"Not exactly." Leith looked at his hand while he answered the question. "Wearable Daemon Artes can fuse to the wearer, and if left long enough without any help, can turn them into demons. It can be halted, and if I can't find help soon, I will stop what progression has been done." He clenched and unclenched his hand before looking back at Bryland. "But for the time being, the strength I have can be put to good use." Leith looked around the ballroom for a moment as he gathered his thoughts.
"So, what can you tell me about Lord Carmine?"
Darius Jura
Darius followed Yolin to the Arena in silence. He was on edge with the amount of guards that they had now. They had appeared quite quickly considering how the attack was out of seemingly nowhere. He was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of the crowds chanting. Quickly, they entered the arena and soon had a view of the battlefield. As Khalitin Cah made his way into the arena, Darius snorted.
"That old man is going up against seven Sand Cobras? This will be something to see."
Darius stayed silent while the man he warned and his men attacked Yolin's guards. Only standing so that he wasn't at a disadvantage if these men decided to attack him as well. Once everything was done, one of the Resistance fighters was dead, as well as Yolin's guards. Three from their group had gone through the portal and, luckily, Yolin believed them to be kidnapped, and promised to do his best help retrieve them, saying that there was little chance they'd be found alive. Darius nodded to the man.
"If they are found and they were... sympathetic to the rebels, how likely is it that they will be returning with us?"
Leith Calder
Djarkel
Leith chuckled. Now that he thought about it, he knew quite a few people that were skilled with weapons. "I understand how the mages college doesn't seem like a place where there are a lot of fighters, but you might be surprised at how many mages there know how to fight. As for myself, I have some training with long-swords, it's not much, but it has helped me when I needed it. They come in handy when magic fails. However." He paused to look at his right hand. "Long-swords don't quite feel correct for me right now." He offered his left hand for Bryland to shake. "And please, call me Leith."
Darius frowned after Yolin answered his question. This "Prophet" sounded like a very dangerous man. If he had the ability to make everyone fanatics for this "Sun God", the group needed to be careful around him. Darius kept his eyes on the crowd around the group as they entered the marketplace. These people feared the man who led the group to their destination.
And that made it easier to spot people who looked like they didn't fear the man.
They were moving slowly through the crowd and were spread out, but they were slowly inching their way towards the group. These men did not look like civilians, and if he were anywhere else, and with anyone else, Darius would have thought these men were thieves. But he had a hunch and decided to act on it. When they sat down, and E'nasha left the group to find shade, Darius whispered under his breath and used his magic to send it to the man directly in his line of sight
"Stop right there." Darius stared right at the man as he focused on making his voice reach only that man's ear. "If I can see you, the guards can see you. What you do next may be the last thing you do."
Leith Calder
Leith tugged at his right sleeve. He felt uncomfortable showing his gauntlet off to the crowd, but that was what he was told would work for his formal wear. He had gotten used to his cloak hiding his arm from sight. Here, however, the demonic-looking gauntlet that covered up to just past his elbow was visible to all. With a sigh, Leith stopped playing with his sleeve and looked around the room.
When he and his fellow diplomats entered the room, he had been running all five of his warding runes, but once all the greetings had died down, he gave them a rest, but now it was time so socialize with some of the barons they had been informed of that were close to Lord Carmine. Leith scanned the crowd and found Baron Bryland, he was one of the many people that had greeted them when they entered the room. Might as well start on making a good impression. Leith eased his way through the crowd and soon found himself in front of Bryland. Bowing his head lightly to the man, Leith spoke up with a smile.
"Baron Bryland, I've been told that you're Lord Carmine's champion. If you don't mind me asking, what is your weapon of choice?"
Leith checked his bag for what seemed like the fifth time as he made his way to the carriages. After the briefing, he went to the store and got supplies and his formal wear, which was a long-sleeved light blue shirt with the right sleeve hemmed up to the elbow and a pair of black pants. After making sure he had everything again, Leith looked up and found himself at the carriages. He noticed Ssarak nearby and approached him.
"Ready to be a diplomat?" Leith smiled. "Hopefully this won't turn into a fight for our lives. Not really a fan of that."
Darius Jura
Darius' lip curled at the sights he saw as they made their way towards the walls of Sansar. He had known it since he had heard of what happened to Yarosmere, but a small part had hoped that it was all lies. The Yarosmere that he knew and grew up in was dead or dying. Small motes of air snapped and popped around him as he balled his hands into fists.
Taking in a couple deep breaths Darius calmed himself down, and while he was still furious at the state of his country, he was collected enough to talk and not lash out at anyone. He was curious if the same could be said about the Naga. He watched the woman carefully, ready to react if anything happened.
