Return of the Emblem Chapter Twelve: Divergent Paths

[Phoenix]

Hallway

"There's no time for that," Shadrak protested again. "I'm not going to waste the whole day lying around. I need to make sure none of this Sardis stuff blows up in Raquel's face."

Dining Hall

"It was always going to be an uphill battle, I figured that out already," Raquel muttered, mostly to herself at first, "but my father's right here, in this city. If I don't do something about it now, I might not get another chance. Besides, they're in Europa for a reason, I'm sure. It's probably to attack us or Weyland, so finding out about them in advance was a miracle. It's too dangerous to just leave them be when they're this close."

Seems more like a curse to me, but that's not important, Reign mused. "Are you ready to do a couple of practice runs? Make sure this will actually work?" he asked her.

"Err-yeah," Raquel nodded. "I need a tar-" she stopped when Reign held up his hand encouraging her to do so and then made for the windows of the dining hall. "Okay, then ..." She guessed Reign was volunteering to be her rescue target.

Meanwhile, Suzume shook her head at Norbert. "Ernesta didn't see the point in me taking up temporary residence on the third floor when there were some spare rooms on the second ... and I guess she's right, but the view from up there is really nice. It's probably only better on the roof, I bet. I'm going to be staying on the second floor from now on and you probably will be too ..." The maids thing was less amusing to her than it had been last night, since she wasn't getting what she wanted, either. On the bright side, she was at least grateful that she could do whatever she wanted with her room and the furniture in there as long as it wasn't destructive or endangered anyone.

"The fighting wasn't so bad from where I was," Suzume thought back to the event. "I stayed with Ernesta and she's pretty strong. She even yelled at their leader with nothing more than a sword to back it up. I also got to help her fight some of the other demons that got inside." Suddenly, Suzume frowned. "I'm guessing I had it easier than most, last night ...."

The Great Outdoors

Gabbie had gone and fetched a cloak before heading outside since her tunic's hood wasn't really going to cut it with this rain. She also found Tacito and brought him around to the front. That way, when Anna finally showed up, they could get going immediately. "A scouting mission for Raquel, huh? It's not the first toime, but it does feel more significant today. I guess because we moight be in real danger too. They probably aren't just checking on their own people here in Europa ... at least I doubt it. Weyland should have been able to learn something about any operations they had going on here and had Raquel shut them down if that was the case. Then again, maybe they're just getting started."

"Or maybe they're regrouping and getting ready to leave the city. Fallen incursions aren't good for some business around these parts," Anna offered as she approached from the main entrance. She too was wearing a cloak, but she had two heavy duty crossbows on her back, supported by sturdy straps, and those were just the visible weapons. Gabbie suspected she wasn't banking entirely on ranged weapons, though she did have a bad feeling all of a sudden, recognizing one of those crossbows as that dreadful 'Visceral' bow she'd used to blow the fallen troops apart the previous night. "Either way, we'll find out when we get there. You know the way, right?"

"I'll double and triple check on the way," Gabbie nodded. "I'm also gonna put us down a good ways from their position so we don't get spotted."

"Good call. But listen, if there's really a lot of them there, we're going to have a hard time finding out anything useful without getting spotted. Fair warning: even if I don't decide to take a few people out, I might have to capture one of them to find out what's going on that way. If that happens, it's only a matter of time before they figure out that something's amiss. Raquel and her people are going to have to act if they don't want to lose the element of surprise."

"You don't think we'll glean much from just watching, do you?" Gabbie grimaced.

"It's raining, so it's harder to pick up on conversation at a distance and I doubt the little guys are discussing anything important outside right now anyway; all that's likely happening indoors somewhere. We might get lucky and overhear something useful without having to get too close, but don't count on it."

Glen's Place

"Foolish boy," Charles snarled at Valter, "kill me and anything my men do next will be justified! You understand?! Anything!"

Meanwhile, very close by ... "Put the gun down, or I'll make you put it down," the wrathite threatened Glen. At the same time, some backup appeared behind him; another wrathite stepped inside. There were three pistols, two swords, and a knife in play, now.

