Return of the Emblem Chapter Twelve: Divergent Paths

[Mercakete]

Gytha shrugged. She hadn't really been paying attention. It was nice to get some time to just talk with Synthia, after all. It's been a while since they just chatted and relaxed.

[Nanami Touko]

Eva decided to hold onto Kat instead of the saddle, figuring that the person riding the wyvern would be a safer anchor. <At least this way I'm sure I won't fall off. Better not mention to her all the times I've crashed Sasha.> Sighing a bit, to get whatever worries there were out of her head, she spoke up, "<alright Kat, let's get her flying. I'd rather not keep Sasha waiting any longer. I fear for the tree he's tied up to. Don't think the Ursians would appreciate their foliage getting uprooted because of an impatient lizard.>" It was an amusing thought, though. "<He's just outside the city, so you should be able to see him fairly easily. Big and green. Holler when you do.>"

[Phoenix]

Dining Hall

"It's alright, we all have our delusions," the woman teased him while declining to inquire any further about the dream scenario.

Over at the table, Shadrak sighed. "Yeah, we do need to be more cautious, which is why I'm trying to find more people for this. We need strong defenders to repel those attacks so casters can wear them out without getting cut down," he explained, glancing at Aneda when she briefly chimed in. We don't want to kill them, obviously, so I guess we'll have to hold back on the offensive a little, but all that dark energy around them will make it hard to accidentally strike a fatal blow with our own magic anyway, I think. "I just doubt Raquel would mind much if we figured out how to do this and then let her know when we're ready." He looked at Gar next. "It's up to her if we go or not, and when, but she's never once contributed to an attack strategy and there's no reason to expect her to now. That's something we've handled with or without her as a whole."

Main Entrance

"Just because I don't trust the guy doesn't mean I'm not willing to work with him for now. The fact that we might end up having to fight Valdimarr ourselves means we could take the matter into our own hands ... and if not, we'll take the emblem by force if we have to. I'd just love the chance to take on an opponent stupid enough to try and con us~" Fizza replied.

"I'm not exactly comfortable going this route either, Nadya, but it was Amon's decision, and I doubt we'll be the ones to end up with the emblem piece at the cathedral. I mean, Raquel's trying to save that friend of hers, right? We've got nothing to counter that," Haythem frowned.

Malik rolled his eyes. "Steinn is definitely going to be our enemy someday, but for now, or until a more convenient emblem piece comes along, we've got to take this lead. Otherwise, we'll have to challenge Raquel for the emblem piece we already know about, and I doubt you want that ..."

Joanna's Room

"Thank you," Joanna said, smiling apologetically at him. She was really starting to hope there would be more to see out there than soldiers, scared citizens, and cartloads of bodies being moved around. She also hoped Glen was alright, but she had a feeling that he was, if only due to where his home and workplace were, a part of the city untouched by the fighting if memory served.

"Well ... I can't leave just yet ... unless I can get breakfast while in town ..." she was struggling with indecision and that caused her to trip up just laying out the options. "What do you think?" she quickly asked, meeting his gaze and hoping for some insight here.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

Gar sighed as Shade Drake completely missed the point as usual. "This is not about her having input into strategy, this is about YOU making plans that directly involve her without her consent, after she just had an outburst over the very same matter, you hear?" Gar scowled at the twity Consolidate. "Sure, the sheer scale is so very much different, but the very base is the same in the end. Emblem Piece for this, or Emblem Piece for that." Gar shrugged and shook his head. "So I would say yes, I'd like you to go get Raquel so she could hear this, but frankly you're pretty slow," in so many ways, "so it should be someone faster."

Edited February 12, 2014 by Script

[Phoenix]

In Absentia

"Slow? What the hell are you getting at, now?" Shadrak got more of Gar's point that time, but given what he ended with, the druid's response was naturally going to zero in on the insult. "Look, I get it, Raquel's got every right to be here while we do this, weigh in, and even decide when, where, how, and even if we do something at all, but that doesn't mean she wants to. Yeah, she doesn't want to be used by Steinn, especially when the chances of some of us dying are a lot greater, but what I'm doing right now is just standard fare. Still ... I'm going to get her if that's what it takes to settle this. If you think you or someone else is 'faster' than me, then be my guest," he motioned at the entrance.

