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

[Ansem]

Why the hell didnt I think of this before? I wasted like 8 pages

"So your goons that show up out of no where? Then why did you attack us...?" Turning to Alphonse, he replied. "Um... I actually have no idea. Princess was invited and we just happened to tag along."

[-Cynthia-]

"Esphyr is supposed to meet Jace." Morgan responded. "Not sure if she knows."

"I can answer that." Charlotte said, who had shown up to listen to what had happened. "Esphyr should be visiting Jace momentarily. As for what we should do next, Kaileen lives in Septimus, perhaps we should visit her."

[Dark Sage]

"Ah yes. See, you know how the Fire Bandits? They actually are the Fire Bandits. They burned down an entire forest and they attacked random guards for not good reason.

As for continuous payment, I'd prefer to be paid biweekly if you please. Not much else to say actually. Now let's get out of here, I'm sick of this castle."

-----------

Alferis

Seeing Geraro walk by, Alferis noticed the clown shaped man and the unusual maksked person next to him.

"Hey! Who are you people?" Alferis called out loudly, hoping people could here.

"Hmmm? Ah. You are?"

"Alferis."

"Hmmm? Oh yes. I heard of you. You're familiar with a girl named Reika are you?"

"Yes....how do you know that? And who are you?"

"My name is Geraro. I'm her, ahem, distant admirer if you will."

"Guys! Guys! Over here! Over here!" Alferis shouted at the top of his voice.

[Phoenix]

Daneka and Alphonse

Daneka: Ugh. My only "beef" is wiz your Jerdonian friends. Ze rest of you are just in ze way.

Alphonse: Hmm. As the Colonel told some still salvageable members of your team yesterday, be wary of the Jerdonians. If you people pick a side based on friendships you may find yourselves incredibly outnumbered and outgunned. It would be better for you to avoid the situation altogether but it seems as though Charlotte has already wrapped the lot of you around her fingers if you'll march into the lions den, drop your weapons and dance and drink the night away.

Daneka: Hm. Indeed. As cute as she is you're all expendable assets at best, and like any ozer woman desperate to recover somezing long lost, she will expend.

The Party As A Whole Possibly

Lev: Um excuse me, but ... what?

Irina: Oh right, Naelia. She's still stealing things every night. She won't stop til Esphyr meets with Jace. Not that that'll fix things or even get us our stuff back.

Lev: ... ... ....

Iso: Visit Kaileen? Urgh.

Iso put his hands on his hips and shook his head at the ground.

Iso: I knew something like this might happen. Look, just a heads up, if Kaileen isn't in the business of destroying demons then count me out. Every hero we've come across so far is and enemy, a joke, or both. We can't keep wasting time on them with Arrin in his condition.

[-Cynthia-]

"Kaileen is a woman of the cloth. It is the responsibility of the followers of the Goddess to defeat demons, so I'm sure she'll try her best to be helpful. Arrin has a condition? Tessa told me he was fine." Charlotte said, cocking her head.

[Ansem]

I have no idea what she is talking about.

"Well you two must be serious if your going after her like that. What are you going to do once she regains control of her kingdom?" He asked, his voice changing to a more serious tone. He stood there silent for a while.

Edited September 10, 2010 by Kai

[Inactive Account]

"You probably heard that Arrin lost his weapon," Kelas told Charlotte. "All he'll actually tell me is that he's dizzy and gets headaches, but he'll hardly eat and I'm guessing there's something worse going on. If you lot want to go skipping off to whatever else, do so, but I won't be coming with if we haven't retrieved that damnable book."

[Script]

Luc Altair

"They are? Well, now that's devastating news." Luc had glanced through extended reconnaissance reports about a group labeled as such. But they were them? Luc would have to ask Paul to get a copy of that report for further perusal.

"Agreed, biweekly it is." That was plenty of enough time for the scavengers to work.

"We're done? Pleasing. I should get back to finishing all the tasks I wished to deal with." Luc walked away. He had far too much to deal with to constrict himself here any longer. Kamilla had to be found and contained. He had to check to see if Ixion had attempted to pull anything. Looking inside the group for the thunder tome and bow were also important and something he didn't want to reply on Reika to do. There was also hearing the other side of things from Morgan. Levski as well, to see if he had gotten anything useful out of that woman.

OOC: Another post that sounds jerkish. I feel bad that I'm still mostly responsible for these things.

[Phoenix]

Determination

Iso: Helpful? That's it? How long do you think it's going to take to find this woman, Charlotte?! Morgan was on the verge of dying by the time we got her weapon back and that was a damn fluke in and of itself! We can't afford to go searching for another hero right now.

Lev: (He's tired. He's just tired of the pointless loss of life. ... wish I could help but at these point I'm just a hired axe.)

