Fire Emblem: Wretched Whispers, Act 2: Warpath

[Shin]

It had been an interesting few days, Orpheus had found a new job as well as some companions - who were a rather colourful bunch. It wasn't that they were bad, they all had their own quirks and charms and... assets. It'd take a bit of getting used to, but they were far more interesting than the farm folk. These people aspired to do things, not content with sitting around, doing the same job, day in day out. Of course, he would need to catch up with them, but it was something worth doing.

Orpheus still had a little money left, although it would have been nice to have gotten a little more prize money. For a peculiar reason, the gem store caught his eye. Not usually one for trinkets of hippie nonsense, Orpheus couldn't help but be drawn to the stall, eying the prosperity gem.

"This one will help me get rich, right?" he asked, sceptical of the stone. "I'm all for bettering myself, but it's not a scam, right?"

[charlie_]

Prizes

A short, middle aged man was sat behind the counter flicking through book without much enthusiasm when Celestia approached. All things considered, he didn't seem too bothered about being interrupted. "You got to the third round, right?" he asked, rummaging around under the counter for a few moments, before finding what he was looking for.

"There you go." he smiled, placing a sizable bag of gold down for the templar, before continuing. "You were the one who got hit by the huge lightning bolt, right?" He frowned slightly, seemingly concerned. "I didn't see it myself, since I've been stuck here all day, but it sounded pretty nasty. Are you sure you're alright now?"

Get Rich... Eventually?

"It's all real du-I mean, sir." The retailer tried to assure Orpheus. "I don't really get how it works, but it'll make you luckier! ...I'm aware that that sounds really bad, but the gems really are magical. Some mage who came in yesterday told me she could sense the magic in them, so..."

Edited March 30, 2015 by SB.

[Shin]

It seemed rather suspicious, but mages could do some impressive things. Surely if someone could cast shadows to hurt people, they could make a rock help you get luckier, right? It wasn't that much of a stretch, logically it could happen. It sounded like somebody else had visited the place before, adding to the somewhat dubious credibility.

"So, what, do I eat it or something? It looks pretty nasty." he replied, putting his money on the counter. "If the mage said it works, I guess that can't be all bad."

Orpheus forks over his money to buy the magic rock

[charlie_]

"You just break it, and it's like... absorbed into you. The shards just kind of vanish, they won't cut you or anything like that." he replied, taking Orpheus' gold. "Magic sure is weird, huh?

[Ether]

"About as alright as I'll get... I'll need to sleep it off, but at least the main damage is healed off." Celestia replied with a light smile, as the man at the counter asked of her well-being, and placed a bag of gold in front of her.

"In the worst case, my friend here is a healer, she'll get me back, right Melanie? Oh, you got past the first round before forfeiting to Taima, right?"

[Nanami Touko]

The man at the counter seemed a bit gruff. Not quite out of the element that Mel was expecting, considering the tournament, but still. Celestia was given a bag of gold, and asked about how she was doing. Mel was glad to hear her response. And nodded at being called a healer. But wait, she had actually beaten the first guy! What did that mean, exactly?

"Eh, oui, I did. I beat zat man swinging around ze 'uge sword. Do I get somesing for zat?"

[Shin]

Orpheus looked at the gem, squeezing it in his hand. It seemed like an odd thing to do, although it seemed more reasonable than say eating it or snorting it. There was a crack, it seemed it had only taken the smallest amount of pressure to break. Was it really that shoddily made? He didn't feel particularly different... either he'd been ripped off or it would take a while.

"Well, I guess something happened at least." he remarked, noting that the shards had vanished. Perhaps he had to make his own luck? Orpheus had a bad feeling he'd been duped, but he had to at least make the most of it.

[charlie_]

Payback

"That's good to hear then." The man nodded, turning to Melanie. "And uh, you basically get your entry fee back for doing that." He placed a smaller bag of gold next to Celestia's. "Take care of your friend, alright? I dunno how magical injuries work to be honest, but better safe then sorry."

The Luckster

"They're supposed to take time to kick in I think." explained the vendor. "You're not gonna find 10000 gold right outside the shop or anything like that, but I think it effects a lot of little things over time? I don't really get how the luck thing works myself, sorry." he grinned sheepishly, wishing he knew.

Edited March 30, 2015 by SB.

