Return of the Emblem Chapter Thirteen: Revelations

[Ether]

"If you say so, Milord... I will do what I can to attempt to cull my weaknesses, but I worry... in our last encounter, you ended up taking hits due to a lack in my defence... what good does my presence do if it causes you to take wounds...?" Annelise replied somewhat timidly, her wings sinking as she spoke... was it something acquired from her time with these humans, as Steinn had said? She couldn't be sure herself.

[Snike]

"...As much as I'd like to stay with you, I'm going to continue with the Disciples for now. I owe my life to Thanatos, and it isn't like our goals aren't aligned. Plus, if I just show up out of the blue, our families are going to become targets by whoever was responsible for the betrayal. That's part of why I didn't come back home after what had happened," Pavel explained, almost sadly. "Speaking of which, please don't mention having found me to our family and friends. At least, not yet."

[-Cynthia-]

"I knew you would say something like that," Veronika said sadly. "Very well, I'll keep your secrets for now. Do you need to leave immediately or does Thanatos allow personal visits longer than ten minutes?" she asked him, half-jokingly. I suppose I should be thankful to Thanatos- still strange to think of Pavel being part of that group...

[Snike]

"Thank you, Nika. I've got a meeting later, but I'm free for now, especially since things have calmed down," Pavel said, almost smiling. "Besides, I'm technically on business."

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika smiled and looked Pavel in the eyes. "How much later? We should make the best use of what little time we have left together I think~"

[Snike]

Keeper, Isabella, I'm going to be ...busy. You'd best not wait for me.

"Later enough, then. I like the way you think, Miss Rusayev," Pavel said, smiling back.

[Phoenix]

Le Roof

"Imagine if you hadn't been there," Steinn said, intending to evoke a very different scenario from the one they'd faced, one in which all that separated him and certain death was his own barrier. "Now consider this: were I to seek out a replacement for you, would they truly be ideal, or would I have to settle for an entirely different set of strengths and weaknesses? Even if they were more powerful than you are, they would not have your past experience to draw upon. Inevitably they will fail in areas where you have succeeded, and I may very well gain nothing at all. If you choose to focus on growing stronger, however, then I have both your strength and your experience, and that will carry the most weight in the end."

[Ether]

"I suppose you're correct, Lord Devlinos." Annelise replied, giving her head a shake.

"And thank you for your vote of confidence... I'll do all that is within my power to grow stronger, so I might be of even more use to you." She concluded, bowing her head to Steinn.

[Phoenix]

[spoiler=Two]
Raquel slowly opened her eyes, and all she could make out at first was utter blackness. She knew there was nothing wrong with her sight, though. Something about that empty black sky was burned into her subconscious, and so whenever she saw it, she knew what she was looking at. She knew she wasn't really awake at all, and that a closer look at her surroundings would only confirm that.

She carefully sat up, and though she knew she was in another dream, she was still struck with terror when she looked out around her. She was way too high up, at least three dozen meters above ground level. At first she thought she might be at the top of a black tower, but the texture and terrain itself was completely off, not to mention nearly as black as the sky above her. As she crawled forward and saw that the floor dipped downward, and then went on a little further before disappearing, she realized what this thing was, rather, whose head she was precariously crawling around on.

"H-Hypnos? Is that you?" The question rang odd, even to her. Hypnos never took the form of the Dragon Head himself, not exactly. That was another aspect of him. A pair of faint red lights, large, obscured shined over the edge of the Dragon Head's crown. "H-hey. What are we doing way up here?"

"We're waiting," the dragon answered, its multitude of voices blending together like always.

Waiting for what? she wondered. She didn't say anything, though, not at first. For now, she began scanning the horizon, north, south, east, and west, looking for signs of what they were both 'waiting for'. She quickly reasoned that she must have been on the wrong track when the dragon began chuckling, and perhaps inadvertently jostling her. "Not there ... look ... up."

There was virtually never anything to be found looking skyward in this landscape, not even the moon seemed to exist here.

Or perhaps the moon did exist here, Raquel reconsidered as she spotted a bright white speck directly above them. Perhaps it was just much farther away. Maybe the Dragon Head had just created it and was up to something. Those types of shenanigans weren't really what she wanted to deal with right now, but she doubted she could get down on her own, and even if she could, where would she go? She'd only bothered looking at the dot in the sky for a few seconds, and then turned her attention downward. She curled up as the cold air began to get to her. What's the point of all this?

"Hey, where did you go?" she eventually said, trying to see if she could get some answers. Hypnos had always been more forthcoming than his enormous counterpart, but Hypnos wasn't around to question, anymore. "What have you been up to?"

She couldn't see it, herself, but a wide grin grew on the dragons massive face. "Do you know who the Lost One is? I went to see her."

"The 'Lost One' ..." Raquel repeated, trying to find a face to go with the name. Though, if she recalled correctly, the Dragon Head was sustaining itself through her emblem energy, which meant it couldn't--or at least shouldn't be able to just up and run off whenever he chose. He would have needed to find someone else with an emblem piece. This 'Lost One' was probably her doppelganger. Suddenly she appreciated her odd title, 'Discovery' a bit more; it had more positive connotations and implications than 'Lost One'. "You mean the copy of me they made? The one who stole my emblem piece?"

"It is impossible for her to steal that from you, Discovery. I just don't see how that's possible," the Dragon Head replied, gently shaking its head twice as it spoke. The maneuver took about ten seconds, so Raquel was able to keep her balance easily as he moved.

"Don't be vague," Raquel quickly said, "tell me what you mean by that."

"I wouldn't know where to begin explaining why she cannot steal it from you, but I will remind you ... that the emblem will heed your call ... once it comes. The distance and boundaries you limit yourself to have never been important."

It was a vague answer like always, but Raquel did recall hearing something like this from the dragon before, something about the emblem working even in her dreams. If that was the case, could she really summon it back to her? Even here? Right now? If that was the case, she would have to concede that it couldn't rightly be stolen from her while she was still coherent. As much as she wanted to test this approach, there was something else bothering her. Whatever they were waiting for was certainly taking its time. She glanced upward since that was the direction she'd been given the first time she set about looking for this mysterious 'thing' they were waiting for. Her eyes shot wide open once she saw it. The little white speck in the distance had grown ... rivaling the moon in scale. "What is that?! Is it the moon?" It didn't look like it. Yes, it was colorless like the moon but had far too many dark areas, and those dark areas were obscured by swirling 'white'.

"It seems we won't be waiting much longer," the Dragon Head noted with a hint of glee.

Raquel kept staring at the sphere, hoping to catch whatever she had missed the first time around. If it changed again, she wanted to see it. It was a subtle thing, though. Five whole minutes went by before she finally figured out what was happening, and she'd realized far too late that there was an overwhelmingly massive object bearing down on them. it eclipsed the moon in size, and threatened to eventually replace the sky in its entirety. As it drew closer, Raquel could make out whole continents. Had she never seen a map before, she wouldn't have realized what she was looking at, the continent closest to them, the one coming down on them at unimaginable velocity, was Sardius. There was very little turbulence, but it was there, and she could hear the ground shaking far below them. Clouds on the continent above them began to clear, making way for their 'descent'. She couldn't pretend she wasn't frightened, now. "What's happening?!"

"Don't look away," the dragon warned, still seeming happy about this planetary wide cataclysm.

Trapped and terrified of the doomsday spectacle unfolding all around her, she kept her eyes on the other Earth, and it began to slow down just as the black sky disappeared. She could make out mountain ranges, the plains of Ursium. She could even see Ursentius, though there were no lights to give it or any other large city away ... she merely knew where it was and could make out the faintest of details. Two more minutes of watching and things began to get even more bizarre. The shaking intensified mightily as mountains began to slam into other mountains, highlands, and even the oceans. Now she was thankful she hadn't started this dream off on the ground. She wouldn't have been able to stand. The planets would not relent, however, and the ground came ever closer. She wondered if she would be able to reach out and touch it, soon, or if something completely different would happen.

Her fear subsided with the intensity of the earthquakes. "I don't understand," she said, glancing down at her feet, and the Dragon Head, "what's this supposed to teach me?"

"Don't look away," the dragon warned again.

