The Sky Garden; [Open]

"You're way too hopeful, you know that??" Jack exclaimed at Cassima's prediction. When the monster snatched up Liseran, Jack swung around putting Cassima behind him. "Let go of her, monster!"

Jack swung his wooden arm like he was about to punch it, but at the last second his fingers opened up and he struck his palm against it. In his hands were a bunch of seeds and the moment he pulled back his arm the seeds sprung to life, wrapping the monster inside the twisting trunks of several trees, trying to cocoon it inside one giant tree. Jack then pulled out a slab of rock the size of a shess piece with a rune carved into it, similar to the one he had to create light. He flung it at the arm that held Liseran and the moment it made contact it exploded in a ball of light.

"Graaah, this thing's not a good match against my type of magic," Jack grumbled as he readied his shovel.

The hand that tried to squash Cassima was met with the prick of her blade which made the hand retract only so slightly in hesitance before charging at her again. This time, however, it was met with a glyph that struck it with a large shard of ice. The monster cried out again as it morphed its hand around the ice as if to spit it out, and reverted back.

"Quit trying to help me! Save yourself and Cassima, you fool!" Liseran told Jack as he went after her, and the arm that had clutched onto her.

Fortunately for Liseran, Jack's attack caused an explosion and effectively severed the hand, singeing the monster's wrist into a stump. This time, the monster cried out even louder and summoned more vines and thorns to block them once again.

Liseran sighed, and this time turned to Jack and Cassima before ringing her bell to pull them away from the vines so that all of them made it past the dome it began to form.

"This is no good," she said. "It's stronger than I thought. If we lead it outside it might hurt other civilians, but if we keep it here, this building's going to blow it."

She bit her lip.

"I'm also worried about killing if...if it's true that someone's being possessed in there," she said. "I think...I think we need to bind it again. I'd try purging it, but at this point I don't know where the girl begins and where this monster starts."

She looked at Jack.

"Jack, I know your vines don't last too long, but if you can hold out long enough, Cassima and I can try to perform a binding spell--even if just long enough to call on the Expiate for help if that horrid Mirai hasn't already," she said.

Liseran then looked at Cassima.

"I know you barely know any magic, but I'm going to need all the help I can muster," she said. "It'll be exhausting, but if you can call out these marks and keep them mentally in your mind and in place, I should be able to do the rest."

Liseran cast out several miniature marks that started to hover in a circle. They would float near Cassima like a chart to read. Should Cassima choose to accept, they would flash before her before being absorbed into her eyes, leaving the marks temporarily memorized by the girl.

"Is this the untimely end of Cassima Addington!?" Cassima shirked as she was about to be crushed, but thanks to her blade, it stopped, briefly, but by that time, Jack had come to her rescue again. "Why thanks, and it's best to be hopeful in this world sometimes, especially in the region of Esterelf that I came from. Being hopeful will help you survive." Cassima looked upwards to see that Liseran had been grabbed when she was attacked and she followed Jack closely from behind."Let her go you crazy incantus!" Cassima yelled from behind Jack as she turned to Liseran.

"Friend's don't leave other friends behind!" Cassima called to her before she was teleported along with her and Jack past the forming dome. It was time to decide what to do regarding the girster. It seemed a binding spell might possibly be a good way to handle the situation once and for all.

And it seemed like Cassima must take part in it if they want the plan to go off without success. "Are you sure, what if I accidentally forget a mark or ruin the chance to call them out?" Cassima was quickly offered a magical chart for her to memorize, after a few seconds she decided to accept the chart, knowing that if she does do it right then the girl, and the Sky Garden despite the damage the monster girl did to it will be ok. Students might finally visit this place again if she's able to help Liseran get the binding spell right. After memorising the marks, Cassima limped from behind Liseran, her dagger held high.

"I know the marks, just tell me when to call them out," Cassima said from beside Liseran as she prepared for her part of the binding plan.

