Return of the Emblem Chapter Twelve: Divergent Paths

[Sakusa]

Pink is the new pink. Kay? Kay.

"Well, I just so happened to have been named in hopes of securing a grandiose destiny," Gwyn began, answering the Eva's remark about her name, "As for the wind magicians abound, I was unaware of this until just now. Wind is the more subtle of the anima classifications, and it proves useful in many cases. As a performer by trade, being able to amplify my voice when needed proves to be quite the boon."

She then turned to Zach after his own introduction, at least he remembered his manners. "Likewise, Zach. It's a pleasure." The mage rewarded him with a sweet smile. She turned her chair around without much sound in order to face the growing number of spectators (since she was being treated like a curiosity), returned to her seat, and then crossed her legs, placing the tome she was reading onto her lap. She wasn't pleased with the fact that the two of them weren't able to make the distinction between the two shades of pink like plebeians, but she didn't let that bother her too much, so she just gnawed on her apple. "As for joining your group... well, let's just say that your employer is currently preoccupied, so the status of my recruitment is in limbo for the time being. If bedding's an issue, I'll most likely share with one of my fellow mercenaries." She shrugged airily, flipping another page.

[-Cynthia-]

Main Hall

"I can understand not wantin' to move from where ya are familiar with, it's always a risk. Offer's still on the table if ya want to take it," Nadya said to Greta as she moved along.

Study

Raquel was angry enough to have a physical confrontation with Gabbie- this issn't going to end well. "John and Sophia's death were a tragedy, but their deaths and everyone else we've traveled with were in vain if we give up on the very reason we started this in the first place," Veronika answered her voice rising. "Maybe Jethro is being coerced, maybe he's being lied to, maybe he's just being an idiot, but I intend to find out either way and will bring him back unconscious if need be. You can help us or not, but we're doing this."

[spoiler='Outer Sanctum']

The axe dropped, but Liam had missed the pistol that was now in the man's hand. A rookie mistake- I should have gone for the kill rather than disarming him. There wasn't much time to act before he was going to get shot. Mercy, guide me, he prayed as light units converged and phased through the man's armor. A brilliant searing flash accompanied the man's descent off of the wyvern. He needed to die to protect Aquila, Liam quickly justified to himself.

[Anti-Social Meta Knight]

And off we go!

Wordlessly he acknowledged the two who addressed him before he left before departing from the group (his group, now, it seemed) to find his horse. The stables weren't far from where he was, and with Clopin's help he'd make his way to the Weyland estate rather quickly. Assuming the fool was willing to play along, of course. "I'll catch up," he called over his shoulder to them, picking his pace up somewhat - for the first time in a while, time was a factor. Had to make a good impression.

The clouds above were darkening, by what he could see; that would bode ill for him if he were late. Knowing his wretched luck, the wagon would narrowly miss any rain that would come in, and he'd show up to the estate soaked to the bone. He hated the rain. He hated how cold it made cool days, how thick it made the air on warm days, and most importantly, he hated how mopey his horse got when wet. While Sergei sympathized with his mount on days like this, he wished Clopin would just get over himself. Reliable though he was, that horse was a diva...

It wasn't long before he made it into the stables, and the gentle hiss of rainfall punctuated his arrival. Quickly he paid the stablekeeper and fetched his horse. There was a ritual here - brush the mane, call Clopin an idiot horse, climb on and ride out. It was no different today. Clopin snorted irritably as soon as the rain began to hit his long, equine face. <"I know, I know,"> he chided the beast affectionately in his native tongue. <"Let's get out of this soon, yeah? On!"> Fortunately, the road was clear enough that Clopin could obey that command, and his trot grew quickly into a rhythmic run. He had been directed to the north gate of Europa; hopefully that was all the direction it'd take.

But was it?

It was.

