Fantasy Legacies: World at War - In Character

AlphaBlueWolf · Sep 22, 2022

Mateo flinched as Justine came up to them. Great, both siblings were against them now. But to his surprise, Justine asked him to listen to Mateo, which he didn't respond well to. Ashe turned on his sister, doing something weird to her that made her unable to move. He watched in horror as he was about to kill his own sister, but Skyla intercepted and blocked the strike.

Skyla knocked him to the ground, fast, exclaiming about how he would harm his own sister. His muscles tensed. He hated how he felt. He was actually scared of Skyla in that moment. She looked so eager to kill him, while Mateo had given him the chance to back down. Rai didn't look like he expected it either. He didn't like Skyla like this. It was too far for her. To him, she was the kindest person. He didn't even want to imagine her killing someone, let alone witness it. Mateo only wanted to do it if it came down to it. But clearly Ashe was weak and didn't stand a chance. Skyla shouldn't be doing this.

He looked to Rai for help, but he was just as shocked as Mateo and clearly wasn't ready to do anything. So, he turned his back, not wanting his image of Skyla to be ruined, and addressed Mana. Even while kneeling, his tall form was able to shield Mana's sight from what his friend was about to do, and that's what he was aiming for.

He gave her a smile, though he felt the same chills as Rai. "Everything's ok now, you don't have to worry. Sorry that the welcome wasn't really a warm one. The mean one and his sister, the blonde girl, weren't in our group before. We just met them yesterday morning. To be honest I wasn't really feeling them, and now I know why." He gave a little laugh, like it was a joke, to try to lighten things up. "Cora will be with you, just in case anyone gets close, and I'll stand right in front, ok?" He extended his arm and Cora bounced from his shoulder to Mana's. His fluffed-up fur prickled against her neck, but it was soft. Mateo knew he would agree, because he was extremely outraged by the prospect of someone harming an innocent spirit. He gave her one last smile and then stood up again and turned, ready to take on the sight of a bloody mess.

But it wasn't. Skyla had put her lance to a resting position and took a few steps back. Ashe was still very much alive. She went to stand next to Mateo, saying she wouldn't let him hurt a little girl. To his surprise, Justine got up and moved to join them, though stayed a bit away from. He gave her a threatening scowl, which was such an unMateo thing for him to do, but he did it. He didn't want either sibling getting close to Mana right now, even if Justine was declaring Ashe to not be the brother she remembered.

Rai walked forward as well, standing between them and Ashe, gathering volts around him and then dispelling it later. Rai announced that it was his last chance, then looked back to him. Mateo smiled with relief as Rai told Ashe it was four against one, and to leave the little girl alone. Both of them wanted to protect Mana, even with such an open declaration that the girl was a demon. Maybe they didn't even understand what Ashe had been getting at. That Mana was a spirit. But he was still relieved and proud of the boldness and morals his group, meaning Skyla and Rai, displayed.

Meanwhile, Cora was crouched on Mana's shoulder which was harder than he thought it would be considering how small she was. She had the frame of a child, so there was less space for him to rest on. Cora raised his head, feeling a knew magical presence. He could feel the way Mana's muscles tensed underneath him. She felt it too, but the mortals were still preoccupied. So, it was something only spirits could feel. His gaze shifted around, looking for another attacker.

"Yeah. Last chance. You can't win, so don't even bother. Just go, and never come back."
Rori held onto Aleph's hand, leading him in the direction of Castro's little cave below the city. The child was practically bouncing, a smile on his face. Such a simple thing had made the kid so happy. It was sweet, but it was kind of disturbing at the same time. Not the Aleph being happy part, that was nice. But how he claimed he wanted Castro to 'fix' him. She didn't like the wording, and what it implied about how Aleph saw himself. A broken invention, needing a brilliant inventor to fix. But Aleph was a human, not a machine. Being disabled didn't mean he needed to be fixed. He looked young, so it was obvious that he had gotten that impression from somewhere, and Rori was wondering where exactly. That seemed so damaging for a little kid to be around.

But for now, she would entertain his little idea. She'd be gone after this anyways. So, she backtracked and almost got lost a couple times, but managed to find the grate again. And she knew that it was Castro's paradise underneath. Hopefully he wouldn't be gone just yet.

Rori slammed the heel of her boot down on the grate hard, to get Castro's attention if he was inside. "Hey, Blue Eyes." She shouted towards the grate, knowing her irritating voice would be recognizable. "Got a delivery for you. Please, still be here." She sighed and lowered her voice to mutter, "I don't know what I'll do with this kid if you aren't."
Finch seriously debated the decision as Serana answered with how she didn't think so. She said people traveled by rooftop, Finch himself doing it numerous times, but that this felt off. He felt it too. They were shadows. Maybe not literally, but they were all black, impossible to make out any details. They were probably cloaked and aimed for no one to see their identities or any of their features. Smart move. No one would be able to track a shadow, because there were no details to track. It was just a flash of darkness.

Serana's voice had gotten shaky, and he briefly wondered if it was irresponsible to ask a citizen to come along. Joker too. He was tempted to depart with just him and Nikki, since they were members of the guard. It wasn't right to put this all on them, even though Serana was an amazing fighter and Joker was a vigilante.

Joker strode up, resting a gentle hand on Serana's back and saying they'd be fine. He said they had one of the strongest guards in Ironshire, and then said he guessed they had Nikki as well. Meaning, he was referring to Finch. A pink hue vibrated on his cheeks. It was easy to flatter him, especially in reference to him being a guard, considering all he wanted was to be recognized for his skill among the guard. He wanted to shoot up the ranks. But even getting such a compliment made him ecstatic.

He winked to Finch and him and Serana had a quick exchange while Finch realized he shouldn't send them away. Serana had helped him affirm what to do, while Joker was acting as moral support, helping anyone who felt nervous with jokes. He smiled. "Ok, then. I guess we'll go and follow the shadows. Let's tail them, try to find out what they're up to and how to defeat them if we have to engage. Also, how many there are. And if they make any sort of move, we go for them without any thought. Does that sound good to everyone?"
August looked away as Azula said she understood. August felt horrible. They were losing the chance to do something they really wanted to do. All because their family scared them. They knew no one would accept it, so they didn't even try. And Kishi summed it up pretty well.

He was scowling, exclaiming about it was bullshit that their family limited them because of their reputation. They'd shrugged, resigning themself to it. They'd lived under that roof for fourteen years. They knew how things worked in the Lucero family, so it was hard to get worked up over it. They'd been worked up the first few times when they couldn't do something. They just kind of expected it now. Being with Kishi, getting to get stuff off their chest, had made them feel a lot better. But they still knew how their family would respond. "That's just how it is."

They looked up to see Kishi look to his parents. Azula said that they could tell them who they really were. What? They looked towards Kishi with confusion plastered onto their face. Kishi gave them a look back, and started speaking, saying he hadn't been a hundred percent honest with them. "What are you saying?"

It didn't exactly click for August. The only thing they could think of was that they were Cabrera's, but that seemed pretty impossible. Spirits weren't really a thing in Luminosa. Everyone knew they existed, but most people had never met one. Because everyone hated them. Like most of the rest of the world, spirits weren't accepted in Luminosa, and treated almost as bad as the Cabrera's. So, the thought would've never come to them, meaning Kishi could've hidden forever if he'd wanted to.

Their eyes widened as wings came out of their friend's back, flapping a few times and then coming to rest. They weren't feathery like a bird's but webbed with scales. The exact type of wings a dragon had. Kishi took his hands off his face, to reveal the new lizard like qualities of his golden eyes. Suddenly, he had horns shooting out of his head. August wasn't repulsed by Kishi, but rather extremely surprised. This was their first time seeing a spirit, and then they realized this wasn't their first time. They'd seen Azula perform, everyone had. Everyone in the city had seen one of the things they hated right in front of them. They couldn't believe they'd never realized it. They'd met with Kishi how many times? His parents as well? That was the number of times they'd seen a spirit. They'd just never known it.

They looked towards Kishi's parents, and they had the same sort of features. Wings and horns, reptile like eyes. They looked back to Kishi, who explained what they were. They weren't that slow. They'd realized it at this point. The Dragonfist's were literal dragons. Dragonkin that is. It was in their fucking last name, and they never noticed?! They weren't even mad about Kishi not telling them, they were mad that they never guessed. It had literally been staring August in the face this whole time.

August wouldn't persecute Kishi over this, because they completely understood. He was talking to the person who still hadn't told their family they were nonbinary. They completely understood hiding their true self because they weren't sure how somebody would react. Plus, they understood what Kishi was saying. Their family would personally make sure they were all tortured and hanged, which was a gross thought. They knew it was for the best.

But Kishi got them completely off guard with his next statement. He said that if they knew what Kishi was, who they were friends with, then maybe they could get the courage to stand up against their sister. Their expression softened as Kishi backtracked, saying he wouldn't just go beat up anyone who upset them. He said they needed to stand up for themself, and to not always rely on him. They whole heartedly agreed, as Kishi earned a smack upside the head from his mother.

She was disciplining with a smile, and they thought about how lucky it would be if Azula was their mother as well. And then they realized how embarrassing that thought truly was. Of course their parents had never done that with them. It was cruel words and sneers whenever August did something they didn't like.

"Hey, you deserved it. Who are you calling a kid?" They answered back, in a light tone. They gave Kishi a soft punch on the arm. "You could've told me a lot sooner y'know. A lot more things make sense right now. I mean, like, you're so strong. I didn't even think that much strength was even possible!" They said in mock exasperation. August was back to talking super-fast, in the usual way that they did sometimes when they were on a roll. "You do realize how dangerous it is for you to be here, right? I mean, my family would have your heads on freaking pikes. And that's not even an exaggeration. Honestly, knowing how they work, I bet some Lucero has done that in the past."

Then they switched to Spanish, which sometimes happened when they got worked up, which they still didn't know if Kishi understood or not. "[Dios Mio, why did I not see this coming. Oh, you're good.]"

They shut up for a second, then became serious as they switched back to English. "But, if you finally told me, then I guess I passed the trust test. Don't worry, I get it. I was joking just now. Trust me, you know that I know how that feels. Maybe not being a spirit and all that, but I get the whole hiding thing. Guess we're both hiding who we really are from this city, huh?"

They were being totally sincere. They breathed in, their palms were sweating from what they were about to do. This would be the first time, the first serious thing they chose to disobey. They clutched their lute hard looking up at Kishi. "Thanks, Kishi. I... I don't want to be stuck like this forever. If you can do something like this, then so can I. Screw it."

August turned back to Azula, feeling some semblance of stage fright again. "I-If the offers still available, then I'd really love to perform with you. I can't promise that my song will be done, and if it isn't by the festival then I don't think I'd be able to, but if we can finish it together, then I'd really love to. That is, if it wouldn't cause you any trouble."

Mentally, they were dreading the onslaught of their family's outrage and disapproval. But maybe in the moment, they could be happy. Maybe they could be brave like Kishi, and talented like Azula. Maybe they could make a new path for themself, one that strayed from the one their family set for them.

Kumii · Sep 22, 2022

Skyla & Justine & Mana w/ QueenLocation: Luminosa
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf SharkBark
Current Weather: Clear
Current Time: August 28th, 1337. 10:46am
The Spirits of the group were right to be aware. A dark mist appeared behind Ashe and, from it, emerged the Death Knight. Holding the very same sword he used to killed Mika with. Ashe's eyes flashed red and he stepped aside to let the Death Knight have the spotlight, "That's a good puppet." He said. Skyla's grip on the Lance tightened when she laid eyes upon him, "What are you doing here...?" Skyla's vocal tone was low.

Mana emerged from behind Rai, Justine, Mateo and Skyla, she was terrified but found the courage, "Release my aunt! Release Tiche!" She commanded as she grabbed Cora and set him down on the ground. The Death Knight stared, "And why should I?" Mana took a step back, "B-Because--" The Death Knight Laughed, "'Because'? See if you can make me." Mana hesitated for a second then charged the Death Knight, her body began jumping with electricity.

Queen watched as Mana charged the the knight, 'Oh, you absolute idiot!' She reacted to this by jumping from Rai's head and transforming into her humanoid form with the beautiful butterfly wings. They immediately began to glow brightly as a dust floated out from them. Mana collided with the knight but he simply tossed her aside like she was nothing, "I'm more scared of your father, little Demon." Queen's wings stopped glowing and the dust halted. She was at a loss by the sheer strength of this Spirit. She instinctively drew her sword, she didn't care about protecting the lives of these mortals but the knight can't be allowed to live, "What do you want?" Queen commanded. She glanced back at Mateo, "Go check on the Demon. Take your Phoenix with you, you may need it later."

The Death Knight stood and laughed, "I'm so glad you asked that because I wanted to take this time to explain my evil plan to you." He joked before he pulled his scythe out and went to strike Queen but she parried it. The Knight made attack after attack but Queen was parrying each attack. Effectively, she was going toe-to-toe with the Death Knight, at least that what it seemed like...

Skyla watched as the random butterfly lady appeared from nowehere, no wait, not nowhere. Rai's head? "Rai, why was you hair hiding a butterfly lady?" She whispered to Rai. Skyla was even more impressed that it seemed like the butterfly lady was going blow-for-blow with the Knight.

Status (Ashe): Calm
Status (Justine): Terrified
Status (Mana): Terrified
Nikki & Joker & SeranaLocation: Blacksmith's shop, Ironshire
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
Current Weather: Raining
Current Time: August 26th, 1337. 1:47pm

Nikki glanced back at Finch and smirked when he said to go after them, "Thought you'd never ask." And just like that, Nikki jumped to the rooftops with ease. Joker look in awe and surprise, "I'll never not be amazed at she can do that so easily." Joker used his own method, a new intention, the Grapple claw. Joker grappled to a nearby roof and before he launched off, "See you up there, lovebirds." And then he zipped up to the rooftops.

Serana looked at Finch and shrugged, "Guess that means we're doing this." Serana smiled, "See you up there... babe." She went along with Joker's jest, at this point, she was doing it to embarrass Finch. Serana did the same thing as Nikki, jumping to a rooftop with ease.
Kishi & Azula DragonfistLocation: Luminosa, Kishi's Home
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
Current Weather: Clear
Current Time: August 27th, 1337. 1:47pm
Kishi listened as August began rambling, "Aug-- Augus--" He couldn't get a word in edgewise, "August, you're--" By the third time Kishi just gave up. Then August calmed down and their expression softened. Azula smiled throughout then August circled back to her offer, saying that they'd love to perform with Azula. Azula nodded, "If that's what you want, then I'd love to have perform with me." Azula turned around and looked back at August, "Wait right there, sweetie." Azula went into her room and rummaged around a bit. She pulled out an amulet with a sapphire centerpiece surrounded by an intricate design. She came back out and presented the amulet to August, "Here, take this." Kishi and Ryuuni both realized what that was, "H-Hey, mom, isn't that--" Kishi said at the same that Ryuuni said this, "H-Hey, honey, isn't that--" Azula shot them both a glare and both shut up.

She returned her attention back to August, "Don't mind them, this is a good luck charm. It'll give you good luck!" Azula seemed genuinely aout that but in reality, it was a defense charm activated by a special type of singing. A defense charm capable of blocking any attack once. Azula smiled at August and waited for them to accept it cause Azula wouldn't take no as an answer this time.

Ryuuni sighed, "If the kid comes over, we can teach them how to fight, or well I can." Kishi looked at his father, "Excuse me, Father? I am perfectly capable of teaching my best friend how to fight!" Ryuuni stared at Kishi and laughed boisterly, "Oh ho? Is that right, boy?" Kishi nodded, "Yeah! I mean, didn't you know I'm super strong?!" Ryuuni nodded, "Yeah yeah."
Kumii the LoathesomeLocation: Seiryoku Empire
Interactions: SharkBark
Current Weather: Clear
Current Time: August 28th, 1337.

I'm stealing your idea, Shark.

Anything in '][' is Kumii speaking Demonic.

Kumii nodded, "So this 'Heath' person is the.. leader here?" He asked but any attempt at a response from Kaminari wouldn't be heard as Kumii felt chills run down his spine. As it happens, it was at this exact that Mana got swatted aside by the Death Knight. The Twins felt it too, Mana was a good friend to them and they both really liked her.

To Mei and Jin, Mana meant a lot to them, "Did you feel that, Mei?" Mei nodded, "Mana's in trouble." He said but they couldn't leave because theyw ere under strict order by Kumii to act as his backup, "There's nothing we can do, we just have to trust she'll be okay, Jin." Mei said but she was clearly extremely worried.

Kumii shook his head, missing any response after he asked if Heath was the leader, "S-Sorry, I suddenly just got a chill... I think my daughter might be in trouble." He said, which might come as surprise to Kaminari that Kumii had a child. Resisting every urge to vanish in search of her, he remained, "Please, c-continue."

SharkBark · Sep 24, 2022

Mood: Fearful

Rai Ikari

Thunderous Hunter

Bridge to Iron Fortress

Mateo repeated Rai's threat towards Ashe, and from there, things went downhill.

A black mist appeared behind Ashe, and from it came the person they least needed to encounter right now. The Death Knight in all his malice and glory. Ashe's eyes flashed a crimson red color as he stepped aside for the Knight to be seen holding his sword, the very one he murdered Mika with. He then mentioned something about a puppet, revealing that he was controlling Ashe.

Rai tightened his grip on the hilt of his katana. How dare the Death Knight casually approach them after what he had done? What was he here for? Was he going to finish the job and kill the rest of them this time, or just Skyla? Fuck it. It didn't matter anyway. Rai knew that he was back in peak condition, and that now he had a better chance to avenge Mika. He gritted his teeth as small bolts sparked around his body and he slowly unsheathed his katana.

"You piece of-" Rai started, his voice spat with venom. But he was cut off when he heard Skyla say,

"What are you doing here...?"

Her voice was a deathly low tone, embodying the hate that was derived from her soul for the Knight. Skyla's grip was tightened on Mika's lance, and it seemed that she was going to attempt to kill the murderer here and now. But before anything could escalate, the little girl from before leapt from behind the group and demanded that he release her aunt. She took Mateo's cat and placed him on the floor before the Knight began to taunt her stuttering and teased her.

On the attack, the girl's body suddenly rushed with electricity, sort of like the way Rai's did, and she charged at the Death Knight. Rai instinctively reached out a hand to grab her, but she was too fast to even be touched. Or at least, for Rai she was. The Death Knight on the other hand tossed her to the ground like she was a feather.

But at that same moment, the bird that was submerged on the samurai's head flew down and transformed before his eyes. She became a beautiful humanoid woman with butterfly wings, which widened Rai's eyes. The butterfly woman began to question the Knight on it's intentions, all at the same time telling Mateo to check on Mana. The Knight joked about explaining his evil plan to her and afterwards took out his scythe and attacked the woman. Luckily though, she parried his strike and began to fight him blow for blow, as if she was equally actuallu as powerful as he was.

While the two clashed, Skyla leaned in close to Rai and quietly asked him why his hair was hiding a butterfly lady, to which he responded,

"How the hell am I supposed to know that?!" Rai unsheathed his katana and took a few steps back, standing next to Mateo. He then positioned himself in front of the boy and placed his free hand on his shoulder.

Rai put his body in front of Mateo's line of sight so that he didn't have to see him. So that he didn't have to see the man that murdered Mika.

"Mateo.." Rai started, his voice stern and painful. "Don't focus on him. Just, stay calm. Check on Mana, and then find some place where the two of you can hide out at until this cools down." Rai was practically begging the boy at this point. "Please, Mateo! Just go!"

Rai was pleading to Mateo so that he didn't have to witness him become overwhelmed with negative emotions. He couldn't risk him transforming. He just couldn't. He knew that in that likely case, he'd have to pick between killing Mateo or having him rampage. And that just wasn't stress he could afford to have weigh on him right now.

Afterwards, Rai turned back towards the Skyla and spoke to her.

"Skyla. You and I will be a sort of backup for...the butterfly woman, alright? Only if you want though. If you choose to go with Mateo and the girl for extra safety, go ahead. Just protect them, please."

Rai's chest heaved up and down heavily as a feeling of dread slowly crushed his chest. He was being risky telling Skyla that she could leave. He didn't know if he could survive if it came to Queen and Justine going down, leaving him to fight the Death Knight himself.

But Rai considered her safety at the same time, because in the end, he was a samurai and bounty hunter. He fought for honor, and the safety of others. The Death Knight was strong, sure, leaving Rai with a small chance of defeating him. But if someone had to die for the lives of the others, he would do anything to make sure it was him.

Rai's chance of survival fighting alongside Skyla: 82%

Rai's chance of survival fighting by himself: 38%

Kumii

AlphaBlueWolf

Code by Serobliss

Mood: Serious

Castro Smith

Blue-Eyed Bandit

Unknown, Ironshire

The scroll Castro was holding slipped from his hands and lightly fell to the floor as he jolted at the sound of Rori's foot hitting the grate.

He initially grabbed his blade, thinking it was a Shugosha again, but a wave of relief flooded his body as he heard Rori's brash voice calling him Blue Eyes. She came to inform him that she had a delivery for him, and hoped that he was there. Castro was going to reassure her of his presence until he heard her quietly mutter,

"I don't know what I'll do with this kid if you aren't."

The kid from before. The one missing an arm. He immediately put the pieces of the puzzle together. Delivery. This kid. She was going to drop him off here with him and leave.

"Fuck!" Castro silently mouthed. He should have expected this. Rori doesn't seem like that type of girl to be able to take care of a child. Hell, she could barely take care of herself.

He hesitated to answer her, and stood in silence as he pondered over whether or not to accept her delivery or not. He raised his head and stared blankly at the ceiling as he day dreamed about what would happen if he took the kid in. What was the kid here for? Did he have a family, or was Castro going to have to stick with the burden of taking care of him?

He couldn't afford to have this kid with him right now. He had more important things to do, like warning Maki, and then moving on to crush the Seiryoku Empire. The boy would only drag him down and make it harder for him to accomplish his goals. But, Castro wasn't cold-hearted. Aleph could genuinely need help, and Castro denying that could ruin his life. It wasn't something the bandit could live with, so he decided to take the risk and yelled out,

"Yeah. I'm still here, Rori."

Castro looked down from the ceiling and placed his hands on his head in stress.

"What does the kid want? Or, need?" He asked. "And the grate is broken, so you can enter."

Mood: Intrigued

Akuhei

Shugosha

Unknown, Ironshire

Location - The Unknown Monarchy, the Seiryoku Empire.

Kaminari nodded his head slowly as Kumii asked about Heath's leadership status.

"Yes, he is the founding father and current king of our hidden monarchy." He answered. "He's been in power for many years now."

Kumii staggered his attention for a bit, suddenly apologizing and mentioning that he had a chill, remarking that he thought his daughter might be in danger. Kaminari raised his eyebrows in surprise. He didn't expect the ruthless Kumii to have a daughter, or a spouse even. He seemed like the type of man that was too goal orientated to have a family, like Heath.

"Oh, my." Kaminari said. "I pray that she is safe and in good hands."

The Shugosha placed his free hand behind his back and stood up straight as the people of the village cleared out and went back to their normal lives.

"Yes, as I was saying, Heath is our current king." Kaminari continued and gestured to Kuragiri. "And the boy on my shoulder here, Kuragiri, is Heath's son and next in line to rule over the Empire. Of course, he doesn't know that just yet."

Just then, Akuhei came running up behind the two and halted to a stop as he panted heavily. Though he seemed exhausted, not a drop of sweat was on his body, as he had great endurance.

"Too fast both you." Akuhei brokenly said. "How other man get here fast?"

"He flies and teleports." Kaminari answered. "Can you believe it?"

Kumii

AlphaBlueWolf

Code by Serobliss

AlphaBlueWolf · Sep 24, 2022

Mateo's eyes widened as a familiar dark mist appeared. His whole body became rigid, and he felt like Ashe had done whatever he did to his sister to him. His muscles tensed, and his body wouldn't move. His feet were rooted to their spot, unmoving while his body quivered. He saw the Death Knight emerge from the portal, and immediately got hit with a wave of negativity that made him want to hurl. Unlike the others, he didn't know this was the one who had killed Mika. He hadn't witnessed the actual grisly murder like Skyla and Rai, only being there for the aftermath and trying with all his might to heal Mika before his soul drifted up for the afterlife. And he'd failed.

