Lord of Azure Flame: Chapter 19: To catch a Priestess

[Psych]

Pary:

"I need something to calm my nerves. Where did I put that Bolting tome? I need to burn it...." Pary trailed over walking back into the castle. He headed towards the dining room for a cup of warm tea. Surely the capital of a nation would have decent tea.

-----------

Rita:

Rita continued with her practice. She was beginning to get tired, and with the sun over head, it was quite warm. She walked back into town. Noticing large bloodstains around the castle, she walked over to Iso, hugging him tightly. "Guys....what's going on? What's with all the blood?"

-----------

Cess:

"I-what? I've done nothing of the sort!"

"Oh come off it! You're nothing but a hack! A child could do better than you! Watch!" Cess quickly took out his things, giving a reading back to the woman. "I have the gift. You're a cheap and a con artist!"

Cess walked out of the shop, the crowd dispursing almost at once. He walked to the town square, noticing the people walking by. Eric seemed to be coming from an alleyway all alone. "That's weird." He walked towards him.

[Inactive Account]

"Look, if you want someone to worry about a woman who's perfectly healthy and armed, don't ask me," Kelas told the headmaster. With a sigh, she left the room, setting off for the guest wing to look for Arrin. "Please don't attack people," she told Rita as she passed her in the hall, "we're all getting tired of it."

OOC: Assume this happens right before Rita enters room with group.

[Phoenix]

Tagging Along

Iso didn't take long to follow Kelas out of the area before Rita tried to hug him. He put out his arms keeping her off and sighed. He wasn't angry or excited at all. His eyes quickly faded to brown again as he calmed down.

Iso: Rita, this just isn't the time ...

With that he walked off after Kelas. Irina had watched him leave and quickly turned to follow, ignoring the fact that she was still wearing the ball dress.

[Snike]

Interest

"Oh, two of the demons jumped me," Eric explained, as calmly as he could. "They were rather easy to take care of. Just had to stab them in the chest."

Derek

There was a silence for a few moments as the cavalier read the note, his expression turning more and more unreadable the more his eyes scanned it. Finally, he sighed. "... I don't know," he lied, relaxed. "But, it wasn't your fault, Helios. She seems to have planned this... Ugh, this is going to have to wait. Sorry sis, but I'll find you once we're out of immediate danger."

[Ansem]

Heh

"What! Your just going to let her leave like that?!?!" Helios exclaimed. "We still have time, we can find her. Look, she even left her horse behind. That must means she's walking! How far could she be?"

[Inactive Account]

Kelas passed Esphyr in the hall. "You might want to go let the headmaster know you're all right, she was worrying," she told her, then ducked into a side hallway: she'd spotted Rita again. That would be a relief at least: leaving the group meant no Rita for a while. Now, where was Arrin...

[Snowy_One]

"What?" exclaimed Esphyr, shocked that someone would worry over her over such a minor trip. Did the headmaster even know that Esphyr had been gone away more than to just the gardens? Either way, she simply needed to return and deliver the message. Walking into the room with Morgan, Mana, and the rest, she looked right to Morgan. "Jace gave us back our stuff. Also, he says we need to ditch Charlotte or else he might kill us. The might being laced heavily with a tone of 'if you don't I will kill you and use your corpses for a romantic fire'. Also, he said something about maybe helping us if we do ditch him I think."

[Snike]

Derek

"Warp staff. She could be anywhere, now," the cavalier said, somberly. "Besides, she is an adult now. I guess I can't keep protecting her... Anyways, let's see what everyone else is doing."

Surely Devoted

"I am staying with the princess, regardless," Eric said automatically. "There is no way I am leaving her for the aid of that... monster."