It REALLY was. Sergei knew as soon as he saw the estate that if he had meandered north without any help, he'd know the place on sight. As extravagant as these grounds were, only a man of Weyland's stature could even see them maintained, and the knight knew of few other people with that amount of influence. None he could name, certainly. With any luck, though, he'd find someone he recognized as he rode in. With another command in Skotian, Sergei urged his mount to press on, and kept his eyes open for anyone he knew. The rain was driving them both a bit faster than usual; at this point they were both well beyond damp, and the prospect of changing that was all either of them needed.

"Excuse me!" he called into the rain, looking for anyone at this point - anyone who could get him and Clopin under a roof. "Anyone there?" Maybe the servants were Skotian, he wondered? He didn't bother to wait and find out. <"Excuse me!"> he repeated in his old tongue. <"Did a wagon just come in?"> It may have occurred to him as he shouted Neviskotian phrases in Ursium that someone might take it the wrong way, but that would happen when it happened.

[Ether]

"Ah, there y'are." Arietta called out with a grin, maul slung over her shoulder as she approached Axel.

"Y'ready fer me, Axel?"

***

While Eva had departed a short while back, Angelica opted to continue soaking for a while... no need to get overly busy just yet...

***

And so they had returned. and Raquel had immediately stormed off again... she seemed in quite the rush, today. Well, Faatina couldn't say she was surprised, taking the time to venture to the dining hall, where it seemed a decently sized gathering had already started. Grabbing an apple from the pile, she sat down nearby and watched, rather bemused by how flabbergasted everyone seemed by Gwyn's hair... normally she was the one overly surprised by things...

[roymbrog]

OoC: I've got to get some stuff done today so I will (hopefully) be scarce. I'll try to pop in and post thing though instead of disappearing for two days.

Synthia nodded and walked closer to show what she had written down. “May I have some tea? I lost my voice.”

---

Valter only shook his head. He was merely here as an escort, and beyond getting out of the rain, hadn’t planned to impose on Glen’s hospitality. It was part of the reason he hadn’t bothered introducing himself, though he was starting to get the feeling his presence in general was making this visit a little awkward.

[Nanami Touko]

Eva started on the pear, tearing through this fruit like it was the first time she'd eaten. Zach asked about rooms, and she smirked. "I had my own room last night, so I'll just go sleep there again. I'm sure Gwyn and whoever else is showing up can bunk together, if they were traveling together they'd be fine bunking together, right? Unless you're just trying to get a pretty girl to sleep in your room..." she laughed, turning back to Gwyn, to which she laughed again. After her small 'fight' today, having wind and subtle together was really amusing. "Sorry, sorry, not laughing at you, just something else... And you sing, huh? Wanna give us a demonstration at some point?" She only listened as Gwyn addressed Zach, only chiming in to say, "see" when Gwyn mentioned bunking with her comrades.

----------

Sasha had decided that a day without his rider was a day to be lazy, so much as snorting whenever someone came by that wasn't Eva. He'd been trained to not fly on his own, so the sun would have to make do in his activities. Bathing under it, when the first drop of rain hit his snout, he shot his head up, bemused. He knew what rain was, and he was quite fond of it. When the shower started, he pulled himself out of the small stable he'd been set in and curled up underneath the wash of rain, with whatever could be a considered a wyvern smile on his scaly face.

[ReformBlade]

Jericho took his time making his way into the estate again, taking a spot in the dining hall. He grabbed an apple, holding onto it and taking a bite every so often. He would've gone after Raquel to follow up and figure out what they'd be doing but he got too lost and uncomfortable to keep wandering aimlessly and decided to simply hang out where he could at least eat some food and relax. Last time he was here he also got to play his harmonica so that would also be an option for him to de-stress himself.

It was hard and rigorous, but what Aneda lacked in actual functionality she made up for in her tenacity and drive to do her best. As such, the bruises kept adding up and she was definitely feeling sore from the barrage of hits flying her way from Alphonse's attacks but she honestly relished in it at this point. Finally calling it off with a heavy sigh, Aneda was all smiles, "Well, okay... foot in my mouth, you're definitely better at this than I am. But fuck if that'll stop me from climbing. May not be as efficient and skilled as you, but i've got my place... And I should probably find that place."

