Sethera

Aww I missed the deadline. ?

"Rumspriwhatsit?" Lachlan muttered. He wasn't good with human names, but it seemed that Jaeger names weren't much better, or at least witch names--wait. "Whaaat?! You're a witch?!" he shouted, starting to flail around, and then winced, falling over. "Owowowow..." Guess he wasn't as fine as he thought he was. Still, there was something more important than that. "Does that mean...you're going to cast a curse on me or summat? Or kidnap children and roast them in an oven?" he paused at that, and then scratched his head. Ah cannae say ought aboot tha' last bit. He had eaten children before, after all. Though that was more to his mother's taste. He generally preferred adults since they had more meat--anyway, that was beside the point. He was a changed Jaeger now! Human beings were off the menu. He was on a strictly seafood diet now, with some other meats like pork, poultry, and beef mixed in every so often. Hearing what she said next though distracted him from his fear of witches. "So...then I was wrong? There isn't some nefarious plot to blow up this place? It was all a misunderstanding?" he breathed a sigh of relief. "Ach, I feel like a right bampot now, but I suppose we should still try to find Professor Jekyll. And..." he paused, "No, I'd say it was pretty strong." Only reason he was walking away was because he was ignoring everything his body was telling him, which was to lie down and rest. Or pass out. One of the two. He'd have said more, but the other was also speaking, and it'd be rude to interrupt her. Hearing that she was worried about him made him feel a little happy, though, and also a little guilty for what he had said earlier. He began to speak then, though his voice came out quieter than usual. "Er...thanks Ellie. And I'm, uhh, sorry about before. You know, with the witch thing. I've just heard a lot about witches, you know, in stories, and...well, they're a little scary. Not that I'm saying you're scary, because you're not, but I've just heard you're scary, but since you don't seem scary, maybe the fairytales are...wrong?" He had a hard time saying that. The existence of Jaegers was proof enough there was some sort of truth to them. But he also couldn't really see Ellie as a witch, raven aside. Before Ellie would be able to reply to much of that, they had arrived. The woman seemed excited to see the professor, who was currently sitting behind a desk watching the Dragon Slayer fight Alex-and-ur--he still wasn't used to human names. "As you can clearly see, my dear..." Professor Jekyll began, addressing Elsie. "...everything is under control and was being monitored the entire time during the little training session you had orchestrated, which immediately flew out of your grasps. In the end, no one would’ve been hurt. Well, aside from Lachlan here who took a direct hit by Sieg’s attack. Next time, however, the smart move would be to dodge." He then began to clasp his hands together. "Now, come along. It’s about time we had them wrap up. After all...I wish for the Tower of Babel to remain in one piece." "Er...I'm sorry for not...you know, dodging. I just didn't see it is all. I was distracted. Not that that's any excuse, I guess," Lachlan mumbled as he followed along behind. After the professor wrapped up the training session, much to Lachlan's relief, the youth returned to his room to sleep. Two days later, rather than, as Lachlan had wrongly assumed, walking to Setsu, the Tower of Babel flew there. "Ah daursay ah shuid 'ave kend whit wis whit, boot ah'm nae the type tae ride aboot a'where," he muttered from his room, staring out the window at the landscape below. "S'pose ah shuid gie on wiv it the noo." Picking up his spear, or harpoon, he walked down to the exit of the tower, where he found out...he was the first one there apart from Professor Jekyll. A little intimidated by being alone with the other man, who had quite the unnerving stare, Lachlan briefly considered leaving and arriving later, but eventually decided against it. It wouldn't do to look the coward either. Instead, he spent an awkward few minutes waiting for the first person to arrive that wasn't him. Once the others had arrived, the professor cleared his throat and began to pace in front of them. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is your first mission under A.R.C.H.’s guidance. A reminder of the situation of this mission: this Setsu town has sightings of strange creatures appearing only at night, most likely a Fahlyn occurrence. Ask around the town and gather as much information as you can about this. And IF it comes to it, engage the monsters if you come into contact with it." So an investigation, then? That was just fine. Lachlan started to get excited at the prospect of fighting off evil foes like the Fahlyn, but it sounded like that would be a last resort. Still, how could he prove himself a hero otherwise? The professor also appointed the Dragon Slayer who he now found out was named Sieg to lead them, which was also fine. He seemed to know what he was doing. After arriving in town, Lachlan looked around. He was used to towns to an extent, though he had never seen a town quite like this one. The architecture was different from what he was used to, though he could still tell that they were buildings, at least. A few of them stood out from the others. One of them looked to be a tavern, the other a store with a blacksmith, another a church, and lastly a fortune teller shop. The tavern and the church were out. Both meant a lot of people in closed spaces, and he wasn't sure what he thought about churches anyway. His parents were never the churchgoing type, being water-dwelling Jaegers who ate people, and the local church in the village near the lake called his kind "monsters," but he also agreed with some of what they said. Or actually, she had been a good, religious type, and so at the time, he had wanted to be a good, religious type too. And heroes in fairytales were usually those types too. But would the church accept somebody like him? Actually, maybe he wanted to check out the church after all. With any luck, there wouldn't be many people around, and he could not only look for clues, but also satisfy his curiosity at the same time. He began to walk toward it, and then stopped, turning back to the others. Oh yeah. He was in a group. Which meant it would probably be polite to tell them where he was going. "Uhh, excuse me but I'm going to head for the church. Yeah. Sorry if anybody was thinking of going there, but uhh, yeah. Well, if any of you wanted to go there, you can...go too?" he cringed. Oh yeah, that didn't come out awkward at all. "Anyway, uhh, I'm going to go. Yeah. Stay well. Uhh, I'll uhh, tell you all if I find anything? Unless, you know, you don't want to know if I do, in which case, I'm sorry, but that's just what I was thinking, is all." He needed to leave before he put his foot in it even more. "Um...yeah, take care." With that, he fled the scene, heading toward the church. He could only hope that he wouldn't be driven out with pitchforks by the priest or pastor or monk or whatever he was called. Or she. He didn't judge.

Susanoo didn't have much confidence in them getting his boat back, and Yue couldn't help but agree with him. Not if it meant going face to face with that scary man who had just walked out. The redhead seemed to agree with what she had said, calling him a "great white." It took a little bit to figure out what he meant till she remembered that there was a species of shark called that. "If by some miracle from the Spirits you do find a way to get Yumi back, though, sure. I’ll take you wherever you gotta go. But you won’t." Feeling a little dispirited at that, Yue let her shoulders slump. Alexis seemed to take that as a challenge though, but the archer couldn't see how that was possible. "Hey, why don't we head out? Doesn't look like there's anything for us here. Not till we get big guy over there his boat. Alright, seems we've got some searching to do. Got any idea where to start, lovely hunter from Yon'Lou?" "N-N-No," Yue stuttered, following the girl out of the bar. She took a quick look around, relaxing slightly when she didn't see anybody from her tribe nearby. "Not really. Maybe...near the sea?" she cringed. That sounded really obvious, now that she thought about it. "Um...maybe someplace secret...near the sea?"

