Faith in the Spirits Arc 1: To Align the Stars

[TheRoon]

Renais didn't have time to really say goodbye to the others, Gean was quick to pull her off to their destination...or lack there of that is. Speaking of which! "I've been doing fine and...really as long as you don't take me to a music shop or a bar with an open mic I'm fine with wherever you want to take me." It was a shame, she had to ask around for this "Alto". "...actually, maybe a music bar isn't a bad idea, but first I need to buy some ear plugs. So maybe a general goods store would provide."

[JakezuGD]

People didn't seem to have much to ask about and everyone filtered into town at their own pace, leaving Natalya and the Evokers just standing about, after the tiger had popped out from her checking of the wagons. "Looks like you've got your answer there. My guess is people just want the moment to relax as much as they can, which I'm sure you're just as in favor of," she commented with a quick stretch. She'd have to make good on that idea of a date with Alvira, but it'd be best to do so after everything was properly settled for their stay. "I'll go ahead and check that everything's fine with our accommodation, so unless you'd rather join me in doing that, you should be free to take a break yourselves, yeah? Deserved after everything you had to do in Liste."

Elisa was there to answer questions as much as Tio was, though her dress was much the same as before as opposed to her wife's different approach. Yet, just as Tasha said, the Tigers seemed maybe a bit too carefree all things considered, a needed rest as it may have been. "I'd trust most of them to take care of themselves enough to not get in trouble... some not as much, but at least we're not in Islexia yet. Either way," the strawberry blonde took a quick step beside Tio and hugged her arm, "what's the verdict, go relax at the inn, or see what we could do around town?~"

[Mercenary on the Winds]

It seemed like everyone already had their own ideas of what they wanted to do, and how they were going to do it. To the point that not a single person asked a question. Well, I asked for lenience, didn't I? Tio did catch Renais's glance before her eyes shot skyward. At the very least, she could tell that the outfit was working her charms. With just about everyone dispersed, Natalya offered to handle their accommodations. "Would you handle that? Elisa, and I can check on things later, I'm sure that we'll find ourselves at the inn soon enough. And, thank you for that. Liste, and the trip here have been a little draining, so it would be wonderful to take advantage of this break."

The soft hug on her arm got Tio to turn to face her wife, "Well, I think we can go see the town; see what we can find, and then go back to the inn to relax." There were some actual administrative things that she'd wanted to do, namely, visiting the outpost to discover what was happening here in Cerezia. Cerezia was a mercenary haven given its size and location, and they were out in force, and so too were the knights. They'd managed to avoid problems but Tio had noticed the wvyerns in the sky on their trek from Liste, and couldn't help but think it was related to their Pegasus rider. Tio shook her head, she would have time to deal with all of this, and she'd spent the majority of the trek on various parts of work. She needed to relax, even if it was only for a little while. "Yes, I think we'll go and see Cerezia. If there are any issues with our lodging, or something, Elisa and I will handle it when we return. Oh, and also, I would keep an eye out; Cerezia is a well known hideaway for mercenaries, and they're out in force. I'd say to try to keep our sudden recruitments to a minimum, but the Tigers are magnetic. I... think that's all, so..." Tio gently tugged her glomped arm, "We'll be off. If there are any serious problems, Elisa and I will probably know, and we'll hurry along as fast as we're able. Don't take too long with the logistics, Alvira's waiting for you~."

---

"Hmm?" The man looked up as he was addressed by Alvira, adjusting his glasses as he looked the girl over. "Huh. Don't get dragon travelers here to Cerezia, of all place, for pretty obvious reasons." He tilted his head at her question, "Uh... deities. Not entirely sure if I would call them that, more like myths and legends. Uh..." The young man got up from his seat, finger on his nose as he moved towards the back part of the library. After a couple moment, he returned to three books, 2 in relatively good condition, and the 3rd in a old, tattered state. He held up the first two, "These two were donated to me by some merfolk who visited from the seas south of Vega. Talking about a being that supposedly protects them, and the seas, from attackers. It's not ice, but the seas are cold, right?" He put books down, and then carefully held up the 3rd, "This one... well, its the old Legend of the Three Angels. You know, the story that the heroes from the war twelve hundred years ago. It's said that three of the heroes, including Galari, were gifted godlike powers and they used them to defeat the Lords of Demise. Not exactly what you were looking for, but it's kind of hard to have stuff on deities, you know? What's driving you to look for info on deities, anyway?"