He only knew the strange knight from the time he fought Cerah Junia. He knew of this knight, and the name the Death Knight, but couldn't put to and to together. He just felt sure that he definitely did not like knights anymore. And he didn't like this one. He radiated a powerful aura of negativity. Bloodlust was the most powerful one he could discern. It stung his nose like overpowering spices. But it was strange. Mateo was both attracted and repulsed by the Death Knight. There was something that tugged him closer, but an internal feeling of hatred and disgust that negated that pull. He didn't understand any of it, or why his curse flared up so much by just being near him.

Speaking of the curse, it responded to the negative emotions radiating off the Death Knight. Sludge slid down from his arm, sullying the dirt of the path. Right outside of Luminosa, where everyone knew what such sludge meant. They'd be able to tell a Cabrera was close, if they found it that is. But Mateo's mind was so buzzed at the moment that he couldn't even process it. Despite his height, he shivered in fear like a little kid. All his anger and strength from a moment ago completely vanished in that one second and was replaced by an overwhelming fright. He didn't look like much of a fighter anymore.

Mana emerged from behind the group and Cora flicked his tail at her. He looked towards Mateo for help, then saw the sweat beading on his forehead and the way he shivered. Worry immediately puffed up inside of him. He'd figured out why he'd sensed something. The scent was repulsive but familiar. It'd been mixed with Mika's the day he died. Now, the knight was here, saying something about Ashe being a good puppet. His fur fluffed up even more. He'd been a puppet for the Death Knight, which didn't make sense. If he worked with a spirit, then why would he be against demons? He squinted his eyes at Ashe and saw the red in them. Maybe the guy was just an asshole, but it was possible this knight had some sort of control over his mind.

Skyla knew of the knight, asking what he was doing here, while the little demon child just strode up like she hadn't been terrified a second before. Cora didn't know what to do. Mateo had asked him to stay with Mana, but he wanted to go to him, because obviously he was struggling. He turned his gaze to Mateo, giving a low yelp as he felt small hands push through his fur and grasp his body. He looked up to see Mana setting him down as her voice rang out, demanding that he release someone named Tiche, who Mana referred to as her aunt. His claws scored into the dirt. 'Sorry, Mateo, but you're more important.' Cora thought as he ran to his partner's side, his paws flicking up dust clouds and stray pebbles as he pounded on the dirt road. As a spirit, Mana had immortality, so she'd likely be fine should there be an altercation. Mateo? Well, he was far more squishy. Besides, Cora was more loyal to Mateo than even a fellow spirit. He couldn't bare seeing his friend suffer, so he rushed to put his front paws up on Mateo's leg, standing on only his back paws. He gave a meow and pawed at Mateo, trying to get him to snap out of it.

Mateo watched while transfixed to his spot as the Death Knight challenged Mana, and the little girl responded by charging. Cora climbed up onto his shoulders and whispered in his ear. "Mateo? Snap out of it." His words did nothing to move him. "You need to move, Mateo. Get out of here. He's far too strong."

But Mateo was preoccupied, battling the negative emotions that leaked from the Death Knight, while also watching a little girl charge a much larger and deadlier force. Suddenly, the blue bird on Rai's head jumped off. She didn't fly, but instead shifted into a humanoid form with butterfly wings. It wasn't really a shock to him, considering he and Cora had already known. Mateo didn't know as much as his friend, only that she was a spirit. But it hardly mattered, because his focus shifted as his little demon friend got tossed aside and hit the ground hard. "Mana-" He choked on the word, his throat feeling dry.

He was slowly coming out of it now that Mana had been injured. Mateo slowly got his muscles working again, some of the tension releasing to the point where he could move. The new spirit glanced back to him, basically ordering him to go check on Mana. She told him to take the Phoenix with him, because he might end up needing it. But he couldn't take his eyes off the knight, not until something blocked his vision. Someone. He gazed up at Rai, his samurai friend. He placed on hand on his free shoulder, and Cora maneuvered so that he wouldn't be touching Rai. There was no way he could snap Mateo out of it if Cora couldn't. But not having to see the Death Knight really helped him get out of his fog. Mateo could still feel the negative emotions swirling around him, vibrating off the Death Knight in powerful waves. But it no longer clogged his senses to the point where he couldn't think. His mind slowly started moving again.

Rai's voice was stern and painful, which Mateo didn't fully understand. He didn't know the full truth, didn't know that this guy had been the one to murder Mika. He said to not focus on him, to stay calm and check on Mana. Obviously, he was thinking about the curse, and it was at that point that Mateo realized it'd been welling up, creating sludge that fixed itself to his arms underneath the sleeves of his ruana. He told him to run and find a place to hide until things blew over. He was practically begging him. But Mateo had no plans to sit himself out of this fight. He'd obey the first half, run and find a place to hide Mana after he was sure she was ok, then he'd come right back. He was useful now. He had the phoenix and was learning how to battle and not just heal afterwards. He wouldn't abandon them again, because when he'd run off on his own, he'd come back to see a corpse. That wasn't going to happen again.

Mateo looked away, giving Rai a silent nod with his fingers crossed. A promise that now meant nothing to the point where it was a lie. He wouldn't meet his eyes, fearful that the man would see the guilt in them and know he wasn't telling the truth. Rai moved away to join Skyla in battle, and Mateo had been successful for now.

Without looking at the Death Knight, his body started moving, now filled back with purpose. His mind ran on determination to get to Mana. He stumbled and almost fell as his legs started working once more. His legs had felt empty, like how it was when you cut off circulation to your limbs. But now blood pulsed into every vein and artery of his body, working overkill now that the adrenaline had kicked in.

He took the book in both hands as he ran, thinking back to the first time he'd summoned the phoenix. It'd wanted an ambition. Well, shouldn't that be obvious. 'I don't want anyone else to die.' He thought. 'I want to protect Mana and the others from that knight guy.'

As he finished his thought, he opened the book and a fiery form shot out from the pages. The phoenix rose into the sky, its form illuminated by the sun as it flew up to the sky with a caw. After the first battle, Mateo had decided to call it Sol, because of the way it rose to block out the sun and become it whenever it was summoned. Come on, this was Mateo, were you really expecting him not to give the phoenix a name? He just had to be sure on it, but now it was decided. He would call it Sol, the Spanish word for sun.

Cora jumped off Mateo's shoulder to stand beside him as he kneeled down next to Mana. He helped her up, letting her lean against him in his arms. He could feel his arms just beginning to take on some sludge, but his sleeves would protect Mana if it activated to wither away anything it touched. "Are you ok, Mana?" He asked, worry edging his voice.

Meanwhile, the sounds of blade against blade echoed around them as Queen started parrying the attacks of the Death Knight. The fact that Cora could remember this scent from Mika's dead body, and the fact that his presence had been so full of magical power made him uneasy. It wasn't normal. No one should have that kind of power. No mortal, nor any spirit. It sent him on edge immediately. And there was another thing. Mika's scent lingered on him, stuck to him like glue. It was faint and almost washed away, but it was definitely there. The same scent of his corpse.

Cora figured it was as good a time as any to release this form. He knew there was something off about this spirit, something wrong. So, he started transforming. His body shifted, getting bigger and bigger. His size was no longer that of a house cat, but of a very, very big tiger. He towered over Rai easily and was big enough where he could actually be ridden. Despite the size change, you could tell it was Cora. He had the same markings, same colors, and same fur that the cat who stood on Mateo's shoulder had. The only differences were the height, as well as the fact that two elongated teeth, one on each side, grew out of his mouth. They stopped at about seven inches, going below his jaw. He let out a mighty roar, one akin to a tiger's, showing all of his incredibly sharp teeth as he did. His paws were bigger, like a lynx's, and had powerful claws that flexed in the dirt. Ice started forming on the dirt where his front paws were as he got into a defensive position over Mateo and Mana. A throaty snarl escaped his throat, ready to tear into the Death Knight should he try attacking the two. Mateo's words about Cora being a "special" cat now made perfect sense.
It was taking too long for Castro to respond, and the kid was looking expectantly at Rori. By this point, she guessed Castro wasn't even here. And that left her to deal with this kid on her own. The fact that he had even gotten here with no help at all was a miracle. Him going back to whichever town or city he was from? Now that was going to take some serious divine intervention. He seemed to be almost fully deaf, and without an arm. How would he get back home? Did she really have to hold his one hand back that way? She sighed and rubbed her temples, still feeling drained.

But thankfully Castro replied from the grate, saying he was here. He asked what the kid wanted or needed. Oh, boy. Then he said they could come down since the grate was busted.

"I was planning to come in whether it was busted or not." She said before tapping Aleph and telling him, through writing in the notebook, that she was going to open the grate and then jump down. Afterwards, he would do the same and she would catch him, so he didn't fall. Aleph nodded, though Rori was worried about the kid. He didn't seem to have much training, like at all, and wouldn't know how to angle himself properly to land if she didn't catch him. But he looked light enough, so she figured she could do it.

Rori pulled the grate open and jumped down with perfect form. She gave a nod to Castro before signaling to Aleph to come down. He gingerly sat down, his legs dangling from the hole. He braced himself and kicked off. Just as Rori promised, she was there to catch him and soften the landing. She lowered him to the ground and let go once he could stand.

When he'd gotten his footing, he looked around the room, and then Aleph's eyes landed on Castro. He saw the same striking blue eyes, his tan skin, as well as his alabaster hair. It was the same man from before, the one he knew had to be Castro Smith. He looked up to Rori and pointed to the man, and Rori gave a nod back as if she knew exactly what he was trying to ask, and also knew how to accommodate for his deaf ears without having to write in the journal.

"Turns out, he was looking for you." Rori notified Castro, though he could probably guess that at this point. Then she looked down at Aleph, patting his mass of messy black hair. She nodded her head to Castro and said, "Go on. Tell him."

She figured it would be better if it came out of him rather than Rori. The kid's blue eyes, not as striking as Castro's, searched the room for a surface he could write on. He spotted the bed and wandered over to it, seemingly ignoring Castro. The right sleeve to his wool jacket dangled limp as he walked, clear that there was no arm filling in the space. The kid kneeled down beside the bed, taking out something and placing it on top beside the big black bag. He didn't touch the bag, and instead focused intently as his left hand scribbled across the pages of his journal.

Rori looked like it was normal, having gotten used to the idea of talking to this kid through writing. "Just wait for it." She told Castro in case he got pissy or annoyed. When the young boy was done, he held up the notebook in his left hand to reveal the sentence he'd written, starting on a completely blank page. The same words he'd written to Rori.

"My name is Aleph. I can't hear well, so please write in this to talk to me."

He waited until Castro read it and then went back over to the bed to write more. Rori gave him a knowing glance. Yes, this kid was basically deaf and without an arm. She wondered if he would be surprised and sympathetic like she was, or if his own situation would blind him. Was he completely dead to this stuff, having felt the unfairness of the world firsthand? Or would he still be surprised that such a young boy, probably somewhere from eight to thirteen, would have such conditions. Rori herself wondered how he became like that. Was he born like that, or had there been some kind of accident? And where did he get the whole 'fix himself' ideology?

They waited for what seemed like a solid minute, Aleph taking the time to plan what he wanted to say and write it out in one paragraph. "I heard in Westshire that you're an inventor. I was hoping to commission you. I have some materials, and I thought that you could make me an arm. I don't have money, but I could pay you in labor. I don't care what tasks you give me; I'll work hard and do whatever you ask of me. I don't think anyone else would be able to do it, so I'll do anything in exchange for the arm."

Aleph handed the notebook to Castro, this time giving him a chance to respond to his request. Hope flickered in his eyes like a burning candle. He wished and wished that Castro would say yes. When he returned to Westshire with a new arm, hopefully his father would forgive him and be proud of him. He'd never once heard the man say he was proud and turns out he would never hear it.
They were all on board, and Nikki was first, jumping up without a sweat. Joker remarked about how he'd never not be amazed at how she could just do that, and he knew what he meant. That was certainly impressive. Joker grabbed a device, one of his inventions, and extended it so that the claw would grab onto a nearby roof. He said he'd see them there which got an instant blush out of Finch. You know why? Joker referred to the both of them as love birds. Bird was accurate, he was literally named after a bird, but love? Man, that was embarrassing.

He dared to glance at Serana. She shrugged, saying she guessed they were doing this, and then she went along with Joker's tease. His face turned from a pink to a burning red color in five seconds flat. She'd called him babe, then jumped up to a roof like Nikki.

Finch needed a second after all of that. He rubbed his hands up and down over his face and then slapped his cheeks. He waited for the red to drain and revert back to his usual pale skin color. Once he was ready, he ducked into an alleyway and created a wind current that flung him up into the sky. Using his cloak as a parachute, Finch dropped down to a rooftop and circled around to regroup with the others.

As he passed Joker, he whispered to him in a joking manner, "Why are you doing this to me?"

Once they were all together, Finch waved them over to a corner to try to do some recon. His peered out of their cover, trying to see just how many people were tailing Cyan and Kiko, and maybe even what they looked like or some kind of symbol to identify them. Anything that would help them really.
August didn't even realize they'd been rambling a second before, not even recognizing that Kishi had been trying to get them out of it. Azula smiled and nodded, saying she'd love for them to perform with her if that's what they wanted. Well, yeah. They wanted that. They spent so much time pushing down their wants because of their family that they hadn't even realized it. They wanted that more than anything. Well, maybe not anything. They wanted their family to understand them and not pressure them into things that they didn't want, but this was a good start. They'd be able to build up their courage bit by bit, and then maybe they could finally express what they wanted to their family without hesitation or fear.

Azula got up and told them to wait there. They looked at Kishi, but he betrayed no thoughts of knowing what his mother was doing. They took the time to kneel down and pack away their lute, then put it back on their shoulders.

Azula came back out as they stood up, carrying with her a beautiful sapphire amulet. Azula presented it to them, telling them to take it. They put their hands up and shook their head. "No, I-I couldn't..." They said, at the same time Kishi and Ryuuni exclaimed about the amulet. They clearly knew something about it.

Azula shot them both a glare, which effectively shut them up, then turned back to August. She told them its purpose, saying it was a good luck charm, but also telling them not to mind Kishi and Ryuuni. They looked unsure with how elegant it seemed. Could it possibly be an heirloom? The Lucero's held all kinds of heirlooms, many from Ignis's time, including jewelry. That kind of stuff could be worth a whole bunch of money, and it seemed wrong to take it. But Azula patiently waited for Augustine to take it, a smile painted across her face. They knew that face, their sister wearing it well when she was a few years younger. Now she looked stressed all the time, with becoming the leader of Luminosa and all, but before when she wore such a look it told them no wasn't a possible answer. They missed when Lilliana was like that. More considerate of them, softening things for them as they were much younger at the time. Things just changed too much.

"I- Thank you." They decided on taking the amulet, not wanting to be rude to Azula who was being so nice to them. August put it on immediately, clasping the amulet around their neck and looking upon it with softness. They gave a genuine smile. Usually, they weren't fond of jewelry. They were made to wear it on special occasions, like the festival and dances. They found it too regal for their taste, too girly. They didn't like it because of what part of their life it was attached to, and how they'd never felt like their self there. But they found themselves surprised by the fact that they really enjoyed being given such a gift. They found it pretty and liked how it looked while it hanged from their neck like the pendulum of a clock.

Suddenly, Kishi's father said that if they were coming over more frequently, then he could teach them how to fight. Kishi argued and had a back and forth with his father about the matter. Playful banter between father and son. It was strange, but it that moment, it felt like home. This was how a real family was supposed to function. They realized more now how dysfunctional and broken theirs was, despite how they tried to present themselves to the whole city. Despite being the outsider, they felt welcome here. More welcome than with their own family. They were a mortal, a Lucero, and not of the Dragonfist family, but that didn't matter. They just felt so warm, so comfortable here. Their problems just melted away, leaving them with a serene feeling in their heart.

"As long as it's not with swords, I don't care who trains me." They said in a joking manner. Though Kishi would know from their rants how much they really hated training with swords, and the particular one they were thinking of. "My sister makes me train with the sword basically every day. It gets so annoying because I'm never getting better at it. I'm just super clumsy with it and never even hit anything. Well, maybe it's because I don't really listen to her. Oh well. She should learn by now that I don't like swords. That they're not suited for me."

They shrugged like it was no big deal, and honestly it wasn't to them right now. They were just enjoying themself, with a light expression on their face.

Kumii · Sep 24, 2022

Skyla & Justine & Mana w/ QueenLocation: Luminosa
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf SharkBark
Current Weather: Clear
Current Time: August 28th, 1337. 10:46am

As the Death Knight and Queen were going blow-for-blow, the Death Knight pulled off one move that nearly ended Queen's life. On his back swing, he quickly changed the scythe's direction and swung it forth, Queen managed to block it but the impact of the scythe connecting with her sword sent her flying into a nearby wall. With Queen out of the way, the Death Knight turned his focus to Rai and Skyla.

He took one step before stopping and noticing Cora who was a big cat now, "The form change into a sabertooth tiger, but I wonder... has your power level changed at all?" The Death Knight brought his scythe up as black-flames engulfed the blade. He flicked the pointed end towards Rai, Skyla and Cora quickly before bringing the blade across which sent the flames flying forward. The Death Knight took no time at all and charged at the biggest and most obvious target, Cora. He jumped up to meet Cora gaze and tried to release a powerful punch towards Cora's muzzle. It was quite clearly obvious that the Death Knight was holding back, toying with his prey.

Skyla was a little surprised by Cora taking the form a large cat, ok so they had the size advantage but would it be enough?

Skyla, Rai and even Cora would suddenly feel empowered by a strange force. Well not all that strange, just before the Death Knight released his black-flame attack, Justine gave them all a Firus Ultim, which essentially made them immune to the Black-flame attack. Good timing too because the attack came out too quickly for Skyla to dodge, after taking the attack, Skyla felt... unaffected, "Huh..?" She shook her head and took her lance off her back. Then she remembered what Rai said;

"Skyla. You and I will be a sort of backup for...the butterfly woman, alright? Only if you want though. If you choose to go with Mateo and the girl for extra safety, go ahead. Just protect them, please."

Skyla readied herself, "Sorry, Rai. You may not be making friends with us but you're still an ally. Allies don't let allies fight by themselves." She looked back at Mateo and his Phoenix, "Plus, I think Mateo is covered." Referring to the Phoenix, "It hurts me to not be by his side right now but we're up against the bastard who murdered Mika. Ain't no way I'm letting him get away."

Meanwhile, Mana was hoisted up by Mateo, asking if she was okay. Her eyes opened slightly, seeing his sorry state, "I should be asking... that of you." Mana pushed herself up and attempted to steady herself but she was clearly still shaken a bit, "Sorry, I don't think I'll be able to fight."

Status (Ashe): Calm
Status (Justine): Shaken but able to fight.
Status (Mana): Terrified
Status Effects: Firus Ultim fire shield remaining time: 10 minutes.
Nikki & Joker & SeranaLocation: Blacksmith's shop, Ironshire
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
Current Weather: Raining
Current Time: August 26th, 1337. 1:48pm
Joker smiled when Finch asked why he was doing it to him, "Because it's too easy." He retorted as they all came to a rest at a corner. They could hear at least 4-5 voices ahead of them.

"So, how much longer must we wait?" Said one voice, in a deep voice. Another voice replied in a girlish, mocking manner, "Normally, it'd be right now but he has that blasted girlfriend of his with him."

One of the figures stood with his arms crossed, leaned up against a building, "So we get rid of the girlfriend and the Elf is free for taking?" The girlish voice shook her head and said, "Not quite, Cyan himself is strong on his own... but if we strike at what's most dear to him..." The arms crossed voice looked at the girlish voice, "Oh, I see, so we kill the girlfriend and watch the Elf fall into despair?" The girlish bounced up and down, "Bingo! But! We have to do it before they reach the Oghma Nation!" One voice tilted his head, "Why?" The girlish voice responded, "My machines tell me that a very strong High Elf lives there... and that elf is Cyan's mother! So that's why! Now... NO MORE QUESTION! GO GO GO! KILL THE GIRLFRIEND!!" The girlish yelled and the figures departed. The girlish voice sighed, "Tina doesn't have time for this..." SHe played with the mechanical glove on her arm for a minute then departed herself after the rest.

Nikki listened to the whole exchange and heard the name 'Tina'. She looked down in thought, "Tina...? Where have I heard that name before...?" Serana listened, "So they plan to kill Bone?" Nikki snorted when she heard 'Bone', she had forgotten that Serana had given them nicknames.
Kishi & Azula DragonfistLocation: Luminosa, Kishi's Home
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
Current Weather: Clear
Current Time: August 27th, 1337. 1:47pm
Azula smiled back when August smiled at her then looked back at Kishi and Ryuuni as they had their little back and forth. August did the same. Kishi and Ryuuni looked at August as they said anything but swords, "Ah, so you're an advocate of the Fist?? Do not worry, kid, I can teach you the way of the Dragon Fist!" Kishi shook his head, "No, dad, clearly they're far more sneaky, they favor the dagger! I should know, I know them best!" Ryuuni stared at Kishi, "Oh yeah? Why not let them decide what they want to practice?" Azula grabbed both of them by the ear and they both yelped in pain, Azula had that same smiling face with malicious intent behind it, "Let's leave August alone for now, yeah?" She said in a low voice as she tossed them into their separate rooms.

She walked back out to August, "Anyways, what do you say about staying for dinner, sweetie?"
Kumii the LoathesomeLocation: Seiryoku Empire
Interactions: SharkBark
Current Weather: Clear
Current Time: August 28th, 1337.

I'm stealing your idea, Shark.

Anything in '][' is Kumii speaking Demonic.

Kumii blew on his knuckles and rubbed it on his shirt, "Yes, please, praise me more!" He said in an arrogant tone. After syaing that, Kumii took in the sight of the entrance, it was beautiful, "So, how much farther to this... Heath person guy?" Kumii asked.

Mei and Jin continued following Kumii but couldn't help but be worried about Mana. They both felt a spike in their stomach, like a powerful being had just appeared, "Could it be him?" Mei asked. Jin nodded, "It's possible, Mei..."

SharkBark · Sep 25, 2022

Mood: Fearful

Rai Ikari

Thunderous Hunter

Bridge to Iron Fortress

It was only a matter of time before the Death Knight had overpowered Queen, sending her flying into a nearby wall. And just afterwards, the bastard set his gaze on Rai and Skyla.

Rai clenched the hilt of his katana and took a few steps forward, preparing to put his life on the line, but both him and the Death Knight suddenly stopped. They had halted because before them was a large Saber-toothed tiger, and from the way the Knight addressed it, it was clear that it was Mateo's cat.

"Holy shit." Rai said to himself. "What type of pet did he have?"

The Knight paid attention to Cora, but still remained fixated on attacking Rai and Skyla. So he raised his scythe and engulfed it with blade in black-flames, the same kind of fire Rai's pendant produced. And from there, the Death Knight swung his scythe, sending the flames flying at high speeds at Rai and Skyla.

Rai managed to sidestep out of the way in time, but Skyla reacted to late, causing the flames to connect with her body. But instead of it doing damage, Skyla was completely unaffected. Both of them had their little moment of confusion, but afterwards, Skyla remarked Rai's statements from earlier.

"Allies don't let allies fight by themselves." She had said, which made a smile spread across the samurai's face. Skyla mentioned that Mateo would be alright on his own, and that there was no way she was letting the man who killed Mika get away.

A warm feeling of comfort grew in Rai's chest. It was the feeling he envied the group for being able to have from before. Trust. Trust that his friends would be by his side in any occasion, and would be there for him in harsh times.

This must've been how Mateo felt with Mika, before he unfortunately passed. That explains why he was so broken over his death as well. Mika was someone he felt comfortable and at peace around, and someone he could trust to protect him. It all made sense to Rai now.

"Then it's settled." Rai responded to Skyla. He fixed his gaze on the foe before him. "Together. We kill this son of a bitch."

Bolts once again revolved around Rai as he charged up for an attack. He pivoted his feet to point towards the Death Knight and dug them into the ground. His katana was held at a low horizontal angle that could only provide an sideways slash. But he wasn't going to perform it until there was an opening made. He had to be precise so that he would only hit the Death Knight, and not Cora as well.

Rai's trust for Skyla has increased drastically!

