Roman carefully stepped to the side as Lannit would hurl his own guts out, wrinkling his nose, though he would give Lannit an empathetic look as he would repress the urge to chuckle. He wasn’t all that surprised that one of Jaakuna’s inventions had a few kinks to iron out, though as before, he repressed the thought, instead smiling at the two men before him. Despite his own insides feeling rather turned, on the outside he was as peachy as ever. “[color=indianred]What a rush![/color]” He exclaimed, letting out a small sigh. “[color=indianred]I haven’t had this much fun in ages![/color]” [hr] Reia managed to match Hamut’s smile, raising a single eyebrow at him. “[color=turquoise]Innocent? Certainly not I. No one in this room is a victim, nor would I ever dream of claiming to be one. Even so, even if everything you say is nothing more than fact, you have yet to answer my question,[/color]” She wasn’t about to back down, her fear all but gone at this point. “[color=turquoise]I may be weak, but I highly doubt you could ever hope to match my family in power. Your fame proceeds you, but your age shows. And despite all this…Time ticks with or without you and I, and as the moments pass, your grandson comes closer and closer to us. Will you strike him where he stands as he dares to burst forth to disrupt your plans? As you mentioned, it was his own idea to bring me here in the first place. He is the one who will rise time and time again, continuously gaining allies, but do you have what it takes to strike down your own flesh and blood?[/color]” [hr] “[color=thistle]It’s a Mark, so to speak, a kind an Esper bestows on us lowly mortals as proof that they have deemed us worthy. It takes a lot to impress an Esper, though the details include Mist compatibility, ancient magicks, a strong will…it is the same magicks the Espers used to rise against the gods to challenge their will, channeled through the mortal bodies to inflict pain upon their enemies and show their power to remind Ivalice who is in charge,[/color]” Vlyn answered quite cheerfully all things considered. “[color=thistle]There’s two stages—the manner of unlocking, which shows the worthiness between host and Esper, and then there’s the Inner Seal, formed from a bond of trust between the two in which the Esper’s will manifests through the host.[/color]” Grant had a rather blank expression on his face, one Vlyn couldn’t help but note was his confused-but-trying-not-to-show-face. “[color=purple]And…that Inner Seals manifests…how?[/color]” He asked. “[color=thistle]Depends on the host and Esper. Although…that Time power Emiri has is an example of the Inner Seal Chaos wields. So imagine something along those lines.[/color]” [hr] Shion ignored the many complaints as she would lead the way. She had visited this place exactly once, a long time ago, though the mission had been thievery and not entirely infiltration. While it wasn’t clear that she was unsure, her rather confident stride made sure no one would so much as take a second glance at her nor doubt her position. She knew the way they needed to go, though whether they would get through without a hitch or leaving behind a mountain of corpses was anyone’s guess. Lorenzo had to remind himself not to look around so often. The castle was actually fascinating, with several paintings and exhibits around that he would have liked to stop and see, but he wasn’t quite as good at hiding his foreignness. He tried to at least keep his gaze at the back of Shion’s armored head, impressed that she somehow managed to tuck all her hair into it. When she would come to a halt before a hallway, he nearly walked into her. “[color=darkorange]What’s up?[/color]” He asked her. “[color=deepskyblue]This is it,[/color]” She informed them simply, watching a nearby clock. As the long hand would strike 12, signaling the start of a new hour, Shion let out a breath, walking up to one of the guards outside the door and giving him a salute. “[color=deepskyblue]Shift change. You’re relieved.[/color]” She informed the man. Lorenzo would’ve screamed if he had known better. This was the plan!? Walking up and hoping the guards would change with them?! He had expected so much more that he was truly in shock. [hr] Her feet were sore. Nadeline managed to keep her complaints under a low grumble, though she had to admit that the trip was getting rather weary. There was no way this should have been taking as long as it had. She had followed Ultima’s instructions to the letter, only to no avail. She started to wonder if they were in some kind of trap, something disrupting the Mists around them and messing with her senses. But Ultima seemed so confident that Nadeline felt that she was right, or at the very least, had no reason to mislead them. Sylvester, unfortunately, had enough. She had walked right into him, though before she could apologize, she couldn’t help but wince at his scathing glare. He was frustrated—this was too obvious—though it seemed his patience ran thin. He seemed to outright ignore her, speaking directly to Ultima, though the Esper was as silent as ever. And yet, this silence was not the usual stand-offish silence she offered, but one silence that was almost bitter. It was strange, but Nadeline didn’t understand. What was wrong? “[color=coral]Please, calm yourself—[/color]” Her words were interrupted by his demand, though she let out a gasp as she caught a glimpse of that dark colored Mist. She took a step back, hitting the wall behind her. [i]I have lead you through the safest path. You are almost out. And yet…[/i] Ultima almost seemed regretful as she spoke. [i][color=coral]And yet?[/color][/i] [i]You are not safe with him.[/i] What in the world was she talking about? Though she admitted that she was clearly unnerved. No, this was just a misunderstanding. Taking a breath, Nadeline would try once more to reason with Sylvester. “[color=coral]We’re almost out, we need only to press on.[/color]” She urged him, though it was clear that she was cautious with her words.