open 🪶 the world owes me a debt, and i've come to collect.

[garudas]

Who: Benedikta Harman & you.
Status: Open.
Where: All around.
What: Oops, all MANTA stuff. And a not-date with Cid.
Warnings: FFXVI spoilers, foul language, suggestive content. The usual.



🗡️ i. bite-sized blessings

[Apparently, Benedikta's ears are looking quite delectable to one small, pink dragon today. This is why she hates Eltrut—half the time she comes here, no, a majority of the times she comes here, there is always something. A goose, a conning healer who sends her out to do his grocery shopping... Today, it is a small pink dragon that has bitten her ear and tries to do it again. She's attempted to swat it away, walk it off, but no matter how fast she moves, it follows her and nips at her, or finds joy in playing with her hair.

Fool her once, shame on her. Fool her twice—]

You little brat!

[—it's managed to grab at her hair, and it pulls, before swooping away from her grappling hands with a chirp, as if it thinks this is some sort of game!?

Someone please help this woman. Or this dragon. She has yet to hear all about how this thing is meant to be returned to Elah, so if you are looking for said pink dragon, here it is.]

🗡️ ii. a steamy winter heist

[It was the exorbitant prices that drew Benedikta to the job first. The black market was always open, and she was always willing. Call it doing someone else's dirty work, if it put a good sack of coin into her pocket, then who is she to complain? Besides, it's not as if stealing something off a ship in the dead of night was difficult—she's done it dozens of times before.

The fact that it was a special sort of tea was only a bonus, so of course she would pocket some for herself... Maybe a handful. Or maybe a whole crate if she could get away with it.

Now, that is the question, isn't it?]

༄ a. getting to the ship. [Perhaps it is your lucky night and Benedikta is feeling somewhat charitable. Charitable enough that she is willing to use anyone she finds as a decoy while she sneaks in to steal the goods. Of course, she isn't about to say as much, as she stands on the docks and stares out to the merchant ship coming into the shore, its lights blinking against the darkening sky.

She has her pipe between her teeth as she almost always does before a job like this, letting the smoke swirl on her tongue before letting it billow outward.]

So, that there is the ship? [She scoffs.] She is certainly impressive.

[As large as a rich, black-market-selling merchant's ship should be. Which is why she's agreed to a "two-person" job.]

༄ b. caught red-handed. [Or, maybe she wasn't feeling so charitable.

As if being caught matters all that much to her. She's in the middle of making off with a whole crate—and the last one, too; people have been busy—of these tea bags (there must be hundreds of them in here) when she hears footsteps coming. She hardly flinches, if at all, and stands there with it tucked haphazardly under her arm while she stares the other person down with a smile before she tosses her head back.

Yep. You saw right. A whole box.]

Sorry. As they say, the early bird and all. A shame you came all this way only to come out empty-handed, but try again another night.

[There may have been a threat underlining her voice somewhere.]

🗡️ iii. poke 'n prance

[Well, at the very least, being paired up with Benedikta for a challenge like this cannot get any better... or worse than this, depending on who you ask. Having a history of torturing others means that she knows exactly where to put the sword and how much pain it will inflict. After all, when fishing for information, it is best to poke and prod it out of someone, and you can't very well gain much from a dead person, now can you?

Which is why she walks up with her own sword in her hand with all the confidence and arrogance of a pretty peacock, her fingers caressing the sharp edge of her blade, from hilt all the way to its jagged tip.]

Now, pay close attention to where I stick you because we can only do this once. Perhaps twice, if you can withstand it.

[She smiles, so sweet and saccharine and sarcastic.]

So, consider this a valuable lesson.

🗡️ iv. coins of the crescent

[Well. What she thought would be a nice, peaceful ride out to this island to fetch some coins turned out to be... well, everything but. It had been fine for the most part, but as the island came into view through the fog, things had started to tip and tip and tip until everything went fucking tits up.

Not only did the crew start to howl and turn rabid, much like those stupid wolves she can hear in the distance, but so did the captain, and now the ship is wayward on the seas at the behest of the waves. Fortunately, she can use the winds to guide them true, but it will take a little more concentration than what she can afford as she drives her sword into the shoulder of one infected crew that lunges at her with what could only be thought of as a kitten's claws.

