Together, the team stepped out into the evening light, then set off back down the mountain. They had a lot of ground to cover, but the downhill trek was a mercy compared to the demanding slog it took to reach Witch’s Nose in the first place, and this time there wouldn’t be a spine-chilling detour in the derelict, horror-infested Curien Mansion. As he made his way downward, Band allowed himself to feel cautiously optimistic about the situation as a whole. Nothing had been solved just yet, but after all that standoffish deliberation back in Molly’s cave the conclusion of this layered story had been postponed, hopefully long enough that he and the others could bring the truth to light. All signs pointed to him making the right choice, but at the end of the day he was still just holding out hope–hope that he’d been wrong about neither Molly nor Bardon.
He, Harry, Amaterasu, Kit, and Heismay followed the platoon of guards back to Martira at a respectable distance, the wide berth they kept indicative of how much they trusted Bardon’s men. They did not trail so far behind, though, that when shouting broke out amongst the guard corps about five minutes to Martira, neither Amaterasu nor Heismay couldn’t catch up. Apparently, the men had stumbled into a wandering troop of goblins. Small, unintelligent, and poorly-equipped, the goblins didn’t pose much of a challenge, but during the scramble Morris and two other guards took advantage of the commotion to make a break for it, fleeing in different directions. Without a word, Heismay and Amaterasu gave chase, quickly passing the other pursuers and catching up to the runners. One of them tried to fight back, and got a lucky hit on both thanks to his magic igniter, but he quickly found out just how grave a mistake he’d made. Once the others saw what happened to him, they gave up without a fight and stayed down once tackled. Band took the chance to free both Amaterasu and Heismay with a friend heart while waiting for Bardon to catch up. The moment he arrived on the scene, Morris and the other man began begging for their lives.
Morris admitted to kidnapping children, but pleaded that he’d been coerced into doing so by Lady Joanna, the sanctoress he ruled the town. He explained that after he racked up so much gambling debt, Joanna had given him a choice: find sacrifices to feed the monster beneath the castle, or he would be fed to it himself. His co-conspirator backed up his story without question. Bardon listened with an expression of terrifying severity on his face the whole time, astounded by the accusations against the sanctoress he’d served and respected for so many years. After that, he ordered that the perpetrators be hauled away and locked up until he could come up with a plan for what to do next; it seemed like he meant to take the accusations seriously and approach Joanna herself about the matter, backed by the loyal members of the guard corps. At the same time, he did not at all intend to let Morris or the others off the hook. As Heismay said earlier, the innocent blood on the hands of these monsters would be repaid.
Once the guilty had been dragged off, Bardon thanked Band and the others for their help with the investigation, and offered his apologies. The coming days of confrontation, against monsters of very different kinds, would not be easy, but he would endure whatever trials and tribulations lay ahead for the sake of truth, justice, and the wee ones of Martira. Big Band expressed his approval, and mentioned that if Bardon needed more firepower to deal with the monster beneath the keep, Stein might be able to lend a hand.
Band’s time was up, however. He’d originally been part of a small team dispatched to Martira to gather supplies while the Seekers of Light were involved in the Dead Zone, but learning about the missing children had obliged him to stick around. Now, with the kids safe in Molly’s care and Bardon around to deal with the real problem, he had other places to be. After all, even though they’d more or less closed the book here, the fight against Galeem was far from over. Band offered Harry, Heismay, Kit, and Amaterasu the chance to join the real fight to change things for the better, and one day save all worlds from the Lord of Light.
Despite his typical indecision, it did not take long for Heismay to make his choice. There was nothing in or around Martira anchoring the eugief here, and after seeing Band and the others in action, he had been inspired to come out of hiding and once again take up arms for the sake of a brighter tomorrow. “My skills are yours,” he declared. “Rest assured, I was once a member of the Shadowguard, and the years have not dulled their edge!”
Once everyone gave their answers, Band called up the Avenger to request an appropriate amount of fulton devices. Sandalphon herself teleported to Band to drop them off, offering the flabbergasted new recruits her greetings in the process. She offered an especially gracious hello to Amaterasu, whose divine significance the archangel seemed to identify. After that, all that remained was to activate each fulton, shoot up into the sky, and be collected by the airship that would become the heroes’ home in the day to come.
Their time of arrival aboard the Avenger was just before sunset, after the conclusion of the memorial service in Stolen Moments, though they would still be able to get some leftovers from the cafeteria if so inclined. Sandalphon expressed her apologies that she could not show the newcomers around herself, since she had an urgent appointment to attend to, but encouraged the others to explore and better acquaint themselves with their new surroundings. It would be quite the drastic transition, but they would find no shortage of friendly faces to welcome them to the campaign against Galeem.
Once she left, Band apologized too. He was exhausted from all his physical exertion today and needed a break. Heismay, after getting over his amazement at waking up inside such an incredible airborne Gauntlet Runner, offered to grab them both a meal from the mess hall and chat as they ate together. Band gratefully accepted the offer, and just like that the newcomers had their run of the place, free to see all the sights and meet all the people they wanted until the time came to find a room and bunk up for the evening. After all, a new adventure would begin tomorrow.
Zenkichi Hasegawa & Sandalphon The Avenger Word count: 3,001 (+4 XP/Rapport)
When Zenkichi arrived at the bridge, he found it almost deserted. Sandalphon caught eyes immediately, with the high-visibility radiance of her halo a sharp contrast to the electronic blues and greens of the hologlove nearby. With the Avenger in the capable hands of its tireless onboard AI, Hope, there were no other personnel necessary to keep the airship in the sky. Even at night, it seemed, the ship did not land, since there would be no better time for an ambush from Moebius, hungry as they were to hunt their foes’ stronghold down. After a cursory look around, though, Zenkichi realized with a start that he and Sandalphon weren’t alone; the Commander happened to be here too, off to one side and motionless as an appliance, silent but watching, always watching.
Sandalphon greeted the detective with a small smile that did not seem to reach her eyes. “Thank you for coming,” she told him, her voice low, lacking its usual stoic authority. “I won’t occupy too much of our time. There are many tasks to attend to in preparation for tomorrow’s missions, and to achieve optimal results all units must be adequately rested. Even me.” She gestured toward one of the curved benches surrounding the hologlobe. “Will you sit down?”
Once seated, the archangel took a moment to gather herself. Then she spoke, her tone a touch slower and more deliberate than usual. “For some time now, I have been perturbed by certain dreadful thoughts. Nothing quantifiable–just what I imagine most people would refer to as a ‘bad feeling’. Or a ‘sinking feeling’, perhaps. I managed to put off further investigation into the troublesome matter in lieu of my other duties, but willful ignorance is something I can neither conscion nor stomach. This afternoon, I called a number of my Midgar contacts to gather relevant data and meticulously assemble a timeline of certain events. What I discovered is not necessary for any Seeker of Light to know in order to perform the tasks required of them. However…”
Sandalphon hesitated. “In the brief time we’ve known one another, we’ve achieved a level of rapport that’s somewhat unusual for me. I believe this extends beyond our shared combat effectiveness, as well. It would not be untrue to say that I have grown…fond of you. At the same time, the behavioral and physiological readings I’ve taken of you in my presence indicate a similar attachment to me, empirically speaking.” She gave him her best attempt at an apologetic look, as if saying she was sorry for defaulting to such methods. There was more to her contrition than that, though. “As such, I think I owe it to you to share my findings with you.”
The archangel reached out gingerly, hoping to take Zenkichi by the hand. “Before I do, however, please allow me to express that I do not regret my decision, either to establish my Covenant with you, or to bond with you or Akane. I would not qualify these actions as mistakes. I would understand if you do…but, personally speaking at least, I would hope not.
She looked off into the middle distance. “Approximately three and a half years ago, I began employment with DespoRHado Enforcement, LLC. Prior to that I served as a cleric of the Lateran Church. That period lasted approximately six years. I was unable to piece together of the exact span during which I existed in Midgar before my induction into the Lateran Church, but as best as I can tell, it lasted no more than a couple months.” Sandalphon breathed in evenly. At some point, her pupils had become stress marks. “I trust that you are aware that in this world, we are all incarnated with a built-in lifespan of ten years?”
As Sandalphon spoke, she could feel Zenkichi's hand in hers grow warm, while his face slowly grew pale as realization set it. ”Y-yeah…” Three and a half years with DesporRHado. Six years with the church. A few months before that…he could do the math. His eyes closed as he prepared himself for what he knew was coming.
“Unfortunately, due to insufficient or inaccessible records of my earliest days in Midgar, the margin for error is unacceptably high. Well outside my personal standards for data analysis.” If anything, Sandalphon seemed more annoyed by that than what she was about to convey. “As best I can tell, I have between one week and three weeks left. Before my expiration date.”
When she finished, Zenkichi's eyes finally opened, pinpricks that seemed as if they could see a thousand miles away. What could only be described as the broken smile of a man desperately trying to hold himself from shattering slowly found its way to his face. ”....oh.” was all he could manage to choke out, even as his grip on her hand tightened, as if he was afraid she would disappear right in front of him.
The ensuing moment of silence stretched out into seconds. Sandalphon wanted to say something, but she couldn’t quite find the words. Nothing could have prepared her for a situation like this. From an impersonal standpoint, she’d delivered all the information she needed to, but she felt compelled to dispel the dreadful quiet settling around her with something more sentimental. To mitigate the painful impact of this revelation, if indeed it could (or should) be mitigated. But what could she say? It was hard enough to try to unpack the tumult of unprecedented feelings swirling around inside her, let alone read and properly address Zenkichi’s.
After a moment, she said the only thing she could think of that might quash his distress. “I’m sorry.”
The words seemed to snap Zenkichi out of the state he'd fallen into, his demeanor quickly changing as he leaned forward a little, squeezing her hand before loosening his grip. ”No, you don't have anything to apologize for. That was…it's a lot to take in. It just…it almost feels like a sick joke. It's just…bad timing. But I don't regret it, either.” He added, calling back to what she'd said earlier. ”Meeting you. Becoming your friend. Being…close to you.” A flush crept up his neck as he spoke, but he carried in without shame or embarrassment.
”Losing Aoi…changed me. On a fundamental level. I made a choice that, no matter what happened, I would never let anything like what happened to her happen to Akane. She hated me for that choice for a long time, because it meant betraying myself for her sake. It meant allowing another victim to take the blame for Aoi's death.” He couldn't recall just how much of his own story he'd told Sandalphon before, but he was resolved to leave nothing hidden now.
”An influential politician was driving drunk when he struck my wife, killing her. An aide took the blame, and committed suicide after the incident. I began an investigation into the man responsible, but after I received a letter threatening Akane's life, I let off on the pressure. My boss and I were still planning to climb the ranks and find justice when there was less red tape in our way, but it was the easy way out, letting someone else take the blame until I had the perfect hand to play, and it took meeting the other Phantom Thieves and seeing the dark side of Akane's hate that made me realize that. That was when I awakened to Valjean. My ‘rebellious spirit’, as Mona calls him. It's the manifestation of my dedication to justice, to doing the right thing, and it was only when I set aside my grief and my fear for Akane that I was able to truly make that dedication again. But it didn't mean that I can't look out for her, too. I was just…too afraid to take that risk. Too afraid of losing someone else.” Taking a deep breath, he turned a sad smile Sandalphon's way.
”I don't want to lose you, either, Sandalphon. I don't…I don't know if I'd call what we have love, but the thought has crossed my mind. Nobody has made me feel the way you do since Aoi. There were…women…after. And girls. Nobody too young, but when you're in a club and drunk off your ass the differences between 20 and 40 are a lot less noticeable. But all that was just me running away from my pain. When I'm with you, I feel like I'm marching towards a future. I…felt like I was. It just…feels like a potential path I was hoping to walk has been ripped out from under me. I can only imagine how this must be affecting you. I'm sorry if my reaction has seemed selfish, Sands.” The nickname came with the best playful smile he could manage at the moment. It was a small, fragile, precious thing.
The archangel listened to his story at rapt attention, absorbing every detail. To an extent, her gaze probably felt too intense–like she was staring straight through Zenkichi, trying to dissect how he thought and felt so she might be able to understand how to think and feel herself. When he apologized, though, she shook her head. “Not at all. Firstly, allow me to thank you for sharing your story, despite the pain that must have resurfaced alongside those memories.”
“Secondly, I believe that I not only understand, but share that sentiment, now that you’ve put it to words. This exercise in becoming more human, in growing closer to a human, felt like…realizing that I had been trapped within a roundabout all my life, and that a brand new road now lay in front of me. A free and open road that seemed to stretch past the horizon itself, ripe with promise. It intimidated me, and it would not be without challenge, but I knew I could walk it…if you were alongside me.” Her unblinking eyes slid closed, and her head drifted downward. Overhead, her halo gently sank. “I have never thought highly of my own existence, beyond the value I bring to a team and the good I can do for mankind. But to see the terminus ahead of me, so soon after that grand vista unveiled itself…I agree. It does feel like a…like a terrible waste.” For the second time in her life, tears began to well in the archangel’s eyes. “If it were possible. I would have liked to see…that future. For us.”
Seeing Sandalphon cry for a future that they could never share was like a dagger to Zenkichi's heart. It hurt, so deeply, both to know her fate and to know that she felt the same. It was such a tragic twist of fate that they had met with such disparate lifespans remaining. He knew that he would carry the memories of their time together, of their bond, for the rest of his time in the World of Light, however long that might be.
But alongside that pain in his chest was a slowly simmering anger. Anger at the circumstances that would tear them apart. Anger at Galeem, for toying with their lives, the very worlds from which they came. He knew that, given the choice, he would choose to meet Sandalphon every time, but even still, the unfairness of it all gnawed at him.
Keeping a light hold of her hand, Zenkichi stooped out of his seat and knelt before Sandalphon, in a much more deliberate recreation of the time she had done the same in Everdream Valley. ”Sandalphon.” He started, slowly. ”I told you that I promised myself that I would never let what happened to Aoi happen to Akane. I…can't promise the same to you. It would be a lie. We both know that. But I can promise that, as long as I have left in this world, I will carry you with me, one way or another. Not Simon,” he turned his head, addressing the Captain who had told them about the time limit. ”What happens when somebody…reaches their time limit?” He asked, dreading whatever answer he would receive in a different way.
The Commander kept his mechanical hands clasped behind his back as he replied. “They dissolve into light.” Zenkichi's stomach, and face, dropped at the revelation. That was probably the worse of the two options.
How fitting, Sandalphon thought, amongst other things. Zenkichi’s sincerity was touching, and his callback did not go unnoticed, but in the archangel’s opinion a eulogy was a touch premature. After a moment she stood, lifting the detective to his feet alongside her. “I appreciate your sentiments. However, I am not dead just yet. Should the worst come to pass, you will have ample time for sadness later. For now, we should focus on what we can do with the time I have left.” Haltingly, Zenkichi nodded in response.
Though her cheeks glistened with tears, Sandalphon’s brow furrowed in thought. “We have a lot of ground to cover, after all, and the world is full of wonders. There may be a way to save me. The Commander here is proof of that.” She looked over at the automaton. “Of course, merely copying my mind into an artificial shell would be of little benefit to myself, but it proves that there are options.” She lifted her other hand and examined its palm, as if answers could be divined from the lines that arced across it. “I mentioned one path before–the path trod by all humans. Today, I unwittingly set foot upon a second path. I know precious little, but I am deeply intrigued. I feel an ephemeral pull, and in my mind’s eye I can see a glittering northstar, far above that all-too-short road. Where they would lead me I cannot say. I know only the name of this path: Remembrance.”
Sandalphon placed her hand on her chest. “I have heard it said that to remember something is to make it real once more. Regardless, let us not mourn before I am gone, but hold out hope for a miracle.” She stared into Zenkichi’s eyes, and a smile crept across her face. “Can you do this for me?”
Slowly, Zenkichi's face grew a smile mirroring Sandalphon's. ”I can do that.” He managed, though it was a little strained. To cling to hope, to fight for a miracle? It was hard. But he supposed it was easier than just giving up.
His hand slowly found its way to Sandalphon's cheek, gingerly wiping away a tear and caressing it, as Zenkichi slowly leaned forward to lean his forehead against hers. ”I'm…afraid, Sandalphon. Afraid of losing you. But even more than that, I'm afraid that I'll lose you, and one day we'll meet again…and you won't remember.” His voice shook, but he carried on. ”And I'm afraid that will hurt even more than losing you.”
The archangel did not recoil from his gentle touch. Instead she carefully leaned her own forehead against Zenkichi’s, the light of her halo shining down on hair both black and white. His skin felt warm, while hers felt cold. “Well. Technically speaking, that would not be me.” She closed her eyes. “I am afraid as well. It is a curious sensation. Yet, at the same time, it is also wonderful to have something I am afraid to lose. Something…precious.”
Zenkichi nodded ever so slightly at that sentiment. ”It is.” His thumb gently traced small circles on her cheek as he leaned closer. ”Having something to lose…something to fight for…is a wonderful thing.” As he finished the sentence, his lips closed the distance between them, gently pressing into Sandalphon's as he closed his eyes.
“Yes, and-” All of a sudden, Sandalphon found herself quite unable to speak. In fact, for once in her life she was completely overwhelmed, her mind short-circuited by bioelectricity. She was frozen, not by discomfort, but by cluelessness. If Zenkichi’s eyes had been open, he would have seen that the archangel’s irises were completely black, as if her pupils had simply shut off. Nothing existed except the man in front of her, so close and so very warm, her chest pressed against his. After a moment, though, her own eyes slid shut, and without thinking Sandalphon kissed him back.
The tiniest bit of surprise at Sandalphon's complete lack of reaction at first tickled the back of Zenkichi's mind, but he'd learned to roll with the punches a long time ago. He did not press the kiss too deeply, though he did not leave it a simple, chaste peck on the lips either. It lasted more than long enough for Sandalphon to recollect herself and return the gesture, causing a smile to force itself onto Zenkichi’s lips despite the fact that they were puckered and pressed to the archangel's. He let the connection linger a few more moments before breaking it, keeping his forehead against hers. ”That was also wonderful.” He whispered, eyes half-opened and gazing lovingly into hers. ”It feels like I could do that forever.” As he admitted this, a deep blush began creeping up his neck to his cheeks.
At some point Sandalphon’s pupils had returned, taking the shape of hearts. “If only,” she murmured. Her chest heaved, her breath labored; for a few moments, she had in fact forgotten all about breathing. As her heart pumped, though, her pale face began to redden as well. “We have a little longer, at least?” After a deep inhalation, she closed her eyes again, her gray lips ajar.
Zenkichi's face blossomed into a bright smile at Sandalphon's words. ”That we do.” He pressed his lips to hers once more, one hand sliding to the small of her back and holding her closely as the other gently cupped her chin. In that moment, everything was right. The time would come when they had to separate, to go their separate ways as part of their mission, but for this ephemeral blissful moment, there was nothing to worry about.
Word Count: 855 Level: Lv: 6 EXP: (3/60) Location: Dead Zone Hinterlands/ The Avenger
As the group made their way out of the Dead Zone, Harry was deep in thought about whether anything he did was positively affecting the world. The idea that his deeds were pointless and that this meant nothing was at the forefront of his mind. He didn’t think that solving this case would do any good. This feeling felt like the exact moment when his fiancée left him. Harry had his hands shoved into his pockets, looking quite melancholy. This whole situation was messed up because he didn’t have the full picture of the situation.
Harry was walking with the others and started feeling a little dizzy after a moment. His hands were shaking, and he could feel the withdrawal beginning to set in. He stopped walking and stood still like a statue. He vomited all over the floor before wiping his mouth and the tears from his cheek. Slowly, he got his bearings before continuing to walk along with the group. Caughting up with the others, he was glaring daggers at Morris. The son of a bitch thought he could run, but he wasn’t going to escape from justice so easily.
He would ensure that Morris and his co-conspirators never see the light of day. Of course, he would like to interrogate Lady Joanna. And find out more information about this monster. He could be the Icebreaker to get some answers from her. However, it seemed Bardon would take care of the situation. Something that disappointed Harry greatly. “Hopefully we can find whatever is under the castle, bud…not like it matters though. Looks like we gotta deal with Galeem.” He said, responding to Kitt. But there was a bigger fish to fry right now. If Galeem were allowed to fulfill his plans, then the kids would be dead either way.
Harry shrugged his shoulders before speaking up. “I guess I’ll go with you then.” His voice sounded low and quite exhausted already. He didn’t acknowledge Sandalphon as she made her appearance to the group. He had an expressionless look as he was fulltoned out to the Avenger.
As soon as she got to the Avenger, he went straight to the canteen—not to get any food, but to see if he could procure a drink. As he entered the cantina, he snooped around the kitchen area, looking for any bottles of booze. Anything that had alcohol in it would help with the withdrawal.
If the chef were there, he would notice Harry stalking inside the kitchen. Harry was scavenging through the fridge and cabinets, hoping to find any alcohol he could drink. His hands were shaking more than before. Thick beads of sweat were running down his face. A voice was speaking to him.
“You don’t need a drink, Harry. Look what happened to you last time you went on a bender.” Volition said, sounding disappointed in Harry.
“You have to get something inside of you to fight the withdrawal. If not, you'll have one hell of a bad time.” Electro-Chemistry said, trying to get Harry to start drinking.
“Don’t listen to him, he 's just trying to bring you down and send you into oblivion.” Logic chimed in with Inland Empire speaking.
“But wasn’t that the path you were always taking, Harry. The path into the cold, empty hands of death?” Inland Empire was starting to scare Harry with his existential crap.
“You serve no purpose in life. Your life is nothing! You serve zero purpose! YOU SHOULD KILL YOURSELF NOW!!! And give somebody else a piece of that oxygen and ozone layer, that's covered up so we can breathe inside this blue trapped bubble. Kill yourself. I mean that, with a hundred percent. With a thousand percent.” Shiver said.
“What the hell are you guys talking about? Harry will do no such thing. Look, you can spiral into alcoholism and despair, but that isn’t going to help solve this case and with fighting Galeem. You don’t need alcohol to function.” Logic said, trying to persuade Harry not to spiral.
“Hi, what did I miss?” Reaction Speed said being obvious what the conversation topic was.
After Harry’s conversation with the chief, he left the kitchen and sat at a table. Looking around and being weirded out by the others eating in the canteen. A few tables to his right, he noticed a huge man in power armour conversing with a dog in a dress. A dude in a trench coat smoking something out of a pipe. Another buff blonde dude with sunglasses chewing bubble gum and kicking ass while playing some sort of handheld console. Another guy who looked like an undead cowboy singing showtunes with a scary-looking Japanese gangster. And what he assumed was a journalist conversing with a shirtless Japanese man with a scar on his chest, and a bear in a karate outfit.
This place and really this whole situation were quite strange to Harry. Nevertheless, he continued eating and drinking, trying to restore his energy. After this, he would shower and perhaps find somewhere on this vessel to get his clothes cleaned. A good nap could help with his mood.
Sectonia and Primrose Word Count :1674 (+3 xp and rapport)
Following the service, many people exited the bar. Stolen Moments wasn’t that large of a space to begin with, and memorials could often lead to awkward tension in the area that drove one to go be alone, or with their loved ones. Of course, there were some that stayed behind, whether to talk or simply imbibe.
Primrose had remained, taking a seat at the bar. She had quietly requested of Cirrus whatever he recommended, and placed the zenny on the bartop once he’d served it.
She looked very elegant sitting there, one long leg crossed over the other, the gray sundress she wore fluttering loosely along her thighs and seat when she shifted. She’d kept much of her jewelry on, and her long hair was still tied up in its large ponytail-braid, all of which helped to enhance the rather plain garment she had on and balanced her overall look nicely.
It helped too that she was well practiced in looking good while seated in a tavern. Or generally just being in one. It was her default now.
The dancer had one elbow on the bartop, resting her cheek against the back of her hand. With her other hand she gently swirled the half-empty glass, having been content to listen to the conversations of others for a little while. Sectonia, who had also remained in Stolen Moments, was so large that anyone else at the bar was practically seated next to her, so once her conversation with Roland lulled Primrose leaned over slightly to strike up her own little chat with the queen.
"Your eulogy was nice and succinct, though I do wonder if Midna would have appreciated being called a ‘haphazard creature,’" she teased. Likely not, given the Twilight Princess had complained about her cursed impish form before.
”Probably not. But she did fuse with a massive amount of spirits. It took until recently for her to fix that up, but she didn’t get to enjoy those fruits of her labor for very long.” Sectonia said, holding a half empty bottle of mead at this point.
That was fair enough. It was true, after all. Primrose dropped her head into her hand again, looking at Sectonia sideways.
"...are you feeling a little more sentimental than usual?" she asked. The dancer wasn't surprised that Sectonia hadn't passed up the chance to speak in front of the group even if it wasn't about herself, but she normally wouldn't have expected the queen to stick around for longer afterward. Maybe she was more affected by the losses than she let on?
”Roland offered me a drink, and I was in the mood for one.” Sectonia said, holding her bottle of mead. ”And it would be rude of me to just leave without at least finishing my drink.” She took a bit of a swig from the bottle before saying. ”Although I might be, just a little. Midna seemed to listen to my advice on ruling a kingdom. Either from politeness or curiosity, she seemed naive at that regardless. Or perhaps her distrust of Ganondorf made her bond with anyone who was also weary of the guy.” She said.
"I don't think so," Primrose replied with a thoughtful hum. "In the grand scheme of things I didn't know her long... but I got the sense she was just a compassionate person."
And just passionate in general. The Twilight Princess just didn't seem like the type to give the time of day to someone she didn't like, even if they were the enemy of her enemy so to speak, so she must have genuinely gotten along with Sectonia at least a little.
Which might really be the reason that the queen bee felt like having a drink. Her personality was a lot to handle, and she had the tendency to look down on others. On top of maintaining her veneer of aloof high status, Sectonia probably didn't have many she could easily converse with. Especially those that she considered close to equal to her.
Well. Primrose hadn't hung around to psychoanalyze others. Not intentionally anyway. She offered Sectonia a thin smile.
"If you'd prefer to finish your drink in good company, I'll be here a little longer," she said.
Sectonia nodded. Taking another swig of her bottle, she thought for a bit before saying. ”So, from the sounds of it, Roland is empire shopping. Or trying to figure out which one he wants to join. That's what we were talking about earlier.” Sectonia said, rolling her eyes over to the fixer who was getting up from finishing his drink and heading out of the room. ”He's a weird one. He follows orders well but I feel like there is some kind of game he's playing himself.”
Primrose gave her a small nod. The dancer had heard a little of that conversation after all. Roland did seem a strange one, but he seemed harmless enough from what little Primrose had seen.
"I'm not surprised that his... pessimism... led him to believe we'd all still be stuck here after the battle is over," she said. She didn't think even Therion had entertained that idea for long.
"Assuming this world isn't completely unraveled at the end of all this, are you actually planning to stay?"
”If I’m ruling over it at the end of it all? Of course. It would be much more land than I previously ruled over. There is even a much more diverse area made of sweets and entertainment than Floralia!” Sectonia said with a nod. To be fair, the world of light was much bigger than Popstar.
”Granted, that assumes we find a way around that 10 year time limit. It seems that will be a major goal of mine. Preferably in a way that doesn’t turn people into Consuls. They seem to lose something upon the transformation, something important but something I can’t quite quantify.” Sectonia said, saying what was on her mind about all of that. She didn’t see how Peach turned into a Consul to verify her idea though.
Primrose tapped the side of her chin lightly, considering Sectonia's plan like it was a thought experiment. The queen bee was ambitious to say the least, but she would be hard pressed to succeed. Ultimately if things went according to Primrose's own plan, she wouldn't be around to see whether Sectonia actually reached her hypothetical goals or not. She had things left unfinished in her own world.
"You have nothing and no one you wouldn't leave behind?" she asked, mostly out of curiosity.
