Chronicles of Gaia (RP)
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"You knew...what making such a pact would do to me...yet you promised him that? That's...I don't..." Mizuki bit her lip. She hazily remembered seeing what Rikazu told her when that man showed her all those things, but to think it was a real memory..."How could you...?"
"It was the only option I had, the only thing I could do to save your life", Rikazu answered. "Had Kuja so much as attacked the Eidolon you summoned, you would have died. Offering him that deal bought us some time at least."
"I...would have died? What are you talking about...an Eidolon only temporarily disappears to recover when it's defeated, it doesn't harm the summoner", Mizuki was getting more confused by the minute.
"That might be true for regular summoners, but it's not the case for an Avanquilist. Mel told me before that for an Avanquilist, their life force and magic are intertwined; they can summon Eidolons without a token, and they can boost an Eidolon's power by allowing it to 'borrow' some of that life force, so to speak", Rikazu did his best to explain what he knew. "You had no control over your summoning attempt with your power only just awakening. The magic of an Avanquilist is tied to their emotions; it took Mel years to fully control that. As such, had Kuja attacked your Eidolon, it would've been like he was attacking you directly."
"I had no idea that was even possible..." Mizuki let out quietly.
Lynn wasn't quite sure how to respond to Celere. Something deeper... Well, that was true to some degree.
"Perhaps I just need to face myself...once more", Lynn realized these words would probably sound rather cryptic to Celere, and she quickly shook her head. "I just mean, well...back in my own world, I didn't get past my loneliness and my other problems until I faced my 'shadow self' so to speak...I was just thinking that perhaps if I were able to stand face to face with her again, I would be able to figure out what's bothering me so much, you know?"
She then took a deep breath, and spoke again. "Or maybe it's just that...I made a promise to one of my friends, that I'd tell him something once we figured out all the mysteries in our hometown. I didn't want to make things awkward at the time...but now I feel like I might never be able to tell him...I might never find out how he feels."
Image is official art from Dissidia: Final Fantasy.
Kudret hastily scribbled onto the page, hoping to get everything important down before Rikazu spoke again. Rikazu made the deal to save Mizuki's life, as her powers would have killed her had Kuja attacked. He then flipped the page back to the Avanquilist page wrote more. Their powers and life force are intertwined; they can summon without using tokens, and boost them by letting the summons 'borrow' more life force. That also means if uncontrolled, attacking the summon is also attacking the Avanquilist and would kill them. Their power is both fueled and controlled by their emotions. Kudret flipped the page back and waited for more to be given, not having anything to say right now. He could however sense the gaze of the rhino upon him; they would be having words about this later, it seemed.
Kahlua changed direction in an instant, heading towards the white of the angel in the pit. He caught up and spotted the arrows in the side of the neck as it stretched out to try and bite Rowan. Well, he did think of it earlier... Glancing at the head to make sure it wasn't looking at him, Kahlua readied himself and slammed the hammer down two-handed onto the neck directly over one of the arrows. Hopefully, that would drive it in further; if not, the forward momentum would arrest the head's movement and keep it pinned for a vital few seconds for Rowan to get further back. Even more hopefully, it wouldn't try to bite him in the back immediately and give him a bit to move away himself, or at least block with it.
Kahlua changed direction in an instant, heading towards the white of the angel in the pit. He caught up and spotted the arrows in the side of the neck as it stretched out to try and bite Rowan. Well, he did think of it earlier... Glancing at the head to make sure it wasn't looking at him, Kahlua readied himself and slammed the hammer down two-handed onto the neck directly over one of the arrows. Hopefully, that would drive it in further; if not, the forward momentum would arrest the head's movement and keep it pinned for a vital few seconds for Rowan to get further back. Even more hopefully, it wouldn't try to bite him in the back immediately and give him a bit to move away himself, or at least block with it.
Avatar is made by Nightfury28. My Ponysona, Remembrance.