[Nanami Touko]

"Oh, I do? Zat ees wonderful~" Melanie wasn't going to say no to that, so she gladly took the bag and stuffed it into her robes. "Oui! I am waiting for anozzer friend, and ze we are taking Celestia back to ze inn, where she ees going straight to bed~" Melanie giggled over acting like a mother, but she smiled. "She will be fine."

[MRDRHAWK]

Declan felt like vomiting the moment that he woke up. This whole day felt like a lot to take in, and he found it hard to believe that so little time had passed. And why did he feel the way he did about Vale so soon after they met...? Declan couldn't help but wonder if it had anything to do with his past. Probably did; after all, he remembered that his relationship with Arietta was fairly fast paced on its' own. Still, something about Vale seemed rather... magnetic.

"Grn... shit..." Declan tried to stir, but then realized that something - or someone - was keeping him from doing so. Ah, shit, did I fuck up this time too? Declan thought to himself as he tried to gently push Vale off of him, hoping to get up and stretch his legs to make sure he was feeling okay.

[Xinnidy]

"Well then, that's a sound idea, Melanie. I'll catch up to you two." Perfect time to give the lovebirds their space, as well as the other mercenaries who felt well enough. "It seems I'll be needed. Take care, Sierra, and happy birthday again, Mina. Best of wishes to both of you~" With a wave and a turn of step, Magali gave her farewell to those in the room.

Magali shortly caught up to the girls, those having been out of her sight only briefly. It was no surprise they still were at the counter. In fact, as she closed, Magali could eye Melanie and Celestia receiving pouches of coin. "So, this tournament did have prizes. How was it, Melanie?" A better look let Magali infer Celestia won a bigger prize by the size of the pouch she was handed. Oh, she's more ready for this kind of competition, then? How surprising, she looks quite young. Right, her name was... "And you, Celestia? How are you faring? It seems you sparred quite a bit, here. Was it tiring?" Well, no doubt. She needs Melanie to help her to the inn. For a moment, Magali chewed her own choice of words. "Well, I'll help Melanie take you to the inn, if you don't mind. Of course."

[Ether]

"Oh, hello again Magali. Yeah, it was 200 gold per win... and well... not so much tiring on it's own, as much as, well... let's just say that if I was petty, I'd force Lugos to replace the outfit he destroyed, and pay for a haircut." Celestia replied with a light smile, before wobbling somewhat, and coming to rest against Melanie, another shock coursing through her, and more than likely zapping the dark mage, as they were touching.

[Xinnidy]

"Oh, that Lugos, he is so reserved. To think he would get so competitive about this~." A soft giggle escaped Magali. "Well, if you want, I could tell him to treat a lady better~. First, though, you should take a bath and rest, I agree. I am sure we can get some of your looks fixed right away." Magali moved a hand to pat the girl's shoulder, to receive a devious static surprise. "O-oh!" Her eyes widened in shock, for once, she'd lost her composure, if only for the brief minute it took to retract her hand. "Ah. Haha~. Indeed, he might have something to listen to, later. First, we shall take care of your situation." Just as quick as she reacted, Magali's face returned to bear a soft smile.

[Percivalé]

"what do you think"
"--that?"

"it's hopeless"

"... sad..."

"the same--"

"--no. it's new now"

"different--"

"Ugh..." Vale could still hear the swirl of voices in his subconscious, still not quite broken from his dream. They became more distant with each nudge he felt against his chest, his shoulder--it dawned on him suddenly--

"Shit--"

Everything flooded back to his mind and he jolted awake. He quickly pulled himself off of Declan, now sitting upright at the edge of the bed. He held his head groggily. "Oh... sorry. I didn't realize how tired I was." He yawned again. "Sorry, the..." He wiped his eyes, suddenly. The letter and empty parcel were still on the bed somewhere, or perhaps on the floor right now, he couldn't tell.

[Nanami Touko]

There was Magali! "Ze tournament? Ben... I sink eet was a learning experience. I did not like eet, very much. Eef I am to fight, zen I want to do eet wis all of you, not one on one. Or against one of you, franchement. I gave up against miss Taima, because I knew I would not be able to fight 'er at all. Eet would kill me, eenside, to 'ave to fight one of you." Mel smiled a bit, but it was almost apologetic. Getting her money back was nice enough, so she could put the tournament behind her. But not that quickly. Looks like Celestia's wobbling wasn't quite over with, as she slumped gently against Mel. "Whoa, zere... Watch your feet, Celestia, eheheh." Mel smiled, and giggled, for but a moment. "Donc, let us goOOooOooOO--" Mel shivered the words out, as a shock slithered its way down her spine. She shook for a moment, before fluttering out a breath, and shaking her head.

