Fantasy The Underground: Age of Wars

[Hoki]

He tried to listen as diligently as possible, sometimes appearing to drift off with the scratches but always returning back to give some sort of indication that he was processing what Atlas was saying. At the mention of hectic outside activity and becoming more of a soldier than a scout, the demon gave an audible whine. Solider-life didn't feel like it would fit the Wraith, really... Of course, that was just an opinion.

Come his turn to speak, Shion gave him a weird look as if to say "Really?". He almost never spoke in this form to begin with, and whenever he did, it was always in Japanese. These nerds didn't know Japanese. Shifting his shoulders, the Raijuu encouraged Vytas to disembark from his shoulders. Once the weight was gone, the form shrunk down and changed seamlessly, a small, goofy smile gracing his lips as his chin remained in Atlas' scratching-care.

"He is well," the redhead started to say, noticing the much more "proper" mannerism that had slipped back into his speech, "Frustrated, upset, busy, impatient... But well." Stepping back once to free his head, Shion looked over at Vytas before going on. "Lady Lillian has also arrived; she's with him now.

"As for myself.." He thought about this for a moment, fixing a goofy lock of his grown-out hair. "I am also well. Things have been tense, but it's nothing I can't handle." Truth be told, the demon loved these casual conversations, the ones where it didn't matter who you were, what you were, or what you did.

Aridis

 

[Axeykins]

Alexis leaned into Marius's touch, enjoying the gentle touch on her cheek by his hand. She smiled softly as she listened to his words, he was such a sweetheart. She came even closer to him wrapping his one arm around her waist, "I've always wanted to explore more of the Underground, but know nothing makes me more happier than being with the man that I love so much. Not to say who just asked me to," she whispered," marry him." She wrapped her arms around his neck. Axeykins

"I bet. I'm overjoyed that you've accepted!" He leaned in and gave her a gentle kiss. "Come on. Let's get going and burn off some energy, see the sights...well. At least you'll see them." He chuckled. "Later on we can head back to my boss's place. He's back for a bit and would like to see who exactly I was giving that ring to."
Black Forest MLady

 

[Black Forest MLady]

Alexis blushed as Marius gave her a gentle kiss. She began to lead them out of the shop. Her nearly stopped at the mention of his boss,"Doesn't your boss know of me, yet, I mean it has been 3 years?" She asked. In honesty, she was nervous to meet Marius's boss. Even more if Marius hasn't told him about her. Axeykins

 

[Soviet Panda]

"Send them if you think it safe enough. If we can get in contact with at least one, the rest will soon catch wind and come to us." He told her, suddenly riffling through the papers laid out in front of him, looking for something. But when he heard Una's voice crack, he looked up and sympathy filled his eyes. "Our friends at the Church will do all they can to keep you and your kin safe. They know what is at stake." When she moved on, so did he. He did not want to dwell on such depressing topics, though their numbers are rising. "I'll send an envoy to nudge them down the proper path, give them a scape goat so they can save face. I am certain they will respect the Master of the Axe, he is their kind after all, and knows their ways. Maybe send the Master of the Bow to the Greenland elves as well."
(( Axeykins ))
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Oh~, scenic." Connor said as they set down the priest. And he set down his tools. Well, dropped them is more like it, but same thing. Opening up his bag of goodies, he picks up a drill. "Remember this? I do. But maybe later." Setting aside the screw driver, he pulls out a small powered saw. "I always did feel like you had a few to many fingers. It just doesn't look right on you. But let's soften them up first." Deciding on his tool, he took out a walnut cracker. And approaching the priest, he takes one of the priests hands, puts his pinkie in the cracker, and gives him a rude, and painful, awakening
(( Axeykins ))

 

[Axeykins]

"He knows OF you but doesn't actually know you. Face to face. I've told him a lot about you and he's asked many many questions. Seeing as it's been so long since I've had a lover." He chuckled softly. "Seeing as I'm his property. He'd just like to know who is stealing that from him so much nowadays." He gave her nose a teasing little bop. "Come on. Let's go. There is so much to explore here!"
Black Forest MLady

 

[Axeykins]

Sisceal was snapped wide awake. He could hear and feel his own bones crunching and shattering. A loud scream ripped through his chest. "Stop. STOOOP! Please!" He begged. Struggling against his bindings as best he could. The chloroform still fogging his head and pain making him sick. Extremely sick. Before he could stop it the priest had thrown up all over his shoes. "Please...I..I just want to go home...please. let me go."
Soviet Panda Hoki