Ama's evasive actions continued to persist, a kind of crazed and macabre dance where the feral could only do what was necessary to dodge and lead her unwanted 'partner' into stumbling and screwing up their movements, it was delicate work, but frantic, clumsy and disorganised, she grabbed a rock every now and then, used it to smash a tooth or fracture a bone, but getting a killing blow on one of the heads was quite impossible, one duck later and a semi-slide back into an open space, one head managed to kill itself from the impact against one of the walls of the chamber, *two heads down... two to go on my end...* heat seared against her scalp, and a quick patting of her head definitely confirmed that for a brief second, it had spontaneously ignited and burned away a small portion of hair, eyes darting around, they landed on some kind of... Chair Robot with a small jet engine attached at the bottom, what could only be described a pair of giant plungers for hands at the sides, one outstretched and slightly smoking, the foreman from before looking aghast at what he saw, but with noise-cancelling headphones on, probably due to the noise of whatever the contraption he was controlling made, Ama's eyes once more darted around, where a head had been was a cauterised stump at the end of a Neck, perhaps if she wasn't as beast-minded as she was, she'd have vomited at it.
Celere brought a finger to her mouth, starting to leek deep in thought, which she was, since she was connecting a few dots in her head in regards to potentially assisting the one before her, it didn't take very long to figure it out, "Well, look at where we are, it likely wouldn't be that hard to find a mirror to an alternate world where the conditions for you to 'face yourself' in whichever way you did in the past could be remade..." one leg crossed and laid across the other, once again, the half-Saiyan going into thought, though this seemed to be more self-centred than before somehow, "Lemme go dry off and find some clothes, and I'll come with on it, I won't interfere or anything like that, I'll just be around so you've got some kind of company whilst going through the process, despite what certain people would tell, such as the Goat or others in this congealed mess of worlds, Solitude... does not end well."
Rowan scrambled back and forth, trying his best not to fall over the uneven ground, an event that surely would have spelled his doom. The angel's frantic struggling came to end with the aid of Kahlua, who suddenly appeared out of the corner of Rowan's vision and smashed a heavy looking hammer into the side of the monster's head. Taking the opportunity as it came, he hurried up and away to a more secure position. Juding by the monster's ability to extend his neck Rowan was still very much in its range, but with Kahlua there to keep its immediate focus, Rowan could focus on support.
Drawing another arrow, the angel knocked and took aim for the head kahlua was wrestling with. Breath in, breath out. He didn't want to rush it and hit his new friend.
"Tuhoa Varjot!" As Rowan released the arrow it began to glow, appearing more as a ray of light than a flying projectile, though strangely it cast no shadows as passed down the cave. The ray struck the beast's temple, searing through until it blasted out the other side and smashed into the rocky wall beyond, leaving a sizable hole in the beast's head.Rowan would be quite impressed if the thing was still alive after that.
It was just about then Rowan became aware of the strange mechanical roar that was the foreman's killer robot-mech blasting a head with a heat death ray. The angel blinked at the thing in surprise, somewhat taken aback by just how much it looked like it'd popped out of a comic book. Still, it had no doubt been effective. There was only one head left now, but at this distance its wild neck movement made it too unlikely for him to hit. SO instead Rowan turned toward something he knew he could hit: the bulbous blob that was its main body. Some pain and damage to its center should confuse the head well enough to make it an easier target, if Ama or that foreman could finish it off the thing would be a sitting duck.
"Tuhoa Varjot." Rowan fired off a second ray of light, this time sending it burning into the center of the monster's bulbous body. A sizable hole of burnt flesh remained once the light faded.
