Return of the Emblem Chapter Seven: Reunion

[Zsword]

"Yes she Gabbie, but, I think it'll do us good in the long run." Shadrak said, standing. "For one thing, lots of little fights are easier to handle than big one, another is, it'll help force Raquel to learn, once she has some control she can probably blast most enemies with ease..." He acknowledged with a smile. "I've never been afraid of power, it's the one benefit of dark magic, it's raw power... learn to control it, and you can become a mighty force... you saw what I did to Weyland's Lawn Raquel... but it can be used for other things as well, weaving and what have you." A nod. "Lillith, speaking of thos plates, what do they say? Can i have a moment to read them?"

[Acacia Sgt]

''At this point, anyone looking for it would already know it's in her hands.'' John shrugged. ''Wearing it openly would make no difference.'' <Hopefully now that this is out of the way, we can focus on leaving.>

[ReformBlade]

"Flags? Yeesh, calm down. Just wear it as she says. Granted, shiny gems aren't the norm, but I think it'd be silly to immediately link together 'glowing gem? Hm, it's gotta be some legendary artifact of power!' Going beyond that, if it reeeally bothers you, you can just put something opaque over it, can't you? Just strap it on top and bam, unless you take it off no one will be the wiser!" Aneda sighed, looking over to Gabbie and then John as they spoke, "True, we've bitten off a huge piece... well... force fed anyway, but going off what he said, it's not like anything is gonna be diferent. Much different anyway. The same people want us dead, and I don't think there's a huge demographic of people who hate glowing gems to warrant any cautiosness like that. Just... my thoughts on the matter." All this seriousness was starting to annoy Aneda a little, but it almost felt therapeutic, being able to speak out like this.

[Mercakete]

"Hmm... Hey, Lilith, d'ye think ye can make this glow, too?" Gytha asked, taking out the blue gem she'd won from the festival, "Maybe if we've got more than one glowin' gem, they'll think it warrents less attention, makin' Raquel's gem less special." She was still less psirited than usual, but she did seem to still want to help.

[Phoenix]

Stuff In Lilith's Chamber

"Weyland's lawn? What did you ...?" Raquel didn't witness the event, so she was at a loss.

"These? They are a detailed summary of the single most powerful technique in the 'Darkness' category. There are several different names for it, as well. Super alchemy, and Omniforge were the most common terms for it. Similar to how I prefer Raquel to bear the fire emblem, I bear this technique. A mortal mind could never master a technique like this." she added as a slight deterrent. "But there are more pressing issues for right now, like getting out of this world."

Gytha then asked about the gem she had. Lilith stared at it blankly for a moment. "Why don't you all wear glowing jewelry if your goal is to disguise Raquel? The gem she's wearing will only shine in the presence of another piece of the emblem ... with a few possible exceptions. If you are at such high risk of coming under attack, cover it with something. All of this goes against my purpose ... but you're all free to do what you want. As I said, though, if she does not improve in both ability and attitude, I'll take the fire emblem away from her." Raquel muttered something too quiet to discern. "We should go outside, now. Everyone and everything you plan to take back with you should be gathered in one location." Lilith instructed.

"Well ... thanks anyway, Gytha. I appreciate the thought, even if she doesn't." Raquel told the mariner.

[Acacia Sgt]

<Alright, time to get going.> John thought. <Hm, Gil may probably still be waiting near the entrance. Well, him being on the way makes things easier.>

I guess this is it. We are finally leaving this place, I'm glad. Sophia thought.

[Mercakete]

"It's fine," Gytha replied as she put the gem back into her belt pouch, seeming a little uncomfortable about something, "She's right, though. We should head out." With that, the mariner began walking back through the temple and out into the courtyard so they could leave.

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

People were coming out of the temple, Lilith -- whose outfit looked quite different in color -- among them. Hmm. I wonder what's happening. Norbert thought.

