Lord of Azure ***** Chapter 4: The chapter in which no one dares to utter the F word

[Kanami]

Kamilla was about to grab Kelas's offer with both hands when Morgan finally spoke dashing her hopes, even if she promised to keep quiet they probably wouldn't believe her and even if they did, Septimia had branches in Halton soil as well, she'd no doubt be interrogated and probably handed over to Elysimmian authorities eventually anyway.

She looked at Kelas and tried to smile "Thank you, but it doesn't really solve anything" she said quietly, partly due to not wanting everyone looking at her again, but mainly because her throat hurt too much for her to speak normally.

"So where do you people plan to go from here? I thought I heard someone say capitol before this..... event" she said trying to keep her mind off being a criminal, "Surely you're not going to head to the capitol now?" Having heard Chases comments she paused and looked over "General Jackson?" she asked, she'd heard such rumors but most if not everyone didn't take the rumor seriously. How could they? If Jackson had the axe, he'd probably be handed over to the Churches, or constantly under strict surveillance.

[-Cynthia-]

"Our outlaw status is unfortunate, but unless you have some sort of solution in mind, i suggest we focus on the weapons instead. We cannot turn in the idiot fire mage, and considering we are actually guilty, any encounter with officials would be both time consuming and likely end poorly. Our best bet is to be on the move, and we may as well move towards another weapon, yes?"

[Inactive Account]

"You said he's the reason you're an outlaw," Kelas remarked. "Explain?"

[riariadne]

"And you will have absolutely no chance at talking to Conrad unless you get yourself arrested too. Have fun, because it all boils down to the fact you're going to need me no matter what." Chase turned away from Helios and addressed what he considered to be a more important statement.

"The reason I'm an outlaw is because I was given under minimum wage once out of distaste," Chase remarked, "and I'm not someone to let things go easily".

----

In The capital of Eliyisma...

"You! Are there any sightings of Chase recently?" said a tall man. A gold cape draped over his back, green chain armor in the case of an emergency, and orange hair. In his left hand was a blazing red axe: one of the Crimson Weapons.

"As a matter of fact, there was a recent one in the border town here," a soldier said, pointing at a map. "So far, our investigations say that this one is, in fact, genuine."

"Finally," the man said, "You may go," he addressed the soldier.

"As you wish, Lord Conrad." The soldier left the room.

"It's been over a year since he's been seen for real. You're going to be in trouble when I find you, Chase Veshkal..." Conrad murmured to himself.

Edited May 6, 2010 by Lightning

[Ansem]

Helios did not want to admit but they did indeed need him. "Do as you like" Helios said. He turned to Kelas. "We are all outlaws because of that fool". "He burned down the inn".

[Kanami]

Kamilla stared at Morgan unsure of what she was thinking and not believing her ears.

"I can agree with being on the move, but being on the move right into enemy hands" she asked bewildered, "You want to go and walk up to a military general and ask him to betray his country and join you?" she'd learned by now that Morgan usually had a plan when she suggested things, but her suggestion this time, just didn't seem to make any sense.

[-Cynthia-]

"If he wants to truly help his country, he'll see the threat of the Lord of Azure Flame and be willing to side with us. Unfortunately, people seem to lack the capacity for logic, so we may have to resort to bribery or force if necessary."

[riariadne]

"If we have the same plan, and I think we do, it's slightly more complicated," Chase said. "The problem is that he thinks I'm going to steal again from someone else important. If we can prove we're trustworthy, he'll probably take our plan into consideration, and if we can prove that we need all the Crimson Weapon wielders together somehow, he'll most likely join us."

[Ansem]

"It would be rather rash" He said. "If we fail we might have the whole Elysimian Military on us". "They are likely going to declare war on Halton if we rub him the wrong way". "But if things go our way we might be able to get him to join and have the Elysimian military off our hands. "It is risky but we need Damian to decide

[Inactive Account]

"If you're trying to gain an ally against him, it won't work," Kelas informed Helios flatly at his remark about Isotov. "Frankly I don't care that we're outlaws, I care that we still haven't sat down and discussed how to avoid becoming such. Everyone acts in whichever way they think best for the situation, regardless of whether they know anything about it, and then gets into a shouting match over whose fault it was as we're running away. We can go on about 'if he hadn't' or 'if she hadn't' until the gods grow old, and it will accomplish nothing. If I had managed to fend off a certain bandit ten years ago, neither I nor my family would be wrapped up in this mess, but what's done is done."

