Return of the Emblem Chapter Thirteen: Revelations

[roymbrog]

As Gytha slowly swung her sword, Katrina mirrored her step forward with a step back, raising her axe as if to deflect the blow. Under normal circumstances, if her block had succeeded, it might’ve given her an opportunity to strike back, so with a grunt she swung her axe back and down as if she were doing do. It was a bit harder than expected to keep her swing slow, with gravity fighting her instead of helping as usual, but Gytha had plenty of time to react regardless.

[Mercakete]

Gytha's grin widened. Practicing slowly like this was both fun and helpful. Not only was it safer than a regular spar, but it helped her to see and understand Katrina's fighting style a lot better than she previously had, not to mention paying attention to the details of her own. The mariner leveled out her sword between herself and Katrina's axe, holding it horizontally and resting her fee hand on the flat of her blade to catch the axhead. Now, it was true that depending on the weight of the axe, and its momentum, that Gytha was risking her sword here, but the blade, being broad as it was, was fairly sturdy, and already Gytha's step back put her into a position to retreat some once the pressure was off. For now, it was giving Katrina something to hit besides herself. As soon as Katrina brought her axe away, Gytha fully intended to repurpose her left hand.

[-Cynthia-]

"It would be helpful if they did. Part of me wants to check myself but...too many people climbing buildings would probably draw unwanted attention," Veronika admitted to Arietta.

[roymbrog]

OoC: If I understood right I have some minor Gytha CCs here. If this isn't what you meant Merc, just let me know xD

The rune axe met Gytha’s blade with an audible clink. Though Katrina wouldn’t have hit Gytha herself, in an actual fight she wouldn’t have the luxury of stopping her swing before the collision so following through with the motion seemed fair. She lifted her axe off the sword and pulled it back and to her right, leaning back on her right foot as she prepared for a horizontal swing at an angle more difficult to effectively block. As she stepped forward and started her slow swing, however, Katrina found herself face to barrel with Gytha’s pistol.

“Wha-! When did you draw that?!” she exclaimed. The head of her axe slumped towards the ground as her swing was forgotten. She was pleased with the mock-fight’s end, if her smile was anything to go by, but she did glance at the pistol warily. “Wow, you really don’t mess around, huh? ….That thing isn't loaded, is it?”

[Mercakete]

(( That's perfect! Thanks. ^_^ ))

What had occurred was once the pressure of Katrina's axe was off of Gytha's sword, the mariner took the opportunity to pull her sword back. She'd kept it pointed in Kat's direction, but now that her other hand was free, she'd drawn her pistol, pulled back the hammer, and pointed it right at Katrina's head. Now that the fight was over, though, she made the gun safe again and holstered it, loosing a booming, jaunty laugh.

"HAHAHAHAHARRR! A'course it was!" Gytha answered, huge grin not letting up even a bit, "Why wouldn't I keep me pistol reada t' shoot? But that was fun! It was slow, but ye put me on guard! I like how ye fight! HAHAHARRR!"

[scorri]

Erion shrugged. "Should one of us head to the roof anyways? Get a lookout up there asap and such?" He said that but even still started opening up the nearest door to try and see what was inside.

[Phoenix]

Room By Room

"Sure," Reign nodded, "Tina and I can check the rooms while you check the roof. Don't forget to see if there's anything happening over at their hideout, too." That was why they were here, after all. When Reign reached the window, he found that it was large enough for any of the three varieties of 'bird' to have broken in through ... and it was broken, alright. He took a quick peek outside, expecting to find nothing. "... ... whew ... well, I guess a lack of blood or a body down there doesn't really tell us anything; it could have been cleaned up and moved hours ago." He then stepped away from the window and approached the closest room on his left, preparing to check inside.

Their Aims

'Wouldn't matter', Colin took note of those ominous words. Maybe Raquel's just a front. It's way too hypocritical of her to be so up in arms about Sardis blowing up a ship full of soldiers and then to threaten us with the same. But this guy on the other hand ...