"Get out of my house," Glen spat back, watching the wrathite's gaze dart all over the place. He had the eyes of a trained killer and might take advantage of the slightest mistake right now. Glen couldn't hope to measure up, even with a gun in his hand, he knew. The shaking of his hand only stopped because his grip had loosened considerably already. "Joanna, please just get out of here," he pleaded, fearing there wasn't much time left.

"Tch, I could offer you fools a pardon, but why in Sardius should I? You've been as cooperative as cancer and thrice as virulent," Charles argued. "I am not an unreasonable man, but you two are dead men if you do not release me at once. If you don't cooperate, you'll both be struck down here and now, and your precious winged cleric will have to shoulder that guilt for the rest of her days ... which aren't looking to be too long if the lives of dedicated servants of Lord Wrath are lost just to bring her in. Langley won't let her off the hook for such a grievous act."

[ReformBlade]

With all the misgivings people had with the attack plan, Jericho was questioning his own drive towards it even more, a third time. If her goal is really just to go and get her dad, is my brother even going to be a priority? Does she even give a shit? I don't think she's even said a word to me in depth yet... "Raquel. I know you're going after your dad, I am completely behind that but you'll try to get my brother out too... right?" Better to be direct than to beat around the bush.

[Mercakete]

Norbert shrugged at Veronika. "They may or may not know we're here or be planning an attack. Europa's not exactly a small, uneventful town. For all we know, they could have other reasons for being here. So, right now, there's a chance we're not the center of their attention -- or at least not the top priority. Use the information however you want; I'm not involved anymore unless the fight comes here. I'm just saying that drawing their ire with no real way to defend against them effectively seems dumb to me. Weyland and his people are still recovering from some heavy damages and losses. It was tough to defend against them last time, when they were at full strength and Sardis' gang didn't have someone who could punch a hole through thick, metal plates around. And swiping someone's hostage? If someone slapped me in the face like that, you'd better believe I'd retaliate. It becomes a sure thing instead of a chance."

"Like I said, though," he reminded, "I'm not really involved anymore. So I'm not going to try to convince you one way or the other -- do what you think is best. Just putting my thoughts out there in case they're somewhat helpful."

All that said, Norbert returned his attention to Suzume. He supposed that Ernesta would be skilled even before Suzume said it. She was the matron of the maids, after all, not to mention one of the zeroes. Speaking of which, though he was a little uneasy about it (no doubt he would be even more so when it actually came down to it,) he had accepted his fate of living on the second floor. There didn't seem to be a way around it. All he could do was try to survive until that infernal debt was paid off. Speaking of surviving, apparently, Suzume had the fight pretty easy, in spite of being there when some of the demons broke into the manse.

He shrugged, though, to her last comment. "I'm not sure how easy or hard 'most' had it last night. All I know is my own experience and some parts of others'." His mood shifted from nonchalant to showing interest after that. "But...they got inside? And you saw him? Steinn's brother?" This was news.

[Phoenix]

Dining Hall

"That's why I'm at least willing to try Gar's approach if we get my father out first. They can't retaliate if they're buried under a mountain of rubble," Raquel replied to Norbert, immediately regretting it. She meant what she said, but it had come out so much more ... callous than she'd hoped. There really wasn't a good way to paint, what was at its heart and core, a mass murder, she decided.

"Your brother?" Suddenly some of Jericho's intentions were coming back to her. "If your brother's being held by Sardis too we can try to save him," she offered, though she wasn't sure if his brother was a hostage--witting or unwittingly--or an actual henchman like her father seemed to be, and that made this a bit more dicey for her, if only because she could only move one other person at a time using her emblem energy, and only one person with a warp staff. If she used both in tandem, that might work, but she would be vulnerable a good deal longer than she planned for.

"If we have two people to worry about," Reign chimed in, "two people who might not even be in the same area, that's going to add a new layer of difficulty to Gar's demolition idea, isn't it?" he glanced at the flower bearer.