Reporting For Duty

"Uuugh, where the hell is Nadine? Now I'm actually starting to get worried" Miguel groaned as he sat lazily on a crate, watching the soldiers and civilians all around him. Many of the soldiers and officers from Langley's task force were here, some moving demon bodies into piles, others consoling the survivors. It wasn't all that bad in this part of town really, the demons hadn't caused much damage here or killed that many people, but there was broken glass all over the place, and most doors had been busted in by the demons' attempts to breach the buildings and claim those hiding inside. Still, Miguel didn't see much blood in the streets. That had to be a good sign since it hadn't rained.

"Rain clouds," Amber said, pointing off into the distance. Well it hadn't rained yet, but that was about to change.

"So that's why my bones ache," Miguel silently quipped, looking even more depressed. I just don't want to find her among the dead, or learn about this a month from now in some KIA list. The thought's killing me. Can't blame the captain, though. It's not her fault everything went up in claws and fangs last night.

A tearful woman and her child had been speaking with Cain up until that moment. As she and the little girl she had attached to her arm turned to leave, Cain sighed and wiped his eyes. "I'm not sure how much more of this I can-" he cut himself off with a sniffle, "-I can take. Maybe I'm too empathetic. Or just pathetic ..." Her husband died fighting the demons with some of the other guardsman. There are so many stories like this, and here I am making notes and taking names so we can pool the information together later and figure out what's what. We should have been here. We could have done something, anything but clean up and disaster relief. Urgh.

Suddenly a breeze hit Miguel, one too sudden for him not to wonder about its origin. He looked to the source and saw someone--dark avian most likely--gliding down toward the center of the road. From what he could tell at this distance, she was a pretty young thing with white-ish colored hair and wings, a sword on her hip, and an outfit suspiciously similar to Nadine's. Nadine wore a somewhat scandalous version of the Ursian military's mage uniform, and this woman's outfit definitely fit mage uniform regulations, so he had to wonder if she was a mage herself. If that was the case, though, why the sword? He'd never heard of a mage with a sword as a secondary weapon. A knife or a pistol, sure, maybe even a staff if they were good enough, but swords were generally primary weapons in the army. Suppose I'll ask, he decided, just as she landed gracefully in the street.

Alright, now where's Sapphire? The woman thought to herself. She scanned everyone in sight and her gaze soon settled on Miguel. She quickly started toward him, prompting him to get off the crate and at least stand up to meet her. Formalities and all that. She stopped right in front of him and saluted. "Lieutenant Lyra Langley, reporting for duty, Sir."

Miguel saluted as well but didn't bother to erase the depressing look on his face. "Lieutenant Colonel Miguel Taylor. At ease." With both their hands down, he continued. "You're not a transfer are you? I heard a bit about this shady business last night."

"... if I recall correctly, you're not supposed to be talking about that aloud, Sir," Lyra quietly noted. Miguel recoiled a little when she called him out. "Hey, wait a minute. Miguel Taylor? You're the Red Wolf, right?"

"Oh boy, heheh." Miguel began scratching the back of his neck as he took a step back. "I take it you're a fan."

"Well, that's not the term I'd use, Sir. I respect your fighting abilities but I'm really hoping to surpass people like you, not idolize you ... if you get my meaning." Not worded as gently as she would have liked but oh well ...

"Heh ... stepping stone, got it." Eh, not into feather folk anyway ...

"M-milestone, Sir! Not a stepping stone," she swiftly corrected him. That was way too negative. What's wrong with avians? Well ... I guess you can't start a real family with one if you're a human, but is that all that matters? Ugh. "Ahem, anyway, I was just wondering if you were really the Red Wolf because there was something I wanted to talk with you about. Later, though. For now I'd like to speak with the Colonel if that's alright. Could you point me in the right direction?" Already she was intruding on his thoughts again, looking for an answer. She saw Sapphire in some establishment, sitting at a table with some other officers and a lot of parchment. It couldn't compare to the paperwork she used to have to deal with, but nonetheless, she felt sorry for her cousin.

"She's in that tavern over there," Miguel pointed out one of the buildings across the street with his thumb. "Have fun; it's crowded in there."

"Thank you, Sir."

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"I meant you have the foot-speed of a man crippled in both legs. Like, I will legitimately run circles around you while you go find Raquel to prove this if you want," Gar explained clear as day. "Of course she doesn't want to, of course this is unfair, of course this is all sorts of complete shit for her. So don't go making it worse by excluding her at this point."

