Bittersweet Candy Bowl

(The situation:

Two invincible hands come out and take Plinius and Delilah. Screaming can be heard from them on the inside of the castle as the gates are closed. Everone else is outside.)

The screaming ceases from within the castle, and the doors open once again, both hands come out at the same time, holding something in each of their fists. A voice coming from within the castle says…

Pick a hand…

(PICK THE RIGHT ONE!!!

Lol double meaning)

Makar gritted teeth as he heard the request.
She’s insane… now she got way too far… but…
I guess we have to play her game to succeed… I hate it, but we have to vote… Who’s going to vote for the right hand?
He looked back to his comrades.

She looks at the two hands, angrily attempting to figure out which is the correct hand.

She’s toying with us, it doesn’t matter which we choose, either one will end up with the same result.

She turns around to face the rest of the group.

Let us just choose one, the longer we wait, the greater the chance of Delilah and Plinius dying.

Makar turned to Lieselotte.
Yeah… I guess you’re right… Do you guys think the same? He asked while facing the hands.

His frustration grows, but there really is only one thing they can do.

….Go..go ahead…

I… I wouldn’t know. I don’t want to worsen our situation, but I’m not sure what actions will lead to worsening it. If I had to pick, I’d pick the left.

Right… left… both!?

Executing both in 20, 19, 18…

(It’s not in real time if you’re wondering)

She turns her gaze to Makar, starting to reach for the left hand.
Then shall we choose the left one? We can’t dawdle much more.

Makar listened to Lieselotte and looked down, frowning.
Both hands! He shouted.

She realizes what Rheinhild had said, she shouts to Makar.
She said executing both! Don’t choose both, only one, or both Delilah and Plinius shall die!

She waits no longer as the countdown gets low, grasping the left hand she shouts to the castle.

We choose the left!

Makar looked back to Lieselotte and started to get desperate.
Wait, wait! W-we choose the… left hand! He announced.

(( If Rukral called it I hope Plinius dies. He never really was involved in the story to begin with so story wise it wouldn’t legendarily fuck shit up on the long term ))

Left hands it is then.

Executing now.

The left fist started applying pressure, and in a moment, blood starts dripping from it, while making a crunching noise. The hand reopens, leaving behind a irrecognizable mass of blood, bones and fur.

HAHAHA. There you go.

The other hand opens, and an unharmed Delilah falls from it. Both hands now evaporate, leaving no trace.

Welcome to the castle… hehehe.

(( Yes!


I mean, poor poor Plinius. May he rest in piece(s) ))

Makar felt a chill in the back while his hands starts to tremble. He held his weapons tightly and made a sign to the others follow him. He walks carefully into the castle, gitting teeth.

(( Way to ignore someone dying. Not that I really blame you since Hebs pretty much pulled a character out of nowhere

Anyways, gonna go to bed now.
Autoplay: Agamemnon will have tea in the afterlife and occasionally roll in his grave every time someone casts a spell. ))

She seems unphased by the bloodied pulp now on the bridge. She sloshes through it as she walks onto the bridge, signalling the rest to follow.
This is why we need to kill her. We need to end this sick joke now.
She looks down to Delilah beside her, then to rest of the party.
Some of you make sure she is alright. If she is injured, or unable to fight, escort her back to the camp. The rest of you follow me inside, we can’t afford to wait now.

((Lmao, that is the best auto-play ever))

The castle is pitch dark on the inside. Nobody would be able to see anything if it wasn’t for Makar’s shining sword, which serves as a source of light. A blood red carpet shows the path leading to the throne room, which is where Reinhild probably is right now.

To the sides, some stone pillars support the ceilings, there are candles on them, but none of them are burning.

(Lol I agree, why don’t you go and play a game of ‘Life’ against death? You know… for fun.)

((Btw, I’m pretty sure Titanium wanted to be here for the finale, but he’s not online atm, just fyi))

(Ah, wanna wait for him?)