Meanwhile, the flower recipient, Suzume, answered Norbert. "Yeah, we fought a few of them, and then we linked up with a bunch of others and cornered the leader in the conference room. A ... few people got hurt and one of them died ... broken neck," Suzume looked away with a grimace, "but after that, we won. I guess I was just lucky I was following Ernesta around or I might have gotten in over my head at some point." At that moment, she was thankful the flowers were in front of her rather than on her grave. A stray spell or a different position during the fighting could have made all the difference last night ... just like the last time.

Edited April 30, 2014 by Phoenix

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Of course they know we're here," Gar felt the need to clarify something. "That arrogant prick in armor showed up last night, and even if he didn't, they blew a nice clean hole in the wagon and guess where that would get replaced!" Gar threw his free hand open in exaggerated annoyance. "They know we're here, and armor-jackass means they know we know they're here, but they don't know we know where they are." Gar made it aggresively confusing, before switching tracks and not being a random jerk.

The introduction of some other guy's brother being in Sardis' spot made things a bit dicier though.

Now was gonna be a jerk on purpose!

"Share the details on this brother first off so we know what needs to be looked for yeah," he glanced over at Raquel. "I also need to know about how precise you can get your warp ability."

And then for other reasons he had to ask Suzzy Q... "Heh, remind me to thank this maid boss later then."

[ReformBlade]

Fair enough. "He's red haired like me, similar looking in general, though maybe the years have changed that, either way he should answer to the name of Hayato." Jericho answered frankly. All things considered he was doing nothing but doubt the legitimacy of this plan now if trying to rescue his brother was apparently just an inconvenience.

Edited April 30, 2014 by ReformBlade

[-Cynthia-]

Hallway

"And what are ya gonna do to stop Sardis that requires ya to drain the life out of somethin' instead of eatin' like a normal person?' Nadya asked Shadrak, wondering if he was just impatient or whether something else was going on here.

Dining Hall

"I remember that name- Sardis used it back at the fort," Veronika responded to Jericho. "He was uh, quite eager to try and kill us from what I recall- rescuing him may be a difficult task," she said with some doubt in her voice. This must be difficult for Jericho, but are we going to knock out his brother and bring him back here? Jethro is one thing but Hayato was...hostile

[Mercakete]

"You're probably right," Norbert commented on Suzume's note that she had been fortunate in the last battle. Other than what the broken neck implied, though, and in spite of the somber nature of her tale, he was still wondering about what Steinn's brother's fighting style was like and what he looked like in general. Those questions were put on hold, though, as Gar suddenly seemed rather exasperated.

"Wait, who?" He had no idea who Gar could be referring to. Apparently, they'd run into someone they recognized from the organization, though. When did that happen? Furthermore, the guy with the missing brother went about describing him and saying his name was...Haya...Hiya...Kigenese. That name would take a couple moments to get sorted out. According to Veronika, they'd met him back at the fort. He didn't remember the name, though.

[Phoenix]

Hallway

"I'm just trying to get my strength back in case there's an emergency. That'll take hours the normal way," Shadrak protested again. "Look, how about a compromise? Help me down to the dining room; that's the group's usual gathering spot. If we're not leaving within the hour, I'll eat something? I don't have to be in bed just to eat, do I?"

Dining Hall

"Okay, sure," Raquel replied to Gar. Reign was in position already, so she only had to grab him and bring him back over to where she was. Simple enough, and she'd already tested this maneuver multiple times, once with Shadrak earlier, and another when she'd saved Veronika out on the road. The latter and its tragic outcome had more or less proven to her that she could only move one other person at a time.

Before she could test this ability again, this time on Reign, Jericho explained a little bit about his brother. "H-Hayato?!" Raquel exclaimed. The name and the loose resemblance lined up well enough for her. She knew who Jericho was on about. "He's probably the one person who hates us more than Sardis does. Well, I guess that's not saying much since Sardis was trying to have us join him last time. Hayato was there in the beginning, too, when my father was taken in Port Sergio." In other words, the kigenese swordsman had had plenty of time to develop a strong grudge against them. Raquel didn't see the need to point out that Hayato had also gotten trounced by her father just before he was taken down by Sardis, though. That probably wouldn't add anything to the discussion.

