Lord of Azure Flame Chapter 24: The Schism

[Mercakete]

"Well, you have something new you're trying to overcome and you're trying to do it alone. So now you should go talk to Aiya about it," Esphyr replied before turning and reentering the inn, leaving Damian alone. The mercenary walked a little more briskly than she normally did, soon finding herself within her room again, sitting on her bed with her door closed. For a moment, she just sat there. Then she slowly inhaled, then let it all out. It was over. (I hope they can forgive me for intruding... I hope our friendships aren't completely ruined... I feel so bad for just leaving him there, but...it was what I had to do. Just because it hurts now doesn't mean it'll hurt later. ... Maybe...I should write to my parents... I wonder how they've been...)

[Script]

A Paul

"Oh? Don't you know, I've already won." Paul laughed and headed unto some rooftop.

[Phoenix]

IMs

Ivanko: ... why am I not surprised ...? Well, that aside, it's time to go.

Ixion: Right.

The two continued on their way, and eventually O'Donnel and Stephanie opted to follow.

Inn

Iso eventually stepped out of the crowd and approached Irina from behind placing his hand gently on her shoulder to let her know he wasn't an enemy. At that moment, she was so agitated, she ran the risk of lashing out purely out of reflex.

Iso: Hey, are you okay?

Irina: No. Wait, how long have you been here?

Iso: Not long enough to catch what's going on. Want to explain it to me?

She held her head low for a moment, clearly focusing on a deep regret that she quickly voiced once she worked up the nerve to admit she was wrong.

Irina: I'm sorry, I really shouldn't have been so blind.

Iso: What? What are you talking about?

Irina: Ixion ... I knew you two didn't get along, but ... this ... ... now I see why. When it comes to what he wants the rest of us may as might as well be lab rats. He couldn't care less about my feelings. I bet if either of us died someday, he wouldn't so much as frown. He's ...-

Iso: Hey-hey, it's okay, just relax. You don't have to get teary eyed over someone like him. Besides, I knew what he was like all along. What did he do to you?

Irina: Aside from stomping on any semblance of friendship we had left? He used dark magic on the wyverns, and that's something I ... can't tolerate, especially not from him. Now he says I have to go and fight with them in Zaftra.

Iso: (Time to find out how good my acting is ...) What? Why the hell would he want to put you in danger like that? That doesn't make sense, even he should know that.

Irina: Our uncle is ... going to take on the royals in the capital and become the next emperor. That would make us-

Iso: A back up baby maker and potential political tool of a princess, and a disloyal hellfire wielding menace of a prince? Yeah, no thanks.

Irina: Ixion went to bring Ivanko a few minutes ago, so they should be back soon. I'm not going though, even if I have to fight them.

Iso: Whoa, hey I understand how you feel ... more than you know, but you're not even dressed for this sort of thing, and even if I helped, I doubt we could beat both of them before getting demolished.

Irina: I have to, Iso. I can't just go along with this. I won't, not after what he's done.

Iso: But you can't fight Ivanko and actually win-

Ivanko: Why not?

The door to the inn opened up revealing the leader of the mercenaries who was holding the door to the wall with his arm completely outstretched.

Iso: ... you.

Ivanko: ... apparently we just lost to a spy with no arms or sanity, so I'm sure a full fledged wyvern lord and a crimson weapon wielder can do better.

Lev: A spy with no arms or sanity?

Ixion: Not important just yet.

Ixion appeared behind Ivanko and stepped inside taking a place right by an uncrowded wall. While Ivanko dealt with the siblings, Ixion turned his focus toward other things.

[Ether]

Damian stood there for a minute, letting her words sink in.

'Something definitely happened... but what? I guess I'll find out from Aiya... everything seems to be leading me to her now, isn't it?' Damian noted. Shaking his head quickly, he headed back towards the inn, where he walked in to see Irina and Isotov staring down Ixion and Ivanko.

'I hope you know what you're doing, Ixion... poor girl still doesn't deserve this shit.'

With that, Damian moved towards them, closing the distance enough that he could at the very least try to do something.

[Inactive Account]

What had been a deeply comforting gesture several minutes ago in another room now felt completely wrong and disturbing. "Get away from me-- <get away-->" Kelas threw her weight into an attempt to shove Miranda away, and turned to run for the door.