( Aridis Kiyoko Tomoe Jeda Teq Dalamus Ulom @rosamortelle)

 

[Axeykins]

"Yes. They have protected my lands for as long as they have existed and shall continue to do so to their last breath." She pressed her hands firmly against her heart. "I will send them directly to you as soon as one or more are found and headed towards your domain. And ensure your guards are alerted as well to save you the trouble. Now." She readjusted herself once more. "That sounds like a very solid plan. A nudge is exactly what they need right now. Get them motivated and we shall finally have another powerful ally on our hands and almost all of the faction and sanctuaries united...speaking of which. Any news of the darker realms? Or do we dare not mettle in the power of the darker folk and demons still. No matter what the case it is more often than not extremely dangerous."
Soviet Panda

 

[Aridis]

"Hnnnngh. Drop the formal speech, Shion!" Vytas protested. Though he was off of the wolf's back, he refused to stop pestering and teasing. It was his job as the youngest, after all. And even though he had grown quite a bit from being a selfish little kid, there was no denying that he kept some of his childish mannerisms. Especially the sass.

But, his good mood immediately turned sour when his brother's fiance was brought up. He had been not-so-secretly hoping that she never would arrive. Vytas didn't hate her enough to wish death upon her, but now it would be extremely difficult to get near his brother without having to deal with her. Lillianna was nice and all, but the brunet felt awkward whenever he was around her. Not to mention the Austere-hogging that happened every time she was within a five-mile radius of the Underground. Choosing to say nothing, Vytas averted his eyes from the other two and crossed his arms over his chest

Atlas snickered at the young prince's words. He personally didn't want the redhead to stop, just for the sole purpose of teasing him about it constantly. However, he didn't say anything out loud. It had been awhile since the duo had met up, and there was too much to catch up on. Teasing could come in small doses, but it couldn't dominate the conversation as much as the Wraith would've liked.

He placed a hand on Vytas' head and gave Shion a lopsided smile. "Yeah? That's good to hear. I'm glad that you aren't too stressed. Things suck now enough as it is." Atlas could've gone on and on. He was .02 seconds away from starting a rant about his own adventures when his phone buzzed in his pocket. And since he never used the device for anything beyond his job, of course he had to check to see what was going on. The raven held up a finger as he fished the phone out of his pocket, and checked the screen to see what the received text message held.

His already pale face lost the rest of its pigment when he saw the picture. It was taken from a very far distance, but there was no mistaking the pale hair of a friend he had lost years ago. Atlas also vaguely recognized the two shmucks that hovered over him, one of them being the kid whom he had mistakenly let off with just a broken arm. But the part that really got to him was the fact that they were finally outside of an Order facility. Atlas had been trying to break in for years, and now his companion was in the streets of the city; in a very familiar location, too. It was too obvious of a trap, but he couldn't pass it up. And he knew exactly where they were, too. The Wraith had to save Sisceal now. Otherwise, he may never get another chance.

Drawing in a deep breath, the raven slipped his phone back into his pocket. His goofy demeanor vanished entirely, and was replaced with a stone cold mask. "I need to go. There's something that absolutely cannot wait."

( Hoki Axeykins )

 

[High Moon]

Warping between realms was not one of his strong points, not after so many years without practice. Coughing and cursing as he dropped out of a teleportation portal and landed on the floor of the Palace, his hair wild and clothes burnt to ashes. ''Bugger, I tell you It ain't good going a few years without working out!'' he muttered as he pushed himself off the ground and picked his cane, He hit the floor with it and his disheveled look was gone in a blink, satisfied with his freshly mended clothes he set his yellow eyes to spy the palace for anything new, slowly walking towards the Throne room ''You need to re-decorate this place, Old friend. It's been what? 250 mortal years? Still the same interior, same furniture, same tasteless color or to be clear the complete lack of it.'' He took one last look at the furniture before he turned his attention to the man on the throne. ''Abi, you're worse than a troll when it comes to decorating your home.'' he told with amusement, his eyes narrowing as they landed on his rival and occasional ally.