[Rothene]

All the while the rest of the group went exploring, Ranyin had been searching the fortress for any shovels to at least bury his dead comrade. There was not much the mage could do with his pathetic strength. By the time he managed to settle for a door to act as a shovel and began the grueling task of digging, he spotted the rest of the group returning. Fearing that his time to make a proper burial was growing too short, the Kigenese mage quickened his pace, successfully creating a hole big enough to fit a newborn infant one feet into the ground...

***

Following the group, Mireille had decided to spend her time watching every corner in case of any...surprises. The whole discovery of Lilith's not-actually-dead form challenged her studies to the core as well as shocked her. Never in her life had she expected to see one of Lilith's race. All she could do was observe in silence as Raquel was attacked mentally, a battlefield she was not trained to defend others in. Her duty was to keep her physical form safe, no more and no less.

The news of Raquel's ability to use magic and keeping it hidden was not shocking to Mireille, namely because she already knew little about her charge. Although that bit of information caused jealousy and a sense of understanding to well up in the Ursian knight. At least your father never tried to stop you from learning magic, but, I know what it's like to learn it alone, with no one to guide you formally.

Mireille did not know whether to step in an offer to help Raquel master her magic with the various trial and errors she had to go through to gain a semblance of control over hers or leave it to the other mages of the group who would be far more knowledgeable. Which reminds me, with the opportunity of travelling with properly schooled spellcasters, I should talk to them more and ask about their spellcraft...

OOC: Dang it! If only I didn't need to follow my sis for hours to help her choose her prom dress, I'd have been able to post some timely RP stuff for my characters in between other posts...

[Zsword]

Shadrak looked at Lillith semi smugly. "Well then, either I'm going to have to prove you wrong, or become immortal... because I have full intentions of gaining the truely greatest level of mastery over Dark Magics." he said, before waving at the air. "But that's for another time, for now, I'm more curious about you... and how exactly this process to take us home works." He indirectly inquired, scribbling in his notebook all the while. "I'd love to here your recount of the events against wrath, what it was like to fight a GOD..."

[Zsword]

[Edit: Sorry double post]

Edited December 13, 2011 by Zsword

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

"Well we always wanted our enemies to come after us really, just not in especially large numbers. I worry that things are just going to get more dangerous from here on out, but...that seemed inevitable anyway," Veronika in said to Raquel's new jewelry. Between the mage blowing up tanks at Weyland's estate and the people who warped us here we certainly have our work cut out for us.

[Phoenix]

To the Wagon

As the group made their way back through the temple hall, Raquel examined the fused emblem on her cape, Amon sighed at his broken weapon, Gabbie mumbled quietly with her hands behind her head, and Lilith answered more questions. "I said a mortal mind could never master such a technique for a reason, you know ... but if you insist on trying, so be it." Shadrak also seemed to want to hear more about her struggles against Wrath, a bit of a touchy subject. "My internal clock tells me that battle happened about half an hour ago. I would rather not relive that utter nightmare just yet." she explained, keeping her eyes forward. "As for getting out, that only requires a mind that is familiar with both worlds, and a lot of power."

Once outside, Lilith looked up into the sky and stared blankly for a moment before stating "Definitely the Purgatory ..." She then glanced at the party. "Someone brought you here? That's ... suspicious. Well, gather everyone around once you're ready to depart." she instructed.

Amon had been thinking about it for awhile now, but hadn't gotten up the courage to approach Lilith yet. The more he looked at his destroyed weapon, though, the more harmless his request seemed. At worst, he would just get a 'no' and would be right back where he started, right? "Lilith?"

"What?"

"I don't want to be a bother, but, could I ask you for a favor? My knife broke when I attacked one of the coffins we were fighting." he explained.

"It looks like a combat knife. How could you break it on a coffin?"

"It was a steel coffin and I was stabbing too hard, I guess?"

