[center][h3][color=C2B280]Fleo Plector – Train to Onibus[/color][/h3]
[@t2wave][@CirusArvennicus][/center]

At first, the dusty woman was about as averse to the idea of Trinity using her as a pillow as a camel was to swimming.  All it would take was one push for her head to literally sink inside Fleo's shoulder, and then her secret would be out.  Plus, Fleo didn't like people being too close to her.  Unrestricted and free were two tenants of Fleo's lifestyle, and having someone effectively containing her in one spot, even for something as innocuous as napping, did not sit well with her.  She shifted uncomfortable, looking at Ariel for help.  Unfortunately, Spirit Ariel seemed about as occupied with the outside landscape as Annalise was.

At that moment, out of sheer misfortune or unadulterated coincidence, Annalise's personality changed.  Her eyebrows furrowed and the corners of her mouth turned downward into a spiteful grimace, and she when she looked at the other occupants of the cabin, the look was one of complete disgust.  [b][color=black]“Filthy, rotten worms!  You presume far too much if you think yourselves my equals...my betters!  You're nothing but scum in here.  I'm the controller, so I can do whatever I want; none of you insects are even capable of [i]thinking[/i] on my level.  I'll carve you up for your insolence, and the world will be short three wastes of skin![/color][/b]

Annalise stood up suddenly, pulled her sword, and smacked it against the window.  Instantly, the scabbard fragmented, filling the cabin with black butterflies.  The next moment, the sword reconstituted into razor-sharp glass, and the butterflies transformed also.  Fleo stood up as well, too shocked and angry to remember that Trinity was leaning on her, but one of the butterflies raked across her face with a glassy wing, cutting into her cheek.  [color=C2B280]“What!?  Augh!”[/color]  

Annalise raised her blade for an overhead slash aimed at Fleo's shoulder. [b][color=black]”Die!”[/color][/b]

[center][h3][color=5D8AA8]Eliza – the Frenzy Fort[/color][/h3]
[@Caits][@liferusher][/center]

In the short time it had taken Gabriel and Thor to prepare themselves, Eliza had changed attire completely.  Rather than the shapeless blue robe in which she'd perused the job board, she now garbed [url=http://th09.deviantart.net/fs15/PRE/f/2007/041/7/5/Dark_mage_by_Readman.jpg]herself[/url] in a skintight beige suit littered with arcane symbols, sigils, inscriptions, and depictions.  She also wore large, black leather boots reinforced with steel armor, and on her right arm resided a strange sort of gauntlet, one decorated with an eerie, masklike face.  Despite what she was wearing, however, she seemed to shy away whenever she became aware of people looking at her.

When she spotted Thor and Gabriel, she rushed toward them.  [color=5D8AA8]”Come, quickly now.  Ve go to the Deployment Artillery on the secont floor.”[/color]  She led the way, walking quickly and with her hands clasped behind her back rather than swinging by her sides, to the Frenzy Fort's second layer.  Here, the eight-sided building was armed with a large cannon for each side, all of which could be retrofitted with different attachments, have their angle changed, or be loaded with different ammunition.  Today, if Eliza was to be believed, the ammo would be live—not live as in primed to explode, but live as in living, and in this case, the guild members themselves.  Eliza approached the cannon pointing due south, and waited in a reserved sort of patience as it was used to send an enthusiastic Kumbha Yatta flying at a hundred feet per second away from the Frenzy Fort.  [color=5D8AA8]”All first-timers get vorried about the cannons.  They say, vhat if it explodes me?  Does it hurt?  Vhat about landing strategy?  But it is all good.  Cannons are hafing air magic, that makes air cushion beneath soldiers vhen they land.  It doesn't go all the vay, but really speeds up trafel time.  Vatch.”[/color]

Eliza pulled open the back of the cannon, climbed in, and pressed a button.  The circular cap swiveled shut with a [i]clang[/i] and after a five second fuse, the cannon went off, and Eliza was on her way southward in the general direction of the Akane Resort.

[center][h3][color=d8BFd8]Nero – Dragon Fang Hall[/color][/h3]
[@Invisible Man][@liferusher][/center]

It was a rare thing indeed for another wizard to smile with the same luminosity and jubilation that Nero did, and an even more uncommon feat for such a gesture to be directed at the dark mage himself.  The hypothesis that it wasn't genuine barely diminished the fact, at least in Nero's eyes.  [color=d8BFd8]“The Time Lord?  What a coincidence...he happened upon me not too long ago.  Pretty weird dude, very full of himself.  Wonder what his angle is...?”[/color]  Her next few words stirred the genie's contemplative side.  He looked on Eve in a new light; she wasn't just kooky, she was self-aware, like he.  That meant that at least, deep down, she was an awfully good person, and perhaps...a friend.  [color=d8BFd8]“Some people will only ever value people like us for our magics.  They look at us, listen to us, and then condemn us because of our differences, all the while praising the diversity and strong bonds of their own guild families.  But to bring smiles is a quest most noble!  We should work together sometime, eh?”[/color]

The intrusion of Joslyn brought the conversation to an abrupt end.  Nero shot her a less-than-pleased look, one that wordlessly said, [i]you can have this dance, but I'll be back[/i].  With Ayame on his tail, he returned to the bar, and placed a few coins upon the counter.  [color=d8BFd8]“Twin toasts and a pair of pears for the twos of us, if you don't mind!”[/color]