Return of the Emblem Chapter Twelve: Divergent Paths

[Ether]

"If you've already made your decision, follow it through. You won't get anywhere, just backtracking." Angelica added, standing from her sunbathing position.

"Man... this is taking forever... the crowd is getting thicker by the minute... well, I think I'm gonna ditch for now... head back to the estate and take advantage of what time we have left instead of sitting on the roof of a wagon wading through a sea of people." The adept decided, walking towards the edge of the roof and taking hold of Eva's wrist as she arrived next to the rider.

"As for you, Eva... you should come with me. We should take care of some business... besides, this is a good chance for you to see some of that fancy magic you were so excited about."

[-Cynthia-]

"I wouldn't call us 'big shots'," Veronika said hesitantly. No need for anyone to think they were any richer than they were. "I am Veronika, and you are?" she asked the newcomers. They did seem to have enough time for introductions the way this crowd was moving.

<"There ain't that many winged people in Europa and most of them ain't clerics so she shouldn't be too hard to find. But if ya find her are ya gonna take the emblem piece from her and head back to Aisha?"> Nadya asked the Rexians out of curiosity.

[Nanami Touko]

Eva was finally content to sit about and wait for the wagon to reach their destination, but Angelica suddenly standing and talking about leaving got her wondering. Does she mean she's just going to fly over the crowd like she did earlier? I hope she doesn't crash into anyone... But as she felt her wrist raise, the woman telling her to come along for business, she was quite surprised. "Eh? Ehhhh!? How are you going to get us both over the crowd? Doesn't that seem a bit dangerous?" The thought of being alone with her once again entered her mind and she looked at Zach, "a-and what about his magic, too? Surely carrying three people would be...difficult."

[Ether]

"I can't get more than one other person over, but he could use some time to stew over all the new information in his head, regardless." Angelica replied with a light smirk, leaning in close to Eva's ear.

"Besides, it's about time for you to stop trying to make excuses, don't you think?" She whispered, before pulling back.

[Nanami Touko]

"Well... I guess so..." She had to think quick for some other reason, but as Angelica whispered to her, she felt a similar shiver run down her back. Scary... She really didn't have any excuses left, other than outright rejecting the proposal, but getting back to the manse sooner than later would at least mean eating sooner than later, and getting to see some magic. All she did was kiss you; that's nothing to be afraid, of right!? Come on, you can handle this! Despite stating earlier that a brave face wasn't something she'd try against Angelica again, she put one on, and stood herself up quick. "Alright! How do we do this?"

[Sakusa]

Gwyn rolled her scarlet eyes at Cyrus, exasperated at his distinct lack of tact. "My name is Gwyndolyn Rhiannon Eiluned, virtuoso by class and performer by trade," she began, curtsying elegantly and with an overblown flourish, as usual, "My skills include the general supportive magic and skills you would typically find in bards and dancers, and my focus is in restorative light magic. Though I am also proficient in anima with a focus in wind magic, unfortunately it's inaccessible to me at the moment. As for miscellaneous skills, I specialize in cooking and sewing. The bigmouth over there," she gestured gracefully with her free hand, "is Cyrus Labroue, wyvern knight by class and wyvern breeder by trade. He's a lancer capable of strong blows and apt at taking blows. Sergeant Sergei Arbatov here," she then motioned to the unhorsed cavalier, "is a paladin by class and enforcer of law by trade. To tell you the truth, I haven't the foggiest idea why he decided to become a sellsword, but he, like Cyrus, is capable of both dealing and taking damage. His weapon of choice is the axe. Though the paladin is anxious to retrieve his mount, if there are any concerns, please let us know," she finished, curtsying again.

Edited April 16, 2014 by Sakusa

[Ether]

"Well, for starters, I need you to latch yourself on to me... and hold on tight, I'm not getting blamed if you fall off." Angelica answered, lowering herself into a better launch position... easier to do it now than after she had her passenger.

[Nanami Touko]

Better not fall off, then... It was a bit awkward, clinging onto the shorter woman, but Eva did her best to hop onto Angelica's back and hold onto her shoulders. It was probably a silly sight for everyone else on the roof, and the people in the crowd, so hopefully they wouldn't be there much longer. "Alright... Feel free to take off!"

[Ether]

Taking a moment to check Eva's grip, which seemed to do the job, Angelica began channeling wind units for a moment, before releasing the stored energy in the form of a burst of wind at her back, which sent the pair careening into the air. Step one was, of course, to maneouver out of the crowds so they had some room to make actual landings... that took a few more leaps than Angelica would have liked, to be perfectly honest. Still, after bounding from a few nearby structures, the first hurdle had been cleared, and Angelica allowed herself a bit of thought aside from how not to crash into people.

