Return of the Emblem Chapter Thirteen: Flight

[-Cynthia-]

"Well that sounds like drama waitin' to happen. I'm Nadya by the way, nice to meet ya," Nadya said. Good to make friends with the people who will stand in front of ya. Amon and company seemed to be ready to go and Nadya wasted no time upon seeing them, making a dash for the exit.

--

<This isn't your fault Joanna- and this is also about protecting everyone in Aquila too,> Liam reminded Joanna gently, making sure to keep pace in front of her and Valter. That archer will not make a good shield for her should this come to violence...

[Toogee]

As Tia explained what was going on, the scene grew quiet. The fighting had ceased. Normally, this would be a good thing, but as Angelica informed the two, the wrathites were about to turn their attention onto them.

“OK, time to get down,” Jam said to Tia, kneeling down to help her down. She was relieved to have the weight off her shoulders, but it wasn’t time to rest. She grabbed Tia’s hand and rushed after Angelica in the hopes to get Amon to take a detour. Though part of her wanted to stay and convince the wrathites to leave the doors open, there was no way they would be able to sneak out the precious cargo without anyone seeing. They had to find another way.

“Hey, if things get bad, just stay with me, OK?” Jam said to Tia. The girl was practically defenseless and the others would be focused on the enemy, should it come to that. Jam felt it was her responsibility to watch over the ex-mage, like Alphonse and Erion with herself.

[Nanami Touko]

"Nadya? Nice name! Thanks for sharing!" was all Eva had to add as they ran. Sure hope whatever fight does happen when we get out of these halls isn't that bad. She hadn't responded to Valter with anything other than a nod, but it wouldn't do to make the person they were rescuing hate them over a huge drawn out fight. Eva made sure to remember to try and not kill anyone on their way out.

----------

"Oh? Alright..." How disappointing, but the situation demanded it, and so Tia's ride was over. But there wasn't really much time to relax, as she was suddenly grabbed by the hand again and pulled along after Angelica. "But the fighting's over! Can't we just walk out once everything's calmed down?" They didn't stop running, so obviously her idea wasn't the best. That anxious feeling in her was starting to well up again, and she really hoped they could find a second exit, because she didn't know what would happen if she was stuck around fighting, this time. She nodded furiously when Jam said to stick with her. If she froze, someone would have to be there to grab her.

[Ether]

"Now's not the time for this, Norbert... though I suppose you might not know me after all, huh... whatever, no time for full introductions, they're closing the gates because of all the civilians who showed up, and if Amon comes waltzing this way with Joanna in tow, we'll have to fight our way out through however many battalions they have stationed here. I'm trying to reach him before that happens so we can try and find another way out, that isn't about to be barred shut and filled with soldiers." Angelica replied, really disliking having to stop for this. She'd have to either dart past him or knock him out if he insisted on continuing... hopefully the former, they didn't need an unconscious body to drag along and draw more attention.

[Mercakete]

Norbert's face twisted with frustration at the news. Given how much she knew, she was definitely on their side, whoever she was. Norbert quickly stepped out of the way. "Hurry up and go tell the others -- we'll stay here in case the Wrathites try to follow you. There's no reason why the Wrathites should think there's anyone else attached to us, so we should be able to buy you some time to get to one of the other orders' halls and escape that way. We'll follow later."

The pegasus rider looked to Luther with his last couple sentences, looking for some indication of agreement. If he didn't offer it, Norbert didn't have a problem with fending off the Wrathites by himself.

[Ether]

"Thanks... be careful, if they recognize you from earlier, they might have more than just a few words for you, Norbert." Angelica replied with a nod, before taking off down the hallway again in a sprint. Atleast the man had been cooperative, that was helpful, both in the lack of more wasted time, and the aforementioned lack of unconscious bodies to drag around.

[Afterglimmer]

As the odd woman hurried through the hall they were guarding, Luther looked back at Norbert with a worried expression. He was a little suspicious of her warning; but there was no time to consider if it was a trick or not. If they got locked in, they probably wouldn’t escape. “One of us should try to stall them near the entrance. If a lot of them get in, the two of us aren’t going to be able to hold them all off. The wrathites here are still busy with the crowd, so I don’t think someone will pass by that either one of us can’t handle.” Luther suggested as he looked back at the main room.