When Raquel looked back up, she saw a faint golden reflection, a couple of miles above her. With the distance closing at a couple of hundred feet per second, though steadily slowing, she didn't have to wait long to see what it was. It was a large golden oblong shaped object, lying on its side on the plains. There was no grass to cushion it, Raquel noticed. Until then she'd thought the plains would have grass, but now that she was close to this Sardius' plains, she could see that it was just as much of a wasteland as the place she'd started in. "What is that? It looks like an egg or something."

"You don't know ...?"

Of course she didn't know, at least not until she'd been asked such an odd question. The only thing that ever seemed to hold any color in this horrible place other than herself was the emblem! Standing up, she reached out with both hands, trying to will the emblem to her, even as the ground came down to them. The golden case began to dissolve into golden light, revealing its sole occupant. Raquel flinched, her arms recoiling slightly. "It's you ..."

[spoiler=One]Cassandra had been wandering aimlessly, looking for the Dragon Head and calling out to him; he was the only one that would have bothered bringing her here to such a horrible place. It wasn't until the earthquakes started that she began to realize that something really bad was happening. She lost all hope for escaping this nightmare unscathed when she saw a gigantic sphere bearing down on her at tremendous speed. "What's going on, here?!"

It was nearly impossible to stand. Every attempt was ruined by another quake and eventually she cocooned herself using material forged by her emblem piece. She was able to wield it even in her dreams, so she was confident that it would be enough to carry her through. Still, sealed within the golden shell, she had no idea what was happening outside. The earthquakes eventually began to subside, but she was apprehensive about leaving the safety of the shell. She could have been buried for all she knew. She decided to wait for just a little while longer. Just a while longer ...

Just awhile longer ...

Suddenly the cocoon began to dissolve all around her. She hadn't given that instruction, so it not only came as a surprise, but it made her wonder if she was losing control somehow. When she looked up, her casing falling away from her, she saw the problem. She was staring it right in the face.

"It's you ..."

"You've got to be kidding me," Cassandra hissed. She rose to her feet to try and get some distance, but nearly bumped her head against Raquel's in the process. Just as she did, she felt her emblem piece being pulled from her. She tightened her grip and turned to fight. "NO!!!"

"GIVE IT BACK TO ME," Raquel screamed, willing the emblem to her, again.

They both wielded the emblem in obviously different ways, but it seemed that neither's ability to command the emblem outmatched the other's. Cassandra kept her fingers rapped tightly around the hourglass shaped rock in her hands, but her grip was slipping, and she found herself giving ground physically in order to keep a mental grip on it. Raquel countered by reaching down and grabbing the other half of the emblem, the half she knew was hers. It had been fused ... but she wasn't going to leave this encounter empty handed, even if she had to break it in half again.

Cassandra's next move was to put her weight into the struggle and lower herself, a move Raquel quickly mirrored as the Dragon Head watched in silence.

"Let go," Cassandra growled, allowing herself to dangle as she tugged at the emblem.

Raquel did the same. "You let go!"

Neither of them had anything to say beyond that. All other thoughts, about the world, about their identities, all of it was swept away by their struggle for control. Raquel didn't care who or what Cassandra was anymore, she just wanted her emblem back. Likewise, Cassandra's only concern was holding onto the emblem. The emblem began to react to them both and its light quickly overwhelmed their eyes. Nearly blinded, but not even close to beaten, both girls continued to tug at the emblem with their bodies and minds. The light began to grow more and more intense until even with their eyes closed, they could see it. They turned their heads away but it wasn't enough. The golden light assailed them from seemingly every direction.

Suddenly they both realized that neither of them was going to win this struggle, or at the very least Raquel was going to come up short if the dream collapsed on them. Raquel shifted her intent. She didn't have to walk away empty handed, but getting both pieces was out of the question now. Likewise, Cassandra no longer saw a need to hold onto both pieces. She was ordered to take it, but she had never needed them both. The light wasn't fading, but the two girls began to sense that something else was ...

Cassandra began to pull again, this time only trying to save her half. Soon after, she felt something on the other side give, and she fell. She fell farther than she thought she'd be able to survive and she never hit the ground. When the light faded, she opened her eyes only to realize that she had awoken to the real world ... sort of. This was Purgatory, the place she'd suspected her dreams were based on. When her memories caught up to her, she began desperately searching herself for her piece of the emblem. When she found it, she realized that what the Dragon Head had told her about the emblem was true. Being physically conscious didn't matter, and now, as was demonstrated by the one half she had left, neither was distance. The other half had crossed from one plane to another and gone to Sardius ... right back to its original wielder.

She sat up in the bed and sighed. "I ... I hope she's happy ..." she said, bitter about the whole experience. Had she been dragged into that dream only to be robbed? It was humiliating. She curled up and drew the blanket back over herself, covering everything but her head. The emblem gave off a faint glow that could be seen through the sheets as she cradled it. "I'm not losing this one, too," she promised herself. Eventually, she fell asleep again. Her emblem piece never stopped giving off its light.

[spoiler=Dark Alliance]"You helped me once before, I don't see why you would sit back and do nothing this time," Lilith said, staring over at Nyx. Things weren't going so well, that or Nyx was going through the motions of resistance, purely for her own amusement. "Things are no different than they were back then: we face the same risks and the entire government is at stake, not to mention the people under it."

"I'm not ... completely opposed to the idea of thwarting Lord Wrath," Nyx admitted as she smoothly paced around the Archives. "What I find so distasteful is following your lead. That isn't necessary--or wise given the way you ended things the last time. Besides," she smiled, seemingly on the verge of laughter, "your plan is literally suicide. I can understand why Griffin might resign himself to this, but why would I? Lord Wrath's gambit is just another in a long line of small crises that will be resolved one way or another. The stakes always seem so high here in the moment, but I'll look back on this like all the other catastrophes and view it as just another incident."

"Your take on history doesn't really matter. Once the emblem is assembled and taken, there's no going back-" "What a boldfaced lie," Nyx brazenly cut in, "Not for him," Lilith quickly corrected herself. "He'll be free of the pact they made together and will be able to do whatever he wants. We won't be in a position to stop him and if he decides that you and your goals are a problem, he'll deal with you," she warned. "Being a daughter of Truth has always been a two edged sword, Nyx. He's let vasili like us get away with serious crimes, but if he's ever outmatched, he's not even going to try to defend us in the end, not even as one final gesture of kindness."

"That rings true. Father knows when to step back and simply take note of a situation. If anyone knows what the outcome of Lord Wrath getting the whole emblem assembled would be, it's him. He's not worried, so perhaps you should reconsider these desperation tactics of yours," Nyx coolly suggested.

"You know our only option when he arrives will be to slow him down as best we can," Lilith reminded her.

"Then what you should be focusing on is scattering the emblem as far as you possibly can," Nyx countered. "I don't mean handing off pieces to people and sending them away. That's like moving a trinket from one room in a large house to another," she said, shaking her head in mild amusement, "you need to start thinking about sending them into deep space."

"That's a little extreme," Lilith winced. "They might be lost forever."

"Hardly, but who cares, so long as Lord Wrath is forced to remain a part of this flawed system of ours? And only one piece should be sufficient, right?" Nyx's eyes narrowed at her sister. She noticed the change in Lilith's expression; she must have been more willing to risk a single piece than getting rid of them all, but she was clearly still hesitant. She couldn't blame her, really. The gods used the emblem to create the Earth, apparently, so it was a divine treasure. Throwing it away in a silly war was extreme, but it might prove necessary since they knew of no way to destroy it. "Let's focus on the short term for now; Lord Wrath is still acting through an avatar which means it's not yet time for him to come here. Right now the fallen are preparing for a massive invasion. Their activity suggests that Obelisk is on his way." Nyx quickly put up her hand, urging Lilith to let her continue. "He's going to try to neutralize all of us, if not simply kill us."

"You think he's going to come after anyone who tries to stop the fallen ones?"

"No. He's going to make a preemptive strike to ensure that at least vasili like us don't get in the way. He'd feed on all of us given the chance, but I think we'll be his primary targets. That's why you need to focus on this, or he'll catch you off guard. Remember, he was an assassin long before he was a conqueror."

