Faith in the Spirits Arc 1: To Align the Stars

[mcd900]

Laniva sighed and relaxed a little at the pasts; things looked like they were more properly over now, at least, and she turned her attention to Syta for now. "I'm okay, I'm fine, I promise. I'm not hurt, I just... don't really know how to make sense of all of this. I feel like when we take these jobs, they really leave a lot out... And all of that magic, too... I didn't even want to get anywhere near all that."

She fidgeted slightly, turning to look at the rest of the Tigers, in a mix of relievedly embracing one another or collapsing from fatigue. She was feeling rather unlike doing the latter, settling for getting a bit closer to Syta as she kept up the pats. "Let's... go find somewhere to rest. And then, maybe you can explain some of this to me... I mean, I understand it... I think, but... mm."

[Ursali]

"To know." She quickly answered between his response, glare not lessening in the slightest. She blinked unexpectedly as he so accurately described the voice, refusing to flinch in his presence. Who was this man that he knew so much about it? He was apparently familiar enough to have seen it reflected in her eyes, even if all she'd done was glare at him. His strange eye caught her off guard, part of her wondering if it was his intention that she saw it, but she had no idea as to the significance of it. She growled as he said his parting piece and, though she doubted the man would care, still responded to his, in her opinion, obvious attempt to rile her up. "You don't get to decide that." When he turned around to further taunt Mikoto she thought he might answer her dismissal of his claim; however, something much more surprising happened.

The air around them, even out to Tanvir, somehow changed into pure magic. Probably light, if she had to guess based on the coloration. Her rare proximity to Tio made it clear that the Evoker was the source of the phenomena. Just standing in it made her feel safer, though she had no idea why. More important than that, however was the hug she felt Versaris give her as the hulking man beat a suddenly hastier retreat. Is he worried about his words bothering me? He shouldn't. She felt him slump even more against her, even as Renais' magic began to heal him. "Can tell. Not like you to be so untalkative." Though her words and tone were as neutral as ever when regarding the half-elf, the tail supporting him betrayed her worry. "Should you even stand? Hit like that mess up most of other Tigers."

Edited March 6, 2023 by Ursali

[Bluemask 96]

Not a second after releasing her hug on Renais and Mikoto, Gean was smothered in another embrace, one she accepted without reserve. Taking a hand and placing it on Nyx's back, Gean laid her head on the woman's shoulder. "I'm ok Mom. It's... over for now." Gean hung there for a moment as she spoke those words. For now it was best to live in this space. It was all she could now. "Thank you for always being there." Gean turned towards Syndra as she joined in on the hug session. "And thank you for stopping this one from running to her death Syn. I'll also thank you in advance for stopping her in the future. I'm sure this won't be the last time."

Edited March 6, 2023 by Bluemask 96

[Nanami Touko]

Sari felt Aly's tail holding him up and took a deep breath, pulling himself off of her. "Yeah. I should stand... It looks like I've still got things to take care of." There was another group on the horizon, mounted, but judging from the reaction of their Amaryllis allies, this was good tidings. "Aly... Thank you. For bring okay..." He put his hand on her shoulder for a moment, but his face looked troubled. It would be too much to stop and explain in the moment, so if they had time to speak later, he'd try and share how he'd felt. At the end of things, he was just pleased that she was alive, even if there looked to be scars of the day remaining on her... I... I really hope those go away with proper healing. Please...

Sari took another deep breath, moderately empowered by this field of light that Tio was releasing. Mikoto was offering the Evoker one fancy looking staff, so he'd leave her to that. "I'll take care of this, Tio." He gestured to the sword, hoping it would go smoothly. "I was hoping to hold onto it for another moment, but given all we've heard, I believe we can trust Celine." He started towards the knights, stumbling for a moment, but gritting his teeth and continuing forward. His body could wait for later to heal.

Marigold sighed. "Yeah, alright... Was just hoping to avoid, that, just... Don't tell them who I'm affiliated with, yeah? They're good people, but I don't wanna have to spend hours explaining that to Hecatian Knights-- in fact, y'know what? I'm gone until later." Mari stepped behind Tio and vanished into her shadow. "Let me know when you need me and I'll pop out. Make sure I'm in earshot... You can probably still feel me anyway, so I'm not gonna worry about you knowing where I am."

Syta dared, in this moment, to pet Lani, avoiding her ears for the most part, just trying to help her calm down. "Mmm, yeah... That was a lot. Maybe, you come along with me to talk to my boss? She's coming along now, it seems, and she's a good person. I'm sure it'll make sense to listen in on whatever's about to be discussed." Syta smiled and leaned against Lani a bit, happy to be of help--

Syta. Syta, Celine has the same hair as that princess did.

... Huh. I... I, yeah. Then... What Chris and Marianne told me...

Yeah... If only we'd been able to keep them here for a few more minutes... How terribly convenient. Kisara growled in Syta's mind, before vanishing into its depths once more.

"Mmm... Come on, Lani. Let's go." Syta took her hand and started to walk her along, hoping the cat would follow.