[Mercakete]

After the courier had eaten and paid the kitchen staff of the inn, he returned to the common room. However, his nerves got a hold of him again when he saw that Ixion had returned...with someone who could only be Ivanko. (He looks so strong... Irina's thinking about taking him on? He might seriously hurt her! Irina, please wisen up and don't challenge him...) That was when he noticed Isotov standing next to her. (Maybe he'll help her...? No way. Then they'll both be injurred. Bravery's one thing but... There's no way to win. The smart thing to do in this situation is to just give up and try to fly away later.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Namid was curled up as tightly as he could, staying perfectly still, hoping to be mistaken for a boulder. A wyvern even bigger than Ulfrahn was in the front yard of the inn now. He hoped he would just fly away soon.

[-Cynthia-]

"Seems like a blessing to me; I wish I had a sibling. Let someone else be the heir, I don't want the job," Tristan said rather seriously. "Though I guess I can understand your reasons for not wanting to change, there's something to be said for consistency I suppose." Am I actually missing life in the palace right now? I had been wanting to get away for so long, but now that I'm out things really aren't so grand. Though maybe that's just the current circumstances weighing in. Tristan thought to himself before pushing these thoughts out of his mind.

"So why did your sister leave, if you don't mind me asking? Was she tired of living in the church her whole life?"

[Mercakete]

Raemond stood up carefully and subtley gestured for the prince to do the same. As Tristan had been talking, a couple men had gone into the inn. A gargantuine wyvern had followed, along with two other people. Indicating for the heir to the Septiminian throne to be silent and slow, he carefully began making his way to the stables, where they could go unnoticed from the wyvern with sight, scent and sound obscured from it. (I'll answer his questions once we're hidden.)

[-Cynthia-]

Tristan turned his head and looked towards where Raemond was looking and saw a giant wyvern with some unfamiliar faces. He decided it would be best to follow the monk into the stables quietly.

Charlotte continued to listen in on the goings on in the common room, becoming slightly annoyed that all the talk was about Zaftra. She had her own rebellion to organize, but there was no sign of Derek anywhere. She sighed and took a seat next to Luc as the arguments began to grow more heated. She had said her piece on the matter, but felt that this was not her place to intervene.

[Phoenix]

Zaftrans

Ivanko: So I assume you've been briefed.

Irina: Yeah, I have.

Ivanko: So then, are you going to fight me or just get ready?

Irina: I'm not going. I'll fight if I have to.

Ixion: Irina, that's utterly pointless and shortsighted. Acting out of pride just to spite me isn't going to do you or anyone else any good here.

Irina: I'm not going. I can't go along with this after ... after all of that.

Ivanko: Ah, I see. You've found a true foe in Ixion, haven't you?

Irina: A what?

Ivanko: A true foe, an arch enemy, call it whatever you want. It's simply a person you'd rather die fighting than surrender to. I guess you take it giving into my demands is the same as letting Ixion win. I suppose you'd be right though.

Irina: Why do you want me to go with you?! I don't have to, you know! I'm not some famous relative of yours who's gotten enough publicity to be targeted later on. You don't have to lock me away in a castle for the rest of my life. I can take care of myself. It's bad enough that Ixion's forcing his will on just about everything right now, but to think that that's the kind of life you want for me just makes it so much worse. I don't care about true foes, I chose to be a mercenary and that's the life I'm living right now and I'll defend it even against you two. You're not dragging me off to that place.

Ixion: Is that what this is about? You're afraid of being locked away never to see the light of day again? We don't know exactly what the future holds, so do you really want to do something like this based on that fear and that fear alone?

Iso: You've been lying to us our entire lives. You don't have her best interest in mind so it's a pretty safe assumption.

Ivanko: I've got Irina's best interest at heart here, it's just hard to see past Ixion.

Iso: Her best interest? You're a liar. A hulking, no good, self centered, liar.

Ivanko: And you're just an idiot. Like I said, if you want out of this, just beat me.

Iso: You know damn well she can't! Neither of us can!

Ivanko: Yeah probably not, but I wonder why that is ....

Irina: (What's he getting at?)

Ixion: (What is he getting at?)

Some Other Person

As Kelas broke away and made for the door, Miranda sighed.

Iso!Miranda: If you don't learn to lighten up all your relationships are going to be nothing but gloomy business.

Suddenly something else took presidence.

Iso!Miranda: Hey, don't forget what's happening right now. Don't go downstairs until you're ready to act normal or you'll blow Iso's cover. You and I both know how far he'll go to protect her, AND how badly he'll be injured if he gets found out and goes with his original plans.

