A Matter of Succession [Concluded]

[The Jenn]

Expressing her emotions at that moment would have been... difficult for Donnie. They were swirling somewhere between mild disbelief and horrific anger. Her eyes stared straight into those of Lysaras, not even looking down at the small handkerchief she offered as a token of her surrender. She wanted to make absolutely certain that the woman was choosing this course of action.

And she was. She was giving up the throne of the kingdom she had led down the path of ruin. There was no choice but to accept such an action - once offered, a forfeiture had to be accepted. Those were the rules. Of course, afterward...

To give a face to her emotions, the wolverine offered a cold, brittle smile. "Very well, Lysaras. I accept your concession and your title." She reached out and oh-so-gently took the purple square of cloth, her hand shaking only the tiniest bit with rage. A handful of seconds passed and she took a breath. "The Queenship match is concluded. And now," her voice sharpened, "I am fighting you on behalf of this kingdom. On behalf of our suit, which your inaction led to ruin. I am going to kill you."

She let go of the handkerchief and it drifted downward. Before it touched the floor, she cast her first spell. Lysaras's hearing would be completely gone, replaced with a continuous, repetitive, loud strain of harp music in her head to tune of her fury. She also motioned her slithey forward with a sharp gesture, preparing it to use its quake ability. If anyone dared to interfere, they would find themselves in a world of trouble.

Moderate Ability: Once per week, she is able to cause complete hearing loss to an opponent for up to three hours. During these three hours, they will continuously hear repetitive, loud harp music in their heads to reflect her mood at them. It is intensely distracting and they can’t get away from it or change anything about it. They’re stuck with it until the spell wears off.

Slithey Ability: Her long antenna send out sound waves that are too low to be physically heard, instead they shake the earth beneath the opponents feet for a good five minutes. She can do this once every hour and it's enough to cause any other Card to at the very least loose their footing.

[Nathalia]

Lysaras felt herself nearly shake with relief as Donnie accepted. The other woman looked so intensely angry that she had been frightened that the Wolverine would simply charge, leaving it up to her courtiers to either save her or leave her unjustly slain. Her hand shook slightly as the Yarrow mix gingerly took the handkerchief from her and stated her acceptance of the throne. She backed up a few steps, ready to walk out of the hall. Maybe she could convince Varestes to follow her so that she could get all of her things packed up and out of the palace by tonight. Maybe she could go to the Capitol and-

"The Queenship match is concluded. And now,"

Lysaras stiffened at the edge the Wolverine's voice took. Even when she had yelled at her before, she had never gotten a hint of anything like this.

"I am fighting you on behalf of this kingdom. On behalf of our suit, which your inaction led to ruin, I am going to kill you."

Going to kill you... The words rang in Lysaras's ears as she felt her feet freeze to the spot. What-? Her eyes widened slightly just before the first spell hit her like a brick. The loud, jarring sound reverberated through her skull, causing her to cry out and stumble. She could barely hear herself think! What in all Heaven was this?

Unable to concentrate, she lifted her face up to Donnie, eyes pleading as an incredible force shook the floor below her. She let out a cry of shock and surprise, falling forward and cracking her left elbow painfully on the stone floor. She began to curl up, her body jerking as her sense of self-preservation also attempted to force her to stand or run.

"Donnie! Donnie, please!!!" She shouted, unable to hear herself over the sound of the raging harp music in her mind, she couldn't tell if it was out loud or not, she couldn't focus on the people around her.

Varestes, felt himself start forward. His eyes were wide and his mother's claws dug into the backs of his hands as he watched his Queen feel the effects of the first blow. This would not end well. He looked quickly down the side hall, the one that led to the staircase. Concealed, safe, up to his room. He could go now, no one would notice, he took a few steps, his hair flowing slowly with his movement as he began to wend his way behind a pillar.

His Queen's cry caused a pang of guilt to jar him. Turning, he watched her fall and then...beg. Damn.

This wasn't a fight for Queenship any longer, he could at least give her a start. Bracing his arm against a pillar, he closed his eyes and concentrated.