”I already found Taranza. The only other thing would be Floralia itself, but as it's a chain of floating islands, it could be anywhere. And this place is much bigger than Popstar, which is what I had planned to conquer before this all started.” Sectonia said, not having as many attachments as Primrose seemingly did.
"Taranza?"
”My second in command. Found him in the Underground. He's doing his own work there trying to prepare the place I think.” Sectonia said, trying to remember what happened back then. ”I assume you do by the way your asking, do you not?”
Primrose found it a little amusing that Sectonia had left this Taranza to his own devices of which she was apparently not aware of. She would have expected that Sectonia would bring him along with her as another minion of hers. Still, it was nice she had found a trusted person in this world.
She did turn her head at the queen's question though. "What do you mean?"
”Usually those that ask a personal question want to talk about that question themselves.” Sectonia said plainly, having finished her bottle.
"So you're saying I do have them, someone or something I wouldn't leave behind." Sectonia wasn't wrong on either account. Normally a person making inquiries like Primrose was would reveal quite a lot about the asker... And, of course, there was one person she would never abandon. Not until she confronted him properly and exacted her vengeance.
That was not the reason she'd asked however, so the dancer fixed Sectonia with another small smile before her green eyes could darken.
"Maybe I do... I really was just curious though. I don't expect many of us want to stay behind even if the option is there."
”Either way, I doubt anyone will have a choice. You don’t just destroy countless worlds, mash them together, and not have something come of all of that even should you be defeated. Especially if doing so allows you to completely change the underpinning of reality itself.” Sectonia said, and with a bit more wisdom than even she probably didn’t mean to say, possibly thanks to the alcohol she said. ”Make the best of the situation, recontextualize what your goals are, and if the eventual outcome coincides with your original goal, be pleasantly surprised. Or refocus and broaden your original goal to encompass your new situation.”
This time Primrose's eyes did flash with emotion, brief and intense. Ten years of nursing hatred was not something one simply recontextualized. But Sectonia didn't know any of the suffering Primrose had endured - of the Seekers, only two had any idea. And she preferred it that way. So after a moment of silence Primrose raised her glass to her lips, draining the last of her drink.
"I would be a fool not to heed the advice of a queen, hm?" she said, her voice almost teasing in its faux lightness. "We'll have to see what happens, in the end."
”Well, thats enough drinking for now. A hangover tomorrow wouldn’t be elegant.” Sectonia said, leaving her bottle at the counter and making her way out of the room. She did have to make herself look proper for tomorrow as it was anyway.
Primrose waved by wiggling her fingers at Sectonia. As the alien queen left Primrose's gaze followed after her until she disappeared, at which point they swept back over to the bar with her spurious smile still in place.
wordcount: 7651 (+8 rapport/exp) Edward Portsmith: Level 6 (16 cells) (1 level up benefit stored) ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (21/60) Location The Avenger (ft. Ace Cadet)
While Miss Fortune’s words about people having nothing to say about the dead due to them not knowing each other hadn't quite panned out as poorly as it had initially seemed it would, they did still stick in his mind. Enough for him to make a decision regarding an idea he had been dithering on, which resulted in him seeking out a plus one for his premiere visit to the Mysticenter.
”Ace” he said, as he caught the Cadet in the corridor outside of the bar, the man having just finished being handed something by Bowser Jr, which turned out to be the spirit of a burrowing monster from his home reality.
”I was wondering if you’d like to follow up on our previous rain check?” He enquired, before explaining ”I’ve found out the details of a facility called the ’Mysticenter’ which would suit my crafting purposes perfectly, if you’d be interested in joining me?”
Normally rain checks weren't called in on the same day, but Ace didn't mind. At least he wouldn't have minded, but the place Edward proposed... It was all in the name, really. Mysticenter. So where normally the hunter would easily agree to some quality crafting time with a new friend, this time he actually had to pause and consider it.
He let out an audible hmm, tossing the spirit Junior had given him between his hands. He could use this time to prepare for deployment tomorrow, restocking on spent ammo and coatings, maybe mess around with making a few blade oils. He could do that in any of the mundane workshops on the Avenger. He could also try and get a better hang of that beetle-bow in the range. The option of spending some more quality time with Nadia before they were split up again was there too, an option that very much appealed to Ace.
Ultimately though, after just coming out of a memorial service with loss fresh on the mind... preventing more of it seemed like the most important thing at the moment. The short time he'd already spent with Edward rationalizing magic had helped Ace, and if he could cram in more of that, get even just a little more comfortable with it, then if it came down to do or die against the Highlands' Guardian Ace could make damn well sure no one was going to die. He'd better be able to react, and protect everyone, himself included.
So he nodded at Edward, somewhat forcing a grin onto his face. "Sure, that sounds good. We should make sure everyone's geared up before tomorrow."
He held up the spirit of the balahara as well. "And if we're lucky then we'll get a new bowgun to tinker with too."
Edward smiled back encouragingly, somewhat aware of Ace’s position on magic and hoping that this might be an additional step on becoming comfortable with it. As for the luck, he replied ”We can hope” before considering and then adding ”But when we can also tip the scales in our favor, we should do so” as he flicked open an armory screen and summoned the symbol of avarice into his hands. The mimic hat was an ugly thing, but, as he’d explain, it did tip the odds of a good outcome in the favor of the spirit crusher.
”Naturally I can if you do not wish to use it personally. It is a rather unpleasant artifact all things told”
Ace eyed it with suspicion. He actually had pretty decent luck with crushing spirits so far - maybe he had some kind of affinity for it, or something. And he didn't really want to use the crazy looking helm. But, he had already decided to get out of his comfort zone. His grin turned into a grimace.
"I can handle it," he said. Probably, he privately added. "...but let's do it somewhere else."
He steered the two of them further down the hall, more than happy to let Edward carry the symbol of avarice as they walked. Even if there weren't maps of the ship's interior to check, the both of them had a rough layout of the Avenger. Ace slowed down as they approached the Mysticenter, and finally gestured for the hat outside of it.
It was as unpleasant as Edward had warned, to say the least.
Item obtained: Balahara Alpha] A set of low-rank armor formed from Balahara scales, shells, and hide, with a durability and texture much like metal, covered in metallic teeth like a giant mining drill. It acts as an alternate costume and will conform to the wearer, but can only be equipped in its entirety, replacing other pieces of armor. It confers Evade Extender lvl3, Hunger Resistance lvl1, and Quick Sheathe lvl1. It takes less damage from water-aspected attacks, but more damage from electric-aspected attacks.
It wasn't a bowgun, or any type of weapon - instead a whole suit of armor fell into the Cadet's arms, though it was folded over slightly, not at its full mass. The hunter's eyes brightened up at the sight of it, the experience with the mimic hat quickly forgotten as it was passed back to Edward.
"Oh, radalos," he said, turning the attached suit over and back. The leather work, the sleek metal plates...! This was good quality! Unfortunately it did seem that each piece would stay attached, the entire thing staying in one piece so he wouldn't be able to mix and match with his own armor, but it was still pretty great. Being in one big piece like this did have its benefits, in the case that someone else could get some use out of it or just quick swapping equipment.
”It really is interesting how much or how little comes out of a spirit, mass wise. Then again that did seem to be a large creature?” Edward said, as he set about banishing the hat back to the armory while Ace looked over the armor. It certainly seemed good quality to him as well.
”Is it an upgrade?” Edward enquired, as they proceeded to make their way into the Mysticenter.
"I dunno," the hunter replied honestly. "It looks like Guild-made armor so it'll be sturdy for sure, but without having fought that monster myself I have no idea what kind of resistances it has or what skills could be built into it."
He did look eager to test it and find out though.
Ace went to stuff the armor into his square pack. He wouldn't mind sharing but he did want first crack at trying it out, so in there it went. He looked back up at Edward as he did. "Junior was saying something about me maybe being familiar with it. It looked like a leviathan, but not one I've seen before. Back in Hammerhead Little Miss-- er, Gemma mentioned they'd sent an expedition party into some forbidden lands back in my world, so it might be from that area."
He was really curious about it. As soon as he got back home and the Fifth Fleet's own expedition into the Hoarfrost Reach was completed, he was going to request to travel there too. But that was something to consider in the future; there were much more pressing matters to think about.
Ace waved his hand in front of his face once, like motioning away those thoughts. "I'll figure it out later."
Edward nodded in understanding, and then as his head came up he beheld that ”ah, it looks like we’ve arrived”
Tucked away in the guts of the sophisticated, futuristic, and highly technological airship lay a small oasis of fantastical magics, the air itself glutted with arcane energies. Magic came in many forms, after all, and this one room had to house all of it. Petitions had been raised in the past from certain Lost Numbers to expand the Mysticenter into an adjacent chamber or two, but magic and technology didn’t always get along. While the Mysticenter was far enough removed from vital pieces of Avenger infrastructure like the engine room, the potential for interference with the ship’s systems was simply too great.
That all meant that the place projected a rather thick magical aura. If Ace managed to push through it and get inside, he’d find the reason for the anomaly quite place: the place was quite cluttered. Along one wall stood a row of elemental spellcraft altars crammed next to one another. One corner featured bookshelves arranged around a magic enchanting table, with barely any room between the volumes and the arcane workbench itself. A mystic pedestal nearby was home to a scrying pool the size of a bird bath, and against the wall behind it stood a heavy desk with shelves full of potions and jars of magical reagents. Right now, the potion master seemed to be the only other person here: a large, stocky, green-skinned ogre in simple attire, intimidating at first glance until one happened to catch sight of the little spectacles perched upon his broad nose. There were plenty of other stations, knickknacks, and storage shelves, but there was some open space at least, mostly in one of the corners. It wouldn’t be hard for an onlooker to imagine that any sort of magical mishap in here might spark a chain reaction strong enough to knock the Avenger itself out of the sky; clearly, this place was for professionals only.
Fortunately, Edward was one such professional, with academic training to his name and everything (not that his diploma had survived years of war). Unfortunately, he intended to add to the clutter.
Arcane Item Forger: Edward gains proficiency in crafting/breaking down magical artefacts of various stripes, as well as the renaissance and earlier levels of equipment for the purpose of making enchanted artefacts in their stripes. This also allows the creation of an Arcane Item Forge, a facility dedicated to breaking down magical artifacts into ‘Binding Essence’ and ‘Binding Fragments’ which can then be used to forge new magic items.
Items are split into 5 tiers though only ones up to level 4 are craftable. Those below tier 3 require only Essence, while those at or above that level require Binding Fragments, which can only be gained from other tier 3 and above items. Naturally there are losses in breaking down the items, with a tier of items producing only 50% of the resources needed to hypothetically forge it. Each tier is also worth twice as much as the tier below it. So it would take 4 tier 1 items to make one tier 2 item. Meanwhile a tier 5 item could be used to make 2 tier 4 items.
A (non craftable) tier 5 item would be a flaming sword that can apply 5 different basic status effects at once. A tier 4 item could be a wand which allows a one use per battle chance to dominate a foe for the duration of that battle, a tier 3 armor one that provides 20% damage reduction against both magic and physical attacks, a tier 2 a set of boots that lets the wearer move 30% faster, and a tier 1 hood would give 20% increased ranged accuracy.
And as for Ace, well, he was the exact opposite. Just the feeling emanating from the room was enough to set him on edge. He felt the unfortunately familiar skin crawling feeling, which only got worse when he stepped through the doorway, and it didn't take long at all for beads of sweat to form on his brow. He stood near the exit, a stilted nod of greeting towards the ogre his only movement.
After marveling for a moment, Edward glanced back at Ace, noted his condition, and endeavored to do at least something about it. Well. And serve his own purposes.
It was, after all, his opinion that the best way to counter fear was knowledge.
”Good afternoon” he said the ogre with perfect cordiality, not put off by the potion master’s form for a moment.
The Dreadnaught was rather familiar with Ogres, as it happened, having both allied with and fought against the giant-kin on numerous occasions. As such, he was well aware that their base appearance could be deceptive, and, indeed, that it was entirely possible for the sageness of their world-forging ancestors to shine beneath their heavy brows.
Not too often, admittedly, but if nothing else it was simply courteous to treat people as people.
”I am Edward Portsmith, and this is Ace. We were hoping to learn about and make use of the facilities here. I don’t suppose you would be able to help educate us on the wide manner of workstations you have here?”
The ogre paused in his work and turned around, giving the strangers a polite nod of the head. “Hello. I am Gronk.” He had a deep, gravelly voice, and his manner of speech was slow but deliberate, without any trace of hostility or broken English. “Lots of stuff in here. I just do potions. But I can try.” He seemed very perplexed by the forge Edward set up since his back was turned, having never seen anything like that before. After a moment, though, he pointed out the Mysticenter’s amenities one by one. “Potion table, mostly mine. Mona’s scrying pool. Enchanting table, also used for alchemy. Altars for making spells and spell ammo.”
He then pointed out a couple features of the room that might not be immediately obvious for the uninitiated. “Magic plants. Watch your heads” He indicated a number of flowerpots hanging from the ceiling around the room, low enough that folks as big as Gronk would need to be careful not to hit one. Gronk pointed toward a half-cute, half-ghoulish clay figure sitting in an alcove where one might expect to find a fire extinguisher. “Pot boy. A fire source, good for heating cauldrons. He likes coal.” Unfortunately Gronk could not demonstrate since he’d already treated Potboy to all the coal he brought with him. Beneath Potboy was a hefty-looking arcane device. “The crucible, for reducing things to arcana.” Finally, he indicated a blackboard near the door with a rack of different chalks and wands next to it. “That’s for rituals and pictos. Pictos are like magic tattoos. Still in research stage though.”
”Fascinating. Thank you” Edward said, having tapped away at the armory without even really looking at it while this explanation had been given, and in doing so summoned a straight up anvil into the room, which he’d ‘borrowed’ from one of the conventional workshops. Given how old tech it was, it probably wouldn't be missed.
”This is, or will be, an arcane item forge. With it I will be able to break down magical items into binding fragments/shards, which can then be used to fuel the creation of new magical items. It is an inefficient process, but it allows for the conversion of excess, or ill fitting, matical times, to be reused in the creation of something more suitable for our specific set of heroes” he explained, as he retired several halos halos from a pouch and placed them on top of a nearby workspace.
He then turned to Pot boy and said ”Now then I am in need of a, well, a forge. I am afraid I do not have any coal, but would this be to your tastes?” before summoning an entire barrel of liquid morkite from the armory.
The little guy flared to life and stared down at the barrel of alien fuel in awe. “Huhuhuhuhuhu!” He rubbed his little clay hands together as he prepared to dive right in.
Gronk’s eyebrows shot up as his jaw dropped. He’d learned a lot of lessons throughout his life, most of them the hard way, and what happened when one exposed flame to flammable liquid didn’t need reinforcement. “Wait! Don’t-!”
Potboy leaped toward the barrel of morkite.
Edward tried to drag the barral away, but, well, oil was heavy. Which left Ace the only one in a position to stop the imminent explosion that even he could see coming.
He had just been letting Edward and Gronk talk, passively absorbing the information while attempting to keep his composure when surrounded by all of the mystical artifacts and ingredients, up until the little clay figure leapt out. Fear and uncertainty had never stopped the Ace Cadet from acting before -normally it was the opposite- so he lurched forward to intercept.
The hunter caught Potboy out of the air, swinging the little guy away from the barrel while holding him at arm's length.
"Probably shouldn't be fueling around in here," he joked lightly.
”I, ah, yes” Edward replied, before asking/asking ”I suppose that is what I get for placing an entire barrel of treacle in front of a child?” as he dragged the offending container away from the potboy.
”Would he have survived that?”
That hadn’t been what Gronk was worried about. “Him? Probably.” The ogre wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. “Us? The Avenger? Probably not.” With all of the magical energies and items stuffed into the Mysticenter, there was no telling what kind of arcane chain reactions a point-blank explosion could kickstart. After settling down, Gronk picked up a ladle from beside his potions cauldron and scooped out a draught of liquid morkite from the barrel. Carefully he tipped it into Potboy’s mouth, who squirmed with delight as he licked his dry lips with a tongue of clay. His flame flared up, and he jumped around in excitement, ready for action. Gronk nodded and stepped back, bumping Mona’s scrying pedestal in the process. “Good to go.”
Ace shuffled backward a little, giving Edward plenty of space to set up his station. It really took all of his willpower not to excuse himself after the close call and leave the room as quickly as he could. The mana thickly permeating the air in the room made him feel anxious, restless, and uncomfortable, but he knew he needed this. There probably wouldn't be a better time to just immerse himself in his kind of low stakes (well, normally, assuming the pot boy behaved), magic rich environment to try and get used to it.
"A forge, an anvil... how close to actual blacksmithing is your process?" Ace asked Edward after a moment, partway between Gronk and the door. He was working on stamping down his nervousness, and though slow going it was enough that his curiosity could come through.
”Both more and not as much as you think” Edward replied as he picked up a halo in a pair of tongs and began to heat it over pot boy’s fire. As he did this, he unclipped the tome of pyromancy from his hip, which floated up into the air above the fire and unfurled its pages. Spell circles formed between the source of the fire and the book of flames, and then the fire leapt up into one set of pages, and then out of the other set to stream back down to the source, causing a swirling vortex of flames who’s heat was contained by the magic.
Within, the halo glowed first red and then white with heat, which was the point at which the man was satisfied. He detached the tome of enchantment now in turn, which hovered over the anvil surrounding it in more spell circles, at which point Edward transferred the halo to it and began hammering it not into shape, but into the anvil itself. As the tome of chanting contained the sparks flying off of it, the magical metal of the halo not so much warped into a new shape as atomising as it was expended in the process of crafting the new crafting station.
Then he did this again, and again, and again, till the anvil and hammer both where aglow with a white-gold light, as if permanently superheated and yet at the same time being almost unnaturally cold to the touch.
”And there you have it, one arcane item forge” the man declared with winded words, stepping back and wiping his brow as the tomes of magic returned to their spots on his belt.
It looked like it hadn't taken much at all to set up, but Ace figured it was only deceptively simple. And now that the arcane forge was ready, he did want to see how it functioned. At a distance.
"Heat to say it, but it is kind of groovios," he said. The glow it gave off gave it an epic look that even the hunter couldn't deny. "Are you planning on making a totally new bowgun instead of repairing the magelock?"
”Indeed. I will be extracting the essence from it and the musket, with which I should be able to make a slightly improved replacement. With a few more, something even better” he said, before explaining ”However, I am also able to create many, many more kinds of items than just rifles. Swords. Crossbows. Helmets. Magic rings. Wands. Empowering Trinkets. All these and more. I could even try my hand at enchanting a non-magical item to improve it further, though odds are technology and magic will not mix to well”
”If you are interested, I could make something for you. Something that you know exactly what it does, and how it was made” he offered, hoping that this might be a helpful step towards alleviating the other man’s fear of helpful magic.
Ace's eyebrows shot up in surprise. It was a generous offer considering that items needed to be sacrificed in order to make the new ones. He easily caught on to Edward's thought process though, and... would having something like that help him? He had worn the mysterious accessories melded by wyverians plenty of times, and logically he'd know more about whatever Edward made except for the crucial magic parts. The Cadet already had a small bit of magic lodged inside him thanks to Aphrodite, but since it had been there before he'd developed his aversion it was easier to live with, even if it did still make him uncomfortable and he hadn't used it since. A piece of equipment that he could take off at any time if his feelings got too strong would definitely be better than suddenly being drenched in an ally's spell, the same way knowing that he could just exit the Mysticenter made it easier to be inside it.
"That's- really kind of you," Ace said, rubbing at the back of his neck. "Carrying something like that around probably would help me feel less spell-shocked in the field. Maybe... something small, like a charm?"
He blinked then, making sure to add, "I am kinda broke, though. No cents in making it unless you'd take an IOU or a trade."
"A charm I can certainly manage. As for payment, an IOU would be fine, but hands on help with the magelock construction would also be a boon. I have a candidate for gutting that having someone with more hands on experience with more advanced weapons take a look at would be a great help" Edward replied, before summoning the MGR-M1 Bishop from the armory, and offered it to Ace.
"I have no idea how they strange coils within are meant to function, but if removed it would leave plenty of space for placing the magical mechanisms in their place"
When Ace took the weapon, he was confused at first. It was more advanced than what the Cadet was really used to, including his experience with the Breechshot he'd taken to using, but... just from the look of it he could tell the weapon was a little odd, probably even in the world it came from. The gun was long but its barrel was comparatively short, and to compensate the scope seemed shorter too, yet pushed farther forward than he would expect on a weapon meant for very long range. Was it meant to pack the power of a sniping rifle at a closer distance? Then why did the action look like it was made for more rapid fire? And what were the coils for?
"I'll definitely help out if I can. Last time went well, so this is just... like a rank up," he said, mostly trying to convince himself. He still moved a little stiffly given where they were, but handling the distinctly non-magical gun was loosening him up some.
He quickly found the magazine release, and after ensuring there was no ammunition in it or the chamber, he popped it back in, flicked the safety off, glanced a little nervously around the room, and once more took a few steps away to make sure he wasn't too close to... anything. Then, he simply dry-fired the gun. With no ammo there shouldn't have been any combustion, and thankfully there wasn't. What did happen though was that the coils wrapped around the barrel emitted a very specific noise: the sound of electricity. It was one that the Cadet was very familiar with, whether conjured up by monsters or manifested from weaponry. He stared at the coils for a moment, trying to piece together their function. They had to electrify the barrel, but why? He ran his hand over the barrel, and when he felt the metallic parts of his glove lag ever so slightly it all clicked into place. His eyes lit up.
"I think I fulgur'd it out. If I'm right, it's pretty rado-cool," he told Edward, glancing up at the other man with a real smile this time. "Do you know what a Magnet Spike is? I don't know if they have them in other worlds, they're already kind of rare in mine. They're these huge weapons that use magnetism to offset the weapon's weight. The hunters that get really good at using them can move around really fast.
“I'm thinking these coils do the same kind of thing. They must pull the bullets through the barrel and speed them up at the same time."
"Now that, that, is fascinating." Edward replied, having immediately started making notes when Ace had said he’d figured it out. He then went on "I hadn’t heard of a magnet spike, no. Magnetism yes, but only really for compases and the like. That it has uses with weight management could lead to all sorts of developments… and of course weaponry"
"It almost seems like a shame to dismantle those parts now. Hmmm. Perhaps if I modify the round generation so that the projectile can be influenced by magnetism… and I heard the sound of low level lightning magic so maybe if we" he began to say, scribbling design notes, before stopping himself.
"Ah, my apologies. I offered to make you something, let’s stick to that first. I believe I have acquired enough magical items which can be broken down to satisfy both our needs" he informed Ace, gesturing to a small pile of items all of which seemed magical in nature which where: his broken magelock, the dismantled Charr Pirate Musket, the machet and pistol combo weapon, the Illumina Baton, the wand dagon, and finally the Berserker's Barrage.
"All that remains is to work out what sort of trinket you might find useful. I have a few suggestions: A charm that will increase your on foot speed by about 20%, or another that will speed everyone with your way through forests, snow and caves. I could also make a ring that produces an anti projectile barrier of wind around you, or another that will make you hard to spot at long distances and let you slip through walls. Finally, I could make a wand that will create a simulacra of a beast native to the local train for 30 seconds, or that will let you breath flames once during a battle"
"A ring that grants great resistance to fire, cold, lighting, spirit, or blight damage is also an option, or a lesser resistance to three of those is also an option" Edward added as an addendum.
If Ace wasn't holding the Bishop he probably would have raised his hands to signal Edward to slow down. "Let's not get Kut-kurazy now..."
There was absolutely no way he wanted something that would make him breathe fire or walk through walls. Sure, conceptually it was kind of interesting, but he could just imagine the kind of powerful spell needed for something like that, and he didn't like the thought of magic altering his body more than what he was already stuck with. That was easy enough to read on his face, as the hunter paled slightly.
He was a little tempted by the wind barrier though, even though he figured it would be magically produced wind surrounding him. He'd be like a mini Kushala Daora.
"Something easy like a resistance charm would be fine," he said eventually. It was also something he was already familiar with from his own world, just made with the element producing organs of monsters rather than a mystical force. Not to mention it would be handy in a lot of situations. "Maybe as a bracelet though." It would be easier to remove in a hurry.
"Rings are better for resistances unfortunately. Hmmm. But perhaps…" Edward said, before opening and flicking through his journal till he came across a sketch of a rather sinsiter looking charm.
"The Halo of Nekron" he called, it, before explaining that "it is an amulet that can, every 10 seconds, create a short ranged pulse that steal the strength of foes around you and grants it to yourself instead"
"Not exactly simple, I admit, but it's the best all around defence I can grant without crafting armor instead"
Ace weighed the pros and cons of the offer. On paper (literally in this case) it sounded very beneficial, and Edward was right that it would work well for general defense. For offense too, if it powered the wearer up. And as an amulet, removing it in a pinch would be as simple as yanking it off. However, it also looked pretty... evil. A just heart shouldn't go around wearing something like that, but maybe the menacing appearance was just superficial? Edward wouldn't be giving him something that was actually cursed, right?
There was also the way he described the effect. A pulse that would sap strength away from opponents and grant it to the wearer. Ace had endured the spells of allies washing over him plenty of times before, and every time it felt bad. He wasn't thrilled about the prospect of that happening so often, but on the other hand since he would be traveling with several magic users in the Highlands then the quicker he got over it the better, and being somewhat in control of when it happened with the amulet would probably help.
The Cadet shifted the gun to prop it against his shoulder, a freed hand coming up to rub at his face as he thought it through. Then, he suddenly went rigidly still as something he hadn't considered about the Highlands expedition before occurred to him.
Edward, Geralt, Blazermate, Sectonia, Sandalphon, Roxas, Ganondorf... and him, the Ace Cadet. Was he really the only one out of the entire group that wasn't a magic user of some kind?
Ace cursed under his breath. Should he switch destinations? No, really wanted to see the events they'd started in the Frozen Highlands through - and he was still sort of lousy as a duelist against other people besides. His choice was the right one, but man... he would really be throwing himself right into the deep end. No mundane comrades to station himself alongside when fights inevitably broke out.
"This giggisux..." he murmured to himself. Getting used to all the magic as soon as possible was now even more of a priority. Ace finally dropped his hand from his face, and though he seemed even more deeply uncomfortable than just minutes before when he met Edward's eyes again there was determination buried in his expression, only just visible beneath what was probably nausea.
"It's gonna be one hell of a hex-perience but, okay," he said, agreeing with the dreadnought's suggestion. "Thanks. And if it doesn't work out, at least someone else is sure to get use out of it, right?"
Whether it did or not, the hunter was planning to keep his end of the bargain regardless and help Edward build the most radalos bowgun possible.
"Then let us begin. First things, first: destruction, and only then, creation" Edward declared, before setting to work dismantling the magical gear, It was a process that mostly mirrored the creation of the forge, only instead of beating the magic into the anvil itself, he functionally beat it out of the objects. It also involved far more precise strikes, the Dreadnaught delivering swift blows to the points in the artifact where the magic was most concentrated, causing shimmering dust like binding essence or shard like building fragments to burst forth, only for spell circles to catch the essence and consolidating it into packets of power.
Specifically, he started with the Berserker's Barrage, which resulted in a veritable bounty of shards and essence, as well as leaving them with an entirely mundane axe. One which hosted a veritable bounty of valuable metal for forging with.
"Such a shame that it seemed to have apparently languished unused since it was acquired, at least according to the armory mistress, but at least it will now serve a perouse in covering the costs of both our major projects" He explained, before setting to work on just that.
He extracted the red gems from the now magicless axe, salvaged dark steel from its blade, and from this forge an arrowhead shaped amulet for Ace. Unassuming in nature, for it had yet to have power poured into it.
That step came next, the essence swirling around Edward as he channeled the magic, the item rising up into air as 7 slots formed around it. Edward pointed to a single one of these magic circles forming around his hand, causing a storm of essence and a flurry of shards to shoot into that one singular slot as he chanted "Strength from the unworthy, power to the bold! The master of his own destiny stands alone, surrounded by foes, and yet even in the face of this adversity they stand strong, while their foes who shall wither and weaken in the shadow of their divinity!"