[Phoenix]

Dining Hall

"Urgh, for Truth's sake, she's not being forced to be absent for this; I said I'd go and get her and I will. If you want to run around in circles like some kind of idiot while I do then be my guest, but the only thing you'll prove is that you're hyperactive and outpace someone who's walking ... big deal." Shadrak glanced at the entrance to the dining hall. Yeah, I don't care how slow he thinks I am. I'm not going to run around all the time when I can just walk. Let him do the running if it makes him feel fast or whatever the hell he's on about.

[-Cynthia-]

Dining Hall

"Oh for the love of Mercy, one of you just go already," Veronika said, sighing audibly. I'm not sure how helpful I'll be against those knights- their armor was quite thick and I didn't see any weak points...

Main Entrance

Nadya sighed. "<I don't think anyone wants fightin' between our groups, that's true. Don't take Steinn lightly though- if he managed to survive against Valdimarr then he must be pretty tough. Fallen select their leaders based on strength so it's not gonna be some old guy in a funny hat like we see in human countries,>" she warned.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"You heard the lady, get going Shade Drake," Gar said, completely ignoring every single thing Shade Drake had just said, on purpose.

[ReformBlade]

I feel really sure of my decision to leave now... Aneda thought, looking between the two men arguing. Is this what it sounds like when I argue? She wondered briefly before simply shaking her head at the situation. Nothing to add wasn't exactly helping, but eh.

"I mean, punching a wall could work, but you might want to try something that won't potentially break your hand, or cause structural damage somehow." Jericho said casually, "It sounds kinda childish, but if you think punching is what you should do, try punching a pillow. Unless you're a goddamn juggernaut, I doubt you'll be breaking one... given you aren't trying to break it anyway." Shrugging again, "I'm just throwing out suggestions that work for me, after all. Suggestions for a thing that i'm merely speculating that you're suffering from."

[Snowy_One]

"Still, a mental link like that, even if done with a poor target and used to give stupid nicknames to babies, is an impressive feat of magic. How did you manage such a thing? Think you could do it again?"

---

"I took down a bear by myself once. Taking down a pillow should only be slightly harder." said Robin, trying to make a light joke before, with a slightly resigned and relieved sigh, she nodded. "Yea. Even if you listen as well as a wall, I guess it can not hurt to try talking to you. Worst case, you ignore me. Best case, you help me. I am willing to take those odds. Where do you want me to start?"

[scorri]

Hoshi

Frowning, Hoshi pointed to a space just slightly to the side of where Steinn had been hovering. "What about here? It's not especially populous and there's very little out there so people tend to avoid it. Well, not avoid but most people would prefer to go elsewhere. It also allows decent access to the capital." She sighed. "It could also be other places too though. There's plenty of Kigen that is wilderness. Maybe this is all just an act of madness after all."

Rune Knight Stuff

Erion grinned. "Well then, if they're off to go tell Raquel, I suppose we get to just continue discussing plans, no? If you want magic damage, look no further." He grinned and made a flourishing motion, after which a pair of daggers were settled easily in his palms. "These bad boys are inscribed with a Nosferatu spell, so not only would I be damaging them, but I'd be healing myself too."

Lumi addressed Orville with her next thought. "If you're interested in helping out, you could come." She smiled at the man before asking, "Do you use magic perhaps? As has been mentioned, these guys apparently have really heavy duty armor. So normal weapons won't work. We've been trying to collect people who can take a hit or use magic. Though I suppose if you're good at defending and can use magic, that'd be the best of both worlds, no?"

[Phoenix]

Dining Hall

"Shut up, and don't waste my time again, you arrogant parasite," Shadrak snapped at Gar as he turned to leave.

Things around the map had gotten rather dull, but Gabbie wasn't planning on helping out against a those knights, either, so she stood idly at first, waiting to see if anything else happened. It was about that time, again, she realized, so she took a seat, made herself comfortable, and closed her eyes.

"The wilderness is fine, but there needs to be a large enough clearing for the arriving forces to gather or they'll be bogged down completely," Steinn noted. "Let's look for isolated areas at the edges of the wilds that still offer an advantage." <They'll use one of the archdemons and a decoy army to demand their attention while constructing the gate. Once it's completed, the Kigenese will face a two pronged offensive that will make the others look pitiful by comparison.>

"Impressive feat of magic? More like impossible," the woman chimed in after Tia, still amused, but not convinced, nor all that interested to begin with.