Sardis frowned. "Tell me, Raquel ... what are you hoping to accomplish here? Rescue your father and be on your way? Leaving us powerless to retaliate? Do you expect it to be that simple?"

Raquel nearly flinched in response, unsure if her lack of singing was giving Sardis insight into their plan or if he'd pieced that much together based on her earlier reply. Either way, she wasn't planning on letting him figure out the more crucial part of Gar's plan and so quickly thought of an old song she knew and tried to piece together her own version of the lyrics. "I figured that with you in this condition we at least had a chance; I don't want to fight you people, I just want my father back."

"And Samael wants you dead ... he'll risk all of our lives to that end. It isn't wise to show him your hand so early." One of the grunts had already taken off to track down Samael, however.

Just as well, Raquel didn't want to stall any longer than necessary. The more time their enemies had to really think the situation through, the easier it would be for them to find something about it that they could exploit and turn the tables. It was also more time for her doppelganger to get involved, and even ran the risk of the group charging in to rescue them prematurely.

Colin, feeling that the request to get the leaders together was inevitably going to turn into an assassination attempt, quickly unsheathed his blade and leveled it at Gar. "Aside from your explosives, you've got to have other weapons on you. I want you to hand them to Raquel nice and slow. If not, we may just find out if those explosives are as powerful as you claim."

[scorri]

Erion nodded. "Right then. I'll head up that way." Checking the arrow again to make sure it was placed well, Erion headed up the stairs. Testing the door, he found that it was unlocked. With a slight smirk, he opened it and headed out. Guess my particular services were unneeded here. Ah well, least I got to stretch my legs. Emerging onto the roof, he stayed tucked low, hoping to avoid drawing attention from anyone who might be on another roof.

[Snike]

Blake had ended up staying at the archive for a few more hours than he initially planned, spending it studying a few books and engaging in a brief conversation with Nadine. Time flew, and by the time he had returned to the estate, it was sunset, and Raquel and the others had already left. Good going. The swordsman scrambled for a few minutes to figure out how he was going to be able to find the complex, but luckily ran into Axel. It took another minute or so to convince him, but eventually the red-armored man agreed to escort him to the site of the mission.

It was another five minutes before they were ready to go, but eventually, Blake and Axel set off on horseback towards the complex. Thirty minutes passed, and they had arrived at the abandoned street, where a few of the mercenaries were hanging around, probably waiting for a signal.

"Sorry I'm late. Cathedral took longer than anticipated," Blake said to Veronika, after he dismounted. "Where are the others?"

Axel, in the meantime, dismounted as well, and began to tie his horse to the transport.

[-Cynthia-]

"Raquel and Gar are at the Organization base. Reign, Faatina, and Erion went up that building to get a vantage point to try to see what's going on," Veronika answered Blake, gesturing towards said building. "Gabbie flew off to do...whatever she does and anyone else should be with Amon." I suppose traveling with a smaller group may make things easier, but losing loyal allies is...difficult.

[Snike]

"I see. Do we have anyone ready to... deal with Hayato and Jethro? I can't imagine they'll go along with this willingly, armed or not," Blake said, with a slight frown. "We can't really afford delays on our way out, either."

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

Like the legend of the phoenix♪ Gar grinned, "Go ahead and think this is all my tricks. That suits me just fine." Our ends were beginnings♪ "Oooooh, scary. Though, really, if anything, I think I'm underestimating their power." he gave off a low chuckle. What keeps the everyone going♪ Gar dropped the flowers and quickly grabbed all his stilettos instead. "Because I'm sure her having weapons is what you want." The force from the beginning♪

[-Cynthia-]

"Arietta, Zach, Gytha, Katrina, and myself should be ready to deal with them once Raquel warps in," Veronika said, noting who was in the immediate area. "Hayato isn't that skilled, so he shouldn't prove much of a problem. Do you really think Jethro will be uncooperative? I know we can't just let him go back to the Organization, but I doubt Raquel will want our blades at his throat...."