Edited August 2, 2014 by Afterglimmer2

[Mercakete]

Norbert shook his head. "Our best bet is to stay here. Not only is the entrance to this place a lot bigger than this hallway, but if we have to, we can retreat down the hall a little so that they can't all fight us at once. The goal is to buy time, though -- not to take on the whole Order of Wrath. Back here, we won't draw as much attention...until they start trying to force their way through...but at least we won't be associated with the others."

Norbert paused before adding, "You know, I don't blame you if you back out of this now. I have my own reasons for risking this much, but you can follow that woman if you want to. I know how you mercenaries work, and money's no good if you're dead or in jail, after all."

[Afterglimmer]

“I don’t think they need two people delivering the same message. As long as we’re clear that we fall back if we can’t handle them, I’ll give you a hand. Besides, I got my reasons for taking this job as well.” Luther responded as he looked down the hallway. Hopefully they’ll get the warning in time…

[Mercakete]

It wasn't the response he was expecting, but Norbert nodded to Luther in reply. Maybe Jo helped him with something important at some point. "You can fall back," he amended as he took a hold of Rizen's reins and brought her closer to the hallway entry, "but I'll just pretend to be a radical Mercite or something and get caught and released. I don't want to get them thinking there's a rescue going on any sooner than they have to. After all," he couldn't help but grin "I'm the one who started this riot."

[Afterglimmer]

Luther was a little surprised at the pegasus rider’s announcement. He’s the one who created this mess? He did have a point though. If they were just going to fall back anyways, he might as well try to meet up with Amon now instead of with wrathites breathing down their necks. Norbert had Rizen, so it would be easy for him to get away or in the event he was captured, shift their attention off of the rescue team. “Try to catch up as soon as you can. Don’t do anything too dangerous.” Luther cautioned the rider as he took off down the hall. All he could do now was try to reinforce the group as they made their escape from the cathedral. Mercy, please let me make it in time…

Edited August 2, 2014 by Afterglimmer2

[Toogee]

"Oh? Alright..." How disappointing, but the situation demanded it, and so Tia's ride was over. But there wasn't really much time to relax, as she was suddenly grabbed by the hand again and pulled along after Angelica. "But the fighting's over! Can't we just walk out once everything's calmed down?" They didn't stop running, so obviously her idea wasn't the best. That anxious feeling in her was starting to well up again, and she really hoped they could find a second exit, because she didn't know what would happen if she was stuck around fighting, this time. She nodded furiously when Jam said to stick with her. If she froze, someone would have to be there to grab her.

"Something tells me we wouldn't be running if we could just walk," Jam replied to Tia. Breaking a prisoner out wasn't something they could walk away from. Evidently, it wasn't a stealthy extraction. Did something go wrong?

Jam continued to tow Tia as they followed Angelica. The brief conversation with Norbert had opened the way forward. As the dancer followed, they were soon joined by a mercenary Jam was not familiar with. They all were going the same way, so she may as well figure out who he was.

"Come to join in the fun?" Jam asked Luther, the sarcasm evident in her voice. "Name's Jam, and that one is Tia."

[Phoenix]

The Hall of Wrath

"Move it! Go on!" Another push, another unwelcome commoner forced out into the plaza. The few wrathites that were in the hall had enough room to begin closing the doors, but it would still take a bit more doing to actually clear the doorway. As for those deeper inside, they could always be herded over to the Truthian or Naturan sections. For now, securing their own part of the building was their highest priority.

One of them who was walking down the center isle, spotted Norbert and Rizen. He had his doubts Norbert was one of them, though given how he was guarding the hallway, and how battle ready he looked, the thought had certainly occurred to him. Though, so had some other thoughts ... "Hey ... that your pegasus? If so, take it somewhere else. We need this whole area clear. Animals'll just get in the way."

