Return of the Emblem Chapter Seven: Reunion

[Acacia Sgt]

He couldn't help it, but John was finding it a bit amusing. <Gytha is right. Raquel should handle this. Especially with those kind of answers they're giving, heh.>

Sophia turned around to see that girl again. Huh, she stayed behind? She thought. ''Well, we made it this far into the temple.'' She answered. ''And found who could be one of the Vasili themselves.'' Unbelievable as it could sounded elsewhere, but then again, considering their situation...

[Phoenix]

Consolidating Information

"I was careful. Your mind is still completely in tact, Norbert. Thank you." she replied to him before listening to the answers the various group members had for her. The only consistent element of the answers was that they'd ended up in this place against their will. That wasn't much to go on, as even she didn't know where this was. "I am ... not sure where this is." she replied to the group, shaking her head a bit.

She crossed her arms and sighed. The group was asking questions, but she had plenty of her own, too. "I have a lot of names. Since 'Lilith' is the one you're most familiar with ... use that one, and before we continue, I have some questions that I would like answered."

"We'll ... try to answer ... I guess." Raquel replied, stepping up to the plate so to speak.

"First question. Where did you get that?" she pointed right at the emblem Raquel was holding. The tone in her voice was almost threatening.

"I found it."

"Whole, or was it in fragments?" she added, her tone unchanging.

"It was just like this." Raquel answered again. That nervousness wasn't going anywhere.

"... why do you have it? More specifically, why did you keep it?"

Raquel looked down and away. Was she going to have to explain from start to finish how she came to not only need the emblem to get her father back but also just to function normally? At the very least, this Lilith might know more about that, but she was worried she might have other priorities and just take the emblem away from her since she seemed so interested in it. She couldn't help but be silent.

"... alright, we'll come back to this. Next question. What year is it?"

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

"4999 A.R." Veronika answered the mysterious avian woman. "What year do you remember it being?" she asked out of curiosity. She seems interested in the emblem...does she have some sort of connection with it? Is that what caused her to rise? If she wants to take it from us I'm not sure we could stop her... she thought to herself.

[Phoenix]

What It Stands For

"What ...? You're telling me that ... wait, that's not possible. It was the beginning of the year 5000 A.R. before I ended up in this place. What does your A.R. stand for?" she asked. She had to get something straight before she jumped to any conclusions.

"After Rebellion." Raquel specified. I wonder what hers stands for. Raquel thought.

"Then they aren't the same. This is a ... a different time. Forty-nine ... ninety-nine ... A.R. ... ... how are your years measured?"

"Four seasons. New year begins in early spring." These are some really weird questions.

"Nothing's changed then?" Lilith's voice took on some urgency. "So I've been asleep for nearly an entire cycle? Oh no ...."

"I'm guessing you're not a morning person." Gabbie commented in the background.

"I need more information. What is the world like, now?" she asked, that urgency still in her voice. "Who's in charge? What nations still exist? Anything worth telling, please ...."

[Acacia Sgt]

<I guess being left out of the loop for so long leads to this.> John noted.

''Well, Ursium is still around.'' He decided to answer. ''But I guess that's where it ends. There's the nations of Neviskotia, Kigen, and Rex-Avaz. Currently Ursium and Neviskotia are at war, as do Kigen with the Fallen.'' <Funny, usually stuff like this is common knowledge. But I guess this time it can't be helped.>

[Snowy_One]

"I am of Neviskotia." offered Robin, stepping forwards. "I am not a soldier though, I am only a civilian, a huntress who sought to aid her people against the Ursium people who seek to wipe out all that we are. We are a tough people who pride ourselves on our power and who we are. Ursium is... full of people who seek only to make others like them. Not bad sometimes, but most are idiots who think others are always wrong." she glared at Bert as she said that. "I can not tell you much about other nations though. I only recently left my own."

[Phoenix]

Nations

"Kigen I know of ... Ursium and ... Neviskotia ... I don't. Rex-Avaz isn't a name I'm familiar with either, but I have a feeling it's the same place I'm thinking of." Lilith commented as the short explanations came. "Why are the fallen still in existence? I thought for certain Wrath would have wiped them out." Or perhaps my final measure kept him busy ... "Tell me more about these two warring countries, Ursium and Neviskotia. Please keep any bias to a minimum, I'm not taking any sides." she explained, holding her hands out in a slightly defensive manner.