Slowly, everybody had risen and begun to move around, whether it was searching for ways to put out the fire or looking for their fallen comrades. Catriona was relieved to see that nobody had died in that last battle, though it seemed as if a couple weren't very far from it if what that Acantha said was true. Heart sinking, she glanced around the main hall where most of them were gathered. While most of them looked a little battered, that was about it. However, a couple looked far worse, such as Edrick and...her eyes widened. That merchant and her wyvern...were the two of them dead after all? Across from her, after hearing Penelope's words, Dresogon's earlier expression of gratitude gave way to one that seemed to suit his face more--that of annoyance and general distrust. He stayed silent, appearing to struggle with himself. While that was happening, the robed stranger introduced himself to the tactician. “My sincerest apologies for my impropriety, my lady. My name is Abdul Jalal Al-Azif, a humble merchant and traveling scholar. I only recently arrived in this town when I heard your struggle, and I only approached with the intent to help whoever was in danger with what little magic I know. I hope you will be willing to allow me to make a more proper introduction for someone of your regal bearing once the situation allows!” From the name, he had to be Isaurian as well. Meeting two Isaurians in the span of a single day--what were the odds? Then again, it wasn't that odd. While the people of Galtea, Locris, and Pontus had a tendency to remain within their own borders, Histians and Isaurians would travel freely between countries for trade. It was just another cultural difference. Seeing two in the same tiny village was a bit odd, but Catriona had no room to judge. Their own group was odder yet. And he had helped them out. She had seen his attack on the statue soon after the stained-glass window had shattered, the sound of breaking glass catching her attention immediately. The statue had come perilously close to her. Though Link had stood between them, she had wondered, briefly, if the end had come. "Master Abdul, was it?" the lord tested the word, relieved when it came out sounding somewhat natural. She had been versed in pronouncing Isaurian names for diplomatic reasons, but they were still a little difficult to say. She would not even attempt to say his full name right now. "You have my gratitude for your assistance against the statue. It takes bravery to stand up to something so unnatural when you could have just walked away," it sounded a little ridiculous, that they had fought and needed help against a statue, but that had been no ordinary statue either. "I am Catriona Nabudis, princess of Galtea, and the one that just spoke is my sister, Penelope Nabudis." By now, the metaphorical cat was long out of the bag. Abdul would most likely have heard the others shouting "princess" during the earlier battle anyway. It would be a futile endeavor to try to hide things now. There was only one country that had princesses. Isauria did have royalty, but they were governed by a queen who, to her knowledge, had no children yet. At the sound of a sigh, the woman turned back to the mayor, whose shoulders had now slumped. "I suppose I should elaborate. Normally I would not even consider telling outsiders such things, but...after what you have done for the village, we owe you an explanation at least." "What?! Mayor, are you out of your mind?!" Acantha, who had been quietly sulking to the side after her argument with Alois, whirled around in a display of shock. "You can't just--" "I believe I am still in possession of my faculties, yes," the man replied in a dry tone. "Not only have these people saved the village, but they include among their number two of the line of Augustus himself. Though I can't imagine why they would come here, unless it's to return that boy," he scowled at Alois, missing Acantha's roll of the eyes. "Alois has been an invaluable member of our group," Catriona said, stone-faced. There appeared to be some sort of bad blood between the two, but it wasn't her place to get between that. Still, she had no plans of forcing the fighter to leave, either. "We made no plans on returning him, merely arrived looking for information on the Great Dragon." At this point, keeping their aim secret would be foolish, especially if the hall around them honored what she thought it did. "Take him then, with my blessing," the mayor shook his head, voice raising. "He has caused enough trouble here as it is." Seeming to realize he had gone off-topic, the man took a deep breath to calm himself down. "As for the Great Dragon, and your explanation, that will all have to wait," he turned back to Penelope. "While I am willing to explain our situation, there are other, more urgent matters that require our attention. Such as your injured companions, and our village. The villagers panicked soon after becoming animals, and it is not in the best state right now. And then we must prepare for a feast," he began to mutter to himself, though the princess caught a few words such as "finances," "food spoilage," and "market square." He appeared to grow more enthusiastic, obviously in his element as he paced the floor. "Might as well leave him alone now. You won't get anything from him until he's done making plans," Acantha shook her head at Penelope before walking over to where Link was. "Here, you'll need these," she handed over a few vulneraries while looking away. "Don't get any ideas. I still don't like you people. I'm only doing this because it'd be inconvenient to clean up after any dead bodies, that's all." "But, um… Do you know if there’ll be anyone to see to Peaches? She got hurt pretty bad, and we had to take more… 'Forced' Landings than is probably healthy." "Egads, are all of you idiots or something? You don't even know how to look after an animal?! By the dragon, it looks like I have to do everything around here," the woman shoved her way past Citron to approach the wyvern. Though she trembled a bit, whether it was because of her prior experiences as a beaver or not, she ignored any reactions from Peaches and began applying a vulnerary on the creature's wounds. Despite her harsh words, her hands were surprisingly gentle, and Peaches would feel little pain from the process. She even began humming to the wyvern partway through as she looked to have become lost in her own world, though she was so quiet that nobody but Peaches would be able to hear it. Catriona was surprised to see such skill from the villager, but then she remembered hearing that the woman owned a horse. Are horses and wyverns that similar? Nonetheless, it was obvious that the vulnerary was having some sort of effect on the wyvern as the wounds covering its body began to close. Meanwhile, Gunther and Tsetseg wouldn't find anything to put out the fire in the main hall, though they would come across a few large barrels of water and that same Dragon's Breath wine in the back room next to some crates, a couple of which had been knocked over after Adel crashed into them. Said pegasus knight and Ciela were brought to the main hall by Shiro. While their current unconscious states were chilling, the frog's words were even more so. "I couldn't find Licorice," he explained, then turned and said something to Edrick about leaving. While his concerns were understandable, the mayor had already seen Edrick's pendant and had said nothing. Though he couldn't say anything in the first place, being a badger, but still... Nearby, Sienna froze before beginning to run. Catriona moved to stop her, but the Protean had already fled outside, where she began to call out for the other fox. The lord frowned. While she did not like the other's recent behavior--telling them all to leave the village without much in the way of explanations--she was still a member of the group. Except now she was gone. Had she really been so frightened of the statue then? And yet, she had faced the far more frightening sight of the undead horde without so much as a bat of the eye. Something about this didn't sit right with her. Not to mention, that suspicious man who had fled immediately after being seen. The woman rubbed her head to stave off the burgeoning headache pounding in her temples. It appears that injuries are not the only problems we are facing right now. OOC

4. Also disappointed in myself because a lot of the questions I got wrong I almost picked the right answers for. Almost! Almost!

8. Huh, that's interesting...didn't expect that. I mean... *coughs* No, it is I! chaos sonic! I decided to retake the quiz again under my true name for laughs. Except that wasn't actually me, so yeah.

