Faith in the Spirits Arc 1: To Align the Stars

[Ether]

"Yeah, I'll take a look at it later, Miria. Go get yourself fed." Roxanne replied, beginning to stand and helping the tired cub up with her. If she was still stumbling once they got moving, it would be the cat's responsibility to keep her upright, but she was sure it wouldn't be a problem. What might have been a problem was that the shark was continuing to show interest, making several remarks about Roxanne, causing the woman to turn a bit brighter in response. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate the attention, but the sheep couldn't help but feel it was perhaps a tad misplaced, with all of the interesting folk up and about.

"A little more than just a sheep you could say, yeah. Though I worry you might be getting your hopes up a tad high, I wouldn't want to disappoint you, really. If you like magic, that's good though, I can, err, that is to say... Mmm..." She paused, unsure of what to do in this sort of situation. Blanking somewhat, she latched onto the first idea that came up, the training.

"it is, it will. Err... it has to. We can't just let a guy like that do as he pleases any longer."

[GoldsbroTSG]

"Absolutely. I could eat a house," Miria laughed as she got herself off the ground thanks to Roxanne's assistance. Thankfully she just needed a few minutes and she'd probably be able to function to a degree. She wouldn't be afraid to borrow the sheep again should she need it. The cub took a breath, and let Cass and Roxanne chat a bit, and Roxanne tried to underplay her talents. It seemed... odd, especially the way several people, including her, gave credit to Miria.

The cub pat the sheep's shoulder, and had a soft smile, "Hey. I know I'm not magically inclined and stuff, but like, people think it's cool. I shoot a bunch of fire backwards. And I've been explicitly told that it's not supposed to work that way. And people think that's cool. Cass is right, you're super talented. And I'm super hyped up to see what else you can do." And her smile went back to her big, friendly one. She almost forgot she was exhausted.

[Billy12510]

Syndra was engrossed in watching Miria's session with Jeremiah. It was clear the little hero had more then a few tricks up her sleeve, as her final attack demonstrated, turning the blade Jeremiah was using into a puddle of metal. Afterwards, Miria seemed to have exhausted herself as she normally did when wearing the armor, but her spirits didn't seem to be dampened, speaking with Roxanne about her magic. Syndra herself didn't see what the sheep had done due to being in the middle of sparring Aegean, but from how Miria and Cassandra were talking it seemed impressive in its own right. "You should take some pride in your accomplishments and yourself Miss Roxanne." Syndra interjected. "Even if you don't think what you're capable of is anything special, that doesn't mean that it isn't, and besides, even if he was holding back, holding your own against someone like Jeremiah has to count for something no?" Syndra then turned back towards the area Aegean was sparring Jeremiah in. When she was finished, hopefully her turn would come. So she was watching intently, hoping her friend would do well, although judging from her first swing, it was likely to be an uphill fight.

[Mercenary on the Winds]

Kieran started juggling his book as Marigold's voice appeared out of nowhere, as it tended to do, but this time was a bit more personal than any before. He caught the book finally, and took a deep breath before slowly turning to Marigold, "...What do you mean you've never seen me this serious, I've been this serious plenty of times. And would you stop doing that? I can't tell when you're here or not." Eventually you'll hear something that you're not supposed to. Kieran cleared his throat and then leaned back against the wall, "Yeah, I did. I'm gonna work until I pay back my debts, said that before, and for once, I can't go back on it. So I'm studying up; never been much of a fighter, but I know how to keep people from dying, so, might as well get better at that. Maybe one day I'll work on a weapon but..." Kieran lifted his arm and pointed at it, "Never been one for heavy stuff..." Maybe something like a bow... probably something to keep me out of range.

Kieran then sighed, leaning back, "Yeah, maybe you guys should have. Instead you all trusted me as I was, and nearly got burned for it. Nearly, but here we are, I guess. What's going on outside? Hate to say it but they don't really tell a prisoner much down here." 

---

Tio's head tilted sideways as Sylmaria performed a series of spells. These she could actually call spells, there was an underlying structure to them that she could follow, even if the spells themselves were incredibly unusual. First there was the dome of thunder, simple enough to achieve by modifying aspects of the spell structure, but the speed at which it was cast was far more effective. It seemed easier as well. Then there was the violet thunder that Sylmaria simply recast, and its effects struck twice; that one was something different. Delayed reaction spells weren't unheard of, but delayed reaction recast spells were something else entirely. While her mood wasn't subsiding, it was being held at bay by her intrigue over the woman's magic. 

There was no two ways about it; the woman's magic was incredibly divergent, the effects, ease of use, and finally the two unidentifiable spells... Her eyes narrowed slighly when she looked at Elisa and her eyes flashed, but Elisa was more than capable of handling herself. "My, my... Well, I have ideas after seeing all of that, but... Part of me wonders if I should even be relying on my current understanding of magic. What I can at least glean from my eyes is that the lack of an affinity is what makes those two spells of yours the most difficult to cast. Affinities give our bodies, our circuits, the ability to properly conceptualize the form to give our mana... it's why Healing magic is the most difficult school of magic to properly utilize, because it doesn't quite have it's own affinity." Tio summoned spheres of light all around her without gesturing, or taking her eyes off of Sylmaria, "Something like this is easy for me because Light Magic is my general affinity, and I'm by far the most practiced with it, so my magic naturally defaults into light. However..." Tio held her hand out, and a flower of ice appeared in her hand, "I have to focus to be able to do this because, while I have the ability to use lower levels of ice magic, it's not a very strong affinity of mine." Tio then waved all of her magic away, "I think your difficulty with controlling those two spells are because of that, but the fact that you're even capable of doing that is intrigue in and of itself..."  