Don't worry, that won't kill him, but it will send him reeling to the ground wailing in pain, and she kicks him in the gut to quiet him.

Whoever might be standing near her, she will shout at them with no shortage of rage in her voice as she gives her sword a brandish, the blood spraying from her blade.]

Might anyone spare a moment to take care of them while I attempt to not crash this fucking ship!?

[Must she do everything!?]

🗡️ v. untitled goose bounty 2

[Well, this is certainly not what she was expecting to see when she arrived on Eltrut, or tried to. She'd heard sounds from above across the ship's deck first—the worried shouts of the crew and riftfarers alike. Benedikta had been enjoying the peaceful ride in her cabin aboard the Stormbringer, and had half a mind to ignore the noise and go right back to sleep...

...

Until she hears something else.

The loud, low, rumbling sound of a... honk?

Something visceral shatters through Benedikta's whole body then, forcing her to sit up when the flashbacks of those eight-headed geese attacked her not even a month ago. She rushes to her feet and then out the door, shoving people out of her way as she storms up to the deck where she beholds—]

You've got to be fucking kidding me.

[—an eight-headed(?) goose large enough that it could peck out Eltrut's eye.

Much, much larger than she recalls it being.

And she is pulled out of her reverie only by the sounds of magitech cannons being blasted off.]

I see it's come back for another taste.

🗡️ vi. wildcard

[None of these prompts work for you? Want to do something that isn't from the MANTA board? Feel free to hit up my plotting comment, or via plurk @ crystariums! I'm also around on the game discord, and PM works, too! Also open to texts/bottled messages!]

Comments

[dragoonoflight]

[ His wings are keeping him off the ground, hovering lightly. ] Thank you.

[ Dion's lips quirked a smile because it's amusing, but he will let her have that if she wants it.

He's never considered her to be weak either. The fact they always had to fight each other, he has immense respect for each of the Dominants in their own way. Even Cid. ]

Always. Shall we? [ He's already manifesting more balls of light to slam into the stupid goose.

This will be their day. He's sure of it. ]

[garudas]

What do you say to a race?

[And that is all the warning he gets before she kicks off with a single harsh beat of her wings, leaving him behind with her laughter trailing after her. Her sword is in one hand and her magicks in the other, building and building and waiting for Dion to come in on the other side of the head that thrashes about, trying to peck at her.]

[dragoonoflight]

[ Dion is more amused than he is annoyed that she just took off without playing fair. He's not that surprised. It's more camaraderie than anything.

He smirks and kicks off the same.

His halberd is in hand, but less for using because he has magicks he's going for instead.

Surely if they blast this thing enough it will die. ]

[garudas]

[She holds the head's attention, darting every which way to draw it away from smashing more of those buildings—not that she cares what happens to Eltrut, mind—until Dion can get up there with her. She dodges the beak, then dodges it again, using the power of her winds to carry her faster and to slow it down.

Which should give Dion an opening to attack it from the other side, with its eyes focused on her and the other heads going after those on the ground.

That is, until the head manages to snap its beak at her, capturing her by her legs and dragging her in.]

Shit—!

[dragoonoflight]

[ That is not happening. Without a second thought, Dion is on the move, swooping in quickly to grasp Benedikta's arm to stop the demon bird from dragging her in close to the other heads.

A very pointed push of his wings as thought to point out his ire to the creature.

The pointed light blast to that neck shouldn't hurt.

Unhand her!

Dion will...not reflect on his desire to save Benedikta out of the blue. Some things are better left unsaid. ]

[garudas]

[And left unsaid it shall remain. She won't want to talk about it anyway, nor about how she got snatched out of the air by a giant goose's head.

But that blast of light is enough to send burning feathers flying every which way when the hit lands, and there's a loud honk honk as it releases her from its hold. The force of his pull and the momentum of the throw is enough to send her reeling back through the air, dragging Dion with her.]

Augh, fuck!

[She'll be quick to shake him off, however, acknowledging his help only with a nod.]

Keep it distracted, will you? While I try to get around the other side.

[This is proving to be a harder foe than she anticipated, but now she is Mad.]