Edited September 12, 2010 by Snike

[Snowy_One]

Altion had spent his time carefully brushing the horse down. "Hey Gluebag. There you go. Nice and clean." he said, patting the freshly combed steeds neck. "Look. I'm sorry I don't know how to take care of you, okay. I wish I had had the time to learn, especially since it has Kelas with a bee in her behind about you. I just... I don't know. I'm not even supposed to be out here." he said before patting the horse. Then he dropped the brushes back into the bucket and made his way back to the stable, not sure what he was supposed to do with the rest of his morning.

[Ansem]

................ Shit Snike that was cheap!

".....Ah... dammit...." Helios said solemnly turning around. "I wasnt going to stop her from leaving. I just wanted to tell her that she is far from a burden. So what if she shocked you a couple of times or attacked others. The others deserved it. Im sure she hit you by accident as well. No one should feel that way......" He stood there quiet for a while before speaking again. "Oh well." He said taking a deep breath. "Why am I getting so worked up over her anyways? I guess you're right. I heard an explosion earlier.... The others took care of it so I didnt interject.... Well, hope Dani doesnt get into too much trouble." He said sighing and heading outside.

[Phoenix]

For Sibling (This is not an actual spoiler. I'm merely condensing the size of the post.)

Iso followed after Kelas passing Esphyr on the way but saying nothing. The things she was carrying didn't catch his eye either. He was too focused on what he was about to do. To Kelas this was only temporary. Just a means to save Arrin before returning to the group. Iso didn't know if he could go back to such a bunch. Seeing Miranda reminded him so much of everything that had happened in the passed. The people were different, and far more powerful, but they were making the same mistakes.

Irina had been running after him and caught up very quickly nearly sliding to a stop on her slippery stockings! The sound caught Iso's ear and he turned around to face her.

Irina: ... Iso?

Iso: Yes?

She took a few nervous steps closer holding her hands together and eying the floor in front of her. Iso hadn't seen Irina acting so nervous before and couldn't help but try to look her in the eyes, even going so far as to lean forward a bit and tilt his head down. She quickly broke the silence though.

Irina: Iso are you and Kelas really leaving?

Iso: If she's going. I'm going. I want to help Arrin while there's still time. Better to go with Kelas than to waste time arguing about it.

She let out a deep sigh dropping her head and arms. She needed to find out exactly why Iso was acting the way he was. Not just that day, but days past as well. She decided to forget about what had happened and just try to focus on getting her brother back. If he was this willing to depart, then something had to be wrong she thought.

Irina: Iso, you're not making any sense at all. You said you joined the group to protect me. Well leaving with Kelas to help Arrin isn't protecting me at all. Hell, you've barely spoken to me at all lately. Do you ... do you not care about me anymore?

He was stunned! His sister after ten years of suffering for for asked him if he cared about her at all. Was he truly neglecting her that badly? Badly enough to provoke this? Then he remembered the last time they'd really talked or at least spent time together and frowned.

Iso: ... look. I'm ... I'm not strong enough to look after you yet. If I was, we wouldn't have lost Katie ... or anyone else for that matter. Now that Lev's here, he can look after you. I can't. I'm trying not to be a completely worthless brother at the very least.

Irina: ... you're not trying hard enough. You wasted ten years for nothing. You should have stayed at the fortress with us.

Iso: I couldn't. The risk to you and everyone else was too great. I had to find a way to free myself from Proxima.

Irina: Lot of good that did.

Iso hung his head and sighed. She was right. He got what he wanted and ended up so much worse than he'd anticipated. Irina was right. Morgan was right. Miranda was right.

Iso: I'm sorry I left. But staying there was a bad idea. After what happened to our parents ... ... no, I had to leave, if not because of that, then because of Ivanko and Ixion.

Irina: Urgh! Why do you hate them so much?!

Iso: ... ... ... I just do. Let's leave it at that, okay? Also, I'm sorry for seeming like I'm avoiding you. I don't mean to. I just don't ... I'm not very good at making up for ten years.

