Chronicles of Gaia (RP)

Rockna nodded as Aislin spoke. "That's fine, I don't mind answering any questions you have on Summons later...perhaps when we're back on the road?" Although the green-haired female wasn't entirely sure how much longer she'd be able to stick around. For now, however...she'd see what she could do here. Rikazu lazily opened one eye again when Aislin called him out on pretending to be asleep. "It was such a nice nap, too", he mused in return. In all honesty though he was still exhausted, a longer nap would've definitely been nice. The blue-haired male removed his hand from Mizuki's shoulder, instead rubbing his temples. "Right...what is it you want to know?" From how tense Mizuki seemed to be, he suspected there would potentially be questions that he wouldn't be able to answer. Mizuki just shook her head, her gaze still averted to the ground. "I can't..." she was too afraid of his answer, if he would even answer them. Labrador quietly sat down in a chair as well, noting the angel's presence, though kept his focus on the goat. Well, before anything else introductions were in order, and for once it was of utmost importance that he didn't hold anything back; even if that meant speaking of something that was meant to stay a secret. "Well, I believe it's best I introduce myself first. My name is Labrador, I'm...what is known in my world as one of the 'Seven Ghosts', Profe. I'd elaborate more on that, but all that's important in that regard is that it's given me the ability to foresee the future." He paused for a moment. "...And that is also why I'm here, to ask for your help. You see, my niece was dropped into this world before I was, and she was taken captive by someone who will be coming after your group soon...I believe you may be the only one able to help her recover from everything currently happening to her." The Goat's response was one of attention, 'why was he the only suitable person for it?' 'No there had to be more to this', questions could wait, he'd ask after his business was concluded here, after a small nod to the Angel to show he knew they were there, a single word was spoke, almost in a business-tone, "Continue". Labrador was well aware that the goat would have questions, he'd answer what he could later. "Her name is Iliya, like myself she too is a Ghost, capable of manipulating souls, and unable to die", his expression clearly saddened at the latter part. "You should be coming across her shortly after your group reunites, though during that time it'll be impossible to get her to stay. At the second encounter, however...she'll no doubt try to fight you all, much against her will might I add. If you can separate her from the illusionist keeping her captive, her attacks will likely cease." A sigh escaped his lips. "That man has been testing poison on her constantly, so she'll be extremely weak...and terrified. I know this is an unreasonable request to make since you don't know me, or her, but please...help her." A silver rose then appeared in his hand, showing it to Toré. "If you do decide to help her, please take this. It's known as a 'flower of protection' in our world, if you show it to Iliya and tell her you got it from me, she'll know to trust you."

The Goat remained sat still, listening intently, processing the information provided, *There are still pieces missing here... but now is not the time to push any questions.* he did, briefly consider what this Rose would taste like, but given the desperation in this mans soul, that would be a terrible idea, taking the flower, he held it to his soul, upon contact, said Rose disintegrated, the only trace of it having existed being a small thorned root wrapped around the heart-shaped culmination of his being, "Mistakes have been made before, I know not why I happen to be the only choice for this, but consider my assistance in this matter sealed, I'll do what I can to prevent any further pain for her." *Though I've got enough to unpack here myself, I'll have to improvise as I go...* "Tap his head, also, go outside and watch." raising an open palm to the air, he let loose a single Ki Blast skywards, said Ki Blast penetrated through several floors of sheet metal before finally meeting the roof and petering out, "You will see no signs of damage on the exterior structure, why bother going too far away from your collection grounds? Just dump your testing grounds in the middle and disguise it, spread rumours and misinformation, classic war tactics, repurposed for some other function." Bora looked around for Kuja, who was immediately gone from his sight, as a wry smile crossed the Saiyan's face, he couldn't help but chuckle, "Guess I can add 'Cleaning up your screwups to the list of things I have to do today." Celere was 'dreaming' as Kudret carried her, even in this state uncomfortable with the position, the dream was nothing spectacular, just about the other five Orange Orbs and their locations, four had vanished within the dream, a male holding them before offering them forward, being absorbed into her form, the final Orb was around the neck of another Male, this Male gave her creeps, something about them just... felt off, like an Illusion of some variety... Nearby the Male within the dream was watching the three keep going, the four Orbs having been slipped to the female without those other two noticing, "Nothing I can do about the seventh for now, I've meddled enough with how this is going, anymore and my employer will happily murder me for it."