Mushirah had finished up her meal and decided to finally take her fist few steps since waking up today. She wasn't sure if it was the fatigue or her lack of balance, but it certainly did feel extremely awkward as she stumbled her steps around, merely practicing and hoping she could get teh hang of it fairly quickly. It was pretty startling how quickly she wasn't adjusting but she soldiered herself on in her own room, a practice field for her.

[Eail]

This Gwyn girl was nice, maybe a little bit of prude in her, but overall she seemed pretty okay. "You're our fourth wind mage I think, we've got one of every other anima element, but four of wind, guess it just has an appeal to it." Zach finished with a shrug, finally going back to his apple. Luckily he managed to avoid having a typical Zach moment when Eva commented on sharing a room with a girl. "I really doubt a pretty girl, or any girl for that matter, would be too keen on sharing a room with me unless they were forced to do so." He commented rather dryly before taking another bite.

_______

Their little duel had lasted quite a while, but it seemed like Aneda was finally conceding defeat, which Alphonse was actually pretty thankful for considering it was starting to rain. He loved training, but nothing good ever came of staying out in the rain longer than needed, especially when you were exerting yourself doing it. "Heh, you aren't so bad yourself Aneda, you've got the power to back up your strikes." Glancing over at Jamilla he called out "So am i still your teacher, or do we have to beat on each other some more?"

[Sakusa]

MRGRGR

"I thought I'd find a nice, quiet place to study, and it seems that this isn't the spot, apparently," Gwyn lamented, growing weary of Eva's hounding, though she didn't show it on her face. "This girl's mind is all over the place, perhaps she has some sort of mental disorder?" She finished her apple and wiped her hands daintily. "Unless I'm practicing or the situation is dire, I don't sing unless I'm paid," she nearly spat the last word, not keen on working for free. However, she did oblige a wind demonstration by flaring her aura, sparkling green tendrils seemingly blooming from the floor up and twisting around her before blasting Eva a ways back. "Though this," she referred to the brief display of power, "is why wind is my school of choice," she stated coolly, and continued reading. Not wanting to get into a discussion pertaining to Zach's apparent inability to acquire a roommate, she remained silent.

Edited April 20, 2014 by Sakusa

[Toogee]

Their little duel had lasted quite a while, but it seemed like Aneda was finally conceding defeat, which Alphonse was actually pretty thankful for considering it was starting to rain. He loved training, but nothing good ever came of staying out in the rain longer than needed, especially when you were exerting yourself doing it. "Heh, you aren't so bad yourself Aneda, you've got the power to back up your strikes." Glancing over at Jamilla he called out "So am i still your teacher, or do we have to beat on each other some more?"

Jam strolled up to Alphonse once the battle was over, letting the question simmer while she hid her answer behind a smirk.

"Well...I guess...for now," she replied. "But I'm going to want a duel too, just to make sure."

[Nanami Touko]

And the pear had been defeated. Eva smirked at Zach's comment. "Maybe you just need to start being more of a stereotypical gentleman, or something like that. Why not start by offering the lovely lady Gwyn your room? You can sleep in mine. That way, she doesn't have to go searching for a place to stay, and you get to bunk with a pretty girl! Everyone wins," she finished with a laugh, before getting slid across the dining hall a few feet. Her sword's barrier turned on and any remaining wind slipped around it. Eva cocked an eyebrow at Gwyn, but her smirk remained. "Very impressive," she said, dryly. "Maybe you can give me a show of it in full later, though I'm not sure it would do all that much. But," she said, tilting her head and shrugging, "I know when to take a hint... At least nonverbal ones. Glad you did that instead of saying anything, honestly, it probably would've flown over my head. Enjoy yourselves, Zach, Gwyn." Without a hint of sarcasm in her voice, she strolled on over to Jericho.

