Return of the Emblem Chapter Fourteen: Nine

[Script]

"One nobody will see coming at all," said Gar, choosing not to illuminate just yet.

[Snowy_One]

"So then..." said Robin with a sigh. "I suppose the meeting is over then? At least for me?"

[KentaEzren]

Kenta sighed, as the group briefed out a small plan to get where they were going, and get who they were after. If he really had an idea, why didn't he say anything? He just kept quiet.

[Phoenix]

Mess Hall

Anna scowled. "Just tell me what you're going to do. Unknowns get people killed."

"She's not going to budge on that one," Raphael quietly warned Gar. "Tell her in private if it's that important so we can get a move on. Pretty sure everyone else should start gearing up and getting ready to head out, though." He looked over the gathering, quickly and mentally separating out those he knew were going from those who were likely staying.

Assuming whatever diversion they were going to use was accounted for, that just left the magic seal, and Gabbie narrowing down the hideout so they knew which place to surround. Gabbie herself was already mentally preparing herself for that task, as well as trying to slip into said place to retrieve Lois.

Raquel meanwhile wasn't even sure what she should be doing. Was she really a part of this plan? She had no combat experience--that she could recall, at least. Would she be any help here at all? Did she even want to help? Parts of the plan had sounded like a contract killing, others like a war between street gangs, and others like a rescue operation. None of that was legal, but here they were, discussing these things inside a military base in the city. It was too much to just keep quiet anymore.

"I have a question," she spoke up, getting both Anna and Raphael's attention briefly, before the former focused back on Gar. Apparently she'd handed over the figurative shepard's staff to Raphael. "Is this really something we should be doing? Also what am I supposed to do?"

Raphael sighed. "We hit them or wait for them to hit you people again ... take your pick ... aaand you should just do whatever you've been doing. That ... special magic." He frowned when Raquel silently broke eye contact and found something less important to stare at somewhere off to her side. Something was clearly wrong there.

[Script]

Gar sighed. "Fine, fine. Gather up a wagon full of food and distribute it for free in the area. Plaster it as an attempt to fight hunger in the wake of last night's tragedies. Locals will swarm it. Invictus will be incredulous and ignore it and stick out like sore thumbs."

[KentaEzren]

"While the locals swarm the wagon, we sneak around where Invictus should be. Should be careful of our surroundings in case they have traps or alarms." Kenta added.

[-Cynthia-]

"I do hope that Invictus doesn't plan to use the locals as hostages. That should be a possibility we are prepared for," Lysandra warned.

"If we don't do anything about this now, then they're just going to cause more havoc and be more dangerous to us later. I know that you don't remember but...this is what you wanted to do. If you don't feel ready, then you can stay back while we go on the mission," Veronika offered to Raquel.

[Phoenix]

Mess Hall

"Hmm," Anna considered the diversion, but not for long, "alright, sure. For what we're trying to do that should work well enough." It would also save them the trouble of trying to come up with something else and prolonging things further. That wasn't to say there weren't any other preparations to make. Gar needed to get that decoy set up, and Anna needed to get a magic seal for Gabbie to carry, not to mention make sure she herself was properly equipped for the mission.

"I'm not sure how I can even help," Raquel finally admitted, "All I know I can do for sure is make copies of that sword."

Anna glanced over for a split second, and then turned away, again.

Zachary frowned. "Great ... maybe you should just wait for us at Weyland's company building, then. Am I the only one that thinks we might have gotten rid of that dragon in her head too soon?" he glanced around, not entirely serious, but still visibly annoyed by the circumstances.

The soldiers almost spoke up out of curiosity, but after exchanging looks, decided to leave that one alone. They'd heard rumors about a dragon-esque creature in the fort but none of it made sense, just like Lilith being here didn't make sense. For them, it was just better to do their jobs and hope things went back to normal once these strange vigilantes and mercs had cleared out, which would be all the sooner if they stayed out of things and left them to their plotting.

"You should take Phee here with you," Zach noted, glancing down at the vasilus infant. "We can't take her with us."

Raphael addressed Lysandra's concern since Anna was still dealing with Gar. "They're less likely to take hostage than the group that's after these people, but since they're probably mixed together it is a possibility. I hate to say it but there's not a lot we can do about them using human shields against us. Just try and flank them and heal whoever gets hurt in the crossfire ... then send them away."

