Fantasy &nbsp; Four Suits Volume 1.5

SidTheSkid

. D O V E · Jun 9, 2019

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[div class=bg] [div class=Guin][/div] [div class=gname] Queen of Hearts [/div]
Location: Atria, Kingdom of Hearts
Interaction:

Kloudy Mentions:

BreezeCatcher
Spell(s) Used:
Area Drain
Psychic Projection
Blink
Reflect - Huge-ass Barrier
Partial Synchronization - Leolin, Cass, Alaric

Others:
Life-Link - Alaric

[/div]

[div class=font] The Queen of Hearts was caught off-guard when she felt One's presence behind her, for the third time, significantly closer compared to the lasts. It all escalated so quickly that she barely had time to react before she felt a sharp steel pierced through her from the back. Guineverre drew a sharp breath as she fought the urge to scream, the intensity of the pain growing with every passing seconds along with the fog. Alarmed, she chained her Blink and teleported a good distance away from the clone.

Heavy pants escaped her lips as she reached out to press a palm against her wound, grimacing when she made contact with the site and felt her own blood coat her hand. She wondered how One was able to bypass the warrior's Life-Link. The damage should have been transported to him unless..

Yaanagi the Poisoner...

With wide eyes, Guin drew her hand in front of her and stared at the blood-soaked part as realization hit her. How could she have been so foolish!? One has been playing with her all along and she walked straight to his trap. Illusions, fog and a poisoner; it all made sense now.

"All Wind Mages on me!"

Within less than a minute, A few Queensguards surrounded the Queen, looking somewhat confused as to why she seemed to be in pain when she looked perfectly healthy. Guin figured that it must be because they haven't been exposed to the mist long enough unlike her. Nonetheless, the winds of luck was in her favor as the fleets contained an abundant amount of Wind Mages and some descended to aid the royalties in their battles.

"Dissipate the fog!"

Upon hearing her order, the mages immediately moved to heed, manipulating the air to lift the haze up in an attempt to free them from One's tricks. As the atmosphere began to clear up, Guin felt the pain from her phantom wound slowly turn dull while she rose back to composure. The psychic shield on her hand reverted back to a sword as she raised it at the Original One.

"I, Queen Guineverre Victoria y Blanca, sentence you to die."

On her background were dozens of bolts made out of the same blue magic, all pointing at One and ready to fly straight to him at any moment. Fear is for the weak. And damn, she refuse to be weak. [/div]

BreezeCatcher · Jun 9, 2019

Alaric - 9 - Hearts
location - Atria - Queen’s barrier

Alaric watched as a wounded One stepped away from the Queen and turned to face him. At least he had pulled some of the pressure away from the Queen he thought to himself as he readied the longsword in his hands. These soon to be corpses had come to this city with nothing but malicious intent, they had killed countless civilians, and for what gain. What cause did they fight for where this cost was justifiable. As he looked at the destruction around him, Alaric doubted any cause could be worth such a price. Today, family lines had been snuffed out. Parents would have to bury their children, while other children would find themselves orphaned by the end of the day. The terrorists total disregard for human life disgusted him. How could they take away another's life so easily? What right did they have? What had begun as a calm and calculating walk over towards the wounded One quickly turned into a charge of whirling blades as Alaric worked himself into a rage over what had happened here today. He would not forgive them, he could not forgive them. He didn't know what they wanted, or who had wronged them, but they had crossed a line they shouldn't have by involving the innocent civilians of the Heart kingdom. He had always fought to protect those weaker than himself, and until today he had been able to do so with great success. But today the city of Atria had been attacked, and even with the power of multiple high level cards, the casualties still could not be prevented. He had failed at his vow, he had been in the area and was unable to stop the widespread destruction of the city. But he would fail the citizens no longer, for this small band of terrorists would pay for their crimes, and Alaric would make sure that justice was swift and final.

With these thoughts fresh in his head, Alaric's whirlwind of blades charged with him as he bore down on the injured One. He would cut him to ribbons and move on to the next opponent, he had too, he had to make them understand the error of their ways by the touch of his steel. He was angry, he wasn't often angry, and he wasn't sure he liked it, but they had to pay for their actions. They couldn't be allowed to destroy as they pleased. So as his blades descended upon the injured version of One that had come to attack him, it came as quiet a surprise to him when the injured clone just seemed to fade away and vanish. The sudden disappearance gave pause to Alaric's rage and in that pause he took stock of his situation. Under the instruction of the Queen, wind mages were removing a dense mist that until now Alaric had failed to realize he had entered. 'Where had this mist come from, was it the cause of the clones, was it all an a Illusion.' He thought to himself as he let his blades hang suspended in the air, their purpose suddenly lost with the disappearance of the clones. But the Queen and her Queensguard hadn't slowed down in the slightest and had already set her sights on the real One. That was where he needed to be. That man had to be stopped here, so that the destruction in Atria could not be repeated somewhere else.

"You kill without a care for the consequences, I am here to deliver those consequences so that you may understand the err of your actions here today, I hope you are ready."

Athanas

Kloudy

TPBx · Jun 19, 2019

Royal Flushe

"We're done here, we have the package," one of the Flushe dispatched to the rest of the group telepathically. In the distance two of the members had their appearance shrouded by some sort of illusion magic similar to One's stood upon a rooftop with the lifeless body of Axton, the King of Hearts. His eyes were glazed over, skin pale, and looked as if his life force was drained completely. The other Flushe member made one singular motion to beckon the three fighting in the city to come to him, and in a flash all of them appeared beside him. It seemed that the last member of the Royal Flushe had some sort of spacial augmentation magic as the world around him seemingly bent to his will as he brought his comrades to him. Three then raised her hand and summoned a titanic, metallic worm beneath them that opened up its mouth and swallowed the building the Royal Flushe stood upon along with the group. Outside the city, the evacuees managed to make their escape from the battlefield. However the remaining mages still had to deal with the horde of bugs that Three summoned to cover the escape of the Flushe. It was easy work for the remaining Royalty and Kingdom of Hearts's Military.

..... one month later ......

Since the Empire established their forward base in Jann, the Argossians retook the most of the lands they managed to take in the Crusades, with their progress slowing to a halt as the Suits' Coaltion Force held their own against the Imperial Military when they weren't supported by their fleet near the coast. However the fighting was rough and in a similar fashion to the original Argossian Crusades, the technological advantages they had proved to be ever so much closer to the Suits' Magic. Some of their technological feats almost appeared to be no different from magic as they could send birds of metal through the air and be able to coordinate their attacks so easily with communication devices that were more effective than telepathy.

Due to his actions in Jann, showing that the Ace of Spades was a threat to himself and his allies, it was agreed upon by the other surviving Royalty that Quillon should be stripped of his rank as Ace and a suitable arrangement would be made to find a suitable replacement. In addition to this, due to several casualties and disappearances of the Royalty, the Kingdoms collectively agreed to move all the Royal Tournaments to happen concurrently in order to find new Royal Members to replace the fallen. This tournament, known as the Greater Royal Tournament, begins tomorrow and the 10s in every kingdom have geared up to take these new positions in a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Coyote Hart · Jun 19, 2019

The wind grew stronger and stronger as Twig quickly lost control of his magic. It roared around him, sucking out every last drop of magic that Twig had on him. And with it went his ability to heal. The wind magic tore his healing power from him in order to continue to fuel the cyclone. Along with this, Twig felt a sense of helplessness rush over him.

