Chronicles of Gaia (RP)

Aislin raised an eyebrow at Rikazu's question, even if the gesture went unseen by the mage. "An empty one? We can try at least. I have no idea if it's possible here." Granted, it was entirely possible that imbuing the crystal with magic is what creates materia, but that was more speculation on her part. She then spotted the weapons shop, and motioned to the three boys to follow her. First step was done, now for the second: getting a weapon or two (to be nice/bribe) and then get info on where to find materia. The shop's interior beyond the counter was equally as wavy as everywhere else in this land, though that also included the two owners brawling it out behind it. After checking to see if the two would notice, Aislin leaned on the counter and pushed at a weapon next to it, the sound of it hitting the floor startling the two men. She then stated boldly, "You don't have time to fight right now, you've got customers. We're looking for a short sword or some daggers for this guy," she jerked a thumb towards Kahlua, "and we'd like to know where we can find some materia." She crossed her arms and stared crossly at the owners, almost impatiently waiting for their answer. Kahlua simply slipped a hand into Aislin's bag from behind, easily finding the bag of Gilda and pulling it out to make it jingle. That sound tended to make people more agreeable. Sure enough, the two shopkeepers immediately straightened themselves and exclaimed in unison, "Welcome!" They eyed each other for a moment, and then the one on the left with blonde hair continued, "I, er, we, shall be happy to help you!" The one on the right with dark brown hair opened the door to the side that housed the weapons, silently inviting the four inside. Inside, most of the room seemed stable, as if this place was near exactly the same in both dimensions. Most of the now-familiar wavering happened to the weapons themselves, although Aislin was tentatively certain that once Kahlua began touching weapons, they would solidify and become usable.

Ama, while the chaos had been ensuing, had made herself quite busy, the first port of call was the bar where an interception team had been swiftly... intercepted, the leader of this group, a Turk by the name of Tseng 'convinced' to in no uncertain terms, screw off, with that done, and another blue-green glow pulsing around her form to undo changes, she slipped out of sight, the sound of water dripping being the only indication to her location. She found herself outside of Midgar, near the Chocobo Farm with papers clenched in her left fist, her goal clear in mind, slapping said papers down, which were access grants to lucrative stores and grants, "Gimme the fastest, sturdiest Gold you have, I'll return it once it's services are finalised." there was a brief but heated back and forth which ended in her getting her way, the next moment, with a stony expression, she'd mounted it and bolted, aiming for a small island that, had it been on a map, would be somewhere in the north-east section.

"I guess that makes me the oldest..." Says Shoya, unsure if its a good or bad thing. In Lynn's timeline he'd be a couple years older but for Maiya? He'd basically be in his mid 20's. This is even if it happens to be all the same timeline. For all he knows they could just be completely separate alternate universes. "I guess the point is that it's always difficult to show your true self and reveal your persona, whether you have to pull a trigger, confront yourself in a literal sense, or tear your mask off, flesh and all." Says Maiya, looking at the mask in her hand. She didn't mind being the youngest, after all the time being the oldest she welcomed the change. If he shot the evoker in the metaverse it would definitely shoot an actual bullet though, so if he ever manages to get in I'll have to make sure I remind him... she thinks, not worrying about Lynn since it was more simple for her to unleash her persona.

"Hmm...so even you don't know. Well, I guess we'll just have to find out", Rikazu mused as he looked around. The mage then followed Aislin as she made her way to the weapon shop. After a brief conversation between Aislin and the owners, Rikazu followed the owner with dark brown hair through the door into the weapon room. The mage was still somewhat distracted, his thoughts trailing off to the sudden idea he'd had. Even if he did find an empty Materia, how would he even go about the binding process? And would she really be able to become an Eidolon in the first place? Surely, her story could be considered a legendary one...but that was in their own world. Would it even work in the current world? Lynn nodded at Maiya's words. "It certainly is. Though it helps if you have friends who face such hardships with you", she mentioned. The difference in age didn't really bother the redhead. In her family she'd always been the kid sister, but with her friends she was one of the older people in the group. "Either way, it's nice to be able to talk to people who understand the kind of ability we have."