Laura let out a slow sigh, staring up at the open sky above them. 'What do you think about all this Aislin had asked her, but what was she thinking? Certainly plenty of memories were coming back to her. Nighttime conversations, the feel of feathers between the bars, stories of treasures across a hundred worlds. She could remember how happy she'd been, how happy Rowan had been. If she helped Aislin, helped her save Rowan, would they be happy like then? Was that what she wanted? No, she didn't want that. Not for Rowan, as things were she would not let the angel have that again. But... what of Aislin? Could Laura hurt her as well to hurt Rowan? Aislin's words floated back to the front of Laura's mind: 'All of you are so precious to me, I don't want to lose any of you. Tch, why couldn't this be like all those other times she'd strung people along? Those fools who'd worn their hearts on their sleeves, who took good times and good people for granted. Aislin's feelings were no doubt the real thing, but Laura knew Rowan had betrayed similar feelings before. Wouldn't it just end up the same way? Wasn't that already happening? Aislin didn't deserve to feel that kind of pain, yet Rowan didn't deserve that kind of happiness. Perhaps a chance to fix things then. Laura had promised herself that Rowan would not die until he had felt all the pain she had felt. Yet here the angel was, brought to rock bottom by this world. If there was any time to give Rowan a chance to prove he wasn't the person he'd been all those years ago, wouldn't it be now? "You have a chance." Laura spoke, bringing her gaze back down to Aislin's eyes. "Rowan's been brought down to rock's bottom, but you have a chance to reach him. It's a slim one though, I'll be honest. I won't really be able to help at all, but I guess I can give you some advice." Laura poked Aislin in the chest, right over her heart. "First things first, don't try to understand all of your feelings. It's not something you can do unless you've lived your whole lifetime through with them. I can tell yours are the real deal though, so all you gotta do is trust your emotions not to betray you. If all you do is focus on getting through to yourself, you're going to miss your chance to get through to Rowan. It's a leap of faith, alright?" The siren straightened up again, holding up two fingers. "Second thing. You have to see the future you want to be in. I know what's going through your mind. You're asking yourself what you could have done, should have done, what you can do now. Most all of it doesn't end well though, does it? It all just comes back around to that dream, with you sitting helpless and alone while Rowan disappears. All that is proof of how much you care for him, and you care a lot. You don't need to believe you'll make it, but you need to be able to see the happy ending through all those other possibilities. If you can bring yourself to see it, to know how things should be, you'll be able to grab hold of any opportunity that might come your way to make it true. "Third thing... well I guess this one isn't really advice. More like just making sure you understand how high the bar is that you have to reach. Rowan's on the edge, you've seen it yourself. He's running out of things to live for. If you want to keep him from falling off that cliff there only way is to give him something to hold onto. You only have one thing to do that with though, and that's you. You have to convince him to live on for you, and you'll have to bear that weight. You've clearly been through a lot, probably been brought pretty low before, but now you're dealing with someone even lower than you are. You'll have to be the strong one this time around, and if you waver under that weight, one of you just might lose your grip on the edge of that cliff." Laura let out another slow sigh, catching her breath before continuing on at a softer tone. "It's a lot of pressure, I know, but I wasn't lying when I said you have a chance. Your feelings for him are true. I can tell, I used to feel the same way toward him." Laura looked away at this point, but continued speaking. "It was a long time ago when I first had those feelings. I've known Rowan for a long time. I know how he's lived most of his life, the people he's known, the worlds and places he's been too, before this world. I don't know if knowing any of it would help you right now though. It may just add more noise to your thoughts. So I'll leave it up to you if you want to ask me about it, or if you want to go hear it from Rowan himself. That's really all there is to it, in the end. Find out who he really is, and show him who you really are. Maybe there's a truth you can both old onto somewhere between all of that." Laura fell into a silence that stretched on for several seconds. "Come on, let's go get those items. If you take too long the others will show up and start asking what we were doing." The siren began walking down the path again, was slower than it had usually been.
