Return of the Emblem Chapter Seven: Reunion

[Phoenix]

Wrath of the Rexians

"He'll be dealt with if this continues much longer." Lilith replied to Bert.

That was the last straw. Mansur made a clicking noise with his tongue, twice in quick succession. Amon caught the military cue and yelled <"NO!!! DON'T!!!"> Too late to stop Mansur from pulling back his sword and switching to his pistol. The action slit the side of Lilith's neck causing a lot of blood to rush out, and then every mounted unit with a bow took a shot at her. Raquel fell to the ground narrowly avoiding being hit, and Asad just figured this would happen and ducked down to avoid any misplaced shots. Lilith, though, had been hit from about ten different directions at once, and Mansur quickly finished her off with a shot to the head, that sent her to the ground.

"Goddess ... pffft. Any other 'goddesses' in this group I should know about?" Mansur asked the group while putting away his pistol. Amon couldn't believe Mansur used that tactic. It was more effective than he realized ... but the target was ... a vasilus. If she got back up ... ... if she got back up ... he didn't know what would happen, nor did he want to imagine it.

Wrath of Lilith

"Lady Aisha has no use for those who disrespect her, or her people. If you want to be welcomed to Sanctuary, you're going to have to submit to Sancturan authority. Get used to it." Mansur warned them, glancing down at Lilith's lifeless form. What he didn't notice was that the wound on her neck was already closed, and the arrows in her body began to crumble to dust leaving nothing but blood stains behind.

Then he finally realized something was wrong, when Lilith's body floated off of the sand and she eventually returned to a standing position ... right in front of a dumbfounded Mansur. "Y-... you're not ..." He couldn't finish his statement, not with that fury in her eyes coming down on him.

"You were warned." she stated, before holding out her hand toward Mansur's form. Immediately he began to feel an intense pain in his right hand. He dropped his sword, which became a pile of grey dust upon hitting the sand. His eyes widened in terror as he saw his hand disintegrating in the same fashion, each little particle joining an ever growing formation of multicolored mist above him.

<"S-stop! What are you doing, guaaagh!"> he yelled as his entire arm began to break up into tiny particles. Lilith's gaze was cold, and absolute. There would be no begging his way out of this, so he could only continue to scream as his body broke down part by part. Eventually he was left floating in the air, his legs having long been dispersed. <"Amon! Stop her! STOP HER!!! GAAAAAAAAAUGH!!!"> Only his torso, part of his head, and his left arm were still in tact ... mostly ... ... and soon those too were gone as he made his final throes. The large cloud of material swirled in a tight sphere above where Mansur once was. The other Rexians immediately dropped or put away their weapons. The horses began to panic, and Amon fell to his knees in shock.

"I take it no one will be threatening me again ...?" Lilith asked no one in particular, her hand still outstretched to keep the formation of material up. Then she lowered her hand and closed her eyes. What happened next had many of the mounted units getting down from their horses and venturing over for a closer look. Everything that made up Mansur's body slowly began to take shape again, from the ground up, a twitchy, spasming man began to form, just as he was before, only now in incredible pain, and barely able to stand. Once the final strands of hair atop his head were back in place, Mansur toppled over and cried on the ground, curling up to cope with the pain. "The omniforge works on living beings ... that's good to know ..." she said quietly as several of Mansur's men rushed over to help him. She turned to face the party and said "I really wanted to ... I wanted to simply scatter him to the four winds and be done with it ... but I'm not like Wrath."

<"AUGH!!! SOMEBODY STOP THE PAIN!!!>" Mansur cried out. It was getting to the point where his own men had to restrain him to keep him from flailing about.

"If I was ... he wouldn't be screaming like a child right now. He'd be at the gate." she added, resisting the urge to giggle by putting her hand up to her mouth. Lilith couldn't hide the fact that she enjoyed humiliating the man. Even her wings gave a tiny flutter.

[Snike]

"Last time I checked, you didn't order me around," is what Blake would've said, had he heard Robin's comment. Instead, he merely made sure everyone was up, and once the wagon began a-rolling, the man returned into the wagon.