[spoiler=The Darkest Hour]

For Samael, the Ring of Hyperious couldn't have appeared beside him sooner. The horizon had been swallowed up by darkness and it seemed to be closing in on him from all sides. Even the milky white clouds in the sky were overcome by the black tides. Before long, he was standing in a pool of dark energy, and completely surrounded. He raised his hand and a simple gathering of light energy illuminated him and the ring ... and nothing else.

"A mortal wielding a vasilus' weapon ..." came a thunderous, masculine voice that Samael had no hope of pinning down. It seemed to be coming from every direction, even beneath his feet. "Tell me, how did you find yourself here?"

Samael winced, but quickly composed himself. "If it's all the same to you, I think a proper introduction is in order, first."

"I have every intention of killing you once my curiosity is sated; if formality is some comfort to you, then so be it," the voice agreed, though Samael could almost picture the owner of the voice shrugging indifferently somewhere in the darkness. "I am Obelisk, the new master of this realm. You are in the land of the dead, where the Gate resides."

"I see ... Purgatory, then." That was unfortunate ... "I am Samael," the artificial introduced himself, "I was in battle with a woman ... and somehow she brought me here."

"The Legion," Obelisk concluded easily, "one of Thanatos' underlings. She is one of few beings that has both the power and the knowledge to reach this realm unaided. You should not have let your guard down."

"Well ... it won't happen again, I can assure you," Samael said, managing a small grin.

"Indeed. It won't."

[-Cynthia-]

"The sword is very much appreciated, though practicing your other magical abilities might not be a bad idea. We don't always have the luxury of being on offense and I can't guarantee your safety at all times," Veronika admitted to Raquel.

"Such a plan has a high chance of getting innocents killed. Given the importance of this mission, that may be a risk we are willing to take, but it is important to weigh the possible consequences of one's actions," Lysandra advised.

[Script]

"They'll either be spread out near the target or grouped up far away. That's what city fighting is. 'Less you've got some other way to go about this," said Gar.

[KentaEzren]

"Some of us can be basically unpredictable," Kenta added on from Lysandra and Veronika. "But city fights can start with a spark that triggers people, like riots or rallies can send the city going up in smoke due to the backlash of some civilians. The most unpredictable things can either be using countryside wagons to over run the streets or throwing giant rocks at the security, and as far as my knowledge goes, it doesn't end well. As long as we can somehow distract the people and the guards, we can easily slip in. Just... watch out for other guards."

[Phoenix]

Mess Hall

Raphael shrugged. "If they pull hostages on us, all we can do is flank them or retreat."

"Okay," Raquel began, "but how exactly am I supposed to practice other things? I don't know what I used to be able to do ..."

Reign stood up from the table, as if he was about to make for the exit. "Warp spells, mostly. Moving yourself and friendlies. You've also got a restore staff lying around somewhere."

Raquel's initial estimate on reclaiming her warping abilities was over a year, but she immediately tossed out that figure, recalling her discussion with Morpheus. Her memories were still there, she just had to bring them back. She ran the risk of hurting herself, but also of becoming a proficient mage in an instant. It was a fearful, yet oddly tempting way forward. She didn't want to get involved in an overly bloody rescue mission, though. That was part of the reason she decided to wait. Rushing into things just to help out with a mission she didn't approve of wasn't likely to end well for her. The other reason she opted against forcing her memories back, was fear, not knowing what she would be dredging up. She wanted Morpheus to be there when she started to retread the past, to make sure she didn't run into anything that would be too painful before she was ready. For now, that meant remaining a liability as far as combat was concerned.

[-Cynthia-]

"I'm afraid I don't have a better solution either. I'm not sure of your level of familiarity with our enemy, but they often see collateral damage as an acceptable outcome. It's something to keep in mind," Lysandra stated.

"Mostly I would just focus on whatever keeps yourself safe if possible. Not that the warping isn't handy, but we should be able to handle ourselves without it," Veronika advised Raquel.

[KentaEzren]

Kenta shrugged a bit while looking at Veronika, before turning his attention to Raquel. "I'm with her on this one. We could use the warp spells as backup though."

[Phoenix]

Mess Hall

"I've heard about them," Raphael nodded, "but I haven't had the pleasure of fighting them, yet. I'd be looking forward to it if the circumstances were a little better. Having civilians and noncombatants around is always a pain."