---

Jeremiah took his stance as Aegean got herself ready for their duel. It was a little ironic; he never thought that he would be staring Mahalia's little girl down with a weapon in his hand, but times did change, and almost eleven years was enough for everything to change. Both frightening, and exhilarating at the same time, getting to see how she'd grown. Aegean made the first move, and Jeremiah's head tilted slightly as he could just watch Aegean, and know that her mind was suddenly elsewhere. Lucretia had spoken loud enough for her to hear, and a single glance at Lucretia would have called to question the mounting similarities between her and Aegean's aunt. But even if Jeremiah couldn't put that all together, the fact that Aegean's axe seemed poised to swing far too wide, and far too soon would have tipped anyone off. Jeremiah stepped to the side, stuck his foot out, and let Aegean trip over his foot into his outstretched arm. 

"You know, Aegean. In a combat situation, being where you are right now would be last thing you ever felt as your opponent wouldn't have caught you, they'd have stabbed you in the back." Jeremiah pulled Aegean back up to standing, and looked her in the eyes, "You put your hair like that to prove that you were serious, didn't you?" Jeremiah then stepped back, and turned his dagger back on Aegean, "So keep focus until you've won; leave your questions until later, Aegean. An opponent will answer with steel, not words." 

[Bluemask 96]

In an instant, Jeremiah had sidestepped Gean's attack, and tripped her directly into his hand. All Gean could feel was the heat in her cheeks as he commented about her getting distracted mid-spar. She failed to meet his gaze, only blurting out a quick "Yes sir!" her failure to meet her own expectations removing any sass from her voice. This time she took a more defensive stance, adopting a similar strategy to what helped her land hits on Lani.

[Mercenary on the Winds]

Jeremiah chuckled as Aegean's sass was completely gone; she hadn't met his gaze, but her stance this time was defensive in nature. "That's a lot better, but, if you're not going to come to me..." Jeremiah was suddenly in front of Aegean, "Then I'll need to see how well you handle a direct assault." Jeremiah struck quickly, giving Aegean little time to respond, but, as was the case with small arms, the only thing that he could really do now that he was in her reach was dodge. Her guard was good, it didn't afford him many places to strike without risking the attack himself, but that was the point of all of this, wasn't it? Aegean needed to know when she could and couldn't go on the offensive. 

[Bluemask 96]

Jeremiah’s movements were qucik, and he had closed the gap with Gean immediately, but despite his blow connecting, Gean was hoping for this, and took the chance to swing back hard. Thankfully her strike connected this time, and with it land Gean immediately went to capitalize by throwing a second strike. Unfortunately, her second swing was a bit too telegraphed, and she missed again, this time her axe landing into the ground with a THUNK! "Tch!" Frustration was beginning to show on her face.

[Mercenary on the Winds]

Were they not practicing Jeremiah would have regretted taking Aegean's hit; so far she had hit the hardest, but it was that strength that all gave Aegean away. Her first attack broke the deadlock, but it made it all too simple to spin away from her second. Jeremiah heard the frustration from his niece, and punctuated it with kick to her side, separating them again.

"You hit extremely hard, Aegean... but your ability to switch from defense to offense is lacking. That last attack was telegraphed, but your counter was excellent. Flow from attack to attack, and if you can't flow, wait and find your opening. For example," Jeremiah was on Gean in an instant, and swung his knife once more, connecting with her axe and opening Gean up for the finishing blow, moved in for the last strike, when Gean's necklace shimmered. Jeremiah smiled, and stepped back.

"...So it was Mahalia's necklace that I noticed back then. Serena's handiwork really does last the test of time." Jeremiah put his knife up, "Last chance, Aegean. Break my guard, or you won't be getting much closer to Luci." That should be enough... Come on Aegean... Show me I won't have to worry... Jeremiah braced himself, knowing that Aegean was going to give it all she had with these next blows. 

[Bluemask 96]

Gean bounced right back to a defensive position from Jeremiah’s kick, but he was already back on the offensive, successfully doing what she tried to do, with the added goading of mentioning how she would catch up. The following glare that Gean shot at her uncle was less like her mother and much more like her father, or maybe even her aunt in that manner. She would deliver on that.

Her necklace shined just a bit brighter as Gean swung her axe straight into her uncle's guard, breaking said guard with the force thrown at the man. She then repeated her earlier tactic of following up, but this time pivoting on her foot and striking Jeremiah on the opposite side, with enough force to throw him back.

[Mercenary on the Winds]

Jeremiah blinked as he saw Aegean's glare. It was not an unfamiliar glare, and that was the problem. It wasn't Mahalia staring at him, no, that was a glare that he would have gotten from Duncan and, far more concerningly, Serena when he had struck a nerve. Ah. I'm in danger.

Gean launched her attack, and Jeremiah's guard shattered--no knife could have possibly allowed him to block such a savage strike. But Gean simply followed through spinning herself, and building momentum for her second attack. In that instant, Jeremiah drew his sword to block Gean's attack, but they were both separated with just the force of her attack. The reverberation of steel ringing across the battlefield. Jeremiah breathed a sigh of relief, he's gotten what he wanted but didn't quite realize what he had been asking for.

"...Well. I did say last chance. Well done, Aegean." Jeremiah slid his sword back into it sheathe, and looked at Aegean with a smile. "If you could swing like that the first time, I probably shouldn't have let the fight restart. But you've quelled my concerns, and yours, I hope." Well that'll teach me to play to her insecurities... I'm just glad that it was me who did that, and not anyone else... There was more than convinction in that attack... and perhaps a broken rib if that had hit me... Stars above Aegean, I'm not invincible!