The Chocobo Ama had borrowed was indeed fast, and with good stamina, as within thirty minutes, she could see the cliffs come into view, five more and she was by the cave entrance, "They probably realise they've already got a contract with me, but... This is technically before that happened, best be ready for that fight, alone this time..." darkness swallowed her form as she entered, looking upon the red-coloured crystal that many had tried and gloriously failed to locate, only those who'd managed to procure a master variant even had the pleasure of seeing the thirteen work as one, "Table of the esteemed, masters of thy craft, Loyalty to none but thy people, I beseech thee answer my call, the token necessity I am willing to part..." she was rattling off a summoning chant she knew like the back of her hand, but not once ever used, even she knew to acknowledge power when it stared her in the face. Celere had made it up a few more floors, taking careful note of how Toré had stopped, his energy wasn't moving, surely he hadn't reached the top by now? Another resistance on the verge of death was located, the female given another bean and pushed down a flight of stairs, she wasn't willing to risk the fall actually killing this one, with any luck the jolting of the stairs would wake them up, "Right, don't sense anyone else except him further up, so what's keeping him from moving?" the sound of her feet hitting the metal flooring sped up with urgency. Toré meanwhile was pinned down, he couldn't move an inch without a bullet almost pegging him in the head, it wasn't like he could use his abilities properly either, and his cover was starting to decay, that redhead really wanted him dead, he had to take the risk and just make a dash for it, behind his cover he took out a metal pipe that was long enough for his needs and began spinning it, speeding it up until his hands burned from the heating metal, "Aight then, you want to keep shooting? I'll play that game..." just as his cover lost the last of it's usefulness, he bolted out, still spinning that pipe fast enough to cleave the rounds before they hit him, though bits of shrapnel still connected here and there, it was the best he could do until he reached the top.

Both Shoya and Maiya give a somewhat disappointed "Yeah..." As they think about the fact that those friends that helped are no longer with them, not even in the same realm. Wanting to deviate away from the heavy subject, Maiya asks "So what are you guys' personas like? Did it have a specific type affinity? What role did they play on the team? Mine was Yin, and my sister hand yang. When we were in the metaverse our personas would work together as one, and in turn had 4 moves each. She had a dragon with bless spells and mediarahan. Mine had two physical attacks along with tetrakarn and makarakarn. " Shoya thinks about what she says, wondering Bless spells? Perhaps that's what light and dark spells like mudo become in the future. "My persona was Light Yagami. At the time of my awakening I had similar ideals to him, without the psychotic part of course. Either way he manifested in my persona, and mainly played a support role. I could debuff enemies, buff allies, poison most enemies, and had a couple of mudo skills as well." Says Shoya, not realizing how embarassing his persona was to him before he said it. The best he could do was hope that they didn't get the wrong idea about him.

The more chatty of the two proceeded to engage Aislin in conversation, clearly attempting to see how much she was willing to spend. Or rather, Kahlua observed, how much she had. The brown haired one pulled him aside and said quietly, "From what I saw, you shouldn't be worried about what's real and what's not. Just pick one that feels right." The man proved he was still a shopkeeper by adding, "Or more than one, if you like both." Kahlua forced a chuckle to appease him, but secretly was relieved when he was free to look around. Kahlua did his best to at least skim over each one he saw, even going so far as to run a hand along one or two, feeling them solidify below his fingers. He soon gravitated towards the smaller weapons, subconsciously seeking weapons he could hold and use as his true self. One blade's sheath caught his eye, a plain black with an etched silver trim. Tapping it to make it solidify, he then carefully brought it into both hands, weighing it before attempting to draw it out. It slid out smoothly, revealing that below its handle was a a solid blade, a couple more etches revealing themselves as he drew it out fully. After a few moments of testing Kahlua nodded, satisfied, and then sheathed it. The brown haired man had come up silently during the testing and now said, "You're holding a dagger from a failed commission I did a while back. It's a beauty, to be sure, but..." he revealed a second sheath in his hands. "Daggers tend to come in pairs. Interested?" Kahlua smiled and nodded; he had chosen the weapons he would be using for quite some time.

---

Meanwhile, Aislin had been conversing with the blond shopkeeper, learning quite a bit about the differing types that could be found even among a grouping such as falchions. After listening to the man at length, she finally cut in once he had ended one portion, "Not to be rude, but I do believe I had asked about Materia a while back?" The blond blinked, and then subsided a little. "Sorry, most don't care for the particulars of weapons," he provided, "It's rare to see someone interested these days." Aislin just held up the notepad she had been writing on, clearly showcasing her interest in the matter. "I'm still rather interested to be perfectly honest, but I did promise my father-in-law here I'd show him the Materia shop before heading back to the inn." She indicated Rikazu during the 'father-in-law' bit, hoping it didn't startle him too badly. If it did, the shopkeeper didn't seem to notice, instead answering the original question. "We don't really have a materia shop down here; however, there are some vending machines on the upper plate you could try. Otherwise, there are rumors of a boy going around asking for those willing to test things for him. Those who do apparently can get Materia and a few odds and ends." Aislin did her best not to show her recognition of said things, instead asking curiously, "Have they ever been swindled in these rumors?" The blond shook his head. "No, but there are several folk around here who might try to sell you an empty one. Unless you got a good idea on what you want with it, they're just different colored paperweights in my opinion." That was when Kahlua came back with the soft announcement of, "I've picked out my weapons." Aislin gave him a nod and then asked while getting out the bag of Gilda, "Do you know where I can find some empty ones anyway? If they're harmless like that I might give 'em to my little cousin." The brown haired one piped up, "We have some if you wish to purchase them. Color?" Aislin grinned brightly and stated, "Yes, I'd like to purchase some. Red is preferred if you have any of them, but I'll take any color. Seven sounds good, right?" She directed this to Kahlua, who considered for a bit and then nodded. "Yeah, seven," he agreed, placing the pair of daggers and the similarly-designed short sword onto the counter to be rung up.

