The Otter

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fionn MacKerracher

---

"Definitely not your sister, then," Fionn agreed, far calmer than the vampire next to him. "There seems to be a recent rise in thefts of such shards. It wasn't long ago at all that we were involved in the mess surrounding another." Gods and Goddesses forbid they could escape the trouble of these shards of Angroron; no, if anything he had a growing feeling that they were going to be the center of the defining moment of Fanilly's career as the captain, and all of them beneath her.

He did wonder how many of those shards were kept outside of Thaln, however.

Maybe he should have been less calm about it, like Tyaethe wasn't. Still, even if they didn't get the chance to travel fully abroad hunting the shards—and their thieves—down, it at least was the clear sort of thing that the Iron Roses were supposed to handle. It fit within their broader scope, going back to the original dedication as a devoted religious order, not just one that could do the bidding of the crown and have done with it. It was like he'd told Fanilly before—with Reon and Mayon behind them, there was no chance that they could fail, but undoubtedly they would still have to get through the trials and tribulations before them and put forth their greatest effort for it all.

Anything less would be a poor showing, and when you had divine providence on your side, you at least had to try and make the rest of the tale good too.

But that was business for later. Soon, ideally, very soon, but still later. "Of course, there's still our prior deal that needs to be satisfied. Duke Thedric's wits need to be returned, and we need our other prize—for your sister, if you haven't guessed." He spared a glance for their obviously-shocked captain. "We can negotiate finding the missing shard after our previous agreement is satisfied, assuming the captain agrees...?"

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Esben Mathiassen

---

While he'd managed to get his first good nap since the group was still in Kugane, Esben wasn't sure if that made him feel better or worse than he had been. Given the nature of what all was about to hit them, though, he didn't have much time to contemplate that or imagine the glare that Chisato might still have for him. Rarely a coffee person, even given the lack of sleep he'd had lately—the moment Rudolf let go of the half-full mug he'd passed over Esben drained it, focusing intently on the plans and concerns that were coming up.

In good time, as well, as the more vocal members of the Kirins immediately started to look his way.

"She shouldn't be here for this," he answered on the question of the turncoat SEED. "But Alex shouldn't have been here to begin with. The likelihood that we actually have to worry about her right now is low, but if she's crazy enough to throw in with Valheim, you've got the right ideas. Any information should be distributed only on a need-to-know basis, and everybody that receives anything should be verified beforehand. The big picture never leaves this room in one piece."

Unspoken was the agreement with Éliane that every prior method of secure communication had to be considered compromised. Given that Kayliss had found the pair of them to talk face to face, rather than relying on the usual sort of distribution and had Darri or someone else waiting for them to arrive, and given that she'd already noted that something strange was happening with Loki, then he could at least hope that SEED had already started to tighten things up even more than usual to stop up any possible leaks. But that still left them with the problem of coming up with any good countermeasures to possible infiltration, at least amongst themselves.

Countersigns were a good start, but not in the way they were usually come up with. "No normal countersign or passphrase would get past her, or anybody she might assign to any infiltration work," he mused after a moment. "She blends in too well for any shibboleth, she can copy any accent without trouble, and anybody she'd put forward would be drilled by her until they could do the same.

"Between her infiltration here, and then whatever information she may have gotten on all of us, whether generally, from being right in front of us, or from whatever Isolde may have told her, I wouldn't even be willing to risk it on any sort of semi-random word associations between the group of us. The only outlier would be Chisato, and if she had anybody in the city that could report back to her about our newest little ninja, I don't doubt that she could manage to piece together enough of a psychological profile on any of us to make educated-enough guesses at what we might come up with that could beat us out before too long."

He was plenty well aware that everything he'd just suggested about her capabilities must sound ridiculous. Like a bad joke. He was also keenly aware that she'd been considered the best spy that SEED had for quite some time, even before he was going on any training assignments. The risk of hyperbolizing was much lower than the risk incurred by not taking her as absolutely seriously as possible.

Perhaps it would be a bit convoluted, but he could see at least one decent way to come up with a list that she couldn't break short of absolute, random, freak chance, not to mention the trouble that Valheim would have with it. "I should be able to make something that will work for us, for a decent while, any time we split up. Zacharias, I'm afraid you'll be on your own on that front." He pointed out, dividing the rest of the Kirins into groups of two. "Galahad and Miina, put your heads together and get me a list of twenty-five distinct words that come to mind. Rudolf and Éliane, you do the same. Chisato, you'll have to give me something with at least five letters. Izayoi, I'll come to you at the end to have you translate things for me."