When they arrived at the palace and were greeted by Yolin, Darius stayed quiet and shook the man's hand, peering at the man through his robes. This man was the second in command to the Prophet, and that meant he might be a conspirator to the whole "Sand God" movement. Darius didn't believe that there was even a Sand God to begin with. It was just a man with a lot of power and good tactics.
His thoughts were broken as three guards formed position behind the students and Yolin invited them to the marketplace. It seemed that the man wouldn't take no for an answer. Yolin allowed them to ask questions on the way, so Darius spoke up, his voice muffled slightly by his robes. "Could you tell us about the Prophet?"
"Well it wouldn't really be tempting the rules if she only died once here." XIII looked at Charles. "With all this talk about multiple worlds it wouldn't be impossible that this ritual happened hundreds of times. But what if unlike how every other world is slightly or largely different, the woman was exactly the same each time?"
As Twain made his way over, a memory came to XIII so forcefully that it made him stagger backwards. He waved off any forms of help as he shook his head to clear it. Immediately, he rushed towards the paper and flipped it over, writing what he had heard down before he could forget it. Once he was done, he looked to both Charles and Twain. "Sorry about that. It seems that I may have remembered something from that night. I needed to write down what I could remember." He flipped over the paper to show the picture of the altar and the three circles.
"To answer your question, Twain. this is representing a third circle to the ritual. Something was nagging at me about the fact that there was another."
XIII had been silent for a long time. After he had helped clear the snow, something had been nagging at him. He watched as Charles sketched the circles around the altar on a piece of paper. Something was missing. It was if there was another circle calling out to him. There was nothing to indicate that there was another circle, but he could feel it tugging at him. An idea occurred to him as he listened to Twain.
"What if it was just the girl." XIII made his way over to the group and picked up the piece of paper. He drew a circle that tightly surrounded the Altar then thickened the lines of both the altar and the inner circle. "But hundreds, maybe even thousands of times over."
"I'm sorry to say, but a Nox filled town of death and doom doesn't sit well with me," Leith said, finally finding his voice. His face more red than white from the scene he just witnessed. "Maybe it has something to do with all the death and doom." He chuckled awkwardly. He listened to Mar and spoke up when she finished. "If it makes you worry any less, I am going on the Djarkel mission. It's going to be nice to go on a diplomatic mission." He looked at the both of them. "And as to why I'm here. Can't I drop by for a chat?"
Darius Jura
Darius paced back and forth in his room. He had already ate breakfast and was now packed up to go on the mission to Yarosmere. Ever since he had heard from the diplomat what had become of Yarosmere, Darius had been wanting to go see what was going wrong in his homeland. And from what he had heard, that meant everything.
Pacing around wouldn't do anything, so Darius grabbed his sword and left his room. He made his way to one of the outer courtyards that was deserted, not an easy task, and started setting up. First he channeled his magic and blew the snow into the walls and corners. With that done he set about figuring out how to use his magic to make his blade much more sharper, and how to use it for combat.
Althalus looked over at Grey and Alaira, listening to Leith explain what was happenings. "Oh, nothing more than the usual Alaira! Myths and legends coming to life to be a pain in the ass. I assume you're at least here to see Mar. Good news, she's awake. Bad news, still depressed. I'm working on it though. I think I've got her on the verge of getting ready to learn how to walk. Want to come in?" He opened the door and gestured for them to enter.
---
Alaira nodded, stroking her chin as she listened to Leith for a bit. Grey piped up right after. "Yes... she did." He said, a grim expression coming over his face. "She seems to have a... vendetta against me. For... well, you know." He said as he looked to the pale man, referring to how he had slain the other one. Alaira just shrugged. "Well, I for one think I need a break from big conspiracies and demon incursions..." She said, rolling her eyes. She looked to Athalus, smiling some. "I guess I could stay for a while..." She said, humming as she stepped inside and looked to Mar, giving her a wave. Alaira tensed as she noticed Athalus' mask on the wall, looking to him with an urgent expression and tilting her head towards it. Grey spoke from out of the room. "Sure, I'll wheel the cart in after you guys..."
---
Leith shuddered when he thought of how the Eternal Hunger died. He wasn't actually sure if Grey had been the one to kill her. He could remember the Vitamancer screaming as the guardsman went berserk, and he knew it was from setting her on fire with the Pyromancer's flame. Leith shook his head and brought himself back to the present, Althalus had invited them to come in. Alaira entered, and Grey mentioned bringing in the cart he brought with him.
With his curiosity piqued, Leith approached Grey and the cart. When he saw the armor, he whistled. "I take it this is the reason you stopped by?"
---
Mar glanced toward Alaira, not moving from her bed, as she shifted only barely to eye them coming in. Normally she would mind the intrusion but instead she merely allowed it to happen. Her head plopped on the small pile of pillows she had collected while Athalus had answered the door then flipped numerous blankets back onto her semi naked body. She had managed to at least place on one of Athalus' oversize tunics just for some shred of modesty established by humans and other races of similar ideals.