( Axeykins )

 

[Soviet Panda]

"You know we can't do that, priesty." Connor said, mock holding the poor priests hair back as he vomited. "We need your little friends to show up, and we can't do that if we don't have you. You see how that works? You're here, they're here. You aren't, they aren't. Now let's get back to calling them." That said, he swiftly moves to the next digit and breaks that one as well. "You know, I always wondered why people go on and on about water boarding. It's no fun, can't hear their screams, see. And you can kill them if you don't do it right, actually drown them. But breaking bones? Well, that leaves more of an impression, don't you think?" He spoke calmly through the screams of his victim, methodically working his way through the fingers on one hand. Stopping briefly to go to the other side. "They here yet?" He asked, nut cracker hovering over the as of yet unharmed pinkie of the other hand.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gareth's whole body stiffened ever so slightly at the mention of the darker Sanctuaries, but he quickly relaxed again. "We will need to all stand united. Including the darker Sanctuaries. I have not yet found a way to approach them on equal footing. I have only seen it with them having the upper hand, and give them an inch and they'll take your entire kingdom. We need every advantage we can get when dealing with them. However, demons within my court may be able to assist me in finding a way for this equal footing, for having an advantageous one is next to impossible when dealing with them. If you have any in your court as well, I am certain they will be able to assist us. I am also certain that they have spies planted within my staff. If you can find them, write their name down, but don't let them know that you know. We can feed them the information we want them to know."
(( Axeykins ))

 

[Axeykins]

"You pop into my home unannounced and the first thing you're gonna do is insult my decorating?" The mountain of a man sitting atop the throne chuckled. He was a whopping six foot seven and pure muscle. Ebony horns graced his shimmery light blond locks that curled around his face. His eyes a piercing shade of swirling gold. "It's been a while old 'friend'." He smirked as even uttered the word. Did it even mean anything to their kind really? Friends and foes came and went and changed so frequently that such thing as a friend was a foreign idea. "So! If I may ask it. What exactly brings you into my palace? I don't exactly remember inviting you here."
High Moon

 

[Axeykins]

Sisceal curled his hand up in pain. As much as he could with his fingers obliterated. He coughed and gagged as his throat burned. "ss.stop....they won't come. let me go. I'll uh. I'll take you to the place or try to. anything just please. I can't take this anymore." He sobbed softly as he felt the lunatic move onto his other hand. He desperately tried to wiggle his hand away or clench it too tightly to get to, but he was so weak. A withered, starving husk of his former self. Even if he got loose there was no possible way he could run without collapsing.
"Heh, little bit more and we should really break him completely Conner. Keep up the good work."
Soviet Panda Aridis
Hoki
(dun forget Lilli and Edgelord x3)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"We should discuss this with the demons currently in your court at some point. Ask them what we can do and if they can assist us. Perhaps even get them to rat out any spies. Surely they could detect not only their own kind but the darker fair folk." She offered a thoughtful nod. "In the meantime I shall tell my fairies remaining here to keep an eye out and choose their words carefully. We may need to crack down on security as well to be safe. If things go as they have been lately we should be decent. I shall continue to pray to for some change of luck soon as well. Gods know we need it badly."
Soviet Panda

 

[Axeykins]

The more distance they put between themselves and the throne room, the more relaxed Lilliana became. She had heard that things had gotten frustrating through letters between her and her fiance, but words on a page couldn't fully explain the situation. And even then, the Enchantress had only grabbed a short glimpse of the situation. It made her worry about Austere's mental health, as well as the King's. Both were under extreme stress, and neither was helping the other.

"Really?" Lilliana questioned. "I feel awful now for causing extra work for them. The garden is lovely enough without any of my preferences, and it seems to get bigger every time I visit! But... Thank you for thinking of me regardless. I can hardly get upset about it because of how sweet the idea was."