Toré had, somewhere along the lines lost the helicopter that had been raining down an unholy hell on him, he stopped at the wide open platform now laid before him, the glowing console in the center immediately, and quite violently waved at as he mustered some of his lacking energy, translucent spears bursting from one side of the console casing and imbedding in the other side, he slowly walked over to inspect his handiwork before leaning against the pillar to catch his breath, which kept catching on something mid-transit, the warm damp feeling at various parts of his body went ignored alongside small stabbing pains in those same spots, "Humanity sucks..." there was a vibration of agreement from another within him and he felt the need to elaborate, "Not in that manner, I'm talking about the bodies, so damned frail, even by my standards." Celere was now the target of the flying death machine, having been spotted and retargetted by automatic systems on board, she however, had far more experience with these 'pathetic projectiles', and instead of making a break for it, sought to establish her dominance by standing there and swatting the attacks aside, eventually the poor machine ran of ammunition, and with a swift flipping gesture, Celere moved along, keeping one such projectile as a 'souvenir' for later on, she even laughed as the chopper followed her now slow ascent to the top of the Pillar, "You could just get out and do your own work, but I guess nothing changes with the raw laziness of the upper class!"

The shopkeeper soon came back into view, carrying a small bag that clinked the familiar noise of crystals rubbing together. He then upended the bag into the shallow dip in the counter, revealing about fifteen large marbles that each contained a faint yet unearthly glow. It was the glow that told Aislin they were indeed Materia. She gave a broad smile at spotting the lone red sitting near the edge of the dip, and then asked, "Are we doing different prices for the different colors?" The blond answered, "Normally I'd say yes, but you took notes during my chatter. They'll be a flat 300 each." The brunet piped up after ringing up the sword and daggers, "This set was a failed commission, as I told your friend here. I can tell he'll be respectful to them, thus..." He then added a small weapons maintenance kit to the pile. "In total, along with the Materia, that will be 12,360." Aislin simply nodded and dug into the bag of Gilda, only to be stopped by Kudret's paw on her leg. A glance at him revealed that Rikazu had taken out a bag of his own and was holding it out silently. She gave him an almost absent thank you while poking through the bag to compare the two currencies. Thankfully, Gilda were extremely similar to Gil, thus she was able to get away with taking a portion of money from each bag to pay the large amount. The four left the store some minutes later, Kahlua's weapons strapped to him and the bag with seven empty Materia (1 red, 2 green, 2 blue, 1 yellow, 1 purple) safely ensconced inside Aislin's bag alongside the weapons kit. She was all smiles now, very well pleased at how things had turned out. A sneaking suspicion stated that something would go drastically wrong soon, but she did her best to ignore it. "Well, we accomplished what I came here for: get Kahlua a good weapon. Since we got what you wanted, Rikazu, all that's left is Kudret." The lion immediately spoke up. "I would like to ride the train." Aislin frowned at him for a moment, but then shrugged. "Okay then, if no one has any objections we'll head to the train and get onto the upper plate." She waited a moment, intent on making sure that they had indeed done what they had come into the market for.

Celere likewise reached the peak of the pillar, scowling at the bloodied form standing guard in front of the console before stomping over, pulling another bean from the pouch, "You imbecile! Don't be me and actually pay attention to your wounds!" forcing the edible into Toré's mouth, she turned to face the spotlight from the flying machine, "Get that taking effect as quick as you can, once they realise one punk won't be enough I'll be needing the backup over here." as a Redhaired individual dropped out, she cracked her knuckles, a downright evil smile spreading across her face, "Not Sorry, this place is off-limits to the likes of you." the response was some sort of metal stick crashing across the side of her face, stunning but not hurting the woman, and the joyous tone of voice was not missed, "Hard way it is then!" Ama had gotten through six of the fourteen individual chants she needed to perform, five of the red dots in the wall glowing, her mouth dry from the constant talking and recital of these long-winded pleas, she wanted to stop to parch the growing thirst but had to continue, if things went belly up she needed this safety net to secure things, the seventh finished and a sixth dot glowing, she continued, frowning as a seventh dot glowed before she'd even started the eighth, *Why are they reacting when I havn't gone through the correct rites, must be as impatient as people I know...*