"It may be a necessary risk, talking to the axe's wielder. If we do convince this man of the necessity of joining us, might he also clear our names?" Kelas inquired of Chase.

Edited May 6, 2010 by Darth Lacuna

[Ansem]

"We also have to consider the risks" Helios said calmly. "Halton and Elysima are the only nations that i know that havent been attacked and conquered"

[riariadne]

"I... think so. I'm not sure about me, because of what I've done before, and Isokov might have a minor punishment, because let's face it, he kinda... destroyed the inn, but the rest of you will probably be cleared. Conrad's not the sort of guy who'll hold grudges he considers useless. He tends to have a reason for what he does."

"If Eliyisma wants to keep it that way, then not starting a war would be a good idea. And I don't think Conrad's in a high enough position to do that even if he wanted to."

Edited May 6, 2010 by Lightning

[Phoenix]

OOC: Long post alert, this is taking place about a hundred feet from the picnic gone Maury :D

Iso walked away from the conversations and Irina swiftly followed him. After a moment, Kiev followed along too. Along the way, Irina ran up beside him and put her hand on his shoulder.

Irina: You know, maybe you should try to get along with the others.

Iso: They don't even get along with each other! Now I'm being blamed for Proxima's instability! Dammit! Why did Katie drag me up there?

Irina: Instability? :/

Iso: My emotions aren't what's causing Proxima to behave like this. The book doesn't have a mind of its own either. It's a force. It's like an awful intent. The will of hell itself. It causes destruction, just by being there. The fact that it became unstable just puts matters slightly out of my hands.

She was sympathetic and curious now.

Irina: What happened to you after you left, ten years ago?

Iso: I spent every waking moment trying to figure out how to destroy Proxima. Sometimes I would give up ... on rare occasions I attempted to take my own life. Surprisingly my attempts failed and actually got others killed. I met a lot of people along the way, and they ALL died, because we never agreed, and we never got along. It had to be someone's way, and when the assassins came, I was always the injured survivor with blood staining my vision and Proxima in my hands.

Irina: You can't be serious!

Iso: About six months ago I ran into a sage woman named Miranda. She was powerful ... extremely powerful. She should have been at an academy, not traveling with me. She listened to me, helped me, and even managed to seal Proxima's power, so it couldn't be used ever again. That saved me a lot of grief, but the seal broke when someone killed her. You're not supposed to break a weapon seal in that manner, and ever since, I've had nearly complete control over Proxima, but it also has control over me. Which ever one of us is more alive, on fire if you will at the time always wins. Proxima always wins when I get startled ... always. That's when I can't help but call out to it, and then people start dying.

Irina: But I startle you all the time. Why doesn't it cause you to attack me?

Iso: That's because you and I, are two things Ivanko can't control.

Irina: ... sense ... you're not making a lot of it right now ... :/

Iso: I know. Irina, I've been through a lot before now, and history is repeating itself. I can't let anything happen to you. I even turned myself into those religious idiots that the girl mentioned. I wanted them to subdue Proxima, but they died because they tried to kill me first, and then take my weapon. Nothing ever works out. This little group isn't going to work out either from the looks of things, and when everything goes to hell, I don't want you to die too. The last ten years would have been for nothing if that happens.

Irina: I ... I understand but ... I can't turn my back on this ... and you shouldn't go around expecting the worst all the time.

Iso: Whatever. You can go back to the others if you want. I need to think a little bit. If we're stuck here, then I need to think of a way to avert another disaster. The assassins that came after me never wait more than a few months to come back.

Assassins? She knew he wouldn't become specific about what that meant, but it was obvious that Iso was being hounded by individuals from somewhere for nearly the entire time they'd been apart. He was also worried about the group, or rather Irina herself. She decided to wait for another time and lead Kiev away by his reins.

Iso: (Ten years trying to protect her ... wasted because of Ivanko -_- )

OOC: This is NOT even half of the complete story. Just what Iso WILL say to Irina with the others so close by.

Edit: OOC: DUDE!!! This is totally a support convo :o

Edited May 6, 2010 by Phoenix

[Ansem]

"We supposedly killed two people". That is when his eyes lit up. "Wait a second". "If i am right we can prove that we didnt kill anyone".

