Return of the Emblem Chapter Twelve: Divergent Paths

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"I have such a knack for knowing things like that," Gar lightly chuckled and sat back down. "Well that was an amusing enough diversion."

[Mercakete]

"Heh. You only just met me, but even you can probably tell that something like this is impossible," Norbert replied with a wry grin, "Besides that, this came up suddenly, and after I'd hit her earlier. I asked her if she fell on her head, but she said she didn't, so it must have been the punch." He frowned as he murmured more to himself, "I didn't think I'd hit her hard enough for that, but I guess I did..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Why were there predators everywhere?! Rizen really didn't want to flee too far from that place, if only because her rider was still there. Still, she maintained a fair distance, keeping the manse just barely in sight. The rain was becoming a little more bothersome, but at least she was away from the predators.

[-Cynthia-]

Dining Hall

"Well, better go get things coordinated," Veronika said with a resigned tone, leaving her seat and going over to Gar who was...apparently serving tea to Suzume? She had no idea why Gar or Bert or anyone in their group would be friendly towards her- there were plenty of attractive enough women in their own group without needing to cozy up to their enemies. She tried to keep the matter out of mind as she approached the pair.

"Gar, we've decided to move this operation to this evening toallow Raquel to practice and to have a lower chance of being detected. That will give you enough time to secure these explosives I presume?" she asked him. She had rather not discussed this in front of Suzume, but she supposed it was too late for that anyway given how Anna had invited her here.

Estate

Nadya was happy for the warm dryness of the estate when she entered. If I were a Norbert, where would I be... she wondered. She supposed she should try the dining hall as the most likely place- but first she figured she should go back to her room to check on her gold- just in case. She made her way towards the staircase up to the second floor.

[spoiler=Outer Sanctum]

<Understood,> Liam answered Noah simply. Rescuing these hostages is our duty- but we cannot simply let them leave with Emperor Antares... He decided to trust in Noah and Emperor Antares for the moment and wait despite his misgivings.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

Their fun-times were interrupted by Veronika talking about planning and such. If it was moved to the evening he maybe could get his explosives guy first... He wasn't sure how much she knew off-hand so he played it semi-safe. "Yeah, I'll go check out my guy when I'm finished up here."

[Toogee]

It seemed like they were going to just stay on the floor for a while... with how many maids Weyland had around it was probably clean enough. "Really? That's great news, Kigen is probably a good place to sell as well, what with the whole Fallen fiasco going on. Father would be happy to hear that I'm going to his homeland if nothing else, it's going to be a good learning experience about half of my culture." Alphonse couldn't help but feel a little excited at the idea of going to Kigen, it'd been something he'd thought about before he met Greta and Jam, but now he could go with them as well.

"So, I have you ever been to Kigen? Know anything about it? All I've heard was that the warriors there were incredible swordsman."

Eager to hear more about this mysterious land, Jam shifted to her side, facing Alphonse to hear more of their destination. If only Greta were as enthusiastic about this as Alphy was.

[Eail]

"Well, so much for me getting a chance to learn anything... suppose I should go take care of this then." With a sigh Cyrus left the dining hall behind and was on his way back to the stables.

_____

"Never actually been myself." Alphonse replied, also turning on his side. "My Father told me a lot though, and from what he said I'd dare guess you'd be correct about the warrior thing. He's certainly taught me well at the very least." The swordsman was actually pretty excited at the thought of going to Kigen, even though it'd take a while to get there. There was so much he wanted to learn about his heritage, and what better way to do so than go to the land your family came from?

[-Cynthia-]

Dining Hall

"All right- how much experience do you have with these explosives anyway?" Veronika asked Gar. She decided not to inquire who this 'guy' was despite her curiosity, it was probably some illegal contact that Gar wouldn't want to say much on anyway.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

Veronika's next question was worded a bit oddly but Gar answered to the gist of it anyway. "Oh, plenty of experience. I'd dare say most of my kills are on account of making things go boom." He shrugged. "Boats, buildings, people, they've all had experience with being blown apart by my very talented hands."