"<So, Jericho,>" she said, dropping herself down next to him, "<what's up?>"

[Sakusa]

Gwyndolyn, Grandmaster at Arms

Gwyn chuckled again. "Now, imagine if I had a real tome..." she muttered to herself and sighed. Getting her tome reimbued would take quite a bit of time and money she couldn't invest in at the moment. "So Zach, was it? Has she always been... this pushy? In-your-face? Random?" the mage inquired, content to be rid of the pest for the time being and motioned at one of the seats next to her. This guy didn't seem nearly as... willful as Eva, so she assumed he might make for better company. It shouldn't be too hard talking to a fellow mage, right? Right? "So... what types of magic do you specialize in?" she inquired, multitasking her reading and note-taking with smalltalk.

[Snowy_One]

"Sadly, I have nothing to gain by fighting against Alphonse. I cannot spar with him as I can not blunt my arrows and I do not use a melee weapon in combat. Still, you did good Aneda. Keep trying and you will best him one day. Peanut butter, you can spar him if you want, but I would rather head inside to be safe from the rain." said the Skotian girl, thankful that no one had taken her up on her wager.

"It has been a while, I wonder if Zach and the others got back."

---

Tia looked up as she saw one of the mages cast a wind spell at one of the newer girls eating a piece of fruit almost not caring. She would be forced to spend time with them anyways soon enough, best to spend some time now just reading the books she couldn't take with her. What was more interesting was the person holding the piece of fruit whom had just activated a barrier sword. Almost instantly Tia was interested. Putting her book face down so as to keep her place, she quickly swung her legs down and jumped out of her spot and quietly approached, stooping down low as she approached Eva, trying to get a look at her sword.

Edited April 20, 2014 by Snowy_One

[Balcerzak]

It took a few moments after the the rain began falling for Helena to realize. A particularly plump drop splashing her on the face elicited a wrinkling of the nose and a grumble. She'd been hard at work knitting a woolen sweater, in the zone and just leaning back, resting up against what served as both mode of transportation, protection, and in a way friend. The large wyvern wasn't hers, no certainly not, but they'd grown accustomed after travelling together and that was what mattered in the end after all, wasn't it?

With a sigh, she set the sweater-to-be down gently on her lap. It wouldn't be harmed by the rain, wool was actually one of the better fabrics for wet after all, but it wouldn't do to continue to work it in this condition, so now Helena was left with little to do but wait and wonder how much longer Cyrus and Gwyn's errand was going to take. Maybe it would have been better to tag along with them into town after all? But the crowds... wouldn't be completely unmanageable. But Glen... could really fend for himself, after all.

Eh, there was really no way of having known in advance, it certainly hadn't smelt of rain, neither of them had commented on any ominous clouds, and she knew them well enough to trust they wouldn't have kept that from her out of spite or anything. Sometimes life just gave you lemons, and this certainly was far from the worst luck she'd ever experienced; after all, even if her clothes did end up getting soaked clean through before they returned, at least she'd still be warm enough, what with the body heat from the great lizard behind her. Unconsciously and unbidden, though, the topic of bad luck and misfortunes caused her mind to wander back to her situation from before she'd met up with the pair she now travelled with, and Helena bit her lip and forced her thoughts down other corridors, seeking something else to occupy her time with until their return. Maybe she should engage in some aura training or something? Or perhaps practicing Warding Glen? It's not like she didn't have her options. Anything that didn't require moving around too much alone in unfamiliar territory should be just fine. Mmm, maybe she should think of some little mischief to play on them when they got back too... while it wasn't exactly their fault, a little good-natured fun could certainly be in order.

In the end she settled on a decision, and swivelling herself sideways and laying flat on her back, still next to warm flank of the wyvern—who was probably taking this opportunity to doze, as he hadn't seemed to mind the rain much yet, not having made any real show of displeasure or moving for cover. Face now turned toward the sky, Helena closed her eyes and began to focus. It wasn't easy, as a constant barrage of unexpected projectiles landing on one's face wasn't the ideal situation for maintaining concentration, but in some ways that just made it all the better reason to practice. It's not like she was expecting any degree of success even, really, and at times she wondered why she continued to bother. Still, she worked at controlling a small array of light units, racing them around above her, trying to pick up on disturbances in the field as the drops of rain passed through it, trying to get some measure of forewarning of when or where one was going to land. Futile, really, but it passed the time.