Irina: It's not about making up for lost time. It's about not wasting the time we've got left. Don't you get it? I was so happy when I realized that I was going to get to travel with my "long lost brother". It didn't go the way I hoped it would so far. That's no reason for you to up and leave though!

Iso: We're coming back, Irina. Once we find Daranau.

Irina: I know Kelas is coming back ... but are you? Don't just say you are because I don't believe you. You left your family behind for weaker reasons than you'd need to leave all of us behind so don't lie to me! You're not coming back if you can help it, are you?

He let his head drop yet again and conceded.

Iso: ... yeah ... probably not. Irina, I can't go through this again. I just can't.

Irina: What about stopping the demon king from returning?

Iso: I don't care. I never did. I was here to watch out for you and I failed.

Irina: Honestly, where are you going to go? Are you going to chase after your old teacher?

Iso: ... I might. I need to talk to her anyway. I doubt anything will come of it though. For now I'm doing Kelas this one last favor. If I can't talk them out of this after we kill the demons and retrieve Daranau, then I'll just leave by myself.

Irina: ... why don't you have any faith in us? We've done really well so far ... at least at surviving.

Iso: Surviving isn't enough. We've accomplished almost nothing other than pissing off the world. Sooner or later our mistakes are going to come back to haunt us. That's exactly why Miranda died in the first place. I'm not sticking around for this garbage.

Iso finally turned to leave but felt Irina rush up and grab him!

Irina: ... then I'm coming with you.

Iso: What? Why?

Irina: I said I would look after you too, and I can't do that if you run away again. We're not kids anymore.

She felt tears building up in her eyes but quickly blinked them away so she could keep her serious tone and try to explain to her brother. Iso's frown came back as she spoke and stayed there for a long time.

Irina: You don't get to run away and leave people who care about you behind. If you're leaving ... then I'm coming with you. I wanted to forget about you and Lev. I wanted to just branch out and find new friends. I was hoping that maybe if I spent some time with other people, I'd forget about the both of you and everyone else I miss back home. Then I wouldn't feel so bad traveling nearly alone in this crowd of people. I was running away just like you're trying to do now. That's over now though. I'm not letting you go anywhere else without me.

Iso: Irina ... but what about Damian? Didn't he hire you? Isn't Aiya your friend too?

Irina: I honestly doubt that we won't see them again, but I have priorities here, and it's your fault that I would even have to choose between you and them in the first place.

Iso: Please ... don't do this just to-

Irina: I'm protecting you now so just ... deal with it!

She didn't even give Iso a chance to react and quickly hugged him. Part of her reason was to let him know she was serious and keep him from walking away from their conversation. The other part wanted to use his shoulders to wipe the tears that were starting to come out. Iso put his arms around her and hugged her back, a bit of humility in his voice.

Iso: ... a-alright. I'll ... take you with ... (not that I have a choice in the matter ...)

[Inactive Account]

Having avoided Rita, Kelas found Arrin in the guest hallway. "There you are. Ready to go?"

"Just about. Where are we going?" Arrin replied, trying to look more interested than he was.

"We're leaving for a bit. We're going to get your tome back."

Arrin stood in shock for a moment. Leaving...?! "I-- we don't have to--" he began.

"Yes we do. Dammit, Arrin, I know you're sick, and I'm not going to let you die."

"But the others--"

"Can wait. You know them, they're going to run around in circles while people are in danger... look, I'm not even that keen on coming back after this, but if you want to, then we'll be back. Have you got your things?" Kelas asked with a sigh.

"Yes, but-- can I go say goodbye to Tessa first?" Arrin's expression of shock had turned a bit wistful: he needed his book back, but he didn't want to leave.

Kelas' determination wavered for a bit: of course Arrin didn't want to leave, especially since he'd be leaving friends behind. And a few minutes to find Tessa wouldn't change too much. "All right, go ahead," she replied. "I'll be here when you're ready to go."

Arrin nodded gratefully and set off to find Tessa, quickly getting lost in thought about the news.

