Abysmal Souls: Chapter 3 and 4 (surprise)

[Zsword]

Zwool's tears stopped, and his gem practically shut down by comparison to the violent glow it had before. They... they really do care... "Thanks..." he said to Carrion. He was going to say something else, but Adrian made a strange statement.... oh okay... he's joking... I wonder if I was the only one where the humor of the statement wasn't exactly obvious. He smiled at the attempt to lighten the mood either way. It was nice, having friends for once in his life.

[Caliban of Sycorax]

Lucretia/Adano

They received the news that they were ordered to leave town immediately. Lucretia was still hurting, and Adano was tired. They really didn't have much say in the matter.

"I'll be fine, I've experienced worse..." Lucretia panted. The pair found Aurelio in the midst of the mess. "Aurelio, what do you plan on doing?" She asked. "Honestly, we have nothing to do, and there's nowhere to go--" I really hope you have somewhere to go, because I really want to travel with you...

Adano stayed silent, wondering what their next move would be.

Julius

Julius didn't really say much when the guard told him he had to leave town. Not like it mattered. Maybe it would be a good thing to head on. He wondered where Carrie went. He also wondered where the cute boy from the battle went. Clearly he was leaving too. He decided to check the inn quickly to see if he was there. He wasn't injured so he didn't need to be healed up.

[Shin]

Aurelio

It seemed that the village wanted them out. He'd missed the initial message, either from being busy fighting or just by not paying attention. Lucretia and Adano approached him, both looking exhausted from the fight.

"Aurelio, what do you plan on doing?... Honestly, we have nothing to do, and there's nowhere to go--"

The question came as a shock, he thought she would have gone to live with her father. It was a pleasant surprise, he didn't want to say goodbye to them, especially Lucretia, just yet. What was he planning to do? He wished the best for Adrian and Carrion, although he wasn't going to become their bodyguard any time soon. Perhaps he could continue his search, although adding to his nine years of solitude would be tough on him. Suddenlty, an idea came to him.

"My mother and sister are still out there." He began. "I've spent the last nine years roaming the continent, looking for them. So far, I haven't had much luck..."

OK, this was it. Aurelio's subconscious bullied him and kept pushing for his next line. No wonder Ormis and Adrian looked so uneasy around him.

"But, unless you don't want to, I'd quite like it if the two of you joined me. Travelling across the continent doesn't sound too bad, even if we didn't ever find them. Maybe we could even visit my village, Keyes"

It was a little harder than he thought, but he managed it. Maybe he'd go easy on the others next time.

[Caliban of Sycorax]

Lucretia/Adano

"My mother and sister are still out there." He began. "I've spent the last nine years roaming the continent, looking for them. So far, I haven't had much luck..."

Lucretia thought back to her journey. She was running from her mother, and Aurelio was trying to find his. Adano also thought back to his search for Lucretia. Both felt for Aurelio and wanted nothing more than to help him achieve his goal. After all, he had help them with theirs.

"But, unless you don't want to, I'd quite like it if the two of you joined me. Travelling across the continent doesn't sound too bad, even if we didn't ever find them. Maybe we could even visit my village, Keyes"

Lucretia, inside, wanted to jump around like a little schoolgirl receiving a valentine. She maintained composure, though, and she was also still exhausted.

"That would be incredible, Aurelio." Lucretia said. "Besides, traveling alone isn't a good thing. I'm sure my father agrees."

"I'd love to travel with the both of you!" Adano smiled at the pair. "Of course, we need to get some rest, but we also need to leave town. Maybe if we can get ourselves to the outskirts of town, we can rest there for a bit before our next move."