On, and on, and on the wagon went. It seemed like there was no end to the hills. Finally, after hours and hours of travel, they were finally intercepted by the Rexians. The ground turned to stone, and the cavaliers of the intercepting force surrounded the wagon with amazing ease. Blake, along with the majority of the party, left the wagon and went over to meet the head of the Rexians. As the head Rexian kept going on and on about how they were scum, and trash, Blake's patience began to grow thin. Then, the man drew his sword to Lilith's neck, and was on the breaking point. That was it.

"Raquel, you should get in the wagon," Blake said in an almost eerie-calm tone, as he put his hand on his sword's pommel.

Fortunately, that wasn't necessary, since once Lilith was shot and revived, she single-handedly dissolved and re-assembled the cretin, to a devastating effect. The morale for the interception squad was likely nixed, and so, the immediate danger, for now, had passed. There was no time for relaxation, just yet, since even though they were distracted, they might just attack anyways. As such, Blake kept his hand on his sword.

Edited January 8, 2012 by Snike

[Acacia Sgt]

That was quite the turn of events there. <Incredible.> John just watched as the whole thing unfolded. If it wasn't because he was up high in the air and had his helmet on, one would've seen his surprised face. <I can't help but pity the guy a little. He was asking for it and kinda deserved it, but still... having to go through that, it's obvious it isn't nice. The screaming is rather telling.>

-----

Sophia stood still at first. Lilith recovering on her own meant she really didn't needed to be healed of course, and overall she was taking care of things herself. But in what way! Seeing Mansur dissolving away and adding his screams, well, it was a bit too much. She closed her eyes, turned away, and put her hands to her ears.

Soon the shouts quieted down, and she slowly opened her eyes. <Is it... over...?> She didn't dared to look, and not soon after did the screaming came back, so no, it wasn't. Finally gazing back, even with the other Rexians blocking the view, it was clear Mansur was back. Still, the screaming and the reason behind it... and Lilith's comments weren't helping either.

[Mercakete]

The unthinkable happened. Lilith's neck was scliced and the blood started to quickly flow, then many arrows stuck into her from all sides and to top it all off, she was shot in the head. She fell to the ground and for a moment, all Norbert could do was stare. He knew there was no way she could be taken out so easily, and yet... Wait, her wounds were closing. Apparently, the Rexains hadn't noticed yet. Then, she got up. A smile began to crawl onto Norbert's face. Then, she used some sort of powerful spell to slowly unravel everything that made him whole. Something flashed in Norbert's burgundy eyes as some dormant part of his personality stirred. His hands gripped his maces. They bellonged there. The Rexain's cries were unintelligable to the Ursian, but their despiration and their pleading nature were quite familliar. It almost felt as though he should be asking questions and getting answers... But this was sufficient. They would undoubtedly get to where they were going now. Those unscathed wouldn't dare suffer what their leader had. There was no hope for them. They would relent.

When the Rexain was beginning to be remade, Norbert frowned. What show of mercy was this? Well, perhaps it wasn't merciful after all, since it sounded to be just as painful a process as the desconstruction. When it was finished, the Rexain was a pittiful, curled-up mess. He probably knew his place now, though the pegasus rider held no sympathy for the arrogant man after his folly. Instead, he was disgusted. What a revolting, little whelp. If he wasn't going to tough it out, he shouldn't have dismissed those warnings. That was all the mind he paid him until Lilith spoke again. Again, a bit of a smile returned to his face. Thinking about it, the situation was kind of funny. Lilith had ridiculous power. The whole time it was like a little bug was threatening a giant and tried to show its might by biting the giant's toe only to be crushed a moment later. Norbert actually had to suppress the bit of laughter that was bubbling up from inside him, covering the lower part of his face with a hand as his shoulders bobbed.

The arrows brought Gytha's attention to the confrontation. She was a bit suprised by the events. Then, Lilith was okay. Then, the sand guy wasn't okay. Then he kinda was but wasn't. Then apparently something was funny. After a moment of staring, Gytha looked back over to Amon to see if he was alright. His friends were fighting each other, after all.

[roymbrog]

Synthia returned from the wagon when the screaming started. What the hell was going on? She missed the initial disintegration, but watched in awe as the man reformed. That was an impressive display of magic. She approached Amon and Gytha, trying to ignore the screaming, squirming man nearby. Apparently that’s what happened when you messed with a goddess. Hopefully the rest of the Rexians would leave them alone.