Maybe he shouldn't have drained that coffee so soon. He was still thirsty. He wordlessly passed the mug back to Rudolf. "I wonder...Maybe it would be worthwhile to commandeer an airship if the chance presents itself to us? Even if we have to abandon it before long, sowing some chaos of our own with some supposed 'friendly fire' could help quite a bit, not to mention whatever I might be able to gain from what they have stowed onboard. Besides, I'm sure Elly and Rudi would like the chance to play with bigger toys than they've got right now."

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fionn MacKerracher

---

Fionn had been willing to let Gertrude's willingness to pursue a contract with the Moonlit Queen go by without comment, content to entertain himself with the two fairies hanging around him...But to start casting aspersions on her sister, rivalry or no, was something that could cause them no end of trouble. Such should usually be hard to miss, even with the distraction of watching them all fight the hunt—not to mention that she might take it as an insult to her own pride, both in herself and her family.

Using the knights to try and push a wager, knock her down a peg, that could all be forgiven between them. The little queen might pout and rant, but that could all still fit within the 'rules' of how they interacted with one another. Outright theft would be another matter, and to immediately accuse one of them of such was a good way to make at least one enemy, if not two. While they might seem capricious by normal mortal standards, fey beings like the queen and her sister were still very particular about rules of exchange, who owed what and to whom; taking Duke Thedric's mind, troublesome as it was, was a reasonable retribution, demanding repayment for an insult...by the Moonlit Queen's standards.

Not to mention that sending the knights to try and get something more from her as part of a wager, only to turn around and steal something out from under all of their noses, was just as far outside the usual tactics. Forcing them to operate under false pretenses like that was risky and duplicitous in all the ways that the fey usually tried to avoid. Certainly, while he hadn't been the one to hear the details of it from the Moonlit Queen's sister, he doubted that any of those who had would have missed something like that woven in to whatever they were told.

"I'm with Tyaethe," he spoke up, turning away from Fiadh and Laoise. "Let's find out what it was before we start throwing out speculation as to who. I'd hate to make any insults that we owe satisfaction for."

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Esben Mathiassen and Asakura Chisato

---

After seeing Rudolf on his way to go and chat with Zacharias, Esben—already exhausted before the fight with Famfrit, and clearly dragging his feet the entire way back up to the cathedral—slumped against the back wall of the chamber they’d been given, sliding to the floor gracelessly. Ramuh and Cid certainly hadn’t lied; even a halfway summon of the Eidolon was nearly more than he had the strength to handle, certainly after a nearly-sleepless last three weeks. Pulling on what little he had left when they cleansed the crystal was the final nail in the coffin, leaving him unable to even call up enough to summon back Eve and Selene to help take care of him.

He leaned his head back against the wall, eyes closed against the light around. Trying to block out the little bit of sound that the others were making as they set about their own tasks before trying to get what meager rest they could. Trying to clear his mind of any thoughts at all, just so that he could slip away into his own blissful oblivion for a couple hours. Fruitlessly, as he knew it would be, but he still wished he could quiet the constant racing in his mind, wished he could stop noticing every minutely uncomfortable sensation, wished he could stop focusing on every other thing around him. That was almost always the true impossibility, given how he’d conditioned himself to try and keep from missing any detail around him, and that was one of the things that always turned around to bite him when he wanted to relax.

But, if sleep wouldn’t come, he could at least take care of something else important. Opening his eyes again and resisting the urge to sigh, he pulled out one of his notebooks, flipping open to an earlier page in it and pulling out his pencil. Names, nicknames, little notes about the others in the party, things he’d thought worth noticing—something that long needed updating, which he’d been putting off doing.

He sharply crossed out four lines, adding small notes next to each.

Arton Yule—Disappeared. Sick. Presumed deceased.

Robin Fey—Departed. No longer aligned with overall mission; possible support if chance occurrence.

Eve—With Cid.

Ciradyl—Recalled to Kugane. Possible support if return to Osprey.

Simple enough update on those four. Patently unnecessary, except to satisfy his own feeling that they were left ‘unfinished’ in some manner if he didn’t. For the four that they had lost, they’d only gained one in return. Still, it wasn’t complete if he didn’t add her in, so he started writing again:

Asakura Chisato—Sent by Hien. Shinobi.

In terms of capabilities, that seemed enough to get everything across that he might otherwise note for the rest—far better than if someone was to write similar about him and just put SEED, for all that certain members of the group liked to complain about having so many ‘godsdamned spooks.’ With that done, it was on to other things; certain obvious aspects of the personality, what could be worked with, what couldn’t, what might change over the time travelling; if he couldn’t sleep because his mind was racing, he could at least put it to more useful things.

