Wicked Marshes

[Yuna]

Cure was more than enough of an effective tactic against skeletons. Made of nothing but bone and dark magick, the touch of the Holy-element spell made the bones separate from each other, breaking the magickal bonds. With a small 'plop', the wayward pieces fell into the marsh. Two down.

Cyric's shots were fired in such a shoddy way at the rushing targets that most fell right through the skeletons - already small targets, terrible aiming did little to improve the bullets' chances. One, however, was fortunate to strike a skeleton, causing the creature to move at a comically slow pace.

The First Tsurugi came down hard upon the skeleton, who barely managed to parry with his sword. However, the weight alone of Cloud's massive blade was enough to push the skeleton back, cracking the poor creature's ancient, decrepit blade. Bringing his shield up in an attempt to bash Cloud, the Skeleton was surprised to see the shield bash fall against a barrier, though Cloud's Protect did crack and dissipate from the attack. Cloud would have to strike a little harder to bring this skeleton down.

This left four skeletons still standing, though the one slowed was still a good few feet from the party. The two who were not combating Cloud that still had their speed rushed in towards Seymour and Cyric, only for the one approaching Seymour to be completely obliterated with a loud cracking noise. When the smoke cleared, he was replaced by the crouching form of Freya, her spear covered in bone-dust.

The Necromancer was approaching as well, from behind the slowed skeleton he could be seen, wearing a black cloak that shrouded his features. He seemed to float above the bog, walking on the liquid as opposed to in it. "Hiiiihihihihihi. Better than I expected! Doubt you'll stand so strongly to this!" he flipped open the Grimoire that Etoille had mentioned, thick and black with white lettering on the spine. He ran a finger along it, speaking forbidden words.

*Zzzzap!* Dark lightning came down from the sky, attempting to blast everyone in the area with pure Dark magick. Anyone hit would be harmed, but the skeletons didn't seem to mind - in fact, the Dark magick rejuvenated them, even going so far as to repair the broken sword of the one Cloud had struck.

Now the party could face off against the Necromancer, though his three remaining skeleton lackies didn't seem fond of letting them get the chance.

[Porom]

"Tch. So the mark shows his face," Freya muttered as she rose from her crouch, beginning to turn around. Unfortunately for her, her jump had left her in the frontline, right in the area in which the Dark blast was aimed. She hopped backwards to escape the worst of the blast by getting out of the center of its blast radius, but her overcoat was smoking as she landed again, having still been grazed in her escape. The Protect spells bestowed on them before they left was a valuable protection, but not against magical attacks such as that.

Her snout contracted in a grim line as she grit her teeth, refusing to give the necromancer the satisfaction of seeing her in any pain. Instead she swung her lance in a wide arc to try and push back the nearby skeletons, giving her a window to hop back once again, bringing her closer to the others.

"I was going to give you the antidotes, but somehow I daresay we shan't get the chance to use them until this over," she remarked to Cloud with a sigh. "But perhaps I can help ease the burden of waiting for them."

She held her lance outwards in front of her with one hand, like a channeling rod, using the other hand to make a small gesture as she performed one of the incantations she had been taught as a dragon knight of Burmecia. While other kingdoms certainly had dragoons, what separated a dragon knight from their kin was the ability to actually call upon dragons. The particular one Freya was calling upon was a holy dragon whose breath alone was enough to rejuvenate wounds - her magic was only a lesser imitation, but it would still heal enough to be worthy of the name Reis' Wind.

[Sephiroth]

Seymour was just congratulating himself -- he'd wiped out two foes at once, and thanks to Freya he was in no immediate danger. He was about to repeat his spells and polish off the remaining sound skeletons when his concentration was disturbed by another round of vexatious laughter.

"Hm." He did not time to make any more definite reply to either the necromancer or the dragoon, as the Dark spell struck. Unlike the nible Burmecian, Seymour was hardly able to move in the swamp, much less dodge, so the unholy bolt struck him full force. He staggered, trying to catch himself on the staff, but that did not work since it simply sank into the mud without finding purchase. He jerked back, and managed to regain his balance, but his legs were still shaky.

"Most impressive for an amateur," he remarked. He yanked his staff free of the bog, trying to ignore the mud that spattered everywhere. He wondered momentarily if he could get his hands on that grimoire. If this fool could gain such power from it, Seymour could only imagine what it could do for someone of true talent. Regardless, they had to defeat him first.