"It took everything I had the last time and he still survived," Lilith grimaced. "Are you certain he's going to come after us?"

"It's the only way the fallen will be able to accomplish their mission; I certainly plan to blow them away if their army reaches Europa and I find the city's defenses lacking. That's assuming no one else interferes first. You won't like hearing this, but ... I believe he's acting, at least partially, on father's wishes. The fallen may end up becoming his own little chosen race, his natural exemplars. That makes vasili like us, who would just as soon see them all die off, a bit of a problem."

"The remaining vasili have jobs to do to ensure Sardius remains stable until the end of this cycle ... though admittedly that time is nearly at an end. Obelisk helping the fallen and wiping us out is still a much bigger problem," Lilith said, crossing her arms. She supposed she had a bad habit of leaping into the middle of gods' plans and ruining them. "I still have Ascension," she said, reaching over her shoulder to grip the hilt of the still unseen blade, "I can destroy Obelisk this time ... with some help."

"And you'll have it," Nyx smiled.

"... to hell with father's wishes."

New Orders

"Didn't you hear?! Wake up!" That voice was certainly familiar, though not one that should have been with the rest of the unit, Nadine noted. Just before she opened her eyes, it all came rushing back to her. Carmen had been transferred to Langley's unit, courtesy of Lord Bernard Langley himself. According the to blonde mage, serving in Langley's battalion was a dead end for officers looking to be promoted and eventually gain commands of their own. Nadine wasn't really sure that was true, but what she was sure of was now that she served Nyx, first and foremost, her career in the military would never be the same, and the rules wouldn't affect her quite the same way, anymore. She honestly didn't know how much longer she would even be able to stay in the army before Nyx decided to do something else with her.

As she sat up in the twin sized bed meant for her sole use, she began grabbing at her hair. The locks she'd kept long even after cutting the rest to about neck length were gone, now. She'd cut them off before returning. It was the least of her worries at the time, really. She expected to be severely reprimanded at best, and demoted yet again at worst, but while she was reprimanded, it hardly qualified as one. Colonel Langley had simply been worried, and when Nadine explained what she felt safe explaining, the Colonel simply let the incident go, though not before reminding Nadine that next time she disappeared without a good reason, there would be actual consequences. Given that she actually worked for Nyx now, that seemed somewhat likely. "Regretting the decision, Dalca?" Carmen smirked at her, arms akimbo, attitude at full. "Maybe you should think before you go around doing stupid things like cutting your hair for no reason.

"I had my reasons, though they're none of your business. Now please move, I need to get ready." Carmen took a few steps back, allowing Nadine to sit with her legs over the side of the bed. her bed was up against the wall like many others in the room, and so she really only had one way to get up. "Ugh, I didn't get enough sleep."

"Where were you, anyway?" Carmen squinted in suspicion. "No one gave you permission to just disappear for a whole day."

The truth? Maybe just enough to get her old nemesis off her back for the time being. "I got caught up trying to protect people during the attack. I spent the next day getting my head back on straight," she explained. "I don't have an excuse, but I'm back now, and I'm ready to do my part."

"A likely story," Carmen said in a singsong tone. "Is that why you cut your hair, too? Did you lose half a lock during the fighting? I mean that would be a pretty amateur mistake, but I wouldn't put it past you. Never mind, I don't need to know the details. We've got orders to carry out."

"Orders?" Nadine was annoyed, but this was more important. "What's our assignment?"

"There's some criminal group stirring up a hornet's nest in the capital. They're calling themselves Invictus or something like that," Carmen said, clearly not impressed. That came as a surprise to Nadine when she heard what they had done. "Apparently they managed to steal some tech from both Hammer Industries, and the army. They also caused a lot of damage to the northern fortress ... sabotage, I guess. We're just going over to help them cover more ground in the search, but Colonel Langley's crafty and I know she'll have us track these guys down and finish them off. It's going to be a marvelous display of strategic and tactical ingenuity. We'll get to set an example for the regulars~"

"No way," a soldier who'd yet to don his armor chimed in, shaking his head at the notion. "We're not equipped to deal with tanks."

"T-tanks?" Carmen echoed.

"Yeah, word is they stole tanks from that fortress. They haven't done anything with them yet, but nobody knows where to find them. For now they're just searching but Ursentius' locals really don't know how to keep their stuff up to date, so records are always off, and a lot of assets, even buildings and warehouses are completely unaccounted for. They could be hiding anywhere so there's not much we can do other than stumble onto them by accident and get blown up by their tanks. We're really just going to be there as a show of force. You know, give the others a little more legroom. They're the ones that will be dealing with this group, not us. There's no way the Colonel's going to let us try and out-muscle army tanks. That's not tactical ingenuity, that's suicide."

"Oh ... darn ... I thought this assignment was going to be interesting, but if we're just going there to shake our fists along with the general public, then why don't we have some actual grunts do that?! We're the Eastern Task Force, not army regulars!"

"That's why we get to see the sights and not risk our lives. Shouldn't you be grateful?"

Nadine smirked. "She'd only be grateful for the chance to prove she's better than the rank and file. Anything short of an easy win isn't going to cut it for her."

"Shut up," Carmen hissed. As she stormed out of the room, she passed Miguel, who had been listening from the doorway. She gave him an angry salute, but never stopped walking. It was almost clumsy, but for what it was, Miguel had to at least give her some credit. That she even remembered a basic salute while storming off was actually impressive.

As he thought about the conversation he'd overheard, he shook his head slightly. No, we're not just there for guard duty ... the army isn't ready to commit to stopping the fallen just yet, and Bernard still wants us to hit the western nobles. We're just passing through Ursentius on our way out west. This is going to be a brutal summer, I can already tell.

Priority Targets

As Weyland woke up, he could smell something, a familiar scent, but also a relatively new one. As his mind began making sense of more and more of his senses he began to recall that he had once again spent the night with Chie, and that she was likely lying close to him. It was definitely her; rising up and opening his eyes confirmed that much. He wasn't sure how far he was going to take this relationship, but for the moment, Chie's presence was easing much of his stress. It seemed all she wanted in return was access to his resources. Either she was cheap, or they were a decent match. He had no idea which, yet.

He reached over to the nightstand to retrieve his glasses. Once he put them on, things got a bit clearer and he sighed. "Jethro ..." It wasn't just his surroundings that were returning to him, but also his memories of last night. Questioning Jethro hadn't produced nearly as many answers as it should have. They had a few names: Samael, Layla, Zerachiel ... but not the name they needed, the name of the organization's leader. If they just had that, they would know where to focus most of their attention.

There wasn't just the organization to deal with, though. They were hardly a fringe threat, but the fallen incursion was a more timely concern. At least that had been the case until late yesterday evening. Craig seemed convinced that the situation in Ursentius could no longer wait. There were already agents and mercenaries employed by the company backing them up, but the report he'd read shortly before retiring for the evening noted that some heavy weapons were stolen from Hammer Industries, one of which was a large prototype cannon capable of destroying anything pitted against it. It was a cannon that had been redesigned by Lois Gizem and so in all likelihood, she was being pressured for information on Hammer's technology by her captors ... and then those assets were being taken. Hammer would no doubt beef up security to absurd levels, but the situation was still getting out of hand, and even the city guard weren't able to get a handle on things; they were simply outmatched, and the enemy didn't have a name or a sign they could identify them by.

W.E. Headquarters would have to carefully guard its own assets in light of the situation, in case they too came under attack. Anna had left with Vivian shortly after hearing the news, hoping to help Headquarters with that dilemma, and Weyland was going to have to convince Veronika and the others to go and help them, too ... the only potential lures being the potential to lash out at the organization again, and maybe some vague since of duty. It wasn't much but it was a start, and he'd pay them if need be, but this had to be done, and soon.

Pain and Gain

"... my head." Gabbie slowly rose up off of the warm surface she'd slept on, looking almost hungover.

Steinn looked up at her pityingly. "Are you alright?" She hadn't actually been drinking, so he wasn't sure what the issue was.

"I'll live ... I think." 'Upgrades', he said. The only 'upgrade' I got was a new weapon ... not that I'm not grateful, but I wish Thanatos had done it instead of Burke.