---

After a moment or so, a waitress walked out of the cafe, and over to Siorel and Cinead. Her floppy ears bounced along with her hair as she shook her head before announcing herself. "Welcome, welcome to Tia's Tea." The girl stifled a laugh as she said the name, "Is there something the two of you are interested in-- oh right, menus would probably help, huh?" She handed them both a menu. "I'll give you both a moment to look over things." 

Edited October 11, 2022 by Mercenary on the Winds

[Nanami Touko]

"..." Alvira sighed. "If I told you that I was stuck in a mana storm in Lufiria, and now I can't use my fire magic because a God has been locked into my mana flow, letting me do this," she said, holding the ice up, "ad infinitum, and I'm trying to find info on said God so that I can try and pray to them to find an answer as to why this was happening, you wouldn't believe me, would you?" She held a rather dry face staring at the guy, letting her ice dissipate into nothing. "If that's all you've got, I'll take them, I suppose... Er... Right, this is a library? A store? I'm not really sure... Are they for sale or do we rent here?" She wasn't quite sure, so hopefully poindexter would tell her. "And... You don't get dragons often? Why's that obvious? I mean, I get it, Hecatia isn't exactly the most nice and kind to Clouded and Monsters, but... It's not the worst. It's not Islexia. Is it just because of the proximity?" To that end, Alvira let out a little, "huh," staring at him with a further squint and rubbing her chin. "And... You don't seem to be any bothered by me, are ya? Get a lot of Clouded customers?"

[Mercenary on the Winds]

The man blinked at Alvira. What on Amaranth was a mana storm? In Lufiria? Did that mean that the woman in front of him was actually from Lufiria? And then her magic was tethered to a God, and that somehow was keeping her from using her fire magic replacing it with infinitely replenishing ice. On a close glance, the ice actually was ice, not magical, but just ice. The man cleared his throat, "...I. No? I don't think I would? I can't say I really believe all of that, but... this world is rather confusing. If you were really looking you'd probably go somewhere like Glacies, or Kansei, especially Kansei. Maybe even Amaranthe would have something--that's the Hecatian capital." He looked at Alvira, the woman's face was serious. Almost too serious for such a nonsensical claim that it almost wrapped around to being barely plausible. "Mmm... It's a library, so you'd be renting them for the time being... not that I think anyone's ever going to come and pick these books up. Maybe the Legend of the Three Angels, but that's kind of hard not to know already. So if you didn't return them, I don't think anyone would miss them." 

The man nodded, "Yeah, it's just location. Hecatia's not the worst for clouded, but we're real close to the border, and Islexia is the worst. You just don't see too many clouded or draconic travelers coming to Cerezia because either you're going to Islexia--which is honestly more psychotic than anything you just told me--or you're coming out of Islexia, like Balsa and his family had. Lastly, yeah, I get a decent amount of Clouded customers, and Cerezia's got her fair share of clouded and monsters. I'm also from Kansei, and we'd been on a good track until Feld decided to dump all over it." He shrugged, "Such it goes, unfortunately."

Edited October 11, 2022 by Mercenary on the Winds

[Nanami Touko]

"Feld?" Alvira wasn't familiar with the name, picking up the books and making sure to be quite aware of him mentioning that no one would miss them. Then no one will miss them~ Seems like most folks don't know or care about the Gods, anyway... Wish more people believed. Mmm... Maybe one day... "Well, time for you to call me crazy then, cuz I will be passing into Islexia... How well that goes will depend on the group I'm travelling with, but I know to keep my head down once we get in there." Hopefully they didn't run into too many crazy folks on their way through, but considering all the crazy folks they'd already run into in 'safe' places, she had her doubts. "Even if you think I'm crazy for the talk about Gods and for going into Islexia, thank you for your help... I'm, curious about this Feld, but there's probably nothing I can do about it anyway since we're going in the complete opposite direction." She shrugged a little and sighed. "We'll be in town today, so... If you happen across any more books on Gods, or any info, just look for me or another dragon that's travelling with us-- he's Clouded, not full, no wings, but the tail and scales should give him away-- Also he's really tall! Anyway."

