Return of the Emblem Chapter Twelve: Divergent Paths

[Toogee]

Erion

The thief just stared at his companion for a few seconds. "I... wait, what? 12 siblings? Where did you get that? I said I left home when I was 12 not that I..." He kind of stuttered into silence and then shook his head. "I had... oh, 6 siblings when I left I think? Don't know if I have more now..." He shrugged. "Anyways, yeah, somehow I can't imagine you being the abbey type. Too much dancing, not enough piety." He grinned slightly at her. Glancing around, he set off down the hallway the other group had went through. "Think they were heading for food this way. You hungry?"

Lumi

"Well, by a vagabond I meant the fact that I left home and abandoned my family and have been living on the road... You know, that sort of stuff. And it really is a bigger risk than you might think. But... maybe. We'll see." The next thing Aneda said confused Lumi quite a bit. "A... pegasus ball. Uhm, somehow I doubt Star would be up for that. He's a bit too... persnickety. Wouldn't want to do something that could ruin his image with the ladies, you know?"

"Starving," Jam replied to Erion, ignoring her flub as she followed him to the dining hall. During their conversation, Jam had realized that Alphonse was not by her side. This must been the longest that they weren't together. He must have been still around Greta. She couldn't blame him, what with the merchant's increased drinking habit. The dancer hoped they were OK...

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

"What could they do? Kidnap you and throw you in a dungeon?" Eli was having a hard time believing that Lumi's family consisted of vengeful people. They seemed so nice at the "funeral". "I mean, I'm sure they won't be happy that you haven't visited and that they thought you were dead and all. You really think they'll do something to you?"

[Mercakete]

Gytha, the maid who'd been guiding her and Anna's group arrived at the dining hall and Gytha made sure to thank the maid before she headed in herself. After a brief scan of the goings-on, she made the fairly easy choice of where to sit. Robin seemed to be making some new friends, Veronika was probably discussing something important with Weyland and others basically seemed to be waiting around fairly idly. Gytha, herself, decided to get better acquainted with some she hadn't really had the opportunity to before while staying close to one who she knew she could rely on. That is, she sat down with Amon, Malik and Fizza.

"Ahoy, ev'ryone!" she cheerily greeted, "How've ye all been enjoyin' Ursium?"

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

Gar had wandered into the room with Veronika and some others at one point but didn't say anything.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

"It's hard for me to say really- there was a lot else going on and I couldn't really pay close attention to Jethro," she admitted. "However, Raquel's vasilus friend said that he sensed dark energy in Jethro's mind- that's a sign of mind magic I think," she answered. Weyland probably doesn't know about Hypnos, but...I'm not sure how to explain all that.

[Ether]

"Oh, sure... that's fine with me." Faatina replied. Why would Reign think she would have a problem sitting near Veronika?

Edited August 14, 2013 by Ether

[Phoenix]

[spoiler=Chronicles of the Crusher: Acquittal]Bert was only left lying in the wreckage of the tomato stand he'd crashed into for a minute or so. After that, the guards had managed to muscle their way past everyone, get a makeshift stretcher ready, and get him onto it. For most, it would have been a free trip to the hospital, but instead, he was being taken to the barracks. Once there, a pair of healers approached to assess and heal his injuries, though at least one of them felt as if there was little point in doing so. They had both overheard the guards talking about an interrogation, and that always meant a beating for whoever was being interrogated. Still, they did their work and didn't complain. They were to remain on standby for the time being while Bert was moved into the interrogation room.

Once everything was ready, a trio of guards, two men, and one woman, stood in front of Bert, who was securely tied to an old chair of questionable integrity. They waited for him to wake up, while outside the room, the door was guarded by two more guardsmen. Before long the surviving pegasus knight approached the room; she'd asked enough questions to figure out what was going on and where, and now planned on putting a stop to the interrogation before it got out of hand, but the guards posted at the door stopped her cold. One even looked her dead in the eyes and slowly shook his head. After what had happened, they weren't going to take any chances, and they weren't going to go easy on him.

When Norbert began to come to his senses, context began to filter into his subconscious from his memory. He'd crashed into something and that had knocked him out. There had also been tomatoes... He could still smell the tomato juice and he could feel he was still covered in it. That and grit, dirt and blood. What didn't make sense, as he steadily began to make sense of the world again, was that he was seated when he'd been expecting to be lying down.

It was about this time that his eyes opened and he began to move around a bit. Or at least he tried to. The chair he was sitting on creaked and Norbert found he couldn't move apart from it; his wrists were tied to its arms, his upper arms and torso were tired to its back and his legs were tied to its legs. That got his adrenaline pumping enough to bring him out of the last bits of the mental haze that came with just waking up. His gaze immediately snapped up to the three before him as he tensed up in a futile but instinctual attempt to be combat-ready. As his eyes darted around the room, he remembered the dragon's parting words. Drat. Frowning, he relaxed a little. These were his fellow Ursians, so things weren't as bad as they could have been.

Still his nervous habit kicked in and there was some distress in that he couldn't reach for his maces. A quick glance down was meant to reassure him somewhat, but when he looked, he found that they were missing. In spite of his better judgement, Norbert wound up demanding, "The heck did you guys do with my maces?!"

"We'll be asking the questions here," the middle guard said firmly. "What's your full name?"

Norbert grit his teeth but settled down some. It was better to get this over with than to complain, though as he thought about why he was there to begin with, things weren't looking too good. "Norbert." It was shorter than most full names to be sure, but that was it. He didn't expect a favorable response to his reply as he began to remember why he avoided settlements to begin with.

"Full name," the center guard stressed. He wasn't surprised he had to ask twice. If this guy had one of those traditional neviskotian surnames, it made sense not to mention it, at least until he had some way of defending himself from any resulting accusations.

"That is my full name," Norbert replied somewhat menacingly as he met the center guard's gaze with an even glare, "I don't have a middle name or a surname -- just my given name."

"How convenient," the guard to the center one's left muttered.

"We'll come back to that later," the middle guard decided. "Where are you from? Ursium? Neviskotia? One of those other colonies? Who are your parents and where were you raised?"

While the middle guard was still speaking, the one on the left stepped forward and grabbed Bert by his bangs, pulling just enough to force the captive pegasus rider to face him. Just as the other guard finished asking his next set of questions, the man holding Bert by the hair said, "Don't lie."

Though unexpected the hair-pull wasn't entirely so. Norbert didn't trust these guards enough to be surprised by the act and instead shot his glare right into the eyes of the one who'd grabbed him before letting his gaze wander back to the middle one.

"I'm Ursian. Specifically from the orphanage in the northern mountains, raised by Father Nigel. My mother" He jerked his head away from the one holding his hair at that point to free himself. It cost him a few hairs but he really didn't care about that and now was able to fully face the center guard again. "was part of the Ursian military as a pegasus knight. She didn't have a surname either. Her name was Daphne. She's dead now. I don't know who my father is; he never claimed me when Nigel sent out the call to try to find out who he was."

"That so? Hmm ..." The center guard began pondering Bert's answers along with the guard on his right. The one beside Bert seemed a little on edge.

"What deal did you make with that dragon? Spill it. Now," he demanded, deciding to skip to the crux of the matter.

Outside the room, another kind of battle was taking place. "This is stupid! He was fighting the dragon, not cooperating with it! I'm an eye witness for gods' sake," the pegasus knight yelled at the guards.

"I didn't make a deal with the dragon," Norbert answered impatiently. He probably shouldn't have paused there but he did as a thought occurred to him. Should I say who specifically did? That lady may have sicked a blasted dragon after our capital but she's had it pretty rough as it is. I have to be careful what I say regardle--

"LIES!!!" The guard punctuated his words with a swift punch to Bert's stomach. "Do you think we're stupid or something? Everyone heard what that monster said out there! He let you live as a part of some deal!"

"He also said 'have fun getting interrogated'," the female guard noted thoughtfully, beginning to wonder if they had been played.

"It's possible," the middle guard admitted before adding, "but we still need to find out exactly what the deal was, assuming there was one. We've got no reason to assume the dragon was lying about that."

The ONE TIME I'm not paying attention! Norbert internally fumed after being punched in the gut, having let out a stark, coughing "Oo-oh!" at the impact. His bonds held him in place but his body still tried to bend forward in reflex. He shot a fiery glare at the guard who'd jabbed him. He angrily yelled at the guard, "Yeah, someone made a deal with that blasted flying bag of worms but it wasn't me!"

"Then why in the hell did the dragon speak as if he had made the deal with YOU?!" the guard yelled at him.

"Yes, tell us who this deal was really with and what your relationship is to them," the calmer man chimed in again.

"Because I hitched a ride on his back!" Norbert spat back at the angrier guard. He really didn't know if that was the reason or not but it was his best guess.

Then, to the calmer one he replied, "It involved some merchants. The dragon attacked a bunch of people on the road heading here from the south through the mountains. The group I was with was heading that way. One of their people came down the path and fell off his horse saying there was a dragon attacking his group and needed help. We did what we could but there was no beating him. He gave us a choice: he'd let all of us live if we chose some other town or city for him to attack instead."

"And you idiots chose Ursentius? Our capital? You fool!" The female guard seemed the most distressed by the implication.

The guard closest to Bert was still obviously upset as well and simply punched Bert on the side of the head this time. "Are you trying to ruin us or something?!"

The middle guard then asked, "Did you choose the capital? That dragon seemed intent on attacking it ..."

Norbert was getting tired of the one guard's abuse and so after that jab in spite of the gauntlet, Norbert clamped his teeth down on the guard's hand and bit as hard as he could. He had answers for his interrogators but in his mind, this took priority.

"Urgh! You bastard," The guard forcefully yanked his hand free and then stepped out in front of Bert and began throwing a series of punches, each aimed at the pegasus rider's face. Every time he landed a punch, he would add another bit to his message. "You think ... you're ... in any place ... to ... resist ... you little ... punk ... huh?! Do you?! I will ... ruin ... your ... life!" Twelve punches so far. "Still hungry, punk? I've got plenty more knuckle sandwiches where that came from."

"Calm down. If you knock him out, we won't get any answers."

What infuriated Norbert the most was that he couldn't block or avoid any of those hits and he couldn't come up with a way to fight back in his position. All he could do was take the hits as well as he could. His forehead got the most of the abuse and he quite quickly realized that they'd not only taken his maces but they took his forehead guard too. He was a bit dizzy after all those punches, but he still managed to meet the guard's gaze and say, "Even with the disadvantage I'm at, don't think I won't fight back if someone attacks me. I don't care who it is. And you want some advice? First, learn how to insult, you gutless piglet. Next, try punching harder. Maybe I'll be able to compare you to my sister without insulting her."

He then shifted his gaze to the calm one again as he put in, "And I told you, I didn't make any deals with the thing! It was one of the others. One of them tried sending it after a place that didn't exist and another chose a spot that the Neviskotians had already taken: Urcenter. He wouldn't go for either. Then someone said 'Ursentius' and he decided on that. I think it might've been one of the guys who was shot soon after that. There were some snipers." That lady had better be grateful. "I flew off to find a patrol or something to tell them to warn the capital. I found those pegasus knights and they were way too close to where that blasted dragon and his allies were. So I warned them about him. He warped over before they could do anything about it, though. I tried to tell them to warn Ursentius, but their stupid commander wouldn't listen. Maybe she wouldn't be dead if she had, though I guess I doubt that. In the end I don't know if any of them lived or not. I was too busy riding the blasted dragon and trying to get to his head so I could knock some sense out of him so they could deliver the message."

Norbert had recovered from his slight daze about a third of the way through his explanation and now he adamantly stated, "I was included in the deal but I never agreed to it!" I didn't know what to do back then. If it was just me that'd be one thing but there were so many others around... I don't have to make that choice, though. It's already been made for me.

"Hmm," the middle guard began to try and picture the scenario, himself.

"There you go with that 'riding' thing again," the woman spoke up impatiently. "Do you think you're some kind of hero or something? Only a seasoned dragon slayer would even think to try something that dangerous ... anyone else would be mincemeat."

"He's a lying little shit, we know this already," the guard who'd been pulverizing Bert's skull yelled over his shoulder. "And who are you calling a 'piglet', orphan?!" The guard quickly pulled back and lunged forward with a kick to Bert's jaw. It hit with enough force to send him and the chair falling backward onto the ground with a loud thud. He hadn't planned on knocking Bert over, but it was more of a pleasant surprise for him than anything else. His superior wasn't stepping in yet, so he planned on doing some stepping of his own.

"Riding a dragon aside, he said the dragon made them choose a city and the first two tricks failed. Then someone else named the capital for whatever reason and he went for it. Next thing we know, we lose nigh an entire patrol before we even realize we're under attack and he tells us about his plans to attack Ursentius, himself ... and then throws this kid to the wolves, so to speak," the center guard summarized to himself.

"That sounds about right, sir," the other guard agreed, though she still wasn't ready to believe a word Bert was saying about riding the dragon.

Meanwhile, the insulted guard came to stand to Bert's side. With his back to the ground, there were only a few places to look, the ceiling, and to his sides for the most part. The guard smirked. "Bet your so called 'sister' never thought of this, orphan twerp!" He then pressed his foot down on Bert's head and began twisting it back and forth over and over again. "You're in my world now, and things are only going to get worse for you until you wise up and stop jerking us around," he scolded as he harassed the pegasus rider.

That was when something really loud happened outside, and immediately following that loud noise, the door to the interrogation room fell flat onto the ground, revealing the only surviving patrolman. She'd surprised the guards by standing impatiently right in front of the door as if she'd given up, and then when the two of them let their guard down, delivered a vicious side kick to it, knocking it down. She then rolled into the room dodging both of their attempts to block her with their arms. "I knew it, you're torturing him!"

"It's not torture," the woman stressed while tossing a cold glare the pegasus knight's way. "A lot of what he's telling us doesn't add up and if we have to loosen his tongue with a little roughness, then so be it."

"When I first saw him, he was barking at us like mad to warn them about Ursentius. The next thing I knew, we were under attack! That dragon was killing my squad mates left and right!"

"Well at least that much has been confirmed," the middle guard acknowledged.

Norbert would've replied to the woman but the most violent of the trio began to speak again which meant he had to focus on him. He couldn't brace for an attack very well being tied up, but he could at least keep alert and tighten his muscles in some form of defense. When he snapped back at him, calling him an orphan, Norbert was only mildly irritated at that, but only because he found that insult rather pathetic. I've been an orphan all my life. How is that supposed to be an insult?

The guard's next action at least was arguably an improvement over his previous attacks. It wiped out Norbert's irritation at the guard's lack of ability to insult people and replaced it with the anger he held for being attacked and helpless again. The kick to his jaw had indeed been hard and had knocked him and his chair over. He couldn't roll backwards to nullify the fall either, so a bit of wind was knocked out of him when the back of the chair hit the ground. The worst part of it was, however, that now he couldn't see the guards. That made it hard to anticipate anything the wild one planned on doing and he couldn't try to read their faces anymore if he wanted to. That made any kind of self-defense he had diminish significantly. Not to mention right now he was seeing stars. That kick hurt.

He'd managed to shake away the last of said stars when he saw the rowdy guard come up to stand over him. There wasn't much he could do as things were. He used that descriptor, "orphan", as an insult again, this time adding "twerp" to it before lifting his foot and slamming it down. Norbert almost managed to turn his head in time to force the kick to his cheek bone rather than to his nose, but the foot still caught it as he was turning his head. The result was rather painful, but luckily the pegasus rider's nose didn't break. As the man began to slide his foot around, Norbert clenched his teeth and tightly closed his eyes. It was his best defense at this point.

Then, to his surprise, the door was knocked in. The guard harassing him stopped moving his foot but increased the weight he put on it. Norbert couldn't really see anything very well, though he'd opened the eye closest to the ground to attempt to do so. A woman was speaking, apparently actually against his being interrogated. Good, they had something in common. Her voice sounded familiar but he couldn't quite place where he'd heard it. That is, until she practically said she was one of the pegasus knights the dragon attacked. So one of them did make it. From the sound of things the interrogators didn't believe a word he said until she at least confirmed part of his testimony. That made his ire rise. I tell them the truth and no one believes it! Doesn't this sound familiar?! Grrr...! Why did I ever think that maybe they would hear me out fairly?! It's never happened before so why should it now?!

"Get off of my face!" Norbert growled through his clenched jaw, though it was muffled further between the ground and the boot. Talking tore up the inside of his mouth a little as it raked across his teeth. It wasn't as bad as it could have been since his jaws didn't part, though. He'd been in this position before so he knew what to avoid.

"Get off of him! This is ridiculous! He tried to kill that dragon with his bare hands so at worst, he's reckless, NOT someone you've got any excuse to go beating the crap out of," the pegasus knight said as she hurried over. The guard stepping on Bert's head stopped her and kept her at a distance with his arm as the other two guards from outside rushed in to take her.

"This is none of your business. Go report to the commander," the angry guard said, as calmly as he could manage.