"Ben!" she said, at length, nodding, "We really 'ave to get you laying down and sorted out, eef zat ees what ees running srough you..." Mel smiled still, even though she'd just been shocked. It had been a rather weird feeling, and if that was what Celestia had felt, at much higher power, she definitely needed some rest. Magali seemed to get the gist of the surprise as well. Melanie wasn't waiting any longer. As long as she was still in contact with her lighting rod of a friend, she'd be the one to help carry her. "Okie, allons-y, Celestia." Mel slipped under her arm and propped her up on her shoulder, starting to walk. "We are going to get you back to zat inn room, you are going to take ze long, relaxing bass, and zen you are getting some rest. I will provide ze pillow again, eef I must!"

[Ether]

"Unfortunately, I think I'll need to sleep before I can wash off... if I hop into the bath like this I think I'll just die and that'll be the end of it." Celestia replied with a sigh, as they began to leave, winnings in tow. Luckily, Melanie mentioned the pillow! Good, it was not lost to the world then, if Melanie was in possession of it. She'd have to clarify on that lovely thing later on, but for now, getting to a real bed was the literal only thing Celestia could bring herself to care about.

"Don't be too hard on him, though. Melanie already basically told him to die in a fire, in her own language, heh. He didn't mean any harm by it, but it's still a pain..."

[riariadne]

Parting Ways

"You really think so?" Sierra asked Taima excitedly, letting go of Mina. "Well, if you say I can do better and you're the one who beat me, then you have to be right, don't you? I'll try my hardest, then! Then maybe when I train more, we can see who's stronger again!" She clapped and grinned widely at the prospect, and was even more pleased when Magali thought her present was nice. "Yay, I'm glad you like it! I thought it fit her so perfectly!"

"Bonne fete a toi...?" Mina repeated hesitantly, raising an eyebrow. "Another saying of the mountain dialect, I suppose..."

"Oh, are you all leaving now? Bye!" Sierra waved at the three women as they left for the inn, poking Mina on the shoulder. "We should go, too! I made you a cake! Vanilla is still your favorite, right?" The guard practically dragged Mina out with her in her joy, the smaller woman merely smirking.

All of this commotion lead Sheikah to only find herself, Taima, and Peter remaining in the room among the group. "Well that's that, huh? What a day. We ought to be off soon too, probably. I should probably round up the rest of the people straggling around here, huh..."

Edited March 30, 2015 by Reinfleche

[Xinnidy]

Bracing more incoming static, Magali moved to help carry Celestia --Melanie did ask. "Here, let me help too." She took hold of Celestia's opposite arm, briefly flinching, yet not rectracting her hand this time. "Ah-Ah, yes, there might be some wisdom to resting up first." Magali reconsidered her concerns while the girl's static slowly faded away. Perhaps I should wait before taking a shower as well... "Ah, I'm sure we could ask a fair change of pillows and blankets to the innkepper if needed, if it's of concern." Adding the suggestion, Magali listened and was surprised to hear of Melanie's snapping at Lugos. "Oh... Well, I will keep that in mind, perhaps I should be softer about it, then." Reassuring, Magali shot a glance Melanie's way, concerned rather than upset. "Well, at least Celestia is doing well now, right? Thank the gods for that." There was no point giving anything other than comforting words currently. Better if she lets go and not hold a grudge..

Edited March 30, 2015 by Xinnidy

[scorri]

Taima nodded, testing her ankle to see if it could hold her weight. It could, just barely. She winced as she started to walk to the door, but called back to Sheikah, "I'm going to go collect my winnings. I'll see you back at the inn though, ok?" Heading out to the desk, she grinned at the man. "Taima Rai, here to collect my winnings. Got second place."