And then Twig's vision went black.

---------------------------------------------
((It is suggested to skip this third of the post in order to save 4 minutes of reading time))

"Earth to Twig! Earth to Twig!" someone was slapping Twig's face lightly. After a few more slaps, the person stopped and said in a deadpan voice, "Everyone, I think Twig is dead."

"No, I'm not," Twig groaned as he opened his eyes. He was in a comfortable straw bed, and the air was quiet and almost foreign compared to the battlefield he was in a moment ago. The walls were made of wood, and there was a hazy, almost mystical feel to the air around him.

Sitting on the floor were his friends from back home-- Mohammed, Cillian, and Keo, thirteen and young, as if they hadn't aged a single day since Twig had left. Standing over him was Amsterdam, in his working clothes and with his ax slung over his shoulder, looking into his eyes with concern.

"Thank goodness you're not dead, we can't lose our precious doctor," Amsterdam said, his eyes twinkling as he pointed to Keo, "Especially when your closest replacement doesn't even know what his powers are."

"Hey, Keo's valid in his own right," Twig said as he sat up and rubbed his eyes. The young, beanie-wearing boy was the reason that Twig could even use his wind magic without completely wiping everything out. He had the ability to create wacky pills that had different effects on everyone. For Twig, it allowed him to control his magic just a slight bit more than usual. And for Amsterdam, it made him go into a laughing fit. It was different for each individual person.

"Y-yeah, go shove your rejection of me up your ass!" Keo said, looking fiercely at Amsterdam.

"Woah. Uh... Sorry?" Amsterdam looked taken aback, "Are you actually upset? You don't usually act so aggressive."

"No, Mohammed just wanted me to stand up for myself a little bit," Keo replied with a shy smile as his shoulders shrugged up a slight bit, "I was just practicing."

"You did good," Mohammed, the tall boy with the long dark hair enveloped Keo into a hug from behind and rubbed his shoulder, "Kinda scary to be honest, if not for the fact that you don't radiate strength at all."

"That's what you are here for, right?" Keo responded, looking up at Mohammed with a smile, "My knight in shining armor."

"I'm still not used to the fact that the edgy goth and the innocent cinnamon bun are a couple," Amsterdam chuckled. He turned towards Twig, who was sitting on the bed, his head hung down as he was deep in thought, though he was listening to everything. Immediately, Amsterdam's smile faltered, and he asked, "Everything good, Twig?"

"Yeah," Twig replied. The strange environment was jarring to where he was last and for some reason, he couldn't figure out where he had just come from. What was it that was so important? And why couldn't Twig just pin what it was? Then it hit him. Parma. The invasion by the Argossians.

In an instant, Twig shot up and looked at Amsterdam square in the face (he was the leader, after all) and asked hurriedly, "How do I leave? I need to get back to Parma, the Argossians are invading the city, I have to--"

"Twig, chill out," Mohammed walked over to Twig and laid a strong hand on his shoulder, "Parma's already lost. The Argossian army rushed in after you passed out. I was there."

"If it helps, you did really well," Keo said encouragingly, "You've really improved at controlling your wind magic."

"I know, but I feel like I've let everyone down by passing out," Twig said, sitting back down on the bed, "I could have helped save Parma. But now..."

"It's only the first part of the coming war," Amsterdam said grimly, "A loss won't mean anything, nor will an initial win indicate anything. The Suits could still win even without Parma. Or these two Jokers here," he gestured to Mohammed and Keo, "Could build off of the initial victory. Nobody can predict what'll happen. War is not as cut and dry as the raids that we've performed, Twig."

"I know, but it's the destruction that I caused that I can't get over," Twig said, burying his face in his hands, "How much damage did my magic cause?"

"Twig, I'm not going to sugarcoat things," Mohammed warned before he continued, "The tornado killed many, Argossians and members of the Suits alike."

The news sent a wave of despair rushing through Twig's body, and Twig buried his head deeper into his arms, feeling as if tears were about to spring to his eyes. What good were a doctor and a royal who couldn't even protect their people, and instead ended up killing them? He was no better than the Jokers; no better than a traitor to the Suits.

"If it makes you feel any better," Keo said, "I don't think it was your fault."

"My fault or not, I still killed others," Twig said, "How do you guys manage to deal with killing people?"

"It sadly gets easier the more you do it," Amsterdam said with a sorrowful tone, "Don't try to get used to it, Twig. Being sorry about it just means that you are more human than the rest of us."

"Don't hate yourself for too long," Mohammed said, "Your natural instinct to repent for killing others is enough atonement. I personally envy you for it."

"Forgive yourself," Cillian wasn't one to usually talk, so as soon as he began to speak, everyone turned their attention to the blond-haired archer, "You've forgiven others for much worse crimes why can't you forgive yourself?"

"Okay," Twig replied, looking up. He didn't feel as if he was excused for all the death that he caused, but he nonetheless forced a smile and looked at Mohammed and Keo, "Sorry you two, I'm completely ruining your victory."

"No, it's okay," Mohammed said, his usually fierce eyes holding kindness-- something that Twig hadn't expected to ever see again, "We're all friends here."

"Where is here anyway?" Twig asked, looking around the treehouse they were in. It looked exactly like the one that the five of them would hang out in when they were young and they fought against the anarchists.

"A dream? I dunno," Amsterdam said, "All I know is that we all look like we're thirteen again."

"I mean, this gives us a good place to catch up on things, right?" Twig smiled, "How have you guys been doing?"

"The village is pretty boring. And all I have is that recluse of an archer as a company," Amsterdam stuck his thumb backward towards Cillian, who had remained silent. "What's it like being a Joker?"

"It's... interesting," Mohammed replied. His eyes darted towards Twig momentarily, and Twig could tell that Mohammed was trying to go into as little detail as possible as to not give anything away.

"It's sure awfully violent," Keo commented, scowling with distaste. The beanie-wearing boy turned to Twig, "What's it like being a royal?"

"It's interesting," Twig responded, echoing Mohammed. Like the tall, edgy Joker, he didn't want to accidentally give something away that could be used against them. He made eye contact with Mohammed, and almost simultaneously, they both cracked up. It helped lessen the sinking feeling of guilt in his chest for the lives lost.

"I will say that it's stifling," Twig said once he calmed down from the laughter. He remembered his duties, and he added, "Speaking of it, I think I need to go. I need to check in with the survivors."

"Can you stay a bit longer?" Mohammed entreated, "I'm really sad to think that the next time we meet, we'll be on opposite sides of the battlefield."

"Plus, you'll probably just be bedridden if you wake up," Keo added, "I think I remember that whenever you self-destruct, you're stuck in bed for a while."

"I suppose so. Alright, I'll stay a bit longer," Twig relented. He would put up a brave face for just a bit longer.

((TLDR: Twig meets his old friends in a dream-like world where he mourns for those who he killed when his tornado went out of control. He also caught up with his old friends, two of which are members of the Jokers))

-----------------------------

A month later since that fateful dream, Twig hadn't had any contact whatsoever with the group. Immediately after he was admitted into the hospital, he discharged himself. There wasn't any reason for him to stay in a hospital-- the tornado had only affected his magic skills, and miraculously didn't hurt him too much.

