Return of the Emblem Chapter Thirteen: Flight

[roymbrog]

Ah, so the woman blocking their way was part of the royal guard. That was somewhat disconcerting. Did that mean a member of the royal family was here? That line of thought was interrupted when he heard Shadrak’s statement and turned to see him wrestling a rod away from the fallen swordmaster he’d incapacitated earlier. He had three guesses as to where that weapon had been aimed, but none mattered once the druid pulled the trigger despite Amon’s protest. The only reason Valter would’ve disapproved of the action was the noise it created; Shadrak could’ve easily killed him with dark magic instead. It was very likely at least someone outside heard.

They reeeaally needed to leave now, so Valter walked over to where others were gathered around Evelyn. That probably counted as gathering. The woman seemed trustworthy enough for now, anyway. “How far can you warp a group this size? There are others we need to meet up with,” he said.

[Toogee]

Jam was glad that Evelyn not only cleared the way, but also offered to warp them out of here. That was really generous for someone that was part of the royal guard. Almost too generous: one had to wonder whether she was going to simply warp them into a cell. How would this play out? Meanwhile, Tia inquired about Eva's odd behavior.

"I don't know; the stranger seems on our side. Eva might just still be in battle mode or something."

[Afterglimmer]

Luther cringed at the sound of Joanna’s scream as the horseman ended Alastor’s life. Despite trying to stop them, he certainly didn’t deserve to die like that. Some of the group voiced their disapproval of the wrathite’s murder; but this wasn’t a good time to linger on it. They still needed to escape the cathedral with Joanna or all of this would have gone to waste. A shaman he didn’t recognize had mentioned that they had fought these wrathites before. Just who were these people with? It would have to be something to ask Amon after they escaped.

There were still a few armed wrathites between them and the exit; though most of them were still shaken by their commander’s death. The few that weren’t distracted had barricaded the exit, but were quickly dispatched by the wyvern rider that had argued with Norbert during the battle and a newcomer that some of the group identified as a royal guardsman. A few moments later, another shot rang out. Apparently, the shaman from earlier had killed one of the wrathites with their own rod. If anyone in the cathedral area didn’t know something was amiss, they definitely knew now. Thankfully, Evelyn was offering to warp them out despite what had transpired. Seeing no other option, he quickly joined the small mob of people gathering near her. This better not be a trap…

[Phoenix]

Trouble

"Bleeding out?!" Lilith exclaimed at Gar. Griffin had been expecting Raquel to fall in battle and lose the emblem piece, but Lilith had honestly begun to have some faith. Of course, now that bit of faith she'd built up was shaking with this latest information. "What have you people gotten yourselves into? Was her piece of the emblem stolen?"

The Last Wrathite

Shadrak really didn't have anything to say after taking down the swordmaster once and for all. He wasn't tolerating the group being blindsided when they had earned their victory, that was all. Maybe shooting him with his own weapon was a bit excessive, but he didn't want to use up anymore of his own power unnecessarily before even making it out of the cathedral itself. At least if they were being warped out, another confrontation was unlikely.

Amon sighed and silently began heading for the hallway Evelyn had appeared from. "None of this should have happened," he muttered to himself. When Valter asked how far they could be warped in one go, Amon guessed that it they would likely be sent just far enough to be off of the cathedral grounds. From there, they could easily follow the rest of the original plan, head south, and meet up with the others.

"No ..." Amon's gaze shot toward the unfamiliar voice as it echoed out from the main entrance. The doors were still closed and sealed, but there was a man standing there with a sheathed blade in his left hand and a dumbstruck expression, one Amon was quite familiar with. That was the look of someone whose worst nightmares were being realized. "I was right outside ..."

Shadrak quietly stuffed the rod into his cloak and made for the hallway, sparing the prince little more than a cautious glance. If he was too shocked to attack them, he wasn't going to worry himself over it. Finally a wrathite whose first response isn't to attack us on sight. I approve. Let's just leave him there astonished at how stupid his allies were.

