving forward. She called down another meteor that took out several demons. But with the combination of spells and use of the Force, they reached the church. As it was glass, it was easy to see what awaited them within. In the tall spire, Li saw Diablo. He was huge, red and had a lot of spikes. The Lord of Terror looked every bit the part.
“Well, that is rather the sight,” Morrigan commented as she looked at Diablo.
“Diablo, the Lord of Terror lives up to his title. Especially being the Prime Evil. Be careful, Diablo is very strong.” Li re-upped her Ice Armor spell, letting the ice swirl around her. It would damage all enemies that stepped within its radius. Now, Li had a feeling that she’d have to fight this battle alone, which hadn’t been something she’d mentioned but from her dream experience and what she’d told Ahsoka of it, she felt Ahsoka thought about that fact.
Nevertheless, Li headed towards the door and opened it, stepping inside. Diablo was at the far end of the building, hovering in the tower, emitting a black pulse, which clearly was what controlled the spread of the corruption and perhaps even the eclipse of the sun. Li led the way towards him, but halfway there, Ahsoka, Maia and Morrigan were all ensnared in cages that seemed to be made of bone.
Of course Maia would over-exert herself. She was the hero of Ferelden, it was part of her contract. Besides, she felt a little like she deserved it. It would be a good way to go, and beat the hell out of the Calling. She stepped inside, and stared at the demon. “Shite.”
Ahsoka wasn’t easily intimidated. But she was intimidated, staring up at the demon. He hands gripped her sabers more tightly. “Okay, I can slice at his hands and feet, keep him distracted while you do the heavy-”
And then she was ensnared, and she couldn’t even move her hands to use her weapons to free herself.
Morrigan was ensnared as well, and she couldn’t move either. “Oh bloody hell,” she cursed. This was not how she’d planned on spending this fight. She had intended to stay in the back, taking some sniper shots at Diablo and casting healing spells as needed. But clearly, plans changed.
Li looked back at her companions. Just like Kormac, ensnared in a trap to leave her to fight the Prime Evil by herself. “I killed him once, I can kill him again. It’ll be alright,” she assured them. She then gave Ahsoka a smile. “I love you.”
And with that, she turned around and went to meet the demon lord.
As she approached, Diablo stopped emanating the dark pulse and came to stand before her, towering over her. And as terrifying as it was, Li was not frightened. For one thing, she’d killed him once already. For another, she tended to not feel fear much. She would not be intimidated by him.
“The seven evils are one within me. I Am Legion!” Diablo announced, his voice sounding like a million needles, a voice meant to cause terror and fear in others. He then let out an unearthly roar and stomped the ground, a burst of flame coming from from.
Li then cast her Diamond Skin, encasing her completely in diamond which absorbed all damage for a short period of time. It was a good thing because Diablo hurled a fireball at her, but she took no damage when it hit her. She dodged to the right and fired her Ray of Frost, the ice equivalent to the Disintegrate beam she’d been using up to this point. Then Diablo raised his arms.
“Oh shit,” she cursed and quickly started to run around, dodging the dark spots on the floor, from which other cages emerged to attempt to ensnare her. Luckily, she’d dodged them all. She turned again to face Diablo, hitting him with her Blizzard spell.
The fight went around like that for a while, Li nickel and diming Diablo while dodging attacks. She got hit by some fireballs, she even got ensnared by a trap once, which Diablo then grabbed hold of her, squeezed her and slammed her onto the floor. Li was hurting, but she got back up, and she still hit him with everything she could and dodged around attacks. At least up to a point.
Eventually, Diablo halted the battle by stunning Li. “Enough! Now we will see how you fare in my Realm of Terror!” And with that, Li disappeared along with Diablo, leaving Ahsoka, Maia and Morrigan behind.