[dragoonoflight]

Pay attention to me beast! [ Dion commands, although that's not necessarily the best thing. His acknowledgement of Benedikta's request is a mere gesture, no words needed to be said.

The less they dwelled on this odd friendship the better.

He wasn't any more comfortable with it than she was. Not really. He still felt like he needed to keep his guard up. ]

[garudas]

[And that is why they have been getting along, strangely enough. He doesn't bark orders back at her but rather, focuses on the task at hand—

Benedikta's wings beat and then fold close for less resistance as she dives forward, whirling around to the other side of the head and trying to avoid it as it comes swinging and snapping its beak at Dion when he calls out to it. But it gives her enough space to work with all while avoiding the other heads that keep themselves busy with others.]

Screw this.

[Her hand opens up in front of her and a claw of aether materializes into the air, and she flings it at the goose's neck. It wraps around, and she tries to wrestle it into to place just before it manages to grab a bite of Dion's wings if he isn't careful.]

[dragoonoflight]

[ Dion doesn't feel like he needs to. Regardless of where they each were, all of the dominants have been battle hardened. They can all hold their own. He'd know, he'd faced many of them over time. There isn't a need to assume Benedikta can't handle herself.

His distraction seems to work, although Dion is doing his best to keep out of the goose's way, one of the heads does get a snap on his wings. He hisses slightly, but appreciates when Benedikta grabs the head. ]

Enough of this menace. [ It's time to turn up the heat. Megaflare isn't doing it, so he kicks it up to gigaflare, shifting himself so that he can angle the spell away from her and only hit the goose in all of its stupid annoying glory. If that doesn't do something to at least slow it down, they might be in trouble here.

He has no intention on letting it win. ]

[garudas]

[And he should not have any intention, because Benedikta shares the sentiment.

She continues to hold it, her knuckles tight and turning white as she tries to grapple with the head. It swings this way and that, and she tries to drag it down to the ground, slamming its chin against the street before it's reeling back up again, honking in pain as that claw digs and digs into its feathery neck.

Hopefully Dion has good aim with that Gigaflare because she can only hold onto it so tightly and for so long, keeping it in place for him to shoot it as she builds up her own magick in her other hand... the winds beginning to kick up under both their wings to form something big and dangerous to follow...]

[dragoonoflight]

[ Dion has excellent aim, this is not his first battle and it's much easier to aim in this form rather than being fully primed. That goose is going to crisp up really nicely.

At least the feathers will, who knows about this beast. He's fairly certain there's magic involved.

As his attack ends, he watches Benedikta pick up the slack to continue the onslaught. He's ready to do more if they have to. ]

[garudas]

[She can no longer hold as the goose struggles, whipping its neck around in pain from Dion's attack. Her claw disappears into particles of aether, but that's fine...]

Watch your wings.

[She shouts it at him as a violent wind blows up from the ground, spinning and spinning until it picks up, lifting higher into a whirlwind that fully engulfs the goose's head, blinding it and keeping it in place, whipping it with water and dust and all manner of debris. It at least gives her a moment to collect herself, already feeling that drain on her aether.

Benedikta appears from behind it, diving out of the way and coming up next to Dion's side.]

Are you ready to snap this fucking thing's beak in half, Your Highness? Let us make this last one count.

[dragoonoflight]

A pinch, nothing more. [ It stung, but he can handle that. Once the dust is settling and he sees this beast is still moving, what kind of a demon goose is this, he nods. ]

Yes. You're quite right. We need to make this count because I refuse to lose to this beast again.

[ He means that. ]

[garudas]

If you've one more attack left in you, then aim for its mouth.

[A pause, and a strong beat of her wings.]

And I will be the bait. Lure it close for you to strike it and end it.

[His magick is less chaotic. More controlled, and less likely to strike in the wrong place. And when the goose's head emerges from the winds, she reels it back into the swirling gale.]

[dragoonoflight]

[ He nods immediately. The plan is sound and Dion is a little concerned about hitting Benedikta - but he's determined not to do that. He can use a bit more of a standard attack, that would be more controlled than what he's been doing, if she's going to be in the line of fire.

There's a time he wouldn't have cared about that, but here they are. Cooperating.