2. Oh well. lol

8. I'll be honest, I'm a bit surprised I scored so well, but also maybe not that surprised...idk. lol

2. I am ashamed. Though I still think a couple of your questions were unfair! Unfair! *shakes fist*

"Great timin' Ari! There's some people I want you to meet too!" "There he is! Hey, Mom, let's go over there!" Ari tugged on his mother's hand, practically dragging her over to where Kazo and a couple of other gijinka were in his excitement. "Oh, who are they? Wait...Kazo, are they your brothers?" he remembered Kazo talking about them before. Feeling his throat choke up a little from nerves, the boy swallowed. He was nervous, but...this was also really, really exciting! "Hi, there! My name's Ari, it's super great to meet you! Kazo's talked a lot about you, Kazo's brothers!" Remembering the person behind him just then, Ari turned around to look at her. His mother was currently staring at one of the brothers--the one with the cape--with surprise, but after a few seconds, she blinked, looking down to meet his gaze with a gentle nod. Feeling a little more confident, the boy turned back to the three. "Mom, this is Kazo and his brothers. Kazo's the one I talked about before." He looked down shyly for a second before looking back up. "He's uh..." he gulped, before setting his expression into one of determination. "He's my big brother! And uh, Mac's cool too, but I don't see her here," he started to babble on, feeling a little embarrassed from his announcement and wanting to get past that point of embarrassment. He couldn't bring himself to look at Kazo's face. "I don't see her anywhere... Well, she'll probably come over when she feels like it. She's just like that." Right at that moment, actually, he caught sight of the Helioptile looking around the ship. "Oh, there she is! Mac, hey Mac!" he jumped up and started waving wildly up and down. "Most excited you've been to see me." Mac said as she made her way towards them. "About time." She added under her breath. "Hey, I've been looking for you--" Ari cut himself off with a glance at his mother. He didn't need to embarrass himself by getting into an argument around his mother. "Anyway, this is my mom, Leah! She's really really nice and never loses her cool and stuff!" He had seen other moms blow their tops, but she had never done so, taking everything in with a calm that could be almost scary at times. Except earlier, she had almost cried, which was even scarier. His mom never cried. Because of that, he was a little nervous at how she would take Kazo or his other brothers, but she had said she wanted to meet them, so hopefully, that meant she liked them. "Hello there, it's nice to meet you all," his mom said, smiling serenely at the group. It was as if her earlier, almost-crying self never was. She gazed at the four with inherent dignity and grace. "Though I've met one of you before," she switched her gaze to the Pupitar. "I'm glad to see you're doing well, Denku. Again, thank you very much for helping us all out earlier. Please pass that on to Beatrice and Fjanna as well if you see them." She paused at the second name, a look of respect flitting over her face. Then she turned to the others, "And Kazo and Mac, I've especially been wanting to meet you two. I've heard you've been taking care of Ariel, and I wanted to thank you for that. He is...a very special person in our home of Pride Rock, and to me as well." She glanced down at Ari questioningly. The Litleo, who'd been wondering just when his mom had met one of Kazo's brothers, straightened suddenly. Oh. Yeah. He never said it, did he? Ugh...hopefully this didn't make anything weird. Would the others think any less of him for not telling them before? He really was going to tell them, honest! But, with everything that was going on, it slipped his mind, and he also felt like it was wrong to bring it up when he wasn't even worthy of the title yet. His uncle James had told him true kings should go out and prove themselves worthy on journeys, so that's what he had done. It had been rough at first. There had been a trio of Mightyena that had chased after him for a bit, but he had managed to lose them in the end. "So..." he paused, trying to think of exactly how he'd say this. "Kazo, Mac, there's something I've been keeping from you. Well, not keeping as in I've been keeping it a secret on purpose! I really was going to tell you, but I forgot about it, and--no, that's an excuse. I'm sorry, Kazo," he looked down. "You're still my big brother, no matter what. And Mac, you're still my annoying--" "Ariel," his mother put a hand on his shoulder, "breathe." The boy took in a breath then. "Kazo, Kazo's brothers, Mac, umm...my real name isn't Ari. Well, it is, but it's not my full name. I'm actually Prince Ariel of Pride Rock. I set out on this journey to defeat Entei and prove myself a real lion and king!" He shuffled his feet awkwardly before straightening up with a jerk. "But wait, that's not important either! Kazo, Mac, I just found out! Kah might be a Godslayer! And she might be dead! I heard somebody talking about having killed her or something over in Mio..." he struggled for a second. "Mioter. Yeah! Mioter! That's what they said!" -- Easter had ended his conversation with Nine at seeing a familiar Flareon, though the conversation had already been nearing its end. He felt the familiar rush of affection overtake him at the sight of the other. It was him. Before, he hadn't been able to handle it, but now...he felt like, now, he was ready. If the other was fine, then, maybe...maybe they could start over again. "Wow, John Silver, is that you? It's been so long," Easter greeted. The other's confident smile remained the same, but there was something different about it too. It was...a little sad? "Hey, Easter," the other greeted. "Long time no see. I'm glad to see you're doing well. You look a lot different from before." "Oh?" the Sylveon looked down at himself. Overall, he still looked the same, so he wasn't sure what John meant. Unless he meant inside? Had that bled over into his outer appearance somehow? "It's not your clothes," the Flareon chuckled. "It's the way you carry yourself. Before, you were always leaning forward slightly, and your eyes were those of a beast's on the lookout for its next meal. Now...you seem more like a gijinka, less like a wild animal." "Is that so? I'm not sure whether to take that as an insult or not," the fairy type joked. "But I think I get what you mean. Before, I was always ready for a fight. Now, I suppose that doesn't mean as much to me anymore. Except now, I'm definitely ready to take on those Godslayers!" he pumped a fist. "But I'm surprised to see you here. You were never one for fighting." It was why everybody was surprised when they had started dating. After all, a pacifist paired up with somebody like Easter? It just didn't make sense. But it worked. John's presence had always been a soothing balm from the stresses of everyday ship life. He understood Easter's need to keep training and rise to the top and accepted him for it. "I'm still not," the man shook his head. "I'm only here because of my boyfriend. He wanted to fight, and I couldn't just leave him to do it alone." Easter froze. "Your...boyfriend?" "Yeah," the Flareon nodded toward a Manectric in the distance talking with a small Fletchling girl. "Met him a year or so ago, and we've been going steady ever since." "I...see," the fairy type struggled to get his thoughts in working order. "That's...I'm really happy for you." "Easter..." John looked at him with pained eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't think--" "No, it's fine," the Sylveon interrupted. "I knew...you couldn't wait for me forever. I understood that. And after what had happened, I...wasn't in any state to continue our relationship." He shook his head. "I'm the one that's sorry. I left you. I left everybody in the S.S. Showdown. I ran away from my sorrows instead of facing them." He clenched his fists. "It wasn't your fault," John said gently. "You weren't the only one that left, Easter. You were just the first. None of us could handle being on the ship after that. Heh, even now, I still feel like I'd rather dive off this ship than stay another minute onboard, and I'm a fire type!" he laughed. "Really? Well, don't do that," even to Easter, his laugh sounded forced. "Anyway, I should continue making rounds. I think I saw Rei earlier. Should probably go and greet her." He began to walk off but was forced to stop. His wrist was being held in the Flareon's hand. Try as he might, he couldn't bring himself to shake it off. "Easter...I hope you find somebody too. You deserve it. Don't let this hold you back from anything, all right?" "...Yeah," the Sylveon swallowed, his eyes misting slightly. "All right." "Good," John nodded, letting go. "It was good seeing you again. I'm sorry...even if we're not...you know," he paused awkwardly. "You're still special to me, all right? All of us who were on the S.S. Showdown then. We're family, even if we're apart from each other." "I know..." Easter gave a wobbly smile. "All of you...for me too. Take care, all right?" he nodded. "Will do so. You too." "Yeah." The Sylveon turned away, unable to stand the awkward atmosphere any longer. As he began walking, not toward Rei, but toward an alcove on the deck where he knew nobody would bother him, he couldn't help the mess of emotions that churned in his gut. This was a terrible day. A small Eevee girl watched him go, her eyes wide. "He said Easter...is that...? Big brother?" But no matter how hard she looked, that looked more like a big sister instead. But...maybe that made sense. Her brother had been kicked out of the house because he would dress up in girls' clothes, after all. Her parents had refused to say anything on the matter, but that's what she had heard from some of the townsfolk in Northshore. If so, then wasn't this her opportunity? It was true that she had wondered if her brother would be here, but she hadn't held out much hope for it. After all, her brother had never been a fighter. He was good at other stuff, like math, playing the violin, and billiards. That was the only time her parents mentioned him to her, whenever they compared her talent to his. But they had never taught him to fight. They disapproved of fighting and anything associated with it like Chasers. But from what she had overheard...wasn't he actually a good fighter? If that was so, then maybe...maybe he'd teach her? Growing a little excited, she began to follow after him, but then stopped. "Never mind. I'll ask him later," she decided. Brother or not, he had just been dumped, so he probably wouldn't be in the mood to teach her anyway. "When this is all over, I'll ask. And maybe then I'll get to become super-duper strong like those gijinka that defended the town! Soon they'll be calling me Morgan the Magnificent!" Pumping her fist, she marched away, determination blazing in her eyes. -- "Well... no. Realistically, there probably isn't much left, if anything. But that's all the more reason to go back, see. I want you to imagine a spider's web that got torn down while the spider was out looking for food. The spider doesn't just sit down and say 'oh, I guess I'll just not have a web' does it? It builds a new one. So we'll build a new home too. If one little spider can build a new home from scratch, why can't we?" "A spider, huh?" Keanu scratched his head. "I'm not sure I like that analogy that much, but I think I get what you mean. You're saying we should try to rebuild our home, right? But what's stopping us from building a new one from scratch here?" "And that's where these legends come in. Put frankly, we're laying our lives on the line for a foreign region against an enemy far stronger than us. If these legends are really that desperate for help, I'd go so far as to say they owe us for saving their hides here. And if we scratch their back by getting rid of these pests, they can take a bit of time off to scratch ours by cleaning out whatever's been causing trouble back home so we can rebuild. They may even want to help with the construction if they're hard workers. Who knows?" "Well, put it that way, I guess that makes sense," the Raichu replied. "I don't know much about legendaries, but they're supposed to be really powerful, right? Maybe they can do something. But then again, weren't our own legendaries unable to do anything? After all, you saw those two--or maybe you didn't. But wait, you were on the same boat, right?" he shook his head. "Well, Solgaleo and Lunala fled from Alola as well. If our own legendaries can't do anything, who's to say these ones can?" Maybe this was pessimistic of him, but he didn't want to get his hopes up for nothing either. The Mimikyu did have a point though. "Maybe you're right though. Suppose it wouldn't hurt to ask them and see what they say." Keanu looked out across the ship to the sea. "The sea is so vast...even if these guys won't do it, it doesn't mean that there aren't gijinka out there that can and will help us. Worst comes to worst, we can just ask for a ship--maybe one like this--and set sail across the waves again." He laughed. "Well...hopefully, that won't happen. I like surfing, but you don't get the really big waves much 'less you're near the shore."

