Return of the Emblem Chapter Ten: Converging Destinies

[Phoenix]

Dauntless Egg

"I don't remember why they left it with us, but I'm pretty sure this thing can take care of itself for the most part. Hell, it was on John when he doied, so we know it can take a hit. I just want to make sure it doesn't take after me. Some people might have a serious problem with that, heheh." As soon as she said that, she noticed the egg's eerie red aura appearing once again, and gulped. "... dunno what you're doin' in there, but whatever it is ... stop."

Haunted Galley

"I don't know," Raquel replied. "I guess I just want the emblem to start working. For being such a powerful artifact, it's pretty useless. Or maybe it's just me who's useless; I've never been sure if the fact that this is just an emblem 'fragment' is the reason I can't do anything with it, or if it's just because I'm no good at this. I trained my hardest on the way to Chousokabe and it didn't accomplish anything at all." After that bit of self-deprecation, Raquel looked up at the stack of toast, having kept the number of pieces total and those remaining in mind. She noticed two were missing and she couldn't account for either of them. This caused her to glance at Gar and then Veronika. Next she looked toward the kitchen entrance. Her face went pale when she noticed an enormous pair of shining red eyes at either side of the doorway. Oh my gods, am I still dreaming?! The eyes were already beginning to fade away as she spoke up. She pointed a shaking finger toward the doorway saying, "T-t-that ...! Dragon ..." Fortunately if they had looked quickly enough, the eyes actually could be seen by anyone else.

[-Cynthia-]

Connor

"So the vasilus takes on the properties of the person carrying it? The legends always seem to depict Phoenix as a giant flaming bird, not some kind of mirror," Connor said dubiously.

Veronika

"You're not use-" Veronika began before being interrupted by Raquel's pointing, which caused Veronika to turn her head and look at the doorway.

"There wouldn't be an actual dragon in the galley- must be some trick of the light," Veronika concluded aloud, squinting her eyes to look at it more closely regardless.

[Snowy_One]

Robin - The Galley

Robin looked down for a moment and considered what he had said. Was she wrong for trying to help Zach cheer up? Was she being self-centered for wanting to try and help him get happier? "I do not know. I have been without my best friend for two years and, when I come back, I find he has dedicated his life to someone else. That I have been shoved aside. I back off and give him space and he does not cast a second look my way. Then, when she dies, I try my best to comfort him and he is insulted I did. I am insulted as well though. Insulted and hurt that my attempt to help was so coldly rebuffed."

Robin took a deep breath. "Fine. I will give him more space again. Leave him alone... Until he is ready to talk." she said, gritting her teeth in annoyance.

[Phoenix]

Dauntless Egg

"Well, the last thing this bunch needs is a goiant flaming me with wings, heheh. Ya ready to go?"

Haunted Galley

"B-but what kind of light shenanigans could cause that?! I saw something similar when I woke up in the infirmary," Raquel pointed out as she jittered in her seat.

Shadrak glanced over at Raquel's table when he heard her raising her voice and glared. What is it now? "Well, good. The less time you spend focusing on him, the more time you have to help out where you're needed and hone your skills and stuff," he replied to Robin. "Speaking of which, sounds like something else is going on now. I'm going to check it out. If you're not set on eating at this particular table, grab your cup and come along."

[Snowy_One]

Robin looked up, catching Raquel's voice as she jittered about like there was a bug in her seat, before nodding to Shadrak. "I hold no attachment to this particular table, but I do hold one to this particular Raquel." she said as she stood up and headed over to Raquel.

"Is something wrong Raquel?"

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

Raquel didn't know what she wanted, and the emblem being a temperamental piece of whatever-the-hell one called all-power wasn't helping matters. Or at least that's what Gar got out of things before she mentioned something about a dragon. They weren't on the dragon ship anymore, so it was kind of silly, and Veronika even stated it might be a trick of the light. Raquel wasn't so convinced at that though, and mentioned something similar to when she woke up a the sickbay. But Gar followed Raquel's pointing finger and saw... whatever it was. Gar had the resistible urge to throw something at the fading things. Which he didn't resist at all as he took a coin--bronze, lucky him--from his purse and tossed it close--but not at or inbetween--the mystery things.

[Parrhesia]

Rook, his desperate searching proven fruitless, heard shouting from the mess hall. "What's all this about?" he shouts, bursting in dramatically.