“Hey, what’d she do to him?” she asked Amon. He probably didn’t know either, but she would get a better answer than if she asked Gytha.

-----

Valter grabbed his bow and quiver and followed Synthia out of the wagon. By the time he’d made it out there Mansur was already reformed; all he really saw was the result and the screaming. He really had no idea what had happened beyond Lilith having done something.

[-Cynthia-]

She really is quite powerful, good that she is on our side...for now at least. Veronika noted.

Nadya cocked her head and watched what happened to Mansur. She figured Lilith would do something eventually, being shot and stabbed tends to evaporate one's patience.

"<So...y'all up for leadin' us to Sanctuary now?>" Nadya asked rather cheerfully.

[Snowy_One]

A cold shiver went up Robin's spine as she saw Lilith disassemble and rebuild the man from her seat in the wagon. Men who sleep with bears end up getting mauled. If Lilith was powerful enough to do such a thing, then she could easily have her way with the party. Why was she even here? She could clearly handle herself and was faster than them. Even if she was good, couldn't she do more on her own or just carting whoever she needed with her? It unsettled her greatly.

Slowly she moved from the front of the wagon where she had seen the incident happen to the back, trying to hide behind crates and in darkness, praying that, somehow, the woman would forget she was even there.

[Phoenix]

Aftermath

Taking Blake's advice, Raquel hauled herself up and began a hurried run toward the wagon. Amon just remained on his knees for a moment. He knew Lilith might somehow repay Mansur tenfold for what he'd done, but that ... that was the most devastating use of dark magic he'd ever witnessed. He didn't have a coherent answer for Synthia. "She ... she ... ... she reduced him to ... almost nothing ...."

Ringo soon landed, having grown tired of circling above the party like a retarded vulture. Gabbie was still asleep it seemed, her arms dangling out of the bedroll. Ringo turned his head around to try and nudge one of her arms and wake her up, but she lightly bopped him on the head to make him stop and muttered something before going idle again.

One of the Rexians was made quite upset by Nadya's follow up question. He drew his sword and pointed it at her saying. "You have a lot of nerve asking us that after what your witch did to our captain! You people aren't ... aren't going anywhere!"

"So I'm still not a goddess ... I'm a witch now ...?" Lilith asked, frankly a bit bothered.

"I'm taking command! You ... you just ... stay out of our way ..." he tried to get Lilith to back off ... or something. Even he wasn't sure what to do, now. He wanted to try to keep the others in line and Lilith off to the side, but that wasn't even remotely possible, now.

"Why don't you just do as she asks and save us all a lot of trouble?" Lilith asked.

"We have procedures to stick to! We don't know who you people are, or what you're planning!"

"I'm planning to bring them to Sanctuary so they can rest, then I'll be on my way. What they do from there is up to them, but I'm positive they didn't come to Rex-Avaz on purpose ... let alone to cause trouble." Lilith replied.

"Urgh ..." the soldier wanted to just let them go and let the matter be but ... that was hard with the orders they'd received. The whole situation was just messed up.

Meanwhile, Haythem got over Lilith's magic trick and got back to his task, saving the Rexian stereotype. <"Hello there. You must be Nadya. Please forgive the captain's rudeness."> Luca looked at the man standing off to the side and reached over to investigate. He was clearly distracted by Nadya, so he wanted to see if the man had any coin to liberate. It's hard to pickpocket when you're a horse, but Luca would not be so easily thwarted. <"It's true outsiders don't get a lot of respect, not even in the great city itself ... but that doesn't mean it isn't due."> Haythem added, taking Nadya's hand and planting a kiss on it. Luca found what he was looking for and he relieved Haythem of a small sack of coin without the man even noticing. As Haythem pulled back, he was a little curious about Luca's mouth. It seemed ... full, somehow.

[-Cynthia-]

"<See, this is what I was expectin'. I'm Nadya, you must be..." Nadya searched her memory for a moment. "<Oh right, Amon said you had an oversized wyvern. You're Haythem, the maiden chaser! Pleased to make your acquaintance. Would ya mind leadin' us to Sanctuary? I know we kinda started off on the wrong foot and all, but we really just want a place to rest and stock up on supplies before headin' home. Oh, Amon and bird lady probably want to meet with Aisha too, but that shouldn't be too much trouble,>" she said, smiling at Haythem.