After that, his every day was filled with paperwork, paperwork, and more paperwork. It was shocking how much paperwork could exist even as the country was going to war. Thankfully, this mountain of paperwork meant that he was more or less distracted from the dark deeds that he had committed at Parma. It also distracted him from Axton's death, the shock of which hadn't worn off yet.

Today, though was different. After drowning himself in paperwork for the past month, today Twig woke up with nothing actually needing to be done. He had woken up panicked, surrounded by fancy, foreign furniture in an unfamiliar environment. His first thought was that had been kidnapped, but this concern was quickly alleviated when Twig remembered where he was. He had been checking up with the trade routes that ran from the Diamond Kingdom. Twig had received word that there were instances of corruption that required his presence, but after checking things over, he found none.

So after the day was done, Twig went to the nearest tavern, and after buying a room, settled down for the night and prepared to leave the next day, hence the fact that he was waking up in an unusual room. He knew that he could have asked for a room at the castle, but the lavish rooms kept reminding him of the stark differences between how he and Amsterdam lived.

Twig dragged himself out of bed, styled his hair, and took an hour of the early morning to study a bit. Afterward, when the day began to get warmer, he thought over what he needed to do for the day. Of course, he needed to take time out of his day to ask the Ace, William, for a portal back to the Kingdom of Hearts, since there was absolutely no way he was going to make it back home in time for the Royal Tournament. Other than that, he had practically nothing to do for the morning. There were no pressing paperwork, no meetings to attend, nothing.

As he ate breakfast downstairs in the tavern, Twig realized that he could tour Ariandel during the day. A month ago, during the Parma incident, there had been no time for tourism. Now that he had all the immediate bits of business out of the way, Twig realized that he could probably take a quick break.

So that was what Twig did, once he had finished his breakfast. He went around the city, taking in the near-angelic white of the buildings. He knew that this sight wouldn't be there for much longer considering that the kingdoms were about to go to war with Argossia. But even when he closed his eyes and breathed in deeply from his nose and exhaled from his mouth, taking in all of the smells of the city, Twig realized that his heart wasn't set on relaxation.

Twig was plagued with thoughts of a month ago, and the fateful meeting that was held in the very city that he was standing in. And the horrible scene of the battlefield, much bloodier than anything he had ever seen. When he had lost control of his wind powers on the battlefield, it had been the first time that Twig had actually killed someone with his magic. It was a horrifying experience, but Twig also remembered that someone important had been captured. A high ranking Joker, the exact same that tried to kill Lazarus.

Twig looked up, the kingdom's castle was visible in the sky. The Joker undoubtedly would be kept in the castle, where he had probably been interrogated regarding the Jokers. But Twig vaguely realized that he had heard no news or information regarding this. Either the Diamonds neglected to pass down information to the Hearts, Leo had forgotten to tell Twig anything, or the Diamonds simply weren't successful in extracting information.

Either way, Twig knew that today was definitely a good opportunity to try to gain some information. If the Diamonds weren't successful in their likely barbaric methods of gaining information, Twig had an inkling of a feeling that a more friendly approach might help. Besides, Twig realized that relaxing while a war was right around the corner was both dumb and negligent.

Twig changed his course of path and his way towards the large, looming castle. As he walked past the drawbridge and into the castle itself, a guard stopped him, his hand holding his sheathed sword.

"What business do you have at the castle?" the guard asked, glaring at Twig.

"I'd like to visit someone in the prison and ask him a few questions," Twig said, "He was captured at the Battle of Parma."

The guard looked at Twig skeptically, then asked, "And who are you, exactly?"

"The Jack of Hearts. I participated in the battle," Twig said this with no pride. There was never pride in war.

The guard fidgetted for a moment, then replied, "Alright then." He stepped aside for Twig to pass through. Twig was glad he didn't question why a foreign government agent was asking for entry.

"Thanks," Twig said, "Before I go, could you tell me the directions to the holding cells?" Twig didn't want to get lost in a castle again, much less in a foreign one.

Twig listened intently as the guard gave him directions, but when he actually went inside, he found himself lost, and once more, he pointlessly walked around the white castle. Each doorway seemed to look the same as the last, and for a while, Twig wondered if he was even making progress at all.

"I'm going to have nightmares about this," Twig mumbled as he walked around, looking for a door with any semblance of a prison. He had no success. In the end, he resorted to stopping a maid and asking her where the holding cells were.

"It'd be right there," the maid said, pointing to a door that Twig had passed by merely ten seconds ago, "Why do you ask?"

"Are you serious?" Twig muttered in disbelief. He took a moment to stare at the door, questioning why he didn't realize it was the door to the prison, then he realized that the maid had asked him a question, and he turned to answer her, "Oh, uh I'm here to ask one of the prisoners some questions. Do you guys have a spare pot of tea and two or so wooden cups?"

The sudden last addition to his statement wasn't pure randomness. An idea popped into Twig's head that would involve using tea. His idea was to put the prisoner in a state where he was comfortable enough to actually talk-- and what better way than instigate a tea party?

"Umm... sure, I'll be right back," the maid said, putting down her tray and heading down the corridor. Twig was envious of how she looked as if she knew where she was going.

Twig walked into the room with the prisoners, only to be confronted with another guard, and in the time it took for him to brief her about the situation, the maid had returned with the tea and the cups. As they descended the steps into the prison cells, Twig awkwardly transferred his Pemulihan staff to his left hand and attempted to hold on to the teapot and the cups in only one hand. It wasn't an easy task, and it took Twig nearly dropping the fragile teapot to actually get a decent hold.

"Do you need a bit of help?" the maid, who had followed them into the prison, offered Twig a hand.

Twig shook his head politely, then declined the offer, "It's okay, I've got it."

After descending the steps into the cells, Twig for the first time came face to face with the sharpshooter who had so devastatingly injured Lazarus, and Twig was honestly surprised. Everything about the boy in front of him seemed strangely... normal, sans a few bits of detail. He looked to be around the same age as Twig and had silvery hair that covered his eyes with bangs; his hair went down to the nape of his neck. His ears were pierced multiple times, and his eyes were a shocking shade of gray. In all actuality, the boy seemed like a refined gentleman, not a criminal. The only thing unusual was the blood-red collar he wore around his neck, which was obviously Lazarus's handiwork.

"Could I have a chair and be let inside?" Twig asked the guard. He hated how he had to ask for so much, but this wasn't his house.

"I wouldn't suggest that," the guard said as she unlocked the door and went to grab a chair, "He's dangerous."

"I'll be fine," Twig replied with a confident smile, "I should be able to hold him off if he tries anything."

"Okay then," the guard said, grabbing a chair from around the corner and passing it to Twig.

"Sorry, but my hands are kinda full right now," Twig replied, raising his hands, which each respectively had his cup and his staff.

The guard set the chair down inside the cell where the Joker was, then backed out, taking the maid with her. Twig nodded gratefully to the guard before he walked in, finally setting himself free from holding the teapot and cups by setting them down on the floor along with his staff. Then, for a moment, he fidged uncomfortably before sitting down. He had never actually performed an interrogation before, so for Twig, this was new territory.

"Uhh... I guess, my name's Twig," Twig looked up and forced himself to meet those startling gray eyes and offered his hand in a handshake, "Do you want some tea?"