"How about I tell him that you're abusing a prisoner based on something a dragon spitefully threw out there for everyone to hear? Don't you get it? This is exactly what that fiend wanted and you're just buying right into it like a bunch of MORONS! Has anyone even bothered to tell them about Ursentius yet, or are you too busy picking on him?!" She was grabbed about halfway through her response, but kept going even as they began to drag her back toward the entrance.

"Oh shut up and get out of here. Someone would have passed the word along by now, though it really should have been you, 'moron'. I'm beating some sense into this orphan trash because he keeps feeding us garbage information." To keep Bert from saying anything, he applied significantly more pressure to his jaw for a moment and spared him a short glare.

"What garbage information?! What more do you need confirmed here? He showed up on a pegasus, warned us about Ursentius, leaped on the dragon's back and then tried to fight it. He got caught and carried over here just like me."

"How could he have possibly ridden that thing?"

"The same way I did! I was hanging on to its tail after it crashed into me and killed my pegasus!" Immediately after this, the middle guard motioned for the other guards to let her go, which they did.

"W-what ...? But how did either of you even survive ...?" the woman asked.

"If you're beating him up because you think he's lying about being a pegasus rider or something, then stop!"

Actually, he hadn't even mentioned Rizen yet, though he had implied he had a flying mount. Thinking back on it, he figured that even if he had mentioned that detail they either wouldn't have believed him or wouldn't have believed him and used it as some sort of proof that he was lying about everything else. In spite of his position, Norbert felt a bit of mischievous lightheartedness at the pegasus knight's help, even if it didn't sound like the guards were listening. Someone sticking up for me, huh? That's rare. Maybe the military isn't filled to the brim with self-absorbed idiots after all.

He took the hint when the guard increased the weight he forced into the side of Norbert's face and kept quiet, though he had to wonder why he was being silenced. I thought these guys supposedly wanted me to talk. Tch. Typical. In the end they just want someone to blame and punish and I'm just the perfect target.

"Alright, I've made my decision," the middle guard spoke up. "We'll keep him here for now and put out a posting. If this group comes to confirm the other end of his story, then we'll let him go. In the mean time, forward a recommendation to the commander. I think he should send out another patrol to find these people just in case they decide not to stop in Ursaea."

The angry guard took his foot off of Bert and got a good grip on the back of the chair so he could lift the guy back into a normal position, but he did so begrudgingly at best, glaring at him the whole time.

He was the calmest of the three so it didn't come as much of a surprise when the middle guard began speaking like the one in charge between those around. His news wasn't very good, though. On the upside, Norbert would likely finally get untied. He wasn't thinking on that, though, since the worse part of the news struck him: they were going to actively look for Raquel and her mercenaries and bring them in to confirm his vague truths. Would they slip up and reveal too much information? Would she be recognized as someone the Wrathites were looking for? Would they think these Ursaeans were Wrathites and attack on sight? Not to mention how embarrassing this situation just became. How was he supposed to explain getting captured by the local guard? Not to mention how this forced the others to go out of their way for his sake. That just plain made him uncomfortable.

The guard who'd taken a liking to beating him up righted the chair and along with it, Norbert. Now that he was able to speak, he intended to say everything he'd been unable to just previously. First, he directed his attention to the woman guard. "Just so you know, I was saying I rode the dragon because it's what happened, not for any sort of special attention. So no, I'm not some hero and I'm not trying to sound like one. I would've corrected that sooner if twinkle-toes over here" he jerked his head at the angry guard "hadn't shut me up."

Then, to said twinkle-toes, he spat, "And I said to learn to insult! Calling me an orphan when I grew up as one is like calling you an ugly dunce; it's just a fact that I'm used to and comfortable with! And for your information, yes, my sister's done that to me, too, but she didn't make herself look like an idiot and I didn't have to be tied down first for her to get me to the ground you spineless gnat! Tell me, does that armor keep you upright? The uniform has to, I guess, since you can't do anything without it."

"A real mouth on that one," the woman said, burying her face in her palm as the angry guard backhanded Bert across the cheek.

"I hold back because I don't want to do any permanent damage, but we'll see what you've got to say after I start breaking your fingers. But no ... maybe I'll just gag you first so you can't backtalk while I do it. How do you like the sound of that, you little-" "Don't you dare! That's over the line and you KNOW it!" the pegasus knight interrupted him.

Norbert grinned darkly before tauntingly answering the angry guard's unfinished question, "Sounds like your leash won't let you that far."

"We'll see about that," the guard spat back.

"Alright, toss him into a cell and get that posting out," the middle guard said.

The pegasus knight sighed, partially relieved and partially worried. On the one hand, the ornery captive wasn't going to get beaten up over nothing anymore, but on the other, there wasn't much stopping the angry guard from finding him in his cell later and beating him up there instead. Deciding to try and prevent this, she spoke up saying, "Hey, make sure you post more than just one guard, and make sure it's not him, okay?!"

"Fine," the middle guard agreed, though he was clearly not interested in most of this anymore.

"Alright, listen up, you, don't struggle or try to get in any cheap shots while we move you to the cell, or we will charge you with resisting arrest," the woman guard warned.

"And then beat the stuffing out of you," the angry guard warned. Then he leaned in close to Bert and said, "Go on, give me a reason," and began untying Bert's legs from the chair. Once he was done, the woman who issued the warning to Bert came over and began untying Bert's left hand while the angry man untied his right. The middle guard stood ready to come in and stop any violence that might have started.

Finally, after untying his torso from the chair, they held his arms securely and helped him stand before putting his arms back behind him and then cuffing him.

"Ready to go to your cell, boy?" the lead guard asked.

There wasn't much to do but wait until he was untied. Norbert didn't see a reason to respond to the angry guard's rebuttal and he was indifferent about the pegasus knight's attempt at helping him. He didn't trust these officers to behave fairly regardless of how many guards were posted but he also didn't much care what it came to. The lady guard warned him not to attack anyone or struggle while they moved him to his cell. When the volatile guard added his bit to the threat and put in his own taunt, however, Norbert was sorely tempted to headbutt him while he was in range. Seeing as he was wearing a helmet, though, and presently Norbert didn't have any head protection of his own, he thought better of it and simply chose to instead wait for a better time.

It felt good to be able to move somewhat freely again for the brief moments Norbert actually could. Soon, though, his arms were forced behind his back -- he didn't see a reason to resist, so it went a lot smoother than it otherwise would have -- and his wrists were cuffed together. Then the lead guard asked him if he was ready to go to his cell, tagging on "boy" at the end. Why do people keep calling me that? It hasn't come up for a while, I guess, but do I really look that young? To the guard, he replied as he stretched as best he could with his arms behind his back, "Does it matter if I am or not? If it does, then how about I get back to you on that and for now you just let me be on my way? I'll let you know if I ever feel like being incarcerated."

"You just live to be contrary, don't you?" the guard chimed in. She was still only a mere fraction as angry with him as the angry guard, though. "Come on, we're taking you to your cell now. See you later, chief."

"See you," the middle guard replied.

With that, the two took Bert down to the holding cells and placed him in an empty one. The woman locked him in and then walked off with the key, followed by the angry guard as well. "Don't go anywhere," she jokingly said as they left him there. What she didn't mention is that she would be sending back a couple of guards to watch him before long.

Norbert simply shrugged at the woman's comment about being contrary. He didn't put up a fuss about being led to where he'd be held until someone from the group could come in and confirm his story -- hopefully without giving away any unnecessary details or pointing out where he'd bent the truth -- and found that the trip was short enough that he didn't have much of an opportunity to poke any more fun at the volatile guard. It was mildly annoying but he figured that either that was the last he'd seen of the fist-flinging soldier or, if he appeared again, he could deal with him then.

So, Norbert was locked up in the cell and the two guards began to walk off. "Hey, wait a minute!" Norbert protested as he ran up to the bars of his cell and glared down the hall at the two guards. He knew he was getting jipped. "Aren't you supposed to take these cuffs off of me?!"

"Bother someone else about it," the angry guard shot back. Then they were gone ...

Several minutes later, two new guards approached from down the same hall and came out in front of Bert's cell. "Is this the guy?" one asked the other, who promptly shrugged. "Must be. The only other one in here is that crazy animal."

"The one that attacked the southern patrol with his bare hands?"

"Yeah. The captain took him down by herself, though. Shame that dragon got her earlier ..."

"Hey!" Norbert called after the two. There was no reply, tough. Guess they're gone. Sighing in frustration, Norbert sent off one last glare in the pair's direction before sitting down on a bench in the cell. It was quiet enough that he began to calm down some. The waning adrenaline caused the pegasus rider to notice more fully the aches that the angry guard's beating had caused, though his only reaction to them was acknowledgement of them and a slightly heightened sense of irritation towards the one who'd inflicted them.

I can't believe Cecelia was right about this. Even if I'm not a convicted criminal, here I am locked up in a cell. His frown deepening, Norbert twisted and pulled his wrists, but after a moment, gave up. Yeah, they're secure. He heaved a sigh and smiled in spite of himself. I'm nothing but trouble, aren't I? Why do I keep getting Raquel in trouble with the law? His calm frown returned. Well... Not much I can do about it right now.

When he heard footsteps coming down the hall a few minutes later, Norbert looked up. Soon, two guards he hadn't seen before stopped in front of his cell. He didn't think much of them until they started talking.There's someone else here? It'd been so quiet Norbert had thought he was alone. Whoever the other prisoner was he sounded fairly strong not to mention the guts he must've had for taking on a whole patrol. Apparently the one who put him in there was dead now, too. In fact, he'd seen her killed. What's someone like that doing in a holding cell? Shouldn't he be...? Aw Merz, did they really put me in some segment of cages reserved for dangerous criminals? He was only annoyed at that. After all, it was reasonably safe since they had separate cells.

The two guards stood there gossiping for a short while before the angry one finally returned. "Hey," one of the posted guards greeted. They received little more than a passing glance in return, though. He then stepped out in front of Bert's cell and stood there with his arms crossed. "This guy give you a hard time or something?"

"You could say that. I'm weighing my options; now, I could just go in and beat him til he's all black and blue, but then we might have some 'problems' later," he replied.

"Wait, what are you trying to get out of him? We're only allowed to rough up the prisoners if they've got intel they're not sharing."

"Don't get me involved in this," the other guard said, putting his hands up to about chest height and backing up slightly.

"You're back, huh?" Norbert spoke up as he turned his head some and shifted his gaze to the volatile guard outside his cell. That guard sure wasn't trying to hide his intentions. He'd apparently calmed down enough to think through the potential consequences, too."Get any better at insults while you've been gone, piglet? That must've been enough time to at least ask for pointers from someone. Sure doesn't sound like you came back to take these cuffs off me. I guess I shouldn't be surprised since you're such a coward. You wouldn't have gotten away with so much if I hadn't been tied to that chair."

"Piglet? Coward? Hahah, now who's getting weak with the insults? You think I wouldn't untie you and kick your ass fairly if these fellas here weren't obligated to step in? No, the truth is I know you hate being tied up like this, completely helpless and unable to back up your words. I enjoy every wrathdamn second of it. That's why you're gonna stay that way until further notice, orphan punk. Now start praying, because the least I'm going to do when I come in there is break both your legs."

"Are you seriously going to start beating up on this poor guy?" one of the guards asked.

"If you want out, just say you didn't see anything."

At this point, Norbert stood up and leisurely paced across the cell a short ways. "I'm limited to maneuvering, head attacks, body attacks and kicks, then," he mused before turning to the guards again and falling into a combative stance with a malicious grin and eyes full of anger, "Well, I'm not at my best right now but at least this way you have a fighting chance at beating me! No fun if I crush in your skull without any effort. Come on in, you witless worm -- I owe you some pain!"

"Heheh ..." the man shook his head a few times as he said, "Let me show you what a real insult is, orphan trash." He then revealed both of Bert's maces, having retrieved them both from behind his back. "Not only am I going to break your legs, but I'm gonna do it with your own weapons~"

"Harsh ..." the other guard peeped.

"And not only am I gonna break your legs with your own damn maces, I'm gonna have you hold nice and still while I do it too, because if you don't ... if I have even a hint of difficulty when I come in there, I'm going to kick your ass, break every other bone in your body and have these things melted down for spare materials."

"... really harsh."

When Norbert saw his maces, his vengeful expression quickly faded as his grin disappeared and his eyes widened in shock and horror while his stance lost some of its strength. As the guard explained that he would be wielding Splinter and Crunch against him, his expression steadily shifted to one of absolute rage. Then, the guard listed his terms. Norbert was so angry he could hardly see, let alone think clearly. Finally, the guard had managed to well and truly insult Norbert.

The pegasus rider stood entirely still, murderous eyes fixed on the guard who held his two most prized possessions apart from Rizen if she even qualified as a "possession." It was difficult to think but Norbert knew he didn't have much time. He wanted nothing more at that moment than to break free, take his maces and mercilessly annihilate the guard. He'd already put up with much more than he could have before he'd began his attempt at reform. He'd been tied down and beat up for something he didn't do, locked up, restrained unfairly... But now... Now the cause of his recent mistreatment was going to use his means of self-defense as tools to harm him. The very fact that it was this man who was even holding his maces raised his ire, let alone wielding them.

"You...thief." Though his voice was quiet, it was absolutely dripping with venom. His furious calm ended there, however, as he suddenly charged at the guard, his vision never wavering from the Ursaean's. The bars alone stopped Norbert as he crashed right into them, shoulder first. He didn't waver one bit, though, even when he impacted them. In fact, he was pressing into them as hard as his legs would let him, resulting in his standing at an angle. It was as though he was trying to push the bars down. During this outburst, a small voice in his head occasionally broke through his coursing fury.

He won't face me in a fair fight no matter what. Roaring in rage, Norbert pulled back then crashed into the bars again. Taking advantage of my situation... It's just like before. And again. I have more to lose this time, though. This time he didn't bother to step backwards, instead just ramming his weight into the bars separating him from the Ursaeans. I can't let anyone walk over me... I won't! Again, he rammed into the barrier. Can I actually beat him in the state I'm in? With another outcry, he slammed into the bars again.No. This time he stepped back and swept a hard kick at the iron. Especially not when he's armed... I have to choose. Breathing heavily both with fury and with the beginnings of fatigue from his assault on the iron bars, Norbert took a few steps back, keeping his snarl tight and his eyes fixed. Humiliation or the loss of my best weapons? I can't and won't comply to people like him! ...But...if I do, there's a chance I'll get Splinter and Crunch back. Bones heal...and I won't have to do as much healing if I comply.

"Curse you..." Norbert's voice shook with his anger. He swallowed, trying to force his mouth to begin to form the words. Even thinking about what he was about to say made him nauseous. Finally, strained, he managed, "I'll...comply."

"Good ... this won't be nearly as bad for you then. It's still going to be downright painful, but at least you're not going to lose your maces too~"

"Are you sure you want to do this? It seems like overkill now," the other guard mentioned.

"How's he going to learn to respect authority if he doesn't get punished for what comes out of his mouth? Besides, if he came at a western noble the way he came at me, he'd be tied to a few cannon balls and dropped into a lake or oiled up and set ablaze."

"That's a myth," the guard countered.

"You wish it was just a myth. Alright, you know the drill. If he tries anything, come in and help me and we'll tell them he was trying to escape."

"Oh brother ..." The guard with Bert's maces soon unlocked the cell door and stepped inside, casting an ominous shadow over Bert as he approached. The other two guards stepped close enough to block Bert's escape from the now open cell and could step in within a few seconds if needed.

Norbert took a couple, small steps back to buy a little more time, then commented spitefully, "So, you're trying to teach me to respect authority, huh? How am I supposed to respect anyone who ties me down so I can't defend myself and then starts beating on me for something I didn't do? You're just confirming what I already knew: I can't trust the military. It's filled with people who throw around their self-importance and step on everyone else! They abuse their power and cover up for just how weak and pathetic they really are! They think they're better than everyone else because of a title... As though a title gives any one person's life more significance than the rest!"

He was yelling by the end of it. "You're all the same and you never change! And because everyone wants to be better than everyone else, the populace upholds that stupid social norm, hoping to step all over everyone someday! It makes me sick! Why should any one person be treated as better just because of some stupid title or less because they don't have one?! Because you have a title, society's given you an unfair advantage over me, but on your own you couldn't win against me! Not in a fair fight!"

He backed up further. He wasn't done speaking. "You think that if someone has authority, they deserve respect. I live by my own terms, though. For me, once they have my respect, then they've earned the authority. And you...have no respect from me."

That said, Norbert only had one question left. He didn't care to ask it at the moment, though. His patience even for his own talk had run out and instead, now simply stood his ground firmly and yelled, "COME AT ME AND DO YOUR WORST, YOU BACKWARDS, SNIVELING WHELP!"

"Tch, the worst comes after I warm up. Here, have a taste of your own medicine," the guard haughtily replied as he bopped Bert on the side of the head with his own mace. "And another ..." He followed up with another, slightly harder hit with the opposite mace. "And that's a baby tap compared to what your opponents likely have to deal with." He kept hitting Bert on the cheeks and sides of his head, a bit harder each time while the other two guards simply watched, glancing down either hall every so often.