[Acacia Sgt]

John shook his head. <I guess a fight won't break out after all. He thought while putting away his lance and shield, and switching back to his hat. <Although it looks like we're not leaving just yet either.> ''Come on Gil, let's land.'' He said to the wyvern, which complied and descended.

Edited January 8, 2012 by Acacia Sgt

[roymbrog]

Valter watched the proceedings with curiosity. The Rexians seemed brave, but foolish. He still had no idea what had started this mess, however, and decided to ask. Bert was free at the moment.

“Hey, why did they decide to attack us?” he asked as he walked up to and stood beside the pegasus rider. Most of his attention was occupied with the hostile situation, but he did notice Bert acting strangely and gave him an odd look. It seemed he was laughing, but at what? There wasn’t really anything funny about this.

-----

“Yeah, but she put him back together again, and you gotta admit the guy had it coming. That was impressive magic, whatever it was, but I’d really rather her not do it again,” Synthia said, the first part a reply, the rest mostly to herself. Amon looked shocked, and though she couldn’t blame him, she didn’t understand why it would affect him so much. Then she realized that the man Lilith disintegrated was probably someone Amon knew. That was probably part of it.

[Mercakete]

"Pff-- Hahahahahaaa! Hahahahaha!! Oh man, that guy had it coming!" Norbert laughed. Opening his mouth had led to this, "You look like you're doing better, Valter. That's good. Heheh... Did you see it? That guy on the ground there wasn't giving Lilith the respect she deserves and then he thought he could kill her! Hahahahahaaa! Whew! Man, she sure showed him, though! She reduced him to dust, then put him back together again! I don't think he'll be trying that again anytime soon! Haa!" He certainly was cheerful at the moment.

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

"I wasn't realla payin' much attention till th' end there. He did have it comin'. Don't attack someone unless ye can take'em out 'r are fine with dyin' tryin'," Gytha mentioned with a shrug. She ignored the yelling from earlier because she was kind of used to yelling and so didn't think it was a big deal until arrows started flying. Even now she was somewhat passive about the whole ordeal.

[Snowy_One]

"Be quiet Bert!" snapped Robin as she heard his laughter at the situation. "Do you want her to do the same to you?"

[Acacia Sgt]

How could he possibly find it funny?! Sophia thought, looking over at the laughing Bert.

John dismounted once Gil landed. He looked over at the crowd of Rexians. <So now what?> He thought. <Are they going to rethink what to do with us or something?>

[roymbrog]

Valter was a bit taken aback at Bert’s reaction. A person suffering was not something he found innately humorous. “I suppose...” he said, scratching his head awkwardly. What was he supposed to say to that?

[Snike]

A Rexian tried to restore some order to his comrades' ranks by attempting to take command of the situation, but so far that was not working too well.

"We're just passing through. Believe me, it is not worth your time to try and stop us," Blake said, before Bert burst out laughing, and Robin shouted out something angry towards the pegasus rider. The swordsman turned.

"You'd better not be starting anything," he said simply, his eyes cold.

[Mercakete]

Robin's words reached Norbert mainly because he Rizen was standing right next to the wagon in its shade. "Hahaa..." he sighed happily after the ending laugh. Blake seemed cross with him as well, warning him that he'd best not be starting anything. "Don't worry, I'm behaving," he mentioned to Blake and Robin respectively, waving off their worry, "Besides that, she gave him pleanty of warning. I don't think she'd use that technique on a whim. Think things through a little." He felt pretty relaxed after that laugh.

[Phoenix]

Desert Breeze

<"Heheh, oh goodness, my reputation precedes me."> Haythem laughed, putting his hand behind his head and standing up straight. <"The big girl over there is Isis. Don't mind her, she's actually a big softy. But yeah, I'd be happy to guide you folks back to Sanctuary. We've got to protect the place because it's the only good thing about this desert, but that aside, newcomers are always welcome. Seriously, don't let Mansur fool you, he's just a really thorough security guard with an inferiority complex."> Haythem assured her with a smile. <"We can get going as soon as his team is ready ... I'm guessing he'll be pretty silent on the ride over."> Luca was getting tired of holding the bag in his mouth, but the wyvern rider wouldn't go away. At least it was too big to accidentally swallow ... maybe.