[Kanami]

Kamilla shook her head, "General Jackson might be influential, but his influence is nothing compared to that of Lord Harold, and if he finds out what you people have done, there's little chance of convincing him otherwise, and even if you do somehow get General Jacksons cooperation, you'll still be up against the entire Elysimmian army. I don't know how strong you people are, but unless you're immortals, there's no chance of survival there"

Kamilla shot Helios a dirty look "You want to kill people and then trick people into thinking otherwise, there was a good dozen or so men watching that poor man going up in flames"

Sighing, she looked up at the sky, such a wonderful day to be doing the laundry she thought to herself.

Edited May 6, 2010 by Nadesico

[riariadne]

"Let me get this straight: General Jackson is pretty damn influential, not only because he's a superb tactician and fighter, but he has a lot of money and a Crimson Weapon. That's pretty important. He's probably in the top 10 influential people in the country, top 20 if we aren't counting the axe. His choice can mean everything."

((I'm done for today guys, I'll try to catch up tomorrow though))

Edited May 6, 2010 by Lightning

[Ansem]

"No think about it" Helios said. "How do they know that we are Halton soldiers"? "As far as i know know no one knows Damian by face". "The only people that knew we were from Halton were the guards that we "Killed"". "They wouldnt have the chance to tell anyone". "That proves that the guards are alive".

[-Cynthia-]

"Influential as he may be, the words of the 6 heroes tend to override what anyone else has to say. At least the more prominent ones like Harold, some of the heroes who are less in then public eye have significantly less influence."

[Kanami]

OoC: Rein, there is no way in hell you're telling me Conrad is more influential then Harold, Harold's one of the six great heroes for crying out loud XD (Swordmaster I think) I thought Conrad was a low level general anyway?

I admit that the Crimson weapon would get him power, but that power is nothing compared to Lord Harold, the Crimson Weapons wouldn't even exist if it were not for him and his righteous deeds" in a battle of influence between General Jackson and Lord Harold, the general wouldn't last a second.

Noticing Morgan saying similar things she decided she'd drop her case on Jacksons influence.

"And despite your knowledge of the man, I can't imagine him sacrificing everything he's worked for until now for the sake of this little group. Even should the demon lord rise again there is no guarantee Crimson weapons are required to stop him, not with many of the great heroes still around at least anyway."

Edited May 7, 2010 by Nadesico

[Balcerzak]

The green-haired mage was grasping at straws. Tessa just shook her head, "You weren't there, you didn't see what happened. A group of men came out of a room. One of them... went up in flames, the rest fled in fear. They all got a good look at at least five of our faces. There's no way either Sis, or I, Kelas, or her brother, nor the one with the crimson fire will be able to explain our way out of anything."

She paused a bit, confused, and appended, "And where did this business about Haltonian origin become even slightly relevant?"

Edited May 7, 2010 by Balcerzak

[Phoenix]

Irina eventually made it back to the group with Kiev walking alongside her, his head held low just like hers.

Irina: Did you guys decide what we're going to do? :(

[Ansem]

OOC: It was because of the first post. Helios doesnt know that but i do. Ignore the posts before

[Kanami]

Kamilla glared at Irina angrily "No, we're still trying to work out how to get out of this mess you and your boyfriend have gotten us into" she snapped. Kamilla wasn't used to pressure, and sitting around talking was slowly eating away at her,

*In her mind*

What if the soldiers catch up?

What if someone here was a spy?

What if they actually commence a bandit hunt?

What if... the list went on.

[Phoenix]

Irina had gotten a little upset for the first time since joining the group. She realized that everyone was mad at her brother ... it was starting to push her a little bit.

Irina: >_< ... grrr! Stop blaming my brother for what happened! You guys wanted to find the crimson fire tome so badly before, and now ya have it, the fire tome, and everything that comes with it! It's a crimson weapon for crying out loud. It's ... not his fault ... ... I'm so tired

Kiev quickly nudged against her trying to calm her down.

Irina: I'm sorry, Kiev. Hmpf. If you don't have anything nice to say about each other, then why don't you just shut-

Suddenly, a hand came down on her shoulder! She look over and saw Iso. He walked passed her.

Iso: Remember what I told you, little sister <_<

Irina: Urgh! ... ... ... >_< ... this ... this totally SUCKS!!

[-Cynthia-]

"If you've noticed, most of us have learned to properly control the crimson weapons. Perhaps if certain wielders had more focus and less emotionality, they would not make so many errors?"

"Anyway, if this General Jackson person is unavailable, there are other routes we could take. I suppose we could backtrack and attempt to find Rayton or the knife wielder, but I'm not sure we'll find any leads."