Fire Emblem: Wretched Whispers, Act 3: Resurgence

[eclipse]

"Thanks, Taima," Peter said, taking a quick read through the new scrolls. Gibberish. Like I was expecting anything else. He stuffed the scrolls at the bottom of his pack, then made sure that they wouldn't be visible, short of someone upending his belongings. Last thing I want is to explain how I got them.

Peter wandered over to the west, eventually reaching a larger building than most. People walked in and out, some with books in their hands. Looks like I'm here. He walked in, and regarded the shelves of books, all of which seemed to be anything but cryptography. I feel really out of place here.

[Shin]

Thinking about it, Orpheus had a lot of weapons already. Admittedly, he hadn't bought many of the weapons, he'd either been given them or he'd borrowed them from someone else. If the blacksmiths were as bad as the docks, any weapons they obtained were unlikely to be terribly impressive. It was a poor choice to judge things by their appearances, but usually when Orpheus saw places that were run down and beaten up, things actually were run down and beaten up. A mouldy apple looked mouldy after all!

"Don't mind too much really. I'm not really expecting there to be much in the ways of weapons, they're not doing very well here." Orpheus replied, taking another glance back at the ship. "Anything's an improvement from that though. Too many words and too much water for my liking."

[SB.]

A bearded, bored looking librarian watched Peter for a few seconds, head resting on his hand, before losing interest in the archer. The library wasn't as grand as Bonvale's, but there was still a decent amount of activity inside. Many of the people seemed to be scholar-types, regarding Peter with strange looks, perhaps feeling that he was a little out of place. Cryptography didn't seem to be documented too heavily here, from what he could see - but perhaps someone could point him in the right direction.

[Bluedoom]

It didn't make much of a difference to Wolfgang, whether he was on land or at sea. He was still bored, and he didn't expect much from the city of Tairell. Considering the ill behaviour of the citizens towards the mercenary company, he figured there wouldn't be anyone interesting or worth talking to.

He was just pondering over his course of action when he overheard a conversation between Taima and Orpheus about shopping. He chimed in, "Well, if you guys are going to the shop, mind if I join?"

[scorri]

Taima shrugged. "I've got plenty of weapons myself but figured we might see something useful. Feel free to come along I guess."

[Ether]

"I'm just glad you're alright..." Celestia replied, the little spark of light magic enough to cause her worry, until Melanie had shown no adverse effects from it. She tried to give the young mage an encouraging smile, but she couldn't quite muster the enthusiasm of the other two.

[Shin]

It looked like Orpheus was gathering quite the party, he'd barely been able to keep the company of one person in the past, let alone two! The question was where to go? The library was out, and Orpheus certainly was no church goer.

"The more the merrier, Wolfgang. We can pass by the stores if there's something that catches your eye. Who knows? We might even find a hidden bargain somewhere in the streets." he responded, ushering the pair along. Orpheus hadn't really paid much attention to the angry villagers, he figured they were just a little unfamiliar with foreigners. "I'm feeling lucky, this place seems pretty friendly."

[Nanami Touko]

To say she was astounded would be putting it lightly. Melanie had to look between the three around her, mouth still agape, barely flinching when Magali ruffled her hair. It was all smiles and encouragement, her dropped jaw very slowly curling into a smile. She flipped through the pages again, concentrating in front of her for a moment, eyes wide open this time-- and poof, there it was, the smallest, weakest Light spell. But she'd still cast it! It went off, and she was still fine. "Hee... Heehee..." She managed a giggle, closing the book, before smiling wide and giggling like crazy. "I can't believe eet!" She turned to Celestia, eyes full of wonder and a bright passion. Without any hesitation she threw herself at the girl in a huge hug, tackling her to the ground.

"I did eet, Celestia! I finally did eet! Wissout 'urting myself! Zis ees fantastique!" Perhaps Celestia didn't expect to get cuddled on the ground today, but that's what was happening~ Though Melanie relented fairly quickly, pushing herself up and staring down at her. "M-My eyes, zey are not off, oui? Nossing wrong wis zem?" She had to be sure nothing had gone wrong.

[Ether]

"Oof." Was the first thing that Celestia managed, as Melanie quite literally barreled her over, Melanie relenting after a few moments, but it was enough to make Celestia shake her head a little.

"Your eyes seem fine to me, no vision problems?"

[riariadne]

Few people were spotted at all along the way to the center of the city, but as soon as the trio who had roamed there approached it, the city was much more crowded than anywhere else- at least a hundred people were present to buy some sort of goods. Several vendors waved at the new arrivals, a surprising amount boasting weapons for sale.

"Hmm... that'll do. Thanks." A man right next to the group handed some gold to a salesman in exchange for a sword, nearly walking square into Wolfgang. He seemed to have an impressive bow onhand as well. "My apologies. You guys look like you're interested in this sort of stuff, huh? There are a lot of good options for equipment if it's the sort you're looking for. You don't look like you're from around here... visitors are rare."