Goonfire · Jun 19, 2019

Leolin Hravart III

The Ace of Hearts, having witnessed his king carried away by terrorists, didn't sleep well from that day forward. His mind was packed to the brim with plots and plans. A lot of his usual rounds about the capital needed to be truncated, for he was organizing powerful militia teams to deter, delay, or even prevent Royal Flushe operations. More and more, he found himself checking on the surviving two royals, holding his breath and praying he wouldn't have to attend another dear friend's funeral.

One week after the massacres, Leolin held a rather solemn ceremony and feast at the palace to acknowledge the distinguished actions of those Hearts citizens who served in Jann and Atria. Alaric, Cassius, Twig, Guin, and the other surviving Queen's Guard were given handsome brass medals, plus additional distinctions if they were wounded in action. The metal was sourced from mines in Valencia and worked by smiths in Ventrica, while the ribbon came from the region between Marakek and Clementi, known as the Cotton Belt. Of course, the medals were then assembled in Corda, by workers of ranks two through four who received generous compensation for their time. Those who didn’t attend found their medals were delivered to their homes by Hearts soldiers. The feast was no celebration, but Leo knew food had that miraculous ability to help both physical and mental healing. It would only be a start to a lengthy process of righting wrongs.

The question of 'what' had been thoroughly answered. One thing weighed heavily upon Leo's mind, though: 'Why'. What motivated the Flushe to kill? Surely, there had to be some great wrong erased from the history textbooks. Perhaps a thorough search of the National Archives and the Queen's trove of legal records would yield the results he sought...

BreezeCatcher

Athanas

Vivianne Frisk
Following the victory over the dryad, things didn’t settle down. There was immediate talk of the upcoming tournaments. Although Vivi wasn’t strong enough to compete, she would be watching, cheering on her favorite candidates. Until then, though, she continued delivering beer and running errands to pay for her magic sword, but chose to stick around well after the agreement reached its close.

Ahlmus Thorn
The last thing Ahlmus remembered was the homunculus marching past him as he struggled to stay conscious. It was a futile effort; the young bounty hunter didn't regain consciousness until the noise of another brutal clash disturbed him. As the world seemingly neared its end, he pried himself off the ground, patches of seared flesh peeling off and sticking to the blood-caked cobblestone. The agony wrenching his charred body only served as more motivation for him to flee... but to where? He rushed for the coast, in-time to see the fleet of Diamonds ships sailing towards him. He was one of the lucky few who made it off the island, though he had both physical and mental scars to show for it.

Ahlmus remained in a nigh-comatose state for a week. The doctors made one major mistake: leaving mirrors in his room. Soon after rising, he saw the bandaged, burned, one-eyed monstrosity he had become. He flew into a tearful rage that couldn't be contained. His brother Phorcis, who had been worried sick, stepped in to comfort Ahlmus, but there was no comfort to be had. Although Phorcis had admitted accepting three bounties simultaneously wasn't a wise choice, he found his baby brother inconsolable.

Estranging himself from his family, Ahlmus gathered his supplies once more... and that brought him to the marketplace in Ariandel.

D4nimal · Jun 19, 2019

- M a r s h a l l -
-A memory several years prior-
❖
Thump
Again.
Thump
Again.
Thump
Again.
"How long must I strike this post master Eurugard?" Marshall said exacerbated.
"Until you convince it to bend." Eurugard replied.
"Until I break it then?" Marshall asked.
"If that is how you wish to persuade it. You must choose your own path dear student." Eurugard answered.
Marshall furrowed his brow in frustration and struck the post again.
'Breaking it is the only way.' Marshall thought.
-
Marshall continued to strike the post from morning till dusk.
-
Marshall rubbed his splitting skin on the grooves of his knuckles and gazed at his disheartening progress.
The night time insects chirped, fireflies danced, and Master Eurugard sat quietly humming a tune on the porch.
"Do you intend to strike it through the night?" Eurugard mused.
Marshall's annoyed visage cranned toward his master. "There is no alternative." Marshall declared.
"Oh? I see, continue then." Eurugard replied, again he began humming.
'Stupid old man, acting like he knows something I don't..' Marshall mulled over his thoughts for a moment. 'Maybe there is another way.'
Marshall ran to retrieve the shovel from the shed adjacent to the house, and rushed back with it in hand.
Marshall began digging around the post until eventually the foundation of the post gave and Marshall was easily able to push it over.
"There, I did it." Marshall said breathing heavily.
"Ah, so you have. Have you learned something?" Asked Eurugard.
Marshall considered his question. "I can dig holes?" Answered Marshall.
"No matter how much the wind may howl at a mountain, the mountain will not bow to it. So what do you do? You find another way, if you don't; you fail. If you fail, you fall short of your goals... do you understand?" Eurugard asked.
"Yes." Marshall replied with newfound respect.
"Good. Now come, I will pour you some tea before bed." Eurugard said as he stood to go inside.
❖
Marshall wondered why such a memory had surfaced in his mind, perhaps he was nervous for the upcoming royal selection.
He was gunning for Ace after all, the previous Ace is sure to be formidable; the royals as well.
Marshall observed the bustle in the market, 'They all live such peaceful lives.' Marshall thought to himself with a hint of envy.
Marshall averted his gaze when a elderly couple gave him a sour look as he passed. 'I wonder if someone like me becoming Ace will help at all.' Marshall shook the thought, 'Remember why you're here.'.
-
After several minutes Marshall arrived at the arena and entered the lobby area.
Marshall silently took in his surroundings. Several individuals, including spade military personnel, were seated in the lobby waiting to check in.
Marshall scanning the faces recognised a familiar face, and moved toward the line to check in.
❖
Mentions:

vielpotato

H3LLJUMPER_177 · Jun 20, 2019

A fantasy awakes, a dark desire to
Watch you slip away into oblivion
I can't wait to see your flesh turn pale
When I hear the last breath you take fail

Thruma worked on her prototype weapons, she since the war began, well, a week after it started, she started to get boxes and boxes of Argo tech. Armor, trinkets and guns. Especially the guns, when she first saw one she almost fainted she was so excited. She has sense been testing, taking a apart, rebuilding, you name it. The weapons were more complex than other ones! She also got some armor pieces BUT those are on hold until she can, 'GET THIS CONFOUNDED CONTRAPTION' to work.. She got the handguns down quite quickly but the rifles and long guns still stump her.. Though for the last weeks.. she decided to take a break and work on the armor, and has made some great revers engineering.. The armor plates that were used were quite interesting, and the material used under the metal plates work as armor as well, she has since passed the materials needed onto military blacksmiths, but the materials are rare to find, so for now, her blue guards are the only ones in such special armor with new weapons! Mainly because she can't supply an army....well she can but it's rather difficult.. and tiring. Besides she'd get a headache is she does it too much.. ANYWAYS, the new armor she has created can render the user near unkillable, but it's quite heavy...very heavy, it needs improvements.. She sighs and falls back onto the floor quite hard, hard enough to send in two of her personal guards, they were in an attack stance, "Thurma? Ma'am?" one said aloud as they walked into the very messy room.. Her lab, or engineering room? Was in shambles.. But she was found, asleep on the floor with blueprints and crunched up paper on and around her.

