[center][abbr=Octopath Travelers][img]https://i.ibb.co/88KWNj5/OTbanner.png[/img][/abbr]
[sup]____________________________________________________[/sup]
[color=FFC6C6][u]Level[/u]: [b]8[/b] - [u]Total EXP[/u]: 175/80[/color] [color=2e2c2c]------[/color] [color=BC8DBF][u]Level[/u]: [b]6[/b] - [u]Total EXP[/u]: 115/60[/color]
[color=gray]𝙱𝙿[/color] [color=gold]●[/color][color=gray]●●●●[/color] [color=2e2c2c]----------------------------[/color] [color=gray]𝙱𝙿[/color] [color=gold]●[/color][color=gray]●●●●[/color]
[color=lightgray]Word Count: 2203 (+3 exp)
[b]Location[/b]: The Under[/color][/center]
The downside of acquiring something by less than legal means was that finding someone to explain how to actually use it was difficult, if not impossible. The regular citizens in the Home of Tears had scarcely seen the Linkshell system up close, and asking a member of the Mermaid Corps was obviously off the table. The only option was trial and error. 

The Linkshell itself was a simple looking item. Up close, Primrose thought her comparison of it being a cross between a conch and a scallop shell was an apt one. It was only a little larger than the palm of her hand, with smooth ridges on the top. It wasn't completely hollow, that much she could tell by its weight, but the pearls it produced came from a groove on the inside of it that led deeper in, where she imagined some animal might have made its home... if the shell was not a man-made construct. That she couldn't tell, but she did know that it must work based on some kind of magic given there were little other features to be found. 

Primrose was seated with her umbrella's handle trapped between her arm and her side, shielding her from both the rain and any nosy passersby while she fiddled with the item. Therion had taken the pearl created earlier and, with nothing better to do at the moment, was listening in on the town guard's progress with whatever mission they were handling. Something about Flukes, which he'd seen his fair share of in the Royal Waterways. 

[color=D34C25]"Oh."[/color]

The thief glanced over, but his line of sight was just as obscured as any random person on the street.

[color=BC8DBF]"What?"[/color]

[color=D34C25]"Its color changed."[/color]

Primrose hummed lightly, and with a few swipes of her hand the Linkshell's color changed once more. She wasn't quite sure what she'd done to start the process, but now that something had happened she pressed on. The hue cycled until it landed on a pretty, reddish color; and when she generated a pearl, its [url=https://i.imgur.com/irTTAc5.png]own color[/url] matched.

[color=BC8DBF]"...sounds like the connection's dead,"[/color] Therion said, pulling the original pearl out of his ear. He hadn't been able to hear anything after Primrose changed the shell's color. She handed him the new pearl and he pressed that where the prior one had been. The dancer created her own and did the same.

[color=D34C25]"Let's see if this worked..."[/color] She held her fingers to her ear, watching Therion mirror the gesture. [color=D34C25][i]"Testing..."[/i][/color]

She could instantly tell that something had happened by the brief look of surprise that passed over her friend's face. He returned the favor, confirming that with the changing of the device's color a new network was established. Very pleased with herself, Primrose let the Linkshell start producing as she tucked it away once more.

She stood, about to suggest to Therion that they try and find some of the others when a sigil lit up the "sky." A twisted red sign, the same that had been on Consul P. Therion turned quickly to see what she was staring at, and after recognition kicked in the travelers glanced at each other. Not a moment later they hurried through the rain drenched streets in the direction the ominous signal was coming from. They arrived at the central fountain, reunited with the other Seekers that had been drawn by the Consul's beacon.

[i]He really was lured in by P's defeat,[/i] Primrose thought. Unfortunately most of the group were still fatigued and healing from the battle earlier. They would be hard pressed to try and take on a second Consul so soon after the first, especially if what F said was true about P being the weakest of their number. She was inclined to believe it. And though F said he wasn't interested in hurting them just then, Primrose prepared herself for a fight all the same - but what followed couldn't really be described as a simple fight. 

When the Consul's ruse was put into motion Therion lashed out at the Consul with his fire, too little too late. The flames ate up the air F had been occupying and fizzled out. Therion let out a harsh breath, halfway to a snarl. He knew it was pointless to stick around looking for F, not to mention too dangerous, so he abandoned the central fountain with most of the others. He and Primrose made a beeline for the white whale, the latter clearing a path with her dark magic surging. Both of them were singed, cut, and scraped, but they'd made it to the vehicle of their escape.

It seemed the entire city's population was after them, a scene similar to the one in the Metro but worse. Familiar faces were among the pursuers, from Irenes the friendly guard to Primrose's opponents from the Royal Canopy Club. All of them were robbed of their agency, one of their eyes lit up in an angry red glow. Forced to run, the travelers kept who they could at bay, fending off would be boarders while trying to deal with ranged attackers. 

Primrose manifested the Makami and commanded it with a call of, [color=D34C25]"Mafrei!"[/color] Her striker howled and cast its magic, forcing a swath of citizens back away from the water's edge. Its master kept her own casting up, countering magic bolts and blasts that sailed the Seekers' way with her shadow. With her flame she ignited the boats in pursuit of them and spurned anyone gathered on the canal's edge looking for an attack of opportunity. The Devout Beads on her back let out a constant glow as they shot enemies and projectiles out of the air. This situation made her style of buff almost impossible, so rather than dance Primrose focused on her magic. The Baldur Shell having long since broken under the hail of attacks.

When he could, Therion lent her some of his mana - as well as ever other caster aboard. He darted around the creature's back playing support and clean up, tagging the magic users to donate his own mana in order to keep them going. He had his shield equipped, steadily blocking knives and arrows that came their way, and any sneaky hanger-ons that grasped to the side of the whale's body found themselves on the wrong end of his daggers. 