[Anti-Social Meta Knight]

"Gideon? Amera? I need to talk to at least one of you, now. Urgent business." The voice barely registered with him, but he heard 'urgent business' so he moved to get up. "I'll go see what they want, just keep sleeping..." Amera mumbled as she got up. I'm enjoying this relationship already... He rolled over and covered his head with a pillow, not really wanting to deal with whatever they wanted right now. Still, he could make out their voices despite his attempt otherwise. "So I was right, it was you, Ormis... and... who're you? We're trying to sleep in here, can't we just get the chance to relax, some?" "Goddamn kid," he grumbled under his breath. Why can't he just leave us alone? Every time I'm alone with her, he comes out of fucking nowhere and ruins it. Now that he knew Ormis was there (and probably staring at her, since she was in her underwear), he couldn't sleep, so he sat up and looked at Amera. "Who is it?" he asked her without leaving the bed - it was really comfortable...

[Shin]

Aurelio

"That would be incredible, Aurelio..."Besides, traveling alone isn't a good thing. I'm sure my father agrees."

He was ecstatic, much like the schoolboy who had his valentine accepted. Hopefully Adano would want to come along too. In a strange way, he looked up to him.

"I'd love to travel with the both of you!... Of course, we need to get some rest, but we also need to leave town. Maybe if we can get ourselves to the outskirts of town, we can rest there for a bit before our next move."

That had made his day, his journey wouldn't be so bad after all. He'd gather his stuff from the inn, say goodbye to the others, give the innkeeper a piece of his mind and then he'd be set. They could head anywhere, the world was theirs.

"That sounds great. We better gather our stuff and say a few goodbyes."

He turned to Adano. Despite his condition, he was a fantastic fighter. Heck, compared to these two, he was a chump.

"Adano, if it's not too much trouble, I'd like to you teach me some stuff when we're out there. I don't want you two saving my backside too often, haha."

[CT075]

Ormis

Amera was in her underwear, and Gideon was on the bed. Both looked really annoyed. Ormis started, stopped, and then stuttered, "Uh... Hey, Teis had some news, uh, well, that is, we need to, um..." He trailed off.

One of the soldiers (who had been impatiently waiting while Ormis failed at speaking) shoved the kid aside (again).

"We have reports of the three of you being sighted as fighting with one Arcen and one Teis in the brawl earlier. I am afraid to inform you that, as a result, you will be forced to leave town within the next three hours."

Teis

"Hm."

Teis turned to leave, but the conversation between Carrion and the Anri caught his attention. He stopped, and turned back around.

"You're traveling to Pravna, you say?"

[Caliban of Sycorax]

Lucretia/Adano

"That sounds great. We better gather our stuff and say a few goodbyes."

"Right...not like I had too much to begin with, but it's important we get everything we need." Lucretia replied.

"Adano, if it's not too much trouble, I'd like to you teach me some stuff when we're out there. I don't want you two saving my backside too often, haha."

"I'd love to. I can't move like I could when I was younger, but I still know what it's like to fight." He chuckled as he headed towards the inn. Lucretia followed behind, but not before turning to Aurelio and giving him a kiss on the cheek before heading to her room to collect her things.

Julius

He collected everything he needed from his room and packed it away. He didn't want to leave so soon, but he really had no choice. With his sword tucked away, he returned to the inn's lobby and plotted his next move.

[Nanami Touko]

"Uh... Hey, Teis had some news, uh, well, that is, we need to, um..." She sighed, shoving her face into her hand. "Listen, just because I'm not wearing much here, doesn't mean you shouldn't be able to control yourself, you know? Just calm down, and--" The soldier shoved him aside, apparently not affected by her apparel. "We have reports of the three of you being sighted as fighting with one Arcen and one Teis in the brawl earlier. I am afraid to inform you that, as a result, you will be forced to leave town within the next three hours." She looked up at him with the most confused and astounded face she could muster, not sure if she was actually asleep and having a bad dream, or not. "What... what? No, no you... you can't do that." She really didn't want to believe it, but Gideon was already asking what was up, for the most part. "Who is it?" "Some soldier telling us we've got three hours to leave. Nothing much." She said in a pretty nonchalant tone, though her voice was shaking. As were her legs. And her arms. Pretty much her entire body was beginning to shake a little bit, really not wanting to have to leave. "Do we... at least get something to compensate for this? Seriously, you're just up and kicking us out of here for being decent people." She would've cried a little, but she'd already done too much of that.