Steinn could tell Gabbie was talking to herself, but like usual, the words she used were mostly obscured by mountains of overlapping sensory information, information that he had little of hope of sifting through. He had little interest in doing so, given how open she was with him, for the most part. Even if she wasn't going to elaborate on her headache, he figured it really wasn't any business of his, anyway. "You should drink some water," he suggested.

Gabbie doubted that would help her recover from one of Burke's sessions, but her mouth was a little dry, she admitted. "I don't wanna get up," she mumbled, falling back down onto Steinn's chest. "... have a maid bring something." She knew Weyland would likely hold a meeting during or after breakfast, and probably beat everyone over the head with the trouble in Ursentius, but that was still a short ways off. She could relax here a little while longer. Maybe her headache would be gone by then. Burke knows what he's doing, he's just so ... reckless. He doesn't care if I have to go through a lengthy recovery if he could get it all done in one night. I guess it is working, though. I can feel more, now and ... I can say with absolute certainty that Steinn is my ally. Maybe not everyone else's, but definitely mine.

The Source

Jethro could barely believe it. He could see. Everything from the uppermost part of his nose to the deep innards of his eye sockets was sore, but he could see. He might have been able to smile a little while longer if he didn't have to wake up and remove his bandages only to see Raquel, unconscious, and with a piece of the emblem balanced precariously on her chest. Jethro had no idea where it came from or what it was doing here, but things were bad enough as it was.

After deliberating for a couple of minutes, he reached over and took the fragment from her chest and hid it in his pocket. He wasn't thinking very far ahead. For the moment, he just wanted the thing out of sight and out of mind. He'd decide if and when to reveal it to her later, once the situation was a little clearer. He clasped his hands beneath his chin and leaned forward, watching as Raquel slept, wondering how he was going to handle his argument to keep her from getting involved, and the emblem piece he'd found on her, the source of all their recent troubles.

[spoiler=Contingency Plans]It was a while, but Blake eventually settled down and got a few hours of sleep. Once he awoke and was dressed, the swordsman made his way over to the infirmary. The healer wasn't inside this time, but Jethro and Raquel were still present. The former looked a lot better than he had in passing the previous night, while the merchant girl seemed more or less the same, minus the fact that someone had changed her into a blue gown.

"Another visitor?" Jethro muttered, looking a little depressed as he sat at the edge of his bed facing his daughter, hands clasped beneath his chin. "I'm glad she was able to make some new friends. Sorry it had to happen like this, though."

"...Yes, no one really deserves to go through what she has," Blake said, turning toward the older Valcyn. "I guess this is the first time we've met outside of the fortress near Sergio port, Major, er, Mister Valcyn. My name is Blake, and I'm one of the mercenaries Raquel hired."

"You don't seem much like a mercenary, but you're young, so that might have something to do with it," Jethro noted. He figured it was only a matter of time, working in the mercenary field, before the blue haired swordsman's heart became a mere shell of what it once was. As he flexed the fingers of his right hand, he added, "Call me whatever you want: Jethro, Major, 'Mr. Valcyn', whatever. I don't much care these days."

"I suppose that's fair, though we're hardly a normal group of mercenaries," Blake said, as he considered his companions. "And sorry about that. Just used to thinking of you as that... Do you mind if I ask a few questions? I can try and answer some of yours in return, about our group."

"You can ask me whatever you want, just don't expect much in the way of answers if it's about Sardis and the rest of them," Jethro warned, "I've said all I've got to say about that more than enough times already." The prospect of learning a bit about this entourage Raquel had picked up was actually intriguing. It might even offer some insight into why they were so good at creating trouble for their enemies.

"Fair enough. Well, I was wondering about why you didn't try to convince Raquel before the Danton fortress incident, but that's Sardis related," Blake said, thinking. "Why choose merchantry, after the army?"

"Heh." Jethro remembered that Danton business ... or rather heard about it after the fact. If only he'd been there ... "It's not something I ever would have considered before ... but I joined the army to make a difference, and that just wasn't going to happen. It's not a system that can be changed from the inside ... not by me and my colleagues, at least. I just needed something that could keep Raquel and I on the move after I left the army and she left Horizon. I didn't want to go into hiding just to keep them from hounding us. Being a merchant is a lot harder than it seems, though. You've got fluctuating prices, bandits, wars, and of course, emblem hunters. I guess that last one is exclusive to Raquel and I, heheh."

"...Right, and to some degree that's because the army is very heavily influenced by the Church of Wrath. But while you couldn't change the system, you did set an example for a lot of people in Urcenter, so I wouldn't say you didn't make a difference. Anyways, that explains why the two of you kept to the road, even though Raquel didn't always enjoy it. With your skills and her magic, there'd be no doubt they would be looking to bring you back in," Blake said, thoughtfully. He allowed a faint smile at Jethro's last remark. "Yes, that's definitely a unique problem. It isn't a problem anymore, though, since the lookalike took the piece..."

Jethro supposed making a small difference in the way some people lived and fought was worth something. Urcenter wouldn't be free again until after the war, though, and that wasn't a pretty thought given all the damage it had already sustained. "Cassandra ..." Jethro's expression grew grim as memories of his last encounter with her came rushing back. "I don't know what to think of her, now. I can see, again ... and here's my daughter. But Cassandra's still out there somewhere ...."

"... So that's her name. She sounded exactly like your daughter, when we encountered her at the fortress," Blake said, before processing the rest of what the man said. "... Wait, you lost your vision? Was she involved with that?"

"Involved? Yeah ... she convinced Samael not to finish me off, and for some reason, he agreed," Jethro explained.

Wait, what? Blake had thought that Cassandra had been Samael's puppet since they had first encountered her at the fortress, but she had intervened to save Jethro? That didn't make much sense. But, more to the point, Samael had been responsible for most of Jethro's injuries, as suspected. The swordsman frowned, and added that to the growing list of reasons to kill that bastard.

"That's... interesting," he finally said, still frowning.

"Yeah ... soon as Samael was about to finish me off, she stepped in, begged him not to kill me, and agreed to his terms. Apparently she's 'laden with Raquel's memories'. I'm not sure what that really means in the end but I said and did some things to her that I wish to the gods I could take back, now."

So, Cassandra also had Raquel's memories, apparently... Something was afoot.

"I see...," Blake said, slowly. "... Well, it wasn't your fault that you didn't know that she was more than just a lookalike, so don't beat yourself up over it. Anyone else would've done the same. And there's always the chance to apologize, should your paths cross again."

"Anyone else but Samael," Jethro amended, "the man treats her like a princess. All she had to do was ask and he decided to let me and the rest of our family live. I'm not sure how long that's going to last ... maybe until he thinks she's ready to let go of Raquel's past. These damn artificials and their elitist attitudes are really getting on my nerves, but I guess, just this once, I'm thankful that nonsense saved my life. I will apologize if I see her again ... but I doubt I actually will."

"...I see," Blake said. He wasn't in a position to tell Jethro about the protection for his family that was arranged, not with the link still in place. "... Right, that reminds me. What are you planning to do once Raquel wakes up and the two of you more or less recover? I imagine you're done with the organization, as a whole, judging by what you just said.."

"The 'organization' isn't my enemy. I've got people I still need to see, but getting anywhere near Samael is just asking for trouble," Jethro clarified. "I don't like it but if I can't talk Raquel out of this madness, I'm gonna just have to tag along and try to get a hold of those same people. There's still a chance to salvage this mess; I just have to stay under the artificials' noses."

"... I wouldn't be so certain of being able to stop them from attacking Raquel, considering the group as a whole. The same goes for avoiding Samael, thanks to what he's done," Blake said, frowning once again. "Anyways, I truly hope you can talk her out of continuing on with this group and this journey in general, especially given what just happened. She deserves a normal life, not the one she's been living in the past few months."

"Past few years more like it," Jethro amended again, "things weren't so bad out on the road, and she had friends at Horizon before that, though not many. Still, somewhere in there things just went wrong, and it only got worse. So tell me about this group she put together. If I'm going to have any chance of convincing her to give it up, I need to understand what it means to her."