[Phoenix]

Hallway

Tilly fought back her frustration as best she could. "Just take me to her, please," she said, an edge to her voice. It was bad enough he was hitting people, but then trying to back up his argument that she needed a healer using the word 'impossible' just really rubbed her the wrong way. Still, while she was more put off than ever, she knew there were far worse people out there ... about half of them in relationships.

Dining Hall

Suzume began downing the tea to soothe her throat, but while she managed to hold it like a proper lady, still messing around with Gar, she couldn't quite stop her pacing, and so instead of little sips, she drank it all in about three gulps. That was when Veronika came over from the other table and brought focus back to the business side of things. Explosives, huh? If nothing else, that served to remind Suzume that she hadn't fought and been defeated by some group of wandering heroes, just a bunch mercenaries with more speed and skill. She'd believed that from the beginning, but now that they were using explosives for things, she was fully certain they were no better than whoever they were planning to blast off the map.

Also interesting, Gar was securing the explosives. Now that she thought about it, this was probably all his idea and they were just going along with it. That caused her to frown a little as she went back to carefully eating her soup. Her frown only deepened when Gar explained how experienced with blowing things up he was. While that did help explain why most of his scars weren't from direct combat, it also brought back some bitter feelings from their first encounters. She wasn't sure if she'd ever be able to move on completely. Hopefully the subject would change or be dropped soon so she could more easily shove those feelings back down where they belonged.

Once the entrance to the dining hall was in sight, Glen took off ahead of Valter, figuring there wasn't any time left to waste. True enough, the wrathites could have started 'questioning' Joanna a while ago. "Which one of you is Amon?" he called out, unmistakable urgency in his voice.

<"Oh what, now?"> Malik murmured. He glanced at Amon and saw that the man was already standing up from his seat to reply. Glen noticed Amon getting up, put two and two together, coming up with five, and then approached the table, much to Malik's annoyance. "What do you want?" he asked first, before Amon had the chance.

"According to Weyland-" it was actually Steinn, "-you need an emblem piece." Amon's curiosity was piqued but so was his suspicion. "The wrathites took my friend, Joanna. They accused her for keeping one and then rode off with her."

<"Are we going right back to the cathedral?"> Malik asked no one in particular, staring off at nothing with a confused look on his face.

<"We were going back at some point anyway. We knew the emblem piece was there, just not exactly where, or how to reach it,"> Amon quickly and quietly explained to Malik. "So ..." he looked back at Glen, uncertain of how to word his reply, "are you offering us the emblem piece in exchange for helping Joanna get free?"

<"He can't really promise us the emblem since it's hers, not his ... and even she doesn't have it anymore. I don't really see the need for a deal. I guess if we're going to be marching in there anyway, it wouldn't hurt much to cut her loose, but the emblem isn't something we should have to negotiate for. Also, I think we should probably leave town as quickly as possible once we have it ... for reasons I hope are obvious enough.">

"Yes, you can have the emblem, just get Joanna out of there, okay? Before they do something to her," Glen pleaded.

Amon frowned; this all seemed a little too good to be true. Then, he took a moment to consider that fighting through the wrathites to get an emblem piece and Joanna would be next to impossible on most days with a group this size. There was also the fact that Fizza, the ace up their sleeve if ever there was one, was still missing. It seemed suicidal enough with that in mind, so his suspicions began to fade and he started considering their options. Regardless of how dangerous this seemed, it would still be easier than trying to hunt down Valdimarr, he knew.

Training Hall

Raquel went a few more rounds, having Jericho, Erion, and Kat tossing things near her or directly at her and as she caught or deflected them, she became much more comfortable with the technique. She just had to be sure to always guard her eyes or she'd be completely helpless. Once the tossing session concluded, Raquel began preparing herself to try to warp multiple people at once. She had Jericho and Erion stand side by side on the opposite wall. She took some breaths and then once she was ready, she began her combination spell. She raced toward the two, her body compressed into golden light, and just as she reached them, Jericho's was overcome by the light as well. As she and Jericho began to head back, Erion's body began to glow, but he wasn't overcome like they were. The attempt to warp more than one person didn't seem to be working, at least until Raquel and Jericho both reemerged from the light. That was when Erion was suddenly and rapidly transported as well.