[Snike]

Blake was just listening in on the discussion, when suddenly Raquel paled and pointed towards the kitchen door, crying "Dragon!" all the while. The swordsman looked, and, there was certainly some pair of glowing eyes, which appeared to be fading. The man blinked, and they were gone. What sorcery was this?

Veronika suggested that it was a trick of the light, indicating for sure that Blake hadn't gone mad, while Raquel had said that she had seen something similar when she woke up in the infirmary. Before the merchant could elaborate on that however, Robin interrupted by asking Raquel if she was OK. Looks like he'd have to wait to ask about that.

[Phoenix]

Paranoid Galley

Gar threw something, a coin maybe, at the supposed illusion for some reason, but Raquel couldn't react to it before Robin came to investigate. Rook came bursting in immediately afterward. That of course got Zoe's attention, who had just finished the fish stew and was bringing it out to serve. She stood there with the pot in hand staring in confusion at the whole scene. Raquel could only mutter, "D-d ... d-dragon ... head," after all of that.

"Dragon head?!" Shadrak echoed. "You saw that thing outside of a dream?! Just now?! Were you daydreaming or something?! Who else saw it?!" One question at a time, Shadrak. This is how interaction gets complicated.

"I uh ... yeah ..."

Somehow and some way, Gabbie and Connor made it to the galley long before the doctor ever did. Having no idea what was going on with all the tension and talking but also not caring, Gabbie went straight to Zoe. "Set us up with a couple of bowls, would ya?~"

"Oh, sure ... heh. That's why I'm here."

[scorri]

Marella looked up at the rest of the galley in confusion, having been ignoring the commotion until it got too loud to ignore. "What did she just say? Something about a dragon?" She didn't see anything, so she just shrugged. "Did either of you see anything?"

[-Cynthia-]

Speculation

"Heads of dragons do not simply appear out of nowhere- that doesn't make any sense. Maybe you should spend some more time in the infirmary..." Veronika said, looking Raquel over closely. The stress of all this may have finally broken her- but she's not completely hallucinating. she wondered to herself.

"It probably ain't an actual dragon, but it could be some kinda magic. Not any sort of magic I'm familiar with though- not sure what the point is exactly either," Nadya said, scratching her head.

[Mercakete]

Ah, so the lady at the table had been teasing the pink-haired pegasus-riding healer boy and he was just embarrassed as a result. Synthia's "hay" was noted, but Norbert's only reply was an inquizitive look and a confused, "What?"

There was some sort of commotion shortly after that, though, from a more crowded table behind him. Curious, he twisted in his seat to see what that was about...and immediately regretted it, flinching slightly and pausing mid-twist before steadily facing forward again. Right, I'm not supposed to strain my side... he remembered. So, he just listened for the time being. It sounded like Raquel was freaking out because she saw a dragon. Someone who was probably Veronika assured her that it was probably just a trick of the light, but Raquel firmly objected, saying she saw something similar when she woke up. Someone else asked if Raquel was okay -- something most of the people in earshot were probably wondering.

Raquel's reply was quiet and uneven. Shadrak repeated what he guessed she'd said much more loudly, though. If the news hadn't been so surprising, the Ursian probably would have been more focused on how the shaman tended to say things that were supposed to be kept quiet for too loudly far too often. However, the thoughts that resulted from the revelation were hastily mirrored by Shadrak's following questions, though he didn't think to ask who else had seen it. Veronika expressed the thoughts that came after Shadrak's outburst: wondering if Raquel really was okay. Nadya spoke up after that, but Norbert didn't respond much to her words.

This time Norbert picked his legs up to turn around entirely on the bench so he wouldn't agitate his side by twisting again. "Are you sure you saw that thing? Isn't that something you said appeared in your dreams of Purgatory or something?" he wound up asking. There might be something to it since she saw Purgatory before we got there, but Veronika's probably right and she just needs more rest.

[ReformBlade]

I wasn't denied? That's certainly interesting... he didn't even question me! Oh my god, the power I hold right now, so tempting! Power over LIIIIIVES! It now occurs to Aneda that maybe she shouldn't be thinking about it quite that way, but maybe that the guy was gonna let her work on a trial basis. Or perhaps the guy wasn't gonna actually let her do much beyond fetching or simple shit that anyone could do. "... It's a start." she said, walking towards the main events.

"I hate to say it, Luka" Mushirah paused, looking at synthia and then back to Luka, "you may have to get used to it. Or you can just follow what my dad always said to cheer me up, which is when boys teased me it meant the actually liked me. Maybe it's the same for girls teasing guys too? Either way, I don't think we've meant anything malicious behind our words... sorry if it's come off that way, at least for myself, I can't speak for anyone else."