[Mercakete]

Once they were safely in the stables, Raemond recalled and answered his question, "To answer your question from before, she left laregely due to curiosity. She wanted to understand the world by experiencing it. So, she announced she was leaving the church and left. We weren't too worried about her. She was a full-grown woman when she left, after all. Not everyone stays where they were raised. She was particularly intrested in learning how to more effectively use staves and light magic. Her research only progressed as she travelled. She's happy with her chosen lifestyle, so I don't worry about her. Besides, she's more proficient in light magic than I am by now, which really is saying something since she was initially training to use staves and I've been studying light magic for a longer time than she. I suppose that only credits that she is finding the answers she is looking for." He shrugged with a smile as he walked over to Lantos, deciding that he wouldn't be as in-the-way if he was by his own horse's stall.

[Inactive Account]

Kelas wasn't even listening to Miranda as she shut the door swiftly behind her, but she wasn't about to forget the gravity of the situation anyway. She couldn't go downstairs, and by extension couldn't get outside to the stables again... Helios had returned to his room, so she wasn't going anywhere near there... well, she knew where Arrin was, maybe she could visit with him for a bit, though she'd need to think up an excuse. She took a moment to try and hide any distress displaying on her face, then turned down the hall towards Arrin's room, trying to think up some excuse or other.

[Dark Sage]

Stumblebum

Hearing some shouting going on downstairs shortly after Tessa talked to Irina, Alf backed away slowly, deciding to keep his distance from all involved and decided to go back to his room to catch some more sleep. As he entered the hallway though, he came across Kelas who headed to another room.

Eh...why the hell not? Wonder if she's doing ok. I know we're not on very good terms but that doesn't mean we're not still comrades...sort of.

"Hey Kelas? Are you doing ok?" he called out, not too loudly as he approached, a little slowly so as not to intimidate her.

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

Practical Magic

"No please go on," Sadie said listening intently to Arrin. "I never thought...wow. All this use for magnetism. We could possibly live a whole new life if we used thunder magic for such purposes. I wonder why TISME hasn't had mages attempt to better people's lives with that knowledge. It might be helpful for my dear mother....Sorry for rambling. Anyway you use thunder magic and I use wind magic right? Imagine if we met somebody with water magic. That would be great. The three of us could control various elements of the weather. A water mage can make it rain magically and help with crops and produce drinkable water even in places without water, like a desert. That would be such a boon wouldn't you think? And imagine if we combined our powers to make a total thunderstorm, you and me? Well, if we were stronger. But in theory, that would be great.

Man. I'm really rambling today."

[Inactive Account]

"I'm fine," Kelas replied tonelessly, not bothering to turn; she could tell from the voice that it was Alferis. There would inevitably be another joke coming; she hoped he'd get done with it quickly so she could find somewhere to sulk in peace.

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

"I don't think a water tome would quite work," Arrin replied dubiously. "Anima deals with energy; if you were to apply magic to water, you'd still have to get the actual matter from somewhere. It seems like with magic we can get energy from some unknown source, but the same doesn't hold true for matter."

[Dark Sage]

"You don't sound very good. You sure you're ok? I mean, a lot of people, me included, say they're fine when they're not so if there's something wrong, I'll do my best to help you out.

Of course you probably want me to shut up do you."

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

Continued

"Really? Because I once heard from the headmaster who once visited us that there was such a thing as water magic so I figured that she was right. Why would she say otherwise though? I mean she's supposed to be more knowledgeable than both of us and she doesn't know that. Odd."

[Inactive Account]

"Look, I'm fine, I'm just hung over, and tired of everyone trying to help me or making jokes at my expense. At the moment, yes, I'd prefer to be left alone," Kelas replied. How many more times was she going to have to answer that question?!

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

"Well, there is a water tome in development," Arrin replied. "If I recall correctly, it works with existing water in the surroundings, and it's very unstable; use it improperly and you might freeze your own blood, or do something else similarly unpleasant. It certainly wouldn't be able to control the weather; to do so would take an enormous amount of power."

[Dark Sage]

"Oh. I'm sorry. I'm not planning on making fun of you and if you want me to back off, I'll do that," said Alf, raising his arms and backing up a bit. "Well, just hope you feel better and that hangover goes away soon. I've had my bad share of hangovers. Like that one time I woke up next to Esphyr....brrr...." he shivered at the thought of that.

"Promise you won't make fun of me?"

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

Magical Girl

"Wow. Well I'm glad I'm not able to use it. I heard the lecture from the headmaster about what I said about water magic so...oh well. Maybe she's delusional? I dunno."