First, the Force. Ahsoka tried to vibrate herself out of the bonds, but that didn’t work. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Maia doing something. Ice encrusting the bones around the mage. But that didn’t seem to make them any more fragile or easy to break than Ahsoka’s efforts. If anything, Maia had managed to trap herself worse.
It was particularly horrifying, watching someone fight when she couldn’t. It was even worse when you loved that person. Ahsoka found she could shout, and called out warnings to Li every time she saw something, or sensed a motion through the force.
It was all she could do and she hoped it was enough.
And then Li was gone and Ahsoka had to stop herself from screaming. There was nothing she could do. She was trapped. So she closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind, reaching out for Li with the Force, and praying Li could feel it. I’m here. Draw on my strength if you need it.
Morrigan made her own attempts to break her cage to no avail. She’d thought about shapeshifting into a dragon or something big enough to break it, but she felt that might actually be a bad idea. She’d probably only succeed in breaking herself considering how sturdy these things were. “Maia, are you alright?”
Meanwhile, Li was better prepared for the Realm of Terror this time. She could anticipate her shadow selves that she’d have to fight. Considering how Diablo said that this was where one faced their deepest fears, it said a lot that Li was fighting herself. The battle went rather similar to the one that had just taken place, just with the added attacking her own shadow as she went.
Diablo had maintained the same attacks as before, this time Li managed to dodge them all. She went into her Archon form, dealing massive amounts of damage to Diablo before she went back to slowing and freezing him with her ice spells. Eventually, after much running and dodging and taking out a couple of her shadow selves, she defeated Diablo in that Realm. Both she and Diablo reappeared in the church, Li looking perhaps only slightly worse for wear than when she’d disappeared. She wasn’t tiring either, which Morrigan found to be quite intriguing. It seemed that her mana or whatever Li used to power her spells either didn’t deplete that quickly, or it quickly replenished itself.
“No! This wretched light must be eradicated!!” Diablo cried. He stalked closer to Li. “All that you have known, all that you have ever loved, shall die along with you, Nephalem!” Diablo then let out a roar and stomped his foot. This time, several cracks ran through the floor, emanating from where he had stomped his foot down.
Then Diablo attacked again, breathing a line of fire that crackled with lightning. Li tried to dodge, but he kept breathing it, following her movements, and she did get hit by it. She cried out, but kept moving, casting her Diamond Armor again before throwing her Blizzard over Diablo, and he froze solid, letting her attack him with her Ray of Frost again and giving her a little breather before he unfroze after a few seconds and continued his attack. Li turned back to running and dodging.
“I’m just here, chilling,” Maia quipped. She sounded and felt very tired.
The cage holding Ahsoka rumbled and shook when she saw Li again. “Oh come on!”
What kind of power did she need to break free and help Li? Could the Dark Side do it? Ahsoka had been tempted on occasion, but never seriously. It was usually something of a joke “I can’t get the jar open I need the dark side” and not something she really meant.
But when Li was hit, Ahsoka was almost tempted. Almost.
Under other circumstances, Morrigan might have laughed at Maia’s quip, but as it was, they needed a way to get out of their cages. “Tis not an ideal way to spend a fight.”
Li ran around, zigging in and out of the pews in the church. Diablo followed her, occasionally teleporting himself to get in front of her. She kept freezing him now and then, trying to whittle him down. She was hurting, but adrenaline and sheer determination to prevail was pushing her forward. She kept dodging and running. Though keeping on the move didn’t precisely mean she was safe. Once again, Li got ensnared by one of the traps that sprung out of the ground, and Diablo grabbed her, squeezed her and slammed her into the ground.
This time, she felt things crack. Probably ribs, maybe an arm. Pain shot through her like red hot fire, but she still got back to her feet.
“Bloody hell, she’s strong,” Morrigan commented. Just for how long Li had been fighting and the damage she’d taken, she still got back up. It was highly admirable.
