Lord of Azure Flame: Chapter 17: I got nothing.

[Dark Sage]

"Oh hey...Chase," said Alferis as Chase walked by not bothering to hear a response. "Huh. Anyway, breakfast is going to be very good," he said, licking his lips and running to the kitchen full speed.

"Ahh!" cried a serving girl. "Don't you know you're supposed to walk indoors?"

"Excuse him. He's an idiot. A hungry i-i-idiot," said Reika, sighing as she walked after him.

"Mmmmmmmm....Sausage. Apples. Bacon. Oh my," said Alferis with a grin, getting some of everything on his plate and began devouring it.

"My compliments to the chef!" he said with a grin on his face.

Reika merely tapped her foot impatiently.

"You hungry?" he asked.

"N-Not at a-all," she said, turning away. "I-I'm going b-b-back to my room now. Don't f-f-follow me if you want to live," she said, hastily leaving Alferis to his dining.

Disgusting. Didn't he learn something called table manners? Anyway, might as well start the report.

"Meh," said Alf, shrugging and continuing to eat.

[Snowy_One]

Esphyr clutched the letter close to her. Decide amongst themselves? How were the women going to do that? Esphyr grimaced though. It would almost certainly be Morgan pushing aside other women so that either her or Tessa could go. She wasn't sure of the others, but felt certain Aiya would try as well. Rita was almost certainly out after her little stunt as well. Shrugging, she went down to the main hall to see if anyone else was there.

---

Kaileen

The priestess woman groaned wearily as she woke up. Gone was the lure of the big city and it's many hundreds of people, replaced with sleeping under a tree bough with her child curled up and snuggled beside her. She didn't like the big cities, full of corruption and... religion. Kaileen gave a small shudder at the thought of people mindlessly following the words of some preacher instead of trying to find the buried truth. Not that it was their fault. After the war, most records of the past had been destroyed by the demons and most of history had been passed down by word of mouth. What few records remained were in mage libraries, guarded jealously and often forgotten about as they concerned themselves with science instead of history. Still, Kaileen had one ally with access, and she needed to reach Elyisima soon. If the demons were on the prowl, she would need to finally take a open stand for the truth, and she would need history to back her up.

[-Cynthia-]

Morgan woke up rather early. It had been an uneasy night of sleep, Morgan felt as if something was watching her...perhaps something was. She cautiously walked out the door to find Tessa pacing outside.

"Something the matter?" she asked the troubadour.

[Balcerzak]

"Sis!" Tessa exclaimed with a bit of relief. "I've got a couple of things that we should probably talk about. One of them is... personal and perhaps unimportant, but the other one should at least be relevant and worth your time."

She wrung her hands, slightly nervous, but carried on. "Both of them would probably be better discussed in private, but you can choose which subject you'd rather we start with."

Tessa suddenly stopped, and looked a bit guilty. "Oh dear, I suppose I shouldn't have ambushed you right after waking up. Sorry about that, if you'd rather eat, or take care of other things, that would be fine too." There was a bit of reluctance in her voice as she allowed for the possibilities, but it was rather clear from the way she carried herself what she was hoping Morgan would choose.

[Phoenix]

Tower Ruins

By dawn Ixion had dug himself out of the rubble. His cloak was ruined and barely holding to his bloodied shoulders. Standing not far away from him leaning up against some rubble with no injuries at all was Shanice. The agitated shape shifter had his arms crossed as he contemplated what had happened.

Ixion: ... why are you still here?

Shanice: Huh?

Ixion: You've neither tried to kill me, nor chase after her.

The demon was feeling rather happy for some reason and let a smirk appear on his face.

Shanice: Today's not a day for me to be angsting like you stupid humans do. Bit of a special occasion really. On top of that, the bitch actually taught me something important last night, without even realizing it.

The druid brushed his cloak off with his hand in a futile effort to get off some of the dirt

Ixion: So ... what did she teach you?

Shanice: ... heh. You're only human. All of you. You, Ivanko, Iso. You're all just weak little pests running around chasing your dreams.

Ixion: And that compels you to passiveness for what reason exactly?

