Return of the Emblem Chapter Ten: Converging Destinies

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

Lilith had nothing but bad news for Gar's question. Just made everything needlessly difficult. But Griffin mentioning dark magic probably meant Lilith since well who else would solve this? And that gave credence to one of Morrison's far too many theories as to what Lilith's "Light" was. Though frankly Gar always preferred the same one Morrison put out as his favorite so eh. Then again this was also a giant leap of logic. Until mind magic at least. Mind magic, bah! Gar thought. A man--or woman's I guess--thoughts should be their own. He shook his head after that thought. Certainly pushed things more for that.

Gar didn't really have anything to add unto Raquel's training regime though, magic not being his strong point and all, but Armor-guy had something to offer. Well besides the egg. Gar didn't have anything to add, so he just kept silent for once.

[ReformBlade]

It seemed to be quite a bit of drama surrounding her tone, but Nanahm felt obligated to at least try. She did sort of come to him. sort of. "Well that is quite a conundrum. If you're asking my advice, I'd say that you two just met for the first time in two years, right? Don't try to make calls as soon as you can, I say. You've both changed, I'm sure, so... try and notice what has changed. We've also had very little resting time, so..." Shrugging while he continued. "Maybe you two should just try and accept who the other is at this very moment and leave the details for when you can both clearly and privately discuss them? And as for what you are now... Looks to me like you're friends."

[-Cynthia-]

Navigation Room

"Who's this 'Sol' and what does this egg have to with anything?" Veronika asked Griffin. She hadn't really noticed the egg before but the whole thing was rather...strange. Then again actually talking to vasili is so strange...this emblem business seems way out of our league.

Main Deck

"Party sounds good to me- I'd rather party on land but I guess landin' ain't exactly an option right now," Nadya said. Nanahm was talking to Robin about her feelings or something which reassured Nadya that it was indeed a boring topic that didn't concern her in the least.

Plains

<"That's our daughter all right! How is she? How do y'all know her?"> Vadoma asked excitedly.

<"I hope this magical thing you're seekin' for Aisha ain't somethin' in her possession,"> Marko said, narrowing his eyes at the Rexians after recovering from the initial shock.

[Phoenix]

Nav Room

"Sick of holding this thing," Griffin muttered as he accepted the egg back from John. Since he was holding the egg now anyway, he decided to answer Veronika, but he wasn't as helpful as he could have been. "Sol is a dead vasilus. This is his eleventh reincarnation if I'm counting them up right."

"Eleventh? Wait, there should have only been ten. You said he only lives for five hundred years at a time." Lilith interjected with a confused look.

Well this was awkward. He didn't expect Lilith to math it out that quickly. "I ... killed one of them in a battle once. Hoped that was the end of it, but something felt 'off'. And then along came Bellatrix to exact her revenge and make my life a living hell." he explained while shaking his head angrily.

"... I'm not sure I want to know what would possess you to kill him in the first place."

"Yeah, you don't want the answer to that." Griffin affirmed.

Main Deck

"Great! I'll be right back!" the sailor said before he ran off.

"Oi! Don't forget the music!" the first sailor shouted as the other left. Whether or not he caught that was yet to be seen.

Plains

No ... she would have fenced it by now. Amon thought to himself when Marko voiced his concerns. <"Well she was around one of the artifacts, but it wasn't in her possession. More importantly, we're looking for a different one now, so Nadya's not really involved anymore."> he explained.

<"She was doing great when I last saw her. The first nomad to lay eyes on Sanctuary in years!"> Haythem cheerfully explained. <"It would have been great if Raquel's other companions weren't so rambunctious, though. Then she wouldn't have had to leave so soon. I'm not really sure what she's up to now."> he ended with a shrug.

[Acacia Sgt]

<Indeed, a long time to make things change alright,> John thought. <No wonder he doesn't seem happy to carry the egg. Oh well, guess I shouldn't have returned it that quickly, or to him at least.> ''You could always hand it back or over,'' he said.

Eleven? That has to be hard to get used to, Sophia thought. Then again, if he lives that long before the next one on average...