[Snike]

Alex

Morning came all too soon for the Comet, who slowly got up, hair disheveled. No splitting headache, either, so the alcohol didn't work. Ugh. After straightening her hair to be somewhat presentable, she collected and strapped on her armor, before leaving her room. Alex calmly passed by the crazy bandit, who was in the process of talking to the nomad woman, who in turn was trying to get away from him, a reasonable decision, considering the battle a few days ago. The Septimian general walked downstairs, received a tea from the innkeeper, and walked into the common room, only to have her ears filled with the ongoing argument with the wyvern rider Irina and the fire sage Isotov on one side, and Ivanko -she was surprised to note. Why was the head of a mercenary outfit as big as the IM here?-, and an unknown druid on the other. After a sweep of the room, Alex spotted Princess Charlotte and Captain Luc, and opted to take a seat beside the paladin.

"What's going on?", Alex asked the two, taking a sip from her tea.

Stables

More wyvern shenanigans were going on outside. It was slightly annoying, if anything else. Derek kept his head down as he groomed Ann, only lifting it as he heard people entering the stable.

"Excellent timing, Prince," the cavalier commented, putting the grooming tools away. "I have a rather peculiar question for you. Do you think Bellerophon would be able to handle three people, yourself included?"

[-Cynthia-]

Tristan

"Hmm so she had the freedom to do as she pleased then. Thank you for the story Brother," he said to Remond, before Derek approached.

"Maybe, depends on how large the people are and how much armor they're wearing and such. Why, are we going somewhere?" he asked Derek.

Charlotte

Charlotte sighed as Alex approached. "From what I've gathered, the Ivanko Mercenaries are going to kill the Zaftran royal family and enstate themselves as the new rulers. They are here to bring Irina, and Isotov I think, with them. I don't like it, perhaps due to the unpleasant similarities to other situations, but I don't see what I can do about it," she said to the General.

[Inactive Account]

"I'm not gonna make fun of you," Kelas reassured, frustrated, before continuing on her way. She hadn't really wanted to know about other people waking up next to other people.

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

"Hm... I wouldn't say that, necessarily," Arrin replied diplomatically. "Anyway, was there anything else?"

[Dark Sage]

"Well....that's good to know," said Alf, scratching his head as she walked away from him.

"What to do....catch some shuteye, go try talking to people some more, randomly go rooms....oh. Train Aiya. Yeah, I forgot about that. I really should get around to doing that." With that, he wandered around for awhile and it didn't take long for him to find her, her head down like in sadness.

So much drama. Why can't people be a little more cheery these days? I mean, I'm not that cheery myself but still...you'd think she'd be happy about what's going on. Well, maybe she doesn't know Damian's back.

"Oi! Aiya! Are you ok? You don't seem to be in good spirits. Don't know why though. I mean Damian's back and all so..."

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

Magical Girl Sadie

"Well....if you don't want me around I'm fine with it but I just want a bit of company is all."

[Inactive Account]

"I'm sorry, I'm just trying to hold onto my train of thought from earlier," Arrin apologized, feeling bad for lying; his train of thought for decoding was long gone, and he really just wanted to try and keep his head from exploding. While Sadie's questions had let him trick himself into rambling about something else, the new information from earlier came back as soon as he stopped talking, and he needed to figure out how to get it to stop bothering him.

[Dark Sage]

"Oh. If I'm distracting you from that, I can stop talking. Sorry about that," said Sadie, pulling out her wind tome to study. The talk about magic fully inspired her for studying magic more seriously than before.

I slacked off in my magic before but I shouldn't do that again. Guess I owe you one Arrin. Not sure if I would've felt inspired like this like I did before like I do know.

[Phoenix]

Zaftrans

Irina: Ivanko ...

Ivanko: You're calling me Ivanko now?

Irina: I don't much feel like calling you "Uncle" right now. I don't like the idea of fighting family.

Ivanko: ... I see. So are you going to fight to win your way out of this?

Irina: Yeah.

Ivanko: Even though your chances are pretty pathetic right now?

Irina: I don't have a choice! I don't know why you want me to go, but I'm not going, and I refuse to work with someone like Ixion.

Ivanko: Ixion's only doing what I requested of him. How he goes about it is his business. But you're right, you don't have much of a choice here. I'm just giving you the same option I gave Iso. I want you to do something that you refuse to. You're going to do it because I'm forcing you to. The only way out of this is through me or suicide.

Irina: But why?!

Ivanko: You'll realize why I want you on this mission with us once you stop talking with your mouth and start using your fists instead. So how about it? Are you going to just give up and pack your things, or are you going to go through with your original plans and fight this?

Irina: I'm gonna fight it, what do you think?!