"Honestly," Zach frowned, "she really should just wait for us at Weyland's this time." His eyes met Raquel's briefly. "Unless you find some way to remember how to cast those spells right now it's just too dangerous. Kind of pointless, too."

"There's a way ..." Raquel admitted bitterly, "but I'm not sure I want to take the risk."

"That's fine," Zach said reassuringly, "just wait for us at Weyland's and we'll be sure to bring some good news, along with this Lois girl since that's who we're going to rescue."

"I want to have a word with you before you head down to HQ," Anna said, eyeing Raquel intently. "Everyone else, grab your things and meet up at the north gate. We're boring a gaping hole in their plans today." Once she had satisfied her curiosity, she would head outside as well and they could be on their way. Later, once Gabbie had narrowed the location down more, they could split into however many subgroups they needed to in order to surround and prevent the enemy from escaping conventionally.

[Nanami Touko]

The meeting had been a blur for Amalia, dealing with the slowly numbing pain in her back-- unfortunately also numbing her surroundings, trying to block it all out. The medicine had worked, of course, but not she was light headed, somewhat. At least when Uri spoke to her she zoned back into reality, turning to face him with a forced smile. "Yes, that... Seems to be the case. Though they seem to be wrapping everything up, now... I wish to help their fight, though I don't know what good I'll be, right now." It was probably best to tell him, but... After the meeting. "Uri, we'll speak after. Something happened with Nyx, that... W-Well, it would be best if I told you, sooner than later. It wouldn't do to take a spill and have you overly concerned, for me."

[-Cynthia-]

Lysandra eyed Raquel curiously, but chose not to interject. I wonder if fate has brought me here to teach magic to another Valcyn? She's certainly been through more than her sister- and most people by the looks of it. We shall have to talk later...

"I think we're taking enough risks as it is," Veronika said firmly. "All right, let's move out everyone! I'll do my best to sort you into smaller groups- let me know if there's anything about your combat abilities I should be aware of." Ugh, I don't have any experience with this but I'm the one who knows the group more than anyone at this point so it falls on my shoulders. I wish Blake were here...no this isn't the time for that, shaking the thought out of her head as best she could.

Edited August 8, 2016 by -Cynthia-

[KentaEzren]

"Whatever works." Kenta sighed.

[scorri]

Uri nodded. "Well, if you are fighting, I will fight as well. Someone needs to look out for you and I suspect they will always need healers. Though... What do you need to talk to me about? If there's some reason you shouldn't be fighting, I do not think it's a good idea for you to risk yourself..."

[Script]

"Yeah," Xenia decided to take the red-head's offer up. "I'm only here to heal Raquel, so if she's not going I'm not either."

Gar did some stretching. "I better go start things on my end."

[Nanami Touko]

"Oh, is the meeting over a-already? I must be out of it..." Amalia stood, shivered, and took Uri by the hand, bringing him just outside the meeting hall. "Right... I... We spoke with Nyx. I asked her if it would be pooossible to restore my wings... She said yes, but... Well... It will be a rather uncomfortable experience, to put it lightly. I will probably be in i-intense pain, eventually... But I will return to her once I have waited the allotted time, and hopefully, it will have been enough. I should be able to fight while this is happening, but... Well, try to keep an extra eye on me, would you?"

[Phoenix]

[spoiler=Hello & Goodbye]

Wynn felt really awkward standing in front of Reign and Nadine, again. Reign stood there, waiting for Nadine or Wynn to say something, and Nadine kept her arms crossed as she waited for either Reign or Wynn to say something. Wynn did eventually break the silence. "So ... I'm back ... back in this cursed army, again."

"It could be worse," Reign said, some insistence in his voice. He'd have hated to have been in Wynn's shoes, but being dead was far worse than being forced to serve a country he no longer had any faith in. "You can survive this," he added, trying to offer an encouraging smile but just barely managing, "just follow orders, keep your barrier up, and don't give anyone any trouble."

"Stick to regulations," Nadine chimed in sternly, "all of them."

"Yes, ma'am," Wynn rolled his eyes.

"I'm serious," Nadine hissed, "most people would have been executed for being a member of Invictus after what they've done. You just got a second life, not just a second chance at life. All you've got to do is carry your own wrathdamn weight, so don't screw it up and get yourself killed."