"Well, that's the hard part taken care of." Angelica noted, as the first real descent of the run began, the adept preparing to rebound off of multiple roofs in this fashion to help clear ground.

[Nanami Touko]

"Ohhhhhh, this is suddenly far scarier than I'd thoUGHT!" She shouted as Angelica took off. Eva was fine with flying, that much was sure, but normally she was flying on something she trusted to fly countless times, that was giving her far more grip room. She held on as tightly as she could, hoping that Angelica wouldn't land on top of someone in the crowd, eyes wide open with a rather large amount of terror. Somehow, through luck or sheer skill, civilians had been avoided, and Eva could breath a slight sigh of relief, though she was still having trouble holding on. "If that was the hard part, thank the Gods! Why couldn't you just be able to change into a wyvern, or something..." It was a silly thought, but perhaps if she closed her eyes and imagined herself riding on Sasha, this would be more enjoyable.

[Phoenix]

The Plaza

<"I don't know if we're even going to try to find her yet,"> Amon noted, <"but we definitely wouldn't just take it from her. That's not what Lady Aisha would want us to do ... and besides, if it were that simple, Raquel would have been a better target and back then I still couldn't do it.">

<"Once we do have an emblem of our own, we should head straight back home, though,"> Malik firmly stated. <"Any delay could put us at risk and we might end up losing it before we get back. Either way we have to go through Kigen again to get back to Sanctuary, so whether we go for this cleric's or Steinn's brother's, our next destination is looking set in stone.">

Going after Valdimarr's would certainly take longer, but no one would feel bad about whatever they had to do to get it. The way people had handled the issue up to this point, Amon feared he was the only one not willing to steal the blasted thing from her. Maybe they saw something in the situation that he didn't. And speaking of different, the knowledge he now held made him wonder if it was possible to have the emblem deliver itself back to Aisha. Before, the idea would have been completely absurd, but now he had other ideas.

The wagon finally stopped when Synthia got Raquel's attention, but Raquel's golden light--whose point of origin Reign couldn't discern--didn't go anywhere. What he noted next was a burst of wind and two figures launching into the sky. Reign wondered what their hurry was as he moved the hair out of his eye. With nothing else to do, and the wagon moving way too slowly, or not at all by this point, to justify climbing aboard, Reign found himself looking back at the Grand Cathedral, wondering what was going on inside the archives.

The Archives

"Procedure?" Fizza echoed Ryder's word choice. The masked messenger had explained to her that because she was thirty years old, Nyx would be making some changes to her body, changes that would leave her in her current state indefinitely, the same as Simon. "Sounds complicated."

Nyx shrugged. "Let me know when you're ready," she nodded softly.

Nadine's thoughts were beginning to shift back toward her unit again. Perhaps they weren't terribly worried about her, but if they found out she had just been hanging out with a fugitive and then this, Langley would definitely be forced to demote her. She might've even had to endure a lengthy 'interview' due to spending time with a deserter. Nothing good whatsoever could come of them learning about what went on last night and today, really. Still, she couldn't keep asking to be dismissed or she would just upset Nyx.

"Just let me try and fix this thing first," Fizza said, trying to remove her left wrist guard, and the blade attached to it. Once she got it off, she placed it on a bench and began to carefully remove it from the guard.

Before Nadine knew it, Nyx's palm was on her shoulder. She felt like she'd been sneaked up on but the latter was hardly that far away to begin with. She simply hadn't been paying attention. "Patience," Nyx smiled gently. "There's nothing this world can do to you that I cannot undo, and there's nothing they can throw at you that I'll allow without a good reason."

"Is it really necessary to just sit around here, though? You don't need me around to fix Reign's eye and I'm too young for what you're doing to the others. Unless you've got something for me to do ..." Nadine struggled to explain all of her worries at once, and the fragmented list of reasons she gave quickly trailed off into nothing.

"You can't just enter the archives whenever you feel like it. Make good use of the time you have here," Nyx insisted. "Everyone," she began addressing her three servants together. Ryder glanced over curiously, as did Fizza, who up until that point had been carefully unscrewing her blade's housing. "I'll be stepping out for a few minutes. I should be back before you finish the repairs to your weapon."

"Ryder flinched. "You haven't left the archives in ages. What's the occasion?"