Hallway

As Shadrak made his way down the hallway, he passed Greta. He was too annoyed to greet her and so avoided eye contact and kept pressing on. She likewise, didn't say a word, noting how upset he looked. Just as well, she was almost through with her basic notes for Raquel and was heading back to the dining hall to put the finishing touches on them while getting another bowl of porridge.

Once he was about halfway to the main hall and the staircase leading up to the second floor, he came across his teacher, Chie. Stopping in place and stiffening up, he forced out a "Good morning," his confrontation with Gar forgotten.

"It's not really a good morning for most, but I suppose it was for me. How are you holding up after last night's battle?"

Shadrak shook his head once, put his hands on his hips and sighed. "I'm trying not to think about it. It was like one big nightmare, only I know it wasn't. It was all real. I did almost die, I did almost kill Amon, and I did get Mushirah seriously injured. I'm not going to let this crap happen ... ever ... aga- ... Hmm, Teacher, what are you wearing?" He'd noticed her in a silk robe and she didn't appear to be wearing much underneath it, but until now, he'd been trying to ignore it.

"Weyland has no sense of taste, but luckily he has other people for that. This particular piece just happened to be in my size," she explained while looking over the fabric in question. "I'm only wearing it because a ball gown is inappropriate at the breakfast table and the outfit I arrived with is being cleaned. Also ..." she crossed her arms at the young druid, "what's being served for breakfast?"

"Porridge, apples, and Gar's bullshit," Shadrak angrily shot back.

"Hmm, suppose I'll pass, then," she decided, turning to go back the way she came. "I'll be in Weyland's room if you need me."

"Weyland's room?" Shadrak cocked his head. "Why would you be in his ro-" "Because I slept with him, that's why. Don't be so naive," she interrupted him, causing his jaw to drop. "What?! B-but why?!"

She waved back at him as she walked away, not bothering to look back. "I'm sure you have other things to do besides questioning me. Best get back to them."

Main Entrance

"Save for Rex-Avaz. In that country it's 'Lady Aisha' until the end of time," Fizza noted teasingly. "You know I once heard that if something ever happened to her the whole country would be destroyed. Not like there's much to destroy to begin with, but it was interesting when I heard it. Thought provoking, especially since I was raised to despise that woman and guys like these," she glanced at Haythem and Malik.

Malik met her glance with his own squinting suspicious version.

[Snowy_One]

"A person who knows something and knows that they know it is smart and worth following. A person who knows nothing and knows that they know nothing is wise and can be taught. A person who knows nothing and thinks they know something is dumb and should be avoided. Raquel has a strange medallion with unknown properties which was used to do something previously thought impossible. I don't know if it's real or if Zach is just toying with me, but if he isn't, learning about such a thing would certainly be wise, no? If he is, all I need to do is find some spell that makes all water taste like sludge and follow him around for a day or two to teach him a lesson.

[ReformBlade]

"You can start wherever you want, I've got nothing to do and lots of time at the moment, so you've got my full attention here." Jericho said with an ever so slight smile at the woman's joke, seeing it as a sign that he had gotten her to at least try it his way for a moment. She's taken down a bear? Not bad... I'm going to assume she didn't have access to magic so, good on her for that.

[Snowy_One]

Robin shook her head. "I wish I knew where to start myself though. I have a... A lot of problems and worries. One of which is... Well. Look around you. Everyone here is someone special. Someone with some unique ability, some inner strength, or special reason for being here. They all have some purpose or reason. Even the kids here have some reason. Meanwhile, I feel like less than the background compared to them. My ability? I make weapons from stone. Weapons outdated before there was even a date to have them be outdated by. My strength? I seem to be invisible to everyone near constantly except for when they need target practice. My reason? I was caught and am indebted to Raquel now and nothing else. I have no attachment to this group, for I am an outcast. I have no impact, for no one seems to care about me. I hold no attention, for I am not even important enough to merit remembering unless I yell. I have no purpose, no reason, no... no anything. And now my family is in danger. Why would I stay when not even a man I once considered my friend will talk to me unless I trap him like a deer in favor of finally having even a simple goal like saving my family?"