Once the light released him, on the other side of the room, and right beside Raquel and Jericho, the former winced and asked, "What just happened? I mean it ... didn't ... quite work but it ... sort of did. I'm confused." It seemed like she couldn't warp more than one person at the exact same time, but if she gave the command in advance, another spell would follow the first. She wish she'd known that during Schwartz's attack. If she had, bowling herself over trying to save one person might not have spelled doom for the other.

[-Cynthia-]

Dining Hall

No regrets at all it seems like- is he that unbothered or is it just an act? Veronika wondered. She supposed that someone who had the will to carry thia out was the best choice for the job regardless. She nodded at Gar's response. "Be ready by sundown then," she reminded him before beginning to walk off. I suppose if he wanted to tell me something directly he would have- I will have to hear it from Raquel it seems.

After checking that her money was secure, Nadya headed to the dining hall where the person she was seeking did not seem to be present. "Hey y'all, seen Bert around anywhere? Bit of an issue with Rizen," she said, walking up to where Reign and some others were seated.

[Mercakete]

"Shouldn't you get your staff first?" Well, it wasn't like standing around doing nothing was getting them anywhere, so Norbert began leading the way back to the dining hall anyway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Thank ye!" Gytha cheerily responded with a wave as the maid who'd led her to Synthia's door walked off. After that, she knocked on it. If Synthia answered, it'd probably be in person, since she doubted the mage would try shouting anything at this point.

[scorri]

Erion blinked and then frowned as he was transported after Raquel and Jericho were. "That was interesting. Now I have two questions to test. One, is the person you're trying to warp protected like they would be if they were a ball of light and two, how many people can you line up to be warped like that? The first question is easily answered. Someone can throw something at me while you're warping Jericho. The second... well that's the interesting one. And if the first answer is a no, we might want to be careful about how we go about this rescue mission..."

[Snowy_One]

Robin slumped down in her seat. Whatever Bert was doing was sure taking a long time at the least. She was certain he was actually trying to help her, and that sent a small rosy feeling to her chest, but... there was more. Things were bad for her at best, or at least that was how she felt. At times it felt like the world hated her, but was that really true? She had gotten along with Jam just fine, peachy in fact, and now Bert was caring for her. Maybe...

Her eyes flitted around the room, glancing over all except the zombie for anything in common, eventually settling on Pete. He had a bow as well. Just maybe... Maybe.

Taking a small gulp, Robin got up and walked across the room, hoping that Bert wouldn't come back for a bit.

"Ummm... Hello." she said timidly. "I noticed you use a bow. It looks nice. Can you tell me about it?"

[Snike]

Well, it was apparently her turn to go meet with Seth. All the better, since Evelyn really had no interest in the teapot shenanigans. She rose from her seat and made her way over to the speaker, a blonde-haired woman with a mace.

"I suppose he's ready to see me?" Evelyn asked the other woman, as she removed the cloak from her staff.

***

"Some discount," Pete remarked, just as a Neviskotian woman approached. She appeared to be a bit nervous, as she asked about his... bow? That was interesting. Oh well, he really didn't have much else to do, so the Ursian decided to humour her.

"Hi. It's a standard-issue recurve bow. Strong enough to punch through armor," Pete said, "but accurate enough to pick off slippery foes as well. I kept it as... severance from the army. What piqued your interest?"

OOC: Blake section coming later.

[Snowy_One]

"You served in the army?" said Robin, feeling a pang of hate inside her, but restraining it. This was to see if people really hated her. "I... Interesting." she said before pointing to her bow. "This is, well, not any normal style of bow. I made it myself. I use non-standard arrows as well made from stone. As for what interested me, I saw that you had a bow and, well, I wanted to see if I could talk to another person."

[Phoenix]

Hallway

Tilly shook her head at Norbert, hoping he would recall that she said she would only get a staff after seeing what was actually wrong. She wasn't budging on that point, and followed swiftly after him.