[Phoenix]

Aft Cargo Hold

Once at the bottom of the staircase, the quartermaster, Gerald, motioned once again for Brock and Gytha to follow him. They hadn't quite reached their destination, yet. Glancing over his shoulder, he asked, "Was the holds, right?"

"Uh ... I ... would think so. There's no where else to hide where you wouldn't eventually be noticed," Brock reasoned.

"Still got noticed though, apparently. C'mon then. We'll flush'er out and see if she's a real threat or not."

Brock reluctantly prepared his pistol, hoping he wouldn't have to use it. Gerald's was ready to fire but holstered still. "STOWAWAY!!!" Gerald hollered out, his voice echoing all over the place. Even Brock was caught off guard and was left shaking. Suzume flinched at the call from behind the crate and then immediately froze. How did they find out about her? "It's rather obvious ya haven't paid your dues to be aboard this ship. Come out, now!"

Suzume didn't move anything but her head as she began looking around through the shadowy area behind the crate. She didn't see any obvious escape routes against more than one person; she doubted he was alone.

"Is that your answer? Silence?! This is your chance to state your case, woman. Take it while ya still can or we'll have to do this the hard way!"

Suzume leaned to the edge of the crate and peeked out to try and find another escape route. She wasn't in view of her pursuers, but she couldn't see them either. As tempting as a peaceful surrender was, she didn't want to be taken by these people. She was worried that they wouldn't be too kind to her for being a stowaway and once she was disarmed and imprisoned somewhere, one of the mercenaries from the previous night's battle would come seeking revenge and she would be defenseless for that encounter. Hunger wasn't helping her with this crucial decision either. The scent of food was slowly reaching her and she winced in pain in response.

Gerald pulled out his pistol, which turned out to have two barrels on it, probably a custom made model, but not very safe and nowhere near foolproof. "Alright, fan out. We want a good angle on this girl in case she tries anything. I've got the door so there's no gettin' past me. Flush'er out ... find her!"

Bow Cargo Hold

The captain ignored Gerald's yelling since it was no less than what he was expecting. He also expected to hear gunfire at some point if the stowaway really was a threat. Reign on the other hand was caught off guard and did a half turn to see who was yelling. They were in a hallway heading toward the bow of the ship and so Gerald was no longer in view. He soon relaxed and continued following the captain.

Once they reached the bow cargo hold, they were met by a very wide double door. He suspected that the only reason it wasn't made primarily out of metal like half of the ship was because it would be too difficult to open, but it had plenty of metal framing and reinforcements and would have been difficult for any single person to breach in an attack. "So this is it?" he asked the captain, who promptly nodded.

"You'll have to find your own light sources; this place was meant for heavy and valuable cargo only. It's empty right now though, like I said, so there should be plenty of room for whatever training you folks have in mind. Use your space right and you can probably run laps too."

"Laps, huh? Excellent."

"Here, I'll open it and you can have a look for yourself." With that, Captain Delan took out a key and undid the heavy locks on the door, all four of them. He motioned for Reign to get one of the doors while he got the other, and they both pulled them open. This took about ten seconds. Once it was open, Reign noticed a built in door stopper, likely used to keep that particular door open for loading. He flipped it into position and then left it there. Delan did the same and then they both met in the middle, looking into the bow cargo hold. "So what do you think."

"Are you kidding me? This is perfect! Bigger than I'd hoped. If you're serious about loaning it to us until we get to Ursium, we'd be in your debt."

"Think nothing of it," Delan replied with a big smile.

Haunted Galley

"Go back to the infirmary? But the infirmary is where I saw the dragon head the last time. It happened as soon as I woke up," Raquel quickly pointed out. "It was smaller but more defined, like ... um, the whole head was there coming out of the wall." To Bert she said, "Yes, it was coming out of the wall in the infirmary this morning when I woke up and disappeared a moment later."

Then it clicked for Shadrak. Raquel had left out an important detail about that dream. "Whyyy didn't you tell me this last night?! I asked you if you were alright! You could have even mentioned it this morning once you were feeling better if it was too much last night! That's a pretty big detail to leave out when someone says 'tell me every detail'," Shadrak raised his voice some. "What else aren't you telling us about this thing?!"

"I didn't think it was real back then, but it's happening again so it's relevant now!" Raquel countered. "All I remember is that it showed up when I woke up and then disappeared."

