Collab between Crescendo and the Evil chipmunk that is our GMZephy stared in silence as the humans received their gems, each almost immediately showcasing their newfound powers. It was an impressive array of powers indeed, with everything from a very nervous looking white haired cleric to the cocky man with super strength at the dessert table who promptly proceeded to break the expensive looking aforementioned table.
A few minutes within finding their powers and already things were getting broken. A mental image of Sol's poor battered castle crumbling made Zephy shudder- by the way things were going she wouldn't be surprised if the humans ended up burning down Sol before the dragons could.
Still, they were the only available forces the Queen was willing to send and Sol was certainly desperate, so the messenger only saluted weakly as they were ushered out of the room before turning to peer at the humans dubiously.
"I almost forgot!" The queen made her way to the door. "Songbird, Martini and the rest of the guides will be waiting for you there. I sent them ahead. Oh, and Leon, yes? You'll like Martini, she's the best fashion designer this side of Nowhere has ever seen." She gave Zephy and the humans a wave. "Good luck, we'll have a feast when you get back and Zephy, do invite prince Tobias for tea sometime. You should come along too." The woman let out a chuckle then disappeared into the throne room.
After the doors closed, Zephy immediately turned to the humans.
"FALL IN! At attention, the lot of you!" An order of surprising volume was bellowed from the tiny messenger as she pointed sternly to them. "Well? In line now!" She had spotted the captain yelling at his soldiers in more than one situation, and was emulating him the best she could. It was unexpectedly fun. She bit back a giggle and retained her stern face, glaring down the humans.
The messenger was intimidating despite her stature and Harper winced when she began yelling at them. The boy straightened up, ducked behind Hakuren and motioned for the others to get in line. If she was their guide then they had to listen, right?
"Okay, okay, don't get your panties in a twist." Riley rolled her eyes, ushered Inadi and Lesley along then got in line behind them.
"No talking, missy! Or I'll leave you in the woods for the lionsharks to find!" She huffed at the girl, before placing her hands firmly at her waist, addressing the haphazardly row of humans.
"You've all heard the gist of the situation from her majesty the Queen lady, so I hope you all know what to expect." She crossed her arms as she squinted at each of them in turn. Now that she took a closer look at them... They seemed just as hopeless. Oh well.
"For those who weren't paying attention, however, I'll summarise what miss majesty lady Queen said. Dragons have attacked my country and you're going there to help us. I hope you're all ready to face down some fire-breathing lizards, yes?" Before the humans had time to reply she continued on, trying to look as intimidating as her short height allowed to garner their attention.
"My name is Zephy, royal messenger of Sol and advisor to Prince Tobi-who's-full-royal-name-I-forget-because-it's-too-long!" She gave a small salute before continuing. "I'll be escorting you to the kingdom of Sol, where we'll plan out our attack. We'll be taking the catbus to the border of Sol, and then proceeding by foot to the castle. We might run into some monsters, but they should be small fry that you guys can take care of quickly, and if by chance a giant powerful one shows up then we run! You all understand? Capiche?"
Harper let out a nervous laugh. "By any chance do some of your dragons breathe cotton instead of fire?" It was Nowhere afterall, but judging by their luck it would be acid and lightning instead of anything safe. "Thank you for the summary." The thought of going against dragons, it was crazy, but if they did this then they'd be one step closer to completing the living list and one step closer to home.
"Understood, this sounds like it's going to be fun." The girl gave Zephy a broad grin, "so where is the catbus?"
"Probably downstairs--" Before Harper could say more a group of bunny soldiers began ushering them along. The humans took the beanstalk elevator all the way down and when they exited a smaller version of Cello's catbus was waiting for them with flashlight eyes and a Cheshire cat grin.
"Freaky, so how do we get in?" Riley was pretty much bouncing up and down in excitement.
The cat let out a purr before opening its mouth really wide.
"Alright! In we go now! Let's moooooooove it!" Zephy herded the humans towards the bus. "The dragons aren't gonna wait for you bunch to arrive before attacking!"
"W-What no, look at those teeth." Harper clung to the guide's arm. "Please tell us there's a door."
"Door?" Zephy blinked up at the boy clinging to her arm, before grinning. "Nope, no door!" She pried his hand off her arm and with a swift kick booted the poor boy into the grinning sharp-toothed maw of the waiting bus. "Alright, who else needs help boarding?"
"No thank you," Riley grinned deviously before grabbing onto Leila and Jasper and leapt into the cat's mouth with them in tow. The other humans followed, some hesitantly, some fearlessly while others had to be 'gently escorted' the same way Harper had been. The humans scrambled to their feet only to realize they were covered in a warm and sticky substance that smelled like fish. (poor Jasper)
The catbus let out a loud purr before it began moving its tail up and down. The bus rose into the air and the humans clung for dear life as they were given one of the worst/best rides ever.