To try and address Norbert's question, Raquel said, "He means Burke ... Iii think," paused to gauge any reaction from Gar before continuing. "He showed up again last night." She shook her head in disgust. "I can't stand people like him ...."

Suzume felt she shouldn't have been surprised to hear Gar tell her to thank Ernesta for him, but she still was somewhat. She smiled slightly and nodded. "Okay." After that, there was little else to do but listen to the discussion about rescues and explosives until Norbert brought up something else. She'd pieced together plenty already, but still felt almost like a fly on the wall.

The Great Outdoors

The rain wasn't slowing Tacito down much, but it was certainly irritating him, his eyes being bombarded by cold raindrops on occasion and obscuring his vision. All of Europa was in view from where they were and though there were no signs of any trouble from the sky, Gabbie could sense the uneven distribution of the populace as they drew closer and she began her first scan. She missed the flash of lightning that came because her eyes were closed, but she felt Anna's grip on her tighten. Just when she was about to ask what was wrong, the booming thunder reached their ears. Anna flinched again and her grip got even tighter.

A smirk crept up onto the lancer's face. "Afraid of a little loightning, are we?"

"Oh don't even start with me, Gabbie," Anna hissed.

Gabbie inevitably burst out laughing. "This is gold! Pure gold! Of all the numbers to be afraid of a little loight show it's Zero-One, hahahahahah!"

"Gonna ruin your day if you don't shut up ... and there won't be any marks for you to show off, either," Anna warned. "It's not the lightning I'm afraid of. I just don't like being in a position where I can't defend myself. That's all. Riding passenger on a wyvern several hundred feet up during what just became a thunderstorm is the most vulnerable I've been in a while."

"You'd think the bandits you apparently ran into on the way back or the fallen attack would rank a little bit higher than a little loightning, but you don't seem to moind those at all," Gabbie noted as they drew closer to the city, another lightning bolt crashing down somewhere in the city. She winced at nature's displace of power ... these people had endured enough, and now somewhere in the city, somebody, or somebody's property had just taken a blast from the heavens.

"Lightning can't be bribed, reasoned with, intimidated, or killed, so it, just like other random forces of nature, ranks pretty high on my list of things to watch out for," Anna retorted.

[Mercakete]

"Burke was out last night?" That was a little surprising. And they're all here and not in Purgatory? Well...I guess it's not the first time. He'd appeared outside of Purgatory before, too, around the time he met Suzume. Nevertheless, he had to agree with Raquel's sentiments about the guy. To be honest, though, he was more irritated that there was more or less nothing he could do to put up any kind of decent fight against the guy. Heck, not even a decent struggle. That brought a sour, more recent experience to mind, too. "Huh."

And that experience got him thinking about Suzume's again. "So, what did Steinn's brother look and fight like?" The Fallen are pretty tough and if he's as strong as Steinn, he probably has weird magic, too. "Oh, and sorry this is so late." He indicated Ranyin. "That's Ranyin. Ranyin, this is Suzumay. We met her a little after you left."

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

Gar couldn't exactly place the description for this 'Hayato' guy so he'd have to concentrate on what he could. "Yeah, the prick all armored up trying too hard to look menacing," Gar sneered at the description. "Oooooh I can't wait to drop the building on him if he's there."

He kept an ear open on the talk with Suzume and that other guy about the Fallen jerk too. But didn't want to say anything at the moment.

[ReformBlade]

He's... against them? I mean, I should have gleaned that from the get go but if they've already literally crossed swords, I don't know if me asking will even do anything at this point. He's as stubborn an ass as I am. "I didn't know you had such specific interaction with him like that. I wish you hadn't met but I suppose it was inevitable in some weird destiny sense." Looking defeated, begging, "Please, at least try to get him too. If you can't, fine, i'll accept that but don't just... ignore the possibility."

[Phoenix]

Dining Hall

"I didn't get to see much but nothing short of a magic seal could slow someone like that down," Suzume grimaced. "He warped all over the place, hitting people and warping again before anyone could react. Weyland's-err ... our side didn't seem fazed, though. They still tried to take him down. The good news is that it seemed to work. He probably could have killed a lot of us if he stayed to fight but he left instead."

