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Charas Odd Encounter Sr Novel 240903

On a seemingly tranquil Labor Day weekend at the beach, amidst the mundane joy of holidaymakers, Chara’s serenity is abruptly shattered by the emergence of a monstrous, tentacled sea creature from the ocean depths. This creature, an otherworldly amalgam of scales and tentacles, sows chaos along the crowded shoreline, its massive form casting a shadow of terror over the beachgoers. Amidst the ensuing pandemonium, where screams replace laughter and the air fills with the stench of brine and fear, Chara is drawn into an unexpected battle. Seizing a FN P90 from her bike, she transitions from holidaymaker to defender, spurred into action by the urgent calls from her faction's comms for intervention. Her efforts to repel the behemoth focus on distraction and rescue, as she endeavors to lead the creature away and facilitate the escape of the imperiled beachgoers.

As Chara battles the creature, her bravery and makeshift defense momentarily stem the tide of destruction. With strategic gunfire, she manages to save a captive from the creature's grasp, her actions a beacon of resistance against overwhelming odds. However, the situation reaches a critical point when Chara is cornered at the treeline, her escape seemingly cut off by the advancing monstrosity. In this dire moment, reinforcements arrive from the lighthouse, delivering decisive blows that ultimately drive the creature back into the sea, wounded and defeated. The aftermath of the encounter leaves Chara, a paramedic by trade, amidst the ruins of a day turned nightmare. Shaken but resolute, she shifts her focus to aiding the injured, while covert operations begin to erase the evidence of the encounter. The incident closes with Chara’s contributions acknowledged, yet overshadowed by the efforts to maintain the masquerade of normalcy, concealing the true nature of the world from the unsuspecting public.
(Chara's odd encounter(SRNovel):SRNovel)

[Mon Sep 2 2024]

In The Cauldron -- Potions and Auction Block
Using the grand staircase is something of an experience, no matter which direction one goes. They are cool grey stone and the height of each varies ever so slightly. The walls are the same grey stone, cool and perhaps even a little damp to the touch, candelabra dimly lighting the path.

The basement is more like a catacomb, found deep beneath the town, turning old-town charm into something Gothic and mysterious. This section of the catacomb appears to be just a foyer of sorts to whatever lies behind the elaborate arched stained-glass doors on the northern wall. Within a shallow enclave at one side of the door is a stone likeness of Baphomet.

It is noon, about 72F(22C) degrees,

(Your target is abducted by a sea creature that's somehow crossed over into our world, it is up to them to survive for long enough that their allies can come help.
)
Today is a wonderful, #FFFFFFfrabjous day. It is subtly too warm, but the sea breeze and the scent of fresh air tickling the senses provide that gentle refreshment that is the excellent contrast against too warm, plying against the skin and dragging one back into delicate comfort. As one walks upon the sand with the gently crash of waves washing nearby in their endless hunger to eat the land, it creates a transient beauty that is longer than a mortal life. Golden sands, the woods providing subtle shade and the sea breeze catching it's breath upon the cove that Chara currently occupies. The lighthouse looms to the south-east, it's spinning light silent and still in this gorgeous and clear day, a comforting symbol of human civilization and guiding security. And it is a labor day weekend, after all, with many taking advantage of the extra-long break from their work to be on the beach themselves, walking the forests, visiting drink and food stands, or otherwise revel in nature and life. Sadly too many of them are glued to their phone.

Hark. A CRASH of spray, of water, cascading up, a sharper noise punctuating the day. A whale, perhaps, out in the distance? Certainly something large.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves. Why is Chara here?

Chara takes a deep breath, finally away from town to take a nice little mini vacation, savoring the salty tang of the ocean air as she stretches out her limbs, feeling the sun's warmth sink into her skin. She turns her head slightly, glancing at her bike, parked just within reach, saddlebags bulging with essentials for a perfect beach day. Reaching over, she pulls out a bottle of cold water and takes a slow sip, relishing the coolness as it runs down her throat. The rhythmic lull of the waves and the distant chatter of seagulls make for the perfect symphony.