"Oh no, it was no trouble at all. Simply ordering some different flowers than usual and planting the garden different. Nothing we don't do each year." He forced out a chuckle and soft smile. Although, it came out looking more like his was in pain from it. "Come now. Let us go walk around it! Get as far away from it as possible and soak in the fresh air." Gods how he absolutely needed that. He still had faint trails of smoke coming from his nose and mouth as the fire inside raged. "You must tell me how things are in your kingdom. How your family is fairing, life in the palace. Gods how long has it even been since I visited you last?"
Aridis

 

[High Moon]

Sitbuizor's face of utter smugness soured, "You hurt my feelings old chum, can't an Immortal being, visit his immortal friend without a deep motive behind him?" his act only lasted so long and soon enough the hallway was filled with the mad laughter of Sitbuizor. "I've grown bored of Twisted Peak, Build a New building, abduct mortals to populate, create New nightmares blah, boring. I plan on returning to the Mortal Realm." He conjured a chair and a cup of tea, sitting on it with legs crossed. "I know you're involved in this little wargame that fae folk play with my favourite little mad creatures, Humankind. And I want to tip the balance a bit, corrupt a few minds, strike some deals, claim a few souls, but I am not what I used to be, my influence past the gates of hell has waned greatly since fewer mortals worship me... I need one of your minions to summon me. I know, I know you are thinking 'Why should I help you?' but the answer is..." "Soon enough we will need to assemble the Council of Troubles to choose a side And yadda yadda yadda you know me well enough I don't care who wins this boardgame of pawns. You let me have my fun And I'll support your claims this time around. By Inferno! turn a whole continent to your 'bloody' vampires if you want, I simply don't care."
Axeykins

 

[Error404RealityFailed]

Rai was extremely happy today. Today was the day marking the day that she got home. It had been a while since she'd been sent away (And honestly she was still mad at her father), and today she had gotten back. Also, her favorite chef had made her some broccoli, so she was happy. Man, Rai freakin loved broccoli! It was so good!

That was probably the bit of goat talking, but she loved it. "VYTAS!" She called down one hall, practically ready to burst. She hadn't seen him since he'd been brought back, and that wasn't a good picture to have as a last thing. "Vytas? Austere?" She called again. No one answered. "Dang it..."

Well this was sad. She couldn't find any of them. She'd really really wanted to see one of them. Her time away had been mostly staring at pictures and ripping up her father's name for sending her away (Yeah, she was pretty mad...). "Hello~?"
Aridis Axeykins ??? (Not sure if good XD)

 

[Soviet Panda]

"No, tell no one. We can only trust each other at this point. Your servants, members of the court, any of them could be spies. Tread carefully until you are able to narrow down who to trust, and who to not trust." Gareth told her. That was part of the headache of dealing with the Demon Sanctuaries, not knowing who to trust and having to choose your words with even more care then usual. "The guards are already on high alert. Not only to protect me and my family, but to also protect you and now Lilliana. I'm sure that if a gnat were to come into the castle, the guards would know where it was at, what it was doing, and have a pyromancer ready to incinerate it.
(( Axeykins ))
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connor gave a mock salute as he squeezed down, and crushed the finger of the priest. "You say no one's gonna come, but we don't know that. You could be lying. If you are, then we'll find out and you'll lose your fingers. If you aren't, you might get to keep your fingers. Not sure, bones might set wrong and it'd be better to just get rid of them. Who knows. Let's find out."

 

[Hoki]

The conversation briefly dropped, but that didn't mean he minded. Turning partially to "comfort" the sour-puss behind him, the demon found that his soft smile had become a bit thin as the faintest traces of another voice finished its pass through the Underground. It wouldn't reach just ANY ear, but his had grown to be sharper and more alert, listening for any call attached to one of his many duties. He only wished that the cry would be answered by someone, perhaps someone on the Overworld that was better equipped to handle it; maybe it was gang activity that had brought this around, instead of some tension between humans and fae.
If only...

At first, Atlas' shift was noticed from the corner of his eye. He had reason to believe that the Wraith would explain something - there were cases when he had done just that before taking off - however something seemed to be different. This very thought was proven to be true from the sense of cold urgency locked into his tone. Need to go? Something that can't wait? Not with that kind of expression...

Shion liked to believe that he had grown use to his friend's tendencies, so he knew that this wasn't simply another work-call. Before Atlas could attempt to take his leave, the redhead snatched the phone right from his hand, peering at the phone with pursed lips. And what a twisted sight it was; even with the distance and resolution. His gaze flickered toward the Wraith, his grip tight. "What?" he asked, a low growl rumbling in his chest, "You weren't about to go running into a fight, were you?" Not only that, but there was ANOTHER voice that echoed through the castle. It belonged to the young princess, someone Shion didn't really know quite well but knew enough of. He would most likely have to send Vytas her way.

But first, Atlas.