Laura let out a slow sigh, staring up at the open sky above them. 'What do you think about all this Aislin had asked her, but what was she thinking? Certainly plenty of memories were coming back to her. Nighttime conversations, the feel of feathers between the bars, stories of treasures across a hundred worlds. She could remember how happy she'd been, how happy Rowan had been. If she helped Aislin, helped her save Rowan, would they be happy like then? Was that what she wanted? No, she didn't want that. Not for Rowan, as things were she would not let the angel have that again. But... what of Aislin? Could Laura hurt her as well to hurt Rowan? Aislin's words floated back to the front of Laura's mind: 'All of you are so precious to me, I don't want to lose any of you. Tch, why couldn't this be like all those other times she'd strung people along? Those fools who'd worn their hearts on their sleeves, who took good times and good people for granted. Aislin's feelings were no doubt the real thing, but Laura knew Rowan had betrayed similar feelings before. Wouldn't it just end up the same way? Wasn't that already happening? Aislin didn't deserve to feel that kind of pain, yet Rowan didn't deserve that kind of happiness. Perhaps a chance to fix things then. Laura had promised herself that Rowan would not die until he had felt all the pain she had felt. Yet here the angel was, brought to rock bottom by this world. If there was any time to give Rowan a chance to prove he wasn't the person he'd been all those years ago, wouldn't it be now? "You have a chance." Laura spoke, bringing her gaze back down to Aislin's eyes. "Rowan's been brought down to rock's bottom, but you have a chance to reach him. It's a slim one though, I'll be honest. I won't really be able to help at all, but I guess I can give you some advice." Laura poked Aislin in the chest, right over her heart. "First things first, don't try to understand all of your feelings. It's not something you can do unless you've lived your whole lifetime through with them. I can tell yours are the real deal though, so all you gotta do is trust your emotions not to betray you. If all you do is focus on getting through to yourself, you're going to miss your chance to get through to Rowan. It's a leap of faith, alright?" The siren straightened up again, holding up two fingers. "Second thing. You have to see the future you want to be in. I know what's going through your mind. You're asking yourself what you could have done, should have done, what you can do now. Most all of it doesn't end well though, does it? It all just comes back around to that dream, with you sitting helpless and alone while Rowan disappears. All that is proof of how much you care for him, and you care a lot. You don't need to believe you'll make it, but you need to be able to see the happy ending through all those other possibilities. If you can bring yourself to see it, to know how things should be, you'll be able to grab hold of any opportunity that might come your way to make it true. "Third thing... well I guess this one isn't really advice. More like just making sure you understand how high the bar is that you have to reach. Rowan's on the edge, you've seen it yourself. He's running out of things to live for. If you want to keep him from falling off that cliff there only way is to give him something to hold onto. You only have one thing to do that with though, and that's you. You have to convince him to live on for you, and you'll have to bear that weight. You've clearly been through a lot, probably been brought pretty low before, but now you're dealing with someone even lower than you are. You'll have to be the strong one this time around, and if you waver under that weight, one of you just might lose your grip on the edge of that cliff." Laura let out another slow sigh, catching her breath before continuing on at a softer tone. "It's a lot of pressure, I know, but I wasn't lying when I said you have a chance. Your feelings for him are true. I can tell, I used to feel the same way toward him." Laura looked away at this point, but continued speaking. "It was a long time ago when I first had those feelings. I've known Rowan for a long time. I know how he's lived most of his life, the people he's known, the worlds and places he's been too, before this world. I don't know if knowing any of it would help you right now though. It may just add more noise to your thoughts. So I'll leave it up to you if you want to ask me about it, or if you want to go hear it from Rowan himself. That's really all there is to it, in the end. Find out who he really is, and show him who you really are. Maybe there's a truth you can both old onto somewhere between all of that." Laura fell into a silence that stretched on for several seconds. "Come on, let's go get those items. If you take too long the others will show up and start asking what we were doing." The siren began walking down the path again, was slower than it had usually been.
Avatar was created for me, the sprite in the avatar was made by WriterRaven
Score: 0
Rikazu gave Mizuki some time to process what he'd told her. The strong glow of her pendant told him that what he'd told her had upset her greatly, and it was best not to rush this. He briefly wondered what it was that had upset her more; the fact that he made that deal with Kuja, or the fact that the man she'd fallen in love with had once actually planned on killing her. It didn't really matter...it was all in the past now. Rikazu's gaze moved to Kudret for a moment, to see if he'd finished writing, and then back to Mizuki.
"I'm sorry, kiddo...I can't change what happened, but I can promise you one thing. As long as I live, Kuja will never abuse your pact again", his words seemed to calm her enough, though his words also raised another question for Mizuki.
"So it's...true? He and I really...remade our pact?" She was afraid to hear the answer, that much was clear to Rikazu. "We can talk about that when Kuja gets back, alright? For now, if you're ready to hear more, allow me to continue..." When Mizuki nodded at him, he spoke again.