Iso: Same here. We can't let Arrin die just because Kaileen might be able to help. We don't know where she is and that alone makes it not a good enough reason to prioritize her.

Irina: We aren't strong enough to stop the demons so how are we going to get back the tome on our own?

Iso: I didn't say we'd be on our own. I'll take help from where I can get it, but I refuse to waste time chasing a woman we may not find in time.

Daneka and Alphonse

Daneka: Charlotte's plan will be stopped. Zere is no "after Jerdon is restored". Why do you zink I told you to not side wiz her? You people are just in ze way, Conrad especially.

EDIT: Letter reading retconned.

Edited September 10, 2010 by Phoenix

[-Cynthia-]

"If the demons are coming, they are going to come after the Crimson Weapon wielders, not either of you." Morgan replied to Kelas. "So if you stayed back with Arrin, we may have the tome and have to spend time traveling to return it back to you, which would be an undesirable situation. I am not particularly for or against visiting Kaileen, but I think Arrin should stay with the Crimson Weapon wielders regardless."

"Oh." said Charlotte, saddened by the news. "Maybe Kaileen knows how to fix it? I don't really what to know about all this demon stuff, but all of you don't really seem to know what you're doing either. No offense intended." she added.

Edited September 10, 2010 by -Cynthia-

[Ansem]

*Sigh*

"We never sided with her." He replied with a sigh. "She sided with us, damn good move on her part. And no offense but you are only two people against us who get stronger every day. Have you even thought about the consequences if you get in our way aside from defeat?"

[Inactive Account]

"But are you lot honestly going to do anything about it?" Kelas demanded. "We can't just say 'oh, they'll attack us soon enough' because what if they don't?! We haven't got time for half the crap this group does! Looking for the tome may not help much but it's better than doing nothing!"

[-Cynthia-]

"How do you propose we look for it?" Morgan said. "We do not even know which demon has it, or where any of the demons even are at this point. If you have any suggestions on how to look for them, I am certainly open, but do you have any sort of plan?" Morgan asked Kelas. "If not, my best idea is to go somewhere open and look relatively undefended. If I had to guess, they probably have not attacked recently due to Shanice being captured, but it probably has recovered rather quickly."

[Phoenix]

Daneka and Alphonse

Daneka: Smart move indeed. Clinging to a bunch of demon hunters or whatever you people are. Well I hate to relay zis to you since it should have been obvious but Alphonse and I are not ze only ones working against Charlotte. We're just ze only ones you've had ze pleasure of meeting. Our defeat won't change anyzing even if it does happen.

Alphonse: A sixth of the Third battalion was taken out by you people in our attack on Charlotte and your group. You people have a talent for not suffering any casualties. It's impressive but you haven't faced true numbers yet. You're still ahead and now is a good time to get out.

Decisions Decisions

Iso: "Maybe" Kaileen can help isn't good enough.

Lev: What are you going to do, turn to Ixion for help?

Iso: ... if I have to ... ... yes. I'm not going to even risk an ally dying on another detour. We need to find Daranau, get it back, kill those demons once and for all, and then focus on getting stronger while we still can. Running off to find a retired priestess is just asking for more trouble.

Lev: And you're going to take Arrin with you, or leave him here?

Iso looked over to Kelas not sure what to say to everyone, but then turned back with a much more serious look on his face.

Iso: That depends on how fast we can get around. We can leave Arrin with you if Stephanie helps us the way she's been helping Ixion.

Lev: Slow down, Iso, you're pulling for resources you might not be able to get.

Iso: And Kaileen is a resource we can get?! (Why are you people just STALLING?!!!)

[Inactive Account]

"I was going to bring Arrin with," Kelas said, glancing at Isotov in confusion: wait, where was he getting these ideas now? "To be blunt, when he gets sicker, he's going to get in the way. I'd rather he get in my way, instead of leaving him with a group that contains a few people that I wouldn't trust not to try and remove the obstacle." She sighed. "As for finding the demons: If we can take out the warper, we can track them. I... don't really know what else we can do, but the fact is, this group is always taken by surprise when they show up. We're never really ready to fight, to retake anything. So I'm not too hopeful, especially since people seem set on going and doing things that have nothing to do with anything."

Edited September 10, 2010 by Kiryn

[-Cynthia-]

"I was just trying to help you know." said Charlotte, rather irritated. "If visting Kaileen is such a bad idea, then what's your plan?" she asked Isotov. "All you did was list a bunch of goals, you didn't say anything about the how."

[Snowy_One]

"Figures that she ignores me." muttered Altion to the horses before a world-weary sigh slipped from his lips. "Why am I surprised anyways? She sees me as a incompetent idiot to be shoved aside. If she wasn't so worried for you, Gluebag, I could probably juggle before her and she would see through me. Ah well, she has other men in her life." he mused as he started to brush the horse again, all the while wondering in his head if she would notice him if he killed Iso.