He tapped his pencil thoughtfully, glancing up over the edge of the page as he saw a short flash of red and black moving just ahead of him.

”Come sit down, Chisato.”

---

A major goal, accomplished. A corrupted guardian, given peace.

It’s with this in mind that I feel some level of satisfaction. Each step on this path is part of my mission’s goal, therefore there’s simply no way I would feel any differently.

The battle with Famfrit would probably have gone somewhat more smoothly if I had been able to bring my handcannon, but there was no way to feasibly transport it into the temple. Besides, we had still claimed victory.

I’ve already bandaged my arm. The damage is light, relatively superficial. It’s nothing that should impede my capabilities, and the tingling sensation over my lightly-seared skin won’t prevent me from carrying out any of my objectives. If necessary, I can have it healed, but it will do so on its own fairly swiftly regardless.

More importantly, I’ll need to fix my gauntlet as soon as I get the chance. In fact, I’ll—

Ah?

“Mathiassen-san?”

I find myself cocking his head. Why does he wish to speak with me? After only a moment’s pause, I approach him to sit down.

“What is it?”

---

”Your being up-and-about is making it hard to focus,” came Esben’s bland, matter-of-fact reply. He let it hang in the air for a moment, before continuing along: ”Besides, I haven’t had a chance to really speak with you since you came to join us.”

As she sat down, he flipped ahead in his notebook to a fresh page. ”What do you think, so far? Do we match up to whatever Hien told you about us?” While he hadn’t been so brazen as to write down his thoughts on each other member so openly, he figured the tiny ninja would understand a bit quicker—and be less bothered by it.

---

—Do they match to what Rijin-sama informed me of when I was assigned this mission?

I consider the question for a few moments, turning the words over in my mind. Izayoi-dono is someone I was already quite familiar with, and therefore my expectations were firmly in place before I was briefed. The others, however—

Two are men of Edren, but I suppose they have managed to be useful. I cannot simply deny that, even if acknowledging their capabilities makes me feel mildly ill. Caradoc-san in particular has proven himself to be capable and effective as a warrior and leader, which is probably to be expected, but I cannot completely ignore the capabilities of Sagramore-san.

—Nor the strangely dark aura that surrounds him, but I shall put that aside for now.

“I suppose so, in most respects,” I respond. If that was all, I believe that answer should be sufficient.

---

He waited silently as she thought the question over in her mind, raising one eyebrow at her short answer. ”In most respects?” he parroted back. ”I’m not sure if I’m more curious at how we match up or how we don’t, when you put it that way.”

Pencil tapping on the empty page, he turned back to stare at it for a moment rather than watching Chisato. Truthfully, he would have imagined the state that she had found them in would be a shock compared to whatever expectations they had set in Kugane. Bleeding talent, haggard, harried—a far cry from the crew that had successfully broken Hien free from prison and stormed Mizutani Tane’s dwelling.

Considering the perceived relative competence of the Grovemasters to the Valheimer, short of knowing how much of it was an operation done on the latter’s behalf, and how much of it was planned by someone outside of their forces, for the Kirins to be so set back...he would have been disheartened at the sight.

He made a quick note on the page. ”I’ll get you to explain more later, I’m sure, if you don’t care to now?” Leave the door open if she felt like it, but he wasted no time moving along. ”Good initiative with Isolde, by the way. I take it she wasn’t hard at all to find, being in the cathedral?”

---

The manner in which they did not necessarily match up to my expectations should be obvious, shouldn’t it? They all seemed quite exhausted, and some of their number had departed. But those who were present have since fulfilled the expectations given to me by Rijin-sama.

—Isolde.

“That woman earned her death, and was quite easy to locate,” I reply, “I have tracked more difficult targets.”

The image of the look on her face moments before her death returns to my mind. A monstrous figure that would condemn her people, the innocent people she was supposed to lead and guide, to a future filled with destruction…

—It was simply an objective, nothing more. My personal feelings matter very little.

I glance towards Mathiassen-san again.

His condition appears quite poor, at this point.

“You look exhausted.”

---

”I’ve barely slept for the last three weeks. That’s expected.” Even the meager compliment didn’t get any reaction. Another thing to make note of. ”Well, it ought to be nice to keep you around, regardless. We may not be the only ones here that know how to be quiet, but...”

He glanced off in the direction of their vibrantly pink-haired gunner, and then again towards the door, where their vibrantly red haired mage had yet to show back up. ”It’ll be nice having somebody that doesn’t want to argue with me every time I suggest the more cautious approach, at least.” He turned back.

”Aren’t you tired? You’ve been up as long as the rest today, after all.”