"Lilith, I would like to thank you for your help." Asad appeared saying. "I've heard some terrible things about these Rexian patrols and was certained. Tamina could have been abused quite badly by that man, I'm sure."

Lilith shrugged. "It wasn't my intention to include you, but if you're a part of Raquel's group, then I suppose you count too."

"Unintentional assistance or none at all ... I think I'll take the former, thank you heheh. You are too kind."

"I doubt Mansur agrees with you." Lilith said with a barely noticeable grin.

His men helped Mansur get onto his horse once the pain had dulled enough for him to move about. He was still twitching every so often from sudden bursts of pain in little areas. His body had never experienced anything like that before, and he would need time to fully recover from it. The occasional pained mutter would escape the man's lips. Even his men couldn't tell what he was trying to say. He was likely just incoherent for the time being, and they decided to properly secure him to the saddle with some rope while one of the other horsemen led his horse along by the reins. It was a pitiful, but humbling sight. Not even five minutes ago, the man was as dangerous as any enemy they could face ... and now he was just a twitching mess.

Meanwhile the substitute commander got a quick talking to from Blake. He agreed with the mercenary on one point, it really wasn't worth their time. Of course they were following procedures that had been in place since further back than anyone could remember. It was starting to matter less and less with this witch around. Uphold procedures that were being trumped by godlike power, or be made like the sands themselves just long enough to regret ever opposing these people; those were their choices. The man sighed and sheathed his sword. "You ... had better not have any spies in your group ...." the patrolman tried to get out a final word before returning to his horse. This was pretty humiliating for them. Once he reached his horse, he mounted up and said "We will take you back to Sanctuary with us, but you must follow our laws. Lady Aisha will know there is one as powerful as your witch, and her power will not be stayed once you near our city."

Lilith glanced over since she was the subject again. "You wouldn't even know I was anything other than an avian if you had just been a little more cooperative ..." she noted. Try anything else, and you'll learn that I have a weapon hidden behind my back as well. Come to think of it ... I could have just threatened him with Ascension. No, I needed an excuse to test my theory and he went way too far in that exchange. Making an attempt on my life? Heh. Yes, I'm definitely satisfied with the outcome.

Edited January 8, 2012 by Phoenix

[Mercakete]

Hmm he still doesn't look so good... I know! Gytha suddenly had an idea that was so outlandish yet made so much sense that it had to work! "C'mon, Amon!" The mariner cheerfully grabbed her teammate's arm and pulled him over to where Haythem and Nadya were talking. "Ahoy, Amon's friend! Me name's Gytha! I'm a mariner," she introduced herself before rapidly turning her attention to Amon, "What's this'un's name, Amon? Ye sure have a lot o' stories t' share from when ye left th' desert, I bet." Then, back to Haythem, "Amon's realla fast! Proved it every fight we've been in! Ye probabla knew that, though. Heharhar! 'Round th' time he n' I first met, he showed me he could fight, too! Couldn't even see'im! Didn't expect that, have t' say! Those attacks met their marks, they did! Couldn't move till I had a vulnerary! Even th' blunt part o' his knives're dangerous if'e wants'em t' be! Harhaharr!" In her mind, Gytha was beginning some friendly chat between two groups of friends Amon had whilst involving the fleet-footed Rexain himself. She didn't even think that that was probably not the best story to recount.

[-Cynthia-]

"<She looks like quite a handful,>" Nadya remarked dubiously, looking over the large wyvern. "<Thanks for all your help Haythem, we'll try to abide by Aisha's rules as best we can. Which probably won't be followin' 'em very closely, but ya can't fault us for tryin',>" she said, laughing a little.

