"It's solid. Oh so very solid. Like a rock." The trembling figure was perched, terrified, a few steps up the swirling path. It just.. didn't look very stable, and there were no hand rails. Aku quailed, her arms reaching out as far as they could into the air, stretching towards the trees. She really, really was beginning to regret this. What she felt like doing, other than dashing back down to safety, was getting down onto her knees instead. Somehow, she thought that being lower would ensure her balance. Well, maybe not ensure, but it would be a damn sight better than this. "This was a very stupid idea," she remarked conversationally to the mutated trees, thick clouds of perceptible magical aura and Macalania music enveloping everything.
Slowly, she lowered herself until she was crouching on what her senses insisted could not possibly support her. Fingers out, she attempted to drag her body upwards, her long nails hooking onto whatever they could. The surface felt oddly smooth, though, and although it was useless, she kept up with it. Bit by bit she made her way up, pausing to consider how the scene might look to any innocent person who happened to be passing by. "Neh." the girl shrugged, not too obsessed with appearances for now. Yeah. Just.. for now. Her forehead was beaded with sweat as she neared the top, and now the path was no longer an inclination but flat, across the trees and straight to the enormous globe encircled by foliage and mystical haze.
Patting her pockets and hoping to Og that all her things had remained intact, Aku grimaced. "I guess this means I have to get up now.." She pressed down on her hands and leaned back, steadying herself on her heels. However, as she reached for something to grasp onto as she wobbled up, she realised that there wasn't anything, and the path somehow seemed narrower up here. Tripping over her feet (yes, she's that much of a klutz. I kid you not.) she screamed, and teetered off the edge, where she fell 80 feet and died a horrible death.
.. or would have, but for the fact that the sparkles and dust on the path had formed some kind of magnetic field, and to fall off it was impossible. There was some invisible barrier that prevented one from plummeting down, otherwise that bugger Tidus would've done so a while ago. Clammy and scared witless, she panted, pushing against the force that was no more feasible than what she stood on. "Christ," she muttered, shivering. That had not been pleasant. Let's see, thought the coherent part of her mind. Money? she felt through her pocket with a hand, check. Mobile? Perb? Pen? Gotcha. Relief flooded her, while adreneline was still coursing through her veins. "Oh sakata Og, you who made barrier thingies, video games and My Little Ponies, I thank you for preventing me from dying today. Lili-oo," she added, by way of finishing her prayer. Now, at least, she could go forth without fear. Well.. without some fear, anyway.
"Uh.." she voiced aloud as she moved ahead closer and closer to the Ultimate Weapon pl4n7 0f d00m. "What kind of weapon can you make out of coins, a stone, a phone and a pen, anyway? I mean, the rune doesn't even symbolise protection or strength." She blinked, smoothing over Perb in her palm. "It means sex and magic. Maybe I'll end up with a kind of.. slot machine. It'd have to be pretty unconventional. If.. it accepts this damn stuff at all." Approaching it with apprehension, the girl shifted her weight from side to side. What the hell was she supposed to do now?
She didn't want to touch it or anything. The pulse it emitted was so strong she could feel it, almost taste the metallic tang of magic in her mouth. "My name is Aku," she tried, trying to phase out the quaver in her voice. "I need a weapon. Not just any weapon. I need an Ultimate Weapon. As in, so ultimate it needs capitals. Please." But there was silence, apart from the perpetual song of the woods. She fathomed she could see forming in the rainbow slicked surface of the orb a kind of distorted grin. Maybe the air up here was making her dizzy and seeing things, but she was sure a leaf situated near the top shook with a kind of certainty that was a universally accepted "No." Suddenly, a tendril closer to her wove out and made motions towards her pocket.
Brightening up, she pulled everything out and laid them down on her palm, offering them to the plant. It scooped up the coins, which totalled $7.50, and withdrew behind the shining sphere. Stunned and a little indignant, she tutted and put her hands on her hips. "Bribes? You take BRIBES? What kind of a noble.. thing.. are you? So I wasn't on your list, eh? Well, then. I want a WEAPON. Something I can use against FIENDS. Now, I know they're nothing special, but this is all I've got. You took your pay, now take this junk and make me something." As if considering its options, the orb thrummed, and the music went on relentlessly. Finally, a second leaf streaked forward and hovered delicately near her hand. Folding itself up so that it was able to pick things out, it selected the runestone and the pen, but ignored the mobile.
Then they were gone without a trace, and an angry and restless Aku was left waiting for ten minutes. "Good for nothing robber. I liked Perb, too. It was my favourite. Now I'll have to go and make another, and I don't know if the runes accept that. Maybe my set won't be complete because they'll be tainted, I don't think you can just replace a rune. I'd have to go get it at a really magical time and wash it in rosemary or whatever to make it sacred and-" interrupting her rant, which was well underway into becoming a full blown lecture, the plant/orb's resonance boomed again. The air in front of her shimmered even more than usual, and wavered as something began to sketch itself into reality. Particles stretched and altered, replaced by new ones. Holding her breath, Aku gasped as what the plant had been working at appeared.
It was a wand. About twenty-five centimeters long, and covered from base to tip in raised silver transparent runes, as well as other arcane symbols she couldn't recognise. At the tip was a clear, smooth diamond, and imprisoned inside it hung a dainty golden bell. Here, from the sides, four silken ribbons streamed, a dark, steel blue in colour, and lined with silver. It also came with a giant lid.
Reaching forward, she wrenched it out of the air. Somehow, although it appeared to be completely encased, the bell made a soft chiming noise. It was made out of glossy wood, possibly ash or birch. "I've never seen anyone here wielding a wand," she commented, fingers tracing the dice cup shape of Perb which stood out prominently in the center. "I guess it chose to ignore the sex and fertility part and went straight to the magic and mystery. Damn." The girl picked up the lid, a product of the pen it had once been, and shoved this back in her pocket. "Thank you!" She called out to the plant, flicking and twirling the strangest Ultimate Weapon yet. So she would be a mage, then. This was all very well and good, as she doubted her strength and agility could ever match a fiend's. There were a few who were strong against magic, but this would start her off very well.
She skipped back down through the treetops, now unafraid of the flimsiness and height. Macalania was empty today, apparently. Except for those Guado she'd met before, she remembered with a giggle. She needed to learn some Black Magic, and maybe some White, too, just in case. How she was supposed to do this remained unknown, but the wand glimmered and something about it made her think that perhaps it knew what to do. Walking back to the entrance of the woods, near the save sphere, she perched herself on a rock enchanted by the azure light of the orbs, ready to begin her training.
And again: Dundundunnnnnn. I would've gone on, but I'm not sure I can be bothered for the moment. Review now, or forever hold your peace. You know you want to.
