CLOSED (QUEST)

[comburst]

WHO: Katsuki Bakugou & Aqua.
WHAT: A quest in the Witchlands.
WHERE: The Witchlands.
WHEN: Mid-month.
WARNINGS: Monster fights & Katsuki's penchant for swearing.

[ At least the magic mirrors for fast travel cut their journey to the Witchlands to mere hours instead of days. The Court had mirrors to all "major" locations, after all, and there was one just on the outskirts of the Witchlands. None go to the center, where the main community of witches is protected by many layers of barriers and glamors and other protection spells. So once the group passes through the first mirror, they have to hike a ways into the woods to find the cottage. Without much in the way of directions except having asked around the Court of Stars, it's a long walk - though at least the directions amounted to "no matter how you enter the Witchlands, you'll end up there". Which seems to be true when they go straight from the mirror towards the Witchlands, entering the woods and spotting the cottage within a quarter hour or so.

Katsuki is just enough Himself to want to exit the Witchlands and try to come around from another angle to test those directions, though. Whether the girls go with him or not, he does this maybe twice more from different entry points and looks progressively more annoyed about ending up in the same place...but he had to do it for science. Once he evntually finishes testing out those claims of magic, the trio makes their way to the cottage to greet the witch. She's a kind old woman who seems to know much about each of them, and is more than happy to give them tasks to assist her. Sarah receives a quest to fetch something and splits off on her own, and that leaves a last two tasks to Katsuki and Aqua.

Their tasks intertwine neatly: Katsuki is to kill some sort of magical creature lurking in the nearby bogs, and Aqua needs to retrieve its teeth. Given the tasks go hand in hand, they decide to work together. Katsuki's still somewhat new to teamwork on the whole, but by this point he's more than aware it's necessary and he's unwilling to let his pride get in the way of getting ahead. Sometimes you have to have teammates. As long as they're decently able to keep up, they can even help. He doesn't know Aqua's skills as well as he does his classmates' these days, so he pulls her aside before they head out towards the monster. ]

My Quirk is almost entirely back, now. Basically? I can cause explosions from my sweat. [ He flips a palm up to show a shower of sparks; harmless, right now, but it's clear they can be less so and more explode-y. He's just trying to quickly give her an idea of what he's about... ] I use those and hand-to-hand for fighting, mostly. What've you got?

[ It's brisk and rough, but he's watching her carefully and clearly intends to listen to whatever she has to say as they swap powers and strategize. ]

Comments

[keytoblivion]

[Aqua has been just a little tense ever since the Emperor had asked them to make contact with the witch; her mind flitting back to the Enchanted Dominion, and the witch that had ruled the Forbidden Mountain. It is perhaps unfair to cast early judgement on a woman she has yet to meet…

Still. She will stay on her guard, for herself and her two companions.

The walk required to the cottage is hardly an issue to her – these woods have nothing on the endlessness of the Dark World, after all. She does draw a line on questioning the directions they were given though – she understands Katsuki's mindset, but really… she can sense the faintness of magic in the air. They are unlikely to get lost, she is sure.

The meeting with the witch… it's not what she expected, if she's honest.

"I assure you, I'm nothing like that would-be-mistress-of-all-evil," is the first thing she notes to Aqua before taking her hand into her own and squeezing it gently. "And really, you ought to remember that lesson from the Fairy Godmother, dear. It will come to serve you well here."

There is nothing that Aqua knows to say to that – for all that she wants to ask just how the witch just knows anything about that… but she decides to keep her eyes on the tasks ahead.

Recovering the teeth of the creature in the bog… that at least is a very clear cut mission. For all that Aqua is certain that she could do it by herself, since Katsuki is being sent to deal with the very same beast… it only makes sense for them to go and fight together.

She raises her eyebrow a little as he shows off the sparks dancing over his skin – she's never seen a skill like this… but the worlds are a strange place, no? Maybe he is the same as Barry… how had he called himself? Metahuman? It doesn't matter now.