---

I shake my head.

“Not enough to disrupt my activities. Even if I were, it would be less important than my objectives,” I respond. I’m well-equipped to brush aside feelings of tiredness, myself. Perhaps I simply instinctively push past them in order to continue my duties, or perhaps my stamina has increased that much simply due to my prior training and experiences. In either case, it allows me to operate quite freely as is necessary.

I pause for a moment.

“In any case, you look far worse than the others.”

---

”Thanks for the frank assessment.” Hopefully his small smile was enough to make it clear that he did, at least, find some humor in it. ”Is this the part where you take a page from Izayoi’s book and command me to sleep?”

---

“I have no authority over you.”

It’s quite simply the truth. I have absolutely no ability to dispense orders to anyone here. In any case, I’m usually far more suited to carrying orders out than giving them, anyway.

“Izayoi-dono would be correct, however. Unless you enjoy the symptoms of exhaustion, I suppose.”

Perhaps he is a particularly unique kind of masochist, but I have my doubts. Besides, allowing such things to get in the way of his performance is hardly ideal.

---

He almost had to wonder if that was a joke; at the very least, it seemed about the closest that she was likely to get. Maybe until they all knew her better. Maybe she’d never get a step closer than that. In any event, though, he was quite tired, and if there was even one member of the team still moving about that would guarantee he didn’t get any real rest at all. All atop the troubles he already had with such.

”It’s funny, after Cid worked to fix us back up after that fight with Adrammelech, I don’t seem to have any headache or anything—but I suppose I struggled to sleep even before I got hit out in the desert.” Whether Hien had told her of that little mission or not didn’t make much difference to his musing out loud. He closed his notebook, sliding it back into its pocket within his cloak. ”I’ve got another little objective for you, then, to help me try and sleep. I can’t have you moving around or doing anything that might wake me up. Is that doable?”

---

Rijin-sama had mentioned the events of that fight to me. A part of me can’t help but be curious about further details. They may not be immediately relevant, but surely they can help with coordination with the others, couldn’t they?

Regardless, this objective…

“Are you trying to suggest that I get some sleep, as well?”

—If so, his motivations are hardly subtle.

---

Now it was his chance to play the part of the “laconic and blunt spy-type” in the conversation.

”It’s a yes or no question, Chisato.”

---

Very well. If that’s how he wants it.

I fold my arms, looking away.

“Fine.”

---

Esben smiled. A grin that, despite his tired state, still reached his eyes as though he was party to some private joke that Chisato had just stumbled into. ”Very good!” he replied with an appreciative nod. ”That being the case, then, I’ll just be borrowing this—”

He turned, leaning back against the short Viera’s shoulder. Where with Éliane he might find it necessary to act equally ridiculous just to hold his ground, against the stone-faced Asakura Chisato, it was an inherently offensive tactic to take in the conversation.

Of course, there was also the fact that he’d noticed he could manage to sleep far better in a scenario such as this than any time else, anyways.

”Wake me when it’s time to go, ja?” he bid, closing his eyes.

---

“That… you…!”

Damn it, this isn’t what I’d agreed to at all—!

…

Tch.

He’ll receive my complaints later.

Using me like this certainly wasn’t part of his request.

---

"Could be worse," he mumbled under his breath, still grinning at himself.

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Esben Mathiassen

---

Esben wasn't sure if he should have been concerned or not at the momentary blank look he got from Éliane as he shouted at her—that consideration was somewhat overshadowed by the schadenfreude he felt as he realized that she might have finally learned just how painfully loud those firearms of hers could be. That in turn was completely eclipsed by the attack that Famfrit loosed upon them next, with him having to divert his course to avoid getting bowled over by any one of the corrupted blasts flying his way.

He was lucky he was so light on his feet, the way he had to dance and leap around the slick stone as he ran to come in reach of the golem. "Sorry, Selene, but you two will probably miss the ending of this," he said to the purple fairy as they were able to rush in a straight line again. She glanced at him, wordlessly, as he glanced down at Ramuh's sigil. There was no way he could maintain the fairies while calling on Ramuh. He wasn't even certain that, after having barely rested from the fight with Adrammelech the day before, and having strained himself all night, he could even call on Ramuh fully to defeat Famfrit for them.

The sigil glowed as he focused on it, willing the minute flow of aether he could command to open a channel to the Eidolon. Busy as he may have been with Cid and Zacharias, surely all three would understand that they couldn't waste time with the crystal's guardian with an invasion force on the way. Ramuh, now's as good a time as any for you to help us!

Most uncouth, young warrior. Surely thou couldst beseech mine aid in a manner more seemly?