"By the time Kuja left, most of the city was in ruins...and there were very few survivors. I had something else on my mind though, since your magic was still out of control, and Titan was still running around. Luckily enough, it didn't take too long for Titan to disappear on his own, most likely because your powers were only just awakening. I took you back home, or well, to what was left of it, and then placed a seal on your memories. A sight like that...and the promise I made to Kuja...I didn't want you to remember either of those things. But most importantly, those powers of yours had awakened too early...Mel had told me how an Avanquilist normally doesn't gain their powers until the age of sixteen, and how gaining them early could be dangerous to them. So that seal had an extra effect of sealing your powers again..."
"Mel didn't return until the next day. Her trip was supposed to have been longer, but she'd felt something had been wrong and returned as quickly as she could..." Rikazu let out a soft sigh. Had Mel managed to return sooner, how different things would've been then. With the power she possessed, she could have actually resurrected several of those summoners. He was well aware the female had long blamed herself for that. "I told Mel everything that had happened. She didn't like the deal I made, but she was happy to see we were unharmed. Mourning over the dead wasn't really an option for us after the choice I made to seal your memories, we had to keep up the ruse that the village had always been like this...that 'peaceful lie' lasted for four more years, until finally...Seth happened."
Lynn thought about Celere's words, and took a look at the mirrors around her. What she said was true, they'd already used a mirror to reach another world just earlier...but to actually go? Well, the idea of Celere coming along was calming somehow. "Well, I would appreciate that...after all, running into your 'other self' going rampant, it drains you of your energy", Lynn explained. "So, while I don't intend to push it to the point where I have to fight, if things come down to it...I might need help there." Another thought crossed the redhead's mind.
"Wait...if it creates alternate worlds, and people can appear there...does that mean I could see my friends...? I could see Yosuke again?" 'Don't think like that, Lynn...it wouldn't be real...'
Aislin did her best to pay attention as Laura spoke, shoving her own thoughts away for the time being. She couldn't help the spark of hope though during it; if even Laura, whom she knew hated Rowan, said she had a chance, then Aislin would have to do her utmost to take that chance. She must; the consequences of failing to reach out, failing to show him a reason to stay were simply not an option. Aislin nodded at the end of the speech, but then merely watched her for a few steps, debating. She darted forward and wrapped the siren briefly in a hug from behind and murmur of "Thanks Laura, I really needed that." She let go after saying that, bearing a much brighter smile than before. "The hot spring should be this way, let's go!" Even though the feeling of someone understanding what she felt was nothing short of joy, she silently agreed they did need to focus on their current task.
Kahlua had definitely underestimated just how flexible a long-necked head could be. It was all he could do to fend it off with the hammer after the initial blow took it by surprise. At one point it caught the hammer in its jaws, trying to either chomp down or toss it away. Kahlua had begun growling in frustration and shoved it away with the hammer still in its mouth- which naturally was the exact point that Rowan fired his arrow. Kahlua took the oppurtunity and wrenched the hammer back out, using that momentum to swing around and whack it down to the floor, crushing what was left of the head's brain area. Only then did he realize the high-pitched whine from before was in fact a robotic mech-suit an old man was using to blast the thing before them with concentrated sunlight, if the ozone burning smell afterwards told him right. Rowan fired his second arrow and Kahlua waited until it hit before darting forward once again, aiming for the last head that Ama had been dealing with. With any luck, he could hold this one in place as well and they could kill the thing for good.
Kudret noted that a second pact was currently in place near the top of the page (cause of the explosions last night presumably) before dropping back down the page to continue. Rikazu took Mizuki home, sealed both memories of that day and powers. Mel came back next day, Rikazu told her what happened. Both kept up ruse of village having always been ruined for four years. And then Seth happened. Kudret paused there, a nagging feeling occurring in his mind. Perhaps he had paid more attention to what was said around him than he thought, for it felt as though he should know this next part. After a few moments, he shook his head in resignation: It was most likely something he, Aislin, and Rowan had talked of before the two ran off with Kuja yesterday. He needed to focus, as this part would be crucial in understanding why Seth had gone to such lengths with Mizuki, and of why it had been imperative Rikazu didn't go.