Siorel clung onto Cinaed, not going to deny further comfort, even if she'd come down. "Sorry... Sorry, I just... Bad, memories. I'm okay. I promise... Not that I'm against this." She snuggled closer against him, sighing hard. "This feels nice... Safe. I'm glad you're okay. It seems like almost everyone is okay, too... I hope I helped."

Edited March 6, 2023 by Nanami Touko

[Ursali]

"What, hey!" Alriana let out a growl as Versaris pushed off her, his gaze now on the second group that had appeared after the battle ended. She tilted her head at his thanks, not understanding why she herself was being thanked for being okay, if anything Ren and Renais-- How close their names are is annoying. If anything it was Ren and Renais who deserved the thanks for healing her after she lost control. That was why she okay. His troubled look concerned her; though she didn't understand why that was the case either, red eyes staring into his troubled expression before he finally turned away towards Tio. 

She glowered at him as he took it upon himself to return the sword to the newcomers, starting off after him as she saw him stagger. "What are you doing!?" She let her emotions get the better of her for only a moment, her tail immediately slamming into his back as she caught up with him. Some would have called it predictable given what the not-elf had suffered today, but she was still surprised as he immediately met the dirt. "See! Can't even handle that!" Though entirely her fault the lizard masked her concern by blaming him as she rolled him onto his back. "You need to be resting, not doing whatever this is..." She grumbled as she slid her arms under his knees and back, picking him up into a princess carry and continuing towards the knights.

"Hghn...!" He hadn't expected it in the moment, but Sari fell flat after getting bashed with Aly's tail, groaning as he tried to pick himself up. It hadn't been a harsh hit, so he was just as surprised as she was that he'd fallen over. What came next was almost embarrassing, unable to hide a blush as the much shorter woman carried him towards the knights. "You, you know, I, uh... I was, managing to walk, uhm..."

"Just because you can doesn't mean you should be," she answered with a grumble. "Said you need to be resting. Meant it." Though aware of his blush she chose to ignore it completely, even if it made her feel smug to have him blushing and embarrassed. He could explain later when they weren't actively approaching a pair of important seeming knights.

[Nanami Touko]

Ren ran up to the Amaryllis knights right after Sophie did, bowing slightly. "Hello, Lady Celine, Lady Diya. These people are a part of a mercenary group called the Iron Tigers. We were going to wait for you in Cerezia, but this group is escorting two women known as the Evokers, so... With them agreeing to look for you as we traveled, I felt it best to come along. Syta, Jesse and, well, as you can see, Sophie are all here as well."

Sari, despite his best attempts, could not escape from Alriana's hold. He was too tired to force himself out of her arms and any attempts in his current state resulted in a tighter hold and threats of tail. He resigned himself to his fate and instead of saying anything to the knights as they approached, he held the sword out to Ren instead. "H-Here..." He hated this, but was beyond happy that Aly was being so honest with her feelings. It was a difficult pair of emotions.

"Oh. Uhm, yes, this as well, Lady Celine, Lady Diya. We got the Escaflowne back from the thief."

Sari managed to get past some of his embarrassment, staring right at Celine. He narrowed his eyes a bit, though. It certainly was peculiar that Celine's hair was just as red and striking as Lucille's. Well, certainly, it's a match, but I'm sure there are others in the world that have hair as bright as Tio's green, that aren't powerful mages. And Miss Mikoto can change her hair's color at will, it seems... It's very peculiar, but I shouldn't assume. I'm just looking for connections in anything; too paranoid after that attack...

Edited March 6, 2023 by Nanami Touko

[Bluemask 96]

Jesse followed in shortly after Ren. She raised a small eyebrow at the two of the Tigers that came to return Escaflowne, but that didn't matter. "Lady Celine." Jesse chimed in. "We also managed to capture some mercenaries that were responsible in part for what happened here. They also mentioned Sir Tristan's name. It seemed he had plans in regards to the theif as well." Something was up, the mercenaries seemed to immediately guess that knights were here, and weren't happy about it. The sword may be in their hands sure, but another problem was rearing it's head.

[Mercenary on the Winds]

Tio looked at Mikoto as she approached, and for once, she didn't seem like she was hiding something or speaking with any of the venom that she had been speaking to Tanvir with before handing her the fortify staff that she had kept in her wares along with an apology. Tio just sighed and took the Fortify staff, before holding it aloft. "Allow me to be clear. I'm not upset specifically at what you did; it was clear that our attackers were after the princess and to protect the tigers, that was the only sure fire way to keep things from getting worse. Everything after that though..." Tio hid her growing scowl by focusing on using the powerful staff, and allowing more of her magic to heal the tigers en masse. "I shouldn't have to remind you that Glacies, at least at this point in time, is allied with Lufiria. I don't know all of the specifics about what happened to you, or the Kitsune, but you almost placed the Tigers in far more danger than you could possibly imagine, not to mention almost ending our mission singlehandedly. I will thank you for your quick thinking, and desire to protect the Tigers, but anything beyond that I can't, and won't abide by. Both as an Evoker of Glacies, and... as myself." She lowered the staff once she thought the healing done was sufficient, before returning the staff to Mikoto's hands. "I have my own reasons to despise what you did, which means I can't fault you for why you may have done, and said what you did. You protected the Tigers, and at this point in time, that is the most important thing right now. I won't, and don't have to like how you did it." 