Shanice: I'm a f*cking demon, man! You worthless meat bags are so short lived that you're not even worth spitting on. Two hundred years from now, you'll all be dead and I'll be raping your ancestors, and NO, I won't have the goddess damned common courtesy to give them a reach around. No matter what happens. I win, and I live on. You worthless monkeys just die and get forgotten. Who needs revenge when natural order dictates that you die a miserable death, and I just keep on making life hell for everyone who's still around to care?

Ixion: ... ... though crudely delivered ... I see you point. Why seek after revenge when your opponent is so pathetic and weak? Those were my feelings concerning Isotov ... however ... after meeting that woman ... I feel that he may not have been as weak as I thought.

Shanice: He's weak. You're all weak. You're just not as weak as the rest of them. A bit easy to seduce though.

Ixion: ... perhaps so ....

Shanice ceased leaning up against the rubble and took a few steps forward away from Ixion.

Ixion: Where are you headed?

Shanice: ... the others will find me eventually right? I don't want them to have to fight through your mercenary buddies just to reach me. There might be casualties on both sides.

Ixion: You care about casualties? You're all just demons. Tools.

Shanice: Hey! Megae's nuts, but she's handy! Petros is totally ignorant, but he's got it together! I don't want you chucking dark magic at them. She's hates that crap. He hates that crap. We all do ... and you humans hate getting stabbed to death so let's just go our separate ways and forget this ever happened. I can let this sh*t slide for today only so take what you can get, asshole.

Ixion: ... ... a battle with you demons will only delay us. Very well. I have what I needed, and I can resume my preparations. You should leave before the others come.

Shanice: Yep. See ya later, Ixion. Oh and don't forget! F*ck with us again, and I don't care how short lived you are ... we'll cut your damn face off and feed it to the wolves.

The demon left Ixion with that statement and leaped from building to building until he reached the fortress' high walls and jumped over them to the ground! Once he left, Ixion sat down on the rubble and waited alone. All that remained of the tower was in a massive pile of stone and debris by morning. None of the mercenaries had been killed in the collapse fortunately, and the rest of the massive fortress was secured. Eventually Ivanko arrived along with Stephanie. Victor had been sniffing around searching for signs of the culprit but couldn't find anything but the smell of demons. Ivanko approached Ixion on the matter.

Ivanko: What happened?

Ixion: A miscalculation on my part.

Ivanko: A miscalculation? You caused the tower to collapse? What the hell were you doing?

Ixion: Not that type of miscalculation. I misjudged Miranda's intentions and she outwitted me before seeing to the destruction of the tower.

Ivanko: And Shanice?

Ixion: He was released just as you ordered.

Ivanko: Did any of the chimeras survive?

Ixion: We didn't have enough yet, but most survived ... they're rather tough. I'll need more time and specimens to create more of them.

Ivanko: Great. More delays.

Ixion: ... I am truly sorry, Ivanko.

Ivanko: Don't worry about it. Just do your thing. We won't lose.

Ixion: (Perhaps we can never win. Why do we do the things we do? Why do we fight so passionately in this life when all that awaits us is death? Another mystery ...)

[-Cynthia-]

"I would rather discuss thigns right now, other things can wait." Morgan walked back into her room and motioned for Tessa to sit down She then looked expectantly at the troubadour.

[Balcerzak]

With a nod and a smile floating across her face, Tessa followed Morgan into her room, and shut the door behind them. Taking a seat at the shaman's gesture, she suddenly had a moment of hesitation. She'd asked the other woman which of the topics she'd prefer to discuss first, but then when she'd added in her hurried apology for her unintentional thoughtlessness, the question must have gotten lost in the flow. Or, perhaps Morgan was simply making her decide the order after all. If that was the case... then despite her wishes, it would probably be better to begin with business over pleasure...

With a bit of a sigh, she resolved herself, and then began. "Yesterday was a mess of activity... so it's understandable that things have gotten a bit jumbled. However! I was doing some thinking, and the facts just don't add up. We were trying to root out the mole right, the person that sold you off to get captured by some group with interests in the Crimson Weapons, yes. And the Katie suddenly turned out to be not who she seemed to be."