Eventually, once he'd struck Bert quite a few times and hard enough to draw blood on multiple hits, the pegasus rider fell. "Oh if only I didn't have to hold back ..." the guard said longingly.

Just as he'd agreed, Norbert made no move to avoid any of the hits aimed at him. He didn't even try to redirect them away from his head. He did brace himself, however, and between each hit, he locked glares with the one using his maces against him. Even though he couldn't fight back or defend against the hits, he could still show his defiance and stand his ground. As the progressively merciless strikes continued, Norbert's sense of balance began to waver. The hits to his head were taking their toll until finally one last strike knocked him to the ground. Since his hands were bound behind his back, Norbert couldn't catch his fall and wound up landing twisted on his face and chest while his legs landed on their sides with his knees bent a bit.

He was dizzy and somewhat out of it from the pummeling, but conscious. "You...don't know the half of it," he managed as he slowly turned onto his side. He was referring to an earlier comment the guard had made but it was fairly difficult to communicate clearly with his head swimming like it was.

"Here's the part I've been waiting for~"

One of the guards winced intensely when he heard that, because he was imagining the sound of breaking bones and screaming. Then, the vengeful guard made his move, jumping up and putting both feet together so he could produce enough force to break Bert's leg and came down on it full force.

When the guard jumped onto his left leg just above the ankle (his thighs and knees where stacked but not the lower half of his legs) the result was a jarred knee, a sprained ankle and a shin that snapped at about the middle of the bone. Norbert had been too out of it to mentally prepare for the next attack and so his reaction was more vocal than he'd wanted it to be. His pain-filled cry was long and loud as he jolted forward, curling up tighter on reflex. Merz... That hurts!

After the initial shout, groans and grunts followed as his tightly closed eyes began to water and he naturally did his best to protect his injured leg without moving it and without the use of his arms. He'd entirely forgotten his surroundings -- he was too dizzy when the pain had come and then the pain had been all he was aware of.

"Heh ... neeeext."

"No no no!" The wincing guard rushed into the cell and quickly got his attention by placing a hand on his shoulder. He was trying to hold him in place as well. "That's enough. Listen, nobody's going to believe you managed to break both of his legs in some breakout attempt, so end it here."

The man paused for a moment, considering the disturbed guard's counsel, and then sighed. "Look, I know you're a little squeamish, but I'm not even half done with this guy yet."

"You beat him up, beat him up again with his own maces, and broke his leg. That's more than enough. If they find out you went this far, who knows what the commander will do, and right now, we can't afford to lose anymore people. There's a dragon out there distracting us while the skotians close in. We can't keep losing people over trivial crap like this ... so PLEASE ...."

"Fine! Fine ..." He sighed again and handed over Bert's maces. "Put these back in the armory and bring back a healer ... take your time with the healer, though."

The voices over him got Norbert's attention. He was still in agony but he managed to pull himself together and clear his head some. He was furious. From the sounds of things, the deal had been fulfilled. That was enough. So, gritting his teeth, Norbert kicked out with his good leg and smashed his boot into the angry guard's closest ankle. The sudden movement caused a fresh, intense wave of pain from his broken leg, but he stifled most of the cry and, after the kick, more gingerly pulled his good leg back.

"Urgh! So you want me to have these maces melted down instead?! 'Cause that's what's about to happen if you don't show some wrathdamn humility!" He stepped around to Bert's backside, out of range of his remaining leg, and delivered a hard blow to Bert's left shoulder, and then hit him again in the side, and finally ended by lightly kicking the back of his leg thigh to jostle the broken leg.

The guard that had just been talking him down had winced with each attack. He would have said something in Bert's defense if only he hadn't instigated it himself that time. With that in mind, he said nothing and simply looked the other way.

The deal was off in that it had already been completed, but Norbert didn't expect this guard to honor it so he didn't mention it. The next attack hit his shoulder. That was fairly bad in that his shoulder was already twisted backwards since his wrists were bound behind his back. That was definitely out of place now, and though Norbert jolted and winced at it, he didn't make a sound. He strike to his side only garnered a quiet grunt. It was the kick that got him. Light as it was, it forced his injured leg to move, resulting in a sharp intake of air and a quiet growl as Norbert clenched his jaw and tightly shut his eyes. With the threat to his maces renewed, he simply laid there quietly. He was done fighting for the time being.

"Alright, that should just about do it ... no more griping and no more struggling. See what a little humility can do?" the armed guard asked mockingly.

"More like humiliation," the other guard muttered.

"Hurry up and get those maces back to the armory, already. Actually, forget it. I'll do it, myself. I'll be right back." Taking the maces back from the other guard, he set off down the hall and disappeared.

Sighing, the one remaining guard in the cell knelt down behind Bert, being cautious, and said, "Obviously ... an apology on his behalf just isn't going to cut it ... I know that ... but please listen. What good is back talking and fighting tooth and nail going to do in a situation like this? You'd have been better off just playing along in the end. I'm sure even you realize that." Kind of rambling here ... "I'm just saying, life could be a lot easier if you didn't treat everyone in kind like that. That's what Doran does and look how he turned out. You were tied up and he still beat the stuffing out of you. Anyway ... I've said my piece, I think ... we're going to try and get your leg and those welts treated soon."

"Doran," huh? "So... That guy's name is 'Doran,'" Norbert mumbled. He'd relaxed some as the angry guard left, but still kept his eyes closed. "As for what good it is... Pain I can handle. I grew up with it. Injustice I can expect and deal with it when it comes. Something I can't do, though...I can't let people walk over me. People who think they have some right to push me around...I push them back. They don't have the rights they think they have and I show them that. I don't expect to make any difference in how society works as a whole, but they'd better understand that I, at least, won't tolerate self-absorbed maggots who think they have some right to knock me around or tell me how to behave or to kill me. I can't just let them mistreat me... If they're that set on it, it'll come with a price...but it's primarily this: I have value, by Wrath. And I'm not about to let people think they can treat me as less than I am. I know I'm not much, but I'm enough that I'll do my best to show people they can't discredit what value I do have."

"So yeah, life would be easier on one issue if I just let bad things happen to me and didn't provoke anything. I'm working on my temper, but...I can't just let people do things like that to me. It's not okay so I'm not going to treat it like it's okay," Norbert finished. This guy may be a wimp but at least he's a decent wimp. "And...thanks for the healers. Nothing like a heal staff after you get a broken bone, heheh..." He winced. "Er...actually, could you set this bone first? It...really hurts..."

The aerial search had been unsuccessful, which did not bode well for Norbert. Once they arrived into Ursaea proper, Blake split up from the group to go see if he could find any news about the pegasus rider's fate. That way he'd be of some use while the others restocked. Within a few minutes, the swordsman came across a notice about a male pegasus rider being found during the dragon attack- the shadow dragon, obviously, and how the guards were now looking for his companions. Odds were that this wasn't a coincidence. The Ursian decided to check it out and swiftly found his way to the city's barracks. That was where things got tedious.

Once Blake arrived at the commander's post and introduced himself as Lord Frode of Urcenter, insignia and all. While the record was verified, he confirmed that the pegasus rider was indeed named Norbert, and he was alive. That was all fine and dandy, but then corroborating his identity and Bert's story had to be done, which, to be blunt, between remembering the events and scripting his own responses to sound like those of a devout Wrathite - he'd have to go over his teachings again at a later date - was dreadful. But eventually, it was done, and without any major issues, either. A couple of guards were summoned and led him down to the cells, where his companion was being held.

Norbert had seen better days, to say the least. He had been beaten up a bit, - probably due to back-talking the interrogators or something - and appeared to be alternating between laying down and periodically forcing himself up to a low-squat, for reasons unknown. Alright then, it was time to free him.

"Alright, one of you help my companion out of the cell, while another one retrieves his belongings," Blake said, addressing the guards with a frown on his expression. "It would be appreciated if you do so with haste."

As promised, he was healed, though not entirely. Norbert's leg was mended, but it still ached. He was assured it was fixed, however, and so he intended on treating it as such. They didn't bother to pop his shoulder back into place and with his hands bound, that would have to wait as well, it seemed. His welts had likewise been healed, but he was still covered in blood -- some his own but mostly it had once circulated through a pegasus and potentially its rider -- tomato juice, dirt and dust. Just sitting in his cell only lasted a short while before it began to feel like a phenomenal waste of time. So, he tried to think of workouts he could do without the use of his arms. For a while he pressed his back against the wall and kept his legs at a 90 degree angle before shifting to lunges and now he was practicing getting off his back without the use of his arms. It was turning out to be quite the rewarding experience so long as he didn't bump his shoulder.

Norbert had been so focused on his workout that he hadn't noticed Blake's arrival until he actually heard his voice. He'd just landed on his feet, but was off-balance and the surprise didn't help either. So, in an effort to stay on his feet, Norbert threw his weight forward...a bit too much and landed on his face with a grunt and a groan. He immediately picked himself up, though, first going to his knees then standing up from there and headed over to the barred wall. He knew the local guard had been looking for Raquel's group, but they'd arrived sooner than he'd anticipated and he wasn't expecting that the first of the group he'd be reunited with would be Blake.

With a clearly perplexed expression, Norbert asked his fellow Ursian, "Blake? What're you doing here?"And how in Mercy's name can you tell these guys what to do without running into some kind of resistance?

The guards, one of which had been present earlier and had also advised Bert on responding in kind all the time, came over to the cell. The one from before unlocked it while the other kept on walking down the hall to retrieve Bert's maces and armored headband. Once the cell was opened, the man approached and said, "Easy now. You're on your way out of here, nothing more ... oh and mind your leg." With that warning, he began to unlock the cuffs restraining Bert's arms.

"It's been healed," Norbert casually replied to the guard, "If anything I need to work it so I recover faster. Get the blood moving in there and all that."

Again, he returned his attention to Blake, "But I meant you specifically. Seeing how these guys force their way around, I expected someone to arrive eventually. I guess I just didn't figure it'd be you."

The cuffs were off soon enough and once his wrists were free, Norbert carefully placed his right hand on his left shoulder. His arms were cramping some so he was tempted to stretch but he knew it'd be useless without this first step. So, he took a steady, silent breath. Then, using both his right arm and moving his torso to help, he forced his shoulder back into place. His face contorted in pain briefly before returning to neutral and he began to roll his shoulders forwards and backwards.

Bert tried to keep standing but fell over within moments of completing his squat. He quickly recovered, made his way to the bars, and asked why Blake was here. That he was here to free the pegasus rider was obvious enough, so the nobleman remained silent as the guards did their work. The prisoner then elaborated and explained that he was expecting one of the other members of the group to come retrieve him.

"I volunteered," Blake said, without volunteering why he did so. "The others should still be restocking, so, once we get your things, I'll bring you back. Friends aside, you have a very concerned pegasus waiting for you."

The answer was fairly simple so either Blake figured it was wiser not to say or that was really all there was to it. At the mention of Rizen, Norbert couldn't help but smile, albeit a little lop-sided. He'd been focused on the situation at-hand too much to think about things not involving it, including his faithful companion. However, the mention of friends was a bit surprising. That's a strange word choice. "Allies" would have been more fitting...unless... I'd like to think so, but do I really have friends here?

Regardless of the answer, that was neither here nor there so he set that line of thinking aside and walked around to the door and exited the cell while he stretched out his arms with the accompanying half-groan, half-sigh. "Rrrahhh...! Feels good to move my arms again," he happily mentioned, allowing his arms to swing freely at his sides after the quick stretching. Then, more directly to the blue-haired Ursian, he gave a grateful nod and said, "Thanks for volunteering."

"He-hey mind your shoulder," the guard advised. He would have said the same about the leg, but he knew he was never going to let himself be carried out of there like some cripple.

Around this time, the other guard returned with Bert's maces, his plated headband, and some vulneraries. "We're overstocked anyway, so take these, too. They won't help much, I know, but it's more of an apology than anything else."

"No problem," Blake said, in response to Bert's thanks. Shortly afterwards, the now freed man's belongings, along with a few vulneraries, had arrived. "Right, then, shall we return to the others, then?"

"Don't worry, I'll put ice on it if I get the opportunity," Norbert disinterestedly replied regarding his shoulder, waving off the guard's concerns. When the other guard returned with his maces and forehead guard, he smiled, though he was surprised when the other guard offered the vulneraries as an apology.

"You're in a war. I highly doubt those vulneraries can't be put to better use with someone else," Norbert answered the guard who'd offered them as he took back his guard and tied it on. Next he returned his maces to his belt. His smile returned with the familiar weight at his sides. "So if you're overstocked, send some to Ursentius. I appreciate the apology more anyway."

Next, he turned to Blake who asked if he was ready to leave and nodded. It was odd to realize, but he looked forward to reuniting with the group. Weird. I used to avoid other people for reasons like what happened here... Yeah, I'm happy to just be freed, but I actually want to see the group again.

After they'd gained some distance from the barracks, Norbert asked Blake in something of a hushed voice, "So, what did you tell them?" He was referring to Blake's report to the barracks about what happened with the group and the dragon. He figued it was satisfactory since they were both walking freely at the moment, but he was still a little concerned with their stories matching and just how much detail his countryman had given.

"I told them the truth. That we were on our merry way when we heard some dark magic explosions, went over to investigate, and stumbled upon the bloody dragon in the process of attacking a caravan," Blake said, in an even tone. "Then, one of the survivors from that wagon made a deal, but was killed by a sniper from the woods. And when the dragon took off for some reason, you followed suit and presumably nearly got killed in the process. It's a good thing you didn't, given our boss's state right now."

Norbert couldn't help but laugh. "We told the same lie! That's great! Though I didn't chase down that dragon until we were already in the sky. I flew away first to look for someone in the military to warn about the dragon's plan to attack Ursentius. I found that patrol of pegasus knight and then the dragon just appeared in the sky... It was a little after that that I started chasing it," he clarified, "I told them pretty much the same thing you did, including that whoever told the dragon to go to Ursentius was shot by snipers soon after. I didn't mention the dark magic, though, and I did say there was a rider who asked us for help. I guess they got a few more details out of the both of us."

"I didn't actually know about the rider until after the fact," Blake admitted, with a frown on his expression. "Oh well, it's irrelevant. Anyways, I suppose I got there a bit too slow, judging by what the guard said. I'm still debating going back and trying to see if anything can be done with the guard who at the very least least dislocated your shoulder."

"Oh, him," Norbert flatly mentioned before continuing on irritably, "His name's Doran but he's just a witless, gutless piglet in a suit of armor that holds him upright since he doesn't have a spine to do the job for him. And dislocating my shoulder" he lightly gripped his maces "wasn't the worst he did."

He sighed quietly and shrugged off his anger. "I'm fine now, though, and though I'd love to see that spiteful wad of feces fired, jailed and forced to fight me fairly, it's not likely it'll happen."

"So, the leg as well," Blake said, almost to himself. "... Regardless, I guess we should focus more on moving forward right now."

The discussion appeared to be over. Just as well. Otherwise it seemed like it would have gone into a long list of injuries that Norbert didn't feel was necessary to explain at that moment. Still, this line of thought had put him in a decidedly grumpier mood. I really hate Doran.

[Phoenix]

[spoiler=Chronicles of the Crusher: Conviction]Some time later, Raquel stood with her back against the wall next to a door, alone in the hallway. Beyond that door were Bert and Malik, both recovering from their respective ordeals that day. She felt terrible about what had happened, but Blake had stopped her from going to deal with it personally. She didn't exactly blame him; she was absolutely livid after finding out all of the details of Bert's captivity and might have done something dangerous if she'd gone and confronted them directly.

What was worse, was that after finally getting all of the details, Bert insisted on downplaying the whole thing. In the end, she was only able to convince him to lie down and rest in one of the rooms they had rented at the inn, and even then it took several tries, and she of course had to raise her voice significantly in order to get the point across. All in all, it was a pretty terrible day, and she wasn't quite sure she would feel any better about it the next day. She also had work she had to get back to at some point. A terrible day indeed. I really hope he actually rests once we leave him alone and he doesn't just start sneaking in training. Maybe Blake or someone should just stay in there awhile to prevent that.

It was beyond weird hearing Raquel yell at him like that. To be honest he didn't think she had that sort of command in her. Though it'd been used against his insistence that he was fine and didn't need rest, Norbert was glad to see Raquel show some backbone. It'd been something she'd been lacking in her leadership up until that point so far as he could tell. In the end, he'd relented and went into the room she'd showed him along with Blake for some reason. He figured for half a second that it was to make sure he actually rested, but something else caught his attention before he could do much thinking about it.

"What in Truth's name is he doing here?!" Norbert demanded, pointing to Malik who was unconscious on one of the beds in the room. His glare was fixed on the Sancturan and, judging by the pegasus rider's expression, he was ready for a fight if it came up. He'd just dealt with a guy who had it out for him -- he didn't want to deal with another one. That's the Aisha-worshiping slime ball who wanted me to turn myself in for insulting his so-called goddess!