The introduction was a bit random, but it wasn't the first time she'd had a horribly belated one like this. "Hello," she nodded to Ranyin.

"Would dropping a building on someone like that really work?" Raquel mused to herself. She doubted armor could protect him from a collapse and even if it did, he'd be buried alive for who knows how long ... but there was that warping maneuver he used right in front of them the night before. There seemed to be a good chance he could just escape at the last second.

Raquel came back from her own thoughts when Jericho began pleading with them. "I'll admit, trying to spare and even capture someone who's been out for our blood since the beginning while taking down Sardis and the others is a really tall order, but we'll try," she explained, hoping Faatina wouldn't remind the group of the less hostile enemies like Colin. She'd reminded herself this time, really, but she was trying to force it out of mind so the plan wouldn't fall apart. A straight battle was too dangerous with Sardis, that Samael monster, her own doppleganger, and a lot of backup all gunning for them together.

"Ready when you are," Reign called over. Actually, now that I think about it, didn't Raquel pull Veronika to safety from a distance, without putting herself in harm's way? It was back when Marella died. Maybe that's harder than what she's about to do here or something, he reasoned with a shrug.

Reigns reminder got Raquel focused again. "Okay, try to avoid me when I do this. I'm not sure if my father would if he didn't know what I was trying, but it's better to assume he'd resist anyway." I don't think it makes a difference, but it's better to be sure, I guess. With that, Raquel began to focus, not on controlling the emblem, but purely on her task. Warp to Reign, add her energy to him, and bring them both back to where she was standing. As the sequence of events played out in her mind's eye, her body began to give off the all too familiar golden glow.

Reign meanwhile, parted his legs further to ground himself. He was about as ready as one could be for a seemingly irresistible warping. He held his breath unwittingly as Raquel collapsed into a golden light the size of a small helmet and began speeding toward him, following a smooth curving course. What? There's no way to defend against that, Reign concluded. Raquel reached him in a split second and emerged from the light right in front of him, taking his arm as she did. The next thing he knew, he was on the other side of the dining hall, back where he'd left her when all this began. As the golden light receded, he picked himself up off the ground with Raquel's help. "Ugh, what was that?"

"It's disorienting at first, I know," Raquel sympathized. The test was a success. She'd pulled him back, both of them turning into golden lights for the trip, but Reign couldn't recall any of that. He wasn't surprised by that, but he was definitely annoyed by how helpless it made him feel. Jethro was in for quite a surprise. Hayato, too, if she actually bothered with that.

Greta began clapping. Say what you will about Raquel, the girl's got some nice tricks. "So that's how you're gonna rescue your father, huh? No wonder ya were thinkin' of goin' in alone. That still ain't a good idea, don't get me wrong, but ... I can see where you were comin' from ... kinda," she shrugged.

Amon was looking at Raquel quite intently all of a sudden, and the serious gaze didn't escape Malik's notice. In fact, if he could, he would have inquired about it, but too many people around here spoke rexian. The look itself was quite intense, so much so that Raquel would have wondered if Amon was upset with her if she noticed him, but it wasn't anger causing this, it was something more like an unsettling realization. In light of the information he'd received from Nyx, Raquel's abilities weren't so mysterious or amazing anymore. Now, he was trying to figure out whether her abilities would expand over time, or if the spiritual power within her had already given her everything she needed to accomplish her goals.

[-Cynthia-]

Hallway

"Ya should probably be restin', but fine," Nadya conceded, getting close to Shadrak and bending a little. "Lean on me," she instructed.

Dining Hall

"Maybe it would be easier if you found a way to talk with him? With his attitude towards us I doubt we will be able to convince him of anything, but you are his brother..." Veronika said to Jericho before her attention shifted towards Raquel's practice. Her powers have been growing to be quite useful, but relying solely on them still seems risky.

[Toogee]

After the demonstration of warping, Eli understood why Raquel was so confident in this plan. He still didn’t feel good about it, especially since Jericho announced the need to get his brother out of the same building. This brother also wanted them all dead. Perfect.