The guards sigh and pick her up and take her to her room where she'd sleep for a few minutes before waking up, dazed but her energy replenished..sorta. She lied in bed and more thoughts and ideas for weapons and armor ran through her mind. "I sort of regret getting those weapons.... and the armors..." she said to herself, she grabs a pencil and some paper, writing down 'Hold the shipments, i need a break, store them in the warehouse.' she put on the paper before calling for someone to take and deliver it. She then got up, cleaned and dressed before heading out to roam the castle for something to do besides destroying her brain with ideas and stuff.
(open for interactions, fucking give me something to do for once pleaseeeeee!!!)

vielpotato · Jun 20, 2019

After being taken in and healed for his minor injuries, the Diamonds locked Jack in a regular cell as if he was a regular prisoner. Jake simply assumed they had no idea what he could do, since he was a joker obviously he had to be weak. Being led into his cell, along with his possessions that were on a table with all the other possessions from other inmates, Jake stayed quiet in his cell for the entirety of the month he was there. Despite the numerous threats of if he didn't talk, Jake stayed mute until he received his first real visit. The young man, with his obvious unknowing to the area around him as he constantly looked nervous and new, decided to visit the sniper. Jake realized it as soon as he spoke, that this man was one of the people at the fight that took place the month prior. He was the one who seemed to be the healer... The nice one... Jake finally busted in laughs once he realized what the healer said. Tea? Is this man serious? Jake didn't know what to put together, as the tea could easily be poison as he chose to not talk, albeit some small nursery rhymes when it was the early hours of night, but Jake would assume the exact opposite.
"I will gladly take some of your tea, dear sir.. I only hope that you are proficient in only healing, and not the arts of poison for I would truly be upset if I met such a dashing man but they only happened to attempt to kill me. You wouldn't do such a thing, now would you dear Twig?" Jake said those lines in such a way that he seemed inquisitive and yet hinting or threatening at the fact that such a trick wouldn't nor couldn't be how he dies. No.. Jake was trained to be able to survive through the worst. Jake sat down with Twig, as his cell was adorned with his bed, a table, and what would now be 2 chairs, but instead of keeping chairs normally Jake would keep his backwards in order to comfortably sit forwards. "I also hope the tea is good.. No drinks in the diamond city is quite like the Hearts kingdom.. For they truly know how to have fun...

Coyote Hart · Jun 20, 2019

Twig furrowed his eyebrows in confusion when the sniper began to laugh, but thankfully his concern about being poisoned cleared it all up. The thought of poisoning the sniper honestly never came to Twig's mind even once. Poison was the worst way that someone could try to kill someone. It was for those who sought to do as much damage as possible, with as little work as possible. Poison was always used for death, not peace like violence sometimes could bring. Part of Twig's hate for poison was the fact that it was such a pain to cure. A simple wound would take just a touch of magic to heal, but poison required constant care if the antidote was unknown.

"No, I would never poison someone," Twig said, looking sincerely into Jake's eyes, "Especially not someone as charming as you."

Twig didn't miss the suggestive phrases that the sniper had thrown at him, but the problem was, Twig didn't know how to react. He had always ignored such romantic advances-- but those were all from women. This time, it was from a man, and Twig seriously didn't mind it at all. But how in the world was he supposed to react?

What would Leo do? Twig knew that the Ace was probably the most charming person he knew, so following his model would probably a good idea. But what in the world could he say? 'You want to have some fun? I'll show you what fun is.' No. No. Twig couldn't imagine himself saying that, nor could he summon the courage to even say it. Even the thought of such a perverse statement made Twig blush pink, and Twig hurriedly turned to the teapot next to him to pour Jake and himself some tea.

"So anyway," Twig said, passing Jake a cup of tea before pouring himself one. He decided the best course of action was to start with the interrogation, even if he had no idea what to do. "Let's uh start off with your name. Who do I have the pleasure of talking to?"

vielpotato · Jun 20, 2019

Taking the cup of what was said to be tea, but in reality was distilled enough to be called flavored water, Jake drank it all as liquids other than blood are rare and far between in the past month in this cell. "My name? Who is asking, you or the one trying to make me talk?" Jake said laughing after setting his cup of tea down on the table. "You can call me whatever you want really.. By now I've been called names like Joker, Trash, Bitch, but honestly names are just titles. I'd rather know someone from the inside and see their actions than hear something from other people's tales. But, feel free to call me anything Mister Twig.." Jake was tired of the same useless talking too, in which he assumed this was going to be like no other. Obviously this time, unlike to his previous captors, Jake spoke to the young man who brought treats in both drink and treasure of looks.
"Also careful what you think, especially when doing this type of business. Any distracting thoughts could lead to misfortune, but don't worry my friend. I wouldn't dare put one over such a nice face as yours.." Jake retorted finally, with a wink before poring himself another cup of tea. Jake then took a look at his belongings, which happened to be somewhat close to him as Jake was the corner cell with the table by him. The shine of his weapon and item on the table made Jake smile, ready to escape with perhaps a plus one if they wished to join Jake on some fun.

Coyote Hart · Jun 20, 2019

Twig became increasingly worried as the sniper began to list out his names. Joker was just plain and boring. Trash was a horrible name. And Twig couldn't even utter the other one. Twig knew that he would have to make his own nickname for the sniper.

"How about I call you Silvern?" Twig suggested, "It means silvery. Your eyes and your hair both shine like silver, so I think it's pretty fitting."

Go on, Twig. Twig could feel Leo almost in his inner mind urging him on. So Twig relented and added on with a shy grin and a blush, "Not to mention, you're as good-looking as silver."

Twig felt his face burning up with embarrassment at what he just said, so he went and took a sip of the tea. It was horrendous. There was no gravity or flavor to it, and Twig could distinctively taste the watery undertexture. Obviously this pot of tea wasn't prepared under the stern eye of the Jack of Diamonds. But Silvern didn't complain, so Twig didn't either.

"And yes, I know," Twig said slumping over in his chair, "I'm a horrible interrogator. Don't blame me. This is my first time doing something like this."

Really, it seemed like a lost cause to be questioning Silvern. While it was that Twig was supposed to glean information from Silvern, it seemed as if Silvern was simply reading him like a book whilst seducing him-- successfully in fact. There wasn't much of a chance for Twig to get back into the position to interrogate, with the atmosphere being so... eh.

"Good job Twig," Twig muttered to himself, "Going in and trying to interrogate someone, but instead crushing on them even though they're a national terrorist."

Twig shook his head, and it took a few seconds for him to realize that he just said that out loud.

"Oh... uh..." Twig adverted his gaze from Silvern, "You weren't supposed to hear that."

Athanas · Jun 21, 2019

Usually at this hour, most of the Heart's castle hallways are silent as the grave, save for the occasional steps of Queensguard and other soldiery who have had the ill fortune to be placed on night duty. Yet on this particular night someone could be heard whistling a happy tune, as if he did not have a single care in the world. That person of course was none other than Cassius, the ever cheerful Queensguard. To be fair, these days, he had more than enough reason to be cheerful: For once, his initiative and decisive role in saving the Queen from these Flushe madmen had earned him a promotion as Captain of the Queensguard itself! Granted, he did not care that much about gaining power and rising through the ranks like so many other conniving schemers did. No, he cared about making his family proud, about being worthy of his name. And so far, he had achieved just that: The comforting weight of the Brass medal pinned to his chest merely added further to that. Oh, how glorious was that feast! All his brothers and sisters were there, and even his father, whom he very rarely saw, had managed to make time in order to be there and congratulate him personally.