Edited April 20, 2014 by Balcerzak

[scorri]

Hoshi

Upon arriving back at the estate, Hoshi slowly headed to her room. She had a lot of information to process but she needed to try something. Arriving, she walked into her room and picked up one of the test swords she'd made. Thinking for a few seconds, she laid the carbon edge around it but took a few minutes to convert it so that it better fit the new specs that were in her mind. Satisfied with the result, she placed the whole configuration on her control surface and started the process. When the magic cleared a little later, she grinned. Finally, she had a complete blade and not a molten mess. And more importantly, she had a blade with a diamond edge. Picking it up, she grinned. Perfect.

Erion

Having lost track of Eva after the fight, Erion had been a bit bothered to see her fly away with Angel. Apparently he'd been mistaken about how bothered she had been by Angel's kiss. He'd stopped thinking about it after a bit since he had just met the girl and even though he'd enjoyed flirting with her, it wasn't anything serious. If she felt like flirting with someone else, he wasn't going to do anything about it. It was her right. Even still, when they got back to the estate, he headed to the training yard, hoping to spend some time stabbing dummies until he was able to clear his mind.

Lumi

Heading into the dining hall, Lumi spied Pete sitting by himself. Brightening, she headed over to where he was and plopped down next to him. "Hey! How are you? You missed a pretty great morning. We fought some knight dolls and then met a minor goddess. Though... I made a mistake and didn't protect someone as well as I should have." She frowned. "I just... she can't talk now and I just hope that it's a sore throat and not something more serious.... But how was your morning?"

[ReformBlade]

Looking up and flashing a smile for all of a single moment, "Not much, really. Just waiting for our next move, you know? Hopefully I can end this quickly, but at the same time, I sincerely doubt i can effectively bring about a satisfactory outcome by myself." Taking a massive juicy bite into the apple, he took a few moments to chew it up before continuing to speak through it like a rude dude, "Also, sorry, I can't really speak Neviskotian all that well, not to mention i'm a bit muddled in general." He finished with a shrug, as if to apologize, "I mean, go ahead and continue if you want to speak it, I'm just explaining so as not to seem rude."

Giving Alphonse a friendly fist dap on his shoulder, "Hey, beating up an failed soldier doesn't make you a teacher, kid~. Now come on, lets head inside, I'm completely beat and tired right now..." Motioning for whoever was nearby to follow, it was more out of habit than any sort of actual command because, well, she wasn't the commanding type. Actually, the rain did sort of sound like a relaxing idea but then she'd probably just settle for a bath due to being tired and all that.

[Phoenix]

Main Hall

"Thanks, I guess," Greta gloomily replied. "Give me a little time to think about it ... and I'll get back to ya ...."

Main Gate

A pair of guards stepped out from around the gate post to see who was making all the noise. The one in the lead as they approached waved Sergei over. "Mister Weyland's not expecting any lone guests this afternoon. Are you with you the Valcyn party or Sardis?" It was a test question of sorts. He was either with Raquel's group or he wasn't, but he was also a potential random trying to get in, and giving him the opportunity to slip in as 'part of a group that was allowed inside was a fun little way to test him, especially since one of the parties mentioned was actually an enemy of the estate and claiming to be with them meant they were either a random they could chase off, or someone he could shoot in the kneecaps for the hell of it.

HIs partner didn't like the idea though, as evidenced by his bewildered expression. I really don't think this is a good idea. What if he just gets confused?

Kitchen

"You lost your voice?! How on eart-well I guess it's none of my business. Sorry," Erica blushed and turned away. "No problem, it'll just be a couple of minutes. Did you have a taste for anything in particular?"