[Eail]

"Well it's certainly not the most ideal way of dealing with the situation, but... I could always give him a shock, knock him out and whatnot so we don't have any problems getting out of here. Of course that's up to you, personally I'd rather we not, better than having to drag him out or actually fight though right?" Zach suggested once Nika trailed off

[Snike]

"We did meet him at the fortress, and he appeared to be loyal to the organization," Blake said, remembering that meeting all too vividly. "As much as I don't want that to be the case, I don't think he'll come without incident, when he could just try to take Raquel with him back to the organization. We'd best prepare for restraining him, even if that means using thunder magic, like Zach suggested."

Axel, in the meantime, had finished tying his horse to the transport and had began to work on doing the same for Blake's horse.

[-Cynthia-]

"I don't think Raquel will like seeing her father electrocuted into unconsciousness- but we've sacrificed too much to give up here," Veronika admitted reluctantly. "That's probably our best option if we fail to persuade him."

[Eail]

"Better for a bit of electrocution rather than losing him forever I'd say." Zach threw out "Besides, at the end of the day she'll have her father back so she really can't be that mad right?"

"....She's going to kill me with the Emblem... isn't she."

[roymbrog]

Katrina’s eyes trailed the gun as it was replaced in its holster. “Heheh, of course it was…” A loaded pistol between her eyes hadn’t been the most comfortable experience. Katrina hefted her axe again and placed it through the large loop on her back. “Yeah, that was fun. We should do it again sometime!” she replied, nearly matching Gytha’s enthusiasm.

She perked up her ears when she thought she heard her name mentioned nearby. Glancing behind her at the source, she saw Blake and Zach having joined Veronika and Arietta’s discussion. She watched them for a moment, hand on her chin in thought, before turning back to face Gytha and gesturing towards the group with her head. “I think they’re discussing backup plans. Do you think we should go listen?”

[Ether]

Shaking her head as she approached Reign, Faatina put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'll go first, just keep at the ready and light it up when it's open.." The paladin noted, levelling her shield at the door, before opening it, and keeping her shield raised, drew her hand back from the knob to draw her blade.

***

"Plus if we all go out there, it'd put us out of position if things go to shit... they should be able to handle 'er... we'd have heard fightin' by now if they'd found somethin' too crazy." Arietta replied, before Blake and Axel arrived, with the latter tending to the horses they had rode, and the former approaching for a status update.

"Better to knock 'em out and have 'em roughed up a little than get yerself killed tryin' to avoid it. If they keep fightin' despite gettin' tossed in the middle'a us, they know what's comin'."

[Phoenix]

The Inn

"By all means," Reign shrugged, not really worried about an ambush at this point, if only because the place would be as silent as a tomb if not for the little noises they were making here and there. Still, it was worth being careful, especially since he didn't want to have to end up choosing between potentially starting a huge fire and sustaining a gruesome injury.

Sardis' Room

"Everyone knows Raquel doesn't have it in her to hurt a fly," Colin countered, "that's why I'd prefer it if she hold onto them for now. Besides, it's just a courtesy, so you don't have to ask for your things back when you waltz on out of here. Not that you'll be waltzing on out, that is ..."

Raquel glared at Colin. He was right ... there was no way she was going to go on a stabbing spree with Gar's equipment in hand, but it was still quite irritating to be completely written off like that. "I need to know where my father is," she tried to change the subject. This time she was being quite deliberate, hoping to convince everyone she was 'desperate' to see her father, so desperate in fact that she couldn't possibly be planning beyond that. If she could just manage that, maybe they would have a better chance of taking them all by surprise, whisking Jethro and Hayato off, and then getting out themselves before Samael or the emblem thief tried anything.

"Maybe he's off with Cassandra," Colin offered with a shrug, "Word is she's turning into a real bridge builder."

"Cassandra?"

"The new you," Colin pointed casually at her. "It's kind of sad, but Jethro hates her ... and Samael loves her ... figuratively, I think."

"Cassandra ..." Raquel committed the name to memory, though it took some doing to keep herself from thinking about how unnecessary remembering that name would be after they were done here.

Samael's ... Office Type Thing?

"Just two?" Samael asked, trying to confirm the situation.