Power flowed and pulsed, till the essence had all been crammed into that singular infusion of power, at which point all of the slots shrunk towards and then into the amulet. A slight redundancy given only one held power, but still, the system worked, and the magical power was infused into the artifact, which floated for a moment before slowly sinking down onto the anvil.
Ace watched for a while, but by the time the magic circles expanded and levitated the amulet he had to avert his eyes. Getting used to all of this was easier said than done, and he was already fighting the impulse to get as far away as possible just being in the room. Instead he turned his mind towards a more mundane task, not only hoping the distraction would help but also just to get it done while the dreadnought worked.
He moved over to a (relatively plain) looking table after throwing a look Gronk’s way to make sure it was alright, rooted around in his bag for some of the tools he'd borrowed earlier in the day, and went about dismantling the weapon that Edward planned to use for the base of his new gun. Taking things apart was always way easier than putting them back together, but he kept a mental note of which bits went where. Once it was in pieces he could more easily see how the coils actually worked and where they drew their power from, even if the actual science was a little outside of his scope. He gutted the modern firing mechanism, and after a moment of consideration set the coil's power mechanism aside too. If Edward wanted to leave the coils themselves in, maybe it would be better to power them with some kind of magic too? Otherwise he had no idea if the electricity would interfere with the conjured ammo, or vice versa.
Which left the new power source. The pieces of the broken magelock were already there, it wasn't inconceivable to just see if and how the crystal could fit into the new base. Ace glanced over at it, understandably hesitant. He reached over and took the fixture that was intended to hold the magic gem in place instead, figuring he could get everything else set up and leave the actual spell work to Edward.
"And there you have it" Edward declared, as he picked up the amulet by its chain and presented it to Ace. Within its gem, rather than a human skull, there hovered the vision of a wyvern skull, dark red mist swirling around it, its jaws open and moving ever so slightly, expressing a feral hunger.
"Form is somewhat less important than what is inside, so I customized it to be a little less macabre. As much as I could anyway. Nekron was not, as you might imagine, the most pleasant individual" He explained with more than a little contempt for the described man, before more evenly saying "Still, it is entirely functional, and the only danger in this item represents is over committing to it. Becoming entirely surrounded might be the fastest way to power, but don’t let that get in the way of sound strategy"
The Halo of Nekron (Tier IV amulet): Within the gem of this amulet lurks a ruby hued aparision of a bone wyvern. Once every ten seconds, during combat, at the start of its wearers “turn” the amulet can release the wyvern that swoops around the wearer, sapping strength foes in melee range and then returning it to the user. Mechanically this means it has a 60% chance (magic/status effect resistance reducing) to apply a weakness debuff (lasts 30 seconds, reduces damage output by 10%, and can stack up to 5 times) and for each foe it successfully weakens in this way, it grants a buff of strengthened (lasts 30 seconds, increases damage output by 10%, and can stack up to 5 times) to the wearer.
Ace carefully took the new accessory by said chain, watching the charm as it spun slightly while dangling. It definitely looked a lot more appealing than the original drawing, the hunter would give him that. As far as magic items went, seeing the entire creation process from start to finish did lessen the mystery and made it less off-putting than all others so far.
Even so, Ace didn't hold it for long after dropping the amulet's face into his palm and getting a closer look. He tucked it away into his bag, to be worn later. Tomorrow. He felt like he was still covered in goosebumps and didn't want to press his luck by wearing it right now.
"Nice work," he said. The craftsmanship looked good, though he'd just have to trust the man when it came to the magic part. Speaking of, he turned to grab the scout rifle he'd been working on from the table and held it out to Edward by the barrel, the only pieces missing from it now being the ones Ace didn't care to touch. "And I think, after your inspection, you could probably fit this thing with your own firing mechanism and end up with a really groovios gun."
"Much appreciated" the Dreadnought replied as he took it by the stock and then flipped it over to hold by both palms as he inspected Ace’s craftsmanship
"Hmm. Yes. I see" he said to himself, before telling Ace that he’d done "Excellent work" and that "You really do have quite the knack for adapting, don’t you" as he set the rifle down on the forge’s anvil.
"So I've been told," the Cadet said. Ever since he was young.
Edward performed a few minor adjustments to add the basis for the magic, mainly by inserting and modifying the core of the magelock rifle, tinkering such that the magic circles that it produced alongside the inside of the barrel interleaved with the coils in the gun.
Then he stepped back, and went to work.
"Fire and lighting, energy unbound, strike my foes with thunderous sound. Leap fourth and leave nothing but ash!" he chanted, filling the large slot on the left of the forge’s interface, before filling three of the slots below.
Two fifths of the power he was invested streamed into the first as he said "Lighting linger, fire burn, ignite the land and set a storm in the soil!" before the other two were filled with "Strip their resistance, let them feel magic’s sting, and its lingering bite" and "Shock them, sting them, leave them convulsing before your sorcerous might" resulting in a gun who’s barreled softly smoked and who’s internals cracked with electricity.
Electrifiying, Resistance Stripping, Electopyre Igniting, Magelock Gause Sniper Rifle of Archfire (aka the Smiting Bishop): A MGR-M1 Bishop with its unique penetrating ammo system removed and replaced with the magical components of a Maglock, causing smoke to trickle from its barral, and electricity to permanently crackle within it. The coils of the railgun remain however, and are incorporated into the new firing system, interwoven with hovering spell circles. The scope, rifling, and railgun system give the weapon increased range over a conventional magelock.
The gun fires high powered rounds that do an even mix of fire, electric, and physical damage, which ignores 50% of an enemy’s armor/resistances. These rounds, upon impacting with a target, release a shower of sparks that then ignite the ground beneath them, producing an electrical napalm like effect over a two meter diameter area. This effect persists for 30 seconds, and inflicts burning and electrified (fire/electric damage over time effects that last 30 seconds and stack up to 5 times) onto targets that pass through or stand still on the effect (a unit standing on it will then receive an extra pair of stacks every 10 seconds). The ignition takes a moment, giving the shot target a chance to move out of the effect before they count as standing in it.
The rifle also has a 90% chance to apply electrified on hit, and another 90% chance to inflict sundered resistance (reduces magic and status resistance by 10%, lasts 30 seconds, stacks 5 times).
The weapon has infinite ammo and automatic reloading, but does take 10 seconds between shots. It is also fairly inaccurate if hip fired at anything but close range. Stabilizing runes need to be activated, anchoring the weapon in place for a few moments, in order to deliver a properly accurate shot over long range.
"There, I think that will do nicely" Edward declared, as he lifted up the warm to the touch weapon, before saying that "I can’t wait to test fire it" and then adding after a moment "outside" because it was, after all, a fire hazard if used indoors.
Even with his nerves starting to really fray, Ace chuckled. He was hoping to see the results too, at a distance of course, but they'd probably get a chance soon enough after touching down in the Highlands tomorrow.
"By the way... are all those words necessary? Some kind of in-vocab-ation?"
"Yes it-" Edward began, before giving a chuckle at the pun that he had taken just a moment to process, before going on "Magic is an act of will, of telling the world that this is how things so it better start acting like it. Much of the fine complexities of that are performed with mind and pre-prepared instructions done in complex notation, but the ‘drama’ as it where, of the vocal incantation really, well, hammers everything home, so to speak"
"Gestures and such are fine for temporary magic, but if you want something to stick, then you have to nail it to reality as hard as possible. Hence the rather blunt instrument of the spoken word"
Somehow that actually made a lot of sense following the explanation that casting of a spell was like rewriting reality. Though to be fair, just because it made sense didn't make it any less unappealing. The magic itself at least - the words themselves tickled some unique parts added to his personality.
With a whole crafting station newly added to the Mysticenter and two projects served to break it in, the night seemed like a success. The Cadet couldn't honestly say he felt good at the moment, but maybe a little accomplished. And eager to say they'd done it and leave the Mysticenter behind.
"Anything else we need to tackle?" he asked.
He technically did, they had in the end only broken down one of the magical items after all, but sensing the Cadet’s mood he replied "Nothing that can’t wait till later. I need to mull over what to use the rest of the materials for anyhow"
That worked for the monster hunter. He clapped his hand on Edward's back a few times. "Well alright then. Thanks a lot Edward, I mean it."
"No problem at all" the man replied, feathers ruffling as he re-settled his wings.
Slow and steady progress was progress all the same, and Ace hoped his appreciation showed through. That said, he was quick to make for the door - throwing a nod and a short wave as he passed Gronk's potion station. Was the process of brewing a magic potion as dramatic as forging a magic trinket? Maybe he'd find out eventually.
After parting with Edward, Ace made a beeline for his room. He needed to de-stress. It wasn't the company (he liked the dreadnought), but the venue that had left him still feeling a little high strung. When he got back to his bunk he stripped off the armor he'd still been walking around in, pushing it away to one side of the room as if ambient magic still clung to it. For all he knew, maybe it did.
When the Cadet reemerged a little while later, he was dressed much more casually in red sweatpants and a white tee. He could have headed for a more mundane workshop, but nah - he'd just use his alchemy barrel in the morning for some quick restocking before shipping out to the Frozen Highlands once more. At the moment he would much rather seek out a certain someone... and, maybe, stop by the kitchen to see if there were still any of those carapaceon leftovers.
Though the hour was getting late, Ace certainly wasn’t the only one out and about. Just about everyone had something to do or someone to talk to before tomorrow’s deployments split the Seekers up and left them missing the airship’s varied facilities. Only after dinner concluded did the memory of the conversation between Sandalphon and Edward about newly-gained firearms lead Nadia to realize that she needed his help, too. Although the organic handguns she obtained in the Qliphoth were hardly good-quality, and she lost them during the brawl with D, something clicked about them that made her want to try dual-wielding once more.
Unfortunately, she failed to track Edward down, but after remembering other misplaced items she made her way to the hangar from which she departed that morning. There she found her shipcase, a fusion of her shipgirl rigging and the blade case for Kagari Rokushikisouken, the special boxcutters picked up from Seam’s Seap in the Home of Tears. While she left them behind for the Qliphoth raid, they might come in handy on the road ahead, so she donned her pack and headed across the ship toward her room.
As Nadia headed across the ship from the vehicle bay, she had to pass by the armory, the workshop, and then the training center. On one of the treadmills was a young woman dressed in what one might consider ‘cool street fashion’. She had a big pastel blue and yellow jacket on, though it was currently tied around her waist. Other than that, she had a black sports bra and a white off shoulder top that spelled out her own name in red letters: ‘Sakura’.
The treadmill was going very fast, and she was seemingly zoned out as she sprinted on the machine, having not noticed Nadia yet even though she was pretty much in her field of view. Her sneakers pounded against the black canvas spinning beneath her, she had run for about three miles on the machine and was showing no signs of slowing down from her full power run.
Though weary from the day’s events and ready to go to bed, Nadia was not so tired that she missed the sounds of treadmill motors or pounding feet. When she glanced into the training center, it took a second to recognize the lone runner she was looking at, but when it clicked her face lit up in excitement. A huge, joyful smile spread across her face as she slipped off her shipcase as quietly as possible. After setting it down, she tiptoed across the training center, then crouched down a couple yards away from her target. Her tail wiggled back and forth as she fought to hold in her anticipatory giggling. Then she sprang, launching herself into the air toward the oblivious young woman.
“SAKURAAAAAAA!”
If everything went to plan, she’d latch onto the martial artist in a full-body hug, her arms clasped around Sakura’s back and her legs around her middle, squeezing the girl tight. The two had become fire-forged friends during the Deep Blue Seaside campaign, only to split up between the Underground and Midgar and not meet up afterward. In fact, Nadia had forgotten if anyone mentioned what had become of Sakura in particular, so part of her had been afraid that her pure-hearted pal was no more. A couple weeks in the World of Light could feel like an eternity, and it seemed like Nadia meant to make up for all that lost time in this one hug. Of course, the feral was a lot heavier than she looked, but Sakura was a lot stronger than she looked, too. “I MISSED YOUUUUUUUUU!”
”WAAAH?!” Sakura lost her balance, struggling to stay upright in her surprise. Her foot lost purchase on the treadmill, and it was taken out from under her by the machine. She fell prone onto the track and with Nadia on top of her, and the two toppled onto the training room floor. Or, at least, Sakura did.
She rolled over onto her back to get a good look at her assailant, though she already had a good idea. ”Nadia-san!” She exclaimed. ”You scared me!” She said with a laugh, sitting up, her arms open for a proper reciprocated hug if Nadia wanted it.
Also not harmed by the tumble, Nadia embraced her friend properly, laughing. “Sorry, sorry! Couldn’t resist.” Thanks to almost a half-dozen fusions, the feral had changed a lot since the two last met, from her hair style and eye color to skin tone and body type. There wasn’t a thing about her that wasn’t at least a little different, and yet, her essence was the same. Meanwhile, Sakura’s time in Midgar had barely changed her, though maybe Nadia just didn’t remember her original form well enough to know the subtle differences. It relieved her that Sakura still recognized her, and that she didn’t seem put off by the feral’s aggressive friendliness.
After a good squeeze, Nadia pulled away and crossed her arms. “Man, you’re a sight for sore eyes after a day like today. How you been? After all that exercising, I betcha feel like a treadmillion bucks!”
Sakura rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, and stood up to turn off the raging treadmill. ”What, you mean my running? I just needed to think for a little while.” She said. ”I’ve been good though! I spent two weeks/ a million years in and around Midgar. I’m not sure which.” She said. ”But, y’know. I took a break but I guess I couldn’t stay away from the big fight forever. Got restless pretty quick. What about you, Nadia-san?” She asked.
Nadia took a deep breath, her eyes widening as if to see the full scope of all that she’d experienced, then let out a heavy sigh. “Well, it was purr-etty good for a while. Me and some other guys hung around a place called Mafia Town for a bit, layin’ low. I worked for a sushi joint catchin’ fish for a few ‘dace’, just for the ‘halibut’. Went divin’ every day and saw all kinds of stuff, even these crazy sea monsters–those things really had me ‘kraken’ jokes.” Now that Sakura had gotten her started, the catgirl’s motor mouth was in full swing. “But Sandalphon -she’s our new boss, by the way- rounded us up last night, and this morning all of us flew down to the Dead Zone to sort the damn place out once and for all. It was a wild ride, start to finish. First we had to hike through this muddy wasteland through rain that ages you, and lemme tell ya, that gets old fast. There were these ghosts that would - I mean, if they caught you, they’d blow up like atomic bombs, and we had to use these babies just to see ‘em…I know, weird, right? There were, like, so many close calls, I nearly had a heart attack.”
She shuddered, trying to shake off the memory. “Anyway, we finally reached the Qliphoth. The instant we get in, bam, zombies and awful flesh monsters everywhere. We qli-fought them off and used these blood veins to get up the tree, but we kept runnin’ into all sorts of monsters, like this nightmare bird that would fake-kill people and this huge fiery cat girl. If only I packed a giant-size spray bottle–woulda really helped meowt.” Nadia grinned. “Finally, we reached the guardian, way up at the top, and whaddya know, it’s a giant alien flesh pile. Not just that, either; there were THREE consuls waitin’ there for us. It was the biggest, messiest fight of my life, and considerin’ our stay on Carcass Isle, that’s really sayin’ somethin’.” She shook her head wearily. “We won, but…we lost a couple friends on the way.” After a moment, we shrugged. “Then we took the afternoon off, screwin’ around in the Paved Wilderness. Turned my arm into a cheeseburger for a couple hours. Made some money. It was fun.” Realizing that she’d been talking for a while now, she gave Sakura an apologetic glance. “Sorry, didn’t mean to be a chatty cat-thy. I’m just glad you’re okay.”
Sakura scratched her head, taking all of that in, her face blank. ”...Yeah, I hate punching and kicking gross things. At least they turn into dust when you beat them. But I still have to make sure to trim my nails because I don’t want them getting dirty with dust. I think it’d be even worse if your hands were cheeseburgers. Because then you’d have dirty cheeseburgers for hands, like you just dropped them on the floor twenty times.” She said flatly, and held up her clenched fist for emphasis.
”I did babysit for a couple summer jobs so I think I would have been pretty good with the babies, though,” She hypothesized.
”One time, I met a ninja that could turn into a grandpa. I wonder what that rain would have done to him?” Sakura said.
Nadia snickered with a raised eyebrow, putting her hands on her hips. “That sounds like a crappy power. Could he turn back, at least?” She tried to wrap her head around the ability. Did the ability make him a set number of years older, or did it just set him to an age? Was the ninja old or young by default? “Uh…I dunno. If it caught him in grandpa mode it might age him to death.” Unfortunately, the feral couldn’t think of a relevant pun right now. She scratched her head in the hopes of getting both neurons firing.
”Yeah, of course he could turn back!” Sakura said. ”His name’s Zeku. He seemed nice. When we were fighting he was just going back and forth between old and young. His techniques changed and everything. I thought about asking him to teach me but then I thought I didn’t really wanna turn into a grandpa that badly.” Sakura said.
“No kitten,” Nadia replied. She imagined Sakura bald and started cracking up.
Sakura was already lively, but her face suddenly lit up even more so. ”Hey! Speaking of fighting! You wanna fight?” Sakura clenched her fists and pushed her face eagerly towards Nadia’s. ”I bet you’ve gotten even stronger!”
“Uh….yeah, totally. Super strong.” Now it was Nadia’s turn to look sheepish, rubbing her neck and all. She wasn’t one to sell herself short, but it was hard to feel great about her performance in the Final Hollow today. “Well…honestly? I’m pretty tired right now. Qliphoth beat me halfway to hell, and then I spent the afternoon drivin’ around the desert on a scavenger hunt…and I’m gettin’ sent to Esaka tomorrow, which is all about fightin’. Could probably use some rest.” She winked. “Plus, I wouldn’t wanna scratch that sweet li’l face of yours,” she joked.
Sakura’s shoulders slumped. ”That’s totally fair. The tired thing, not the other thing.” Sakura was annoyed when people wanted to go easy on her on account of her apparent cuteness. But she perked up quickly. ”That’s true. There’s going to be a lot of fighting in Esaka. It’s literally 100% fighting, all day, all the time. That’s where I first appeared in the world, you know! I’ll tell everyone all about it, uh…gee, I dunno. Probably before we get there, huh?” She said, eyes widening.
“Oh!” That was big news. Sandalphon made it sound like some of the Seekers had heard that the Forbidden Kingdom guardian might be in in Esaka, but that was where the team’s knowledge about the city ended. If she’d actually lived there, Sakura’s return was fortuitously timed. “Yeah! You’ve gotta give us the whole scoop so we know what we’re dealin’ with! Maybe at breakfast tomorrow? Y’know, food for thought.”
Sakura wiggled her hands and grinned wide, not helping the problem she had already about the alleged sweetness of her face. ”It’s my favorite place in the whole world!”
Then she nodded. ”I’ll get my thoughts together about it. Hey!” Sakura switched tracks again. ”Look at this.” She unzipped the yellow backpack on the floor and took out a boxy camera. ”Say cheese!” She looped an arm around Nadia’s shoulders and held the camera out reversed, to take a picture of both of them. As soon as she did, the photo slid out of a gap in the camera.
“Oh, I- cheese!” Rather than object, Nadia obliged, smiling wide into the camera. Such technology was neither advanced nor wide-spread in her world, so she didn’t know quite where to look nor expect the flash, but seeing the picture pop out immediately amazed her. “Wow!” Of course, she wasn’t looking her best right now, wearing just an oversized t-shirt and some shorts in place of her special outfit, but as someone not used to seeing herself, Nadia had to admit that she looked pretty damn good. “If Esaka is all about KOs, I’ll fit right in–a real knockout, huh?” Her tail waved behind her, tall and fluffed-up with happiness.
”Yeah! Though in Esaka the goal is to not be a knockout.” Sakura said. ”I think I’m going to start scrapbooking again. I lost my picture of Ryu-san, so I hope we run into him so I can get a new one.” She said, holding the picture of the two of them between her fingers, though as she thought of Ryu, her eyes drifted into the middle distance.
As though summoned by her thoughts, the broad shouldered silhouette of a man passed by the training center's doorway. Of course it wasn't actually Ryu, the mop of bright scarlet hair made that pretty clear. Not a moment later the man backtracked, poking his head inside after glimpsing the calico bob and felyne ears.
"Oh, Nadia! Purr-fect, I was looking for-" Ace paused when his eyes caught the room's other occupant, a friend he hadn't seen for a while. "Sakura?"
There could be no mistaking the girl's identity. She looked like Sakura, and her shirt even spelled it out for the unsure. Ace had been under the impression she and Karin had remained in Midgar, or what was left of it (he only knew a little of what had actually happened), so seeing her now was a welcome surprise. "Sakura!"
“Hey handsome~” Nadia chimed in with a wave.
A wide grin split the Cadet's face as he properly stepped into the room, wasting no time making his way over to the two girls. He did not go for a flying tackle like Nadia had, but he did open his arms to offer Sakura a hug all the same before coming to stand close to Ms. Fortune.
Sakura felt the impulse to go for an especially manly hug, and slapped her hand into one of Ace’s before bringing it in for a pat on the back.
"When did you get here? Did they pick you up at some point or did you use that balloon thing?"
”Hello Cadet-san! I just got here today. Those balloons are like, totally insane, huh?!” She recalled the experience. ”Just- fwoosh! Up into the sky. I didn’t know balloons could go that fast. Usually they go very slowly.” Sakura said.
"I know! Kut-kurazy, but pretty convenient, right?" he chuckled, then looked between Sakura and Nadia. "Were you two catching up?"
And then once more back to Sakura when another question occurred to him. "Did Karin come with you too?"
”Nah, she stayed behind.” Sakura said. ”She’s way busier in Midgar than me. So, uh, I dunno, I decided to come back! And we’re headed to Esaka, too, which is exciting.” Sakura said. Then she looked between the two of them, almost expectantly.
Nadia shrugged, then laid a hand on the monster hunter’s shoulder. “Well, half of us. Sadly Ace here’s gonna be chillin’ with the other half for a bit. Literally, considerin’ they’re headed to the Frozen Highlands. Wanderin’ through the snow sounded cool and all, but I’ve been dyin’ to actually fight people my size and not giant monsters for once. With all my new powers, I bet I could cook up one hell of a combo. Tag ‘em once, and by the time they hit the ground, they ain’t gettin’ up!” Of course, talking a big game was one thing–actually putting in the practice for the hours it took to get a long combo down was another. Nadia then blinked at Sakura, not quite sure what the girl was expecting.
Considering that earlier that same day the Cadet had said something along the lines of not planning to split up from the feral again for a while, he did look a little sheepish when it was brought up. Naturally he wanted the opposite type of opponents that Nadia did, and like he'd mentioned he wanted to finish what he, Band, and the others had started there, so it only made sense for the both of them to play to their respective strengths.
”So… you’re sad? About gettin’ split up?” Sakura asked, trying to be subtle about something.
"Well sure," Ace started, leaning into Nadia while he spoke. She pressed back into him, unable to suppress an almost giddy grin. "I only got back to everyone a day ago, and now we're gonna be ice-solated from each other. I was hoping to spend some more time together before the next quests started."
If only there was a convenient way to keep up with someone over long distances. Oblivious to Sakura's indirect inquiry, Ace looked down slightly at the woman next to him, a fond smile in place. "Which was the reason I came looking for you. Can't believe we found Sakura too!"
“Yep, blue team’s back together! First time since Rush Hour.” Hopefully if the others hadn’t already adopted that term for the mad scramble through Nyakuza Metro that separated them all, they’d be able to intuit what she meant. “Well, sorta back together,” she corrected herself. Junior and Rika were off doing their own thing, Geralt was probably keeping them out of trouble, Bowser and Kamek were who-knows-where with Consul P. Then there were the others. Delsin she scarcely remembered, he came and went so fast, but the split with Link and especially Mirage was a bummer even now. Of course it was for the best they didn’t die, and she could guess why after the Maw, but still. Their unceremonious exit was a sore spot.
All the more reason to focus on the people with her now. Nadia stood on her tiptoes, extending her leg muscles to boost her height so that she could rub her cheek against Ace’s like an affectionate cat. “It is a shame we’re partin’ ways already. Honestly, I’m havin’ second thoughts. Big monsters are fun in their own way. And I wouldn’t mind all the cold, with you around to warm me up~” Maybe hoping to embarrass him in front of Sakura, she teased him by saying it as cheesily as possible. She wrapped her arms around his neck and allowed her legs to retract, then dangle over the floor.
"I did want to take you to Grammeowster's fur some really good food," he mused to play along, "but then again, I could go to Esaka. It’s guaranteed to have at least one better view if you'll be there." His cheeks heated up at Nadia's open affection, but he'd never actually be embarrassed about it; her forwardness one of the many things he liked about her.
Sakura bounced on her heels, excited. ”Cuuute! I knew it!”
”We’ll all be back together in no time flat, I’m sure. The Avenger is so totally cool. When this is all over we’ll just get picked up, easy peasy!” Sakura said. ”But if you wanna go with him, Nadia-san, I’m sure no one’s stopping you!”
“Hmm…” Nadia looked very tempted. “I’ll mull it over. See what the boss thinks. If nothin’ else, can can cat-ch up every day usin’ the Sandal-phone, eh?” It occurred to her that using the archangel as an middleman meant that her conversations wouldn’t be private. Maybe those magic beads Primrose got from the Home of Tears would be better?
After a moment, she dropped back down and returned to Ace’s side. Her fingers slipped in between his, and her tail encircled his leg. “So, you said you were lookin’ for me? For what purr-pose?”
Ace generally shared Sakura's optimistic outlook, though he'd been having some misgivings about the immediate next leg of the Seekers' journey - but her confidentially cheerful comment lifted his spirits (further, since running into her and Nadia already had). She was right, even if they all split up they would end up together again soon enough. That was proven by Sakura here now, and even himself after his group was found in Edinburgh Magicapolis.
He squeezed Nadia's hand. "Just to spend some time with you," he said. "I was working on something with Edward and it just stressed meowt a little."
On top of everything else that had happened that day. Ace moved past the mention, not finding it something to delve into too much at the moment.
"So I figured I'd see if you wanted to hang out, before tomorrow."
After squeezing back, the feral nodded, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “Ab-so-lutely!” She glanced over at Sakura, apologetic. “Sorry to cut the grand reunion short, but the two of us could definitely use some qual-kitty time together.” Hopefully the martial artist wouldn’t mind doing her own thing for now and getting together again later, once she and Nadia reached the Forbidden Kingdom.
Sakura raised her hands. ”Hey, it’s like totally no problem. Don’t let me get in the way.” She said with a big smile. ”...You’re not kicking me out of the training room, though, right?” She added.
“Nope! I’ve had more than enough exercise for today,” Nadia replied cheerfully, gesturing to the treadmill as if to say all yours. She then nudged Ace. “Lead the way!”
Blazermate and Pit Word Counter: 1435 +3 xp and rapport
Heading to the memorium, Blazermate couldn’t join those that wanted drinks but even so she floated around showing that she was there for the ceremony. Although unlike the more charismatic people there, she didn’t really have anything to say about either side. Many had said what she thought, and said it better than she would. She knew if she said something after the others, it would just be embarrassing at how little she’d have to add so all she could do is clap with the others after each speech.
And when the event was over and the attendees began to disperse, with no reason to hang around the bar she made her way out of the room as well.
As was becoming the usual, Seekers spread out through the Avenger in many directions, headed for various different distractions from their thoughts. Some prepared for the day ahead of them tomorrow, and some chose to just while away the time alone or with others.
Perhaps Blazermate was the latter. After turning a corner in one of the ship's many halls not far from where the memorial service had been held, she came upon the angel Pit. He didn't seem to be in any particular hurry, and there was a somewhat intense expression of thoughtfulness on his face... Until he noticed the medabot and blinked, a smile easily replacing his furrowed brow.