Raquel had been understandably enraged by the guard's treatment of Bert, but luckily Blake had talked her down from going to rail against the guards. That could've been essentially handing her over to the Wrathites, if even one of the guards on duty was a believer. Not to mention odds are it wouldn't help her stress. Unfortunately, the merchant did end up having to yell at Bert to go lie down thanks to the latter's stubbornness. Once the pegasus rider relented, the swordsman followed him into the room, to keep an eye on him lest he try to sneak off.

Of course, almost immediately Bert objected to his roommate- one of the Rexians. Time to clear things up.

"He was attacked and severely wounded by the dragon before we arrived," Blake said, crossing his arms. "He shouldn't be a problem, given that all the two of you are doing is resting."

"I don't trust him," Norbert adamantly stated as he crossed his arms, though he did walk over to the other bed in the room and sit down. He was more pouting than resting, though, and he kept his eyes fixed on the Sancturan. "Back in Sanctuary that guy wanted me to turn myself over for speaking my mind. I don't know what he wanted to do to me, but it wouldn't have been good. If the dragon got him, good! At least I won't have to worry about him trying anything stupid against me." His hands were on the grips of his maces, ready to be pulled up for use at a moment's notice.

"You realize that Sanctuary is a different society than Ursium, right? Their laws are different than Ursian laws, so I imagine what you did was break some of them, including a law banning slander against Aisha. He was probably trying to do his job," Blake explained. "I don't think anything will happen here unless you make it happen. And I hope you weren't serious about it being 'good' that the dragon mauled someone who's an ally, albeit a slight one. We just lost someone because of one."

"He's not an ally," Norbert firmly stated, "And I don't care how different they are. I'm not holding them to Ursian standards, I'm holding them to mine and I say it's stupid to treat two equals differently. He didn't have a problem with calling Lilith a witch but when I redirected it back at Aisha -- who is just another vasilus just like Lilith is -- he was all up in arms. They're the same so they should be treated them same, at least with regard to what they are. And what happens when I express this? Tch. You know what? I'm keeping my guard up no matter what you say."

"Lilith didn't bring prosperity and security to the people of Sanctuary. Aisha did. You were literally insulting his people's guardian. Sure, they are both vasili, but you can't really expect that he would treat them the same given the latter's importance to his way of life. And that's half the problem sometimes, Bert. You don't think before saying things that might anger other people, and that gets you into trouble more often than not," Blake said, sighing. Then he noticed the maces "... Hell no, I am not leaving you in a room with Amon's friend and those maces. Give them to Raquel or something, but there is no way I am going to let you keep your weapons while you're still hostile to him."

"Aisha selected one small part of her country to take care of and treats the rest like outsiders," Norbert corrected shortly. Then, he addressed the issue that was a little more personal, gripping his maces tighter and scooting a away from Blake a little. This was only riling him up. "And I've been separated from my maces long enough! I don't have to answer to you! And you know what? It's less I don't think about the consequences to what I say so much as I don't care! I'm not going to keep my mouth shut just because someone's feelings might get hurt! If they can't take what I have to say, then they can just leave! And if they want to make something of it, I'll face them. I'm not the sort to back down unless I can't move anymore and even then I'll fight as hard as I can in any other way I can!"

"Given how the rest of the country seems borderline uninhabitable and the fact that the moment we stepped out of that place we were attacked by members of the rest of the country, I don't really feel sympathetic to them," Blake said, frowning. "And honestly I don't care if you run your mouth like that. Feel free, for the most part, though don't be surprised when you're treated in kind. It's when you endanger Raquel and the others in doing so that I have a problem. We were guests at Sanctuary. Did you even stop to think what might've happened due to your outburst, had Lilith not been there? And then again at the fort, where your yelling at Zach basically handed the enemy an advantage of knowing that we weren't completely united. Now, here, where had it been almost anyone else other than myself who had come to get you, I'm fairly certain we'd be forced to flee, given how irritated the guards were. In times like those you damn well should care what you say, since you're putting others at risk for your own stubborn purposes. And for the record, it wouldn't matter even if I was your superior given how you treated Veronika earlier. You apparently don't answer to anyone but yourself, which is why I can't trust you to not fly into a rage and get into a fight with Malik, which with those maces, I'd think you'd probably win. I don't care if you've been separated for too long from them, you aren't supposed to be using them anyways while you're resting. And that's why I'm going to ask you again to get your maces out of the room, for everyone's peace of mind."

"If it wasn't for Lilith we never would've gotten into Sanctuary in the first place," Norbert snapped back, albeit a bit calmer than just prior. "And Zach had that coming. I wasn't about to stand by and let him talk down to Synthia like that. And as for those guards? Not my fault Doran's sadistic. I could hardly fight back at all and I didn't give them any reason to treat me the way they did until after the first couple strikes. But I guess none of that matters since I'm always going to be the one who people blame anyway. It's always been easy to pin me as the initiator even if I wasn't. Yeah, maybe I should've kept my mouth shut in Sanctuary but only because it put you all in danger."

His irritation inflamed again, however. "As for Veronika, she's-- ...Grrr, I'll keep my thoughts on that to myself. I'm not risking someone hearing that. Given her family, though, I can't trust her and I only accept leaders I can trust. But what do you care on that anyway? You just want me to behave just like everyone else for your own convenience. I'm keeping my maces on me, though. If he tries anything, I need to defend myself. I've always been able to rely on Splinter and Crunch and I'm not about to just put them away! If you don't like it, too bad! I'm not letting myself be disarmed around hostiles again!"

Malik rolled over, turning away from the noise. <"Please, be quiet ... for the love of the Queen ..."> he muttered in his native tongue. It didn't occur to him that they might not have understood him.

Raquel overheard the debate from outside and after listening in for awhile, decided to step in and make sure nothing completely asinine went down. "Bert, he's got no intention of hurting anyone. He's suffering from severe blood loss and can barely get around on his own. I understand how you feel after what those people did to you, but Malik's an ally. Maybe he's not your ally but one of mine, even if that's only through Amon. We're short on rooms so we need you two to try to get along for just one day, okay?"

Raquel entering the room was a bit of a surprise. Her reassurance helped, especially since she seemed to understand where he was coming from at least a bit. He still didn't trust Malik, but finding out that he was suffering from blood loss did help ease his stress some. That he was Raquel's ally to a degree was only a little annoying.

"Yeah, fine," he warily relented, "I'm still not getting rid of my maces, but I promise I won't hurt him...unless he comes at me first." He had it out for me last time, but I know what it's like to have lost a lot of blood. He might be too tired to try anything.

"Come on, Bert, think. Why would he come after you when he's unarmed and has no grounds for attacking you or anyone backing him up? That would be as crazy as me attacking Sardis all by myself. Anyway, you can keep your maces, but don't use them. You shouldn't need those to defend yourself from someone in Malik's condition and if he actually does try anything, we'll just move one of you to another room."

"Always assume the other guy's armed," Norbert noted aloud, then, with a bit of a grimace as he pulled his legs up onto the bed and laid down, mumbled, "Thanks."

Blake was about to respond, when Raquel stepped in and told Bert about Malik's condition. Within moments, she managed to talk the pegasus knight into laying down and tolerating the guest. Which basically demonstrated how bad the swordsman had handled it. Right, well, time to get out of the way before he screwed things up any further. The Ursian man quietly turned around and left the room.

"Urrrrgh," Malik groaned.

Despite their little talk, she was reluctant to leave the room with Malik threatening to come to, but she had work to do. Even after she left the room, she wouldn't leave the area until she was sure everything would be alright. "Are you going to be okay on your own for awhile?"

Blake left the room without a word. He probably still felt that Norbert should have kept his maces out of reach but seeing as Raquel had just said it was okay for him to keep them, there really was no pursuing the issue. The pegasus rider's gaze slid over to Malik when he groaned but was redirected to Raquel when she asked if he was going to be okay with just Malik in the room.

"I should be fine. I know what blood loss is like. I'm keeping alert, but he's not likely to want to bother me in his condition. And besides, he doesn't have a squadron backing him up this time. If he wants a fight, he'll lose," Norbert replied, though that probably wasn't quite what Raquel had meant by her question.

Again with the fighting ... "Alright, alright, you don't have to keep bringing that possibility up ... just ... just try to relax. Don't focus so much on him as on recovering, okay? We're heading out tomorrow, so this is the last comfortable bed you'll be in for the rest of the week," Raquel warned.

Come to think of it, I'd be a lot more comfortable if I wasn't still covered in blood, dirt and tomato juice. I'm going to have to wash up at some point. "I'm already recovered," Norbert grudgingly pointed out, "Heal staffs do that." Heading off any protests, Norbert put in with a grumpy sigh, "But yeah, yeah, I know... I'll rest." Lot of good that'll do.

"Thank you," Raquel replied, looking exhausted and a little relieved. "I'll be back in a little while to check up on you two. Amon might also be by at some point ... I think." She wasn't sure if it would actually be Amon or if it would be Haythem or Fizza instead. There was also the possibility that they trusted Malik's care to the general 'group' and would simply leave it to Raquel or one of the actual healers. "Anyway, I'm going to go now."

Finally ... maybe I can get back to sleep, Malik thought to himself.

Norbert simply raised a hand in farewell as Raquel left him and the Sancturan alone. It was a little weird, that: his being alone in the same room as Malik and neither of them at each other's throats. The last time he'd seen the Rexian, they were...well, actually, they were both curled up on the ground from having a gauntleted fist rammed into their bellies. Not the fondest of memories. At the moment, though, Malik seemed to be sleeping.

Try as he did to go back to sleep, simply knowing one of Aisha's more vocal detractors was nearby made him want to stab his pillow. Given the conversation that had just happened, he decided not to reach for the small blade he had on him and simply lied still for awhile. When he failed once again to get back to sleep, he rolled over to see if the annoying pegasus rider was resting or not.

Indeed, Norbert was resting, though he certainly wasn't sleeping. He was simply lying on his back with his arms crossed, eyeing the Rexian warily. "So, you're awake after all."

Malik only returned a long fatigued glare at first. "How could anyone sleep with you people arguing over such pointless things?" Turning to lie on his back, the sancturan added, "You shouldn't even be here, but I'm not surprised."

"I shouldn't even be here?" Norbert echoed irritably. He paused before going on, "You said something similar back in Sanctuary. What, you think that we don't belong wherever you happen to be? If you mean in this...recovery room, then yeah, I agree. I've already been healed; Raquel's just being overcautious."

That did bring up a question he had in a sort of "come to think of it" manner. "What're you doing here anyway? And I don't mean this room specifically -- I've done my time with blood loss. I mean in Ursium. You can't have come with Amon after trying to get him killed last time." As serious as his questions were, he couldn't help but grin a little at the irony of the situation and added a bit of a spiteful jab. "Of all the places to go, whatever your reasons, it's pretty funny how you'd wind up in my home country, foreigner."

"I don't have to tell you everything about my mission. I don't have to tell you anything about my mission ... but you're right, though; it is funny. I come all the way out here to find that you ... are just as hopeless and stupid in your own nation as you are in ours," Malik countered with a pained smirk.

So, he's out here on some mission. Tch. Typical. "Just what are you talking about? I'm not the one who got mauled by a dragon," Norbert countered. He can't know much about what happened to me so he's probably just trying to find some way to insult me. No grounds for that, though.

"You might not have been mauled by that creature, but you were tossed away like a piece of refuse by it. You're the talk of the town now, you fool ... while I ... have a reason to be here. Fizza and I were defeated and on the edge of death; I had more time than she did ..." Malik shifted a bit and nursed his abdomen with his arm. "... and don't you d-dare try to make light of what we went through. It took everything we had to survive. All you were to that monster was a children's toy, not a real opponent. That's the only reasonyou're still alive," he said, clinching his teeth at Bert.

"I'm still alive because that woman made a deal with the dragon," Norbert snappishly corrected. Urgh, he heard about what the dragon did? Word gets around quickly... "And who said anything about making light of it? Dragons are terrible beasts. That's why they're not allowed in Ursium."

Well, obviously there was at least one in Ursium at the moment. In a quick attempt to stem any jeers the Rexian might make at just how well Ursium was doing at keeping dragons out, he added "The slayers will get to him soon."

"Hmph ... I doubt that. Ursium's forces are weak ...."

"Hah! What do you know about Ursium's forces?" Norbert scoffed, "What makes you such an expert? At least the Neviskotians have actually done battle with them! I bet that's just some Rexian hearsay. Hahahah! Not only don't have have any intelligence in your heads, but you don't have any accurate intelligence on anything else either!"

"You honestly believe the garbage you're spouting, you cackling idiot? We didn't enter this country blindly. There's always the chance we'll have to fight them or any other locals we come across, so we do our own research on arrival and know full well to expect from them." Not that it matters much ... these people haven't changed .... "Well then, don't mind me, just keep spouting your ignorance and I'll correct you as necessary," Malik replied, looking off elsewhere as he did.

"Hah! You 'do your own research upon arrival' huh? That must be accurate! You'd think that your so-called 'goddess' would give you the information you'll need before you set out. She's even more inept as a leader than I thought!" the pegasus rider laughed, "Hey, I know! Next why don't we go to Neviskotia and observe the first locals we meet? We're bound to get unbiased, objective, thorough and accurate information about everyone in the country!"

Malik had plenty of clarification for Bert at first, but he stopped caring about explaining just how capable they were when the pegasus rider mentioned Aisha. "Again ...? You ... you insult the Queen, AGAIN?! FOR WHAT?!!! SHE GAVE YOU A SAFE PATH THROUGH THE DESERT, LET YOU INTO HER HOME, FED YOU AND YOUR CURSED PEGASUS, PUT UP WITH YOUR DISSENTIOUS PREACHING, AND TREATED YOU ALL FAIRLY!!! YOU DID NOTHING IN RETURN BUT BREAK HER LAWS AND SPOUT YOUR IGNORANT FILTH!!!" Malik had very little energy, and the more he moved around, the more his abdomen pained him. Still, he managed to out of his bed on the side furthest from Bert, but was left on one knee afterward. "Don't speak of her ... don't! Don't you dare speak ill of our queen in front of me! DON'T EVER SPEAK OF THE QUEEN TO ME, YOU BASTAAAAAARD!!! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT HER!!!"

The door then cracked and Gabbie poked her head inside the room for a moment. "Can you two keep it down in here, please? There are people trying to copulate in other rooms and I'm sure this is killing the mood." To that, Malik had nothing, and he was so shocked at her interjection, that he could only kneel there staring at her.

"Hey, I wasn't the one yelling just now," Norbert noted to Gabbie. He simply continued the conversation at a normal -- if not somewhat agitated -- tone, not caring if she stuck around to hear it.

To Malik, he replied, "And Aisha let us through because she had to. Her equal, Lilith, had something to do with that. And I say she's inept as the ruler of a country because she focuses all her attention on one city and treats the rest of her people like outcasts. Also because she apparently wasn't able to equip you before you left. I'm basing my opinion off of what the leader of a country should be doing like, oh I don't know, having accurate information on other countries readily available to people she sends out to them? Or, gee, maybe not being a bigot who neglects the vast majority of the people of her country? Of course you don't have a problem discriminating if you think 'foreigner' is some sort of horrible insult. How much better do you think you are than everyone else?"

Gabbie was just standing there with her head through the door, watching and listening, so Malik decided to ignore her for the time being. "You ASSUMED THAT, just like EVERYTHING ELSE, you incurable idiot! We knew plenty about this country and its military before we ever came here, but we did our own research because we CAN and we SHOULD! You thoughtlessly assumed we would only do one or the other, but you don't understand us or our queen in the slightest! You may have been to Sanctuary, but you've seen NOTHING! You know NOTHING! You're an ignorant waste of air and life, just like those damn rebels ... thinking they can have their queen's blessings and then NOT obey her. You can't have it both ways and you're ALL INSANE for thinking you have any right to treat her as if she owes you anything! You think Lady Aisha should be more like the King of Ursium? A King who let's the nobles in the west SLAUGHTER innocent people and let's those in the east get cut down by the Neviskotians while those in the north starve to death and crime in the cities goes nearly unchecked?! Is that what a leader should be like?! You think Lady Aisha should allow Sanctuary and all of Rex-Avaz to become like YOUR BACKWARD COUNTRY, a cesspool of violence and religious strife, all for your completely shortsighted idea of 'equality'?! You're an IDIOT!"

Gabbie sighed. I wish I was a queen ... of something or some place. "Hey, keep it down, seriously."

"I never said I agreed with Ursium's way of doing things but I sure agree with it more than the way youelitists run things. At least our leaders try to protect the peace throughout the kingdom. Yours just gave up," Norbert coldly accused, "How many cities in Rex-Avaz are under her protection? Things sure were different outside of Sanctuary! Oh and religious strife? How about that 'worship Aisha or starve' clause?You're the idiot. A biased, nonobjective, blind idiot who can't see past one city's walls!"