Laughter, the occasional song, the shared story, the running and play of children and beach volleyballs. And then there's that noisy crash Chara heard earlier. Her head, turned towards the bike, and Chara hears the crescendo and follow through before she sees it.

Surprised shouting. And the occasional shutter of a camera or the beep or click of one upon the phone as a monstrous tentacled sea creature erupts from the deeper ocean. Its body is an amalgamation of twisted, slimy appendages and shimmering scales that pulse with eerie, iridescent colors. Each of its massive, muscular tentacles writhes and coils with terrifying strength, their surfaces covered in rows of suction cups lined with jagged, razor-sharp teeth. As it rises from the sea, water cascades off its grotesque form, sending massive waves crashing onto the crowded beach.

The beach, once filled with laughter and the joyous sounds of people enjoying the weekend, is now a scene of chaos and terror. Many people scream and scramble to escape as the creatures enormous tentacles thrash wildly, smashing through beach umbrellas, lounge chairs, and anything else in their path. The sky, now overshadowed by the creatures immense form, darkens as if heralding an impending doom.

Chara's eyes pick out that too many of them stand, caught in the pusling glow of those strange colors, or frozen like deer in the face of an incoming car.

The creatures head is partially submerged, but glimpses of it reveal a nightmarish visage. Multiple eyes glimmering with malevolent intelligence, a maw lined with rows of serrated teeth, and a thick, slimy hide that seems impervious to the waves that ripple and slam around it. The air is thick with the stench of brine and decay as the beast lets out a deep, guttural roar that reverberates across the beach.

And at the edge of the chaos, near her bike, stands Chara. The creature lunges forward, its largest tentacle rearing up high above the beach before crashing down with incredible force. The ground shakes under the immense power of the blow, sending sand and debris flying in all directions. Fortunately, Chara is far enough away, but there are plenty on the beach who are sent flying or groaning.

Chara's faction comms crackle to life, noisy with directions and activity. A voice cuts through the chaos, feminine and calm as can be, "All available nearby Temple agents, distract the entity until reinforcements can arrive."

Chara scrambles to her feet, heart pounding as the monstrous sea creature thrashes in the water, spreading chaos and fear across the beach. She stumbles toward her bike, nearly slipping on the loose sand as the comms buzz with the calm, authoritative voice of the Temple. Her hands tremble as she fumbles with the saddlebags, yanking out her plate carrier vest and a white and gold painted FN P90, the unfamiliar weight of it almost overwhelming.

Chara clumsily straps on the vest, the vest seemingly custom tailored to her frame. She holds up the P90 and cocks the charging handle of the gun on the side as she raises a hand to her ear "D-demolisher Chara here, I will see what I can do!" the words stumbling out of her mouth, as she struggles to steady herself. She tries to move away from the most crowded part of the beach and flips the dial on the weapon to fully automatic as she sends quick bursts of 5.7x28 fury down on them. Trying to maintain her distance as she attempts to let the humans get to safety yelling out any nearby "RUN!!"

"Very good, Demolisher Chara." A voice that cuts through the buzz of other discussions and sharp orders. Firm. Reassuring. Chara is doing the Right Thing here. After a second her own comms cut out, some comms director in the distance excluding Chara and sorting people into groups. The quietness is sharp and sudden but it's quickly filled with the noise of the surrounding scene.

Mayhem and property damage, and scenes of violence. People flung into and against objects, a bikini-clad woman in paralysis, grabbed by one of those tentacles as it seeks to steal people right off the beach.

And then the sudden punctuation of Chara's weapon biting into and cutting above the background noise, followed by Chara's order. The spell is broken. More screams, more yelping, surprises, a paralyzed parent suddenly swinging by to duck and snatch a child off the beach before the monstrous thing before her can do the same.