"Farewell, my Queen."

And he was gone.

Jack's Ability: Once a week, he is capable of causing an opponent to feel as though horrible, cold, sharp bone fingers are clawing at them for a full five minutes. This forces them to squint for the first thirty seconds as they adjust to the fact that their eyes are not actually under attack. The remainder of the time is spent feeling the pain of constant nicks and scratches that simply won't let up.

[The Jenn]

The begging did nothing but make Donnie angrier. She wasn't even fighting back, not even for her life! She just flailed around like a fish out of water as the ground shook beneath her. With a growl of something between fury and satisfaction, she started to ready her next spell when a shower of sharp little pains hit all over her body like shrapnel. She snarled, reaching up to block her face and closing her eyes tightly, but then realized that the gesture did nothing. Magic, it had to be, and if it was from Lysaras then the woman was a far more adept caster than she'd given her credit for.

That was unexpected, and painful, but as she squinted her eyes and small tears pricked at the edges from the strain, she started to get even more furious. It was rather like baiting a bear with jabs from a javelin and nicks from a dog's jaws. It didn't seriously hurt the bear, but it riled it up and made it angry.

Eyes still half-closed, she bared her teeth and concentrated on her next spell. The pains were annoying as all hell, but she could summon up her most recent ability. If the woman was that good of a caster, she needed to mute some of the effectiveness of her spells. To that effect, she called up her Queen ability and forced the woman's shape to change. If ever there was a time to exhaust her arsenal of effective offensive spells, this would be it.

She still had a bit of trouble seeing, but after a few more seconds passed, she would be able to open her eyes fully. The ground still shook beneath Lysaras and would for a few minutes yet thanks to Trudy's stamina.

Queen's Ability: Once per month, she is now able to cause an opponent to change instantly to their Animal form. They will be unable to change into any other form (magical, normal, or otherwise) for a full ten minutes. This ability can be used to revert Jokers to their natural Animal form or the closest thing to it, but does not work on Rabbits. If the Card only possesses their Animal form, then they will feel an incredible pain for a full ten minutes as their body tries to comply doubly with the power of this Queen's ability.

[Nathalia]

Lysaras writhed on the floor, tears beginning to stream down her face as she clasped her hands over her ears, trying and failing, to block out the magical sound. "Donnie, please, please! I'll leave Donnie! I'll go anywhere you say!" She managed to force herself to her knees and stared blurrily at the other woman, who seemed to be...reeling from something? That caught her attention enough to force her mind to focus.

Someone was trying to help her.

Her mind finally fastened itself on the word she had been searching for. "Fade!" She yelled, hoping to high Heaven that her concentration would be enough to activate the spell, she could barely think of what it was she should do next. She couldn't even see who was around her!

Small Ability: Once a week she is able to dull any pain she is experiencing by half for a full minute, after which it will start right back up again, just as badly as before.

It lessened suddenly, the harp music was still playing, and angrily, but not loudly enough to cause her agony, just enough to be uncomfortable...and to keep her from hearing anything. Please let it stop soon, please.... She though, as she began to stand.

"Mika!" She managed to call, before a sharp cracking noise rang out through the hall. Many of the courtiers winced at the sound and Lysaras let out a horrified yell as she had heard the noise even through the harp music. Her body went stiff and she fell to her side.

Lysaras felt limp with shock, she pushed herself up as best she could, the floors' shaking still throwing her slightly off balance, though not as badly as before... Her Animal form.

She hadn't used this since she had had...her son...

With a sudden howl she flung herself flat and brought her paws down on the stone. The force stung but she felt Mika burst forth from his other plane of existence. Something shot over her head, ruffling her hair and fur and she rolled to the side quickly, trying to keep herself moving. No one would see Mika, even she didn't know what he actually looked like, only through touch was she ever able to find out he was a Slithey Tove. He had never been visible.

Bringing himself around in a circle, he unleashed his spell and then dove to attack the woman that threatened his summoner. Using his long, thick tail, he brought it down across the woman's face like a club.