((It’s up to you, you’re host))

(It’s starting to get late here and I don’t want to happen what happened before. Better not wait too long.)
Makar walks slowly now, but still careful, paying atention to the visible surroundings with the help of his sword, now held like a torch.
This place is even more sinister than the cave where I found the sword of light…
He looked back for a second to make sure the others were with him and back to the dark horizon.

(“This place is even more sinister than Magus’s keep”

-Glenn

Your post reminded me of that haha.)

She follows closely beside Makar, watching for any dangers hidden in the dark. Her expression is determined, she’ll find and slay Rheinhild before the day is done, or die trying.
I hope those we left behind with Delilah do not end up running into any trouble. They are competent fighters, but should more trickery be used like that, they may be unable to handle themselves.

(@ Narrator Hebs: Heh… but anyway, I think you guys should get moving, since some people here is going away soon.)

It’s a straightforward walk to the door guarding the throne room. No traps or any kind of surprises. Just the adventurers, and the dark aisle.

He frowned, paying atention to what Lieselotte said.
I know… but we must have faith on their abilities… just as I have faith in yours. Let’s do our best to live for the tomorrow, okay?
He smiled slightly while looking at her, trying to cheer her up, altough even he was worried.

We will live to see the next day arrive. Keep your focus on why you are fighting, and we will not falter. If we lose here, we lose everything. I know at least I will…
Approaching the door, she walked ahead of Makar, putting her hand on his chest, she kept him back at arms-length as she inspected the door. There were no traps on it that she could detect, and so she gave the door a firm push.

…A little dim in here, don’t you think?

The paladin casts a small spell to brighten the room a bit and accompany the light from the sword. However, it casts enough light to brighten up a large portion of the room. Larger than intended.

*…Wait, what? I just… It just came to me. I didn’t even try. I guess I have better control over my magic now. I’ll have to remember that.*

The door doesn’t open with Lieselotte’s push, but it makes a creaking noise. It seems like it’s locked from the inside. After a few seconds, a girly voice speaks from the other side.

Be educated and knock on the door.

Giggling can be heard afterwards.

Makar held his shield tightly and asked Lieselotte to stand behing him. He rushed towards the door and bashed it with his shield.
There’s your “knock”, witch! You’re going to pay for all you’ve done to us and to our kingdom!

Ignoring everything Makar just said, she only responds to the knocking noise.

Who’s there? Did you come to play with me?

Makar gritted teeth, almost roaring, mad at Reinhild’s ignorance.
There’s Lord Makar, helder of the Sword of Light! He king sent me along with my comrades to put an end to your insane deeds against our kingdom! He said bravely, but more than serious.

Oh… so you did come to play. Alright, I’ll be there in a minute, just let me get ready. Don’t leave~.

She goes silent afterwards.

Her voice speaks again after a few minutes.

Absolute shield!

Ok, you may come in now.

A clicking noise can be heard from the door. It is now unlocked.

Lord Makar was furious now, jumping backwards and preparing himself for the upcoming battle. He held his weapons tightly and kept facing the door. After listening to the door being unlocked, he bashed his shield against the door once more, entering head on.
I had enough of your insane games!

Makar notices a black silhouette sitting on the throne. Clouds of darkness ematanates from it. The right hand is darker than the rest of the body.

Welcome to my castle, what brings you here? Hehehe.

The darkness on her hand starts getting bigger.

We put a stop to this now, I’ve had enough. Good people died because of this, and I will see to it their lives were not wasted.
She bursts through beside him, furious of the antics of the mage, throwing caution to the wind, she screams and charges, her razor sharp claws slicing through the air.

(And now lady liesolotte,you will die)

Reinhild doesn’t bother dodging Lieselotte’s claws. Like back in the kingdom, Lieselotte’s attacks go through her.

Hmm… you know, I only wanted revenge on Andrew. I wasn’t interested in any of you, he was the one I was after… but since you’re on his side… guess I will have to kill you as well. I’ll start with… that hero with the shiny sword.

She lifts her right hand and aims towards Makar.

Makar notices something weird with that strange darkness on Reinhild’s hand and prepares both shield and sword to defend himself while he tries to run out of her aim.