Trust [+33]

Rai is maintaining the move, Lightspeed Bolt, at 20% magic usage. Posts until it cannot be contained: 5!**

*Once the post amount is down to 0, the move will lose control and automatically be released, attacking anything in Rai's range. This will also damage him as well. (due to the lack of control)

Kumii

AlphaBlueWolf

Code by Serobliss

Mood: Serious

Castro Smith

Blue-Eyed Bandit

Unknown, Ironshire

Castro sighed heavily as Rori entered landed in his hideout with excellent form, giving him a nod before turning back to the child.

Castro remained silent as he watched the same black haired, one armed boy come into view as he jumped into Rori's arms. Once Aleph was fully in the room, he locked his eyes on on the bandit for a moment. He pointed at him and looked up to Rori, who nodded, seeming to confirm that it was actually the Blue Eyed Bandit. Castro noticed his deep blue eyes and his unkempt hair. It was a strange sight to see, especially in the town like Ironshire where everyone was 'perfect'.

Afterward, the boy took his attention off of Castro and began to search around the hideout for something. His eyes frantically scanned the room as Rori explained the Aleph was here for him, which was pretty obvious the this point. The boy strolled past Castro as he moved over to his bed and kneeled beside it.

Castro walked over to the boy's side as he watched him take out a journal and began scribbling on it next to the bag filled with weapons. Shit. The back is filled with weapons, dumbass. Castro quickly pushed the bag to the side, a bit away from Aleph as he finished his first sentences.

He turned the journal to him and it read,

"My name is Aleph. I can't hear well, so please write in this to talk to me."

So that's why the kid was so quiet. He could barely hear anyone else's voice, as much as his own. Castro nodded, showing that he understood, and Aleph went back to the bed to write another message.

"Alright. The kid's hard of hearing." Castro thought. "The hell does that have to do with me though?"

Aleph's next note was longer than before, and in more detail as to why he was there. The boy wrote about how he had heard of Castro when he was down in Ironshire, and rumors said that he was and inventor. Castro preferred the term, engineer, but you could say that too. Aleph was apparently hoping to 'commission' the bandit. He had the materials and everything. Well, everything besides money. He wanted the bandit to build a new arm, and he would pay him back in labor if he had to. Anything, the boy wrote. He'd do absolutely anything for the arm.

Castro took the handbook from Aleph and sat on his bed. He didn't write in it right away, he first pondered over his choice. It was tough, to say the least. Making the kid an arm would be extremely time consuming. It would leave him with less time to warn Maki, and even less to destroy the empire. Aleph had the materials, which was good, but payment was a problem. Labor? Really? He wasn't a goddamn monster. Forcing a kid to do hard work for him was waaaayyy out of Castro's line of payment methods. It actually bummed him out that the boy was broke.

And functionality was a major key in this. Castro would have to use neurology to sync the arm with Aleph's brain so that he would be able to use it to his free will. Doing this was extremely hard and risky. If there were any malfunctions, the arm could accidentally lose control and kill to boy. Or, it could stop functioning when Aleph needed it most.

There were too many problems with this operation. It'd be too risky and too costly to perform. So Castro picked up the pencil and began to scribble on the handbook.

"I'm sorry. But I can't-"

Castro looked down at Aleph. His eyes flickered with passion and hope. It was almost as if his life depended on this arm. Shit, Castro didn't know him, it probably did. Breaking this kid's heart was something that needed extreme willpower to do, and Castro just wasn't that strong.

He'd be hurting another child if he did this. He had already unintentionally done it before. The girls at the concession stand. He ignored their cries for help, and they died days later. The little girl that Kuragiri was trailing. Her home was blown to smithereens with her inside of it. And now, he'd be killing another child. Not physically, but mentally. The boy already seemed like he was going through a lot, not having an arm and not being able to hear well, so denying his request wouldn't help.

Castro took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled as he scribbled what he had wrote before. Then, he worked on a new message.

"~~I'm sorry. But I can't~~
Nice to meet you, Aleph. I'm Castro. And it hurts to hear about what you're going through. Guess I forgot that not all of us are lucky enough to have no physical issues. Making you an arm will be ~~a waste of time~~ very hard to do. It will take a while as well. But, I want to help. So I'll make you a deal, okay? I'll build you an arm. The best arm the world has ever seen. On one condition. You have to promise me that you'll never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever use it to do bad. If you do, I'm gonna crawl from under your bed and ~~kill you~~ steal it while you are asleep. Do we have a deal?

Castro handed the handbook and pencil back to Aleph and then gestured his pinky towards him for a pinky swear.

"You promise?" Castro mouthed to him with a smile.

Mood: Intrigued

Akuhei

Shugosha

Unknown, Ironshire

Location - The Unknown Monarchy, the Seiryoku Empire.

View attachment 1025142

Instead of verbally answering Kumii's question on when they would see Heath, Kaminari gestured to the large mansion they approached. They walked up the smooth marble steps and towards the large doors that awaited them. The pillars they walked under were covered in red stains. The same red stains Kizawa walked past as he walked to the room before.

"Just paint." Kaminari and Akuhei said in unison. Though they were lying those stains were really the blood of Heath's old assistants who failed to please him in their works.

"It's just up ahead, Kumii." The older Shugosha said as they walked closer to two large red double doors. Once again, there were samurai standing to both sides of the entrances. But unlike the others, they did not question Kumii's presence. They came upon the conclusion that if Kaminari and Akuhei walked calmly with the strange man, then they weren't a threat.

The samurai both grabbed a handle of each door and ripped them open, revealing the throne room of the king, Heath Mazaki.

Both Shugosha stopped and gazed in anticipation as they viewed the room. Heath was on his throne, legs crossed and a confused look on his face, and to his sides were all of his most trusted workers. Miyahira, Kizawa, Aikawa, two other royal guards, Domori, and the best samurai in the entire empire. Kaminari and Akuhei each other a look as they resumed walking.

"Oh, don't slow your pace." Heath called out, his heavy and proud voice resonating through the floor. "Welcome back and well done, I see you've brought me my son. And..." Heath leaned forward to get a better look at Kumii. "Is that the god, Chang?"

Heath let out a loud and heartful laugh at his pitiful joke. Everyone but Miyahira and Domori laughed as well, as they all thought the same thing.

"I see how you came to that conclusion, but no." Kaminari informed. "This is Kumii, and he wanted to request something.",

"Really? Well, I had something more important to tell you two, but it can wait. What is this request, exactly?" Heath asked. He furrowed his eyebrows as he gazed upon Kumii.

Akuhei lightly tapped Kumii on his shoulder, signaling that he answer.

Kumii

AlphaBlueWolf

Code by Serobliss

AlphaBlueWolf · Sep 25, 2022

Cora watched as the Death Knight unleashed a powerful attack that sent Queen flying. She'd done good with parrying but hadn't landed a strike on the Death Knight. Meaning he was in prime condition to fight them all. With Queen out of the way, the Death Knight turned to Skyla and Rai, then finally noticed the big cat who was protecting Mateo and Mana. Both Sklya and Rai noticed him too, looking extremely shocked. The Death Knight didn't seem to be intimidated, muttering about how his form had changed into that of a saber tooth tiger, but wondering if his power level had changed as well. Well, yeah, duh. He was much bigger now, which meant his strikes had more force behind him. His teeth were bigger and sharper than a housecat, and he was built to bring down bigger prey than mice and small birds. Of course he was stronger.

The Death Knight sent flames flying their way, and then rushed at Cora. The flames collided with him, but he felt absolutely nothing. His fur wasn't even singed. But he had no time to wonder why as the knight rushed him. His first attack connected, but he was prepared for the second. His big form side stepped, and Cora lunged out with a throaty roar, letting one of his elongated teeth rake across the Death Knight's fist as he pulled it back.

Cora pounced on the Death Knight, biting at the arm that held his scythe and letting ice encase it. He found it hard to hook into him with his claws considering he was wearing bulky armor. He wouldn't penetrate so he had to bounce off as fast as he had gotten on. His tail flicked as his paws landed with a thud on the dirt, putting meaning into the saying cats always land on their feet. Bring it on. A fourteen-year-old, saber tooth Bakeneko against a knight with some strange power who was thousands of years old, and possibly older. No biggy.

His tiger form circled the Death Knight. He looked back to where Mateo and Mana had been and saw Mateo high tailing it out of there with the little demon girl in his arms. Good. He refocused his gaze on the Death Knight, giving a low growl.
Mateo watched as Mana's eyes opened slowly, taking him in and saying that she should be asking that of him. He gave a weak smile at her comment. Mana pushed herself up and attempted to steady herself, but she was still shaken from getting knocked down by the Death Knight. She apologized, saying she wouldn't be able to fight.

Mateo shook his head. "It's no problem, you shouldn't have to anyways." He was feeling a little guilty because he'd agreed for her to come along and had promised her father that he would protect her. In the first few moments of him having a clear line of sight to her, she'd been put at spear point by Ashe and then swept aside by the Death Knight like she was nothing. Now he'd get her away from the battle, and actually make good on that promise.

"Let me carry you." He said, scooping her up into his arms. He didn't know why he was so surprised that she basically weighed nothing. Maybe because he didn't have a lot of muscle on him. He usually couldn't carry anyone besides Cora in his cat form, but it was easy to carry someone who had the mass and weight of a little girl.

Without letting his gaze wander back to the Death Knight, Mateo strode forth and off to the side of the road. They couldn't enter Luminosa just yet, as they would probably be under scrunty at the gate, so Mateo would have to find cover in the terrain surrounding their path. Unfortunately, the undergrowth was sparse. A large mountain range eclipsed Luminosa at the opposite end. It was hard to see if there were any trees covering the mountain from this distance, but the lower reaches of the mountain were green. It was probably covered in forests that thinned out where the group stood. The undergrowth was sparse and there was little tree cover. He ran with Mana in his arms until he found a safe haven.

The ground was pitched down into a depression in the earth, the area lined with rocks of different sizes. There was a big boulder that he could possibly hide Mana behind. Feeling a smile etch into his face, he slid down into the depression and set Mana down on the other side of the boulder. Instead of dirt and rocky terrain, the depression was covered in light green grass. He looked back to see a small pond with fish meandering through. It was a few miles away from the battle and was a pretty suitable area.

Mateo's hands started glowing, and he rested them on the area of Mana's body that had hit the ground. Mana would be in a little less pain this way. He gave her a smile, trying to push the idea that everything would be alright. In reality, he had no clue if it really would. "Stay here, alright. I'll come back to get you when everything's over and the danger is gone. You'll be safe here. I promise."
Aleph waited patiently as Castro took his journal in his hands and sat on the bed. He seemed deep in thought and didn't write in it immediately. But that was ok. Aleph knew it was a big decision and he was prepared to wait in case Castro needed some time to debate. He was just glad he'd gotten this chance to even ask the bandit. He'd been wondering for a while if Rori would ever come back for him. He couldn't hear if she said she would. He'd decided to wait there, as a shed was a pretty good cover, and then go back out the next morning if no one came. But Rori came back, and he was extremely glad. Apparently, he was supposed to leave soon, so if Rori hadn't come for him and showed him to Castro's place, he would've never gotten this opportunity. And he was really glad he did.

Rori came over, not wanting to be left out. She hadn't seen the words on the page but could tell by Castro's expression that the kid had told him exactly what he'd told her. Now he was deep in thought, with Aleph giving him that same look he'd given her when he'd asked about if she knew Castro. It was extremely hard to say no to this kid, and both bandits were saps.

Castro started writing, but Aleph couldn't see what he was scribbling on the page. Part of him wanted to watch and read as he wrote it out, and part of him wanted to have the block of writing completed before he saw it. Then Castro looked down at the boy, and Rori knew he was being sucked into the cute child look as well. The look of hope that beamed in Aleph's eyes was like a parasite, making you do things you wouldn't have done otherwise. And Castro was now totally infected.

He started writing as long a paragraph as Aleph. Then he handed it back to the boy, who quickly read it. Aleph noticed the scribbled-out words but couldn't make them out and didn't take the time to. He assumed they were just errors. Castro said that it was nice to meet him and introduced himself. The words on the page seemed sympathetic to his cause, Castro even saying it hurts to hear what he was going through. Then he got down to the matters of the commission, saying it was a hard task to accomplish, but that he wanted to help him. So, he would cut him a deal. He said he'd make him the best arm the world has ever seen, but Aleph couldn't use it for bad things. And if he did Castro would crawl under his bed while he slept and take it. Well, that was an image.

Aleph looked up to Castro, who had his pinky out and mouthed the words 'you promise'. He couldn't tell if Castro had spoken those words and he just couldn't hear them or if it had really been mouthed to him. Either way, he'd made the message clear. Aleph's face completely lit up. He looked like the happiest little boy in the world in that one instant.

"Mhm!" He sounded as the notebook flopped onto the bed and he took his left pinky to Castro's, completing the pinky promise. That was the first time either of the bandits had heard any kind of sound from him.

Rori looked surprised, having not heard anything from the boy. When they were done, Aleph took the notebook and ran up to Rori. Practically bouncing, he showed her what Castro had written. She skimmed it quickly and gave him a thumbs up, basically saying 'that's great'. When Aleph turned to go back to the bed, she raised an eyebrow to Castro. Soft, huh?

Aleph took back his position, kneeling beside the bed, to write more. "Deal! These are the materials. I hope you can use them."

He was unsure if Castro had ever worked with dragon scales before, but that was basically all he had. It wasn't impossible to work with dragon scales. The dragon slayers used them, also other parts of a dragon like claws, horns, and teeth, to make their weapons. It was kind of like a rite of passage thing. The materials from your first slain dragon would be worked into your permanent weapon. Aleph had never experienced that rite firsthand. One, he wasn't at all strong enough to kill a dragon. Two, he didn't even want to kill one. And three, he mostly observed the battles from the sidelines.

Aleph took out a handful of elder dragon scales, plus some chunks of unrefined iron in case there were any gaps that needed to be filled in. He felt a little jittery, knowing that Castro was a bandit, and he was handing him a very powerful material that not many people ended up getting their hands on. Well, that was regular dragon scales. No one ever got their hands on elder dragon scales, but Aleph had somehow managed to collect the ones that had been knocked off the elder dragon his father fought before he'd gone unconscious. He really didn't want Castro to take them, because they were extremely important to him. They were going to be the main material of his new arm, plus they were dragon scales. Aleph loved dragons, even though one had disabled him for life. He found dragon scales to be precious not just because of their value on the market.

Then his face glimmered again with even more child wonder. He quickly went back to scribbling on the page. "Can I help you make it? Maybe it won't be as hard then."
Finch peeked his head around the corner. He could hear four to five voices, but there were two that stood out. He couldn't make out the gender of the first voice, though they had a rather deep tone, probably male. The second sounded higher pitched and girlish, so it was safe to assume they were female.

They were chatting about their plans, completely unaware that two guard members and two very strong civilians were watching and hearing every single word. They definitely sucked at the whole being evil thing.

The first asked the girlish voice how much longer they had to wait. The girl answered that they would normally be enacting their plan now, but the fact that Kiko stood beside Cyan threw a wrench in it. The thing that got him riled up was that they talked about getting rid of the girlfriend, aka Kiko, and then taking Cyan whatever that meant. Did that want to kidnap or assassinate the leader of Ironshire? He wasn't sure just yet.

Then the girlish voice mentioned striking what was most dear to Cyan, and the other one pieced it together from there. Kill Kiko, watch Cyan fall into despair, and then enact whatever their plan for Cyan was. Then the girlish voice mentioned having to do it before the pair reached the Oghma Nation, and that someone was waiting for them there. Cyan's mother. So that's where they were going. The Oghma Nation.

Then the girlish voice instructed them to kill the girlfriend and the figures departed. All but one. Finch clenched his fists as he waited for her to go. It took a minute as she played with her glove, but eventually she left too. Nikki murmured about knowing the name Tina, while Serana pieced it together out loud.

"That's what it sounded like. But we won't let them." He gave a smirk. "And if we end up capturing them and they deny it, we have four witnesses who can say otherwise. Now let's go."

He stepped out of their hiding space, drawing his bow. They had information now. About five targets, all gunning for Kiko. But they had the high ground now. He spotted Kiko and Cyan. He drew an arrow, nocked it, and let it fly. Then he whistled, letting out a noise that sounded like bird song. The arrow was guided by his sound on the wind, going directly for the back of the first one he'd heard. The one who had been in conversation with the one known as Tina. They seemed to be looking for the element of surprise, but Finch and his team had snatched it right from them.
August whirled back and forth as father and son argued over what they should try to learn. Fist or dagger? They thought about it. They weren't too physically strong, so they didn't know if they could really pact a punch with as much strength as needed. At the same time, a dagger was basically a mini sword, and they had a passionate distaste for swords. Too clunky, and they always lost their balance. Did daggers need balance like swords? They didn't know, but maybe they could find out. Though, they were perfectly happy with their lute. It wasn't really a weapon, but it was what they enjoyed.

Azula grabbed them both by the ear and told them to leave August alone, which was greatly appreciated. Was this how Kishi felt every time they went on one of their rambles?

Azula tossed them into their separate rooms and then went back to August, asking if they wanted to stay for dinner. Man wasn't that a delight? They got to eat at a place where the only arguing was playful family banter. There were so many rules back at the Lucero Estate. There were like eight different forks that August had memorized by the time they were five, always had to wear a napkin on your lap, give thanks to Lukia. It seemed like a whole ritual. The Dragonfist family didn't seem nearly as classy, which was a compliment in their book. They liked anywhere that let them just sit and eat.

So, Lilliana would be pissed. Especially since she had no idea where they were. Just that it was another one of their disappearing acts. They'd go home after dinner with Kishi and his family and get the same old boring lecture about not skipping training. That was probably the worst that would happen. They could make up some excuse about how they were training with Kishi for the day or something like that. They weren't nearly as afraid because they pulled this kind of stunt all the time, and with the same outcome.

"Sure, thank you." They replied to Azula.

Kumii · Sep 26, 2022

Skyla & Justine & Mana w/ QueenLocation: Luminosa
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf SharkBark
Current Weather: Clear
Current Time: August 28th, 1337. 10:47am

The Death Knight's arm froze over from Cora's bite but he couldn't seem to get a good hold and jumped off, landing a few feet back. The Death Knight extended his arm and simply broke the ice that had encased his arm with little resistance. He spun his scythe a bit, "Is that all?" The Knight raised his scythe then slammed it into the ground, sending out thorn'd vines. They ensnared Rai, Skyla, Cora and Justine and they seemed to be quite resilient. Once everyone was nice and secured, the vines pulled them to the ground and pinned them there, "Oh my, you guys nearly made me use my real power, that would've been a waste this early on, wouldn't be much fun if you all saw it before the final confrontation." The Knight approached the pinned Rai and stood over him, "I'll only ask this once... where... is... the Demon Lord?"

Skyla got ready with Rai as he began to charge up an attack, Cora also landed a blow but the Death Knight seemed entirely unaffected by it as he broke the ice encasing his arm. She saw Cora circle around, "Good, Rai, let's do--" She began to ran but was caught by a vine, she couldn't move. The vine crept up her body, eventually causing her to drop her lance then pinning her to the ground, along with everyone else. She saw the Death Knight stand over Rai and she began dreading the worst but he simply asked a question, rather demanded an answer to his question. Demon Lord? Did he mean Mana? He couldn't or else he wouldn't be asking where this Demon Lord was... then who?

Mana was carried princess-style by Mateo, Mana was too out of it to react in any way. She simply groaned softly, her pain floated away then Mateo said he'd be right back. She nodded and didn't fuss too much.

Status (Ashe): Calm
Status (Justine): Shaken but able to fight.
Status (Mana): Calmed
Status Effects: Firus Ultim fire shield remaining time: 9 minutes.
God mode moment, need to take control of the characters for this post, sorry guys :c
Nikki & Joker & SeranaLocation: Blacksmith's shop, Ironshire
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
Current Weather: Raining
Current Time: August 26th, 1337. 1:49pm
Finch let his arrow fly towards the one voice that had been talking to Tina but guess who?! It was Tina who appeared before the arrow and deflected it. Tina's backpack morphed into a rifle and she simed it at Finch and the others and when she pulled the trigger, it shot out firebolts instead bullets. Once she had fired off a few shots, she morphed her backpack back into a backpack then turned back around and dashed off, "Faster." She said as she passed the others in her group and after that, they picked up the pace.

Serana, Joker and Nikki all nodded in agreement with Finch as he let one of his arrows fly, but Tina blocked it, "How did she-" Nikki couldn't finish the sentence before they were pelted with firebolts from an automatic rifle, similar to Serana's. Joker, Nikki and Serana all took cover around a corner, "Come on, Finch!" Nikki yelled out.
Kishi & Azula DragonfistLocation: Luminosa, Kishi's Home
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
Current Weather: Clear
Current Time: August 27th, 1337. 1:47pm
Azula nodded, "Good!" She walked to the boys' rooms, "It'll be a few hours so, just relax until dinner's ready, okay sweetie?" She let Kishi and Ryuuni out of their rooms.

Three and a half hours later...
Current Time: August 27th, 1337. 5:17 pm

Azula was in the kitchen, preparing various ingredients. Some of them included, chicken, grilled onions, diced green peppers and parsley. She put together the meal for four and put it on the dining table, "Dinner's done, everyone!" Both Kishi and Ryuuni jumped up and rushed to the table but waited patiently to eat. Kishi looked at August, "C'mon, time to eat, August!" He said as Azula took her place at the table next to Ryuuni, across from Kishi. Everyone was sat at the table, waiting for August to claim their seat next to Kishi.
Kumii the LoathesomeLocation: Seiryoku Empire
Interactions: SharkBark
Current Weather: Clear
Current Time: August 28th, 1337.

I'm stealing your idea, Shark.

Anything in '][' is Kumii speaking Demonic.

Kumii's eyes scanned over all the new faces as he entered the throne room. Miyahira looked dead to the world on the outside, but Kumii could sense a powerful bloodlust coming from her. His kind of girl. Kizawa had a calm outward demeanor but Kumii sensed an inner struggle with a strange force, there was a faint Spirit Thread leading to Kizawa, it seemed to be partially Spirit but mostly unknown Entity, this confused Kumii.

Next was Aikawa... he was... strange, the aura he gave off screamed power but the way the man conducted himself said anything but. Then was the two royal guards, not as strong, nothing noteworthy of them but the one next to them Domori was interesting, he didn't seem to listen, could he not hear? No, that wasn't it, Heath's voice was prideful and loud so it was something else.

Kumii's analysis of the new faces was complete and he was brought back as Heath asked Kumii what his request was, followed by a gentle tap by Akuhei, "[Yeah, yeah, I know.]" Kumii stepped forward, doing his best to mask his powerful aura, making him seem like an unassuming whelp, "Request, yes. [Let's see.] How about an alliance?" He walked forward, running his fingers along the bannister as he slowly approached the throne, stopped just before the royal precession of guards, "My lord, the nation I come from, is weak. We're weak and we seek protection under another nation's wing, regardless of race or species. My race simply wishes not to die out." Kumii realized quickly, "Oh! I apologize, my lord." Kumii gave Heath a bow, putting his right in front of him and keeping his left arm behind his back, "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Kumii. An emissary to the nation of Demons. My lord wishes to form a pact with your nation... if you would have us."

Kumii glanced up at Heath. Again, that was all a lie but Kumii couldn't reveal his true intentions yet, that all depended on Heath's reply. In all honesty, Kumii is expecting a refusal of his offer because he was prepared to make another offer to get what he wants...

AlphaBlueWolf · Sep 27, 2022

Cora snarled as the Death Knight asked if that was all. No, it wasn't. If he wanted more, he'd show him more. He kept up his wide berth around the Death Knight, essentially playing duck duck goose and waiting for the right moment to strike. Just as he was about to leap, the knight raised his scythe and slammed it to the ground. Cora pounced, only gaining about a foot of ground before he felt a tug on his back paws. He yelped as it sent him skidding back, his claws scoring the ground to try to gain back his footing. One of his front paws reached out, only for him to watch it get ensnared by a thorny vine. It was only then that he realized what was happening. The Death Knight had unleashed vines, bringing all of them down.