Edited September 19, 2012 by Acacia Sgt

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

So some vasili I never recall learning about, Gar thought about the newest information. Well, can't say it's all that surprising considering the circumstances. Gar sighed as there was nothing to add to this again.

[Snowy_One]

"We are friends." said Robin with a smile as she patted Zach's hand before pulling herself loose. "Do you know of Ohka though? It is not a big place and there are not many people. Zach and I have been friends since we were young and now... Now I am worried about what might happen, especially in such a small place."

[Ether]

"I don't really know what to say... it sounds like what you're dealing with... it isn't even something I could fathom." Faatina replied, not quite sure how to properly respond.

"But hey, you don't need to worry about ruining my day or anything like that, Davod. I like having you around, and maybe... maybe I might be able to help you somehow..."

[Snike]

Blake essentially let the discussion run its' course once Raquel and a few others entered the meeting room. The merchant wasn't getting much sympathy from Lilith, who was focused on an incoming war between her and the god Wrath over the emblem pieces. As a result, the vasili dismissed the swordsman's employer's argument that the organization had taken her father. It was only when John mentioned that the Organization was after the emblem pieces that the winged demigoddess showed interest in the subject, but even that was only enough to suggest that the mercenaries deal with Sardis themselves. Eventually, the discussion moved to how the emblem was apparently reassembling itself, which was problematic for Lilith as it made assembling the Emblem so much easier for Wrath. The issue of what if another piece of the emblem were to fall in the mercenaries' hands, and the subject of Raquel controlling the emblem before it would probably kill her were touched upon, the former being unresolved, and the latter being left to Raquel's hands. How that would work out, Blake didn't know.

The subject was now about the egg the other Vasilus(? It seemed to be the case, anyways), Griffin, was now holding, and how it was the egg of another Vasilus named Sol, which was mildly interesting. The swordsman remained in his seat and listened to the conversation for a while. It almost felt like things were winding down, but he'd stay here, just in case anything else happened.

[-Cynthia-]

Plains

<"That's my girl, always the first to be off on some adventure. Just wait till I tell the elders that our Nadya was in Sanctuary. Bet she caused a ruckus," Vadoma said, laughing.

"Magical artifacts and "rambunctious" companions? That hardly sounds safe- what was she doin' in Sanctuary to begin with? From what I know it's not exactly open gates," Marko said critically.

[Phoenix]

Main Deck

When the sailor returned, he wasn't alone. News of the rebel ship's untimely(or timely depending how you look at it) destruction had spread quickly and a couple dozen crewmen had emerged from the lower decks with plenty of booze and a few instruments.

"Alright! Let's make the sounds'a cheerin' and dancin' the last thing those rebel bastards ever hear! Send'em off to the Sea King with a good number!"

"That's a little dark ... but ... okay!" another crewman replied.

"Oi, healer girl! Do ya know any dances?"

Plains

<"Well actually, she didn't cause any problems and was quite the ideal guest."> Haythem replied speedily. <"I even gave her a tour of the city on top of Isis over there.">

<"Yes, tell them everything. Next explain your engagement plans from this morning, Haythem."> Fizza chimed in inbetween bites.

<"E-engagement plans? Err-! Uh!"> Only now did he realize that he was praising the woman in front of her parents and not extended family. <"Uh ... any man would be extremely fortunate to ... uh. I mean even the maidens aren't so l-... or ... uh ... Amon help me out here ...">

For Lady Aisha's sake, Haythem, would you shut your face? She's just some nomad girl. Malik thought to himself while trying to focus on his dinner.

<"She's a reliable healer in Raquel's group and has saved quite a few lives."> Amon explained with a slight head nod, trying to seem calm, but he was really worried about Haythem now.