Selene flickered next to him, pulling on the remaining aether that was allotted to her to maintain the Kirins' haste a moment longer. Esben's brow furrowed in consternation. Warden of Thunder, it would greatly behoove me if you would lend us your strength to strike down this corrupted guardian! He almost had to wonder if Eve ever had such trouble drawing on more of Bahamut's power...given the way the pair were linked, though, maybe the Dragon King didn't need much appeasement.

The creases in his brow grew deeper as he thought he heard laughter coming from the great bearded sage. Whether at his phrasing, or his other thoughts, he couldn't say—

Thine arm is mine, and my strength is thine. Warrior of Light, smite this corrupted Totema and let the weight of my judgement fall on it like a fell blade!

Perhaps both. While he couldn't transform like Eve could, he certainly wouldn't mind having an Eidolon's backing to his attack. He leapt to the side, dodging another sphere of darkness, before raising his blade high. His shadow lengthened as he stepped into the storm that Izayoi and Miina had made for his attack, a spectral shade of the Warden of Thunder raising up around him, obscuring his own form within the tempest. Selene's purple glow disappeared within the swirling wind, freed into loose aether as Eos faded away from where she grasped at Izayoi's kimono. Lightning arced, the glow of the electricity in the air matching the angle of his blade, the scent of ozone filling the space around him.

"Feel my wrath, defiled guardian—Luminous Falchion!"

Esben lunged forwards, slashing his blade to cut through Famfrit's aura, hoping to strike through to the heart of the aetherial golem. Thunder clapped as the lightning surged with his strikes, burning an afterglow into his vision as he swung thrice into the benighted guardian.

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Esben Mathiassen

---

As Esben dashed away from the entrance, the others rapidly peppered Famfrit with their opening salvo; the golem reared back from the strikes, shouting out in rage, before he felt his speed starting to lag—weight beyond his own and the exaggerated fatigue trying to settle over him. He saw the faintest shimmer in the air, unconsciously raised his blade to fight back against it—

"Huh?"

"That was smooth..."

Esben, his thoughts catching up with his reactions, contemptuously cut himself free of the aetherial orb forming around him as Eos and Selene grumbled about Famfrit's rapid shift in spells, the point of his sword slamming into the magic as his steps continued to carry him forward. He'd rather have had it lose control of its aether as well, rather than having to find some other way to release it, but such a haphazard attempt at hindering the Kirins was far preferable to whatever it may have been planning to start with. He continued darting forwards, his fairy-boosted speed returned without the unnatural weight dragging him down, easily avoiding the guardian's water blasts.

"What I wouldn't give for Leviathan to rear up out of those waters right now," he muttered to himself as Galahad, Rudolf, and Chisato all took steps to either disarm, disable, or distract the golem. Let the Eidolon fight the crystal's guardian for them, or at least hold it still enough they could manage something. As it was, the only one that he had any capacity to call on would be Ramuh, and even that only for an instant. If he could do it, he'd have to make it count. The trouble would come in setting it up.

Trying to grapple Famfrit like they had with Adrammelech wouldn't work nearly so well. Knocking it over would be nice, but given the way it had maintained its footing already, it might take more effort than it would be worth. "Éliane, explosive rounds!" he called back at the riflewoman. "Izayoi, call up a storm like you did on the ship! Eos, keep her in one piece while she does!" The green fairy darted away, to hover next to the samurai. Coupled with whatever damage the other four had already done, Esben hoped that would provide ample opening for himself to step in as he started to close the distance himself, pulling his notebook out of one pocket and flipping to the page that had Ramuh's sigil emblazoned upon it.

It was getting tiring, have to think all the time, but at least Galahad had the right idea trying to use electricity against the guardian made of metal and water. Couple that with making a short burst of a storm around it, dashing its water to spray and ideally leaving it wide open with everything else coming its way—hopefully one good hit from Ramuh could get them on their way a bit faster.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fionn MacKerracher, Tyaethe, Fiadh, and Laoise

---

Fionn almost had to wonder how often Tyaethe had ridden atop Cyrus's shoulders in the past, or any of the other knights, given how rapidly she'd come to terms with it. Aside from the most minimal of protestations at the beginning, he'd almost have guessed she preferred it over having to try and keep up with the rest of them on her own feet. Enough so that she hadn't bothered trying to get loose or get down at all in the entire time it took them to return to the Moonlit Queen.

Or even in the presence of the Moonlit Queen, for that matter, while still wrapped in his cloak. No telling what that one would think, he was already imagining the questions he'd have to try and fend off from the green girl who came to stand next to him. "Have a nice time while we were away, Fiadh?" he asked, hopefully before the Niyar had gotten too far into putting together some of her suspicions about the knights. "How's my cheek look, by the way? We haven't had a chance to really do anything about it. Figured folks should focus on the ones that actually got hurt."