"She gave off the impression that she preferred when she wasn't constantly traveling, but I digress," Blake said, before the subject changed to the group. "Well, to start, it was formed almost immediately after you were taken at Sergio port, though I joined later when they were coming back from Kigen, just over a month ago I believe. We've been through a lot, having been as far away as Rex-Avaz, but we stuck together, despite conflicts. I'd also venture to say that we're not exactly a typical band of mercenaries, circumstances aside."

"Raquel couldn't afford mercenaries, not on the money we were making. Why Weyland had to get involved, though ..." Weyland wasn't something Jethro wanted to think about for the moment, so he decided to focus on the group again. "What I'm still wondering is how you people managed to push them back so often, and not just them, but anything you came up against. You people even fought the fallen? Is that right?"

"They apparently completed a couple of jobs for Weyland, from what I understand," Blake said, before the subject of the group's combat prowess came up. "We did, the night before last. If you mean before then, then yes, I joined them after they apparently fought a group of them in Kigen. For the most part I'd say we've done well in making effective combat teams and being lucky, but aside from the fight last night it's been getting more and more difficult to win. The battle before last was at the fortress, and the one before that we lost three of our own. And well, you can see what good we've done in protecting Raquel in the past day or so. ..."

"Huh." That was some battle record. Three losses was the minimum expected in most melees, but just the three on one bad day? Most army units would give anything to have such good fortune, but there was still the highly unusual approach employed last night. Weyland had loaned them some high yield explosives for the mission and judging by that alone it wasn't meant to be the usual kind of mission. "So then, what was last night all about? Trying to cure your victory disease before it gets out of hand or just trying out different tactics?"

"... More like idiocy on my part, as well as others' parts," Blake said, looking away almost immediately. "We found out that you and the others were in the city, at the complex, in the afternoon. A couple of Weyland's people were sent to scout it, which led to what happened with Sardis. What happened is that Raquel wanted to warp in and grab both you and Hayato, whose brother had joined up recently. One of the others suggested that they use explosives to wipe out everyone else so they wouldn't come after us, and, well, we couldn't talk her out of it. It's true that we probably don't stand much of a chance against Samael in a stand-up fight, but if the bombs went off while she was inside, then it was all for nothing.

"I had managed to convince her to allow me to speak to the Wrathites, who I figured would be more than capable of dealing with the organization. They came to the complex, but by the time I arrived in the area, Raquel had already gone in, so I couldn't try to convince her to let the Wrathites handle it," he continued, now eying the floor. "I have no idea what went on within the complex, but she fell through the wall from the second floor, and, well, you know the rest."

Come to think of it, it was odd that it was just him, Cassandra, and Hayato for awhile. Could Cassandra have been deliberately involved somehow? It seemed unlikely, and yet, she'd kept the two of them occupied for longer than he ever would have expected. The sheer irony in that, to him, was that if they had been there when Raquel was brought to Sardis, their plot might have gone off without a hitch ... and a lot of people, both good and bad in his opinion, would be buried under a ton of rubble. That's another one I owe her ...

"Heh, you should have gone to the noble officer, Langley, not the wrathites. If you'd convinced them a 'criminal group' had setup in the city, they would have taken the job, few questions asked, and you wouldn't have had to worry about anyone getting hurt who didn't have it coming. Anyway, don't try and take Samael directly. I only did it because I had no other choice, but he's a living weapon, and apparently we haven't seen anything yet," Jethro warned. "I don't want to compromise them as a whole, but the artificials need to be reined in or killed, one or the other. Samael's also got these avian girls that run errands for him from time to time. They're probably his 'weakness' so to speak, but from what I've heard, he's a lot more dangerous when they're around, so even if they are a means to hurt him indirectly, they're probably decent fighters themselves."

"I guess that's fair enough, but I didn't want to involve Sapphire and her squad while they were helping the survivors of the fallen attack, " Blake said, frowning at Jethro once again. "Besides, the Wrathites had their own reasons for going to the complex, and no one anticipated the end result. I'll keep what you said about Samael in mind, but let me be clear: regardless of whatever you and whoever you need to speak to decide ends up happening, he is going to die. I'm going to try and avoid stooping to his level by targeting the avians, but I'm also not going to stop until he's died. Not only because of what he's done, but because he is too dangerous to be left alone."

"Well then, you've got a rough time ahead of you; hopefully you can pull it off, but not everyone's going to walk away from that kind of fight," Jethro said grimly.

"Can't be as rough as the past few years, at least, mentally," Blake said, eyes to the floor now. "And you're right about that much. But if that's what it takes, it's better if I don't walk away from it than let him continue on longer."

"You got a deathwish or something?" Jethro quickly corrected himself by shaking his head a few times as the memories of his confrontation resurfaced. "No, I get it. Nearly forgot I went after him thinking the same thing. I'd still be after him if I thought I had a chance."

"Yeah...," Blake said, falling silent for a few moments.. "... You know, Samael said that he was going to kill you, at the fortress. Was that a bluff, or was there some reason that he didn't try until last night?"

"Samael says a lot of things if you people haven't noticed," Jethro retorted. "He gave me plenty of time and chances to turn my back on Raquel, let him kill her for 'the greater cause' but the truth is he's just bitter because she's been beating us at nearly every turn and he doesn't want her around now that Cassandra exists. He probably just wanted to kill me in front of her, to crush her completely before killing her, too. Cassandra certainly changes things, though."

She seemed to change things for the better, too. With her around, and obeying Samael for the most part, he wouldn't do anything to traumatize her, so at least for a little while, they should be okay. "Like I said, I have no problem with you wanting to kill him. By all means, but remember, he'll move up whatever time frame he uses in an instant if he thinks he's not going to have the luxury to make his enemies suffer, first. That's basically what happened to me, last night."

"Noted, so he's the type of person who enjoys other's suffering, but not at the expense of his own goals," Blake said, frowning. "I'll take that into account and start working on something to at least prevent him from killing us before we're ready to fight him. Especially since I doubt he'll have the 'luxury' of prolonging our suffering soon enough."

He hoped Samael wouldn't, given how the group was going to be pursuing the organization with fervor.

"What makes you say that?" Jethro asked, looking over curiously.

"We have a few leads now as to the whereabouts of some of their bases," Blake said, simply enough. "Before the raid last night, it's been the Organization coming after us, so now it's time to reverse that."

It was times like these that Jethro really hated; he had plenty of information that could have helped Blake and the others out, but giving them even a little of what he was privy to would get a lot of people killed, most of them, people like him, whose main interest was in uprooting the systems that made the world what it was. He sighed heavily once he decided not to give up anything more. "Well, do what you have to do, I guess. I'll focus on Raquel, here."

"... Speaking of Raquel, is there any idea how long it will be until she wakes up?" Blake asked, going with the subject change. Considering she nearly died, he imagined it would be a while, but it couldn't hurt to see if they had some estimate of how long it would be.

"They don't think it's one of those nasty comas that'll last for who knows how long, but she could still be out for days," Jethro explained, frowning as he relayed the news.

"...Well, it's good that it isn't one of those long-term comas, at least," Blake said, frowning. "Of course, there's still the emblem energy issue to worry about..."

"Emblem energy issue?" Jethro echoed Blake.

"Right, you couldn't have known. Raquel has been using the emblem and its' energy for quite some time, to the extent that she's dependent on its' energy to survive, almost similar to light magic dependency," Blake said, avoiding eye contact. "She has some amount of the emblem's energy within her, but if that runs out, she'll die. I looked into it yesterday, before the raid, and the options to prevent her death would be either to try and wean her off the emblem's energy or go find another emblem piece. Problem with the first option at the time was that there'd be no way she'd give up that power, but things have changed."

"Hmm ..." Jethro thought to himself for a moment, his expression changing slightly with each new dead end. "How exactly does one wean off emblem energy?" From what he knew of life force dependency and curing it, continued, but progressively lesser exposure to it was crucial. He didn't see how the method could convert well if all the energy left to Raquel was right there inside her body.