<"So, yeah. She's great. I mean not in a ... sexual way or ... well yes but ... no or ... heheh ... heheheh.">

Since Haythem's wagon had just sped out of control, flipped and killed all thoughts aboard, Amon decided to address Marko. <"A very important person escorted Raquel's group there. Apparently she knew Lady Aisha well."> Though not in a good way ... <"It was the closest city to us considering where we wound up ...">

[ReformBlade]

"Know Ohka? I'm from there. Though I left when I was... Damn, my twenties? You two woulda been little tykes by then, I doubt you'd remember me, nor would I remember you. But that's neither here nor there." Sighing and trying to figure out how to try and get through to the girl was proving to be interesting. "Why are you worried though? Is it the idea that things could be different from back then? Times change, people change... Well, people show a different side. And that's one of the best pieces of advice I can ever offer you, and it's going to be free since you're from my hometown." Leaning a little closer, Nanahm smiled, "People don't change. They may appear different, sound different, do different things, but deep down we're all the same kids that played in snow, looked in awe at dragons, the very same kids that wanted a nice little bedtime story before bed... just with an older and more experienced shell and vocabulary." Leaning back and folding his arms, "But that's my view. I guess what i'm trying to say is to just go with your gut here."

"Oh it's not... that hard to fathom. Just imagine that you're the only one able to hear a voice inside your head that sounds just like you and decides to be a snide little jerk most of the time." He remarked rather sarcastically, though in reality he was simply being honest. "And really? I dunno, I just thought this whole thing would be, well, very off-putting for you. If you wanna help me, that'd be great. Just.. don't feel obligated to. I'm not really doing you much of a favor here, you don't owe me nothin."

[Ether]

"Why would it be off-putting...? I mean, until now you seem to have handled it fairly well, I didn't even know about it until a couple minutes ago." Faatina replied, not quite sure what Davod was getting at.

[GoD]

As the discussion continued, Chelsea opted to remain silent and listen. Then when the conversation took to the egg, and about it being a Vasilus, the troubadour's interest was peaked. Inside that egg was a cute little vasilus? That would be amazing. However when Griffin mentioned that he killed the vasilus, she immediately walked over to Griffin and asked:

"Ah, if you dont want to carry it then I can do it for you at least until you leave anyways. By the way, how are you certain this egg contains a Vasilus?"- Chelsea asked with her arms stretched out.

[Phoenix]

Nav Room

"Well, either it's a vasilus or an absurdly powerful chick, and I know this bastard when I come across him, no matter the form." Griffin immediately came back with. "If you want to hold it, be my guest."

Lilith's eyes narrowed at Griffin as he handed off the egg a second time. "You shouldn't just go passing him from person to person like that. You told me some time earlier that while in this state he'll assume the traits of others close by. I thought that was why he took his current form."

"Oh, I didn't realize you wanted two of me." Griffin teased.

"Point taken. Raquel ..." she turned her attention back toward Raquel, leaving the egg's care to Chelsea for the time being. "I won't be leaving until I find a way for you to contact me. In the meantime, I'll be available if you want help with the emblem."

"Okay ..." Raquel quietly responded.

With that, Lilith stood from the table. "I suppose that's all for now, then. You can go back to talking about Sardis." she ended with a shrug. She seemed intent on leaving the navigation room afterward. "Thank you for the use of this room, Captain, but if it's alright with you, I'd like to remain aboard awhile longer."

"That will be fine." Bogdan answered with a nod.

What was she going to do if he said no? Float around until Raquel needed her? Reign wondered.

Shadrak though ... oh dear Shadrak was already up to his old schemes again. "Oh Lilith! I almost forgot. I wanted to talk to you once this meeting was over."

"What about?"

"The omniforge technique." he replied seriously. Lilith didn't look amused from that point onward.

"There isn't much to discuss regarding that ..."

Edited September 19, 2012 by Phoenix

[Acacia Sgt]

<Take on the traits of those close nearby huh,> John thought. Well, that was very general. But now the egg was in Chelsea's hands. <I wonder...> ''Say, is there a range of what these 'traits' Sol copies? Like, could it be anything or something?'' He asked Griffin.

[Mercakete]

Gytha'd been taking up what jobs she could around the ship since the battle against the rebel fleet subsided. Most of it was as simple as cleaning things, heaving ropes or moving things from one place to another but it kept her busy and no one was complaining about the extra help that she could hear. Her routine was fairly regular by now: wake up, treat Maw, have breakfast, get to work, etc. She was content with it. It was nice to work aboard a ship again after all that time spent on land.