Both of his front paws were wrapped in vines, and his whole body fell to the ground with a thud as they pulled him down. He tried to move and felt the vines digging into his fur. Now would be a really good time to be housecat sized. But it's not like he could transform at the moment, the vines blocking him from doing so. He unleashed another tiger roar, which was cut short as vines wrapped around his maw, creating a makeshift muzzle. All he could do now was resonate a growl as he struggled under the weight of the vines. The only thing he was glad about was that Mateo was safe. Cora was immortal, so he'd be fine, and Mateo was in hiding somewhere. Mateo's two mortal allies, plus those damn siblings and maybe the new spirit, would probably die in this situation, if the Death Knight was out to kill them. But it would be fine. Since Mateo was away.

Well, not exactly for long. The phoenix circled overhead, low to the ground as to not give away their location. Mana looked pretty out of it; Mateo realized. She barely said a word, only nodding. She must've been hit really hard by the Death Knight. The guy needed to go, now.

Mateo got up and waved to Mana as he scaled up the depression. The phoenix noticed his retreat and turned his way, flapping its fiery wings after him. He ran until he could see the outline of his friends, and then he skidded on the dirt and stopped. He could see the Death Knight at his full height, but his friends were half their size, pinned to the ground by vines. Cora was completely wrapped, his legs pushed to the ground and his muzzle snapped shut by one of the vines. Mateo's hands balled into fists as he watched the Death Knight tower over Rai. He stood too far away to hear what he was saying, but it couldn't have been good.

He waved the phoenix over and kneeled to the ground, so that he was even more out of sight. The phoenix landed on his outstretched arm and surprisingly its flames didn't even hurt. Well, he was its master. Of course, it wouldn't hurt him.

"Sol, I need you to destroy the vines. But don't hurt my friends." He murmured to the bird on his arm. In response the phoenix took off, Mateo not sure if it had responded.

He watched Sol's form take off to the sky, reaching his friends in no time. The bird opened its beak, and a spout of fire came out. First Cora, then Skyla, and finally Rai was last so that the Death Knight had the least chance of catching on. The fire arched to each vine and spread like wildfire across, but never touched their bodies so they wouldn't be burned as well. It was only a matter of time to see if the phoenix could rival the knight's power. Meanwhile, Mateo attempted to stay away and hidden, in case he needed to ambush the knight.
"Shit!" Finch yelled as he saw his arrow deflected. The one known as Tina appeared out of nowhere and deflected his arrow. Tina's backpack morphed into a weapon that looked very similar to Serana's and soon enough they were pelted with firebolts. The girl fired a few shots and then morphed the rifle back into a backpack. Afterwards the group of criminals picked up pace, Tina moving up to lead them. They couldn't let them catch up to Cyan and Kiko. Or worse, get away.

One of the firebolts connected with his shoulder, as he was the most obvious target, and it erupted in a small fire. He patted it down till it was no more than smoke as Nikki yelled for him. He looked back to see them all cowering behind a corner, taking shelter from the firebolts. His face took on steely determination as he decided to do something that was pretty stupid. He didn't take cover.

Finch took a few steps back towards the corner, aimed with his bow, and rapid fired shots. When a shot connected with one of the firebolts, it made a small explosion in the air and negated the bolt. With the rest of the bolts, he swept his hand, and the air picked them up, sending them off course. It proved to be a little difficult, so the firebolts impacted the building a few inches from their target. He'd defended Nikki, Joker, and Serana with a smoking shoulder and a couple arrows.

"We can't waste time. We need to get to them before they reach Kiko and Cyan." Finch yelled back as he started running, straight for the next building. He leaped, his cape with the bird insignia billowing behind him. His feet hit the ground on the next building with a thud, and he started drawing again as he ran. This time, he aimed a shot at Tina, going for one of the straps of her backpack. She was obviously the top dog, the strongest of the team. If he could weaken the bag on her shoulders, get it to fall off, then she'd be without a weapon. Then they could pick off the weaker members. It would all go great in his head; except he wasn't exactly communicating that with the rest of his team.
August and Kishi had just been messing around while Azula prepared dinner. They just strummed some strings on their lute, trying to find lyrics. They really didn't know what to sing about. All they knew about were the things that had been drilled into their head. The things the Lucero's preached about. The Cabrera's being evil, yeah right, and how Ignis Lucero had slayed the beast. Maybe they could write about that. An updated version of the legend in song form. It would probably make their family less mad about what they were doing. The citizens would like it too, and it fit the theme of the festival. At the same time, there was already material for them to work with, rather than them doing it all by themself. It seemed ideal, even though they hated the legend and its aftermath. It was their first real song, so they were just finding their footing as a musician. Afterwards they could branch out and write about stuff they actually liked.

They strummed and talked with Kishi, and eventually the scent of cooking food hit their nose. They could smell cooking onions and diced peppers. Jokingly, they started singing to Kishi about food, not being able to keep a straight face before breaking down and laughing. They heard plates clattering on the table and looked over just as Azula announced dinner was ready. Both Kishi and his father jumped up, but when they got to the table they simply waited patiently. Kishi told them to come, while Azula took her spot beside Ryunni. There was a spot left for them, right next to Kishi.

They all seemed to wait patiently for their arrival. Augustine gently put their lute down and went over to the table. They scooted the chair out and then took their seat, looking down at the wonderful spread on the table. They then looked up at each of the Dragonfists, wondering if they had the same before meal traditions as the Lucero's. "Uh, do you guys do anything before eating?" They asked kind of awkwardly.

Kumii · Sep 28, 2022

Death KnightLocation: Luminosa
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf SharkBark
Current Weather: Clear
Current Time: August 28th, 1337. 10:47am

The Death Knight saw Mateo's firebird trying to burn the vines but all they did was char them. The Death Knight snapped his head towards the bird and reached out his hand, "You meddlesome bird. You may have switched owners but I've defeated you once before and I'll do it again!" The Knight's fingers extended a bit as a black mist swirl out and towards the bird, trapping it inside a black vortex. The Knight's eyes momentarily flashed a crimson red as a red mist began to mix itself inside the vortex.

It was about this time that the Phoenix would feel its power drain rapidly, "I TOOK SERENA'S POWER..." The mist grew more intense around the Phoenix, "...AND I WON'T HESITATE TO TAKE YOURS TOO!" The Knight yelled out.
Nikki & Joker & SeranaLocation: Blacksmith's shop, Ironshire
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
Current Weather: Raining
Current Time: August 26th, 1337. 1:49pm
Nikki looked at Joker and Serana as Finch ran off, "Don't look at me... he's not my boyfriend." Seranan said, "Not yet." Joker replied which caused to Serana to blush a tiny bit, "SH-SHUT UP, SON OF THE MASK." She said in a hushed yell before she leaped off after Finch. Nikki gave Joker a stern look before leaping off herself, "What...? It's just a harmless joke..." Joker sighed, "You people need to learn how to take a joke, seriously." Joker extended his arm and shot off his grapple and yanked himself up, getting a good amount of air before retracting and firing it off again, zipping himself toward a building and catching up with everyone else.

Tina glanced behind her as she saw the arrow flying at her, it was about to reach her but just before it did, an arm extending from the backpack blocked the arrow, "This is too close." She looked to her other teammates, "GO TAKE OF THEM!! NOW!!!" Three of the members nodded to each other and broke off and intercepted Finch, Nikki, Joker and Serana. One of them tackled Finch to the ground and the other two went after Nikki and Joker but left Serana unattended. Now she face a decision, go after Tina and save Kiko and Cyan or help Finch, Nikki and Joker but risk Tina catching up to them.

Nikki and Joker were both taken by surprise by the sudden takedowns of these grunts. Everytime oker and Nikki tried to escape, the grunts would just match their movements and prevent them advancing any further, "Joker, looks like we've gotta fight..." Joker nodded and they both readied themselves.

Chance that Kiko and Cyan die if Serana stays with Finch and the others: 12%
Chance that Kiko and Cyan are saved if Serana chases after Tina: 57%
Posts until Tina reaches Kiko and Cyan: 3
(You decided what Serana does Alpha. Good luck c
Kishi & Azula DragonfistLocation: Luminosa, Kishi's Home
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
Current Weather: Clear
Current Time: August 27th, 1337. 5:18pm
Azula, Ryuuni and Kishi all watched as August sat down. The asked a question about doing anything before eating, Azula nodded, "Yes, we recite our family creed." With that, Kishi and Ryuuni, lowered their heads and closed their eyes as Azula did the same. Ryuuni started the recital, "We are the Dragonfist Clan. We'll fight with all our strength though, why do we fight? To protect home and family. To preserve balance and bring harmony. For our kind, the true question is... what is worth fighting for? We are... the Dragonfist Clan." Azula, Kishi and Ryuuni all raised their heads, "Let's eat!" Azula said.

Kishi took a bite from the chicken, he smiled genuinely, he's always liked his mom's cooking, "This is great as always, mom." Azula gave him a small smile, "Thank you, honey." She took a bite as well, so did Ryuuni but he simply nodded."

SharkBark · Oct 7, 2022

Mood: Fearful

Rai Ikari

Thunderous Hunter

Bridge to Iron Fortress

"Together, we kill this son of a bitch." Rai had confidently said just a moment ago. But, just as soon as he gained the confidence, he had lost it.

Just as he was charging up Lightspeed Bolt, the Death Knight vigorously slammed his scythe into the ground, cracking it and unleashing stealthy vines that quickly ensnared everyone, including big cat Cora. The vines tightened their grip on Rai and made him grunt in pain as it pulled him to the floor. He had squirmed around relentlessly as he attempted to free himself from the lock the vines had on his body, but like a snake, it's grip got tighter the more he tried.

Just as it began to get to the point where they began to suffocate the man, the Death Knight approached stood over the pinned Rai and began to question him. He asked of the whereabouts of a so called, 'demon lord', which of course, Rai had not recognition to the term.

"What?" Rai sputtered slowly, attempting not to release the air in his lungs. "Who...the hell...is that?"

That was the question at hand here, but before an answer could be revealed, Mateo's blazing Phoenix came swooping down from above towards everyone and began spouting flames from its warm beak. Rai had initially flinched as he saw stream of fire approaching his body, but the flames carefully engulfed themselves onto the vines on impact, charring them to the point where they became fragile.The heat from the substance may be not have touched him, but the extreme heat that emanated from it was enough to make Rai wince as it got near his skin.

Rai pulled himself free from the grip of the fragile vines and quickly stood back up and regained his footing. Lightspeed Bolt was still being charged up, but not at enough power to let it go off from a fall, which was extremely fortunate in the situation. He looked around for Mateo, since he had to be here, but the boy was nowhere to be found in Rai's line of sight. Did he send the bird by itself, or was he somewhere far enough to still be able to command it?

Rai shook his head and dismissed the thought. There were much more important things to deal with before the Phoenix's appearance. It wasn't like Rai could be mad anyways, it had saved his life right now.

His gaze redirected as The Death Knight reached out deviously towards the bird and releases a black mist from his hands that seized the animal. He yelled out something about taking 'Serena's' power for himself, and that he take it from the bird as well.

The knight was in a good position, stagnant and fixated on another target, which was which was optimum key to succes with Lightspeed Bolt. Rai slid his left foot back and shuffled to the side as he held his katana at a low angle. Small bolts slightly formed around his body once again, and Rai lowered his body and began to take in a deep breath. He chose the area he would attack, which he decided on was along the Knight's collarbone, and charged up electricity in his system and katana.

It took a few moments, but once once he had finished, a brief window opened for Rai to lunge forwards towards his target. And the moment he took that step, the static stored in his body released at one moment and propelled him forward. He seemed to disagree for a split second before reappearing at the side of the Knight while going for a sideways slash.

He had lost some power in his strike from the vines winding him, so he wasn't as fast as he intended to be, but it could still be a decent distraction to save the Phoenix. And, if it worked, he could do damage on the Death Knight.

Kumii

AlphaBlueWolf

Code by Serobliss

Mood: Serious

Castro Smith

Blue-Eyed Bandit

Unknown, Ironshire

Aleph's small pinky interlocked with Castro's as they finalized their deal on the creation of his arm. It was set then. Castro would have to take some time away from bringing down the Seiryoku Empire to help Aleph out. It hurt to do so, to let Heath roam around doing his evil deeds, but the least he could do before he ran off to what was most likely his death was help the boy out.

Aleph excitedly showcased Castro's acceptance to Rori, who gave him a thumbs up and then cocked her eyebrow at Castro. He shook his head and dismissed her look and diverted himself back to Aleph, who had given him a new note that was about the materials he had brought for the arm. Then, he took out a handful of a material Castro could only dream of obtaining.

"Fucking elder dragon scales?" he rambled, but only loud enough for Rori and him to hear. "I-what?! How did a kid get his hands on these?

In the pile of materials was also a few chunks of iron, which he assumed was just filler for the prosthetic. Castro quickly seized the materials and dropped the onto the bed, taking a dragon scale and feeling it's texture. These were authentic, really elder dragon scales, alright. It was rough and jagged, like the hide of a dragon, yet a bit smooth at the same time to reveal that it was natural. And not to mention durable, too. These weren't the materials you used for a regular arm. You could smelt them into powerful and resilient weapons you could use in battle, which made Castro begin to question Aleph's background.

But before he could grab the notepad to write on, Aleph took it first and began To scribble a sentence onto it. He showed it to Castro and it read,

"Can I help you make it? Maybe it won't be so hard hard then."

Aleph's naive demeanor put a smile on the bandits face as he read the sentences. Building this arm was dangerous and took skill and immense focus and precision to do. Most of it would be too hard for him to perform, but other parts he could be guiding along th way with. So, Castro took the notepad and wrote.

"Sure, only with some parts though." Then he put, "Also, could you hand me that green bag over there near the cabinets? It has my tools I'm it."

Mood: Intrigued

Akuhei

Shugosha

Unknown, Ironshire

Location - The Unknown Monarchy, the Seiryoku Empire.

View attachment 1025142

Kumii's explanation on his request brought a variety of emotions and looks to the table. Kaminari and Akuhei were a bit shocked at the Demon's display of weakness, as it was something they had not yet seen of him. Domori hadn't heard a word that was spoken, Aikawa and the other guards stifled laughs, and Kizawa and Miyahira were indifferent to the act.

Heath on the other hand was intrigued at the situation. To him, Kumii was so desperate that he walked close to him, called him 'lord', and then bowed before him. He desired for a pact with the empire, as he stayted that he and other demons need protection so that they would not die out. All of this was new to the king, and he didn't exactly know how to respond to it.

"So..you and these 'Demons', are in search of protection." Heath repeated. "I see. Hmm. I have never heard of you, or your race. Or even of a pact with other nations. So, this is or course a bit strange to me."

Heath rubbed his hand on his leg and looked around him.

"I'm sincerely sorry for the trouble you and your people are going through, but as you can see, my Empire isn't fully thriving either. We aren't even known of yet. So, I couldn't just give you people help. You'd need to earn it. So I ask you now. What is in it for us?"

Kumii

AlphaBlueWolf

Code by Serobliss

AlphaBlueWolf · Oct 7, 2022

Mateo pumped a fist into the air as he saw the vines charring, weakening. Sol was doing brilliant work. He just had to watch and wa- or not.

The Death Knight caught on fast. He guessed columns of fire raining down wasn't exactly inconspicuous. He reached a hand out, rattling on about beating the phoenix before. The change in master, aka to Mateo, wouldn't help. Maybe it'd actually hurt, considering Mateo was still ill experienced.

He turned his attention to Sol as the bird cawed in pain. There was a black vortex surrounding it, plus a red mist. The book in his hands started losing temperature, becoming less warm the longer the phoenix was in there. And Mateo was actually bothered by it. The book losing temperature grated on his nerves as if he was ultra-sensitive to the cold. As if it physically pained him to be cold. He didn't understand it. No, he did. The phoenix was in pain. They had a link; he could feel it. Maybe not pain ravaging his body, but he knew that the phoenix was in pain. And Mateo wasn't a cruel person.

He put his hand to the book cover, hoping he could still communicate with it, even if it wasn't by his side. He focused on their link and said in a hushed whisper. "Get out of there. Fly somewhere safe. You did good."

Just as he gave the command, his ears buzzed from the shout. The Death Knight... had taken Serena's powers. Serena, the goddess of death.

Mateo had learned all about the gods. He was most familiar with Lukia, because of Luminosa. He'd studied the deity they worshipped to know more about them. And about the curse, considering he'd played a part in the legend. He gave Ignis Lucero the sword that cut down his ancestor. But he knew of the other gods as well. Some gods showed signs of themselves to mortals, actively participating. Serena was one of the gods who didn't. And now he knew why. This knight, through some means, managed to steal away a goddess's power. She likely didn't have the strength to interact with the material world. Like a ghost. And they were fighting against the powers of that ghost.

The mist grew more intense, the book's temperature dropping more. He chanted messages in his head for the phoenix to get out of there, and it weakly responded. It dropped altitude for a second, looking exhausted. Mateo was scared it would hit the ground. But it pulled up at the last second, seeming to have shred through the mist by dropping. It flew towards Mateo, its speed lagging but still a good pace. Before hitting its master, it banked to the right and started disappearing into the terrain. Mateo breathed a sigh of relief.

Then he watched as Rai sped forward, lightning streaking from his body in an impressive feat of speed. Mateo would never be able to go that fast. He wanted to yell out, tell them what was going on, but just looking at the Death Knight made his stomach squirm for some unimaginable reason. Plus, he wanted to make sure the warmth seeped back into the book.

So, he waited. Because fear wouldn't let him do anything else.
"Fucking elder dragon scales?"

Those were words Rori definitely wasn't expecting. Immediately, she stalked over but tried not to let any emotions run wild on her face. But she was able to verify it at just a glance. The scales were a bluish purple, with a few lighter steel blue scales mixed in. Maybe she wasn't in the business of inventing and engineering like Castro, but she could identify elder dragon scales with ease. She was the Dragonflame Bandit, after all.

She was instantly glad the scales weren't a familiar red color, and that they were more purple and cool colored. Maybe it was one that could control the weather, maybe ice. She got her answer soon enough, as Castro picked them up and took one in his hands. She was about to tell him to be careful, since elder dragon scales weren't normal scales, but he seemed preoccupied on the quality. The one he'd picked up flitted with blue electricity, giving Castro a small static shock. So, lightning. The dragon who these belonged to controlled lightning.

Rori narrowed her eyes at Aleph, trying to get a read on him. His one hand was drumming on the bed, maybe from excitement. Or maybe because he seemed anxious. He didn't want Castro to take away his toy. But he still read like a baby. He was deaf and without an arm, Rori seriously doubted he'd have the strength to kill an elder dragon. Maybe that was insensitive, but it was the truth. And if he had killed one, she thought he'd have a lot more scales, and maybe some other trophies of war to contribute.

The anxiety left the kid's face, and she watched his eyes sparkle once more and he took up the journal. No way he killed an elder dragon, which put into question how he got his hands on those scales. She crossed her arms under her chest. With that outburst from Castro, he definitely wanted to know as well. And maybe he had suspicions of his own.

Aleph gave the journal back to Castro, and she took the opportunity to read over his shoulder. He wanted to help? That seemed impossible to her, considering he only had one arm. Besides, he didn't look nearly as much of a shut in as Castro. Or someone who made things. He wanted to help, without knowing what he even had to do, which was such a little kid thing to do. She read Castro's message as he wrote it out. Maybe he had intended to distract Aleph with that. It seemed obvious to her, considering Castro could just get up and get it. The kid literally had one arm. He was totally trying to distract him.

But Aleph, of course, didn't seem suspicious at all. In fact, his smile was as bright as ever as he nodded and got up. He looked around and then saw the cabinets. He trailed over to it, leaving Rori and Castro as he tried to haul a bag over with only one able hand.

"Hey. How do you think a kid like him got those." She nodded towards the dragon scales as she whispered to Castro. Though, it's not like whispering even mattered.
Finch gritted his teeth as he saw a hand come out of Tina's backpack and deflect the arrow. His arrows weren't working at all, which frustrated him. He was good with arrows. They were his specialty, his sword being his backup. Them not working got him all sorts of riled up. Especially when lives were in danger. He looked down to his swords. His usual sword, a standard one that all guards who worked as swordman were equipped with. Then, his gaze flickered to his new one. The one Kiko had given him, which he could feel was special. He gripped the sword, Kiko's sword. Maybe it was time to switch tactics.

He saw three split off from the group, and then his eyes lost them. He skidded to a halt, looking for them desperately, until he found them. Well, he found them as he was tackled to the ground.

His breath escaped him as he hit the ground hard. He was held in place by one of the goons, tackled to the ground. He tried to squirm out but couldn't. He heard Nikki tell Joker they'd have to fight. It got his brain running. His bow was next to him, and he was unable to reach for it. But he could reach underneath.

Finch placed his hands underneath, right up against his opponent's stomach. He concentrated and generated a strong gust of wind, which pulsed up like two strong geysers and sent the guy sprawling up into the air. He pounced up, grabbing his bow as he did and drew an arrow in less than a second, his adrenaline giving him a rush. He aimed directly up, and watched the arrow careen for the guy's chest, dead center.

He backed up and let out a breath, then did a quick sweep of the area. Three enemies, one currently sprawling in the air. The other two were on Nikki and Joker, preventing them from moving forward. Wait, where was Serana? He panicked for a minute, then let his heart relax as his gaze flicked to her unmistakable flaming hair. Serana was currently unoccupied but looked torn. So, he made it easier for her.

You needed to make split second decisions, and Finch was good at that, weighing the variables and covering all angles. And he knew Cyan and Kiko were still without protection. "Serana! Go protect Cyan and Kiko! There are still some after them. I'll stay here and help Nikki and Joker."

He said, putting away his bow and taking out both of his swords as he prepared for close quarters combat. He'd never dual wielded before, so this would be new. But hopefully he could finish these grunts off quickly. Inside, his mind worried for the two of them. Cyan was new to him, and a little off putting too. But he cared about Kiko. She was the first person he really connected with in this place. The first person who didn't antagonize him or think he went off the walls. She'd given him a chance, and he was grateful for that. Working with her had been a pleasure, and he hated seeing her in so much danger. Danger that he didn't fully understand. He was definitely starting to worry.
Azula nodded at August, saying they recited their family creed. They almost snorted, thinking about their family creed. Basically 'let's murder the Cabrera's'. That was their foundation, their mission. The Lucero's at least. August couldn't give two shits about that mission.

Ryunni started, the other two joining in. Meanwhile, August sat in awkward silence, unsure of what to do. Joining in would probably be rude, considering they weren't a Dragonfist. But it was still awkward that they were the only one not talking, not taking up the recital the family clearly knew by heart. But they stayed silent all the way through, subconsciously playing with their new necklace.

Once the chant was over, their hand dropped from the necklace. Azula prompted them to eat, and they wasted no time. They took every chance they could get at the dinner table to be sneakily disrespectful to their family, but now they were trying to be as respectful as possible. It must've been a new sight for Kishi, because they were always loudmouthed and brash, and irritating with their stunts and disappearing acts.

Augustine loaded their fork up with everything. Chicken, grilled onions, peppers. They got it all to fit on their fork, which didn't seem possible. When they fit it in their mouth, flavors burst and popped, melding together so well. They thought the chefs at the Lucero Estate were good cooks, but this was amazing to them. Maybe it seemed even better now that they had good company.

They looked over to Kishi, who had a genuine smile plastered onto his face. Wow, he wasn't being pissy for once. She'd seen him genuinely mad before, but this was the exact opposite. And it was nice.

He told his mom it was amazing, and they agreed. "Yeah, I think this is the best meal I've ever had." They complimented.

Kumii · Oct 7, 2022

Skyla & Justine & the Death KnightLocation: Luminosa
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf SharkBark
Current Weather: Clear
Current Time: August 28th, 1337. 10:48am

The Phoenix got away, much to the Death Knight's annoyance. Next thing he knew, he was charged by Rai, the Death Knight matched his speed and dodged to the side but didn't counter attack, "Nuisances."

Skyla got up from being freed from the vines. She heard the Death Knight's question for Rai, the Demon Lord? Skyla suddenly became shaken by an overwhelming feeling, the world around her began to distort and shake but remained normal to everyone else. Skyla suddenly heard a genlte voice call out to her, 'Return.' After that, everything in her mind calmed down and the splitting pain went away as fast as it appeared. Skyla just looked confused.

Meanwhile, the Death Knight grew tired of the games, "You're all useless to me. I'll scour the world to find him. His loyalty is shaky, I aim to fix that even if it means I have to go to war with the world." With that, the groups' encounter with the Knight was over and was gone.