[Bluemask 96]

The loud clang of metal broke Gean out of her battle trance. It seemed she had forced her uncle to pull out her sword with her last attack. It took a minute for Gean to realize he was complimenting her, and that he was concerned? Gean took a moment to process things, before giving Jeremiah a bow. "Thank you for the lesson." She could feel it, she had learned something in that last exchange, she just need to practice more.

[scorri]

"Oh, uh, thank you-- ah, good morning Siorel." Cin had a slightly bewildered look as first the healer from the Underground fight, Lucretia if he remembered it right, flounced up to heal him, then Siorel clung onto his arm, and finally Roxy apologized for not healing him before. "It's fine, Roxy. I could have said something, I was just busy thinking through some things. If I'd planned on sparring again, I would have asked for some help. Now, Siorel, this is Roxy, she's going to be helping us with our next mission. Then this is Lucretia, she was traveling with Jeremiah when he joined up with us." He was pretty sure that Siorel hadn't met Lucretia before now, given how she had been staying in the room, and he knew that she hadn't met Roxy. "Roxy, Lucretia, this is my girlfriend and member of the Tigers, Siorel." He smiled down at her, and then suddenly added, "You know, Siorel, we could have a match, if you wanted. Exercise is good for you in the morning and it could be good practice for you." The smile had turned into a little bit of a smirk, as he had a suspicion of how she would respond, but he also did think it was a good idea for her to train a little. Their paths weren't going to get any easier, and some practice couldn't hurt.

---

"Ooof." Koba hit the ground, the wind in his lungs escaping in a grunt as he did, leaving him breathless on the ground looking up at Jesse. "Ugh... That's more what I expected." He lay, flat on his back, for a few seconds, staring up at the sky and wondering how exactly his life had led him here, catching his breath on the training grounds of an Islexian lord. He wasn't considering leaving anymore, not after everything that had happened. The Underground's attack had scared him, leaving him feeling like a coward afterwards, but the more time he spent with the Tigers, the way he had seen them charge after their companions with no hesitation, the more he realized that he wanted to be like them. The gap between him and them was clear, especially as he lay on the ground after only two hits, but he wanted to improve. He had to. He slowly sat up, feeling his ribs where a bruise was already forming. "Ugh, gonna feel that one for a while I think." Pushing himself up, he smiled ruefully at Jesse, shaking his head. "Hopefully I was at least an ok warmup for you. Turns out I really can't take a hit, ha." He slowly stood up, dusting his clothes off. "Ah well. Some of the others will probably be better practice for you, if you still want some training. I'll take some time to sit on the sidelines I think."

[Ursali]

"...!?" The sudden escalation of the hug surprised Alriana, her face suddenly pressed squarely up against the not-elf's chest as he held her tightly against him. Her grip on his v-neck slowly loosened before she eventually let go, her hands falling to her sides as he apologized to her. Her gaze shifted upwards to stare up at him as he pulled away, her bows furrowed as she did her best to understand. "Why? For making feel lonely?" Was her response to his apology, voicing some of her thoughts out loud. It made sense that if it was his fault he should apologize. However, while his promise to start spending more time with her gave her some relief, and made her feel a little bit of happiness, the ball of emotions that had settled in her chest remained, wound so tight that her continued focus on them almost felt painful.

"Still, don't understand." A claw rose to her chest pointing at her heart. "Feel happy, that you will spend more time with me. But, chest still hurt here. Tight. Feel happy, but also hurt. Feeling, maybe worse even if happy." It sounded contradictory, but... I don't want to be lonely, so why does Versaris saying he'll spend more time with me also hurt? It doesn't make sense. I don't want to be alone... "These feelings, around since compound, when you..." Still she shied away from voicing the words, the feeling in her chest only getting worse as she finished the sentence in her head. She didn't realize it, but tears had started to well up in the corner of her eyes. It felt like a vice was tightening on her heart, it hurt to breathe, the feelings almost suffocating. "When you almost died...!" Her voice cracked as she forced the words out, distracting her as her first tears rolled down her face. 

[Nanami Touko]

"I will never stop doing this. As long as I'm a weird magic zombie, I'm gonna keep doing this. Even if you hate it~" She smiled really smugly, nudging his arm a bit. "Yeah, we're stuck with you-- rather, you're stuck with me. Hope you like it... They're all training out there." She thought for a moment, before hugging his arm. "You wanna come watch? I can sneak you out, and then say I'm keeping watch on you, so it's fine~ Whacha say, Kieran? You wanna jail break with me?" She stared up at him from his arm with a heavy mischievous look on her face, wiggling some.

---

"... You live a rough life, or something?" Cass raised an eyebrow through her smiling, slowly folding her arms. "Well... Shy girl with low self esteem have their own appeal. However, you've gotta realize, Roxanne... You've got a gift. Maybe back home, it's not worth all that much, but you aren't home, yeah? Just guessing; no idea where you're from, but if you're judging your magic this much... I'm guessin' probably Lufiria?" She winked, hoping she was right. "Let's look at the facts, though... You put Jeremiah on his toes. I'm sure you know how much that means, even if he was holding back. And when your magic blows a hole through Kazran, you'll see just how great your magic is. I don't think I'm getting my hopes up in any wrong way~"

She nodded, confident in her appraisal. "Besides. You're really cute. That counts for plenty, in my book... Maybe we can see how cute you get in private, before you all leave~"

---

"Yes... That does seem to be how magic works. There aren't a lot of mages in Islexia. I only know myself, Giovanna, and that whore of a jailer that Kazran entertains. Not a large pool to compare against... But, yes. Even if it's not supposed to be how this works," she turned to the dummy again, blasting it with her formless magic, letting the spell slowly fade away into the air, "it works anyway. Always has... I can't explain it. And it sounds like you can't either..."