"Hey Blazermate. Where are you off to now?"
”Eh, just wandering. Why you wanna do something?”
"Sure!" Pit wasn't fretting over tomorrow, nor had he fallen into a morose mood after the service, but he wouldn't say no to some distractions regardless. Plus he didn't think he'd ever spent much time with Blazermate before.
"What do you normally do for fun?" he asked as the two of them started to walk again in the same direction, setting a leisurely pace. He was curious. "Is it different if you're a robot? I mean you don't need to eat or sleep or exercise, right?"
”Nope! So I can use that time to play video games or watch TV or do other fun things instead of just doing 8 hours of maintenance. Although when there's nothing to do I can sleep for fun.” Blazermate said.
It didn't sound so different after all, although Pit did blink and ask, "you think sleeping is fun?"
”What? You don’t like the whacky things that happen in dreams? I mean, sometimes you get weird nightmare sorta dealies, or you get prophetic things, but yeah. Also it passes time quick.” Blazermate said.
"Don't you think enough whacky stuff happens during the day?" Pit half-joked and crossed his arms. He'd never had a dream of the future, but nightmares were definitely a thing. "Most of the time I just dream about getting turned into an eggplant or tempura... I'd rather not have to sleep at all."
”You need to watch anime or play video games. I have no idea why you dream being turned into food. That feels kinda… well, I’m not a psychologist so I really couldn’t say. For me the bad dreams are just a big war torn landscape, lots of alien ships flying around, laser beams everywhere, and heaps and heaps of dead robots. Not just medabots, lots of robots of various types.”
"Have you ever been turned into food before? Kinda leaves a lasting impression." Just another whacky danger of the waking world really, though those wizards were no joke. Pit also wasn't sure how playing videogames would alter his dreams.
"I've played videogames before!" he told Blazermate. "We had a DS in Skyworld. Well, it was Lady Palutena's, but she let me borrow it."
He'd put a lot of time into Nintendogs.
"What's anime? Wait-" there was a much more important question, considering the nature of Blazermate's nightmares. "Were you some kind of battle robot? I mean I know we've gotten into a ton of fights, but I mean before."
Then Pit leaned in towards her, his voice lowering like he was about to ask for top secret information. "Also, I've been wondering if you could combine with another robot! Can you...?"
”Uh, well yeah. Medabots are used in the military all the time. Or medafighting. Although I’m part of the latter. Although from what I know about those dreams, Medabots used to be like this… ancient alien robot race thing that got remade as toys or something? I don’t know much about it. The rubberrobo boss kept going on and on about it. The medabots from space though, yeah those are totally real. And weird. And for the combining thing, uh… that's what parts are? Or are you talking about some super sentai like thing with a giant robot? In that case no. Although there was a medabot giant robot mech that 5 rare medal medabots could pilot I heard. The legendary medabee was involved in that one.” Blazermate said, explaining things.
Unfortunately a lot of her explanation went over his head. There was visible confusion in his stare for a moment.
Alien machine warriors made into children's collectable toys, a tale as old as time...
And then it cleared up, and Pit nodded his head like he'd grasped that simple summary all along. One part of Blazermate's story was much easier to get though, and frankly more interesting.
"Five pilots? That's so cool! I wish I could pilot a giant robot again. Oh! Do you know if they all moved a different part of the robot?"
”Yep! Although technically Medabee could pilot the whole thing by himself at the cost of like, severe exhaustion, so yeah.” Blazermate said. ”Or thats what I know at least? I could be wrong on that.” Thinking a bit on giant robots, another story came to mind. ”Oh! And there was this GIANT medabot, it was a giant God Emperor run by a single medal! But since it was so big and straining the power output of the medal, it couldn’t protect its own medal from being yanked out. Still though, it had NUKES!”
"God Emperor" was quite the title, invoking a sense of power and majesty (even if he didn't know what 'nukes' were, Blazermate made them sound impressive). It certainly made an impression on Pit anyway, as his eyes had gone wide and sparkly. He wasn't sure if he'd ever seen another medabot besides the Seekers' own, so when he tried picturing it the shape turned out to just be something like a humongous gold Blazermate with a hard metal crown and a ton of different weapons, but it was still cool.
"That sounds awesome! I wonder if we could find it somewhere in this world. Or maybe we could get the Avenger to transform somehow... Or find a bunch or other big robot vehicles and then fuse them together! Imagine how many Consuls and Guardians we could defeat with that!"
”Well, its a medabot, and would have its own personality and all that. And from what I’ve seen, God Emperors aren’t nice. It might be best that we don’t see that big one. Like, it’ll probably be hostile or run by the rubberrobos. Like… we’d need to fight it or something! And if we don’t have big hitters like Sectonia or Ganondorf or Capt, how are we supposed to beat it before we get nuked into oblivion?” Blazermate said, scratching the back of her head as she knew the mantis worm looking medabot was no joke. It was slow, but it made up for that with its sheer firepower.
"Ooh, so they're kind of like bad guys..." Pit said, turning his head up in thought. If they had to fight it first then... Would it be like fighting Midgar's Guardian, Tycoon? They managed to beat that, even if it took a lot of effort. Or maybe if they were sentient, they could convince it to fight on their side, like Bowser and Ganondorf were doing.
He noted one other thing Blazermate said, turning to her with a cheeky smile. "Hey, we got plenty more big hitters! Like me! I've fought tons of giant enemies before."
Seeing Pit having an interest in giant robots reminded Blazermate of something. ”Wait, if you wanna see a giant robot… didn’t we pick one up with one of the newcomers? Its probably in the engineering bay. Wanna go take a look?”
"Wait, really? A giant robot pilot joined up with us?" The excitement in Pit's tone was nearly off the charts. He already started to jog ahead towards the hangars, eaving Blazermate to follow him. "Duh I want to take a look! Let's go!"
Amaterasu had a lot of things to think about, as she wandered the halls of the Avenger. From her remembering of her past to her worry about if the situation in the hinterlands would resolve itself to this new quest to take down a false god of light, there were many important things that should have been on her mind.
She was not thinking about them.
Instead she was following her nose, following the faint wafts of a seductive seafood scent trailing through the corridors of the ship.
Since the destruction of the dead zone, the divine wolf had not had a single properly prepared meal (that was work for people with hands). As such she had been living like a wild animal. Scrounging for sustenance, consuming raw fare. It had been barely enough to fill her belly, let alone start to restock her astral pouch.
Knowing how that felt was very much a big part of why she went out of her way to feed said wild animals whenever she could, irregardless of the Praise she got for doing so.
Right now, however, she was going to feed herself, and any who got in the way of that would suffer her celestial wrath. Which could have presented a problem for everyone given that she couldn’t exactly order food herself in any sort of straightforward manner.
Despite this flaw in her plan, while Harry went to try and loot the kitchen, she padded her way between the tables of the mess itself and towards the serving hatch, with the intent of popping up to it on her front paws and more or less hoping the server would give her all the food she desired.
Which was a lot of food.
Unfortunately, the feast had really cleaned out the Lost Numbers’ larder. There were enough leftovers that Bracket’s kitchen staff could bring out a fairly satisfying meal for Harry, Amaterasu, and whoever else might need a bite to eat, but any gluttons would have to ration themselves. Aside from what little crab remained, the only fare fit for an obligate carnivore the kitchen team had in abundance right now was juvenile sandworm meat, obtained from Martira just that morning. Even that would need to be cooked, though, and even if Bracket has the energy after preparing the feast, sandworm was no ordinary foodstuff and would need special care.
Fortunately, Amatarasu was an omnivore. Unfortunately, she would have great difficulty communicating this, given she could not speak. Such was her perpetual curse, which was now stabbing her in her weakest spot.
If there was anything to motivate trying to find a solution to this, it was her stomach, and so after pondering the subject for several moments, she came up with a plan.
The wolf grabbed a napkin in her teeth, padded back to the counter, raised herself back up onto it before pausing time so she could paint onto reality.
There she scrolled her view around to face herself, zoomed in on the napkin, and then expanded her three ink pots with only a breath in between pauses, causing a message to appear on the napkin in neat cursive writing.
Three words was not a lot to work with, and the divine being was frankly embarrassed to be communicating so crudely, but she had needs, and she would see them fulfilled, hits to her ego be damned.
Though inelegant, her method did work, and the kitchen staff scattered to find a wider selection of foodstuffs that Amaterasu could choose from. Still, supplies were limited, so this would hardly be a meal worthy of divinity, but hopefully it could satiate her for the time being.
While her Divine Retribution wasn’t meant to be used as a serving platter, the hovering disk did end up being used as such as the divine wolf popped stuff onto it via jaw grabs, and then carefully floating the whole thing onto her back before padding off to go find somewhere to eat her scavenger’s meal. It also helped keep her food warm while doing so, the divine flames licking at, but not actually hot enough to ignite, her precious cargo
Naturally, the cafeteria, eating wise, was built for bipeds (very rude of them) which resulted in her ending up in the one corner of the room that was fit for four legged friends. As it turned out, however, it was already occupied. After traipsing through the Avenger for a good half hour, Gillian had brought Caesar back to the cafeteria for a treat. He wasn’t leashed, but the majestic Great Pyrenees was calm of temperament and absolutely trustworthy. He’d already smelled Amaterasu nearby, but when the wolf approached Caesar perked his head up, his floppy ears about as raised as they could be (not very) and his tail wagging.
The divine wolf halted for a moment, anticipating the worst in terms of overenthusiastic dog greeting, but this one seemed incredibly well behaved and respectful. Her signal of discomfort with being approached was read, and only taken with a little sadness, which was a farsight better than being bowled over by some foolish pup. Especially when she was carrying her food.
That could have been a disaster.
As it was, she took her time to set down her meal, and only then signaled she was ok with being greeted.
For all that Amatarasu was a divine being from a higher plane, she was also a wolf rather than simply something wearing the shape of one. As such, of all the things she found indignant, the traditional bout of butt sniffing was not one of them.
Proper greetings and rapport established, scents based ‘names’ acquired, Amatarasu settled down and got down to business of eating, doing her best to maintain some decorum even as she scarfed down the delicious meal. It would be enough to fill her stomach, but not her astral pouch, leaving her far more vulnerable than she’d like for the upcoming mission.
She’d just have to find a way to offload her treasures and buy a buffet’s worth of food. Somehow. Three words at a time. Assuming she could even find paper to write on in that moment
Things had been so much easier with Issun about, despite his prickliness and perviness, she mused, before wondering where the tiny wandering artist who’d accompanied her throughout her second life was right now.
She hoped he was alright.
A ruff from her side brought her back to the current life, prompting her to glance at Ceaser, who she assumed was going to be begging for food, but instead was politely inquiring what had her down.
It must have come across in her body language.
That was how she found herself talking with the only being on the ship that shared her native tongue. Or, well, talking was of course a humanism, as 90% of canine communication was nonverbal. It also wasn’t exactly complex, both between her convastation partner’s lesser intelligence, and the ‘language’ they were using being far less complex but still.
It was nice to be understood, and to communicate in a way that felt, that was, entirely natural, for once.
Miss packmate from before. Small-strong. Worried still she began, leading to a little flurry conversation between the two.
Sympathy. Relatable. Big light. Then pack leader gone. Forgot. Found new pack. Remember. Then lost new pack too. Now here. the hound explained, before assuring her that Sure leader is fine. Same as small strong pack mate
She communicated her thanks, and then enquired Where second pack go?
Big flying thing. Lots of not friend humans come. Many pack die. I escape
Sympathy she offered him, before inquiring New pack stronger? Still danger?
Now pack smaller. Maybe small strong. Uncertainty
That was concerning. The details were very unclear, of course, but she did not like the news that the Seekers had apparently been attacked and weakened before. Something to dwell on, and then look into.
Loath as she would to sit through it all without falling asleep, but she was probably going to have to convince someone to exposition dump all of the additional context of the situation to her somehow. So far she’d gotten the reason everything was a mess, the false god of light Galeem, and how they needed to take down its guardians in order to face it, and that progress had been made on that. With this she was entirely onboard, such a great evil needed to be fought, but beyond that?
Lots of gaps to fill in.
Caesar wasn’t exactly going to be the one to answer them, but still, she was happy enough to keep communicating with him.
Also lost new pack. Different big light. Smaller. Make wasteland of shiver things. Wander away. Now here. New place. New pack. How is?
Pack mates good. Food good. Mostly. Sometimes less than want. Also need more outside
Supply issues then. Also not a lot of going out of the Avenger for its regular inhabitants or so it seemed. Whatever the Avenger actually was.
She’d need to find out that as well. Some sort of thing like the moon people’s arc was her impression from the brief description they’d gotten, but she hadn’t exactly seen it, having been left entirely out of it as a result of the fulton pack. It was fairly disconcerting now that she thought of it. She was inside of something, yet had no idea what it looked like.
She’d need to have a look around it to get a feel of the dimensions at least.
In a sense, the same sort of went for the world as well. She knew what the mortal realm of ehr home looked at from above, she was a celestial and all that, but what was this one like? Entirely unknown.
She wondered how anyone ever lived with that ignorance.
Maybe they got used to it.
She decided to endeavor to not get used to it.
Food good she agreed, entirely unrelated to all her internal thoughts. It wasn’t a lie or anything, mind. The food was very good (though maybe that was just because absence made the stomach grow fonder in much the same way it did the heart), and she’d already absolutely demolished the leftovers she’d gotten her paws on.
With the mean out of the way, all that was left was burning a little time before she felt a need to sleep. She’d need to find a spot to do so, maybe take that wander around to scope out the ship’s insides in general while she was at it.
With that in mind, she stood herself up and requested that Caesar act as her tour guide via Show round?
He was interested, but was unsure if his minder would be ok with that.
Said minder was, incidentally, a sentient slime living inside of a diving suit.
Amatarasu didn’t bat an eye at that, the world of light was strange after all, and instead repeated her napkin trick, informing Gillian the janitorial slime that.
To her credit, Gillian was only momentarily taken aback by this show of divine intervention, and was then 100% onboard with this, becoming a third member of her impromptu little walk around the Avenger, bubbly asking Amatarasu questions or just talking at her as people tended to do if she let them.
Normally that might be annoying, but the slime had a charm to her, and was pleasant enough company as the divine wolf went snooping around her new home.
”Hang on just a second” the prince said, before scampering off
”Huh”
Rika wasn’t really sure what to do with that thought. She's not really gotten why they were handing over the spoils of their fight to someone they hadn’t really seen since he got lost post the Blue mission, had been kinda surprise was still alive/came back, and who’d soon be off on a different mission once again. She hadn’t really talked with him then either and…
It was at this moment that Rika was struck by an unpleasant relapse of the sadness of the funeral and she did not like it. But it also hit her that the people they just had spent a bunch of time with, and actually talking with instead of just kinda being around (even if she’d mostly been on the sideline of that), were also going to go off like that. Who knew if they were also gonna come back.
It was that that spurred her to go find Geralt in the crowd and say to him super bluntly ”Hey. You should pokebattle Jr before we spit up so you can learn. Also Roxas should come”
Geralt looked at Rika a little confused, before shrugging and downing the rest of his drink. “Sure, kid. Sounds like a good idea. Lead the way.”
The ship girl nodded, and promptly about turned and went to go find Roxas, and initially failed entirely due to being too short to see past all the people. Then she started using double jumps to launch up above it, catching sight of Roxas and calling out ”Roxas. Come here.” and then belatedly, after another jump up, adding ”Please?”
Roxas tilted his head in curiosity at the display at first. But after that shrugged and went to go see what Rika wanted with him. ”Yeah? What’s up?” He asked after squeezing his way through the crowded room over to where he saw Rika jumping up from. Jr wasn’t around for once, but he did see that Geralt was.
”We’re gonna show him how to fight using pokemon before you both go” Rika explained simply, before adding ”Just as soon as my brother gets back” and then hopping up to try and work out where said brother was, only a little bit antsy about having lost track of him in the crowd.
“Figured it would be a good idea to get the basics before the team split up.” Geralt explained to Roxas, “though it was their idea.” He finished.
”Sure, sounds good to me.” Roxas replied with a shrug.
Soon enough, the koopa prince was brought along and brought onboard, and the quartet headed down to the training room once again, wherein Jr tried to gauge how much work getting Geralt up to speed was going to be.
”I guess how much minion commanding stuff have you done before?”
“None. Not really a thing Witchers wound up doing much at all.” Came the simple reply.
”Urgh”
”I mean did you either?” Rika asked Roxas, making an off the cuff guess as to the Nobody’s own experience levels.
Roxas himself didn’t directly have any experience at commanding monsters before becoming a Pokemon Trainer. However, his Other Half actually did for a time. Of course, trying to explain that would take entirely too long. So instead Roxas just shrugged and said, ”Kind of, but not really. But I battled with Scamp when I first met him at Port Meridian. Twice actually. Plus I battled Jr that one time just before we all split up.”
”See”
”Alright alright, let me figure something out um” Jr replied, scratching his head and glancing around, not going to be the one to suggest an actual match because of how much anti-fairy type there was between the other two trainers. Instead his eyes landed on a pretty typical punching bag in the training room.
”Ok, let’s just start off with this!” he said, pointing it out, and suggesting ”Let’s see if you can get your mon to hit that before you try and do an actual fight”
”How about you?” Roxas asked Jr, ”Ever battled with two against two before? I did once, back in Port Meridian. It was against a bad guy trying to steal Pokemon, uh, Pit teamed up with me for it.”
Geralt’s brow furrowed angrily at the story. “No shortage of bandits and thieves here, either, huh?” He grumbled.
”There were about a hundred of em in the armory” Rika replied, a bit too casually to tell if that was supposed to be a joke or not, while Jr focused on the challenge to his prowess.
”Huh? No? But I bet I’d be great at it!” Jr replied, before adding ”But there’s only 3 trainers so we can’t find out” and then after a half second pause adding ”and Rika’s whale is way too big to fit!”
”I mean I could borrow some? We’ve got. What. 3. 1. 4. That makes 8 pokemon. 2 each” Rika pointed out, counting them on her fingers as she spoke.
”Huh? Um. I guess?”
Geralt shrugged. “Guess we could do it. I'll be at a disadvantage, but the whole point is to learn. Failure is an effective teacher.”
”I mean, i’ve never done this before either really, soooo, me and Roxas vs you and jr would be fair, right?” Rika suggested, getting a ”Huh, what?” from her brother who’d just assumed they’d be on the same team.
Geralt agreed with a nod. “Sounds fair to me. What do you think, Roxas?” Completely bowling over Junior's dashed expectations.
”Let’s do it!” Roxas agreed. Then he looked over at Rika and asked, ”So which Pokemon do you wanna borrow?” He was willing to let her borrow one or two of his if she asked for them.
”hmmmm” Rika hummed, before requesting ”What were they called… Shocker and Titan” she requested.
”My Ghost types, huh?” Roxas asked with a grin, choosing their respective Poke Balls and offering them to Rika. ”Here ya go. Do you know what moves they can do? Titan can use Curse, Iron Defense, Shadow Punch, and Stomping Tantrum. And Shocker can use Electro Ball, Confuse Ray, Double Team, and Blizzard.”
”Oh. I guess so yeah. I just thought you’d like to use your new one and your evolved one was all” Rika said, as she weighed up her two options, and then tossed Shocker the haunted refrigerator onto the field. A haunted refrigerator that, because it was part machine, immediately gained a chaingun turret and missile launcher thanks to Col. Droneman’s spare parts buff.
”Huh” was Rika’s response to this, before she tentatively acknowledged that ”Using that’d probably be cheating” and resolving not to have the now packing heat refrigerator gun down the other pokemon.
Jr sighed, defeated, then shrugged and plucked his pokeballs from his bandolier and tossed them out to summon his mon for Geralt to see before asking ”How about you?”
Looking over his option, Geralt let Tirn out of his own ball, letting the Shieldon get a feel for its potential partners. “The floating one. What did you call it again, Peeka?”
”Yup. Coz they are like a boo!” Jr replied, seemingly very proud of what was presumably a pun.
Either way, the fluttermane hovered over, and took her spot by Geralt’s side, ready to take the field whenever he wanted her too.
Nodding, Geralt looked over the assortment of trainers and Pokemon before him, nodding. “Okay, so how do I actually do this?” He asked, completely lost. “How do I know what it can do?”
”Well, Jr and me typically just have most of our moves memorized.” Roxas said, ”But I’m pretty sure the Pokedex App on either of our phones can say what moves a Pokemon knows, too.”
”Ohhh. We should probably get you one of those. Here, you can use min though” Jr said, retrieving his phone and offering it to Geralt. As he did, Rika leaned over to Roxas and asked ”Can I?”
”Sure, I don’t mind.” The Nobody answered as he handed his silver-white cased Rotom Phone to Rika, who took it and started checking out his pokemon’s stats.
Taking the offered Pokedex, Geralt scanned Tirn with it (with help from Junior), prompting the device to chirp up. “Shieldon, the Shield Pokemon. It is outstandingly armored. As a result, it has no particular need to battle with others and can spend its time feeding on grass and berries.”
“Hmm. Not bad.” The Witcher commented with a nod, paying attention as the device also showed him what ‘moves’ the Pokemon had. “Only one actual attack, huh…?” And it wasn't a particularly great one, from what he could see. It seemed powerful, but caused self-inflicted damage as well. “No matter. You'll learn more.” Geralt reassured his Pokemon, earning a resolute nod from the Shieldon.
Peeka, on the other hand, was somewhat more offensively-focused without bottlenecking itself too deeply into any one battle philosophy. He gave the borrowed ‘Mon a nod, handing the Pokedex back to Junior. “We'll have to get me one before we leave tomorrow, but thanks.”
Jr nodded in agreement, before pondering for a moment and deciding ”Mimi, your up” prompting his Mimikyu to shimmy onto the field to face down the opposing Rotom. He definitely wasn’t putting Dazzle, his water type, out against an electric type, that was for sure.
Roxas then took one of his own Poke Balls and tossed it. ”You’re up first, Scamp! Come on out!” The ball released his recently-evolved Boltund who gave an excited bark before bending its legs in anticipation of whatever Roxas’s first command would be.
Geralt took up a spot beside Junior, watching as he directed Peeka forward. “You have more experience fighting, and I'd like to have a little more of my own before sending Tirn out for his first battle.” He commented.
”Hope you’re ready.” Roxas said, ”Scamp - use Nuzzle on Peeka!”
”Shocker, blizzard both of them!” Rika followed up, prompting the Rotom to pop open its fridge freezer door and unleash a torrent of cold air that swept over the far side of the arena, the mon artfully aiming this wave over the head of its ally.
Mimi was buffeted by the snowstorm, but rather than taking damage herself it was her disguise that took the hit, the oversized head snapping back to an unnatural angle. This, unsurprisingly, made her a bit miffed.
”Mimi, Mimic that move!” Jr commanded after seeing the effectiveness of it, causing the Mimikyu to swirl her tail around lke a wand, sucking up some of the lingering frost particles.
Geralt silently cursed as Peeka attempted to dodge Scamp’s attack but failed, sparks silhouetting the Flutter Mane's form. He'd been caught off guard by how quickly this all started. “Alright, then. Peeka, psybeam on Scamp!” For a split second, as the psychic energy charged, Geralt felt that same hunger he had with Dr. Yu, but it passed as soon as it came once the attack was launched. That boded poorly for his continued presence around Pokemon…
Scamp took the Psybeam and did manage to shrug it off, at least this time. But Roxas knew he couldn’t keep taking those Psybeams forever. Peeka may not have looked like a normal Misdreavous, was it still a Ghost type? If so…
”Scamp, target Peeka again! Use Bite!” And with Scamp’s Strong Jaw ability this could hit especially hard assuming the attack went through.
”Electroball her as well!” Rika added to this, prompting the floating fridge to discharge a ball of lightning that was more effective against slower targets (which was, unfortunately, due to her fusion, what Peeka was)
”Mimi, blizzard em both, stop em from focusing down the newbie” Jr commanded, prompting his mon to thrust her tail stick forwards and call forth her own blizzard to sweep across the enemy mon. It wasn't very effective against its origin, but the raw power of the move meant that it was almost as effective as anything Mimi could (currently) throw out herself.
Peeka took both hits hard, barely hanging on owing only to her relatively high level. The paralysis also meant that she was unable to act, despite Geralt's attempts to get her to. Luckily for her, Scamp also took a pretty hard hit from the Blizzard. So neither one of them were in the best of shape right now. ”Switch it up, Scamp! Use Nuzzle on Mimi!”
He scampared towards the little spook, who tried to back up, but was caught and then viciously nuzzled by the much larger canine-pokemon. Very little damage was dealt, but Mimi was now also paralyzed, adding insult to the (minimal) injury.
Adding a second insult, Rika commanded Shocker to ”Use Confuse Ray on Mimi!”, prompting her borrowed mon to blast her brother’s mon with a confuddling ray, prompting Mimi to bop herself on the noggin when Jr tried to get her to use Blizzard again.
”Gah, stupid status effects!”
Geralt sighed, shaking his head at how the battle was going. They were being trounced. “Peeka, try Dazzling Gleam!” He called to Junior's Pokemon. The Flutter Mane twirled with a flourish before unleashing a blast of sparkling energy on both Scamp and Shocker, dealing a surprisingly large amount of damage, though it was spread between the two Pokemon.
It did more than the Blizzard had to Shocker, the sheer raw power of the strike taking it fairly low, but Rika was undeterred, commanding her mon to ”Finish Peeka with an Electroball!” The ball of electricity landed viciously, Peeka floating to and fro dazed before sinking to the ground, knocked out.
“Come back, Peeka. You did good.“ Geralt sighed, returning the Flutter Mane to its Poke ball. “Alright, Tirn, now's your chance.” He continued, releasing the Shieldon from his ball.
After the Dazzling Gleam, Scamp was looking pretty rough. And Roxas knew they still had Dazzle to contend with. And so… ”Return for now, Scamp!” He called, recalling the Boltund to his Poke Ball to get a minute of rest and to catch his breath. Then Roxas brandished his remaining Poke Ball and threw it.
”Your turn, Turbo!” He said, calling out his Revavroom.
”Uh oh” was Jr’s response to the fairy anathema mon being thrown onto the field. He glanced at the still confused Mimi, and made a snap decision to also swap her out, calling out ”Come back Mimi” and then ”Go Dazzle!” as he sent out his pure water type onto a field that still had one electric type on it.
”Guess I wasn’t the only one with the idea to swap.” Roxas mused to himself before he more loudly called his next move, ”Turbo, target Dazzle - use Screech!” This elicited an engine rev from Turbo that soon amped up into an earsplitting noise focused in Dazzle’s direction. The poor pokemon dropped to the ground, flipper suppressed over his ears, but it wasn’t enough to prevent his defences being sharply lowered by the nasty status move.
“Tirn, take down on Shocker!” Geralt called to his Mon, looking for a revenge KO on the Rotom. Tirn launched forward in a reckless full-body tackle in response.
The heavy little pokemon slammed into the haunted refrigerator, sending it skidding back and then toppling over with a crash, leaving Shocker down for the count.
”Ah. Um. No wait they’re ok right ok come back” Rika rambled as she found herself a bit more taken aback by her mon fainting that she’d expected, before recovering and commanding ”Out you go Titan” to send Roxas’ Golett onto the field.
In the meantime, Turbo had finally stopped screeching before Roxas called for the next attack. ”Go for an Iron Head!” The Revavroom responded by revving her engine before peeling out into a head-on collision aimed at Dazzle.
With his defences savagely weakened, and the level difference massive, Dazzle was sent tumbling backwards by the impact, and left barely clinging on to consciousness.
”Ah! Uh. Quick, Dazzle, sing to Titan before they finish you off” Jr commanded, prompting his mon to push himself up on one flipper, presse the other to his chest, and to sing a soft lullaby that put Titan to sleep, which left Rika’s subsequent command to fall on deaf ears.