[Nanami Touko]

"No problemes~ I can see juste fine~" Melanie giggled again, staring down at Celestia, holding herself there for a moment... "And, eh... ze view, she ees quite nice, from 'ere..." she mumbled with a faint blush, before pulling herself off, and offering a hand to help Celestia back up. "Eet ees not a probleme, Diana~ I, at least, 'ave been 'olding up juste fine. I am surprised zat you are coming to talk wis us, ben, I am not complaining! Eet ees good to see you break out of zat shell~" Melanie shook her head. "I 'ave juste been worried about you, you know? You don't ever talk wis any of us, or rarely. You are our friend too, non? Talk~ Make jokes~ Laugh a little~" Ohhh, the endless energy that was coming out of Melanie right now. Succeeding in that spell had been the best thing to happen to her in years of practicing magic.

[Ether]

"W-wha?" Celestia mouthed, blushing a little bit to mirror Melanie, before the energetic mage began to speak to Diana almost as soon as she arrived... what had she meant, by all of that? Had she just misheard her? That seemed like the most likely scenario, surely that was all laid afoot at present.

[Grace]

Diana smiled again, almost a rarity these days. "Good to hear that you have been doing well, Magali." Diana interest was piqued on Magali's last statement. "That is new though, at least to me. You've been to Sloktan before? Diana asked inquisitively.

Diana was taken aback by Melanie's enthusiasm. "Uh... yeah. It has been a rough time recently. I am glad that you are holding up well, and that you still consider me a friend..." Despite her trailing off, Diana was still fairly happy about what circumstances had just transpired.

[Bluedoom]

Wolfgang looked at the man he had just bumped into and was overcome with a familiar feeling of excitement and warmth. Wow, it has been quite a while since I've felt this. I guess this is quite inconvenient at the moment, though...

Wolfgang replied in slight feeble, higher-pitched voice, "W-We're mercenaries, actually. I...hail from Irksa, I'm not sure about the other two, though. Oh yes, my name is Wolfgang, and these two over here are Taima and Orpheus. P-P-Pleased to make your acquaintance."

That is such an impressive voice...

[Xinnidy]

"I was born here. Well, nowhere close to the capital, actually. I lived in the south with my parents, but I was very young back then." Magali explained, a bit reminiscent in her tone. "Yes... Remember the war? My parents decided to leave before things reached us. Since then, we lived in Angala."

Melanie's excited demeanor was almost contagious, drawing a soft giggle out of Magali. "Oh, Melanie, magic really does mean that much to you, hm?" Well, as long as you don't get any crazy theories over it too... The excitement wasn't contagious enough, Magali mellowing down and looking to the floor for a brief moment, before returning attention to Diana. "Well, don't be too shy. We are all fighting under the same cause --or rather, under the same contract, for a while now. I would not mind doing a favor if you need it, either."

[Refa]

Artemis yawned as she got off the boat. Not much had happened after their brief skirmish in the sea, which was good because she didn't know how much more of that she could take. I don't think I've ever been out at sea before, actually. It was okay, although I didn't expect the ship to be quite so...shaky. Personally, I prefer the air anyways.

Despite the non aggression treaty, the citizenry didn't seem all that fond of Angalans. She figured it'd probably be better to keep her distance for now, despite being intrigued at the mention of a new king. With nothing better to do, she decided to head on over to the library. Maybe there, she'd get more information on that artifact that she bought from Anna. What was it called again? Right, the Fire Emblem. What a weird name.

After she arrived, she noticed how much smaller it was in comparison to the Bonvale library. In retrospect, it would have been better to have looked up information about the artifact over there, but she had more pressing concerns at the time. Walking over to the librarian, she asked while pulling out the Fire Emblem, "Hey, do you know where I'd be able to look up information about artifacts? I'm hoping to learn more about this one. I heard it was pretty important when I bought it, and well, it'd suck to get ripped off so...here I am."

[riariadne]

Survival of the Fittest

"Nice meeting you. I'm John." He raised an eyebrow at the frantic tone, but said nothing of it. "Mercenaries, huh? As sensible reason as any to be here. I do a sort of contracting myself, though I'm afraid I'm not available right now. Though... if you spot a man in a blue coat with a strange sword and dark tomes, let me know. I'm not sure if he's even in the city right now, but I'm tracking him down. If you do, I'm around here this time every day. Now that I told you that, anything you're here for in particular?"

Ancient Artifact

Before the elderly librarian got a word in, a younger woman holding several books approached Artemis. "I'm an archaeologist, one of the best around. If anyone can tell you about it, that'd be me- here, follow along." She beckoned to a table, placing her books down with a thump before looking at the gem.