Dining Hall

"So will you help her or not?" Glen asked again, growing weary of all Amon's musing. Before he could get a reply from Amon, someone tapped his shoulder. It was Greta, someone he'd never seen before. "Who ...?"

"You can't just expect the guy to charge off into the cathedral, beat up some wrathites and waltz on out with your friend! He and everyone seen with'em'll be labeled as criminals and chased right up to the edge of the territory," Greta said, holding very little back. Amon had to admit, though, it was the perfect excuse for the wrathites to start hounding them, and he'd had enough of that, frankly. "I personally wanna be able to come back to my home country when this is over, not get stuck in Kigen or have to change my name because we're all outlaws." Aaand apparently Greta was coming with them. Did he miss something or was he just forgetting some arrangement from earlier? Amon couldn't quite tell at that moment.

"I know it's not fair to ask him to do this, but we're running out of options. According to Weyland, they could stall for weeks while he tries to 'negotiate' to get her released. Do you know what they could do to her in that time? I can't let that happen, even if I have to wait til nightfall to sneak in and get her myself," Glen replied. He didn't want to wait until nightfall, but if this became a solo job, it was his best chance.

Training Room

Raquel was pretty sure of the answer to the first question, the answering being no they wouldn't be protected. She wasn't even sure people being warped were safe from any and all attacks, really. The second was trickier, and even harder to test. "I'm almost positive the second person wouldn't be protected since I'm not even sure the first is," she explained with a grimace. "I doubt there's an exact limit to how many people can be 'lined up' for this but they would probably need to stay where they are for it to work. Just a ... feeling I have, right now." Once they were out of her sight, it didn't seem likely it would work if they had changed position, at least.

[spoiler=Captain's Quarters]The captain's quarters were ... nicer than Antares had expected, all things considered. The wooden surfaces had a nice finish, the captain's chair and desk were well maintained, Petia's various trinkets and tools were in fine condition and laid out in an orderly manner throughout the cabin ... he was almost sad that he was going to have to wreck the place on his way out if all went well for him. He looked around the room, unable to see the door he was brought in through behind him, thanks to this 'nice', 'cozy' chair he was firmly placed in a minute ago. He could feel Petia behind him, though, moving around to his right side.

Petia soon came around to his front, his arms crossed, his mind clear of intent, and some kind of smirk on his face. <"I'm sorry our accommodations couldn't be better, but, we have to take every precaution if we're to return to our families victorious, you see.">

<"I do,"> Antares nodded humbly.

<"However, Avian King. I have a proposition for you, should you like to hear it. I know you avians hate lies and deceit. I do as well ... so, let's be honest with each other,"> Petia suggested, bending toward Antares slightly. <"I want to learn all that I can from you avians so that my people can finally be rid of those idiots in the old capital. To do that I need your insights, your techniques, your military strategies. Everything. Everything that can be of use to us. If you cooperate, willingly, I will not have you harmed by any means, nor will I keep you from your people indefinitely. I could have you brought back to them in ... saaaay ... a year,"> Petia shrugged, his arms still crossed, but his smirk swapped for a pondering expression, <"You might even make it back in time to celebrate the coming millennium with your people.">

<"Are you ... certain you want insights from an emperor captured so easily?">

<"Hahahah! I wouldn't call that 'easy'. I lost far more riders than I was expecting ... though I was prepared to lose all of them if it meant bringing back an avian warrior from the infamous Cloud Legion. The truth is, the tactic I used is the only one that could have possibly worked. Apprehending you may have been 'easy' as you say ... but the method we used was the only option available to us. Our plan was simple ... but effective ..."> Petia's smirk returned all too quickly, <"Very effective~ So! What say you, Avian King? Will you cooperate? Or not?">

<"I'm still not certain how you intend to escape Bahamut's Rift in a ship of this rigging ... it's not fast enough to outpace my soldiers and they won't see me captured,"> Antares shook his head slightly, picturing the various holes their aureola spells would burn through the hull of this surprisingly well kept ship.">