”Return!” Roxas said, recalling Turbo while Dazzle was busy using Sing. Then he tossed his other Poke Ball back out. ”You’ve got this, Scamp.”
“Tirn, follow up! Take down again, on Titan!” Geralt ordered, blissfully unaware that as a ghost type, Titan was utterly immune to the move. Tirn seemed hesitant, but nonetheless obeyed its trainer, charging forward and phasing right through the ghostly Pokemon, its attack having no effect. “What?” Geralt, baffled, muttered.
”Oops.” Roxas said apologetically, ”We forgot to tell you about how the types work. Sorry about that, Geralt.”
”Urgh” Jr groned, before saying ”Ghost types are immune to normal attack”
”and fighting!” Rika called over to add helpfully.
”Your turn, Scamp!” Roxas called, pointing directly at Dazzle, ”Hit ‘em with Spark!” The loyal Boltund growled into a bark before he bounded forward in an attempt to slam his electrified body into Jr’s Brionne, easily taking the water mon down with damage to spare.
”Back out Mimi, come one we can still pull this together” Jr called out, as his Mimikye, no longer confused, returned to the field.
Geralt sighed as he processed the information. It was like being unable to punch a Specter, he supposed. “Damn. Well, like I said, failure is a hell of a teacher.” He seemed to be taking the seemingly inevitable loss in stride. “Tirn, use swagger on Scamp.” He ordered, hoping it would cause similar havoc as to when they first found the Shieldon.
”Mimi, hone your claws!” jr called out, trying to take advantage of their foe’s deliberated states to power up. This gamble paid off vs titan at least, who continued napping.
”Don’t let it shake you, Scamp! Use Fire Fang - on Tirn!” Roxas called, hoping that the Boltund’s Strong Jaw ability and Shieldon’s Steel typing would let this be a solid super effective hit. But no luck. Scamp bounded forward but stumbled in his confusion and only succeeded in attacking himself, and with his attack sharply raised and his health already lowered from earlier rounds in the battle, that meant a hard hit. Hard enough that the Dog Pokemon KO’d himself.
”Guess we’re all down to one, now. Come back out, Turbo!” Roxas said, recalling Scamp and then tossing out Turbo’s Poke Ball. The Revavroom revved her engines in anticipation before Roxas quickly issued his next command, ”Swagger! On Mimi!”
While Roxas targeted Mimi, Geralt commanded Tirn to go after the Revavroom. “Tirn, hit Turbo with a take down!” It was a predictable move, but the only offensive tool his Shieldon had in its arsenal. The shield Pokemon bounded forward, launching itself into the living vehicle to deal a weak, resisted hit.
”Mimi! Shadow Sneak! Win that coinflip for me!” Jr commanded the confused pokemon. Her shadow extended, wobbling as she struggled to keep control of it, only for it to successfully hit Titan in the back, and with 3 attack raises and a crit, it did absurd amounts of damage, taking the sleeping pokemon down in a single hit, prompting a cheer form jr and an ”aww” from Rika
Unfortunately for Jr, Roxas didn’t look too worried about this. After all, he still had Turbo at nearly full with no status conditions. ”Use Iron Head on Mimi!” Roxas calmly called with a smirk on his face. His Revavroom fired up her engines and peeled out for another head on collision, this time aimed at Jr’s Mimikyu.
Now it was Jr’s turn to ”Awww” in disappointment as the already low Mimi was launched into next week by the massive engine of destruction. Or rather through a wall and into the next room.
”Well I’m out. Gonna go get her” Jr said, all his mon, borrowed or otherwise, down, before hoisting his paintbrush and scampering out the room to go revive his fainted pokemon. Rika, who was also out, added ”Going with!” as she too popped out of the room for a brief moment, leaving the Witcher and Nobody to finish the match.
It was something of a foregone conclusion anyway.
“Tirn, iron defense!” Geralt called, hoping the defensive tactic would buy him more time to think as the Shieldon rallied itself.
”Screech!” Roxas called, eliciting the rev of Turbo’s engine into the ear splitting sound that harshly lowered Tirn’s defense, effectively undoing the Iron Defense - but also simply stalling the battle out.
It was enough that Jr and Rika managed to come back before they were done, which the koopa prince was more than happy to complain about while he got to healing all the fainted mon back to consciousness: ”You’ve got all the type advantages just finish it already!”
Geralt nodded, a bit resigned. “Tirn, take down! Make him fight for it.”
”Turbo, brace yourself and hit back with Iron Head!” The Revavroom dug in her heels, or whatever equivalent one would do when they had wheels instead of feet. The Shieldon’s attack and - like before - did ineffective damage. And then Turbo struck, lurching herself forward while Tirn was still up close and slamming it with her Iron Head attack.
Tirn stumbled from the blow, wobbled for a moment, then finally plopped to the ground, knocked out. “Good job.” Geralt encouraged, drawing his sword and casting First Aid to return some vitality to the downed Shieldon.
“Good match, Roxas. Rika. You did good, Junior. Worry I held you back, though.” He followed up with the others, returning Peeka's ball to its owner.
”You, too.”
”I, uh, yup, definitely. For sure” Jr insisted for the sake of his ego, as he finished his rounds of casting ”Cure!” on all of the pokemon.
”That Turbo’ll be really hard to get past next time. Jr’s fairies really don’t like both its types” Rika said, before handing Roxas back his phone and pokeballs. He accepted them with a nod.
Geralt nodded, looking over the Revavroom. “Fairies are known to dislike iron, that much is true.” He replied sagely. “Wonder if Tirn would be a problem for them as well, if it learned a different attack.”
”Yuuuup” Jr agreed in a half groan, already seeing his future fate of uphill battles vs terrible type matchups continuing, before asking ”Can you catch some dragons or something please? That’d help out a lot”
Geralt blinked for a moment, then sighed. “Of course there are dragons. Witchers aren't supposed to hunt those, on account of them being sapient. Never heard a rule against capturing them to fight alongside you.” He joked.
”He’s just saying that because Fairy types are immune to Dragon type attacks, and because Dragon types are weak against Fairy moves.” Roxas teased. ”I know Turbo is strong against most of his fairies. But his Dazzle is strong against Titan. And so is Mimi.”
”and Peeka, but he’s strong vs them too. Plus Scamp and Shocker are both good against Dazzle” Jr pointed out.
”Also he’s got more pokemon than you now” Rika added, before wondering ”Maybe you’ll find one in the Forbidden Kingdom that’ll work well against his?”
”Eh maybe”
“Well, good luck to you over there tomorrow.” Geralt offered with a nod. “Not that you should need much. Might be young, but you kids are fighters.”
”I’m going with you guys to the Frozen Highlands, remember?” Roxas pointed out to Geralt with a grin, ”But I appreciate the thought, anyway.”
”Yeah we are” Jr agreed with a pump of a fist, while Rika shrugged and agreed ”It’s what I was made for, and I’ve only gotten better since I got freed” before adding ”I’m sure you two’ll be just fine over there as well, but um, good luck too”
”Mmm hmm. Go kick that guardian's butt with whatever plant it was he didn’t like, and then after that I’ll kick your butts in a pokemon battle!”
“Looking forward to it.” Geralt joked with a roll of the eyes. “Alright, I think it's time to settle down for the night.” He added, rolling his shoulders.
”Yeah…” Roxas said with a yawn, ”...you’re probably right.”
”I guesss” Jr relied reluctanctly, right before catching the infectious yawn and doing one himself and saying ”Yeah. Alright. Nighty night” with Rika echoing right after ”Night night”
At six o’clock in the morning, on the dot, three beeps began to issue from the terminal built into the wall halfway between both bunks in each dormitory room that housed a Seeker or two. At first the sounds were relatively mild and infrequent, but for every ten seconds that passed without the alarm being deactivated, the tones would get louder, faster, and more insistent. By the time any room reached the minute mark the beeping would be so constant and strident that neighboring rooms could hear it as well, and add to the racket with imperative, well-intentioned pounding on the walls that divided them. Hopefully all the Seekers of Light had retired no later than ten o’clock the previous evening in order to get the recommended eight hours; there would be no sleeping in, not today.
The next hour encompassed an uncoordinated, frantic rush of hygienization and preparation. There weren’t a lot of showers to go around, so everyone -or at least, those interested in sanitary and/or communal living- had to either seize an opportunity or queue up, and no cleansing deluge, whether soothingly warm or bracingly cold, could last for over ten minutes. With so many Seekers to get through, the Avenger’s on-board water purification system would no doubt be working overtime. Anyone who taxed the systems too much could look forward to an emphatic dressing-down from crew members tasked with maintenance, especially young Tora, for whom such utilitarian work was a profound waste of time.
Compared to last night’s extravagant banquet, breakfast in the mess hall this morning was a terribly lackluster affair. Diners could rummage through a modest buffet of oatmeal, toast, dried fruit, yogurt, and sandworm sausage, accompanied by preservative-rich orange juice and coffee from somewhat stale beans, without a morsel of bacon or smidgen of egg to be found. With the time pressure on top of the meager fare, there would be precious little enjoyment to be found in the cafeteria today, leading Seekers to satisfy their nutritional needs and move on to the next step in their morning checklists.
Seven o’ clock, just as the morning rays turned the sea of clouds outside the Avenger’s portholes snowy-white, was the deadline everyone had to reach the Vehicle Bay, suited up and ready for action. Though she suffered from a rather slow start, Nadia had picked up the pace after sneaking in a quick shower and managed to reach her destination with a minute or two to spare. Today the feral looked especially fresh with her freshly-combed calico hair, tailor-made outfit, gleaming fishbone baubles, and anticipatory grin. Her belt was fully laden, its pouches filled with her Bait Launcher, boxcutter hilts, magic wallet, and Ripened Heart, while simple scabbards for her Athame daggers were fastened between the pouch pairs on each hip. Her nails, sharp as knives, were ready to scratch, and today she wore her battle case on her back, filled with folding mechanisms and spare blades for whatever situation might come her way.
Still, though she was more punctual than usual, Nadia was hardly the first one here. In fact, a familiar face beat her to the punch by two whole minutes: Big Band. The cyborg detective, clad in his distinctive tan trench coat, towered over everyone except the resident royals Ganondorf and Sectonia. Unlike Nadia, he didn’t need to deck himself out in equipment; everything he needed could be deployed from inside his mechanical body. From what the catgirl understood he’d been gone a long time, left behind in the mad dash through the Nyakuza Metro and forced to flee out into Edinburgh MagicaPolis itself alongside Ace. She didn’t know him personally, and in fact harbored an instinctive dislike for any man of the law, but Big Band still held an important piece of significance to her: the two of them happened to be from the same world. How funny that a former cop and former fugitive from New Meridian happened to find themselves here now, united by a grand quest to save the world.
“Hey there, little miss Fortune,” Band greeted her with a congenial nod, his tone casual.
“Hey yourself!” Nadia gave a cheeky little wave. “I see you haven’t fur-gotten me.”
Band smirked. When it wasn’t hidden by his brass respirator, he had a kind smile. “I never fur-get a face.”
Alongside the old Seekers making their return came a handful of brand-new faces Nadia had never seen before. At some point her sharp ears flicked toward a small flutter, almost imperceptible, and she turned her ears to see that a batlike fellow, cream of fur and only a couple feet tall, had arrived. He sported a knapsack and a finely-crafted sword that hung on his back. Her slitted sea-blue eyes met his enormous, ruby-red peepers, and her default-by-default smile offered quite a contrast to his look of wary politeness. “Hi! Welcome to the paw-ty, little guy. The name’s Ms Fortune. What sword-a blade you got there?”
Though surprised by the feral’s manner for a moment, Heismay relaxed somewhat and drew his weapon for Nadia to admire. “This is a sandglass katana, forged from finest sandworm shell. It has no special attributes, but it is lightweight, easy to handle, and can make quick work of monsters.”
Nadia flashed a toothy smile to her reflection in the swordblade. “Neat. Can’t wait to see you take it into bat-tle!”
Heismay raised an eyebrow. “Quite fond of wordplay, aren’t you, miss? If you must know, I am not a bat, but a eugief.”
He talks like a middle-aged dad, Nadia thought, nodding. “Ahh, I see! I’ll stop givin’ ya eu-grief then, sorry!”
Of course, any Seeker would be hard-pressed to arrive at the rendezvous sooner than Sandalphon. Today she’d opted for her simplified work outfit, the two-piece cerulean collared shirt, black tie, black pants, and white boots to match her enormous tassel-lined coat. Her pale skin and silvery white hair made her gray lips and eye bags stand out quite starkly, not to mention her unusual eyes, which portrayed the bulk of the emotions seldom seen on her porcelain features. She stood beneath the light of her extravagant three-ring halo with her gunstaff in hand, more out of habit than need at the moment, and her new Hexagun could be seen slung across her back. The presence of that more magical replacement meant that the Eye of Sol must be sitting somewhere in the armory, that solar sniper rifle ready to resonate with someone of a more futuristic persuasion.
“Hiya, bwoss!” Nadia greeted her. The archangel offered a deadpan ‘hello’ in response.
At seven o’clock, with plenty of heroes and Lost Numbers around, the Seekers’ leader began to speak. “Good morning, everyone. We are currently approaching the departure point for the Forbidden Kingdom. I have taken the liberty of pre-selecting landing sites in both regions. Naturally, the safety and secrecy of both the Avenger and all our operatives are paramount, and we cannot risk activity near large population centers.” As she spoke, she created a light screen with a small section of the World of Light map to mark so everyone could see. “The Forbidden Kingdom team, hereafter referred to as ‘Gold Team’, is heading to Esaka, the Tiered City. A westward landing would risk interaction with the Shinjuku-Sotenbori metropolitan area, and to the east the alluvial plane of Dihua Marsh creates a drowning/burial hazard for hellpods. As such, Gold Team will land in the Fields of Gold to the north and set off southward immediately.”
Sandalphon changed the map to feature a piece of the Frozen Highlands. “The other team, ‘White Team’, is tasked with hunting down the Frozen Highlands guardian, Baldr. We do not currently have any leads on his whereabouts. I have selected Snowdin as our destination, since it stands at a crossroads in the region and Baldr has been sighted there before. Once we descend via Pelican-1, we will establish a temporary base of operations in Snowdin. We have a number of tasks to attend to, including the procurement of adequate cold-weather apparel for the team. I will accomplish this since I can eyeball everybody’s measurements, but help would be appreciated. The rest of the tasks I will outline upon arrival. Afterward, we can set off in search of Baldr.”
The archangel changed topics, her gaze settling on the Seekers’ most recent additions. “Before I go any further, I would like to mention our new recruits. Harry Du Bois, detective. Heismay Noctule, rogue. Celica, gunslinger. Kit, swordsman. Snowball, huntress.” While clearly intelligent, the divine wolf couldn’t communicate any better than her mortal counterparts, so Sandalphon had taken it upon herself to come up with a usable designation, and according to the Inter-Knot ‘Snowball’ was a common name. “Please introduce yourselves and make them welcome. Each one is one of us now.”
After a few moments, Sandalphon spoke again. “I have two more matters, both pertaining to the Lost Numbers. If you all are not aware, maintaining even a small army is a costly task. As of this morning, all supplies aboard the Avenger are running low, especially food. As we embark on new missions in the World of Light, we must keep all our needs in mind. Therefore, keep your eyes out for anything we can use. Daily essentials, materials, reagents, clothes and equipment, weapons, fuel, food, medical supplies–if anything can be acquired in sufficient bulk, please consider dispatching such packages via fulton pickup. By way of motivation, you are also approved to collect whatever items you like for your rooms. Of course, I do not condone morally questionable acts of acquisition. Please keep your roommates, space limitations, and weight limitations in mind as well. You will be issued additional fulton devices for this purpose.” She paused to clear her throat, shifting her weight slightly. “That brings me to the final topic. Miss Partridge?”
At the prompt, one of the Lost Number stepped forward with the aid of crutches, one on each arm. She was a young woman, twenty-four years old, with very long lavender and dark brown hair, and a simple but fashionable outfit exemplified by the postboy cap perched on her head. Despite her condition, she wore a proud, brave smile, which made her all the more beautiful. Behind her followed Professor Koa, holding a duffel bag. “Yes, ah, hello, everyone.” Not used to having so many eyes on her, she tried not to avert her gaze. “Some of us thought that, since you’re all out there risking your lives for us, we wanted to do whatever we can do whatever we can to help out. We’re not all fighters, but we did our best to figure out another way to make things a little easier for you.”
With the smile of a showman, the casually-dressed Koa set down the bag and unzipped it, revealing a number of warmly colored armbands. “Ta-da!” He framed the trove with jazz hands.
“These are Focus Sashes! I was up all night sewing them. Mr. Koa and Mr. Shirogane helped with the technical part. If you wear it, you’ll never have to worry about being taken out in one hit. Instead, you’ll tough it out on your last legs!” Her smile turned a bit more sheepish. “Uh, of course, hopefully you’ll never need to use their special effect. If nothing else, though, it’s a way to tie you all together. Show that you’re all part of the same team!” She bowed her head. “I hope you like them.”
At that point, Eleison pushed a trolly forward, piled high with little red packs. “Gronk and I have been hard at work, too. Medkits for everybody, one each. They’ll take a minute to apply, but you’ll be right as rain afterward.” The young man adjusted his glasses, offering no smiles. The work of a healer was never glamorous.
With that said, everyone could collect their care packages of three fultons, a Focus Sash, a medkit, and a water canteen. Then, with its departure to the Forbidden Kingdom imminent, Gold Team needed to hustle down to Deployment. Ms Fortune, Big Band, Bowser Jr, Rika, Roland, Juri, Captain Falcon, Pit, Zenkichi, Sakura, Primrose, Therion, Harry, and Amaterasu would need to cram themselves into hellpods and be fired down at the Forbidden Kingdom’s farmland like meteors from beyond. The others had some more time, but once the Avenger was plowing through snowy skies, Sandalphon, the Ace Cadet, Edward, Geralt, Sectonia, Blazermate, Roxas, Ganondorf, Celica, Kit, and Heismay would need to board Pelican-1.
Sakura Level 10: 77/100 Location: Word Count: 1,718 Points Gained: 3 +3 New EXP Balance--- Level 10: 84/100
After speaking with Nadia and Ace, Sakura trained for a little bit, finishing out her set over the next half-hour. It was a light workout, so she ended up exploring the ship to get familiar with her new home. It really was a giant army airship. Which was bad, because Sakura was not cut out for the army. So far the Seekers had been more like a group of like-minded folks vaguely throwing themselves in the direction of the enemy. Even when Sakura was a ship girl she wasn’t part of the army. Now, though, she was getting a much more organized vibe. Sakura grimaced. Hopefully she made the cut!
Her exploration led her to the bar, where she glanced over the myriad pictures on the wall. No one she recognized, except for the most recent two. Princess Midna and Goldlewis. They were good people. Sakura respected Goldlewis deeply. She knew Karin did, too. He was a real leader, and humble.
Princess Midna was someone Sakura considered a friend. They had gone on a few misadventures together, and Midna seemed to enjoy her company. Princess Midna was funny and talented.
Seeing them both as names on a wall made Sakura cry.
”Ten years…” Sakura said to herself, wiping her face. ”It seems like a long time. I’ll be twenty nine.” She said. As far as she could remember, this version of herself had been here for less than a half a year, give or take. The robot commander, Mr. Simon, had filled Sakura.
”But we’re Seekers. And if I have anything to say about it, it’s high time we won this thing, once and for all. Before our ten years are up.” Sakura said. ”I don’t have anything to honor you with, I’m sorry for that. Princess Midna-san. Goldlewis-san.” Her eyes turned upward. ”...All of you.”
”It’s strange. I’m sad, of course. But it’s- it’s- good that you’re still out there. That I’ll still be out there, too. That one day this will all end and we’ll all get to go home. Maybe it’ll be like none of this ever happened. That’s sad, too, but also good.” Sakura said.
”This world of light isn’t good for living in, though. It’s just like we’re all sharing a bad dream. The only good part is each other, and if all goes well, that good part will endure. The rest? Can all go away. This stupid world and its stupid rules make me feel like an action figure, just smashing up into other toys for ten years and then doing it all over again. It’s dumb. We’re gonna blow it all up for you, I promise.” Sakura said.
”It’s sad that there’s no good pictures of either of you, though. I’ll try to fix that going forward. I brought my camera. I like taking pictures.” The street fighter concluded. She wiped her eyes again and clenched her fist. Sakura wore her heart on her sleeve, and had never been shy about sharing her emotions with others, but she had to admit she was kind of glad she was here more or less by herself. Though she would have shown up for the service, of course, had she been on the ship when it happened. But this conversation probably would have happened either way.
”Well, anyway. It’s getting late. Time to turn in.” She said, giving the wall one last look over before leaving.
—
Sakura was sprawled out in her pajamas as she lay in her bed, fast asleep. It took a probably shocking amount of noise from the programmed alarm before she began to stir. She mumbled something about ‘ten more minutes’. Only a few minutes later did Sakura come tripping out of her dorm room and into the hallway, falling flat on her face in her tired state. ”Itai! I knew I wasn’t cut out for the army!” She complained to herself, more likely than not the last one to leave the rooms.
At the very least, Sakura wasn’t too fussed about the communal showers, indicated by her loud (and not half-bad, really) singing while she cleaned up under running cold water once she got her spot. After that she got changed, and was ready to go.
Having no feast last night to compare it to, Sakura was nothing but pleased with the simple oatmeal presented to her. ”And it’s totally free? Maybe the army’s not so bad!” She said to herself. After breakfast, it was time for the debriefing. Sakura had been Blue Team, then Black Team, and now, Gold Team. For some reason, the idea of having so many colors under her belt made her really excited. Maybe it was leftover from when she was first learning karate.
”Welcome to the Seekers!” Sakura waved to the newcomers, though she had to admit most of her attention was on Snowball, who was majestic and adorable.
Sandalphon made the Avenger’s need for supplies apparent. ”Supplies, huh? Okay, Sandalphon-san. I’m sure we can make it happen.”
Sakura accepted the armband, looking it over. She bowed her head at receiving the gift. ”It’s wonderful! Thank you so much.” She tied it around her arm on the spot. ”And useful, too!” As for the medkit, she placed it in her backpack. ”We’ll never not need something like this. Only a matter of time before we run into bad guys. Thanks a bunch.” She said with another bow.
Sakura also seemed to get a kick out of the water canteen, wiggling it back and forth to slosh the water around on the inside. ”Isn’t this cool? It makes me want to walk through a desert and get all parched and stuff before drinking the very last few drops.”
Next, it was time to get into the Hellpods. Sakura wasn’t sure what she was expecting. She knew they were going to be fired into the ground but…
”BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” In the solitude of her own Hellpod, Sakura screamed as loud as she wanted, barely above the noise of the tremendous racket. As it plunged into the ground, the platform raised Sakura up. Knees wobbling, teeth chattering, she tried to steady herself. ”I kn-knew I wasn’t c-cut out for the a-army…” Sakura said, promptly toppling forward.
She lifted her head and shook it back and forth, shooting back to her feet. Something important had slipped her mind, and she stumbled forward to intercept the entire group before they could get too far towards the city.
”Ex- excuse me everyone! Hi! My name’s Sakura!” She said, hands raised. ”I’m uh, from Esaka! Well, okay, I’m from Japan but in the World of Light I’m from Esaka and I pretty much know how it works!” Sakura said.
”So if you’ll just give me a second I’ll try and explain it to you.” Hopefully she had everyone’s attention by now.
”Okay, so…imagine a big cake. A big wedding cake. That’s basically Esaka, the Tiered City. It’s kind of like the top and bottom level of Midgar except with even more tiers. The higher you get, the smaller and better off your dojo is. Oh, yeah, dojos. Okay so the whole city is based around dojos, and the dojos fighting. Not like warfare fighting but like, tournaments and matches. It really is a lot of fun.” Sakura said.
”Okay so the higher up you are, the better. But also, the smaller? My dojo was pretty high up, haha. I mean, duh.” Sakura boasted somewhat humbly.
”But lower is, y’know, kusoge. Really just kinda bad fighters or tournaments with stupid rules. Hopefully we won’t have to spend too much time down there, if any.” Sakura blinked.
”...Hmm, it kind of is like Midgar. B-but it’s different because- well, in Midgar- it’s like, evil corporations and stuff. In Esaka it’s like, if you’re actually good at fighting, you go up. Like Esaka is literally 100% fighting so it’s not like, unfair or anything I mean it is what it is, it’s not hiding it from you it’s totally fair. ” Sakura was getting herself a bit red in the face, already trying to pre-emptively defend Esaka and herself from sounding bad even in her own mind.
”The most important thing is the Livestream!” She pushed ahead. ”So much ki in one place has resulted in like, some kind of totally crazy magical phenomenon. As a result, Esaka and the Forbidden Kingdom both have a lot of Yokai residents. Oh, Yokai are like, ghosts and monsters. But way cooler.”
”That’s why the Yokai that live in the Livestream are called Stream Monsters, and they love to watch fights. I mean, who doesn’t? But they’re powerful, and if they get hyped they give donations and money to the fighters. So you see, if you just fight well, you get money right there on the spot. No sponsorships, no corporations, nothing like that. Just Yokai who like watching people get beat up. So that’s why it’s fair. Anyone can move up the tiers, you just have to not suck.” Sakura explained.
”The Heavenly Principles make sure nobody gets too hurt, even when the fights get really intense. They’re like magic rules that make sure everything is as fair as possible. Midgar didn’t have anything like that.” She nodded, satisfied with her own defence of her favorite city.
”So yeah, it’s just a big fighting city! Cool right? At the top you have the most prestigious tournaments with the best fighters, run by the Four Heavenly Kings. Okay yeah, no, if I’m being honest at least one of them is really evil. Also because I’m sure if there’s a Guardian in Esaka, it’ll be somewhere near the top, probably being kept a secret.” Sakura stretched one arm.
”Even if we have to start at the very bottom and work our way up, as strong as we are we’ll be in the best dojos in no time. We just have to get through Pools first. Oh, the Pools are where the lower tiers can earn their spot in the middle tiers, again if they fight good enough.” Sakura said.
She scratched her head. ”I think that’s it? Does anyone have any questions? Even with my guess about the Guardian, we’ll probably just have to dive in and see what we can find out. So anyone whose not fighting in matches can probably do that?” Sakura said. ”I’m, uh, not the leader, though. Just a thought.” Sakura let her hands fall to her sides and looked at the gathered Seekers.
Level: 5 EXP: 8/50 Location: The Avenger Word Count: 753 (+2) Interactions: N/A
Kit was awestruck by the Avenger the moment he set foot on it, impressed by the size of the ship and the technology found aboard it. He didn't eat or drink much at the feast, just a little snack of cheese and bread. He didn't need to eat so he figured he wouldn't take too much, considering there were others that actually needed the sustenance. As the banquet winded down and Kit found out where he would be bunking, he left the banquet early to get acclimated with his new quarters.
Kit's night was spent in silent meditation, even as his roommate Harry snored. It had been a long while since he had slept, before he had become undead even. He lost track of just how many years he'd been alive (or dead, rather), the memories of a life before that point turning to ashes that he would grasp and attempt to hold onto even as they fell through his fingers. He was amazed he was able to remember that little toy horse he had as a young boy. It was a long, long time ago that he had been a child. He couldn't even remember the faces of his parents. He felt a sense of melancholy there, but he tried to force the feeling back down as much as possible. That feeling wouldn't help.
Kit's meditation was interrupted by the klaxon blaring coming from everywhere. He wasn't sure just what the sound was, nor how it could be coming from all over the place. It continued to grow louder and louder until it eventually stopped. By that point, he heard multiple people getting up and ready for the day. He wondered if that noise had been like some kind of bell ringing to wake everyone up. He shook his head, not quite sure what to make of all this technology.