"As much as I despise reliance on the kind of power the Fire Emblem provides ..." she paused to hold up her palm, and the same golden glow Raquel occasionally produced appeared there, "it does serve a purpose here. I'm doing this because I want to; nothing of importance hinges on it," she shook her head. A second later, she vanished.

"The curse has been lifted," Ryder said, a smile forming behind the mask.

"She was cursed too? Hahahaaah," Fizza gave a long laugh at the revelation.

"It doesn't matter," Ryder suddenly shifted gears, crossed their arms and shrugging off Fizza's annoying response.

Edited April 16, 2014 by Phoenix

[Anti-Social Meta Knight]

Weyland? And here I thought this would be a simple job... This was getting interesting. If he was going to meet Weyland, he had to be in peak condition for it. Maybe he'd make enough money that way to stop working for a while...the thought tempted Sergei. He was inside his own head just enough to nearly miss Veronika's question. Of course, that was just long enough for Gwyn to one-up him introducing himself.

Fortunately, she wasn't quite as curt about what he did as Cyrus had been. He simply nodded and bowed slightly. "The pleasure is mine," he told Veronika politely. It occurred to him at that point that Gwyn had remembered both his position and his last name, which was more than a little surprising; when had he told her either of those? Maybe his memory was starting to fail him. "If we're going to meet Weyland himself, then I ought to do as the girl says. I'm slightly more useful with my horse in tow." He straightened up a bit, forcing his usual smirk to give way for a look of formality. "That done, I'm sure I can find the estate and catch up with you. All I need are some basic directions. I'll not hold you or your employer up," he explained.

[Ether]

"Well excussseeeee me for not being half-lizard." Angelica shot back, applying pressure below her, so that rather than touch down on the roof, she simply bounded off of it again, and back into the air... still, it had taken a lot more jumps than she had thought to clear the plaza, and while from this point it was rather smooth sailing... combined with having to lug well over twice the weight she was used to, Angelica's magic supply definitely wouldn't last the entirety of the way back. Well, no need to bring that up now.

"I knew you were weird, but if you're that kinky you might start being the one to scare me."

***

"Are you sure you'll be alright, on your own?" Faatina asked Sergei... it was a bit of a load off their minds if he could find the way on his own, but the paladin was still beguiled herself by the size of the city... she supposed she had been well proven an outlier by this point in terms of awareness of that sort of thing, but still...

[Nanami Touko]

"You're excused, a-and don't even joke! That would be both entirely weird and incredibly painful!" It's not as if she'd never heard of people accused of loving their wyverns, though it was the first time it had happened to her, even in joking. She loved them, sure, just never like that. Hmm... "Hey, are you sure you're going to be able to make it back? No offense, but you don't seem the strongest, and I'm not exactly the lightest; we going to have to walk any of this?" It would probably relieve her to have to do so, honestly. It wasn't as terrifying as when Angelica had taken off, but it still wasn't the best.

[Ether]

"To be entirely honest, yeah... I'd almost guarantee it..." Angelica replied, as she launched herself from the next way point.

"It's not distance that gets me, so much... each time I take off it consumes a chunk of my magic energy. Normally when it's just me, it's not too much of a big deal, but carrying a passenger it takes a lot more out of you... the problem was it took me a lot more jumps to clear the crowd than I thought it would... there's a technique I'm working on that would get us there on what I have left... but I'm not willing to try it on the field yet, especially not with someone else on board." Angelica continued... atleast the breeze was refreshing... it wasn't enough to restore her magic but it helped stop her from getting physically fatigued at the very least.

[Nanami Touko]

"Well... Want to walk now, then? We're clear of the crowd already; I'd hate to end up hurting you just to get to Weyland's place faster." The magic mumbo jumbo didn't interest her; she didn't understand it and only really wanted to see it. "Maybe I can see whatever that technique is when we get there, but we really should walk if you're planning on showing me anything."

[Ether]

"I'm not gonna be able to pull off anything flashy until I rest for a while, but I'm still in the green for now... besides, if we land now, the wagon will get there before we do... that'd be kind of a waste." Angelica replied, as she continued bounding forward.

"You seem to be underestimating me, though... I know what my limits are... I won't get hurt unless you distract me while we're landing and make me crash, hun."

[Nanami Touko]

At least we'll eat something, then. If Angelica wasn't at her limits, then Eva wouldn't push it. The 'hun' comment caught her off guard, and caused another blush, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she just slid her head onto the woman's shoulder and wrapped her arms around her shoulders for a better grip. "Fine, just let me when know, then..."