Aridis ( Axeykins Error404RealityFailed )

 

[Aridis]

He had no time for jokes or delays. Stealing his phone right back, even using his shadows if he needed to, Altas shoved it into his pocket. There was a pit forming in his stomach, one that left a metallic taste in his mouth. Knowing how the Order worked, he feared that he wouldn't have a very large window of opportunity left. His only thought right now was getting Sisceal out of there. Sure, a fight wasn't a part of his original intention, but if one broke out the Wraith wasn't going to complain. He would just kick ass and maybe suck half a soul out of one of the sociopaths just to send a message. Not that they had much of a soul to begin with, anyways.

"Shion, I appreciate the worry and all. But I have a very small opportunity here and I need to take it. I promise I won't die, though. Okay? Okay, glad we talked that out. And Vytas no you can't come, I mean it." Leaving it at that, Atlas decided that he needed to go right there and then. Whether anyone followed was really not his problem, and his focus wasn't really on any loopholes that he might've left open.

Before any protests could be made verbal, the Wraith dropped himself into the shadow realm, and sped off in the direction of the nearest exit. He needed to get to Sisceal and fast.

( Hoki Axeykins Soviet Panda )

...Atlas was extremely lucky that family took priority over curiosity. Well, siblings took priority. The young Prince wanted to stay. He really, really wanted to follow the Wraith to the Overworld too. Unfortunately, his younger sister swept any chance of that happening right from underneath his feet. Vytas wasn't completely upset about it, he missed Rai...in some ways. Her imagined seniority over him wasn't exactly on his list of "things I like about my sister."

Groaning softly, the brunette flipped off Atlas and his last-minute attempt to prevent the Prince from tagging along, before leaving the scene himself. Transforming into a hawk, Vytas darted back towards the castle in order to greet his sister.

( Hoki Error404RealityFailed )

Her first instinct was to allow Austere to vent. That seemed to be what he needed, after all. However, he was also just starting to calm down, so allowing him to get excited again might not be the best option in the world. Though talking about herself wasn't the preferred route to take, Lilliana didn't complain about it. "It feels like it's been eons. But... With how the world is changing, every visit is a blessing I suppose." The raven moved a little closer to the Elder Prince, mainly to avoid accidentally stepping on a flower. "And home is... As home as it can be. Nothing too outrageous has happened, we've stopped a couple of raids from reaching our borders. However, we're beginning to move citizens to a more guarded Sanctuary just in case. After all, you can never be too careful these days."

( Axeykins )

 

[Axeykins]

Sitbuizor's face of utter smugness soured, "You hurt my feelings old chum, can't an Immortal being, visit his immortal friend without a deep motive behind him?" his act only lasted so long and soon enough the hallway was filled with the mad laughter of Sitbuizor. "I've grown bored of Twisted Peak, Build a New building, abduct mortals to populate, create New nightmares blah, boring. I plan on returning to the Mortal Realm." He conjured a chair and a cup of tea, sitting on it with legs crossed. "I know you're involved in this little wargame that fae folk play with my favourite little mad creatures, Humankind. And I want to tip the balance a bit, corrupt a few minds, strike some deals, claim a few souls, but I am not what I used to be, my influence past the gates of hell has waned greatly since fewer mortals worship me... I need one of your minions to summon me. I know, I know you are thinking 'Why should I help you?' but the answer is..." "Soon enough we will need to assemble the Council of Troubles to choose a side And yadda yadda yadda you know me well enough I don't care who wins this boardgame of pawns. You let me have my fun And I'll support your claims this time around. By Inferno! turn a whole continent to your 'bloody' vampires if you want, I simply don't care."
Axeykins

"One vampire will be enough for me in this game. The one is enough of a pain in the ass." He chuckled. Staring down curiously at Sitbuizor as he let loose his proposal. "Hmmmm. I don't know...You bring about a very interesting proposal...this may sound odd but I am rather enjoying a slow lifestyle. Run a big cooperation, keep many humans under my thumb, make them absolutely need me and sell their souls to me. Make those fae beg me to help them soon as well." He grinned. "It could be an interesting venture though. Which side to you wager would be more interesting for the council to choose?"
High Moon

 

[Hoki]

He was left to stand there alone, his back in the direction of the hawk and his face toward the quickly passing shadows. There was a big part of him that wanted to leave the situation be, to just find his way back to Austere or take time for himself, but there was still a part that voiced its opinion on the matter; it wanted him to follow.