The mercenary leader stood there and made a simple gesture with his hand waving her over. He was already prepared. Irina was nervous, not only due to who she was attacking but due to the circumstances surrounding it, as well as the lay of things. Ivanko was fully armored, only his head was exposed, and that, she knew from experience was a trap. Her only viable angle of attack was Ivanko's kill zone. She knew if she even tried to go there, he would floor her instantly. Meanwhile Irina herself was barely prepared at all. Her greaves were the only bits of armor she had on.

Ivanko: Well ... don't just stand there. If I have to make the first move ... you're going to wake up in Zaftra.

The thought of that broke Irina's concentration and she lunged at Ivanko with complete abandon. She aimed her fist right at his head but as it came in, his gauntlet appeared to block it and clamp down onto her hand. She followed up with her left fist which was intercepted by the other hand mirroring the first. With no other options she jumped up as high as she could narrowly keeping her head from hitting the ceiling by bending forward. She was still grasped, but managed to use her legs this time. She immediately launched her right knee forward aiming to strike Ivanko in the face with her knee guard, a move that would easily end a brawl with a successful hit, but the man just leaned to the left tilting his head out of the way. Her greave came to rest right on his shoulder, and then he made his move. Letting go of her left hand, he put his palm right up to Irina's chest and then leaned forward as fast as he could taking Irina with him. As he came down he used his hand to press her downward and when she hit the floor, the floor paneling fractured with a sickeningly loud crash!

Iso: Irina!

Ixion: (I suppose there's no risk of any fire magic getting loose ... though I do wonder if Miranda will be able to keep up her disguise if Ivanko does something excessive.)

Iso didn't hesitate for a second and lunged forward toward Ivanko in response. Ivanko immediately stood up to ready himself for him. Iso opened up with a punch that resembled a spear aimed right for Ivanko's face. Just as with Irina, Ivanko leaned and then tilted his head out of the way causing Iso's fist to skid across his shoulder. Unlike with Irina however, Ivanko stepped into a twirl that had Iso's arm caught between the mercenary's neck, and the inside of his shoulder plate. Being dragged along, Iso found himself forced right in front of the door, and then before he could react, his arm came loose from Ivanko, and he was kicked square in the chest and out through the front door of the inn. He came to a hard landing on his back in the dirt almost twenty-five feet from the entrance.

Ixion: (That was ... excessive ...)

Barely able to breathe, he tried to raise up only to realize he was lying close to Victor. The wyvern raised a paw to swat him, and he barely dove out of the way in time. The bull snarled at him as he backed up while grasping his chest.

Iso: D-dammit ...

Ivanko then knelt down over Irina who was surprisingly still conscious. It even surprised Ivanko.

Ivanko: Ah good, you're still awake.

Irina couldn't say a word due to the tremendous pain she was enduring but reached up toward Ivanko's face trying to grasp it. She couldn't reach, and trying to sit up was out of the question. It wasn't the case, but she thought her entire back had been broken in that attack.

Ivanko: Listen carefully, Irina. If you had actually won there, I would have let you stay with your friends. You know why I would have? Because I wouldn't have been able to stop you. Do you understand that? Do you understand that all you had to do was win? But you couldn't do it, could you? As badly as you wanted it, you weren't strong enough to land even a single blow. Ignore the fact that you attacking me for a moment. Ignore the pain. Focus on that one thing alone. You wanted to get your way, and the only way to do it that was available to you slipped through your fingers.

Ixion decided to take a look outside, his intentions simply to see if Iso was dying or not, and to summon Stephanie in to heal Irina should none of the other healers get to her first. Outside, Stephanie and O'Donnel rushed over to Iso.

Stephanie: By the Goddess, Iso, what on earth happened to you?! Who sent you flying out from the inn like that?!

Iso coughed up a tiny amount of blood before giving Stephanie a cold look.

Iso: Guess ...

Stephanie: Iso, you may be a victim in this but you clearly attacked Ivanko first. I may not approve of how that man does things but I've known him for years and his style is easy to recognize. Why did you attack him?

Iso: He nearly put my sister INTO the ground just now! Attack him? I'M GONNA KILL HIM!!!

Stephanie: ... oh dear. (You Zaftrans and your need to solve every problem with murderous violence ...)

[Inactive Account]

Kelas found that Arrin's door was open, but knocked anyway. "Hey, can I come in?" she asked.

Arrin had been just about to bury his face in his book again, but reflexively looked up when he heard the knock. Normally he wouldn't be distressed to see Kelas, but now... "Aaah!" he yelped before trying to regain his composure; there was no way she knew why he was so disturbed by her appearance. "Er... yes, that's fine," he replied shakily. "Er, Sadie? I'm sorry, I kind of need to talk to Kelas on my own..."

Edited April 10, 2011 by Kiryn