"And you're sure whatever you saw just now was that same 'dragon head'? You're sure."

"I've seen those eyes half a dozen times. I'll never forget them, even without the rest of the face," she assured him.

Being thoroughly confused, and having finished preparing meals for Gabbie and Connor during that exchange, Zoe spoke up on the matter, saying, "Well, who else saw it? I wasn't fast enough so I didn't, but from what I heard a minute ago, Miss Raquel wasn't the only one ...?"

The doctor arrived at this time and strolled over to Zoe. The tension in the room didn't escape him, but he was hungry. "Problem? If it's alright, I'd like a bowl, please."

Gabbie meanwhile took a seat at the only empty table left and casually poked at the stew with a fork while watching the situation with an amused look on her face. The vasilus egg was sitting next to her, on her right side slightly out of view of the others.

[Snike]

"I saw a pair of red eyes, but not a dragon's head," Blake chimed in, after the cook and others voiced their thoughts. Luckily, one of those who spoke was Shadrak, who was fairly adept at magic. Time to pick his brain. "Shadrak, could there be some link between those glowing eyes and the fact that the organization managed to find us when we were warped across continents?" If so, well, that might be one problem solved.

[Mercakete]

So, Quartermaster Gerald reminded them of just how loud he could bark. Really, it was a handy asset to have when you're a quartermaster. "Aye, sir," she responded. Holding her sword defensively, Gytha began to move in. "I'll head in first since I have a sword. Cover me. If she's dangerous n' goes after ye, I'll bring out me own pistol," she told Brock quietly as she continued to slowly, carefully, continue forward with searching eyes.

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

Norbert grimaced. At first, he thought maybe Raquel was still in need of rest, but apparently Blake saw something, too: the eyes Raquel was talking about. That made things a bit unnerving. "So...this thing isn't just something that shows up in your dreams anymore," Norbert voiced his concerns, "Maybe it's been following us for a while now and has just been invisible or something..."

He shook his head. "Igh, I don't want to think about things like that... This sounds crazy. If it has been following us without being able to be detected for this long and shows up in your dreams, Raquel, then that must mean it can do mind magic and is ridiculously powerful to boot. Stuff like appearing and disappearing out of nowhere are things you hear about in stories about the gods..." I hate mind magic. I don't like this thing following us like this either...

Noticing the doctor having come to get his breakfast, Norbert waved him over. They were taking up most of the eating space and he felt a bit obligated to invite him to eat with them. Of course,t hat also reminded him that he should get something to eat since he hadn't done that yet.

[Snowy_One]

"Wait. Are you telling me you did not believe in things like ghosts and did not think that one might be trying to contact you or get revenge on you or something of the sort? Raquel, if you are having visions, especially ones like this, you need to find a cleric as soon as possible. If not a cleric than at least someone who knows of the arcane. My brother saw a ghost when he was six and he said it told him that Ursium was awesome and I myself have seen plenty of... unnatural... shadows in the forest. Do not delay in this or else your soul could be sucked from your body or something equally bad!"

[-Cynthia-]

Ghostbusters

"A ghost told your brother Ursium was awesome? I think the issue in that case is his sanity, not any sort of ghost," Veronika said in response to Robin. "Anyway, I did see something that could have been mistaken for a dragon's head, but let's not jump to any hasty conclusions," she warned everyone.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

The whatever-it-was didn't really react in any way other than fading away completely. Which meant something. What something it meant Gar wasn't sure, but there was a something there! Maybe. Raquel muttered about the dragon head again, and Shade Drake yelled about it out loud like a meathead. Things started to get crowded after that with newcomers and oldcomers clamored around bothering Raquel further with questions and assertions about what happened. If there hadn't been multiple reminders in the talks about how Raquel just got out of the infirmary it might be funny, instead it was kinda... jerkish.

"I saw, whatever it was too," Gar spoke. "Not that I have any idea what's going on."

[Phoenix]

Aft Cargo Hold

Suzume could only overhear some of the plan, but not enough to come up with a counter play, which left her with a renewed sense of dread, as she knew time was running out. She was either going to end up in a pointless confrontation, or get manhandled by these people and probably disarmed ... unless .... Right, her brain overcame the hunger pains long enough for her to start thinking clearly again. Whatever she was going to do, it had to be preemptive. She made sure her tome was hidden in her pack and then called out. "I'm ... I'm coming out! Just don't shoot!"