“You can’t win, Diablo. This is my world, and you’re not going to destroy it. I won’t let you!” She cast Blizzard again and hit him with her Ray of Frost, instilling more damage to him. Then, once he unfroze, she assumed her Archon form, unleashing attack after attack, dealing massive damage to him once again.
And then, it was enough. Diablo stopped attacking, letting out a roar as he hovered in the air, his body convulsing as light started to radiate out of him. He then exploded in a brilliant blast of light. His body disintegrated, leaving behind the Black Soulstone, something that emitted a soft black smoke and whispered, though only those close to it would be able to hear the whispers.
Li slumped to the ground, pain wracking her body. Moments later, the eclipse began to end, sunlight beginning to return to Orange County. The light burned away the corruption and the cages that held Ahsoka, Maia and Morrigan.
“Stubborn. Stupid,” Ahsoka murmured. It reminded her in uncomfortable ways of Anakin. She fell out of the cage when it disintegrated. She stumbled forward, then rushed to Li’s side. She wasn’t fast enough to catch her when she slumped, but she was close. “Hey...hey you did it!”
“That’s twice that I beat him now.” Li said with a little smile, though she was in quite a bit of pain now. Morrigan, now free of her cage, quickly followed after Ahsoka. Li definitely didn’t look that good. She knelt down, pulling out a healing potion, popping the cap, and holding it out.
“Here, drink this. It will help with beginning to heal you.” Morrigan said. She held it so Li could drink from it. Luckily, she didn’t have to move much in that regard. She could feel that ribs were broke, and one of her arms was broken. She had some burns as well. Morrigan would have to do some heavy duty healing, but at least the potion would help with the internal injuries while her spells could heal the external ones.
“You’re amazing,” Ahsoka reassured her. She propped her head up a little, forcing her to stay still until she’d drank the vial. She hoped it wasn’t too disgusting. “I wish you didn’t have to do that alone. I’m sorry, we just couldn’t break free.”
“All we needed was some Netflix and it would’ve been fine.” Maia scanned the area around them, searching for other enemies. There was nothing she could see, but whispers at the back of her mind set her on edge. She kept that to herself, for now, but she’d talk to Morrigan about it later.
“I know, but it’s alright. He did the same thing in my dreams, keeping Kormac from fighting with me. It seems as though I was always destined to fight him alone.” Which really spoke to Li’s power, and she now understood why Imperius hated her so. She was stronger than the seven lords of Hell combined. She was stronger than an archangel combined with the seven lords of Hell. She’d defeated the champions of Heaven and Hell.
The Nephalem was a force to be reckoned with.
The healing potion took care of any organ damage and internal bleeding that may have occurred during the fight. However, Morrigan held her hands over Li and cast a healing spell, this one mending bones and beginning to heal the new burns. Morrigan paused in the healing to take a few breaths for herself.
“I wish I’d paid more attention when Barriss had talked about healing.” Ahsoka felt mostly useless, while Morrigan healed. But she shared a look with Maia, who gave her a reassuring smile.
“Not everyone is cut out to be a healer, love. Or they can heal in other ways.”
“It’s okay, Ahsoka. Things would be a lot easier if I had healing magic, but I don’t.” Li was an offensive kind of magic user. She had her protection spells, but most of her spells were offensive one that could deal huge amounts of damage.
“Healing is not an easy discipline to learn. Though if you wish, I could make some healing potions for both of you to have for the times when this place turns into a warzone like this.” Morrigan wasn’t always going to be in close proximity after all. This time had been lucky, but next time? Best to have some insurance.
After taking another breath, Morrigan cast another healing spell, focusing on the burns this time.
“Just don’t ever do something like this again,” Ahsoka scolded, though she knew they couldn’t control what happened because of the dreams. Fate. Forces of Destiny that were out of their control… It could happen again.
It probably would.
“I think we’d appreciate that.” She smiled at Morrigan. “Thank you. Both of you.”