Tio finally turned, and walked away. She had ignored Versaris, and frankly everything else as she'd been speaking with Mikoto. Though, finally, it appeared as if the woman of the hour had finally arrived. The Amaryllis had all rushed over to the red haired woman, and were now in the middle of handing over the Escaflowne. Versaris on the other hand was being tightly bridal carried by Aly. She couldn't find a snicker to match the situation, though. 

"There you are, Celine. I was getting concerned that something had happened to you." Tio blinked as she finally let her mind wander a second. Hang on... She... I didn't think about it until now... She, and the princess... look oddly alike. Surely that's a coincidence, but that's a strong coincidence...

---

It seemed like Celine's vision wasn't failing her. The green haired woman at the center of this phenomena had to be none other than Tio Candialia, herself. Quickly, someone broke away from the group towards them, and another rose haired figure waved at them. The happy shouting was easy enough to confirm as Sophia who was quickly halted in her tracks by Diya, and the wave was Ren. Celine released a breath, "I don't think either of you two know how good it feels to see the both of you." She then sighed, "Sophia... you can't call me Cece out here. You know that. And Diya, you can lower your lance." Celine pointed to the distant Tio, "The Amaryllis being here, on top of her means that these people are likely aligned with us." She looked over her shoulder to make sure that Sir Sead was still behind them; she and Diya had horses, he did not. 

They were approached by two unknown individuals, seemingly an elf, struggling to move, and a white... lizard? Celine wasn't quite sure what the newcomer was, but it was clear that the lizard was protective of the elf... in a manner of speaking. It slammed the elf in the back with its tail, and then picked the elf up with frightening ease given its size, and brought both of them over. All three of them really, because the elf was holding the very thing that they had come to search for. "The Escaflowne... You all managed to catch the thief? Are they here with you? Do you know who they were?" Celine's exhaustion suspended itself for a moment. The blade was important, but the thief's identity was important in other ways.

Jesse then came forward detailing the condition of other mercenaries that had been involved in the battle that had clearly taken place, "Tristan? Damn it, we were right. Did they say anything else about their involvement? If I'm gauging this situation correctly, they committed fully to whatever this is which means this wasn't any small effort..." Celine looked up and caught a glimpse of Elisa, showing that both Evokers were present. The situation certainly warranted it, but as far as she knew, the Evokers hadn't been summoned to assist with this investigation. "The only thing that happened to me was the uncovering of a plot, which you all might have detailed that much more clearly to me." Celine hopped off of Silica, somewhat wobbly, and then bowed to Tio. "It's good to see you again, Lady Tio. I didn't think we'd be receiving assistance from you and Lady Elisa, but, it seems like the stars aligne--" Celine noticed that Versaris was looking at her, a confused glance on his face, "Is something the matter, sir?"

Edited March 6, 2023 by Mercenary on the Winds

[scorri]

Cin relaxed his grip on Siorel slightly as she seemed to relax, still worried about her but not wanting to hold on too tightly. "Bad memories, huh? Some day... Some day I want to hear more. About you, your past, how you got some of these scars. The mental and physical ones." He sighed, looking over at the rest of the group before shaking his head. "I don't need it today, to be clear. I can wait until you're ready, but I care too much about you to not know. Ok?" He turned his attention back to her and gave her forehead a gentle kiss. "You did amazingly. Everyone would agree. Your dances, your magic, you did so well. You're a big part in why everyone is as ok as they are. I'm proud of you, Siorel."

---

Diya sighed internally as the charging figure was revealed to be an overly excited Sophie. We're representing the Lady Celine right now Sophie. Try to act like it. Even having recognized her, she kept the lance steady for a moment until Celine ordered her to drop it. She stowed it away, looking at the group Celine believed to be aligned with them. As she was assessing them, she had a shock as Ren approached, followed by an elven man being carried by a lizard of some sort. More importantly, the elf was carrying the target of their desperate search, and just casually handed it over to Ren, confirmation that either Celine's suspicions were true, or this group was playing a much more subtle game than Diya could decipher.

As Ren offered the sword to Celine, Diya gave them a small wave of greeting, glad to see they seemed to be all right after what seemed to be a harrowing battle. She also waved to Jesse who had confirmed the worries of Celine of Tristan's involvement. She followed Celine in discounting, storing her shield on her back, though she kept her lance in hand and moved behind Celine, watching the situation unfold. If Celine was calling the mage Lady Tio, that meant she was likely the Evoker, which allowed Diya to relax slightly. That was a good sign the group was not a danger to them. And if they were, there's not much I could do about it anyways. The Iron Tigers, huh? Rem, Jesse, Sophie... You've gotten tangled up with some interesting folks.