Skyla looked relaxed as the Knight vanished, "Go to war with the world? Just to find one person?" She asked.

Status (Ashe): Calm
Status (Justine): Shaken but able to fight.
Status (Mana): Calmed
Status Effects: Firus Ultim fire shield remaining time: 9 minutes.
God mode moment, need to take control of the characters for this post, sorry guys :c
Nikki & Joker & SeranaLocation: Somehwere outside of Ironshire
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
Current Weather: Raining
Current Time: August 26th, 1337. 1:50pm
Serana looked at Finch as he commanded she go after Tina. She nodded, "Be careful, Sniper..." She headed off towards Tina, leaving Finch, Joker and Nikki behind, she had a good feeling about this plan though.

Meanwhile, two grunts stood in front of Nikki and Joker, one was large and bulky and the other was lanky but quick. Nikki swung her saber at the lanky dude but, to her surprise, he dodged it and countered quickly and in one swift motion. Nikki barely had time to react but she managed to parry the counter with her off-hand saber, 'Fucking Christ, he's quick.' Joker watched with surprised as the lanky dude matched Nikki's speed, "Hey, Masquerade. Pay attention, we're fighting!" The bulky dude threw a punch at Joker and he backstepped but the punch was followed up with another that Joker managed to block but he still took a bit of damage from it, "Hey, come on, man. That's no fair!" Joker sneakily tossed a grenade at the man but it turned out to be a flash grenade that blinded the man, which allowed Joker to roundhouse kick the man.

Unfortunately, the kick didn't do much but gently turn the man's head, "Oh... shit..." The man grabbed Joker's leg, blinded and threw him a good distance. He waited for his vision to return.

The grunt before Finch took all of his attacks, even the arrow. The man didn't die, his eyes widened as he pulled his sword out and he launched toward the ground next to Finch. The guy cracked his neck and snapped the arrow in his chest. The man who stood before Finch was 6 foot tall with an average build but had deceptive durability, as was evident from the man taking a freaking arrow to the heart, "Is that all you got, babyface?" The man readied himself for a second then unleashed two successive strikes which sent forth gusts of wind toward Finch in addition to the normal strikes.

While all this was going on, Serana chased after Tina but she had a good distance to cover. That said, she wasn't far enough away that she couldn't see Tina, she definitely could and she picked up her pace.

Posts until Tina reaches Cyan and Kiko: 2
Kishi & Azula DragonfistLocation: Luminosa, Kishi's Home
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
Current Weather: Clear
Current Time: August 27th, 1337. 5:19pm
Azula blushed slightly when August compliment, "Oh, stop it, dear." Kishi looked over at August being all respectful like, "Oh, so you CAN be respectful." He said. Ryuuni glanced at Kishi, "What do you mean?" Kishi sighed and glanced at Ryuuni, "I always get the brash and irritating version of August."

Ryuuni swallowed another bite of the food, "Well, I can only imagine that they get the arrogant and bratty version of you so I can assume it's a new scenario for you both." Kishi reacted as you would expect, with a scoff and a another bite. Meanwhile, Azula was letting this happen, "Welcome to our family, August, honey." She joked as she shook her head. Azula seemed to be the only sane and normal one in the family. Kishi was arrogant and bratty, Ryuuni was goofy and very not serious and Azula was calm, serene and level-headed.

As a family, they functioned perfectly though, keeping each other in check. It didn't seem like it at first but Kishi kept Ryuuni in check, Ryuuni kept Kishi in check and Azula kept both Ryuuni and Kishi in check and Kishi and Ryuuni both kept Azula in check. Kishi and Ryuuni began arguing indistinctively until Kishi turned to August, "August, what do you think is better. Sweet or sour? I think sweet is better because it has a calming effect on the mind." Kishi pointed to Ryuuni with his thumb, "The Old Man seems to think sour is better because it has 'distinctiveness' or whatever." Ryuuni scoffed, "If you're gonna insult my choice, at least get my words right! I said sour has identity!" Kishi shook his head, "Same difference, dad!"
Kumii the LoathesomeLocation: Seiryoku Empire
Interactions: SharkBark
Current Weather: Clear
Current Time: August 28th, 1337.

I'm stealing your idea, Shark.

Anything in '][' is Kumii speaking Demonic.

Kumii listened as Heath explained how he's never heard of 'pacts' between nations. Was this guy even a king? Alliances are usually beneficial for both parties involved. Then he asked the big question, 'What's in it for us?' and suddenly Kumii demeanor changed completely, "Strength." Kumii's facial expression turned sharp, "You gain the immortal army of Demons as an ally. You gain exclusive trade rights to our resources." Kumii put his hands in his pockets, "Honestly, I could turn that question back at you." Kumii dropped the honorifics now, "Check." He muttered quietly.

Kumii at the guards around Heath, "The more astute among you might've noticed something change within me. No, your eyes aren't deceiving you. When I said 'we're weak'. I lied, at least in Spirit standards, most of us Demons are weak. I am certainly not." It was true, Kumii's aura completely changed and became more intense but he remained calm and made no threatening moves. He glanced back at Akuhei and Kaminari, "Apologies for deceiving you guys." He turned back to Heath, "Truthfully, I would've used you all. My true goal is to free my sister from the grasp of the Death Knight. For those who are in the dark about who exactly that is... allow me to fill you in." Kumii locked eyes with Heath as he spoke, not paying attention to the others but still keeping them in his mind, "Imagine me... right now... my aura... but 100x stronger. To put that into perspective for you, he drained the Goddess Serena of all her power and reduced to her a pure spirit form. Basically, she is unable to reside within the physical world anymore until her power is restored."

Kumii kept a serious tone as he kept his eyes locked on Heath, "Your boys behind me told me that you don't like anyone stronger then you. The Death Knight is a threat to not only the whole world but your kingdom as well. Which is why I offer my services to you and you alone." Kumii's tone was dead serious. Kumii turned around, "Now I realize this is a lot to drop on you so suddenly but you have two options here. I realize and respect the strength you give off, Heath, however, when it comes to the entity known as Death Knight, you stand no chance, even with your entourage. So option 1, you team up with the Demons, gain our strength and defeat the Death Knight to rid the world of a self-proclaimed God. Option 2, you recognize my words and take them into consideration but do nothing as he poses no immediate threat to you but later realize you should've done something when you had the chance to."

Kumii glanced at Kaminari, "And that's checkmate." Kumi's plan was rather brilliant if you thought about it. He'd use Heath's dislike of anything stronger then himself as leverage. He'd put himself in the crosshairs by revealing his true power then shift that aim towards the Death Knight. If Heath refused Kumii's help, Kumii would make the Death Knight aware of the Seiryoku Empire and the threat it posed. The Seiryoku Empire would fight back and Kumii would help them, ultimately leading to the defeat of the Death Knight regardless of the outcome that happened. For Kumii, either scenario was a win-win because the defeat of him meant that his sister was freed.

For Heath though, it meant trading one super-powered entity for another, which would begin to enact another series of events with Kumii revealing just strong he truly was...

SharkBark · Oct 9, 2022

Mood: Fearful

Rai Ikari

Thunderous Hunter

Bridge to Iron Fortress

Rai flew towards the ground and hit it with a painful thud as he flew past the Death Knight. His attack had failed miserably. The Knight was superior when it came to speed between him and Rai, and every other attribute as well. Now he laid flat on his back in pain with his katana a few feet from him.

"Fuck!" Rai heaved. The effect of his Lightspeed Bolt had backfired on him, and even though he had a high resistance to volts, it messed with his nervous system a bit.

Now, even though he had the clear advantage over everyone, the Death Knight was no longer weary of pursuing the group. He addressed them all as useless, and then said something once more about the man he was attempting to find, and that he'd go to war with the world if he had to. And finally, he vanished, instilling peace among the area again.

"Go to war with the world?" Skyla repeated. "Just to find one person?"

Rai slowly got up from the ground, limped over to his katana and picked it up. The speed he was going at was too intense to be canceled by the force of the ground, so just as the attack damaged Rai, it completely shattered his katana as well. All that was left was a short stub of jagged steel connected the hilt. The rest of the blade was in tiny pieces on the ground.

Rai threw the now useless blade to the side and responded to Skyla. "This person must be pretty goddamn important to him then. I mean, look at the shit he did just to try to get their location."

It was just Skyla, Rai, Justine, and Ashe now. Mateo must've still been gone with the little girl. Rai could only hope they were safe, and he could actually imagine because of the Phoenix.

"Mateo!" he called out. "It's safe to come on out now! Is your friend okay?"

Kumii

AlphaBlueWolf

Code by Serobliss

Mood: Serious

Castro Smith

Blue-Eyed Bandit

Unknown, Ironshire

As Aleph attempted to drag over Castro's bag of heavy tools, Rori engaged in conversation with him. She had asked him if he had any idea of how the boy had obtained Elder Dragon Scales.

"I was thinking the exact same thing." he responded. "The only conclusion I can come up with is something family related. Maybe his parents slayed one and passed them down to him."

He fiddled with another scale and accidentally received yet another electric shock, causing him to jolt back in pain.

"An elder dragon that possessed lightning magic. There's no way the kid finished one off himself."

Castro had heard many tales of elder dragons in his life. Being a bandit, it was a high tier treasure you could possess and sell for a shit ton of money. Just one of these was worth more than the bounties of other bandits. With these, Castro could buy an impeccable amount of things, and could live his dreams out. He could probably pay off his bounty with enough of them as well. They were just that-

Wait a minute. Castro thought to himself. I could pay of my fucking bounty!

Castro scooped a ton of scales into a pile and began to count them, thinking of their worth at the same time. His bounty was 18 million yen, and yeah, that was a lot. But with at least 4,000 elder dragon scales, he could get close to that. Though, the boy didn't have 4,000 scales. But, his family probably did.

"Okay, it's official." Castro started. "If there are anymore of these left after I finish the arm, he can use them to pay me."

Mood: Intrigued

Akuhei

Shugosha

Unknown, Ironshire

Location - The Unknown Monarchy, the Seiryoku Empire.

View attachment 1025142

As it was now revealed, Kumii had a vigorous deal that he was presenting to the table. The moment Heath had asked what was in it for him, he began explaining the pact.

'Strength', as Kumii had stated, was one of the many perks that came along with joining forces. An entire army of immortal 'Demons' as allies of the Seiryoku Empire. Heath raised his eyebrows at the immortal part. He immediately began to fantasize about the power he could posses from such troops. His highly skilled and trained samurai's and warriors alongside Demons that could not be killed. It was an interesting team-up, to say the least.

Kumii also mention that he could gain access to voluptuous trade rights to the resources he had. The Seiryoku Empire was good on the necessary resources needed to keep their economy and people thriving, but Heath couldn't help but imagine what Kumii might have. They could have things that the king couldn't even fathom to imagine existed.

Kumii then admitted that he had been deceiving them before when he had said that they were weak. It was obvious to Heath, Domori, Kaminari, and Miyahira by now, but the others were still convinced by his act of weakness. It was from there that the entire mood of the room changed. Kumii gave off a feeling that only someone truly powerful could possess. Intensity.

Akuhei and Kaminari nodded as Kumii apologized for his lies, since that wasn't what they were focused on right now. Everyone in the throne room was completely silent and fixated on the words that exited the Demon's mouth. Even Aikawa, and the only person he ever took serious was Heath.

It was then revealed that Kumii's sole intention was to return his sister back to safety from the grips of the person he addressed as, 'The Death Knight'. A cold feeling rushed through the bodies of the Shugosha and other warriors, but Heath remained composed as he intently listened to the way Kumii described the Knight. It was Kumii, but over 100 times stronger. This so called Death Knight had sapped the energy of a Goddess named Serena, and she was now reduced to a 'pure spirit form'.

Heath could feel himself warming up at the very mention the Knight's feats. As Kaminari had stated before, he was not very fond of people who were more powerful then him. So sitting here in front of Kumii who spoke of someone who could drain a goddess of her power wasn't exactly sitting well with him. And Kumii knew that to be true.

He mentioned that the two Shugosha had told him about Heath's distaste for people superior to him. Akuhei and Kaminari nervously shot glances at the king, but he kept his eyes locked onto Kumii. The Death Knight was a threat to both the world and his kingdom as the Demon had explained. So his only true hope to keep his foundation alive was to take on Kumii's offer.

And finally, the ultimatum was released. The king's only two choices were both hellish to hear. Especially when Kumik started off by saying that Heath had no chance against the entity.

So, he could either team up with the Demons to defeat the Death Knight, or he could decide to decline offering their help and regret it later on.

All of the Seiryoku troops gazed upon Heath and he leaned forward in his throne, clasped his hands together, and stared into the floor. He pondered intensely on his choice, knowing that there was a bad outcome for each option.

With option one, he could gain power and resources, but at the cost of having him or his empire be slain in battle. It wasn't as if he needed the Demons, but the thought of the Death Knight cornering then someday was frightening. They'd be unprepared and completely outmatched by a single man. Even Heath knew it. His entire empire would fall if that day came. Everything he worked hard to build would crumble in one encounter.

Option two only projected those fears even more. It meant sending off Kumii and returning back to his normal life, but living in constant fear of the Death Knight attacking as well. And once again, no matter how hard he trained his troops, they'd be mere scum to the superior entity.

With that, Heath deeply sighed and locked his eyes back on Kumii.

"An encounter with such a being would be," the king started, his tone heavy and serious. "...disastrous. And I cannot bare to think of what would happen to my people if we were to fight him alone. My empire. My precious creation that took decades to build and perfect. All lost to one man."

Heath slowly came down from his throne and approached Kumii. The royal guards and braced themselves to attack the Demon, just in case he decided to strike Heath at close range, but the king waved a hand and dismissed their worries immediately.

Once Heath was in front of Kumii, towering over the Demon, he outstretched his hand and looked him in the eye.

"I choose option one." he announced. "In exchange, I offer you all of the Seiryoku Empire army and myself as allies to your nation. Any resources of mine you need are at your expense. My blacksmiths will construct any gear or weapons you determine necessary to defeat him, and you are free to-"

Heath gulped and clears his throat at the fear of what his citizens would think about letting Kumii's nation reside alongside them.

"You and your troops are free to camp out at the Seiryoku Empire as we prepare to confront the Death Knight."

Heath turned his attention to the others in the room. "Prepare yourselves. We are soon to be at was against a one man army."

Kumii

AlphaBlueWolf

Code by Serobliss

Kumii · Oct 10, 2022

Skyla & Justine Location: Luminosa
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf SharkBark
Current Weather: Clear
Current Time: August 28th, 1337. 10:49am
Oddly enough, Ashe was no where to be found but this didn't bother Skyla, not anymore. It slightly bothered Justine but Skyla approached her and put hand on her shoulder and gazed into her eyes but said nothing. She let go and stood next to Rai, he commented the thing the knight did to get his target's location, "Yeah..."

She noticed Rai limping, "You're hurt... Mateo can fix you up, I hope." Skyla had genuine concern in her voice. She heard Rai calling out for Mateo to come out. Skyla didn't say much after he did because after he did, Skyla had another splitting headache and an overwhelming feeling of something pulling her off to the Desert. Skyla yelped in pain and held her head, "Damnit..." Skyla let go of her head as the feeling faded away, 'What is going on...? What is with these splitting headaches and overwhelming feelings.' Skyla shook herself out of it, 'I can't give in to them... not yet, I have to help Mateo first.'

Justine noticed Skyla in pain and went to comfort her the best she could but there wasn't much she could actually do. Luckily, Skyla looked to be alright after a minute.
Kumii the LoathesomeLocation: Seiryoku Empire
Interactions: SharkBark
Current Weather: Clear
Current Time: August 28th, 1337.

I'm stealing your idea, Shark.

Anything in '][' is Kumii speaking Demonic.

Kumii looked up at Heath as he towered over him but he showed no fear. He simply had a smile, he didn't even mind that, momentarily, the guards were ready to attack should Kumii try to attack. Cute that they think they'd could try with Mei and Jin waiting for something like to happen. Kumii nodded as Heath graciously agreed, "It's settled then. The Demon Nation is now your ally!" Heath added a bonus to the offer, one that surprised Kumii a bit, "Oh? Don't mind if we do." Kumii raised his hand up and waved in a 'come here' motion which was meant for the waiting pair, Mei and Jin. They almost immediately arrived, kneeling next to Kumii, "Allow me to introduce my contingencies were you guys to attack me. On the left is the lovely Mei and on the right is the mischevious Jin. Demon Twins of the High Order, the next strongest Demons... compared to me."

They radiated a weaker but still rather strong aura, "We are at your service. Please use us well." They said in unison. Kumii glanced at the two, "If you don't mind, they'll remain in your kingdom for now to keep watch on our new allies. As well as I'll send for a few Demon blacksmiths to teach your blacksmiths how to properly smelt and forge Demonsteel ore and make Demonsteel weapons." Kumii turned to Kaminari and Akuhei and smiled then walked past them. He got to an open space and his wings sprouted from his back, "Oh, one more thing, now that we've made an alliance, I CAN count on your assistance within reason... correct? Specifically, I'd want the assistance of them." Kumii pointed at Kaminari and Akuhei, well Kaminari specifically, "He radiates a powerful aura and I feel he'd be very useful with my goal."

AlphaBlueWolf · Oct 12, 2022

The knight countered Rai's attack, moving out of the way and landing Rai on the ground with a hard thud. Skyla broke free, Cora doing the same. The knight exclaimed about how they were all useless and that he would scour the world, even go to war with it to find him. This Demon Lord. Cora pounced with a hissing roar, catching nothing but air as he skidded on the ground, his paws sending up dust. The knight had already fled the scene.

Mateo fell back onto his hands from his crouched position, breathing heavily as the knight vanished from his sight. He wiped the sweat from his brow, then used a trick he taught his patients whenever they couldn't breathe. He counted on his hand, up to five as he breathed in. Then he put the fingers down, breathing out for a count of five. He repeated it until he could get his breathing under control.

He heard Rai's voice call out for him, saying that it was safe to come out. He asked about his friend, and he remembered about Mana. He pulled his sleeve down. That one had been close. The whole arm below his wrist was covered in black sludge. It slowly started to recede, now that he had calmed from the negative emotions the Death Knight radiated. He needed it to go now, so that he could be strong enough to help his small friend. She was depending on him, and she looked to be pretty out of it. She needed him right now.

Mateo pushed his sleeve back down and started wading out of his hiding place. Once the others had a line of sight on him, he said, "Yeah. I left her a little way from the battle. I'm gonna go get her, stay here. Cora!"

Upon hearing his name, the big cat marched over to Mateo and ruffled out his fur. He lowered himself and allowed Mateo to climb on without the teen even having to ask. Then they sped off, Mateo giving Cora directions. Somewhere along the way, the phoenix had popped back in, jumping back into the book now that Mateo no longer needed it.

Once they made it, Cora slid down into the depression and padded his way over to Mana. Mateo slid off his back and crouched down next to the little demon. He gave her a smile. "The fights over. That knight left. We can go back and get you properly introduced to my friends." He pointed to big cat Cora, "And you can even ride on Cora."
Castro gave his own little theory, one that proposed the kid's family had slain one and passed it on to him. Maybe he was right. Who's to say? Neither of them knew too much about this kid. He'd just shown up one day, suddenly asking for the Blue-Eyed Bandit. Rori had never once seen him before, but then again this was a huge city. She didn't know a lot of people here, much less some random kid in a wool jacket who happened to have a bunch of elder dragon scales. Maybe his family had really slain one, because that was the only explanation. But that idea just got her riled up.

Maybe the kid's parents were rich and had commissioned for an elder dragon to be slain, or maybe they'd done it themselves. The only way they could know for sure was to ask, and Rori was trying to figure out if she cared enough to make it her business. Did this really matter? The fact that they were elder dragon scales made her want to stay. Normal dragon scales were less of a rarity, considering Dragon Slayers used them all the time. But they were elder dragon scales. Anyone who could get ahold of those were either super powerful or had connections.

But besides that, it made her sick thinking anyone would want to kill an elder dragon. It'd be different if the thing had attacked first, and the people were only trying to defend themselves. But there were people who actively went to seek out dragons to kill them. Dragon Slayers. And they didn't care about the fact that dragons were living beings, having a conscience and were capable of thought. And especially elder dragons, who were capable of speaking. They were just like a mortal or spirit; except they were quadrupedal and were naturally connected to the arcane elements. To Rori, killing a dragon was the same exact thing as murder. Especially elder dragons, who could hold a conversation with you.

"Be careful with those." Rori chided as Castro was given another static shock. Honestly. But Rori had to agree with his next statement. There was no possible way that Aleph could've beaten one all by himself.

Rori sighed as Castro started scooping the scales up into a pile. He didn't listen, did he? If one could give him a static shock, a bunch of those scales would be able to call down a whole bolt of lightning. Yeah, she was being dramatic, but you get it. They were powerful things, and not to be toyed with, or played around with like they were iron or some other mineral. Dragon scales, especially elder dragon scales, were not your common material.

Castro then remarked about how if there were any left, Aleph would use them to pay Castro. "Don't get your hopes up. There's probably only enough for the arm."

If you thought Rori was an optimist, think again. She sold things to you how they were. She thought telling the truth was better than lying for the sake of someone's feelings. And she'd do that even to a kid like Aleph.

Her attention turned, her body almost jumping as she heard a clattering. Aleph had knocked over the bag to the floor, making it easier to drag over using his one arm. As he pulled, using all his strength, the different tools rustled around. They sounded like some engineering disaster, with how loud they were. Aleph seemed to pay no mind to it. Or maybe because it sounded like a faint whisper to him, rather than a whole clanging disaster.

He pushed the last stretch, setting it next to Castro while looking pleased with himself, while also trying not to let how out of breath he was show.
"You're the one who's gonna need to be careful." Finch said, half joking as Serana rushed off. Though, he knew just how grave the situation was. Serana was going to deal with the mastermind, the girl with the backpack of wonders. She needed all the luck she could get, to keep herself safe as well as Kiko and Cyan.

The man he'd struck came down hard onto the ground, making cracks form on the stone of the roof. Finch's initial thought was that his body had hit the roof, but it was really his feet, stomping down and landing with perfect precision. Finch watched, his eyes widened, as the man cracked his neck and snapped the arrow that protruded directly from his heart. Just who the hell were these guys?

Then the guy challenged him, calling him Babyface, and snapped out with two attacks. Finch pulled up his swords, crossing them and making an X shape to block the oncoming attack. The blades collided, sending Finch back an inch. The second strike managed to unbalance him, but his cape caught the wind and spread as if they were wings.

He looked towards the other two, facing their own opponents. Nikki's speed was matched, while Joker was going up against a guy twice his size. They were up against themselves, he realized. Nikki faced a guy who could match her speed, while Joker's sneaky tactics didn't work on a guy who could block it like a martial artist. They seemed to both be martial artists, when Joker wasn't throwing his handcrafted gadgets. And what was Finch up against? A guy who could handle repeated attacks, like Finch himself, and get back up again. A guy who had a sword and could use wind magic to unbalance his opponent. They'd never be able to beat themselves, only match them. They'd be running in circles forever. That's why Finch was determined to break the chain.

He started running calculations in his head, looking for all the best angles. "Well, not really." He replied to the guy in front of him. "But I'm afraid you won't be finding out."

Then, suddenly, he raced for the speedy guy, moving so that he was directly in the guy's back and out of sight. He jabbed a sword into him, then yelled out loud. "Switch!"

The idea was that they would rotate. Finch would take Speedy, Nikki would take Joker's bulky opponent, and Joker would take Mr. Arrow to the Chest. Why face themselves when they could face off against someone less challenging? Someone where their strengths could apply. Two people shoving the same amount of force at each other would never get anywhere. That's why you needed to balance it out. And that's what Finch was hoping to accomplish.

He waved his other sword at Nikki, then pointed to the big guy to direct her. Then hopefully Joker would take a hint and switch to Finch's previous opponent.
August gave a little smile at Azula which turned to a scowl as Kishi exclaimed about them being respectful. "Yes, for your information."

Kishi then explained to Ryuuni about how they were always brash and irritating. 'How about loudmouthed too? Do you wanna throw obnoxious in their as well?' August thought sarcastically in their head. They didn't really care, actually. They just stuck their tongue out and said, "Exactly," when Ryuuni spoke about Kishi being arrogant and bratty.