It was night again and that meant there wasn't a lot of work to be done anymore for the day. That was both good and bad news for Gytha. She was just finishing up with what was probably her last task for the night. Working hard was good but, as with any sort of exercise, if the same movements were done too much, it was bad for one's health. There was some commotion but Gytha didn't really pay any attention to it until someone told her that the rebel ship that'd been following them was destroyed by some avian with powerful wind magic and they were going to celebrate up top. Well, her work for the night was done though there was something bothering her. Still, the latter fact could probably be cured a little with a celebration, so the mariner gladly followed along.

"Hoy, I heard about what happened," she commented to a couple of the sailors with her grin, before turning her gaze some to the ones with instruments. Won't be long now. Wonder if they'll all be playin' t'gether 'r takin' turns.

[Phoenix]

Navigation Room

"Dunno. Sometimes he comes back female, so I know it goes at least that far." Griffin replied to John, sounding a little frustrated while doing so. "He's just adopting traits of others nearby so he can 'blend in' when he hatches. It's a defense mechanism, and from the looks of things, it's subconscious."

Around that time Lilith had left the room, and so Reign chimed in. "So why did you kill him 'that one time'?"

"We had an age old disagreement that just kept on escalating until we were at each other's throats, but I won in the end. By the time I started feeling guilty, he had been reincarnated again, which I thought was impossible. One day, my guilt got to me and I admitted to Bellatrix that I'd killed her personally the last time around. She became the sun."

"... that's rough ..." Reign wasn't sure what he meant by that, but thinking about that giant ball of fire in the sky for a few more seconds gave him some ideas. Oh man ... was she that enraged?

"Well that's enough about that. If there's nothing else, I'm heading back to the edge of the ship again. It's a nice view."

Main Deck

"Hey, newest member of the crew~" one of the sailors greeted, half joking and half not. "Yeah, that Griffin guy sliced up that ship so fast, they probably wet themselves before they even hit the water, hahah! It's been three nerve racking days of hell being chased around by that thing, and now it's gone, so it's time for a little celebration!"

"Fuck!" Gabbie yelled from atop the Dauntless, realizing she wasn't going to get any sleep anytime soon. She covered her head with a pillow and curled up as tightly as she could. Her wyvern was likewise annoyed, but remedied his situation by curling up as well.

Talitha looked down from the crow's nest and saw more people gathering below and ship lamps coming back on. "Well ... we did just get rid of that ship, so I guess they would want to celebrate at least a little. Seems like there's going to be dancing at this rate though. Yeah I'm staying up here for now; I don't want people stepping on my tail ... forget the toes."

[Acacia Sgt]

<So even the physical appearance can be picked up huh,> John thought. <But if it can cover also things like skills and quirks then perhaps...> Well, there was a particular detail about Chelsea that wasn't easy to overlook. Griffin himself didn't seem to know exact details, but the important thing was that the process was subconscious, which meant that anything goes in regards to that.

''Say Chelsea,'' he said. ''Are you sure you want to take care of it? You do have that illness after all. I don't think Sol can copy that, but perhaps the symptoms are fair game.'' <Better not take our chances and have Lilith blame us if Sol randomly faints in the middle of something important or something.>

-----

But not that long after finally getting back to sleep did activity on the deck went back up once more. Gil woke up again, looked over, and grunted. Just great, the humans were gonna make a racket all night-long at this rate. Perhaps he should just move to a quieter part of the ship?

Edited September 20, 2012 by Acacia Sgt

[Mercakete]

Rizen spent her few days remaining in the unstable stables, mostly sulking. She didn't eat or drink much and just spent a lot of time in her little corner. The world hadn't ended, apparently, and one of the humans -- Luca's, from what she could tell -- came down to check on them every once in a while. But still no sign of her own rider. Maybe they'd finally separated. Or maybe he'd been killed -- she couldn't tell from down here.