Edited March 6, 2023 by scorri

[Nanami Touko]

Mikoto hid her frustrations over Tio's words. Of course I know all that, you bimbo. Stow your anger, it's not about what could have happened, it's about what did happen... I'm only sorry because it nearly got Aegean killed. No matter how I feel about her, if worse than that bullet wound had happened, Renais, and so many of the others would've been beyond upset... Like I care about the life of that royal brat. Hssss... If you think I would've done it in that situation, you're more of a fool than I thought. I only would have done it if I could've gotten away with it... Lufiria deserves that much and more. She finally huffed as she received the staff, hoping the Tigers at least appreciated the gesture of healing. It wouldn't cure exhaustion or aches, but none of them would be suffering injury, at least...

"If you're so lacking in information, then I'd be happy to tell you exactly what your allied nation has done to my people. Islexia isn't any safer for similar reasons, but... I can't imagine anyone here harbors mixed feelings about that cesspit." Mikoto's tails flailed behind her, just once, settling down again. She idly followed after Tio, glancing towards Renais for a moment to usher her along with a tilt of her head. If she wanted to, the pink cleric was free to follow along.

As they came upon this Celine, Mikoto couldn't help but stare at her red hair. The woman was giving off a magical signature, though it wasn't Lufirian in the slightest, and it seemed to smell of fire... All together different from Lucille's. Curious, but... I won't make any claims. However~

Versaris had been about to bite through his shame and answer Celine's question, when Mikoto interrupted him. "My!" Mikoto placed a hand over her mouth, faking a gasp. "Your hair... How striking. It's just like the thief's hair... And our thief was the princess of Lufiria, Lucille Shiva. What a coincidence..." Mikoto wasn't a poor actor by any means, but she was definitely playing it up on purpose.

Versaris sighed. "That. Yes... My, apologies for staring. They... Other, members of the Asteria came and retrieved her. We couldn't have stopped them without incurring casualties, on both sides, so... We're, we're sorry, but the thief is gone. We got the sword. That was already a struggle." Speaking of struggle, he did try a final attempt to escape Aly, but the lizard wasn't letting go of him. Despite feeling the effects of Tio healing him, the blow had still left him physically exhausted. This is both extremely pleasing and horrifying at the same time...

Ren nodded. "Though... Well, Syta might have something. She seemed to know the identity of the thief before we encountered them. Maybe she was told more?" Ren glanced back at their ally who was checking on one of the tigers. "She seems a bit attached to that one, though, so it might be a moment..." Ren did stare back at Celine, pulling their staff out and healing her without asking. "You're still wobbling some, Celine... Are you alright?" She'd fallen previously when the two of them met with Jesse, so it was concerning, to be sure.

---

Siorel felt herself tearing up again, but smiled this time, laughing a little bit. "You really are the best... I'm, really, really happy I was right about you. Cinaed..." Siorel couldn't stop smiling even as the tears started again. "I will. Tell you, one day. I'm, just... Clearly, not strong enough to face it all right now. Hah... But one day. Promise." The lizard slowly pulled away from him and brushed herself off, sighing. "Okay... That's enough crying and feeling sorry for myself! I'm not even injured, just tired, geez." She picked herself up with a bit of a wobble, stopping herself from falling over with her tail. "Wanna gimme a massage tonight~? The girls are barkin'..."

 

[Xinnidy]

Üllr didn't like the threathening conversation at all. He was entirely out of his element, concerned more if the threats were going to devolve into actual hostility... it was draining just to stare at every one of the arrivals. "Haaah..."

Eventually a trade was struck, which ended up working, and... Tio gave quite an ultimatum. He could feel that magic where he stood. It was the first time Üllr realized how strong she actually was.

It was hard to calm down even as the assailants left. Apparently the red-haired woman was a princess of some sort too. "Hrr..." More people came, knights, Üllr felt ill at ease, though these ones didn't seem ready to fight. Instead, these were the ones coming for the stolen weapon. Hopefully the Clouded in Hecatia would be harrassed less now.

Sighing, Üllr's attention returned to Sari, who seemed to be recovering from that blow, and moved to handle the knights himself.  The wolf clouded winced, lowering his head. After a moment of introspecting, he walked towards the elf, finding the proper time to speak up. "...Sorry."

...He, wasn't exactly the best conversationalist, let alone at apologies.

"I was careless."

Edited March 7, 2023 by Xinnidy

[MRDRHAWK]

Sophia poured a little, but perked up again almost immediately. Part of her still really wanted to hug Celine and Diya, but she figured it wasn’t the time. She needed her serious face on. Celine looked troubled, hearing about everything, so Sophia did at least go over and pat her on the arm reassuringly. She’d have to give her proper care soon enough.

”Soooooooorry, Ce- Lady Celine… I’ll be gooooooood.” Sophia did still sound a little sad though. “But whyyyyyyyyy was a Royal Knight of Lufiiiiiiiiiiiiiiria here? They’re… kinda like us, riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight Celine? So that really waaaaaaaaaaas the princess… but then, whyyyyyyyyy would she have tried to take the Escaflowne?” Sophia’s brow furrowed, and in most cases, it might have looked cute. But now she was thinking. Especially because somebody had left her behind to catch up on her own, like a butt.

---

Nyx clenched tightly to Gean, as if to keep her held, too. She knew that redhead was important to Gean, but those others were crazy strong - noble or no, they’d probably shred Gean without a second thought. And Nyx wasn’t gonna let that happen, long as she had a say in it. “Aye… always. M’not leavin’ ye.”

