Chronicles of Gaia (RP)

Seyr turned her head towards Kudret at his questions, "Probably not, even if it did it'd lose a lot of it's power, the spirits that make it be what it is are bound to those ruins, therefore, if they leave, they lose a lot of their power, as for the Tails, think of it like this, everyone capable of magic has a Mana Pool, said Mana Pool is usually located somewhere in their body, in my case, it's the Tails that contain my own, each Tail is a seperate Mana Pool, that should explain why one looks dead and the other looks drained, nothing to worry about, I'll regenerate the Mana Pools over time, provided we don't end up getting into a scuffle of some kind, then I'll just running on Fumes so as to speak." It had taken longer than expected for the Gondola to reach the surface and return, a brief farewell was given to the dwarves and Bora took his ride up, upon reaching the surface, he took stock of the situation, "Oh good, the grunt here didn't abandon his post." he had to bend slightly to say that, deliberately provoking Kuja as he got right in his face, the Saiyan wanted a reaction out of the Genome, solely to prove a point or two, withdrawing for a moment, his voice boomed out once, "Now then, we head to that village, we had a minor setback, but it shouldn't take that much longer to get there, get yer backsides in gear!" and he was gone, moving without waiting for the three to be ready. Lorica had wandered for a minute or so, before her eyes set upon the Purple-haired Ghost she would know, talking to... ah, that explained it, "Well, I take it the other two are still searching in vain? Seriously Lab you need to let go of those old stipulations regarding names, I know who you're looking for, not right now, he's not mentally fit to deal with you yet, Rowan, was it? Would you mind leaving Lab with me for a while?" Eh it was good manners to ask, even if she was just going to take the ghost regardless of his opinion.

"Unfortunately for her, that doesn't seem to be the case for a while yet...there are too many out there that are out to get the two closest to her, and will try to use her for that", Labrador mentioned as he followed after the angel. "Thank you. One last thing...he will most likely attack shortly after your group has been reunited." Once the female goat started speaking, Labrador turned his attention to her. "Lorica", he gave a gentle nod in her direction before speaking again. "You know as well as I do that it's not as easy to figure out names while gazing into the future. As for the other two...Castor should be approaching one of the other groups anytime now, and Frau..." He let out a sigh. "Frau was supposed to go find the group that's currently being targeted, though it appears he's gone off to that port town to find Iliya. ...You've spoken to her, haven't you?" To say Kuja was tempted to respond to Bora's provocation was an understatement, the silver-haired mage barely keeping himself from throwing a fireball at the Saiyan's back. Instead he let out a tired sigh; the sooner they got this over with, the sooner he could return to Mizuki. As such he followed after Bora, though continued to shoot a piercing glare at the male. Mizuki listened to Aislin's theories, going over them in her mind quietly. "Staves help us mages to focus our magic better, which in turn can make our spells stronger. The ones I had back at home...the first was a gift from Rikazu when I met him with Treno, and the other a gift from Kuja, both helped keep my magic from exploding so much. I know Rikazu is keeping multiple staves in this world, all with different effects. As for in my world...I'm not sure, when I got there most of them had been defeated already..." Mizuki shook her head at this point. "I don't think I'll get the answer from either of them, they...never tell me anything..." Her eyes then widened at Aislin's last question. "Y-yeah, that's...exactly it. I just can't seem to trust him anymore...because what if I do and...he hurts someone I care about again..?" Another shake of her head followed. "The same is true with Kuja though, I...can't tell if he's still trying to manipulate me, even though I...want to trust him so badly..." Mizuki wasn't sure why she was able to say these things out loud to Aislin, she hadn't exactly told anyone about these things before. Her thoughts drifted off to the silver-haired male for a moment, wondering where he currently was and how he was doing. ...She really hoped to be back with him soon. A tall, brown-haired male with glasses stood somewhere near the exit of the ancient ruins, watching as members of the group exited the ruins. So this was the group that Labrador had told him about, the ones that would eventually run into Iliya. It would only be a matter of time before one of them would take notice of him, but for now he continued to watch them; he wanted to see for himself what kind of people they were.