At breakfast, Kit sat down and had a bowl of oatmeal, finishing it off quickly but continuing to sit there, observing everyone. It was certainly a motley crew of individuals from all sorts of walks of life, each with a unique story to tell. Kit was curious to get to know them, hoping to forge bonds with the people he had decided to band together with. He wondered if maybe they'd find anyone he knew out in the wilds. He dearly missed Solaire, as well as all the other allies he had made... But another part of him thought back on an enemy.
Lautrec.
The heartless bastard that had killed the Firekeeper, betraying everyone at Firelink Shrine and damning what had once been a warm place where weary travelers could rest for even a moment. He wasn't sure if Firelink Shrine even existed in this world, or any other place he had been to, but he knew that if everyone was thrown into this world, that meant Lautrec was too. He would find the bastard and cut him down, whatever it took.
As breakfast finished up and everyone made their way to the vehicle bay, Kit followed after them. Entering the vehicle bay, Kit marveled at all the vehicles there, not even beginning to comprehend how they worked. He was used to walking everywhere he went, having never ridden a horse or a carriage. But these carriages didn't even need horses. It was so unusual, but it seemed like the future itself was unusual. He'd get used to it eventually, surely.
He listened intently as Sandalphon spoke, feeling a bit of pride in his chest as she announced the names of the new recruits. The speech continued, warning that the supplies were running low aboard the ship and that they need to restock. He was sure that between all of them they could find a way to get the supplies they needed. Eventually the speech was over and everyone collected their gear. Kit wouldn't have much use of the water canteen, or the medkit for that matter, but at least it could be used as a backup for anyone who had run out of theirs.
Gold Team departed in their hellpods. Kit stood around after fixing his Focus Sash around his left bicep, gazing at all the people that he would be working with. He was a bit disappointed to be separated from Big Band, Harry, and Snowball, but he supposed that at least Heismay would be there. As the view outside became that of snowy mountains and plains, Kit was among the first to board the Pelican-1.
wordcount: 3,007 (+4) (+4 rapport with Pit) Amaterasu: level 8 EXP: ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (24/80) Location: The Avenger
Treachery! Betrayal! After all Sandalphon had done for her, namely letting her use the spare bed in her room overnight, she’d gone ahead and just gave her such a silly, inappropriate name! She could see her symbols of divinity. The red markings, the artful swills, the massive flaming disk and divine weapons, and she went with ‘Snowball.’
Disgraceful.
Indigent.
She’d have to rectify this on the double!
Such were the thoughts of Amaterasu, she who had not thought about the fact that she should have just given her name at some point before now. As it was, she was left glancing around, hackles raised as she tried to work out a way to correct this misstep.
There was at least one other Seeker who could see the goddess' true form and shared her confusion over the name, if not her ire. Upon first seeing the wolf and her fiery divine disc, Pit had blinked in surprise. Even if he hadn't been able to see it, his angel sense clued him in to the fact that one of the crew's newest recruits was no normal wolf. She wasn't even just a wolf with super powers.
She was genuine divinity.
And her name was Snowball.
It took a fair bit of control not to utter even a giggle, but the angel managed just barely. Instead he coughed into his fist, and only once everyone was dismissed for departure did he approach the goddess.
Despite her being a wolf and showing some warning signs in her behavior, Pit was not wary. He couldn't actually sense if someone was good or evil, but this was a goddess who had, apparently, decided to join up with the Seekers. Ergo, she must be a benevolent deity. And there was the fact that she didn't feel particularly powerful, at the moment anyway. Maybe she just wasn't in her element up here. Either way, now the Seekers had two goddesses on their side! They were pretty much guaranteed to succeed. Speaking of, the Goddess of Light turned curious attention to her ward's situation, as she often did.
"Hi, uh, Snowball?" Pit called to get the wolf's attention. "Kind of a weird name for a god. Unless you're a god of snow?" He glanced at the flaming diving weapon hovering over her back. Maybe... it was for warmth in the cold...?
"Anyway, welcome to the team! I'm Pit, and I'm actually a servant of the Goddess of Light, Lady Palutena." He said it proudly, but after a moment added, "and I'm a one goddess guy, but if you need a servant I guess we could find one of yours out there?"
The divine wolf just looked more distressed as he started talking about her ‘name’ till salvation came on a different set of angel wings, namely those of a middle aged man who had been chanting some spell or other, and who now pulled out a small scythe out of a sheath, the blade of which was crackling with magical flame.
Which was perfect.
Time stopped for all but her as she reached out with her divine brush to borrow that flame. Thrice it rushed in a line towards her, and then thrice it swirl above her as she wrote her name and divine domain in fire for all to see.
The sudden appearance of fire in the air surprised Pit, but he was more than used to rolling with the weird by now. The message, though bright and obvious, was fleeting; and though Pit had definitely seen it, he was almost unaware it was a message at all. Sure he could read print now, but calligraphy written in flame? That was still beyond him, understandably so.
"Fire god then?" he guessed, which would make the name even more strange. Then he tilted his head, seemingly even more confused about something. "Can't you talk in your wolf form...?"
Hmm, I don't think she can. When she's incarnated like this, she doesn't just appear in that shape - she is both wolf and goddess.
Ooh, so you know who she is, Lady Palutena?
Actually, I just read her message and looked her up. Her true name is Amaterasu, and as the goddess of the sun she's one of the most important gods back where she comes from. She also doesn't have any of her own angels as far as I know.
Wow, that's pretty impressive, but I guess she has nothing on you, the Goddess of Light then, huh?
Hehe. Well, I do have the benefit of having my own personal Pit and being able to communicate directly, but she does have fellow brush gods that help her out… and we have a few things in common too. For one, her abilities aren't limited to just her domain. She can harness any of the elements around her, among other things.
So like your Power of Cooling or Caging... Hopefully she doesn't have telepathy.
She also relies on the people's belief in her for her power. The more praise she receives, the more powerful she is.
The internal conversation didn't last more than a couple of seconds, and to most it would have just appeared like an angel and white wolf staring at each other for those few seconds. At the end of it Pit blinked, a sympathetic look in his electric colored eyes. So that was why Amaterasu didn't seem all that powerful for a god - if hardly anyone could tell she was one, and she had a hard time telling them herself, then she probably hadn't been appreciated for a while. Especially in this world, if she didn't have people to watch over like Lady Palutena did.
"Okay, I got it now - Amaterasu," he told the goddess. Considering she was also a literal wolf if he understood Palutena correctly, and a wolf was sort of like a dog, he also reached out with the intent to pet her head, above her divine markings between her ears.
Upon hearing her name, the divine wolf calmed, adjusting her footing with a pad pad pad of paws as she returned to a more neutral pose. She was very much relieved things had been cleared up a bit, especially after he’d seemed so clueless before. Before she could wonder what had caused that change, the angel reached a hand out towards her head, clearly intending to pet her.
She could accept children blind to her nature doing that, but this one really should know better than to pet without asking permission first, as she informed him with a short little growl.
"Okay, sorry! Guess you're more deity than dog."
Your way with words never ceases to amaze, Pit.
Pit had pulled his hand back, instead folding both arms behind his head and starting for the deployment area.
"Don't worry, I'll tell Sandalphon and everybody else your real name. And I guess we're gonna have to get you powered up before we find the Guardian."
The divine’s aggression had dropped as soon as the hand was pulled back. Not on the mark on the first shot, this one, but quick to adapt, and that was a virtue all of its own. She could work with that. She’d have too, given she was fairly sure he was the only one who saw her for what she really was.
As for how they’d her up, well, she’d need to step up her game when it came to helping people. She would, in three words, need to be a notable part of performing:
Also, finding a way to actually communicate that did not involve borrowing fire from a man who wasn’t going to even be on their team would probably help, she thought.
The same issue came up in that Pit glanced at the flames, guessed there was some kind of message in them, but could not decipher it. Luckily his own goddess read it out to him.
"So it's not gonna be as easy as, like... Saying your fur and shield is really cool? Or thanking you for joining the team or something like that?" He got to thinking, eyebrows pulled together in the middle. "Well we do all kinds of good deeds, so that shouldn't be a problem..."
He figured that of course it had to be genuine praise, but it made sense if the level of gratitude correlated to the level of power the goddess received.
"Oh, and I think we'll have to figure out a better way for you to talk to us. Lady Palutena might not always be able to translate. Maybe like one bark for yes, two for no, and howl for something else," he said next, unwittingly picking up on Amaterasu's own thoughts.
The wolf shuffled in place a few moments, and then gave a half hearted bark of confirmation. It felt far too much like being a dog who had been taught to “speak” but it would do for now, nevermind how much she disliked it.
From divine power to trained puppy... As a fellow goddess, I feel for her. There was an undeniable hint of amusement in Palutena's words. That, and Amaterasu's apparent approval, brought a small grin to Pit's face.
What, but it worked! It'll just make it easier for her to speak to us!
But at what cost... Hmm, why don't you at least throw a little praise her way? It might make up for the bruised ego I'm sure she's feeling.
"Oh, right," Pit said, seemingly out of nowhere. You won't get jealous, will you Lady Palutena?
Hmm, I'll let it slide for now.
The angel looked at Amaterasu once more, dropping his arms back to his sides and considering the best way to go about it. This wouldn't be in return for a 'grand good deed' but... maybe it would work? "I dunno how you get your praises Amaterasu, but... um..."
Pit closed his eyes and dipped his head slightly, praying to Nippon's Goddess of the Sun as he would Angel Land's Goddess of Light. After he was done he peeked one eye open, looking to see if he could tell if anything had changed.
Before him, and visible only otherwise to the eyes of those divine, the angel found a floating orb with a symbol meaning happiness/fortune upon it. It bobbed in the air for a moment till the divine wolf stepped forwards and tapped it with her snout, causing it to bounce away, only to then be pulled right back and into her chest. There, it joined a pool of power scrounged from revived plants, entertained beasties, delighted children, making the divine being just a little more deserving of the title of goddess.
Enough, indeed, to push her over her baseline, forming a singular package of power that she invested into a fourth inkpot, giving her just a little more of a reserve of power before her divinity ran dry.
She’d not expected this show of, well, faith from someone she’d only just met, especially not another divine for whom this held actually tangible value (or at least as far as she was aware anyway).
She owed him, but had ever so little to give in return. As such, she stepped closer, raised up and presented her forehead, before using the power he had just granted her to write an ever so slightly longer sentence.
"It worked! I think!" Pit had never seen a prayer take a physical shape before, hadn't even known it was possible, and definitely could not read the character in the little bubble, but after it was absorbed into Amaterasu what else could it have been? He found it to be neat, but before he got the chance to ask Palutena if they could figure out how to do that with the people of Overworld, she informed him of the content of the other goddess' latest message.
Pit smiled again, reaching out before the wolf changed her mind. Honestly respecting gods was not something Pit was particularly concerned about (the gods of his home world hardly commanded or frankly deserved it, save for one of course); still, he didn't pet her like he would Caesar or Scamp, instead placing his hand on her head and gently stroking once down toward her neck. A more dignified sort of pet, if that was even possible. Her fur was warm.
He gave her some space afterward, overall pleased with (sort of) figuring things out with the non-verbal goddess. "Well now that we know what to call you and how to communicate, guess we're good to go! ...actually there's a ton of other Seeker-stuff that usually gets explained, but if Sandalphon didn't already tell you then I guess we'll just deal with it when it comes up."
The divine wolf supposed this would do. It wasn’t as if she could ask any kind of detailed questions. She did, however, have one more thing she’d need help with, unfortunately, the wolf reaching back, nuzzling her own fur, and somehow pulling out the focus sash she’d fetched earlier but, due to having paws and all that, wasn’t able to affix. As such she needed a squire to put on this (thin) piece of armor, and if her holding it up for Pit to take was any indication, she’d decided he’d fit the bill.
Luckily Pit was much quicker to pick up on motions and gestures like this than he was on calligraphy. His own focus sash was already tied around his arm, replacing the kerchief that had been there, and so he easily guessed what Amaterasu wanted.
"Oh, sure, I can do that for you." He took the ribbon and knelt down so that he could wrap it around one of her forelegs, as close to an arm as the wolf had.
The divine wolf patiently kept her paw raised and still as the sash was tied to her front leg, before giving the binding a nose, confirming that it was solid and not likely to slide down and trip her up.
Satisfied, she set the paw down and glanced at him approvingly, now set to go out there, and do some good in the world.
Right on cue, the call to descend was called, bringing the little pre-mission talk to an end and it was time to depart. Something they did in just the worst way in Amatarasu’s opinion.
It didn’t help that the things were made for bipeds, and that the divine wolf did not appreciate being stuck in a cramped confined place one bit. It was just unnatural. Combine that with the noise and the rattling and… well, suffice to say, if she’d thought going up had been bad then this was about 10 times worse.
Still, finally, eventually, it ended, and Amatarsu rose from the earth, forced to stand on her hind legs as she did so, front paws walking up the sides of the impact crater till the touched down on the actual surface of the ground and she could walk herself forward back onto a standing position.
It could have been worse.
She could have flopped down face first after the ride as the girl who introduced herself as Sakura had.
Despite her undignified first impression however, Sakura turned out to be a wellspring of information that the divine wolf sat herself down to listen too, doing her best to not zone out during the exposition and being rewarded for it with a new plan.
To impress these ‘Stream Monsters’ and win their praise. Less righteous than doing grand good deeds certainly, but as a bonus to what she was going to be up to anyway, it was nothing to be sniffed at. Nor was the money, which could help her fill her belly with food, and fill her soul with prais for spending it charitably.
All in all, this seemed like it would be a far better time than traipsing through the snow like the other team were going to be doing, and so she was eager to set off, popping back up onto her paws, ready to begin her journey.
Just as soon as Pit properly introduced her to everyone. She could hardly have them going around calling her Snowball afterall, and she’d now lost the convenient force source with which she had been writing with before, which would make repeating the introductions a bit more difficult.
wordcount: 2244 (+3 exp (+1 rapport with Kit)) Edward Portsmith: Level 6 (16 cells) (1 level up benefit stored) ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (24/60) Location The Avenger
Edward didn’t need an alarm clock to wake up at the right time, having lived without such conveniences for most of his life, and managing to operate on a military timeframe regardless.
Still, he was among those who hadn’t gotten a perfect night’s sleep. Not due to wastefulness, like a certain set of children who were next door and failing to get up in response to the alarm, but because he’d worked into the night.
First he’d continued with the arcane item forge by going through the rest of the magical items to see what could be recycled.
For t2 and below, there was the Illumina Baton, Machete and Pistol and Charr Pirate Musket, which technically was enough to make another T2, but, having another look at the batton, he found himself interested in its capabilities. He certainly needed a one handed melee weapon, and this sturdy device seemed like it would fit the bill well enough. It would be something of a waste to dismantle it simply to make his own tier two weapon.
Meanwhile wand Dagon, might not have seen use yet, but, he thought, surely if they were going to a land of ice someone, such as himself, might pick up related magic. Plus he’d only be able to make t2 items out of it, lacking any other t3 or above with which to get the required fragments to make anything better.
Thus, the only things he had were the two gun combos, which were scrapped and turned into, based on the same line of thinking that had resulted in him not scraping the wand, a ring of frost resistance.
Simple, but no doubt effective given the environment.
The little inconspicuous ring was hardly the main thing people would notice if they cared to regard Edward while awaiting drop off.
The most obvious difference was that the man was now wearing a full set of armor covered in drillbit-like teeth made out of Balahara scales which he’d purchased from Ace. He’d tried to pay the man the same amount as Sandalphon had paid him for her new gun, more or less to pass on the favor, and then had also had his offer halved down to 8,000 Zenny.
For the synergy it gave with his powers and skill sets (namely juggling autoloading weapons and his new portal dodge) that price was banditry.
Speaking of banditry, the already belt strapped armor had multiple new holsters and sheaths attached to it, all of them made from salvaged leather and cloth made from bandit hoods and boots. These held the Illumina Baton, magelock pistol, war scythe (which had been a complicated thing to sheath indeed, but would probably make for a good ice-pick if nothing else) and the Finger of Odin magical machine pistol.
The bandits had additionally contributed the iron and wood of their knives to produce ammunition for said gun (alongside the disenchanted remains of his maglock and the musket), all together producing 200 rounds of Burning I spell bullets he’d produced using a blueprint from the Mysticenter, some of which was nicely stashed into his ammo pouches.
He’d ditched the enchanted buckler for weight reasons now that he had enough sidearms to go around, and wanted to have the dexterity to wield them, but he’d made up the weight in other ways. Namly in heavier ordinance. For one he’d converted the hanging quiver from a Feather-bow into a long gun holster, presently storing his Smiting Bishop rifle, as well as having two more slung over his shoulder via straps that would be incredibly inconvenient to fight with, and who’s ‘thematic resonance’ was rather debatable.
The Plasma Cutter was rather clearly a pure science weapon, as was the Mag launcher, but both seemed, to him, to too suitably fill niches in his weapon set for him to let that get in the way. The man had at least fiddled with the theme of the latter by building a custom magazine (that was less magazine and more a catcher) into which the man could cast his grande spell, converting mana into explosive ordinance. It also meant he could practice with it, without fear of wasting ammunition.
It was a lot of bulk, but he had a solution to that problem, just not one that was going to be deployed till they touched down.
Tome of Pyromancy: Hellhounds: Edward can now animate facsimile of Pyro Hounds, fiendish beasts with burning manes, to fight for him. These can come in three squad sizes:
Inferno Puppies (Tier 1): a pack of 8 ankle biters that aren't very durable or dangerous, but can be quite the nuisance with their small hitboxes and high numbers.
Inferno Hounds (Tier 3): a pack of two matured hounds that have a 60% chance to inflict burning whenever they deal damage. Their bodies are suffused with flame, granting them 2 abilities other than melee attacks. First they can Vent Flames, dealing a melee attack range burst of fire all around them (20 second cooldown). Second, their Vengeful Flames present a hazard to anyone attacking them in melee, causing gouts of flame to burst from their wounds, which inflict light fire damage.
Inferno steed (Tier 3): A single Inferno hound that comes equipped with a saddle, stirrups and rump mounted set of saddlebags that both are fire resistant themselves, and grant fire resistance to the rider and their equipment. Said resistance fully protects them from the hound itself, and also gives 20% resistance against external sources of fire damage. The hound’s Vengeful Flames and Vent abilities are however suppressed in the process (as they would overwhelm the fire resistance). Instead it can Breath Fire forwards in a wide but short aoe (hitting foes in and just out of melee range in a 160 cone) every 20 seconds.
All hounds are fiend units, which have +15% crit chance, 20% fire resistance, 40% frost weakness and 40% spirit (holy) weakness. They are also pack hunters, dealing 10% extra damage per friendly squad/hero also attacking a foe in melee, are fast movers, are equally resistant to magic and physical damage, and are, unsurprisingly, immune to burning related debuffs.
Hellishly Sorcerous increases the damage output of these units, which is 60/40 split of physical/fire on melee and pure fire from abilities.
The rideable one was where he intended to store the situational weaponry. It would be just a might easier to grab them from there to respond to the current situation, rather than try and call them in from the armory in the same amount of time, or at least that was his thought on this matter. The straps presently linking the weapons together meanwhile were so that he could easily extract everything if he needed to abandon the steed for whatever reason, or it fell in battle.
Beyond that, though hellhounds would likely fare rather poorly in the cold themselves, they should act as convenient portable campfires for the rest of the seekers. As should his enchanting of their weapons, which the man proceeded to set up in advance.
While testing/examining his war scythe however, he got inadvertently turned into an inkwell, as Pit began conversing with a wolf of all things, though given it seemed to be responsible for the flames benign stolen from his weapon and written in very stylised cursive, it was likely not one of those.
Actually, if the man squinted his (aglow with a mix of demonic and angelic energy) eyes he could almost see there was something more to the wolf, but whatever vail it was disguising its true nature was not something he could quite pierce.
Regardless, he did not complain about his new temporary position as a fire-ink source, and quietly tested the grip and weight of the unorthodox weapon while the wolf used it to converse. He got a brief glance of acknowledgement by the end of it, but ultimately that was his only direct interaction with the strange wolf as she hurried off to her own mission.
Best time he headed for his.
Thus the man reupholstered his warscythe, tied the focus sash over his new armor, around from his left shoulder to his right hip in reminiance of his regular attire’s sash, and then set off for the Pelican-1.
The man ended up being second to board the flying machine, and thus the first of White Team to meet their latest new member.
He nodded to the knight, and then thought twice about just leaving it there, instead turning and offering a hand to shake and an introduction of ”Edward Portsmith: Dreadnought of the Commonwealth”
The knight shook his hand, offering up his name, ”Kit. Good to meet you, sir.”
”So I heard” he replied, giving a firm shake of the man's hand before stepping back, considering the use of sir for a moment, and then clarifying ”I’m somewhat new myself. Merely a day into things in fact, though it has been quite the day, that I can certainly say” just incase it was based on assumed seniority and not a simple respect thing, before continuing on and ”But if there is anything you need to know, I can do my best to fill you in”
”Good to hear that recruiting has been so active, we need all the people we can get. I shouldn’t need anything just yet but I appreciate the offer.”
Edward nodded in response to the latter, before commenting on the former ”This cause attracts all sorts, it seems, from selfless heroes to those who simply see Galeem as a challenge to their own supremacy” and then describing himself as ”I myself owe them my life, first and foremost, but also cannot stand by and watch while this self proclaimed god rules over a realm of endless suffering and strife”
Kit nodded at Edward’s words before replying, ”I’ve sworn to myself that I’ll purge evil wherever I go. This world is foreign to me, but I must hold true to my principles no matter where I am. Galeem might be the greatest evil I’ve ever faced, but I know that we will succeed in taking him down.”
”That’d put you firmly in the first camp then, I’d wager” Edward replied with a smile, before guessing ”I assume you are a knight of some sort then?”
”Something along those lines. I serve no house, but I am skilled in swordsmanship and wear this armor in remembrance of a fallen friend. What sort of fighter are you?”
”A ranger from a purely martial standpoint. Mostly from range with these” he patted his magical firearms, before gesturing to his unorthodox melee weapons and saying ”and with these up close if I must” before getting to the meat of his battlefield presence, the spellcasting
”I am also a Dreadnought: a commander of steel and sorcery forged together in fire. One we touch down, I will be conjuring golems to aid us in battle, and enchanting our arms to sunder armor and ignite foes”
Then, because it was as opportune moment to do so as any, he also added ”Oh, and I’ve set up a way to access the ship’s armory remotely, which I can link you into now if you’d like”
The knight gave an impressed whistle as Edward described his combat prowess. ”Impressive. I’ve met a few sorcerers in my time but none that could summon creatures to fight with us. And as for the armory, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to have access. Please, link me into it.”
”Of course. Here. Just repeat these gestures” he said, before demonstrating a few esoteric flicks of the fingers and wrist, before a floating spell circle appeared before his hand, one showing a scrollable menu of items which could be operated like a touch screen (which he also demonstrated) before explaining ”You can retrieve items instantly, but sending them back takes a small amount of time to charge the teleportation spell on our end, so be mindful of what you bring through. It is a shared stash after all. That said feel free to pursue and see if there is anything you’d find useful”
Kit repeated the gestures and began to scroll through the list of items he could use. ”Thank you, I’ll see if I can make use of anything.” prompting Edward to nod and then leave him to it.
Word Count: 1,141 Level: Lv: 6 EXP: (3/60) Location: The Avenger - Wednesday Morning Rollout
Luckily, Harry found a bottle of Maraschino cherries he could drink. He carried this back to his table before returning for some food, avoiding eye contact with the chief and employees at the cantina. Getting some food was pitiful since Harry was not particularly hungry. Quickly, he ate his food, conversing with his group about what would happen next. Would they be sent on another mission to combat Galeem’s forces. Harry assumed that would be the case. However, he was still concerned about the kids and the creature living underneath the castle in Martira.
This was one case he didn’t want to leave unsolved. So he would probably ask to see if any progress had been made. Or perhaps he could be updated on how the case proceeds. After he had finished his meal, he said good night to his companions before heading off to bed.
He didn’t get much sleep during the night. His dream was a mixture of images of his past, present, and future. Inside the dream, he was back in Revachol. He was on the floor after being shot, with Kim standing above him. The woman mercenary was behind him, pointing a gun at his head. The other mercenaries were a few feet away, looking prepared to attack them at any moment. He yelled for Kim to turn around, but it sounded more like a whisper. His face was covered in blood as the bullet bore its way through his partner’s skull. The masked man with the heavy rifle in the back aimed their gun at Harry while laughing loudly. It sounded like a high pitched demonic sounding laugh. It sounded like a mixture of a laugh and the squealing of a pig. Looking around the crowd, he could see the residents of Revachol and his co-workers in Precinct 41. e shash
They had a look of shock and horror at what was going on. Kim’s body went limp as his body slammed into the cobblestone road. The woman pointed her gun at him, and before she took the shot, he woke up. Sitting up right while screaming at the top of his lungs. His whole pasty white body was covered in sweat. He looked around to notice he was inside the Avenger and safe. “Sorry about that, Kit, I had a bad dream.” Harry said before lying back on the bed. Harry couldn't sleep for the rest of the night and stared at the wall until morning.
At 6 in the morning, Harry got out of bed when he noticed the sound of an alarm going off. “What the hell is that?” He started rushing to get prepared. Taking a quick shower before putting on his usual outfit. A few moments later, he was outside the room, wondering what was going on. But he assumed that it was a kind of wake up call of some kind. Sitting in the cafeteria after getting some breakfast. He didn’t eat much of his food; he was still shaken from his dream.
“Hi, Band.” He finally said the mechanical detective. The detective was slowly eating some more of his food. He felt the effects of alcohol withdrawal starting to set back in. His eyes looked over to Nadia, whom Band seemed to know. Smiling at her after shovelling his next forkful of food and swallowing it. “Howdy, my name is Harry Dubois. It’s nice to meet you.” He extended his hand for her to shake. His attention turned to Hemisay, giving him a nod of acknowledgment. It was nice to see another familiar face. He gave her the "Expression" to try and charm her.
“Hehe, I knew you were some kind of sun god.” He said to Amy, but he quite liked the nickname of Dog Mullens for Amaterasu. “Nice to finally know your name. Do you mind if I still call you Dog Mullens? Or do you want me to call ya Amaterasu?” He asked, wondering what name she would prefer. He bet she preferred Amaterasu and was angry at Harry for always calling her Dog Mullens.
His attention turned to Pit. “Ain’t you a little young to be fighting?” Harry was reminded of Lilly, or Annette. But he could tell there was more to him than meets the eye. “So what’s your deal, kid? Sounds like you're some kinda angel or something?” Relaxing in his seat while conversing with them. Hearing about Lady Palutena, he felt like an insignificant bug compared to the gods and higher beings around him.
He thought his inner thoughts could try to communicate with Amaterasu. Squinting his eyes while staring at the wolf. His face started to become a little purple from how hard he tried to concentrate. “Oh great goddess of the sun, please forgive our past trespasses. I am just a pitiful mortal trying to survive. From now on, if you need anything, you can speak with me telepathically.” Of course, he wasn’t telepathically speaking to Amaterasu as he didn’t possess that ability. It was all in his head. He relaxed his face as it went back to normal.
Harry looked at Sandalphon, assuming she ran this whole show. And to him, it seemed that was the case. Going to a city would be a nice change of pace from the caves and haunted mansions of the past. As the recruits were introduced, Harry stood up and introduced himself. “Detective Harry Dubois at your service.” Sitting back down while looking over at the other members. “Quite a ragtag group of people we got here.” He thought, but was glad to be around so many pretty women in the group. He took the sash and started to wrap it around his waist. Putting away his medkit and water canteen into his plastic bag.
Before going to the pod, he would find some equipment so he would not be defenceless. Looking through the armoury for any good weapons. But unfortunately, there was not much in the way of weapons or supplies. The only thing he took was a golden gun that seemed to be very bedazzled.
"A very disco choice Harry." His Savoir Faire said.
"The engravings give you no tactical advantage whatsoever." Logic chimed in sounding dissapointed in Harry's choice of weapon.