Alvira turned for the door, bowing a little with the books in her arms. "See you next time, poindexter. Name's Alvira, if you need to ask around for me." She swayed out of the door with a swish of her tail, hoping to find a place to sit down and start reading...

---

"Oh! Heya~" Siorel smiled wide and took the menu, slowly leafing through it. "Well, if you've got eggs for sale, I'd like an omelette. Maybe a ham omelette? Not fussy either way, just want something nice and warm. That's all for me! Cin?" Siorel held the menu back towards their waitress, glancing at Cin. "Oh! And some ice tea~"

Edited October 11, 2022 by Mel the DM

[Billy12510]

The proprietor of the arena came to pay Mari, and also taunt Syndra and Miria a bit. Syndra scoffed at the woman and said, "I know you're just trying to get us to sign up to fight, and I have to say, it worked. I'm going in after she is." Syndra said pointing at Miria. Confident or not in how far she'd go, Syndra still didn't take to being called a spectator lightly, even if she knew the comment was designed to get a reaction from her.

[MRDRHAWK]

Nyx was still in a haze, but after some time in the city, it cleared up enough to give her a purpose. Favio may not have known it at the time, but he did give her something after all - a lead. After all, things were muddy in her head, and if this… Luthier or whoever could answer some questions for her, all the better.

Granted, it might have been a terrible idea - probably was, honestly. Which was why she went alone to try and find him.

Grabbing a dark cloth from the wagons to craft a makeshift hood, and ducking through various back alleys, Nyx eventually made her way to the local tavern - or one of them, anyways. Getting down to the nitty gritty was the best way to find things in this town, and bartenders were always a great source of information. Slinking up to the bar, she kept her makeshift hood close to her as she whispered to the barkeep. “Oi, mate. M’lookin fer some’un. Y’think ye can help a lass out?”

[Mercenary on the Winds]

A dark skinned man rose an eyebrow when his door opened, and a hooded figure walked in. Nothing too out of the ordinary, but the figure seemed... lost, out of place. He shrugged, but the figure beelined straight for the seat closest to him, and whispered a question, while keeping the hood down. "Maybe. Nothin' fer free, though." He glanced over the hood, and then shook his head. "Ask a lad fer help, and ye hide yer eyes. Sound like ye ain't suppose to be 'round here. How's I suppose to know you ain't a knight, or something? Not that I against the knights... I'm just not here to out myself."

---

Luia smiled. Stars above some people can't help themselves... Free Gold is always nice~ "Alright then, I'll need a couple names. Rules are simple, basic weapons on your end only, and no killing blows. Don't break the rules, or you'll get thrown out, or maybe worse if you cross the mercs in there." Both women seemed a little more self assured than appearances seemed to indicate, but there were a lot of people who were confident, and didn't realize what they were walking into. The dark blue haired woman seemed to have a clearer head on her shoulder, but the smaller one seemed on her own wavelength. That would probably cost her.

Edited October 11, 2022 by Mercenary on the Winds

[MRDRHAWK]

Well, fair enough. Maybe Nyx knew the guy, too, so just in case, she did lift the hood up slightly - enough so he could see, but that other prying eyes couldn’t tell who she was. Hopefully that would suffice for now.

”Nah, m’no knight. Jus’ someone tryin’ not t’start any more shit than I gotta.” And truthfully, Nyx didn’t even know if the knights would still be after her after all these years. Come to think of it, did people around here even remember who she was? This bartender may have to be the test of that notion.

[Mercenary on the Winds]

The man's eyes widened. "...Galari above. You're fucking alive." He looked around, making sure that no one else was paying attention. "Too long, not that you'd 'member me, but, can't believe it. Used to be underground, worked wit' ya a couple times. Who the hell ye looking fer all th' way out here? Oh, right, Neto. That's me." Who would have thought that the Envy Empress would show up in front of him after all of this time? Everyone said that she'd up and bit it, and a lot of them cheered about it, too. Which made her seeming hesitance all the more confusing. Well, maybe not. 

[MRDRHAWK]

Neto… the name did ring a bell, but nothing concrete. Which was kind of why Nyx was here to begin with - trying to figure out what the hell happened to her head, and why. Evidently, she’d also come to the right place, given how he hadn’t just turned her away as soon as he saw her face, so that was a good sign.