"Though, you must realise," he continued, raising his staff, "you're no match for a true mage." So saying, he pointed at the cloaked Nu Mou, casting Drain to both hurt his foe and restore some of his own life.

[Thief]

Cloud had brought his sword up when he saw the skeleton trying to bash him with its shield, but the Protect spell did its work, keeping the attack from connecting. Unfortunately, that was it for that spell for him, meaning he'd have to be more careful now. Before he could do anything else, though, he heard that strange laughter again. Cloud looked over, and saw the Necromancer that was behind this. He listened as the Nu Mou spoke, before flipping through that book in his hands.

So that's the Grimoire that Etoille spoke of. If we can get that away from him...

Then, as the Necromancer began to speak strange words, Cloud braced himself. He didn't know what was coming, but he got himself ready to move, in the hopes of avoiding whatever attack may come. Unfortunately, while he tried jumping to his left to dodge the Dark lightning, it was not enough, as he was still hit by the attack. Cloud cringed as he landed in the muddy water, momentarily letting go of the First Tsurugi. He didn't stay down for long, however, as he got up as fast as the swamp would let him, and recovered his weapon once he was up.

Cloud, now with mud scattered around his body, nodded to Freya when she mentioned that the antidotes would have to wait. With the Nu Mou and 3 rejuvenated skeletons looming, he could understand. Then, after seeing that Seymour had targeted the Necromancer, Cloud looked over at the skeleton that he had gone after before. The spiky-haired warrior wasted little time moving in again, then faked a slash to the skeleton's midsection before swiftly bringing the huge sword around and slashing at it a few times; once at the legs, once at the torso, and once coming down from above at its head.

[Yuna]

With Reis's wind rejuvenating the party, the effects of the Bio spell were almost completely countered, for every time the poison inflicted pain upon the recipients the soothing healing negated any form of damage. The Nu Mou was none to fond of the rat-faced woman making his spell obsolete, but he had little time to be angry.

As he prepared to support his troops further, a Drain spell hit him square in the chest. He could feel life being -pulled- out of him, going back towards Seymour. There was little he could do it now, and Seymour would be restored, countering most of the damage that his dark bolt had dealt. A troublesome group, these four, leaving the Necromancer even more agitated as Cloud reduced his troupe's numbers to two.

The one approaching Cyric seemed disinterested in attacking him as he had fallen in the bog, instead turning his sights on Freya. It launched itself with increasing vigor, going into a full on charge. With any luck, it would drag Freya into the marsh - after all, skeletons have little need to breathe. The other, who was only just now recovering from the slowing effects of Cyrics bullets, made a leap at the spiky-haired team leader. They were not going down without a fight.

The Nu Mou studied his opponents for a moment before deciding on his next tactic. With a well-timed verse, he launched another spell at the team, Grimoire opened wide. A small black orb dropped in the center of the group before exploding into a dark cloud. Those hit by the spell would be blinded, those resistant would remain fine.

[Thief]

With another skeleton disposed of, Cloud looked over to see how the others were doing. They appeared to be handling things just fine, and there were only 2 skeletons left to help the Nu Mou. He was hopeful that they'd be able to get that Grimoire away from the Necromancer soon, and they could then deal with him appropriately. Then, he spotted one of those skeletons diving right at him. Cloud had his sword ready, then once it was close enough, he stepped to the side to avoid its dive, then slashed diagonally down at it.

He then glanced at the Necromancer again, as he was using that book again. Remembering what happened the last time he used it, Cloud braced himself and looked all over for a sign of what was next. Soon enough, he saw the black orb dropping down, and it looked like it was intended for all 4 of them.

"Look out!" yelled Cloud, as he turned away from where the orb was dropping.

He then ran as fast as the swamp would let him, which wasn't as fast as he'd normally like, before leaping as he heard the explosion. The next moment, Cloud was laying in the muddy water for a second time, and when he got up about 5 seconds later, he had more mud on him than before. He figured that it was a small price to pay to get away from the blast, though. With that, he wiped some of the mud away from his eyes, then looked over once again at the Nu Mou.

Let's see what he thinks of this...

Cloud brought his left hand up in the general direction of the Necromancer, his right hand continuing to hold his weapon. Then, utilizing his Lightning materia, he chose to cast Bolt2, sending a few lightning bolts at him.