Pausing for breath, she swallowed a couple times before moving on. "Yet... the fact that Katie was this Shanice demon would precisely rule out her possibility as being the mole, wouldn't it? The demons don't care for money, they just want to sever the weapons. Though... if they want to sever the weapons now... why did they steal them from Bethold and attach them to children in the first place?"

Realizing she'd rambled off onto a tangent, she shook her head and continued. "Sorry... at any rate, by that point, it had already stolen yours, so why should we think for a moment that there is any connection between them and this group that had you captured and dragged off? Didn't you say they seemed surprised to hear of your severing? That just wouldn't mesh..."

A frown crossed her face here and she turned back to Morgan, "But then, just last night, you left one of the prime remaining suspects in charge of negotiating the group's fate. It caught me so by surprise. Have you learnt something else or was it a test for him or something?"

Edit:

OOC: I forget what all is actually common knowledge, everything having happened over several chapters and several weeks. If I breeched the line of info somewhere, it was most unintentional.

Edited August 19, 2010 by Balcerzak

[-Cynthia-]

Morgan listened to Tessa thoughtfuly and nodded. "I do not believe Katie was the mole I was searching for, no. But the whole incident reminded me that the Lord of Azure Flame is our true enemy, not whoever kidnapped me. My kidnappers did not even bother killing me, or really pressing me for information or anything. I am not sure whether they are allies, or enemies, or perhaps something else altogether, but I do not want to make any hasty movements at this time."

"As for the severing? They are likely seeking the weapons to break the seal on the Lord of Azure Flame. At the time the weapons were created, he was in no state to return, and the demons can only handle the energies for so long, so they sealed them within chidren instead, hoping to recapture them later. That is my hypothesis anyway." she said, shrugging.

"As for Derek...I suspect him less than I once did. Willing to submit himself to torture, fighting at our sides with great risk to himself...whatever his motivations are, I do not think he is opposed to us, at the very least. Besides, he would have little room to betray us here unless the government of Directus is against us as well." she said.

[Balcerzak]

The people who kidnapped Morgan were possibly allies...? With a small 'oh', a blank look crossed Tessa's face as the troubadour tried to wrap her mind about the unexpected possibility. The shaman's continued explanation continued to help matters; that perhaps she'd allowed herself to get too caught up in the witch hunt, an attitude that had been at least a little infectious, as with Morgan treating it so seriously, Tessa couldn't help but do so as well.

The development really left her at a loss, though, and she was floundering. Suddenly all of her actual relevant business for the morning was rendered useless, or barring that, not particularly vital in the least. On the one hand, she felt a twist of incompetence, and perhaps guilt at trying to continue to persecute someone. On the other hand, a feeling of sweet relief started flowing through her, as it was no longer important to crucify individual group members to get to the bottom of anything. If Morgan had decided to put the matter of her capture behind her for the moment, to focus on the bigger picture as it were, then without any compelling evidence to the contrary... who was Tessa to argue with her.

"Wow... well, I guess that does put a different spin on things. I'm sorry, I must have been thinking too narrow-mindedly..." she managed at last, staring down at her lap.

Twiddling her thumbs a bit, she tried to maneuver into the other line of conversation, the more personal one. "I guess... I guess I'm going to have to spend some time to re-evaluate this then... So, I suppose if you wouldn't mind we can move to the less important matter? It's... really just something I'm looking for some advice or explanation on, really."

Folding her fingers together in a steeple, she looked up again, and faced the shaman. "There's something that's actually been bothering me for quite awhile, off and on of course. I first noticed it back in Istample, then briefly at TISME, again much later at Damian's manor... there have been other instances of course, but I can't recollect all of them at the moment. I would've asked you sooner, but... it seemed kind of silly at the time, you were always busy with something else, or... I don't really know. And then, most recently you were so unwell, and there was no chance that I could bother you with anything so petty. But now... especially if the matter of the mole is not so pressing... though I guess with even more weapons severed that probably counteracts it... well! I thought now perhaps you could maybe spare a little bit of time, and help me try to figure it out?"

Her slightly rambling preamble out of the way, she turned again, to avoid looking at the shaman's face, staring thoughtfully at one of the decorations in the room while finally heading to the heart of the matter.

