While he had a few thoughts and things that he was going to say, Jaakuna became very tightlipped as Emiri unsubtly threatened to whack him a few good times if he didn’t shut up and let her focus. Somehow, he had become just as fearful of her wrath as Keiran did. The silverlining was that she couldn’t make him do anything right as she commanded it, but there was a certain...dominance that he caught in her eye that reminded him a lot of Justine. Maybe he was just overthinking it, but perhaps not.

Shrugging at that thought, Jaakuna would simply let Emiri do what she seemed so focused on doing. As he would observe, he noticed that dark magicks started to gather around them; it was a slow build. Mist centering around Emiri, then drawing from Jaakuna. He felt a slight pinch from all around his body...well it didn’t feel like just a pinch, but rather something close to getting the chills - much like to how Savayna once sent a wave of icy magick his way after he refused to pay for dinner on their fifth date. It felt like that, just less chilly.

Eventually, the mist would then surround them in a dark field. The sight of the room that they were in slowly disappearing as the only thing that Jaakuna saw was darkness. And then, as if in the next moment, Jaakuna felt that familiar feeling he did when Zodiark had warped him from Archades. It felt like he was travelling through a wormhole where he was going so fast and traveling so many miles in so little time that his insides tossed and turned, and before Jaakuna even realized it, his body was being put through the ringer and had slammed on the hard, cold ground covered in rock and gravel.

“[color=ed1c24]Ou--[/color]” Before he would even get to react to it, he felt the weight of Keiran crush his lower back, causing him to groan loudly and then Emiri landed on both of them, resulting in an even louder grunt. It was, for just a few moments, that Jaakuna was seeing stars, or at least those who lived in the stars. There was every Esper minus Zodiark all going around in a circle like a merry-go-round.

Though it would take him a few, long moments to snap out of it, Jaakuna would indeed get out of the trance as he felt Keiran struggle to get off of him. The boots that the Zodiark spawn had on dug deep into his back, causing Jaakuna to yell out. “[color=ed1c24]Watch it, will ya!?[/color]” Jaakuna snarled angrily at Keiran, giving him an angry glare. It wasn’t until he would look around that he realized where he was. “[color=ed1c24]Wait...this isn’t that death room. She did it![/color]” Jaakuna yelled out, followed by an ecstatic cheer. He jumped around, hugging Emiri so tightly that he felt a button or two on her dress pop. 

“[color=lightblue]Jaakuna?![/color]” Savayna suddenly said, causing Jaakuna to let go of Emiri. “[color=lightblue]You fucking asshole! Where have you been?![/color]” She yelled at him, almost ready to clobber him.

As he went to face Savayna, Jaakuna turned around. He noticed a lot of familiar faces. Though, not all of them were smiles. Specifically, he noticed Nadeline who had a quite familiar look of anger on her face. That was a look that he saw a few times when he really angered her. Or whenever Savayna would egg her on just a bit too far. It only took Jaakuna a brief moment to realize who exactly she was looking at. 

“[color=ed1c24]Nadeline…[/color]” Jaakuna slowly said, knowing full well what she was thinking. “[color=ed1c24]Now, before you do anything rash…[/color]” 

Too late. She had taken to a charge. Keiran, apparently had readied himself for defense. Jaakuna scrambled to intercept, which thankfully he was able to. His right fist went aflame of gold and red as Nadeline’s rapier would collide with it, causing a brief explosion of light and fire magick, colors of white and red mixing with brilliant orange.

“[color=coral]Of all the--[i]rash[/i]?! [b]You[/b] telling [i]me[/i] not to do anything rash, when the very spawn of the enemy appears before me! Did your trip cost you what little brain cells you had left in your head?![/color]” Nadeline barked at him, waving her rapier around. “[color=coral]Have you realized what has happened? Have you any idea of the consequences--[/color]”

“[color=pink]Naddie, it’s fine,[/color]” Emiri interrupted her, trying to avoid Nadeline’s flailing as she approached her. “[color=pink]I’ve got him under my thumb now.[/color]”

Nadeline’s eyes widened in disbelief as the realization hit her. As Emiri smiled, it suddenly occurred to her that she was here. Gone was the once murderous look in her eye, and that lovely smile was in its place. Placing her rapier back on her belt, she approached Emiri, though she ended up pulling her into a tight hug.

“[color=ed1c24]What a relief,[/color]” Jaakuna’s flaming fist went back to normal and he let out a loud, thankful sigh. He couldn’t bear it if he had to fight another one of his friends today. God forbid he actually win against Nadeline, which seemed very unlikely. He would never tell anyone this, but she’s actually quite strong. From what he felt as her rapier and his fist collided, she had an overwhelming increase to her magick. If he were betting right now, he’d say that Ultima’s seal was unlocked.