”M’lookin fer answers, mostly. Head’s been a bit fuzzy, think somethin’ mighta happened th’night I took off. Thinkin’ a guy named Luthier might ‘ave ‘em. Ye know where I might find the lad?” Hopefully, now, Neto could help Nyx just that bit more. Although given how Favio talked about Luthier and his ilk, this… might not be the best idea.

Oh, well. She’d been spending the last few weeks flirting with married women in way too high places for her. Making shitty life choices was just what Nyx did, apparently.

[Mercenary on the Winds]

The man blinked, and then slowly leaned in close. "So... are you asking te get yer self killed, or... what? Luthier? Yer looking fer Luthier?" The man chuckled as he leaned away from Nyx. "Just go bury yer self in the sand, it'll accomplish th' same thing." He leaned back in, his face serious, but the grip on the table betrayed something else. "No, no, no... Ye find don't Luthier. He finds ye, and ye hope that ye ain't on the list. Even if I knew jack, I wouldn't say shit, because I'd find myself in th' grave next te yours."

Neto waved her out, "If that's what yer after, can't help. Not gettin' tangled in that web." Neto looked around at the other patrons, and noticed that one had simply vanished. 

Edited October 12, 2022 by Mercenary on the Winds

[MRDRHAWK]

Nyx groaned, as Neto proved precisely zero help. Well, that wasn’t entirely true; at the very least, he’d informed her that he was bad news, and to try and steer clear from him. Granted, Nyx wasn’t about to just give up because one person had told her nothing, but it was still a pain nonetheless.

”Well, shit. Y’know some’un who might know how t’find th’lad? Even if nobody’s done it before, jus’ means I gotta be the first.” Nyx smiled, a baring of teeth she hadn’t needed to do in a while. She failed to notice that one of the other patrons had up and left in the middle of her conversation with Neto, but she was a bit more focused on something else at the moment than chasing ghosts.

[GoldsbroTSG]

Miria's smile was big and confident. She stepped forward, keeping her game face on point. She was gonna kick ass, and she felt good about it.

"If I may, the name is Miria, but if you can announce my name as, 'the Lunar Gold' when I go in. I promise you'll understand." Her voice toned down from her usual excitement, toning it down to show how serious she was about this request. She thought the lady would be nice enough to follow through.

[Billy12510]

“Syndra. No fancy nicknames or anything for me.” Syndra was getting mentally ready to go in as soon as Miria was done. Perhaps some of Miria’s enthusiasm could rub off on her.

[Bluemask 96]

Gean laughed at Renais joke that apparently became a serious inquiry. It looks like music hunting was in the plans for today. Gean could assume somewhat as to why Renais wanted to go. "Well, I can't speak on how effective trying to gain what you seek will be with ear plugs in, but if the lady wants the General store then that's where we're headed."

While they walked and searched for the store, Gean kept hold of Renais hand. She noticed that she had stopped talking and the stress from the last week was slowly starting to come back. "Uh, I wanna say, thanks for coming with me. I've... not been the best space since Eibar, so I definitely shouldn't be alone right now. Miria actually offered to hang with me but I don't think I could give her one hundred percent big sis today. I almost turned this down to but-" Gean trailed off as they finally reached Cerezia General. "Shall we?" Gean gave Renais a smile. 

[scorri]

"Mmm," Cinaed gave the menu a quick look before handing it back to the waitress. "I'll have a salad with steak and a water please. Oh and the vinaigrette dressing." He smiled at her before turning back to Siorel, reaching out to gently squeeze her hand. "You can talk about whatever whenever you feel like it. I'm not here to push, I just want to enjoy the time we have. And today is a beautiful day, we should enjoy it! Focus on the here and now, right? It won't help either of us to dwell on what was or what is to come. Or, at least that's what I'm trying to remember. I'm more than a little prone to worry if you hadn't noticed." He chuckled, knowing he was downplaying his issues but hoping that she would laugh along.

[Mercenary on the Winds]

"Syndra and the Lunar Gold, eh? Been a while since I got a good name like that out of someone. I'll take your entry fee, and hopefully you two aren't just losing money. When you're ready, waltz through the gate." Luia had to keep herself from chuckling at the name. Lunar Gold, the arena fighters at least made sense, but unless the name was in reference to her wallet, there was not a speck of gold on her. Well, maybe except the necklace. 