Kahlua had definitely underestimated just how flexible a long-necked head could be. It was all he could do to fend it off with the hammer after the initial blow took it by surprise. At one point it caught the hammer in its jaws, trying to either chomp down or toss it away. Kahlua had begun growling in frustration and shoved it away with the hammer still in its mouth- which naturally was the exact point that Rowan fired his arrow. Kahlua took the oppurtunity and wrenched the hammer back out, using that momentum to swing around and whack it down to the floor, crushing what was left of the head's brain area. Only then did he realize the high-pitched whine from before was in fact a robotic mech-suit an old man was using to blast the thing before them with concentrated sunlight, if the ozone burning smell afterwards told him right. Rowan fired his second arrow and Kahlua waited until it hit before darting forward once again, aiming for the last head that Ama had been dealing with. With any luck, he could hold this one in place as well and they could kill the thing for good.
Kudret noted that a second pact was currently in place near the top of the page (cause of the explosions last night presumably) before dropping back down the page to continue. Rikazu took Mizuki home, sealed both memories of that day and powers. Mel came back next day, Rikazu told her what happened. Both kept up ruse of village having always been ruined for four years. And then Seth happened. Kudret paused there, a nagging feeling occurring in his mind. Perhaps he had paid more attention to what was said around him than he thought, for it felt as though he should know this next part. After a few moments, he shook his head in resignation: It was most likely something he, Aislin, and Rowan had talked of before the two ran off with Kuja yesterday. He needed to focus, as this part would be crucial in understanding why Seth had gone to such lengths with Mizuki, and of why it had been imperative Rikazu didn't go.
Ama's cocked hand slowly curled the fingers, into a painful looking 'clawed' position, with the other heads being taken care of, and this one being pinned in place by Kahlua, she finally had a vantage point to actually kill one of the damn things, and with the deftness of a newly blind drunkard, she plunged said hand into the cranium of the beast, it positively 'screamed' at what occurred next, slowly, and with some difficulty, she dragged the brain out, ripping it from where it connected with a slow and agonising deliberateness, once separated, the head ceased all movement, and the bloody smear on a far wall from where she tossed it showed how ticked off she was at the whole situation.
-
The foreman on the other hand, realising something must've occurred that made these three somehow know this 'thing' was there when he did not, took aim with both of the 'arms' of his mech, the glaring light building in the center of the 'plungers' reaching a fever pitch before firing off a rapid volley of the beams, skewering the beast in place after place, scorching away flesh and destroying whatever organs the creature had.
-
Needless to say, it was quite dead, the mass amount of injuries sustained and the destruction of vital parts ensured it would not have the chance to become the absolute unknown terror it could've been had it been allowed to mature, Ama turned, using an oil-stained rag to wipe various fluids off of her form, paying no mind to those around her, "Could I finally get a place where I don't have to fight, this is getting ridiculous."
Celere wandered off somewhere, returning a few minutes later in completely different attire to what she had worn before, far more... 'usual' wear for someone of a more modern standing, "Yeah, the old Gi was... not exactly fitting, I got nowhere to return to so I'd better get used to the local 'fashion', gonna be wearing items like it for the rest of my life after all." sitting back down, she caught the tail end of 'seeing someone' that Lyn had mentioned, "I doubt it really matters, just remember that they're not the one you know, and likely have no idea who you are to begin with, don't let attachments get in the way of what you're there to do, now then, ready to go?"
It was difficult for Rikazu to look at his kid at this point; the clearly terrified look she had was a painful sight...it had all been his fault. If only he'd never written that letter to Seth, perhaps then none of this would've ever happened.
"That day, Mel once again had to run an errand. That wasn't anything unusual really, but this time she'd be gone a few days. She didn't know I had invited Seth over...had she known, she probably would've never left the village..." a sigh escaped the male's mouth, though he continued his story. "Truth be told, I missed my former best friend, and I was hoping we could put the past behind us. Seth accepted my invitation and came to the village shortly after Mel had left. We talked for a while, I told him about life in Madain Sari, and about you as well...I didn't know at the time that he still held a grudge against me and Mel, any hostility he felt he hid quite well..."