"Well the obvious method would be obtain an emblem fragment and use that to wean her off like life force. This would mean getting the energy from her body removed and brought into the fragment, but obtaining one is clearly no easy feat," Blake said, frowning. The Order of Wrath might cooperate if Raquel was done with this whole thing, considering what that box likely contained. "Another option that could work is, troublesome as it is, inducing a life force dependency. From what I was told, the emblem energy's behaving in a similar way to it, so, if her body was to switch from relying on the emblem to relying on life force, the problem then would be life force dependency, for which there is much more precedence in curing. Either way, I'm almost certain I know someone who could help with that. The problem is, of course, getting Raquel to agree to that."

There was no telling if the first approach was even feasible, though Jethro did know getting an emblem piece for the endeavor wouldn't be nearly as difficult as Blake though. Regardless, the second method had promise. That wasn't enough to instantly win Jethro over, but if he didn't have to risk Raquel discovering the emblem piece he'd taken from her earlier, that was the option he was going to take. Life force dependency was, without a doubt, a dangerous condition to purposely put someone through, and if anything went wrong, he could wind up losing his daughter. Still, whether or not the approach would be used wouldn't matter until she woke up.

"Yeah ... I don't know why she would agree to something like that. She's stronger now. A lot stronger than she used to be. Why give that up ...?" It wasn't a question, not one meant for Blake, at least. Jethro knew very little about Raquel's relationship with the emblem, but he knew plenty about her situation, since it was so much like his own. First they were training to serve in the military and serving in a unit respectively, then they left, pursuing lives free of the morally gray lifestyle of servicemen. Then they were dragged into even more violence, but with that violence came new power neither of them possessed before. Raquel gained the powers of the emblem, while Jethro gained a resolve that could see him through any challenge, as well as some valuable tactical insights that would prove useful in the coming days. That wasn't something he could honestly give up, and so looking back on the incident at Sergio Port, he had very few regrets.

"...Not health concerns, obviously. Maybe for a chance at a relatively normal life. Raquel hasn't been happy for quite a while now," Blake said, as he thought back to his conversations with her. "Part of it's because of what happened with you, of course, but the other part has been because of all the violence along the way. It's really weighed on her, especially after the loss of the three back at the port. Even still, she said that she'd continue on with us yesterday, before the raid, but I have to wonder if it was motivated by not wanting to feel like she was abandoning us. Either way, if your daughter gives up that power, that more or less ends her association with us, and she won't have to worry about the organization or any of this emblem-related business. She deserves that, or at least, better than our group."

"Not sure anyone in the army would agree with that statement, if only because stronger groups than this one would be extremely hard to find. I'm also not sure it would be as simple as giving up this power and leaving. Sardis became obsessed with getting her to join us while the artificials insisted on taking her down if it came to violence again. It's not like Samael tried to kill her yesterday because she's got emblem energy inside of her ... and his deal with Cassandra mentioned nothing of Raquel specifically."

"I guess..., though I'm sure whoever was protecting your family before this incident would extend this protection to her, if that's what you mean. I heard Sardis was severely injured, so I'm not sure if he even made it out of the complex," Blake said, frowning. He'd tip off Jethro to that much, especially since Desmond was supposedly out of commission. "And well, I think Samael thinks Raquel's dead, otherwise why didn't he finish her off before she fell through the wall? If she keeps going with the group, that won't be the case anymore. With that in mind, if she were to give up her power instead, she'd probably be safer with regards to that."

"I'll protect her," Jethro insisted. Samael may have beaten him yesterday, and quite easily, but fighting wasn't the only way to protect someone. He hadn't heard anything about his family being protected before, nothing specific, so he added, "What do you know about this protector ...?"

"They're a vasilus who came to us after the fortress battle," Blake said, keeping it vague enough just in case someone was listening in. "They offered protection for your family after recognizing the dragon head. From what I could take from it, they seemed relatively trustworthy."

"A vasilus?" Jethro's gaze locked firmly on Blake as he echoed his words. Why would a vasilus bother with his family? Jethro wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth, not too deeply anyway, but he was no fool, either; there had to be a reason such a being would offer protection to their family. Maybe it was just a matter of pride, like most matters in life. For now, he wasn't in a position to learn much more, so he was content to shelf the issue once Blake ran out of details for him.

"Yes, a vasilus," Blake repeated, as Jethro' gaze intensified on him. "They weren't like Lilith or Griffin in the sense that they didn't seem to care as much about the emblem as those two. At the same time, from what I understand, they were opposed to the organization as well. At least, since one of their servants attacked Sardis and tried to protect us after the dragon head attacked your side."

That wasn't good, Jethro thought. They had enough enemies without vasili getting involved. The situation was more delicate now than he realized. His goals were too many and fragile: protect Raquel and remove her from this conflict, address and end the threat of the artificials, return their group to what it was meant to be. With everything so precariously balanced, a vasilus could easily nullify the need for his third and fourth goals by destroying the entire group. "Does this vasilus have a name?"

"... They do, but I'm not so sure if I should tell you before someone checks your head out," Blake said, bluntly. "According to the dragon head, you, Sardis, and a few others had dark energy in their minds, which is a sign of mind magic. If I were to out them, there's a chance the organization finds out and causes problems for them, which, well, is an awful way to repay them."

"Suit yourself," Jethro nearly scoffed, "but I don't think there's much anyone in the group, not even Samael, can do to a vasilus. Even if they tried, I'm sure it'd only backfire like everything else seems to have." Mind magic? Jethro supposed he could look into that later.

"Sorry, but I'd prefer to take the safer option here, especially considering they have emblem fragments," Blake said. "Considering Lilith's only conscious because of one, it wouldn't be too far fetched for them to have the ability to harm vasili, or something."

"Again," Jethro repeated, "suit yourself," the reasons not really concerning him so much as the fact that he wasn't going to learn anything else about the matter.

The room fell quiet for a few minutes after Jethro's remark ended the vasilus subject. Then, Blake spoke up again.

"...If you have some time in the future, would you be willing to train me, or at least spar with me, so I can improve?," he asked. "I'd like to learn from the best, so I can do my job more effectively."

Jethro cocked an eyebrow at the young swordsman. "Aren't you people going after Samael and the others ... regardless of whether or not Raquel tags along?" Admittedly, there was a strong possibility she would go with them, and that would force him to go as well, but other than revenge against a cripple, Jethro didn't see much reason for his daughter to continue to involve herself.

"Yes, but my current job is, or was to guard Raquel and help her rescue you," Blake said, simply. "Assuming she doesn't come along, my job then would be to go after Samael and the organization, which will have violence in the future. If I improved my skill with the blade, it would make that road a little more possible. And if Raquel does come, then all the more reason for it."

"Hmm ..." Jethro thought about the request a little longer. His time with the organization had given him the perfect excuse to start training again, and he'd even recaptured some of the prowess and stamina he'd lost after wasting half a year as a 'humble merchant', but he still wasn't as strong as he'd been during the opening days of the war. Perhaps, he thought, that was reason enough to help Blake out. His personalized style would no doubt come in handy for the young man, and teaching someone else would help him remaster it himself. An almost perfect arrangement ... assuming he failed to talk Raquel out of this madness ...

"Alright," Jethro nodded.

"Thank you," Blake said, almost surprised that the man had agreed to his request. "It'll be an honor to be trained by one of Urcenter's finest."

[spoiler=Resignation]Evelyn entered Weyland's office silently, closing the door behind her. Today, she had a small traveling pack with her, as well as a wooden staff.

"Sorry to drop in unannounced, but I'd figure you'd want to hear about the group of your guests that went to the Cathedral," she said, flatly. "They managed to rescue Joanna and escape. No casualties on their side, but they killed about twenty men in doing so."

"Really?" Weyland replied, looking as if he'd just gotten bad news on top of more bad news. Hopefully Ernesta would be back with the tea, soon. He was definitely going to need it. "I won't be able to do anything for them if they get caught now," he mused, though that seemed obvious enough already. "By the way, where's the staff I gave you?" There wasn't much point in her showing up in the garb of a royal guardsman, as that would draw unneeded attention, but her weapon was another matter. The idea of a tech staff being swapped out for a wooden version was also curious, if not a little annoying.

"Yes, I imagined as much. Nonetheless I just figured it would be better off to let you know," she said, before taking the other, compact staff from her belt and offering it to Weyland. "Here it is. I'm returning it because I will no longer be able to test it for you. I resigned from the Royal Guard this morning."