"Hmph ... now she wises up," said the annoyed quartermaster.

Brock sighed in relief but didn't move toward the source. Instead he waited for her with his pistol idle.

Suzume slowly picked herself up off of the ground, only then realizing just how bad off she was. Thinking back on it, she hadn't eaten since well over a day ago ... nothing but snacks to stave off the hunger before the mission and she burned through that rather quickly. She also hadn't had anything to drink since then either. She felt tired and weak as she stood up, and swayed involuntarily as she came out from behind the crate with her hands up.

"This little thing?! A threat? To some desperate lout's virginity maybe. Girl, are you mage? Don't lie to me, missy, or I'll blow your head clean off from here before ya can even think about fetchin' your tome."

Wow, that was even more aggressive than she feared. Honesty or risk being shot at random?

Haunted Galley

Bert noted that the dragon head was probably powerful. It probably was, though Raquel wasn't entirely sure. Every time she mentioned things like that to it, the dragon would repeatedly point out that it 'didn't have any hands'.

Robin began giving some input while Shadrak addressed Blake. "I don't know for sure. They don't really seem related. I mean the organization is attacking us left and right, but this thing apparently tries to help Raquel ... which ... begs the question ... that dream last night. Did the dragon head appear in that one too? If so did it say anything? Anything we should know about?" That question carried some expectant intonation and was directed at Raquel, who almost missed it due to listening to Robin's input and Veronika's subsequent comment.

"No, I don't really believe in ghosts, Robin ... sorry. Not that I have any idea what this is, but I don't think it's a ghost." The answer for Shadrak was one she was also hesitant to come right out about, but it had to be done it seemed. "It ... said it was proud of me ... after I took the emblem pieces back from Lilith," Raquel slowly replied. "That was when I woke up."

Shadrak had a look of worry and intrigue. "What the hell is going on ...?"

Raquel began thinking hard, especially after Gar came out and said he'd seen it too. That was somewhat obvious since he chucked a coin at it, but it wasn't until the formal announcement that she began thinking back on all of this. In Purgatory the dragon head made no appearance. It made no appearance anywhere else either ... until now. This felt like it might be the one time she would get a response if she did what she did the first time ... that was to start yelling ... which she did. "Heeey!"

"Ah hell, not again," Gabbie muttered from her table.

"There is no freaking way you can't hear me this time! You showed up in the infirmary, and you showed up here so I know you're watching! Come out! I need to talk to you!"

Gabbie sighed and took a bite of her breakfast. "It's gonna be a long day ..."

"Long day? Perhaps," the doctor noted, somewhat agreeing before taking his stew over to the table Bert was sitting at. Once he sat down, he asked, "How is your side doing? Not straining it, I hope."

Edited December 28, 2012 by Phoenix

[Mercakete]

Norbert was a little surprised he didn't expect the doctor to mention medical-related things at breakfast. "My side's fine. I haven't really had the opportunity to strain it," he replied, though that wasn't entirely true. He also wasn't sure if that twist counted as straining or not.

Deciding to let Raquel call out to the dragon head for however long she felt like it, the pegasus rider turned to face the table he was seated at again. The soup the doctor was eating smelled pretty good and really only served to remind him of just how hungry he was. There are some people going around sometimes to pass out food... Maybe I just have to wait. In the meantime... "What's your name anyway?" he asked the doctor.

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

When the lady stepped out, Gytha relaxed only slightly. She'd been keeping low while she walked, and now stood up to a more casual height, but didn't relax her sword. Sure the lady looked quite weak, but she had to be careful. For the time being, she would let the questioning go on until she was directed otherwise.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Come out, come out, wherever you are Mister Dragon Head," Gar called out as well because he was bored or something and this seemed interesting.

Edited December 28, 2012 by Script

[Parrhesia]

Rook put his head down, pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation, other hand planted firmly on his waist. "Ghosts, organisation, dragon heads... would anyone care to tell me," he burst out, a suddenly lit cigar in his right hand, "what in the unholy fuck is going on here!?"

[roymbrog]

So, uh, dragon heads. Synthia made the universal guesture for insanity with a questioning look on her face. Valter shrugged.

-----

Katrina looked just as confused as everyone else, probably more so. “I didn’t see anything. I have no idea what is going on.” Were things like this a normal occurrence in this group? She kinda hoped not.

[Parrhesia]

Sod this. Rook was a man of action, and by the gods he would accomplish his original goal. "RIGHT!" he booms. "Which one of you is Raquel?"