"Why would you attack a steel coffin with ... well I suppose you had little choice, but try to think about how you'll engage your enemy. Not every technique is going to work on every opponent. Hand the pieces over." Rather than actually handing them over, they simply floated away from Amon and came to a stop in front of Lilith. From there the pieces came together to take the shape the knife originally held. Some light shined through the cracks, and as it faded, they were gone. It was fixed, and she hadn't touched it. Amon stared in disbelief, in spite of everything else. It then gently floated back to him.

"Okay, next ya can turn my lance into a ra-" "No. I don't have a problem fixing what was broken fighting against those people, but I am not an armory." Lilith cut Gabbie off. "Foiiine." the woman conceded.

[Snowy_One]

"If you need a fine weapon, find someone whom you know can be trusted to handle such a task anyways." said Robin as Gabbie asked for her new lance. "Wield a weapon you know you can trust, not one that someone tells you is better. I made my arrows, I made my bow, I trust both well. I do not trust the weapons that merchants who do not even know the maker try to sell to me."

[Acacia Sgt]

As John expected, Gil was indeed still around the entrance of the temple. ''Let's go.'' He only said once he got near the wyvern who followed suit with everyone else back outside.

I hope the place we end up after leaving here isn't a bad one to us. Sophia thought on the way. Although, even the middle of the ocean sounds better than this place.

[Snike]

Bert seemed to have begun to resume his rage, but then he stopped. And realized part of what Blake was trying to do. Then the man laughed. Oh sweet Mercy, what had he done? Maybe it was how he hit his head? And what was this about a death threat? Maybe the 'dropping you cold' comment did it? Regardless, after a bit of chuckling the pegasus rider rolled to his feet, began to smile and explained that he was apparently just calming down at the time of the request. Or, in other words, the swordsman had misjudged his peer's reactions.

"I wouldn't mind that, either," Blake said, in response to Bert's comment about training together. "I need to figure out how block the effects of that poleaxe. I got lucky this time, but if I were to get hit by you axe, I'd be done."

Before the conversation could go on, further though, the rest of the group exited the temple- Lilith in a new black and gold gown, and Raquel with a gold gem to replace her green one. Interesting design tastes, but it didn't really matter right now. It looked like they were getting ready to leave, so the swordsman approached the wagon, and waited for whatever was to happen.

[Phoenix]

Danton

"You make it sound like Lilith is a merchant ... and a fraud at that. That's Raquel, remember?" Gabbie noted, raising an eyebrow. Lilith only glanced back at the sound of her name. Raquel wasn't within earshot. "That asoide, let me worry about how I deal with weapons, okay? Thanks."

Amon couldn't help but smile at his restored knife. The exchange between Gabbie and Robin nearly escaped him. "Well now that I know exactly what its limits are, I definitely trust my knife." he announced with a smile and an elaborate twirling of the blade in hand.

[Psych]

Sirocco followed the group outside to the carriage. With all the revelations, she was feeling a bit emotionally drained after that battle. She was still interested in Lilith, as beside her visions, Lilith may have been the most knowledgeable person on Mercy. Though Sirocco shouldn't ask her about everything. Her visions were her duty to interpret. Sirocco walked over to Blake, hoping to talk with him before they were warped to safety.

"Hello. I don't believe I ever got to thank you for covering me in the battle. I was hoping to talk to you a bit. I noticed you had helped me a time or t-" Sirocco clutched her head and gritted her teeth. These were the usual feelings that came on whenever she blacked out. Her eyes rolled back into her head, and her legs gave out, falling towards Blake.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

Veronika looked with amazement at what happened with Amon's knife. She's quite powerful...I am glad she appears to be on our side for now. I'm not sure I can trust her with regards to keeping the emblem pieces seperate, but I have no need for such a thing myself. I just need to use it to find Pavel...doubt he's here at any rate. she thought to herself.

Nadya

Nadya noticed the group coming from the fortress. "Hey, y'all didn't enter the ruins with a bird lady. She get teleported here too?" Nadya asked the group after using her amazing powers of perception.