Weyland nearly stood up but stopped himself halfway. Slowly easing back into his seat as the realization hit him, he figured these two subjects were connected and she was involved in the rescue to some extent. "So you helped them ... and you're being forced to give up your position?" Weyland could think of harsher punishments ...

"More of it's easier if I leave. Especially since we still don't know where I come from," Eve said, with a sad expression. "I've been being pressured to leave for months, with regards to that. What happened at the cathedral made my choice easier. It's better for the both the Guard and the Royal family this way."

"I doubt they'd all agree on that, but so be it," Weyland conceded, standing up and leaning over to accept the staff. "So where will you be traveling where even testing a prototype isn't possible?"

"...They wouldn't, but those who would disagree are wrong," Evelyn said, sadly. "Most likely out of the country. I'm going to try and see if I can find out who I was before 15 years ago. Considering nothing's been found about that since then, it's pretty safe to say that I'm probably from Neviskotia or Kigen."

Weyland cracked a weak smile. "Well you don't strike me as a kigenese woman, not by blood, at least." He would know, wouldn't he? Ernesta entered the office as soon as he'd said that, a single serving of tea in her hands. "Ah, thank you."

"I wasn't aware there would be any guests," she said uneasily, glancing almost apologetically at Evelyn.

"My apologies, I came here on short notice. I won't be here for long," Evelyn said to Ernesta, before turning back to Weyland. "Fair enough... Before I go, is Jethro's daughter still around? I wanted to have a word with her."

"She's indisposed at the moment," Weyland said, frowning.

"She hasn't woken up yet," Ernesta clarified as she poured Weyland a cup of tea.

"I... see...," Evelyn said, wondering for a moment why Weyland knew exactly when his guests were awake or not. Then she realized that he probably had attempted to summon her for some business. As a result, the former royal guard took her pack up, went through it, and quickly produced a letter, addressed to 'Jethro'. "Very well, then, in that case, could you get this to her once she does wake up? I've been meaning to give it to Jethro since he retired, but I've never had the chance to run into him."

"Jethro is here, mind you," Ernesta noted, just as she pulled the pot away, the teacup now full and steaming slightly. "Still in the infirmary, hopefully."

"That's right," Weyland said a bit preemptively as he carefully took the tea in hand, "Raquel was injured but they still managed to get him back from the organization."

"Wait, he's here?" Evelyn asked, surprised. "... Well, good on her, though I hope she recovers. Is he 'indisposed' as well, or could I talk to him before I leave?"

"Not as chatty as we hoped he'd be," Weyland made a gesture with his free hand, "but he hasn't exactly gone mute, either. I don't see why he wouldn't be up for a casual conversation at any rate."

"I see. Alright then, I'll go talk to him. Good luck with your ventures, Seth," Evelyn said, as she turned and made for the door.

"And you as well," Weyland nodded. For some reason, he felt she'd need a bit more luck on her side than he would as far as their respective goals were concerned.

Bottom of the Morning

Weyland had another cup of tea sitting in front of him, but he wasn't in the office this time, nor the study. This time, he was in the dining hall, sitting at a large chair at the end of one of the tables, his chair's back facing the wall. Hopefully they wouldn't oversleep, even though the past couple of days had been rather rough for them. He had some things to discuss, and they couldn't wait, at least not too long. He also had Connor present, feeling his nephew should be present as well. He had reservations about letting Connor go with them if they pursued the organization into Neviskotia, but the Paladin's design was a promising one. It wouldn't succumb to an aureola, at least not the one that bored through the Dauntless. His nephew should be safe inside of it.

Ernesta was present as well, and she'd asked Weyland in private if he'd offer them money first or see what their response would be, and naturally he chose the latter, however, she had a feeling that even with the 'merchant' out of commission, they would still need some convincing if they were to leave for the capital today. She stood by in case he needed anything, not really feeling like sitting at the table at the moment. Breakfast would be ready soon so she would see to that once it was finished.

Edited October 3, 2014 by Phoenix

[Snike]

Blake decided to leave the medical ward a few minutes later, and made his way over to the dining hall to have breakfast, as well as to see if anyone was up yet or if anything had come up. Weyland, Connor, and another of the former's employees' waiting at a table indicated the latter, which was just wonderful, given the past few days. Nonetheless, the swordsman headed over to the the meeting table of sorts and sat down, expressionless.

***

Evelyn only passed the blue haired swordsman-the one who was with Miss Valcyn at the ball, if she recalled correctly- on her way to the infirmary. The door, unsurprisingly, was closed, so the former royal guard knocked three times, then waited to see if anyone was inside.

[Mercakete]

Nightly and morning rituals had both passed by, and Gytha was anxious to hear how Raquel and her father were doing. They'd been told -- or at least she thought they'd been told -- that they'd receive news as it came up, and it was generally not a good idea to head into infirmaries unless you were sick or a surgeon (at least on a ship), but the anticipation still ate at the mariner. Gytha decided that if she didn't hear any news that morning, she'd seek it out herself, and so headed to the dining hall for breakfast. It also seemed to be a good place for news and socializing, but not many people were up and about yet. She did see some important-looking setup, though. Normally, dining was a lot more casual in the dining hall, but people were set up ceremoniously at a table. Maybe this meant news.

Cheerily hurrying over, Gytha asked those present at the table, "Hoy! How're Raquel n' 'er father doin'?" She already assumed they'd been cured and would arrive shortly themselves, such was her faith in Weyland's staff. She was a little too excited to wait for them to show up, though.

[-Cynthia-]

"Hey Gytha. Raquel hasn't woken up yet, but she's doing better from what I hear," Connor offered, looking up from his cup of tea. He scanned the room a bit, seeing who was around. "Did Anna go somewhere? She's usually up early," he asked no one in particular.

Pavel was gone as was expected, but Veronika slept better than she had for many months. Once we deal with this Organization problem, we'll finally be able to be together, she thought to herself, striding towards the dining hall with new resolve.

"Good morning everybody!" Veronika announced cheerily, taking a seat at the Professor's table. "Are we having a meeting today?" she asked, noting that the arrangement was a bit more formal than usual.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

The "great revelation" wasn't anything Gar actually gave a damn about. So he shrugged, watch it become irrelevant and retired to do his own thing.

Which was sleep.

He rarely got beds outside the Tower or his own properties so it was refreshing.

He still trapped the hell out of the room, of course.

Morning came, as it did, and Gar was just one of many who eventually made their way back to the dining hall.

Xenia

Xenia spent her night in the medical ward, checking in on that Raquel girl every so often between bouts of her own sleep. Nothing changed, even when she gave her a few once-overs along the way. Come the morning she came in to see the eye guy up as well. "No change?" she asked him. Not like it was hard to tell anyway.

[Eail]

At times, Zachary Fairweather wondered if he really was fully human, he seemed to be able to work off of next to no sleep for several days, and the hangover he had was already working it's way out of his skull... either that or he was something along the lines of a born soldier that just so happened to have enough experience with alcohol that it was depressing.

Coming in not too long after Veronika, he could hear the cheerfulness in her voice.

'Good for her... at least someone has found their happiness'

Coming up on the evident meeting table as well, he took a seat next to the redhead, giving her a nod. "I spent most of last night working on plans, need to run them by you at some point... other than that, sleep well?"

[Snowy_One]

Morning. As the sunlight blared through the window like a herald blasting a trumpet full-on in Robin's ear the girl started to awaken, only to crash back down and bury her head under her pillow as a dull throbbing pulsed through her head.

"<Ten more minutes dad. The deer can hunt itself for ten more minutes.>" she said with a soft groan. Fifteen minutes later Robin finally pulled the pillow off her head. She was an outright mess. Hair seemed to be splayed in every direction it could manage, only cleared around her bloodshot and bagged eyes, as she shuffled down the hallway with a heavy moan coming from her as her hand pressed against her forehead, trying to dull the throbbing headache. Had the wine really been THAT bad for her? She hadn't even had that much? Was it such a small amount of alcohol, the dream of being chased by a hungry Maw intent on eating her, or just a bad nights sleep?

It didn't matter. It could wait till after *THUNK*!