[Anti-Social Meta Knight]

"Listen, just because I'm not wearing much here, doesn't mean you shouldn't be able to control yourself, you know? Just calm down, and--" Gideon smirked, turning away so as not to embarrass the kid too much. "We have reports of the three of you being sighted as fighting with one Arcen and one Teis in the brawl earlier. I am afraid to inform you that, as a result, you will be forced to leave town within the next three hours." When he heard this, he looked right back up. "What... what? No, no you... you can't do that. Some soldier telling us we've got three hours to leave. Nothing much." Are you serious? Gideon stood up and walked over to the door. "Do we... at least get something to compensate for this? Seriously, you're just up and kicking us out of here for being decent people."

"Don't bother," he told Amera, his tone a bit bitter. They were probably screwed. "Business as usual, right?" he said to the soldier, glaring at him. "If that bag's for us, leave it at the door. We've got to pack up; in case you couldn't tell, you caught us at a bad time." Putting a hand on Amera's shoulder, he pulled her from the door and closed it, shaking his head and scoffing as he walked over to the bed to pick up his shirt. "Goddamn it..." he growled as he pulled his shirt on. "I can't believe them. If we hadn't stepped in, people would have died." His eyes fell on Amera, and his scowl faded a bit."Sorry about this. We'll just have to postpone that nap, I guess." She looked pretty upset, so he moved over to her and hugged her. There wasn't much he could say to calm her down - he knew better by now than to tell her to let it go. This was the least he could do, though.

[ReformBlade]

Soldier at the inn

Opening the door, his face was none too pleasant. "I don't make the rules here, I just enforce them. Last I checked, causing unneeded ruckus in an establishment is plain old disruptive. Congratulations, you won the moral battle, you defended someone by killing dozens of others, now get the fuck out of here in three hours, or you'll be going to jail here for a very long time. If you wanna make this personal, by all means, try my patience, son. We don't need 'heroes' in this world, all we need is order. You're disrupting the order that we hard working citizens of Shuthra have been striving to maintain for the past fifty years. I'll say it again. Three hours. Here's your goddamn compensation, don't spend it all in one place. Good fucking day." He slammed the door, splintering it slightly before turning to Ormis, "I believe you were involved there too, weren't you? This is for you, kid. Sorry about your luck. Justice is blind, they say." He handed another bag to Ormis.

Walking back downstairs, he saw Teis and the Anri. "Gentlemen, I assume you got the message, I'm sorry for the inconvenience, we hope this will make up for it." He handed a bag to Teis and then Zwool. After that, he left he inn.

Carrion

The tone in which Adrian spoke gave Carrion a little smirk. "Good. Now then, if we're gonna be going soon, we'll need supplies. Clothes, maybe some mats for sleeping outdoors when we can't get to a city, the works." When the soldier came by giving bags to the others, she took Zwool's and looked inside, her eyes widening. "Wow... I wish I was getting kicked out..." Teis made mention of her going to Pravna. "Yeah, I know I was going to head there to try and get unsealed, but like... I don't even know. The Magic festival is gonna be starting soon, and while that's a blast to attend, there won't be many services during it. Kinda pissy."