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

For the most part, Norbert spent his time over the three days recovering and, as a sort of side-effect, occasionally talking with the doctor, though it was primarily about recovery time and related subjects. During the first day after the naval battle, he was still bedridden, but got some tips from the doctor -- who he learned was named Oscar -- on how to exercise a little, even in the state he was in by flexing and relaxing his muscles, which he kept to. On the second day, the pegasus rider could sit up a lot more easily. And finally, earlier present-day, Norbert found that he could move around with a lot more ease than before, testing this by doing some sit-ups in his cot. Confident, he tried walking...and due to his lack of sea-legs and having not been on his feet for a few days in general, it inevitably led to his becoming Bert the Crasher. The issue revolving around the cleanliness of his attire had been taken care of by then, too, thankfully, including his armor, though he left that off when it was returned to him.

And now it was the night of the third day since the attack with the dragons and Bert was resting in his cot. It's been a while since I woke up in this room... It looks like no one's been hurt, so that's good, and thanks to Oscar's help, I'm recovering well. Hm... I wonder how Riz is doing. She's probably not too happy... Once I can walk again without hitting my head on something, the first thing I should do is pay her a visit. I hope she's not too mad at me.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of some sort of screaming coming closer and closer outside of the room. Surprised, he sat up, watching the door and keeping one of his maces gripped in a hand. "Hey, Oscar, what's that?"

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

"Haharr! Aye, I agree! So what's th' wait for?" she asked rhetorically before calling over to the sailors with instruments, "Hoy, let's have tune! Haharr!"

[GoD]

And so Chelsea now had custody of the egg, the precious and cute egg that contained a cute baby vasilus. Inwardly, the troubadour squealed in delight, excited at the prospect of taking care of the egg and coddling it with as much affection as she could. So she wholeheartedly took the egg with her while listening to the rest of the conversation absentmindedly, most of her attention focused on cradling the egg with the utmost care. At the church she was used to caring for many children at once, so just caring for a single egg proved to be an easy task.

Then John asked something about traits, and Chelsea not caring at all just ignored the conversation until he cam up to her and asked.... and asked....

huh? That was odd. She couldn't hear what he said. It was like the troubadour's mind blanked out, trying to stop her from hearing the words the wyvern knight was saying. So why did she look down, and why was she feeling so angry?

"....John... I'm sorry. I could not hear you, so could you please repeat what you said?"- Chelsea asked, with no emotion whatsoever in her voice, but her arms were gripping the egg tightly.

[Acacia Sgt]

<Huh, she sure got excited about holding the egg with just a few moments with it,> John note. ''I asked if you're sure about holding the egg,'' he repeated. ''Since it might copy the symptoms of your illness.''

[Snowy_One]

"You are from Ohka as well?" asked Robin, her eyes lighting up happily. "<Then you must know of my father, Berthold Hawkdancer! Even if I was young when you left he came to Ohka before I was born and hails from there originally.>"

---

"That..." said Fred, gritting his teeth in pain as he was dragged into the infirmary by the sailors, keeping his pain down for only a moment or two. "That is the sound of someone who feels like he has just been boiled alive by the sun."

Carefully he was laid down on the cot. "Who are you anyways? Another sailor? RaquEEEEEl's... lacky?" he said, squealing on one of the words as he tried to shift ever so slightly on the cot so it would hurt less.

Edited September 20, 2012 by Snowy_One

[Mercakete]

... Oh Mercy, please say she didn't hire this guy... How do you get sunburned at night? "Do I look like a sailor?" Norbert asked as he folded his arms, fixing a half-serious, half-curious gaze on the armored man, "I work for Raquel, yeah. What's it to you?"

[Snowy_One]

"No-Othing... Ow... Other than it means we're working for the same person. Did you start working for her to get out of debt as well?" asked Fred as he finally started to calm down, the scent of his burned flesh starting to fill the air about him. "My name is Fred by the way."

---

The gull finally came to a rest near the front of the ship. It was late. There was little in the way of warm air to glide through making flight weary. While up here he was exposed to the sky-demon of scale, if he settled on the water below he would be exposed to the toothy water demons, which were much worse. He had seen a fur-demon on the ship as well though, so he would need to be wary. He had picked a spot far enough away so that the fur-demon would have to balance delectably at the least. A minor deterrent, but one just the same.