"Nadine," Wynn took a step toward her, "how long do you think I'm going to have to lick their boots until I'm free to do what I want?!"

"It doesn't matter if they want you to serve for the rest of your life. Do you not get how serious the situation is?" Nadine glared at him. "Besides," she placed her arms on her hips and leaned toward the irritating mage, "you've got nothing better to do. The last time you left the army, you wound up joining Invictus for some stupid reason. I think you're better off stuck in an Ursian garrison and picking up a hobby. That way you don't have to risk your neck on the front lines and a reputable officer can keep an eye on you." Nadine sighed. "Honestly, it's the best possible outcome if you think about it ... ... sure it would be better if you were transferred to Langley's battalion. Then I could keep an eye on you, myself. That's not realistic, though, and it's not good for the unit's reputation."

"I'm bad for their reputation, am I?" Wynn made a face at his two former schoolmates.

Reign glanced at Nadine, who instantly met his gaze. It happened so fast that Wynn feared the two were about to do something to him, witnesses be damned. "Wynn, look," Reign said, making eye contact with him this time, "you're going to have the name 'Invictus' attached to you for the rest of your life. I'm pretty sure the only reason these people are putting up with you is because it'd be a waste of a really good mage to just kill you."

"It takes years to replace mages," Nadine added, "a lot of them if you want one good enough to do more than spit fire at the enemy."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Wynn conceded. "So my only value to anyone is my ability to kill other people, and if not for that they'd kill me. I've got it. That's not really helping me with wanting to follow their rules. It really just makes me want to finish burning this place to the ground."

Nadine's hand was as fast as lightning; she pulled Wynn to her by his uniform's collar and cowed him instantly with a furious gaze. "If you say anything that thoughtless again, I will make absolutely certain you get transferred to Langley's unit so I can kick your stupid teeth in every day for the rest your miserable life. You do not talk about this kind of incident casually like that."

"Alright, alright," Wynn pleaded, "just calm down, already. You don't want to get in trouble too, do you?"

"No one's going to care if the ex Invictus loudmouth gets a little roughed up here and there," Reign pointed out, "not in this place, at least."

"Don't say things like that," Nadine demanded, finally releasing Wynn.

"Well ... it's about time I got going," Reign said, feeling a little awkward about having to leave so soon, but there weren't many left in the mess hall who would be going on the rescue mission. Despite the severity of the situation, he found the banter somewhat enjoyable. It was nostalgic to see Nadine dominating Wynn just like in the old days. It was also invigorating to have her around again, if only temporarily. Their bond had changed somewhat recently, but he could still predict her actions easily, and she his. He knew he was going to miss that level of familiarity when they parted ways, again. It was simply too hard, and took too long to come to know someone others on such a personal level. If not for their special training together ...

"By the way," Nadine squinted at Reign, "where are you and Raquel headed after this totally illegal vigilante work you're about to take care of?"

"Neviskotia," Reign said bitterly. Nadine matched the expression. "Farther, not closer, basically."

"It's alright," she said, letting go of the frustration Wynn had built up in her with a heavy sigh. "Try to keep her out of trouble. I'll see what I can do about Wynn, I guess."

"Yeah, good luck with that," Reign smirked at the ornery mage. He got a harmless glare in return. It past quickly, though, far more quickly than it should have, Reign noted.

"Before you go," Wynn's expression suddenly became downtrodden, "I've got a favor to ask. Since you're going to be looking after Raquel, it shouldn't be a big deal."

"I'll make sure nothing happens to her breasts," Reign waved dismissively at the unspoken request.

"Wrathdammit," Wynn bit out, "would you stop bringing that up?! I just want you to make sure Thany's alright since she and the boss are going with you guys. I just want you to make sure they're alright since I won't be around."

Reign shrugged, then nodded. "Sure, I'll take care of it. Anything else? Want me to chase away any of this Thany girl's potential suitors or anything like that? She looks a bit young, so ..."

"I will smack you with a destruction sphere," Wynn gritted his teeth ... "but yeah, that'd be nice, too, actually."

"What, really?" Nadine said, genuinely surprised.

"She is young," Wynn said, glancing worriedly at Nadine, "... she is," he nodded insistently.

"I'll keep her out of trouble," Reign promised. Suddenly a thought occurred. "Well ... as long as she's with the group. My plan's to stay with Raquel until this is all dealt with. If they decide to leave ... well, that's it."

