Ira

Ira had just crushed a man's skull in his hand when the blades began to float around him, waiting for an opening to strike. Ira didn't move an inch to escape the deadly circle, instead raising his foot only to stomp it against the ground. A pillar of blood red flames sprouted around him, causing any of the knives caught in it to be melted goop at the most, and badly warped to the point of uselessness at the least. He then leaped out of the flames, landing on the front of a building right across from where Vanu was hovering, the spot where he landed begining to glow red as he pushed red energy into it, before he leaped off again in a another direction. The building would explode outwards towards her, sending a plume of lethal magical energy, and similarly energized debris, which would also explode upon getting close to her.

Ira would land a short ways a way from where Kuro was, having seen him when he hopped onto the building, and for a split second, he stared at the ice mage with a mixture of confusion, pain, and despair, but it was gone as suddenly as it had come, the blazing red orbs and bright blue pupils once again filled with incalculable amounts of rage. He would launch himself at the mage, hands set alight with morenred flame, as he attempted strike after strike against him. His movements were quick, precise, and immensely powerful, and his ability to predict and avoid any of Kuro's follow up attacks was scary. 

????

The stranger gave Man Li a rather disapproving look from underneath his hood, clicking his teeth as he shook his head. "Wow, do you care nothing about those caught in the cross fire of a fight between us. I know I don't, but then, I'm a sadist of the highest order. Truly, I thought you'd put more value in the lives of Crocus' citizen than that." His tone was rather mocking, but he soon became cheerful again as he turned to face Alec and Chuk.

"Negotiation, yes, that is excellent. I'm not here to fight you, just to give you a warning. Leave the city, and it will be razed to the ground, though now I'll the additional condition that if you attack me in earnest, then the Jupiter Cannons will fire anyway. And I do have them, got a engineer to teach soome of my brightest men to build them. Didn't take much, just having him watch his family be subjected the worst things one can do to a person, one by one, until he broke." The figure smiled, leaning back in his seat. "He was a loyal one though, didn't give in until his youngest daughter was brought up. You should have seen him, bawling and begging like a baby. The despair was just so delicious, that after the job was done, I had the girl tortured anyway, then took the blade to the man myself. And don't look at me like that, I was never going to let him or his family live anyway. He knew too much, a loose end that had to be cut. I just made sure to enjoy the process before I did."

The figure than reached into his cloak, pulling out a projection lacrima and placing it on the table. It began to glow, and a holographic projection of Fiore hovered over the table. "Okay, so then, while we talk, I have a little entertainment. You'll be able to watch the fighting in each of the areas where the fighting will commence. Just tell me where you want to view, and we'll view it. You see, I just wanted to test the effectiveness of these demons in combat, so I had them stir up some chaos in order to draw the attention of some mages. But, you guys are a bit too much of a challenge for them right now, thus why I feel the need to threaten you. So sit back, relax, and drink some hot coco, which is very good by the way, my compliments to the brewer."

[h2]Aiden[/h2]

Aiden swallowed as Oriel held his hand, but he didn't flinch away from the contact or her coming closer to him. To be honest, it felt. . . rather nice. "Uh, I don't travel around the city much, but I do know this one place. It's an ice cream parlor, with a great selection and a really friendly staff. Family owned, and they know me quite well over there, so I'm sure we can get some ice cream for free." Aiden returned Oriel's grip with his own, and stepped in a little bit closer, just letting himself relax a little."And as for stopping at my house later, I actually stay at the guildhall. The closest thing I have to a home is a cave not too far from the city." Taking the lead, he took her outside and into the streets of Crocus.

Sometime later, they arrived at the parlor, a quaint little place that had a nice cabin-esque look to it. The shop was named the 'Tiberton Iced Confectionery', and the owner was currently cleaning some utensils, looking up when he heard the door open.

"Hello there, valued customer, and welcome to Tib- HOLY SHIT, IS THAT YOU AIDEN!?!?"

The man was rather big and burly, yet he still managed to move so quick as he came around to hug Aiden, his grip unbelievablely tight, causing Aiden to gasp for breath until he let him go.

"Yep, nice to see you too Mr.Tiberton."