These were the last people Athrun wanted to see. Alastor, lying dead on the ground with an arrow through his skull. Other wrathites he knew by name, also lying dead or unconscious throughout the main hall. Joanna, 'liberated' from the room she was being held in. Angelica, mixed in with what as far as he could tell were random vigilantes taking matters into their own hands. Evelyn, one of the royal guardsmen, who couldn't have been siding against them, as only wrathites were on the ground around her. At least they weren't dead. She of course knew better than to go that far. Still, he couldn't have felt much worse about this situation than he already did. "This is what I was trying to prevent! Evelyn, why are you helping them?!"

Inquiries

Well that was a vague answer, Nadine noted before twirling her finger at the runelette. It began rolling in place in front of her, matching the speed and direction of her finger.

Nyx's expression was completely neutral as she descended from the makeshift throne. "It may yet prove difficult here, as well; it all depends. How much are you willing to share in order to learn something 'new'? A little? A lot? Everything?"

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

She cared? Weird. "We were attacking those one guys who had her father and one of the head honchos zapped her. I mean, it's possible her piece got taken after I left. But the guy was getting all huffy with some wrathites or something before he warped me out." Gar shrugged. "But it'll probably survive until I rip it from their corpses."

[Snike]

"You should know, of all people, Prince," Evelyn said, avoiding eye contact with the prince. "The Order of Mercy has done so much for me since that I was first taken in by them fifteen years ago, after the assassination attempt. I needed to repay them for that. Even if that wasn't the case, I can't agree with the Order of Wrath's actions. You and I both know Joanna's done nothing wrong. I made a mistake in trusting this group to get them out quietly, admittedly, but even still they're better than allowing her to be imprisoned by the other Wrathites. Do what you will with me, but do it after she's escaped."

Once that was said, the royal guard then turned to the departing fighters. "They should warp you just outside the grounds. Second door on the right."

***

Aaaand the Prince of Ursium was here. Wrathdammit. Pete just looked away as he passed the king's future successor. Well, they were certainly outlaws now, if they weren't before.

[Nanami Touko]

"Second door on the right, huh?" Eva said, nodding. "Well, best be off then," she said, turning and leaving. She wasn't about to stand up to the prince nor was she about to wait around for him to catch them. Evidently he'd warped straight through the door, and if he could do that, then moving now was their only option. Moving later would result in more than few deaths.

----------

"Tha-Tha-That's..." Tia said, stammering out of fear, "that's P-Prince Athrun..." She began to unconsciously tug on Jam's arm, trying to pull her away towards where this royal guard had told them to go. "Jam. We should leave. Like right now. Probably should have already left."

[roymbrog]

Prince Athrun suddenly appeared by the doors, and Valter spared a startled glance towards him. How had he gotten inside? The prince seemed to be in more than a bit of shock as well. It would really be best to use this opportunity to leave, before he decided to stop them.

Evelyn’s allies would be able to warp them far enough and were apparently just down the hall. Valter started off after the others heading there, but not before leaving the royal guard with a nod and sincere “Thank you”. Her actions and reasoning had been admirable, in his opinion.

[Ether]

And the one person she had hoped to avoid whilst here had just warped in... lovely. With a sigh and a shake of her head, Angelica walked over to Athrun, a solemn expression on her face.

"Listen, Prince Athrun. If I might make a brash request... I'd like to speak with you. I think it's rather important to our relationship going forward that we get this all down in stone, wouldn't you agree?" Angelica noted to the man... this might end up biting her, but... she felt she had a good read on Athrun, and if her read was right, this just might be fixable.

"Are you willing to grant that to me, Athrun?" The adept concluded, her natural instinct to attempt to flash a smile... as good as her mask had gotten over the years, at a time like this... she still couldn't smile.

***

"Difficult is preferable to nigh on impossible, wouldn't you agree? As for what I myself am willing to contribute... under normal circumstances I'd be quite unwilling to open my mind, but... well, this is certainly an exception if I've ever come across one. And if I'm to open my thoughts to one of the vasili... well if one is going that far already, what more harm can it truly bring to put everything to bare?" Kit replied with a smile.

