Return of the Emblem Chapter Thirteen: Flight

[Mercakete]

"So, business as usual, then," Norbert commented with a shrug. "Well, if weird stuff does start happening, let's hope you have Raquel's luck, too."

Despite his words, Norbert looked, sounded, and felt quite unbothered by his implications. Amon had experience in dealing with Vasili and Norbert himself had survived some pretty tough situations. He was used to his life being at risk, so in his eyes, nothing had really changed much. Fighting the Fallen was going to be dangerous no matter what, too.

There was one thing he wanted to address, though. Turning his attention to the Avians and jerking his head in Amon's direction when he said "him", he asked, "Hey, do you mind letting him use the emblem if it means it'll save some of our lives? It'd be pretty annoying to die when something could've been done about it."

[-Cynthia-]

North Gate

Nadya smiled at Haythem's acting, resisting the urge to laugh. "Yes sir, it simply wouldn't do to be accosted by vagabonds," she said, attempting to sound as posh as possible.

Camp

"Only Joanna is allowed to use the emblem piece," Liam said sternly, crossing his arms. "I do not intend to break my promise on the possibility that another using the emblem piece may be helpful."

[Phoenix]

Northern Gate

As they came up on the guardsmen minding either side of the gate, Greta waved to them cordially, if only to mask how nervous she was feeling. Paranoia was beginning to spread like wildfire throughout Ursium and if they even suspected the group might be directly involved in anything that was going on in Europa, they would be held for questioning.

Fortunately, many of the guards looked at them like they did at all the other merchants and refugees passing through. A few gave some of them odd, inquisitive looks, but they said nothing, to the group or to their fellows. There wasn't so much as an identification check, which confirmed Greta's suspicion that this wasn't technically a checkpoint at the moment. They weren't trying to catch criminals heading south from Europa, or at least if they were, they were doing so passively. There weren't any avians among the guards, so that was a good sign.

She didn't relax again until they were past the guards and in Ursaea proper, and by that time, she was nearly exhausted. She hadn't realized just how tense she'd been, or for how long. "Well ... looks like we're in the clear ..."

Haythem's shoulders dropped the moment he heard this, and he heaved a heavy sigh of relief. "If it's all the same to you, I think I'll keep playing the part awhile longer," he said, smiling faintly.

"You don't even have your lance," Greta noted, causing him to flinch. "Do what ya want, just keep in mind, it's not as convincin' if all you've got to work with are your fists."

<I thought I'd be carrying boxes the whole time,> Haythem thought to himself, <That wouldn't have left any room for a lance.>

Camp

Amon was definitely an emblem wielder ... there was no doubt about that. Joanna may have been one, but her reluctance to do anything other than heal others and insert herself between feuding parties could make finding out one way or another difficult. That was a problem for the others to sort out; Amon himself was more interested in group preservation at the moment. Relying on emblem shenanigans wasn't going to work. It hardly ever seemed to suffice in any case. "Keep in mind that we're allies, here ... well we're supposed to be, at least. Bert's just trying to make sure nobody dies over something as awful as mistrust."

Other than their enemies, Joanna hadn't encountered anyone she couldn't save in a pinch, but the possibility was always there, she admitted to herself. She couldn't imagine Amon being able to save anyone with the emblem piece, though this was largely due to the fact that her knowledge of the emblem was almost entirely academic. As curious as she was about the matter, she remained silent.

[-Cynthia-]

Northern Gate

"Maybe people will think he's concealin' a knife or somethin' if he looks scary enough," Nadya suggested helpfully, relieved that they got past the guards without incident.

Camp

"We have placed enough trust in you keeping your word that we have not decided to leave. Should you betray this trust, I will act accordingly," Liam responded stiffly.

[scorri]

Lumi shrugged. "I have a tome and my sword, so I can always defend us if needed." She grinned, and patted the strange sword strapped to her side. "Hopefully we won't need it though."

[GoD]

"Well the Kigen are known for being the sworn enemies of the fallen, so there is a chance that, provides they believe your information to be true, they would work around the clock to find this gate that you're talking about. If it can give a crushing blow to their enemies, they won't hesitate. On the other hand some Kigen are sexist hardasses, so if you're traveling with women they might not believe you. It's a shallow reason, but shallow people usually have shallow reasoning."- Ingret stated in a matter-of-fact tone. Truly, all of this information regarding the fallen would have given him a migraine, this was really starting to sound like a fool's errand.

"Alright, suppose you do eventually find your gate, do you think such an important location would be unmanned? They might have those demonic forces, and in the worst case your group maybe facing a fallen. A fallen is not a normal human footsoldier, you're a smart lad so you should know this to be true. I know you're concerned with the idea that if the fallen get through they will destroy everyone... Still that does not stop me from worrying."