Either way, she was probably just some wayward noblewoman's daughter with delusions of grandeur. They were always the best to watch. The other human was potentially interesting to say the least, but potential meant little unless it was realized. Oh well, free gold is free gold. Humans are so simple~

---

"Sure, sure. You made a good choice with the ham omelette, I tell ya. Yonde back there? Wizard with a pan, makes the fluffiest omelettes this side of Hecatia. Ham's a good choice, too--" 

"Bisca!"

The woman straightened with a yelp, and turned to face a large, built man standing in the doorway. "Yes, sir?"

The man shook his head with a sigh, "Don't be bothering the patrons. We've still got orders to take." He nodded at both Siorel and Cinead before disappearing back inside. The woman turned back to Siorel and Cinead with a nervous laugh.

"S-sorry. Tend to get carried away sometimes. So! A ham omelette and steak with the salad, and the vinaigrette dressing... good choices, good choic-- oh right, an ice tea. Gotcha, gotcha, neither should take too long. Be back!"

The woman quickly disappeared back into the building with a nod.

---

The young man blinked, and again, and again. He was waiting for Alvira to reveal that she was lying, but the look was no different than when she was talking about the gods. She was deadly serious. The man sighed, and fixed his glasses with a confused smile on his face. "You meet all types out here... A clouded willingly walking into Islexia, and talking about the gods..." He refrained from calling her crazy, but only because she'd basically okayed it. He sighed, sitting back into his chair. She didn't need someone telling her that walking into Islexia, willingly, as a monster or clouded was asking to have one's head cracked open. She didn't seem like the type to be dissuaded either. 

"I don't expect that I'll find much more if I seriously look. Like I said, that kind of stuff isn't commonplace here. I'll give it a go because of your sheer audacity, but--Eh?"

Alvira had found her way to the door, mentioning something about another dragon, before offering a goodbye. The man scratched his head, "Poindexter? The heck does that mean?" He sighed, and rose from his chair. Might as well keep to his word, even if he wasn't going to find anything. How absurd. What reason could a dragon--a full blooded dragon--have to travel to Islexia? 

Edited October 12, 2022 by Mercenary on the Winds

[GoldsbroTSG]

Miria nodded with a smile as Luia... seemingly, complimented her name. The girl immediately dropped her gold for the fee, and did a few stretches. She had to make sure the bones were nice and awake. "Okay, I'm off then~ Wish me luck Syndra, Mari. Oh! And Mari, speaking of what you said earlier, hahah, ask me again about it when I get back." She hadn't forgotten the comment the arm-girl made regarding a mercenary group. Little did she know... No! No time for distractions! Miria stepped herself through, and made her way to her position. Not before arming herself with... Miria realized she had left her helmet. After that whole week, had she forgotten to keep it with her after losing it? Well, it was too late, she already paid her money. Getting herself armored up, she mentally prepared herself...

---

When her name was announced, the Lunar Gold stepped and held her sword in the air as the crowd cheered. She loved this. It was an exciting, blood-rushing feeling. Her first opponent arrived. The Red Flame. Something fire related. Cool, Miria thought to herself. Miria at this point was used to fire. She got this good. The girl immediately went in to attack, got a strong first hit in, but the Flame responded with a fireball. Miria's armor easily took the blast as she put her arm in front of her face. And she was still coming! Remembering not to be lethal, instead of a sword slash, Miria gave her opponent one good punch, and down went the Red Flame.

Next up was one 'Green Thunder'. Must've been like some kind of duo regarding their names, Miria thought it was cute. It was a much similar fight, Miria was able to charge in for a hit, and after eating a bolt of lightning, she went in for a finishing shot, able to cleanly turn the sword to it's side before smacking the man across the face and sending him to the ground. Another win, Miria was still feeling good.

And now comes Sakaim Narva. Not as flashy as Red Flame and Green Thunder, maybe a little more business first, fun later. Miria gave a look at this individual, she wasn't positive on if she could confidently beat this one, and soon, her sword engulfed in flames. The trimming of her armor had begun to glow red, and her normally shining gold eyes, similarly became a fiery red. She moved in to strike, giving one good shot towards her opponent. In return, he went for a shot of his Elflux, but Miria's flames burned to bright, and the shot had missed. The flaming girl went for her strike, and seemed to have struck too well, and Sakaim fell.

