Return of the Emblem Chapter Thirteen: Revelations

[Snike]

"Lilith. She's after the emblem as well, and helped Valcyn's mercenaries out, apparently," Uniter said, as he shot and killed another Wrathite. "Point being she's dangerous. Head down the side street and enter one of the abandoned buildings just past the ones in front. We'll take a look at Sardis and your lung issue there, mister."

[Phoenix]

Get to the Transport

"Oh," the driver flinched at Synthia's news. He quickly took up the reins and then anxiously waited for his passengers to climb aboard, though, he knew he couldn't get the transport moving in earnest until these people got the remaining animals unhitched from the vehicle.

Reign had a new issue to worry about that hadn't occurred to him until just now ... what to do with Riley. He sure as hell couldn't ride the stallion out of this mess, and having someone else try was a death sentence for that person. As they drew close to the transport, he decided to just take the horse's reins and lead him while riding Sandrock back. That was the best and safest thing he could think of under the circumstances.

Danger

"So I'm the one in danger here," Cassandra concluded. "Maybe we should split up, then. I can head in another direction in case she comes after us," she offered.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Should probably go fetch my knives first before I do that thing. Too damn expensive to replace..." Gar shrugged and went looking for that hole where Raquel would have fallen out of.

[Snike]

Uniter thought for a moment, then nodded. "That might be a good idea. Just yell if she comes after you, though, and I'll do my best to come assist."

If you meet up with Samael tell him that all three of them died, and get out of here.

[scorri]

As Blake and Erion reached Weyland's estate, Erion pulled up outside the manor and slid off Snips in a hurry. He was about to ask for Raquel to be handed down to him when he noticed Gabbie kicking at someone. Yelling out, he cried, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING? Is... is that Jethro? What are you doing to him? I thought we were rescuing him, not trying to kill him!!!"

Edited August 25, 2014 by scorri

[Snike]

After what seemed like an eternity, the two horseback riders and their unresponsive employer finally arrived at Weyland's estate. Luckily, or unluckily, there was no change in Raquel's state. Unfortunately, they weren't home free as Gabbie was there, kicking the head of a man Blake soon recognized as Jethro Valcyn. He didn't bother wondering why he was there, since he didn't have time for that. Instead, the swordsman quickly dismounted the horse, taking Raquel off of it immediately afterwards.

"Erion, can you deal with them? I need to get Raquel over to the medical ward," Blake said, as he adjusted how he was carrying the merchant. Without even waiting for a response, he hurried over to the entrance proper and inside.

Edited August 25, 2014 by Snike

[scorri]

"I... Fine. I'll be up soon hopefully." Racing over to Gabbie and Jethro, Erion grabbed Gabbie's shoulder. "STOP! Whatever you're trying to prove, you've done it. The poor man is defenseless, leave him alone!"

[Phoenix]

Lies

'Died'? Cassandra turned to Uniter in shock. She still handed off her half of the stretcher to the weak and wary Colin and started off in another direction.

Satisfaction

Lilith waited for a moment, but Samael only stood there up inside the breach. He was almost too dangerous to leave alone, but Raquel wasn't anywhere in sight, and neither was her emblem piece. There was also Desmond, the man she intended to speak to. That conversation was, at the very least ... on indefinite hold. She decided to engage the pale blonde devil, though not in combat just yet. Taking off again, she approached him from the air, not too quickly, but not so slowly as to imply fear on her part.

Before she could start the uneasy conversation, he did. "You fly without the use of your wings. Impressive, but ... also sad. Are those beautiful things just for show? And Ascension ... of all blades, for you to wield that ... you must have some very potent spiritual powers, Lilith."

"All these things are mine; that's all you need to know about me," Lilith shot back menacingly.

"Are you upset about the wrathites? They practically did it to themselves showing up to try and kill us," Samael smirked and shrugged in an exaggerated manner. "I'm honestly satisfied, though. They attacked us and lost their so called leader and a good number of regulars in the process. It's not worth the effort to try to wipe them all out ... their stupidity can take care of that."