[Toogee]

The look on the prince’s face took the spunk right out of Jam. It was just a night or two ago that they were dancing at his wedding. Now, he could only look on at the familiar faces slaughtered at their hands. Suddenly, their rescue mission didn’t feel so noble anymore. All she could do was go with Tia’s tug and get out.

“Yeah, you said it,” Jam replied to Tia, almost absentmindedly as she followed along. This was something Alphonse had not prepared her for.

[Nanami Touko]

"Gelly, are you stupid!?" Tia shouted, her voice cracking from fear. She didn't wait for a response as Jam began to give way, dragging the girl along after Eva down the hall. She didn't want to be around to watch the Prince do whatever he was going to do to her. Tia refused to believe that after his display against that Vasilus, he would sit there and let them leave. Best to run now while he was distracted.

[Phoenix]

Curiosity

"You couldn't have been warped very far ... show me where it is," Lilith decided, beginning her ascent into the air as soon as the last word left her lips. Suddenly, she stopped, about six feet off the ground. "What is that?" she asked, gesturing at Gar's midsection. Mostly hidden or not, Lilith could tell what Gar was wearing was too cumbersome to be armor ... of the traditional sort, at least. She'd first noticed it when she caught him, but now she was even more curious.

A Necessary Truce

"Joanna is a potential emblem wielder. I don't know all of the details but that's why Desmond wanted her kept here and separated from any emblem pieces that might turn up. He was making an exception with her but I'm almost certain the rest are going to wind up dead when all is said and done," Athrun angrily explained to Evelyn. "He's not going to have nearly as much patience as he used to after this massacre."

Amon winced at the explanation. The wrathites were trying to prevent her from reuniting with the emblem piece Malik--if all else went according to plan--had made off with. Guarding the emblem piece was also Joanna's own goal in all of this, so a confrontation with the wrathites was inevitable after all, at least with him and the others now involved. What Athrun had to say about the other emblem wielders was disturbing, though. Knowing as much as he did about the nature of the emblem pieces, he wasn't surprised the wrathites would take it so far as to kill all of the others if they didn't cooperate. It was the only way to ensure the tables weren't inexplicably turned on them later. Still, it made him worry about Raquel and the others. It also made him worry a little about the future, and what he himself would be facing if they ever came back to Ursium.

Joanna couldn't make eye contact with Athrun, or anyone for that matter, and fortunately for her, he wasn't trying to make her do that. She could eventually see something on his face, though, something that let her know that the violence had finally come to an end, and that sent a wave of relief through her. It was still bittersweet at best, though.

"There's ... nothing to talk about, Angelica. Not now," Athrun said somberly, his head hung low and his eyes barely open. "Listen," he suddenly straightened up and addressed the group as a whole, "I want all of you to do as Evelyn says and leave this place. As the heir to the throne, it's my duty to stop you. However, I'm in no condition to do so, so in order to prevent anymore needless bloodshed, I'll be keeping an eye on you until you're all gone. This truce ends after that."

Eras and Eras of Exchange

"Very well." Nadine glanced over at the sound of those words and saw Nyx reaching out toward the wordy visitor. It was that time again, where entire lifetimes were absorbed in seconds. As it happened yet again, Nadine couldn't help but wonder just how many times Nyx had done this. How many people had she gained the life experience of? Based on when this place must have been built and how many could have potentially come here seeking knowledge over the centuries, she was guessing hundreds of thousands, probably more. That was a daunting amount of information to have. How could she even keep track of who she was? Or was all of this slowly and subtly changing her over the years? All she could do was wonder.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Yeah sure, so show you from the air or ground?" He replied first. On to the second... "Oh this? Just think of it as the greatest armor ever conceived. Someone tries to attack me? BOOM whole battle goes up. Well, if I trip too but I got good balance."

