POPPY IS A female faerie who specializes in nature and earth magic. She along with Corin, Silver, and Holly are a part of General Fiora Elyra's staff as Templar officers.
Poppy is the only one of the group who travels in the nude. Paying no heed to what others say about her lack of clothing.
(𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑩𝒊𝒐)
𝑵𝒂𝒎𝒆: 𝑷𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒚
𝑨𝒈𝒆: 𝑼𝒏𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒏
𝑺𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒔: 𝑭𝒂𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆
𝑮𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓: 𝑭𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒆
𝑯𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕: 17 𝒄𝒎
𝑾𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕: 𝑼𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅
𝑯𝒂𝒊𝒓: 𝑷𝒊𝒙𝒊𝒆 𝑪𝒖𝒕, 𝒀𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘
𝑬𝒚𝒆𝒔: 𝑬𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒅 𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒏
𝑩𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝑩𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅: 𝑷𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒆
𝑺𝒌𝒊𝒏 𝑪𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒓: 𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒌
𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝑭𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔: 𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑾𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝑾𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔
𝑱𝒐𝒃: 𝑮𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒇𝒇 𝑶𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒓
𝑪𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔: 𝑴𝒂𝒈𝒆
𝑺𝒖𝒃𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔(𝒆𝒔): 𝑮𝒆𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓, 𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒃𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓
𝑹𝒂𝒏𝒌: 𝑼𝒏𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒏
"Chlorokinetic Scrying!"
Chlorokinetic Scrying: Users can perceive through plants, including wood, vines, plants, moss, and parts of the plants, such as leaves, seeds, fruits and flowers, etc. This power grants the user the ability to taste, feel, smell, see and/or hear as they were where the plant is.
After consulting with the plants Poppy has a general location of the necromancer. She's flown quite a distance from the Rainbow on the Ground Hot-spring.
Ahh-wooooooo!!!
Oz's howl reaches her ears. "Well that's never a good sign. I wonder what happened."
Having arrived in the general area of the necromancer, Poppy lands on a tree branch and looks around. Spotting the necromancer she slowly moves in for a better view.
A tall pale skinned man wearing a brown monk's robe. He has long black hair, and a long thick shaggy beard. There's a lantern with a green flame at his feet.
"That lantern. I believe it's called… what was it called again?"
Poppy tries to recall its name when the green flame turns into an arrow, pointing directly at her. The man turns his head in that direction.
As soon as his piercing blue eyes meet Poppy's emerald green eyes, green lightning shoots from the lantern.
"Shit!" Poppy dodges the lighting — barely. The lantern continues tracking and shooting green lighting as Poppy flies around dodging — then she counter attacks.
"Tree Manipulation: Tree Golems!"
Four trees glow white, faces appearing in their trunks, a 𝑘𝑟𝑟𝑟-𝑢𝑢-𝑢𝑚𝑝ℎ sound is heard as they uproot themselves and await their master's orders.
"Go, attack that man!"
𝐺𝐺𝑅𝑅𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂𝐴𝐴𝐴𝑁𝑁!!!
𝐺𝐺𝑅𝑅𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂𝐴𝐴𝐴𝑁𝑁!!!
𝐺𝐺𝑅𝑅𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂𝐴𝐴𝐴𝑁𝑁!!!
𝐺𝐺𝑅𝑅𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂𝐴𝐴𝐴𝑁𝑁!!!
All four let out a deep groan in acknowledgement, but they never get the chance to do anything. The lantern by the man's feet spews a green flame like a flamethrower, burning them to ash in mere seconds.
Poppy stays on the offensive. "Wood Bolts!"
Wooden projectiles hurled towards the man, but they're intercepted by the green flamethrower.
"I can keep this up all night little one." Said the man.
"I bet you say that to all the little kids you perverted-looking son of a bitch." Taunts Poppy.
Once again green lighting targets Poppy, putting her back on defense.
Zig zagging as she goes. "Leaf Projection!"
