[GFD/CMD] Like Old Times

The orbs of water rippled violently as the pulse washed over them, then two fell apart, water crashing back to the ground as the monster screeched in protest. But it's control was strong enough to maintain one of the orbs and it planned to use it.

With a roar the orb burst into dozens of streams of pressurized water charged with mystic energy, firing down towards Liam, Kali, Phil, and Tana. Lexi and Orlando were out of the firing arc since the orbs they were near were negated, but it was clear if they hadn't managed that this attack was going to have been unavoidable due to the sheer number of slicing beams of water. As it stood the people still on the ground were still in danger... until suddenly the streams of water all veered off course, striking to the sides of everyone.

A mass of mystic energy behind them revealed the cause, as a battered and bloody Ariana was leaning against one of the large crystal pillars with one hand outstretched towards the attack. The pillar glowed with light that was flowing into her body as she siphoned power from the location just like the Drake had been doing, using it to sustain her despite her injuries and to give her the power to help one more time.

"Do... it..." Ariana managed to say, coughing up blood, then collapsing again. Too exhausted to do anything more than try to stabilize herself

The Drake meanwhile also seemed winded, it had put a lot into that attack, only to not have brought down a single target. It's posture sagged a bit as it tried to recover, it wasn't passing out like the young siren... but it was tired and vulnerable now.

The drake tried it's best to defend itself, but it was already wounded, and it was exhausted after whiffing on such a big attack. It managed to deflect the shots at it's face, but it couldn't stop Lexi, her blade plunging into it's belly in what was undeniably a lethal blow.

With a roar it tried to shake her off, slam her into walls, do anything to get her and her blade out of its belly so it could try and retreat and heal, but its struggles only worsened the damage, blood splattering on the ground as its writhing weakened. If Lexi managed to hang on through everything and continue slicing up the underbelly, the drake would soon be dead, now it was just in its death throes.

Ariana was in bad shape, even as Phil began pouring aura into her... her pulse was weak, and her breathing shallow. That last push to save them from the drake's final attack had really taken a toll on her. Phil's aura made her eyes flicker open though.

"Did you... get it...? Is it dead?" she asked weakly

"The core... find the... core... of this place" Ariana said, coughing up a bit of blood "bring me... to it... I have... a stupid idea..."

Kali and Tana exchanged looks

"Stupid ideas..." Tana began

"Are our squad's specialty!" Kali agreed, and they both took off... fortunately it wasn't hard to figure out where the core of this location was, it was pulsating with spiritual energy after all, the whole place was spiritually charged, but only one crystal formation was literally glowing with energy.

Once Ariana was brought to the crystal formation, she closed her eyes to focus, and the spiritually keen could sense what she was trying to do. She was connecting to the mass of spiritual energy that this place exuded, the same energy that had made the drake as dangerous as it was. Ariana had been transformed into a human, only able to take her former monster form within specific circumstances... but she was in her monster form right now... so maybe she could manage to evolve like one. If she succeeded it would heal her wounds

If she failed... well looking at her wounds more closely it didn't look like something a human could pull through without a proper hospital bed and surgeons around. They could provide first aid and try to get her home for proper treatment... but they weren't anywhere close to the Bulwark right now, even if they could navigate the water while carrying her and not having access to her powers anymore... the odds of getting her to help in time were slim

Ariana lay there, slowly bleeding out, as her spirit and the ley line connected. Instantly pain shot through her, her human body wasn't equipped to handle this much spiritual energy, and her monster side was weak even when she was fully a monster, it was too much! Her mouth opened in a soundless scream... but it was too late to stop now. She writhed and clawed at her face trying to get a handle on the mass of energy as her body began to twist and contort. It felt just as painful as it looked... her monster form trying to evolve when her human body was physically incapable of it.

The light of the crystal core of the place became blinding, she couldn't handle it! She rolled off of the crystal and crashed hard into the water on the ground, the healing power of hers kicking in as the water gathered around her, if she could just channel it all into healing maybe. She vomited, getting sick from the spiritual energy poisoning. Her wounds closed, but the morphing of her body wasn't stopping. After a minute, sound finally came to her scream, echoing in the cave for a moment, then going quiet.

Ariana collapsed, her body changed, the skin was blue like before, but she no longer had her siren's tail, instead her body was fully humanoid again, she didn't seem to be breathing though.

"Shit! We need to resuscitate her, Lexi! You're the most skilled here, can you do that heart beating thing!" Tana asked, it was a high level technique meant for emergency first aid, using spiritual energy manipulation to artificially pump someone's heart for them until they could be healed.

Kali would move forward and begin doing CPR on Ariana, the glow of the crystals was returning to normal, but nobody seemed to notice, too focused on the body to notice the spirit.

Liam would sense that Ariana's spirit hadn't faded though, her body might've been in bad shape, but the spirit had stabilized... if they could just keep her body going a bit longer...

Ariana's beating heart and assisted breathing would keep her body stable, and slowly, her spirit began to reassert control over the shell. First her fingers twitched, then her eyes fluttered... then Lexi would feel the heart begin to beat on its own

It was an agonizing few minutes... but eventually, everyone would be able to back away as Ariana's body began to levitate off the ground, eyes glowing as water began to gather around her, swirling and taking on shapes. A dress of flowing water covered her currently nude newly formed lower body, and wings of water sprouted from her back... She gingerly set one foot on the ground, and the glow in her eyes faded



"Thank you all, I'm not sure my body would've lasted long enough without your aid." Ariana said with a smile "I don't think this is something I should try again though... humans aren't meant to evolve."

"I'll get you two, you did take down the Drake after all. Ariana said with a grin "and if it were not dead, I could never have linked up to the leyline. It would still be linked to the Drake... speaking of which..."

Ariana swirled her finger and the spilled blood of the drake began to levitate off the ground and gather in an orb above her head "We did bring containers for this right? I can only control it cause water is mixed in and that's not going to last forever"