"There've been many instances, where... all of a sudden I get incredibly flustered... I find my face heating up, I start to sweat, and my pulse races. In a way, it's similar to what happens when in a cave... but in other ways it's so very much different. It's not so much frightening, as embarrassing, you see? Or maybe just exciting, perhaps? But the strange thing is, it usually happens when I haven't even done anything that I would expect to cause embarrassment or excitement," she emphasized this last bit, as it was important. It was the seemingly purely randomness of the episodes that had really gotten the girl confused about them.

Proceeding on once again, she elaborated,"And what's further, it actually sort of just seems to be tied to when I'm around certain people. It's got me a bit perplexed, and I don't really know what to do. I don't want to just... avoid someone because I'm not sure what they're making me feel, so I thought... maybe you knew... something, or had some advice of sorts?"

Awkwardly trying to sum up the extent of the confusing circumstances she'd found herself mixed up in from time to time, almost ever since joining the group, she related things as best she could, though trying to keep at least a few of the details vague. Whether or not Morgan could guess at the nature of what was left concealed... well, Tessa was pretty sure the woman could, actually. The shaman tended to be pretty sharp at most things. Even if Morgan were to come out and bluntly state the facts, the troubadour felt that having to simply confirm would be better than trying to manage to frame it all by herself.

...Probably.

Edited August 19, 2010 by Balcerzak

[-Cynthia-]

"Hmm, so you feel nervous around certain people...but not particularly in a frightening way?" Morgan said, attempting to understand. "I think I may know what you speak of, for...on very rare occasions, I also become slightly unnerved, but not because of any particular danger. Emotions are very tricky things and can be quite distracting. Usually when I encounter such...feelings, I attempt to focus on something practical, such as where we need to go to next, or how to protect ourselves from demons. The feelings should then go away, and you can pretend like they never existed at all."

Morgan paused for a moment to let this sink in and then continued. "Emotions are a slippery slope Tessa, if you start to act on them you may end up handing over your sword to demons like Esphyr, or being seduced by Shanice like Isotov, or striking down your allies like Damian. People who do not let their emotions rule them make far wiser decisions."

[Phoenix]

Irina and Viveka

It didn't take Viveka long to finish bathing given her nearly dangerous rush to do so. She hopped out of the tub and wrapped herself in a towel before heading over to a bench to sit down! From there she grabbed another towel and began drying her exposed areas as quickly as she could. Irina just watched for a moment.

Irina: ... are you in a hurry to be somewhere?

Viveka: No! I woke up too late and I'm way behind schedule! I can't fall behind like this!

Irina: You're going to break a nail or something.

Viveka: Shut up. No I won't.

Once she finished drying off, she removed the towel that was wrapped around her body and put on the rob she came in with. Her hair was still damp, so she tied it up and the quickly left the bathing rooms. Irina sighed and sunk into the water a bit.

Irina: ... I don't get her ...

[Balcerzak]

Emotions huh? Tessa was familiar with a wide variety of them. Hope, fear, anger, guilt, sorrow, joy... and to find that this other strange sensation was an as yet unknown one helped somewhat. Still... something about Morgan's advice seemed... off.

Resting her elbow on her knee and her chin in her hand, Tessa assumed a thoughtful expression, trying to figure out how to phrase what she needed to say. She had come seeking advice, and had gotten some useful information, and didn't want to seem ungrateful, but she did feel a certain element of the shaman's thinking needed correction, and badly.

"You know... Sis... not all emotions are bad ones. Like the emotions that bring me close to you, for instance. Feelings of joy, happiness, and a deep bond. Yes... some emotions are bad... like anger left unchecked, or envy gone rampant. So yes... you do need to try to keep them in moderation. But to lock all emotions away forever, and pretend they don't exist?" She looked directly at the shaman as she continued.

"There seems something awful wrong with that logic. See... consider... consider pain for instance. It tells us something vital. It's our body's way of telling us we've gone too far, something is hurting and it needs to stop and be fixed. It conveys important messages about the our physical state, and ignoring them is just asking for trouble. I think that... I think that emotions are like pain on a mental level... giving us feedback on whether things are healthy or not... except the analogy sort of fails because not all emotions are unpleasant, while most pain is, see? And... I don't know. Am I making any sense here?" she cocked her head and looked at her friend questioningly.