"Oh okay," I decide not to correct Berserker on the whole south/slang thing. "I wonder...do you think Archer and his master need backup?" I'm neutral on it. Though I think a Discord chat would've been more useful at the start of all of this rather than now, tbh. You could also just make a general Fate discord chat for people who want to discuss the games/anime/etc.

"That's the guy who was fighting those bandits before yeah?" Yue nodded, but kept quiet. Listening to the conversation, the archer really couldn't understand this man. Or all those words he was using, like "customer confidentiality," or asking the other man to pay for information? Why would he need to pay money just for that? And didn't the guy's men sell off his boat, so didn't he owe him money? She didn't know much about these things, but it felt like, to her, the slimmer, smiling young man was in the wrong. Still, she didn't have the courage to just go up and say that. Something about the other man was scaring her, especially when he locked eyes with her. She quickly looked down, freaked out, but she freaked out even more when Alexis whispered in her ear. "Might be best to keep some distance in case he decides to throw someone again. I'm going to get a bit closer though, this looks too interesting to pass up." Yue agreed. She didn't want to be anywhere near that kind of scary violence. Hearing that Rastarn was looking for fugitives, though, made her freak out even more than she already was. She didn't know how Alexis was able to keep so calm about it. "S-S-S-Scary," she muttered, then perked up at hearing Alexis's question to the other man...Susanoo, she thought his name was. "U-Um yeah, that...what she said. W-We can h-h-help." She clammed up after that, staring down at the ground and shaking in place.

I don't want to vote Maribelle since she took down Dimitri, but...still gonna vote for her. Don't really know Claude that well yet.

Don't click if you don't want to hear the same BGM The statue moved toward the altar, and then past it. Crashing into the wall, it stopped, turned, and headed for the large, stained-glass window in the center. The window showcased a large, serpentine figure that looked much alike to the statue, except rather than a uniform grayish-white, this figure shone in all the colors of the rainbow. Variegated spots of color appeared on the statue as it moved toward the window. At that moment, the first of the attacks hit the statue. A blast of Elwind that sliced the stone a fraction of an inch away from the mark. Cora's swing was next, and while she missed, her strength caused her blade to cut into the stone body of the effigy. Then Sienna's fireball came, flying not right at the mark, but close enough. As the symbol became slightly blurred through the flames, the statue let out a roar of pain. Still, it moved forward, pausing only when an arrow came whistling through the air to land in the exact center of the mark, cracking the stone. Its roar turned into a screech then, but it continued to stubbornly move forward, crashing through the stained-glass window with a tinkling sound. For a second, the hall was awash with all the hues of the rainbow as the window shattered into pieces, each individual shard sending out beams of color as light shone through them. The statue let out another roar as it saw Link and Edrick moving toward the flowers, but before it could do anything, multiple dark orbs flew at the cracked fragment of stone holding the symbol, disintegrating it into marble dust. Immediately afterward, almost as if somebody had blown out a candle, the blue light that had been keeping the statue together and the glowing blue tendril winked out of existence. Everybody standing nearby would be blown away from the magical backlash, but when they were able to look again, they would see that what had once been a powerful enemy was now nothing more than a regular stone statue. It lay motionless on the floor, surrounded by pieces of marble with various designs--a piece of its mouth here, a claw fragment there. The blue glow from the statue was gone, but everybody would be able to see that a single bouquet in the other room was glowing with that same blue color. Soon, however, the fire from the blanket engulfed the bouquet, the flowers blackening. Those who knew their flora would recognize them as roses, the only ones they had seen in this building. All the others were snapdragons, gladioli, hyacinths, or daffodils--native Histian flowers. As the roses went up in flames, the blue glow faded, and then brightened in one last magical backlash. This one stronger than the one before as everybody was blown off their feet, their eyes forced to close or risk blindness from the blue light. In the unsettling darkness that followed they would all hear a distinctly feminine voice. "You took much longer than I expected to deal with a mere imitation. Still, I will grant you this small victory." As the light faded and the group was able to open their eyes once more, the voice spoke again. "Do not think that this is the end. I am sure we shall meet again, Dragon seekers." The voice faded away then, too, till there was neither blue light nor sound to be seen or heard in the place. Catriona, who had lain paralyzed on the floor, felt feeling return to her legs then. She was the first to recover from the numbness, though the others soon would as well. Stumbling toward the flowers with a toddling, unsure gait, the lord looked at the bouquet, which had burned itself out. The flames had spread to the other bouquets, however, forming a giant bonfire that threatened to spread to the wooden furniture as well. "It is done. We should put out the fire." At that moment, shouts could be heard from the main room. The woman turned around in surprise, only to see three extra people in the building. While they were strangers to her, both Alois and Cora would recognize them at once. The first was a young woman with a sword standing near the front wooden bench. Her outfit was similar to Cora's, but she looked different in every other way, from her shock of strawberry blond hair to the naturally fierce expression on her face. However, she appeared more awed than fierce at the moment. "This...I'm back to normal?" she murmured. The second was an older man with a frown wearing fur-lined robes and a brass necklace. He had several frown lines on his forehead, but he, too, seemed more shocked than anything. "It is over, then. We are saved..." The third she could only catch a glimpse of before he was out the door, but the main thing that stood out to her was his bright, greedy eyes and the look of absolute paranoia and fear on his face before he left. Those who turned late to look would miss him entirely. Catriona frowned, ignoring the man's disappearance to focus on the other two as she entered the main hall. "How did you get in here?" she demanded, attempting to stand taller. "Who are you? Are you..." she trailed off, thinking. "You said it was over. Do you mean that you are...?" "Who do you think we are?! We're the animals who were helping you before, of course!" the woman interrupted. "Egad, for a princess, you sure are dumb. I thought they taught you to be smart in those fancy-pants palaces of yours." "Acantha!" the older man scolded. "I am sorry for that," he turned to the group, making what looked like an attempt as a smile but which came out as more of a grimace instead. "We are unused to receiving royalty in these parts." "It is fine," Catriona replied. She was used to such attitudes from her time in the Garou, after all. And it wasn't as if every member of the party treated her with all due decorum, either. Not that such things mattered that much while traveling on the road, even less when it came from somebody not even of Galtea. The man gave a short bow. "I am Dresogon, mayor of this village. You have my most humble thanks for breaking the curse inflicted upon us." His grimace smoothed itself out into a small smile that disappeared soon after. "We cannot do much to repay you, but feel free to stay for a celebratory feast before continuing on your journey. Though I suspect we villagers will be busy cleaning up this place for the rest of the day first," he cast a grim eye on his surroundings. It was only then that Catriona realized just how much of a mess they had made of the hall. The bonfire notwithstanding, the main hall was in shambles. Pieces of the statue lay scattered over the floor alongside colored glass shards. Multiple windows had been broken, as well as a couple of the benches near the front. The stone flooring and wall were cracked in places, namely where the statue had walked or where Citron and Peaches had crashed. Even a part of the vaulted ceiling was cracked from where Shiro had crashed into it. Scorch marks and nicks from missed attacks covered the room, and Alois had yet to pick up his hand axe which still lay fallen on the ground. The woman coughed, a little embarrassed. "My apologies. We will assist with that." "No, no, I couldn't let you do that, not after everything you did," the mayor shook his head. "Do not discount your own contributions," the princess argued. "Were it not for you or Cora, we would not have known where to go to break the curse." Acantha scowled at Catriona. "You're weird. What kind of princess volunteers to clean? Just accept our thanks, gads." She ignored the lord after that, approaching Cora and beginning to look her over. "Looks like you're in one piece, at least," she muttered, before turning to Alois and looking him over as well. "I suppose you're fine too? I'm not surprised. Stupid people tend to live longer for some reason." The woman glanced at the others then, her gaze lingering on Gunther for a second longer before turning away. "I'm not going to bother worrying about outsiders like you. You can drop over dead for all I care. Don't get the wrong idea just because the mayor's being nice. You just happened to break the spell. We would've figured it out ourselves eventually." She sniffed, "You should probably get yourselves looked at though, especially them, or you really will drop dead," she nodded toward Edrick and Citron. "There's one that looks like she's at that point already," she finished with a glance at Adel, before turning her head away with a huff. OOC