Razor sharp leaves hurdle towards the pale man from all directions
"Clever trick. How about this then."
The lighting transitions into green energy beams. They disintegrate every leaf.
"Earth Prison!"
The ground rises up encasing him inside. It's just as tall as he is and that's all. It's not wide enough to allow movement of any kind. The attacks from the lantern stop.
Poppy hovers in front of the block of earth. A triumphant smile on her face. "Any last words?! Shouts Poppy.
"I'm done playing around." Came the muffled reply.
At the man's words the lantern begins pulsating. With each pulse the green light expands outwards in all directions.
It's slow at first then like a crescendo it builds and builds. Realizing something bad is about to happen, Poppy flies away as fast as she can — muttering something as she hauls ass outta there.
Then in one big brilliant flash of green light everything the light touches crystallizes. With the exception of the man.
"Ahhh!!" Poppy screams in agony, and crashes to the ground. Both of her legs below the knees got caught in the light and are now crystallized.
The man, having been freed from his prison, makes his way over to her. "Any last words before I crush you?" He asked, a boot hovering over her small body.
Through gritted teeth Poppy replies, "she's…fucking…pissed."
The man just smiles, bringing his boot down. His smile fades when it hits something hard instead of soft. Lifting his boot he finds Poppy in a barrier flipping him double birds.
"Get away from my friend you fucking piece of shit necromancer!"
Looking to his left he finds a little girl dressed like a shrine maiden standing there.
"You're the one who's pissed?" His smile returns, "am I supposed to be scared of you little girl?"
"My name is Holly. And it's her you need to be scared of, not me." Holly points straight ahead.
Turning to his right he spots Fiora, his lantern on its side, her boot resting on it.
"Tell me your name." Demands Fiora.
"Why should I?"
"So I can carve it on your tombstone."
"First take your boot off of my reliquary."
Fiora does move her boot—down, cracking the lantern's glass.
"Grigori. My name is Grigori "the Mad Monk" Rasputin."
"Are you a warrior monk?"
"No. I'm a mage.
(𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑩𝒊𝒐)
𝑵𝒂𝒎𝒆: 𝑮𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒐𝒓𝒊 "𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒂𝒅 𝑴𝒐𝒏𝒌" 𝑹𝒂𝒔𝒑𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒏
𝑨𝒈𝒆: 109 𝒊𝒔𝒉
𝑺𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒔: 𝑯𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏
𝑮𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓: 𝑴𝒂𝒍𝒆
𝑯𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕: 1.92 𝒎
𝑾𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕: 79.8 𝒌𝒈
𝑯𝒂𝒊𝒓: 𝑳𝒐𝒏𝒈, 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌
𝑬𝒚𝒆𝒔: 𝑩𝒍𝒖𝒆
𝑩𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝑩𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅: 𝑮𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒚
𝑺𝒌𝒊𝒏 𝑪𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒓: 𝑷𝒂𝒍𝒆
𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝑭𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔: 𝑯𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒊𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑-𝒔𝒆𝒕 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒈𝒈𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒅
𝑱𝒐𝒃: 𝑼𝒏𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒏
𝑪𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔: 𝑴𝒂𝒈𝒆
𝑺𝒖𝒃𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔(𝒆𝒔): 𝑵𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓
𝑹𝒂𝒏𝒌: 𝑼𝒏𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒏
𝑮𝒆𝒂𝒓: 𝑩𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝑴𝒐𝒏𝒌𝒔 𝑹𝒐𝒃𝒆, 𝑩𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒔
𝑷𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑾𝒆𝒂𝒑𝒐𝒏: 𝑹𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒚
"You're a filthy fucking necromancer!" Shouts Holly. "And I demand you release your hold on our friends."
"You're gonna have to be more specific. For I have so many under my command." Answered Rasputin, stroking his beard.
"All of them! Release all of them right now!"
Rasputin continues stroking his beard, mulling over Holly's demand. "I think not." Snapping his fingers he switches places with Fiora.