Ingret sighed, he wasn't really used to talking so much, but he really could not help it given the circumstances surrounding this operation. He was used to taking high risks jobs since he first joined the mercenary business, but this was something else entirely. With a shrug Ingret left his seat and picked up his bag, before speaking again, with an even tone.

" Do not misunderstand, I will still follow and protect you, those were my orders and I intend to keep my word. But I'm curious about the people we'll be working with, so do you mind if you show me, where your group is staying?"

[Mercakete]

Norbert's eyes narrowed into an irritated glare at Liam. I'm beginning to not like this guy. "Right, because it takes so much trust to go in the same direction as someone else and use their supplies. Stop treating us like a bunch of thugs -- it's annoying and there's no cause for it, especially after this long."

[Phoenix]

The Look

"I more meant the look," Greta replied to Lumi, "though maybe he could pass for a mage."

"Kigenese mages tend to wear armor so I think it could work," Haythem offered. "Hey, Nadya, can I borrow your tome for awhile? That should sell the look." As long as they stood close together like he'd insisted while in character, her aura could easily be mistaken for his, as well.

"I don't think it's that important but y'all can do what ya want."

The Sound

"We already considered all of this," Shadrak noted, a hint of impatience in his voice. "Everyone knows the Kigenese aren't big on equality between men and women, but that's not going to get in the way as long as they don't see the women we're traveling with as leaders. They don't need to know anything about our internal workings-" and for all our sakes I hope they never find out. "More importantly, the siege gate itself. We're expecting the stronger demons and some fallen elites to be there, but that's why we're going to tell the Kigenese what's going on, first. If we can get them to track down and destroy the gate for us, mission accomplished. Alternatively, they can lend us some soldiers to help us take down the enemy and stop this scheme of theirs."

As for the group itself ... that was going to be quite the introduction, Shadrak told himself. "The group's camped outside the city, though some of them should be around here somewhere, shopping for supplies. If we run into them on the way back, I'll introduce you, but you'll meet them all eventually."

The Feel

Now seemed like as good a time as any to try and do something, so Joanna stepped between Liam and the others, carefully handed the former the box, and then turned to face Amon and Norbert. She wanted to fully explain Liam's disposition to them, but how could she? It seemed impossible to sum up something so fundamental to avian life so quickly and do it justice. "My people ... our entire history is one of being on guard from human influence," she began, trying not to offend, but knowing full well she would have to explain this more thoroughly to have any chance of avoiding that. "We don't like to compromise because it's always gotten us ... into trouble." It was why the term 'dark avian' existed, after all. These were the avians that took up arms against the goddess' wishes and eventually became the progenitors of the fallen. It seemed like a justified move at the time, but the ones who took advantage of the situation created the very empire the group was now being forced to combat. "We just need more time ... more time to know that you mean what you say, even in the worst of circumstances ..."

"We don't have a whole lot of time," Amon noted with a grimace. "Mistrust is only going to lead to more of the same, so I think if you can't trust us enough to not always be so guarded by the time we get to Kigen you should both probably find somewhere else to go and leave the rest of the mission to us. We would greatly appreciate your help, but we can't afford to be like this while fighting the fallen. We barely survived the last time."

[Nanami Touko]

That didn't sit too well. "Hey, hey, Amon," Eva spoke up, not having the patience to wait for Angelica's opinion, "don't you think that's going a bit far? After all we did to rescue her, to have her leave like that... That makes that whole ordeal feel like a waste. Even if they don't trust us completely by then, I don't think..." She stopped herself from saying anything else, sighing. It didn't feel like the best reason to ask them to leave over, if it came down to it by the time they got to Kigen. So what if Liam was being a bit disagreeable? After seeing some of what he did, it probably made perfect sense, in his mind. To Eva, while she didn't see it that way, she didn't really get the big deal of it all.

[Toogee]

“A journal…” Elliot repeated. Perhaps he should keep one. He could bring back stories to mom.

Then there were some noises from the emblem box and Joana squeaked and left the wagon. Elliot watched her leave with a confused expression. “Um… Should we go see?” he asked Jam.

"Oh we should," Jam replied in earnest. The dancer petted Elrey on the head one more time before getting up and moving to the end of the wagon. She sat down at the back end to listen to the ensuing conversation. She left enough room for Elliot to join her.

Jam managed to get the gist of the conversation. Amon had some influence over the emblem, no one seemed to be happy about it (even Amon), and Amon just presented an ultimatum to Liam and Joanna.