"We're loyalists, not elitists! You have no idea how the rebels operate! Do you know what would happen to us if Lady Aisha did what you're suggesting?! Sanctuary and every other settlement would become a rebel haven in time and they would stop at nothing to destroy us. They would sabotage our forces at every turn, kidnap and kill our people or use them as human shields, terrorize the populace, and eventually turn the capital into a war zone! Maybe that's what you want, though. Maybe you're just so bitter about ideals that differ from yours that you'd rather see Sanctuary in flames than leave well enough alone and focus on your own shortcomings!"

Lowering his voice, Malik continued, "No leader wants to go through something like this, but she made that sacrifice so our people could be protected from this war ... so those who obey her wouldn't have to die for nothing. We can't have it both ways, but at the very least, there is a place in Rex-Avaz where families can live without fear of being wiped out by these cutthroats. She gave us a real sanctuary and I won't let you speak ill of her for it. I don't care how ignorant you are, I won't let you say those things about her ... not in front of me. It's a greater insult than anything anyone could ever say or do to me and I won't stand for it."

So, Bert thinks Aisha should just get with the program and lead in the normal fashion since to him it's better than protecting only select group of people ... and Malik thinks things are better the way they are because Aisha's enemies will pretty much take advantage of any gap in their defenses. I guess you really can't have it both ways, but why does Bert even care? Rex-Avaz is an irrelevant wasteland, Gabbie mused. She then pulled back from the crack in the door and looked off to her left to find Raquel still leaning against the wall. She looked far more depressed than usual. Deciding it was none of her business, she poked her head back in and continued watching and listening.

"Ever think that maybe the reason there are rebels in the first place is because of how exclusive Aisha is about who she actually leads and protects? Knowing there are people who live without worry or strife surrounded by luxury provided by the one who should be protecting you while you're barely scraping by without her protection from bandits and other ruffians sure sounds like a good motivator to me!" Norbert countered, "And if you can't handle anyone talking about that vasilus in anything less than a positive, awe-stricken stupor, then I was right: you can't look at this issue objectively!"

"No, I don't think it, because it's not true," Malik stated matter of factly. "This isn't just about food, shelter, or protection, it's about the one that rules our country, her laws, and her regulations. The rebels appeared ages ago, long before Rex-Avaz became like it is today. They never managed to dethrone her, and so their descendants are just following in their footsteps."

"Hmm, try talking to them about it? Work out your problems that way?" Gabbie suggested.

"The maidens used to do that ... ages ago. They wanted to show the people that Lady Aisha still cared for them and were even allowed to bring these people food, but that wasn't what the rebel leadersreally wanted. Whenever this was attempted, the maidens leading the aiding efforts and their guards and helpers were kidnapped and tortured for information ... and then used as human shields or just killed. Lady Aisha is not going to let her followers be treated like this, so she keeps them all in one place. Until the country is unified again, that's the only way to protect them. No one who won't acknowledge her as their queen deserves her help! I don't care how elitist or cruel you think it is! She's doing this so we don't have to burn loved ones every single day!"

I'm sure there are people who do acknowledge Aisha mixed in with those rebels. I mean, there's really nothing to be done about that since openly supporting Aisha is starting to sound like a death sentence out there, but it's something to keep in mind. Heh, this situation is as hopeless as any other.

"Those bastards can't have it both ways! They can't have Lady Aisha's protection, and their independence from her! They're nothing but a bunch of self important, overly entitled murderers, and people like you, sympathizing with them is just ... just ... urgh!" Malik tried to stand up beside his bed, but was having trouble finding the strength again.

Norbert quietly listened as Malik explained what was essentially Rexia's history, at least from one point of view. Then, after a pause, he sighed then got up and walked right up to Malik before reaching down and holding out his hand. Then, he flatly asked, "Want some help?"

"... no," Malik replied angrily. Despite his answer, he took the pegasus rider's hand a moment later. It was true, he didn't want help, but he knew he needed it if he was going to do anything more than make a mess trying to get around.

It was a simple enough task in spite of the remaining pain from his healed injuries. Norbert gave Mailk a hand up and let him sit back down on his bed before walking back over to the one designated for himself. "By the way, when I was suffering from blood loss, the doctor told me to keep using my muscles. It'll help you recover faster. Just flex and relax them over and over. When you're able to do more, go ahead. You'll know your limits so I'm not going to bother with warning you about anything." By the time he finished talking, Norbert was back on his bed and had his back to the Rexian.

"... ... noted," Malik quietly replied after Bert gave him some advice. He remained seated at the edge of the bed for almost a minute, not saying anything else. I don't think things like this can be settled so easily. If they could, then the fighting between us and the rebels never would have gotten this bad. Urgh.

Gabbie meanwhile, leaned away from the door again and closed it once she had. To Raquel, who was now wiping her eyes, she quietly said, "Well whaddya know, maybe everything isn't just hopeless bullshit after all. I mean those two are still aloive. Anyway, I'm headin' out. I've got some thinkin' to do."

"Thinking about what?" Raquel asked. Gabbie seemed the overly spontaneous type to her, so she was genuinely curious.

"I've got some bullshit of my own to address and now's the best toime to mull it over. Anyway, see ya. Be sure to feed those two when you're done being depressed. Bert could ... also use a bath, I think." With that, Gabbie left down the hall, leaving Raquel alone by the door.

After a bit of time passed, Norbert asked, "Hey, loudmouth. What would you have done if Amon and the others didn't step in back in Sanctuary? If I'd turned myself in, I mean."

"Isn't it obvious? We would have roughed you up, turned you over to the commander, and then gotten reprimanded harshly for it. You were the queen's special guests and weren't to be harmed," he explained. It wasn't easy for him to admit that, but they had acted too aggressively and too quickly at the time. In hindsight, he felt he understood Aisha's reasons for the special treatment a little better, but the way they had taken advantage of it left him extremely bitter.

A smile slowly crept onto Norbert's face. Then, he replied, "Heh. Glad I asked. I thought I was facing a death sentence when you demanded I turn myself in. I still don't know or understand your laws so I had no idea that that was all the consequence was." His frown returned at his next line of thoughts. I don't mind getting roughed up for speaking my mind if I can't avoid it any other way. It's worse to keep quiet and fall in line when everything inside me is railing against the principle. One day I'll be able to protect myself better when that stuff happens. Things like what happened today.

"It's not that simple," Malik muttered. "You were ranting out there like a rebel. If we had any reason to suspect you were, killing you would have been warranted, but not only are you not even from our country, you were also one of the queen's guests. It didn't matter how much you disrespected us all and mocked her or our beliefs, you would have lived. Your group isn't a very grateful one, but the whole city knew that right away."

"I just thought it was dumb how you'd call one vasilus a witch and the other a goddess just because one you're all slack-jawed at and the other you're not used to. It's not the only reason, but you know all the rest by now already. Unfairness is something that sets me off. I've had the bitter end of it enough to react pretty badly to it. To tell the truth, I don't know if that's really a very good trait to have. When I fly off the handle like that, I get the people around me in trouble. It was one thing when I was by myself -- I can deal with the consequences fine -- but realizing the danger I'd put everyone in..." Norbert explained before trailing off, trying to find the right words. Getting frustrated with himself after a short pause, he finished, "It wasn't...fair to them. I'm trying to find some balance now, but... Grr..! It's just one more thing that's wrong with me! Whatever! I'll just...figure something out..."

Malik didn't bother going into his feelings regarding the similarities between Aisha and Lilith and instead focused on the latter half of what Bert was saying. If he hadn't dealt with it that way, he would have just been inviting another argument, and he was too tired to willingly instigate a new one. "You ... aren't the only one. It's difficult for me to think clearly at times. It doesn't really matter to me who does it or what the circumstances are ... when someone speaks ill of Lady Aisha, all I can see is an enemy that needs to be silenced by any means necessary." Malik then let out a small pained chuckle. "I think you're going to find a balance before long. I doubt I will, though. No one back home would fault me for my behavior. It's seen as patriotic ... but many of us are like this and even I have to admit, it's caused problems ..." The maidens must be ashamed of us at times ....

"Heh. I don't know about that... Me finding a balance, that is. I'll sure try, but it's probably as lost a cause as the rest of my endeavors. At least your issue won't come up as often as mine. The world's filled with bigots, sadists and cowards who all step all over everyone else. You'd probably have to go to the desert to run into very many people who are against that vasilus you worship. Me, I'm just against how she runs things. Of course, there are a lot of other people I have problems with besides her..." Norbert trailed off there before discarding that train of thought, "Tch, I'm just blathering at this point. Sorry. You're probably exhausted."

He stifled a laugh there, rolling over onto his back. "Wow, right, you don't have enough blood in you right now. All that yelling must've really taken it out of you. Hahahah! Ah, I remember that! I couldn't even sit up! Hahahahahahahaaaah! It's just so pathetic!" And so his weird sense of humor kicked in again.

"Well you certainly seem easily amused by all of this," Malik noted. "It's true, I feel like death right now and just thinking about moving makes it worse, but I personally don't find being completely helpless very amusing, even in hindsight."

Norbert's laughter came down to a chuckle and he replied, "Oh yeah, I hated it at the time. I don't know why I find things like this funny. I guess in this case...hmm I'm not entirely sure. Frailty's funny, but not all the time. Eh, not like it's worth figuring out. What makes me laugh makes me laugh. Don't let me keep you up, though. I'll be quiet; you need your rest if you're going through blood loss. Have to keep up your strength, right?"

"What little there is left ..." Malik replied, alluding to his condition again. It was almost a ten seconds later when Malik said, "Thank you," and then tried to go back to sleep.

Outside the room, Raquel was still listening, but there didn't seem to be anything else going on. If they really had somewhat resolved there issue, it should have been fine to leave them be for now and focus on her work. Eventually, she decided to take the risk and do just that, leaving the two to rest.

Uncertainty

As the servant returned with some of the strongest imported drinks they had in stock, Weyland said, "Another vasilus, hm? If it was Lilith, I'd have assumed you'd just say so, and she doesn't seem to friendly so 'friend' would certainly be an odd title for her. Then again, I'm friends with a lot of stoic individuals ... take Ms. Chie for example." He gestured toward the woman sitting across from him.

"Dark magic was detected within his mind?" Chie repeated, hoping to confirm. Since this was her area of expertise, she was, if nothing else, interested. The servant set the vodka near Veronika and began preparing a glass for her. Other servants began approaching those taking their seats to begin taking orders from them.

Shadrak decided to try and be helpful here and said, "Yeah, and apparently that's a common thing with mind magic? Honestly, we just hope he's being brainwashed to work for the enemy because anything else is just plain unacceptable, but the guy did say there was dark magic in his mind. He said something else about it too but I can't remember what it was exactly. For the most part it just sort of made the theory of him being brainwashed more plausible. I'm a bit of pessimist at times and even I'm inclined to believe Jethro's being controlled by them."

Chie sighed. "Do you know how difficult it is to completely turn someone to your cause using just mind magic. Overriding an entire belief system and methods of thinking that lead to those beliefs is extremely time consuming. I doubt they've had enough time to do so. Not without a large team."

"And why do you say that?" Weyland asked. This was news to him but he wasn't really invested in mind magic, himself.

"It takes months to completely and properly take control of even a small creature working on one's own, and this is assuming you have experience with that species, already. A larger brain requires much more exploration and trial time, something working alone cannot accomplish this quickly. This all started a mere two months ago, correct?"

"I bet they can do it in ten seconds if another vasilus is involved," Shadrak muttered gloomily.

Gytha came over to sit down by Amon, Malik, and Fizza and asked how they were enjoying Ursium, to which they each somehow responded in order. "I only really enjoy being in urban environments, so that's generally when I'm enjoying myself the most."

"I don't like this country at all, and that is all I'm saying on the matter."

"It's enjoyable enough if you're open minded ... save for being mistaken for a nomad all the time. I wouldn't normally mind, but being mistaken for a thief is annoying. I'm not a thief, I'm a murderer. There's a difference."

"When did someone look at you like you were a thief?" Malik asked her. He didn't recall anything like that ever happening, though admittedly, he wasn't paying attention to Fizza most of the time anyway ... for this mental health.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

"Apparently some vasili, like Hypnos, are connected to the emblem in such a way that they can live 'inside' Raquel in a sense- you'll have to ask someone else for the details, I can't explain all this strange magic well at all," she said waving her hand dismissively. "Anyway, apparently another one of these vasili tried to kill Sardis while Raquel was talking to him- something about spirit springs and emblem powers or something. It didn't work and Sardis and his men attacked us. We killed some of them, but an artificial version of Raquel ended up taking Raquel's emblem piece away," she stated.

[Snowy_One]

[spoiler= Three women, One man, One lunch]That episode with Ayano and Reign was still fresh in Shadrak's mind after he left the inn to go find the others. He had no choice but to put it out of mind when he found Mushirah, Robin, and Tia however. Luckily, they had all showed up at the agreed meeting place. He waved when he found them. "Good morning. Have you been waiting long?"

"No! We haven't!" chirped up Tia, a broad smile on her face as she grinned widely from ear to ear. She clearly had been looking forwards to this for a while now and had been up early to get going as soon as possible with the closest thing she had to a guardian on this trip. A clearly tired Robin who waved weakly to Shadrak.

"Robin has been so good, sitting there and listening to me. She even gave me a hug! I was so happy I forgot what I was talking about."

"<It was worth it to shut her up.>" said Robin in Skotian before trying to smile. "Thank you for inviting me to come along. I am looking forwards to spending time with you Shadrak, and you Tia as well. Did you invite anyone else along?"

Mushirah smiled and waved at the small gathering, catching up to them. "Hey everyone, how are you guys? Are we all set to eat something, or maybe we just wanna hang out instead? I'm up for either option, though I'm... extremely famished. Haven't eaten as much as I used to since I started travelling with you all, heh."

Shadrak tried not to laugh when Robin mentioned trying to shut Tia up. He supposed learning about magic was welcome, but there was probably a limit to how much she was willing to try and take in all at once. "No, I figured just the four of us would be fine." Besides, that's all I can afford if I'm paying for the food ...

It also seemed like it was about time to decide on the specifics of the outing. Throwing in his two coppers, Shadrak said, "We should probably get something to eat, especially if you're hungry. It'll be might treat." Normally I wouldn't volunteer like this, but since we put this off until today, I had time to get some spending gold from Raquel.

"Nonsense!" Mushirah interjected at Shadrak's willingness to treat everyone, "I think since i invited more people, it should be my responsibility to, at the absolute least pay my own way through this. The offer is appreciated though, sir." It was a nice feeling, being able to smile after the recent events, and it was a moment she chose to... well maybe not remember, because it wasn't super meaningful, but she dang well was going to at least enjoy the brief moment while it lasted.

Off the hook then, so to speak. And who knows, the money she just saved me could come in handy for something else later. You never know, Shadrak mused. "If you insist, then who am I to argue. So, does anyone know any good places or should we walk around first and gamble a bit on a good one?"

"I do not know of any places around here at all. I came from Ohka after all. Big cities are not what I know well." said Robin.

"My parents took me here once when I was little and we ate at a nice place, but I don't think it is a good place for adults. It was more geared towards children. By the way, thank you guys for offering to pay for us!" said Tia with a smile.

"Yes, thank you as well."

"You're welcome," Shadrak replied with a wide smile. I guess we'll just wander around for a bit then. I'm not familiar with Ursaea, either ... "Well, let's start walking and see if any place jumps out at us or smells nice."

Waving her hand dismissively and getting a bit frazzled, "It's nothing, I'm just happy to have a get together at all." she said truthfully before going back to the current topic, "Well, I could go for something simple, maybe some hot biscuits, but I'd ultimately feel like a cheapskate if I offered to pay for a meal and only got bread for everyone." At the same time I hope it's nothing too expensive... I shouldn't have offered so quickly then, should I?

"Uh, I'm fine with anything, really. It's just good to be going out on the town," Shadrak said, thinking something vaguely the opposite. He could really go for a full course meal in actuality, so as they walked, he kept his eyes and nose open for some place or some smell that told of large cuts of meat.

"Indeed. We've been stuffed up in that cramped wagon for several days now. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's hardly the worst, but getting the chance go go out and about is just amazing! Especially if I get the chance to relax my brain a bit." said Tia with a smile.

"Tia. You yammered my ear off for ten minutes just now about magic theories." replied Robin in a deadpan tone.

"I know. Relaxing, isn't it?" Robin just sighed and shook her head.

"So, Shadrak, Mushirah, you two are from around here, right? Are you used to places like this?"

"I'm from a kigenese village, actually, an Ursian colony to be specific. No idea how they got away with that by the way. It was a pretty small place too ... too small," Shadrak explained a bit bitterly. "I'm familiar with Ursian culture and a few places since I travel a lot, but I'm far from a tour guide." Actually I almost figured Tia would be the most familiar with a place like this, but she might be from some backwater just like me. Oh well ....

"I'm from Tremere... not from around here... I've never really been anywhere else until very recently anyway." Mushirah corrected, not quite sure how else to answer that. What did come to mind was that she should probably start making more mental notes about where she was, for more drawing purposes later.