[Nanami Touko]

"Oh! Oui! Zat would be a problème!" Melanie felt kinda stupid! Of course hopping into a bath with so much electricity still coursing through her would be a bad idea. She blushed about her mistake, though she blush worsened as Celestia repeated what she'd said. "'Ey! I did not say zat!" Melanie grumbled a bit as they walked. "I... I-I said-- I, said, 'what ze... Eff... Did you do'... Zat ees what I said." Melanie flustered, and turned the brightest shade of red, repeating what had happened. She'd spoken to him after what had happened, and had actually really appreciated the talk, but it still sucked to remember that she had. Well, whatever! He'd been fine, so she had to let it go. She shook her head and, still red, tried to come back to the conversation. "Zat ees not what I meant for ze pillow, ben, zat ees alright. I am more zan 'appy zat Celestia ees okay. I do not know what I would do eef I 'ad lost 'er." Mel smiled at her friend, and kept the walking going. It was a lot easier, with Magali's help. "I do not know what I would do eef I lost any of you. I 'ope we will all be alright." Even zat Declan, franchement...

It took them a bit, having to walk slower to help Celestia along, but they made it back to the inn at last, Melanie helping Celestia onto the waiting area's couch, and heading over to the counter. "Allo? Ees zere anyone zere?" Melanie wondered if that woman who had been working was still around. They needed to get their keys for the rooms back, after all.

[spoiler=Zat Talk]

Melanie did her best to lead Celestia back to the stands, helping to sit down, and going back to healing her to make sure she really was alright. "Zat was a really intense fight, zough! I am really impressed by ze bose of you. I 'ad not imagined zat you could do so much damage to Lugos. 'E 'as a really strong barrier, I saw eet during ze fight. Was zat ze uh, ze Luna scroll, zat you read earlier?" Mel was really curious. One of Celestia's Shine spelled seemed to have just... Cut right through his barrier, like it was nothing. It was intriguing to no end.

"And you, Lugos, 'ow 'ave you come to 'ave such a strong barrier, eh? I am a bit jealous. I do not know eef ma own could stand up to somesing like zat." She smiled, and giggled, bringing herself back to her regular self.

Lugos did all he could to help Melanie get Celestia to the stands without hurting her further. Once she was sat down he considered leaving the two of them alone, but before he could decide Melanie was already talking at him. At least she's back in a good mood, he thought as he sat himself down.

"Well that goes all the way back to when I was teaching myself magic. I'm not to sure how common it is, but I taught myself magic as I grew up. Mainly because I didn't have anything to really take up all of my free time. Because of that I learned more through trial and error more than anything else and more than once had different spells blow up in my face. I'm not sure if that just made my barrier naturally stronger or I learned how to create and maintain a barrier out of a need to survive."

"You learned anima all on your own? Vraiment?" Melanie smiled, and a rather silly thought popped into her head as she did. Maybe Lugos could 'elp me wis ze anima, when I 'ave ze grasp over light... She didn't say that, of course. Celestia had already worried enough over her using light magic, so she didn't want to jump, vocally, straight into another discipline. Soon, but, not right away. Maybe after she could cast a Lightning spell without it blinding her.

"Why did you learn zis by yourself? Did you not 'ave any teachers, or anyone to 'elp you?" Maybe Mel was lucky to have her parents help with her dark magic. Between these two, it didn't seem like magic was something people got taught. The group could've just been weird, but still.

"Yeah, I'm really something else, huh?" Lugos said jokingly, with a confident smirk on his face. "But like I said, it was because I had a lot, and I mean a lot, of free time when I was growing up. I grew up in a small village on the Angala-Sloktan border; my father was a messenger between the two countries before he caught the plauge and died. I don't know what became of my mother, she just dissappeared one day." There wasn't any sign that what he'd just said bothered him. People died everyday, and he was part of that process; even today he'd almost killed someone. He stared down at his hands, clenching them into a fist. He still had a long way to go.

"Anyway," he looked up at the sky, trying to return to his confidence, "when my father was still alive, and I was old enough to take care of myself, he left me at home whenever he went on his trips. There wasn't really any one else my age to hang around with, so I just sat around being bored until I discovered a tome one day. I taught myself to read it somehow and tried to cast a spell without really knowing the consequences. I was deaf for a few days, one of which my dad was home for."

"He was mad, of course, but more concerned than anything else. Rather than try to dissuade me from learning magic, he actually encouraged me to keep at it, so long as I was careful about; didn't want to come home to find me dead or anything like that. He ended up buying me a book with the basic pricipals of magic, which certainly helped with barriers and casting, but still didn't stop me from almost buring the house down." He smiled at the memory, one of those memories that were terrifying at the time but made for good life lessons.

"That's it pretty much. Anything else you're curious about?"