Aislin did her best not to look exasperated while sighing in irritation. Would it kill humans to be slightly more open about themselves? She decided to just be blunt and hope for the best. "We were discussing a few things last night, and Mizuki here has agreed to try giving you a second chance for her trust." She ignored whatever protest the mages might have made, plowing on determinedly. "If we want this to stick though, we need to know the truth. Rikazu," she stared at the man, eyes alert and clear, "We need to know exactly what happened the day Rockna died. Will you tell us?" This could make or break whatever trust the mages had held for her, but it was needed. Aislin didn't really mind being the sacrifice for something like this. Kudret kept walking, following behind Seyr and Castor. He shifted Celere slightly to allow for a bit easier carrying, but said nothing. His discomfort at what was happening around him was significantly less than the worry about the group dynamics. Yes, they would be able to find a large enought shelter for their entire group, and yes they would be able to defend it. What left Kudret worried was how he was going to keep the strongheaded females from outright killing each other...

"Tap him- what?" Laura blinked slightly at the seemingly random command, but shrugged it off. "the old safety of the town trap huh. I guess the answer to my question is 'away from the village' then." The siren said conversationally, Leaning down and tapping at the sleeping doorman's head.

The sound of metal being struck sounded Laura tapped the head of this guard, and Bora felt vindicated, turning to the Villagers yet to be 'processed', he barked, "You, out." they didn't need telling twice, and scrambled for the exit like crazed animals, "Never been one for Hostages, I've seen and partaken in enough warfare for a single person's lifetime." turning on his heel, he left Laura to do her task, choosing to instead start blasting doors apart, making far too much of a noise for any kind of Stealth Mission. Celere continued to sleep, the dream getting more and more bizarre by the second, almost prophetic in how detailed the images were, it eventually got too much for her mind and broke said sleep, however, recognising she was in no position to protest due to how weak her most vital of organs had become, she faked continuining to sleep, making a light grunt as people often did when disturbed. During everything that had transpired after her utter thrashing, Ama had finally gotten back to her feet, drenched head to toe in a blue-green liquid, "Didn't think the lifeblood would be at it's most pure here, that could've gone better, no matter, the Stalling was completed, just don't screw it up this time Goat." her walking was slow, and incredibly painful, her extensive wounds having not yet fully healed, but, "If it manages to escape the Hall, someone has to prevent it from continuing the Genocide Run further."