[Snike]

So Joanna was imprisoned because she was a wielder? That still wasn't justification enough, but considering the Prince was letting the group go, Evelyn opted not to argue with him. Instead, she leaned on her staff as the 'rescuers' made their way down the hall, avoiding eye contact. She didn't regret what she had done, but nonetheless, the royal guard was wondering whether or not she had just signed her own death warrant.

[scorri]

Lumi followed Pete, working on splinting her arm to her side as she went. Her major injuries had been healed, but the dislocated arm had apparently slipped past them. "Hmm, can I get your help with this once we're out of here? It's... kinda painful and makes doing things like carrying my sword kinda impossible..." She winced as she jostled it in her attempt to put more ice around it. "Ah.... yeah, that'd be great."

Hoshi meanwhile was still sitting, staring blankly at the floor. She was just overloaded on confusion and sadness and anger and a whole mess of emotions such that she was barely paying attention to what was going on anymore. She'd vaguely noticed Angel trying to get her to move and had started to do so, but when Angel had left, she'd sunk back down to floor. She didn't know what to do anymore. Nothing seemed like the right choice.

[Ether]

"Wrong on all accounts, Athrun. That's exactly why I want to talk to you." Angelica rebutted, dropping her earlier niceties... seemed there would be no place for them here.

"As the Prince of Ursium, your duty is not to the Order of Wrath alone, Athrun. Your duty is to your people, and to all four of the Orders. You saw that crowd with your own eyes, Athrun... I know you did, I saw you get hit with a tomato. Your people won't stand for how Desmond is leading the Order of Wrath, Athrun... the other Orders won't stand for it either. All that Desmond's will can accomplish is cause the largest bout of religious infighting the world has seen since the Legendary Rebellion... and the Order of Wrath will not survive against Mercy, Nature, and Truth combined." Angelica began, shaking her head as she spoke.

"Avatar of Wrath or not, if a pacifist Mercinic cleric needs to be detained and jailed because she's a 'threat', nothing good will come of what Desmond plots. The only threat she poses is that she's not a member of the Order of Wrath... following that line of thought, Athrun... how many people, how many of your people, because they are the ones the Order has access to, are going to die at your hands, at the hands of your men? Be it because they have the potential to wield the Fire Emblem, because they felt someone who did needn't die at Desmond's command, or because they were simply in the way and swatted aside like trash?" The adept continued, taking a step forward, and forcing her gaze to the ground.

"You are more than just a puppet, Athrun... you are more than just the seat you hold in the Order of Wrath. I may have not spent much time with you compared to some, but I... I thought I knew you better than this. I thought you were a virtuous, kind man... the Athrun I knew would not sit idly by and watch his people flounder to their demise, hiding behind the guise of another. The Athrun I knew... he would have taken up arms for his people... for his country... for what he knew was right, not what he was told he should do by a man of the cloth when he knew it to be wrong in his heart. Tell me, Athrun... was the man I knew nothing but a lie? If he was, then you're right, we have nothing to talk about... I'll have not a thing to do with you. But know this, Athrun Shastak... if that is what you really are, when you make your pursuit of us after this truce, as you claim it, is through... when we meet on the fields of war... consider your life forfeit. I'll end it myself if need be. It's not something I want to do... it would kill me inside, but... my heart can take being torn asunder once more if it means saving the innocent lives that Desmond's warpath would end." Angelica concluded, keeping an eye on Evelyn... depending on how the woman reacted, she may need to take rather swift evasive action but... hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

***

It would be any moment, now. With that in mind, Kit closed her eyes for a moment, and dropped the barrier protecting her mind. How... naked she felt without it, now. Oh well, this wouldn't take overly long.

[Nanami Touko]

Eva would've kept running, but when she heard Tia shout, a pang of worry went off in her. If that had been the prince that had just warped in, would Angelica try to talk to him? A few people ran past her, but she had to double back to make sure. What would this journey be worth if the person she'd chosen to leave with did something incredibly dumb?