Raquel scratched the side of her neck a little. Keep the bias to a minimum ... where to start?

[Snike]

Down the gate went, sending a gust around the chamber, and almost flattening Blake. He luckily stepped out of the way, and was awarded with not being crushed like a gnat. The man recovered from the wind, then looked up. Behind door number one was... Door number two! Diabolical. The architect was clearly a genius.

The others went ahead into the chamber past the second sets of stairs, while the swordsman stood outside the inner room, directing people to the chamber for a few seconds. Then, he entered the chamber to quite a scene.

The shaman was forcing people to stay away from what appeared to be a body of a female avian. This woman had white hair and white wings, which seemed to be familiar... Almost like Lilith, the Vasilus. But that couldn't be, could it? Those stories were thousands of years old. Regardless, the scholar dropped his barrier after a bit of protests, and lance lady and Raquel approached the tomb, to search for something. There was a bit of a panic as the body supposedly began to move, which was followed by a scream from the body. In a flash, the avian was up, with a blade pressed against their poor merchant's neck. Blake drew his sword, but put it back as the winged one lowered her own. Bert seemed to be the cause of it; he was speaking broken Ursian to the winged figure.

<"What ... language is she speaking?">, the avian asked, only to be answered by way of being told it was Common by the pegasus rider. In response, the woman lifted her arm, and did... something... to Bert, for a few minutes. Once that was concluded, she could speak Common. Incredible. Now she was asking about who they were, and where they came from. Here, a few answers, including an incredibly hateful one by the archer girl, were sent in response. Next was a query about an Emblem of some sort, along with the announcement that her name was Lilith. Bloody hell, how much stranger could this day get? Blake stood dumbfounded as the Emblem was discussed, but snapped to attention when the possible Vasilus asked next about the current world. The archer girl, again, provided a rather biased version of the world. That... Wasn't a good idea, when dealing with a mythical figure like Lilith.

"... Assuming you're the Vasilus, you would have been out for almost five millenia," Blake said, as he struggled to maintain a neutral expression. "Ursium fragmented into two different countries about 1500 years ago. The west is still Ursium, while the East is now known as Neviskotia. The two nations are constantly at war, while their neighbour to the south, Kigen, are fighting Fallen, or so I hear. Further south is the desert of Rex-Avas, and I'm not particularly sure what they do down there."

It appeared that her query was already mostly answered, so Blake just kept on going, in an attempt to try and be useful. "Ursium is a super-religious nation, what with the church arguably having the strongest hand in determining military action. They're extremely prejudiced towards winged reptiles, dragons especially, and this is part of the reason why they're at war with Neviskotia. This hatred gave birth to a subculture of "Dragon Slayers", their title self-explanatory. Ursium is ruled by His Highness King Nathon, and the military is generally viewed as crusaders against the 'dragon-lover' Neviskotians."

"Neviskotia," the man began, "is to the east of Ursium, as I already said. They embrace dragonkind as equals, and fight the Ursians as a result. The army over there is a mix of dragons and humans. I don't know too too much about over there, but everyone is supposed to contribute to their society, and it seems not as religious over there. Someone from Neviskotia could explain better than I could, though."

Edited December 12, 2011 by Snike

[Psych]

Sirocco pondered about the woman in front of them. As much as she couldn't believe her, it was an oracle's job to believe the unbelievable. A god in front of her. "I am also from Neviskotia. I am a....cleric from a monastery." Sirocco held her tongue, not sure of whether she should tell of her visions. Did the gods get along? Wrath and Mercy...not exactly the best of friends.

[Acacia Sgt]

<No bias huh. I suppose that will leave out some of us here.> ''Yes, it's as he said.'' John added. ''Neviskotia was formed from those who didn't wanted to follow Ursian customs anymore, from a civil war a millennium and half ago. Hostilities have lasted up even to this day, though not as war all the time. It usually leaves a good portion of land between the two switching hands every now and then when war does sparks, as so far neither have desisted in their activities of seeing the other defeated.''