At the little aside to Syn, who’d also joined in the pile, Nyx barked out a little laugh. “Oi! M’not gonna go gettin’ m’self killed out here… oh, but, uh, ye mind keepin’ me faced away from that hot lady knight o’er there? M’pretty sure that’s the biggun we been waitin’ fer, n’last I checked, people ain’t quite forgot about m’past.” For good or for ill… she really needed to talk to Nattie about all that, and tell her the story in full. But that could wait, if only for a moment.

Edited March 7, 2023 by MRDRHAWK

[mcd900]

"Mrrh..." At the pet, Laniva made a noise that could've been something close to a purr, maybe, if one had an extremely active imagination and was willing to stretch the truth a fair amount. Still, her ears flicked in tacit approval, nodding as Syta offered to bring her along. "Mm... yeah, okay. I guess it can't hurt, and maybe it'll help make sense of everything... oh-!" Taken by the hand, Laniva followed along as she brought them to Ren - the cleric that had shielded her earlier, she'd have to thank them for that - and the red-haired woman. Celine... that's who Syta's been looking for for a while. Who she's working for...

She made sure not to slow Syta down, not letting her heels drag in her armor.

[Nanami Touko]

"Don't worry about it, Ullr. As long as you're safe," Sari tried to reply in earnest, still feeling embarrassed. Still, he didn't want the wolf to feel bad about things. He was clearly unaware of the situation, having come from the village's direction moment's before impact.

Iris wasted no time in heading over to the situation that was starting to grow, climbing herself onto Ullr's shoulders and sliding her legs out in front of him, turning him into her own personal ride. "Yeah! It's okay Ullr. Mister notelf is alright, too! That's what matters, right?"

Sari narrowed his eyes at Iris. "Notelf...?" Wait, does she know? How? Wait, I think she mentioned this before... When did she find out? There was some confusion, a quick glance at Aly, and a mild sigh. It's not like it's a big secret, I guess...

Syta dragged Lani over in moments, waving over at Celine as she did. "Hey there! Been waiting for you, Celine, and boy, do I have news... It might just, uh, it might have to wait until we're in more private quarters...?" She looked around at the gathering crowd and chuckled quietly, running a hand into her hair. "Hope that's okay..."

 

[Billy12510]

Aegean gave Syndra her thanks, and, joking or no, a request to keep doing it. Syndra decided to joke along with them. "Haha, well considering where we're going I think she's the one that's going to have to keep me under control Aegean." Nyxied had brought up the 'hot lady knight' who had arrived, but since some of the knights who had accompanied them in the fight went off towards her immediately, Syndra assumed they weren't here to fight them. That's a matter for the people paying me to be here for now. I've more immediate things to deal with. One of those things being Miria. She asked for Syndra to help carry her to the wagon. "To the wagons then? Alright, I think I can manage that." She then briefly turned back towards Aegean and Nyxied and said. "When I get back Dame Nyxied, we can have that talk you wanted before we got 'interrupted'." And with that she started walking off with Miria.

[JakezuGD]

Though their assailant, the Lufirian knight Tanvir as he introduced himself in passing, was still ready to fight if anything was to come of it, Tio very quickly shut him up with... something. Even not being magically adept, Tasha could feel the suddenly changed terrain shielding her somehow, and an effect on this scale was probably incredibly difficult to create, as evidenced by just how spooked it made the man. The situation may have been resolved, but-- "Hey, Alvira!?" Suddenly, the dragon wrested herself out of the support to step forward for one last question. It didn't look like Tanvir was going to waste any time replying to it... but there was the faint but visible flinch when he heard it. Clearly, it wasn't something he shrugged off just because he didn't care. He knows something, but I don't think we'll get those answers anytime soon...

She sighed and nodded to Tio's quick assessment. This had been a surprising engagement in the first place, not to mention they weren't equipped to fight who were apparently some of Lufiria's finest. Her gun was still out, at the ready in case the new arrivals were hostile to them, but with Ren and the other Amaryllis associates identifying them as Celine, there was no need to be on guard anymore, holstering the revolver with a bit of On top of that, Mikoto gave them some extra healing through the Evoker, likely bringing everyone around to be as healthy as they could be after their slog through the mercenaries and Lucille's unit. Amusing as Aly and Versaris's antics were, they did also hand over the Escaflowne with Ren as intermediary, which technically brought their affiliation with the Knights to a close, unless something more came of the encounter with their commander.

While she wanted to go check up on Gean after all that, she looked back to see that several others were already doing so, and, furthermore, she had to consider her position as their commander. Stepping up alongside Tio and the others to introduce herself, Tasha gave Vira a pat on the shoulder as she went past. "Passing resemblance to the Princess aside, it's good to meet you after all that, Lady Celine. I'm Natalya E. Liberia, commander of the Iron Tiger Mercenaries, harboring some of your associates for a while. Didn't expect we'd actually run into the Escaflowne all the way out here, though." Some negotiations were probably on the horizon here, considering the importance of what they were dealing with.