"We got to watch what you were doing! It was very impressive, darling, but I don't get why you threw the sword…" Fiadh trailed off and stretched to get a closer look at Fionn's cheek, pouting, "It looks quite distinguished, but I think I like your face more without it."

Distinguished? Maybe. Mostly he just felt it made his cheek sting and a bit dirty. "He made me mad," was his defensive answer to the sword comment, with a hint of wounded pride behind it. "Calling in all those falcons after accepting my challenge wasn't just indecent, like, it was an affront to myself and the duel!"

Fiadh blinked slowly, cocking her head to one side. "But, darling, those falcons would be part of him, like your magic, or one of my plants…"

"..."

Fionn thought for a moment, furrowing his brow.

"I took them for well trained spirits. Like if any of us went out with falcons on a hunt. Besides, I didn't do any magic until after he called them all in! It was supposed to be a physical contest!"

On his shoulder, there was the sound of Tyaethe's palm meeting her face. "Did you ask? I wouldn't think a duel is restricted to physical strength only if you didn't say."

"That's silly. Everybody knows a duel is limited to skill at arms and strength of body if nothing else is specified."

"What? That's completely backwards; everyone knows that if the restrictions aren't specified, you can do whatever you like."

"That's acting like rules don't even exist, Tyaethe. How could we have a society if everything was like that?"

"There are rules. The rule is that there's no rules."

"That's not how rules work."

"Why would fae rules ban magic? We all have magic. That would be silly, darling, it would be like banning your right arm—"

"I like those challenges."

"—So you should apologise next time you meet this falconer," Fiadh said with a nod, interrupting the… whatever it was.

"Duels without extra stipulations are supposed to be physical!" Fionn protested.

The Niyar reached up and gave him a pat on the unoccupied shoulder, "Not our duels, darling."

Fionn's brow furrowed deeper. "But that's not how duels work," he stubbornly continued to argue. Despite the rapidly growing knowledge that it was not going to really get him anywhere. He stayed silent for a moment after, before changing the topic once again. "Tyaethe, you never did say if it tastes different after Fiadh found me again."

"I haven't tasted it yet," the vampire pointed out, "And now wouldn't… be safe."

"…You keep saying you're not all together, and yet…"

"She's a vampire, love."

"He means blood."

"…Oh!" The fairy raised a finger to her lips, deep in thought.

Fionn looked up to Tyaethe, then back down at Fiadh.

"..."

Time to change topic again.

"Fiadh, you understand Feinyar, right?"

There was an enthusiastic nod, although she still seemed to be thinking, looking between the two of them

Fionn was starting to grow concerned by how Fiadh's eyes kept turning between the two of them, especially given the growing suspicion of what she had thought he and Tyaethe were referring to. The temptation was there to ask after her thoughts, certainly, but Fiadh being Fiadh...she'd share them eventually. Hopefully it'd be more amusing than confusing once she did.

All the more reason, though, to focus in. "Could you interpret for me, then? I tried asking what her name is, but I couldn't understand a thing of what she signed back at me."

"Of course!"

"Alright!"

It was decided, then. While Gertrude tried to do whatever she was up to with the Moonlit Queen, Fionn waved the little Feinyar over. "Sorry about earlier, but Fiadh here—" He nodded down at the green woman. "—Should be able to translate for us! What was your name, again?"

"…Can I get off your shoulder yet?" Tyaethe wondered while the Feinyar happily went through the motions to answer again.

"She says her name is Laoise."

"Will you behave yourself if I let you down? And—Laoise, got it." Now it was Fionn's time to start jumping to some completely unexplained ideas locked in his head. He loosened his grip, letting Tyaethe slide her way free, before turning his injured cheek towards the little flame sprite with a playful grin. "Well, miss Laoise, Fiadh here apparently doesn't like my new little scratch quite so much. You don't have anything you could do about that, do you?"

The Feinyar tilted her head back and forth, hair – presumably, it was hair – making crackling noises each time, until she nodded and started making a rather more complex series of gestures in rapid succession.

"Yes, she says she can – no, you aren't going to just burn it shut! That would make a nasty scar, which is just as bad!"

"Maybe she knows how to do that without making bad scars?"

There was a fiery headshake, which clearly meant 'no' even without translation. Followed by some more signing. "Oh, she's apologising! Feinyar aren't very good at anything non-destructive, she says."

Fionn shrugged. "Unfortunate, then. What all are you good at, Laoise?"