[Mercakete]

HOW THE HECK DOES SHE KNOW MY NAME?! Norbert's panic didn't exactly subside with Lilith's reassurance. However, a particular thought dawned on him. Mind-reader...I bet... Why do we keep finding mind-readers?! Merz, that's annoying! As he calmed down, shaking his nerves as best he could, questions were asked and answers were given by both parties. Also, Robin made it known that she didn't like him. Surprise, surprise, using every opportunity to whine about things blown out of proportion as usual. At least Blake was giving an unbiassed report. Wait, what am I thinking? ... Maybe...he's not so bad... The thought was grudging, but it was a mental admission.

Gytha didn't feel she could really add much to the conversation, so she just stood by and listened, quietly still wondering if Lilith knew Leviathan.

[Zsword]

So, Lillith wanted to know more about the world? Well... she was a god, or atleast, a minor one, so, she was sure to learn everything eventually... there was no keeping secrets from a god after all... "Well miss." Shadrak said, producing his notebook. "This should tell you a lot about the status of the world. I'm a scholar, by trade, anything I have written in here is pretty up to date on the matter... I'd like it back, of course." Dear lord I hope I'm not making a mistake...

[Phoenix]

Lilith

"A notebook, hm? Perhaps I should take a look at it, but I have just one more question. The world seem full of conflicts of some kind or other. That would mean Wrath is not ruling over the entire world. Am I correct?"

"Yeah. Only my country really worships him earnestly, and the other major gods Mercy, Nature, and Truth are also pretty central." Raquel explained.

A deep sigh of relief came over the woman. "I didn't fail, then. The world hasn't fallen to Wrath, yet, and the emblem is still not whole. There couldn't be better news to wake up to ... though this being nearly the end of the cycle, it won't matter for long." she explained, not really addressing the group, really. Then she decided to speak to them directly. "You've done a great thing by breaking that curse, and you have my thanks."

[Zsword]

Shadrak blinked. What? "Um, you really want to read my notebook then miss, I've been doing some research on you... well... the Emblem actually... and... uh, well... I think you'll find the results... interesting..." The shaman said nervously... What... what does this even mean... she's not lieing... but... but... Truth DAMMIT What is going on here!

[Mercakete]

"Ye were under a curse?" Asked Gytha, finding that as little odd. She was also somewhat disappointed, "That mean ye don't know Leviathan?"

Norbert, meanwhile, was confused about what she meant by a "cycle." Whatever it was, it sounded like something important happened at the end of it. And why was she talking about Wrath like he was some tyrant waiting to take over the world? Well... I guess that description actually does kind of fit him...but I thought he was supposed to be the protector of humanity. He can't be all bad. He would wait to ask his questions, though, since he didn't want to bombard Lilith with too amny at once.

[Psych]

"Excuse me, breaking? That emblem is a seal for something?" Sirocco looked lost in though. Maybe she would go meditate. Lilith's appearance did ease her mind in this strange world. "It appeared in my vis....my dreams. It was what lead me to this group."

[-Cynthia-]

Darksider: New Arrival

The violet-eyed woman had taken her time arriving on the scene, but eventually sauntered up to the two red-haired pegasus sisters, who were busy chatting away it seemed.

"You two don't seem to be doing much searching. Leaving everything up to the pudgy one I see?" Layla said, stepping out of the darkness.

"Uh, hello Mistress Layla. I thought you were going to wait for our report?" Clara asked her hesitantly.

"I was, but when I got word of where you were going I didn't want to stay away. Battles can be such a great deal of fun after all. Besides, staying at the manor was rather boring. Sardis and his croneys had to go begging for help after that debacle at Weyland's estate. Typical," Layla said with a derisive snort.

[Acacia Sgt]

<Interesting.> John thought. <So that's why she rebelled against him then? And important for the Emblem to not be whole? This sure is much to take in all at once. Although, her talks about cycles does sound something to be wary of. Five thousand years... so we're almost there huh.>

Wait, what does this all mean? Sophia thought. Wrath, wanting to take over the world? Is this really the truth...?