[Mercakete]

Things were moving forward, it seemed, so Norbert set his poleaxe back to Rizen's side before mounting the pegasus and joining the growing crowd at the wagon and began looking around for the people he'd grown a habbit for making sure were alright: Ranyin and Valter. It seemed like Synthia had moved Valter into the wagon since neither were in sight and the sensible mage doubled as a healer. Phyllis was likewise by the wagon, but riderless. Now, where was the shorter and harder-to-spot of the two...? Ah, ther he was. Digging...for some reason... Trotting over, Norbert mentioned to the mage, "Ranyin, come on. We're leaving very soon." Not wasting any more time, he rode his pegasus back to where the group was gathering.

Though she was glad Amon's knife was repaired, Gytha didn't say anything. Instead, she simply climbed up onto the wagon and waited for the warp.

[spoiler=OoC for Roy]Included an implied version of what happened to your characters so we don't leave Valter and Synthia behind and because it would be out of character for Norbert not to make sure Valter was coming along. You can override this at any time and I'll edit it out/change it as needed.

[Phoenix]

Boy Down

"I've ... been here for awhile, putting it lightly." Lilith explained to Nadya from a short distance. She tilted her head at the small body. "It looks like you have a casualty ..." she pointed out, and rather blankly.

[Acacia Sgt]

Having gathered around with the others, John mounted back on Gil. <Just to be on the safe side.> He thought. <At least if we end up in the middle of the ocean or high on a mountain, Gil can just fly. But wait, then what would be of the others? It better not come to that...> Just then, Lilith mentioned something about a casualty. <Huh? Someone actually died?> Needless to say...

What, someone died? Sophia thought. That's... to hear that in the Land of the Dead... it's... She shook her head. I guess with everything that has happened, the chances of doing something about it were very low.

Edited December 14, 2011 by Acacia Sgt

[ReformBlade]

Seeing almost everyone gathering up or already nearby, Aneda was now counting heads to see who was missing. Wait... we're missing that kid and then... Ranyin, right? "I'll be right back..." Said to no one in particular and moving at a brisk pace, she quickly found a missing member who seemed to be hard at work digging. Upon closer inspection, he appeared to be digging... a hole? "A... grave?" She said hesitantly as she eyed the corpse nearby. A feeling of dread overcame her as her expression became sorrowful upon realization of who the corpse could belong to. She didn't want to talk about it, so instead she decided to help the mage dig the grave using her bare hands, at least giving some solace to the poor lost soul. She hardly knew him, spoke to him only once, but even that much made her sad. To see a young life snuffed so cruelly and quickly... Damn... just... Dammit.

[Mercakete]

It was sad, but Norbert figured they couldn't really do anything about it. Burrials made sense in the land of the living, but here, it seemed this was where the dead wound up anyway. "Does it really do any good to burry someone in the land of the dead?" Norbert asked, speaking up so that those digging could hear, though his tone was still solemn. It was frusterating. This was apparently their second casualty. And this one had hardly lived very long. Kids shouldn't be in places like this. I hope Raquel has enough sense to turn away any that are too young for something as dangerous as what we're doing in the future.

[Zsword]

Shadrak sigh and shook his head as Lillith pointed out Sammy, he didn't really care per-say, he hardly knew the kid, and war was a dangerous game, but it was still a humbling sight. He thought a moment about what Lillith said about that war being only half an hour ago for her. "I understand, Perhaps, then, Miss Lillith, you'd be willing to answer some questions about the divines in general?"

Zelatus brought Sliep around, he'd been quiet for a reason... he didn't know what to say, he was in the presence of a diety... something that you just weren't supposed to see, ever.

Krystal looked at the new woman with the tilt of her head, she was from Kigen, so this northern diety was unfamiliar with her... maybe if she tried peeking into the mind of her...

[Phoenix]

Danton

"I would think escape from this world would be a more pressing matter ..." Lilith replied to Shadrak. Meanwhile, all that dwelt in her thoughts was her method of breaking out of the Purgatory and returning to Sardius. Sequences of an engraved circle forming around the party before being overcome by red light repeated over and over again.