[Ether]

"You got it." Angelica shot back, as she continued her leaps... she still had a decent pool of magic left, yet, and could probably cover a good deal of ground if she was efficient with her jumps.

[-Cynthia-]

Well, that was quite the introduction. "We aren't really employees of Weyland, but it sounds like your skills may be of use. The estate is near Europa's north gate, it's not hard to miss once you're in the area," Veronika added for the man who asked for directions.

Nadya nodded, Amon stealing something from some winged cleric lady didn't sound like him at all. <"I hate to say I agree with Steinn, but he might not be completely lyin' about these siege gate things. If it's true, then y'all are gonna have a tough time gettin' through Kigen whether ya plan on gettin' involved or not. Anyway, now that I'm quite a bit richer I can afford to leave Raquel and work for y'all for free,"> she added cheerfully onto the end.

[Phoenix]

OoC: PHEE WALL :D

The Plaza

<"Free?"> Amon echoed in surprise.

<"Well at least we have a healer now ..."> Malik shrugged, <"But I don't see how all of that gold is getting moved around."> Amon held up a finger to his lips, mildly urging Malik not to mention it directly. They may have been speaking rexian, but better safe than sorry. <"Whatever.">

<"I don't think we're going to have much in the way of a large group, though. We can't pay people like Raquel can, and we don't actually work for Steinn or Weyland, so unless they're feeling generous or something ..."> And why would they? Well, on the other hand, this issue with the fallen seemed like it might warrant all the support and funds they could ask for. He started considering looking into it once they got back.

"What are y'all talkin' about?" Greta asked, some frustration in her voice. She was feeling more than a little left out with them speaking a foreign language.

"Something about money," Reign called over. That was all he could pick up, not having a firm grasp of the language himself.

"Pff, you think you people have it rough. I'm practically a beggar now. I'd need a huge handout just to get back on my feet."

The Archives

"... where did she go?" Nadine asked, more concerned with how long she would be gone than her actual destination. Dark warps generally couldn't cover much distance, so she doubted Nyx was that far away, at least until she saw Ryder's head begin to tilt backward. The messenger's gaze went straight up to the port that was letting in the mysterious blue light from above and stayed there for the moment. "Do you know?"

"I have my suspicions," Ryder admitted. "There are only a few places important enough to her to remove her curse in order to visit."

"It's still funny such a 'powerful being' is cursed just like Aisha," Fizza giggled while she worked.

"She can remove the curse permanently any time she likes," Ryder countered, the revelation piquing Fizza's interest. "You'll soon come to understand that she is only playing this subdued role for a time. After that, things are going to change in ways you can't even imagine, Fizza."

"That sounds really fascinating, but for now I'm still amused," Fizza teased. She could probe the messenger later, after she fixed her blade and had some time to look around the archives. Around that time, she discovered what was wrong with the blade's mechanism and her grin faded to something more like surprise. <"So that's what happened. The housing got a little crushed and knocked this out of place.> Figures ... the more parts in a system, the more easily it can all be broken. Best to keep things as simple as possible. That's some good advice for our 'goddess'."

"Believe me, she knows."

The Study

"Oh, what the hell ..." Gabbie muttered. She'd just learned what Weyland and Steinn had been up to since she last saw them. Logistics. She wasn't too thrilled with the idea of hiring more mercenaries for the gate busting operations. Still, it was inevitable. Most of Weyland's full-time employees would have their hands full helping and supporting the operation here in Ursium. Filling out the ranks for the other two and not relying completely on the locals would require more mercenaries.

"It should be easier for you to look after Weyland's heir with more bodies around," Steinn offered with a light shrug.

"It'll be over soon enough, Gabriella," Weyland assured her, "then you can go back to exclusively working with people you trust."

"I don't care," Gabbie waved her hand dismissively. That was a lie but she didn't want to talk about it. "I just know all this bloind recruiting is going to boite us in the ass sooner or later. The enemies we've fought aren't stupid, just ... lazy and arrogant. Once that wears off, they're going to hit us when and where we least expect it."

"I suppose we can rule out the estate, then," Steinn noted, half jokingly. It was true though; they would expect and be almost completely prepared for another assault on the estate, especially from Sardis' people.

The Gray Manor

This small room in this old building was darker than usual, but Morgana didn't much mind it. As she lay there on a slightly worn couch, she contemplated other things, mainly the previous night's massacre. One of her students, at least one, had been killed after all. By now, her mind had been lost to the gate. That was a bitter reality to have to contend with, especially knowing that if she had just been a little faster, she might have been able to save her.