"Losing your voice, huh? That's pretty novel. It's lunch time so I need to get started on the usual. Hopefully the others show up so we can take special orders, but I'm starting to doubt they will. They would have been here by now and ..." The estate was still in mourning, so there would be a lot less getting done for a day or two, even in the kitchen. "I guess Erica and I will just have to do as much as we can on our own for now ... buuut that means no special orders until after lunch, I'm afraid."

Study

Raquel was quite surprised by Veronika's declaration. Once again she was reminded of how committed to the mission she was, and once again she was reminded they were a stark contrast to each other. She couldn't help but focus on her own problems, her missing father and sworn enemy, while Veronika was--at least outwardly--focusing on someone else's problems, hers. Raquel quickly pushed away the guilt for the moment, though, as Gabbie's selfishness bordered on sheer spite as far as she was concerned.

"Go roight ahead," Gabbie replied to Veronika. "I won't stop you." It definitely felt like spite now ...

"You're stopping us by not helping us," Raquel snapped, nearly nudged over the edge again by Gabbie's apathy. "She told us to come to you. How else are we supposed to find him?" She did have one way ... a way she was considering before all of this, but pressuring Gabbie into complying seemed a little easier, though also utterly infuriating. "Please just do this for me ..." she asked again, sounding sad rather than angry this time around.

"Hmph ..." Gabbie crossed her arms and glanced off somewhere, thinking about it.

Glen's House

"Alright, then," Glen nodded in acknowledgement before offering the two chairs to them in the living room. "No need to worry about me, though, Joanna. I'm fine ... I'm just feeling a little ... disillusioned about our government right now."

"Because they captured one of those creatures?"

"Yeah ... it's flat out obvious what they intend to do with those things. They're going to domesticate them, and then use them against the skotians, even though they murdered innocent people. It's downright disgusting and they should be destroyed ... and those soldiers and whoever's commanding them should be thrown in prison. Urgh ...."

Joanna shared his concern, but definitely not his frustration, as her views on things made this one in a very long list of crimes, going all the way back to murder itself. Still, she agreed that the demons shouldn't be kept or made to fight for Ursium, but she didn't see anything stopping them from at least trying, so ... best to get on a new subject if at all possible.

"Did the cathedral at least get out unscathed?" Glen beat her to it. "I saw a lot of people heading that way last night as things started getting out of hand, but I haven't heard much since then."

"The cathedral was well defended, but a lot of people couldn't reach it in time ..."

[spoiler=Ursian Plains]"As a matter of fact, we are," Ragna answered, something mischievous about her tone.

<"Careful,"> Fury urged Ragna, <"There's little reason for anyone to be enthused to see us.">

<"He's enthused is he?"> Valdimarr irritably chimed in. Next, he looked the dark avian over from a short distance away and shrugged. <"Let Ragna do what she wants with him. I couldn't care less.">

[spoiler=Outer Sanctum]With only four riders left of the original twelve, it seemed the group had been thoroughly trounced by the trio of avians. Worse still--for them--the avian leader was still following them. The survivors feared it was only a matter of seconds before another one of them was violently struck down.

Back on the deck of his ship, Petia prepared to take off, along with a fresh squad of riders once his scouts spotted the survivors of the last squad. <"Bring her to me,"> Petia ordered. <Time to see if that little brat Fox's theory is correct. My ass is covered regardless, but I don't want to lose anymore men than necessary 'testing it' ...>

[Eail]

Zach might have to reconsidering his idea of the kind of person Gwyn was after that little stunt she just pulled with Eva. "That... really wasn't necessary. Might I suggest not doing that again in the future? No sense in making enemies with someone that's just trying to be a little friendly, even if she's a bit over-inquisitive." Pausing to take another bite, then swallow. "Anyways, yesterday I would have told you I'm a thunder mage, today? Well... it's a bit of an interesting story, after making a deal with a rather shady person that I probably shouldn't name, I've been granted the capability to learn ever style of anima magic with ease, so I suppose I'm a bit of a jack of all magic now?"