"Vraiment?" Mel asked in astonishment, as Lugos' story of filling free time filled her ears. It was really impressive that he'd managed anima without a teacher. She figured someone who learned by themselves would have far more physical scarring, or something of the like. That was the problem with learning magic without proper teaching or sources, as Mel had learned personally with light. Dark magic could ruin your mind, light your senses, and anima your body... Well, she supposed that if he'd gotten some books to help with his learning then he managed to avoid any serious injury. Melanie was just stuck remembering the talk her parents had given her about dark magic. They were masters, from all their years of using it, but they warned her to not extend herself past what they would teach her. And she hadn't. Probably for better than worse.

"I am very impressed, Lugos. I did not sink zere would be anozzer 'oo would learn zeir magique all on zeir own. Celestia you..." Mel turned to her bestie, only to find her asleep. A worried glance was given, but it left after she realized that the woman was fine, but exhausted. "Ben, well, she 'as taught 'erself 'ow to use ze light magique. And now I must do so, eef I am to realize my wants." She smiled, but more to herself, than at Lugos. "'Ow 'ard was eet? Would you say? Juste so I can get a scale of what I am going eento, 'ere... I will try not to push myself, ben, I do not want to worry Celestia. But, still. Oh! Aussi, ze wyvern. Where did you get zem?"

"Is it really that impressive?" Lugos wondered aloud. Apparently it was, at least according to Melanie. And then Melanie asked about the difficulty level of anima magic. Did she intend to learn every discipline? He didn't really want to tell her, especially if he got it wrong, due to what had happened when she tried to cast light magic. He didn't want her going deaf like he had, it was a scary thing. But he figured he shouldn't just leave her in the dark. "Personally I think it's the easiet discipline to learn, other than staves. That might just be because I'm naturally in tune with anima magic or it might be because it's as I suspect, the easiest. But do you really intend to learn every discipline of magic?" If she did and managed to pull it off it would be very impressive.

"You mean Kralle?" he asked looking up at the sky, spotting Kralle perched above the arena with his eyes locked on him. Lugos was surprisingly grim as he started speaking. "That goes way back to how my dad died. Well, first of all, I should mention I already knew how to ride Kralle by the time I started learning magic, my father intended me to join him or at least do something with a wyvern. Anyway," Lugos said, getting back on track, "about a year or two ago, my father was gone far longer than he usually was, even when he had to go further into Sloktan or Angala than he expected. At first I didn't really notice it until a week had passed, and that week quickly turned into a month. At that point I had spoken to several other messangers but they said they hadn't seen him."

"It got to the point where I traveled to the desert and just stared out across it, hoping to see something. When I was about to give up, I spotted a grey dot flying in from the desert and immediately had my hope restored. But it was crushed as soon as Kralle landed, there was no rider. Apparently my father had caught the plague and struggled against it for a bit but ultimately lost. He'd written me a letter and put it in one of Krall's saddle bags and sent him across the desert to hopefully find me."

"It was a good thing I had been out there, Kralle was in pretty bad shape too. I don't know if he was attacked or what but the fact he made it by himself and found me in his condition is pretty impressive if you ask me."

His tale finished, Lugos relaxed and focused on the battles taking place in the arena. "Hey, Melanie?" he asked suddenly. "What did you say to me in the arena?" It was a dumb thing to let get to him but he was curious. "I guess a better question to ask would be what other language do you know?"

"Oui! Eet ees very impressive. Ma parents, zey would tell me all ze time of what would go wrong eef I tried to use magique zat I did not 'ave ze aptitude for. I am surprised zat ze temporary deaf was all zat 'appened. You are lucky!" Mel nodded confidently, pretty sure that she was right about that. As for his question, "well, oui. I would like to." She looked at Celestia again to make sure she was still out of it; she didn't want to worry her further. And she was about to go into her own little tale, but, Lugos started his. It was rather... Similar to what she had in mind. Sadly.

But she let him finish. As depressing at it was, he didn't seem very shaken up by it. Even Mel got a bit teary when she spoke about what she was going to... Was she going to end up like that, some day? It was a bit frightening. She didn't say anything about that, but it was there in her head. Was Lugos really okay? "I am sorry to 'ear all of zat, about your fazzer. Ma parents... Well, zey are also gone. I was going to answer your question about ze magique, eef I 'ad been stronger, eef I 'ad known more, zen maybe I could 'ave stopped eet all from 'appening, you know? Maybe I would 'ave juste been a part of ze dead, ben... I do not know, and I wish I could 'ave done somesing." There were those tears, starting to well up, but she wiped her face before she could start sobbing. "Zat ees why I am trying to learn all zat I can. So eef somesing 'appens 'ere," she said, glancing at Celestia, "zen I can do everysing een ma power to stop eet."