Petia grinned widely. <"No harm in telling you, I suppose. The truth is, they won't 'see' you captured. You'll be long gone by the time they get to this ship, and we have an exit strategy for the crew should they decide to take out their frustrations on us. Once you are unconscious, your seal will be removed and you will be warped off to the next ship. Once they have you, they will send you off to the next ship down a very long line leading all the way back to our territory. You see,"> Petia held his arms out, quite proud of the naval maneuver he'd cooked up, <"my entire fleet is out here, ready to assist in my plan to capture avian soldiers. I do not need you to cooperate, but I am giving you that choice, Avian King. If you refuse, the next time you awaken you will be hundreds of miles from your homeland, bound in chains, your mind violated by my best magicians ... and I cannot guarantee that you will ever return home, again,"> he explained gravely, his smile gone and replaced by a look of foreboding and pity.

<"Huh ... you really thought this through,"> Antares replied, genuinely surprised. He had to give him that much. However, if Petia had those insights he wanted so badly, he would know that discussing plans to any member of the legion would clue in other nearby members to what was going on. They couldn't see or hear the exchange, but Antares' sense of the situation was becoming known to them even as they spoke.

[spoiler=The Sea Shore]True to his word, Petia's men had brought the hostages over in boats, and then quickly retreated back toward their ship. Noah sighed once they were gone, both in relief for the hostages, and in irritation for the emperor's precarious situation. The others were getting close, now, at least, but she had a feeling that the Tashtagolans came prepared for a larger reception than they received. Their reinforcements needed to hurry.

<"I'm sorry,"> a teary-eyed woman said, clearly dreading the situation. She knew she wasn't exactly a fair trade for their emperor, but she wasn't the only hostage, either.

<"It's alright. The emperor will be fine as long as our reinforcements hurry. For now, just stay put. We'll get you back to the mainland once this is over. However ..." Noah's tone became quite serious and concerned, "under no circumstances are you to venture off on your own. Dark avians are not supposed to be in this area, or anywhere around Aria. There are no exceptions.">

The woman and a few of the other freed hostages nodded. <"Yes, I understand, but ... perhaps you could take us to Flugel Village instead? When we weren't being watched, we talked it over and decided that we would probably be safer out here in the rift.">

Noah put a hand on her chin, picturing the idea. <"I don't see why not, but it isn't really up to us in either case."> The hostages nodded again, having not been expecting an answer right away with their leader gone. Noah turned away from them and approached Liam. <"Okay, so they're about two minutes out if my estimation is correct. Once they're here, we'll need at least one to stay here and mind these people while we go after that ship. We're the newer warriors, so I've got a feeling we'll be the 'ones' made to sta--"> Noah's own gasp cut her off. <"The emperor's about to be moved somewhere else!">

[-Cynthia-]

[spoiler= The Sea Shore]

<"You should not feel guilt about all this- Emperor Antares made his choice knowingly and for good reason. This will all turn out for the best,"> Liam said, trying to reassure the hotages before Noah's exclamation came. <"So should we stay here or should we go in?"> he asked, deferring to her authority. We should probably go in but...any accident here could have fatal consequences.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"I'll be as ready as I can be," Gar replied back as Veronika walked off. Dang, he was hoping to enjoy things more but if he got a time extension he'd need to confirm it with Raquel before checking the city for his guy. He stepped up his eating pace a bit.

[Ether]

"Yup, he's done speaking with the others." Arietta replied, as her offer was taken. With that out of the way, the bodyguard lead the Royal Guard to the study, rapping on the door as she arrived.

"Boss, it's me. Your next guest is here."

***

"That sure is a convenient suicide mission you've been offered there, Amon." Angelica noted with a smirk... this guy seemed pretty damn desperate.

"But I guess I was right... it would have been too easy if they had just left her alone, after all."

***

"Well, it is what it is I guess." Faatina replied, before Robin made her way over, awkwarding all the way.

"Have you grown more timid lately, Robin? I don't remember you being like this."