"Fuck tactical advantage, now you are a real superstar cop." Savoir Faire retorted. Harry, meanwhile collected a pitiful amount of 9mm ammo and put it into his plastic bag. Spinning the gun a few times before putting it away into a shoulder holster he had found.
He made his way back to the other members of the Gold Team near the hellpods. But before he left, he said goodbye and wished Kit luck on his mission. He gave him a High five before he left, lowering his hand for a low five, hoping he would give it a slap.
The morning of a new deployment always felt serious. The Seekers had been divided into two Teams that were about to be sent to two completely different regions. And there was no telling how long they’d each spend in their respective areas. For Roxas, anyway, the main thing he anticipated about the Frozen Highlands was that it was going to be cold, as its name suggested. Thankfully, Roxas’s Organization coat - albeit heavily altered from its default appearance due to his spirits - was in all likelihood enough for him to stay warm up there. But that aside, he’d also heard about that region having a Pokemon-centric area in the form of the Aether Foundation at Edinbourgh. He had to admit he was pretty curious to find out what kinds of Pokemon could be found in the colder environment, too.
For Ganondorf, a deployment to the Highlands was less about excitement. Instead he was focused on seeing the subjugated Consul L and confirming the location of her Flame Clock. And he recalled that the Ace Cadet said he could show that to him once they got there. Good. As for that area’s guardian, Ganondorf had little doubt the Seekers could handle them, especially with himself among their ranks. And if the reports about the Guardian having a crippling weakness to a specific plant were accurate, then all the better. Ganondorf secured himself a thick cloak he could wear over his armor as a means to mitigate the cold. His armor, while somewhat capable of fending off cold weather, wasn’t completely ideal for what was described. But a cloak wrapped around himself over it should more than suffice, the Warlord guessed.
That wouldn’t matter at all to Captain Falcon, on the other hand. The Bounty Hunter was going to be deployed to Esaka instead. And so he listened to the description the returning Sakura gave and committed it to memory. A city full of dojos and fighting tournaments, while not his first line of work - that would always be the Grand Prix - it would still suit his preference for fighting his opponents man–to-man with his fists. And besides, it didn’t matter where the competitions took place. Whether on a race track or in a fighting arena, the Captain had no intention of doing anything less than his absolute best.
”Hm! Well if it’s tournaments we’ll need to win…” Falcon said aloud, ”...then that’s what we’ll do.” He offered a smile a thumbs up to Sakura, ”Sounds to me like you might just be our ace in the hole for this city, Ms. Kasugano. If we’ve got you as our guide then I’m sure we’ll do fine. Great, even.”
Sometime after this the crowd of Seekers were dispersed to either cramp into hellpods or board the Pelican-1. Falcon had no great difficulty fitting into a pod. And as for Roxas and Ganondorf, they were roughly in the middle of the pack in regards to when they got on the dropship. That left them some time to think for themselves, and eventually the Gerudo King’s thoughts led him to strike up a conversation with the Nobody.
”Would you care if I asked you something?” Ganondorf asked Roxas in a low voice.
”I… guess not?” Roxas replied, a bit hesitant but still undeniably curious about what the King of Evil of all people would want to ask him.
”I’ve managed to learn at least a decent amount about Moebius.” Ganondorf said, ”But I still know precious little about their counterparts. The ones you call Organization XIII. Is it true you were once among their ranks?”
Oh, so that’s what he wanted to ask about. ”Yeah, I was. But not this version of them.” Roxas answered. ”Their leader came from the same world as me. And the original version of the Organization he created there was the one I was a part of. But if I know him, his goal hasn’t changed between then and now.”
”And that would be…?” Ganondorf asked.
”He probably wants to get rid of Galeem so he can put himself in its place as the ruler of this world. Or something to that effect. The guy was always obsessed with the idea of claiming a particular power from my world that would let him rewrite things as he sees fit. If he’s allowed to, he’ll be no different than Galeem.”
”Is that so?” Ganondorf replied, rubbing his chin. ”Fascinating. I’ll have to make sure to remember that when the time comes.”
That made Roxas clam up a little. While there was at least some comfort that Ganondorf was willing to believe that the Organization would be their enemy in the end (something not everyone on the Avenger was completely convinced of yet), it also made Roxas second guess whether he should have shared this much information with him. Would Ganondorf also try to use a power like Kingdom Hearts for himself? Based on what he’d heard about the guy? Probably.
Sensing the shift in tone, Ganondorf decided to leave the Nobody be for now. But if what the boy said was true…? Well, the Gerudo King would have keep a more wary eye out for the Organization’s actions and scrutinize their motives a bit more. Still, they were at least useful for the time being. But Ganondorf had no compunctions about discarding them the moment their usefulness ran out, or better yet, the moment they became his enemies.
Level: 9 - Total EXP: 339/90 --------- Level: 8 - Total EXP: 250/80 Level: 11 - Total EXP: 264/110 ------ Level: 10 - Total EXP: 325/100 𝙱𝙿 ●●●●● ---------------------------- 𝙱𝙿 ●●●●● Wednesday Morning. Location: The Avenger Word Count: 4522 (+5 exp)(+ various applicable collab exp) ft. Sakura (@Zoey Boey)
New Strength: Sand Retrograder. Increases Ace's Break Efficiency by 20%. After Breaking an enemy target, increases his speed by 25% for 3 seconds.
New Strength: Elemental Torment. Increases Pit's critical hit chance by 20% against enemies affected by elemental effects.
New Strength: Charming Teddy Bear. When Primrose takes damage, she has a 10% chance to immediately and temporarily charm enemies.
New Strength: Intersegmental Membrane. Spending BP reduces the damage dealt to Therion by 8%, up to two times before the next attack he takes.
Ah, the forge. A familiar and welcome sight. The Ace Cadet was naturally attracted to it, wanting a closer look at all the completed pieces up for sale. Just as he'd seen from afar though, this forge was making much more than just weapons and armor. Levers, brackets, braces, and all kinds of metal pieces of machinery large and small were being smelted and worked into shape. And of the weapons laid along the forge's interior tables, it looked like a lot of them were commissioned - already bought and paid for. A shame, because a lot of it looked pretty interesting.
If I only I hadn't left that Neopteron arm back in the ship...! Ace thought to himself. He would have loved to see what they could have made out of it! Maybe a great sword? Part of a switch axe? So many options came to mind. Maybe he should have asked Edward to teach him that armory-connection spell... ah, who was he kidding. It was way, way too soon for that.
"Hunter, over here!"
Now if that wasn't a nostalgic sound! Smiths and shop keepers calling out to guild members, trying to make a sale with the latest piece of armor they crafted, or some trinket from a distant land. Ace turned towards the voice and found the pair of lady blacksmiths looking over at him, one of them waving an arm to beckon him over.
He wasted no time making his way over to them, glad to chat with a few friendly faces. Not to mention he had an inkling that they might just be from his own world. Most things in this world had a certain feel to them, a specific kind of unfamiliar, but a few didn't. These smiths didn't either, even though they were definitely strangers.
"Hey," he greeted with a quick wave and a smile. "How could you tell? The armor, the vibe?"
People in armor weren't exactly uncommon in a lot of places as far as Ace could tell, and his own had been altered and pieces had been exchanged. It was far from the rathian set he'd had for a while. There was one piece of equipment that had hardly changed though, a relatively new device that had quickly become a staple of most hunters' arsenals. It was that which the blonde blacksmith pointed out.
"Your slinger," she said. "It's hard to miss."
The red head rounded the Cadet's left side, gesturing for the man to raise his arm so she could get a better look at it. "I've heard about them, even seen a few before, but I'm still waiting for them to catch on in Elgado. I want to take a crack at making one!"
"I wouldn't say no to an upgrade," Ace said with a grin. "Were you just looking for a reference? ...or a test dummy?"
Getting to try out a new piece of equipment sounded like a lot of fun so he wouldn't even mind.
"Actually... we were hoping you'd help us out with something," the blonde said, clasping her hands together in front of her.
This had always been pretty common too, requests for hunting or gathering made on the streets or over a meal. A hunter that wanted to remain part of the guild would have to turn them down every time and direct the requester to submit through the guild itself... however, seeing as this was an entirely new world, with new rules...
"Sure," the Cadet replied. "Let me guess... a monster's blocking a supply route?"
The red headed blacksmith chuckled and shook her head, resting a hand on her hip. "Nope, but it is a supply problem."
She gestured towards the rest of Hammerhead in general, where locals and visitors were running around trying to get a piece of the action following the recent crash.
"We've been busy in general, but lately we're swamped and running low on a lot of things. With every two-bit adventurer off trying to get in on this scavenger thing, we've go no one around to run our errands!"
The event certainly was drawing people in, since even the Seekers' were getting in on it too. Since everyone else was out and about the Paved Wilderness, the hunter supposed he had some time to help. He'd hate to turn down a favor for people from his own world - they already felt closer than other strangers, probably for that very reason. Plus staying a blacksmith's good side was always a good idea.
"A hunter's work is never done, huh?" he chuckled. "I'll get whatever I can find for you girls."
"Great! Let me write you a list real quick," the blonde said, stuffing a hand into the satchel hanging on her hip and pulling out a scratch pad and pencil. "Anything you can bring back will help a lot. I'm Gemma by the way."
While she wrote, her fellow smith held out a gloved hand towards Ace, which he took in a handshake. "Minayle."
"Ace," he said in return. The introductions didn't register as strange to Ace, having made many of them in this world over the last few weeks. It was only after the handshake was done and Gemma handed him the list that something shifted a little in his brain and he blinked at the blacksmith duo.
"You don't use your titles?"
"Ooh, you're from the Continent?" Minayle asked, crossing her arms in front of her. "I heard the guild culture there's pretty different. Where I'm from, everyone just uses their names."
She glanced at Gemma. "You're from the Continent too, aren't you?"
"Yeah, I am," Gemma replied. She was smiling, like a happy memory had come to mind. "But lately using our names has come into fashion. Took a bit to get used to, but now it just makes sense. Especially with my expedition, since we were so small and isolated."
"Huh." Even those from his home world had started dropping their titles in favor of their given names... that wasn't something he'd expected to learn. He wondered for a moment if he should follow suit, but it felt weird. He'd grown up with names being reserved for family and close friends, and besides, everyone worked hard for their titles. In many ways they were more important than given names. Plus it was sort of late now - everyone already knew him as 'Ace.' Still, it was something to think about for the future.
Clearly reading the pause for what it was, Minayle questioned him. "So Ace is your title?"
"Part of it," the hunter said, finally glancing down at the list in his hand. "As for what you're looking for-"
"Right, the list!" Gemma sidled up next to Ace, moving to point the items out. "The most important thing we're missing is high quality pal oil. We go through a lot of it-"
"It's just so useful," Minayle commented.
"-and its harder to get than everything else on the list. Flame organs and sacs are things we always need, and with how much work we've had lately we're running low on them. Doduo down-"
"Both sturdy and soft!"
"-would be great if you can get your hands on that. And lastly, bones. We've got plenty of metal and ore right now, but good ol' bones? Feels like you can hardly find them when you need them!"
It all seemed doable. Flame sacs were easy enough, as long as he could find some fire-breathing creatures out there in the wilderness. Bones and oil were self explanatory, though he'd have to pay attention to make sure what he harvested was 'high quality.' He had needed a quick explanation of what a doduo was (he'd figured it was a bird if it had down, but the two heads was a surprise), but otherwise he felt confident enough in his ability to collect the things they needed - especially after his scout flies got the scent of what they had left.
"Groovios," Ace said when he was ready to head out, tucking the list into his bag just in case. "You can count on me!"
Minayle raised an eyebrow, turning to mouth 'groovios?' at Gemma, but the blonde giggled as a sense of familiarity started to form.
"I haven't heard someone tell monster puns like that for a long time."
"You actually knew someone else that did?" Another surprise, since the Cadet himself hadn't met many at all, if any.
"We didn't know each other that well. Our caravan kept meeting up with his group of hunters. We did a lot of business with them though." Something else occurred to her and she added, "actually, I'm pretty sure they all had 'Ace' as part of their titles too..."
"Wow, weird coincidence." Had the guild assembled a new team of Ace Hunters after their squad had disbanded, its members moving on?
Minayle looked between the two of them, amused. She had apparently connected the dots already.
"And this is why we use names in the Kingdom," she sighed lightly. "What was the guy's name, Gemma?"
"I never learned it. The only one from their group whose name I know is Fabius, because-"
"That's the Ace Lancer!" The Cadet blurted out. His eyes were wide, genuinely shocked to hear the veteran was a mutual acquaintance of theirs. And even more, now that he'd caught on to what Minayle already had, that he and Gemma had apparently met before too. "He was an Ace Hunter, with me! I'm - I was the Ace Cadet!"
Gemma snapped her fingers and nodded vigorously. "Yeah, that's right! That was the punny guy!"
Then she paused, looking at the monster hunter more intently. "Are you really him? It must have been ten years or so...?"
And Ace didn't look the same. He'd only changed a little, but it was easy to assume he wasn't recognizable at first glance anymore. It wasn't just the fusion changes though; for Gemma, the man didn't look old enough for ten years to have passed since last meeting each other. And for Ace, he still didn't recall having met anyone like Gemma... unless he applied the strange logic of this world to their meeting now. She could be the future of someone he knew. A blonde smith, who traveled with the caravan that the Ace Hunters had dealt with years ago...
"I definitely am. And that would make you... Little Miss Forge! Right?"
Minayle let out a laugh at the nickname, and Gemma's face pinkened. "I haven't been called that in forever! I earned proper titles since- never mind, just Gemma is fine!"
"Jumping Jaggis, I never actually expected to run into anyone else I knew," the Cadet breathed out, unable to keep the smile from his face. There was the Guildmarm back in Lumbridge, and now Little Miss Forge all grown up! "You've gotta tell me everything! What've you been doing since back then? What about Lancer, is he still coordinating commissions?"
"Well what about you? It's been a while! I've hardly heard a thing about the other Ace Hunters. Where did you all end up? Oh! Remember that spore monster? Well-"
"Heeeeey," Minayle interrupted, placing a hand on both Ace and Gemma's shoulders. "I'm glad you guys met again, and believe me I want you to catch up with each other, but we are really in a bind. Orders to start on, materials to secure..."
"Right," Gemma said, glancing from Minyale to her newly found acquaintance. "We do have some things we can work on now, and then we can talk more when you get back?"
The novelty of finding each other like this in the world would be lost on Gemma as long as she was gleaming and ignorant to all of the world truths that Ace had learned recently. The thought crossed his mind to free her, and Minayle, and anyone else that got in the way, but... instead he held in a sigh and just smiled at the women.
"Sure. Point me in the right direction and I'll be back as soon as possible!" There were a lot of interesting creatures in the Paved Wilderness. The whole area was a mix of savannah grass lands, rocky desert, and interconnected roads, so the scenery was interesting as well - and it provided a wide open view, so the Cadet could see quite a distance in the flat areas.
At first he spotted what he thought might be the bird he was looking for, but it turned out to be a different kind. This one had a single head, and it was... sort of majestic really. Like a miniature Aknosom, only much less aggressive. The birds traveled in small groups together, letting him get fairly close before they hurried away. They were neat, and the hunter definitely wouldn't mind learning more about them at some point. He probably would have hunted one if he wasn't in sort of a hurry to get back.
When he did find the correct bird, the Cadet pulled his new bow out of his pack. It was so very radalos looking, what with the shimmery chitin limbs tipped by iridescent insect wings, and the big beetle fashioned over the grip. He couldn't wait to try it out, but he didn't rush in drawing an arrow, nocking it, and aiming it at the doduo.
Which was how he discovered that the bow was difficult to use. The monster hunter had no trouble at all drawing back the greatbow that had been wielded by a giant, but while this one was smaller it seemed to take a lot more effort to pull the string back. "Wha...? Why's it like this?" Ace said to himself, aborting the first attempt to shoot and inspecting the weapon again. It didn't look like it had any special changes that would affect the draw strength, yet he'd practically struggled with it.
He tried again, his arm straining to pull the arrow back as if the bow itself was rejecting him. Ace glared at his target rather than the weapon, holding his aim and his focus, forcing the bow to cooperate. With a breath he released the arrow, and it sailed forward - just to the right of where the Cadet had aimed. The shot was still accurate enough to sink into one of the doduo's soft heads, but the variation annoyed the hunter. What was up with this weapon?
He'd also expected the creature to flop over, but instead the dead head hung lifelessly while the other panicked, and the bird ran. The Cadet was surprised, until he slapped a palm to his forehead when he realized what had gone wrong. Two heads means two brains, he thought, hustling after his target. He drew another arrow and fired, and watched as this time the shot went completely wide. "Ugh...!"
Ace skidded to a stop, swapping the Samsa bow for the still intact breechshot as quickly as possible. It didn't have a sight, but that wasn't a problem - when he aimed and pulled the trigger the doduo collapsed and kicked up a cloud of dust where it fell.
There must be something else going on with this thing, Ace thought of the bow as he walked over to where the bird had fallen. Some kind of hidden attribute that was making it difficult to use. It was a damn shame, since it was a nice weapon. He'd hold onto it for a while anyway, see if there was a way to get some use out of it. When Ace arrived at the spot where the doduo had died, he was greeted with yet another disappointment - what he'd thought had been a dust cloud had been ashes, and there was no body to carve, only a spirit sitting gently on the ground.
Ace let his head fall back and released a sigh. Had he really forgotten how the world worked in the heat of the moment? Maybe he'd slipped back into the mindset of his own world's logic after talking with the girls at the forge? Getting what they wanted was going to be a pain. At least it was understandable why they were running out of things. He picked up the spirit and crushed it in his palm, finding a handful of fluffy down there when he opened his fist. He judged the bird to have been nearly a meter and a half tall, forty kilograms in weight. And yet all he had to show for it was a single ball of baby feathers.
Yup, this giggisux.
The hunter released his scoutflies to lead him to more of the creatures, and gather around any bone piles they could sniff out as he traveled since who knew if he'd be able to get bones from spirits. He certainly wouldn't be able to get them from carcasses. Maybe he should stick to just the largest things he could see, break off parts where he could? Though that wouldn't help him with the small things... or the sacs, which were organs.
As he moved on, he spotted man-sized Neopterons and even more bird-like species, though these were much, much larger kinds than the previous ones. They were also Ace's source for flame sacs, and he tackled these large monsters any time he encountered them, swapping between his longsword, sword and shield, and the greatbow when he did. Being an ace hunter, these battles didn't take very long at all before he had a small collection of the brute spirits.
In and around the rare watering holes were bulbous creatures that the hunter all but wrestled for their oil. He tried to get as much as possible while they were alive, though it turned out these little monsters were keen to literally throw their weight around and fought back not only by body slamming, but slinging mud and rocks as well. So, they were put to the sword as well, their spirits joining the rest.
"This place is a regular slayground..." Ace mused, cleaning dirt off of himself after the latest round of small monster hunting. At first he'd been a little frustrated, but as the day went on he found it kind of cathartic just to hunt a bunch of stuff, even if the joy of carving wasn't a part of it. He did have that cookbook that might help though. Wouldn't hurt to try hunting one handed.
Ace continued, careful not to engage everything. Even for the creatures he was after, he left many of them alive on the off chance that slaying too many of them would throw off whatever ecosystem the wilderness supported. And what an ecosystem it was. He spotted more of the scaly herding herbivores, along with a whole host of other monsters, animals, and endemic life in general - though his favorite had to be the strange felynes that sprung up onto their front paws when spotted, making themselves look almost like some ancient effigy. For intimidation? Camouflage? These felynes couldn't talk, so unfortunately he couldn't just ask. After studying them for a little bit, he determined it was a bit of both.
The Cadet was heading back when he spotted another few doduo. Alright, this time he'd sneak up with his sword and shield, try shaving some of their feathery down off before cutting them down...
A while later and the Cadet returned to Hammerhead with his bounty (and his green orb popped). He'd managed to find some bone piles, and he'd grabbed what he could from every creature he'd hunted down before their bodies turned to ashes, a combination of some precise blade work and the (sort of gross) book that Kamek had given him a while ago. Mostly though, he had a lot of spirits. They were all tucked into his pack until he realistically couldn't fit anymore in, and thus when he returned and basically upended his bag, the motes of light spilling onto the table in front of them, it led to a whole lot of squishing for items and hoping for the best. The weaker the monster the more basic materials their spirits seemed to give, which the hunter would keep in mind. It was far from what carving up a regular corpse would yield, but it was something at least.
And apparently it was enough, as Minayle spread everything out with a gleeful look in her eyes.
"Look at all these materials... ehehe, hehehe~"
Gemma patted her on the back and then turned to her old acquaintance. "Thanks a lot, you helped us out. Are you sticking around here for long? We can fill each in on everything!"
"You sure it won't be a distraction?" Ace asked. He hoped it wouldn't. So far it still seemed like he had time to burn since not everyone had returned yet, and he did really want to chat and catch up.
"Not at all," Minayle answered for her. She had pulled a hammer out from somewhere, already eager to get back to it. "We talk while we work all the time. It'll be nice to get some more context for Gemma's old stories too."
She then nodded towards Ace's slinger. "And I still want a closer look at that thing."
"I'll make sure it gets a real tune up," Gemma added as insurance in case the hunter wasn't keen on giving it up to Minayle's inspection. Ace didn't mind whatsoever though, turning his arm over and unstrapping the slinger to hand it over.
"Man, where do I even start?" Ace said, helping move the bulkier items to the forge's stores. A lot had happened since way back then, especially with the research commission. For him, it had been about five years since the events in Dundorma and Heaven's Mount. He'd been so much younger then, and Gemma even more so; she had to have been around twelve or thirteen if he had to guess. And look at them now!
As Gemma and Minayle joined the forge's other smiths in catching up on work, Gemma and Ace caught up on each other's lives. Minayle was happy to eavesdrop, make comments and ask questions, and talk about her own experiences in Elgado Outpost too. Just talking and tolerating the heat of the smelter was what the Cadet spent the rest of the afternoon doing, occasionally pitching in with some manual labor and plenty of humor. He would have been satisfied with that (even if the allure of getting a new piece of armor was strong), but true to her word Gemma fit in a look at the slinger, tweaking it's strength and lengthening it's chain. He did eventually end up convincing them to part with some of the pal oil he'd brought back too, for his own item use.
When Seekers began trickling in from the reaches of the Paved Wilderness, that was his cue to make his farewells and 'see you later's. He sincerely hoped that there would be a chance to see them later too, but in the mean time he'd worked up quite an appetite - and there was sure to be dinner waiting for them back on the Avenger.
Once morning rolled around, Therion was up and ready. After the events of yesterday, from the assault on the Qliphoth and the surprise food cult the same afternoon (after which he'd simply turned in the found firearms for money, though he had considered keeping the plague pistol) to the evening meeting, the thief had made sure to get plenty of rest. He had attended the memorial as a formality, not particularly close with either of the... he wasn't sure it was right to even call them deceased. So, feeling out of place, he'd slipped out early before the service was concluded and kept to himself the remainder of the night. Similarly in the early hours before the wake up alarms sounded, he readied himself for the day ahead before the chaos of everyone else awakening started.
He had all of his equipment on him, as well as the fruits he'd ferreted away from the cafeteria from prior meals (though that didn't stop him from sweeping through the mess hall again for more free food now). It was as prepared as he was going to get.
He spent some time basically moseying through the halls, the ears on his head swiveling to pick up bits of conversations he overheard, and showed up to the vehicle bay neither too early nor too late. As usual he didn't appear enthused for the mission ahead of the Seekers, but he wasn't in a bad mood. Apathetic was simply his default expression.
Primrose arrived after him, back in her tailored red and gold ensemble. Her dancer's outfit was tucked in her bag; if Esaka was anything like Meridi-at-Han, she may get more use out of it. During her time with the Seekers she'd grown strong, and though she would not shy away from violence she still found that one always caught more flies with honey than with vinegar.
Earlier than the both of them was Pit, who normally had very little to prepare. The same was true this morning. He would have shown up early even if he hadn't been elected as the Forbidden Kingdom contingent's leader, but since he had been, he wanted to treat the role seriously. Or as seriously as he could, at any rate. When he got to the vehicle bay he greeted Sandalphon with a chipper, "good morning!"
It was much closer to the deadline that the Ace Cadet arrived. After he and Nadia had departed from the training room, leaving Sakura to finish her interrupted workout last night, the two of them ended up in the common room with Dawn, Lakota, and their kids to watch a movie. It was wholly different to the kinds that would be shown in Little Innsmouth, and for the Cadet it was his first time ever seeing a moving picture show like that in the first place, so it had been pretty fun to watch cuddled up together. It would have been a good end to the day, except that yesterday had been a long one, with a lot of ups and downs - which meant that even when he'd retired to his room (which he still had to himself for now), he was still a mix of tired and wired.
He'd tried to sleep, then got into his own head about the magic amulet in his bag and how the expedition in the morning would go. So he sat up, attempted to wear his mind out by reading, then stood up and tried to physically work out the stupid jitters. Made a short visit to the training center himself (which was understandably empty that late), tested out the new all-one-piece armor he'd gotten earlier, and practically walked a lap around the Avenger before finally hitting the hay. He'd slept until the room's alarm had grown incessant, stumbled sleepily into a cold shower, waffled about whether or not to wear the amulet now or later, and then all but inhaled breakfast - after which he'd run into Edward and engaged in a reverse haggle with the man over the armor.
He'd made it on time though, somehow. And now he stood among the rest of the Seekers, new and old, dressed back in the warm clothes and cold weather armor he'd gotten in Edinburgh Magicapolis; for the most part anyway, as the heavy coat was only half buttoned from the bottom so that it pooled around the hunter's waist where it would remain until they actually touched down in the Frozen Highlands. The amulet Edward had made for him was tentatively hung on his belt. Ace wasn't quite bright eyed or bushy tailed that morning, but his friendly demeanor remained. He smiled warmly at Nadia, nodded to Big Band (who the Cadet didn't blame for not wanting to return to the Highlands), and made no disguise of his interest in the unfamiliar faces in the crowd. Or more specifically of their gear, as the hunter eyed the eugief's sword when he brought it out for display, and the new knight's armor and tower shield. The Cadet himself had chosen his own sword and shield to equip that morning, his other weapons stowed in his backpack for the moment.
And now that everyone was assembled, it was time for them to split up once more following their newly elected leader's words.
First order of business, where the respective teams would be landing. Primrose had seen this map a few times now and had all but memorized it. The Field of Gold were about equidistant from Esaka, Meridi-at-Han, and Kanal - if she and Therion wanted to split off from the main group and head in another direction, it may be best to do it as soon as they landed... but then again, getting a sense of Esaka first seemed like it would be prudent. She shifted in place, laying a hand on her hip as she considered her plans. Snowdin, the other team's destination, would not be terribly far from anywhere the Gold Team might be in the Forbidden Kingdom, which was a boon in case the two groups needed to converge for any reason. The fact that White Team wasn't going to head straight into what was probably the largest city in the Frozen Highlands was also good news for the Ace Cadet, who perked up when he saw where they'd be landing first.
Sandalphon also brought up the issue of procuring cold weather clothes, which had been his own first order of business when he, Band, and the others had been stuck in the frigid north. "What's our budget like? If we don't get lucky with whatever monster spirits we find around there, it'll probably be easiest just to buy it all."
Which is what had left him broke in the first place, leaving aside that he was a wanton spender in general. Even now he'd probably contribute to the clothes fund with what Edward had just paid him.
Though not normally the generous type, Therion spoke up with an offer. "...some of us picked up some spare clothes at that circus. As long as the worst of the cold is in the Highlands themselves, I don't think we'll need them."
He pulled a folded costume from his bag. It probably wouldn't blend in against a snowy environment, but with thick materials and fur lining its warmth was all but guaranteed. Primrose raised an eyebrow at the gesture, but to be fair maybe he was just passing some good will forward. She had picked it out for him, and one for herself too, but if it would go to better use with someone else then Therion had the right idea.