[Phoenix]

Concerning Lilith

"... very well, show me this research you've done on me." she replied to Shadrak. While waiting for him to come closer and point her to the pages, she answered Gytha. "... we've met." Lilith's response was in a clearly unpleasant tone. Once Shadrak reached the pages he had told her about, she began reading. It only took a few minutes before she was finished. "I see .... How should I put this ...?" she said, closing the notebook and crossing her arms.

"The God of Wrath did not shatter the Fire Emblem ... ... ... I did."

[Zsword]

Shadrak took back his notebook, and took out a quill, it was notes time. "I'm going to need a full story, it's the understanding of mortals that you tried to usurp the God of Wrath, and I theorized that the convenient disappearance of the Emblem was because you needed it as leverage to make up for your lack of being a god... care to, correct my mis-informities then?" Shadrak asked. "and what's with the writing on your clothing...? May I get a closer look to read it? Maybe copy some of those interesting illustrations..." What a twist... well, this should be interesting... I wonder how much I can trust her... perhaps her ursurping was another error formed by mortals inability to keep an accurate record for longer than a month...

[Phoenix]

Concerning Darksider

"I wouldn't get your hopes up, Layla. He assured us he could lead us to the prototype but ... now we're in the warzone."

-----------

The Darksider, donning his robe and hood gave a building door a knock. The one to answer the door was a little girl. "Greetings ..." Simon said with a slight bow.

"Who are you?"

"I am the one ... the only ... the Darksider! Perhaps you've heard of me~"

"You must be one of Wade's friends. He's ... kind of busy right now."

"Busy? But this is an urgent matter!" Simon protested.

"LINDA!!! WHO'S THERE?!!!" a voice from somewhere deeper in the townhouse came.

"Wade! It is I, the Darksider! I've come to seek a report regardi-" he was interrupted by a figure rushing out and holding him up with a blunderbuss. Simon was slow to react, but a lot of people would have been caught completely off guard by this figure's swift approach.

"DON'T ... talk ... about reports ... GOT IT?!!!" the man demanded. He was sweating profusely, looked to not have had sleep in days, and the hand holding the blunderbuss was shaking so much that the timing of the shot could have been the difference between shooting Simon in the shoulder or in the head.

"What's wrong, my friend?"

"SKOTIANS!!! FUCKING SKOTIANS!!! EVERYWHERE!!! ... listen ... can ya hear it? ... THEY'RE COMING! OHHH GODS, NOOO!!!"

"I don't see any of them arou-" "SHUT THE HELL UP, MAN!!! You're talking ... TOO WRATHDAMN LOUD!!! ARE YOU TRYING TO GIVE AWAY OUR POSITION OR SOMTHIN'?!!!" he interrupted.

"He's been taking stimulants to stay awake for the past two nights ... I'm sorry." the girl apologized.

"DRAGON!!!" the man quickly released Simon and fired the blunderbuss at a pile of rubble that ... could have resembled a dragon ... if one was under the influence ....

"Wade, I need a report on the white haired assassin. Is he still in Urcenter?"

"HE'S A DRAGON SNACK IS WHAT HE IS, AND WE'RE NEXT, MAN!!! LINDA!!! COVER ME WHILE I RELOAD!!!"

"I'm ... really sorry." the girl said again, hanging her head. "Maybe I can find what you're looking for. My brother always writes down information and archives it. I can look for it if you want."

"That would be ... great, Linda. Thank you ...."

"OH DAMN, ANOTHER ONE!!!" He fired off another shot as soon as his blunderbuss was reloaded. "GEEEET OUTTA HEEEEERE!!!"

"Brother, you should go back inside. There's ... too many of them and stuff. I'll ... guard the door. Right. I'll guard the door." she explained, somewhat playing along. Her brother appeared to have cracked.

"DAMMIT, LINDA, DON'T TRY TO BE A HERO!!!"

"I can handle it, but you're running out of ... shots. I'll be okay, I promise. I'll fall back as soon as we're ... clear."

"UuuuuuuuUUURRRRRR'OKAY!!! REMEMBER, LINDA ... DON'T TAKE ANY CHANCES!!! ... and whatever happens ... I love ... I LOVE YOU SO MUUUUHUHUHUUUUUCH!!!" he told her before running back into the building.

She sighed at Simon. "Umm ... you can come in. My brother's gone out of his mind, but it actually is dangerous out here."