Attempts to throw a light shield to protect Lord Makar.

Makar!
She stops her attack and yells out, her voice tinged with true fear for the first time in her life. She places herself directly in between Reinhild’s hand and Lord Makar, refusing to move an inch.

Outside the castle, Delilah is kneeling on the ground, shaking uncontrollably, the beads on her dress rattling loudly. Albert is standing by her, alert, keeping guard over her as his companions vanish into the keep.

After several minutes, Delilah manages to take several deep, steadying breaths and begins to rise, her fingers shaking against her knees as she pushes herself up.

I’m alright Albert… you should have gone with them.

Albert shakes his head.

I’m a knight… that means I defend anyone who is helpless. And what sort of knight abandons his lady?

He helps her up, giving her a hug, a bit awkward with his sword in hand. Delilah presses up against him, then pulls back.

Are the others… fighting her already?

Albert shakes his head.

I don’t know sweetie.

Delilah turns shakily towards the dark passage. She looks scared, but she tries to screw up what courage she has.

We can’t let Lord Makar and Lady Lieselotte do it on their own… we need to be there for them.

She rubs the tears from her eyes with determination, standing up straight and starting for the castle before Albert cuts in front of her with a grim smile. She stops for a moment, but he is not stopping her, merely taking the lead as the pair enter.

Shouting can be heard from down the hall, and the pair first jog, then run, emerging into the chamber just as they see Reinhild point towards Lord Makar.

Hmm… this one moves fast, and the other one is protecting him with his light shield, maybe I should deal with him first.

She turns her right hand to Sean instead, and aims her left hand towards Makar’s general direction, it starts glowing dark as well. She then closes her right hand.

Soul press!

A pulse of light comes out from Sean’s body, and he falls lifeless to the ground.

Hehehe…

Now without looking, she now closes her left hand.

Soul press!

But with Lieselotte standing in the way, nothing happens.

What the!?

She then turns around to look at the pair.

Oh, the vampire protected you, no wonder my spell didn’t work. She has no soul. Now, please stand aside my lady.

Delilah stands there, paralyzed with fear, as she sees that hand extinguish all light around it. She cries out as she sees that light emerge from Sean as his still-warm corpse strikes the ground. Trying to rush forward, her knight puts his arm out in front of her, stopping her movement.

Stay back… she’s dangerous.

The knight’s words are redundant, but they seem to temporarily take the fight out of Delilah, who slumps back behind the doorframe, sobbing silently as Albert steps into the room, leveling his sword at the dark wizard, taking up a flanking position beside his fellow knight.

Makar look back at Sean while he falls dead.
Sean! No!
He looked back at Reinhild and had an idea when he listened to her comments.
Lieselotte!! Cover me while I get closer to slain that witch with the Sword of Light!
He placed his shield on his back and held the sword with both hands, rushing towards Reinhild.

Oh no you won’t!

She aims her right hand to the ground in front of Makar.

Spider’s web!

A giant cobweb appears in front of Makar. His feet get stuck on it, as he didn’t have enough time to avoid the trap. Reinhild then notices Albert charging towards her, his attacks bouncing off her body.

Don’t you understand!? As long as this dark barrier is up, you won’t be able to harm me. Now stand aside vermin!

She slaps Albert, sending him flying out of the room. He suffers only minor damage.

Albert nimbly runs around the spider’s web next to Lord Makar, sliding low to the ground, his sword sweeping upwards in an arc as he tries to cut under her shield, but it seems to extend all the way to the floor. As he moves to defend himself, a powerful slam of magical energy extends from the open hand of the woman, sending the knight skidding across the floor out of the room. Shaken, he slowly rises to his feet as his mate looks at him wide-eyed from behind the door. He flashes a smile at her as he rises.

Don’t worry, Delilah. Everything will be alright.

Looking back into the room, he advances once more, but slowly, not rushing in now, Delilah looking around the door at him as he hangs back, looking for some sort of opening as Albert yells to his fellow knight.

Makar! How did you break her shield at the festival?