Next up was Ramirez. This guy felt familiar, but... Miria didn't really worry about it. What she remembered, this was the guy that had stopped Mari, who lopped off her arm. He was tough... With full confidence, Miria went in and-- With barely any time on the clock, Miria's first strike... hit home, and Ramirez was already down. She thought this would be more... difficult. "U-Uh... S-Sorry!" She announced to him, she felt bad about how their fight had just gone. The girl was sure he'd be just as flabbergasted when he was up.

Then, there was one Deci Long Reach. That must've been a title, especially considering the bow. Miria's assault began, and she got the first good hit in. Deci fired back, and Miria felt it in her shoulder, even if it bounced and broke apart on her armor. She gave a swing, and not only had she knocked out her opponent, their bow was snapped in half.

As Lumina Wanderer stepped up, Miria's flames had faded away. That was it, and she wasn't going to be able to bring them back. Miria had to rely on her skill for this one. At least, she hoped she could. Her first attack was on point, a good hit on Lumina, but she was quick to fire back: some kind of light spell! The golden girl was quick to dodge the attack, the fight in Liste reminded her of what happened last time. Another hit struck, but this time Lumina's light had struck Miria, knocking her back a bit. As she regained her footing, it seemed some of the woman's wounds were healing? This was some other form of magic. However, that wasn't going to stop this armored hero from showing her ferocity! One more strike! But it still hadn't been enough!

It was then...

The final spell casted hit Miria, but something about it was way stronger than before. Miria was sent flying across the arena. The crashing and rolling knocked the wind out of Miria as she finally came to a stop. That definitely hurt. Miria shook her head, she felt something warm trickling down her face. She coughed only to see dirt fly around. She was on the ground. But.. she couldn't stop fighting. Not yet! She hadn't won yet! Miria tried to force all her energy to her herself off the ground. It looked like she was going to make it. Until something in Miria's brain forced her to stop, and she had crumpled back, face first into the dirt as her armor dissipated, and she was back in her regular clothes.

[Xinnidy]

"Hmm... okay." He wanted something simple, iron knuckles seemed good enough, but now that Armin mentioned the throwing things, Üllr's curiosity was piqued. He wondered what would it take to prove said man he was worthy. A way to deal with mages and archers more conveniently would be handy.

"Eh...?" While waiting, Sixteen had taken some interest in his claws, touching with her own. Hers weren't much smaller, comparatively... but he could see now that all that 'armor' would make her struggle with wielding even a gauntlet. "Hmm... it's a bit tight, but it still fits, I just need big knuckles, like that guy, Cinaed." Üllr kept examining Sixteen's claws, touching back to feel her own scaley texture. "I don't close my hand fully. Have to be careful with claws. It's still strong, though. Faster than clawing." At least in some sense, the slight unwieldiness would be made up by the weight of his punches.

[Billy12510]

Miria had her run through the arena, and was pretty successful all things considered, finally succumbing to a powerful blast of light. Syndra still applauded the fallen heroine for her efforts, and got ready for her run at the gauntlet, leaving her entry fee at the counter.

The first opponent was a mage by the name of 'Red Flame'. Syndra thought the name was stupid,  who would she be fighting next? Someone named 'Blue Ocean'? Syndra planned on getting through this fight quickly, pelting her opponent with ice shards. Her foe fought back with fire, but it wasn't overly effective on her, and Syndra finished her off with another set of ice shards.

The next opponent was another mage, this one by the name of 'Green Thunder' Should I be concerned with how close my guess was? Much like the last opponent she fought, she began with a flurry of ice shards, but nothing to put her opponent away immediately. For her troubles she got struck with thunder. When the shock wore off, Syndra was annoyed, and finished off her foe by burying them in snow.