"Here," she said, pulling another set of clothes from her own bag. This outfit was much more feminine, and though it lacked gloves or a scarf the heavy dress and layer of petticoat underneath would be more than enough to warm anyone that wore it. It was deceptively easier to move around in than it looked for anyone unused to such clothes, and sported a pair of cold weather footwear.
Should anyone decide to take it, the dancer would treat them with a short smile and an advisement. "Try not to wear it down too much, eventually I would like it back."
Then came the introduction of their new members, of which there were five. Quite a lot to pull into the cause in just one day, but with all of the help the Seekers would need it made sense to actively recruit when possible. Primrose had already met Celica - in fact, with bedroom space still limited on the Avenger, the half of Primrose's room that had belonged to Midna had been swiftly relegated to Celica. A pragmatic decision that the dancer could hardly argue even if she'd wanted to.
Heismay the rogue had drawn curious looks, not only from the Ace Cadet's earlier appreciation of his sword. With the bat-like wings that served as his arms, Pit naturally wondered if the newcomer could fly. Or maybe echo-locate? He'd said he wasn't a bat, but he did sure look like one. The angel had been about to ask when the brief introductions continued. Therion actually had some of the same thoughts as Pit, his feline eyes and ears pointed towards the eugief as he considered the pros and cons of a form like that for thievery.
The swordsman Kit was the type of adventurer that seemed common in this world, but that by no means meant that he should be written off. The heavy armor he wore suggested exactly what kind of a knight he was to Primrose, Therion, and even Pit who'd sometimes watched human wars from on high, but to the Cadet the man was just another hunter suited up in both form and function.
The mention that Harry was a detective had initially been a point of interest, but a closer look at the man made some question his profession. He was unkempt, with a clashing outfit and a truly hideous tie loosely fastened around his neck. For some of the older Seekers, signs of alcoholism were apparent in the man's face. A face that hadn't budged at all from the half-grin, half-grimace he'd showed up with. Ace didn't want to be rude, but he had to wonder if this guy was going to be alright. After one glance at the man, Primrose only gave him a single polite nod and then folded her arms over her chest.
And then there was Snowball. Everyone greeted the other newcomers with their names at the very least, quick introductions just to get it out of the way before their missions, and they did so for Snowball too... only to not get much of a response back. Which then led to the slightly embarrassing realization that this white wolf might be just that: a regular wolf. Primrose touched her fingertips to her mouth, sharing a glance with Therion.
"I'm not the only one that expected it to be able to talk, right?" he said quietly. With as many sentient monsters, animals, and monster and animal-people as the Seekers had encountered, it was just kind of expected by now.
Of course for a few of them, the wolf did not appear as a simple white furred canine. Pit didn't mention the swirling brush-like, ink-stained fur, the bold crimson markings, nor the divine disc that floated above the wolf's back. He figured everyone else could see it too.
Next was the issue of supplies, which was always going to come up sooner or later. As someone that probably ate twice as much or more than the average man, the Ace Cadet took this request seriously. Sourcing food was something he and other hunters did from time to time, especially for new settlements - so he'd be sure to send back whatever he could. "We'll keep an eye out," he promised, glancing around at the gathered Lost Numbers.
Speaking of eyes, Therion rolled his when Sandalphon said she didn't 'condone morally questionable acts of acquisition.' Beggars couldn't be choosers. In his experience all thieves got their starts in situations like this: in need, without means. Still, at least now he knew he'd been right to give his haul of pons from his mafia heist to the Lost Numbers' coffers. As long as they could find a way to convert them into zenny or otherwise spend them - really wasn't his problem to sort out. The money laundering that is, the supply issue in general very much was if they were going to keep relying on the Lost Numbers. It was something to keep in mind, especially if the two Orsterrans ventured out away from Esaka.
Finally, gifts. Much needed ones, after how the battle in the Qliphoth's final hollow had turned out. Medkits, fultons and canteens were tucked away into bags, and the sashes were accepted. Pit and Ace were more than happy to tie the ribbons around their arms, proud to be part of the world-saving group. Primrose and Therion were more subtle with theirs, both of them knowing that identification like this came with certain risks. And yet the benefit of wearing them was too great to just stuff them in with their other items. Primrose reached down, brushing away the dress from her leg and tied the sash around her thigh. It would be concealed in most situations there, and any time it might be seen it would match the one she had on her visible leg. Hidden in plain sight. Therion's was just hidden - he'd taken off his left bracer and wrapped the sash around his forearm before replacing it.
It was time for the Gold Team to head out, and the White Team to see them off. Being on the latter, the Ace Cadet waved at those departing, offering them an optimistic smile as they went. "Good luck guys. Go kick some Lunasstra."
Pit waved back at him and then skipped ahead to talk with 'Snowball.' Primrose's gaze traveled from the monster hunter to Ms. Fortune, and then from her to Zenkichi as they all made their way for the hellpods. She glanced back once at the team's archangel before she casually walked up between Nadia and the Phantom Thief, an odd little smile on her face showing briefly before she wiped it away.
Since Sectonia would be going to the Highlands, it was up to Primrose to gather gossip. The dancer normally did it just by happenstance, but with topics like these she sometimes liked to just indulge her curiosity. She'd done it before in Orsterra, with Ophilia, Tressa, and H'aanit; the girls would get a tavern table all to themselves, complain about the boys and discuss their love lives. Well, three out of four of their love lives... Primrose had always remained extremely coy about hers. Still, it was fun every now and then, and now that she'd gotten to know some of her current comrades a little better she felt she could tease them a bit. It was harder to tell with Sandalphon, but the other three held certain looks in their eyes when they gazed at their respective, suspected paramours.
"So," Primrose said to the two of them, quiet enough that anyone else would have to strain themselves to overhear her. "I trust the two of you enjoyed your nights~?"
There had been time after the memorial to be spent with others, and as Primrose had thought last night the service itself would have been a push to be with those one cared for. The dancer didn't make light of the memorial, but she did go on by asking, "anything interesting? ...developments, discoveries... anything fun, or even romantic?"
She posed it as an innocent inquiry, and did a hell of a job with the facade that that was all it was.
Meanwhile, Pit had finished making a more in depth (and accurate) introduction with the goddess formerly known as Snowball, and now found himself being address by one of the other newcomers as they waited for their turn to be launched in a hellpod at the ground. Naturally the first thing Harry asked about was if Pit was old enough to be fighting with the Seekers.
This again! he huffed. How come no one questioned Roxas or Rika? Bowser Jr. he could understand since maybe humans found it hard to tell how old a Koopa was, but he and Roxas looked the same age and Rika was literally just born a few days ago!
"I'm not a kid," Pit explained to Harry after mustering up some composure fit for a leader. "And I've been fighting for longer than some of the rest of you guys have been alive! ...well, maybe not you, 'cause you look kind of old."
To be fair to Pit, many of Harry's life choices had led to him having a face and body that added a lot of extra years to his appearance.
Pit went on, proudly flapping his wings once and sticking them out wide for the detective to see. "Yup, I'm an angel! In service to the Goddess of Light, Lady Palutena. And," Pit stood on his toes and leaned in a little closer to Harry, as if making sure the man would definitely hear what he was about to say. "I'm the captain of the Gold Team! So just call me Captain Pit! ...no, wait, we have a Captain Falcon so that might get confusing. Uh, just Pit then!"
Soon enough it was time to jump into a pod. Pit didn't hesitate, thinking aloud as the capsule closed, "Maybe Commander Pit?"
Once the hellpods crashed down into the earth and the Seekers climbed out of them, the most eager among them (namely Sakura) immediately got to talking. As it turned out, Sakura had spent a significant amount of time in Esaka, and so she gave everyone a rundown on what she knew. It was a lot of information, but all of it was useful. Having a general grasp of the culture and how things worked there would help them blend in, and gave them a starting place. Primrose hadn't learned anything about where the Guardian might be in this region, but she -and Therion and Pit- shared the same thoughts as Sakura. They would probably find it by getting to the top of Esaka, whether the Guardian itself was there, or someone else could lead them to it.
When Sakura left off by saying she wasn't the leader, Pit flitted to the center of the gathered group.
"That'd be me!" he said with a smile, placing balled fists on his hips and puffing out his chest and wings. Since they had some new faces, and some old ones that hadn't been around for a while or had missed the discussion about leadership, he spoke up to inform them. "Most of you know already, but my name's Pit. I'm gonna be leading our Gold Team for now!"
He glanced back at Sakura before going on. "So basically Esaka is like one big tournament? Then it should be easy to get to the top! Pretty much all of us are great fighters! I'm sure they'll even let us skip the early stuff after seeing how strong we are."
He nodded to himself. Tournament seeding had to be a thing there, if he understood the 'pool' Sakura mentioned correctly.
A brief lull meant question time, and Therion turned his attention back to Sakura.
"You kept saying 'good at fighting,' but what does that really mean?" the thief asked. "If the whole city's hierarchy is based on tournaments with rules, then what's more important - someone who follows those rules, or someone strong? A dirty fighter that wins is still good at fighting, aren't they?"
Therion really didn't plan to fighting any kind of tournament, but he figured it was worth asking in case he got roped into it somehow.
"In fact, what's stopping anyone from just cheating their way through the ranks? Those 'Heavenly Principles' stop that too?"
Sakura blinked. "Um. Cheat how?" She asked.
"You can't like, jump someone in their sleep? If that's what you mean? You won't get popular like that. Also that's a crime."
Therion easily brushed off the crime comment (yes he was technically a criminal but it wasn't like he was an assassin or something); it was the word popular he was a little hung up on. He just started blandly at Sakura for a moment, trying to decide if their outlooks were too dissimilar to even communicate. Then he exhaled a sigh through his nose.
"I mean things like blinding, poisoning, assuming someone else's identity... How seriously do they take honor into account?" Especially if one or more of the city's leaders was 'really evil' as she'd said.
"Poison's fine, blinding people's fine-" She counts on her fingers. "Identity theft is a crime? But one time I fought a shapeshifter that could copy me." Sakura shrugged.
"If you're in a fight, you're in a fight! And once you're not in a fight, you're not in a fight. You know what I mean?"
Therion did not know what she meant, but he gave up. Pit had been nodding along with the street fighter, apparently picking up what she was putting down.
"Anybody else have information we should know?"
Primrose cleared her throat gently, drawing eyes her way. "...Goldlewis, Zenkichi, Roland, and I spent some time here in the Forbidden Kingdom. We learned some about Esaka, and this area's Consuls.
"Sakura already covered what little I found out about Esaka itself. As for the four kings she mentioned, we do have their identities... or their names, at the very least. Shao Khan, Rugal, Heihachi, and Bison."
The dancer looked to Sakura for confirmation, and was not disappointed.
"Yep that's them. They're probably- they're probably all a little evil. Or more than a little." Sakura admitted sheepishly. "So y'know just watch out for that."
"This is far from the first time we've all dealt with evil in power," Primrose told her. Then she went on, informing the others of the rest of what she knew, adding a little context for the newest members of the Seekers. "As for the Consuls -the ruling class of this world- there are two we may have to worry about. B and R. Zenkichi, Panther, and crew have already disposed of J... I'm sure he can tell you more. I've heard that R is a small, angry man who wanders the region, though he mostly sticks to the north. A more immediate threat is B, a woman who rules most of the Forbidden Kingdom. Apparently she resides at a stormy mountain near Esaka."
Pit blinked in surprise. This was a great change of pace, actually going into an area with important information from the get go! "So we'll have to keep an eye out for them, alright."
Hopefully the Consuls wouldn't converge on them at the same time, or command an entire city of elite fighters to hunt them down while they were in the middle of it. Something else occurred to Pit then, and he piped up again. "Wait, if the tournaments are live streamed, and there's a bunch of people and yokai watching them... the Consuls might see us on TV. Then they'd know who and where we are. Maybe we should get some cool disguises."
The Consuls in the Dead Zone had known to watch out for the Seekers, so surely the rest of the them around the world would be on guard too. Pit shifted into a thinking pose as he addressed the group. "So which of us are planning to fight in the tournaments? Anyone that wants to sit out probably should, especially if we run into trouble we can have some allies waiting in the wings! Ones that aren't, you know, on TV. Maybe catch any Consuls by surprise. ...I'm gonna fight, of course."
He glanced at Sakura, Juri, and Captain Falcon, who he guessed would all be fighting too.
Splitting the group into participants and non, whether for some to be able to move around incognito or not, made sense. Primrose and Therion both made their intentions not to fight in the tournaments known. They would accompany the group to Esaka, and then do their own thing from there, whether it was trying to sneak into the top rooms of Esaka in their own ways or striking out away from the city entirely.
"We'll be sure to cheer you all on, though~"
"Speak for yourself."
After everyone else got their questions, comments, and other things out of the way, Pit spoke up once more.
"Oh yeah, one more thing before we go! So Snowball is actually named Amaterasu, and she's the Goddess of the Sun," he said for anyone that might not have caught the brief flaming messages back in the Avenger, splaying a hand out towards the white wolf. To him, she was very obviously divine. To everyone else... well. She probably just looked like a normal wolf. "She can't talk back to you, but it's one bark for yes and two for no! And make sure to cheer extra loud for her since she's super low on praise and power."
He had not meant for what sounded like a passive aggressive insult at the end, which was clear in his tone if not his words. Once more Primrose and Therion shared a look, unsure about the goddess claim but not commenting on it. Stranger things went on in this world every day. Probably.
Back in the Avenger, as the White Team were about to board the drop ship that would take them into the Frozen Highlands, the Cadet made sure to introduce himself once more to the newcomers, properly this time with a handshake. He also had something he wanted to mention, something he'd said to the group way back in Twilight Town. The team had changed a lot since then, and teamwork was important, so knowing each other's strengths and weaknesses would be crucial.
"Boss," the hunter addressed to Sandalphon at first, and then after a moment spoke up more to the rest of the group. "So before we get into anything real serious out there... just a blanket request that might be a pain in the Astalos, but I've got some things I'm working through -Edward's been helping me- and for now..."
He brought a hand up to rub at the back of his neck. Why did this have to be so awkward? He pushed through it, his unique brand of puns filling the space his discomfort made.
"...could everyone not cast spells on me out of no where? That goes for you too buddy." He glanced at Edward, who'd already started his weapon enchantments, which the Cadet declined. "I know, I know, you magic users are probably like 'Oh my Wrog, you gotta be Kirin me! Not cast?' but I'm still getting used to all the Alakazamtrios-stuff.
"I'm tough, I can take care of myself, so don't worry about me. Or if you really have to, it would be Ya-cool to at least give me a heads up first."
There, he'd said it. Hopefully whenever they got into a fight he'd have an easier time if the rest of the group agreed to his request. If not... he'd make do.
Level: 5 EXP: 15/50 Word Count: 880 (+2) Location: The Avenger
Celica had one hectic night. She hadn't thought about a lot of things she likely should have as she explored the ship. It wasn't until she was approached by someone who looked exhausted, as if they were trying to track her down for hours... in fact, they had likely been tracking her through her last reported locations, and every time they got there, she'd already be gone. But she had finally been given the message that she was designated a bed in one of the rooms. Either it was chance, or perhaps someone in charge of such things saw her talking with Primrose earlier, but she would apparently be sharing a room with her. Which also meant she was taking the place of someone who had been recently lost, which didn't make her feel the best, but this wasn't exactly a luxury cruise... whatever that was.
Celica had stayed in the sick bay for one more night, to make sure she was ready for what was to effectively be an immediate deployment. But everything checked out, and she was released by the next morning, at least in time to attend the gathering where the upcoming plans were discussed, and she heard her name in the group that was going to the Frozen Highlands. Not the most welcoming of places by the sound of it, but she didn't have much experience with the cold... Mira was a pretty, warm planet all things considered. And the places she had called home in the past were equally normal in temperature. This would be her first time experiencing any sort of 'frozen' landscape. But, they had called for explorers and the like, and while she wasn't exactly an expert on the subject, she was technically a part of the Prospectors back home in the BLADE program. So, this was effectively, for all intents and purposes... her job.
Well, that wasn't the only thing that was her job, as she left the meeting to find out where her equipment had been taken, and was soon suited up with dual weapon holsters on her hips, which when it was time to head out, would be slotted with her Dual Automatic-Pistols which fortunately were energy weapons that ran on heatsinks, so she didn't need to carry any ammo with her. It was the last real remnant of her people's technology that she carried with her. And while they didn't look like much, they were impressively nasty weapons to be on the receiving end of.
Remembering Primrose had said she intended to be part of the group going to the Forbidden Kingdom, and of course hearing her name in the Gold Team, she decided to seek her out before the team left. She truly didn't have much to say, she didn't want to get too close to anyone. The way things had gone all her life, anyone she got to know would soon be a memory and before long she would be introducing herself all over again to new people, only for the cycle to repeat and repeat. Yet, a part of her truly did hope that all of this could be undone. The home she had found, it wasn't one she wanted to let become a memory.
When she found Primrose, she waited for an opportunity to speak with her, before approaching and crossing her arms behind her back, unsure how to start the conversation, and so she just did, rather bluntly.
"I wanted to thank you, for being one of the first to speak with me. There's one other I should probably thank as well, if I can find them. But I heard last night that I will be taking the vacant bed in your room. I'm happy it's with you at least, and I hope it's not intruding, as I know that, it only recently became vacant... but, I wish you luck on your mission, and hope to see you again once we're back here. After all, it would be rude to go and disappear before we even get our first night as roommates."
She gave her a smile, and a bow of her head, hoping that got across that she was only joking, and that all she really meant to say was that she hoped she came back from her mission in one piece. For her own part, she was worrying over the cold she was going to have to endure. It wouldn't be an issue in her Skell... it could handle any environment. The things could walk around in lava fields... but she had been informed that it would still be, quite some time before her Skell was operational again. Not only did they need to figure out HOW to fix it, but it was going to need entirely new parts, parts that Celica could not tell them how to create. After all, it was a human-made machine, using alien technology, and not her people's alien technology, but a completely different alien species... maybe if they were to meet some Ma-non, they could buy parts from them. With what she had learned about this world so far, who knew what might happen?
She couldn't stand their voices... but if nothing else, a Ma-non ship would be an incredibly welcome sight at this point.
The Avenger Lvl 15 Geralt (198/140) -> (200/140) 170% OL Charged (Lvl 1) Lvl 9 Zenkichi (48/90) +4 Collab XP -> Lvl 9 (54/90) Word count: 1,211 words
With his Pokemon battling practice out of the way, Geralt made his way to the Armory before retiring for the night. There, he stored a few of his unused items, such as the Steel Diver, Monsoon’s sais, and that hilt for the beam sword that he’d been stowing in one of his many pouches. He didn’t take anything with him other than a pair of great balls and a wing ball, finding most of the items there either unsuited for his use, or better used in the hands of others.
With that out of the way, he made his way to the Spirit Chamber to use the item smelter, fusing the stoneskin ring and voidborn gemstone into himself, thus providing him a permanent boost to his stagger/breka potential, as well as critical hit damage.
With that business taken care of, though, he retired for the night as he had suggested the young Royals do as well.
Zenkichi’s own night, after his date with Sandalphon finished, was simpler. He returned to his shared room with Akane, morosity tempering his giddiness from what had happened, and bid his daughter goodnight. After the day he’d had, the man was exhausted once he let himself feel it, and could not think of a way to break the news to Akane. Not just yet.
The alarm to wake the Seekers was loud and high-pitched, but Geralt paid the distraction little mind. It was silenced simply, and from there he armed himself for the day. He was fairly early to the morning assembly, though his breakfast had been as greedy as he could get without being scolded by Bracket. Zenkichi and Akane were much more respectful of the Avengers’ dwindling stores, with the latter getting an idea of how she might be able to help out on board the Avenger.
At the morning gathering, Geralt was sizing up the newest recruits. Band’s return was welcome, and he gave each of the newcomers a quick once-over. Harry was a drunkard barely clinging to himself through withdrawals, the stench alone off him betrayed. Still, he’d been brought along by Band, and Geralt knew the man had his reasons. Heismay’s chosen profession fit the bat-like man’s size and stature, though he wouldn’t ever mention it to the man: he’d surely been stereotyped enough as it was. Celica didn’t quite seem like much in person, but he knew that she’s been rescued with a monstrosity of a machine that would likely give even the Ordnance Platform a run for its money, and she was carrying a pair of weapons vaguely resembling Zenkichi’s.
Kit was easily categorized: he was a knight. The undead’s fighting style would be fairly easy to glean once seen in action, and the familiarity was welcome, in form if not in origin. And finally, there was ‘Snowball’, who visibly bristled at the name. Geralt frowned but said nothing. As the groups were dismissed, he approached the wolf and gave her a small nod. “She means well.” Was all he said, making room for Pit to converse with the goddess.
Zenkichi gave the White Team members a wave once they were sent on their way, before being jump-scared by Primrose immediately latching onto him to question him about his night. He took a deep breath, focusing on hope even though it was hard. ”It was fine.” He lied. It was wonderful, fantastic, amazing, and horrible, gut-wrenching, heart-wrenching all at once. ”You get up to anything saucy?~” He teased back, putting every ounce of ‘Embarrassing Dad’ energy that he had to use. Hopefully it would get the scent off him. He had no qualms about people knowing about him and Sandalphon.
But he didn’t want them taking what little time they had left away in some well-meaning ‘counseling’ or ‘helping.’ He knew how meddlesome people could be, and the last thing he wanted was to be blatantly reminded of it at every step. Speaking of getting every last second out, Zenkichi waited to make sure nobody needed Sandalphon for a few moments before approaching her. ”You’ll do great out there, all of you.” He reassured her, before quickly stepping in to give the archangel a hug and a kiss on the cheek. ”I’ll miss you, Sands. See you soon.” Knowing the need for haste, however, he stepped back, gave her a nod and a moment to respond, then made his way to the Hellpods.
As White Team began boarding the ship, Geralt let Ace say his piece, responding with an appreciative nod. “Had a feeling something was bothering you. Good to know. If you’re ever running low on your potions, could probably use one of mine, as well. Just yell if you need it.” He wasn’t going to mock or judge the man for that feeling. Magic was so utterly foreign to his world, and even in Geralt’s own there were plenty of people who had valid concerns about magic being used on them without their consent.
As they boarded the Pelican, Geralt looked around at the newcomers joining them. Heismay, Celica, and Kit. “Name’s Geralt. I’m a Witcher. In my world, Witchers are alchemically modified humans who can use limited magic, and train to hunt monsters. I’ve become a bit of a mess of things here, fusing with so many Spirits, but first and foremost, my job is to know things, and to kill them. I can track better than any unmodified human, though Ace’s scoutflies will be doing most of that, I hope. I have some more powerful magic I can use after a few seconds of channeling energy, as well as some healing magic.
“I can also transform into a few other forms to better address challenges, and I have one warning. If you see me start to act erratically, stay back. I’ve likely lost control of myself. The influence of one of the Spirits I consumed makes me prone to uncontrollable rage, but its power and mutating influence were too great for others to be willing to risk. My nature makes me somewhat resistant to the effects, but the risk is still there. I nearly killed one of our own a few days ago in such a rage, so do not take this warning lightly.” Leaning back, his face lost some of the heavy weight, though the fact that Goldlewis was gone, regardless of his efforts, still stung.
Zenkichi stepped out of the Hellpod after taking a few moments to recollect himself, hand on his head. That wasn’t very fun. As Gold Team gathered, Sakura took the lead to reveal what she knew about Esaka. The name was blatantly Japanese, and Zenkichi knew they’d heard of it before from Meridi-At-Han, but he still paid close attention. But when Primrose threw the spotlight onto him about Consul J, Zenkichi clammed up a little. ”Uh, yeah. Me and the Phantom Thieves took out Consul J. She’s, uh…gone.” He informed the others.
When plans about whether or not to partake in the tournaments were being thrown around, Zenkichi nodded. ”I’ll be fighting. It’ll be nice not having to worry about accidentally killing somebody.” He could put his hand-to-hand skills to the test, but that would probably be…unwise, given the things he’d seen Sakura do. Seriously, friggin fireballs?!
Level 7: 21/70 Location: Avenger Word Count: 762 Points Gained: 2 New EXP Balance: Level 7: 23/70
Juri didn’t sleep. Or, perhaps, it would be more accurate to say that Juri doesn’t sleep. At least not for long. And definitely not in the same place. Being trapped on the Avenger wasn’t ideal, but she could make it work. It’s not like she ever got anywhere close to a full uninterrupted eight hours in. Juri was too restless to sleep. Seriously though, the less time spent on this hunk of junk jet, the better. The martial artist spent time loitering in the cold night air, overlooking the World of Light from the roof. She lifted her hand and saw right through it. Well, somewhat. Her own invisibility was linked with her Feng Shui Engine, so she could see an outline of her own physical form, just to make things easier.
She had spent some time stalking the halls while invisible, figuring out the limits. It was loud, as far as stealth tools went. People could her cloaking device if she got too close. If she Hacked, or did anything too drastic, the cloak would become even more obvious. So a lot of the coolest parts about being invisible were lost to the garbage. What a joke.
On the other hand, the duration was limitless. As long as she stayed a safe distance, she’d never get picked up by anything. And something about the Stealth and her Feng Shui jived real nice, and she was able to cover some serious ground, wicked fast. So that wasn’t garbage at all. Juri would just have to be smart about when she used it.
Juri snatched some breakfast and was retreating to a far corner when she saw a familiar face, and promptly went to plop herself down next to Sakura.
”Oh! Uh. Hello. Juri-san.” Sakura said with a blink.
”They let you in here. They know you’re a literal giggling school girl, right?” Juri asked.
Sakura furrowed her brow. ”Well, y’know- I’ve actually done pretty okay. I helped kill two Guardians.”
”Wow, yeah, they’re really scraping the bottom of the barrel. But even they don’t know you ripped all your moves off from some homeless bozo.” Juri asked.
Sakura set her hands on the table. ”You know I’m down to fight anytime, anywhere! Let’s go right now!”
”Send you crying home to mommy before you’ve even finished having your wittle oaties? Maybe later, kid. If you wanna get crushed that bad, I’ve heard the next place will be the perfect place to do it.” Juri said.
”Well…okay. ” Sakura said, not really being able to argue with that.
Juri sat up and took her breakfast with her, scoffing and shaking her head. Where did they even find these people? ”What a joke.”
Turns out there were going to be even more jokes in the Seekers soon enough. Between the smoked out girl and her crappy robot, a giant dog that couldn’t even talk, a little rat thing, and…some fat old guy? ”Gimme a break.” Juri rubbed her face.
Suddenly, Juri was being offered something. Supplies. She plucked the medkit and the armband from the givers hands and looked them over with a frown. Then, she smiled, in that odd, discomforting way. ”Keepin’ me around? Oh, yeah, you’ve got my gratitude. I’ll plunder all sorts of goodies for this place. Should be a lot of fun.” Juri rolled her neck.
”Let’s get this show on the road. I’m ready.” Juri said, and slid into the hellpod. It was actually pretty fun.
On the ground, Juri emerged from her hellpod and rolled her eyes as Sakura gave her little speech. When Primrose revealed the names of the four kings, Juri scoffed again and shook her heads. ”Bison’s a real entrepreneur. Tried to take over the world like half-a-dozen times. Kidnapping, human experimentation, murder, terrorism. Guy’s done it all. Big fat loser never managed to pull anything off for real, though. Wouldn’t be surprised if he’s planning on stabbing the others in the backs and taking over for himself.” Juri said.
”If his agenda is the same as it was on my world,” she continued, ”Whoever does good in his tournaments goes on a list and ends up as a human ki battery or replacement body. He's probably playing it different, given the circumstances.” Juri said. She’d know, she worked for him for a while. She might even go that route again, here, depending on what happened. Since yesterday her sour mood on Bison and hers shared memory-wiping immortality lightened a bit. Don’t overthink it, Juri, just try and rip his eyes out and see how that makes you feel. Probably a lot better.