________

Giving a chuckle, Alphonse patted Jamilla on the head as she gave her conformation. "Maybe next time my young apprentice, no sense in any of us catching a cold from standing out in the rain right? Besides, once we get back inside I need to start working on a special project for you, my trip in to town this morning wasn't just to get another sword for myself." He finished with a wink, hopefully letting the girl in on what he'd picked up for her. "A bath might be in order first though, I'm not too big on the idea of sitting around in my sweat when I've got the option to get rid of it."

________

While Gwyn had gone with their new group back to Weyland's estate, Cyrus had to venture back out of the city in order to fetch the rest of their little group. Someone else needed to be informed of the good fortune they'd stumbled across with this new job, and he needed the fat sack of scales in order to arrive at the estate in a timely manner. After splitting up with Sergei to find their respective mounts, the wyvern-less rider made the trek back to where he'd left his other best friends.

Glen seemed to be napping despite the rain, as the wyvern was known to do whenever he had a chance, which was generally any free time that wasn't spent eating. A smile made it's way onto the young man's face seeing Helena sitting against his partner and practicing her magic, even if he wasn't exactly sure what she was doing. Ever since he'd saved her years ago, the two had been close, almost as close as he and Gwyn were. There was a bit of rivalry between the girls so far as he could see but he really wasn't sure why.

"Hey Lena, I'm back! Everything go all right while I was gone?" Cyrus asked as he came up on the two. Patting his waking mount on the side in order to wake him up. "Good news, Gwyn and I found a job for us, and you're not gonna believe it, these guys are friends of Seth Weyland. Think of how much we might get paid!" It would be easy to see how excited he was by the prospect.

[Nanami Touko]

"<Ahhhh, where's Erion? I want to speak to someone in Neviskotian,>" Eva whined, before shaking her head and thinking back in common. "No, no that was rude, sorry. I've just been talking common all day, it's getting a bit tiring. But for you, I think I can manage one more conversation." She went back to smiling and leaned over the table. "Alright, Jericho, if you're going to keep telling me this situation of yours-- yes, I was paying attention on top of the wagon and you were having similar problems --if this isn't going to resolve well on your own, you're going to tell me what the situation is and I'll see if I can help!" she proudly proclaimed, pointing her thumb at herself and giving him a wink. "I'm no pushover, so unless it's a logic puzzle, I'm totally on the job. My thinking's the only part of me I don't have full confidence in..." she finished with a laugh, hoping to hear whatever was ailing him, in detail. If he'd share, at this point.

Eva would've continued her smile had she not started looking around the room and spotted a smaller girl encroaching on her sword. She had to make a double take to make sure she wasn't going delusional, but no, there was a little girl creeping up on her. Wait, isn't she that one that was hanging around when we were discussing the gates? I think she was... "Hello," Eva said with a bit of apprehension, wondering why she wasn't just walking up to her like a normal person. Guess everyone thinks in their own way... Like I'm in any place to judge. She started smirking again, at her own thoughts. "Did you need something?"

Edited April 21, 2014 by I have opinions

[Sakusa]

Who? Me? Never. :3

"Necessary? Probably not, though she should've had a mind not to disturb people when they're studying," Gwyn replied calmly and gestured to her array of books and writing materials without looking up from the tome she'd been perusing since she'd arrived. She didn't particularly care that she seemed like she had a violent temperament; most people forgave her for being cute enough to make up for whatever blunder or violent act she might've caused, so she decided to forgive Zach for not accepting her goodwill of letting him sit next to her. "Thunder had always been a bit too volatile for me, I had a... mishap when I was young, and I've been afraid of it ever since." A shudder ran down her spine, and she hugged herself in turn. The weather had taken a turn for the worse as well, and she could only hope that it wouldn't storm later on in the day. "It does sound like the deal of a lifetime, though. Let's just hope that the consequences of making a deal with someone that powerful doesn't come to overwhelm you later on, hmm?"