Edited August 3, 2011 by SlaveKitty

[Nanami Touko]

Amera

Although she wasn't happy with the soldier, Gideon didn't have to go and make it all worse, the soldier popping his his head back in to bark some more. She couldn't care for either side, just wanting to sleep, above all else. Though the slamming wasn't necessary, and it made her jump. Now she really wanted to cry; she was tired, she was upset, and she had to keep walking with her body as fatigued as it was. Gideon's arms made for some comfort, though, as she tried her best to calm down. "Sorry about this. We'll just have to postpone that nap, I guess." "Yeah... I guess we will, huh?" She let him go, sniffling a little bit and collecting her damp clothing, uncomfortably slipping herself back into it. Egh, wet clothing feels terrible... She then shot her head back up, realizing that they'd have to walk in the rain once again. She didn't want to, but what choice do we have? Rain, jail... I guess we're taking rain. She took his jacket again, and slipped into it, a bit happier. "Alright, then... wait, how much did they...?" She took the bad from the floor and looked inside, dropping it right away. "Gideon, there's tonnes of gold in there!"

Adrian

He'd noticed Carrion's smirk, getting a bit embarrassed. "Well, hey, I'm allowed to be worried, right? I'm a wimp, it's natural." He joked some more, but she'd probably take it elsewhere. "Good. Now then, if we're gonna be going soon, we'll need supplies. Clothes, maybe some mats for sleeping outdoors when we can't get to a city, the works." "And get that hair of yours changed. We have the money since we didn't have to pay for a room, we might as well, just to be safe. Unless you really want to keep that pink mop of yours," he joked, getting up to tussle her hair a little. He set his head on hers, arms around her, as a guard came by and let a bag of gold down next to Zwool. She picked it up, and Adrian's eyes almost went blind as it opened. "Gods, that's a lot of gold!" "Wow... I wish I was getting kicked out..." "Seriously. Think it's too late to go start a riot, and get ourselves kicked out as well?"

"You're traveling to Pravna, you say?" Adrian had almost forgotten Teis was there, turning his eyes to him. "Uh, well, Carrion's the boss," he said, looking down at her from his position, "so, yeah. I would say that."

Edited August 3, 2011 by seph1212

[Zsword]

Zwool shook his head. "It isn't for causing havoc... that's for trying to stop it... I guess..." He said, before looking up to Carrion with a weak smile. "Um, go ahead and use that to help gather those supplies you were talking about... Not like I can do all that much moving right now... um, how much is it, anyway?" He asked... cause Carrion was standing just so that the bag was out of his sight... and he didn't care enough to try to push his body to look. He needed to rest... he had... okay, it was probably closer to 2 hours now, to get out of town... he would need to save his energy for now.

[Anti-Social Meta Knight]

Gideon wanted to punch the guard as he ranted, but it didn't seem worth it. Going to prison didn't seem a viable option, and that was what decking the prick would get him. After the door was closed, he sighed heavily in relief and exasperation. "Pissant," he growled. He looked down at Amera, who seemed even more upset than before. "Sorry. Didn't expect that..."

"Yeah... I guess we will, huh?" When she let go and went back to get into her wet clothes, Gideon sighed and shook his head. Dammit. I wanted to air them out more...Then she took his jacket, which evoked a smirk from him. "Staking your claim, huh?" he teased, folding his arms. "Alright, then... wait, how much did they...?" The bag dropped, and Gideon looked down at it, his eyes widening when he saw the amount of coin in it. "Gideon, there's tonnes of gold in there!" "Wow..." He knelt down and looked in the bag. "Has to be five hundred or so..." Grinning, he looked up at her. "First thing we do once we're into the next town is buy a new set of clothes each." Suddenly being kicked out wasn't so bad. Even if he was damp, and would be for a while yet, he hadn't been paid this much in a while. "Where are we headed, anyway?" he asked as he stood up with the bag in hand.

Edited August 3, 2011 by Anti-Social Kitty

[ReformBlade]

Carrion

"It's like... a Lot of gold, Zwool. I don't think you should be that generous with it, it's yours. Well... Are you absolutely sure? I'll make it up to you sometime!" She wasn't even waiting for an answer from him she was so giddy at how much was in the bag. As she sifted through the bag, a patron watched her. "Ya know... I hear they've got some crazy good reward for if someone can catch the Burgundy witch or whatever her name is..." Carrion's body froze at the mention, suddenly staring at the guy. "What are you talking about?" He hiccuped and continued, "Well, you not heard the rumors? That witch girl is apparently hanging out south, waaaay south, just hanging out on an island or so they say. Many tried to bring her in, only a few escaped, and even then they were horribly, horribly burned." Another patron joined in, "Yeah, that thar guild had a reward for it, but it wasn't worth it I say."