"Whoa!" Alvira had been watching since the thunder spells started, finally piping up when the non-elemental spell went off. "That's crazy! You can just do stuff like that with magic!? Hi, by the way... Who're you...?" Alvira tilted her head some, but Sylm's eyes were full of nothing but disgust and contempt.

"Ugh... Filth. If you must know, my name is Sylmaria... Are you satisfied? I have no interest in speaking with some lizard, scaled, dragon thing like you."

Alvira blinked several times, mouth agape, glancing around her at Elisa and Tio, finger then pointing between this Sylmaria and the Evokers. "You know you're a dragon too, right?"

"Don't remind me, you beast!"

"Oh, oh this is hilarious. Whoa. I thought we'd find a lot of things in Islexia, but a racist monster is a new one! Hahaha! You're a riot, Sylm. How much stupid juice did you have to drink to get this broken!?" Alvira wasn't even offended, laughing too hard to be bothered, pointing at the white dragon as she did.

"Rrrhghhn...! Sh-Shut up! I was born in Islexia and I will believe in what I was taught until the day I die!"

"Ohhhhh, a real, proud patriot! Too bad they don't care about your patriotism, huh? What, did whoever you work for finally kick you out and send you packing because he got tired of seeing your horns?"

"... I-I..." Sylm seemed to actually take that one hard. Unlike anything Tio had said about the right way the world had been, having her patriotism challenged hit home, because this red dragon was right. Kazran had... Gotten tired of her. No matter how successful she'd been, no matter how hard she tried. It was always the horns. The tail. She'd ripped the scales off of her own legs and arms to try and remove parts of what made her broken... They always grew back, no matter how much she did it. "I, I'm... That's... Sh-Shut, up..." She suddenly teared up, quieting Alvira's laughter.

"A-Ah... H, Hey, I... Uhm... I'm sorry. I'm... This is just... We're getting off on the wrong foot, uh... I'm, Alvira, so... Er..." She hadn't expected to... Mock a racist and make them cry. It was an incredibly confusing situation to be put in, not knowing if she should've felt bad when Sylmaria had said things truly awful, despite being the target of those words.

"..." Sylmaria sniffled and wiped at her eyes, staring down at the ground. "You're right... It doesn't matter how much I love my country. How much I want to do for it... It'll never matter, so long as I'm... this... So what am I supposed to do, dragon!? Betray my homeland because I was born wrong!? Join your lot and kill everyone leading Islexia!? So they want to get rid of Clouded, so what!? Some of them also want to improve this damn place! Some of them have the power to do so! And WE are in the way! Ugh...! I'm not... It doesn't, matter if they don't... But Giovanna... Rrrhghhn...!" She blasted the dummy again with some of her magic, a whirlwind of complex emotions swimming inside her. "Why did Giovanna care so fucking much!? Why did she want to be my friend so badly!? I'm WRONG! I'm not what Islexia needs! I shouldn't... Gahhh! And now I'm going to fight my fellow countrymen for her!? I'm, so, she's, so...! Ghhhh, why!? WHY!? Why am I this way!? Why are things the way they are!?"

"I-I..." Alvira didn't know what to do, afraid to touch the woman, given her moment of hostility, but they couldn't leave her like this...

---

Iris had sat down again, watching Aegean and Jeremiah go back and forth, axe swinging, Jeremiah dodging, Gean finally getting what seemed like the upper hand, only for Jeremiah to send her chances packing... The lizard jumped up again and clapped, getting into a faux fighting stance and shadowboxing towards Jeremiah. "My turn! Right!? I'm gettin' all pumped up watchin' you send the Tigers flying, so I gotta give it a shot! Even if I figure you'll put me on my butt, still... It's gotta be worth somethin', right?" She was all smiles, tail wagging happily, really illustrating how excited she was. "Maybe I'll even give you a good hit, eh~?"

---

"Charmed to meet you, Siorel~" Lucretia waved with a wink, but then shook her head, "and you're one lucky lady... Getting all of that to yourself, mrowr. I bet you're happy about that~"

That woke Siorel up, face turning somewhat red, as she clung tighter to Cinead's arm. "Uhm... Y-Yeah. He's... Yeah. I really do appreciate him... As for a fight, I don't think so. I'm a dancer, remember? And sure, I can slice a knife around, but I'm not one for the frontlines... Why don't you go toe to toe with Lucretia here, if you're still spoiling for some sparring?" She let go of his arm and straightened herself up, adjusting her dress a little. "Looks to me like that staff isn't just for healing."

"Whoa, you noticed? Nice eyes~ I know a thing or five about fighting, Cinaed, so if you wanna... I can knock you around some~" She spun her staff and then caught it in a fighting pose, holding it like a spear. "Whacha say, big guy?"

---

"A-Aly..." It was, difficult. On the smallest of hands, he was happy to see her experiencing such a powerful emotion aside from the anger she showed in battle. She'd shown him another powerful emotion, but he'd brought that on, so it didn't feel like it counted as much... This... Was all her, and as happy as it made him to know she had the range of anyone else, it hurt, deeply, to see her so distressed. "I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere... I promise. I..." He gently held his hands around her back, slowly rubbing it. "I was too reckless that day. I won't do anything like that ever again... I won't hold up this lofty goal that, I need to be the one that protects everyone. That I need to be the shield when the Evokers aren't here... I don't need to be that person. I should be fighting alongside all of you, especially you, Aly. I need to rely on everyone else... And I think I forgot that, working alone for so long. So please... Don't cry. I'm right here. I won't disappear on you. I promise you, Alriana." It was pretty words, but he was truly feeling it in his core. Not just because she was hurt, but because of how much the Tigers had begun to feel like home...