Elisa didn't quite let up on looking serious even with Renais getting her chance to heal Gean, because this situation really wasn't over just with them agreeing to the trade and getting the injured party back up to health. She knew that with Tio handling the front, there was little they'd need to be truly afraid of, and she could keep hanging back for the time being, observing the group. After all, if she was to get serious too, they were probably going to leave some large, permanent marks on the landscape. And going that far was unacceptable for an Evoker of Glacies.

Still, she was a little surprised by her wife pulling out the thing she basically only did to say she's dead serious. He is really strong, so she's probably just making sure... but I can't imagine the situation is making her too happy either. Elisa glanced back at Mikoto, who looked a bit scared of the show Tio was putting on. Hers was a great tactical decision, but the strawberry blonde knew there was a scolding awaiting her from the older Evoker, if she knew Tio at all... but Renais's detour onto her chest brought her thoughts away from that momentarily, just letting the girl do what she wanted to calm down. It was very reminiscent of her wife, really, with how she too tended to do just this and simply rest against her softness when she needed to relax. She herself did that too, of course... just that she'd not been nearly as tired, mentally or physically, in recent times.

A small sigh at the expected venting to Mikoto aside, the younger Evoker watched quietly while Renais got through her hug pile and Celine finally reached the group. A shame they couldn't meet her in Cerezia earlier, but from everything that happened, it was likely her delayed arrival was orchestrated to some degree. But, now that the pink healer was free again for the moment and about to go check everyone was fine, she decided to follow up on the earlier mention, walking up to the girl and giving her a much gentler hug from behind in turn, giving her that same softness from the opposite side. "Why would I yell at you for that? I'm very familiar with the feeling, you know. I do have a wife who just wants something soft to rest against when the day's been a bit too much... I'm not against being the person to lean on for others too." She could've easily made her tone teasing, but that would've been uncalled for, instead speaking softly and simply. Elisa wanted to acknowledge and validate Renais's feelings, not poke fun at her.

---

Ferid lagged behind Celine and Diya as expected, coming out of the forest lance in hand. His lack of a mount made him lose ground at full speed, but seeing that the situation was more or less resolved in spectacular manner, his mild lateness wasn't a problem, slowing down his stride and stowing his weapon on his back. Celine was even making sure he was still following, how nice. Perhaps that was half out of not wanting to let him out of sight as a surprise factor in the situation. Tiora Candialia only seems to become more intimidating the more I see her. Worth her title, that's for sure. He wasn't quite as sure about whether they would remember him in turn, with them only having met briefly at Liste and that having been a while ago by now, but that could be solved with a brief mention. Shortly, he fell in behind the other two Knights, giving a quick nod to Tio and crossing his arms. "I believe we've met."

[Mercenary on the Winds]

Celine blinked as Mikoto entered the conversation. She was another clouded that she'd never seen before; certain a fox of some sort, but she didn't recall them having multiple tails. Her confusion was only heightened as the fox explained that her hair was almost identical to that of the thief... and that the thief was confirmed to be, "...A Princess of Lufiria??" Celine had thought of a number of avenues--a Lufirian operative, a group of highly trained clouded mercenaries, even a Hecatian nobleman playing of the anti-clouded sentiment to cover their tracks--but genuine Lufirian royalty had not been on her list. Celine put a hand over her mouth. That changed the whole scope of the situation drastically. Lufirian involvement was something that she had considered--the skill with which the rider flew and evaded patrols while also having a pegasus narrowed the scope of possibilities--but royalty meant that whatever had happened was on some level likely greenlit by the highest levels of the Lufirian Government. Not only that, the princess was whisked away before she arrived by a group called the Asteria. That had to have been was that first flare of magic was about... damn it. First Tristan, now I have a Lufirian princess involved, and to top it off, I've got this Asteria to worry about as well? What is going on here?

"Ugh... never a dull birthday. A shame that she was retaken, but it sounds like that judgment wasn't made lightly... " Ren healed her ever so slightly which did bring some relief for the red haired knight, "I'm alright, Ren, just, absolutely exhausted. There's been a lot to do today." And yesterday, and the day before... let's just leave out that I've slept maybe six hours in three days. 

Then finally, Syta arrived pulling a feline clouded along with her. "There you are... I had heard from Jesse that you had information for me, pressing information. I'd rather not wait, but... if you're saying it should wait, then it's probably best to acquiesce and wait for time alone." That's... worrying. Syta's information was about the identity of the princess, wasn't it? So what could be important enough that she'd want to wait until later?

Natalya chimed in, confirming the involvement and identity of the Iron Tigers. "You're the third person to mention my resemblance to the princess. Is it really that striking?" Red hair wasn't terribly uncommon, and considering that the thief was the princess of Lufiria, the girl was Lufirian, and Celine was not. Any resemblance had to just be coincidence. "Aside from that," Celine bowed to Natalya quickly, "I can only thank you on behalf of the Altair Province, and family for helping to retake the Escaflowne. With this, I should be able to calm things in the province and start reining in the knights. Mete out punishments for acting far beyond the scope of what's proper. But... I also have questions that I need answered. The identity of the thief. Are you all the only people who know, or did the mercenaries you fought know as well? I think you know what I'm getting at but I'll be explicit: If what you've told me is true, than having her identity slip out and potentially back to Regent Artorius, and then to Saint Veras would be catastrophic. I have no doubt that my father would drum up more anti-clouded and monster dissent, and with this narrative backing him, I wouldn't be able to stop it. For the province itself, and my mother and brother's memories, I absolutely cannot let that happen."