It was an all out assault, with a desperate defense by the Seekers. If they couldn't hold out it would suck up the last of their energy and probably kill them. Fueled by adrenaline, Therion all but ignored Ichiban's words of thanks and just continued his work - which only got all the harder after the whale resurfaced from its dive. 

A shadow passed under the water, and nearby their whale [url=https://dragalialost.wiki/images/4/42/120082_01_r05_portrait.png]Barbary[/url] emerged from the canal. There was a sharp toothed grin on her face as she rose up, almost towering over the Seekers.

"Ye think ye can escape?" She bellowed, her tentacles thrashing beneath her and churning the water. "My bombs're gonna blow ye sky high!"

True to form she conjured a couple of bombs, seeming not to care that there were several of the city's citizens also present on the whale's back. She tossed them up, which refocused the Travelers' attentions. Therion threw a hand up with the intent to intercept them with his Wildfire, only for the spell to sputter and fail. He cursed under his breath. He'd always been bad at managing his own mana, but was he really out or was the stress of the situation affecting his focus? 

Primrose stepped in then, hurling a Fire Orb Barbary's way. The fire ball met the bombs in midair, the explosion pushing the octopus woman back and washing the Seekers with hot air, nearly turning the rain to steam. The dancer let out a deep breath, meeting Barbary's annoyed glare.

"Why you..." the pirate growled, raising an arm to conjure another bomb. This time, Therion moved to preempt her. Barbary was close enough that one good dash and jump saw him land on the octopus' body, taking hold of one of her spikes to keep his footing.

"What are ye doing?!" She shrieked, surprised at she herself had been boarded. Her surprise turned to pained outrage when he turned his sword on her. The blade sliced through her sleeve and bit into her arm, making her yank the limb out of the sword's reach. Her tentacles came up all at once, but Therion was ready for them. He used up a Boost, energy glowing around his body as he strengthened himself. He cut through one tentacle, separating a majority of it from the base. Then another, a third, spraying blue blood as the limbs thrashed around.

He hoped that losing parts of her body might make the giant back down, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. 

"Grrrrraaaaah!" Barbary slammed her wounded tentacles into the water, making a huge splash. Therion shielded his eyes from the water, and when he looked again all of the limbs were back to normal, if a little fresher looking. Completely regrown, as if his attack hadn't mattered at all.

[color=BC8DBF]"You're kidding me,"[/color] he groaned. He turned back to Barbary's main body, the human-half that he suspected was probably her weak point. He raised his sword to stab her, but a tentacle shot towards him. It intercepted his sword and curled around him, and with a laugh Barbary flung the thief away. 

[color=D34C25]"Therion!"[/color] Primrose had been tangling with a few enemies that recently swooped in overhead, but seeing her friend tossed through the air she swatted Zasp into the water and summoned her Makami again, willing it to zip over Therion's way. It wrapped its body around his arm to catch him and floated there in the air to stop his movement. He made an attractive target for many pursuers like that, but the spike of pain from an arrow was better than being cast into the water to drown. Plus he had a good angle on Barbary at the moment, using his Shackle Foe at the same time the Makami cast its Tarunda, the both of them lowering Barbary's attack power. He dropped back down onto the white whale's back once the striker's time was up.

Barbary could feel something happen to her, but she disregarded it entirely. Letting out a roar she lunged for the whale, hooking the claw of her front two tentacles into its body to slow it down. 

"I'll be sending ye scallywags straight to the locker!" She raised her arms up, creating a bomb larger than the others. If the Seekers set it off preemptively, its size and proximity would mean the explosion would get to them either way. "Yaharharhar!"

She lobbed it right at the whale. She cackled as she watched the people on board scramble, but she didn't get to watch it explode. [i]Fwip.[/i] A well placed knife severed its wick and the bomb landed on the blubber with an anticlimactic plop, taking a least one mind controlled citizen with it as it rolled off the other side. Barbary turned her glare on Therion who'd thwarted her bomb. 

Before she could raise one tentacle to smash him, she felt the sting of Primrose's own dagger. It was swathed in dark magic, cutting Barbary's grasp on the whale. In the next moment the dark lance of the Rites of Termination formed and slammed down on the octopus woman. It slashed through her upper body and all but pinned half of her tentacles to the bottom of the canal, spreading magic that would crash into any other underwater pursuers. Barbary hollered more in anger than in pain, but either way she was stuck and the Seekers were free to get on with their escape. 

Even after the whale they were riding left the canal and crashed into the cliff face of the Crumble Caverns, the pursuit didn't stop. Aquatic citizens tried to leap the gap themselves, while flying ones crossed right over. It pushed the Seekers into the tunnel, at which point the Travelers split up.

Therion assumed his beast form and shot forward, overtaking the other Seekers to blaze a path forward. He'd heard the brief exchange with Purse, so he knew the ultimate goal was a tower at the end of the cavern. The tunnel's obstacles didn't hinder him much at all, and the rat creatures that didn't flee at the sight of the large wild cat found themselves at the mercy of Therion's blade and claws, mercy which he didn't have much of at the moment. 

Primrose took the opposite approach, following the safest path beat by the other Seekers. Although once she confirmed that everyone was inside the cavern, she paused only once to turn back to the way they'd come and summon her other striker. 

[color=D34C25]"Hippowdon, collapse the entrance!"[/color] she said, and the Pokémon raised itself up onto its hind legs. She left it there to fulfill its command, and when it slammed its feet back down an Earthquake shook the area. Hopefully it would stop any other pursuers from getting inside the cavern, as there was no telling when F's control would wear off, or if it even would.