"Whoa, that escalated quickly," Jam said to Elliot. The dancer didn't like asking people to leave, but she suspected that Amon figured Liam and Joanna needed them just as much as the group valued their assistance. At least, that's what she hoped was the case.

"Don't worry, stuff like this happens on occasion," Jam attempted to reassure Elliot. "It'd be surprising if it didn't happen in a group this big. We tend to settle our differences before they get too out of hand. Usually. Probably. At least, the ones I've seen."

[-Cynthia-]

Lies

"All right, here ya go. Try not to hold it upside down or anythin'," Nadya advised, handing her light tome over to Haythem for the moment. Never used it to protect myself when travelin' alone- usually better to run than fight if ya don't have many friends around anyway.

Truth

"Joanna and I both agreed to help you deal with this fallen problem and I have no intention of going back on my promise. However, I cannot agree to give you my trust now or in the future, as such a thing is demonstrated through action, not words. If you require complete trust from all your companions, then I will understand if you require us to leave," Liam stated.

[Phoenix]

Ursaea

"This is right side up?" Haythem asked, holding the book up to about chest height. He could read common, but not ursian, so he didn't dare open the thing. It would only make playing a mage harder.

Greta snickered at the pair one last time before scanning their surroundings. "Hmm, definitely gonna have to make a couple more stops to narrow it down," she decided. "Come on, let's get a move on. I'm sure they found somethin' to throw down over back at the wagon by now ..."

Camp

"It wasn't a waste," Amon replied to Eva, "but we're being lumped together right now and the second Shadrak finds out about this, it's only going to get worse. I want to address this before anything ridiculous happens." He could see it now, Shadrak making wild suggestions about rationing out the emblem now that he knew of at least two surefire methods of turning people into wielders. Surely he'd want to become one and that would only make Liam more distrustful of the group, especially if he was pestered night and day about it all the way to Kigen. No, Amon was going to deal with this, now.

"Again," Amon turned back toward the avians, "we appreciate the help ... if it comes to that." Admittedly, the idea of removing the emblem from the group altogether seemed oddly appealing right about now, but Amon didn't think it would save them all that much grief later on. Raquel had been chasing trouble whether or not she had the emblem, and they were in an eerily similar situation, now. Still, he absolutely hated the idea of being treated like a theft risk. If the avians could be taken at their word, why couldn't he? It was a bitter reminder of the encounter in Sergio. He had the option to steal an emblem piece back then, too, but he didn't. "... but if you want real proof, just think back," he began, his expression growing darker, "We helped you rescue Joanna instead of just focusing on the emblem. We didn't once try and overpower the two of you and take it at any point during this trip, and even now, I could tear it out of that box without breaking a sweat, but I haven't, and I'm not going to."

Joanna was relieved, but also unnerved. She was convinced for the moment, at least that Amon was willing to leave the piece she was guarding right where it was. At the same time, she could tell something about this situation was making him angry. He'd said his piece, but wasn't even beginning to come back down. Normally, the thoughts of others were a faint background noise that she could easily ignore, but when their source was particularly close by, swept up in emotion, and coupled with her own curiosity, it became much harder to simply ignore.

[-Cynthia-]

Ursaea

"Ya can pass for mage now Haythem. People are always gonna be on each other about somethin' or other. It's what happens when ya throw a buncha different people in a dangerous situation," Nadya said dismissively.

Camp

"That all is true," Liam conceded, "but by your manipulation of the emblem it's obvious you know more about it than you've told anyone else. I can respect your reasons from keeping such information from most of us, but you should at least share with Joanna everything you know," he reasoned.

[Nanami Touko]

"You could just... Not tell him." Eva had taken his side before, but in a situation like this, if it'd cause real trouble, he didn't need to know. "Just keep it between everyone at the camp. No need to stress until it becomes relevant, or, something. Shadrak can wait to find out, if he'll complicate things." She went back to not talking after that, because Amon seemed to be getting agitated, and that Liam fellow wasn't exactly agreeing one hundred percent. Hope this doesn't turn ugly...

[Mercakete]

Norbert was getting a little peeved, too. He'd calmed down some at Amon's proposition, but then Eva spoke up about it. Doesn't that idiot know that you have to trust the people on your side in a fight? You may not have to like them, but you sure as the Gate have to trust them. Having someone like this look down his nose at us isn't just annoying -- it's a liability!