“Let me see if I have this straight,” Eli began. “We’re all going to fly over to Sardis’s place. Raquel is going to turn into a Magic Ball of Destiny © and fly through the halls to find her father, who is on Sardis’s side. Then she’s going to do the same thing for this Hayato, only this time people will be aware of the Magic Ball of Destiny ©. Also, Hayato is not only on the other side but also wants us dead. This is sounding less like a rescue mission and more like a kidnapping.”

In which case, Eli was going to need all of the liquor.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jam joined Greta’s clap, even if it felt a little awkward to be the only two people doing so. Indeed, it seemed like Raquel had plenty of powers without going after an emblem piece. That certainly justified Amon and Malik for going after the other piece in the city. It wouldn’t surprise her if those two filed out to go do just that.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

Raquel put on another display of her odd golden psueo-warp abilities. Gar waited until it looked like she was done before giving some more opinion. "Well we don't know if a building can kill'em 'til we try," he replied. "And if they can escape, well we certainly learned something useful in exchange." He gave a one-arm shrug. "Alright, demonstration seen, time for annoying questions you probably don't actually know the answer to." It was a good time for anyone related to learn at least. "Can your little trick go through walls? Because if they can stop it just by closing a door they'll certainly try it. Two: can you say, grab someone while leaving something on their person behind? Like, could you grab me, but not my cloak here?" He threw a little flourish out with the subject. "Can you estimate how many of these little golden-light movements can you... link together in a row?" He might be able to pull together multiple plans if things went well..

But moving unto Suzzy Q's description of the Fallen leader, that one guy Gar already forgot the name of. "Yeah, the Fallen jackass may seem impressive at first but anyone and everything has a weakness to exploit. Give it enough time and all his little weaknesses will be exposed and vulnerable, his strengths will be turned against him and he'll meet his end. He'll end up stuffed and delivered to the little bird to show he's not such a big deal after all." He'd spit if there weren't fine company present.

[Snowy_One]

"Yup Eli!" chirped up Tia, her eyes practically sparkling with wonder and awe as she too watched Raquel warp. "Doesn't it sound awesome? Warping in to an enemy stronghold using immense magical power to evade captors before completing a very precise goal that we could not have managed normally? I mean, wow, this is practically what magic was MADE for?"

"Warping into a den of bears to kidnap their cubs?" said Robin in response. "What I want to know is that, if Raquel is just functioning off of residual emblem power now, how does she know her power will not give out while in the middle of a warp? Or that we won't end up warping into a wall, or into each other, or something similar?"

[Mercakete]

"Hmm." Bert figured though Steinn's shield was more annoying to go up against, Valdimarr's warping was probably the more dangerous defense tactic. Then again, Steinn wasn't actually being aggressive, and there seemed to be no limit to what weird magic could do. For now, he'd assume both brothers were just obscenely dangerous and try to figure out what to do if he ever had to fight one of them based on what he knew. Gar put his two coppers into the mix, though, and Norbert wasn't sure if he was trying to show an optimistic viewpoint on the situation or if he just viewed everyone as trifles. Well, apparently not everyone; he probably saw some sort of spark in Suzume if he was dating her. Even then, though, Norbert wasn't convinced there wasn't something else to it. Then again, Gar was just a mystery and Suzume saw something him or she wouldn't bother with the relationship, he figured. In the end, the only outward expression of any of these thoughts he had was first a somewhat puzzled look at Gar, then just general indifference.

The light show, however, was a little surprising. So that was what emblem warping looked like. It sure was different from other worms of warping -- almost more like a transformation. "If you get hit while you're a ball, will it stop the warp? And I mean getting hit either physically or magically." He also asked Suzume, "And did the Fallen's warps look like that or more like normal warps?"

[Phoenix]

Hallway

Shadrak did as Nadya instructed, if only because he no longer suspected she was going to try to lead him back to a room and make him rest. He managed a fatigued "Thank you," as they started off.

Dining Hall

"It's not a kidnapping, it's a rescue," Raquel tried to correct Eli. She couldn't see it as a kidnapping when it was her own father they were after, and even in Hayato's case, he'd apparently been led away by lies and deceit. No way this was some kidnapping, she told herself, again.