[Snowy_One]

"Yes, no, I do not know. This day has felt like it has been forever." said Robin with a sigh as she looked down at Pete. "My mood feels like someone is kicking it around like a ball. One moment I am admitting a crush on Bert, the moment before I feel deserving of having my head bashed in to a wall, and before that elated that Jam talked to me, and before that afraid she would not. I feel like everyone hates me, but then I feel happy that not everyone does, before believing that everyone does again. I feel... Lonely."

[Cevian]

Cherish's meal had grown silent again now that the debate over the ownership of the teapot had ended. She continued to eat from the pile of food she had gotten herself, having no intention of eating it all right then and there. She ate the more perishible foods first, the meats and cheeses. She could keep a little bread and fruit on hand to eat later, hidden in her cloak, so she took a bit extra when she could here to have a meal for later. If the food was free now it would be free later, not that she hadn't done this when the food wasn't free. Being able to eat both now and later was something you wanted to assure when just the one meal wasn't certain.

The brunette thief continued to sit quietly eating, glad no one else was bothering her now that her conversation with the obviously lying man was done.

[ReformBlade]

Jericho was curious to the proceedings, wondering again what strangeness he'd be witnessing. "Sorry if I'm not paying attention, but can you move two people or things that aren't you at the same time?" If she could, maybe he could work something out, or maybe he'd be ultimately useless in the long run anyway, but he didn't want to go with that line of thought just yet. He'd wait until he had some alcohol for that.

Mushirah wasn't quite sure why things were going the way they were, but it wasn't bothering her nearly as much as just being out of bed was at the moment, that and that feeling of having wasted her time on fruitless tasks was getting fairly annoying. She wanted to tell Shadrak to stop wasting time, to just get up and leave, but she didn't have that kind of gumption at the moment, not to mention that maybe the others had other plans as well?

The more that things were discussed, the more impatient Aneda was feeling, and that impatience turned to apathy, and that apathy turned quickly into annoyance, the kind of annoyance that would only go away with a change of scenery. Leaving sounded like a good idea, as dealing with beings of such magnitude on a whim was... not exactly something she really wanted, after thinking about it. Thankfully, that was when she felt a tug on her arm from the tiny water mage next to her, giving her the impression that she too wanted to leave. So, without further adiue, "Well.. if you folks don't mind, I personally don't see any reason for us two to be here any more, so we'll just take our leave now." She said more to everyone than just Nyx and company.

[Phoenix]

Dining Hall

"I wish they had left her alone. It would have made this a lot easier," Amon winced, his eyes closed and images of clashing blades flashing in front of him.

<"It sounds like you're going to accept his 'offer',"> Malik quietly chimed in again.

"We can't just ignore an emblem piece that's right here in the city in favor of one that could be halfway across the continent by now," Amon noted, "and besides, if the wrathites really are holding her because of the emblem, then they're probably going to do to her what they would have done to Raquel if they actually caught her. I don't want to let that happen ..." As the smile on Glen's face appeared, Amon's face grew more and more uncomfortable. He didn't like anything about this situation.

"Thank you," Glen held back his enthusiasm and excitement. He wasn't going to run up and hug the guy just for accepting. They could still fail outright and force him to go looking for more capable parties.

Greta sighed, figuring she was going to have to come up with an alias before too long, here. "Well, I'd better go find one of those maids ... pick out some disgui-I mean outfits for the road ... 'n such." And off she went at a brisk pace.

Study

Weyland opened the door and stepped aside to let both women into the room. He was surprised to see one of the royal guard here, but in hindsight, not really. After what happened with Knox, he wouldn't put it past the king to send someone to finish the 'interview' or at least reprimand him for chasing off their predecessor.

Training Room

Raquel shook her head. "I don't think so. It seems like I can chain warps together in advance but that's about it," she explained, sounding only a little disappointed. She still had more power at her disposal than she thought, and she wasn't even finished testing her boundaries, yet.