"I might as well take you out just to be on the safe side," Lilith said, and with blazing speed, she shot forward through the air like a bullet, closing in on Samael with the intention of violently incapacitating him. She wasn't quite fast enough, however, as Samael's body was already half warped by the time she reached him. The split second gap made all the different, and Lilith was forced to brake, using the wall for support. It barely held, cracking like an egg as her weight, multiplied several times pressed against it. "He was planning that," she hissed. Looking around the room, she noticed some weapons, all blades, two of them imbued weapons, but nothing that seemed like a trap that was left behind for the occasion. "I guess that just leaves the emblem."

Breaking Away

"Thanks for the ride," Reign said just before rolling off of Shariff again and jogging over to Sandrock. Dealing with Riley was going to be a pain, but there was little choice. He unhitched Sandrock first and Riley second, making sure not to mount up before knowing Riley wasn't going to jerk him around. Once he felt the horse wasn't in one of his moods, he quickly climbed into Sandrock's saddle and kept a firm hold on Riley's reins.

"Suppose we should get going before this place draws in a large crowd," the driver said, mostly to himself. He waved his soon to be passengers over, hoping to get going as soon as they were all aboard.

Jericho tried to herd Hayato over to the transport before his younger brother got his wits about him and realized that he was about to be taken away somewhere. He was quite close to pulling this off in the end, but just as he came up behind the transport, Hayato violently broke away from him. "No way! I'm not some P.O.W. for you people to bargain with!"

"Dammit, we don't have time for this! Get in the wagon," Jericho snapped, but Hayato used the window to run around the transport and into a nearby alleyway. "Shit ..." He spared the others a somewhat guilty glance and then chased after Hayato. "I'll catch up to him and try to find you guys later," he promised before running down the alley after his brother.

I'm not going to become their prisoner! No way on Earth am I going to become a damn prisoner! Hayato kept on running, unaware that his brother was right on his tail, chasing him northward, deeper in to the city.

Release and Catch

Finally a voice of reason; Jethro stopped guarding his face since the kicking seemed to be on hold and began trying to get Tacito's jaws open. Unfortunately, he couldn't do it with one arm. This thing had a grip to rival a crocodile's and he began to seriously consider going forward in life without his right arm, because as things stood, he'd already lost feeling and control in much of it, and areas that still did have any feeling were dulling or causing him a great deal of agony.

"Hurting the 'defenseless' is koind of my thing," Gabbie irritably noted, barely resisting the urge to snap at Erion. She quickly jerked her shoulder away from him and knelt down to pick Jethro up. At last, Tacito released the man's arm, but it was in terrible shape. As soon as Jethro was on his feet, Gabbie twisted his good arm behind his back and grabbed a good tuft of the hair on the back of his head, using it to keep his head bent back at a forty-five degree angle. Keeping him slightly off balance for a little while longer wasn't a necessary precaution but it was one she planned on doing regardless. "Let's go."

[Mercakete]

Synthia was safely to the wagon and now one of the guys they'd come here for was running away. Gytha frowned, then chased after the brother of the organization member, waving an arm to try to get Katrina's attention while she was still outside the alley, then pointing after the two. She wasn't sure if the woman saw her or if her wyvern would even be able to fit between the buildings, but that wyvern could fly faster than they could run, she was sure.

Once inside the alley, Gytha turned her focus back to the running brothers, unholstered her pistol, cocked it, aimed it, and called out, "Hoy! Hit the deck! I'm goin' t' slow 'im down!" Her aim was to shoot Hayato's hip since she didn't trust her aim on his legs while he was running. If someone else caught him first, though, all the better. Either way, she was unwilling to shoot Jericho, and he was sort of in the way.

[Ether]

"Do you need any help, Reign?" Faatina asked, as the mage went over to retrieve Raquel's horses.

***

Getting on to the transport, Arietta sighed... atleast it was over for now.

***

Getting into position to watch over the retreating group, keeping eyes on the red haired swordswoman, Isabella prepared to follow after the convoy as it began it's escape, still awaiting any differing orders.

[scorri]

"What are you doing? Isn't he the one we went to rescue? If he's really Raquel's dad, why are you treating him like he's some sort of prisoner?" Erion glared at Gabbie, almost as mad that she was forcing him to be away from Raquel right now as he was that she had almost murdered the person they'd gone to save. "Raquel nearly died trying to save him. She still might. And you went and almost wasted that whole thing by nearly beating him to death."