So she ran back and slid up to the door, standing next to Eve again. "Hey," she offhandedly said, running into the room. She noticed the tiny mage from before, huddled as a lump on the ground, and that wouldn't do. She hoisted the small woman up and onto her back, making sure to hold onto her arms tight. All the while, she managed to hear the end of Angelica's speech; about killing Athrun, about ending the warpath, and how it would break her heart. I didn't take myself to be the jealous type... "Hey, if you two are done, Gelly, we need to leave." Despite the carefree sentence, Eva was glad to see that Athrun hadn't actually done anything, for whatever reason; if he'd said anything she'd already been out of the room when he did.

[roymbrog]

Valter hadn’t made it out of earshot by the time Athrun started speaking again, and once he heard the first sentence he stopped to hear the rest. That explained why the Wrathites needed her imprisoned along with the emblem, but only made the act all the more unacceptable. Even if the imprisonment was ‘lenient’, if there even came a time when her living became an issue, he didn’t doubt they would’ve killed her. From his position in the hall he glanced back with worry at the avian still curled in Liam’s arms.

The prince was giving them permission to leave, which Valter had half a mind to do right now, but now he was anxious and decided to wait until Joanna and Amon were out of the Hall of Wrath as well. He only partially listened to Angelica’s plea to Athrun, but more out of curiosity for the prince’s response than the content of the message itself. He was pretty sure she didn’t know the guy as well as she claimed; she was definitely overstepping bounds here.

Edited August 22, 2014 by roymbrog

[-Cynthia-]

Apparently neither the prince nor this Evelynn person was actually inclined to stop them, so Nadya quickly went on the move to exit the church,

So the prince of Ursium himself is against us- we will need to move quickly to avoid further bloodshed then, Liam thought, looking at the prince to remember his face before carrying Joanna out of the hall.

[Phoenix]

Acceptable Risk

He was staking his life on confidence in his own balance? Earthquakes were practically unheard of in Ursium barring magical phenomenon, so Lilith supposed the odds were in his favor, at least if he wasn't being overconfident. Reaching out at him again, she gently pulled him into the air. "Well you won't have to worry about your balance or being attacked for the moment. Show me where they are."

No Justice No Peace

"Nothing Desmond could EVER DO would justify this slaughter! Those are people scattered dead throughout this room, not just 'wrathites', PEOPLE! Do you honestly think Desmond's conduct gives you the right to storm in here and butcher the men tasked with keeping the peace?! It's my duty as a royal heir to take your lives for this crime, not as a wrathite! I decided to let you go for now, but if the rest of my guards get here before you leave, then everything changes ... and I will cut down anyone that's still here."

With one swift motion, Athrun stepped back, drew his sword, and swung straight back at the door, slicing a round rune device that had been placed on the door by the wrathite garrison. As it fell into two severed halves, a slight distortion appeared over the whole surface of the doors. It vanished as quickly as it appeared, and Athrun turned back to face Angelica and the others as he sheathed his blade. The doors were unlocked. "I am not Desmond's puppet, you're right about that; he has been and always will be under the same scrutiny as everyone else. Now that-" he nudged his head back at the door, "will have drawn some attention from the men outside. When they open those doors, everyone's going to understand what vigilantism is really like, and the damage it causes. Families are going to be weeping tonight over the loss of their loved ones. Just like yesterday. You shouldn't be here when that happens, so go."

"Come on," Amon quietly said, carefully taking Angelica by the wrist. His grasp was pretty weak, if only because he didn't want to be pulled forward if she jerked away from him.

"Angelica ... change your name ... change your home ... and get away from these people while you still can ... and Joanna, don't ever let them use you as an excuse to go to battle, again. This will always be the result," Athrun added, pointing a finger straight down at the bloodstained floor.

Joanna heard the message loud and clear as Liam carried her away ... but she wasn't sure how to act on it. One thing was for certain, though. She never wanted anything like this to happen again. Hopefully her duty to look after the emblem would keep them from Ursium for the time being.