She didn't really know what to say after that. It was an awkward silence, but she felt rather content about it? Like she'd gotten something off of her chest. Someone else in the group understood how it felt. It was nice, oddly. She figured she'd enjoy the silence until Lugos brought up another question. "Eh..." And it was rather embarrassing. "D-Do not take zis ze wrong way, I juste... I was very scared!" She hung her head a bit, and sighed. "I asked you, ehm... 'Wh-What ze fuck did you do?'... E-Een less polite terms." She shivered a bit. "I am very sorry! I was just incredibly scared! I... I was worried zat Celestia was gone, oui? I 'ave already lost a lot... To lose one of you, especially 'er, I juste... I could not take eet." The question about languages flew over her head, as she was a bit out of it, going back to such a dark place so soon.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that..." Lugos trailed off. He truly was lucky though, not having it permanently affect him. For that reason Lugos couldn't entirely hide his frown when Melanie said she'd like to try and learn every discipline of magic. As impressive and worthy goal it was, it was still dangerous, that's why he'd decided to pick up axes rather than more magic, and Melanie was still young.

His expression softened though when she mentioned her own tale. "You have my condolences," he said once she had said her piece. "But you did do something, Melanie. You survived." She probably already knew that, and maybe didn't want to hear it, but he said it anyway; if only to stave off the grim image of the cheery little mage lying dead on the ground somewhere. "If you have any questions about Anima when you get there, I wouldn't mind helping," he offered.

"Oh, it that all?" Lugos would have laughed it off, not bothered by it now that he knew what it meant, but it seemed his question had sent Melanie back to a bad place. Lugos shifted in hid seat as he tried to think of something to say. What did dad do whenever I was feeling down...? As the memories came back Lugos quickly realized he was a bad example, not everything could be solved by wyvern rides and hugs. He struggled for a bit more with just what to say before finally opening his mouth. "That won't happen," he said with utmost certainty. "It's gotten a little dicey at times yes, but we're all still alive and I doubt that's going to change soon You even help keep us alive when you use that heal staff of yours."

"I survived..." Melanie wasn't quite sure how to take that, at face value. She'd survived, but no one else had. Should someone else have survived instead of her? It was a heavy question, and even though she asked it to herself, she didn't know if she had an answer for that. That'd mean putting a value on a life, when she thought all lives were priceless... Well, except a certain few.

As for Anima, after having this talk with Lugos, Melanie would be more than happy to ask him for help with the discipline. Between him and Artemis, she felt she'd have a grasp of the subject in no time! But light magic was first. She'd promised Celestia, after all. She did wonder what it would feel like to conjure fire for the first time, though.

The dark place had to be addressed some time or another, though, and Melanie felt quite a bit better after Lugos said what he had to say. That won't 'appen... Heheh. 'E sounds so sure of 'imself. Melanie ended up smiling. "Sank you, Lugos. Eet 'as gotten dicey, as you say, ben, we are all still 'ere, donc I am sure we will still be 'ere, even when push comes to shove~ I juste 'ave to get all of ma eggs cooking, or somesing like zat." She giggled at the analogy that didn't quite make any sense. "I am sure zat when I can 'andle all ze magiques, any ozzer mage will be pas problème for moi! I will be able to counter all ze disciplines. I am sure zat, even zough you are using ze axes, eef you wanted to learn somesing else, you could do eet. I could 'elp you learn dark magique, eef you were so eenclined."

Edited March 30, 2015 by I have opinions

[MRDRHAWK]

Declan glanced down at the floor and wondered where the hell the empty envelope and package came from, but he left it alone as he sat up and stretched his arms out. "S'long as I didn't do anything to you, we'll be fine. I think. Besides, I needed the sleep, and I couldn't even feel you laying on me. You're... actually kinda light, I guess." Declan stifled a laugh as he slowly got off the bed, trying to wander around the room a bit. "Hey, I'm gonna go take a walk. Don't hurt yourself or anything while I'm gone, okay?" Declan added, chuckling as he went out into the hall.