[-Cynthia-]

I knew we should have knocked him out or something, Veronika thought irritably as Hayato dashed away with Jericho following him. Gytha was quick on the chase, but Veronika was paralyzed by indecision- running through the city could be very dangerous with Organization members and Wrathites still about. The moment to follow was gone as they disappeared from her view.

"Let's get back to the estate quickly," she suggested. At least Gytha and Jericho will know where to find us-unless something happens, she thought to herself, getting a sick feeling in her stomach as she remembered Sophia and John being separated from the group as well...

[roymbrog]

Synthia had just been climbing in the wagon when Hayato bolted and Gytha started off after him and Jericho. Well, so much for leaving. The mage hit the ground again and chased after them into the alley. “Gytha!”

---

There were no more lightshows over by the now ruined building, so Kat had taken a glance back down at the transport as people began reaching it. Two shocks of red broke off between some of the buildings, leaving her a bit confused, at least before she saw Gytha wave towards the sky and dart after them. Those were Jericho and Hayato, weren’t they? She couldn’t see them in the shadow of the buildings, and Volga was too big to fly through them, but if she flew over to where they should come out…

“Hey Zach, did you see Jericho and that other guy run into that alley?” she asked, wheeling Volga around. “Help me look for them?”

Edited August 26, 2014 by roymbrog

[Snike]

Yes. No time to explain right now.

"Alright, let's go into that building for a minute to check Sardis' injuries and give you a chance to rest," Uniter said towards Colin. He kept an eye on the surroundings just in case a Wrathite showed up, but so far so good.

***

Blake's hurried entrance into the manse with an unconscious woman must've drawn some attention, as soon enough a maid appeared and asked him if he needed help. Excellent. The swordsman asked to be led to the medical ward, and was awkwardly knocking on its' door minutes later.

"I'm in the middle of an examination. What is it?" Ethan asked, as he opened the door with an irritated expression. That turned into a sigh once he saw the mercenary and his employer, and the healer stepped aside. "Come in and bring her over to one of the beds. Tell me what happened to her."

"She fell out of a building with a hole in her chest, near her heart," the swordsman said, all but sprinting towards the nearest bed. He placed Raquel on the bed, then turned around to continue. "The hole was healed, but she hasn't woken up."

The other man didn't respond immediately, instead approaching the bed. He laid a hand on his new patient's neck, checking for a pulse. "Weak pulse... Was she bleeding from that hole initially?"

"No."

"... Alright. I'm going to need you to leave, so I can take a look at that injury," Ethan said, as he made his way over to a cabinet. "Go to the dining hall, or some other place. Once I'm done, more or less, I'll come find you, Mister..?"

"Blake," the mercenary replied, finally taking a look around the room. At the moment, there was only one other patient but they were too covered by bedsheets and bandages to make out clearly from that side of the ward. Judging by the red hair and matching suit of armor beside them, though, that was Axel. That explosion must've really done a number, if he was still getting looked at a month later.

But, that wasn't really his concern right now, so Blake decided to leave. He was getting in the way otherwise.

"Close the door on your way out," the healer said, a request which the other man complied with.

Once he was completely outside, he let out a sigh and began a return to the entrance.

[Snowy_One]

Robin could feel the breath heaving inside of her chest, the slight burn of air in her lungs, as she finally rushed up to the transport with the others. For all the fighting that had happened, it seemed she had started to lose a bit in terms of the dead sprint to escape an oncoming and deadly foe. Marking down a mental note to try and get a bit more running exercise later as she hurried up to try and reach the transport before things got really bad, hopefully before leaving her behind as it retreated.

[Phoenix]

Runners

"What are they doing? We have to get out of here," Reign groaned at the sight of people running off after the two brothers. Hayato wasn't even their problem as far as he was concerned. "They're the ones that need help; I've just got this troublesome horse to deal with. We really don't have time for this," he replied to Faatina.

"NO!!! No! Don't you dare shoot at my brother," Jericho shouted back furiously as he forced himself to run faster. Around the same time, Hayato, realizing that he had more than just Jericho to deal with, made a hard right when he reached the intersecting part of the alley, relying on the mix of gravel and dirt to at least give him enough traction not to slip. They did, but barely, he realized as he made the turn.