Ferid pulled up behind them, and addressed Tio, "Wait... you've met, Sir Sead?"

The Escaflowne continued to shimmer, but it began to do so more brightly as Lani approached with Syta. The blade... take it back. The power... it slumbers... but it must wake... it must... Echoed into Lani's head. 

---

"I'd appreciate that, Mikoto." 

It wasn't long before the merchant mentioned Celine's likeness with the princess, and it seemed like Versaris also noticed it. It was strange to be sure, but it was striking enough that multiple people confirmed it. "Lucille's identity was unconfirmed to us before arriving her today. We had suspicions based on information, but it couldn't have been confirmed before today. With how secretive Lufiria tends to be, I don't think anyone here would have just recognized her or known to look for distinguishing factors. Given how long she had evaded almost everyone, and the fight she gave the Tigers before being subdued; I'd bet she was smart enough to know not to have anything that could have immediately revealed her as Lufirian royalty." 

Tio turned to face the newcomer before realizing that his voice was familiar, "Wait a moment... aren't you the knight from Liste?" Tio bounced her head back and forth for a moment, "Ferid, that was your name wasn't it? Surprising to see you here." She turned to Celine, "Yes, Ferid here met us at Liste after a rogue contingent of knights had to be dealt with. Sorry in advance by the way." At that moment, Tio noticed something glimmering in the grass not too far away from the group. "Hmm?" She strode over to it, and found an old, chipped blue flower hair pin in grass, along with an odd looking book. "What are these...?"

Edited March 8, 2023 by Mercenary on the Winds

[Nanami Touko]

Kisara had been quiet in Syta's mind for some time, idly going over spells from memory. She wasn't quite paying attention to the scenes in front of her; she didn't have the power to change their outcomes, so there had been no point getting involved. It was amusing to see Kise-- no, Mikoto get so bent out of shape, at least. The kitsune was a brash youth compared to Kisara...

She'd stayed quiet until Syta began to approach Celine. She idly glanced at the woman, listening to Mikoto make a mockery of her hair, when something in her mind clicked. Wait... Syta. Syta!

Ow, what? Don't shout in here... Syta had been about to speak to Celine again, but Kisara caught her off guard.

Listen to me and listen to me clearly. We didn't previously know what the princess looked like, but now we're quite aware. So. Follow my logic... We meet with a knight of Lufiria. Chris. He admits that the thief is their princess and he's trying to find her... Then he suddenly asks what Celine LOOKS like? And his lady friend shows the slightest amount of shock before he quiets her. Why would he do that? Why would he ask that? Why would he hush her? Put your mind to this.

Syta looked at Celine. She looked at her and she thought everything over. You're not... You're, not saying she's ACTUALLY related to her, are you!?

She must be. I don't know how or how better to explain, but such a random, pointless question of appearance-- It must not have been so pointless after all, especially since it was the crux of why they chose to trust us with this information instead of killing you... Celine Altair and Lucille Shiva are related in some way. If that's not the case... I'll swallow my tongue. Chris played me quite well if that was meant to be nothing but a red herring.

Syta grimaced. "I'll... I'll tell you right now, Lady Celine, but... Quietly." Syta nodded at Lani and stepped past her, quickly making her way over to Celine, bumping shoulders with her. In hushed tones, she began. "It's... You're aware of who the thief is now. That information is one hundred percent correct... I learned it from a knight of Lufiria. His name was Chris, his traveling partner Marianne... And, after he told me who the thief was, he... He asked me what you looked like. And his asking that, it seemed to solidify his trust in me. In you. He said that, you were the one person that could stop a war with this information... Please, don't freak out, Celine, but I think you're actually related to Lucille Shiva. I, I don't know how! But for him to, to suddenly ask what you looked like and base his trust on that, so quickly, it's... It's too much to be coincidence, right?" Syta swallowed hard, hoping she'd take this well, if at all.

Mikoto watched the two women share hushed secrets, raising an eyebrow. "What did that Kisara figure out for you now, little Lufirian...?" She idly mumbled to herself as her tails swished.

Alvira found herself following after Natalya and clinging onto her arm as she caught up. A flinch was more than nothing, enough to give Alvira some hope, or at least confirm her direction. Lufiria. It all ended in Lufiria. "Mmmm... Glad Tio's so good with staves." Alvira sighed, more tired than hurt now, resting on her tiger.

Versaris wasn't paying much attention to the talks anymore, noticing what Tio was pointing out on the ground. "That's the tome the princess was holding onto... Which means, I can only assume the pin is hers as well. We should probably hold onto them. Maybe use the tome, but I'd like to give the pin back, if possible. We're not thieves, after all." Her jewelry held no meaning to them, unless it was magical...

Ren stood back with a sigh and let Syta move in to try and explain things, pouting some. "It's your birthday, Lady Celine? You should've told me. I would've picked you something up in Cerezia..."