It certainly was an unusual gem, normally a dark translucent red. However, every few moments, it would gleam a golden color. The first time the archaeologist woman saw this, she gasped. "You said you bought this? But, but... this is unspeakably valuable, priceless! It's an incredible stone that has been tracked down to the beginning of Treiban itself enchanted by a mystical being. There are seven unique items, most of them thought lost to the world, and this is one of them. Wow... you're incredibly fortunate to have found this. Hold onto it, and in your darkest moments it will protect you- all the records say that it has saved many from certain death. I would advise being so cavalier about it in the future. This Lazarus Gem is truly one of a kind, but you never know what someone would do to try and get it." She handed it back to Artemis quickly.

[eclipse]

Peter overheard the conversation about the gem, but kept to himself. This has nothing to do with me. He walked over to the librarian, who looked about as bored as Peter felt lost.

"I've got a note to write to my girl, and I don't want her nosy brother to read it. Got anything in here that'll help?"

[Bluedoom]

Ah, he's noticing something is weird about me! I need to get my act together...

"We haven't seen a man like that, but we'll let you know about it if we see him. Right, we've got time to spare until the evening, so we decided to check out the city, since we're new to this place. We just came here hoping for a good selection of weapons. Do you have time to show us around, John?" he replied in a calmer tone. Hopefully he'd show them some interesting spots in the city.

[Shin]

Orpheus was rather puzzled by Wolfgang's conversation with the man. Why was he so nervous? Was this man really that threatening to a book worm like Wolfgang, he didn't seem that intimidating really. Unless... was Wolfgang attracted to him? It wasn't like there was anything wrong with it, but it seemed like such a whirlwind romance, just like from a fairy tale. The biggest question was who was the princess. Wolfgang would make more sense, but it was still a difficult matter to decide. He'd been to a few weddings before, so it wouldn't be too strange - as long as Wolfgang invited him.

Coming back to the realms of reality, it appeared this John wanted to sell them something. At first Orpheus thought he sounded like just a common stall owner, but the ramble about some person in a blue coat seemed unusual.

"Who is this strange guy with the coat, John? Asking complete strangers to keep an eye out for him makes me curious." he interrupted, figuring there had been enough strange things going on that he didn't understand. There were two (more) things that Orpheus didn't like, not understanding something, and being made to do work that he didn't understand. "Sounds like you've been trying to get a hold of him for a while, must be an important guy."

[scorri]

"And what sort of strange sword? There are all sorts of swords out there. Wouldn't want to set you on the trail of the wrong guy" Taima was assuming the man was some sort of bounty hunter but the fact that he was willing to tell them his target made that slightly less likely.

[riariadne]

"No, I don't. I'm to be off shortly. Just thought I could lend a hand while I am still here." John crossed his arms at the further questioning. "He's a wanted man. Nobody knows his name, but he's dangerous. The sword's not really the part to be worried about, though, his dark magic is supposed to be more threatening- it's just a foreign blade so it looks unusual. I only pointed it out first because differences in swords are generally much easier to spot than dark tomes."

[Shin]

A wanted man? It looked like Tairrel wasn't quite as dead as it seemed. The description wasn't very helpful, a lot of people wore coats - he might as well have said that the man had two arms and legs. Orpheus wasn't sure how long they would be sticking around, but if the man were to expose himself, he saw no reason not to catch him. If anything, there might have been a reward - which wouldn't hurt his reputation at all.

His magic seemed dangerous though, he's faced Wolfgang's first-hand and knew that it wasn't comfortable at all. Magic wasn't something Orpheus was terribly well versed in, or even remotely understood, but if magic had to be prefaced with the word threatening, it didn't bode well.

"He's probably not going to be flaunting his stuff around, if he's wanted it'd be like wearing a sign on his chest. If we come across him, we'll see what happens." Orpheus replied, still skeptical about the matter. There were other things to ask about though, the city was still new to the group. "So what's this place like? Any places worth visiting, stuff worth buying? The girls any good?"

[SB.]

History Teacher

A small frown appeared on the librarian's face as Peter gave his story. "Rub it in why don't you..." he muttered under his breath, before leading Peter over to a shelf in the corner, with a small selection of hardbacks about some kind of civil war in Sloktanian history. "In the past, rebels used codes of sorts to pass around information they couldn't risk getting caught." he explained, scratching at his beard. "That sort of thing isn't really common around here; I can't think of anywhere else they came up." If anything in the library could help Peter out, it was in one of the books in front of him.

[scorri]

Taima rolled her eyes at Orpheus but shrugged. "We'll keep an eye out and let you know if we see anything. Though if you're heading out... What sort of work do you do? I noticed you're well armed, though I can't say I've seen a bow like that before." The man was interesting, that was for sure. Maybe he knew more about what was happening around here. "And hey, you have any idea what's going on with the new king all the people keep talking about?"