In the end, Zekrom was able to teach Ari a fire-type move. And it was a really, really cool one too! He decided he would forget about trying to improve his Take Down, because this move was so much better! He could've gotten rid of Ember, but if he wanted to try to start a campfire or something, the new move was a bit overkill. Zekrom called it Fusion Flare, and it apparently could do double damage if Fusion Bolt had been used just before, and vice versa. Which meant that, he and Mac could really do some damage together! Kazo had learned something cool too. A move that was even more powerful than theirs normally, summoning a giant burning rocks that rained down from the sky like the world was ending or something. Ari just knew that, with this, any Godslayers would be quaking in their boots from their awesome power! They'd stayed with Zekrom a little longer, but but it wasn't long before they were summoned to what would Ari knew would be the final battle. He was a little nervous being on a big ship like this, especially because there was water underneath and everything. But he wasn't the only one that looked nervous about it. He saw at least two other fire types who both looked less than comfortable with the situation, so it wasn't just him being a scaredy-Litleo or anything. Before he could think too much about the water, though, he was distracted by a gijinka wearing...well, not much at all. Aside from that, the thick feather boa she wore and the bones she had stuck in her hair were what stood out about her. "'Ey, what's a little tyke like you doin' here?" she asked. "Um...well, you see--" "You're not much more than a bite, I'd say. Those Godslayers would swallow up a mouthful like you in a heartbeat." "E-eh? But, you know, I'm super--" "Go back home, tyke. I could eat something like you for breakfast." Ari puffed out his chest in anger. He wasn't a little kid anymore! He was an adult, and he would show this woman just how much of an adult he was! A good kick in the shin would do it. Just as he was about to kick her, though, two other gijinka came barreling through, one riding piggyback on the other's shoulders. "Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaahh! Get out! Get out! Get outta here! Whoo!" "Wh-What?! What's with you two?! Forget it, I'm outta here," the woman scowled, walking away. "Knew I should've listened to my horoscope. Beware a chance encounter with a crazy Watchog and Pignite." "I love it! Bowling for buzzards!" the Pignite shouted. "Not that we can find too many of them, but--" "Gets 'em every time," the Watchog, who was riding on the other's shoulders, laughed. Immediately afterward he did a backflip off of the fire type, landing squarely on his feet. "You all right, kid?" the Pignite asked. "Yeah, are you--jeez, it's a lion! Run, Baa, move it!" the Watchog shouted, pulling on his friend's ears. "Hey, Tim, it's just a little lion. Look at him. He's so cute, and all alone! Can we keep him?" "Baa, are you nuts?! His mom's probably not too far away, and you're talking about keeping him?" Ari drooped a little at that. Mom... How long had it been since he'd seen her? "No, she's not here...who are you two anyway? "Well, I'm Tim, and this is Baa," the Watchog put his arm around his friend. "Together, we form the Timbaa team! Cuz everybody shouts Timbaa when we come through! Ahhhhhhha ha haaa! Oh, I crack myself up every time!" When the others just stared at him, he cleared his throat. "Ha ha hum...ahem. So, what's your name? Simba?" "Huh? No, I'm Ari." "Dang, I'm usually a good guesser." "Ariel?!" At that, Ari lifted his head. When was the last time he'd heard somebody call him that? Standing across from him was a beautiful female Pyroar wearing a long, fur-lined coat. While she looked a little more sad and worn than he remembered her being, he recognized her at once. "M-Mom...?" "Ariel!" she repeated, running across the deck toward him. Ari was also running, and before he knew it, he was in her arms, hugging her close like they used to. Back then, he had always found it stifling and annoying, especially when she would brush his hair in front of his friends. But now, he didn't care. Because he was with his mom! "Mom, Mom, Mommy..." Ari couldn't stop himself from chanting that same word over and over. "Mom..." "Oh, Ariel, you're alive..." she breathed. "I'm so glad to see you." "See? Told you he had a mother. Who's the brains in this outfit?" Tim muttered in the background. "Uhhh..." Baa trailed off. "My point exactly. Jeez, I'm fried. Let's get out of here and find some shade." The two left then, but neither mother nor son noticed their departure. "You've grown so much, Ariel. If only your father could see this," Ari's mother whispered, her eyes glistening. "Mom..." Ari murmured. "Mom, you don't have to tell me. I know. I know where my father is right now." The woman paused, and for a second, it looked like she would burst into tears, but instead, she took a deep breath, giving him a soft smile. "I should have known. You are his son, after all." She stroked his hair. "I'll have to tell Zago to stop looking for you. Now that you're back, safe and sound." "Mooom! I don't need any looking after. I've been doing just fine by myself, see?" he paused. "Weeell, I was traveling with a couple others. Oh, oh! I should introduce you to them! Mac, and Kazo! Kazo especially is super cool and awesome! He's...he's like a big brother," he looked down shyly. "He is my big brother." "Really?" the woman's eyes gentled. "In that case, I have to meet him, and Mac too, and give the both of them my thanks for taking care of my little boy." "But I'm not a little boy anymore, Mom!" "Oh Ariel...you'll always be my little boy." However, as he began walking around the deck with his mother, looking for the others, he overheard something strange. "My friends and I took down two at Mioter--a Hydreigon named Kah and a strange robotic gijinka. They were difficult, but manageable. But I don’t think they were actual Godslayers now, if what you’re saying is true." "Huh? Kah? A Godslayer?!" Ari looked around, but he couldn't see who had spoken. "What?!" He began looking for for Kazo more urgently. He had to tell him! He had to tell him...that Kah was either going to be their enemy...or she was already dead. Eventually, he did catch sight of Kazo, but it looked like he was with some other people too. Ari didn't worry about that though. "Hey, Kazo!" he shouted. "I have somebody I want you to meet!" -- Easter had, in the end, chosen not to use any TMs on himself. He was pretty satisfied with his current selection of moves as was. He did consider Hidden Power, hand hovering over the disc for a while, but in the end, he took his hand back. It was too much of a gamble to sacrifice a move he knew worked well for one that could very well end up being useless for him. Things had been pretty mild afterward. The group had spent a few more days on-board the S.S. Showdown. Apanie the Wash Rotom went out of her way to avoid him at first, but on the third day she suddenly greeted him as they passed each other in the hallway. He wasn't sure what had changed, but he decided not to look a gift Ponyta in the mouth. He hadn't been doing much to endear himself to her on the ship, in fact he had been leaving her alone, something that, on second thought, felt a bit odd. Oh. Yeah. Before, he would've been challenging her to fight every second of every day, wouldn't he? Strong opponents were strong opponents, after all, and she was definitely a strong opponent. He had won, but just winning once was never enough for him before. A single win didn't mean anything. It could be a lucky fluke. No, he had to win multiple times before it meant anything. Except, now, it somehow...didn't matter as much anymore. Now, he had other things to worry about. Dora, for instance, or the strange, melancholy looks Brooke would get on her face sometimes. Or Denku's illness. The Sylveon wouldn't admit it, but he was worried about the guy. The Pupitar didn't seem the type to tell anybody if he got worse, so there was a very likely chance he'd walk in on him having a fit or something. Which wouldn't be good. It doesn't matter how strong you are if you can't even save those who need your help. He had realized that in Deku, and later in Merm, after meeting Dora's mother. At first, he thought the solution to that was getting stronger, but now he wasn't so sure. Rather than putting all of one's effort into getting stronger, maybe it was better to spend time with others while one still could. If he had realized that sooner, maybe things would be different now. He might have saved that Eevee, might have noticed Fawkes's insecurity. There were many things he could have done. He had beaten down and slaughtered multiple gijinka on his path to power. While he wasn't sure if he regretted that or not, he did regret not being able to save the few he had met and cared about. Perhaps I should look into healing and support more, he thought. It was a strange thought, especially for him, but it was one he had considered more and more lately. He didn't use Wish or his special move Cosmic Shield much except against strong opponents. Maybe if I had used them more, I would've been able to save them... It wasn't good to constantly look at the what-ifs of various matters, but it wasn't as if he had gone past the point of no return either. It was always good to keep his options open. And so, when he did spar on the ship--this time with Edna, who was eager to volunteer herself--it was less fighting and more defending, to the Rotom's chagrin. He was fairly confident in his offensive prowess, but he wanted to be sure that he could protect himself and others too. He never used a live person, though, just in case he failed. He borrowed sparring dummies to use as "people to protect" instead. Sometimes he failed, sometimes he succeeded, but he was happy to see that slowly, the ratio of failure to success was shrinking. One day, after sparring, Dora had wanted to see the crow's nest, and so he let her sit on his shoulders as he climbed up the rigging all the way to the top. There, he pointed out all the different crew members, who looked a lot smaller from up there. Dora had laughed and wanted to bounce off his shoulders, but he had managed to catch her in time before she fell off. No way was he risking her falling. Brooke wouldn't be the only one furious with him if that happened. He would be furious with himself, too. It was as he was telling the Wooper about the time he had almost fallen off himself as a new sailor, that he noticed Apanie staring up at the two of them with a strange expression on her face. It was after that that she finally started greeting him like she did the others when she saw him, though her greetings were usually in the form of a silent nod. Still, it was better than outright avoidance. And then, just as he started to relax, he heard the voices of the lords of time and space in his mind. As soon as he heard that bit about a vessel that could reach Mioter, he grew suspicious, and...yep, he was right. It was the S.S. Showdown they were referring to. Not long afterward, a bunch of gijinka appeared on deck. Easter was surprised that the ship didn't start to fall a bit from the sudden extra weight, but this ship was a marvel in multiple ways. Most of the gijinka, Easter didn't recognize, though he recognized a couple. The main one that stood out to him was Vita, the Charizard he could never beat in the Adarid Arena. But that made sense. She was the champion. A little excited despite himself, he approached her with a smile. "Hey, Vita, it's good to see you again. How have you been doing? Still the undefeated champion?" The girl was standing with her hands on her hips. Looking around at all the other Gijinka around her. Seemingly sizing them up. When she saw Easter she took a moment to recognize him then hesitated. "In a sense. I did lose a fight unfortunately. To one of those Godslayers. It’s shameful but I had to be saved." The Sylveon felt his mouth open a little in shock. "Really? You, beaten? Sounds like those Godslayers are a bigger deal than I thought." He rubbed his chin in thought. "My friends and I took down two at Mioter--a Hydreigon named Kah and a strange robotic gijinka. They were difficult, but manageable. But I don’t think they were actual Godslayers now, if what you’re saying is true." He thought for a bit. "Well, all of us working together like this increases our chances, at least." "Or maybe I’ve just gotten rusty. Not many people as strong as you come around these days." Vita gave Easter a small smile. "But losing did do one good thing. It made me realize there’s still more to do. I think I get why you decided to travel around so much." "A slump? That’s too bad," the fairy type clicked his tongue. "I remember, back then it seemed like everybody was challenging the Arena." He grew pensive for a bit. "Times are changing, I guess. Not sure if that’s good or bad, though." He smiled back. "Guess I’ve changed a bit myself. Back then I would’ve seen it as a huge disappointment, for sure." His eyes found Dora automatically. "Without traveling, I wouldn’t have learned what I’ve learned...about myself, and about what’s truly important to live. So I suppose it was good for me that way." He turned back to Vita. "Maybe you should go on a journey yourself. Put down that champion belt and have yourself a champion time traveling instead!" he grinned. Vita laughed. "W-well, when you put it like that I suppose I have to try. Guess travel really brings out the philosopher in a guy. But, hey, think once this is all done people will want an Arena still anyway? Seems like things are starting to go in another direction after all...Isn’t that what this is about?" "Haha, suppose you’re right there," Easter laughed, then quickly turned serious. "And maybe. Maybe not. Can’t really say for sure. But I do think that there will always be gijinka who want to hone their skills. Whether that be through the Arena or something else." He smiled. "And even if the Arena closes, it doesn’t mean that there won’t be things for you and the other regulars to do. Life’s full of change, but we all manage to muddle through somehow." His gaze sharpened. There was something off about how the fire type was acting...actually, it reminded him of how Brooke acted in the bubble. "Also, Captain may be an incorrigible flirt, but he runs a tight ship. I doubt you’ll have to worry about us crashing or anything--unless something really bad happens," he amended. Yeah. He was never the best at reassurances. "Ah, no, of course not. Why would I be worried about it crashing, I have wings and all." Vita said, though she didn’t seem convinced by even her own words. She closed her eyes for a moment and nodded. "Whatever happens after this guess all we have to do now is fight our hardest." "True," Easter didn’t argue the point. She had her pride, after all, though it was interesting to learn that the person who he had admired for so long had her own weaknesses. "And that’s for sure. I’m looking forward to fighting alongside you. It was good seeing you again." Giving her one last nod, he walked away, catching sight of somebody else. "Oh hey, Nine, is that you?" -- Adarid City had been a welcome rest from a long journey. Though the city looked like it had seen better days itself. While Randy had been practicing a new move and Nani and Marie had been...being themselves, Keanu had been busy getting used to his new evolution. For one thing, his tail was super heavy. The balance was all off compared to how it used to be, and he just couldn't understand how other Raichu dragged it along behind them. Actually, his mother seemed to carry it along effortlessly. For another thing, he now had this strange, inexorable wariness against Randy and Nani. Nani he could understand, but Randy! Mr. Tony the Tiger, the Furball Goofball, etc. There was absolutely nothing to be afraid of when it came to him, save for getting dragged into a fight. So just why exactly did he feel the way he did? And then, there were his new psychic powers. He knew, theoretically, that Raichu had psychic powers, but knowing it and experiencing it for himself were two different things. Eventually, Keanu found out that the faint whispers he'd sometimes hear were not in fact, spoken out loud, but heard through his psychic powers. Either that, or he was going lolo, but he preferred the other option. And then, once, when he was stressed, he'd actually pushed back his friends once, except he didn't actually push them, they were just pushed back. Marie had been pushed the farthest, but Randy hadn't been pushed at all, and that had reinforced the fear he'd felt at the back of his mind. That the tiger was a threat--except no, he wasn't. And then, once, he'd accidentally levitated a pancake to his mouth just as he'd been picking up a fork to eat it. And ended up getting a faceful of pancake for his troubles. On the bright side, he finally learned how Raichu carried their tails. They levitated them. So the pancake incident was good for something in the end. Which was another thing. He really, really liked pancakes now. He already had before, but he liked them even more now. He felt like, if he ate any more, he'd probably turn into a giant pancake, but that, thankfully, didn't happen. Probably because of all the walking they were doing. Keanu was in great shape, and he looked even better than he did before, with his new tan and curls and sea-blue eyes. He had had to throw away his old clothes since they didn't fit quite right anymore and ended up walking around topless until he was able to buy new clothes in the city. As a surfer though, he was used to that, so he didn't pay it much mind. It would've been better if there were some cute wahine around though. He wondered if that was why Randy was training so hard with his new move, so he could show it off to any wahine if he met them, but knowing that training-obsessed tiger, it was probably just so he could win the next fight against that Lucario or whoever else they came across. Keanu could understand that though. It bothered him too, that he'd not been able to do anything. Not that much, because he had always known he had never been much of a fighter, but a little bit. Enough to get him to train. As he did so, memories that had been long forgotten, buried in the back of his mind, came to the fore. Maybe it was his new psychic powers, but a lot of his memories were crystal clear now. Including something his brother had said...and that Randy had also said. He was sure, if the two had ever met, they'd have gotten along swimmingly. "Go with your gut...even if it's not akamai." Akamai, or smart. Before, he had never understood that. Now, he thought he did. It wasn't akamai to keep traveling with these lolo buggahs, Keanu knew that. If he had any brains, he'd have long left them behind, and would never have been almost lost his life all those times. But, if he'd had any brains, he wouldn't have entered his home city at all, wouldn't have risked his life to convince his ohana to leave with him. He should've known that would be a futile gesture, but he did it anyway. Just like he tried to convince his companions--no, ohana--to avoid fights. Why fight those Godslayers, those legendaries, when they were so above their level? Randy came the closest, but even he had been effortlessly outmatched by that Lucario. So why was he still here? And why, oh why, when he heard Dialga and Palkia's voices in his head, that they needed gijinka to fight for Adarid's future, when he saw the others' expressions--except for Nani's, for obvious reasons--did he do what he did? Suppose I gotta go too. I have to make sure my ohana doesn't die on me doing something stupid again. In the end, he answered his own question. There were choke, or a lot of gijinka on the ship. Way too many for Keanu to count. He was also unprepared for the onslaught of new whispers--vague thoughts and feelings he had to work to ignore. His face tense, he glanced around, and sure enough, his ohana was all here. Randy, Marie, and Nani even. He was a little surprised by the last one, but not as surprised as he thought he'd be. The Mimikyu was another common-sense type like him, but she had also stuck around through all those tough fights. There had to be a reason for that. Speaking of Nani, as Randy and Marie left to go socialize with a couple of gijinka that they, and Keanu too, recognized, the ghost type turned to him. "Makes you wonder what these legends have in store for us after this, doesn't it?" "It sure does," Keanu replied, putting his arms behind his head in a relaxed manner. He was finally getting the whispers under control now. It had helped that he was somewhat used to it from walking around Adarid City. "Maybe they'll give us all a belt, like they do in wrestling," he chuckled, before growing serious. "Maybe...they'll be able to send us home." His face grew pensive. "But, you know...do you think, even if we return...there will be anything left of it?" He'd been thinking about that for a while now. "I don't want to admit it, but, do you think it's for the best that...we stay here? In Adarid?"