Chaotic Hallway

Their efforts to regroup before the wrathites caught onto them had failed, a bit of bad timing and little else. Amon could see the exit into the Hall of Wrath too, which made things all the more frustrating, but Joanna had been spotted, and one of the wrathites had already fired a warning shot from what looked like an over decorated blasting rod. Turning on him and trying to find another way out had occurred to him, and if not for the slew of heavily armed reinforcements he would have certainly given the order, but a fight in the hallway would be the end of those at the back of the group for certain, so even as Angelica approached from the front, Amon motioned for her to turn around. If they were quick about it, they might have time to set up a defensive line at the exit, put their heaviest fighters there, and then push the wrathite's back. Of course, that relied on the wrathite's not trying to smash through them in one decisive push.

"Lancers, forward," the man with the rod yelled, anticipating a counterattack at any moment. With Alastor making sure the way behind them was sealed off, it would be a minute or two before they could get the unit completely organized and retake full control of the Hall of Wrath. He just hoped they got those doors closed out front before this group broke through, otherwise they might get the crowd on their side and this would turn into a bloody massacre.

[Nanami Touko]

Shots already being fired? There was no getting around a hard fight now, as Eva pushed her legs to get herself at the front of the group. If they got stuck up against the Wrathites, she was making sure that she was right up there to take the first hits before anything could happen. Then a dreadful word entered her ears. Lancers. She cringed inwardly and cursed her luck. Of course the order of Wrath had to use lances, instead of axes, or even sword. I'd rather fight a mage than a lance... She put a hand on her sword and pulled the trigger for her barrier at least, getting ready for a battle.

----------

As her arm was tugged and her body dragged, Tia regretted not taking up a hobby involving running, or at least some form of cardio. The wagon was looking more and more inviting as time went on. Whatever was going on around them, Tia's anxiety was starting to get to the point of losing her breath, and not from the running. She barely made eye contact with Luthor as Jam introduced them to him, her mind going back to what had happened earlier and dreading if something similar were to happen if they were caught. "J-Jam..." her voice came out, hopefully audible enough, "I-I can't...breathe..."

[roymbrog]

Valter had never believed they’d make it out without a second confrontation, but it had been nice to hope. His hopes were son dashed as they came upon a group of armed Wrathites, one of which had already sent off a warning shot. Amon was pressing on which was probably the best idea – they’d definitely lose people if they stopped to fight in this area – but the soldier with the rod could potentially pick one of them off as they ran. The horseman briefly considered grabbing his bow and falling back to incapacitate him, but the time it would take to switch weapons and abandonment of Joanna killed the feasibility of that plan.

Instead, he made sure he was between Joanna and the enemy, sword in hand. When their leader called for lancers, Valter grimaced. He might not be much help here unless he was shooting people. Regardless… his first priority was keeping Joanna safe. “Joanna, if this comes to fighting, I need you to stay behind me,” he said, risking a glance at the avian.

[Toogee]

It appeared that they had arrived too late: Amon and company were facing the ends of several lances. He had given the signal for Angelica to fall back, but would they? Jam was getting ready to run for it, if not for Tia speaking up. Evidently, she wasn’t nearly as energetic as the dancer.

“Oh, Tia, I don’t think we’re done here,” she replied in a worried tone. “Just…get on my back. You can piggyback on me for a while.”

Jam hoped this would be easier than carrying Tia on her shoulders. She couldn't risk slowing everyone down, especially with the enemy breathing down their necks.

[-Cynthia-]

Nadya fell in line behind her new pal Eva. Woulda been nice to get outta here without a fight- we'll need to finish this quickly before the whole garrison makes their way here...

Liam moved himself in front of Valter. It doesn't look like they're willing to negotiate... "Both of you stay behind me. You can't protect anyone if you're dead Valter," he reminded the human, noting that he seemed to be lacking armor or other protection.

[Phoenix]

The Circle Closes

She knew what Valter was asking her to do, use him as a shield. She was only willing to even consider it because they had been in dangerous situations before and she could always heal him so long as she was still capable of moving, herself. "Alright, but please be careful," she pleaded. It seemed he wouldn't have too bad of a time managing with Liam also guarding them, but she didn't know how far his training had progressed. They wouldn't have sent him if he was still a novice warrior, but even then, was he ready for fighting humans without the advantage of being with a unit he'd trained years specifically to fight alongside? "You too, Liam! This isn't like fighting with the others," she warned.