A monstrous roar, of rage, annoyance, as the creature's full attention turns. To Chara. Staring, baleful, tentacles and smaller tendrils curling up, some of them holding people.

That Temple voice again. "Chara, hold its attention and keep clear line of sight from the lighthouse and northern shore."

Chara breath catches as the voice cuts through the chaos. A small comfort but enough to keep her grounded as the comms are abruptly switched off, leaving her alone in the deafening quiet before the noise of the scene rushes back in. She watches momentarily shocked as the woman is lifted her up by one of the tentacles, helpess against its grip

Chara's heart pounds as she forces herself to act. Firing another burst from her P90, the gunfire cutting briefly through the screams and commotion as they tear through the air, aiming at the tentacle holding the woman captive attempting to get it to let her go. She backpedals away trying to stay in line of sight but maintaining as much distance as possible. Her eyes widen as they creatures attention turns towards her. The roar echoing across the sand and shaking Chara to her very bones. She swallows hard, gripping her weapon tighter. Theres no room for errors her. She is the distraction and every second she buys is one more moment for others to escape

Chara cannot not hit the entity that's the size of an entire building, the bullets whizzing through the air in that rat-tat-tat that is deafening to those not wearing ear protection, even from a 'smaller caliber' of a weapon handled outdoors. In the shock of it the cries seem quieter and this is likely coupled with the beach being much, much emptier before Chara's eyes.

Bullets score into that thick tendril that momentarily tightens as if trying to crush the poor woman - and then the grip slips, the woman dropping, blue ichor drizzling forth as the meal it was dragging towards that open maw is released.

The tentacled creature now finds the challenge Chara presents in both stance and gunfire, pausing momentarily as those strange, slitted pupils flex and shift to adjust and focus before it starts to clamber up on the beach, bullets and blue blood splattering as it sloppily hauls itself up onto the beach with fearsome hunger and rage. Gathering a force of tendrils, bringing them together and several down in an attempt to cage Chara. At that moment, her back slams into a tree - the woods. She hit the edge of the tree line.

End of the line.

But... Then there's a CRASH as most of them are impacted, breaking, shattering, sending splinters of wood and debris, the rough impact enough to leave her winded. And then another roar. Of anger, of further pain.

In the distance, from the lighthouse, the sharp *CRACK* *CRACK* *CRACK* rapport of high caliber weapons occurring a few seconds after the monster's screams, kinetic-driven objects outracing their own sound.

It writhes there, on the beach, retreating and limping away, limbs being blown off and holes appearing as it slithers away in the sea. To bleed out... or return another day.

"Good work, Chara."

Chara stares at the scene for a moment before the realization that.. its over. She collapses to her knees breathing a sigh of relief as the P90 drops out of her shaking and adrenaline filled hands. She raises a hand to her ear "H-how many injured? Im.. a paramedic not a f-fighter." she in turns slowly stands up to her feet taking a look around at the scenes as her breathing slowly evens out looking around for anyone on the beach that may need her help

A silence follows, a long pause on the comms, orders and vans driving up. Some of them are pretending to be medical personnel. Others, the various factions and groups, gathering the discarded materials from a sea creature on the beach for study, or confiscating information. Some of them are having murmured talks with the people involved.

The clean-up crew. Some deputies of Haven, too, escorting people off. Many of these normal people, Chara knows, will only think of this as a dream. The dreadful mental work to keep things quiet and the mask on, in order of safety.

"The spell of Sanctuary seems to have held strong. Please assist in further triage." The sorting between those that need to go to the hospital and those that not. And, the discovery of the truly nonhuman, who are not shielded. They do not go to the same clinics as the rest...

"Put your weapons away, first. This is not an open-carry state." The tone, firm and gentle both, as the afterwork is done, the mingling of political dancing from several factions showing up with the intent on efficiently sweeping this all under the metaphorical rug. A debriefing, later.

But that's later.