Reading

"It seems much of what remains is well beyond your capabilities," Nyx said, drawing back. Something faint, like a smirk but not quite appeared on her face after that. "It's no surprise you have such difficulty."

And of course, Nadine could only wonder what was going on now, but from the sound of things, this visitor had plenty of experience. That was when the idea of her having made those modifications to her body herself came. That's pretty advanced if that's the case.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Juuust need a bit more and I'll start pointing out the path!" Maybe. Well, whatever it was bound to be busy so general direction was fine. Probably. When he was high enough he pointed his finger in the direction he thought it was.

[Snike]

"Once we're out of the city," Pete said, to Lumi, quietly. He was already beginning to contemplate his next move, considering they had just been branded criminals.

***

Evelyn struggled to remain calm after Angelica's outburst, much less Athrun's response. She knew her actions had led to those men's deaths, but even still, she couldn't just stand there and take the woman's threat towards the prince. So she in turn approached the two of them, and turned towards the blonde.

"Let me get one thing clear," she said, pointing at her. "Even though I will not be able to continue on with the Royal Guards, or even most likely my life. I know my comrades in arms, and my successors, and their successors. are more than capable protecting the royal family, just like me. If you try to assassinate, or even kill him in battle, you will not succeed. I swear that upon what's left of my name."

[scorri]

Lumi nodded. "That's all I meant." With that, she darted through the doorway that had been indicated as able to take them away. As she stepped through, she wondered out loud, "Hmm, hope this isn't just warping us straight to jail. That'd be unfortunate, although clever."

Hoshi meanwhile squeaked quietly as she was grabbed before settling back into melancholy. "... Shoulda just left me..." She quietly whispered, mostly to herself.

[Ether]

"Change my name and home, huh? Considering neither holds any weight, I'd almost like to think you'd try to reconcile, someday, making a request like that. But, nice as that would be, I suppose it's probably impossible." Angelica replied with a sigh and a shrug.

"I suppose that will be all then, Athrun... perhaps someday, we'll be able to see eye to eye once again... think what you will of me, but... I'm still glad to have met you. I hope that, with time, you'll look back and think the same..." The adept concluded, before being cut off, to an extent, by Evelyn.

"Maybe so... almost undoubtedly so, I suppose... I'm just one girl of a million, after all. But even so... even a backwoods nobody can still pull out a miracle once in a while, when she has nothing else to lose. Maybe I'm naive, or maybe I'm just hoping it won't be him that I face down so I needn't try... I suppose only time will tell." Angelica concluded, before walking past Evelyn, giving Athrun one last look.

"Athrun... one day, you'll make a Princess of your choosing immensely happy... it's a shame chances are I'll never get to see it."

***

"I had feared that might be your answer... I suppose I should be damning this mortal body for it's flaws, but... hearing one of your stature say that makes me happy enough to let it slide." Kit replied with a light chuckle, and a slight smile crossing her lips.

"Might I ask your diagnosis then, Lady of Aspiration? Surely among all the knowledge you possess, there must be something suited to one such as I."

[Nanami Touko]

Guess there was no butting into this conversation. If miffed Eva off again just a bit, but there was no point in trying to push her way into it when it was already over, nor would anything be gained by it. At least she'd picked up the tiny mage! Hoshi squeaked and mumbled something, but between Athrun yelling and Eve threatening, Eva hadn't been able to hear. "Don't you worry tiny mage. I'll get you out of here." She stuck her tongue out at Angelica, and shouted "stupid!" at her, before turning back down the hall she'd ran back from. Whatever. I'll talk to her later. Right now isn't the time to get into anything. Need to focus on getting out alive.

----------

Tia had made it into the room, Jam along with her, as Lumi had made her suggestion. "Ah! Ahhhh! Why would you say that!?" She was already scared enough from Athrun hopping himself into the cathedral, she didn't need that worry on her mind on top of that.

Edited August 19, 2014 by I have opinions