"So far," the grunt shrugged back. "The white haired one has some bombs on him, apparently enough to bring down the whole building. They want you to meet them ... I guess to negotiate or something like that."

"... I'm not really interested," Samael shook his head at the part-time messenger. "In fact, if anyone were loyal enough to me to follow the order, I'd send them in their with a grenade and start the fireworks for them. There's no point in 'negotiating' with human garbage like them. Perhaps I'll make an appearance ... but later. For now, I'd rather think on the situation a little more. If I'm going to kill that wretched girl it needs to be on more favorable terms than this."

"Shouldn't we ... evacuate?" the man asked, a little bit of lingering hope in his voice.

"Oh, by all means, evacuate. That's what I would do if things were even slightly more unfavorable than this," Samael waved his hand dismissively, "I have standing orders to kill Raquel and any of her people on sight, but I don't expect you to actually risk your lives knowingly, so do whatever you want. Leave or stay behind and chat it up with your potential executioners, but whatever you do, don't embarrass yourselves."

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

We've come too far♪ After handing off his knives, Gar scooped the bouquet of flowers back up. To give up who we are♪ "Heh, some flies are pretty damn annoying," Gar smirked yet again. So let's raise the bar♪ "Ugh, I just went over the unstoppable terror thing with the little bird, so can we just skip the 'oooo you're so doomed' part of this? It got bloody tiring by the dozenth time I'd heard it and I may well be breaking four digits at this point." Gar gave a frustrated sigh. And our cups to the stars♪ "This uh..." She's up all night 'til the sun♪ Crap what was it?♪ I'm up all night to get some♪ "Guy... errr... Lameal? Yeah, that sounds right. But he's the one who made that hole in our wagon and shouted at us when we left the fort, right?" She's up all night for good fun♪

Edited July 30, 2014 by Script

[Ether]

With the door now ajar and Faatina having drawn her blade, the paladin shoved through the entryway with her shield at the front, eyes scanning the room with what little light had entered so far.

"Alright, you're up. I can't see a damn thing in here." Faatina noted, keeping the sturdy slab of metal in between herself and anything that might be in the room hoping to jump them.

[Mercakete]

Gytha heartily agreed that another slow bout was in order sometime, indicated by a chuckle and a nod. When Katrina asked if they should go listen to the plans being formed, she nodded again, though less giddily. "Aye. It'd be no good if we didn't know what we're s'posed t' be doin'."

With that, she headed over to listen in on the discussion, stopping at a comfortable talking distance and crossing her arms. "Hoy, there some change o' plans 'r somethin'?"

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

The narration coming from the wagon driver was quite annoying. Here Synthia was, trying to recover from the exhaustion that came with a prolonged adrenaline rush, and he was yelling his head off. The story was interesting, and that was just about the only thing keeping Synthia in the wagon right now. Still, she couldn't help but mumble and grumble about never getting a moment's peace.

[Snike]

"You can just blame me if it does come to that," Blake said to Zach, who was worrying about retaliation. "I brought it up, anyways."

"... Did you see Gabbie leave before you all came here, or afterwards?" Axel asked, as he finished up tying the other horse to the transport.

[Phoenix]

L'Auberge

Reign raised up his arm over their heads to light up the area better, being careful not to char the door frame as they entered. The room looked empty, and given that they could hear their own breathing, it probably was empty, too. "No blood ... nothing horribly out of place ... I guess it's clear," he shrugged. He glanced at the window and noted that it wasn't broken and was firmly closed. No one got out through this room, at least.

Le Déchu Chambre

"Yeah, that's the one," Colin replied. "Look, maybe you're confident that the two of you are going to make it out of this alive, but the only reason we're still here is because Samael was waiting for a response from you people. Most of them think it's because Sardis is injured and can't be moved but ... the fact is Samael doesn't really care."

"So you don't think there's any chance he'll talk with us? Even though we could kill him and everyone else right now if we wanted to?" Raquel asked, a little disturbed.

"Some advice for you two ... go track down Jethro yourselves and try to convince him to leave with you. Then leave before Sam shows up."

Edited August 2, 2014 by Phoenix