[Mercakete]

Cecelia was having trouble focusing on her task. In addition to being frustrated that they hadn't been able to save anyone where the "demons" from the previous night actually struck, she kept wondering where Nadine was and how she was doing. Part of her just wanted to get into Snowshard's saddle and organize a search party. Another, larger, part couldn't turn away from the task at hand. The attack on the city had been a gut punch and she was having trouble coping with it all. The sound of misery was all around her in the tavern. Already, she'd heard report after report of various combat scenarios and kept reflexively formulating plan after plan of things that she could have done if she'd just been there. Already, there were quite a few soldiers killed or missing in action. One or two were even a part of the sisterhood. Learning about their deaths was among the more personal of the reports.

Currently, she was writing down the testimony of one of the local guard who simply could not maintain his professionalism. He didn't seem to care -- his emotions were running too high. "So, w-we checked the house..." he was saying, on the verge of crying, "It was covered in blood... I saw people-- or, what used to be people... They were all torn to bits..."

"I know this is hard for you," she gently put forward. He looked like he could break down any second. "Do you need a moment?"

"N-no, no..." he waved a hand, refusing the offer. Then, he took a deep breath and continued, "We...we were flanked... There were still demons in the house, and demons snuck up on us from the street... I...I was supposed to... I was supposed to...!"

As he broke down and started sobbing, Cecelia quietly asked, "You were supposed to keep an eye out for demons in the street, weren't you?"

When his sobbing became about twice as loud, she figured she'd guessed right, but would wait for a nod or something. After a deep gasp, he blurted, "It's because of me... It's because of me! If I just hadn't gotten distracted... If I'd just done my job, maybe they'd still be alive!"

"Please calm down, sir," Cecelia somewhat embarrassedly tried to console, glancing around, "There are civilians in here... If they see you like this, how do you think they'll respond?"

"I don't care... I just don't care anymore!" he replied, pounding the desk once with his fist in frustration, "I should've died with them! I should've stayed back and fought! I...I abandoned them... I abandoned my friends! I'm just a coward! That's why I'm still alive, by Wrath! That-- That's why...!" And then he was sobbing again.

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

Flying was simply the most viable option for Norbert. He didn't know Europa's streets that well and he had a schedule to keep. What he saw from the air was disheartening, though. The estate had been under siege, yes, but the city of Europa was hit hard, too, this time. I guess that's why it took so long for Raquel and the others to get back to the estate... Mercy... If it looks this bad from up here... Suddenly, he was quite glad he'd chosen the aerial route, for more than just convenience's sake. In addition, he made a note to ask someone at the estate about who all was still alive, fearing for some of the people he didn't see at the dining hall. Where was Valter..? And what about Ranyin...? No, no, they're probably fine. People who know Raquel tend to survive stuff like this. They'll be okay. Come on, just focus on getting that certificate. It was still difficult for him to not think about, though.

After a time, the cathedral came into pretty clear view...though it was kind of unusual. There were a bunch of guardsmen around the building, some of whom were big and imposing and standing stark still. There were no civilians in the area and the evidence of some fierce combat was splattered all over the ground. Carts and wagons seemed to be moving around to and from the cathedral, but most of them were being unloaded or prepared for departure.

Well this is worrisome... "Hey!" Norbert called as he and Rizen swooped down and landed to talk to one of the guard. They trotted the rest of the way, "What happened here? And what's going on now?" Who's still alive? Imagining a church full of corpses was a pretty grotesque thought and he sincerely hoped that wasn't the case.

[Phoenix]

Hallway Part Two

While on his way to Raquel's room, the thought to stop by and check up on Mushirah, but for two very annoying reasons, he couldn't bring himself to do so. For one, the first reason he expected Gar to say when he got back was how slow he was. The second reason was because Mushirah actually did need some rest and he didn't want to wake her if she was still asleep. He could always check on her after this archives situation was sorted. It wouldn't take too long as long as there weren't anymore missing VIPs.

He arrived at her door and knocked a few times. He heard a thump, like some one falling flat onto a bed and raised an eyebrow. He had half a mind to peek inside but the other half stalled until he got an answer. "Who is it?" came Raquel's voice.

"It's me, Shadrak. We need to talk."

"Can it wait? Just a little bit? I was actually training for a change."

What?! Seriously? NOW?! Lord Truth, please, please give these people better timing, for my sake, urgh. "It's really important."

The door opened after a moment of silence and Shadrak was startled to see Raquel aglow despite what she'd just told him. She was also wearing that outfit she'd made during the trip. She looked like she was ready to go out somewhere. The glow faded as she began speaking to him. "What is it?"