---
Althalus briefly glanced over to his mask and took a few steps towards it, taking and tossing it onto Mar's pile of blankets. 'Hide it beneath the blankets' he mouthed, walking towards her and covering anyone who could walk through the door's sight of it. He glanced over his shoulder, smirking at Alaira's tension. "Calm down Alaira. It's not like you haven't seen a half naked Mar before."
---
Alaira blushed some, turning her head and looking away as she mumbled something under her breath. "You know that's not... n-nevermind." She said, looking over to the now considerably less serpentine woman. Most people had trouble reading Mar... Alaira did too, but she knew her at least a little bit, and it wasn't hard to tell that she was... sad. She could guess why.
Grey nodded to the albino, idly cracking his knuckles as he looked over the cart. "Yeah, a gift for Mar. I would have been done a week ago if it weren't for the legs..." He said quietly, though he was sure Mar could hear him anyway. He shook his head and wheeled it in, placing it by the wall. "Anyway, I'm sure Alaira could take care of this for me, I have a job to do after all." he said, nodding to each of them in turn before placing his fist over his heart and bowing slightly, the Guard's salute. "Take care!" He called back as he wandered off back to work.
---
Mar took Athalus' hissed hint, her hand shifted to remove it from sight underneath her. It was completely engulfed from sight by her blankets as she flopped over to lay against the edge. Inwardly she had mixed emotions about the visitors. Mainly as with them there, it was less likely Athalus would jump immediately to getting her to move from her bed. On the other hand, he had help to him push her out with nagging.
---
Althalus waved at Grey before rounding on Alaira. "Did you just blush?" He asked, slightly incredulously. "You. Blushing because I mentioned Mar being naked. Are you sure that punch didn't addle you a bit? You remember. The one where you got lucky and killed the guy who knocked you out?" He teased, wisely out of arms reach.
"In other news, Mar is being difficult on learning to walk and I'm on the verge of picking her up and forcing her to learn. Care to help?"
---
Leith nodded to Grey as he passed and then looked at Althalus with a smile. "That would be fun to watch." He then glanced sideways at Alaira. "I'm putting my money on Mar," he said to her in a mock whisper. "But to be serious, I can imagine it'll take some time to figure out how to use these things" Leith gestured to his legs. "I mean, If you suddenly had a tail like a Naga, it'd probably take you quite a while to figure it out, let alone want to get around with it" He looked at Mar.
"But that's not to say that you should just stay in bed. Do something to keep yourself from having to listen to your thoughts. Something productive, and try to practice something leg related at least once a day, One day at a time." Leith rubeed back of his neck as he realised that he had gone on something of a tangent. "But those are just my thoughts."
---
Mar turned her eyes to face Leith, her tongue flicked out then spoke. "Every time I've gotten up from this bed, I've fallen and crumpled. Getting bumps, bruises and worse doesn't seem to be productive. It clearly isn't helping me either."
If she had her tail, she would've swatted them away. She flinched at the reminder and sighed, her head buried in her pillow.
---
Alaira's eye twitched as she just glared at Athalus. That did tend to shut him up if she did it for long enough... Though she just shook her head, sighing as she looked toward Mar. She looked... Well, pitiful. She never thought she'd describe the woman like that.She heard what he had to say, and then heard what Leith had to say.
She felt like his method would be too slow. Apart from that, Mar would never listen. She heard Mar out, nodded some, and approached, kneeling down at the edge of the bed as she looked her over. "So that's it then? Just gonna roll over and lie down for the rest of your life? Well, sunshine. I can't let you do that."
She stood, crossing her arms and tapping her foot. "You're going to get out of that bed. Now, would you rather get out yourself, or should I just pull you out?"
---
"I'm just going to fall all over. I've got enough bruises on my body to last a while and even if I can walk, what good will it do? I can't fight. I can barely move these things. I wasn't born this way so how do we even know I'll be able to use them at all?" Mar snapped back, her fangs bared in irritation. It hadn't helped her mood underneath had been festering for a while. Her sourness now coming up to the surface to rear its ugly head. "I'm Not a human after all."
The words echoed in her heart and head, the truth unknown to her. Naga she might've been born as but now, she wasn't one anymore. Her arms gripped her pillow harshly as the sensation over her adding voice to the words made it seem much worse and more real. She added in a softer, sadder tone. "I'm not anything..."
---
"That's not true and you know it." Althalus chided. He crouched down next to Mar, smiling "You're Lyn's mother. Alaira's friend. Tyrael's adopted family. Aramir's hunting companion, tribe member if you listen to her talk. I could list off a dozen more relationships, but I'll leave it at one more. You're everything to me."