Joanna's explanation got him nodding a little. He may not have fully understood her implications, but he did understand how hard it was to trust people after you've repeatedly come up against bad results. In fact, Liam was even agreeable regarding leaving. Also, apparently, Amon was worried about Shadrak finding this all out. That was puzzling. What's wrong with that? We're all going to find out about all of this anyway at some point. Just impossible to avoid with everyone travelling together like this. Of course, Eva seemed not to get that. Norbert himself shot her a glare. Even if it was possible, it wouldn't be fair to only keep him in the dark about it. If no one else does, I'll go ahead and tell him myself!

Regardless, Amon's reply to the Avians was a good one and again, Norbert found his head bobbling up and down slightly in agreement. Liam's reply, however, earn him another irritated glare from the rider. "And why should he? You're treating us like a bunch of cutthroats! You say we haven't earned your trust. Well, you haven't exactly proven yourself, either! Jo's a nice person. It's why I was so mad when I found out about what happened to her and wanted to do what I could to help her out. But you're just acting entitled! Give us a good reason why we shouldn't just send you off to protect her by yourself from all the people who're going to be looking for her! I want her to be safe, yeah, but if I can't trust you, I don't want to be anywhere near you in combat! I've got enough people trying to off me on the other side when I'm in a fight! I don't need to start doubting my allies, too! ...And if you think about it, she's going to be safer with a lot of people trying to protect her than just one. So learn fast, bird boy! You're in the world of Humans and Dark Avians now! Whatever your old ways were, they won't work out here! Adapt, or you might chase away people who could've helped you." That's rich coming from me, yeah, but...it's something I'm finding out, too.

A bit calmer, he added, "I'm slow to trust, myself. But in situations like this, you just don't have a choice. Not if you want to survive."

[Phoenix]

Town

"Yeah," Greta agreed, her eyes still searching for the next shop they were to visit, "but I wanna get back there and get goin' once we're done here, not get some long winded blurtin' about who smacked who first."

"I'm sure everything's fine," Haythem chimed in, sounding genuinely confident, although that wasn't the case. "They're probably just sitting around waiting for us. It would probably take something pretty important to get them talking again without us around."

Camp

Several times during Norbert's outburst, Joanna found herself subtly reaching out, urging him to calm down without interrupting. He seemed to project a similar anger as Amon. Fortunately he seemed to calm somewhat by the end. He'd more or less summed up Amon's own fears about the group's coming trials. They didn't have to be friends or even like each other, but the last thing they needed when they came face to face with the demons and their winged masters was the conscious doubt and subconscious unease that came with shaky relationships within a group. They couldn't afford that when there was no one to save them from their mistakes.

That was another issue, Amon noted to himself when Eva suggested hiding the information from Shadrak. Amon didn't trust Shadrak anymore. Maybe he never did, but now he realized he was borderline paranoid where the dark mage was concerned, and noticing just about everything the man said and did, without even meaning to. "I'd rather sort things out than keep him in the dark," Amon said, pun unintended. "Look, Liam," he glanced in the avian's direction, "I only just realized that I could do that. Until now I had been going about this the wrong way, trying to piece together a bunch of ... knowledge that just wasn't there. What Nyx gave me was almost entirely experience. It wasn't something I could share with anyone until I figured out what it really was." And none of it's going to be of any use until we find Valdimarr, Amon thought to himself. At that point, he might be able to rip the conqueror's emblem from them during the battle, but until then ...

[Nanami Touko]

Oh boy, now he's glaring... Eva yawned a little, not wanting to deal with Norbert at all. He could glare all he wanted, it didn't bother her. Though at least she got a small chuckle out of Amon's pun. "Well, if you want to explain things to him, go ahead. He seems to like me, or, tolerate me, I guess-- whatever! Anyway, if you want someone else there when you do, feel free to ask. I'm just hoping he doesn't explode over it. He seems rather... Utilitarian, in how he sees things." She'd gone to looking at her nails now. "Why don't we all just wait and see if we're worth trusting, on both sides of the coin, after some more traveling? It hasn't really been that long, so... I guess I'm not surprised the birds don't trust us entirely yet. We've got until we get to Kigen, right, Amon? Should be enough time to lay down some level of trust." She felt like she was taking a step back in the conversation, just a bit, but... This push for trust, was it really necessary, right now? If Liam didn't trust them, maybe he would later.

Edited December 26, 2014 by I have opinions

[Phoenix]

Camp

"That was the idea," Amon replied when Eva made her 'wait and see' suggestion. He just didn't want to wait until they were waist deep in committed adversaries before having resolved this. They already only seemed to have around a fifty-fifty chance of even surviving; they didn't need to worsen the odds. He didn't have much else to say as far as Shadrak was concerned. He'd already singled the dark mage out and made him a topic of debate without truly meaning to. "If you want to tell him, go right ahead."