"Uh ... we're having a meeting about the emblem piece we're trying to retrieve from the archives. Gar wants you there. Well, we all do, but you were upset earlier and it seemed better to come and fill you in later. That was my idea, but Gar insisted I come get you."

"Huh, Gar did?" I'm not really leadership material, but I'm glad even he's giving me a chance. it always seems like he's got better things to do. Or maybe he just doesn't want to see Shadrak calling all of the shots here. Normally she wouldn't be amused about something like that, but as Shadrak could tell, she was in a good mood, at least until he arrived. With her reply came a bit of irritation.

"You seem a little ... different," Shadrak just came out and said it. "Happier ..."

"Well I am feeling pretty good right now. According to Hypnos, there's enough energy left for me to not have to worry about running out just yet. He's only being conservative with it so that I don't have to," she explained, the smile on her face growing wider.

"That's good news ... even though we'll have a new emblem piece by day's end if all goes according to plan and this won't really matter anymore," he shrugged.

"I also know exactly how the spells I've been using work now," she added. "I should be able to improve them over time, now." Okay that first part was a lie, I don't have any idea how they work really, but I do have a solid grip on them now.

"That's really good news. You'll have to show me later."

Raquel shook her head at that. No way, not when now was the perfect opportunity. She grabbed him by the wrist and warned, "Don't lose your balance." The two of them were then instantly engulfed in the emblem's light and reduced to fist sized orbs that quickly raced down the hall together.

Grand Cathedral: Outside

"Have you been living under a rock the last couple of days? Some feral beasts came out of nowhere and killed every living thing they could catch. Right now we're sweeping the city for any that might still be hiding and shipping supplies around to the shelters. The cathedral's serving as the largest of said shelters so it's got priority." With the question answered, the guard ended with a firm, "Now, go inside if you need help, or speak with the captain if you'd like to help out around here."

Tavern

After leaving the Lieutenant Colonel in peace, Lyra made her way across the street and entered the tavern. It was much like she'd imagined, only from a slighly lower vantage point. Miguel was tall, at least tall enough to find the Colonel mixed in with this small crowd. Lyra on the other hand had to constantly get on her toes and lean around people to try and search for her cousin. Soon, though, she spotted the blueish locks she was looking for and moved in. "There you are ..." she tried to give a big smile, but only managed a weak unconvincing one.

"Lyra, you're here sooner than expected. Did my father anticipate my answer?"

"I ... suppose? I haven't heard directly from him, actually. That aside, it wasn't a long trip, but I am tired. Coming from the capital to here in just one day isn't easy," she frowned.

"I can imagine. Have a seat somewhere and rest. Keep an eye out. You'll figure out what's going on soon enough. After that, feel free to lend a hand," Sapphire instructed.

"Yes, Ma'am," Lyra nodded.

Edited February 13, 2014 by Phoenix

[Mercakete]

"Whoa, whoa, wait, I'm here for an appointment," Norbert informed, taken somewhat off-guard. He was busy processing the new information when he'd been given the instruction and only then realized that what he'd just said sounded really insensitive. It was the truth, though, so, a little frustrated at his speaking before thinking, continued, "I was caught in the fighting, too. I just didn't know it reached all the way over here." Better to be discreet about Weyland getting attacked for now, I think. "I've already been tended to and I had an appointment to get to today. Do you know if the church is still handling those, or should I go inside to ask? And are pegasi allowed in the church?" May as well get the answers to all my questions right now if I can.

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

Cecelia was having trouble getting the soldier to calm down. He was outright bawling at this point with his face buried in his arms on the table. Being gentle wasn't really helping and she was getting a little frustrated with how long it was taking to try to get through this report. There were a lot more people she had to get statements from and, quite frankly, his behavior was both embarrassing and very inconvenient. Still, she couldn't help but sympathize with him a little. Nadine was out there -- somewhere -- on her orders....and this was just the break to think about that that she didn't need.

Heaving a sigh, she contemplated one of two options she had to deal with this sobbing soldier. Thinking through the possible outcomes for each. One of them involved simply waiting out this one's lack of composure and possibly getting started on getting the statement from someone else, and the other method being...potentially unnerving to the civilians in the room and likewise traumatized soldiers. Hmm... I could try to get around that. Plan decided, Cecelia's concerned look completely vanished, revealing the hardened military woman she was.