And then of course, there was Guin. His darling Queen was most grateful he had been so quick to act, and she definitely had not been shy about showing it. Very sadly, the death of the King meant she was now up to her neck in paperwork, since she was stuck with managing both matters of the army and of state. He had on numerous occasions suggested that she delegate some of that workload to him, or one of his general brothers, but she wouldn't even hear it. If anything, the mere suggestion made her furious, like he had insulted her personal capability to do her job, which was most definitely not the case.

He arrived at her door and knocked gently, his other hand keeping the plate steady. Hearing Guin's response, he entered, closing the door behind him.
His Queen, of course, was hunched over her desk, having taken several documents to her own room. Her eagerness to work never ceased to amaze him... And worry him sick at the same time. He set the plate down next to her. "Didn't see you go to the dining room at any point today... So I figured you must be starving. Go on, eat. It's a simple tomato salad with some chicken. Not the gourmet meal the palace chefs made for dinner...But I figured it would have to do."

He paused for a moment, moving behind Guin and putting his arms around her in an affectionate manner: "Darling, I know you don't want to hear it, but I'll say it again: You really should not be doing this to yourself. I can think of a dozen candidates who would jump at the opportunity to manage all that boring stuff for you!"

He would probably say more, if not for the fact that the Queen was stressed beyond belief. The last thing she needed was someone whining his heart out. Instead, he decided to try and take her mind off of all that.

"Any case...Do you remember when I told you that our spars had inspired me to make a new card rune? Yeah, I think I've managed to make something like your drain. Check it out"
He summoned his deck and drew one special, dysidia card, etched with many unorthodox runes: "So, this card absorbs the dysidia from the dead and the wounded within it's radius, and transforms it into magical energy. When I need that power boost, I can ressumon the card back, and Voila! Sudden surge of power! Not bad, eh?"

He paused for a moment, before setting the card down so Guin could better examine it: "Couple more weeks of training, and I'll officially be a nine. Who knows, maybe I'll overthrow the whoever happens to be King at the time and take his place?" He laughed at his own Joke, Smiling at Guin. Her sight alone was enough to make any concerns he had about using these magics seem so insignificant by comparison.

Mentions:

vielpotato · Jun 21, 2019

Lillith took a month break, away from the stresses of caring for royals. Despite their extreme power, they are actually quite weak alone. When Lillith heard about her former ace being taken out, Lillith had to go and take a look at who could become her new ace. Arriving in the city where the selection, Lillith turned back to her human form after flying to the middle of the courtyard. Stretching her arms and ruffling her feathers, Lillith decided what would be better to see the strength of the upcoming aces than become a candidate herself. Obviously, being the brains more so than the brawn she wouldn't be the winner, despite the endless bonuses that would come along with it, Lillith would rather become the Spade's new Jack as the previous seemed to have vanished suddenly. Stepping into the line for registration, Lillith waited until she smelt a familiar scent in the rotating air Lillith seemed to almost always have on auto-swirl.
This familiarity, would seem to be from an old friend Marshall who she seemed to have lost touch with after they separated in her schooling for being a soldier, as after the mandatory years she took in free time learning the necessary info for Jacks and Kings, seeing as it could be both handy to know for wars but also because she seemed to pick it up rather easy. After finishing her registration all up, she skipped over to her old buddy who seemed to have changed greatly, while Lillith only grew a tad taller with her race's lifetime being so long. "Heya buddy! How ya doin after your time in school? Are you doing fine still? Seeing anyone yet?" Lillith's pestering questions were both because she missed her old friend, but mostly the fact that she was that type of person to go overboard on what would almost seem the most annoying qualities of someone. Meanwhile, while saying it and waiting for her response Lillith would almost beam in happiness as if nothing could separate their bonds in her eyes.

D4nimal

LazyDaze · Jun 22, 2019

X
~After the time Skip, back it his humble abode~

"Dammit it all," X muttered under his breath as he completed yet another push up. He had forgotten how many he had done to this point, nor did it matter. The ture purpose of this workout was to misplace his frustration. X couldn't help but repeat the phrase "if only I was a 9" over and over in his head as the sweat dripped from his forehead to the ground. Once his workout was completed he sat with his back against a while as he let out a heavy sigh. "All the 10's huh," X said with a lacidasical expression. He had got into this business by a complete accident, but he put up with it because it was probably the only good job eh would be able to maintain when considering his skills. It also didn't feel too bad to protect the people. There were perks, such as access to info that wouldn't be granted otherwise. Less people questioning and bothering you since you were the one who did that to others. You got to broaden your horizons even if death hung in the air, but death wasn't so bad. Death was the ultimate vacation to be honest. Dying with regret was the actual issue...besides begin eating alive. Being eating alive would just suck on so many levels. So ungraceful.....

X shook his head as he realized he was going down a rabbit hole. The main issue was he didn't feel like fighting for some prestigious position or whatever, and EVERYONE was going to be watching? It was all just a big hassle, a spectacle. Besides, couldn't they just elect those they felt deserved higher positions? X couldn't help but feel that the well being of the countries was not the sole reason they decided to do it this way. Perhaps it was some custom he was too unbothered to research...or maybe...

X once again shook his head once his thoughts trailed on. He got dressed to be a productive citizen (after taking care of his hygiene of course. You couldn't act like a slob and smell like one.) He had prepared the best he could the past few months. It wasn't like he would know what weapon he was using anyway. Depending on how lady luck felt he could end up being a total disgrace, or a living legend. Taking down the dryad did have its perks. He had wondered if he could have some of the confiscated items made into trinkets of worth. the bark near the core was particularly useful. Perhaps they could research it further...wither way the Dryad was a blessing in disguise. He would have his earnings from that fight appraised later. He was in no rush to do more work than necessary, plus he felt as if he should at least pay his respects to the Dryad before salvaging his body. He seemed like a pleasant fellow, after all. He would have loved to have a chat with him...if it was possible of course. Speaking of the Dryad, X reminded himself to thank Maxwell later. Thanks to him, all he had to do was shoot from a distance. Hell, he didn't even have to move much. Keeping up with the growing roots was not difficult in the slightest with Virtue and Verdict. He could only hope Lady Luck was kind to him during the tournament. X calmed himself and walked out of his home hopeful, but not too hopeful. He would have to exert himself soon and so he left, on his daily lazy stroll around the city.