"Your grandfather showed up sometime during my conversation with Seth, he wanted to talk to me about something. I asked Seth to look after you for a moment, unwittingly giving him exactly what he wanted. By the time I returned, the two of you were gone", there was a hint of bitterness in Rikazu's voice. "You see, Mel had sealed Madain Sari's 'vault' with magic that only someone from her bloodline could remove, and Seth was still interested in the jewel that Mel had been protecting. He'd convinced you to remove the seal and stole the jewel, though at that point that wasn't his main concern anymore. He'd found a new weakness that Mel and I shared; you. As it turned out, he'd spent years plotting, figuring out a way to get his revenge on Mel and me for 'betraying him' and banishing him from the village."
"So what he told me, showed me..." Mizuki shook her head, not wanting to see that again.
"...Is probably true. He probably wanted you to remember because he saw what happened to you that day in Madain Sari...so your full Avanquilist power would return to you and would go berserk, to kill us both", Rikazu spoke carefully. They'd stopped that from happening somehow, but that didn't mean her powers couldn't fully go out of control again. There was only so much magic that necklace could drain at a time, and Kuja was still out on his mission.
"Getting you away from Seth was difficult...I'll admit, emotions were probably clouding my thoughts, I just wanted to get you away from him as quickly as possible...so I teleported in front of him and took you away. He'd anticipated it, and had brought his sword down exactly where he expected me to be. I didn't care though, you were all that mattered..." He paused for a moment. "After that first wound, I no longer stood a chance against Seth...I should've known, but the blade he'd used had been laced in poison. Soon enough, he targeted you with one of his attacks, though I threw myself between you two to block his attack."
Mizuki's eyes widened as he mentioned this, thinking back to something else that had happened just recently. "Just like when those hunters appeared back when we were split up...I think I...remember seeing that, just for a brief moment..."
"You're the one who said we should go in the cave s to help with the monsters." Rowan grumbled, staring down at the corpse of the monster lying on the cave floor. The more he looked at it, the more he was glad Ama had known what this thing was, and that she could see it.
"What did you say this thing was called again?" he asked, keeping one eye on the foreman. Locals weren't always the brightest in discerning who was and wasn't a threat to them, especially after discovering a monster has been living among them for who knows how long.
"Oh- yeah, no problem. Just let me know if you want to know about his past or not later." Laura replied, flustered by the sudden hug. Geez, she was used to being the one who got in people's personal spaces. Well, I don't plan to make this easy for you. Laura thought to herself, trudging along aside of Aislin. It didn't take too long to find the hot springs. A problem occurred to Siren as the drew closer to the steaming pools however. "I hope you have something to use to bottle the water. Ama said we needed 'hot' water samples. I do hope we didn't need a way to preserve the heat." The siren pointed out, tapping her chin with a slender finger.
"Oh- yeah, no problem. Just let me know if you want to know about his past or not later." Laura replied, flustered by the sudden hug. Geez, she was used to being the one who got in people's personal spaces. Well, I don't plan to make this easy for you. Laura thought to herself, trudging along aside of Aislin. It didn't take too long to find the hot springs. A problem occurred to Siren as the drew closer to the steaming pools however. "I hope you have something to use to bottle the water. Ama said we needed 'hot' water samples. I do hope we didn't need a way to preserve the heat." The siren pointed out, tapping her chin with a slender finger.
Kahlua cringed a bit at the assault on his eardrums from the monster's scream. No matter how much he killed or destroyed, he could never get used to the screams. The scent of ozone hit him again, and Kahlua looked up at the whine in his ears to see twin streaks of hardened sunlight strike the monster's body. The poison cat watched silently as they struck again and again until it was little more than a lump of scorched flesh. Kahlua looked down at the hammer he wielded before turning and starting up the slope towards Rowan and the old man, chuckling at Ama's flat statement. He heard Rowan's question and halted once more, turning to look at the corpse. "I doubt it'll be that easy to remember if we find another one," he stated as an opinion.