"And a demolition," Reign added pointedly.

It wasn't long before questions were coming in rapid fire. They were good questions, but like Gar suspected, Raquel couldn't answer most of them with any sort of confidence. She'd never tried to go through a wall and was admittedly a little afraid to try something like that, and she didn't think it was impossible to leave something of a person behind but did feel it was well beyond her capabilities at the moment. As for how many motions she could link together, or in other words, how long she could actually do this warping maneuver, she wasn't sure of that, either, but she did have a little experience with covering distance, which she planned to offer once she'd gathered her thoughts. Related questions were still coming in and she was trying to gather her thoughts.

Amon had a simple answer that covered each and every last question related to the warping itself, but also could have raised more questions. He didn't say anything yet, though, if only because he didn't want to start tossing out his own musings before he was sure of what he was talking about. He noticed Malik looking at him, though. <"What?">

<"You know something, don't you?">

Amon looked away, scowling, and muttered a quiet, <"Of course I do,"> Amon shot back. Wasn't it obvious after what he said to Nyx?

Suzume shook her head at Norbert. "He just ... wasn't there anymore," she explained, thinking back on the fallen leader's magic. "You couldn't see something like that coming. It did kind of look like he shrunk a bit before disappearing, but it happened so fast, it's hard to be sure what I saw, but it looked like a dark warp. Just ... poof ... gone." After that, she nodded to Gar. "Yeah, a fighting style like that has a few weaknesses that would be really easy to exploit if we were prepared for him. You don't necessarily need a magic seal, either, but it could help. If we get an advance warning next time, we might be able to take him down."

Raquel started by answering the one question that wasn't specifically about her warping ability. "I'll be fine, Robin. I can't explain how I know that I have plenty left, but Hypnos agreed, too ... that I have plenty of energy left, that is. As for those other questions ..." she paused to try to place them in order in her mind, "I've been too scared to try to warp through a wall. Anything could happen, really, though Hypnos didn't seem worried about that either. I doubt I can leave just your cloak behind, but I haven't actually tried anything like that yet. As for linking my movements together, I think it works like a complete instruction. I was able to adjust my course here and there, but I usually plan the whole route out in my head before doing anything, kind of like you have to do with some of those more complex combat spells. The farthest I've gone in one trip is from the second floor guest wing to here. That was earlier, back when I came down here with Shadrak."

"That's kinda funny in hindsight. He was all sprawled out when y'all got here," Greta giggled. Then she was reminded that this same Shadrak was now unconscious and may or may not wake up any time soon. Feeling a twinge of guilt, she sighed and turned her gaze elsewhere. "Hope he's not in a coma or somethin' ...."

From the guest wing upstairs down to the dining hall ... that was quite a trip, given the size of this place, Reign thought. He didn't have any doubts she could travel further if she needed to, so he at least wasn't worried about her getting in and grabbing Jethro, but it'd be good to know exactly where he was, first.

"Hmm," Raquel took a bit more time to ponder Norbert's question, since it was the one she was the least sure about. "I don't really know. I try to avoid colliding with things while warping." It seemed to fit the same category as warping through walls, since if she could become intangible in that form, she'd likely be able to avoid any sort of stray object, attack, or spell as well, but she still wasn't sure.

Finally, Amon felt it time to at least say something on the matter, though he was only a little more confident in what he was about to delve into. "You'll just have to test all of that. The emblem gave you just what you need to accomplish your goals. If you can't go through walls, use more precise warps, or avoid objects, then you probably don't need any of those abilities in order to rescue your father." That came out a little more fatalistic than he would have liked, but it was what it was. The emblem, and even its residual energy, had a way of discerning an individual's needs well in advance. He couldn't explain much beyond that.

[Snike]

"... Right, then," Pete said, slightly incredulous at the light show. "I guess I'll fight with you folks, so long as it isn't anything like what happened last night."

The axeman didn't really want to fight today, but Lumi had forced his hand. He wasn't going to abandon her, despite his reservations.