"A second chance, huh?" Rikazu murmured. The male mage got onto his feet, throwing a cold glance towards both girls. "There's no need for any of that. I killed her, plain and simple; that's all there is to it." It was better this way, keeping his distance from her. Getting close again would just put her at risk, just like before... Mizuki's eyes widened at Rikazu's words. "W-what...?" Before she could say anything else though, Rockna spoke up. "It's alright, old man. You can tell them." "Stay out of this, Rockna", Rikazu responded to her, though she shook her head. "What has hiding the truth about that day accomplished so far? She couldn't trust you anymore. And think about what happened just yesterday! Her anger towards you caused an explosion that very nearly hurt Aislin", Rockna paused, a quick glance at Mizuki leaving her feeling guilty for mentioning it, and then sighed. "This needs to stop, you need to tell her the truth." Rikazu reluctantly sat back down, he knew Rockna was well aware of the danger if Mizuki were to regain her memory, and yet...she was willing to risk repairing their relationship. "That day, as Mizuki said, I went to stall their group like I always did. Kuja was having those twin jesters try to extract the Eidolons from that kid summoner, Eiko...and I knew that if he failed, he'd continue using Mizuki for his summoning needs..." He didn't like talking about this, but continued anyway. "Their group had been getting more powerful each encounter, as was natural of course, but their latest member was someone with an extremely high resistance to magic. I was struggling to stall for time, and in a moment of weakness where I desired more power, I entered Trance and lost control. And the end result...well, you know that part." "Thank you", Castor had responded to Seyr, walking along as they started to move again. "I can't stay for long, since it appears that man is desperate to avoid an encounter with Lab, Frau or myself...we're risking enough by just having told you this." Relief was an understatement of Labrador's feelings when Toré agreed to help, though he couldn't help but feel guilty as well. 'I'm sorry, Frau...but this is the only way to help her...' he thought to himself. With this, that part of the future had surely been set. "Well, let's just say it has to do with your soul abilities, the rest will become clear over time", Labrador spoke calmly. "But I truly appreciate that...and I do apologize, I know you have plenty to deal with yourself..." Kuja had ran off quite swiftly, immediately gone to find the damn jester he knew was around once Bora told him to go cause a distraction. He'd found Kefka quicly enough, and it didn't take long for the two to be locked in combat. This time, the silver-haired genome wouldn't give up until the jester was dead.

Toré stood up suddenly, head clearly pointed further down into the mass of caves, "Speaking of things to deal with, I have a decade-old mess to clean up, clearly the first of many memories proven false." his soul had chipped slightly, and he'd felt the connection that he rightly shouldn't have, turning on his heels, his hand touched one of the Wardrobe doors, which disintegrated immediately, an ancient-looking fabric being tossed around his form, though he kept his head clear for a moment, "Rowan, should what I'm about to remove get past me, you're in charge of getting people to safety, if you'll excuse me." and with that, the Goat left, his head now fully obscured, a muttering from his mouth clearly heard as he left the chamber, "Blood doesn't lie.", finding the long hallway referred to as 'Judgement Hall' was now his only priority. Time passed quickly for the three on the Snowy fields, Seyr's 'Retribution' now enforcing itself not too long after Castor had broken away from them, another Kitsune had attempted to invite into it's home, Seyr had quite nastily turned it down, and now had a finger pressed to her forehead, 'Wake Up', with a sound like shattering glass, the Angered Kitsune was gone, only the Robes left behind being any trace of her once having been there, 'She'll return in about ten of this worlds minutes, I advise you to get out of the Cold, besides, little miss 'Too Proud to ask for help' could do with the warmth.' In another world, a much older Kitsune had smashed through the Glass of her Containment Pod, Sustaining Fluids spilling all over the Hospice Floor, her coughing drowned out by the Alarms going off in the ward. Celere had started upon these events transpiring, not being too fond of seeing one of her teammates effectively deleted around her, but quickly fell once more to her knees, clutching her chest and sweating profusely, "Fine, you have fifteen minutes for it to come to pass, after that, kill me or not, I'm ripping your heart out." the look on her face said it all, she was deadly serious with the threat.

Aislin simply nodded, mentally connecting the pieces together in her mind. This fit in with what Mizuki had told her last night, but the one thing that stood out was what had slotted into place next to Mizuki's account of why she didn't trust Rikazu... and then she remembered what she had theorized afterwards. Aislin managed to wrestle away the urge to laugh and instead turned to Mizuki with a wide smile. "See? I was right. It was all one big accident." She turned back to Rikazu and explained, "We talked about it last night, and I theorized that you had accidentally went into Trance while stalling and thus killed Rockna." She offered him a sheepish grin while adding, "I didn't expect to be right on the mark though..." The beastman had jumped a little when Seyr turned down the Kitsune's invitation; he had wanted to speak up and note that there didn't seem to be much they could use as shelter for the night, but then Seyr had turned her down and Celere showed she was awake. Kudret ruefully reflected that he clearly no longer had a say in much. Shaking his head at the utter absurdity that had transpired, he simply gave up on it making any sense and picked up Seyr's clothing, looping it around his bag. Kudret then held out a paw to Celere and said in a tired voice, "It will do us no good staying out here, Celere. Please, let us go within and retain what warmth we still have." If the Kitsune didn't come back, he wasn't going to try stopping her. Of course, that would likely mean he'd be going alone afterwards, but he had recognized since Guarae that he had no real say in the matter when it came to Celere and Seyr's decisions.