"... When I get back to Lufiria, I'll be speaking with the people I need to, to get out of my line of work. I talked to Jeremiah about it a bit... It'll be difficult. I know a lot of things that any civilian of the country shouldn't know... They'll probably put me on some kind of watch list, but... I don't want to be the spy or the assassin that my family set me up to be. I want... To be here. With you. With Natalya. With Alvira and Cinaed and Nyx, Syndra, Aegean, Renais, Laniva... Everyone we've met along the way. Everyone we'll meet in the future. I want to be a part of this big, mercenary family... And I will rely on you all. I will keep myself safe. I have to survive, so I can see you. Every day... I'm so sorry that I hurt you like this, Aly. I love you... And I will do everything to make sure I never make you feel this way ever again."

Edited February 15 by Nanami Touko

[Ether]

It seemed that the Tigers were adamant on intending to uplift her, with several of them chiming in to respond. There was little point in trying to refute them... even if her conduits were born of her inherent inability to use magic properly, they were effective and she had learned to pilot them well. Conveying that the thing they were so impressed by was a product designed to fix her was difficult, but-

"Stop it, Roxy-" The sheep muttered, winding up and slapping herself on both cheeks with a quite audible clap, as her face went from red with embarrassment to just plain red, the woman flinching at the feeling.

"-Ah ta ta... too hard, mmmn..." Roxanne grumbled, rubbing her cheek to dispel the sudden pain, before chuckling just a bit. What an embarrassing display.

"But you're right, I'm from Lufiria. So of course I know about Jeremiah, you're right, I know you are... sorry, not the time or place for this, is it?" Roxanne shook her head, the slap marks finally starting to fade from her face. Gathering her composure, she gave the new arrival a friendly wave as Cinead introduced her.

"Nice to meet you, Siorel. Congratulations, Cinead seems nice... sorry again for missing your wound." The sheep added, not pressing as the duo and Lucretia seemed to break off for another sparring session. If he hadn't been offended by her missing it and was fine, that was what counted in the end. Of course, Roxanne's composure wouldn't last long, Cass following up with another compliment and blatant flirting, bringing the red that had just been fading from her face right back, a nervous laugh escaping Roxanne. 

"Ehehe... I'm not really used to this sort of attention. But, err... if you're really interested, I wouldn't mind talking with you, Cass. You're, mmm... pretty cute yourself, hehe." She finally concluded, weaving her fingers together and squeezing her own hands. It was a tad concerning that the shark seemed intent on devouring her in a sense, if her multiple innuendo were any indication, but when you're near water, dive into the deep end? Something like that, probably.

[Mercenary on the Winds]

Kieran glanced at Marigold, "...You know you're gonna get yourself in trouble, and besides, you really think the Tigers are gonna be happy to see me? Hell, I half expect the tiger will put me in tighter irons before the day's done..." But then Kieran smiled, "But that sounds like something I deserve in the first place, and I gotta admit; seeing the outside of a cell sounds heavenly. So... how are we jail breaking~?"

---

Oh dear...

Of all the Tigers to first wander into Sylmaria's range was Alvira. If prior events were to put the dragon on a list of people who would handle this situation delicately; Alvira was somewhere near the bottom. Of course, Sylmaria's words were fire and brimstone to start, but to Tio's surprise, Alvira just laughed. Laughed that the sheer implausibility of Sylmaria; berating Alvira for being the very thing that she was as well, and proclaiming so loudly that she believed in her country, and its 'teachings'. Tio hesitated to call them teachings, more like lack there of, but Alvira returned Sylmaria's flames with just frigid truth. Truth that when it hit Sylmaria's ears, she froze up for a moment, before completely falling apart. Tio just leaned her head into her hands, Sylmaria was not the kind of person that Tio expected to have to deal with today, but here she was, at her feet, sobbing now, and one glance at Alvira showed that she had absolutely no idea where to go from here. There were a lot of things Tio wanted to say, and not a single one of them would have been wrong, but... the woman's tears were born of something familiar. Where was she to belong? She did not belong amongst the Islexians as a matter of her birth, and she felt that she didn't belong amongst the monsters because of the garbage she had been taught--but regardless of how wrong it was, it was real for her. 

"You know the answer to that question." Tio finally spoke up, "In fact, I think you know the answers to all of your questions, except the ones that can't possibly be answered. You're certainly correct; at this moment in time, the people who lead Islexia will never care about much you love your country because of what you are. So are you betraying your country to strive for something better? You're foolish to believe that any of us are her to cleanse Islexia's leadership; were it left up to me, I don't believe we would have met, and perhaps you would have slain Owen. We have our own task, and that requires us to assist with Kazran. No more, no less." Tio sauntered over and stepped as close as she thought was safe to Sylmaria, "Why are things the way they are? That was the question you asked. Why are you reviled because of what you are? Who decided that you were wrong? Were you not in Islexia these things would change; Hecatia is not the same, and neither is Glacies the same, and if I am being honest, both countries are a fair sight stronger than Islexia. Why are things the way they are? Because of the people you continue to hold up and believe that they have the best interests of Islexia at heart. So far, I believe you have named only one person who truly appears to have Islexia's best interest at heart, and her name is Giovanna."