He stood up and held out a hand. "You can use these. You've used them to kick me, albeit lightly, about thirty times today and a hundred times over the weeks you've had them. You just need practice to get used to them. That's why we're here. We're here to help you get used to them." He chuckled suddenly, glancing sideways at Alaira. "Well, Leith and I at least. I'm not sure Alaira will stick around once you get standing, you being half naked flustering her so much."
"Now come on. Everyone needs help now and then, and we're here to help you."
---
She scowled. "Well, if you keep talking like that then of course you won't be able to use them." She seemed... very offended by her second comment. "Oh? You aren't human? Wow, I guess that just absolves you doesn't it? Maybe you can explain to me how Tyrael walks, then? Or Ssarak, or Aramir? or, you know... me?" She said, impatiently.
"And if you don't recall, I had to learn how to walk and fight all over again after that dinner fiasco..." She growled, cracking her knuckles. "So if you think you can just blow me off, you have another thing coming." She leaned in, throwing her arms out a bit. "Meet the only person in the world more stubborn than you are..." She said, lowly.
---
"I wasn't a biped to begin with." Mar frowned, her eyes narrowed on Alaira, as she huffed a bit. It seemed no one them would leave her alone as she looked at each of them. Sighing in defeat, she then added. "If I try to walk, will you finally leave me alone when I prove it?"
Not waiting for the answer, she reached out a hand and took Athalus' aid up. Her to sit up and her hip side to the side, allowing her legs to dangle over the bed edge. Now sitting up, she paused in hestiation. Her eyes looked at the floor then inhaled, and stepped. Immediately her leg collapse and folded underneath her. Her body fell forward as her arms wrapped about her mate's shoulder, the limbs lacking the strength to hold her upright. Mar was sure she had created another bruise when her legs jerked and twitched trying to get underneath her without success.
---
Leith watched the scene thoughtfully, From how much of a struggle it looked like for just Althalus and Mar to try walking, it was clear why there was no progress. Althalus couldn't both support Mar and help her find her footing. "I think I have an idea." Leith made his way over to the two and offered his hand. "Let's get you between me and Althalus so that we can work on the weight."
---
Mar shifted her arm over toward Leith's offered hand, her figure collapsing down on her knees then nearly slipped upon her ass. Her legs trying to curl underneath like always causing her to hiss in frustration. She tried to staighten them twice only to send up stepping on her ankles bending at an angle and making her flinch at the pain edging along her. "I told you this wouldn't work!"
---
Althalus rolled his eyes. "Calm down. We've barely started." He looked over at Alaira, lips curled with amusement. "Since Leith and I are both occupied with keeping her up, you're going to have to help her keep her legs straight so she can start balancing. Try not to blush too much when you touch them. And don't get to handsy, we may not be married but it is bad form to feel up another's mate." He teased, helping Mar balance and waiting for Alaira to begin.
---
Alaira narrowed her eyes right back at her. "That's no excuse." She said, crossing her arms as she spoke. "Short answer? No. I'm not gonna stop bothering you about this until you can, no matter what kinda lazy ass attempt you make." She watched her try, and fail. Her expression didn't change. "Get up, try again." She said, before looking to Leith as he spoke. She didn't stop him, she was more here as... motivation, at the moment.
She sighed when she almost fell again. She meant everything she said, but it would take quite a while... When Athalus spoke she blushed again, although this time with a scowl as she clenched a fist. "Sh-shut up..." She said, shaking her head as she got down on her knees, holding Mar's legs and grumbling to herself.
---
Mar's legs slowly, after a few hours of repeating, manage to plant the soles flat upon the ground. The knees were still bent but far less than before, giving her more stability to straighten up. Her balance was rather unsteady and wobbily that she swayed side to side with each shaky step. It took her nearly another hour to reach the end of the bed because she literally slid her feet across the floor, not having learned she was suppose to pick up her feet. In truth, due to her height she rarely ever watched other bipeds walk. Now she was wishing she had.
Leith woke up to the sound of the door closing. It was one of the few times that he had actually gotten a good night's sleep in a while. He wanted to stay under the covers, but today was the day the missions started, and he needed to get ready. He went through his daily routine of getting dressed and caring for his mint plant, which had grown very nicely in the two years he had cared for it. Before he left the room he grabbed a mint leaf and popped it into his mouth. When he was out of his room, Leith started heading towards Althalus' and Mar's den.
After he had helped Mar figure out walking, he had been checking up on her often. One reason was to help with the finer points of walking and the other was to try and keep her spirits up from the depression that had plagued her when she first got her legs. Soon enough, Leith found himself at the door to the den. With a smile, Leith knocked on the door to the den.