Weapon for the day: ASURA
Mentions:

ChazGhost

. D O V E · Jun 22, 2019

[class name=Guin] width:250px; height:250px; background:url('https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/012/898/470/large/svetlana-tigai-prophet-advanced-layers.jpg'); border:1px solid #ffcc00; background-size:240%; background-position: 80% 20%; display:block; margin:auto; center; [/class] [class name=bg] background:#660000; border:1px solid #ffcc00 ; padding:10px; color:#fff; [/class] [class name=font] font-size:15px; line-height:20px; text-align:justify; padding:10px; [/class] [class name=gname] font-size:30px; color: #ffcc00; font-weight: bold; [/class] [class name=img] width:600px; height:300px; background:url('https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/finalfantasy/images/7/77/Paling-ffxii.png/revision/latest?cb=20170905202901'); background-size:130%; background-position:center; margin:auto; center; [/class]

[div class=bg] [div class=Guin][/div]

[div class=gname] Queen of Hearts [/div]

Location: Guin's Room - Heart's Castle
Interaction:

Athanas Mentions:

Goonfire

[/div]

[div class=font] The Queen of Hearts, for the past month, has been anything but relaxed. The unfortunate events with the Royal Flush were what led her to be over encumbered with managing both the Kingdom’s legal and military affairs. Guineverre could still vividly remember what transcended after she ordered the wind mages to lift One’s mist up. Everything unfolded so quickly yet the image of the lifeless King of Hearts slumped in the Flush’s hands clung at the back of her mind. Unlike her Ace, she wasn’t overwhelmed with grief because she lost a ‘friend’. No, the Queen felt great disappointment and dismay. Axton was such a good provider for her. To think that he was defeated by those clowns so easily- as proven by their unharmed forms- despite wielding the power of a Legendary Dragon was both dismaying and alarming. To make matters worse, Darigaas was now in the hands of the five sods. A tremendous power which slipped through the crack of her hands. On a brighter note, Axton gone meant that nobody else aside from herself knew about her secrets. This, however, didn’t mean that she has been sitting down doing nothing aside from twiddling her thumbs and waiting for them to pop out with a dragon. She has been taking action against the terrorists, allocating adequate resources and formulating special units designed to track them and retrieve the legendary dragon.

Guineverre let out a sigh as she momentarily leaned away from her work desk. Her gaze danced around the towers of paperwork on it until it darted on the medal lying near a bottle of ink. Her childhood friend, Leolin, has been showering those involved in Atria with recognition through awarding them with the same fine brasses. She frowned. It wasn’t a job well done at all. The Queen was beyond displeased with everything that happened but she had to act like the opposite. If they have been smarter and stronger then they would have had a better outcome. Of course, there were a handful of citizens who shared the same opinion as her. They blamed the royalties for their inadequacy and such, but all of them were fixed when the Kingdom held a ‘funeral’ for the former King. A few tears and a lot of honeyed words from her were all it took to fix the issue and gain their commiseration. In fact, the people’s thoughts of her immensely improved even more after the incident. Especially so when she directly helped in Atria’s rehabilitation which was completed a few days ago.

The blonde royalty massaged her neck a little bit before returning to her papers. There were still so many things to be done despite the fact that she has been cooped up in her room for an alarming amount of time. A few minutes passed by uneventfully until she heard a knock coming from the other side of her door. She paused and contemplated whether she should answer or not before opting to.

“Come in.”

When the door opened, the cheery form of the newly-appointed Captain of her royal guards revealed itself, holding what appeared to be a plate of food before moving to set it down on her desk. She eyed the said food silently, pondering if she had eaten anything at all the whole day.

'Ah, tomatoes.'

She loved them. Ridiculously so. She grabbed a fork just as she felt Cass snake an arm around her before he continued to talk, this time about a particular suggestion which he has been repeating over and over again ever since they lost a King. His concerns made her want to stand up, run her hands down his fair face, and drain the life out of him. She stabbed the fork on a tomato, with a little too much force than normally required, in response. Why does he keep on insisting that she needed help? Does he think so poorly of her capabilities that he thought she can't handle it? No, she can and she doesn’t need help. Besides, taking care of the Kingly duties has been fruitful for her secluded studies. As tempting as it was, Guin chose to ignore her idea and ate in silence. It’d be a shame if she ended up losing control of her temper again.

It seemed like the Queensguard caught on her point when he changed topic. The Queen was reminded of the reason why she was putting up with the naive man’s make-believes when he reported his progress. She took the card and began to examine it, fingers tracing the engraved runes as a smile spread to her lips. Cassius held so much potential. His magic was unique, interesting, and versatile. It certainly helped that he wasn’t afraid of utilizing Dysidia unlike most. She smiled back at him after he piped up about overthrowing the next king.

“Well done, Cass. This is impressive.” Guin began as she moved to rise from her seat, face the said man, and hand him back the card. She fixed her gaze on his green eyes, letting a few seconds pass by in complete quietude, before falling forward to his arms to give him an embrace. “Thank you. I am happy that you care about my well-being. I cannot deny that the past few days have been stressful for me, but I take comfort and strength in knowing that I am doing this for the sake of my people.” the Queen added while she rested her head on his shoulder.

The corner of her lips curled into a smirk as she whispered, “Besides, you’re always here to make me feel better.”

It was at that moment when the Queen of Hearts noticed a peculiar motion on the surface of the standing mirror across from her. [/div]

vielpotato · Jun 22, 2019

Samael took the past month looking into the task he was assigned from his Queen. With Samael’s many sources, information about a prisoner isn’t hard to find out especially when that person participated in such a big event as was Parma. Going back to his Queen, through her own personal gateway in her bedroom, Samael arrived in the middle of a conversation between her and what Samael assumed to be a competitor for the Queen’s love. “I’ll have you know, sir, that if our Queen needed help she would request me specifically.. Although, my Queen, regarding that person.. my sources say that he is in the diamond’s territory and that the time to take him would be right now. Would you rather see him here, or should I put him in there?”

Athanas

D4nimal · Jun 22, 2019

M a r s h a l l
❖
Marshall noticed Lillith walking over to him and turned to greet his old friend, "I'm doing well. I got kicked out of school when I kept accidentally breaking the desks I sat in remember? Seeing someone.. what do you mean? I can see you perfectly clear." Marshall answered Lillith's questions methodically not seeing the barrage of questions as an issue. Marshall could see some people were giving them weird looks, not that was different than usual. Marshall spoke with Lillith as he continued to check in to the tournament "It's good to see you Lillith, it's been a long time. Did you register for the royal selection?".
❖
Interacting with

vielpotato · Jun 22, 2019

“Awh man.. the school didn’t get you something to sit in with your ginormous muscles? Also I’m talking about a girlfriend, silly..” Lillith said, all cheery especially after the ending. “It’s amazing to see you again! I’m planning to compete but I only plan on training than actually becoming the ace. I mostly am aiming for the position of Jack, if anything. Hopefully the final two is you versus me, wouldn’t that be funny.” Lillith said, starting to laugh. The eyes and whispers started to alert Lillith though, as she just then realized the amount. Keeping the sound within their little circle by keeping the wind rotating around them and then up, Lillith said to her friend.. “You know buddy, when it becomes just us I’ll let you win. And if you need anything against anyone who has the skill set which could set you to loose, signal me. I’m your best friend, and I’ll do anything to help me if you want.” Happy with her message, Lillith dropped the invisible bubble around them and sighed as she waited for the call for testing.