[Nanami Touko]

"Then we wait. That's fine with everyone, right?" She was glad Amon had spoken up and agreed. Maybe Norbert would glare less if that was the case. "You can judge for yourself if we're worth trusting by the time we get to Kigen, alright, Liam and Joanna?" As for Shadrak... "And sure, I'll do that. If he explodes about it, I'll just try to keep him from getting too excited. Shouldn't be that hard."

[Mercakete]

"That was already the plan, numbskull," Norbert stressed irritably to Eva. It was rare for a glower of some sort to be absent from his face anyway, but this glare was more legitimate than his usual face, which had just grown used to that sort of expression.

[Nanami Touko]

Eva sighed and leveled her gaze at Norbert, looking very unamused and more importantly, incredibly bored. "I was just confirming, okay?" I get that you don't like me, but if you could keep your bias towards me out of everything you say, this trip would be a lot more enjoyable. I don't deserve to put up with what is pretty much harassment. All I've been doing is making suggestions. I don't care if they're followed or not. She thought that, rather than say it. She didn't care to argue with him. She waved him off after that, hoping that would be the end of it. She figured it wouldn't; she was sure that, even with her only saying one thing, he'd still find some snappy response, but hey, optimism.

Edited December 27, 2014 by I have opinions

[-Cynthia-]

Town

"Maybe the four of ya got along pretty easily, but we've got some...strong personalities with us," Nadya pointed out, remembering that Norbert and Shadrak were with them. Not that she particularly disliked either of them, but they did have a habit of rubbing others the wrong way.

Camp

"Be aware that neither of us ever asked for your help. I accepted this quest with the intention of protecting Joanna by myself and I am quite capable of doing so if need be. While the two of us are less formidable in a fight than with everyone combined, we also could have moved more quickly and drawn less attention," Liam pointed out to Norbert.

"We all seem to be in agreement that this issue can afford to wait. Perhaps you will figure out more about the emblem by then," Liam finished in a flat tone.

[Mercakete]

Norbert gave Eva's statement a nod and a quiet, short grunt. He may not have liked her on the whole, but he had to admit, when you had the time, it was good to confirm these sorts of things. Liam's reply was also fairly cordial. Of course, he was an Avian, so that made sense. It was still a little annoying that the armed Avian seemed to be implying that Amon somehow owed Joanna all the information he had about the emblem, but the surrounding relative calm was contagious. So, Norbert himself remained silent, satisfied enough with the responses not to feel the need to say any more for the time being.

[Phoenix]

Town

"Sure," Haythem ceded that point, "but what's there to bicker about at the moment?"

"Nothin'd surprise me," Greta noted, almost chuckling. She wasn't quite as worried about it now, and she'd also eyed a promising store nearby. "Okay, I'm gonna head into that one and see if they can give us directions," she said, pointing to a nearby building, "and if nothin' else, I can probably pick up some of the stuff here on Angelica's list."

Camp

"I doubt it," Amon shook his head at Liam. "The only one in any position to learn anything about the emblem right now is Joanna," he said, hinting at Liam's little rule regarding the emblem. "What I've been able to confirm on my own is that it responds under the right conditions but is otherwise an extremely powerful form of magic ... and for the most part, we already knew that."

"Why's it so powerful?" Glen asked, having gotten down from the driver seat of the wagon. He'd been quiet for most of this, feeling he'd just be in the way of a quicker resolution if he got involved.

"I guess ..." Amon paused, trying to think of an analogy of some kind ... "I guess it's a little bit like being nobility or even royalty." The theme he'd picked seemed to fit well enough. "They tend to get away with breaking some of the rules, don't they? If no one stops them, they do whatever they want. The emblem's a lot like that. It's like the only thing that restricts the emblem is the emblem, itself. It feels almost infinite." 'Infinite' wasn't a word Amon used often, but it seemed too appropriate here to bother with any other term.

Well, that went soaring over my head and into the sun, Glen thought to himself. He understood conventional magic quite well, having spent years working with it in his infusion work ... but he just couldn't wrap his head around magic only being limited by itself. How was that even considered a limitation, and if it was, why would it limit itself? Did this have something to do with there being multiple pieces?

[Toogee]

Jam watched and listened as the mood calmed to a level that people were having a normal conversation. She was gaining some valuable insight on these emblem pieces and what exactly was the big deal with them. Things were getting interesting, so the dancer chimed in from her seat on the wagon end.

"So only an emblem piece can counter another? How can that be?" Jam interjected. "I mean, these pieces were whole at some point. Something was strong enough to break this emblem into pieces, right?"