"I... I see..." This news freaked Carrion out. Who would be copying me like that? Is... is it the cult? Suddenly she felt an absolute need to get going, gving Adrian a weird look about what she just heard.

[Nanami Touko]

Amera

"Staking your claim, huh?" "M-Maybe! Hope you don't have a problem with that. Besides, it's a nice jacket..." Gideon, stop being so good at making me blush! I'd rather be the one teasing, thanks. The rain had died down a bit, at least. They wouldn't be getting much wetter. Another stretch, Amera was still tired, not wanting to move at all. She opened the splintered door, wondering where that guard has mustered as much strength as he had. "First thing we do once we're into the next town is buy a new set of clothes each." "Gideon, don't say that. You won't see a single bit of that gold if you do~" She might not have been a girly girl, but she still enjoyed clothes. "Where are we headed, anyway?" I... hadn't thought of that. "No idea, honestly." She smiled at him, being intentionally clueless. "We could always bother Carrion and Adrian. I'm sure they wouldn't mind having us around. The more the merrier, I guess? If not, we could always just travel around. It's a pretty big continent." She wasn't really sure, but it was a better idea than nothing. She'd turned to the door, finally realizing that Ormis was still there. "Oh, Ormis... sorry about... all of this." Okay, this is awkward...

Adrian

"It's like... a Lot of gold, Zwool. I don't think you should be that generous with it, it's yours. Well... Are you absolutely sure? I'll make it up to you sometime!" Well, you just got swindled, kid. He smirked. "Yeah, thanks! That's really generous of you." "Ya know... I hear they've got some crazy good reward for if someone can catch the Burgundy witch or whatever her name is..." What... Adrian didn't want to hear what he was hearing, probably as much as Carrion didn't want to hear it. "Well, you not heard the rumors? That witch girl is apparently hanging out south, waaaay south, just hanging out on an island or so they say. Many tried to bring her in, only a few escaped, and even then they were horribly, horribly burned." Okay, whoa, whoa. What the fuck? "Yeah, that thar guild had a reward for it, but it wasn't worth it I say." "Really, now?" He whispered to himself, not wanting to keep the conversation going any longer than it had to. "I... I see..." Carrion looked unnerved, and he didn't blame her. "Let's just get going, we can talk about it while we walk." He gave her a hug, hoping she'd be alright after hearing all of that.

Edited August 3, 2011 by seph1212

[CT075]

Teis

That settled it. It was too suspicious, and Teis couldn't miss anyone with a connection to them.

"Interesting. I had intended to travel to Astarte and gather some information about this cult of yours, but..." He paused for a moment. It all came back to him. The flames, the anguished yell of his father as he fell, burnt to a crisp. The knight fell to one knee, head bowed. "I beg of you, please allow me to travel with you further. This is... This is something that I cannot ignore, and I would feel better knowing that I was not alone."

Ormis

"Oh, Ormis... sorry about... all of this."

"Uh, yeah..." Ormis grinned sheepishly, not really knowing what to do. Part of him wanted to sock Gideon in the gut, and make him leave now. Another part wanted to just go run away and cry. He took the third option, and awkwardly made his leave. It wasn't like he had any belongings to take.

[Zsword]

Zwool shook his head at Carrion's response to his saying she could use the money. "I didn't say you could HAVE it... I said you could use it to buy supplies... I expect most of it back by the time we're done..." He said half pleadingly. It was then that a lady at the inn talked about some... colored witch. Zwool didn't care... he had more important matters, though it did seem to bother Carrion and Adrian alot... he'd ask about it later... whatever it was, it was probably private...