A bit of a charge and she's got the goose directly in his sights, and he lets go of his holy light magic, directly into the mouth of the beast.

See if it honks after that. ]

[garudas]

[Diving in and out, Benedikta draws the goose's attention to her with blasts of wind, aiming right for its eye. Is it dangerous to do so? Perhaps, but she is intent on pissing this thing off as much as it has her in the past. It deserves far worse than the fate it has coming for it, too... but alas, there is only so much even two Dominants can do to a near-leviathan sized goose.

But she brings it towards him, moving right in front of its bill and forcing it wide open with a claw in between. And just as she feels that surge of aether in the air, Benedikta descends out of the way just in time for that light magic to come barreling past her, scoring the goose right in the throat.

She lifts her hands to her ears for the inevitable pained sound that is bound to come from it, but—

What happens next is a bit unexpected. And incredibly gruesome.

The goose's head explodes in a flurry of blood and feathers that rains down over her and the ocean below...]

[dragoonoflight]

That is vile!

[ Dion cannot help himself because now he's splattered with goose guts in his nice white armor. Ugh. The problem with white is that it's a pain to clean and without others around to do it for him, he will be doing it himself. A fun evening activity for him. ]

Good riddance-

[ His head droops suddenly and loses his footing, his semi-prime state ending rather abruptly.

Dion crashes to the ground with a bit of a heavy thud. Thankfully, he wears decent armor, he's probably uninjured. ]

[garudas]

[Benedikta, on her part, is absolutely covered in feathers, and the blood from the goose does nothing to help as they cling to every inch of red splatter that she had been hit with. Like Dion, her own semi-primed state comes to an end, that whirlwind that she had summoned to contain it all but using up every ounce of aether she had left. Never mind that it had managed to get a couple of hits on her in the process, nicking the tips of her wings.

She comes crashing to the ground beside him, her own landing anything but graceful, landing with a thud. Unfortunately, she has no armour like him, and so she's left crouching on the ground, coughing the air back into her lungs and swearing up a storm in between each one.]

[dragoonoflight]

[ It definitely knocked the wind out of him, that's for sure, so when he comes around he's coughing too, thankfully after a couple of gasps he has the foresight to roll onto his side, coughing a few shuddering times to allow for a couple of specks of blood. Nothing dramatic just a bit. ]

Fuck. [ Dion groans, curling up a little bit protectively. He's both exhausted and dealing with shooting pain. Give him a moment, he'll get up. Another curse, this one more muttered under his breath than anything.

Good news, he doesn't feel any worse than he usually does when he overdoes it, but damn it does not feel good. ]

[garudas]

[Benedikta wheezes and looks over to Dion, thinking nothing of his coughing, but when she hears him swear...

She can't help but give a breathless huff of laughter at the sound of it.]

That goose... really got... on your bad side...

[In between breaths and coughs, the air finally returning to her lungs after that landing.

This would mark the second time he has sworn because of a goose.]

[dragoonoflight]

Would that I could refute that, although I daresay this time it was the rough landing. Not my most graceful moment.

[ Dion wheezes lightly, gives a final cough and wipes his lips, drawing himself up in an upright position. ]

I don't think we get points for style on that one.

[garudas]

Are you kidding?

[Benedikta groans, but there's something of a laugh laced in there somewhere as she proceeds to pick up her sword that she'd dropped, and she shakes the blood from it.]

I'd say that was my bloodiest kill yet. May not be the cleanest, but it got what it deserved. [Another little "ugh" as she wipes her cheeks off with the back of her hand.] That must count for something.

[dragoonoflight]

I cannot argue with you there, it definitely got what it deserved.

[ He's alright, just tired. His arm is aching, but that's pretty typical too. Dion gets up, not entirely able to hide the fact his arm is close to his torso, a reflexive protective position. ]

I suppose we must haul the remains back to be rewarded.

[garudas]

[...

She's just going to gesture around them.]

What remains, your Highness? We all but destroyed that head. Your light magick... whatever that spell was... did quite a number on it.

[dragoonoflight]

[ Dion sighs lightly. They're not getting paid for this are they? ]

Well...perhaps they'll take us at our word. Being a Paladin might be worth that much.

[ He can throw his weight around such as it is. ]