Third up was announced as one 'Sakaim Narva". Another mage, but Syndra could tell this one was different, she sensed elder magic coming from them, always an issue for anima users. Syndra wasn't going to let a disadvantage in weapons stop her though, and began the fight with ice shards. Even though they had connected, they didn't seem to be that effective. Her opponent then began channeling a spell, and Syndra felt her world start growing heavier, and she fell to the ground. Syndra would get back up, and retaliate with a second flurry of ice shards, but something about them was... darker than the first set she fired off, and more effective as well, and her opponent fell after they connected with them.

Next up was opponent number four, announced as "RAMIREZ'. A brute with an axe. Wait, this seems oddly familiar. She looked at her foe again more closely, but nothing was coming to her. Shrugging the feeling off, Syndra fired off a series of ice shards at the brute, and while they did ring true, they didn't stop the man, who cleaved Syndra and sent her flying. She was still capable of standing, and managed to barely get on her feet again. Syndra knew if that happened again she wouldn't be able to get back up, so she put everything she had left into one more spell, and while the flurry she cast connected with her target, it didn't put him down. With one more clean swing, Syndra was sent flying across the arena floor again. She wanted to try to stand again, but she couldn't muster the energy to do so, and fell unconscious right there.

[mcd900]

A-Ah, jeez... this shouldn't be so... nice. Laniva mumbled something quietly, not doing much until she started to pull away. "Mm... u-um. S-Sure... nice to meet you, Syta." Laniva sighed, glancing away for a moment, rather embarrassed. "Laniva. I'm Laniva... I'm with a mercenary group, we're passing through town. A-And... sure, you're welcome, if you enjoyed it that much." Another sigh as she shrugged, looking around. "I don't think anyone was watching... not anyone I know at least, so... don't worry about it. It was..." kind of nice, actually? "...hrm. Um, if you want to thank me, how about you show me around town? If you're here for work, you probably know it better than I do." It was a bit of an odd thing to ask of a relative stranger, perhaps, but Laniva figured that she was probably owed a favor already...

[Nanami Touko]

"Heheh. Sorry for carrying you away~ I hope your boss isn't too mad." Siorel nodded along as Cin tried to play around his own problems, smiling and swaying in her seat a little. "Maybe I'll get a few bits of clothing, then... If you're so insistent on treating me, today. But nothing else, you hear? I'm not a girl to be spoiled with anything but affection. Material possessions are to be worked for." She stuck her tongue out and sack back, resting her hands on her stomach. She really wanted that omelette...

---

Mari watched the two fight their way through the arena, more impressed with miss Lunar Gold than the mage. She'd only stuck around, despite their losses, because miss armored in gold magic armor had said she wanted to tell her something. "Well... At least they didn't go out on the first round." Mari stretched as she got up, yawning again, making her way towards the entrance to catch them once they'd come back in. "Hope this is worth my time, but... Not like I have anything else to do."

---

Sixteen wasn't sure what to do when Üllr started touching her claws back, flinching a little and jumping in place, but not pulling away. "Whoa... This is nice? This feels nice." She squeezed his paw, gently, as he poked around her scales, holding his hands and slowly smiling. She swung his arm just a little bit, giggling. "Heehee... Friends are nice. I never really knew. You and Alriana are my first friends~ Heeheehee~" She'd moved on from his comments about gauntlets already, far too giddy about the positive feeling that was washing over her.

---

"Ohh... You need someone to show you around town? Sure! I'd be happy to." Syta was bounced out of her embarrassment quickly, picking herself up and standing at attention with a big smile on her face. "Just tell me where you wanna go first, Lani! What are you looking for? Equipment? Info? Books? Food? I've been all over town already, so I know the whole place like the back of my hand. Just say the word~"

You're far too happy to be helping this relative stranger, just because she's a pretty kitty, Syta.

Oh, don't be like that, Kisara. You know I love helping people. I'm just being myself... Now, anyway.

Mrrrh... I suppose. I'll keep an eye on her...

[TheRoon]

"Just a precaution, in case the headaches come back... among other things." She followed Gean along. The hand holding act has Renais distracted, but she simply ignored it and continued on. "...it really is a lot to take in, your life sounds like quite a journey. Royalty..." She responded back. "If you're worried about how everyone else will treat you now don't be, I won't at least. You're still a dear friend to me." Perhaps it wasn't exactly what Gean wanted to hear, but it was genuine at least. "...oh we've found it quick didn't we? Yes, let's go in." With that all said the pinkette lead her mermaid friend inside.