Return of the Emblem Chapter Twelve: Divergent Paths

[Ether]

Angelica gave a slight twitch as Eva spoke... she supposed she wasn't surprised at the slip, but it was still annoying. Still, the wyvern rider then proceeded to bend herself off the side of the rooftop, extending her hand to Zachary. Making her way over to the rider with intent of some sort of punishment for her misdemeanors, the adept first placed her weight atop the woman's legs... didn't want her falling off the thing by mistake, and then proceeded to give a hard, open handed slap to Eva's undefended posterior.

"What did I tell you about nicknames?" Angelica chided with a smirk, as she pulled her hand back.

***

"Hmm... now that you mention it, this does feel familiar. I think a few of our mages do something similar to this." Faatina noted with a bit of reflection, as they continued onward.

[Eail]

Well, if nothing else being on top of the wagon would give Zach a better view of what all was going on around them. So without much hesitation he accepted her hand and struggled to pull himself up, he was a mage Wrath-dammit, not a body builder.

_____

"And despite this I still end up getting hurt all the time." Cyrus added to the discussion, throwing his arms in the air before following after the women.

[Nanami Touko]

While waiting for Zach's hand, Eva wasn't expecting Angelica to have done anything. So when she felt a weight on her legs, she was quite surprised. Wanting to turn her head to see what was happening, but still waiting for Zach, she was stuck at quite a crossroads. It wasn't until Zach threw himself up that she got slapped, letting out a quite audible yelp, and having to throw her other arm over the edge and grasp at Zach as to not lose the man. She quickly pulled him up over the edge and stared at Angelica, looking a bit hurt. "Was that really necessary?" she asked with an incredibly red and embarrassed face.

[Ether]

"If I let it slip now you'll get lax." Angelica noted promptly, as she moved herself off from atop Eva's legs and back a bit.

"Besides, if you're hiding your face from me when I need to snap you out of a reckless decision, I need some other method to get your attention... that seems to have worked well enough, so we can go with that."

[Eail]

Zach was concerned when the yelp came out from Eva, it didn't sound very good. Quickly scrambling up he got a better look and heard what the girls had to say. "I'm pretty sure I've missed something at this point..." he sort of not really asked.

[Nanami Touko]

Eva looked at the woman almost aghast. Angelica was starting to scare Eva just a little, if she was willing to do something so severe in front of such a crowd, and Zach, even if he hadn't noticed. What scared her even more was that she'd almost enjoyed it... Hoping to get the topic off of her ass, she turned to Zach. "D-Don't worry about it! Just... Got a bit caught on the roof, leaning over the edge, is all. So, uh, you did that thing with Nyx, right? What was that like? Must've felt weird, having someone rifle through your mind like that." She was worried about giving Angelica any attention, now that she had an audience.

[-Cynthia-]

Well that wasn't very inconspicuous, though it did clear our way, Veronika thought to herself at Raquel's light show. She scanned the crowd, looking for any guards or other suspicious individuals heading in their direction.

"I made a business deal with Nyx's servant Ryder," Nadya answered Amon truthfully, though withholding information. "I doubt I'll have a deal this big again, though I won't be complainin' if I do," she added with a smile.

Edited April 15, 2014 by -Cynthia-

[Ether]

"From what Amon said, what Nyx would have put in is probably affecting him more than what she looked into... speaking of, have you given it a try, yet? Practical knowledge says that even with knowledge of how to perform a spell, if you haven't put the time to acclimate your body to it, it'll fizzle... but then practical knowledge might not mean anything when a Goddess is involved." Angelica asked the lightning sage, deciding she would let Eva wriggle out of this... for now. From what she knew, Zach could get notably strange around any sort of sexual connotations, and if he could somehow perform high level spells of any anima class in the blink of an eye, she had no want for aggravating him.

[Snowy_One]

"It seemed straight-forwards though." said Robin with a small huff. "Though I take your point... I hope. Do you mind if I watch? I am unlikely to be capable of wielding a sword, but watching two capable people fight will be more interesting than shooting targets I know I can hit. Would you mind if I wagered two gold on Aneda winning?"

Edited April 15, 2014 by Snowy_One

[Eail]

For now at least the mage was content to let the matter rest, though it still seemed.... weird. Now that he was finally up on the wagon he crossed his legs to be more comfortable, there was room enough for three people but being as tall as he was there wasn't a reason to take up any more room than necessary. "Well, believe it or not this isn't the first time my mind's been probed for information, I think this is the third? One of our aquantinces named Kit has a habit of digging around in my head when she show's up to learn what all has happened, but anyways, this was way more intense than what I've gone through before. With Kit it was just a brief flash of a few small scenes playing out, this was.... everything, all at once, pretty weird."

Shaking his head to try to clear everything out ht focused on Angelica's question. "Haven't tried anything new out yet, honestly I'm entirely sure what all it is I can even do yet, or what all I've gained. I've already got pretty decent skills in Thunder magic, and I've dabbled in Fire a bit. Any requests for what I should try?"