I wonder if anybody reads these...but yes it's the same BGM The statue held up well under the onslaught of attacks. While Citron's attack did not hit the symbol, it did a different piece of stone, smashing it into little more than marble dust. Soon afterward, Tsetseg's arrow came soaring toward where the symbol was, but as the statue had not needed to rotate the symbol, her strategy to anticipate another rotation failed. Soon afterward, Abdul's attack surrounded the statue before suddenly streaking toward its head. While some of the orbs managed to hit their mark, others did not, and none of them hit the shard with the symbol on it. The Wind attack from Penelope did little to stop the statue as well. Instead of rotating, now the shard just seemed to swerve out of the way before moving back into place, connected to the rest of the pieces by the crackling blue light. Sienna's fireball was also avoided in this way. The head being shattered into pieces had only given it further flexibility in avoiding their attacks. The pieces of head moved around to form what looked like an open mouth that let out an angry roar. The effigy smashed into Citron and Peaches, set to slam them into the ground, tendril lashing angrily as it did another wide sweep of the room, aiming for first Alois, then Shiro, Penelope, and Cora. Then it swept through Sienna, Tsetseg, Abdul, and lastly Acantha, who had crawled out from underneath one of the pews. In the other room, as Link turned toward the flowers, Catriona fought back the familiar, painful swell of emotions rising in her chest. She could not give them a name, but she knew them well enough regardless. They were nothing but nuisances, signs of weakness as her father had once said. Rulers could not afford to be swayed by such things. They led to foolish choices and paralyzed the mind, bringing needless regret afterward. She had been found lacking as a fighter, but she would not be found so as a leader. There was still something she could do to help the group. Taking in a breath, the woman closed her eyes, and when she opened them, they were like chips of dark blue ice. Now is not the time to dwell on past failures. The lord had just begun to crawl toward the flowers when footsteps echoed against the wooden floor from the other room. The door, which had been closing, swung open once more with a loud creak, and soon the muted thud of steps sounded against the hard stone floor. Immediately after, Edrick entered her line of sight. The boy was a mess, with four large gashes scored down his front. They had torn through both the gambeson, shirt, and the skin beneath, leaving jagged wounds on his chest. The skin was slightly puckered at the edges and stained a cherry red, providing a startling contrast to the wine red, almost black color of the blood burbling up from the wound itself. The lancer appeared oblivious to his situation as he knelt before the princess, working to unstopper a blue glass bottle. Catriona opened her mouth to say something, but closed it when he managed to open the bottle and begin to apply the water to her forehead, tracing a symbol lightly across it. The woman felt a tingling sensation from her forehead, which then spread to the rest of her body. She paid that little mind though, more preoccupied with the words the other was saying. Pontic. She recognized those flowing, almost swaying syllables, like reeds bending in the wind. She could admit that the language itself was pleasing to the air, but it also carried with it certain connotations that she could not forget. It was impossible to get used to it. No matter how many times she heard Edrick speak it, she could not help but begin to reach for her sword every time. Except now, when it was literally impossible to do so, crawling on the ground like a worm. Her legs lay still and useless behind her, though she was sure, after recognizing the bottle for what it was, that Edrick's intent had been to restore their movement. Still, for one wild moment, she had wondered if he had been about to perform a Pontic ritual. Indeed, she was surprised he didn't invoke the goddess Herself in his chant. "How... how does that feel?" "There is nothing," Catriona replied flatly. She thought for a moment before adding, "The gesture is appreciated, however you should look to yourself first." She stared meaningfully at his wounds. Did he even have a vulnerary? "Let me--" she cut herself off, realizing that she, herself, had used the last of her vulnerary during the battle against the Awakened back in the shrine. The clatter of metal on stone caught the lord's attention then, and she turned toward the source of the noise. Link had dropped an unfamiliar-looking iron sword, which now was glowing a familiar bright blue on the floor. Snarling, the man drew the crude-looking blade that she had seen him use in his recent battles, stabbing it down into one of the bouquets. That was strange enough, but what was even stranger was the backlash of energy that buffeted against the mercenary. One of the bouquets fell over then, scattering cabbage-shaped blossoms in various colors. Catriona had seen flowers like these before. They were well-loved by noble families, though she couldn't remember what they were called for the life of her. At the same time, a loud roar came from the other room. The mercenary stomped on another flower then, which seemed an odd decision, odder still because nothing happened for it. In the main room, the blue light went out for a second. The tendril disappeared and the stone statue began to plummet to the floor. However, before it reached the ground, the light returned with a vengeance, the statue giving what sounded like a pained roar as it flapped its wings, rising back into the air. The effigy appeared distracted now, releasing its grip from Citron and turning its attention toward the back room. At that moment, the fragment with the symbol carved on it lay perfectly exposed to the rest of the group. OOC