Azula joked, welcoming August to the absurdity of their family, but it seemed that August was showing faint hints of their mischievous nature. They would bring it right back at Kishi and Ryuuni. Their cheeks grew light pink and for once they were quiet. Not a peep from August, who usually never stopped running their mouth and ranting. They took the scene in, Azula smiling at them, Kishi and Ryuuni playfully going back and forth. They smiled as well and enjoyed it, feeling immensely happy.

They sat and ate, listening to the conversation around them, until it was directed at them at least. Kishi and Ryuuni had started arguing about what was better, sour or sweet. Kishi said sweet, because it had a calming effect. While Ryuuni liked sour because it had identity, in his own words. August put a finger on their chin as they considered it.

"Sorry, Kishi. Sour. I like a challenge." They gave a grin as they awaited the outrage from their best friend. "Though, if you want a real challenge, you need something that'll bring the heat. Now that's the best."

Kumii · Oct 13, 2022

ManaLocation: Luminosa
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
Current Weather: Clear
Current Time: August 28th, 1337. 10:50am
Mana looked at Mateo and Cora. Mateo gave her a smile and she gave one back, she was feeling better, recovered a bit, "Ride on Cora, eh?" She noticed Cora grew in size, "Are you sure that's he's okay with that?" Mana got up and knelt in front of Mateo, looked at him for a second then hugged him, "Thank you." She was referring to the fact Mateo came back for her, "For coming back I mean... not everyone does..." Mana hugged a bit tighter then let go, her cheeks turned a light shade of pink, "Uh... s-sorry, I don't know why I did that..." She stood up, her face color returning to normal, "I'm feeling much better though so I'll pass on riding Cora today." She glanced back at him and winked, "Maybe another time."

She sprouted wings but they came to a rest on her back, she felt like she could have her true form, partially at least. With the wings also came a little stubby horn on her forehead above her left eye which parted her hair slightly around it, "Don't worry, Mattie, I'll hide it before we enter Luminosa."

Bond with Mana (+15)
Nikki & Joker & SeranaLocation: Somehwere outside of Ironshire
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
Current Weather: Raining
Current Time: August 26th, 1337. 1:51pm

Nikki's opponent felt a sharp pain in his arm which caused him to to look at Finch, "Why you--" He immediately went for a attack which came quick. At first, Nikki was confused but she saw Finch point his sword at Joker's bulky opponent, "Got it." She rushed to take aggro off Joker but intercepting one of the big guy's punch, which barely moved her, "Joker, go take care of the other guy!" She motioned to the guy running towards Finch. Joker nodded and sprinted off after him.

Joker grappled to a nearby ledge and swung, at full sprinting speed into a swinging kick, which sent the man flying forward, "It's a merry-go-round! Haha!" Joker was at the peak of the swing when he let go and leaped a further 5 feet into the air. While at the peak of this jump, he threw a King of Diamonds next to the guy's head, "Hail to the king, baby." Joker held a remote detonator and clicked it, causing the card to explode and killing his opponent? He landed on a nearby ledge and struck a pose, "I'm the Ace of these Spades!"

Nikki shook her head at Joker's one-liners and smiled lightly then she focused on her opponent, "Now then, big guy... how best to take you down...?" The big guy cracked his knuckles and grabbed the earth beneath him and literally tore it upwards, which caused Nikki to become off balance before receiving a shoulder tackle from the big guy. Nikki yelped and slid across the ground a few feet, she got up and groaned, "Okay... so you bend the Earth. I've got tricks of my own!" In a flash, Nikki disappeared and reappeared closer to him, performing a a slash across the man's chest then kicking him away a few feet.

Meanwhile, Serana managed to get close enough to Tina so her at the peak of her next jump, Serana's eyes flashed with fire as she let loose a fireball towards Tina. Tina glanced behind her and saw the Fireball coming at her but she was too late to block or dodge it and she got hit, knocking her down and forcing a fight between Tina and Serana.

A little more ahead, Cyan heard something come from behind, "Was that--" Kiko stopped and looked at Cyan, "Hmm?" Cyan looked around behind them, "I heard fighting..."

Nikki looked over to see Serana manage to knock Tina out of the sky mid-jump, "Finch! She did it! The girl did it!" Then a look of realization hit NIkki's face, "Wait, Finch, she DID it! Now she may have to fight Tina! That's can't be good!" She yelled out to Finch as she kept focus on the big guy.

Posts until Tina INEVITABLY wins and kills Serana: 6
Kishi & Azula DragonfistLocation: Luminosa, Kishi's Home
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
Current Weather: Clear
Current Time: August 27th, 1337. 5:21pm
Kishi put his hand sover his heart to mimic being hurt, "Oh! My feelings! They've been hurt!" Kishi scoffed and dismissed them with his hand, "Pah, you guys are both losers." Meanwhile, Ryuuni nodded in victory and gave August a high-five. They both looked at August, even Azula did, they looked confused. Did August not know? "August... we... us Dragonkin have an incredible resistance to hot foods..." Thanks to their immunity to fire, they also had a resistance to anything hot as well, even if it was food related, "Spicy foods barely have an effect on us."

Azula nodded, "Exactly, one of the many benefits of having a fire immunity!"

AlphaBlueWolf · Oct 14, 2022

Mateo gave a grin at Mana asking if Cora was ok with them riding on him. He was always ok with Mateo, so Mana wouldn't be too much to ask for. Besides, she seemed so out of it before that he thought she'd need someone to carry her. Cora just looked away, his two elongated fangs pointing outwards like daggers.

Mana seemed to stare intently at Mateo. The next second, she pounced on him with a hug. She thanked him, for coming back, saying not everyone would. He let her explain with his arms out, shocked by the sudden hug. Then he wrapped his arms around her and fully accepted the embrace. "Of course I came back." He murmured into her ear. "I promised I would, right?"

Mana let go, her cheeks a light pink. She stood up, and Mateo did as well. And boy was there a noticeable difference in their height. Mana was the size of a little girl, while Mateo was a very tall teenager. He easily towered over her, but he was by no means menacing. In all honesty, Mana could probably come off scarier than he could.

She apologized, while Mateo just shook his head. There was no need for apologies. She said she'd pass on riding Cora. Another time, she told him. "Sorry, but this was a onetime special. I'm afraid you missed it." Cora spoke, with a radiating growl coming through in his voice. Maybe it was intended, maybe not. He always sounded different in that form. More grown up, and more hostile. Like a huge predator, which technically he was right now, given his tiger form.

They watched as the little girl sprouted wings, and a stubby little horn that grew above her left eye. This must've been her true form, just like how Cora could choose to show his ears and tail in his humanoid form. Mana must've seen his worried expression, because she reassured him that she'd hide it when they entered the city. He knew Luminosa had the same views as a lot of towns and cities regarding spirits, thinking they were evil. He didn't want Mana to have to go through getting attacked again. Speaking of which, he wanted to have a talk with Rai and Skyla about the siblings. He didn't know where Ashe had gone off to, but he figured Justine should join him, because he really didn't trust her. He didn't work with people who had prejudices against spirits, and he wouldn't tolerate it either.

"Ok but be careful when we get to the gate. Did you see the towers? There are Lightkeepers up there, and they watch the front gate when they don't have to operate the Beacons. Which is weird, considering you'd think someone would've come to help us during that fight."

Cora lowered his big form to the ground, helping Mateo to get on and waited for him to be nice and comfortable before he started making his way back. Mateo watched out for Mana, making sure she hadn't lied to him about feeling better. He wouldn't argue with her if she wanted to travel her own way, but if she started lagging behind, he would open his mouth as a healer.

Finally, they pounded back to where the others waited. He looked up to the towers, each painted with different spiraling colors, and felt an unease creep into him. Where were the guards, and the Lightkeepers for that matter? He looked back to Mana, hoping she'd be careful in the city. Luminosa was probably the worst place, for either the cursed or spirits, to slip up.

He hopped off Cora, who shrank down to his normal house cat size. His elongated fangs disappeared, now normal canines. Mateo bent his legs, held out his arms, and let Cora jump up into them. He straightened up, looking real dignified with a cat now sitting on his shoulders. He stood next to Mana, facing the group, and put a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder.

"This is Mana. I met her before... before we left for Luminosa. I agreed that she could come with us, so long as you two were ok with it." He gave a glare towards Justine, making it clear that her opinion on the matter was completely invalid. And in the same right, so were Rai and Skyla's opinions, considering Mana was already here. Though, he still made a point to ask them, and would value whatever their opinions happened to be. Well, everything besides the girl needs to die. Now that's where he drew the line.

He gave a wide smile, sounding like he was a little brother asking his big siblings for something.
Finch suffered the attack from Nikki's previous opponent, being too distracted on directing the woman to his merry go round technique. He winced but held his position upon hearing the message from Nikki. She understood. He smiled, which must've looked strange as he'd just gotten a hit to the face. He kept his sword in the guy as he heard Nikki direct Joker, who went after Finch's previous opponent.

As the battle got going again, so did Finch. He took out his sword, then made a slash for the guy's back with his second one. He jumped back, hearing the one liners from Joker and then saw the explosion. What exactly had he done? Well, the more pressing question, would the guy be dead this time? He couldn't have survived that, right? Arrow to the chest? Ok, Finch could sort of understand surviving that. Getting his head exploded? Now not even that guy could survive that.

Finch made a strike with his sword, then another with his offhand one. He could hear the earth break and snuck a glance at an unbalanced Nikki. Though she quickly got back on her feet, seeming to disappear for a split second and then reappear behind the big guy for an attack. He heard an impact and thought it was Nikki, focusing back on his fight for his fourth slash on Speedy.

But then he heard Nikki's voice, yelling at him. Serana did it? She stopped Tina from reaching Kiko and Cyan? He smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. But that didn't last long, considering Nikki exclaimed about how this meant Serana would likely have to fight Tina. All by herself. He knew with the skill that Tina showed, Serana would need help. "We'll just have to focus on beating these guys and giving her support then! Get rid of them quickly!"

Finding a new, powerful surge of determination, Finch let out a lightning-fast slash. He'd imbued the slash with weather magic, making it a flash of wind. But instead of just wind, a wide arc of magma went flying towards his opponent. He looked just as shocked as the guy must've felt, seeing that come right out of the slash. The slash made with Kiko's gift.
The truth was, August really didn't know. They tilted their head to the others confusion over their statements about spicy food. They were completely ignorant to spirits and their powers, considering they didn't really teach you that stuff at schools in Luminosa. They taught you their propaganda, what they wanted you to know, rather than what you may actually want to learn about. Even if August had taken some interest in the powers of spirits, they would've never been able to learn about that stuff. Besides, they were homeschooled, which really did cut them off from a lot of people their age. That's why they cherished their relationship with Kishi so much, even though they could give him a hard time about certain things. They wouldn't know what to do with themself if they lost that friendship.

Kishi explained that as Dragonkin they had a resistance to spicy food, which to August sounded like hell. Azula exclaimed how it was one of the many benefits of fire immunity. The immunity part, that's what August would consider beneficial. Not the spicy food part.

They turned to give Kishi a mock look of pity, only in jest though. They really did find it sad, that the Dragonfist family would never know the true deliciousness of spicy food. "Aw, sucks for you." They said, sticking out their tongue at exclusively Kishi, despite the resistance affecting his whole family. Then a look of realization hit their face, "Now I know why you have such an iron stomach. Because it doesn't affect you at all!"

They looked down, knowing they were being a brat for the sake of a joke, but also feeling guilty that they didn't know that stuff about Dragonkin. They didn't like not knowing stuff about Kishi, feeling a little disconnected. Is that always how it was for Kishi? Did he feel this way when he couldn't tell August? Or did it not matter to him? "Sorry."

"You know how it is. No one gets to learn about that stuff." They looked up towards Kishi. "That should really change." And that happened to be one of their genuine moments they had in a blue moon. Where they stopped their yapping and said something really meaningful. They looked back down, their gaze a little sullen. "But I think Luminosa is allergic to change, given we're still worshipping my great, great, great, something grandfather. Meanwhile, wasn't all that great."

August realized they were probably bringing the whole table down. And making things awkward too. They tried to make their tone more upbeat, but it faltered at the beginning. "But, seriously, that sucks. There are a lot of great spicy dishes. We make them a lot at home. Kind of like a staple, y'know."

This time they weren't saying that just to be all bratty to Kishi.

Kumii · Oct 14, 2022

Skyla & Mana & JustineLocation: Luminosa
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf SharkBark
Current Weather: Clear
Current Time: August 28th, 1337. 10:51am
Mana nodded and trotted alongside Cora and Mateo. As they arrived, Mana didn't bother hiding her wings are anything, she wanted to let everyone see what she truly was.

Skya heard Mateo and turned her attention to him ,"Hey Mateo, Rai's hur--" Skyla also saw Mana, demon wings, demon horn... everything. She had to take a moment to process it, "U-Uh, Nice to meet you, Mana." She shook her head, "I'm sorry, I just... wasn't expecting to be there so suddenly." Mana dismissed Skyla's apologies, "If Mateo thinks you're okay... then I don't mind if you join us." Skyla briefly looked at Justine, who had a look of awe, which surprised Skyla.

Justine looked at Man with awe then with realization and she quickly bowed, "I am sorry about my brother! He is not... normally like that..." Justine looked at the ground as she bowed, "I am glad you are okay, Mana..." She said quietly. Mana tilted her head and slowly approached Justine, placing a hand on her shoulder, "I can't forgive your brother for doing that but..." Mana paused for a second, "...I don't sense any ill intent in you... so you're okay in my book!" Mana said with a cheery tone, which surprise Justine, "If it comes down to it though... I won't hesitate to kill your brother, I hope you're okay with that?" Justine's face softened into an emotionless expression as she leaned herself up to look at Mana, "My Bro-- Ashe is not my brother anymore. That was not the Ashe I knew or loved. I hate to see Ashe like that so... I will help you if I must." Mana looked surprised, to offer help killing one's own sibling, "That's..." Mana paused, "Hardcore, dude."

Skyla had a look of surprise when Justine offered to assist in killing Ashe, "N-Now hold on a second, Justine... th-that's taking it a bit far, isn't it?"
Nikki & JokerLocation: Somehwere outside of Ironshire
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
Current Weather: Drizzle
Current Time: August 26th, 1337. 1:52pm

Joker heard what Nikki had said and started to head off towards Serana, "Don't worry, I'll go back-" Then he felt something grab his ankle. He looked down to see a man with his face half blown off, which cause Joker to let out a yelp, "Get it off, get it off!" He said, swatting at the man's face with his a nearby stick. The man finally let go but got up and looked at him with a half burnt face, "Is... that... all you... got?" the man said. Joker was in complete surprise, "HOW IN THE FUCK ARE YOU STILL ALIVE, DUDE? YOU TOOK A POINT BLAN-- whatever, let's finish this." Joker readied himself as the man did the same, "LET'S DANCE, TWO-FACE!" Joker yelled.

Meanwhile, Speedy saw Finch smile after getting hit, "What are you, some kind of masochist?" Speedy shook his head, "Doesn't matter, it's you and me now." Speedy reacted to Finch's lightning fast slash which also sent out an arc of magma, which grazed him. He backed off a few feet and held his arm, where the magma had touched him, "Fuck... what even is that sword?" He shook his head, "I'll have to fight with all I got to get rid of you." Speedy pulled his sword back and wound up a slash that he released which sent a wind vortex towards Finch. Speedy used the cover of the vortex to get in close to Finch and initiate a close quarters duel with him, "If I keep you preoccupied at close range, you can't use that fancy magma sword of yours, can you?"

While that was going on, Nikki took a moment to breath as she sent the big guy flying. It was only a moment because a moment later she saw a big, bulky man sprinting at her, it was like a bull charging her at full speed but she was faster, Nikki used her agility to make her way above the big guy and deliver a spinning kick to the guy's head. This time, the kick knock Muscles off balance. As she landed, she immediately prepared chain strike, using her agility to get in close to the off-balance man. Which succeeded, when it landed, in spilling more Muscles' blood. Unfortunately, the man still stood, "Oh come on, dude... just do us all a favor and die already?"
Serana & TinaLocation: Somehwere outside of Ironshire
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
Current Weather: Drizzle
Current Time: August 26th, 1337. 1:52pm

Tina got up ad stared at Serana, "Are you ready to dance this tango, flame-body?" Serana had a brief moment of terror before she shook it off, "I'm ready to dance if you are." Tina smiled and readied herself weapon, which morphed into a pair of gauntlets (Weather Configuration) that encased her fists. Seranan did the same, her eyes glowed blue and her hair was on fire. It was Tina who made the first move though, unleashing a punch that sent a gust of wind forth and sent Seranan flying back. Tiny comboed this attack by morphing her weapon into a sword (Water Configuration) and performed a downward slash but Serana was able to block it with her staff.

Serana pushed Tiny away and casted a firebolt towards Tina, which TIna countered by morphing her weapon into its Nature Configuration and using the shield to block the firebolt. Once TIna blocked it, she morphed her weapon into a spear (Fairy Configuration), "Aren't machines the best? Don't you love them? THEY'RE SO FANTASTIC!" Tina commented to an out of breath Serana, 'Damn... she's... too strong... I don't know... how much... longer... I can do this.' She thought.
Posts until Tina INEVITABLY wins and kills Serana: 5
Kishi & Azula DragonfistLocation: Luminosa, Kishi's Home
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
Current Weather: Clear
Current Time: August 27th, 1337. 5:22pm
Kishi was a bit surprised at how sincere August was being right now, "I-It's fine, August, I swear." August then criticized Luminosa for being 'allergic' to change, "Change isn't the only thing this city is allergic to." He muttered. August changed the tone, saying something about spicy foods being a staple in their house, "Hmm.."

A few hours later...
Current Time: August 27th, 1337. 8:30pm

Azula was sat at the dining room table with a lyric sheet in front of her, deep in thought. Ryuuni was nowhere to be seen but apparently he left a couple hours ago.
Nia WhiteLocation: Luminosa
Mentions: AlphaBlueWolf SharkBark
Current Weather: Clear
Current Time: August 28th, 1337. 10:51am
Nia was walking around Luminosa, taking in the various stalls and whatnot. She happened to pass by the front gate and caught a glance of a familiar looking figure. It was taller then she was, "Wha- no way... it can't be... not here..." Nia turned and began walking towards the gate. If it was who she thinks she sees, she'd be ecstatic. She hasn't seen Rai, Skyla, Mateo or Mika for a very long time... 6 months to be precise. She got a little giddy on her way, "Oh man... if that's them then I'll be so happy! A good old family reunion!" Little did she know that not everyone would be present at that reunion...

SharkBark · Oct 15, 2022

Mood: Concerned

Rai Ikari

Thunderous Hunter

Bridge to Iron Fortress

"Nah, just a little sore, that's all.' Rai replied to Skyla's comment for Mateo to heal him.

Speaking of Mateo, just then the man of the hour appeared appeared with the little girl from before who he had invited to the trip. They had arrived on Cora, who had now shrank back down to his normal cat form. Rai wanted to question how the hell that was possible, but he decided to keep that to himself for now. Too much had happened to spark other irrelevant conversations.

Mateo finally introduced the girl as Mana, and that he had met her long before they began their adventure to Luminosa. And during their meet-up, he told Mana that she could come along with the group, as long as Skyla and Rai were fine with it.

Skyla acknowledged Mana with comfort, stating that if Mateo thought she was alright, then she had no problem with her. And surprisingly, Justine chimed in and apologized, even though no one was talking to her. She apologized for Ashe's actions towards Mana before, claiming that he was not normally that way. Mana didn't quite forgive him, but she said that she was okay with Justine.

The craziest part about that was the fact that Mana stated that she would kill Ashe if it came down to that, and Justine agreed to help in killing him in that time. Rai's eyes widened, and Skyla told her that was a bit too far. A bit? Really? Killing your brother for some little girl you just met is a bit too far?

"Okay...that's alarming." Rai spoke up. "But let's not dive into that right now." Rai sized up Mana and her new distinguishing features. A horn sprouted from her head, and she had wings now as well. "Hey, Mana. I'm Rai."

Kumii

AlphaBlueWolf

Code by Serobliss

Mood: Neutral

Castro Smith

Blue-Eyed Bandit

Unknown, Ironshire

"Inspiring words, Ms. Pessimistic." Castro said while rolling his eyes at Rori.

He flinched a bit when loud clattering sound echoed through the room as Aleph knocked the tool bag to the floor and began to drag it over to the bed. Castro sucked his teeth and glanced to the floor. He could only hope that nothing broke when it dropped.

Once Aleph had finished bringing the bag over, he placed it in front of Castro and looked ahead with a proud smile. Castro gave the boys thumbs up for his kind efforts and then lifted the toolbag from the floor and set it on the bed. Then, he opened the zipper and rustled around until he found a large blob of molding substance. It was a maroon color and extremely soft to the touch, but once it came in touch with water it would harden into the shape of whatever it was wrapped around. This, is how they would get the base and size for the arm.

"I'm gonna spread this across your remaining arm to get the proper shape." Castro wrote in the notebook. "Afterwards, I'm gonna flip around the measurements so we can get the other arm's base, alright?"

Castro placed the notepad in Aleph's hands and the looked back to Rori. "We're gonna start the process now, the kid can camp put with me until the arm is finished. So, uh, I suppose you have someplace to be robbing right now? Or are you staying a little longer?"

The bandit's face wanted up a bit at that last part. He didn't want to make it sound like he was desperate for Rori to stay, but he also didn't want it to seem like he wanted her to leave. He blushed at his blunder and rephrased his question.

"I mean, what are you gonna do now?"

Mood: Intrigued

Akuhei

Shugosha

Unknown, Ironshire

Location - The Unknown Monarchy, the Seiryoku Empire.

View attachment 1025142

As the Demon Twins suddenly made their appearance at Kumii's side, Kizawa flinched and loudly yelped before cupping his hand over his mouth in embarrassment.

"Ahem. Sorry." he muttered. Heath waved his hand and dismissed the mishap to listen to Kumii's introduction to the twins. Mei and Jin, Demon Twins of the High Order. Apparently, they were the next two strongest, besides Kumii of course.

Everyone except Heath gave the two a courteous bow and greeted them into the empire. Afterwards, Kumii explained that they would remain inside of Seiryoku to keep a watchful eye on their new comrades, and as for making preparations to kill the Death Knight, he would send his Demon blacksmiths to teach his Seiryoku blacksmiths to smelt and forge weapons from Demonsteel ore.

Kumii was just about to parts way with them for the moment, but stopped after sprouting his wings and stated that he wanted to assistance of one of the Shugoshas. Kaminari to be specific. Kumii claimed that man emanated a powerful aura, and that he'd be very useful to his final goal.

"You want Kaminari?" Heath repeated. "That is no problem, as long as there is another one of my people alongside him. If you are planning to take him anywhere with you and think I'm fine with him going by himself, you are mistaken. Who knows what you might try."

Heath waked back up the small marble steps and sat back down on his throne, returning to a relaxed position.

"Domori would have to go with you if that is the case. Have the conversations you'd like around him, he cannot hear with his plugs in, but he'll be there for added safety. If there is a problem with that, then unfortunately Kaminari cannot be at your side in your goal."

Kumii

AlphaBlueWolf

Code by Serobliss

AlphaBlueWolf · Oct 16, 2022

Mateo tilted his head at Skyla's pause. The woman looked over the little girl next to him, glancing over the wings and horn. He could tell it was a lot for her to process and hoped that wouldn't sway her opinion. But she said it was nice to meet Mana, and Mateo pushed out the air he'd been holding in. She apologized for the stare, and then agreed to Mana joining them. She was trusting Mateo's judgement, which was more of a compliment than you'd think it would be. Ok, one vote in their favor. Now it was Rai's they were depending on.

But as he swept his gaze over to the samurai, it rested instead on his least favorite person standing with them, who looked at Mana with awe. He just rolled his eyes. Yeah, sure. The person she'd just been with, her own brother, had just attacked the little girl she was staring at. Who's to say they didn't have the same views on spirits? He aligned himself with people who didn't care about spirits, and he figured it was the same for those of the opposite disposition.