"That's a great idea missy, but here's the problem," Jack explained with a bead of sweat running down his head. He lifted up his real hand, displaying the diamond ring he wore. It looked like the kind of ring used to grandly propose to a lover. There were carving along the band in some sort of runic scripture that neither Liseran or Cassima would recognize. "That big attack I did to pin in down used up most of my stored magic."

Letting that sink in, Jack looked back at the struggling monster. "And those last few spells all but drained what remained. All I got left are my runestones and I don't think they can stall it for long."

Liseran looked at Cassima appreciatively. She couldn't imagine others new to Carta being willing to do such a heavy task---then again they were in a life and death situation. Liseran then heard what Jack had to day, and stiffened upon him mentioning him almost running out of stores.

Liseran looked at her own and her bells. She had just about enough for herself and the geode which Cassima was going to use. She bit her lip.

"We...we have to try," she said. "I'll try to make it as fast as possible. We just need to--"

The group would hear the monster shouting again. If they looked, they would see how the monster had sliced out of the dome it had formed. Liseran would channel her energy to create a large glyph underneath it and slowly begin to crystallize its legs in ice, hoping it would give Jack more support in stalling it.

"Cassima, call the marks out now!" Liseran said.

Cassima eyed the diamond ring in amazement. "That ring looks marvellous." She looked up at Jack, wanting to grasp the ring fully. "Even if it's your main source of cartic magic, may I touch i---Just then she heard the sound of something being smashed and Cassima soon witnessed the monster breaking through the dome. Quickly she pushed her hands forward and called out all of the marks that she memorised.

When she finished, she looked around to see what effect the marks did. "What's going to happen now?" Cassima looked to Liseran worryingly.

"Dangit!" Jack cursed out loud, stepping in front of the girls as the monster started crawling out of its confines. He readied his spear and dug around his pouch. "If this doesn't work, you girls get out of here and get help, alright? I'll hold this thing off as long as I can!"

With a snap of his wrist he tossed a handful of small stones that shot out a mix of fireballs, ice spikes, and electricity at the monster.

"And you say I'm the self-sacrificing character!" she said with a pout after Jack's remark.

The monster would become distracted by the mark and runes tossed at it, screeching as different elements scorched, frosted, and singed It would start swatting randomly, unaware of what was about to take place.

As Cassima called out the marks, they would surround the monster on different corners, taking up a semi-circle before half of a glowing sphere surrounded it. Liseran summoned forth the same number of marks, taking them on the other side before an entire dome covered it like glass. Almost as if realizing this, the monster screeched and tried to break out, slashing at the dome, which would flicker and wave with hit. Cassima would feel the pounding of the monster as if it were enough to shake her entire body, too, and she would need as much energy as possible to not bend down to it.

Liseran meanwhile reverted her daggers into bells, before closing her eyes and ringing the two bells in several directions. With each swing, a beam of light would shoot out and grab at one of the monster's extremities before it was being forced to stretch out its arms and struggle floating in the air.

"Lig saor mé!"

The glow of its eyes flickered, and as it screeched its monstrous screech, the three would begin hearing another scream in the chorus. That of a girl's.

"Help....help me...! Please!"

Liseran's eyes snapped open in the slightest moment of hesitance, causing one of the marks surrounding the dome to flicker and open a crack in the dome. And just like that the monster grinned.

With the smallest opening, it morphed one of its arms into a narrow and sharp spider's leg and jutted it forward, piercing through Liseran's torso and going out the other side. The sound of bells clashing to the floor and rolling were heard.

"Меники!"

"A-a....a-aghh---"
Liseran stood there, paralyzed, her eyes wide and her irises mere dots. Her body twitched as she tried to respond, gasp, scream, something, but she couldn't. Slowly looking down, she'd see the spider's leg piercing her through her abdomen, a black void surrounding it like a pulsing wound.