With nowhere else to go but into the Hall of Wrath the whole group was forced into the Hall of Wrath, and Amon repeated his order to get the defenders and heavy fighters up to their respective fronts. As much as he wanted to avoid giving the wrathites room to fight, pushing them back into the hallway was a death sentence for someone in their group and he never wanted to ever find out who. They would just do what he was used to doing in these situations and watch everyone's back. Hopefully absurd luck in battle wasn't exclusive to Raquel's group. Amon shook his head at the thought. They didn't need luck, necessarily. Nadya and Joanna, two of the best healers he knew of, were right here and ready to play their part with a bit of cover.

"This fighting in churches thing ... it's getting really old," Shadrak growled as he readied himself for battle.

"Surrender the ... other avian, and we won't have to put most of you down like dogs," said the man with the rod, leveling it at Liam, who happened to be between him and his target. All the while the other wrathites were funneling into the area from behind.

[-Cynthia-]

I've grown since you saw me last Joanna...I'll be fine."No. If you surrender, we'll leave without violence," Liam countered, looking straight at the rod. That has a lot of blasting power- but this is what I was sent here to do, he thought, adopting a defensive stance.

As Alastor and company came in behind Amon's group to secure the Hall of Wrath, he recognized several of the people from the battle with Raquel Valcyn's group back in Ursentius. I should have figured Sir Valter would try something like this... "Lay down your arms and there will be no need for further bloodshed. We have you surrounded," he pointed out, though they seemed ready to fight by the look of things.

Edited August 3, 2014 by -Cynthia-

[Afterglimmer]

“You might say that,” Luther replied as Jam introduced herself and her friend Tia. He didn’t have time to address the dancer or her panicking friend when the rescue party and Joanna came into view. His relief quickly faded as a shot rang out behind him. It seemed that the wrathites finally caught on to Amon and his friends and were wasting no time surging through the hall entrance to meet the group as they were forced into the main hall.

As the wrathites surrounded them, Luther reached for his sword while readying his stance. They were going to have to finish this quickly if they wanted any hope at fleeing the cathedral. “Need a hand?” he called out to Amon as he surveyed the wrathites; trying to anticipate which one would make the first move.

[Phoenix]

Here We Go Again

"Heh, any help's welcome at this point," Amon nodded at Luther and then unsheathed his knife. He recognized the man that made a more formal call for surrender. This was going to be difficult if he'd learned from their past skirmish indoors. Still, he was confident that they could break through. "I think you know how this is going to go," he said to Alastor, not backing down.

"It's Alastor? Oh, not again," Joanna murmured from behind her protectors.

[-Cynthia-]

"I know you all must think we are monsters for imprisoning a good woman like Joanna- but what is one woman against an entire country? Demons tear apart citizens in our streets, dragons ravage the countryside- if the lives of so many people can be saved by using this artifact, then should we not use it?" Alastor pleaded. We should be fighting the actual enemies of Ursium, not unruly citizens...

[Mercakete]

Norbert watched silently as citizens were herded out of the Hall of Wrath. Idling in the back of the hall seemed to be a fair stalling tactic. A little while ago, Tia and another woman who was probably in their group rushed by after the others who'd gone to regroup with Amon. The pegasus rider hadn't moved to intercept them that time. Now, though, one of the Wrathites was calling to him, asking if Rizen was his pegasus and informing him that it would be best to move her somewhere else. If he was just going to be called to from thirty feet away, Norbert didn't see a reason to acknowledge the Wrathite. As he thought about how odd it was that he was being treated so differently from the civilians around, however, Bert found it somewhat difficult not to tip off the Wrathite that he'd heard him.

Wait, do they think I'm one of them? It was one of those realizations that just got funnier the more you thought about it. Evidently, his being so calm had caused him to blend in a little too well. In fact, if not for his having brought Rizen, he might have never been discovered and could have just walked on out whenever he wanted to. Thinking about that to that extent was just making the whole thing more humorous to him. At first, it started as a small smile. Then, it grew to a bit of a silly face as he tried not to laugh. Finally, he grinned, curled forward a bit and his shoulders began bouncing while he moved one of his crossed arms up to cover his eyes with a hand.