[Nanami Touko]

Angelica wasn't doing anything. Eva sighed, but knew to keep her guard up, as she moved fast. The two, Angelica and Zach proceeded to speak about all the magic he'd learned. Eva didn't have anything to say on magic, as everything she heard as something new, so she kept quiet until he asked what he should try. "Well... What do you normally do? Angelica might know, but I don't really have a scale of your power. I could suggest you to zap something with a thunderbolt, but unless I know how you normally zap things, it won't do my suggestion any good." She shrugged, and recrossed her legs. "Maybe try to mix them, or something? I don't know how you could mix thunder and fire, though..."

[Ether]

"Well, knowledge is one thing, but without the ability to form those spells, all it does is let you hone your skills more by your later years than you would have... without inserting practical knowledge on how to perform the spell itself, book knowledge will only serve as a shortcut for later... any mind mage could give you that much if they took the time to learn the book stuff themselves." Angelica replied, as she went back to laying down and sunbathing.

"So try casting something you've never learned before... go wind, that way if the working knowledge isn't there and you screw it up, I should be able to wrest control of it from you so no one gets hurt." The adept concluded, beginning to intently watch the sage.

[Eail]

"Well... I do know of this one little trick I've seen a few wind mages do before." Zach said after thinking for a bit. "Not really meant for combat but it should work for testing what I can do."

A tome wouldn't even be needed for this, which proved just how simple it was. Closing his eyes in concentration, Zach's mind was suddenly impacted with memories and knowledge that weren't his own, but were. He had experienced these things and hand't at the same time.

Gathering wind units, Zach's finger moved through the air, drawing a small dog. A rather simplistic drawing, before sending it forth, lasting for only a second before vanishing into an outline.

[Nanami Touko]

"Oh, you meant something new..." Eva felt that she was cluing into these things well after they'd been said, which was making her feel a bit stupid. It was magic talk though, so she didn't chide herself too badly over it. Instead, she watched Zach as he conjured...a dog? Oh, but it was cute, so Eva didn't care if it was simple. "What other animals can you do? ...Think you can make an air wyvern?" she quickly asked, eyes wide with a bit of want in them. It would be something to see if he could... "though I guess it wouldn't be the best idea to do that in the middle of a crowded Ursium street," she said, voicing her thoughts.

Edited April 15, 2014 by I have opinions

[Ether]

"Something like that is nice for entertainment purposes, but you don't seem the type to look for knowledge for that reason. Do you think you can cast anything substantial?" The adept asked, being able to throw up a picture in the middle of a scrap wasn't very useful, after all.

Edited April 15, 2014 by Ether

[Phoenix]

Plaza

The driver's gaze shifted from up front where Raquel and the horses were inching along, and toward the roof, where a few people were having a conversation he couldn't quite make out. "Perhaps it'd be best to let them off the roof before doing this?" Raquel didn't seem to hear him ... that or she was focusing on maintaining the light show that was intimidating the people in their way.

The wagon was slowly beginning to turn around, something that when Reign noticed, prompted him to get inside. He didn't, though, as he wanted to make sure there was no one undesirable taking notice first. There were some people headed there way, he finally noticed, but it they were following Faatina. "Hmm ..." He could ask her sooner or later, but hadn't made up his mind yet.

Amon and Malik kept an eye out for Fizza, hoping to spot her in the crowd, but she was nowhere to be found. <"And here I thought she was going to beat us here,"> Malik mumbled, crossing his arms afterward. <"Maybe she decided to finally abandon us so she can go do what she wants and not have to answer to you or the Queen.">

<"I couldn't blame her if that's the case,"> Amon frowned, <"but let's not jump to any conclusions.">

The Archives

More waiting ... how long did it take to make someone clinically immortal, anyway? That's what Nadine was wondering when Ryder brought up the next topic. "So what's it like being in the army?" The tone Ryder came across a bit facetious, but they rarely seemed serious anyway, so Nadine didn't take it personally.

"It's kind of depressing. So many people join the army to make a difference, but it's one of the few places where you actually can ... at least at my rank. Most of us are just numbers ... fluff. If you've got big dreams then forget it," Nadine explained bitterly. Now was as good a time as any, so she mirrored the question a little, hoping to sate her own curiosity. "What's it like being one of Nyx's 'servants'?"

"It's been fulfilling," Ryder came back, sounding calm and almost reverent. "I can't remember how old I am anymore, but that doesn't matter, really. If I wanted to be dead for a few centuries, she'd allow it," Ryder shrugged.

"Why would you want to be dead for a few centuries?" Nadine squinted at Ryder, clearly put off by the idea.

"There are lots of reasons to want to just ... sleep for awhile," Ryder looked slightly to the side and nodded at their choice of words. "I'm not like that, though. I'm content in any age, and any circumstance as long as I have Phoebe. Anyway, you should expect to get some kind of assignment soon. It will probably focus on improving yourself in some way, but it might also be an errand or some other quick quest."