[Caliban of Sycorax]

Julius

He saw the boy from before heading down from the area with the rooms. Now or never, Julius... He thought. Besides, I kind of need a place to go after this, as long as it's not Lushira.

He maneuvered his way to him, intercepting the boy on his way out. He appeared sulky, at best. At worst, Julius didn't want to know. He put on his best comfort face and finally spoke.

"Hey, buddy. Why are you so down? A cutie like you shouldn't be so upset." I hope that doesn't sound too stupid.

[CT075]

Ormis

"Hey, buddy. Why are you so down? A cutie like you shouldn't be so upset."

It was that Ormis's head snapped up, fake bravado immediately filling his face. He couldn't afford to look weak, even for a moment.

"Uh, what? I'm fine, leave me alone."

[Caliban of Sycorax]

Julius

"Uh, what? I'm fine, leave me alone."

"For someone who's gotten his pretty little ass handed to him by a bunch of guildsmen and then got kicked out of a town, you're certainly handling it well." Julius replied with a wink, hoping the kid would open up, at least a bit.

Kid, I murdered my own uncle and torched two homes to the ground, there's no fucking way you're fine after what's happened.

[Jaybee]

Dan

Seemed as though the soldier wasn't going to give him a response.

"You know what, fine. If you're so adamant about leaving us to die, and to force us to leave for doing what is right, then go ahead." He drew his sword and slashed the money bag the soldier was holding before leaving. "Keep your gold to yourself, you immoral pig."

He walked out after that, back into the pouring rain. He had about 2 hours to get out of town; might as well find somebody to follow. Where would he go? Further into Shuthra, maybe Pravna? Apparently the library there was amazingly good. To Sapphire? Or to Astarte? Or maybe back home?

Keep that off your mind first. Main priority was to find some companionship, no matter where he went.

[CT075]

Ormis

Okay, this guy was really creepy. Ormis had half a mind to cut him down right now, or at least to kick him in the crotch and run. But that really wouldn't help him as far as his reputation with the town guard went.

"Those guildies never even scratched me, you kidding? And either way, who the hell are you to care? Just fuck off and leave me alone."

[Anti-Social Meta Knight]

"M-Maybe! Hope you don't have a problem with that. Besides, it's a nice jacket..." "Are you counting the hole or no?" "Gideon, don't say that. You won't see a single bit of that gold if you do~" There wasn't anything he could really reply with - he should have known better than to offer her clothes. "No idea, honestly. We could always bother Carrion and Adrian. I'm sure they wouldn't mind having us around. The more the merrier, I guess? If not, we could always just travel around. It's a pretty big continent." Gideon nodded. Traveling with her sounded like a good time, with or without Carrion around.

"Oh, Ormis... sorry about... all of this." Why is he still here? Ormis mumbled something and left, leaving them alone again. Gideon just looked at Amera, not sure what to say about the whole situation. It wasn't that he felt guilty about being with Amera. She had even said she didn't like Ormis that way, so what was the point of worrying? "Anyway..." he began, trying to break the awkward moment. "Well, I don't mind sticking with them for a bit longer. Might be fun." He glanced down the stairs, in the direction Ormis had gone. "Getting lost might be fun too, though." Pulling the door closed, he leaned against the wall and looked Amera over. She was soaked, and she didn't seem to be enjoying that fact. "You're half of this decision, you know. What do you prefer?"

[Caliban of Sycorax]

Julius

"Those guildies never even scratched me, you kidding? And either way, who the hell are you to care? Just fuck off and leave me alone."

"Heh. I'll give you that one." Julius wasn't going to let this kid up that easily. He was getting to him, and he knew it. "In any case, I care because a cute boy like you shouldn't be upset." He sat next to the kid in the hopes of becoming more personable.

Lucretia/Adano

They grabbed their things and met outside of the inn, waiting for Aurelio. There wasn't too much of a need for either of them to say their goodbyes, neither of them knew these people well enough.