With a loud sound Robin outright smashed into the doorway into the dining room, somehow missing the entrance entirely.

"Owww..." she groaned out as she tried to pull herself upright. Having come in just AFTER Conner had spoken about Raquel's health she had missed it entirely. With a slow shuffle she made it to the table, almost crashing down into her seat. "Is Raquel doing better?" she mumbled out into the table.

[-Cynthia-]

"Yes indeed," Veronika replied to Zach with a knowing smile. "How have you been sleeping?" she asked him. Plans can wait until more of us have arrived. Raquel would not be joining them according to the report, though it was comforting to hear that she was on the mend.

[Eail]

"Could be better, could be worse, I was working until.... maybe two last night? Arietta ended up coming to find me, we had a few drinks, after we finished up I crawled into my bed around three or so. I don't need that much sleep to function though, so I'm fine. Honestly if she hadn't shown up I may not have gone to sleep at all, I wanted to try to work everything out so you wouldn't have to worry about it, in case you could spend some more time with Pavel." Zach replied to Veronika, figuring he might as well be truthful. "I... suppose he already left right? Sort of wanted to talk to him a bit... maybe next time."

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika frowned. "Just make sure you're getting enough rest. But yes, Pavel has his path and I have mine. We'll meet again soon enough. What kind of plans did you come up with?" she asked Zach, allowing the mage's questionable sleeping habits alone for now.

[Phoenix]

Changes

Jethro shook his head in response to Xenia. Aside from a detail he'd taken care of personally, there was no change. Though still sore, his first instinct when he heard the knocking at the door was to get up and get it himself. "Just a second," he muttered as he stood up from the bed. The days of eating just enough to get by had caught up to him quickly following his defeat at the hands of Samael, and now he felt exhausted.

Schemes

Weyland nodded to Connor's question before looking to those entering the dining hall. So much to go over and so little time.

Weyland had been about to answer Veronika's question when a few others arrive. He began mulling over how long he would be willing to wait for others to arrive, eventually deciding that there were enough people to begin. The issue wasn't related to the fallen, so Steinn wouldn't need to attend. Whether or not Connor would be going at all was still in question, and he was present, so Gabbie, Axel, and Arietta wouldn't need to attend either, necessarily, though they would definitely need to be caught up on things before the group left. Raquel was of course, still unconscious, and Jethro was a wildcard he wasn't sure how to deal with just yet. All things considered, it really would just be best to get things out in the open and give them a little time to sort it out for themselves.

"I trust you remember the lead my people picked up in Ursentius?" Weyland began, hoping at least someone would recall. "Well the situation has escalated rapidly. Last night, I received another report from Ursentius. Hammer Industries was attacked and lost a number of their prototypes. Most of them were pieces of equipment or weapons reviewed and revised by Lois Gizem, the daughter of one of Hammer's benefactors. I was already planning to look into Lois' kidnapping but now it's absolutely imperative that she be found; her knowledge of Hammer and its assets is what they're using not only locate the tech and steal it, but also operate them. They've also hit the northern fortress in Ursentius and managed to steal several of the garrison's tanks, though the official reports says a group called 'Invictus' is responsible." Weyland paused to place his hands together just in front of his face. "Now, as we all know, the organization we've been dealing with doesn't have a name, though I suspect this is purely for enabling this kind of ruse."

Ernesta straightened up, aiming to take over for part of the explanation. "Invictus is a small anti-government group. Their goals are vague and change with the seasons, but until recently they've been nothing but troublemakers, stealing supplies, trying to start riots, defacing monuments, and so on. They aren't always pro-western, but they have been in the past, and so it's possible they've been funded by the western houses in order to stir up enough chaos here in the capital for whatever machinations they have planned. We suspect something different is happening, however."

"Exactly," Weyland said, his eyes narrowing. "I believe this group has become an organization pawn in order to keep themselves from being surrounded and destroyed like before; they're a decoy to distract the masses and the local authorities from the real, nameless enemy we've been dealing with. With no known links to the previous incident involving the artificial humans and the raid on the facility they were using as a base and laboratory, it'll be that much harder for them to put the pieces together. Anna's already gone to the capital to help strengthen security at Headquarters, just in case we're targeted next, but I need you people to head to the capital as well, find Lois, and take down whichever organization leader is behind this, before they get their hands on something devastating. Or ... before they manage to reverse engineer the technology that the tanks rely on. If they unlock that technology for themselves, your foray into far east could become much more perilous than we ever imagined. The Paladin's design can cope with small arms fire and magic, but not the full blown assault of cannons."

[Mercakete]

Gytha gave Connor some thanks for the news and things went along as they did. Weyland apparently had a new job for them, too. Perhaps it was the wrong time to have her attention grabbed, but Gytha was only mildly interested in Weyland's mission report until the word "cannons." Perhaps it was because the rest seemed so foreign, though she understood it, more or less. In any case, there was another concern she had. Tilding her head to the side in thought and resting a hand on her chin, Gytha asked, "Well, that sounds pretta serious. Urgent, too. D' ye think Raquel will be able t' travel that soon?"

[Snike]

"I was just talking to Jethro, and he said she could be out for days, Gytha... The decision's yours, Veronika, as second in command. Regardless, it doesn't change what I'm doing," Blake said, indicating his head. "Any new leads on Miss Gizem's exact location? And is there some way in place to handle the tanks, should they be used during combat?"

***

Evelyn heard a muffled voice from the other side of the door, so she opted to wait and see who answered the door.

[Eail]

"I'll live, don't worry about me." Zach said, before softly smiling "Thanks for worrying though."

"Well, so far I've really only.." Was as far as he got before Weyland started speaking "I'll tell you later." He quietly added onto the end for Veronika before giving the man his full attention

"Mercy... just when it seemed like we were on track to get to work, we get drawn into something else." Sighing, Zach rubbed his eyes, formulating some questions in his mind.

"Do we have any information at all as to where she might be held, the leader of the Organization we need to go after, anything at all, or are we going in blind?" They didn't have time for this mission... they needed to get to Neviskotia as fast as possible to actually start preparing

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"So now the destination's the exact opposite? That's just... great..." Gar sighed at the announcement. "Well, not like it's my business for now."

Xenia

Still not up then eh? Well while that guy went to take care of the door Xenia went to give Raquel another once-over with her staff.

[Phoenix]

Infirmary

Jethro was expecting another one of Raquel's friends or possibly even Weyland ... definitely not Evelyn. "What are you doing here?" he asked, his tone mostly neutral but still curious.

Dining Hall

"If we knew where she was being held, I wouldn't be asking you people to do this," Weyland explained, "there's too much ground to cover and not enough people to do it. The local authorities can't even track down the tanks that were stolen. You'll have to do a bit of investigating after you meet up with my people there, Craig and Raphael. From there you should work with them to shut down Invictus, rescue Lois, secure the tanks if possible and kill whichever one of the artificials is behind this plot. She should still be in the city proper, or at least very close by if they've managed to pilfer as much as they have."

"As for dealing with the tanks themselves," Ernesta continued for Weyland, "don't. You're skirmishers, not specialists and confronting tanks at any range is extremely dangerous. Their main guns can shred a man with a single shot, their armor can withstand any conventional melee weapon, and they are highly resistant to magic, even thunder spells," she noted. "Better to leave the tanks to Raphael. He'll have a plan for dealing with them, even if they're being used at the time."

[scorri]

Erion stretched and sat up. He blinked, and grinned slightly. He had a slight headache, but nowhere near as bad as it could have been. And besides, he hadn't done anything stupid, so as far as he was concerned, it was a good night. Standing up and getting dressed, he tucked in his various knives into their respective places, securing their sheathes around his wrists and other useful locations. Pulling his coat on, he headed down to the dining hall, looking for a bit of food as well as information on what was next. Entering just in time to hear Weyland's proposition, he raised an eyebrow. Walking over to the table he plopped down and placed his elbows on the table and chin in his hands. "Hmm, seems like an interesting trip. Clearly important if you're willing to stall our trip into 'Skotia to warn them about that gate. Suppose there'd be some sort of payment involved? Either way, seems like an important enough mission to sidetrack. And will be interesting if nothing else."