She noticed Luca was acting a little strangely. Maybe the sun's gettin' to him or...oh shit. she thought to herself, noticing Haythem's coinpurse was missing. If he notices he ain't gonna be happy with us- and I'm not gonna live out here in the desert for the rest of my life...damnit. she thought to herself, propping Luca's mouth open and grabbing the coinpurse inside, handing the now slightly damp bag over to Haythem. <"Looks like you dropped your coins and Luca picked it up. Smart horse he is,>" Nadya said, sweating a little more than she was before.

[Acacia Sgt]

<I guess that settles it.> John thought. <We are getting into the city after all. Anyway, it looks like we're soon to leave.> And with that, he went back to mounting Gil.

-----

So we're going to Sanctuary after all? Sophia thought. Well, that's good despite what happened. She then made her way back inside the wagon.

[Phoenix]

Amon and Haythem

As Gytha began dragging Amon over toward Haythem, Nadya handed the man back his soiled bag of silver and gold. <"Oh ... hahahah. I was feeling a little light, there. Just thought it was y-"> No that's an incredibly stupid line. Try something else. <"... the heat. Anyway I-"> then Gytha and the trailing Rexian arrived. After Gytha's retelling of the group's early days, Haythem gave Amon a quizzical look. <"Why are you beating on women, Amon?">

<"It was a sparring match and I didn't have much of a choice!"> Amon quickly defended himself.

<"Why are you sparring with women, Amon?"> Pretty much the same question, cleverly reworded by the wyvern rider.

<"I didn't have a choice! She came at me! I nearly fell under the wagon just trying to avoid the first attack!">

Haythem paused and looked at Gytha for a brief moment, and then back to Amon. <"What did you do?">

<"I didn't do anything!"> Amon shot back, only to be grabbed and restrained by Haythem. The man interpreted that as something that was wrong, too. After all, why neglect a friend?

<"So neglect, is it?"> Haythem asked rhetorically before roughly running his knuckles over Amon's head. The poor Rexian had already been caught in a headlock, so had no way of escaping. <"Bad Amon. Bad. Bad. Bad.">

<"Stop! Ow! Argh! That hurts!">

The Path

"Ready yourselves. We're about to leave, and the path home is made to us." one of the men announced. Indeed, the stone road that had been made along their path grew much wider, enough for the entire group, wagon included. A faint shifting glow outlined the road, changing from white to red in short little intervals, something that got Lilith's attention. It wouldn't affect the group's journey, but the power use was unstable. To Lilith that could mean only one thing. An intense emotion was affecting Aisha. She may have been helping them, but she suspected the desert queen was nothing short of furious.

OoC:

TS ready.

[Acacia Sgt]

Gil returned to the air. <Soon we'll be in Sanctuary.> John thought, looking over at the stone road. <The visit will most likely not be a happy one though. Considering this little incident, and Lilith's presence overall. Well, I guess there is no choice but to face it head on now.> He shrugged.

[Mercakete]

Gytha had no idea what Amon and his friend were saying, but she heard Amon's name come up a couple times. That didn't mean much. When the other got Amon in a headlock, Gytha wondered if they were in some sort of fight before Amon left. Maybe the other was angry at him for something. Or was this affectionate? No, it sounded like it hurt... And they didn't seem very happy. Then, something tugged at the back of her memory from when they had that spar. Amon had been acting almost fearful. He also mentioned...something... She couldn't quite remember. Maybe this had something to do with what he said back then? Well, Amon was being hurt and she still suspected the two were friends, so she couldn't outright attack the one she had yet to learn the name of. Still some intervention was in order.

"Hoy, I don't know what this is about, but yer hurtin' Amon," Gytha mentioned, giving the "attacker" an annoyed glare. Just as a precaution, she was holding the grip of her sword, ready to draw it. She didn't think she'd be attacked but she was willing to give this Rexain a couple wacks with the flat if he would continue hurting her friend.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika breathed a sigh of relief as the situation seemed to diffuse. Well, we're going to go back to civilization again it seems. Not sure how this group will react to Rexian culture...not sure how I'll react either. We should try to avoid any more altercations with the military or government though.

"Eh, they're just horsin' around Gytha," Nadya said to the mariner who seemed a bit agitated. "I hope it's not totally against Aisha's rule to attack women Amon, you did kinda stab that lady with the shiny bow back in Ursium," she pointed out.

Edited January 9, 2012 by -Cynthia-