Jericho had more time to prepare and made a smoother, wider turn into the alley on the right. As soon as he was around the corner, he saw Hayato racing off toward the alley's right exit, and passing by that exit was a group of guards drawn in by the commotion at the complex. Jericho knew Hayato was going to slip through the men with ease and get a serious lead on him if he couldn't do the same, so he readied himself. As soon as Hayato leaped through the group, Jericho picked up the pace and looked for a bigger gap, one that would let him match his brother without as much effort. By the time Jericho had slipped through, Hayato had already crossed the street and made his way right into another narrow alleyway.

The guards weren't sure what to think, but they had no intention of being some impromptu obstacle course; half of them turned to yell at the fleeing redheads, and the other half turned to see if anyone else was trying to rush through their formation. "Hey, you! Halt! Halt!"

Take Him Away

"I don't know if you've been informed but it doesn't sound loike it; Jethro's working with those people willingly, so yes, until Weyland's had a word with him, he's a damn prisoner," Gabbie hissed. "He'll live, but if that's not good enough for you then too bad." Gabbie marched Jethro toward the entrance while Tacito tailed them and tried to clean his bloodied jaws.

[scorri]

"... Asshole." Erion muttered under his breath before heading up to the mansion as well. Deliberately not saying another word to Gabbie, he went and found a maid to get directions to where they were treating Raquel. He headed that way, planning on waiting outside until there was news since he had nothing else to do right now.

Edited August 26, 2014 by scorri

[Snike]

Blake saw Erion heading down the hallway, seemingly in a bad mood. No Jethro with him, however, oddly enough.

"Where's Jethro?" the swordsman asked as he closed in.

[scorri]

"Being dragged off like a damn prisoner despite the fact that he deserves to be in the medical ward himself. That wyvern nearly bit his damn arm off and Gabbie didn't do much better. Coulda killed him, but apparently since he was with the Organization, he deserves to be treated like that. If you want to deal with her, go ahead. I'm done talking to that asshole."

[Ether]

"I don't think I can get Sharif through there... honestly, how did they think for a second Hayato of all people wouldn't make a break for it..." Faatina replied with a sigh.

"There's no helping that.. he knows where we're headed to, we can only wish him the best of luck with that stubborn brother of his." The paladin concluded with a further sigh.

***

"One of the swordsmen Raquel extracted made a break for it... a few of Raquel's people are pursuing." Isabella noted as she continued to observe the group as a whole... may as well make frequent reports.

[Mercakete]

Gytha lowered her shoulders (annoyed at how difficult Jericho was making this), tucked her arms down to her sides across her belly. Now ready, she simply bowled by the guards, continuing after Hayato and Jericho, and calling back to those guards, "Sorra! I'll be sure t' halt once I've caught up t' those craza brothers!"

Personally, she hoped leaning forward like this would help her speed. Though Hayato would probably be difficult to catch up with on speed alone, she wondered whether it was he or she who had more physical endurance. Also hopefully, Kat would be helping them with this. She wasn't really sure why Synthia was following them, but maybe she could help out with her magic somehow, too. It was a little late to turn back in either case.

[Snike]

"Noted," Blake said, frowning as he continued on past the ranger. He wasn't looking forward to having to argue with one of Weyland's employees, but he couldn't really stand by after what had happened. Not now that Raquel was out of harm's way.

[scorri]

"Good luck. I'm going to go wait outside the medical ward." With that, the thief headed up to the hallway outside the medical ward and slumped against the wall. Burying his head in his hands, he waited.

[Eail]

Zach only nodded at Kat's request, still trying to search his emotions after the whole Lilith thing. "Yeah... I managed to see, come on let's go take a look and see what we can do." He eventually manged to say

[roymbrog]

“Oh my gooooods, why do they keep running into alleys?” From the air Kat had spotted the two brothers when they crossed the street past the guards, but with the time it took to wheel Volga around in that direction they’d already disappeared between two other buildings much too narrow for the wyvern to fit through. As far as she could tell from her vantage point, the first escape route from the alley had enough room for Volga to land, and so she flew there hoping to cut Hayato off. “If he comes out over here, help me stop him.”

---

Synthia had been a ways behind Gytha, and though she had steadily been catching up, by the time she reached the guards there was no way she was getting through unless they let her, or she knocked them out of the way with wind magic. The latter didn’t seem like a good idea, so she was hoping the former would be true and attempted to run around them instead of through them like Gytha had.