The Archives

"Excellent," Nyx said casually, her hand waving at everyone dismissively. She hadn't misinterpreted what Aneda had said about just those two leaving but she was certainly acting like it, now. "All of you run along, now. You've wasted enough of my time."

"Urgh," Shadrak snarled to himself, his fists growing tighter by the second. He knew he was getting close to the limit, that being how far he could press issues before Nyx decided to unleash pain on him in some form or other, but he still had more he wanted to ask. He had more to ask, but nothing to trade for it, of course. "What am I supposed to do?!" Err-" he quickly withdrew a little and lowered his voice, "I don't have anything to exchange for the information I want."

"Put my reminder to good use and then come and visit me later. Your latest experiences should be worth ... something," Nyx offered with a delayed shrug. She was smiling too, and that smile made Shadrak feel like he was being manipulated again, but there wasn't really anything he could do about that without screwing up his own plans in the process.

"... fine," Shadrak conceded. Suddenly he felt the urge to write down Nyx's reminder in his notebook so he could look at it on paper and not run the risk of forgetting it. "Alright," he turned to Mushirah, "I guess we should go now. I'm sorry this didn't work out but I'll come up with something."

"You won't come up with anything that hasn't already been considered," Nyx corrected with a bit of a smirk. "Now get going. Go fight your battles."

[spoiler=Sea Shore]<"The others should be here soon, but ... just in case, let's get a head start,"> Noah decided, clearly not too confident in the decision, but if they warped Antares away they might not see him again. Her plan was coming together quickly in her mind: they would both approach, with Liam drawing away their ranged fire while she loosed thunder spells on them from a distance, picking off the men one by one, and hopefully taking down any staffers as well. Once the resistance was light enough, Liam would rush the deck while she covered him at a distance. Hopefully by then the others would catch up and someone could pull the emperor and Liam safely off the ship. If not, then Liam would have to get the emperor and she would have to keep up suppressing fire for ... admittedly, an unreasonable amount of time. She only had so much stamina and taking out most of the ship's deck crew while flying and evading any fire that came her way would be more than just pushing it.

<"I hope they double their pace because just the two of us working to free him is going to be extremely difficult ...">

[spoiler=Captain's Cabin]Antares winced slightly, sensing the trainees preparing to intercept the ship. They could hold out for awhile, but it was a needless risk, he determined. Petia's confidence was allowing Antares to stall long enough for the reinforcements to arrive. Of course, had he not put them in this stressful and for the lack of a better term 'alien', by offering himself up like he had, they might be handling it a bit more pragmatically. They were trying, though; he'd give them that.

<"We planned this attack for weeks, Avian King, refined it even as we sailed the Far Rim,"> Petia said, his voice full of pride, <"A single slip up would cost us all our lives. Having now said this, I think it wise to get back to the crux of this matter. What is your decision? Will you swear by your goddess to cooperate with us? Or will we be forced to put you to sleep so the seal can be safely removed?">

<Getting impatient, is he? Well I suppose I couldn't stall him with idle chitchat very long, though I would have certainly liked to. I rarely get to sit down and converse with outsiders.> <"I'm afraid I cannot. You will simply have to render me unconscious and carry out your plan to the best of your ability ... and the ability of your men further down the line, I suppose.">

<"... a pity,"> Petia frowned deeply.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

Veronika was away enough and his food was gone enough that Gar could finally say something else. "You alright?" he asked Suzzy Q. She hadn't been so chatty. Granted that could be chalked up to the throat thing but eh, probably not. "You don't want to say it here we can go somewhere else." He offered.

[Mercakete]

When they entered the dining hall, the first thing Norbert noticed was that Robin was no longer seated where she had been. She wasn't far from it, but now she was talking to some of the others. Oh no... Come on, Robin, you shouldn't be talking to others with a head injury like that -- you might say things that you'll regret later. Frowning, he first walked over to the table they'd been seated at, then informed Tilly, "I'll go get her."

So, he walked up to the huntress and told her, "Hey, Robin, I found someone to take care of that head injury for you. Come on -- she's right over here." If all went well, maybe he could even finish eating his lunch while Tilly took care of the huntress's head.