"Soldier!" she snapped. It wasn't as loud as she would have preferred it to be, but she didn't want to frighten anyone standing by. The man jolted halfway back into a normal seated position, round, wet eyes staring at Cecelia in surprise. Indeed, the reflex that'd been ground into him was still intact, even if it wasn't as potent as she was hoping for. Mercilessly, she continued, "I don't care what you did or didn't do out there. The past is over and done with -- tend to the responsibilities before you!"

"Y-yes ma'am!" She's scary!

"Now," she went on, more calmly as she picked up her pen again, "describe the events of last night as you saw them unfold. You were saying that you and your companions had just entered a house filled with blood. Was there anything between that and being attacked from both sides by the demons?"

[roymbrog]

Katrina

Uprooting trees? Woah… “<Alright, shouldn’t be too hard to spot,” Kat replied after being given Sasha’s description. “<Here we go!>” She gave the signal for takeoff, and Volga pushed herself up to her full height, took a few running steps forward, and with a beat of her wings launched them into the air. They kept gaining altitude as the wyvern flew towards the edge of the city and Kat was keeping an eye out below. Unfortunately, that also meant she was seeing the aftermath of last night much clearer in the daylight. “<Wooaaah…. This is… pretty bad.>”

---

Synthia

“I’m sure they’ll tell us later…” Synthia reasoned. There was a rather amusing argument between Shadrak and Gar, but all in all she didn’t really want to deal with any of them right now. If they needed her she was right here to talk to anyway.

“So… what are your thoughts on this gate business?” she asked Gytha. She knew the woman grew up in a port, so it was unlikely her hometown was directly threatened by one of these things.

---

Valter

Valter was amused by her indecision, though he had to admit it was kind of cute. “Heheh… Are you asking me to decide breakfast for you?” he asked. “It’s probably chaos outside, so it would be better for you to eat before we leave. I think they were making a vegetable soup, unless Horace got that for me on his own…”

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

Gar grinned wide as he could and waved goodbye when Shade Drake had finally had enough and left. So Gar kicked back and lounged around till Raquel came back. Everything was just going so swimmingly it was amazing.

[Phoenix]

Flash

Greta returned to the dining hall and found that the distribution of its occupants was a little different from before. There were fewer but bigger clusters now. She returned to her seat beside the infant's temporary caretaker (the woman who shall not be named in this post), and began going over the notes she'd brought with her in silence.

"Hmm ... that's weird," Gabbie winced, her eyes still closed. "They shouldn't be moving that fast ..."

Without any further warning, two speeding lights came in from the entrance and exploded in the center of the dining hall, revealing Raquel and Shadrak. The former had stuck her landing and as the light faded she could be seen kneeling with her arms out for support. "It worked. As long as know where I'm going, I can make all the twists and turns I want."

Nothing saying you can't just go through a wall if it's in your way, Hypnos noted.

Shadrak on the other hand, had toppled over during their landing. Since he hadn't expected the speedy trip in the first place, nor the lingering momentum, he wound up on his stomach. "Urgh ... agh ..."

"What in the world?!" Greta scooted back in her chair in surprise. The woman beside her was caught completely off guard and couldn't even flinch like she had, choosing instead to just sit there and gawk.

Weyland meanwhile crossed his arms, leaned back and as a faint smile began to appear on his face, he said, "Now what's this? Find another emblem piece already?"

"Urgh! Yeah, the one we're going to go get if there aren't anymore pointless delays," Shadrak growled as he hauled himself up. "There, are you happy now? She's here and accounted for."

Outside the Cathedral

"I said if you need help, go inside, kid," the guard irritably replied. Apparently he meant any kind of help, even simple information. Still, since he had some idea about the other question ... "Pegasi are allowed in but only pegasi, and only with someone's permission. You'll have to head inside on your own first to let them know what's going on ... though, under the circumstance there's probably all sorts of creatures running amok in there."

Within the Cathedral

"The city's still in turmoil?" Joanna asked, any sort of hope quickly fading. She was no longer sure why she was expecting to be able to leave the building and have breakfast outside if she wanted. Maybe it was because less than half of the city was affected by the attacks directly, and they were headed to one of those areas. Still, there were likely hundreds of people heading into those areas and taking the dreadful atmosphere along with them. She likely wasn't going to have her usual upbeat breakfast.