He really needed to stretch out, wander the halls a bit to make sure everything in his body was in good working order, and re-evaluate some things. Specifically, how he felt about Vale. Sure, the feelings were genuine, and while Declan thought he was beautiful, there wasn't a whole lot of carnal lust in play. So... why were the feelings as strong as they were? Declan kept wracking his brain in hopes of finding an answer, when a terrifying thought struck.

Am I... really so desperate for the love of another human being that I'll latch onto anyone I meet that's even remotely interested in giving it to me? Declan sighed as he felt himself stumble, but managed to catch himself before he fell over completely.

Shit... I'm just using him for my own gratification, aren't I...? I thought I'd changed for you, Arietta, but I just keep making the same fuck-ups that I always did.

[riariadne]

Roundup

"Alright then... see you around, Taima," Sheikah told the leaving armored woman. "Now, to find everyone else. Uh, I'll catch up with you, Peter... gotta keep track of everyone first, yeah?" With that she ventured out into the halls. Her luck did't start off well, not encountering anyone she knew for some time until almost walking into Declan. "Oh! Sorry, umm, that is... well, finally someone familiar. Do you know where anyone else is? Gotta drag everyone back to the inn soon."

Rest

"Hello, hello! My my, what've you all been up to?" Cara asked, emerging from the door behind the counter at the sound of visitors. "You all look quite exhausted... well, none of my business if you don't want to say, I suppose. You are... Celestia, right?" she asked the templar. "I would rest as soon as I could, if I were you. And here are these, for all of you." Cara placed some of the keys on the table once again, sitting on the stool behind the bar. "Though, if any of you do want to say what happened, I would be interested... the tall man, he mentioned something about a tournament earlier?"

Edited March 30, 2015 by Reinfleche

[MRDRHAWK]

Declan was snapped out of his thoughts by the sudden appearance of Sheikah, which wasn't exactly a boon to the contemplative swordsman. Still, he wasn't about to say that to her face. "Vale's back that way; no idea about the others." Declan replied quickly, sighing and leaning against the wall. In truth, it was more to help him keep balanced than anything, since he was starting to get tired again. That training really did more of a number on him than he thought.

[Nanami Touko]

Mel smiled. "She ees, and sank you." Mel took the key, and was about to escort her friend to the room, before Cara asked what had gone on. Weeeeeeell. "Ehm, zere was ze fighting tournament, oui. We were een eet, moi and Celestia. I did not get very far, ben, she made eet to ze sird round!" Melanie was still proud of her friend, even if she'd been beaten by Lugos. "Zat, ehm, zat Ivan, 'e won ze 'ole sing. I was very impressed wis 'im. 'E does not say a lot, ben, 'e ees very strong, donc, I am 'appy 'e ees on our side." And that was about all that had happened! Well. Except for why they were there. But Celestia could go into that if she wanted to. It was probably a bit of a sore spot, literally as well.

[charlie_]

Spoils

Norman had kept to himself after his flop in the second round. He wasn't really in the mood to talk between his body aching from the beating Sierra had handed him and generally being irritated with himself at being taken out so easily. If that'd been a real battle, I'd probably be dead now... He probably wouldn't even have been able to outrun her if things went badly again. Eventually, he forced himself to his feet, despite his body's protests, and made his way to the exit.

He probably would've forgotten to pick up his refund period had he not spotted Taima speaking to a man behind the counter collecting her winnings. "Second eh?" The man checked the results sheet over quickly, then nodded approvingly at the armour. "Well, congrats on making it that far. It's a shame that you couldn't go all the way, but I guess that's just how it goes sometimes." He turned around to retrieve a spear propped against the wall behind him, and grabbed a heavy sack of gold from under the counter. "I think they said you used lances? You look too bulky to be a mage anyway. Uh, no offense." he added, before moving on to Norman. "How'd you do?"

"Uh... not so well." admitted the axeman. "I lost pretty badly in the second round." The older man shrugged his shoulders as he retrieved his entry fee, which looked kind of pathetic compared to what Taima won, and handed it to him.

"You can't win 'em all I unfortunately. Better luck next time?" he suggested, to which Norman shrugged back. "Yeah, something like that. Cheers." he replied, speaking to Taima next. "Hey, did you end fighting that Sierra girl?" he asked, wondering how well the cheery swordsman had done after beating him. "I didn't really pay attention after I lost, so..."