He paused.

"I hope that didn't sound as bad as I worry it just did."

Rather than gesture, the other fairy just lifted her hand up, fingers curling until there was only one extended and, resting atop it, was a fireball. It was, perhaps, a bit of an obvious question to ask the fire fairy.

Fionn blinked once. Yes, that was an obvious answer, but he'd figured there'd be a bit more to it than that. "You know, like how Niyar can do more than just grow plants, yeah? There's fire, and then there's everything beyond the fire. Getting fancy, like." Surely that explained what he meant well enough. It sometimes seemed that, at least within their spheres, a fairy was only really limited by their imagination. He at least could certainly imagine a few things a Feinyar could do with not just fire, but heat and light, that might go beyond the normal sorts of spellcraft that people could ascribe to them.

The fire turned green and shaped itself into a vaguely humanoid form. He looked closer. "A Niyar, right?" More vigorous nodding, along with an approving clap from Fiadh.

"Neat!"

He turned back to Fiadh, before starting to look back and forth between the fairies almost like how she'd been looking between him and Tyaethe earlier. "Fiadh?"

"Yes, darling?"

"All the spells I know from you are very useful, but the magic that's yours is the absolute easiest, right?"

"Yes…?"

He smiled broadly, turning back to Laoise. "Are you able to travel, or does she prefer to keep you close?" There was another flurry of gestures from the Feinyar, which got interpreted as I'm not bound here, I just like the weather, which took slightly longer for Fiadh to interpret as the Niyar was now walking around the other fairy and giving her a thorough inspection.

Fionn nodded along. "Fiadh has a very nice garden," he continued. Neverminding that it was the castle garden, Fiadh may as well be its official garden fairy after she'd come to Candaeln with him and Tyaethe. "Everybody else is usually very friendly too, so if she's alright with it, would you like to tag along with us for a while?"

Laoise had an uncertain look – as much as anything was definite when it came to staring at a Feinyar – until Fiadh added, "There's a nice little dwarf forge just next to me, too! He does a lot of working."

That got an enthusiastic nod.

"Do you think Ardor might be more inclined to forgive what happened to my sword if Laoise's willing to help him with the forge?" he mused, scratching at his chin. With that thought in mind, though, that made one other thing very clear to him—he had yet to get his sword back, with Súileabhán's feather still loosely slung at his belt. That was not something he could forget before they left the Moonlit Queen's realm.

But, of course, now he was left with yet more things to consider. Magic weapons forged with fae help, how they might compare to the normal enchantments and reinforcements that were done, whether any of the other knights in the order had such...

"Alright. How's about I let the two of you talk that over, and I'll go trade this back to its rightful owner and get my own sword back? Play nice when I'm not looking, you two. Hey, Súileabhán!"

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Esben Mathiassen

---

A few more quiet words passed between Esben and Éliane, before the moment was over and they got the puzzle-locked door to open. While his expression was as guarded as ever, everything but his weapons carefully stowed back within his cloak, he was glad that he'd had his back to the others and that none of them had a clear view to whatever went on between the Skaeller pair. With that, there was nothing further to impede their progress—and he was glad that there wasn't some new assailant immediately behind the puzzle.

Miina's Nulfrost was joined by the pair of fairies that flitted around the group, bestowing their own small aid without any orders necessary. Heightened speed and reactions from Selene, and from Eos, despite none of the Kirins being wounded and needing healing—just enough of a boost to restore strength to aching limbs, clarity to tired minds. Esben almost had to smile at that; while she clearly wasn't the brightest of their fairies, she at least understood the group and her own magic well enough to prepare them for battle in her own way.

Sometimes it was just as important to be able to take a hit in the first place as to have the care available after it landed, and even if they didn't know all the details or the importance of the Kirins' quest, both of the fey creatures would strive to make sure they could complete it.

Now, how to deal with the spirit in front of them. That it was water aspected akin to Leviathan was expected; if it was akin in other ways, it was bound to be a long battle. She hadn't been difficult to harm, but despite however much damage they'd done it didn't seem to slow her down. If Famfrit could take anything approaching a similar level of punishment, then even if they could get back up from anything it could dish out they'd be at it for some time.

Somehow, he doubted it would be quite as easy to deal with as Adrammelech.

"Spread out! Éliane, Chisato, break its concentration!" he commanded just after Miina, Selene, and Eos's spells settled over the group, feet already carrying him away from where they were all clumped together. "Galahad, Izayoi, try and knock it off its feet!"