Tio mentally sighed, and then, pulled Sylmaria in for a hug against her better judgment; if Sylmaria lashed out, well, she'd have to deal with that as it happened. "You want to believe Giovanna. I don't quite know the exact reasons that drove her to want to become your friend, but I do know that she was; that's why you're doing this. Perhaps you're not what Islexia needs... I think you might be right. You're not what this Islexia needs... You're what a better, stronger Islexia needs. So what are you supposed to do? Rescue Giovanna, first of all, and then decide from there. If you believe so deeply in Islexia, then choose to make her stronger, truly stronger, not this myth of an Islexia free of the monsters and clouded, not the myth of an Islexia that your leaders call for." Frankly, Tio didn't expect her words to have any effect; Sylmaria was too far for her to reach with her beliefs, but words from the old woman who saved her so long ago echoed in Tio's ears as she held Sylmaria. Words reach a person's ears, a warm hug and comfort can reach a person's soul, if my words can't reach, perhaps my hand can. Keep you close long enough so that the words can sink in. Whether it worked, or if she was about to take a spell to the chest were anyone's guess. 

---

Gean snapped out of her trance, and acknowledged her praise before wandering off. He breathed the faintest sigh of relief, but Iris appeared to be fired up from watching the bout between him and Aegean. Jeremiah smiled faintly, "Well, you're not selling yourself short, that's a good start, Iris. You never quite know until things begin..." Jeremiah inwardly chuckled, days ago he would have laughed at the possibility of speaking so cordially with a creation, and he truly hated admitting that to himself. How easy it was to become so blinded by the fear, and pain of what he'd experienced, only to so easily downplay the pain and fear he had exacted upon...

Jeremiah looked over again to Versaris, and Aly, and... it had been clear to him before about what Versaris and Alriana were speaking about, but now... the tears rolling down the creation's face made it a foregone conclusion. ...Hah... Only a fool would be able to look at that and not see a full fledged being... So I must wonder how I missed it. If only Virion and Rosaria were here to watch... Rosaria would turn the brightest red being forced to relive such a familiar scene... Jeremiah looked back at Iris, and then sighed, "Wait here a moment, Iris. We'll duel when I return, alright?" Jeremiah sheathed his weapon, and wandered over to the pair, taking a deep breath as he gathered his words. 

"I had wondered what exactly you two were speaking about... but I think I know the gist." Jeremiah stopped a distance from the pair, hands away from his weapons. "I thought about it a little bit after we argued, Alriana. There was something you mentioned, something I didn't think much of then, but something that stuck with me. That night, you told me to stay away from Versaris. You knew that you couldn't keep me from speaking with him, and... you hadn't stopped him from trying either. It didn't make sense then, but that was me being foolish... of course it made sense for that, after all, you had nearly just lost him, didn't you? That's why you were so upset with him back in the underground." Jeremiah sighed, his eyes moving between both Versaris and Alriana, "Versaris. The look in your eyes tells me what I need to know. Stay with her for now, but... when the two of you are done here, I would like to face the both of you, together. When you admitted to me your feelings of inadequacy, your belief that you needed to be the one to protect the Tigers...  You have something to fight for and to hang onto now, and believe me when I say that she is not going to let you go. Believe me, I've seen that look countless times, and will see it countless times again past today. All I can do is to assist you with that, the both of you. Alriana," Jeremiah turned his gaze directly to her, "Don't forget that feeling. It hurts now, it will make it hard to breathe now, but don't ever let that feeling go." He faintly smiled at her, "You'll understand why." 

Jeremiah turned and began making his way back to Iris, "If you'd rather not deal with me, then that's fine, I just thought I would offer." The older man wandered away back towards Iris. The rest is up to you Versaris... 

[Bluemask 96]

Gean walked away from the training circle, lost in her own head. She wanted to practice that last maneuver that worked on her uncle, but she was also still embarrassed and frustrated. She needed someway, or someone to help clear her thoughts. Thankfully Kise was still lounging on Akai, still lazily watching things. Gean walked over to the duo, placed her axe down and then buried her face in Akai's fur. A muffled whine escaped her lips as she decompressed.

---

Jesse smiled down at Koba, satisfied about her win sure, but she was more satisfied at the expression he was making. It was much different than the on he had when the left the castle for lunch the other day. "I think you did well, definitely quick on the draw with that magic." Jesse then looked around at her surroundings, setting her sights in the direction of the training dummies. Tio and Elisa returned, and it seemed that Sylmaria had too. She was currently in Tio’s arms, and Alvira had joined them, though the look on the red dragon's face said that things hadn't gone well. "Yeah you rest up Koba, thanks for the match." Jesse’s voice trailed off as she left the wind mage and approached the group of women.

"Is everything alright? Sorry if I'm interrupting anything?"

Edited February 16 by Bluemask 96

[mcd900]

"Mm... what did you ever do with yourself before I found you, Amera..." Seila let out a small, quiet giggle, leaning her head against Amera as she nuzzled closer, no less attentive about those ears. "Hmm...? Yes, we're going to stay in if I'm going to be reading... oh, wow, someone's nice and comfortable~." She smiled at the near purr, though she soon replaced it for a blush, the heat rising to her face plenty obvious to Amera where she was resting against her. "O-Oh--, Amera... isn't someone~ eager. Did meeting a couple other cats the past few days get you all energetic?" She set her book down, page already bookmarked from the first time she'd gotten up, opting to focus on the pets.

---

Laniva nodded in response to Syta's protests, still sure of her own request. "I don't know about that, Syta... I've seen what you can do, especially when you're getting a little help." She gave her a little knowing smile; Syta was wearing the amulet now, though she hadn't been... earlier. Laniva shook her head a little, clearing the thought with a light flush to her face. S-Save that for later...!