"Very well. I shall follow your lead." Simon replied with a smile.

More On Things Long Past

"History is written by the victor .... Wrath ... so let people believe what they want to believe. That goes for all of you, as well. I'm only interested in stopping Wrath if he attempts to take complete control of this world. The 'full story' as you put it amounts to little more than me shattering his prize and being violently put down for it. For better or for worse, if I hadn't shattered the fire emblem, the world would be solely under the rule of Wrath. It obviously does not feel like ancient history ... but it is. I have no idea what is going on out there now, but I'll be finding out soon enough."

She glanced over at Raquel. "Just what do you plan to do with that?"

"Uhhh ... I need it to help get my father back." Raquel explained, leaning away a bit.

"Oh is that all ...?" Lilith asked in a sarcastic tone. "So you aren't aware of the draw, then?"

"Draw?"

Lilith gave Raquel a stern glare. "Dishonesty annoys me. You are drawing power from the piece you carry ... feeding on it like a parasite!" Raquel leaned back even further.

"We ... t-thought something might be wrong but I don't know what's causing it." Raquel tried to explain.

Lilith turned completely to face the girl head on. "So you claim that the energy is just flowing into you naturally, is that it? You haven't learned to draw on its power?"

"I don't know how!" Raquel shot back defensively.

"You don't know how to draw on its power, and it is happening all on its own? Well I have some grim news for you, then ..."

"... w-what is it?"

"You are going to die." Raquel froze, her face going completely pale. "The fire emblem's power can be drawn out by those who learn to sense it and wield it, but you have not. I'm not certain what's causing it, but an uncontrolled draw of this sort is going to annihilate you. Tell me, do you feel particularly uncomfortable when separated from the emblem?"

"... yes ...." Raquel was still in shock over the news.

"You can sense its power, then. I wonder why you haven't sought to learn how to control it."

Edited December 12, 2011 by Phoenix

[Acacia Sgt]

<Wait, wha...> John shook his head. <No, I don't think at this point is possible to be actually surprised with so many things being revealed now. Well, true, history is written by the winners, but more importantly, she is going to die!? So that's why she needed the Emblem to be near her to wake up, it's affecting her like someone getting dependent to alcohol, but much much worse.>

What, THE Fire Emblem!? Sophia was shocked. So this is why... but then... how did she... wait, she is going to die!?

[Mercakete]

"Then she needs t' learn t' control it, right?" asked Gytha as she came further into the room to make the talking distance more comfortable. "And what do you mean 'cycle?' Is something important going to happen within the next year?" Norbert added, worried about what the answer to this question might be. And what about Wrath? Lilith probably knows better than I do, but that prince sure seemed to fear him... Was he only mistaken as humanity's protector?

[Snowy_One]

"Wait. Wait. Please... Back up. You broke the emblem? Oh Lilith, queen of lies and deceit, treachery be your domain. Though you have no power, you wield that of others? Lustful of eye and never saited... You?" she asked in slight disbelief. What stories she knew were tales of fiction and nature, what she recited now was not her own work, but that of her brothers. Truthfully, she wasn't even sure if it was THIS Lilith that he was referring to and not some other woman who happened to share the same name.

"My brother sung many songs about you, but he never mentioned you having the power to do such a thing. He always claimed that you used the power of others to do your bidding."

[-Cynthia-]

Layla

"I know where we are. I could see how a field of battle could scare inferior beings like yourself, but I have nothing to fear. Time to take matters into my own hands I see. You can hang around here or go back to base or whatever, I don't think I'll be needing you two from here on out," she said to the sisters dismissively before sauntering off.

Veronika

Veronika was more than a little shocked to hear about Raquel's impending death. So if we take the emblem away from her...she dies. If we keep the emblem with her, she dies as well? Her musing was interrupted by Robin calling the vasilus the queen of lies and deceit. Veronika wasn't sure if Lilith was lying or not, but she knew that insulting her could go very wrong very quickly.

"I'm sorry, my friend here had a bit too much to drink and doesn't know what she's saying at all," Veronika said, clapping a hand over Robin's mouth and attempting to cover up the situation with some extremely nervous laughter.

Edited December 12, 2011 by -Cynthia-