"I mean... Thank you very much for the advice, and I think I might be able to pin a few things down a little better... but I don't know that just ignoring what I'm feeling is a very productive way to handle it... I like to think I'm already doing a good job keeping my current range of emotions in check... I just need to learn what this new one is, what it entails, and how to properly manage it... not just pretend it doesn't exist."

[Dark Sage]

Closing the door to her room behind her, Reika started to write down her report to her master.

Sir,

Regarding this group, they do indeed possess the Crimson Weapons. However, they are pursued by several groups at once. Two mercenary groups with one after the Crimson Weapons, and another by demons. It is the demons who possess the greatest threat obviously, as they possess the power to remove the weapons from their wielders as a few found out the hard way. They also possess powerful magic and weapons as well. Clearly this group is quite a "hot" target to attack.

For the group itself, I have secured an alliance with one of them, an axefighter by the name of Alferis. He is not particularly intelligent, but he serves his purpose as a bodyguard. He can easily be identified with burn wounds on his face and blonde hair. It is unknown whether or not he would join us if we attacked the group, but since he seems to be getting chummy with a couple of people here, I doubt he'd betray them if that is your wish. The leaders are a Haltonian Colonel named Damian, the wielder of the Crimson Lance, and a man with two women at his beck and call, one a wyvern rider, and the other the wielder of the Crimson Sword. The true leader is Morgan, a female shaman, who is quite cold, calculating and ruthless. She is frail but surprisingly intelligent, and unlike the rest of the bleeding hearts of the group, she will let nothing stand in her way. She also has two lapdogs, a troubadour and an archer by the name of Chase, who uses the Crimson Bow. Both have no minds of their own, doing whatever Morgan says without question. If you find a way to outwit Morgan, you've outwitted them as well. The other wielders include Isotov, a fire mage, Helios, a wind mage, and Arrin, a thunder mage. Helios is isolated and disliked by the rest as well as dimwitted. Isotov is accompanied by his sister, and they are affiliated with Ivanko's mercenaries. The other Arrin has nothing of interest about him, except that he is accompanied by a sister as well, a nomad and archer named Kelas. She can easily be mistaken for a male, but she poses no threat unless you ride on a pegasus or a wyvern. The final wielder is General Conrad of Elysimia, an axe wielder and who has two of his soldiers with him, pegasus knights. There are many others in the group, but they do not possess the weapons and are obviously of no importance.

Except one of them named Heinz, a thief like me. Heinz is most likely a mole as I caught him sneaking off and his suspicious behavior. He is a potential enemy who should be disposed of, though if you know of him, I request instructions on what to do with him.

The group is violent and ill-tempered, leaving a large amount of destruction and disorder wherever they go. They also have a large amount of infighting, which makes them their own worst enemies. In general, I doubt you need to send anybody after them as eventually, they'll most likely destroy themselves. Some, such as the knight Damian, are already mentally unstable but quite dangerous, so directing his anger towards the group is the best option. For now, you have no need to be concerned of them.

Your Agent,

Reika.

After finishing the letter and letting the ink dry, Reika hid it under her mattress and decided to go explore the mansion. There could be some valuables she could come back to steal. While she was at it, she could get a carrier pigeon as well.

[-Cynthia-]

"I do agree that pain has its uses, without it we would inadvertantly be losing limbs and perhaps even kill ourselves." Morgan conceded. "Emotions...may serve a similar purpose, warning us of dangers...or good things perhaps? As long as you do not let your emotions control you, perhaps it is wiser to listen to them...from time to time. I will ponder this, I think." Morgan said, furrowing her brow.

[the_whistler]

Leaving the Ivanko mercenary and Esphyr to take care of themselves while one of the soldiers from before dragged away Rita, Heinz wandered back into the house again. Seems like we're staying here after all, although the captain doesn't seem too happy about it, making a mental note to ask Derek how exactly he had gained the favor of the councilman. Picking a random room within the mansion, Heinz quickly fell asleep on an empty bed.

Post-timeskip:

Waking up early next morning, Heinz opened the door, picking up the letter from the outer handle. Wasn't here last night, opening the envelope and reading the contents. Ceremonial armor for the ball? Heinz snorted. Though he had seen nobles dance at formal events before, he had no wish to act as one of them unless he was forced too.