Bending down he picks up the reliquary. At his touch the glass is repaired.
"Holly, barrier!"
Once the barrier is up Fiora gently picks Poppy up. "Chloroportation. That's how you brought Holly and I over here. But why didn't you bring us here sooner?"
"I thought I could handle him on my own. I'm sorry I let you down." Poppy begins to cry.
Fiora shakes her head, "you could never let me down. You found the necromancer and when you realized you were in trouble you sent for help. Now rest, I'll take care of this asshole in no time."
Fiora hands Poppy off to Holly and then steps out of the barrier. "I figured you would've scurried off when I had my back to you."
"You may have had your back to me, but that shrine maiden child never took her hate filled eyes off of me."
"Last chance. Release everyone and I'll kill you quickly. Refuse and you'll die a slow painful death."
"I must decline. My employer is much more terrifying than you."
"I was hoping you'd refuse." Fiora draws her blade, and takes up a fighting stance known as Koncho-no-Kamae.
"That's a rather interesting stance."
Fiora doesn't reply. She just glares at him. Rasputin returns an intense gaze of his own. Neither one wants to break eye contact. Doing so would mean certain defeat.
Then it happens. Something so unexpected so out of nowhere it could be considered comical. Rasputin sneezes, breaking the staring contest between the two.
Fiora doesn't let that very brief window of opportunity slip by. When Rasputin recovers from his sneeze Fiora is no longer in front of him. She's now behind him, flicking blood off her katana and returning it to the scabbard.
Blinking a couple times, Grigori tries to comprehend why his vision of Fiora is sideways, and why she suddenly seems taller than before as she walks over and picks up his severed head by the hair.
"I lied. I never had any intention of killing you slowly. Not after you used my men as your personal playthings and injured one my closest friend."
"This won't stop me. I am a necromancer after all. Reanimating a corpse is nothing to me."
"You won't be reanimating shit once we destroy this." Said Holly, holding up the reliquary inside a barrier in one hand.
From Holly's other hand Poppy speaks up.
"I finally remembered what this thing is called. You called it a Reliquary, but its original name is Laterna Animarum or Lantern of Souls."
"I'm well aware of its name," interrupts Rasputin. "I changed it to Reliquary because Lantern of Souls sounded like crap."
"It's a cursed object that traps souls within." Poppy carries on with her explanation.
"In order to utilize its power one must first bind their own soul to it. Which is how you were able to attack without speaking. Without seeing. How you control the dead, and how you're still alive despite having been decapitated."
"If you kill me you'll never know who I work for."
"Don't care," answers Fiora, "do it, Holly."
"With great pleasure."
The barrier starts shrinking until the Lantern of Souls starts to crack and then breaks. Holly drops the barrier, releasing the souls within.
Rasputin's head and body shrivels up like jerky — killing him. Poppy's crystallized legs return to normal.
"Let's go check on the others." Said Fiora
"How are your legs?"
Poppy wiggles her legs and feet, then takes flight. She zips around joyfully before landing on Holly's shoulder. "There's still a lingering tingling sensation, but it should wear off."
Fiora, who's a ways ahead of them, calls back to them. "Hurry along you two. Corin and Silver are waiting for us."
""Coming!""
The girls race to catch up with Fiora.
****
"Isn't that sweet? They believe they've won" Remarks the Mad Monk, lowering the Reliquary.
"Was that your Observation skill?"
"That and my Dream Manipulation skill. It's very entertaining watching one's foes think they've won without them realizing they've actually lost. So what brings you out here, Black Knight?"
"It's time."
"Finally moving forward are we?" Rasputin asked.
"Yes."
"I'll collect my toys and return with you now."
"Make sure you bring all of them, Black Bishop. They'll be needed. Genocide is coming."
Rasputin raises his Reliquary. The green flames come to life, wrap themselves around Rasputin and Black Knight, whisking them away.