D4nimal

D4nimal · Jun 22, 2019

M a r s h a l l
❖
“It’s amazing to see you again! I’m planning to compete but I only plan on training than actually becoming the ace. I mostly am aiming for the position of Jack, if anything. Hopefully the final two is you versus me, wouldn’t that be funny.” Lillith said, starting to laugh.
-
'Ah, that means..' Marshall thought sadly.
-
“You know buddy, when it becomes just us I’ll let you win. And if you need anything against anyone who has the skill set which could set you to lose, signal me. I’m your best friend, and I’ll do anything to help, if you want.”
-
Marshall smiled warmly, "Thank you Lillith." Marshall said placing a hand on her head, "but.. do your best." Marshall said grateful for her sentiment, however the determination was clear in Marshall's eyes, failure wasn't an option. "You've grown taller by the way." Marshall said chuckling a bit.
"Next." Called the clerk taking registrations.
Marshall walked forward and registered for the royal selection.
All that was left was to steel himself for the upcoming trial.
❖
Interacting with

vielpotato · Jun 22, 2019

"Hmm... Silvern.. A name that describes both me and how the beautiful person across from me sees me, so I'll accept being called that if it is only you who does so. We don't need competition now, do we?" Jake said, chuckling as Twig became the sly radish he was with his comments that made provocative thoughts some through. "I would never hate on anyone. Everyone has flaws, and by blaming on someone's lack of training is something I cannot stand. Instead people should just teach and cover one's own weakness, or have someone who can cover your weakness and vice versa." Jake said, implying the fact that Jake couldn't possibly be new to this kind of rodeo. After his little bit of questioning, Jake listened into Twig's mumbling quite easily with his enhanced hearing but smiled thereafter. Twig admitted that he was feeling something, and not just trying to lure a false sense of security. "You know, being called a terrorist is something that is just applied by the royals. I just have to use extreme measures in order for my thoughts to be spread. I wish not for the death of so many, but if I were unable to gather that attention how could I spread the name of us? Also, it makes me quite happy that the feeling that I feel is mutual. I'd hope that sometime we could properly go out, but alas this rotting cell is the only home I can be in until I'm let out." Jake said, sighing as he glances over to his items once again.

Goonfire · Jun 22, 2019

Leolin Hravart III
In the archives, Leo found two people named Yaanagi, both apparently from the same village. He did more digging, looking up the various noble clans that were killed off over the centuries. He took the records with him or jotted down notes, so he could pour over them at his mansion that evening. From there, he had scheduled a transport to the far south, to inspect the ruins of Farlene Charlemagne’s old hometown. Perhaps clairsentience would help his investigation; it would be one of the few times the psychic ability didn’t hinder him. However, he had to take one last step before he was fully prepared: he needed an ally.

Ahlmus Thorn
News spread like wildfire. Some Joker bastard had been arrested during last month’s incident. The castle dungeon was his new home, apparently, so Ahlmus was at the marketplace in Ariandel, planning to give him a little housewarming gift...

Tucking the narrow dagger—which looked more like a long nail with a wooden handle—among the bandages on his chest, Ahlmus was prepared to give his enemy an impromptu lobotomy, and no hell or high water would stop him today. He moved with purpose, each confident step carrying him closer to the start of a path of revenge... or merely a slippery slope to an untimely death.

Kloudy

Coyote Hart · Jun 23, 2019

Silvern's bit of philosophy was interesting. It was something sophisticated and well thought out, exactly what Twig would have expected from a deviant of society. What was surprising though was the fact that Twig found himself agreeing to it, and even feeling better about his lack of expertise in interrogation. It was how the Battle of Parma worked out. The four of them most definitely wouldn't have had as good of a chance without working together.

Twig decided not to argue with Silvern about how the means don't justify the ends, but his admission of his mutual feelings made joy bubble up Twig's chest. It was one thing to be flirting back and forth and an entirely different thing to openly admit feelings of love. Twig grinned at Silvern and said somewhat timidly, "You do not know how happy you saying that makes me feel."

"I wish we could go out," Twig said wistfully, though still happy, "There's a Royal Tournament today that we could've seen."

The thought of the Royal Tournament reminded Twig of Axton's death. It was still as if the occurance was miles away. Leo and Guin's reccounts of the Royal Flushe seemed like some sort of fantasy concocted from a writer's quill. Twig was obviously still in denial towards what had happened while he was gone at Parma. But Twig decided that it was okay-- he wasn't going to let this smokescreen affect him while Silvern was in front of him. This was a time to be happy, not meloncoly.

"How about this?" Twig offered, grinning widely, "I'll go and make us something for lunch! I know a thing or two about cooking. I'll make sure to add a bit of love in it."

Twig winked at Silvern, but then his smile faltered as he realized an obstacle, "Wait. How am I supposed to get it by the guards."

"Not to worry, I'll figure something out," Twig said, "We have plenty of time."

Twig poured himself another cup of weak tea and sipped it, lost in thought. He was trying to find what to talk about next. Interrogations was out of the question, but getting to know each other wasn't. There was so much he wanted to know about Silvern. But where to start?

The entire time, Twig had missed Silvern's glances towards his personal belongings that laid on the table just outside the cell-- and that one item that shined brightly from the late morning sun that shone through the bars of the cell.

Kloudy · Jun 23, 2019

Ace of Diamonds
(Ariandel - The Royal Prison)

William was restless.

It had been a month since the Argossian's first invasion force had landed in Parma, leading to the eradication of the city of Jann. The reports he'd received detailing the enemy's tactics and technology were distractingly alarming. Indeed the weeks following that first attack had proved arduous, waves of landing fleets harassing their shores with each attempt at taking yet another city into their folds. It was unrelenting. William himself had travelled to several of battlefronts to observe and support their own forces in repelling the endless flow of Argossian troops. Their flying mechanical machines and armoured vehicles were decimating their infantry, their own proving to be ridiculously hardy and unrelenting. If it had not been for attachment of high-ranking officers within each regiment, William was certain that their own foot soldiers would be entirely outclassed with the meagre magic they possessed.

A month later and shown no promise of an end to the fighting in the near future. Back in Ariandel, the Ace of Diamonds was currently on his way to The Royal Prison in hopes that their resident captive would reveal any potential secrets that may aid them in the war effort. Dressed in his usual attire, William strode down the city's streets alone as he drew closer to the large prison complex these large walls housed. The royal guards had offered to accompany him for protection, but William had felt no need to be bothered by such an offer. The Ace of the kingdom was the least likely individual to fall victim to assassination, and surprisingly his theory had been tested. A mere few weeks ago someone had attempted to murder him in the streets of Ariandel. His Frozen Sphere spell had autonomously intercepted the bullet in the two-metre radius it covered, but William had been surprised at the technology involved with the attempt. Having noticed the gunman from the four hundred metre distance he was shooting from in the second story of a tavern, upon teleporting to the location the gunman had already escaped. However the weapon he'd used remained; a peculiar device resembling a long rifle with a scope. It was not something you could find in any of the Four Suits kingdoms. The Jokers were active, and they were getting help from the Argossians. The thought troubled him.

Upon reaching the entrance of the prison, William saw a peculiar sight. A thoroughly bandaged individual was stalking his way to the prison. Via his enhanced perception, William could immediately tell that the man's body language was displaying violent intent from the way his muscled were all tensed up, not to mention his magical aura felt particularly hateful. But beyond that, his magical signature seemed strange yet familiar. The man had enough mana to serve in the army, but perhaps that was the reason for his bandages. William frowned and intercepted the man before he could enter the prison by catching his elbow.

"Who are you? You must obtain the appropriate paperwork to enter The Royal Prison."

Goonfire

Goonfire · Jun 23, 2019

Ahlmus Thorn

Ahlmus has been stalking around the perimeter when a tremendously powerful presence made itself known. He turned to see someone roughly his size but easily ten times stronger coming toward him. The would-be killer gasped and then came back at him. “P-proper paperwork?” he repeated suspiciously, slowly backing up toward the prison like an animal receding to a corner.

Kloudy