Kudret had to close his eyes, to force his feelings away, to push them far away into the edges of his mind. He must be reading too much into this, going too far in his empathy, for this didn't seem real. How does one man decide to do all this for the sake of revenge? How does any person go this far without killing their own sense of self in the process? He could still remember what happened when Taika had finally been pushed too far, when she had lashed out and gave a Mana a lasting scar from her wild magic. In her extreme anger it hadn't even registered that she had half-killed it, she was more concerned with getting rid of the problem at hand. Which in her current state involved killing anything in the way. If it hadn't been for Ida, they would have lost her that day... Kudret shuddered inwardly at the thought, his tail moving in agitation. He barely registered Diemia moving to press his horn against his shoulder, letting himself lean onto the offered support. After a few minutes, he opened his eyes and started scribing again, taking care to remain leaning on Diemia's moral support. Rikazu invited Seth back to Madain Sari while Mel was away. Seth hid hostility and spoke at some length with him. Mizuki's grandfather came in and distracted Rikazu from Seth and Mizuki. Seth took Mizuki to vault and tricked her into opening it. Seth stole the jewel and attacked Mizuki, forcing her Avanquilist state to emerge again. Rikazu teleported into a trap but fought back, protecting Mizuki. At one point, Rikazu blocked a blow towards Mizuki. (Aislin mentioned hunters, said they were undead hunters that tried to kill Ricardo and almost shot Mizuki. Rikazu had jumped in front of the attack even after being injured by Mizuki's magic a bit ago.)
Aislin shrugged at this, a little uncertain herself as she knelt to dip a hand in; a little too cold, will have to move further up towards the source. "Maybe, maybe not. As it is, we kind of have two choices here: the hot springs down here," a vague gesture towards the edges of the broad plain they had crossed to get to the water, "or we try bottling one of the geysers up there." A grin crossed her lips as she successfully fished out two empty bottles, complete with corks. "I knew keeping these things would come in handy." One bottle left behind to rest atop the bag set aside, Aislin scanned the ledges to determine where the source of the spring was coming from, and where she might have a good foothold to use to dip the bottle inside the water.
Kudret had to close his eyes, to force his feelings away, to push them far away into the edges of his mind. He must be reading too much into this, going too far in his empathy, for this didn't seem real. How does one man decide to do all this for the sake of revenge? How does any person go this far without killing their own sense of self in the process? He could still remember what happened when Taika had finally been pushed too far, when she had lashed out and gave a Mana a lasting scar from her wild magic. In her extreme anger it hadn't even registered that she had half-killed it, she was more concerned with getting rid of the problem at hand. Which in her current state involved killing anything in the way. If it hadn't been for Ida, they would have lost her that day... Kudret shuddered inwardly at the thought, his tail moving in agitation. He barely registered Diemia moving to press his horn against his shoulder, letting himself lean onto the offered support. After a few minutes, he opened his eyes and started scribing again, taking care to remain leaning on Diemia's moral support. Rikazu invited Seth back to Madain Sari while Mel was away. Seth hid hostility and spoke at some length with him. Mizuki's grandfather came in and distracted Rikazu from Seth and Mizuki. Seth took Mizuki to vault and tricked her into opening it. Seth stole the jewel and attacked Mizuki, forcing her Avanquilist state to emerge again. Rikazu teleported into a trap but fought back, protecting Mizuki. At one point, Rikazu blocked a blow towards Mizuki. (Aislin mentioned hunters, said they were undead hunters that tried to kill Ricardo and almost shot Mizuki. Rikazu had jumped in front of the attack even after being injured by Mizuki's magic a bit ago.)
Aislin shrugged at this, a little uncertain herself as she knelt to dip a hand in; a little too cold, will have to move further up towards the source. "Maybe, maybe not. As it is, we kind of have two choices here: the hot springs down here," a vague gesture towards the edges of the broad plain they had crossed to get to the water, "or we try bottling one of the geysers up there." A grin crossed her lips as she successfully fished out two empty bottles, complete with corks. "I knew keeping these things would come in handy." One bottle left behind to rest atop the bag set aside, Aislin scanned the ledges to determine where the source of the spring was coming from, and where she might have a good foothold to use to dip the bottle inside the water.
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