As they continued to explore, eventually Shadrak found just the smell he was searching for. There was a bistro nearby and they were open and ready to serve. He couldn't see it clearly just yet, but it was somewhere on the right side of the road a short ways ahead. "I think we may have a winner, ladies," he said as he began to pick up his pace a bit. He wasn't starving, but he was getting a little excited and wanted to see the place with his own eyes.

"A winner?" asked Tia. "What is it?"

"I do not know." said Robin. "But it smells really good. Like a bistro with several different kinds of meat."

"Hey, Robin, may I ask a question."

"Yes."

"You can cook, right? So why didn't you just make us some food? I mean, you can cook, and you can carry it, we could have had a picnic."

Robin stopped, unsure of how to answer that for a moment. What Tia had said was all true, but there was more too it, right? Right?

"Tia. What is important here is not who cooks the meal, but the time we spend together. I could have cooked, yes, but what matters more is that we will spend time doing together." She then looked to Shady and Mushy. "I am sorry, but I do not know how to handle myself well in social situations."

"Can it wait until we've sat down at the bistro at least Robin?"

Shadrak hadn't quite caught the exchange between Robin and Tia since he was focused on finding the bistro for them. As a result, he also missed Robin's apology. "Found it," he announced, picking up his pace even more. "Come on."

It only took him a moment to find a table with enough seats for everyone, but he didn't sit down just yet. Instead, he waited for them to come over and sit down first. This culture's version of politeness was about to present him an interesting challenge. Helping one person get seated was easy, but three? He was hoping they would arrive one at a time so he wouldn't have any trouble getting to each, but that didn't seem all that likely.

"Thank you." said Tia as she took a seat and looked over at Shadrak before Robin followed in suit.

"Thank you very much Shade drake. It is very polite of you to be so considerate." she said, trying her best to smile in response. In truth, she didn't think much of the gesture. She could seat herself, but politeness was nice. Plus, if Shadrak was doing it...

"So, tell me Shadrak, how have you been ever since our arrival here?" asked Robin, trying to start a conversation properly. "And what of you Mus-... Mushi... Meesir... Mushy?"

"Hey! What about me?" piped up Tia.

"You told me already though. I have been with you most of the time anyways so I knew BEFORE you told me!

"Mushirah." corrected the lady sitting down at the table since it seemed slightly obvious that Shadrak was trying to be a gentleman. For his own gains or out of true genuine courtesy, she felt it was the latter but wouldn't really know until something really proved it but that's neither here nor there.

"I've been... better. This whole going around and seeing new places it's, well, it's all a bit much for me. To be honest, I'm really nervous right now, I don't know what I'm supposed to expect, I mean there's only so much I can look at in a book or listen to from hearsay about places outside of my comfort zone."

Sighing and smiling, "But I believe the good outweighs the bad here, so I'll just focus on that."

That's good to hear, Shadrak thought as he took a seat himself. He looked around the area for a moment to see if someone was on the way to take their order before joining the conversation. Once he saw someone coming over, he said, "Honestly I thought coming back to Ursium would be pretty rough on us, but for different reasons than Sardis and random dragon attacks." I was expecting Wrathite troubles. "But like Mushirah said, the good outweighs the bad here." Okay I just lied through my teeth there. It's pretty miserable here overall, at least for me it is. At least I get a break from all of the stupid things for a little bit.

"I do not know what to say myself. I am worried. Very worried." said Robin before sighing. "I am sure you know of what I tried to do with that dragon and the thought that such a thing could even enter my mind scares me. I have few friends, I am in... an unfriendly land, I am, honestly, afraid. I came to this lunch hoping I could get to know you people better and gain a friend... Especially... Erm..." she looked down at the table, her cheeks flushing red.

"Well, for me it's the exact opposite! Traveling, journeying, getting to learn more about magic, test out my theories, and everything is wonderful! I think I may even get a job as an intern for Weyland after all this is done with which I can finance going to a university or work my way up to the top! Aside from... certain displeasures... getting to know other people is nice as well! Robin's been a kind ear and getting to talk to so many magic users is a HUGE bonus! That's why I came along in fact, to see if I could learn more from you guys! And I have learned! I have learned where to find a bistro in this city... though that wasn't what I was really going for."

"Uhh ... that's good to hear, Tia," Shadrak clumsily replied. He supposed it was better that she was handling their constant warring well rather than turning into a depressing heap, but Robin seemed to on the verge of that very thing. "Listen, Robin. It's far better to have a few good friends than a whole bunch of acquaintances in a group like this. I know it doesn't seem like much, but when things get really bad, it's those few good friends who are going to come through for you, not the couple dozen people you know and 'kind of' get along with."

"I agree, really getting to know a few people would be much better than spreading yourself thin." Nodding while she spoke up, she silently wondered what she was hungry for at the moment. "Anyway, all I know is you've got a better chance of befriending people than I do at the moment, you've done stuff and I haven't."

"Yes, I am hoping to expand myself a bit and have more than myself as friends though." said Robin. "Tia seems to be more than willing to become friends with me, but she is only one person, and I think most of what I say goes in one ear and out the other unless it is of interest to her. Shadrak I... I... Erm... I seem to get along with and you, Mushirah, I do not know much about, but I am hoping we can spend time together."

"Say, Mushy, you're new here, aren't you? I have an idea. Why don't we play a little game? We each go around, tell each other a little bit about ourselves, one interesting fact, and answer one question? First person to fail pays for dessert! Okay? I'll go first if you want!"

"I... sure?" unable to answer due to the sudden asking, "And really, I'm fine with paying." she reiterated reassuringly. "Also I can start if you'd like, in fact I think I will. " And with that, she went to thinking about something interesting, something maybe the others wouldn't know. She knew Shadrak may have known this but still, "I'm a bit of an artist, taught from my mom and I can basically draw most everything I've seen." Smiling and feeling like a very small weight was lifted off her shoulders, she motioned right back to Tia, "How about you?"

Tia smiled, practically brimming with happiness as Mushirah pointed back to her. "Okay! Here I go. Hmmm... Well, okay. I was born in a small village along the coast to a family of fish merchants. As a child I was actually told there was no reason for me to even bother trying to learn magic and I was better off learning the different prices for fresh-water and salt-water fish. My coming to learn magic is actually only a relatively recent thing. As for an interesting fact... Hmmm... I once sewed a squid head onto a doll body when the local girls were bragging about their new toys to try and trump them. I... kinda failed. More-so by sewing my thumb into the doll than anything else. I'm lucky mom was there with a fish knife before things got too bad. Oh! I just realized I forgot to ask Mushy a question. Oh well. Anyways... Shady, you're next! And my question is this. Which magic element, aside from the one you use, do you want to learn the most? Don't skimp out either and tell us why!"

"Tia, are you really sure this is necessary. Mushirah already said she would pay." chimed in Robin.

"I know. I heard her. But I want to try and have us all get along and get to know each other better. I figure, what better way to do that than to try and have fun doing so? Plus, there is a bit of risk and incentive."

"Yes, but Tia, this is not how we make friends. My parents asked me to play with Zach and we became friends. Gytha shot me and now we are friends and Shade-Drake..."

"Wait! Shadrak! I change my question! If you could be friends with any one person in our group you aren't with already, who would you pick?"

"Uhhh ..." Shadrak wasn't sure if he regretted getting the new question or not, since the previous one had been proving just as difficult for him to answer. That was when he grimaced a bit. Do I ... have a grudge against this whole group now? I mean I should be able to come up with at least ONE person, right? Okay let's start from the beginning; what do I define as a friend here? Well everyone here I guess? Chelsea's obvious. Faatina? Yeah, I think so. Raquel? I guess ...? No, not really. Not Veronika or Blake either. I kind of tried making up with Gabbie but that could have gone better. I'm not sure what to make of Gytha anymore. Uhhh ... Synthia did take my side when Reign took advantage of Faatina, but I don't really see us as friends either. Aneda gave me a lift over to the battle but that seemed more like obligation than anything else. I'm really not sure here .... "I'm ... really not sure, sorry. After thinking about it, I think I've got about as many friends in this group that I can reasonably hope or ask for. That's really enough for me."

"Thank you Shade drake." said Robin with a smile. Since she was even here, she knew she qualified as being his 'friend', or at least thought she did, and the thought brought a flutter to her heart.

"Okay. I suppose I am next. I... I have no friends."

"Wait, what? Aren't we your friends? Or at least me?"

"Okay. I should be clearer. Back in Ohka, as a small child, my mother and father kept me very busy. Between my brother and I, I was their 'star' child. The straight-laced one who did not get into trouble and who seemed to take life seriously while my brother acted like an annoying brat, whined, screamed, and complained. My father taught me to always work hard and my mother to be careful with who I trust. As a result, I was always busy and the few people I knew were either my parents friends or I did not feel I could trust. The only exception to that was Zach whom I met at a young age and played with often. He was my... connection, I guess you could call it, to other people. I was too tough for most girls, and most boys were either intimidated or did not care about me until I became a teenager. Then Zach left and my brother left and I shut myself out from the social world.

After leaving Ohka, I made the mistake of trusting a group of people, one being a woman with a pet sheep, and the sheep proved to be the only one not using me for a set-up to steal Wrath's sword. After that is when I met this group and it is no secret as to how well I have gotten along since then. I will admit, a lot of it is that I probably have high standards for being a 'friend' and, by most peoples standards, I probably am a friend time and a time over that, but by my standards I am alone."

"That's because you shut yourself out of the world and only listen when it concerns you Robin! Shadrack, Mushirah. Before you came I was talking to Robin and I thanked her for standing up for me, and she didn't even reply. I know people like her. The only way to make them listen is by saying their name, otherwise they'll assume that it's just other people talking to other people. Saw plenty of them when I was selling fish. Well, Robin, Shadrak just said you are his friend, I am your friend, and I'm sure more people people consider you a friend than that! You HAVE friends! You just need to listen to them you pig-headed idiot!"

"Shut up Tia! You always talk and assume you are right! It isn't that easy! I loved Zach and he left me, and I love Shadrak now and he..."

Robin suddenly shut up as she slunk down in her seat, her cheeks flushing red. "I assume I lose then?"

"Sorry Robin. I didn't mean to make you mad. I just wanted to point out you have friends, you just need to accept them." said Tia, ignoring the Shadrak comment. She was sure Robin was embarrassed, but right now, it mattered more that Robin knew she wasn't alone.

She loves him...? That could make things really difficult really quickly. Well that came as a bit of a surprise to Mushirah, though before she'd let out any sort of visual cues towards that, she shifted in her seat. "Um..." she started shyly, "Can we dial it back a little? We're in public, this seems like a much more private matter. For what it's worth, I probably wouldn't have been ok with more people on this outing if I wasn't ok with them. I hope we can be better friends."

Shadrak listened to Robin's story, doing a bit of musing as he did. Zachary again ... okay, I guess that's inevitable with a revelation like this. Her brother doesn't sound too pleasant .... Eventually, something very familiar came up, the circumstances leading to Robin's recruitment. I don't see why anyone would use her as a scapegoat in a museum theft. I doubt anyone would really buy that. Finally, she got to the crux of the matter and simply stated that she was alone, at least in her own eyes. Shadrak had no idea how to even begin to address it ... or what was almost said after Tia's rant. Uhh ... what ...?

"Welcome to Antonio's," said a waiter who had more or less sneaked up on them during Tia's lengthy retort. "What can I get for you today?"

Shadrak sighed. As if he was in any state of mind to order something now ....

"Ah! Yes, please, I haven't really looked over what you have, but do you by chance serve any specialty breads?" Mushirah asked with a spark of enthusiasm. "If you don't, I'd like a bean stew or any kind of equivalent." someone has to start... she thought, not really flustered so much as a mildly amusing musing.

"I would like to have a steak for myself."

"I would like something yummy. Preferably, hmmm... Any sort of pasta I guess would do fine." added in Tia before turning back to the group. "So, where were we?" she asked after Shadrak placed his order. "Oh, Shadrak, I guess I might as well explain why I came along. It's really simple, really, I want to learn more about magic of all kinds, even ones I can't use myself. So, why don't you tell me a bit? You too Mushy. I'd like to hear what both of you have to say."

"I'll see what I can do, Ms.," the waiter replied to Mushirah while also listening to Robin and Tia's orders. It was a miracle that they actually had all of that, but they did. Go figure. "And you, Sir?" he asked Shadrak.

"Uh ... soup. chicken soup, I guess?" That can't be too expensive, and maybe a nice warm soup will help me clear my head.

"Very good, Sir. Will that be all? Would you like something to drink as well? Some water or a beverage perhaps?"

"Water for me," Shadrak quickly answered.

"Tea if you got it, please!" She interjected again, wondering how best to answer Tia afterwards. "Um, what did you want to learn, Tia? Unfortunately I'm a terrible teacher, but I'll try and help out if I can."

"Actually, Mushy, anything you know about magic would be more than welcome to me. You see, I'm fairy young still and unbalanced when trying to wield multiple types of magic. I can use water just fine, it's my natural element, but any others I try to use simply don't work all that well. It takes a lot more focus and is a lot more draining on me to manipulate, say, wind than water. Thing is, learning to manipulate them all opens up many more possibilities than normal, say fire and water to make a steam-jet for example. So learning more magic and better control permits me to do more. The same goes for you, Shadrak. Any magic at all that I can learn or practice with you will result in me becoming more flexible as a spellcaster and, who knows, I may even develop something completely new thanks to knowing more about the other elements."

"Wait, couldn't you just use a shift spell to heat the water up that way and make a steam ... whatever you called that thing? That's got to be easier and more effective than using fire and water magic at the same time." Shadrak suggested. He may not have known how to use any anima magic himself, but he'd done his fair amount of research on it. Meanwhile, the waiter bowed out to go see to the orders. "As for learning from me, I'm guessing this isn't strictly for combat. That's fine, but I only know offensive spells. Raquel would probably be a better teacher for less violent spells."

"Sure. I could do such a thing, but it's important to understand why it works like that as well as to seek out new methods. It may very well seem like something is just another way to do something else, but you will never know what you will uncover. I'm sure the first guy to ride a horse had someone else say 'but couldn't you just travel by walking' without understanding everything riding a horse could mean later on."

"So, what you are saying is that it is not the result, it is the method and reason that matters?" asked Robin.

"In a way."

"So, like how people do not understand why I do not just use iron and steel and use stone instead without understanding why."

"You use stone arrowheads?"

"That's pretty different from this. We know and understand both methods already, though. We're not talking about anything new here. If you're going to make a steam ... thing, adding in more spells will make it less efficient and more complicated. If better results are what you're really aiming for, like your riding versus walking example suggests, then water magic by itself would work the best here," Shadrak explained. It figures I'd be getting into an efficiency debate with an anima mage.

"Hmmm..." she made a noise, thinking to herself whilst the other three were talking and then, whoa, she spoke up like she was in a conversation, "Well... Learning how other forsm works for theories and concepts, sure, but I don't think you yourself learning other forms of Anima magic will be immediately beneficial in terms of practical use together. Perhaps separately they can work wonders, like using fire to produce light, water or ice magic to cool off, using Earth magic to perhaps, I dunno, terraform the ground to be more comfortable, or to be incredibly lazy and move things without getting up. But physically combining the elements together in tandem is... difficult." Finishing her tiny rant, Mushirah thought back to when she tried learning other elements on the side with very little success, a very slight grimace forming on her face. "Just, focusing those different energies at the same time would take so much practice that learning just one to really master is much, much easier on a person, mentally and physically."

"I don't really have a choice. I've already practiced with more than one element." said Tia as she sighed glumly. "No matter how hard I try, I'll never be capable of the master-level water-spells. But I decided that, if the rules of magic refuse to let me do something like that, then rip the rules apart. I may never learn to make a tidal wave or something, but I can still get good enough with what I can do with water and supplement it with other elements to beat someone who can!"

"Mages can not master an element if they cast with two?" asked Robin.

"Well... TECHNICALLY yes, they can. It's just that it takes a lot of work to be able to actually master an element that, normally, a mage has to devote themselves to a single element to have any hope of mastery in a lifetime. If you had some sort of savant or basically did nothing but study you could master an element and learn another, maybe even to mastery, in a lifetime. Just, it would be so hard even then that it's unreasonable to expect."

"So, then, why do you not just focus on water?" asked Robin, confused.

"Because that's so horribly limiting. I don't want to just become some sort of stock water-sage, I want to invent! Discover the world and see all it has to offer. If I limit myself, I'll never be able to do all I want to!"

"But do you really need to learn all the elements?" asked Robin, scratching her head in confusion.

"Woah woah woah, time out." What Tia said at the start perplexed her but she didn't want to say this until she was sure Tia and Robin were done exchanging, "Why can't you become a master? I mean, you're so young! You've got all the time in the world to do it. And..." Mushirah paused to place a bit more emphasis on what she said next. "And, in my less than professional opinion, I don't think a master is a person who knows every technique possible within a given element, but how to properly and expertly apply what they know about their element in a given situation, in a fight or even in just day to day life." While she said that, she silently hoped the food would arrive quickly.