Edited March 8, 2023 by Nanami Touko

[TheRoon]

 Before Renais went off to do her rounds she suddenly found herself wrapped in a pair of gentle arms, and her head leaned back just enough to feel a familiar soft sensation. "!" She tensed up at first, but slowly relaxed when Elisa spoke out. Reassuring the pinkette that everything was ok. "Mm..." She took a sigh of relief as she felt her stress lift. "...you're too good to me, Elisa. Thank you." She wanted to snuggle, but she held herself back enough. This was perfectly fine. "...while I have you, I did have a question." She paused for a moment. 'Yeah, I think I should...make this known.' "Do you think it's possible someone like me...could become an Evoker?"

[Bluemask 96]

Gean laughed at the the exchange between Syndra and Nyx, it was cute, and after everything that just happened a little brevity was much appreciated. Gean raised an eyebrow at Nyx as asked to be turned away from the newcomers to the scene, apparently a big knight commander had arrived. The sight now in front of Gean made her tense up.

"How-" Gean immediately caught herself. The height difference was too strong. Still, the striking, long red hair and the eyes. Not to mention the look of exhaustion. Gean was hesitant to step over, until she noticed Tio pick something up alongside a book. "Excuse me Nyx, I need to get something." Gean removed herself from their embrace and rushed over to where everyone had converged. "Um, excuse me Tio." Now being close Gean recognized this hairpin. She had never forgotten this hairpin, not what it meant. "That hairpin, may I hold onto it?" Gean looked to Tio, hoping she be able to understand why without Gean speaking.

[MRDRHAWK]

Nyx was honestly a bit surprised by Gean suddenly breaking away from the hug, but something seemed to have caught her eye. She’s not gonna keep her daughter from something important, especially if it concerns this friend of hers, so she lets Gean go, before turning over to Syndra - before realizing she’d already left. Dammit.

Well, she sure wasn’t joining that little congregation over by the Lady Altair, so… now what? What was she to do…

Edited March 9, 2023 by MRDRHAWK

[Ursali]

So this was Lady Celine? It wasn't fair to the woman to say that Alriana was unimpressed, it was moreso that she just didn't really care. She only over here in the first place because Versaris clearly didn't know how to take care of himself... "Hey! Stop that!" She growled as his struggling to be free continued, wholly unconcerned about the fact that they were properly in the presence of the knights now. People quickly started to file over, first the green knight traveling with them, then Tio, then Mikoto, then Ullr, Iris, another knight, Laniva, and eventually a final knight emerged from the forest. It was quite the crowd gathered and Alriana felt the ever increasing urge to just walk away with Versaris.

Especially so as she had caught him staring at Celine, who a lot of people were likening to their thief for some reason, but she knew he was important enough that he should probably be here. That didn't stop her from feeling the fires of jealousy flaring up after the observation, nor the urge to act on those feelings; however, she didn't want to smack Versaris in the middle of such a serious seeming situation. Then, Iris gave her the perfect outlet for those feelings, Versaris even giving her an unsure glance. "If he can try to escape then the notelf is fine," she echoed her sister in reassuring Ullr. "If he put half the effort that he puts into not taking care of himself into saving you he could've saved himself too."

[Nanami Touko]

"H-Hey!" Sari scoffed in slight frustration. Aly might've been being honest with her actions, but her words were a bit too cutting. "I'm doing my best, here... Besides, Tio healed the whole group. Of course my body's feeling better, even if I'm still tired... I would've gotten out of the way as well if I could have." He huffed a little, crossing his arms as best as he could. "Notelf... But you don't know what the 'not' is yet, huh?" He looked up at Aly with a raised eyebrow, curious about a few things. "If you want, we can go talk about it... I did what I had to, here."

[mcd900]

Laniva let herself be dragged along to the growing group of people, including but not limited to the Lady Celine. As Syta stepped past her to whisper to Celine, she felt a whisper of her own. There was... a pull, to the blade in Celine's hands, the Escaflowne...

Her tail flicked back and forth from side to side, finding it difficult to resist as she had earlier across the mountain with the blade so much closer, in view now, and with the battle's fatigue weighing on her. Now free of Syta's grasp, she approached Celine on her own, slowly; not to listen in to their hushed conversation, but slowly extending a hand towards the blade, almost unconsciously. By no means did she rush to grab the blade as Alvira had earlier; her mind almost drawing blank as the drone of the whisper echoed on in her mind, her vision narrowing upon the sword...

[Xinnidy]

"Hmm..." Though Sari insisted it was nothing, Üllr still felt bad thinking to Sari's pain. Lowering his head for a moment. "I'll make it up-- ah." And Iris came and climbed him. Üllr wasn't exactly tall, but he had the body strength to carry Iris without much issue. He grabbed onto her legs, making sure she could keep steady. "Hm, yeah. I'll pay more attention next time." It seemed like he was quite overwhelmed, so Üllr felt best to leave it at that. There was the matter of these knights they were talking. Üllr could get the gist of it now, the weapon was returned. "I hope they will stop bothering the clouded as much now..."