“I can only say that I will try not to.” Considering how Orange County could get, there was no way she could promise not to do something like this again. Li had dedicated her life to fighting evil in all of its forms. She wouldn’t stop now. Even if having defeated Diablo twice probably earned her some rest and relaxation time.
“You are welcome,” Morrigan responded with a nod. Taking a breath, Morrigan sat back, depleted from the healing spells. “In good news, I believe you are mostly healed. I can help again later if you find you still need it.” She just really needed to sleep first.
“Thank you, Morrigan,” Li responded. She could breathe easy again, now that her ribs were healed. She looked over and saw the Black Soulstone sitting on the ground. “I need to call someone to help take care of that.” Someone who had magic that could barricade the thing safely in a deep, dark pit. The only person that came to mind was Zatanna.
“Is there something we can do?” Maia approached the soulstone, and the whispers became louder, and more pronounced. Could something like this end the Blight? Maia would have taken it in her dreams for that, no matter the consequences. The One Ring, too.
After several tense seconds, she stepped away.
“You know, maybe I should cover that thing with something until then,” Ahsoka said. She was the only not a mage, and the Force was telling her this was a dangerous thing for anyone.
“Unless you know a spell that can contain and shield it, no.” Li got to her feet carefully before she stepped a little closer to it. “Whatever you do, do not touch it. It contains the souls of all seven lords of Hell. That is them whispering. And whatever is done, it must never risk being split or shattered. Doing so would release their souls and this will happen again.”
Morrigan simply looked from afar, not having the strength to get up just yet. “Alas, my entropy spells do not lend themselves for containing something of such pure evil.” Morrigan wasn’t sensitive to feeling if something was evil or not, but something definitely felt wrong here. Not to mention she could hear the whisperings, although faintly, from where she sat.
“Oh, good. And here I thought it was an archdemon.” But she was pretty sure there was an archdemon whispering too.
Ahsoka was the one that got up. She reached out, lifting the object with the Force, then pulled a trashcan over and carefully put it inside. “It’s… probably useless, but I don’t really care.”
When Ahsoka put the Black Soulstone in a trashcan, Li couldn’t help but to start laughing. It was quite the belly laugh as well. While it was partly the stress-relief kind of laugh, there was also amusement in it. “Ahsoka, you do realize you just put all the evil in my world into a trashcan?”
Morrigan blinked a bit at Li’s response. Clearly the fight had gone to her head from the way she was laughing. But the stress of the fight was understandable. “Perhaps your skull is cracked worse than I thought,” she muttered, something she’d once told Maia in the dreams. Or, well, the ‘I’ had been replaced with ‘mother’ in the sentence, but nevertheless.
“That’s where it belongs.” Ahsoka grinned tiredly, happy to get that kind of reaction out of her lover. It sounded like the kind of laugh that Li desperately needed, and one that set Ahsoka’s mind at ease.
Morrigan’s response set Maia off, and she doubled over laughing. “It might very well be so!”
It had been a couple really stressful days. Li definitely needed the laugh. And she’d probably need a nice, hot bath once the Black Soulstone was taken care of. “I needed that, thank you,” she said, a bit out of breath from laughing.
Morrigan just chuckled a bit and shook her head. “I shall give her a closer inspection later.” She needed to recharge a bit first.
Ahsoka was probably the least exhausted of them. Magic took a lot out of a person, and she’d been running on the Force for the past six hours. Which would bite her in the butt later, but for now she felt energized. “I’ll take good care of her, too.”
“Good. Most of the injuries should be healed. Whatever is left I shall help with once I am recovered.” Morrigan definitely needed a good nap. She was leaning heavily on her staff.
“Thank you for your help, both of you.” Li said. It hadn’t been easy to carve a path through the city to find Diablo. It had been made easier to have two extra mages on hand to unload spells with her and Ahsoka.
“Anytime.” Maia slid an arm around Morrigan, mostly to prop her up. “I always enjoy these kind of festivities.”