“Alright, well, I walk slower than I fly, so maybe you’ll be able to keep up this time. If you do need anything, I think my room is on the way and I have some apothecary stuff? That could help too.” Honestly, Lachlan wasn't feeling the greatest, especially after recent events, but it wasn't like he could afford to stop and get looked at. He needed to see Professor Jekyll and inform him of possible enemies in the tower if the man didn't already know. Which, speaking of, he should probably bring that up with Ellie too. She might have seen them herself from her broom. Lost in thought, he missed the exchange between Ellie and Cory, but he came back to himself when the girl brought up Jekyll's office. “I’m pretty sure Jekyll’s office is this way. Shall we?” Lachlan nodded. "Yeah, that looks good." He doublechecked the path after hearing that she had gotten herself lost, but she ended up being correct this time. As they walked down the hallway, Ellie made sure to keep the conversation going with multiple questions of various subjects. Lachlan tried his best to answer them, though he was sure he missed one or two. "I'm from a lake near a small town. Not sure where it is from here, but it's not in any kingdom, anyway. Sorry if that's more boring than you expected." "Uhh...probably not have to eat. Because...well...uh...it'd be a lot easier to get along with humans if I didn't have to eat and all." With the bombardment of questions, he didn't have time to ask his own, but he also didn't have time to be frustrated over that either. Finally, the girl gave him room to breathe, asking if he wanted to ask her anything. But he still had to answer her previous question. It was only polite. "I met Professor Jekyll and he asked me if I wanted to join this group he had made called A.R.C.H., so I did." He shrugged. "Again, sorry if that's not a super interesting tale or anything. I didn't get kidnapped, fight a dragon, or fend off a roving band of marauders and rescue the professor in the process. Just met him on the road one day, is all." He paused and then asked. "What about you? And..." This was the important thing. "Did you notice anything suspicious from where you were before? I mean, in the sparring room. I overheard somebody talking about blowing something up, and then I got hit by a blast of light too, so..." he winced. "And it really hurt. So I was wondering if maybe there was a reason for that since it happened right after hearing what I did. So that's why I wanted to get out of the room. Because I wasn't sure who was an enemy and who wasn't. And maybe it's something we need to be worried about? That's why I want to see Professor Jekyll." He paused. "Wait, why do you want to see him? Did you say something earlier about crossfire? Were you worried about being attacked too?" He paused to take a breath. "Sorry, I tend to ramble on, but I uhh, well that's why, and see, I wanted to know if you saw anything, is all. But, uhh, don't worry if you didn't," he stammered. "Could be I'm just being too uhh, what's the word? Paranoid? But I just want to be sure, is all."