"Yeah, I know. If she does decide to leave, send her back here if you can."

Nadine smirked. "Make sure to help her pick out the right size gown before you send her back to Wynn, Reign."

"Oh, I will," Reign grinned smugly.

"Please just go," Wynn murmured.

Reign raised his hand to about shoulder height, giving Nadine and Wynn a small wave before turning to leave. "I'll see you both when I see you. Stay alive."

"Wait," Nadine said, following after Reign. He could feel it coming. The bond they shared was nothing to scoff at. He knew what she was about to do, and she knew that he knew. Wynn was not going to understand any of this, and Reign himself didn't fully understand it ... and neither did Nadine, but it was going to happen, just like the first time.

Wynn's jaw dropped as Reign turned around and Nadine pulled him into a kiss. "What ... when?! How?!"

When Nadine finally let Reign go, she gave Wynn the most subdued expression he'd ever seen from anyone. "There's ... nothing going on between us, nothing like that ... it's just ..."

Reign gave Wynn a similar look. "For two months, we trained to be able to use synchronized casting. It wasn't a long time, but it was long enough ... and we screwed up.

"You can't put two people through that kind of training regimen," Nadine explained, "and expect things to go smoothly. Like he said ... we screwed up."

Wynn's gaze darted back and forth between them. He said nothing as his mind desperately tried to figure out what signs he'd missed back when they were all attending at Horizon.

"I'm not sure what's going to happen in the end," Reign admitted, "but for now we're trying to stay hands off." Wynn probably wasn't going to say anything else until he calmed down, and Reign had places to be. "Take care of him while you can, alright? I'll see you guys when I see you," he said as he made for the door.

"Stay alive," Nadine bid farewell.

[spoiler=Inquiry]

Anna led Raquel to the far end of the mess hall, near the kitchens, a fair ways out of earshot, assuming both women kept their voices down. "Okay, what's this about?" Anna began with a stern question. Raquel, looking as confused as ever, didn't know what to say at first. "I'm talking about this sword thing," Anna clarified impatiently. Weyland's agent was a little annoyed being left out of the loop for no apparent reason. If this was some emblem related ability, it could prove extremely useful for the mission, even if it was all Raquel could do right now.

"That?" Raquel winced, her gaze leaping to Veronika and the others, "well ..." She straightened up, turning to face Anna again. She still wasn't sure where Anna stood in the group hierarchy, or if she was even traveling with them. She was seemingly in charge of the whole meeting, which seemed to indicate she was pretty close to the top. It still wasn't clear if she was just an associate or a close ally, though, and that made Raquel reluctant to say more than she had to. She may have been an amnesiac, but she still knew that the magic she was using was unique in all the world. The more people knew about it, the more complicated, and possibly dangerous, her life would become going forward.

"You can trust me, Raquel," Anna said, pushing down her irritation to sooth Raquel's worries, "We're fighting the same enemy." Not waiting for a response, she leaned back and crossed her arms. "Besides, there's nothing you can say that would really surprise me, anyway. I've got more secrets than you do."

Was that so? "Like what?" Raquel asked, leaning forward to counter Anna's action.

She almost caught Anna off guard. "A trade then. I'll tell you one of mine if you tell me what the deal is with you suddenly becoming a forger. Agreed?"

Raquel considered it a moment, then nodded. "Okay. You first." That would give her time to gather her own thoughts and decide how best to tell Anna about this forging ability of hers.

"Alright, then. Every first born in my family is named Anna," the redhead said with an ominous grin.

Raquel winced. "Every single one? What if it's a boy?" That hardly seemed like a secret, now that Raquel thought about it. After all, public records were common in Ursium. She could have probably found this information on her own.

Anna placed a finger on her lip, slipping deep into her past momentarily. "Mmm, can't say I've ever heard of any boys being born. Probably for the best. We don't like to skirt around tradition over little inconveniences like that."

"So no boys are ever born in your family? How is that even possible?"

"That'd be two secrets," Anna noted, holding up two fingers uncomfortably close to Raquel's face, "and I'm still waiting for yours."

"I could have probably found out this 'secret' for myself by just doing a little research ..." Raquel noted bitterly.

"And I could figure out what your little trick is by putting someone in your group and waiting for reports," Anna countered with a shrug, "now spill it."