"I wish ... things could be different," she mused aloud. "That wretched gate destroys everything that isn't anchored in place when the time comes. What's going to happen to Athena ...?"

"Talking to yourself again? That's cute," came a voice Morgana dreaded more than most. The sadness welling up in her was instantly washed away by anger.

"Leave me alone you freak. I'm not in the mood."

As Dominik circled around to the front of the couch Morgana was lying on, he smirked at her and bent forward a little. "What's wrong? Did our master finally break your heart? I'm sure it's nothing personal. Besides. You've got plenty of options. In fact, I'd say I'm one of the better ones. No baggage, no unreasonable expectations, and since we both have the same kind of work, there'll be little more than love and understanding between us."

Thanatos wasn't what was bothering her, but just having something like that mentioned threw her off balance and caused her heart to sink. She quickly rose up from the couch, forcing Dominik to back away a step. "Those creatures murdered one of my students. I was too slow to save her, and now she's lost to the gate." She stopped trying to suppress how upset she really was and took Dominik by the shoulders as tears began to run down her face. "Don't push me right now. I won't hold back, even if I'm punished for it."

"... forgot how much you hate to see the young ones go," Dominik frowned. "You can't hide out here in this old place forever. You've got a lifestyle to keep up, and other students to look after. You're going to have to go back to Europa sooner or later." As Dominik looked around, he was reminded of just how dull this place was without Naomi around. He figured the emptier a place was, the more dull and uninteresting, whether it was a place in the normal plain, or here in the Purgatory.

"I'm here for a reason," Morgan pushed away from him. "I can't control myself right now. Even your pathetic come ons are enough to push me over the edge. I can't deal with stupidity right now!"

"Maybe we could work it out of your system," Dominik's smirk returned all too quickly. "I can take whatever you've got, Morgana. Let's step outside and let you vent a little~ Or if you'd rather stay inside, I can go make sure one of the beds is nice and-" and with such a poor choice of words, Morgana toppled over the edge. Not caring about collateral damage, she hurled Dominik across the room and up onto the wall. "Right here, huh? Interesting choice," Dominik struggled to tease Morgana as several hundred pounds of pressure exerted by her magic held him in place.

"I'M GOING TO TWIST YOU INTO A WRATHDAMN PRETZEL!!!"

"Hrg-" The things we put up with for love ...

Edited April 18, 2014 by Phoenix

[Snowy_One]

Tia smiled happily as she sat down in the dining hall. That hadn't been the best, but it had been good. Even she she hadn't been able to help, just being able to talk with Connor had been great, if a bit distracting. Now, though, she felt like she could finally concentrate on her reading as well as let him focus on other things. She would pay him a visit later, but for now... unless someone needed her, STUDY TIME!

Edited April 17, 2014 by Snowy_One

[Eail]

"Welp...."

Seems like it was just Jericho and him again, not that Zach really minded too much. The redhead had proved to be good conversation so in their short acquaintance. "So how are you doing after the whole mind thing? Not sure if it affects others more than me since it wasn't my first time around the block."

________

Once again he was giving a small wave, Gwyn sure did make that intro sound well, had she been practicing that? "Nice to meet you. Like she said, name is Cyrus, I'm pretty good at hitting things and being hit while not going down. Not sure if anything else matters but I'm also a pretty good tracker and general woodsman." he figured that tossing out a few other skills would only help their chances of being hired. "I... suppose I'm sort of a Veterinarian, kind of? I can certainly maintain any Wyverns in the group for sure."

[-Cynthia-]

"A wyvern veterinarian huh?" Veronika said with a small smile. "We have a few wyverns in the group so it might come in handy...along with everything else," she said vaguely, not inclined to get into the group's business in this crowd.

<"I know a gal who can handle the load,"> Nadya said vaguely before turning to Greta. "So how was your business doin' before all that crap with the dragon went down?" she asked the merchant, hoping she wouldn't burst into tears or anything awkward like that.

[ReformBlade]

Jericho shrugged, "I don't feel all that different, or maybe I do but don't care, I don't know. I'm anxious due to the knowledge itself, not how it got there." He didn't feel a need to explain it again, so he went after what Zach mentioned. "Again? Is this a regular thing with you? With this group??" Anything to stop the dread at this point.

"Just as a reminder, no being a dick and hurting more than necessary, unless you want to deal with a pissed off me~!"

( http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4471667/ )

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