"I have to get back to my unit at some point or they'll think I'm dead ... or worse," Nadine frowned again, thinking of the unlikely but still unsettling scenario in which she was branded a deserter.

"Your life belongs to our mistress now. Trust in her. If it's not her wish for you to serve in the army anymore, then you shouldn't give the matter a second thought."

"So true," came Nyx's voice as she stepped around the mountain of books and out into the open, "but I don't need you to resign right now. I believe your unit will be heading into some very dangerous battles soon and I believe that would be the perfect time for you to aid them and give them a taste of your potential at the same time." Before either could ask, Nyx said, "I've finished treating Darksider, yes. He's taking a little nap, now."

"Uh oh, another Io," Ryder teased.

[-Cynthia-]

There were in fact suspicious people heading towards them, but they appeared to be following Faatina and didn't look like guards or hostiles. Still, Veronika kept her hand on her sword just in case. It's not as if Organization members wore uniforms.

<"Not that I know her that well, but if she wanted to ditch y'all, ya would think she woulda left before goin' all the way through Kigen,"> Nadya chimed in to Amon and Malik's conversation.

[Eail]

"I... could? In my head I'm already sorting out everything I know after Nyx, there's some pretty heavy ordiance in there but I'm not sure if I actually have the skill to use it yet, or just the knowledge how to." Zach said, rubbing at the back of his neck while looking around at the crowd. "Can we maybe put that off till a bit later though? Raquel is already drawing way too much attention, and me doing something huge in addition to that could cause a whoooooole lotta problems."

[Nanami Touko]

"Ohh... Well, that's probably for the best," Eva said, though it was obvious she was disappointed about no giant wind lizard. She turned back to Angelica, more interested about wind magic. "So what's something high level he could show us later, anyway? I'm sure you've got something up your sleeves." Maybe she could think about what was to come if she got a general idea of it.

[roymbrog]

Not being particuarly inclined towards shoving people out of the way left Kat making slow progress. She had made it halfway to the wagon, however, when suddenly people began pushing past her, leaving her at the edge of clear area. She was about to take a step through it when Sharif stepped in front of her, and she looked up to see Tina still ferrying Shadrak. Katrina could just follow her horse through the crowd, perfect! As Sharif passed by she slipped in behind him, but had failed to notice there were other people following before doing so and nearly ran into Gwyn. "Sorry!" she yelped.

[Eail]

"Hnnn..." Zach felt kinda bad for not drawing the wyvern. Well... people weren't really focusing on him at the moment anyways. A few quick scribbles, and there was a mini-wyvern floating in the air in front of the ladies. "I've always wanted to see just how much a wind blade I produced could cut through, maybe mix Tornado with a few other elements... probably can't do that one yet though."

[Ether]

"Well, if he's never practised wind before, anything past the basics would be pretty impressive... though you get the most devastation out of combining and manoeuvring your smaller spells, rather than channelling anything huge... wind doesn't have a lot of power spells, so to speak... I'd just like to see what he can pull off with just a knowledge infusion." Angelica replied... it seemed he was really into that drawing trick of his... or rather, Eva was really into it and he was playing along.

[Nanami Touko]

While waiting for an answer from Angelica, Eva noticed the air wyvern that Zach had constructed, instinctively going to hug it, only for it to dissipate, as it had been air. "That's unfortunate... But it was still really cute! Thanks~" Eva let out a sort of satisfied giggle, turning back to Angelica's explanation. "D'you think a tornado would be a bit much, even back at Weyland's? That seems like something that'd get the authorities on us, especially after that attack. Surely there's some smaller magic he could do that would be just as impressive. I refuse to believe that impressive magic is limited to huge things."

[Sakusa]

"GYAAAAAAAAH~!" was the first utterance that spewed from the girl's mouth when yet another knock-into-another-person event almost occurred. Luckily she somehow managed to twirl from collision just in time, but it left her jarred. She had to stop herself for a moment, patting her chest in order to calm down: that almost-collision nearly gave her a heart-attack. Tired of the constant threat of getting knocked around and dismayed about the inelegant sound she created, needless to say, she was not too happy about this. "Ugh! Watch where you're going!" she shouted, instinctively brushing at her clothes and rearranging her hair. "Don't you know to look both ways when crossing a street? In this case it very well applies to navigating a crowd!" she lectured, wagging her finger at the newcomer as if she were a matron scolding a young child.

[Ether]

Had someone really just almost bumped into Gwyn again? Turning her head back to see, Faatina noticed that this one, atleast, shouldn't be too much trouble.

"Relax, she's with me. This is Katrina, she's a wyvern rider... probably just wanted to sneak in behind me and beat out the crowd, didn't notice you were following." Faatina noted, introducing her ally.

"Katrina, this is Gwyn, Cyrus, and Sergei... they're looking for work and I figured I may as well introduce them to Raquel. Try to get along now, okay?"

***

"Well, anything from a school of magic he's never practiced would be impressive, in a sense... wind is just different from most forms of anima in it's execution... higher level wind magic is more about control and pace than a bigger spell." Angelica noted, clarifying what she meant.