[Mercakete]

From what Suzume said, it was probably just a standard dark warp...used excessively. He didn't really understand how normal magic worked, but at least it sounded like that was probably what it was, as opposed to weird magic and/or anything emblem-related. (He still wasn't sure whether emblem magic had its own category or if he should just refer to it as 'weird magic' too. For now, it was its own kind if only because he knew the source.) Raquel went to answering questions and Amon gave a quick explanation on how the emblem worked. It was an interesting, little thing, if what he said was true, but...how did Amon know all that in the first place? Maybe it was a Sanctuary thing.

[scorri]

Erion blinked. <"Coulda at least given her a bit of our time. She wasn't being rude or anything."> Sighing, he shrugged. <"As for Raquel... There's a difference between rushing off on your own and just fighting in general. From what I know of Raquel, she was probably just ready to rush off into the fight without thinking of it. As for you..."> He ran his hand through his hair. <"I'm not worrying about you per say. Just... trying to help I guess. I'm used to taking care of people, had lots of siblings, you know? So now I'm just trying to be there fore people who are nice to me. One of which... didn't work out so well after someone else got too jealous of me and her being close. Guess I was afraid the same was gonna happen again with you and Angel."

[Nanami Touko]

"<Well, I gave her a bit... I guess... Sorry.>" She hadn't been in the mood to talk to anyone else, but now she was, and it had been fairly rude of her. If she saw the woman again, she'd apologize. "<I guess so, for Raquel. Glad she stopped, though. No one else seemed like they were going to try and stop her... Does she do that often?>" At Erion's next line, Eva frowned, though it was in jest. "<Awwww. And here I thought such a handsome man was worrying about me. It's nice that you care in your own way, though. Caring is caring, in the end. And, uh, I wouldn't worry too much about her,>" she added, shaking her head. "<While she seems really affectionate, it's hard for me to read her; to know how serious she is. And if someone's petty enough to get jealous over me talking with you, then they weren't worth the time in the first place. Besides, I've only know both of you for one day! Getting serious after one day? Come on,>" she said with a laugh, giving him another playful shove like she had earlier. "<You're both really nice, but that's definitely not enough time to make any real decisions.>"

[ReformBlade]

"Look, just try, that's all I'm going to ask of you but please give it your all. I know what it's like to lose a family member to that vile thing..." From the sounds of it, this all may be recent. Jericho mused, wondering about how in the right or wrong he was at this point. That wondering ended fairly quickly when he thought of Sardis and how much he wanted to burn the bird man and listen to his screaming, watching his final death throes.

Returning from a showering excursion, Aneda made her way to a dining hall, surprise surprise. There seemed to be a lot of discussion, talking of things she wasn't really going to pry into. Taking her own seat next to Mushirah, the latter didn't seem to notice and Aneda didn't want to do anything to change that at the moment.

[Sakusa]

Gwyn had to muster all of the self-control she had (which is quite a bit, actually) to not laugh at Eva's misunderstanding as to why the former pushed the wyvern rider away. "I suppose this girl just doesn't understand the meaning of personal space. I don't suppose her relative lack of... tact is helping her case, either. Well, you can't expect much from Skotian fighter-types." The pink-haired virutoso without shiny emblem powers smiled to herself and shrugged. "Good thing they're built to be so resilient, it seemed that there was no reason for me to intervene at all; she has training dummies and a man to keep her company after all."

She stretched her arms a bit, after having been stationary for the most part for quite a while. Though there seemed to be some conversations going on in the hallway, she didn't pay it much mind and sauntered back to the dining hall at her own leisure and returned to her seat nonchalantly, trying not to draw attention to herself. Seeing that Katrina had taken the seat on the other side of Zach, she flashed her a winning a smile and gave her a small wave in greeting. Just as she was about to sit down though... a flash of lightning and a crack of thunder were all it took for the girl barely stifle a small yelp and throw her arms around the sage, burying her face into the crook of his neck, entire body trembling. "Oh gods, I'm so sorry I-I..." she whimpered softly, still trying to keep a low profile. As much as she wanted to observe Raquel's demonstration and dissect the mechanics behind it, there were other pressing matters at the moment.