"Ooh, way to go!" Jacklyn gave an enthusiastic thumbs-up, continuing with a, "whoa really?" Seeming surprised by this, the girl put her chin in her hand as she went from happy to pensive. "Yeah really," Belle replied. She wasn't sure what was up with the other girl, but she wouldn't let herself worry about it. Worrying was for people who had the energy for such things. And people who weren't outside in weather like this. "Am I really falling behind as a leader?" Jacklyn muttered to herself. She then started to walk away saying, "I need to go train, Belle!" As she began to walk away, she suddenly stopped, and, with a huff, walked back next to Belle, folding her arms saying, "nevermind." Instead, the girl looked back towards the battle, watching as Don and the Tepig continued to trade blows. Belle raised an eyebrow. "Okay." She didn't comment on the purple-haired girl's strange, back-and-forth actions. She already knew that the other girl was too energetic for her own good and weird at that. Who worried about falling behind as a leader? What was so important about that anyway? It wasn't as if they were playing an FPS or MMO or anything where they had to cooperate as a group for a single goal. They were traveling together, but each one of them had their own goals. "If y'fall behind, then y'just get back up again. Don't see the issue." She yawned and said nothing more after that for a while. As the silence stretched out, however, the blue-haired girl glanced back at Jacklyn, narrowing her eyes in confusion. "You not gon' catch a Pokémon, then?" Belle knew why she wasn't going to, but Jacklyn seemed to be the type to catch loads of Pokémon. Then again... She blinked in realization. "Oh. Ye waitin' to catch 'nother rabbit?"

"I mean, it is, but let's be honest. The kind of fear-mongering those cowards are spreading is bound to catch on," Raynor stated with a shrug. "Slowly but surely, people will turn on us, slowly pushing us into corners until there's nowhere else to run. I, for one, relish the challenge, but... well, it's not really your guys' problem, right? I guess what I'm tryin' to say if you want to stay outta this mess, then it's best for me to pack up and move on. Of course, if you want me to stay, then I will, but I don't want to drag you all into trouble you can easily stay out of, especially if you want no part in it." "That's not the worst of it. They're going to be looking for us now. Of course, if it were just me, I could handle it but wouldn't want to get anyone else into more danger." Leon shot Raynor's suggestion down as well, and Yue agreed with that decision. "W-We're not leaving you behind," she shook her head. "D-Didn't we go over this before? At the valley?" She looked at Rona then. "Leon's right. The Iron Falcons don't leave anybody behind." Yue wouldn't blame them if they left her behind for being such a timid, pathetic thing, but that was different. Neither Rona, Raynor, nor Edda was like that, so that wasn't even a possibility they had to worry about. "A-and if they go looking for us, then we just have to...have to...fight them," she muttered. Yue still had trouble understanding how it mattered way over here that Rastarn was looking for them. When she had left home, she knew that even if her father had asked the other tribes to look for her, that didn't mean that they would. After all, they were different tribes, and he was only the ruler of one tribe, not all of them. And Rastarn and Enta were two different cities, as Anne had pointed out, so it should work the same here. Or was this an Aeoran thing? Human beings really were too confusing. Then Leon asked Edda where she was planning on going next. "Um, well. Enta was just a stop. I was supposed to go from here to Yon'Lou. Probably a place called Sa- Sab...something. I was supposed to...well..." The girl didn't seem comfortable continuing her train of thought before she continued by bringing out a gem as well as an icon of a crystal dragon and a blue medallion. But Yue wasn't paying attention to that. "W-were you going to Sabetchi?" the archer asked timidly. "I've been there before...it's...different." She didn't say anything more than that, wincing slightly. Leon made his decision then, and while Yue didn't agree with it, she couldn't really argue with him either. Alexis cupped her chin in one hand. "Yon'Lou huh? I heard a lot about the place but never had a chance to go there myself. Sounds like a fun time." She glanced over at Yue. "I'm sure a certain someone can guide us around handily, aren't you glad Yue's with us, Rona?" Alexis said. The wyvern rider looked confused but with a grunt nodded in agreement. The archer blushed. "I-I haven't been everywhere there though. My tribe didn't move around like some of the others. L-Layne might be better for that." She poked her fingers together. "B-but if you need a guide around the woods, I-I could p-probably help." -- Being told to go shopping didn't mean much to Yue. She wasn't the kind to go shopping, and she had no clue what she would buy. So instead, she just wandered the town in a haze of fear and confusion. Fear from all the people around her, though at least she didn't stand out as much in her Yonan garb here, seeing quite a few other Yonans around. Instead, she had a different problem. Many of the Yonans had the pale skin from Youduon, her home tribe, and every time they glanced her way she ducked out of sight. Not that many of them would recognize her at first glance, as she didn't have much presence, physical or otherwise, in the tribe. But it didn't hurt to be careful, either. There were also a lot of Yonans that she thought might be from Sabetchi, but it was hard to tell, with their tendency to wear Aeoran clothes. And forget trying to figure out if any of them were from Tencheang or not. She did spot a couple of Balazeng tribesmen, which was pretty exciting, but she didn't approach any of them. While she had had a good relationship with her mentor who was from that tribe, that didn't mean that the others would like her as well. There wasn't much that caught her eye, but Yue did grab a bag of dried berries to eat. It wasn't much, but she didn't need much either. As she wandered, she eventually neared a bar where she could hear somebody talking about a boat. Perking her ears up at that, the girl edged closer, spotting Alexis entering as well. After going through the doorway, the archer stayed near the exit of the building, ready to flee if necessary. She didn't like being indoors, but Leon had said they would need to find a boat to Yon'Lou.

Shaymin nodded in understanding at Lok's reply. "Gijinka who are trying to kill the l-legendaries. That explains why they are called Godslayers." She looked a little nervous. "A-and they're strong? That's...not good. But I'm glad to hear there are others trying to stop them." Cresselia looked to Shaymin then. "I know you have been here a long, long, time, but are you ready to protect our world once again?" The grass type hesitated for a couple seconds, still shaking in fear from what had been said previously. Eventually, however, she nodded. "Y-yes, of c-course," she smiled tremulously. "I-I am no fighter, b-but I am also no stranger to upholding my task as a legendary, whatever that includes." As the others discussed Gwen, Shaymin turned toward the Mismagius with a sad look in her eyes. "I-I wasn't sure what to think of her at first...but I am glad that she made the right decision in the end." She addressed the other directly then, "Thank you Gwen. Kayla. Cresselia," she nodded at the legendary, then turned to the darker legend. She started to shake again, but took a deep breath and spoke anyway. "And you, Darkrai. I might not approve of your actions, but you did watch over that gijinka in the end." The grass type turned from Gwen to look at Nine and Lok. "Thank you, you two. Without you, I would still be in my shell, and Giratina would be an ever-present danger." She smiled then, the last of the nervousness fading away from her expression, replaced with only serenity. "I, and my other self, feel nothing but gratitude toward you. Solarfire, Plasma Rider," her smile turned a little mischievous, "please be careful on your way." She clasped her hands together and closed her eyes. "May we meet again when the sky and earth wills it." The group would feel a pleasant breeze on the wind then, carrying with it the scent of fresh flowers. Soon afterward, Nine, Lok, Gwen, and Kayla were wrapped in a soft glow, the area around them vanishing. Shaymin wasn't there, nor were either of the other two legendaries, but for a second, they could still hear their voices. "Before, I disapproved of Chasers. But now...after meeting you...I have changed my mind. Farewell, and thank you...Chasers of Adarid." And then, the voices faded into silence, their surroundings replaced with those of the village of Alpha. They had returned.

Voting for Silvia cuz she's more useful in Heroes since I don't really know much about either character.

Gregor is amazing end of story.

I don't particularly care for either, but Zelgius can be pretty cool I guess.

Nooo Alfonse, that's a really bad match-up. Rip