The area is still crystallized including Poppy's body lying on the ground.
Back at the Rainbow on the Ground Hot-Spring
"Something's not right. Poppy should have found the necromancer by now."
Fiora nods her head in agreement. She goes to speak, but stops when a green flame wraps around each of their dead comrades and teleports them away.
Fiora and Holly look at each other, ""Poppy?!""
Holly drops the barrier and Fiora takes off in the direction she last noticed Poppy's presents.
****
"Dammit Corin let me go! I have to try and save her!" Shouts Dale.
As he struggles to break free, Oz howls into the night.
"What good would that do? If she didn't make it out in time there's no way she would still be alive. The top-half of the watchtower has been blown to bits."
"I still have to try!"
"Snap out of it would you!" Shouts Corin punching Dale in the face. "Think of Arcaena, your daughter! If you die too then she truly will be an orphan! Do you really want that for her?! To be continuously raised by someone in the Marijuana Empire?!"
The mention of Arcaena's name brings Dale back to his senses. Feeling him relax, Corin lets him go.
"Thank you, Corin."
"Anytime."
"Hey guys, the undead are disappearing." Said Silver.
One by one green flames wrap around the undead, and whisks them away.
"Do you think the others found and defeated the necromancer?" Oz asked.
"Don't know. Let's regroup with the girls and figure out our next step." Suggests Dale.
It's at that moment Corin and Silver get a concerned look on their faces.
"Corin, Silver, what's with the looks?" Asked Oz.
Neither one speaks up right away. Corin eventually breaks the silence. "It's Poppy. We can no longer sense her presence."
"What the hell is going on here? First Bonaluria..."
"What about me?" asked Bonaluria coming out of the blockhouse.
Dale's eyes go wide with surprise. "B–B–Bonaluria, how are you alive?"
𝑂𝑂𝑃𝐻
Oz practically bowled her over, wrapping her in a hug.
"I thought I lost you again, big sister."
"Oz, you're a headmaster and an adult. Try acting like it would you." Said Bonaluria as she extricated herself from his embrace.
Oz sheepishly says, "do forgive me."
"You're forgiven. Now to answer your question, did you forget that Silver boosted our agility earlier? I saw the attack coming and I was able to get out of the watchtower in time.
"I also blocked off the second floor to keep the smoke at bay. It's a good thing that the watchtower was constructed from stone otherwise we'd have a fire on our hands."
"Don't you have some sort of ability that auto deflects any attack aimed at you." Corin asked.
Bonaluria ignores Corin's probing question. "So what happened to Poppy?"
"She's right here."
Everyone turns to see Holly standing there with Poppy's crystallized body. Corin goes over and carefully takes Poppy from her. He heads into the blockhouse in silence, the others follow.
Corin gently places her on the kitchen table. Bonaluria, Dale, Oz, Holly, and Silver gather around it.
𝑇𝐻𝑈𝐷!
Everyone turns towards the sound. Weapons ready. The closest door under the stairs slowly opens. Out stumbles Corym.
"Oh, look, Corym came out the closet." Comments Silver.
"I didn't know he was in the closet." Quips Holly.
It starts out slow at first then one by one everyone starts laughing. Just moments ago they had been in a life or death battle with the undead and yet this little bit of ribbing (albeit at Corym's expense) is all it took to break the tension.
"What happened while I was out."
"You'd better sit down, Corym. There's a lot we need to catch you up on." Corin gestures towards the sofa.
"And that's everything. Questions?" Asked Corin.
Corym sits there processing everything he's been told. "Holly, mother never said where she was heading?"
"No. She just asked to be left alone, and for you not to pursue her."
"I understand. Thank you Holly."
"Corym, can I ask you something?"
"Go ahead Dale."
"You used your World Sight skill in front of me for the first time back in Peach Valley, but you didn't black out like you did tonight. Why is that?"