"See, Gean's got plenty of sparring partners... whoa--?" The explosion from the current main event didn't escape her notice - couldn't have escaped anyone's notice, really - and she nodded slightly, approvingly. It's been a little while since we last saw that... Took me a moment to remember what that was. "Mm, anyways... come on, I think you'll enjoy it. I promise."

[MRDRHAWK]

Mina adjusted the strap of the bag she had slung over her shoulder as she made the trek to the castle for the second time. Really, she wasn’t sure why Ryon was so eager to see her go on an adventure — probably just wanted her off so he could read his tawdry romance novels in peace. Though, Mina supposed that she was always more suited to wandering, as opposed to Ryon; after all, she was the one who could fight.

“Okay… now, who would I go talk to for this?” Mina huffed as she hefted the bag again, remembering that hanging a left brought her to the training grounds near the castle. Hopefully she’d run into some…one… Oh. That’s a lot of people. Including…

“Wait, there’s other dragon Clouded here?” Mina’s head tilted slightly, but she didn’t approach the other dragons — two of them seemed busy with a personal matter, and the third was… way too huge. She instead walked over to the woman who’d spoken to the important-looking man and wandered off to join… the fox woman from earlier, and what looked like a fluffy pet. No, no time to get distracted by the fluff! She needed to get sorted here.

“Excuse me!” Mina called out, hoping to get the woman’s attention. She certainly looked strong, and cool. Mina just hoped that maybe that would be masking some sense of approachability. “Sorry if I’m interrupting anything. But, uh. You’re with those mercenaries that Lord Gaffney brought in, right?”

Edited February 16 by MRDRHAWK

[Billy12510]

The scuffle between Aegean and Jeremiah had ended, with Aegean coming out on top. She had walked off in triumph to go be with Kise, Syndra wanted to go next, but Iris had come onto the scene asking to scrap with Jeremiah. "I guess I missed my chance to get into the queue. Well then, I don't mind waiting a little longer, best of luck Iris." Even though Syndra gave Iris a tome what felt like an eternity ago, she hadn't actually seen how Iris was getting along with it, so maybe this would show her something in that regard. "After you're done Iris, I plan on going next, if Jeremiah's ready."

[Xinnidy]

After finally leaving the brief questioning of Sylmaria behind them, Owen returned with the other three, to immediate questioning by Tasha. "Hmm, she was sent by Kazran, Captain. She made an attempt on my life, but faltered --not exactly the most stable person, with all that was drilled into her skull. Knowing that she's being used by Kazran under the threat of a friend that remains in his power, I took some pity." He forced an awkward smile, "I understand the risks, her magic seems a touch above what I understand, but her claims of that friend seem true enough, and having a card to play and make a foe put their arms down is worthwhile. For now, she stays, while we can afford to supervise her." Hopefully easier done than said, but Owen was hoping it was manageable enough by Tio and Elisa, he was getting a bit spread too thin...

"Oh dear." And quickly enough, Sylmaria got in conflict with another Clouded, which quickly led into an argument and less than pleasant words thrown at each other, Owen tensed up, but thankfully it didn't devolve into a fight --rather, Sylmaria's pride was hurt and now Tio had come to her side. "Seems like the Evoker has more skin in this topic than I expected... if she ends up being too much trouble, do warn me."

---

"Eh? Uh..." Üllr took a bit to answer Nyx, in part because it took to understand her accent, and in part because he was not at all expecting to answer the matter of himself and Iris there. "Mmm, I am happy to fight with Iris, and also help people here. Stuck alone for too long, it's not good. Here I can do more, change, and punch people that hate me without worrying." He smirked after that last bit, "It helps me. Also have more to talk and train, so I'm glad I joined." And now that she'd thrown the comment, Üllr was curious enough to throw it back. "Do you have a reason to fight, Nyx?"

[Bluemask 96]

The voice that broke Gean out of her Akai based therapy, was not the voice of her girlfriend like she was expecting. It was instead a dragon, someone she hadn’t met before. "Yeah, we are a part of the mercenaries. If you're looking for our leader she’s over with Lord Owen." Gean pointed in the direction of Tasha. Maybe she could help Gean practice later. As Gean responded, she started to pet Akai, he was so comfy. "Good boy Akai..."

[TheRoon]

When the crowd separated from Miria the battle between Jeremiah and Gean had finally happened, something Gean had been anticipating for quite some time. Renais kept an eye on the mermaid as she and the Lufirian swordmaster dueled, and to her surprise Gean had come out on top as the victor after a clang loud enough to make the pinkette wince. Sharp hearing is a curse sometimes... When she recovered she turned her eyes to her girlfriend and Akai, she sent some healing her way from a distance. Even if her injuries were light she wanted her to be well, she also took the chance to blow her a kiss and a wink when she noticed. She moved on to Koba's side when he dropped from Jesse's attack and lent him her healing too. "Doing alright over here? Seems like Iris and Jeremiah are about to fight, it'll be a show alright."

[scorri]

"I know you're not a fighter, but I just want to make sure if the worst happens, you can protect yourself..." Cin sighed, gently giving Siorel a pat on her back and nodding. "I won't push, I know, I know. I just worry." He smiled at her before looking over at Lucretia. "Hmm, sounds good to me. It's what we're here for after all, training for the big battle." It felt a little weird, fighting a healer, but Siorel was correct. The staff at her side wasn't a normal one. She clearly was confident in her abilities too, to be willing to step up to the plate, so he wasn't going to insult her by refusing. Besides, Jeremiah would probably tell me that I need to be ready to fight full force against any enemy. Leaving a healer up just means they can keep their fighters up and going, leaving my allies in danger. He grinned at her, moving out back to the main area of the training field, rather than bunched up by the other Tigers, and held his fists up. "Right then, I'm ready when you are."