The woman bowed and spoke, apologizing for her brother's actions. She said he wasn't like that. Yeah, because racists decide what day of the week their gonna be racist on. Mateo wasn't buying it, but Mana either didn't care that much or didn't think Justine was too bad, because she accepted her. Though, she made it clear that she didn't forgive Ashe. In fact, she said she would kill him if it came down to it. Maybe the others didn't quite understand, but he knew the capabilities of a spirit far surpassed mortals. Some little girl could definitely kill a grown man. Mateo didn't like Ashe, but he thought there was no reason to actively seek him out. If he didn't bother them, then they wouldn't bother him. That's that, in Mateo's book.

But Justine promised she would help, which Mateo thought went a little too far. Even if one of his family did something wrong, he wouldn't try to kill them over it. And that just made him like Justine less. Some loyalty she had on her.

Obviously, the others were unnerved by the statements as well, Skyla trying to backpedal. "It's fair enough if he comes after us again." Cora murmured to Mateo.

"Yeah, but that's her brother. If it were your brother, you wouldn't try to kill him." Mateo shot back in a hushed whisper to the cat. Cora seemed to be feeling more bold, because he was actually whispering to him in front of the others. Usually, he only meowed to get Mateo's attention. Mateo thought maybe he was starting to warm up, seeing as they were fine with a girl who had wings and a horn. Or maybe it wasn't anything, and Mateo was just reading into things.

"That's because my brother doesn't go around trying to kill little demons. He's far better than that. Superior to mortal trash."

"Well, I wouldn't say your wrong calling him trash." Mateo murmured. "He did try to kill some innocent girl, simply because she's a demon. I don't think I'll ever understand people with that mindset."

"I don't even understand you sometimes." And with that, Cora earned a pat on his head that completely ruffled his fur. He grumbled while licking his paw and taking it up to his head, trying to smooth the disturbed fur.

That's when Mateo tuned back into the conversation, with Rai introducing himself. "Oh, and that's Skyla." He noted, seeing as she hadn't introduced herself to Mana. "Well, welcome to the group!"

He smiled and spread his arms, doing little jazz hands in excitement. Cora swished his tail to Mana, a gentle gesture of acknowledgement. Mana would have to understand that he couldn't really say anything, lest he give himself away as a spirit.

But the happiness didn't last long, as Mateo and Cora turned their heads to the voice at the gate.
Aleph looked even more pleased with the validation from Castro. The man lifted up the bag onto the bed, probably something Aleph wouldn't be able to do, and then rummaged around in it. He took out a large maroon blob and both Rori and Aleph, as people who didn't construct things, looked confused as to what it was. Aleph looked more curious, wanting to know what it would do, while Rori looked like she couldn't care less about its purpose.

Castro started writing in the notebook, then handed it off to Aleph. He read it, understanding that it would make some type of mold, but he didn't quite understand the flipping part. Did he just mean turn it upside? He guessed he'd find out when they got to that stage. The only thing he could equate it to was art. Whenever he drew dragons, he had to draw each wing differently, so that it would make anatomical sense. He had to flip it, like Castro would do with the mold. He understood a little better, now that he really thought about it. Though it would help him understand more when he actually saw Castro do it.

He nodded, but Castro looked towards Rori while his mouth moved. He knew the man was talking, but couldn't make out what he said, not even when he listened really hard. He slumped a little, wishing he could be a part of the conversation and know what was happening. But it took ages to have an exchange with him, because you had to go back and forth with a notebook. The only other way was sign language, so he promised himself that he would practice really, really hard. After all, he didn't think Castro could "fix" his ears as well.

Aleph unzipped his wool jacket, taking it off now that they were going to start the molding process. Under it, he had a simple tunic with the sleeve that was supposed to be for his right arm wrapped around the stump that was now present and in view. It was somehow worse, seeing the formation of the stump rather than just having to imagine it because of the fact he kept the sleeve of his wool jacket regular.

Castro looked towards Rori, explaining that they were gonna start the process, and that the kid could camp with him until the arm was finished. Good, because Rori knew Aleph's folks weren't exactly in town at the moment. His next two statements he worded pretty bad. He supposed she had some place to be robbing, all high and mighty like he wasn't a bandit himself. Then he asked if she were staying a bit longer. His blush told her everything she needed to know. That it was just poor wording on his part. Bandits didn't exactly socialize often, so she understood. Besides, she'd made similar blunders, some even with Castro. Coming off rude and awkward due to poor wording and a lack of social interactions.

Then he awkwardly rephrased it, and it was far better. She shrugged. "Don't really know. I'm not sure how serious to take that guy's threat of killing me. I've got... things I was hoping to accomplish in this city. Not sure I wanna let some guy getting pissed off stop me. Not now." She put her hands in her pocket, feeling the yen Castro gave her where her golden coin usually would be. "I've got a friend I could stay with to let it die down, but I don't know if it's like I'm gonna actively try to kill you, or I'll get around to killing you, y'know. Kind of a lot of unknowns, so I guess I just need to think. But it's been one thing after another with this whole ordeal so there hasn't been much time for that. Hard to really think when you're avoiding death."

She seemed strangely genuine, and not at all annoying or bratty like she usually came off. It was like she was confiding in Castro, which she didn't even realize she was doing. It was just nice having someone her age to talk to, who understood the whole 'running from some greater force' thing. He had the Seiryoku Empire on his back, while she had some strange spirit who wanted to kill her over some minor scuffle.

Rori looked up, and then nodded her head towards Aleph. "What about you? You know you're his caretaker now, right? For the time being at least. Can you handle that? You don't seem like the type to have a lot of experience with kids."

In all honesty, she was a little worried about leaving some innocent kid with a bandit like Castro, who again had an entire empire on his tail. He agreed to help Aleph, and that meant looking out for the kid and keeping him safe if some Seiryoku goon came to terrorize them. Rori wanted to make sure he knew that. That he understood the full gravity of his decision. Because she'd never forgive Castro if another kid got caught up in his rivalry with the empire.
Finch watched as the guy backed off for a second, holding his arm which steamed from the hot magma. Joker was yelling in the background, while Finch gloated over his very small victory. He'd at least touched Speedy. In the back, Joker's opponent was coming at him with a half-exploded face, looking like a whole reanimated corpse. He grimaced, cursing in his mind about the guy who'd cheated death far too many times. He prayed for Joker in his mind, hoping he'd be able to beat the guy.

Nikki was having trouble of her own, having a hard time damaging the tank of a man that stood as her enemy. And unfortunately, Finch's strikes weren't working on the guy. He worried that his plan wouldn't work, and that he'd just doomed them all. Nikki was right, Serana needed help. They couldn't keep doing this forever. They needed to get to that annoying leader herself.

'Think, Finch!' He berated himself, 'Think!'

He wasn't like the other guards. He hadn't trained through conventional means. He hadn't had an impressive knight as his teacher. He'd been taught in the field, taught to use his surroundings and any opportunities given to him. Taught to see all the angles.

Speedy knew every attack that was coming, because Finch was going head on. He wasn't good at head on. Serana's nickname for him happened to be Sniper, because he was good at aiming stealthily. Good at following the flow of battle and good at hitting an unsuspecting opponent. So that's exactly what he did.

Speedy didn't seem to be well versed on a lowly recruit as Finch. He didn't know that Finch knew weather magic, and particularly used wind in his attacks. And he didn't know that Finch knew weather patterns well. As Speedy slashed with his sword, releasing a vortex and then whirling up close to him, Finch side stepped, and his cape caught the wind. He went up like a Ferris wheel, right at the edge of the vortex and was able to use the wind to propel himself up so that he didn't go down along with it.

If Speedy wanted to work hard, Finch would make him work hard. He silently thanked Kiko in his head for the magma sword, then sent three slashes of magma down in quick succession. Speedy would have to work extra hard to dodge all three, which he surely couldn't on account of him getting barely clipped with just one arc of magma, and would be so focused on that that he wouldn't realize the real intention of Finch's move.

Finch thought of himself like an arrow. His blade's point was the arrowhead, his body the shaft, and his cape the fletching. He angled his cape the way he needed to go, and shot straight down, hoping to cleave Speedy in half now that he was distracted by dodging his magma strikes.
August had pushed it to the last possible second, wishing they could just stay at Kishi's house forever. But it was getting late. Actually, it was late. The sun already set, and they were sure the Beacons had already started to shine light on the areas around Luminosa. Say what you wanted about the city and its superstitiousness, but they'd always thought being a Lightkeeper was a cool job, even though it had been a role born out of fear. The city was always lit up, even when everyone was sleeping. People call it the city that never sleeps for a reason. Plus, the Beacons swept over the land, making it extra bright.

There was no way they could get lost going home, especially since they'd lived in the same place their whole life. They just didn't want to go back because of the scolding they'd get from Lilliana, and the fact that they would have to see all their other family members. It just made them anxious, especially since they were planning on performing with Azula. They already felt guilty, even though they really shouldn't.

They would've liked to thank both of Kishi's parents for the fun evening, but Ryuuni had basically disappeared. What he could be doing at this hour, August didn't know. But travel outside of the city at night was forbidden, so he was probably still somewhere within the city limits. Generally, when anyone traveled outside of Luminosa, they left when the sun was highest in the sky, feeling like Lukia watched their travel so they could move safely. Some people arrived in Luminosa at night, and the guards worked by a case-by-case basis to see if you were allowed entry at that point. A lot of outside merchants traveled to the city for the Festival of Light, so they had to work overtime vetting everyone. They wondered how their cousin, Hunter, was doing. He always seemed to come home late because of nightshifts. But no one seemed to wait up for him besides August. Even though Hunter was one of the nicest Lucero's, August getting along well with him, they still weren't ready to tell any Lucero's about the changes they'd made. So, Hunter stayed as in the dark and ignorant as everyone else. Though, they did feel like Hunter would be the first one they told if they were ever able to get out that they were nonbinary to their folks. And they felt as though Hunter would accept them.

August peaked out to see Azula at the table with some kind of paper. They couldn't see what was on it, so they didn't know it was a lyric sheet. But they'd worked with a lyric sheet plenty of times before when they were messing around with different rhythms on the Lilac Quartet.

They walked up to Azula. "Thank you for your hospitality. It's getting late, and I should be getting home." She murmured her next bit. "My sister's probably gonna flip if I'm out any later too."
A couple figures started approaching the main gate into Luminosa. Five figures. They had weapons on them, and three of them looked to be in uniform. The uniform of the Luminosa guard. The other two in the front were dressed differently, telling them apart from the usual guard as important members. One was a burly man dressed in furs and equipment. A big sword was sheathed on his back, which radiated a strong magical aura to anyone who could tell. Valero Marquez, the leader of the Luminosa guard, who frequented bodyguard work for the Lucero's.

The figure standing next to him was much smaller in comparison. He had blonde hair, and blue eyes. He carried a spear instead of a heavy sword like Valero. The most unique and intriguing point of the boy was that his right eye was weld shut, and lines traced down from it. Scars. It was a Lichtenberg figure; a scar you could only develop should you get struck by lightning. It was Hunter Lucero.

Both were a part of the guard, but it still seemed hard to tell if they were working or if Valero was acting as Hunter's guard, given their lack of uniforms. They seemed deep in conversation.

"And you say you saw the fight here?" Valero was asking as the group approached, gesturing to the front gate.

"Yes." Hunter answered. He'd been on duty around the place but had felt this sort of intuition. Something told him to go towards the gate. And when he did, he'd seen people fighting. There was one guy in spiky armor, a girl with raven hair, a man with white hair who looked like a genuine samurai, another woman, some blonde-haired guy standing with the armored man, a little girl, some huge feral cat and a tall kid who looked to be around his own age. Ok, there were a lot of people to keep track of. They'd had weapons and were unleashing attacks, and Hunter knew that wouldn't fly in front of the gates of the city. It was a hazard to their citizens; in case the fight came into the city. And they didn't need that during festival time.

He'd rushed to get Valero, and by the time they arrived it looked like the fight was over. Hunter didn't like to be discredited or made to look like a liar, but there were obvious signs of a struggle, plus half the people he'd seen were still there.

"I think they were all on the same side, fighting this guy in black spiky armor. But he's gone now." Hunter peered out of the front gate, not seeing anyone that fit the description. "Maybe he fled?"

"Maybe. But that one hardly matters as long as he isn't in the city. I'm more worried about the ones still here. If they're starting a fight in front of our city, then they can't be any good. I don't want any testy outsiders, especially not at the festival. We'll be putting them through a more rigorous vetting process, while we determine what exactly transpired here."

Valero waved a hand to one of the guards with them, "Shoo off anyone around the gate."

He nodded to Nia, who the guard then approached. He blocked her view of the gate, and the familiar group she was desperate to meet with again. "Alright, step aside. Official business." His tone read no nonsense, and he didn't look like he was about to back down. "You are not allowed at this area, during this time. Please be considerate of the guard as we work and move off."

It's not like this was a new process. Everyone entering Luminosa had to be vetted by the guard, and security got tighter around festival time. Though, the fight made this even worse for the group, with the leader of the guard himself now getting involved.

Valero and Hunter stepped outside the gate, followed closely behind by the two other guard members. "Halt!" Valero called out. "You are not allowed entry beyond this point. State your business, and why exactly you've had a scuffle in front of our city."

Kumii · Oct 16, 2022

Skyla & Mana & JustineLocation: Luminosa
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf SharkBark
Current Weather: Clear
Current Time: August 28th, 1337. 10:52am
Mana tilted her head at the other's distrustful disposition towards Justine, 'I guess it can't helped. Still, I trust her.' Then Mana heard someone call out and she quickly and subtly hid her demon features and hid behind Rai like a little girl would do towards strangers. She clasped his robe (sorry, I forgot what it was called) in her hands, not tightly though. As soon as that happened, Mana felt a surging presence from behind them, was it the Death Knight again? Mana looked at it, it was a giant thunder cat. Okay not as bad hut still, Mana felt an overwhelming feeling and suddenly strangely pacified. Maybe it was because a Spirit's affinity for magic detection was greater then a mortal or the fact that, before them, stood essentially a god.

Skyla turned her head in the direction of the voice that called out, putting away her lance, she started to answer when she was cut off by a booming voice. She turned and laid eyes on a big, Cora-sized cat, 'What in the hell is that...' Skyla took a step back from the thing, as did Justine when she saw it.
Nikki & JokerLocation: Somehwere outside of Ironshire
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
Current Weather: Drizzle
Current Time: August 26th, 1337. 1:52pm

Speedy saw the attack from Finch coming a mile away. He dodged the first swing, then the second and finally the third. He saw the attack from Finch as well and slid his sword across Finch's sword as he slightly misdirected Finch towards the ground, "You thought using that fancy magma sword again on me would work?" Speedy's adaptability was amazing but he was beginning to become slightly out of breath so Speedy's counterattack never came.

Joker and Two-Face squared off with Joker readying his gauntlet, placing a hand on Two-Faces shoulder, "Hey." Joker said in a low, sultry but oddly sexy voice as a shockwave of electricity surged through Two-Face and he was sent flying backwards, which Joker caught with his grappling that dug into his chest, "Hey, Two-Face, take out Speedy on you're way out, yeah?" He yelled as he sent Two-Face flying towards Speedy. The two collided and both tumbled away and they struggled to get up, with Speedy being out of breath and Two-Face already being extremely hurt.

Meanwhile, Nikki was still having trouble with the big guy, who threw a punch at Nikki but she dodged it handily and countered by crossing her sabers and performing two diagonal slashes in rapid succession. It dealt a bit of damage but the man still stood and Nikki sighed. She was gonna need the help of Finch and Joker to take this guy down.
Serana & TinaLocation: Somehwere outside of Ironshire
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
Current Weather: Drizzle
Current Time: August 26th, 1337. 1:52pm

Serana caught her breath and entered her Flame Empress mode as a last resort. Tina looked surprised but smiled, "Finally! A CHALLENGE!" Serana lobed a fireball at Tina with Flame Lob and Tina stabbed the ball with her spear and spread into smaller balls and landed around Tina. Serana recoiled a bit as Tina went in and stabbed Serana but she manage to block it with her staff.

Seranan backstepped a few steps to get some distance as she flipped her staff into rifle mode and a shot a few basic shots at Tina, who handily dodged them, "JUST DIE ALREADY!!" Serana yelled, she was started to get desperate... she began to regret following Finch's instruction.

Serana's fuel in Flame Empress mode

Posts until Tina INEVITABLY wins and kills Serana: 4
Kishi & Azula DragonfistLocation: Luminosa, Kishi's Home
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
Current Weather: Clear
Current Time: August 27th, 1337. 8:30pm
Kishi sat at the table with his mom. Then August got up, saying they had to leave and that it was late. Kishi looked at the time and a slight expression of surprise washed over him, "Oh it really is late." Kishi looked at August, "Okay, August, I'll see you tomorrow." Azula gave a simple wave as she was too focused on her lyric sheet, "Hey, mom, maybe if you tried this set of lyrics...." he murmured.
Nia WhiteLocation: Luminosa
Mentions: AlphaBlueWolf SharkBark
Current Weather: Clear
Current Time: August 28th, 1337. 10:52am
Nia stopped as she saw the guard at the front gate, 'What happened that they have to be called here?' An older man came up behind Nia and put a hand on her shoulder, "Come Nia, there'll be a time and a place for it." It said but was later revealed to be Ryuuni. Nia paused for a moment then nodded, "Yes, master."

With that Ryuuni and Nia turned and departed with Ryuuni giving one last glance with eyes narrowed towards the guards and the group they were suspecting.

As they left and headed back to the dojo Nia looked at Ryuuni, "Hey, master, what do you think happened out front?" Ryuuni glanced at Nia, "Something bad. Something very bad. I have the feeling those kids were merely defending themselves against a greater threat. I wonder if the guard will understand that." Ryuuni said very flatly as he heard the booming voice of Halazzi.

(Different day, Different Ryuuni. Don't worry AlphaBlueWolf I'm trying to catch Kishi and them up to the main group.)
Kumii the LoathesomeLocation: Seiryoku Empire
Interactions: SharkBark
Current Weather: Clear
Current Time: August 28th, 1337.

I'm stealing your idea, Shark.

Anything in '][' is Kumii speaking Demonic.

Kumii turned to look at Heath as he set his conditions, have someone else join them, which set off a red flag for Kumii and he narrowed his eyes, "[Yeah, that's not suspicious at all.]" He said in demonic, "Alright fine. [I don't know if I believe that this Domori can't hear us...]. If it puts your mind at ease then I suppose I don't really have a choice since not having him gets in the way of my plan." Kumii sighed, "I'll be off then. Expect my envoys soon." With that, Kumii left for the Demon Nation.
Halazzi, the MightyLocation: Luminosa
Mentions: AlphaBlueWolf SharkBark
Current Weather: Clear
Current Time: August 28th, 1337. 10:52am
Halazzi watched the events unfold, everything from the appearance of the Death Knight to the fight to the conclusion and now the confrontation of guard. Halazzi's eyes narrowed, being Lukia's pet, he was tasked with watching over Luminosa. After the guards spoke up, Halazzi decided to step down, his first step sent power surging through the land around his paw, "I shall state their business for them, O Loyal Guards." His voice boomed through the air, "Ever since the arrival of this group, I have kept a watchful eye on them." He elected to keep the fact that he knew Mateo was a Cabrera from them and the fact that they traveled with a demon a secret.

Halazzi sat a distance from the group and as regal as a Deity cat could, he towered over everyone. You could feel power emanating from it, the electricity made the air static, "Though they have fought outside of our wonderful city, they were not the attackers. They are the defenders. They did what they needed to to ensure their own survival. Against a powerful enemy such as the Knight, I commend their strength."

SharkBark · Oct 16, 2022

Mood: Alert

Rai Ikari

Thunderous Hunter

Bridge to Iron Fortress

"Yeah, welcome." Rai greeted flatly. He didn't have anything against the girl, but once again, he was more concerned about his own safety over feelings.

The way Ashe reacted was fearful and distraught, maybe it was because of the Death Knight, but Rai didn't know that to be true yet. He called Mana a demon. Rai had heard countless stories about demons in folktale and stories his mother read to him, and in each one, the demons were the bad guys. So of course, the name didn't exactly resonate well with the samurai.

But Mana wasn't how they depicted them in the stories, or at least, she didn't look seem it. She was small, fragile looking, and was friends with a human boy. Those weren't the characteristics that were portrayed in the tales, so what exactly did demon mean? Was she classified as one because of her horns and wings, or was there something deeper?

"Hey, uh, Mana." Rai began to softly say. "Why did Ashe call you a-"

Cutting the samurai off was a loud, booming voice that shook through the ground and into his body. It was so powerful that it must have scared Mana enough for her to hide behind Rai and haori. She clenched the fabric with a bit of force and then looked over to a presence that erupted from behind them. Rai diverted his attention to it as well, and then held onto Mana in a protective stance.

Before him was a large cat the size of Cora's Saber-toothed form that spoke as if it was a human. It radiates with a strong presence and send a piercing heat through air waves.

"What the hell is that?" Rai muttered to the rest of the group.

Kumii

AlphaBlueWolf

Code by Serobliss

Mood: Neutral

Castro Smith

Blue-Eyed Bandit

Unknown, Ironshire

Castro couldn't help but feel guilty as Rori expressed her uncertainty for her plans. Now that the shady white haired dude had a grudge against her, whatever plans she had could be interfered with at any given moment. And in honesty, it was a bit of a mix of their own faults, Castro's mostly.

Rori could have easily avoided all of this. At the scene where she saved the Blue Eyed Bandit from Kuragiri, she could've just left once he was defeated. But, she pushed to figure out the truth about the situation anyways, and it got her caught up in Castro's shit. Akuhei, Tiche, Kumii, Kaminari. She wouldn't have met a single one of them, and Rori would've been able to continue doing whatever she did before meeting Castro.

But on another note, there were many factors that put the fault on Castro as well. He was the on that had enraged the Seiryoku army years ago, and now his past was pouring into the present. Rori was just unlucky enough to get caught up in it. Akuhei found out about her existence and that she came to the conclusion that she was with Castro, making her known throughout the Seiryoku Empire. And, Kuragiri hates her now as well. In fact, if the faults go back even further than today.

If Castro had just encountered his old friend when he had met those 3 girls, everything would've been resolved faster. But no. He remained fearful, and now there was the blood of four girls on his hands.

And to make matters even heavier, Rori wouldn't have encountered Tiche. That means their fight would not have happened, and Kumii couldn't have a reason to hate her.

Castro snapped out of his regretful thought when Rori asked him what he was going to do now and if he could handle Aleph.

"Yeah, I think I'll be just fine. Well, we'll." he stretched out the mold a bit and looked to Aleph. "Believe me, Rori. I'll keep the kid safe and take him back to his family. I promise."

Castro outstretched his right hand in front of Aleph and mouthed, put out your arm.

Mood: Intrigued

Akuhei

Shugosha

Unknown, Ironshire

Location - The Unknown Monarchy, the Seiryoku Empire.

View attachment 1025142

Kumii looked suspiciously towards Heath at first, which the king noticed, then agreed to the conditions and left the empire.

"Kizawa, I'm afraid your mission will be postponed." Heath announced to his advisor, which filled the boy with relief. "Everyone is dismissed now, except for Kuragiri. Leave him and take the Demon Twins with you."

Kaminari slowly places the heir of Seiryoku on the floor in a fetal position and the gave Heath a small bow. Then, everyone exited the throne room.

"Come along, May and June." Akuhei said. "We answer questions have."

"May and June?" Miyahira repeated, her voice spat venom. "It's Mei and Jin. Do you have shit in your ears or something?"

"Fuck off, [psycho]."

["Shut the hell up-"]

"Please," Kaminari raised his voice and then lowered it once they had quieted down. "Not in front of our guests."

"Ah, sibling disputes." Aikawa remarked. "Reminds of the days when my brothers threw me off a cliff."

"The hell kind of childhood did you have?" Kizawa questioned, his eyebrows raised.

Kumii

Code by Serobliss

AlphaBlueWolf · Oct 18, 2022

Mateo and Cora looked towards the source of the voice. It was a man with a burly build, no doubt with a muscular physique under his clothes, and a sword strapped to his back, evidence from the hilt peeking out from his back. Next to him, a kid that looked to be Mateo's age. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, and a scar etching his right eye that looked like Rai's thunder streaking down his face in dark branching lines. Mateo had no idea he was staring at a Lucero.