It wasn't that he doubted Atlas' abilities - at least not completely - but it was in his nature to worry. Something he had learned over the years was that the Wraith sometimes acted on emotion. Sometimes. This was just such a scenario that Shion worried would provoke his friend... And it seemed like such an obvious trap, too, one that just SCREAMED to be triggered for the enjoyment of the Order. While he wanted to go running after, the demon knew he couldn't just leave the Underground without warning.
By no means was he weak; Shion had grown exponentially stronger since that day, finding ways to use his abilities beyond the simple "railgun" and surpassing limits. If need be, he could probably keep things from going too far. Then again, that would depend on what "far" was.

The guard had started running before long, turning on his heel and following his nose. He wanted to find Austere first, to properly dismiss himself and let him know where he would be for the next hour - hopefully that was all it would take, at most. Tensions were still high, he didn't know if he could mention the Order's activity in involving a technical civilian to the Prince, but he wouldn't be able to leave without wanting to constantly report in otherwise.

Upon arriving at the entrance of the garden, there was no denying the guilt that started to crawl up his throat. His prince and Lady Lillian seemed to be enjoying each other's company; all the tension from the conversation with Gareth appeared to be fading away gradually. There still was the option of leaving on his own, and keeping Austere's voice tuned to his ears like usual. However, even that was risky - What if Shion got out of his own inhumanly heightened range?
He bit his lip, struggling to decide what to do before finding that his legs had started to move toward the two. His brain shuffled itself out as he walked, which made the stride much more confident and the expression on his face to more collected. So, when they would look his way, Shion could properly put on his polite smile.

"Lady Lillian," he greeted once more, bowing deeply to her for a moment. Then turning his attention to Austere, the demon wore his apology on his face. "Austere.. I have a request, if you wouldn't mind. Just for a little more time allotted to myself." Yes, that's what it was. "Something came up and I need to-- Sorry, I would like to deal with it."
Thing is, he would explain what it was if asked. It was sort of an issue when one tried to get by without raising blood pressure (or heat levels, your dragonliness), however, neither Shion nor the Raijuu would allow keeping something so large from important ears.

After all, he was still under Austere's command.

//casually interrupting sorry
Axeykins Aridis

 

[Axeykins]

"I suppose you are right. In these times it is best to keep as much among ourselves as possible." She gracefully floated over to a nearby chair. She could think more clearly when more relaxed. "I shall tell none of my fairies, only keep them going about business as usual. You need not worry about me though. I can hold my own as always. It has been forever since I have used them for war but it certainly worked well when I did. My forest has not been touched in eons." She chuckled softly. "Anyhow, should we prepare for dinner this evening or are there more reports you would like to mull over? Or perhaps setting up the troupes for the inflow of guests to come soon."
Soviet Panda
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I..I'm not lying. Nobody's coming. I know it, They would have years ago..." He struggled as Connor began on his other hand. Fighting back as his stomach churned violently.
"Oh but we must test everything. And this is the first time we've let you outside isn't it?" Anton joined in the fun. Bringing his knee up to slam into the man's face. "Whoops. made him black out." Anton chuckled as he grabbed the sides of Sisceal's head and shaking him back awake. "There we go. There he is."
"S....stop." Sisceal stuttered. Spitting out some blood. "I can't.."
"You can't what eh? Can't take much more of this? Want us to just stop and let you sit in pain and wait? Ha! Sure sure. and miss this opportunity? I don't think so."
Soviet Panda Aridis
Hoki

 

[Axeykins]

"That is true...I am just glad that you were able to make it and not turned back by another incident." Austere's cold face took on a slight hint of pink as she moved closer. Keeping his stiff glance mainly at the ground or somewhere off in another direction he carefully let his arm drop down to hang loosely. Then gently wrapping his hand around hers as they walked. "It is good to hear things have been relatively calm there, but if need be you can stay here longer...for safety reasons of course. You and your family. It is the least we could do now to assist your kingdom. And I would--" The prince was cut off suddenly by the interruption. Quickly removing his hand from Lilliana's and standing tall and stern as soon as he heard footsteps coming their way.
"What? You want more time?" He raised an eyebrow at this request. It was odd no doubt. He questioned every last bit of it, but then again. Pending on how much time he needed this could be beneficial to his plans. "That is a rather odd request, but I suppose that now that Lilli is here there is sufficient enough watch to allow it. I know you can pick up on my cries easily if needed as well." He acted as though he was still pondering it for a while. "Hmmm. Fine, you may have this extra time. But know there will be extra work once you return."
Aridis Hoki