As for reaching the Village where people were going missing, Bora noted the surprising speed of which they located it, "Interesting, so the Mines slash Catacombs ran further than first thought, they probably criss cross the entire subterrane of the land mass..." the male Shrugged rather violently, "Go around, gather intel, meet me dead center of the place once Night has truly set in, except you Kazoo, you remain with me at all times, you still have far too many lessons to learn about life, you cannot be trusted to go off on your own." he had a sneaking suspicion the second he left the Genome unattended, he'd bugger off. The female goat said nothing, instead taking Lab away and ushering him inside a room for their little 'chat', "You know full well what I meant with names, would it have, well not killed you literally you're kinda already dead, sent your soul off to the Chief to tell Rowan Iliya's name right out the gate?" she sighed, planting her heels on the table there before bringing her fingers to the bridge of her nose, "I have, just glad I didn't inherit the total inability to bs my way through a situation the mother has, that would've made stealing the line far more difficult than it needed to be, anyway, spill what you need the old coot to know and once he's got his brain somewhat in check I'll let you in to him, the crazed feral can't stall forever against a foe who can literally just reset the fight." The Kitsune's ears twitched, her head making a start in a direction, "Hrm? No, must've been nothing, either the prick isn't getting my species right again or I'm going stir crazy..." Seyr turned her head back to normal, she had 'seen' something, but at the same time she didn't quite register it, "Well, guess we'll put some distance between ourselves and that old ruin, then set camp for the night, clearly..." she had closed the distance between herself and Celere during the talk, and proceeded to kick the half-saiyan in the ribs, sending her sprawling onto her side, "you aren't capable of using your head properly right now, if you had it your way you'd be charging on ahead on a suicide mission."

Kudret's ears laid back briefly when Seyr's answer came, but he had learned by now that both females in this group were rather headstrong, so it was best to simply take it at face value and examine the facts later. While he silently lamented over the fact that he would need time to come to terms with everything from the past few days, the beastman could see what appeared to be a... silhouette of a person? Kudret blinked, but it was suddenly gone, and he frowned. ...He was frowning much more heavily, ears fully flattened, when Seyr walked over and kicked Celere in the ribs. Was that supposed to be a statement of some kind or force to help with the blackened air the half-saiyan was breathing out still? Aislin nodded slowly, marking down notes in the notepad she had pulled out absently during the conversation. The staves and their inheritive properties had always been part of a fascinating subject for Aislin; she just liked knowing how things worked. At the last of what Mizuki said though, she breathed a small sigh of relief. "Oh goody, I can understand this." She took a moment to try putting her thoughts on the subject in order, a difficult thing to do when she herself held the same problem for people in general. Finally Aislin decided that the two of them had been in their own thought for long enough and spoke. "Mizuki... I can't really tell you what to do in this case, since I tend to struggle with that same problem with, well, just about everyone I meet. I think the real problem is not so much suspicion, but fear. This is just my own guesswork, mind you, but I think we are afraid to try placing that same level of trust in someone or others in general that we had once before. What we can try to do then, is to let go of that fear and... have faith in them, I guess. Have faith that it'll be alright to trust them again, and let them have a chance to prove it." Aislin gave a tight smile and added, "Like I said, I struggle with this same problem a lot, so feel free to talk to me about it, okay?"

The brown-haired male that had been watching the group at the ruins had moved quickly after observing Seyr's actions, and had soon closed in on them. Adjusting his glasses and letting out what appeared to be a sigh of disappointment, he spoke up. "Now, now, wasn't that a bit unnecessary?" he mused to the Kitsune while glancing at the half-saiyan she'd just kicked. Were these really the people Lab had spoken of? No, doubting the Ghost's visions would be foolish; he would just have to learn more about these people. Mizuki seemed a little surprised at Aislin's words. "You...struggle with it too?" She fell quiet for a bit again, thinking about her words. "Yeah...I've been scared...but maybe I..." Her face showed that she seemed to be looking for reassurance for what she was about to say. "Maybe I could...try to give Rikazu another chance...I'm still not really sure how to do that though. But at the very least...I could start by not acting so hateful towards him...?" She was struggling with it, but if Rockna could give the man a second chance, then she could do so as well, right? "Thanks, Aislin", she finally said, putting up a smile herself. Labrador just quietly shook his head at Lorica's words. "And what result do you think dumping that information on him right away would have? I told him all he needs to know right now, her name included." He paused, glancing at the female goat at the mention of her having spoken to Iliya. He didn't even need to ask how his niece was doing; his visions had told him all of it. "...So you know her exact location then...Frau wants to try and cut through this cloaking magic that man has up." As for Lorica's next question... "I have something to give him, something that in due time will help Iliya trust him. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. I can wait until his mental state has improved, though." The silver-haired genome certainly wasn't happy about being told to stay with Bora. "If that foolish jester is around, then going off on my own is something that would certainly lure him out. The sooner we deal with him, the sooner I can get back to Mizuki", Kuja's patience was running thin, and he was tired of taking orders from the saiyan.