Mizuki's facial expression was a mixture of shock and confusion, the blue-haired girl remaining frozen in place as Rikazu spoke of what truly happened that day. Even when the male finished his story and Aislin spoke to her, she remained unresponsive at first. "Well, it makes sense that you'd figure it out after what I told you about my lack of control when it comes to Trance", Rikazu responded to Aislin, though he kept a careful eye on Mizuki. He hadn't told them everything, but what remained of his story was best kept between himself and Rockna. The true reason he'd Tranced hadn't been because he wanted more power to defeat them; it was because of what Rockna had said to him that day. "That's...it? That's...why you...?" Mizuki was struggling to fully understand what Rikazu told them; it contradicted so many things she thought. He hadn't gone to stall them because he was on Kuja's side, but to help her? But he knew Rockna wanted to rescue her, why even stall them? But...killing her sister had truly been an accident? He always seemed to have perfect control over his abilities, yet he was incapable of controlling his Trance? But by the time that happened, Kuja had already promised her he wasn't going to use her summoning abilities again. And yet for as long as she could remember, Rikazu had only tried to help her, protect her... Her hand had subconsciously clenched into a fist when she spoke again. "You were...only trying to help me? I don't...understand...Kuja wouldn't...I don't know...if I can believe what you're saying..." "It wouldn't be the first time he'd broken his promise to you", Rikazu spoke his words carefully, knowing he had to tread lightly. "Take all the time you need, kiddo." He didn't expect her to trust him right away again. "In the meantime though, we should think about moving towards that farm we're supposed to be looking for." Kuja was once again struggling in his fight against Kefka. The silver-haired mage had no idea that the gap between their power would've gotten this much larger in such a short amount of time, and he was barely able to guard against the jester's attacks, never mind finding an opening to retaliate. He hated to admit it, but unless he did something soon, he likely wouldn't make it out of the fight alive.

Bora took his sweet time going around the facility, he wasn't worried about Kuja's life, the mage was no doubt packed with all sorts of medical supplies for an immediate boost, buuuut he was in charge of the idiot... "Ugh, guess I have keep him from biting the dust, he'll need to learn his lessons however." his pace did pick up every so slightly, but he was still going much too slow to show any concern, upon reaching the central command, Bora went into complete stealth, surprisingly apt at it considering his size, sneaking around the incredibly one-sided fight between the mages, he now bided his time, waiting for the right moment to intervene, *Exactly how I said it would go... these people are too stubborn to listen to anyone more experienced... If this moron has any sense in his head at all, and has spotted me, he'll do incredibly well to keep his trap shut.* The Half-Saiyan begrudgingly obliged, not in any real shape to argue at that moment in time, it was fortunate that Kudret was around to give her a hand, the next ten minutes would be slow and painful for her, between the perceived loss of a comrade and her heart literally being torn apart, the seat she fell upon was at least soft, though her breathing was incredibly irregular, speech was currently off-limits until she got her body back under her control, the steaming cup of presumably a Green Tea in front of her largely ignored. It had taken what could only be described as a 'hot minute' to get through the Lava fields otherwise known as 'Hotlands' in Ebott, the Goat following a linear path to the Hall, upon arrival, he stayed hidden, observing the fight unfolding, disgusted by the sights he saw, *Too reliant on Brute Force, has zero experience with a Foe capable of adapting it's strategies on the go, likely can't cope with a foe capable of Resets, she'll go down soon, I'll jump in before the killing blow, no dusting yourself today Kiddo, future me would find a way to come back and murder the now-me for holding back too long*