"Well, you are right, and you are not right at the same time. What you are talking about is practical-mastery." said Tia. "In that sense, you are right. Just because I won't likely have the technical mastery of a single-element mage doesn't mean I am incapable of besting someone who does through my knowledge and familiarity with the spells. However, what I'm talking about is more along the technical lines. Here is the thing, though. Each element is VERY different in how it functions. I love water a LOT but it doesn't flow over into ice mastery. All my knowledge of fluid control and the like simply doesn't apply to ice even though all ice is is solid water. They're two entirely different worlds in the end."

"So, it is like the difference between fighting with a sword and fighting with an axe. Just because the two have a hilt and a blade does not make them similar in any way?"

"I guess you could say that. But anyways, to the point. It takes a lot of work to master spells, even basic ones, and if I want to keep that mastery I need to practice. That isn't a problem with single-elementals. Just by practicing the higher-end spells they're working out their lower-end spells so they don't need to waste anywhere near as much time refining, say, fluid-control for example. For a multi-elemental like me, we need to practice all of our spells frequently or else we simply lose control."

"Tia, Shadrak, Mushirah. May I ask a question?"

"Why not?"

"Do you think mages will ever become a lauded elite and repress those incapable of using magic as inferior?"

Hmm ... Mushirah has a point. I mean, looking at it now, I don't need to learn every technique to master dark magic. I need to get really good at what I do know and increase my understanding to the point where I'm a real force to be reckoned with. Learning every last offensive technique has always appealed to me, but it's spreading myself a bit too thin, I think. I don't need rely on a big arsenal, though, that's for sure. I mean look at Kit, all she ever does is throw around dark stars and warp in and out of places, Shadrak thought to himself.

Next came Tia's response and she explained herself some more, as well as pointed out a few benefits of higher end spell practice. After that, Robin asked them all an interesting question. Shadrak responded first, saying, "Well, it's already like that to a degree ... depending on where you are. There are elitists everywhere and it's not just limited to things like magic. There's people with more possessions, more servants, more money, all of the above. Any kind of disparity will churn out elitists before too long, in my opinion."

Deciding to point out the bright side of this particular issue, he added, "Fortunately, anyone is capable of using magic. They just need to be trained. Admittedly it's not always that simple, but I'll personally find a way to change that someday."

"Anyone can use it Shadrak? I do not think so, but a friendly wager seems to be in order. If either you, Tia, or Mushira can teach me any kind of magic before the end of our journey, I will treat you all to a dinner. Nothing big, of course, just a simple spark or two."

"It doesn't really work like that Robin. Magic takes a lot of work and effort. I have a natural talent and affinity for it, and I'm sure Shadrak and Mushy do to some degree as well. But if you don't have it the amount of work to get you able to make even a spark simply wouldn't be worth it for anyone, even with the dinner offer." said Tia in response.

"I'm pretty sure that yes, anyone can learn magic, whether you're willing to put in the allotted time and effort into it without getting dissuaded though is another thing." she got her two cents in on that matter and decided to nod in agreement with Shadrak, "And as far as elitism goes, it's prevalent everywhere, yeah. If there's excess of any sort, be it wealth of any sort or skill of any sort, you're going to have elitism." Having said that, she did offer a slight smile, dripping in a little regret, "If you're looking to actually learn though, I'm not a good teacher. I know how to do my own thing, but I can't explain it in terms that a person just learning would really understand. I'm sorry..."

"It's only going to amount to anything if you actually want to learn to use magic," Shadrak warned. "If you're betting you won't be able to then you've already won that bet."

Speaking of food, the waiter returned with everyone's orders, and began setting the food at the table for them. Shadrak continued while he did so. "Like Mushirah, I'm not sure I'd be a good teacher either. Not only do I only know combat spells for the most part, but I'm also not particularly good at explaining them. Before even trying to train to control magic at all, I'd do as much reading on the subject as possible. But again, only do this if you really want to learn to use it."

Suddenly, the waiter chimed in, having overheard some of that. "Interested in magic, are we? My son has been learning from a dark mage girl for some time now, but he never wanted to use magic for violence. He just wanted to learn to bond materials and synthesize things. Of course he's been bonding weapons lately and making a small fortune, hmhm."

"Oh right ... bonding," Shadrak echoed thoughtfully. You know, that would make your obsidian arrowheads almost indestructible, Robin ... though, I think our only dark mage with enough skill to bond anything right now is Raquel. Connor might be able to bond things with alchemy, but that's just a theory on my part, and either way I'm not sure which would be easier here."

"Hmm...." Mushirah made noises like she was thinking, which she was doing, hah. All this talk of magic and dark magic... I wonder if I should try my hand at it? If someone's kid can make money from it, maybe I can do something with it! She decided to be an optimist about it, perhaps reaching way too far into that pool of the unreasonable, but it sure beat existing in the plains of defeat.

"You can make my arrowheads indestructible with bonding? If you could manage such a thing I could easily load them into a crossbow and they would become possibly the most lethal arrows in this group. Obsidian's weakness is its fragility. It can not take much before shattering. It is why I have to aim for the softer parts. So removing that would be an amazing boon."

"You use stone arrowheads, but have no problem using a crossbow Robin?"

"'Almost' indestructible, and no, I can't; I have no experience with bonding materials. Like I said, it's something Raquel or Connor might be able to do," Shadrak explained, shrugging at the end. "Thinking about something, Mushirah?" he asked the rexian mage, noticing her 'hmm'ing.

"Yyyeeeeah, I guess I am." she admitted, "Maybe I should look into some dark magic, learn how to do some bonding perhaps. It'd be less stressful than trying to learn how to murder someone, I think..." she admitted, this time with quite the sour tone. But this time she had bread to fill her mouth and not feel as awkward. Instead of letting the conversation flow away, she went on of course, "Well um, perhaps we can all look into or something?"

"I'll admit, I am getting fed up with only knowing combat techniques," Shadrak said, looking dignified and studious all of a sudden. "I doubt my teacher would approve, really, but I'd like to look into some noncombat techniques too, so you can count me in."

"Non-combat techniques are the best. I'm actually working on a way to have ships move faster through the water now. I've made the basic concept and even tested it out in a bowl when we stopped for one night. The only problem is that it's too magic-dependent at the moment to be reliable. The goal is to remove the mage entirely."

"Why remove the mage? Seems pretty silly to try and make this great thing from all the magic you know, only to, well, make yourself obsolete..." Mushirah pondered between bites, not really quite sure she understood the idea Tia was putting forth. "Yeah, you should make it easy, but if you do do something like that, you'd be putting yourself out of a job."

"I guess you're looking for mages in general to play more of the same role that engineers play now, without having to handle everything manually?" Shadrak asked Tia. "That's kind of what rune magic is for, but it's only useful in some areas."

"Actually, the reason why I'm trying to make it so a mage doesn't need to be involved is very simple. This is going to be needed to move ships about faster and there are a LOT of ships in the world. Let's say my design works for the sake of argument. On a good day a port city can easily see between twenty and fifty cargo ships arrive and leave, possibly more if this design works. That's twenty to fifty mages who will need to do nothing more but sit around on a ship keeping this design working. Twenty to fifty mages who are going to need to be trained in the required utility magic and demand payment as well for their talents. Any increase in income from the faster ship would be horribly off-set by the mages paycheck. Not to mention if the mage gets sick, dies, or anything that keeps him from working, the entire system is useless. With a sail you don't need to be a masterfully trained sailor to be able to listen to a sick man enough to learn how to raise one, can't do that with magic."

"So, what you are saying is, it is a matter of cost and replicability?" offered Robin.

"Exactly! A system like this doesn't do anyone any good if they can only use it when a trained water mage is on the ship and capable of casting."

"Training sailors isn't easy either if you ask me. I for one was useless on every ship we've traveled on so far because I don't have the physical strength to do the kind of work those sailors do and flinging dark magic at things wasn't going to help in the slightest. Even when I got an explanation of the sail system, I was still pretty confused overall," Shadrak noted. "Just having a ship that's completely powered by magic and only needs one mage--assuming that's actually the number needed--would allow for a much smaller crew. You're down from roughly a hundred crewmen that all want payment to maybe twenty or so. Maybe a couple of dozen more if they move around a lot of heavy cargo. If the system was widespread enough, payment for actually managing the system probably wouldn't be that steep, either given how many mages are running around in the world. Things could get pretty competitive really quickly. Most company ships might even have several or maybe even a dozen mages aboard their ships to ensure they can maintain the system in an emergency," he theorized.

"Yeah... it seems like it'd just put people out of jobs. It's a great thing in theory, but tools like the one you're trying to implement just... well, as he said, it'd make the market very competitive." She had to admittedly borrow from Shadrak's schpiel. "But maybe I'm just sort of looking at it from a purely pessimistic stance, I mean it is a good idea, and I'm glad that you're trying to do it to help out instead of money grubbing entirely, but there's a lot to look into."

"Maybe you guys should see what my system is before passing judgement on how many people it needs to operate it. For now, all the mage really needs to do is move large amounts of water to generate motion and cause a giant wheel to turn. Technically, if we had rodents of unusual size, we wouldn't even need people, but we thankfully don't have giant hamsters to manage the wheels. There is a second, theoretical, level to this but I haven't had the chance to tinker with the hover plates on the Dauntless yet to find out stuff like how much weight they can manage and how well they react with ocean-water."

"It's not passing judgment, Tia, it's casual discussion about pure hypotheticals," Shadrak retorted. "As for the deflectors, if you really want to learn more about them, you should talk with Weyland about it when you get the chance. He designed them, so ... that seems like your best bet for in depth understanding."

"Sure, but... I'm kind of a lowborn mage who is young. If he doesn't want to talk to me, that's the end of the discussion. Heck, even removing class from the equation, I don't work for him, least not yet, and he has a lot of work to do. Gonna be hard getting to talk to him."

"Tia. Why are you talking like this? This is not you. You are usually so hyper and eager to learn and experiment you can not shut up about it even to me, someone who does not know the first thing about magic. Why are you so pessimistic about this?"

Tia looked down, a noticably dour mood coming across her face. "Can... We please just not talk about it?"

Well that's a negative assumption if I've ever heard one. Oh well. "If that's what you want ..." Shadrak said, deciding to not discuss the matter any further. He went back to focusing on his meal since Tia's momentum was suddenly gone and he didn't have anything else he wanted to talk about at the moment.

[Afterglimmer]

Maris had been silently watching ever since the confrontation with the Wrathites ended. When Raquel had told him what he would be up against, he had not expected that part of the military would be among her list of enemies. To further complicate matters, they had also expressed their interest in the emblem as well. They have friends and enemies in high places. Just exactly who are you, Raquel?

However, he had no time to linger on these thoughts as everyone else was either leading their mount into the stables or had already entered the manor. Deciding to see what they would do about the Wrathites' accusations, Maris followed those had already gone inside into the dining hall.

[ReformBlade]

"Oh come now, he'd look positively dashing in a Pegasus tuxedo, and he knows it!" Aneda pursued teh silliness of the moment with enthusiasm and gusto. "And Hannah would be a pretty princess in some luxurious Pegasus gown!" Hannah would have said no but she didn't possess a vocal cord capable of it. So a snort happened, those happen a lot when Aneda talks. "Anyway, um, In all seriousness, if you don't feel comfortable going, don't let me push you into it. Far be it from me to dictate how someone else lives... I hope that doesn't make me a hypocrite down the line."

[Mercakete]

As bad a mood as Malik seemed to be in, he was handling himself pretty politely about it and Gytha could appreciate that. Amon's answer made a lot of sense; it sure sounded like him. Fizza's answer was probably the most useful for conversation continuation and it did pique a similar curiosity in Gytha as it did Malik. She nodded in agreement with her statement of thieves and murders being different, too. "Aye, though it's not exactla uncommon fer them t' be one in the same, 'least out at sea. Didn't know th' Nomads had reputations as thieves."

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

After Norbert entered the manse proper, the first thing he noticed stopped him dead in his tracks, rather unnerved by the sight before him. The maids were lined up in a row, so still and all standing in the same position that they didn't even look real. He'd been focused on more immediate threats recently as there were so many of them that really that was the only way he could reasonably handle them. Now, however, the horrors of Weyland's estate was flowing back into the fore of his mind. Sure he'd thought about Steinn and the other Fallen in the manse, but it was only now that he was remembering the downright unnatural waitresses and now, apparently, maids. Truth be told, he was a little obvious regarding his horror given his nervous frown, focused, wide eyes and sudden stiffness. Plus, he was sort of staring while this poured through his mind: a habit formed to keep the eyes on the potential threat. Thus far, he hadn't thought of anything to actually say.

[Phoenix]

Main Hall

"Another arrival, would you like to be taken to the Dining Area, or would you prefer to be seen to a guest room, first?" one of the maids asked Bert.

Dining Hall

Anna turned to leave the dining hall, saying, "I've got to get back to work, but I'll come and find you later, like I said. Bye, now." And then she was gone.

Meanwhile at the tables, things were getting thoroughly confusing, so Weyland sat there, carefully listening and repeating Veronika's words to himself. "And what happened after that?" It was turning into quite the schedule. Ignoring the ball preparations for the evening, he had to finish getting the details about the last leg of their journey, give them the information his people had gathered, figure out what was wrong with Hoshi's experiment and try to fix it, and inspect the Dauntless and take more notes to figure out the rest of the design improvements. If it was any later than 'early afternoon', he'd feel like he didn't have enough time.

Deciding to let Veronika keep explaining things and not throw in any unnecessary or needlessly distracting details, Shadrak waved to one of the servants to see if he could order something to eat. Once the man came over, Shadrak said, "I'd like a bowl of soup ... mmm ... whatever the chef's specialty is, just make sure there are some carrots and some meat."

"Very well, and would you like a drink to go with that?"

"Just water, thanks," he replied, glancing over at the bottle of vodka Veronika had ordered. That seemed like a bit much to him.

Not too far away, there was talk of nomads, thieves, murders, and pirates. "Oh it's only happened a couple of times, but twice is enough for me to be bothered," Fizza replied to Gytha. "Maybe I should put on a pretty dress with no pockets and ditch the cloak. That might help. That Nadya girl hardly looks suspicious, after all."

"Yeah, I doubt she'd bother with something as greedy as theft," Malik said in agreement.

Amon just sat there, smiling nervously. I'm pretty sure Nadya's looted hundreds in gold since joining us, but I don't think I'll say anything ....

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

"An artificial man named Samael sent a giant beam of light through the Dauntless, but luckily only the wagon itself was damaged. He then proceeded to threaten to kill Raquel's family and friends- the vasilus Thanatos allegedly sent people to protect them however. I had thought the people serving Thanatos were our enemies after our previous encounters, but apparently they have issues with this Organization as well," she said. A few months ago I wouldn't have believed my own words- now I'm casually bringing up vasili like it's nothing. This emblem business is really beyond me...

Nadya

Nadya made her way towards the entrance of the manse, where she found Bert staring at the maids. She looked at them more closely to see if she missed something at first, but didn't see anything too suspicious. "Howdy Bert," she greeted the pegasus knight before turning to the maids. "Where do we go to get some grub around here?" she asked them.

[scorri]

Erion

Wandering into the dining room, Erion glanced around, found a pair of empty seats near Greta, Amon, and the others and pulled out a chair for Jam before sitting down himself. "Well, here we go." Gesturing to a nearby servant, he asked, "Could I have a sandwich? Maybe a small bowl of soup too? And just water to drink." Turning to Jam, he tilted his head slightly, "For you?"

Lumi

"I... no, they wouldn't arrest me or anything, but they would try to find me and bring me home. They would try to send Star Hunter away. He was purchased by the military. I stole him. He could have died! I couldn't stand that. And... well... Mother always wanted me to follow her into the military and then marry high up. Since she didn't... well, I could have. She has connections now. And so does father after he became so well known for his pegasi. Me leaving... it wouldn't be what they want. And I left a note. They should have known I was alive. The fact that they still had a funeral... Well that tells me they were just trying to save face." Stifling a small laugh at Aneda, she shook her head. "No, it's fine. I... will consider going to the ball. We'll see. Until then, why don't we go get food?"

Hoshi

Sitting quietly, she listened to the conversations going on around her. She fiddled with her fork. Diamond... it's just carbon. I've inspected so many times with tendrils. I should know how to make it. And I can make it from coal. What's the problem here? It's like as soon as I try to change the carbon on the edge of the sword, I forget everything about diamonds. Maybe if I bonded a coal edge to a metal sword... I don't think making a pure diamond sword would be feasible. The weight and the makeup wouldn't be suitable. Also, I need to worry about making it sharp enough too. Which is why I want to make it out of purely metal... Quietly waving over a servant, she quietly asked, "Could you bring me a wrap? And also some tea with honey please?" Turning back to her plate, she realized she had someone sitting near her and blushed slightly. "Uhm," she whispered quietly to Pete, "Did you want anything? The servants will get you any food you want, within reason of course. As well as drink."

[Mercakete]

"I uh," was all Norbert managed before Nadya entered room. Then, she greeted him and addressed the maids herself. Well, the idea of going with someone he was familiar with rather than walking alone with one of the maids was far more appealing, so he somewhat hurriedly tagged on, "I'll go with Nadya to the dining area."