Seyr was too blinded by her own rage at this foolish woman to even notice the intruder, though she was hurting herself more than the passed out woman on the ground, "All you muscle-bound morons are the same, don't ask for help, that's a sign of weakness! Yet had you just swallowed you stupid damnable pride you wouldn't be in this mess right now!" her words went unheard by the intended recipient. "Pfft, you have zero idea about the nature of warfare, if you did, you wouldn't have uttered a single word of that just now, you'd have kept it silent so as to not alert your enemy, yet another reason I'm keeping in arms reach, don't make me put a collar and leash on you, so as to kept you even closer." The threat was very much real, and only reaffirmed just how much of an idiot this wacko was, it didn't take strategical genius to realise that Kuja's actions were exactly what this Jester was banking on, even using it to achieve the result said clown was after, whatever it was. Lorica sighed exasperatedly, "Hot-Headed Idiot Frau, he'd probably end up talking to the loon and not even know he is, to say he needs to listen more and not let emotion cloud his mind is an understatement, all he needed to do was wait outside, keep his energy signature hidden and watch, the second they left, pounce on 'em." another sigh escaped her, "The Feral's music is waning, guess I'll have to step up to that burden soon enough..." absentmindedly a Pink-Coloured Scythe materialised in her hands, "How often I've wondered whether I should use this side of my heritage, just to get the damn job done, but no, this isn't the business of the ghosts..." coughing to clear her throat, she finally put her feet back on the ground. "The Flower right? Just make it imperative that he doesn't bleedin' eat it, look at myself, and what animal I represent, yeah."

Laura slipped into the town quietly, though she knew immediately blending in wasn't going to be a reasonable option. Opting to endure the freezing colds to fortify her mental abilities had its drawbacks when trying to look natural in a town of people who all seemed to wear thick, heavy clothing. She'd hardly walked through the streets at all before the siren was detecting murmurs and glances in her direction. She'd have to play this up if she wanted information. ah- perfect. A gruff looking guy -clearly someone relatively important but not in charge- seemed to be sizing her up from the entrance of some kind of inn or tavern or something. Laura walked pointedly toward the man, then passed him to enter the building. Or at least, she would have if the man hadn't moved to block the door. "No entry, this is a safe house." he rumbled off. "A safe house? Whatever for? I thought this was an inn." She asked, inventing an accent and an innocent sounding tone of surprise. "Was an inn, Now a safe house. Outsiders cannot stay anymore. Especially mad ones who wear no warmth." Laura creased her brow put on an annoyed frown. "I have been travelling for quite a while now and would appreciate a place to rest. Why won't you let me inside?" "Not taking any risks. Someone has been attacking the village. Outsiders can no longer stay here." The man gruffed at her. This time Laura interjected a bit of anger into her response, "That is rediculous! I have never been to this village before! Who even are you that you can say where I can and can't go?" The man crossed his arms, perhaps trying to be intimidating. "I am Ianiscus. I am head of new guard patrol. When I say no entry, means no entry. Safe house must be kept safe, no one kidnapped."

---

Rowan took his leave of Labrador and Lorica, thinking of looking for Tore. They'd mentioned he wasn't in any fit state to help and Rowan had a pretty good idea why. He knew he'd go crazy if he'd have to go through some alternate reality of his lost home. The thought made him think of his old adventure team. Of King, Adams, Toby, Reah, Mads, and Jem. What were they doing now? Were they looking for him? Surely they must have realized by now he'd vanished completely, not simply gotten lost. They'd traveled through enough dimensions to know anomalies could happen. Well, it'd be an anomaly to them, Rowan personally believed there was something more than freak chance behind his and the other's arrival here. He'd have to sit down some time and reason through the logical actions his friends would take to look for him. There were signs one could look for when trying to be rescued interdimensionally after all. For now though, he needed to focus his concern on tore. The goat had been there to help him when he'd had his breakdown after all. Rowan definitely still owed an apology for all the things he'd said back in that alley. And if the angel could help Tore through his crisis as well, then he was all for it. After retracing his steps back to where the group had split up, he headed in the direction he vaguely remembered tore heading off in, not sure whether he'd actually find the goat-monster there or not but figuring it was his best bet.