As the rest of the dome collapsed on itself, the binds of the monster broke, and it retracted its spider leg and reverted it back to an arm. Liseran dropped to her knees, her face still in shock, and a maroon pool forming in the middle of her torso, soaking her dress. She'd collapse just as the monster would target the spider leg next at Jack, and use her other arm to raise up thorny vines to surround Cassima and try to wrap her in them.

Cassima saw the glowing light from the semi-circle and was amazed at how much effort she and Liseran were putting in with defeating the monster. She was sure that they can save the girl and handle the monster once and for all, her confidence raised when Liseran fired a beam at the monster and a dome began to surround it. Despite the monsters chances, Cassima held back against the monster. "Your not breaking out of there." She continued to put all of her focus onto the monster and pushed back whenever the monster tried to push forward, but she noticed that the dome collapsed not too long after and backed away in shock. The mark's that she memorised, it was all for nothing. No matter what, the binding still failed for some reason.

And she would soon find out why.

"Liseran, what's going on. What was th---Huh!?" The monster had stabbed Liseran and she was already starting to bleed out. Cassima covered her mouth. "Liseran, no!" Cassima began to panic before turning towards Jack. "Jack come on, we have to get out of here now and get help. I don't want to leave anyone here, the monster will kill you! You said you don't have much stored magic left." Cassima wanted to convince Jack to come with her and Liseran, speaking of Liseran, Cassima tried to approach her. She needed to get her help, she needed help in handling the monster. She tried to get closer to Liseran, but vines that tried to wrap around her got in the way, quickly Cassima reemerged her dagger and swung forward towards the vines. "Don't touch me, I need to save my friend. I'm not going to let anyone die again like what happened to Fitz!" Cassima screamed swinging her dagger rapidly.

She wasn't going to die, her, Jack and Liseran WILL get out of here and find some way to help Liseran's wound and the monster.

"Noooo!" Jack yelled when Liseran got pierced. He faced the creature with steely eyes, readying his spear defensively. This wasn't a normal monster. It was resourceful, it was clever, and it was serious. He had no idea what sort of story this thing came from, but he knew what it intended to do.

"GO!" Jack barked at Cassima, using his spear to bat away the leg aimed at the young girl. He continued dueling against the creature, parrying its spider-like limbs. He stepped back and used his wooden arm to take out a handful of runestones, lifted them behind him towards Cassima. "Take these! Just toss them if it comes after you. I'll hold it off so you can-"

Then his wooden arm clunked and fell limply at his side, all the runestones he held in his fist clattering onto the ground. The runes carved along his arm had the smallest shimmer but suddenly dimmed.

"Dangit! Am I that low??" Jack exclaimed, gripping his spear with one hand and lunged to block a strike. "GET GOING! You need to warn everyone and--"

His spear arm was batted aside. Without the strength of both hands on his spear, he didn't have the leverage to parry the monster's strike. Jack's gaze slowly looked down, seeing a thin black limb touching his chest. If he rolled away right now, he could get away from it before it attacks him. Ah? He can't seem to move away from it. Did it have some sort of paralysis ability?

"G-HACK!" Jack coughed out blood.

Ah. The limb ran right through his chest.

Jack's legs collapsed and he started to slide off the limb smoothly. His eyes were glazed over, a trickle of red went down the corner of his mouth. Just before he completely disconnected from the leg, his arm raised up and grabbed it, holding it tightly.

"I'm not... letting you.... g-gah-o," Jack gurgled weakly. His wooden arm shook and trembled as it shakily moved up, barely moving on what's left of Jack's magic to grab the monster's leg and hold it with all the strength he could muster. "As long as... that girl makes it out safely... I can..."

Then the last of his strength failed him and he fell off the limb and fell limply to the floor. A pool of red started to form underneath him. His wooden hand fell over the wound on his chest, limp like the arm of a broken puppet.

"Johnathon.... Sprigginsss..." Jack whispered the name, his eyes blankly staring at nothing. "You.... deadbeat.... if you're still out there.... take care.... of mama..."