Behind them were some other guys in uniform, and Mateo recognized it, somehow, as the uniform for the Luminosa guard. Oh, gods. They hadn't even stepped inside the city, and they'd already got the attention of local law enforcement.

Mateo tensed up and tore his gaze from the guards to see Mana cowering behind Rai, clutching onto his hoari. Rai took up a defensive stance while holding onto Mana, which he thought was pretty sweet of the samurai who hadn't seemed all too enthused by Mana's inclusion to the group a second before. But that tender feeling in his heart ended as soon as he realized Rai wasn't defending Mana from the guards.

He turned his sights on the big blue cat, the size of Cora in his saber tooth form. He hated to admit that his nerves instantly shot up. His fight or flight instincts were telling him to fly as fast as his phoenix. And he just didn't understand why. He felt sorry if this cat was a Bakeneko like Cora, for being scared of him. But then the tiger talked, and revealed he was on their side. Or at least told the truth about what had transpired, and apparently gave them more credibility in the eyes of the guards, who bent down into a bow when the cat was done speaking.

"Cora." He managed to squeak out in a whisper.

"That's not a Bakeneko," he informed into Mateo's ear, whispering.

"Oh, great." He murmured.

Rai asked what the thing was, and all of them soon got their answer. The big guy at the front, obviously the leader of the group, spoke in formality, mentioning the name Halazzi. Mateo instantly knew who the tiger was now, his eyes widened in fear as he backed up to cower behind Rai like the child demon. "That's Halazzi." He murmured to his group. "He's a real deity and serves Lukia, who happens to be the worshipped god here. Lukia's also the one who gave Ignis Lucero the sword that cut down the first of the Cabrera curse." Which definitely explained his fidgetiness. Why he looked so nervous. If Halazzi caught wind of him being a Cabrera, he could easily report it back to his master, who could then will the citizens to kill him. Not a great thought for him.

The fact that he was defending to group meant maybe he didn't realize yet. Or the least likely option of him choosing not to disclose it. He couldn't believe that, considering Lukia had helped the Lucero's kill his ancestor. Maybe the continued hunt of the Cabrera's was Lukia's will, or maybe the Lucero's had just taken the gift and validation given from Lukia and ran with it. Either way, his anxiety wasn't making him too confident in the latter option, that Halazzi didn't mind his Cabrera heritage.
Castro replied, saying that he'd be fine with taking care of the kid. Well, that they would be fine. It seemed like now Castro and Aleph were a little team, working at things together. At least until the arm was finished and their time together came to an end. Then Castro promised that he'd keep him safe and take him back to his family. Rori had learned not to trust other people's words, to always be suspicious of them, but Castro's voice was so genuine. He'd never lied to her. At least from what she could tell. When she'd asked about what was really going on, he'd told her about the whole Heath situation. He'd defended her multiple times and even advised her to save herself when it came to the deal with the Shugosha. She had no reason not to believe him. She just hoped his abilities were strong enough to make good on that promise. If she hadn't made the decision to come along, he would likely be dead. And that's not because he wasn't a skilled fighter. He definitely had some prowess in battle. It's just that the Shugosha, and the Seiryoku Empire, were just that good. Rori had to be honest with herself, she was worried for the kid. She didn't make connections easily, usually being suspicious of others, but Aleph was an innocent little kid who didn't deserve to get roped into any war Castro had with the empire. An innocent little kid who had totally won both of them over in a matter of seconds. Or maybe the two bandits were just suckers.

"You better make good on that, Castro." Her tone was dead serious. No punch line, no annoying pitch. One hundred percent serious. Then, her tone went back to casual. "Well, if you have things handled here, I guess I'll be seeing you around." Rori said as Castro mouthed directions to Aleph.

It was hard to read lips when they were going fast, but Castro's were clear and concise so that he'd understand. It took him a minute, but he started the motion of putting his arm out. Well, until he got a tap from Rori. His attention focused towards her as she held out the notebook and pointed to a new entry. "Sorry Aleph, but I have to go. You can stay here with ~~Blue Eyes~~ Castro. I'm glad he's agreed to help you. Make sure to ~~listen~~ follow all his rules and do what he tells you. You shouldn't cause trouble for those who are nice enough to help you. Not everyone is nice, but he's one of the good ones, so make sure you're the best little helper for him, alright? If I'm in the area, I'll make sure to stop by and check on you. This won't be goodbye forever. Promise."

Rori deliberately faced away from Castro so that he didn't see the message, a little embarrassed by what she'd written about Aleph being good for him. Oh, and the part about him being one of the good ones. Why did she write that? Well, she was talking to a little kid, so she had to soften things for him. That's all. Nothing else. And hopefully, Castro would never see that message.

Aleph nodded, and then did the unexpected. He hugged Rori, well as functional as a hug could be with only one arm. He wrapped one arm around her waist and outstretched the stump like he'd forgotten there was nothing there to hug Rori with. It was a little awkward, and Rori's muscles immediately stiffened, unsure of what to do.

She looked towards Castro, completely surprised by the gesture. Then she looked back down to the boy as his small voice came through once more. "Thank you." Aleph said, so low it sounded like a whisper. "You're good too."

And Rori's heart melted by the sweetness of this kid. She'd never admit it, though. Not in a million years. She patted his head, then gave him a light hug back. They both retracted, Aleph's bright smile infecting her with a small one of her own. She could see her younger self in him, blinded and naive. Naive to all the bad things in the world, that people weren't exactly as they said. Maybe he'd turn out smarter than she had been, given he knew tragedy firsthand at such a young age. Her gaze lowered for a second, showing a sullen glimpse to her heart, before she closed it back off. She put her mask back on, taking on a casual expression despite the shift. She plopped the journal on the bed, giving Aleph another small smile before walking off towards the grate to the city.

Rori turned to Castro, "By the way, he said he came here from Westshire, to make things easier for you when you return him to his folks. Well, see ya, Blue Eyes."

And with that, she leaped up, pushing against the grate to spin it up into the air. It went clattering on the stone as she landed outside. She placed it back on, though it was already busted and probably wouldn't matter in the long run. Then she headed off through different alleyways, trying to figure out her next move.

Aleph turned back to Castro; a smile still stuck to his face. He put out his arm, with the sleeve still covering it from shoulder to wrist. It wasn't even feasible to pull up his sleeve on his own, so he left that to Castro.
Finch gritted his teeth as his sword was misdirected. It sliced into the ground, leaving an indentation as he wedged it out and backstepped away from Speedy. He exclaimed about the magma sword, basically mocking Finch for thinking he could use that trick again. Damn. Maybe he really should've waited to reveal that. Well, it was a learning process.

But Speedy was losing the only thing that made him special. His speed and durability. He sucked in air faster than he could move his legs, breathing in and out rapidly to show his wear and tear. At the end of the day, what was Speedy without his speed? He couldn't make a strike with how out of breath he was, and Finch would've felt bad if he didn't already know these people planned to assassinate Kiko and Cyan. And maybe they would even kill Serana, not caring about her life. It's what this guy deserved.

Finch had an extremely high moral code, going off things based on a person's actions. And based on Speedy's actions, he clearly deserved anything that was coming his way. And that happened to be the body of his own teammate, slamming into him at a high velocity.

Finch's eyes went wide, watching the display unfold right in front of him. They both took a tumble, and tried to get up, but failed miserably. One was tired, while the other wasn't looking so hot. They'd ended up in a jumbled mess, completely vulnerable to an attack, and Finch wasted no time on that.

He sped forward, using the wind to propel him in their direction. He made one swipe with his magma sword on both of them, laying down thick, bubbling magma like a fiery blanket. Two-Face was already done for, hanging on by a thread, but he wanted to make sure Speedy was absolutely toast. So, while the blade was still hot, he sank it into the chest of Speedy. "Yeah, I did. And it looks like it sure does work." He replied, pushing Speedy's comment right back into his face. Guess knights were always using the chest move, huh?

Without feeling any remorse for his actions, knowing he'd just protected the leader of Ironshire and the captain of the guard from a terrorist, he looked over to Nikki who was having a bit of trouble dealing with Muscles. And Finch realized something. He couldn't beat Speedy on his own. Neither could Joker beat Two-Face. It was only when they'd worked together that they'd been able to beat them. And as such, even the Commander herself wouldn't be able to beat up Muscles.

"Joker! On Nikki! Now!" He called out then made a running start for a jump, trying to plunge his swords into the guy's back.
"See ya." August said and waved back to Azula. They went out the front door, closed it, and smiled. They'd been working on the song with Kishi and Azula, and it was already an amazing process. The festival was a week away, and as they walked the streets, they could make out the beginning of decorations. Merchants were arriving, starting to set up shop to sell their goods to Luminosans at the festival. They worried about getting it done in time, but then again, a very well known and loved professional was helping them with it, so maybe it wouldn't take as long. They could only hope.

***

It took a little time, but they made their way up the streets of Luminosa, and back to the Lucero Estate. They looked up at the lavish house, the most adorned in all of Luminosa, which had been the place of their upbringing. Many things had happened here. A lot bad, some good. And now they would add another lecture to the long list they'd received by their sister here in these hallowed halls.

They put their hand on the doorknob of the front door and breathed a sigh. They thought back to Kishi, so full of rage at how things were with their family. They thought about him revealing himself to them, saying he thought it'd help them find the confidence to face their sister. Sometimes they tried to sneak back in through the windows, one time even scaring Valero, who had been on guard duty, into drawing his weapon and almost cleaving them in half. And that's because they were tired of the lectures, scared of the harsh whispers of their other family members. But not today. This one was for Kishi, who wanted them to be able to have more confidence. They'd face it head on today, instead of running away like they usually did.

They opened the door and went inside. August looked around a bit. No one in sight. Maybe they'd all retired to their quarters for the evening or were off in a different section of the estate. They felt a little of the weight lessen from their chest.

They made their way up the dark oak steps towards the second floor. Lilliana's office was up here. The least they could do was assure their sister they were alright. But when they made it up the stairs, and an unexpected form awaited them.

He was smaller than them, with smooth brown hair, and baby blue eyes. A line stretched across his face from cheek to cheek, with lines coming down from it where the middle of each eye was. August had always been appalled by that one particular tradition the Convocation had. The little boy served as The Seer and had had the symbol burned onto his face to represent that. The Lucero's regarded Hunter's scar as ugly, while they didn't even mind one being on a Convocation member. No, not just that. They didn't mind manually scarring a seven-year-old so that everyone knew he was their servant. Or at least the Convocation's servant. He was new to the role, only an apprentice, but he'd been chosen for it before he could even say no. August saw how uncomfortable he felt, but no one else did. Not even Sebastian, who was the kid's mentor as the leader of the Convocation.

Nikolai Zaitsev stood to the side of Lilliana's office. As they got closer, they could hear voices inside. It seemed their sister was in a meeting. Was she so busy that she hadn't even realized August had been gone? They walked up to Nikolai, offering their fist, which the kid bumped with his own. They'd always been extra nice to Nikolai, or tried hard to at least, ever since he started coming around the estate with Sebastian.

"What's going on in there?" They asked.

Nikolai shifted his feet, acting a little weird. More uncomfortable than usual, and his eyes conveyed a sadness. Had something bad happened with the Lucero's? "Sebastian's discussing something with Lilliana." He looked away, guilt dancing on his face. "Sorry. I can't tell you more. I'm not allowed to tell anyone about it."

"Hey, it's alright." August soothed. "I'm guessing it's not exactly a discussion?"

"Yeah." Nikolai said, seeming to tense his muscles. "They've been going back and forth for a while."

"Sebastian's pushing her buttons again?"

"Don't say that! He'll hear you." Nikolai warned. He was a caring kid, but Sebastian had more of a bark than a bite. Sure, that bark could be scary and harsh, but at the end of the day August had immunity as the bearer of the Sword of Light. He couldn't harm them, only throw a fit like he usually did. The only people who could ever get away with laying a finger on them had been their parents. "But yeah. He wants to do something, and Lilliana won't let him."

August raised an eyebrow. They knew the two of them usually bumped heads with each other, but the yelling was getting louder, and Nikolai's expression read like this was dead serious. It was something more than their usual spats.

They went up to the door, pressing their ear to the wood. They were loud enough so that the walls only soaked up part of their conversation, and the other part August could make out.

"...a child." Lilliana was saying as they started eavesdropping.

"And a Cabrera." Sebastian snapped back. "You may be the leader of Luminosa, but the capture of all the cursed falls into Convocation responsibility. You're out of your jurisdiction, Lilliana."

"Well, your certainly right about one thing. I am the leader of Luminosa, and I have the power to veto any of your ideas. You are not my equal in rank, Sebastian, and I suggest you relearn your place in this city."

"And I suggest you reread your own precious laws! You deal with running the city, while the Convocation deals with the hunt for the Cabrera's. Those things lives are mine to do with as I please. Are you really suggesting you sympathize with those beasts?" It made August's stomach leap hearing that much venom in Sebastian's voice. How he didn't even think of the Cabrera's as people. He thought he was putting down some dangerous animal, rather than murdering innocent people. But what did his words really mean?

"You know full well that's not-" Lilliana began, but Sebastian cut her off.

"Then there should be no problem. I'll have an errand boy post the papers. I think our citizens will be excited by the news. This'll be one of our most successful festivals. You should be overjoyed as our oh so faithful leader, and as a Lucero. We're fulfilling Ignis's will, after all."

The room went silent, and suddenly August felt the pressure on the door as it was pushed open by Sebastian. It swung open, hitting them on the forehead in a burst of pain. They stepped off to the side, rubbing their head. Sebastian looked towards them with a raised eyebrow. But it's not like it really mattered to him that they were eavesdropping, given they were a Lucero. If their annoying pest of a friend was with them, then maybe he'd start to care. But he was utterly exasperated with Lilliana, and now August was all her problem.

"Augustine, I hope you'll do the right thing when the time comes." And with that, Sebastian motioned for Nikolai to come, and they were off, Nikolai sneaking a quick wave to them as the pair left.

Ok, so that was incredibly vague.

They went into the office to glimpse a very stressed Lilliana. Her hand retracted to pinch the bridge of her nose while she shook her head. "What was that all about?" August asked.

"Just more of Sebastian being Sebastian." Ok, another vague answer. What was with these people? They were getting seriously frustrating, with their concealment of everything. "Don't think you're getting off the hook either. I know full well you left. You're just lucky Sebastian started with me. Just go to your room. I don't want to hear it right now."

Lilliana turned towards her desk. August's hand went to comfort her, but they stopped and pulled it back. They watched Lilliana pick up a piece of paper but couldn't see what was on it. Probably her usual boring paperwork. Why anyone could want the task of running the entire city, August would never know. They simply slipped out the door, then closed it behind them. For once, they did as they were told, walking towards their room. They plopped down onto their bed, sighed, and wondered on what exactly all of that meant.
Valero waited for an answer from the group, but before anyone could speak up and explain the fight in front of the front gate, a powerful energy surged through the five guard members. Valero stood strong while Hunter immediately felt dizzy. He could feel the static electricity in the air, making his unique scar prickle. His mind flared with a strange recognition, though couldn't understand what exactly it meant. He himself didn't know the strange surge from experience. He knew the familiar discharge of electricity but couldn't understand why this felt deeper.

Then, a voice louder than Valero's crackled over them like lightning. The cat came into view, making the guards' eyes widen. Valero still stood strong, looking as if it were a normal occurrence to see a deity, but Hunter and the other guards were both shocked and amazed at the same time. It was Halazzi, The Mighty. Lukia's pet and the protector of Luminosa. It was said that Halazzi guarded Luminosa at the request of his master and kept a watchful eye on any threats to the city.

Hunter knew he was about the same size as Cora when he'd become a saber tooth tiger, so he thought that maybe it was Halazzi who had been in the fight. He really wanted to ask him, but thought it'd be disrespectful. Besides, his mouth felt dry and cracked. He wasn't sure that if he opened his mouth, there would be words coming out. Part of that was because of his own amazement, and part of that was because of the whirling headache he'd gotten upon the arrival of the deity.

Halazzi said he'd state their business for them, explaining that he'd been watching them the entire time. Doing his job, watching for any threats to the city. As he towered over everyone, his power radiated and made Hunter's stabbing headache that much worse. He explained the group had not been attackers, but defenders. Defending themselves against an enemy that wished to harm them. Then he recognized their strength against going up against some knight. It gave Valero and the guards a clearer picture. Regardless, Valero didn't like fighting outside of the front gate. Plus, Halazzi made this knight sound like a threat.

Now, Valero wasn't a terribly religious man. In fact, he could do without it sometimes. The constant worship of Lukia got tiring to hear about, when all he was trying to do was defend his city. Though, that didn't mean he disliked the god and his deity. He recognized their strength and commended them for it but didn't put them on a pedestal like so many other people. Religion just wasn't for him, that's all. Especially since he was raised on the outskirts of the city. In all honesty, he would be an atheist if he didn't know the gods existed, or that he was staring a deity in the face.

Valero dropped to one knee, put a hand on his raised one, and craned his body forward in a bow meant to offer respect. The other three guard members followed suit a second later. Hunter just stood there, gazing at Halazzi and trying to figure out what his brain was telling him, and why he knew the power coming off him somehow. His hand crackled with small sparks, before getting lightly slapped with an arm. Valero. He looked flustered, his face burning up to blend in with the coloration of his scar. He knelt down next to Valero, taking up the same stance but with his face looking directly towards the ground.

"Thank you, O Mighty Halazzi, for continuing to use your watchful eye to benefit our city. It puts our minds to ease that we can count on your strength. You have helped a great deal to make this a less... arduous process, now that we know these folks were only defending themself from someone who wished them harm. If you can tell me, should we look out for this knight? That is to say, does your judgement tell you this knight will end up becoming a threat to our city?" Valero said with an even tone of charisma and respect.

Hunter was honestly surprised, given Valero never usually had so much formality to his voice. Standing before a deity really brought out the upstanding, charismatic man in him.

Kumii · Oct 19, 2022

Skyla & Mana & JustineLocation: Luminosa
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf SharkBark
Current Weather: Clear
Current Time: August 28th, 1337. 10:53am
Mana clenched tighter on to Rai's haori as he took the protective stance over her. In all honesty, Mana had no reason to be scared but she was still a child and also didn't like fighting unless it was necessary for her, "I'm scared, Rai." She muttered which, if Rai remembers a certain OTHER white haired girl he met 6 months ago, she acted like she did when he took her to the Bounty Hunter lodge.

Skyla heard Rai mutter, "Your guess is as good as mine, Rai." Justine stood with her eyes wide as the thunder cat stood over them, completely speechless. Skyla overheard Mateo say that the thing before them was Halazzi, the Mighty. A deity, essentially a god.
Nikki & JokerLocation: Somehwere outside of Ironshire
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
Current Weather: Drizzle
Current Time: August 26th, 1337. 1:53pm

Speedy, and the other guy, both had a sword plunged into their chest. Speedy stared at Finch, uttering some final words as he died, "Tina... isn't... the... enemy..." his final words floated around as Joker stood and stared at the lifeless bodies of both Speedy and Two-Face, getting refocused as Finch yelled to regroup on Nikki, "Copy that, boss!" Joker followed up Finch's attack with a swinging kick as he grappled from a roof, "Get out of the way, Playboy!" He yelled as he came swinging in to plunge the sword sticking out of Muscles' back even further.

Nikki back stepped as the combo attack caused Muscles to stumble forward but Nikki had a brilliant idea. In a flash, Nikki took her sword, used the momentum of the big guy to create a clean cut straight through the big man's head, cutting it clean off. Nikki took her sword and whipped the blood off it before sheathing it. She turned and faced Finch and Joker, "I assume the other two are dealt with then?" She asked plainly.
Serana & TinaLocation: Somehwere outside of Ironshire
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
Current Weather: Drizzle
Current Time: August 26th, 1337. 1:53pm

Serana knelt down and charged up a shot from her rifle which shot out a beam of magic energy and fire magic. Tina ducked and dodged right to get on the other side of the beam, morphng her sword into a grenade (Dark Configuration) which she threw along the ground. It stopped just short of Serana's feet and deployed anchors that dug into the ground before a second later, created a gravity well that began to pull in Serana. Serana tried desperately break free of the pull when she had the idea to shoot the grenade.

She lined up a shot and shot the grenade and it did just as she hoped it would, destroyed the grenade and stopped the gravity well. However, Tina morphed the grenade Serana thought she destroyed into a pair of pistols (Ice Configuration) and rushed towards Serana, "I can't hit her... she's too quick..." Serana muttered as Tin rushed her.

Serana's fuel in Flame Empress mode

Posts until Tina INEVITABLY wins and kills Serana: 3
Kishi & Ryuuni Dragonfist with NiaLocation: Luminosa, Kishi's Home
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
Current Weather: Clear
Current Time: August 28th, 1337. 10:53pm
The Next Day...

Kishi was seen walking within the city limits, when he heard a commotion towards the front gate. He noticed his dad and Nia, "Dad? Nia?" Kishi jogged up to the pair, "Dad! What's going on?" Nia and Ryuuni both looked at Kishi, "Son? It seems the commotion at the gate was enough to warrant the attention of Halazzi himself." Kishi looked towards the gate, "Halazzi..."

Nia looked at Kishi, "I saw a few of my old friends at the gate but I was turned away before I could reach them... Master happened to be nearby though and... well... here we are." Kishi glanced at Nia for a moment as she explained, "Ah..."
Mei & JinLocation: Seiryoku Empire
Interactions: SharkBark
Current Weather: Clear
Current Time: August 28th, 1337.

I'm stealing your idea, Shark.

Anything in '][' is Demonic.

Mei & Jin both slightly flinched when Akuhei got their names wrong but, to their surprise, Miyahira corrected him, "I don't know what the bikini-wearing girl-knight said... but I like her already." Jin commented. Mei sighed, "Keep it in your pants, playboy." They both stood up and left. Jin looked at Kaminari with a devilish stare whilst Mei looked at him with a sultry stare.

Jin then looked at Miyahira, "Seriously doesn't leave much to the imagination, does she?" Mei slapped the back of his head, "We're here to be diplomatic envoys for Lord Kumii, not sleep with the locals. Stop going to your incubus roots, you degenerate!" Jin rubbed the back of his head, "Ow! What? You know how hard it is. You MUST be feeling that type of way around Muscles over there. You are a succubus after all." Jin said, referring to Kaminari. Mei blushed and slapped Jin, "[Shut up! I only love Lord Kumii!]" Jin rubbed his face, "[Geez, I know, I know... no need to get violent, Mei...]" Mei crossed her arms and turned her head away from Jin and let out a small 'hmph' and began pouting.

Jin sighed and looked at Kaminari and Akuhei, "See what I got to do deal with?" Mei was still looking away but responded to Jin, "[You bring it on yourself, Jin.]" Jin shook his head, "[I have NO idea what you're talking about.]" Jin said quite sarcastically.
Halazzi, the MightyLocation: Luminosa
Mentions: AlphaBlueWolf SharkBark
Current Weather: Clear
Current Time: August 28th, 1337. 10:53am
Halazzi shrunk his size down to a smaller tiger, but still stood 7 feet tall. He did so as he walked towards the guards, passing by Mateo momentarily but, in that moment, it felt like the whole world has slowed to a snail's pace and only Halazzi and Mateo were normal speed. Halazzi glanced at Mateo, "I know who you are... Cabrera." Halazzi said without moving his mouth, which meant he was speaking to Mateo telepathically, "I would have words with you and your kin. Meet me at the base of the mountain after this is all done." After he 'said' that, time seemed to resumed to normal speed but no-one else would know what Halazzi said to Mateo or that time had slowed momentarily.

As Halazzi approached the guard, he stopped in front of them and he sat down, "I can not defer my judgment on this matter, for my judgment is clouded, good Guard, for even the movements of the Knight are clouded to even the keen eyes of the gods." Halazzi got up and leaped to the arch over the gate with elegance and a stream of electricity following him. He sat down and looked down on everyone, "It is decided, however... the City of Luminosa shall remain open to these people! I recognize these people to be outsiders but I see in them the potential to be something more. Allies... perhaps." With that, Halazzi looked at Valero and Hunter and nodded once before turning around and leaping off into the distance, however before doing so, he made one final glance towards Mateo and then jumped off towards the mountain.

Fantasy Legacies: World at War - In Character

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