Instead of commenting, she just nods.]

I have recovered my weapon and magic as well. Between your skills and mine, I'm sure we'll be able to take down this beast.

[To demonstrate, she holds out her hand, curling her fingers a little as white light starts to swirl and form into Master's Defender.]

[comburst]

[ Would-be-mistress-of-all-evil absolutely stuck in his mind when they'd met the witch. Katsuki wonders - and will likely wonder for a long time - what exactly that was all about...but he also has no intention of making Aqua tell him or prying too much. They've only met one another recently, and it probably has to do with her own world rather than this world, so it's not like knowing about it would do him any good beyond satisfying simple curiosity.

As long as he lands the last blow on the beast, their tasks should be neatly fixed. Or...well, he doubts the witch will care, but since his task was "defeat the monster" Katsuki intends to be the one to land the killing blow. It only seems fair, and he doesn't like to cut corners when it comes to any work he does.

The appearance of a giant fancy key is...

Uh. Not as surprising as it could be considering how fucking weird some quirks can be, but Katsuki's brow definitely furrows in confusion. ]

Do you use it as an axe or what? Or like, does it get sharp?

[ ...He just has no idea how someone goes about using a giant key to fight, although he has no doubts she can use it to fight. Figuring out if she's close-combat or better suited for long distance is important, though, so he's basically asking if it's a close combat weapon or a long range weapon.

Hell, maybe it's secretly a gun? He's seen much weirder support gear in his time, mostly made by Hatsume Mei. ]

[keytoblivion]

[Aqua may or may not have grimaced a little when the witch brings up Maleficent – partly due to the memory itself, but mostly because she dislikes the thought of being quite so transparent. It doesn't matter now, though, not while they have a quest to get to.

Katsuki's confusion at the sight of her Keyblade would probably throw Aqua just a little as well, if she hadn't been faced with similar questions several times over the last few weeks from her fellow outworlders.

As it is, she just shakes her head and moves on to explain:]

As a sword. Its edge is as sharp as I will it to be.

[He can make of that, whatever he wants.

In any case… ]

Best we hurry along now… that creature won't take care of itself.

[comburst]

[ So they're both mostly close combat. Katsuki's worked with plenty of people who are the same before. Even his erstwhile best friend...not like he's ever used that term aloud, but that's more or less what Kirishima is and the blond knows it.

He nods, grunting as he goes over the witch's directions again. Somehow he feels like if she hadn't told them where to go, they wouldn't have been able to get there. Its something magical, probably, like how every road leads to her house in this forest. ]

You're right. Let's go.

[ Luckily her directions were clear and as concise as they could be in the circumstances, so it shouldn't take Katsuki and Aqua that long to reach their destination. Once there, he crouches behind some cover so he can examine their prospective battleground...

The walk was almost picturesque, although it feels like it's later in the day than it actually is. The trees are so large here, the sun only comes through in mottled patches. There's enough to see, still, but Katsuki makes a note to avoid starting any fires. Though with how wet everything is, it ought to be pretty difficult to cause anything to burn that strongly. ]

Got anything useful for support? Or should I start distracting it with explosions?

[ They can work it out. He can just barely see the bubbles in the bog that suggest something is slumbering inside... ]

[keytoblivion]

[Maybe once upon a time, Aqua would have been able to enjoy their surroundings at least a little… as it is, she only feels herself growing more vigilant. Even without any Heartless in this world, just knowing that there is something lurking in wait for them… she can't allow herself to lose focus for even a second.

She considers his question for a second, then shakes her head… none of her magic is capable of heightening their current strength, but. Well, going in with explosions when they don't even know what they are fighting seems just a little excessive.]

Let's see how it reacts to ice first. I'll try to lure it out with a Blizzaga.

[Either it won't react and Aqua will know to use different spells instead… or it will react and they'll see what they are up against before actually stepping inside the monster's turf.]

[comburst]

I'll go in as soon as it's out.