Edited April 21, 2014 by Sakusa

[Snowy_One]

Tia looked up as the woman who owned the sword, Eva, took notice of her. It wasn't like she was trying to hide, just not get in the way as she took a glance at the blade. "Hmm? Oh. Yes, you can. Your sword, can I have it? Errr... I mean, it's clearly not a normal blade and I would very much like to take a look at it. Or, if not that, at least can you tell me a bit about it? What can it do? How do you use it in combat? What about it's special properties?"

[Rothene]

Finished with the painting, Ranyin used his magic to create controlled small breezes to expedite the drying of the ink before finishing his sandwich. Switching to another larger piece of paper, Ranyin began truly capturing the cliques gathered in the dining hall. This will take a while, the Kigenese mage thought as he started working on the painting with practiced ease and skill, looking up every so often so as to capture the moment. It did not matter who was moving about, what was important was remembering who was where now.

[Eail]

Seeing that he was going to be talking to this girl for the foreseeable future since Eva had already struck up a conversation with Jericho, Zach took the seat that was offered to him, still managing to have a decent lead over the pink haired girl height wise. "Sorry to hear that... I'll try to keep the thunder magic down to a minimum when we're around each other, gives me a good excuse to work on my other elements no?" When she spoke of some possible downsides, he couldn't help but laugh a bit "Oh I've already thought of that, to be honest this will probably come back to bite me in the future. The deal was just too good to pass up though, only time will tell if it will stay that way."

[ReformBlade]

Brow furrowed out of confusion, Jericho focused on Evangeline's curiosity before addressing her other concerns. "Oh that's right, you did kinda fly off before I could respond, not that I was, or am now really, in a particularly sound mood to discuss it in as mature a manner as i can but I'll never get it out if I keep bottling it up. Turns out, the reason I was literally just hired onto this weird mercenary group was to go and hunt down another group, one who I still firmly believe stole my brother away with lies. you may think I'm exaggerating but I'd be willing to fight to the death to defend that view point, or at least I thought I was because now that I know the fucker who stole my brother away is here in this city, I'm doubting my ability to viably follow through and pull it off." Tilting his head to the side for a moment, "And yeah that's really about it."

[Nanami Touko]

Now she was in a bit of a predicament. She was being both assaulted by Tia and spoken to by Jericho, all in common, and it was frying her brain to take it all in at once. She took a deep breath and gave herself a moment before responding to either, Tia first, as Jericho's topic seemed a bit serious. "My sword? No, you can't have it; that'd be silly. You'd probably hurt yourself. It's pretty heavy," she said with a small chuckle towards the girl. "It's a barrier sword, with a rune in it. My father had it crafted before I left, because while he knew I could probably handle myself when it came to defense, magic is something incredibly foreign to me. It doesn't use any of my power, but when offensive magic gets near, it sets up a barrier to protect me. Neat, huh?" That dealt with, she turned back to Jericho, unsure if she was really the right one to talk to about something so serious, though it was her fault for pressing him so much.

"What's got you so worried? You're willing to fight to the death over it, but you don't know if you've the resolve to stick to that, or something?" Eva felt her smile dropping a bit, but not for the reasons one would expect. "I'd say I'm a bit jealous of you, really... You have something to be that resolved over, but I'm out here for work, without much other than destruction through demon invasion looming over my head; but that's not really just my problem, so it...weirdly feels less important, I guess. Seems just about everyone here has something going on with them, haha..." She half closed her eyes, and smiled down at the table, a somber smile. "Hey, I know it's personal, but if you do this, count on me. I don't have my own problems to deal with, so the least I can do is help the best I can with everyone else's. Need something to keep myself on my feet, right?" She brought her regular smile back and looked up with a bit of a laugh. "Sorry! Got a bit serious there. That's not like me. Maybe I really am tired after all that fighting, heheh."

Edited April 21, 2014 by I have opinions