---

"Huh? O-oh, yeah, ok." Koba frowned as Jesse suddenly left him, heading off towards the strange dragon from before. He didn't know why that left him feeling disappointed, but he was. Must just be because I lost. Got too confident after my fight with Tanya and then she showed me how things really are. Yeah. He hesitated, considering following her for a second, before shaking his head and walking over to the side of the training field. He settled down, sitting on the ground as he stared up at the sky. Mmm, I really am a weak link with this group, aren't I? He looked out at the others, all so strong and experienced, holding up against Jeremiah, as he sat here, having been put flat on his back after two swings from Jesse. I want to help. I do. I just also don't want to hold them back... He summoned a small blade of wind, twirling it around his hand as he stared at it. He needed to improve, and quickly.

His musings were interrupted by the unexpected warmth of healing magic and he jumped slightly, before looking up at Renais. "Wh-oh, uh, yeah. I'm doing fine. Lost a fight to Jesse, but that's nothing unexpected, ha. It will be interesting to see this fight. All of his fights so far have been good to watch. He clearly is so far ahead of any of us Tigers, but he can still train us so well. We're lucky to have him on our side."

Edited February 19 by scorri

[JakezuGD]

Elisa watched very closely as the dragon went to showcase her magic further. Obviously, she had magic that was also elementally attuned, yet still very strange in form, not anything you'd expect to see from the average practitioner. Only people like herself or Tio, who had high enough affinity and skill with the spellcraft itself, typically bent the form of spells around in ways like that, like how she tended to use her skill with polearms to form fire spells in close combat into spears. Then came the biggest surprise of all of them, as Sylmaria targeted her with what seemed like a formless spell. A cold sweat broke on her brow, a shiver running through her body, and for the slightest moment she felt as if her vision was growing darker, until everything turned back to normal in an instant, leaving her blinking in confusion. What the hell was that!? If she's really telling the truth, and she has magic that can alter fate, that's messing with fundamental causality... Incredibly strong, if limited in scope.

Tio took the lead on reviewing Sylmaria's spells while the younger Evoker was still a bit stuck in her head over what had just occurred to her. Everything her wife said was just about in line with her own thoughts, even if the matter of that strange spell and the non-attuned energy blast eluded their analysis - they were simply something they hadn't had a chance to really see in the wild, even if they knew that such magic was possible in theory. However, before she got a chance to display her own variations on magic for reference, having shook off her stupor, they were interrupted by... well, someone who was going to have a very bad time. These two were only ever going to fight each other, purely because of Sylmaria's disposition, and it took less than two sentences from the white dragon to make things aggressively awkward. Alvira's response wasn't quite what she expected, though, choosing to treat the matter as absurdity rather than insult, it seemed, to the point where she actually managed to hit a critical nerve for Sylmaria.

Now with the topic firmly away from the matter they'd come here for, after thinking through it a bit Elisa thought to try and calm Sylmaria down herself like she had before, but Tio again got a head start on her. Likely for the best, even if they were so strongly opposed, because that same reason meant her wife had a personal stake in getting someone like her to see the error of her ways, no matter how difficult it might be. While she knew that Tio was correct, the strawberry blonde couldn't help a nagging feeling Sylmaria wouldn't accept it, even as she did her best to use her motherly comforts... but while the two were in the midst of that, the other dragon was still there too, and from how she'd looked before all of this went down, she had been in fairly high spirits. Supposing it fell to her to get things sorted out there, Elisa approached Alvira and gave her a brief, whispered run-down. "Look, I'm sure it's obvious at this point, but it's probably for the best that you keep away from Sylmaria for now. She's... had it really bad." She turned to look at the dummies that Sylmaria hadn't been blasting apart, and seeing one burnt to a pile of ash, quickly put two and two together to steer them away from that conversation. "Is your fire back enough to use combat spells with?"

---

Elisa's passing shake of the head was a bit of an indication, but Owen shed enough light on the situation for Tasha to get what was going on. "So the bastard is leveraging Clouded under him for suicide missions. If it wasn't so messed up, I'd even call that smarter than I'd expected from someone as seemingly boorish as Kazran, but knowing that just makes me want to kick his shit in more than before. Maybe that's saying too much from someone who isn't supposed to be politically involved in this whole matter, I just really can't stand people who think of us as being below human... I'm sure you can agree with that, Lord Owen." The tiger's attention was split a little, listening to the lord of the castle while paying attention to the fight between Gean and Jeremiah, which the former looked to come out on top in, though looking quite a bit more intense than usual. Meeting family like this must have been an awful lot of emotions for her, emotions that Tasha felt she might want to talk about later, if she didn't go over it with her partners first. She was a big girl now, she wouldn't need to come to the tiger for things like that anymore...

Then, her attention shifted back to Alvira, now talking with Sylmaria, and clearly having gotten the latter upset, which didn't come as a surprise given what she'd just been told. Just like Owen said, she'd have to leave the matter to the Evokers for now, as her getting involved would most likely only have caused further problems... but that did bring up in her mind the issue of what to do with her during the actual operation, an uncertain look on her face. "That raises a good question... considering the Evokers are going to have to stay behind while we attack Kazran, do you think she'll actually listen to me? The assault's being headed by myself and Cassandra for our part, after all."