 

[Kiyoko Tomoe]

"My apologies, King, but I must inform you that..." Liana spoke calmly and with little energy put into it, having shown up from seemingly nowhere to even most who know of the many ways she has in and out of every inch of the Underground. "...There seems to be a person walking around outside the Underground as we speak. They seem to know of the place's location and existence, however not the way in. They are not human, however; they have some type of white wings, albeit well hidden from sight."

This was a rarity for Liana, speaking to someone directly, more so the King of the Underground. However, this was most certainly a necessity to report, for only Liana herself knew of this individual headed toward the Underground at present time, and to even Liana, someone who cared little for structured rankings, it was obvious they were of some importance given by the way the Angel dressed.

"As far as I can tell, she's of royalty, however I haven't a clue whom they may be, nor where they are from."


As reported by Liana to Gareth, one Angel by the name of Seia was searching around the area of the Underground, seeking an entryway into the place. She was here for a reason, and that was to seek the aid of, and give aid to, the Underground, in both the protection of the Underground from humankind and the keeping of the Ciminia Kingdom from the eyes and hands of humankind.

Soviet Panda

 

[Error404RealityFailed]

Rai stared at the walls of the castle, suddenly very interested in the patterns of the walls. She began running her fingers across it just to feel the texture. The girl did that a lot now, as though afraid it wasn't actually there. "Vytas?" She called very quietly, not looking. It was more of a question to herself that she'd been asking for a while. The walls only grew more interesting as she found little cracks in them and traced them more.

That of course did not end well. While she was looking at the wall, something ran onto her foot. It was small and furry, but Rai's blood ran cold. She looked down and shrieked. Now it wasn't that she didn't like mice, it was more that she didn't like them on her feet! Rai did her natural thing and fell over with her limbs stiff as a board next to her. She did her goat thing in shock, staring at the ceiling.

Stupidfreakingmousewhattheheckpleasenogetoffmegettheheckoffmerightnow She thought rapidly, but the mouse continued to run around on her. Rai let out another shriek, this time getting up and swatting the mouse away before bolting. She was not too happy, and crashed into Vytas. That lead to more screaming and sorries before she realized it was her brother.

"HEY! HEYHEYHEYHEYHEYHEY!" Rai cried at him, clinging to him tightly. She was several inches shorter than him, but she didn't care. She clung to him very tightly while squealing in delight and joy. This was happy for Rai, realizing that she could actually hug her brother.
Aridis

 

[Hoki]

He nodded his head in thanks, bowing to both as a sign of apology for his intrusion and HOLDING the bow as he would go on. "That's correct," the demon confirmed, only going into depth about it just so that Lillian would also understand, "Simple speech might not reach me, but a yell or cry shall. Lady Lillian, please do the same if you need me." There were plenty of guards to protect the two, but Shion always liked to give himself at least a little bit of credit; that if there were choices, he'd be Austere's number one. It depended, however it was a nice ego-boosting thought.

With a final "Thank you", he dismissed himself, turning once more on his heel to leave the garden. Once he was out of the general vicinity, his pace picked up. His nose was trained on a faltering scent; just because Atlas was in his shadow-realm/state of travel, that didn't mean his scent could fade completely (though it could get close, depending on how long it had been). Nonetheless, he had the trail and was quick to follow it, maintaining his human form the entire way.

There was a concern he had, one that could even be a sort of leverage on the matter... If conflict broke out and they had to show themselves, Anton and Connor probably wouldn't recognize him. When they last collided, it had been when the Raijuu broke out in the energized, wolfish form. So, for a while, there would be a good deal of unknown on their side (even if they don't openly display it). Until he started to use his abilities - if he started to use them. The energy would be similar to that time, perhaps a little weaker considering the limitations of a human body, and that may tip them off.
Plus, there was no guarantee that they would remember him; he didn't know what kind of grudge they could hold.

If he was to tell the truth, Shion would prefer it if they could just rescue their captive and get out without causing trouble for anyone. He had to wonder if Atlas would follow such a simple idea... They would have to see.

Aridis ( Axeykins )