[ Katsuki is more or less agreeing to letting her try a blizzaga first. He's never seen anyone cast that particular spell, but at least it's easy enough to figure out from context: some sort of ice magic. He waits for her to begin, but once she does...

As soon as Aqua casts to lure out the creature, he'll only pause long enough to assess the monster and how it reacted before going out. It's true there's a half second more where he marvels at the spell, although really it's just like IcyHot's bullshit but less a Quirk and more magic. Katsuki is first and foremost a front line fighter, and it's not like the thing doesn't know they're there after that initial attack. He needs to give the thing a target in case Aqua wants to do more distance magic without being caught.

He does run to the side, as soundless as he can, before he leaves the cover in order to allow Aqua to not be caught if she prefers to observe a little longer. The monster looks something like it's made of plants, with too many teeth - it reminds Katsuki a little of how inhuman the Nomu looked, although it clearly isn't a Nomu. Some magician's experiment gone wrong? Just a normal thing for Fellden? It's hard to say, and Katsuki doesn't care about the details just now. They have to take the monster down, so its origins don't actually matter. ]

[keytoblivion]

[Magic answers easily to Aqua's call when she fires a pair of Blizzagas across the bog, the spells leaving icy trails behind on the ground before exploding into large ice crystals as they collide with the monster.

The giant cluster of vines and teeth screeches and writhes as it tries to shake off the ice encasing its limbs.

While Katsuki sneaks closer, Aqua decides to keep more distance – for all that she is confident in their chances… best not to assume anything, right? Especially when she is capable of fighting from the distance anyway.

She doesn't yet send another spell though… for the next attack she'll let Katsuki take the lead.]

[comburst]

[ There's no reason to gamble their lives. Katsuki can't fight long-distance himself - not as well as he can up close - so he'll have to leave that part entirely to Aqua. Luckily, he doesn't think that she minds throwing magic around from a distance, and if she wants to get closer to the creature she will. He's certainly not going to order someone around right this second when he doesn't know the full extent of her abilities' ins and outs. He's comfortable demanding his classmates listen, but despite himself he's learned all the little quirks of their Quirks. It's easy to know how to best employ people he's had to work with for months now. It's less easy to know how to best utilize someone he just met...

Luckily, Aqua clearly knows how to best utilize herself.

Katsuki is quick to catch the attention of the vine-monster, who snarls and snaps as the boy launches himself over the bog with explosions from his palms to try to target the...

Eyes? Those look like eyes. He manages to blast one into nothingness, causing the monster to let out a pained scream and to lurch around wildly. ]

[keytoblivion]

[The monster thrashes its vines around the muddy ground when its eye explodes, opening what passes for a mouth to unleash another blood-curling screech.

Aqua nods to herself as she sees Katsuki move and target the monster – then runs along the side of the clearing that the vine monster calls its home to get a different angle and hopefully hit the monster in the back.]

Let's see how you like this!

[One, two, three compressed orbs of Thundaga magic spring from the tip of her weapon and collide with the monster in quick succession, electricity racing through it for just a moment, paralyzing it for just a moment enough to create an opening to take it down for good.]

[comburst]

[ Electric magic too, huh? It reminds him too strongly of Kaminari, except Aqua can actually control and direct it to greater degrees, without even having support gear that he can see. Beyond that keyblade, anyway...There isn't a lot of time to analyze what she's doing magically. That can come later, perhaps when they talk the mission through at the end of it to see what they could have done better and what they think about everything. For now, what Katsuki needs to do is focus on the task at hand.

That moment of paralysis can't be squandered and Katsuki has no intention of letting it be. Instead he leaps at the creature recklessly, palms coming together to fire off a far stronger blast, enough to take it down.

AP Shot, maximum output - ! ]

Take that, asshole!

[ He drops down neatly to a piece of dry ground after, watching and listening intently to be certain the creature is dead. Once that's proven...he relaxes a little, smirking. ]