"I did a broad search of the area around me. I also had a general direction of where to search which helped me narrow things down even faster.
"Once I found 𝑤ℎ𝑜 I was looking for — i.e., The Black Archers. I was able to glean a bit of information about them, such as their rank for example."
"If you saw us that day with your skill then you know what everyone looks like, don't you?"
"It doesn't work that way. I may be able to see through concealment spells, but I can't see through physical barriers like hoods."
"I see. Good to know."
"Now what I did tonight was a targeted search. This gives me precise information on what I'm looking for. However, I needed more information before I could begin."
Oz said, "that's why you needed our aura signatures."
"Correct. With that information I can do a world search for similar auras, but I pay a price for doing a targeted search on that grand of a scale. Which as you all witnessed overloads my brain and I black out."
Bonaluria speaks up, excitement in her voice. "Does that mean you know where our daughter is?"
"I do."
"What about my girls?"
"Going off of just your aura signature, Oz. I know they're over in the Marijuana Empire."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go." Oz heads for the door.
Corym calls after him. "Please wait a moment."
"For what?" Snaps Oz, "What could be more important than finding my girls?"
****
"GOROOGBB GGBG."
"GOOBBG?"
"GBBRG."
"GEH–HEH–HEH!"
Fiora sits in a field, under the pale moonlight, listening to the countless goblins, and hobgoblins chatter excitedly amongst themselves as they surround her.
Most would be scared by this — especially women. Goblins have a history of brutally raping women for breeding purposes, and torturing them for their own sick amusement.
General Fiora Elyra, on the other hand, is delighted by this situation. The white hot burning rage from Poppy's death has reached critical mass.
And killing these vile little creatures will help alleviate some of that rage—maybe.
Itching for the slaughter to begin she stands. Using her Provoke Skill, Fiora shouts at the top of her lungs.
"BRING IT ON YOU VILE LITTLE FUCKERS! YOU THINK YOU CAN RAPE ME? I'LL TAKE THIS BLADE OF MINE AND RAPE YOU OF YOUR VERY LIVES!"
A wave of goblins surges forth. Each one wanted to be the first to defile this beautiful elf woman.
"Accelerate!"
The first goblin dies without even realizing that it had. In a fast and precise cut, Fiora had lopped off the top of its head.
The next dozen are beheaded in a blink. Fiora had already moved on before the first spray of blood had begun.
A hobgoblin swings its club wildly. This only helps Fiora, as it kills some of the goblins, turning them into a dark mist.
Fiora slits the hobgoblin's paunch belly, spilling its guts. Intestinal parasites can be seen writhing on the ground amongst the steaming pile of guts.
"𝐻𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑙 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡?"
An old memory from long ago suddenly crops up from Fiora's subconscious.
"𝑊ℎ𝑦 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑚𝑦 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑛𝑜𝑤?"
A hobgoblin picks up a goblin holding a rusty dagger and throws it at Fiora.
She holds up her katana and lets the force and momentum slice the goblin in half from head to groin.
"𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛? 𝐽𝑜? 𝐵𝑟𝑢𝑐𝑒? 𝐽𝑎𝑐𝑘? 𝐽𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑? 𝐶𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑛?"
"GOROOGBB!"
"Shit!"
Was it the loss of Poppy or perhaps the intrusive thought that distracted Fiora? Whatever it was, it cost her dearly. Something had managed to hit her with its tree sized club, sending her flying.
Having relied so heavily on her own athletic ability to dodge enemy attacks with grace and poise, Fiora never thought it necessary to have her gear enchanted.
Several bones on the left side of her body were broken upon impact. Internal organs rupture. And to make matters worse, she dropped her katana.
Lying on her side, Fiora coughs up blood. "Well this fucking sucks." Pain is written all over her face as she makes the small transition to her back. "Never thought these little bastards would be my end."
The pale moon and faint outline of goblins are the last things she sees before closing her eyes, bracing for the worse.