Heinz smirked, leaning against the partially open door as he recollected his memory of the first and only time he had gone to the Palais Cristal ball, as bodyguard to the Baron blah blah blah of Reis at the time. Though it was often assumed by outsiders that Septimians were a strange and eccentric people, it was at celebrations such as these that the Septimian spirit was truly set free in a night of excitement and revelry. The mercenary grinned, and Heinz swore he could almost smell and taste the various pastries right in front of him, freshly baked by the finest chefs around.

But the most important part of the ball to Heinz was the abundance of drink and drugs available, rendering some of the guests senseless while others like him took advantage of the situation in some way or another. Heinz chuckled. They seemed like easy pickings at the time, remembering when he had snatched a necklace from a lady in a drunken stupor. Until the guards started chasing me, their footsteps more than a little off as he blended back into the crowd. Although he had managed to escape, Heinz was pretty sure they had tightened the security since then. Or gotten guards with a better tolerance for drink, he thought wryly.

Before Heinz could get anymore lost in his thoughts, he heard someone screaming a few doors down. Frowning slightly, the mercenary decided to head downstairs, not in the mood to comfort whoever it was.

OOC: Reis is German for rice, pronounced the same way.

[Balcerzak]

Breaking into a grin, Tessa stood up, and embraced Morgan in a quick hug. "Thanks again! You mean a lot to me, and now that you're feeling better, you don't know how happy that makes me feel. We just need to find a way to fix Arrin now too then. Anyway, sorry to trouble you so early in the morning, I'll get out of your hair now, and let you get back to business as usual."

Disengaging from the hug, the troubadour turned and headed out the door, absently fingering the letter while she continued to ponder the new information she'd been given.

Edited August 19, 2010 by Balcerzak

[Psych]

Rita:

"She's probably just excited for the ball. Didn't you see the letter on your door? It sounds okay. I might go."

-----------

Cess:

Walking towards the kitchen, he noticed Chase. "Did you get that letter? You can have the armor I guess. I'd just look weird in it. You seem happy, what's up?"

[Phoenix]

Proxima

As frustrated as he was, he didn't want to draw attention to himself. He tried to stand up, but immediately fell back to his knees! The stress was eating away at him! The irony was tormenting him! Ten years of trying to rid himself of a curse, then finding peace with it just days before being left with an even greater curse! The fact that the woman he cared for was almost certainly dead forced all of his anger to the surface! It had been hours ... over a day, but now his mind had caught up with him, and he couldn't hold in his rage any longer!

Iso: It's ... MINE ... Proxima is MINE!! Damn you ... damn you to hell ...

He began slamming his fist into the floor repeatedly while seemingly cursing the demons who severed him.

Iso: Damn you ... all of you ... Grrrrrrrr-

After one last slam, he stood up and threw his arms down to his sides as he prepared to shout up at the ceiling, now too enraged to care about anything else! With one last deep breathe, he called out!

Iso: PROXIMAAAAAAAAAAA-

As Miranda raced across the dirt road at inhuman speeds, she felt a pulsating feeling coming from what she was carrying! She slid to a stop and pulled Proxima out from her cloak! She let out a gasp as the tome became almost completely transparent right before her eyes! It nearly faded away before suddenly returning to normal!

In an instant, Iso's eyes returned to their normal brown color, and then lit up a crimson red! For one moment, his vision returned! But as his voice came down, his eyes once again grayed out, and his vision went completely dark! The shock of feeling the tome's presence again, even for a moment, was more than enough to send him back down to his knees! His hands held him up, but just barely.

Miranda sighed at the sight of the tome as its glow quickly faded, and it went silent once again.

Miranda: ... ... oh Iso ... you're not strong enough to rebind yourself from such a distance. I know you can't hear me but ... ... be patient. These legs are only going to move so fast.

Iso: Urgh ... ... dammit ... .... DAMMIT!!!

Miranda: ... just hold on ...

Iso slammed his fist down yet again and struggled not to let any tears fall ...

Irina

Irina: I've ... uh ... never been to a ball. I've got no idea what the craze is.