Lysaras attempted to move to Donnie's left, but felt the floor tilt alarmingly to the side and she scrambled for purchase as her body started to drift backward.

Slithey's Attack: Once a month he is capable of turning his summoner invisible for a full minute, during that time, they still make noise but (unless their attacker has an exceptional sight-based power) cannot be seen even by magical capabilities).

[The Jenn]

Donnie didn't know what the 'fade' was all about, though she assumed it was some sort of spell. Didn't do anything to her, but that didn't mean that it wouldn't in the near future. She was going to have to act fast. The sudden form-change was satisfying, though the loud noise that went with it had been entirely unexpected. She twitched back, then bared her teeth at the sudden howl. What, did the woman finally realize that this was a battle for her life? Was she finally doing something further to defend herself, something more than scratches.

Apparently, yes. Invisibility. She was running away even harder! Donnie's eyes narrowed to slits as the woman disappeared, but before she could act, something unseen smashed into her face with the force of a small club and she let out a strangled cry as her hands reached up to her now-bleeding nose.

Ow! Bitch! She turned back to her biped form for two reasons, one being the size advantage as her hand reached up to swipe away whatever was near her face. The other... well, her hearing had always been better in her animalistic forms. She caught the sound of scrabbling on the tilting tiles and raised her arm, sending a blanketing wave of two gallons of water out towards that direction. As soon as they landed on invisible fur, she would lunge, hands out and claws bared to grab hold of and/or bite Lysaras's hopefully prone and drenched form.

Strong Magical Ability: When activated, she can create up to two gallons of drinking water up to once per day.

[Nathalia]

Mika dodged the swipe and swooped away from the now much larger and furrier woman. He had sensed something, twisting his body into a spiral shape, he made a beeline for the other Tove. Every twitch of its antenna made him want to sink his sharp little teeth into that elegant green head.

Lysaras finally managed to get her footing enough to maneuver when a blast of cold water completely drenched her front half die roll as to whether it was her front or back half. She spluttered in surprise and only just managed to swing her head around when the full force of two thick, clawed hands descended upon her head. She let out a scream of terror and tried to writhe backward initiating her King's Ability as she did so.

King's Ability: When this SD feels extreme panic or terror she is able to connect to the power source that is her King's Ability. Once this is tapped into she emits a wave of illness and unease upon her attacker or the thing causing her so much distress. This aura will last for a full two minutes and will engulf up to two people targeted completely. The attacker will feel incredibly ill and suddenly uneasy with their surroundings. Everything will seem as though it is trying to attack them, even if it is moving to help or simply an inanimate object. This ability causes the caster to feel sharp stabs of pain in her front paws/hands until the spell has hit its duration. Once used, it cannot be cast again for a full ten minutes.

[The Jenn]

Almost immediately after her claws made contact with the woman's head, Donnie was overcome with a wave of nausea and just barely refrained from heaving onto the invisible woman in front of her. The pain from little nicks and slices continued all over her body, leaving her feeling extremely dizzy and disoriented and ill-at-ease. Having just lunged, she reeled forward with the force of the motion and fell heavily on top of part of Lysaras, the nearest part - her head. Again she felt the urge to toss her cookies, and it was only the distracting jerk of movement above her that kept her from doing so.

Her hands dug sharply into the object beneath her, wherever they had landed in her fall, and she hissed at the pain in her fingers. With her vision still slightly fuzzed and the spell fresh on her mind, the Tove twisting and twirling above seemed a dangerous threat, as did the moving but mostly invisible object beneath her. She couldn't properly see the people lining the sides of the great hall or they, too, would have been regarded as threats. "Urrrgh," she groaned, shoving herself off of Lysaras and batting ineffectually at the pain in her eyes. She stared around herself for a second or two, taking in the bright movement above, then growled a loud warning to the world at large.

Trudy felt unthreatened by the actions below and continued her disorienting, jerking spell against Lysaras until Mika slammed into her like an invisible projectile. She made a loud, distressed noise and writhed away, the spell continuing but her concentration distracted. She would only be able to keep it up for another minute now, as opposed to two or three more.