---

With the information fresh in her little head, Esphyr left the castle and traveled to the place prescribed by her post-haste. She didn't know why, but Jace wanted to see her after all. Punctuality is a virtue for a mercenary. Being on time to meet with bosses for payments is very important, especially since some would leave without question if their target was so much as a minute late. This isn't to mention all the times it comes in handy on the job as well. Already she had delayed enough with the ball. It would not due to keep Jace waiting much longer.

[Phoenix]

Isotov ... His Eyes Aren't The Only Thing Burning Red

Iso: I can't come up with a solid plan yet ... not until I know who's going to help us. If it's only me and Kelas then we'll have to form a strategy to beat them around that. If more people help, the situation changes, but I will not waste anymore time twiddling my thumbs waiting for you people to make up your minds. I've had it with going with this suicidal routine.

Irina quickly leaned into Lev trying to stay mostly quiet.

Irina: Don't Iso and Ixion hate each other though? Why would he even consider his help?

Lev: ... Iso obviously doesn't hate him enough to forfeit him as a tool to help Kelas and Arrin.

Irina: (Why did they become so bitter in the first place?)

[Inactive Account]

"Whoa, where are all these ideas coming from?! Ixion? Stephanie? What??" Kelas asked. "We didn't talk about any of this-- to be fair we didn't talk about much of it at all, I didn't realize anyone was coming with, but point I guess is that we'll come up with something, better than my original plan anyway, and probably faster than if we stay. We can't keep going along with whoever says 'let's go find so-and-so!', so unless you can somehow get people to stay on some useful course of action, we're going to have to leave for a bit."

[-Cynthia-]

"Well, you can not have a plan and not sit here and think of one, I'm going to the church here in Burgosas to find out where Kaileen is. I don't know how to deal with these demons, but neither do the rest of you apparently, and she's defeated them before." Fed up with the situation, Charlotte walked out of the palace.

[Phoenix]

Isotov's Point of View

Iso turned to Kelas understanding her surprise.

Iso: Helping Arrin is more important than finding Kaileen. Even if she can help, we don't know how long it would take to find her. Even after finding her we would still have to find the demons and that's only if she'll help us. How much time should we risk on a chance? We may not find her until the day before Arrin dies. I don't want take chances like that.

When Charlotte left Iso sighed a heavy sigh.

Iso: I know I'm being brash but our usual routine has to stop. Now. While we're still alive. We're following the exact same pattern that got Miranda and all of my friends killed. The exact. Same. Pattern. (Enough is enough. We have to deal with them even if it's all by ourselves.)

[Inactive Account]

"That's what I'm saying! We can't keep running in random directions! But where are you getting these other ideas, Ixion, suchlike, from? ...Why don't we wait and I'll work out what that's about after we get the important bit established." Kelas was thoroughly confused. "Look, we'll come up with a plan, with or without the others. The main point is that if the group's just going to go skipping around as it's been doing, we can't stay." She gave Morgan a dubious look. "You know it's not going to work, the way people have been going around."

[-Cynthia-]

"I'm not sure if you two leaving is a very good idea." Morgan told Kelas and Isotov. "Remember that the demons can sense Crimson Weapon trails and if you two are alone you are going to be very easy targets. You'll lure the demons, but you'll die and lose Proxima in the process...unless you have a way to defeat demons that you have not utilized so far for some reason."

Charlotte walked towards the cathedral in Burgosas, a large building, so very easy to find. Kaileen is a Lunaist, right? I should look in that wing...

Edited September 10, 2010 by -Cynthia-

[Phoenix]

Isotov

Iso: That's just it. My being alone is enough to make them show. We'd be outnumbered and overpowered by ourselves but that's why I'm going to try to get us some help.

Iso then turned to Kelas for a moment.

Iso: Why would I even consider working with Ixion if not for just this kind of situation? If we leave, they'll come running to pick me off. Ixion's a monster but at least with his help we would stand a chance. We might even take them all out right there.

To finish he turned back to Morgan.

Iso: I don't know for certain but it's a far better plan than just huddling together and waiting for the next attack.

[-Cynthia-]

Morgan put her hand on her chin. "Is Ixion really so powerful as to be able to take on all the demons? Remember, from what we've seen, they tend to attack with at least 3 or 4 at a time...and no offense but neither you nor Kelas are capable of surviving against even a single demon for very long."

"Still, using you two as bait is a risky ploy, but it may be the best way. We do need to get to these demons quickly...Arrin doesn't even have as long as he thinks. If we could somehow bait them with you and then warp in that could work...though I'm not sure where we would get enough energy to warp en masse" Morgan pondered.