The news had been a complete surprise; while Arrin had hoped that he'd have help getting Daranau back, he hadn't expected for Kelas to take him to go get it. Perhaps he should have; he knew she was focused on protecting him, sometimes a bit more than he felt he needed. But he appreciated it.

Still... he'd miss Tessa, and some of the others. His friends... he guessed Charlotte was his friend? And some of the others... he liked them all right, he'd gotten used to them being around, even if he didn't often talk to them.

He'd have to do his best to make this side trip a quick one, then... besides, with his tome back, he'd be more useful and need protecting less anyway.

---------------------------------------------

Kelas was conflicted. She'd considered properly leaving the group... not coming back. When Isotov had volunteered to help (and he shouldn't need to, she thought, I should be able to do this myself) she'd realized that she probably wouldn't be able to leave entirely. Now Arrin had made it clear that he wanted to come back... and she had to protect him, so she'd be back too.

Not sure what to make of this, she stared out the window and wished Daranau would fall into their laps as suddenly and easily as Proxima had.

[Ansem]

Heading out the stable he ran into Chase. Really not in the mood, Helios wanted to ask someone else but decided he might as well ask him. "What happened?" He asked Chase hanging his head in disappointment. Get! Out! Of! My! Head!

EDIT: Posted a damn link that should be elsewhere >.>

Edited September 12, 2010 by Kai

[Psych]

Retcon~

Edited September 12, 2010 by Psych

[-Cynthia-]

Morgan shrugged. "Would Jace's aid be greater than the manpower we would lose? Considering how busy he supposedly is, I don't think he's coming with us, so I'm not sure how helpful he would actually be."

Charlotte arrived back at the palace and saw a small crowd forming. "Oh hello Eric, haven't seen you yet this morning. WHat's going on everyone?"

Edited September 12, 2010 by -Cynthia-

[Snike]

Arise

Darkness... There was nothing but darkness enveloping him... Even opening his eyes didn't let any light in. Suddenly, forms of light appeared in front of him, but everything else was still dark. Control of his body returned to the man, and, realizing he was lying on his back, he clumsily got up, but not before feeling something hard- a weapon?- on the way up. Kneeling down, he retrieved the object, which he found to be a sheathed longsword, and, with some difficulty, attached it to a belt, or some other attaching accessory he was wearing. Strangely, he didn't remember putting the belt on. Actually, he didn't remember how he got wherever he was, either. Or why he was there. Or, even who he was. Who was he? All he could remember, was that he had to meet Kaileen, the Mother... A hero, right? Maybe she had the answer. Maybe not, but there was little point dwelling upon it. Noticing that thin lines of light were almost outlining buildings, the man made his way out of the place he awoke in, and began to wander, unsure of where Kaileen resided.

Decision time

"Good morning, milady," Eric said, smiling quickly, before returning to the matter at hand. "I'd rather you wouldn't go with that murderer, either. Then again, that's just personal bias, and I'm sure an 'ethical' lady such as yourself would see the merits of Jace's mercenary army behind you."

[Dark Sage]

Traveling through the alleys, a path of corpses behind him, Geraro's smile grew wider and wider until he reached the marketplace. When he was in the crowd, he chanted a few words and blew off a random man's leg.

"Agghhh!"

"Are you Heinz? No wait. None of you are Heinz. I see it now. Heinz is somewhere else, but you're hiding him from me. I...have a thing to ask him," he said smiling.

"You nutjob! Get away from us!" a mustached man yelled out. For this, his head was blown off. And so it began.

Within seconds, Geraro tossed sphere after sphere of dark magic until a pile of corpses lay around him. People were fleeing and screaming in all directions.

"I'LL FIND YOU HEINZ! AND YOU WON'T ESCAPE ME! I'LL FIND YOU AND BREAK YOU!" he yelled out, a twisted smile on his face.