"Fine," Raquel bit out. She'd concede defeat on this one just to be done with this. "I learned how to make a sword earlier today. It's too big and heavy to wield though, so I tried to make it smaller and lighter." Raquel tried to demonstrate the difference in scale with her arms. They weren't quite long enough to give an accurate length for the Oblivion prototype, but it's smaller incarnation was modeled after a sword with a standard profile. Anna understood well enough. It was emblem shenanigans like she'd suspected, but a bit more involved than she imagined. "It worked, but that's about all I can do right now. Passing out extra swords during a mission would be pointless. Everyone else already has weapons."

"That explains it," Anna sighed. "I guess that also explains why no one thought to tell me about it. Like you, they probably thought it would be useless in a situation like this. I beg to differ until I've actually had time to think about the possibilities. It's too late to include you in the plan now, though, so you should just take your things and head back to Headquarters. We'll meet you back there once the mission's over."

"Alright," Raquel agreed. As Anna turned to leave the Mess Hall, Raquel's curiosity erupted inside her. "Hey wait ... you said there were two secrets." She hated to admit it, but she really wanted to know how it was possible for a family line to only ever produce females. "I want to know why your family only has daughters."

"Another time," Anna kept walking, waving back as she broke into a jog toward the door. "Just have a secret of your own ready to trade, Valcyn."

Saddle Up

With Anna absent for much of the travel preparations, it fell to Veronika to organize the mercenaries, and Raphael to keep the extras from slipping through the cracks while everyone gathered just outside the fortress. The northern gate was hardly crowded, which didn't bode well for the mission. They likely wouldn't have a numbers advantage. Encircling a likely larger force with a smaller one and fully capitalizing on such a maneuver would be far from easy. If they pulled it off, however, and did it in a timely manner, they could wipe out the whole group and disappear into the shadows before the authorities came running. Unlikely, but it remained a possibility just the same.

By the time Anna arrived, everyone who was going was present. There were only two wagons available for the lot of them, but they wouldn't be using them the whole way there. Instead they would only be using them to get close enough to start their encirclement. Said encirclement wouldn't begin until Gabbie narrowed down the location of their hideout(s). The battle was still a ways off, but it was closer now than ever before, and within a few hours, it would be decided.

[KentaEzren]

"Here we go...." Kenta thought deep as he was present by the wagons.

[scorri]

Uri nodded. "I will trust that you know what you are doing. But promise me that you will stay close, ok? I would not be able to forgive myself if you died because I was elsewhere on the battlefield. Especially if it were due to such a cause. I think it is good that you are getting your wings back. I feel like you were missing a deeper part of yourself than just a set of limbs. I'm not... I don't know if I can describe it really. But I cannot help but feel glad you are doing this even if it hurts me to know you will be hurting. If there is anything I can ever do, let me know."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Erion leaned against the wagon, watching the mess of people wander around. He'd checked and rechecked to make sure all of his weapons were where they needed to be, not wanting to let even the slightest error cost them in this battle. He glanced around, taking in who all was coming with them. It was a good group. They should have a good shot at this going well, even if it would still be a high risk battle.

Uri meanwhile, had abandoned the staff he'd been using to practice, instead choosing to depend solely on his natural abilities. He was walking a few steps behind Amalia, quietly keeping an eye on her both physically and mentally. He didn't really think that she should be coming into this battle with the way she was impaired by the pain and the medicine, but he knew that protesting would simply be met with an insistence on coming, so he instead quietly vowed to make sure she stayed safe.

[Nanami Touko]

"O-Of course, Uriel... It would be foolish of me to t-try and act like I am strong enough to handle this alone... Even now I, have taken some medicine for it, but the pain is... It's still there, and I know it will get worse once things wear off. I will distract myself with the fighting, and keeping people safe. I hope it is enough to ward away this feeling." She knew it wouldn't be enough, not unless she was getting hurt by something else, or stuck in an intense duel. Hopefully it didn't come to either of those... She would hate to make Uriel or Erion worry.

----------

The wagons seemed ready to go, as did everyone else around them. Amalia did her best to walk upright, trying not to stumble or trip, as Uriel would give her a lecture on staying behind were she to falter at all. She offered Erion a nervous wave as she spotted him, smiling as much as she could. This was just... A trial to overcome, for her mistakes.