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

"Hm, Nadya? Can't say I've been payin' attention. Lot o' people followin' Raquel, after all, n' I'm just doin' me best tryin' t' worra about me self," Gytha responded, "She can usualla handle 'erself in a fight, though. Never seems t' come out worse fer wear as far as I've seen."

[Phoenix]

Main Hall

"This way, please," the maid said before starting off toward the dining hall. Nadya and Bert would now have to follow along if they wanted to get lunch and listen to the information exchange happening there. Hmhm, yes ... follow~

Dining Hall

The next part of Veronika's tale was even more confusing, or rather, more overwhelming, than the previous. Weyland couldn't help but utter, "... the bloody hell are you people into now?" as soon as 'Thanatos' was brought up. He noted that Chie was making a familiar expression, though to everyone else but Shadrak, it looked like little more than a disinterested expression. Her interest was piqued, however, and she was actually taking all of this information in, reserving judgment on the parts she couldn't readily or easily believe, and factoring in the rest. He could tell she would have some questions of her own, soon.

Continuing, Weyland said, "So there are two new vasili involved now ... a 'Hypnos' and Thanatos. What's the latter's interest and what happened after that?"

"I guess you're getting used to the idea of vasili being around after the Lilith thing, huh?" Shadrak quietly asked, hoping not to break the flow of the discussion too much.

"I suppose ..." No ... Lilith has absolutely nothing to do with it.

Hearing the vasili come up in such a way that got the main conversation focused on them drew Amon's attention and he began listening more carefully. Meanwhile, noticing that the servants were taking food orders, Fizza quickly placed one herself. "I'll have some of your best lasagnaaaa~ I've heard great things about this dish and now I'm going to try some."

<"The pasta flavored cake these Ursians eat ...?"> Malik quietly asked in rexian.

<"Yeah>, that sounds amazing."

Reign almost chuckled at that. "Think I'll hold off on the lasagna for now. I doubt any chef on this continent makes it better than my parents, so I'll wait. Though ... some kind of 'pasta' would be nice right now." Reign noticed that the servant seemed to be considering that as his order. That was alright with him, so he nodded to confirm when the man gave him an inquisitive look. One order of 'some kind of pasta' ... appeared to be coming right up.

[Mercakete]

"Hmm guess I'll have somethin' flavorful, but not salty," Gytha requested of the waitor, "N' somethin' that'll taste good with it t' drink, but nothin' alcoholic."

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

The maid began to lead them away and so Norbert began to follow. He was a bit uneasy about it -- it felt like he was walking right into a trap -- but he figured dealing with only one maid alongside an ally was better than dealing with the others that were standing in the front room by himself. As he walked, Norbert kept glancing around, partially to remind himself of the way to and from the dining area and partly looking out for any trouble that could pop out at any moment.

[-Cynthia-]

Nadya

Nadya took the walk to the dining hall as an opportunity to look at Weyland's estate. Ya could fit an entire village in here- and feed 'em with all the stuff inside. Doesn't seem quite fair that one gets so much stuff while other people starve, she thought to herself, though she wasn't going to voice this aloud while she was getting a free lunch.

Veronika

"Thanatos doesn't want this Organization to obtain the emblem," Veronika summarized to the best of her ability. Hmm I may have to be...delicate about this next part. Weyland probably knows I'm Neviskotian, but probably not the extent- and if he makes weapons for the Ursian army he might take issue. "We encountered the dragon Schwartz and several snipers attacking Amon's group. We went in to help but were overwhelmed- Schwartz agreed to let us live if we chose an Ursian city and we named Ursentius. I imagine you would know more about how Ursentius fares than we do," she added.

[ReformBlade]

"Eh... I'm not terribly hungry but if you want company, sure. Maybe a bite, a sandwich or something." Aneda ceded, not really disappointed so much as not sure what to do with things as they were now. Feeling disconnected from people was a weird feeling for her, and she didn't like it, but mortality and the loss of friends really weighed down on her. If she weren't around others right now, she'd probably be a brooding mess, or at least drunk and passed out.

[Phoenix]

Dining Hall

The maid arrived with Nadya and Bert in tow just in time to hear the next phase of the barely conceivable discussion unfold. "Wa-w-wait a bloody moment--you mean to tell me that the attack on Ursentius happened because Schwartz gave you an ultimatum? Why on earth did you pick the capital of all places?"

"Well the other attempts sort of failed," Shadrak noted. "Greta assumed it'd be well defended."

"Well, as it turns out, not one, but two dragons, attacked the capital, Schwartz and Boscov. They caused a lot of damage, but I didn't hear of any civilians being killed and they were both routed within an hour by an uncanny trio of pegasus knights."

"HAH," Greta loudly chimed in, pointing her finger at Gar with a victorious smirk on her face.

"... what ...?" Shadrak was having trouble with the last part; Schwartz had butchered a squad of around ten pegasus knights, excluding Bert, on his own. How did he and another dragon lose to just three? Something didn't add up.

Weyland continued. "The army is still trying to track them down. That's all I know about it so far; one of my main focuses has been on gathering information from Neviskotia for your investigation."

Malik wasn't sure what he wanted, so leaned toward Amon and asked, <"Any suggestions?">

<"Well I was going to get a bread bowl since it's been awhile and this is the only place that makes them ... that I know of."> Amon then looked to Gytha and said, "You know, I thought for certain you were going to order a bread bowl since we know Weyland's people know how to make them, heheh."

"Mrgh, I'll try one," Malik muttered, attempting to place an order.

Opportunists

Eventually, Gabbie let Steinn go, and the Fallen Prince changed into his usual outfit after a short rinse. Once that was done, the two left the training room or whatever that place was and began walking down the halls aimlessly. "So, what are our plans for the rest of the day?"

"Well, I was going to get something to eat, do a bit of light reading, pay my little sister a visit, give Siv her speaking lesson for the day, and then relax until the early evening. Being on a human schedule takes some getting used to, but it isn't all inconvenient. What of you?"

"Oh ... lunch ... then thinking of ways to weasel my way into the rest of your plans. That's about it," Gabbie replied.

"Heh. Well I'm afraid I'll need to be alone while I read, but you're free to accompany me anywhere else if that is what you truly want. Speaking of which, this is actually somewhat fortuitous. Weyland and I will be going to the princess' engagement party this evening. Would you like to come along?"

"Do you even have to ask? Hahahah! Yeah, I'm going." Gabbie then stopped in her tracks, prompting Steinn to do the same. Once they had both stopped walking, she crossed her arms and cocked her head at him. "... why are you going to the princess' engagement party?"

Steinn paused for a moment, then, looking Gabbie right in the eyes, said, "A slight change of plans is required if I'm to stop Valdimarr and prevent the disaster that's coming. The ball presents me with an opportunity to scout out a few more potential allies in the fight ahead. Weyland was not the first human I contacted about this issue, but he was the first to fully cooperate with me which is why I've been able to stay here in Ursium as long as I have. Of course, by handling all of my foreign affairs in person, I may have handed my brother the throne to start. I don't know if the Slaughter of Siblings has come and gone yet, but if it has, Valdimarr or one of my other brothers is now Sovereign, any allies I have left back home have been absorbed into their fold, and I have been branded coward and a disgrace or something along those lines."

"You don't ... have to be 'Sovereign' to stop all this, do you?"

"No, but I do have to be Sovereign in order to ensure that the actions I take in the long term aren't crushed from on high ... and merely to survive. The Emperor, the Sovereign, is not to have living male siblings. I don't plan on changing our traditions out of convenience," he explained. Noticing that Gabbie was beginning to look depressed by his situation, he smiled pityingly and said, "I'd like to ask you for your assistance, Gabriella. Help me put an end to this before my people destroy themselves, and I'll be in your debt."

[spoiler=Where Is the Love]OoC: Tagged for space.

On another massive property, somewhere on the outskirts of Europa, Princess Athena stumbled around aimlessly amid the flowers of a beautiful garden. This estate had some rather large walls that even a pegasus couldn't hop over. Aside from the garden, the other visible foliage was arranged and grown as well as it could have been to make the area look even more beauti-oh my gods, this is a serious Naturan's estate ...

Nearby, a few members of the Royal Guard were seated at an outdoor table complete with a parasol. One of them, a man who simply went by the name Eugene, leaned on the table with his right elbow to support his head while he kept an eye on the princess. He wasn't bored or even tired, but he certainly didn't mind letting himself appear that way in an ordinary situation like this. One of the others had a drink sitting in front of him and was practically meditating.

"Without Boscov to lead them, I wonder if the imperials will continue their advance. One would think they planned for their general's absence, but I doubt the results at Ursentius were what they were hoping for," Eugene mused aloud.

Meanwhile, the door leading out into that area opened and Morgana Wyght of all people stepped through it, looking tired and miserable. With a gasp, Athena yelled, "Morgana," and hurried over, being careful not to trip ... high heels were ... yeah. "Morgana, it's been too long! When I got here, I was going to pay you a visit at the university, but when I sent someone ahead to check, they said you were out of town. Where have you been?" Before waiting for an answer, she hugged the woman.

"I was in the capital ... to make a long story short, I was fulfilling a request for someone. I may need to go back at some point, but perhaps not. We'll see, I suppose," she explained.

"A request? Is it for that one man you won't introduce me to?" Athena asked, looking mischievous all of a sudden.

"No," was Morgana's immediate reply. She then took a step away from Athena and began looking somewhere else. Athena still caught sight of her blush on one side.

"You're so blessed, Morgana. You're actually in love. I'm just marrying Terrel because gods forbid the western houses get completely out of hand in the middle of a big damn invasion."

"Please mind your language, Princess," Eugene quietly said from over at the table.

"I'm hardly blessed in that area at all," Morgana countered. "I can't do anything about my situation without making everything worse. By the way, Athena, if this is really what you want to do, marrying Terrel, I mean ... I'll support your decision and all of that, but if not ..."

"Oh of course I don't want to do this, but ... oh, I don't know ... I ... sort of figured he would give me a reason to call off the wedding before it actually happened, or in the worst case, give me a reason to divorce him later on. I suppose by then I wouldn't be a very desirable princess, would I?" Athena turned a way and said, "Too much is happening all at once, the skotians invading us, the western houses harassing us. I doubt a measly marriage between me and one of them is going to give my father any legroom, but he said it would in the long run, so I ..."

"Oh, I knew it! You're just doing this for the sake of helping your father placate those worthless idiots," Morgana angrily concluded.

"... I um ... ..." Athena stopped trying to figure out what she wanted to say and span around to face Morgana with a big forced smile on her face. "Do you know what would cheer me up more than anything else in the world right about now?"

"... yes I do ... and do not say it ..."

"Tell me about that man. Please?"

"I am going to leave, now ..."

"Please?!"

"Leaving in three ..."

"Morgana, don't ..."

"... two ..."

"That's an order from your superior!"

"... and one ..." True to her word, Morgana began to float off of the ground, but Athena rushed in and grabbed her around the thighs to try and hold her down. That caused Eugene to raise up off of his elbow and look a bit more closely. He didn't suspect Morgana would harm the princess on purpose, but it seemed wise to be mentally and physically alert. "Athena, I don't want to talk about this ..."

"I know, but ... I really do need to be cheered up right now and I'm not turning to alcohol."

Morgana slowly came back down onto her own two feet and Athena released her grip. Then the two looked each other in the eyes with somber faces. "I just can't do it. I don't like talking about things like this because if I act on my feelings, I could ruin what I already have. I'm happy enough with the way things are right now. If I bring up something like that and it doesn't go my way, I'll ... never be the same again. It's not worth the risk, or at least I highly doubt it is."

"But think of what you're missing out on."

"Athena, I come from a long line of incomprehensibly cruel people and I am a very bitter person. I know how I would feel and how I would carry myself as a result if I were rejected. He doesn't deserve to be treated any worse for things neither of us can help. I won't put either of us in that situation ... even though it's difficult."

"I suppose you may be right. I just hate to see you miss out on a real meaningful relationship right along with me. That's a rather bad sign," Athena replied, her last statement being only half serious.

"Ugh." Morgana hung her head. "First I couldn't get you to stop trying to set me up with people, and now I can't get you to stop trying to get me to 'confess my feelings'. There's more to life than pairing off."

"Yes, but you've already done everything else, like mastering your elements," Athena noted jokingly.

"Still, we could talk about happier things for a change couldn't we? Or make fun of stupid people, or anything but this. Come on, let's talk about ... ... hmm ... mmmgh."

Athena glanced back at her guards for a second during Morgana's musing. "We're waiiiitiiing. You can't stop thinking about it, am I right?" All Athena got in response to that was a long groan.

Security Work

At yet another large estate, soldiers from various parts of the country were gathered and security preparations for the ball were being handled and plotted out well in advance. It seemed the Royal Guard and a division of western special forces would be cooperating in order to handle internal security while the perimeter would be watched over by a much larger joint force spread out over a large area with the thickest concentrations of troops around the estate walls and the main building. Colonel Sapphire Langley's task force was also assigned as a part of external security, but the Colonel herself was asked to attend the ball in person, which left Lieutenant Colonel Miguel Taylor in command for the duration of the assignment.

The Lieutenant Colonel, though in charge of external security, was currently within the main building in the dining area, seated with other soldiers from various divisions, hoping to get lunch while he still could. It wasn't every day they didn't have to go to their rations this time of day, but just finding seats was difficult. He wasn't alone, either. Private Amber, Warrant Officer Nadine, Lieutenant Cain (Fletcher), and Captain Cecilia were also there. It wasn't until they found their seats that it became apparent that this was neither a buffet nor a waiting setup. They would all be getting the same food, chicken soup from the looks of those who had already been served.

That made Miguel sigh and hang his head. The next blow to his mood came when the soldier seated across from him said, "You guys are going to have to get up and go get your food if you want to eat, you know. There's too many of us here for them to go around waiting and serving."

"Uuuuurgh ..."

"Well, I guess we'll have to go and get our soup ourselves, then," Cain said.

"Thank you for rehashing that so quickly, 'Lieutenant Obvious'. We're gonna lose our seats if we all go ... hmm."

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

"It wasn't my choice, but what's done is done," she answered Weyland. Not sure whether I should feel relieved or disappointed that Schwartz and Boscov are still alive... she thought to herself, taking a long drink of vodka before continuing. "That was the last thing of interest that happened before we reached Europa- where we encountered the Wrathites. Since Raquel doesn't have an emblem piece anymore, she appears to be of no more interest to them, but it was requested that Raquel meet with Head Wrathite Langley at the engagement ball tonight. I was hoping you would be able to provide us with proper attire- I don't think any of us have those clothes on hand," she noted.

Nadya

"So this is a like a restaurant where we order what we want?" Nadya asked, sitting near Gytha and the Rexians. Damn that's fancy. "I'll have one of those bread bowl things then too if ya don't mind.," she said, not knowing what else was available really. "Oh, and some apples," she added, figuring they had those.

[Ether]

It seemed that their orders were being taken? This house was already big enough but now it was a restaurant? Faatina was admittedly a bit overwhelmed by the whole idea, but this had worked out well enough last time, so may as well roll with it.

"I'll have the same as Reign, I guess." She noted timidly... this all just felt a bit too surreal.

***

And it seemed that boss had immediately begun eating with some of the group members, though Raquel was notably absent. Still, the dragon business was being handled well enough already, and it seemed all too likely that Arietta would in the end have nothing new to report at all. Deciding it would likely be best to stick around just in case, the bodyguard stood at attention not too far from the table that they were eating at.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"What did you hah about? They both got away." Gar responded. He'd kept silent up until now because he didn't want to frontal his existence until the ball came up, but something like this just required intervention.

[Eail]

Alphonse

For the past hour our local redheaded swordmaster that wasn't a noble had been having terrible stomach cramps, putting on a face of only mild discomfort when they had arrived at Weyland's mansion. It would probably have been considered poor manners to become sick over the expensive carpet of your host, especially when you weren't actually with the group that was supposed to be here.

Almost immediately after the group had arrived at Weyland's mansion, Alphonse had no choice but to ask a poor maid which was the way to the nearest bathroom. As soon as he was in the redhead was on his knees in front of the toilet emptying the contents of his stomach from the previous day. He really needed to check things from a local stall before he bought the product in the future...

When that terrible experience was finally over, Al tracked down the rest of the group to the dining hall. Noticeably pale and seeming off, he sat down next to the dancer. "Hey... so what did I miss?"

Zachary

The Mansion of Seth Weyland, amazing inventor and philanthropist, someone of his stature had to have an amazing library. If it was a library that was anything like the one Cervantes had in his possession, there was bound to be some sort of tomes or grimoires that could hold invaluable knowledge for someone that cared to study it. Abandoning the rest of his group not long after entrance, Zachary figured there would be a few requirements in order to earn access to such a place.

Finding someone that appeared to be a member of the staff he asked "Excuse me Ma'am, are those of us that are with Ms. Valcyn have authorization to use Master Weyland's library? Or if not, is there anyone I would be able to talk to about that?"