[Nathalia]

Lysaras gave a loud, long cry of agony as the Wolverine's claws pressed themselves against her cheek and right eyelid, then tore back as the woman on top of her jerked strangely. Rolled to see where the claws landed on her head...I rolled a one D8> The weight of the woman falling onto her head choked off her air as the sharp nails sank through her cheek and burst her right eye.

"Staaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!" She shrieked as she felt her eye pop and the claws actually sink into her mouth. The weight kept her head pressed against the floor and the rest of her writhed ineffectually until the Wolverine lurched off of her. Giving another wail of pain, she rolled as far from the other woman as she possibly could, the floor churning and lurching beneath her. Her remaining eye rolled frantically in its socket as she tried to remember what it was she should do!

Her front paws scrabbled for a second and she then rolled again, away from the threatening noise Donnie was uttering. She had no clue where Mika was and all she could think of was her Jack's ability. She turned to the side and panted, feeling the blood pouring down her throat from her wounded cheek and eye.

Concentrating as hard as she could, the damned harp music still playing, she cast.

Jack's Ability: Once a week, she is capable of causing one other person's hands or front paws to fasten together, the process is not painful and will last a full hour. The appendages will join at the wrist joint and then press together with the fingers or toes pointed slightly inward.

[The Jenn]

Donnie felt her gore-covered hands twist oddly as Lysaras's spell took effect, pulling together as though magnetized and sticking fast at the wrist, her fingers pointed slightly inwards so that the dainty claws were no longer an effective weapon. She still felt extremely ill as the spell remained in effect, the sensation not helped by the odd balance shift of her magicked hands or the gore liberally covering her fingers and stuck beneath her claws.

She gagged for a few seconds, then forcefully swallowed to keep her breakfast down and made a very, very displeased face. No, those eggs were staying put. Or, well... hopefully, with what she was about to do. Her stomach was going to rebel, and she knew it, but the blood dripping down from the invisible form was fully visible against the floor as it made small speckles and pools. She panted for a second, then reached out with her oddly misshapen joined hands and shoved at the origin of the dripping blood. Satisfied that something was there, she opened her jaws wider and lunged.

If she was barfing, it would be after doing something productive with her teeth, dammit!

Trudy continued to write and dodge through the air, dodging the invisible creature that chased her and suffering a whack every now and again when she zigged instead of zagged. They were a distraction, but Donnie's eyes were too focused on the threat posed by the invisible bleeding thing.

[Nathalia]

The misshapen mass of Donnie's magically captive hands struck Lysaras on the jaw, she slipped as she tried to force her paws to pull her forward and rolled half a foot, before enormous teeth dug into her side.

Her mouth fell open and her remaining eye was practically starting out of her head. She shrieked in terror as the teeth broke past the layer of fat and dug firmly into muscle. She tried desperately to remember the other spells her mother had forced her to learn, they had been so long ago. She was no fighter and nothing would come to mind.

Then the harp music started back up again, in full power as her feeble blocking spell finally died. Her head dropped to the floor and her legs kicked spasmodically as she tried to remember anything, anything other than this agony!

"Augh, I Aaaa! Aaaa! Help! Help me, somebody, I-" She jerked her body and felt the teeth, still locked into place begin to tear at her. "No, ....no! No please! Someone, any-"

She vomited, blood and the morning's tea pooling onto the floor as she fought against her own jerking limbs. Her Tove's spell wore off at that moment allowing her blood-soaked and horribly wounded form to bee seen by all once again. Her eye rolled as blood flowed freely from her mouth. All of this..because she was a Queen.

Because her mother had told her that she must be Queen.

Everything.

Queen...

The harp music was deafening the pain of its returned roar almost more horrid than the ones on her face and side. QueenQueenQueen...

Gurgling through the thick liquid in her mouth, she focused on the word, and used her Queen's ability.

Queen's Ability: Once a month she is able to cause an opponent to develop a Torquhelm binding. It may be small or it may be large depending on a die roll, but unless surgically removed it will be present on their body always and will hamper them in some way during an attack.