After a few more unsuccessful attempts of Trancing without losing control, Rockna had decided to call it quits for the night. The male mage seemed beyond exhausted at this point, wobbling on his feet as they made their way back to the camp. "Get your rest, you clearly need it", Rockna spoke calmly as they arrived. "Thanks for trying at least", Rikazu was disappointed by the results of their so-called 'training session'. Then again, he hadn't managed to control his Trance in over 20 years, perhaps he shouldn't have gotten his hopes up. The blue-haired mage walked into the tent, noting that both females were still awake. Had they been talking? "Am I interrupting anything?" he asked. Mizuki was slightly surprised at Rikazu's sudden appearance, but shook her head after a moment. "Ah...well, no, don't worry about it..." "That's Frau alright, he loves her so deeply that nothing else matters to him but rescuing her. Though keeping our energy signatures hidden is pointless by now, he already knows we're around and is keeping his cloaking on permanently", Labrador's voice had a sad ring to it as he spoke, though he still paid full attention to the female goat, and didn't miss the pink-coloured scythe that appeared. "It's not wrong to use those abilities, they're as much a part of you as the monster blood that runs in you", he spoke calmly. At the last part a silver rose appeared in his hand. "A silver rose, known as a flower of protection. Believe it or not, but it won't let itself be eaten as easy as you may think. Though I'll make sure to remind him, don't worry." "And what would you know about me? I've had my share of warfare over the past few years", Kuja crossed his arms. "Did you stop to think that maybe I want that foolish jester to hear what I have to say?" So what if Kefka was anticipating his actions? He'd been counting on that, too. "He's no doubt already aware of our presence to begin with. He can try all he wants, but he's not going to get the opportunity to go after my pet again." The collar and leash comment annoyed him greatly, though he understood well enough that it was a clear threat from the saiyan. "But if you believe you know better, then by all means, lead." While the other two Ghosts had arrived at their designated locations, the blonde Ghost known as Frau had not gone to see the group he was supposed to go to. Instead he'd just arrived in Linareth, Shiva's blizzard not having stopped the hot-headed Ghost. There was no way he was going to leave Iliya with her captor; he'd find her somehow. Though since he knew he couldn't directly get through Seth's cloaking magic, he instead opted for asking the townspeople if they'd seen the blonde girl.

Aislin couldn't help but grin back. "You're welcome," she replied. On the inside she was cheering. So far, the self-made mission of getting Rikazu and Mizuki to make up was a total success! She'd have to wait and see what changes would happen during the next day or so before doing anything else, but she didn't mind. She had her own task of trying to open up a little more about herself to these people. Aislin looked up when a very tired-looking Rikazu entered the tent. She shook her head at his question. "We just finished. I take it training didn't go so well?" ...Well they should all probably go to sleep themselves. The skeleton already was, after all. Kudret just sighed wearily at Seyr's tirade. He muttered to the man, "Most people have this sort of problem, it's just easier to tell with the physical fighters." He shook his head and then addressed him properly. "They're not normally like this, I can assure you. My name is Kudret Warin. My companions are Serenity, or Seyr as she prefers, the two-tailed over there; Celere, the one on the ground; and Marco, the wolf standing nearby. What is your name, if it's not too much to ask?" Hopefully the Serenity crack would distract the fox from beating on someone who's quite clearly unconscious.

Unfortunately for Kudret, when Seyr lost her temper, no matter how small a reason she lost it for, a simple wise-crack at something to do with her would be like slinging a small pebble at a rock titan, utterly ineffective and ignored, as such, her tirade continued, the crack of her foot breaking against the downed woman's side sounding, but clearly ignored by the Kitsune, overwhelming rage at the stupidity of the woman lying prone drowning out all else, Physical intervention would be necessary, perhaps a sharp smack on the head would do it. The Scythe dissipated, Lorica back in control of her emotions, to combat a Reset-User, she'd need total control over it, and she was not blind to the constant time-manipulation abuse going on down here, she lacked the powers herself, events having stripped her of those a while ago, not that she minded, "Nah, this is Monster Business, and will be dealt with as such, Boss Monster vs. a Genocidal Brat who thinks themselves above the Consequences of their actions." her eyes seemed to flash in recognition at the Flower, "Ah... that, drill it through his head anyway, now, moving on, I have a request of you, and the other two, theres a Bandit Citadel a little ways off, unfortunately, theres a Landing site near to it and I'd rather not have whoever the poor sap is who falls through there not get put through a fate worse than hell when they arrive, if you could kindly... uh... 'Cull the Pests', that'd be great." "All you've ever done is sit on the sidelines, only stepping in and fighting when things got inconvenient for you, by which point, you probably got beat down by the same people you thought beneath you, you're a Warmind, but not an actual participator in said wars until your foes get too close, which ends in your defeat." Bora felt he'd got his description of Kuja down accurately enough, whether the power-hungry idiot chose to refute him or not, he did not care, "Your amateurish approach to this will do nothing to help you, hell, it'd probably help the person you want dead more than it'd ever help you, think before you speak Moron Kazoo." he had tapped his temple a couple of times, really not in the mood for this Genome's relative inexperience. Toré had sat back down again, muttering to himself as he began to think about one thing in particular, his soul, "Agreed that I'd never willingly imprison it like this, and the welds aren't something I'd come up with either, which means that someone else would've sealed it in this Locket... is there a Knife or something I can use around here?" his eyes scanned his surroundings again, finding no such tool for his use, the only thing on him was the Spear... "Oh well, guess I'll have to mess this thing up more than I would've liked..." grasping the weapon near the join between shaft and metal, he hovered over the Locket for a moment, if he screwed this up... he risked more than just superficial damage to his Soul...