“[color=coral]It’s really you, right?[/color]” Nadeline asked, her voice muffled in Emiri’s hair. “[color=coral]It is, isn’t it?[/color]”

“[color=darkorange]Hold on a sec, how did you guys even end up here anyway?[/color]” Lorenzo couldn’t help but ask. “[color=darkorange]We saw Zodiark take Jaakie away.[/color]”

“[color=ed1c24]Yeah and now I’m back,[/color]” Jaakuna stated rather bluntly, feeling weary. “[color=ed1c24]I’ll be glad to tell you the entire story, but perhaps after I get some grub in my--[/color]” Jaakuna looked around and noticed his entire homeland was in ruin. “[color=ed1c24]What in the holy graces of Ultima’s Tits happened here..?[/color]” Jaakuna looked to everyone for an answer.

Grant opened his mouth to respond, though he wasn’t sure where to start. Lorenzo looked at him, curious, though Grant seemed to have found his wordings as he motioned to Nadeline. “[color=darkorchid]We--no, Nadeline fought against Zodiark. Briefly...although before that…[/color]” His voice trailed off as he looked at Savayna, though he just as quickly looked away from her.

Shion, who had been silent until now, disapproved of the run arounds. “[color=deepskyblue]Seeing your unconscious body as a result of your conflict with Hamut was too much for the ice Queen,[/color]” She said bluntly, like ripping a bandaid off. “[color=deepskyblue]Mateus’ Seal was unlocked. She and I clashed. Zodiark appeared. Ultima’s Seal was unlocked. He and Nadeline clashed. Zeromus’ Seal was unlocked. He left. You came. The end.[/color]”

“[color=coral]It’s...slightly more complex than that, but...that does seem to be the gist of things.[/color]” Nadeline reluctantly agreed.

“[color=ed1c24]That explains why he didn’t greet me when he warped me from here.[/color]” Jaakuna said, looking to Emiri, “[color=ed1c24]I also guess that explains why he didn’t interrupt our fight--[/color]” Jaakuna suddenly looked towards Emiri’s direction, seeing the look on her face.

Keiran sighed, putting his elbow on her shoulder as he used her for support. “[color=gray]The good thing is that neither one of you were able to actually hurt one another. I have to admit, I was impressed by those little sparks of yours, Darcone,[/color]” He said as he pinched Emiri’s cheek, clearly trying to get that look off her face.

“[color=pink]I wonder how he’ll react when he sees we’re gone,[/color]” Emiri said as she swatted away Keiran’s hand.

“[color=deepskyblue]I’m more curious to know how the Seed is now under your control,[/color]” Shion mused out loud.

“[color=pink]We made a contract. He lost.[/color]” Emiri couldn’t help but give Shion a coy smile, though it faded as Shion’s eyes sharpened. 

“[color=deepskyblue]I wouldn’t be surprised if this, too, is a part of his plan,[/color]” Shion noted.

Jaakuna shrugged, “[color=ed1c24]I don’t think he would want his underlings becoming our personal slaves,[/color]” Jaakuna just had a thought, but as he would, he saw a few looks being shot his way. “[color=ed1c24]What?[/color]”

“[color=lightblue]You’re full of shit, that’s what.[/color]” Savayna nastily said.

“[color=ed1c24]You don’t believe me and I understand that. Maybe a little demonstration is in order,[/color]” Jaakuna looked towards Emiri then to Keiran as he grinned a grin with evil intentions, “[color=ed1c24]oh dearest, give our wonderful friends some proof of this contract.[/color]”

Emiri nodded, looking Keiran right in the eye. “[color=pink]I’d like something to sit on,[/color]” She stated, snapping her fingers. He let out a sigh, going down on all fours, letting out a grunt as Emiri would sit on his back. “[color=pink]How refreshing, I was feeling a little tired.[/color]” She stated happily, ignoring Keiran’s less than pleased expression.

“[color=darkorchid]I’d say you shouldn’t worry too much, but...Emiri is a bit...vengeful,[/color]” He informed Keiran, who shot Grant a glare.

As Jaakuna would look on, he couldn’t help but burst out into laughter, almost falling to the ground at the sight of Keiran being Emiri’s personal stool. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

Nadeline rolled her eyes, shaking her head at Jaakuna. “[color=coral]If you’ve had enough, we should get back to your brother and make sure he is safe,[/color]” She told him, frowning.

“[color=ed1c24]Why do you care about Vincent? He’s somewhere taking care of my father, isn’t he?[/color]” Jaakuna thought, placing his thumb and index finger on his chin as if contemplating about it for real.

The princess threw her arms up in frustration, though Grant felt he should help her out. “[color=darkorchid]Roman. Not Vincent.[/color]” He corrected him.

“[color=ed1c24]Ah yes, that makes more sense than Vincent.[/color]” Jaakuna said, eyes closed as he nodded.

Nadeline resisted the urge to hit him, though it seemed she had had enough of...everything. For now. Still, as she watched Emiri get off Keiran and go back to Jaakuna, she seemed satisfied. She looked so...happy. She conceded, waving for the group to follow as she decided to take the lead.