Perhaps thankfully, the humor passed relatively quickly. The bad news was that the new emotion was a mix of surprise and concern as the entirety of Joanna's rescue party came flying out of the hallway he was standing by. They ran right past him -- Joanna included, he was glad to note -- and were swiftly followed by a fair number of Wrathites. Norbert frowned. So, I guess they were discovered anyway. So much for being sneaky. Norbert's attention quickly shifted to the other hallway. The Wrathites were quick to block off that escape route, though, and the main gates were practically shut by now. In the end, all escape routes were blocked.

Not too keen on remaining separated from the others, Norbert didn't waste any time mounting up and riding over to Amon's group to join up with them. The idea to continue to pretend to be a Wrathite crossed his mind, but that plan had too many holes in it, given that the situation was as it was. Namely, he'd be recognized and subsequently singled out far too easily now. There was some surrender bargaining going on between the new Avian, one of the Wrathite leaders, and some other Wrathite, from what Norbert could tell. While that was going on, Norbert sent a smile Joanna's way, along with a nod. Quietly, he informed her, "Good to see you out and about again."

His attention went back to Alastor after that, though, and his smile evaporated into a serious frown. Once the guy was done, Norbert spoke up. "Aren't you supposed to be protecting Ursium from all that? It's not Jo's fault you're all so pathetic. Why are you suddenly relying on ancient artifacts to do your blasted jobs? If you need one so badly, get your own -- don't rob the lady who hasn't only done nothing but help you all out, but who can't defend herself. What kind of justice is that? Oh right, sorry -- I forgot you Wrathites don't care about things like what's fair or right, just that you get your way; my mistake."

[Nanami Touko]

"Then let's make this fight quick, right, Shaddy?" she said to him, as the group stopped. Her sword came out and she took a few deep breaths, ready for any of these Wrathites to charge at her. Someone was trying to speak up to appeal to them to give Joanna back, some spiel about the good of the country. She made to say something at him, but that Bert guy from before spoke up before she could.

About to get a bit frustrated, he said something entirely different from what she'd been intending, so she just added after him, "and if you really cared about Joanna, you'd take what you needed from her and you'd have let her go! Instead you lock up who seems to be the most harmless person in Ursium?" She scoffed. "Bert's right, none of you care about what's fair or right. I'd be willing to bet this talk of yours is pointless anyway; even if we did give her back to you, you'd just throw us in jail along side her." She pointed her sword right at him. "Ready yourself."

----------

"I... Alright..." She did her best to ignore her thoughts long enough to get onto Jam's back, closing her eyes to what was happening around her. When Jam stopped moving, she opened one, carefully, only to see that they were surrounded by soldiers. Her breathing started getting heavy and a little raspy, as she struggled to calm herself down. "W-We're g-gonna get caught, a-a-and who knows what's going to h-happen to us...?"

[roymbrog]

Liam’s offer of protection was one worry off Valter’s mind, and he was grateful. The avian’s protection meant he could probably use his bow in this fight without exposing Joanna. And it wasn’t like he was looking forward to getting skewered today either. “Thank you for the reminder,” he told Liam, before glancing at Joanna and nodding. “I will.”

While he still had a chance, he took the time to switch weapons, sheathing his sword and readying his bow. He nocked an arrow and leveled the weapon at the man with the rod. If he shot first, retaliation would be swift. Alastor’s contingent arrived to block off the exit, and Valter took stock of how many soldiers were now here. Their group was outnumbered, to say the least. He laughed bitterly at Joanna’s quiet comment and muttered, “This man has a penchant for fighting in churches.” Also stabbing archers. He wasn’t going to comment on that part though.

Alastor’s little speech was frustrating, for several reasons. With one already accounted for by Bert and Eva, Valter thought to mention another. “Are you so sure your order is collecting artifacts in order to protect Ursium? Why would you need to imprison Joanna and confiscate her belongings for that purpose? Why would you need to lure merchants into cathedrals to slaughter them? If your goals were really so noble, I doubt Desmond would need to resort to such underhanded methods.”