[riariadne]

"No, Helios just told me about it. No idea what it's about. What armor? I don't like armor. It slows me down?" Chase answered. "And I'm happy because today's my birthday. I don't think anyone knows that, though. Oh well. See ya." He smiled, then headed towards his room, curious about the letter. Reading it, he thought to himself, Hmm, I don't really care for parties, but I suppose I'll go if someone really wants me to, he mused.

[-Cynthia-]

As Tessa left, Morgan felt the hint of a smile creep in her lips, which she did not elect to remove until she went into the hall. She heard some yelling from a nearby room.

"Isotov?" she said opening his door. "You're not taking this well." she said, stating the obvious. "You feel helpless, don't you?" she asked, looking right at him, though she knew he couldn't see.

Edited August 19, 2010 by -Cynthia-

[Phoenix]

Isotov

Hearing a familiar voice, Iso snapped out of his fit and fell back onto his lap his head still down.

Iso: (I could feel it ... ... I was so close ... ) ... this isn't the same as losing Midnight. Who do you care about, Morgan? Who would you risk your life to protect?

Levski

As Levski continued to read, Kiev woke up and shook himself off. He then looked at Levski. The wyvern lord ignored him and kept reading. Kiev had no idea what the book was about, but he was curious as to what it was. Some books humans carried made them get emotional as they gazed into them. Others started fires, like Isotov's. He was becoming curious. Perhaps if he began gazing at books he would see what the appeal to them was. Hearing a loud scream muffled by the walls of the mansion, Levski put down the book and sighed.

Lev: Either someone burnt themselves trying to make breakfast, or it's angst hour.

Kiev tilted his head at the word breakfast and his mind quickly drifted to the chickens. He knew that they were being kept near the stables and wanted to go get one.

[-Cynthia-]

"It's not?" Morgan asked, surprised. "Both Crimson Weapons, both of us to having it near us, both of us being incapacitated by its loss. As for risking my life, I do that only a daily basis for any of the Crimson Weapon wielders...including you, you know." she said, frowning.

[Snowy_One]

With a sigh of exhaustion, Esphyr collapsed into a chair. No one seemed to be in the main hall, meaning the girl could finally just sink into a chair and slouch off. A luxury she had lacked forever.

[Dark Sage]

Alferis headed back to his own room and on his door, there was a letter that was addressed to him.

"Hm? What's this?" he asked opening it.

You have been cordially invited to the Great Ball tonight. Ceremonial armor will be provided for you, and the ball will start at [OOC: Insert time here] O'clock.

"Shit. Shit. What am I going to do? Will they let wanted men on there? What about the burn wounds? Or my lack of knowledge on how to behave with nobles? Or anything?" he said, walking out the door. "Maybe I'll ask Esphyr for some advice," he muttered, heading over to where Esphyr was.

Edited August 20, 2010 by Dark Sage

[Phoenix]

Isotov

Iso: Yeah ... that's about the answer I expected. It's like talking to a statue. You're just doing this for the sake of the mission. I'm not here for any of that. I just assumed that we'd all have to pull our weapons together to do something grand and then go our separate ways at the end. All I care about are the people in my life. This suicide mission you're running is still almost meaningless to me.

Levski

Kiev spread his wings to take off, but Levski quickly snapped his fingers to get the wyverns attention!

Lev: I need you two to keep an eye out for that wyvern. You can eat later.

Kiev slowly let his wings down. They came down as fast as his mood and he groaned in protest.

Lev: Look, wyvern. You've got a job to do, and you're going to do it. It's going to be hard enough to restrain a wyvern without a cage.

Kiev groaned one more time before lying down on his stomach.

Lev: That reminds me, none of these is going to work without Morgan's help. Trouble is, I don't know if she's up yet. Urrrrgh. If I go check, and that wyvern shows up ... ....

Krinkov looked up, woken by the noise coming from his master. He quickly stood up and stretched before yawning. After that, he sat down and started looking around. His intention to spot the wild wyvern was pretty clear.

Lev: ... alright. You two stay put. If that wyvern comes, yell.

With that, he made his way down from the roof, hopping from higher surfaces to lower ones. Once he was on the ground, he ventured into the mansion from one of the back entrances.

EDIT: Grammar!

Edited August 20, 2010 by Phoenix