[Snowy_One]

"Not my place to decide anyways." said Esphyr, raising her hands defensively in front of Morgan. "But here's what I see. Charlotte is a deposed princess trying to restore her nation while Jace has power. Even if we simply part ways to sate him, it's better then having him breathing down our backs."

---

Kicking the bucket into a corner, Altion headed inside. "Good afternoon." he said off-handedly to Kelas as he passed by her, looking for a place to properly wash the scent of horse off of his body. "I brushed the horse like you asked, though I don't know what more I need to do and it is obvious more needs to be done. Is everything alright?" he asked, noting her looking out the window.

[Psych]

Rita:

"Wait, where are they going? Should I go help?" Rita turned, watching Kelas and Iso walk out. "Um...."

-------------

Cess:

Cess walked back towards the castle, seeing Iso and Kelas walking outside. He ran over to Rita. "Something wrong?"

[-Cynthia-]

"I-" Morgan began to respond to Esphyr, until she felt...presences. Lots of powerful dark magic being used throughout the city...two sources? Ixion...and Flemeth? No...it couldn't be. "Excuse me." Morgan said, hustling out of the castle.

"So Jace is offering you all a deal to work against us then..." Charlotte bit her lip, unsure of what to say.

[Inactive Account]

"Everything's fine," Kelas replied absently. "Ask one of the stablehands how to deal with tack properly... I'd help out, but I'm leaving soon, so. Remember to brush before tacking-- keeps the tack from rubbing the dirt in-- and after you untack, get the dust out. Don't forget to check the hooves." She was still running through what they could do against the demons, looking for a plan; her attention span was not at its best.

[Dark Sage]

Screaming and stumbling as he ran, a red haired young man with green clothes and no facial hair ran towards the castle gates, not noticing Njordjenka or Alferis.

"HELP! PLEASE HELP! THERE'S A CLOWN DRUID KILLING EVERYBODY IN THE MARKETPLACE AND SCREAMING ABOUT A GUY NAMED HEINZ!"

Oh goddammit Geraro you madman. I'll see that Liane and Ferris will make you pay for ruining the mission. I swear.

[Psych]

Cess and Rita:

Noticing Morgan run off, Cess felt strange. Something was happening outside. Rita looked at him. "Are you alright?"

"Come on." He took her wrist, and followed after Morgan.

[Snowy_One]

"Yes. Specifically, you." said Esphyr, pointing at Charlotte. "I personally don't care so much as to which way it goes. Though, I suppose I side with Jace. He's a hero after all, and that's nothing minor to worry about coming after us in the middle of the night. Can you imagine it? Going to sleep, only to wake up as Jace beheads you? You final scream of agony muted as your lungs are no longer there?"

---

"You're leaving? Why?" asked Altion, a shocked look on his face. He didn't want her to leave at all! If she left, that meant that he would no longer have a shot of being with her. Though the reason was selfish, it was still a reason none the less. "I mean, you can't! I don't know how to care for a horse, and... and... and someone needs to remind me every day. There won't be any more races against you, or bowshots, or... other things. And... I want you to stay."

[Script]

Luc Altair

Trying to find Reika had proven a futile task, and Paul equally as useless in helping, so Luc was now walking back to the palace entrance to see if the white-faced fool had left. Along the way he passed a good portion of the group, ignoring them for the most part. It was needless to drag them into something involving only Reika. And Alferis too, supposedly.

Outside... the man had left. The assistant and Alferis--lying on the ground has Luc hadn't noticed earlier--were still nearby. But they weren't what mattered. If the man had left, wherever he was going was going to be a disaster, and Luc would need to--well, he really couldn't help at all in his condition. But there was little else to do, other than perhaps take care of the assistant.

One Man, One Leg, One Mission

It had taken days for him to travel the roads to Burgosas, but if there was one thing old man Cal was adept at, it was travlein. His wrinkled features broke out into a grin as the thought of catching that old codger who robbed his niece flickered through his mind.