Grancrest oneshots

Absorb

3rd pov

When crests first became a thing, not very much was known about that. Even now, hundreds of years later, they are still figuring out new things about the crests, as well as expanding on what they thought they already knew about certain functions of the crests. Of course, there is very little surprise in the fact that the banner most crests use is different from every other crest, just like all the crests are different from any other crest. The coloring is unique as well, the red and blue the two only natural colors, though they're still not entirely sure why.

Of course, after mages and witches came into being, as well as artists and other people using chaos in other ways, there were some attempts to experiment with the crests, but after it resulted in too many deaths of Lords and no one to take the chaos, resulting in it turning into a giant monster in the middle of cities, towns and countries, they stopped those in order to save lives. The crests are not something to be played with, since they are only able to be taken due to death or submission. Unlike with artists or mages who can lose their ability to use chaos, but remain alive, most Lords die before losing their crests, simply refusing to serve another.

Of course, with Lords like Theo, there is no reason to worry about him dying, he has grown skilled from all the fighting and he always has people beside him willing to protect him, and on top of that, he is more than willing to give up his rank in order to actively keep those under and around him that he cares for safe. However, they had gotten rid of most of the mages who wanted to get rid of Lords, they had tried hunting down rogues as well, however, they had yet to find a rather large number of them, so as they head towards the country that requested the Emperor's presence, they're all on alert.

Theo is riding his lovely white horse, with Siluca settled in front of him, besides him on either side is Lassic and Alexis, Moreno and Marrine sitting with their partners as well. Irvin and the twins are in the forest, using the shadows and anything else to remain hidden, as well as scouting ahead to make sure nothing gets past them but mistakes are allowed, after all, they are still human, regardless of status or the ability to use chaos. So when a blast of water knocks Theo and Siluca off the horse, they're al moving, Lassic jumping off his horse, Moreno sliding off, both drawing their weapons, while Alexis and Marrine smoothly turn the horse to cover the two fallen, both dazed and Theo - who had turned so he took the brunt of the fall - wheezing as he tried to recover from getting the air knocked out of him. Siluca apologizes, even as she sits up and rises, pulling out her wand. Theo follows, rising and pulling out his sword, Irvin and the twins still out of sight, all of them alert, wondering where the attack had come from and what they might be facing.

The forest is quiet, nothing to give away the enemies position, and in the moment they have it, the two blondes slide from their horse, urging it forward so that it does not get killed, all of them tensing as a figure rises from a nearby puddle of water, the liquid falling to reveal a woman, clearly a witch, glaring at all of them, though she's certainly focusing more on Alexis, Marrine and Theo than anyone else. She licks her lips, before tilting her head, letting the knife just fly past her, missing her by the smallest margin possible. None of them have ever seen anyone dodge Irvin, except for Milza, who had not only blocked the man, but managed to get in an attack, the Artist in Sistina not counting.

They brace themselves, but they're still knocked over when she blasts them with water, the crests unable to block the full force even if they keep the water away. As they hit the ground, an immense pressure locks them in place, Siluca trying desperately to figure out how the woman is doing that, especially since her Lord is the only one still standing and able to fight, the pressure obviously not targeting him, which means whatever this woman wants, she's going after Theo. They all struggle, face down on the ground as they are, but none of them can rise fully, only just barely getting their arms under them before the weight presses down, meaning they can only watch.