"Inside it is, then ..." The smile she tried to force lasted half a second and then vanished.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"You need to learn to stick your landings," Gar replied, completely ignoring the random surprise of how they got here because it would frankly be more entertaining to harass Shade Drake without even acknowledging it. He looked over at Raquel. "So, you seem to have spent your time wisely. Good job, I think."

[Mercakete]

"Soulds like a lot o' trouble," Gytha replied when asked about her thoughts on the gates. Resting her elbows on the table and her chin on her hands, she looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully as she went on, "The Fallen want t' take o'er Kigen, Ursium n' Neviskotia, but there're still places that sound pretta safe. Rex-Avaz n' th' islands, fer example, not t' mention th' sea its self. So, it's not like there's nowhere t' go n' all humans're goin' t' die. Still..." she brought her gaze down to the table seriously and sighed "that's a loooot o' death... N' if they conquer even one o' those countries, a lot o' people're goin' t' lose their homes... N' then they'll have more supplies, which endangers th' rest o' th' world."

The mariner came back up to an upright, seated position and crossed her arms, looking back to Synthia. "So, I think those gates have t' be dealt with. Maybe not by us -- we're not th' onla fighters out there, n' some others're probabla better-equipped fer this sort o' thing, s'long as we warn 'em -- but we can't give th' Fallen ana quarter. If they get even one step forward, they'll gain far too much momentum."

Speaking of momentum, suddenly, two bright lights zipped into the dining hall and exploded, revealing Raquel in a new outfit and Shadrak who...landed less gracefully. Gytha stared at them in surprise at first and vaguely began wondering about it. What happened t' Raquel? She's...a lot different. She had to admit, she'd grown used to seeing Raquel as just a hapless merchant who lamented her sorrows extremely often and was perpetually in a state of emotional slump. This Raquel looked like she was ready to actually do something about things. She was too surprised to really feel one way or the other about it yet.

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

Norbert nodded to the guard -- which apparently was a sign of thanks, a sign of acknowledgement and a farewell all in one -- and rode Rizen the rest of the way to the cathedral. During this short trip, he wondered yet again Seriously, do I REALLY look THAT young? It was just a passing thought, but it was born of mild surprise, confusion and some slight exasperation. Suddenly, he recalled what one of the guardsmen from For Dailey had said about his having imagined him to be taller. ...Am I just short or something? I can't be THAT short, can I? I mean...I'm 5' 10"... That's about average, isn't it? The very fact that he couldn't figure this out was beginning to irritate him.

Now, there was an interesting dilemma before him. Once he'd turned his attention away from the annoying puzzle about why people seemed to refer to him as "kid" more often than made sense (at least to him -- in all likelihood he was just overthinking it), he began to wonder about what to do about Rizen. Proper procedure was apparently to leave the pegasus outside, head inside and ask someone about her coming inside and then bring her inside. From the other thing the guard said, though, that probably didn't matter much, so he tossed that idea and just dismounted at the door and led the pegasus into the cathedral and began looking around for someone he could talk to about the pegasus combat ceremony.

[Ether]

With the sudden reappearance of Raquel... as well as Shadrak's accompanying faceplant, bathed in golden light, Faatina couldn't help but remember that whole dream scenario... that night had been a disaster but she vividly recalled the flash of light that Raquel had used to flood out that odd black tar. If the merchant was gaining confidence in her abilities, then perhaps using that floodlight as a weapon wasn't such a pipe dream afterall...

It was at this point that it struck Faatina that, two of her travelling companions had literally just blinked into existence out of absolutely nowhere in front of her eyes, and she hadn't so much as blinked.

"Man... that doesn't even phase me anymore... I guess I've passed the point where I can still call myself a normal woman, anymore..." Faatina noted with a light sigh, not to anyone in particular. Of course, she was unsure if anyone was even listening.

***

So that girl was finally getting some confidence... good, if she could learn to protect herself that made everyone's lives a bit easier... though Arietta supposed in a few short moments, it may not even matter anymore, as far as her concerns could carry. She didn't wish anything foul upon the merchant, but unless boss reassigned her to the woman's protection, she had far too little time with the woman to grow any sort of real attachment.

***

That woman was outputting the same sort of golden energy source that those clones of Valdimarr had... Annelise struggled for a few moments to keep her attention trained on the proceedings, as per her instruction, before snapping back towards Steinn and the maps.