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Esben Mathiassen

---

Esben watched as Éliane paid him a small glance and looked back to the now-jammed swinging blades that she'd been staring at a moment before, lifting her rifle to them. He sighed. Worse yet, he couldn't entirely blame her; as uncomfortable as it was, he was at least used to the fatigue. He might be ready to collapse the second they were done, but that was a future problem.

"One moment," he bid the others, walking over to where his countrywoman stood, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Elly, this way," he quietly corrected, with a slight tug to get her moving the right direction before reaching down and turning the rifle in her hands so that she'd lead with the end that would actually fit the "keyhole." With the other, he reached into a pocket of his cloak, pulling out a small bag. He'd brought along more than a few snacks from home, things that essentially wouldn't spoil. Some of them he'd made a point not to take into the actual desert beyond Kugane, but they'd been with him since, and he'd had them packed well enough that even a couple dips in the ocean hadn't managed to harm them.

He'd been hoping to keep them to himself, or at the least, not to run the risk that Éliane might start to think she'd have free access. But, as always, the mission came first...

"Eat a few of these. They'll wake you back up a bit." Chocolate-covered coffee beans. He also had a tin of caffeine-enriched chocolate, but he wasn't willing to give that up yet.

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Esben Mathiassen

---

With Selene scouting everything ahead, alongside the advance warning from Zacharias and the immediate one from the immolated Sahuagin, the Kirins were blissfully unthreatened by the traps that awaited them. As they came close enough that they could make out the details on the puzzle at the end of the gauntlet, Esben was given the chance to peruse it and whatever its ultimate pattern was meant to be as the others made their way past the hazards laid out—though not without turning away, and this time, covering his ears as Miina set off the magical explosives in their path.

Luckily he hadn't been too close to the flash bomb that Chisato had thrown out among the Sahuagin, but it had still left his ears ringing uncomfortably coming right after Miina's thunderbolt. No doubt he'd have gunfire to contend with soon, but for once, the party's loudest member was remaining among its quietest, and he'd try to enjoy that as long as it lasted.

As Galahad freed his weapon from where he'd jammed the last of the blades' mechanism, he strode forward, stopping in front of the block puzzle.

Stared silently at it for a moment.

"How many steps do you think, Rudolf?" he asked, not bothering to turn at the sound of the footsteps that came up next to him. About the only two he wouldn't easily recognize from their walk at this point would be Miina and Chisato, and only because they could both be whisper quiet if they put their minds to it. "Fastest solution, what's your guess?"

"Twenty-six."

"Oh? So many?"

Rudolf's face remained stoic and expressionless, the only clue that he was taking a closer look being the faint tightening at the corners of his eyes as he peered more closely at the pattern. "I took the long way. Brute force, but it'd get us there. The actual minimum...nineteen."

Esben nodded appreciatively. "You're close," he congratulated. "But you're still five over how many we actually need. The entire pattern as it's shown is unsolvable." He stepped up to the puzzle, starting to slide the blocks around. "If I had to guess, the only ones that actually matter are the four with Leviathan's face. The rest are just meant to distract, the formless chaos of her roiling coils...And given that, there may be something else to this..."

Sure enough, as he moved the carved tiles, he could hear the faintest metallic clicks in the four he was focused on as he moved them around. Once he'd slid them into place, each popped out slightly, free to pull away from the rest of the puzzle. He passed them off to Rudolf beside him, only to reveal, where they'd released themselves from—a keyhole.

A rather large one, owing to the size of the puzzle, but still. A further obstruction that Zacharias had not mentioned to them, nor provided a key to use. "Eos. Your light, if you would?" The green fairy hovered up, shining into the lock. Brighter and more direct than a simple torch would be, revealing the details within far better than Esben might otherwise have hoped for.

Designed like a simple warded lock, easy enough to make a skeleton key if they had the materials, but the hole for the post was nearly the size of the grovemasters' staffs. At the deepest point, something metallic reflected the green glow. Below it, however, there was more, a separate mechanism. No telling for sure what it was, but if he had to guess...

He glanced up once at the rest of the tiles. Perhaps one final security mechanism for the unwary, before the crystal's guardian itself. If they could see through the tile puzzle, then they might find the oversized keyhole, make an oversized key for it, trip some sort of explosive, shatter the tiles into shrapnel that would rip through whoever had made it so far.

"Clever," he mused. "Not exceedingly so, but at least a little cunning. The rest of you, stand back and at the ready—Chisato, I want you to have another of those flash bombs in hand. Éliane, Galahad's halberd may be just a bit too wide to fit the top of this—could you poke whatever is at the back of it with your rifle? Be careful not to let it droop too much, I don't want to be picking stone out of my, your, or anyone else's face before we get in there."