Humanum Familiares [Best Rookie/Most Original Aug/Sep '11]

Emil watched Kenna kiss Josh and smiled.

"Bound by my honour.... I reespect the one I care fors decision. I have lost." Emil raised his pistol to his head and was about to pull the trigger. Suddenly a gunshot lauched the pistol from Emils hands. Josh glared at Emil with a look of pity and disgust.

"Something so pathetic as taking your own life is nowhere near honourable... in this world and my own." Josh said.

Emil fell on all fours and pounded the ground.

"How much must you disgrace me you pitiful servant!" Emil cried.

Josh stood up holding Kenna in his arms.

"You need to sort your ****ing life out Emil, that has nothing to do with me." Josh turned and ran with Kenna held tightly in his arms, he had to get her back to the cave.

***

Adriel fell to the floor tears rolling down her face. She was in alot of pain, but she had just barely managed to close Adrias wounds.

She pulled herself up and looked at the girl, then turned to Andre.

"She should wake up soon." Adriel turned to Miharu.

"Now I don't know about you... but I don't think my master would approve of me healing the enemy..." She smiled and fell to the ground sitting on her knees.

"Its gotta bo Ok for me to heal one, when I kill many... surely I'm aloud to that..." Adriel fell to the ground and went unconcious.

The powerful healing she used was enough to severely weaken her body. She would sleep well that night.

***

Josh ran and ran... but he was lost, he couldn't find the cave anywhere and Kenna was losing blood... If he didn't find help fast Kenna was sure to die.

Josh stumbled over a branc and span around so Kenna wouldn't take any of the falls impact.

Josh was crying, he didn't know what to do...

"Be calm Joshua..." A mans voice said from the shadows.

Josh recognised the voice immediately.

"H...How..." He murmured in shock.

"Do not fear, take this... I must now go..." A single phial was thrown at him, it was a phial of Heavens Blessing, the medicine with a fifty-fifty percent chance of healing any wound.

Josh caught it.

"Wait you can't leave me... not again..." Josh cried.

"Do not worry Joshua... this is not our last meeting..." The voice said.

"Wait! Don't go!..... Dad...." Josh stopped for a moment then quickly turned to Kenna and fed her the Heavens Blessing.

"Please work... c'mon please work..." He whispered.

***

Emil was still pounding the ground.

"What does it all mean?!" He cried.

"This is what I was brought up to believe this is my honour!... Yet he comes and says it's wrong... says I need to sort out my life... and to top it all off Kenna chooses to save him rather than herself!!!" Emil stood up and cut down a small shrub in rage.

"What am I meant to do?! All I want to do is keep Kenna safe like Tristan asked and save the princess for my country! Yet he comes in and....." Emil stood in silence totally conflicted.

((To ave space, Draginja and I worked on this together. Her input will be colored purple.))

Toby grabs only what he needs, slinging a bag over his shoulder. "There's apparently some trouble on the border. Trouble like we faced earlier. We're going to help. Now let's go." He heads down to the grounds, approaching the gates. Kita trails behind, a worried look on her face. "How are we supposed to get there? We gonna walk?" "I've done some research, and figured out some... 'training wheels', I guess you'd call it. A way I can focus my magic, and not tear apart innocent rooms."

Toby focuses on his magic, drawing the wind to himself. He grabs Kita and holds her close, wind swirling around them. "Ventus imperium, ventus dolor!" The wind swirls around the two, forming a globe of soft air. It picks them up, carrying them upwards, and then a violent gust grabs them and throws them forward. Kita is surprised, but is soon watching the scenery fly by, amazed at the sight.

The two fly through the air, protected from the wind or small animals in their way, hurtling toward their destination at incredible speed. Toby is silent, focusing his will entirely on controlling the spell. His concentration is broken when Kita tugs on his arm, yelling something. "Ground! We're getting closer to the ground!" Toby briefly panics, loosing control of the spell. The protective bubble fails, and the two are violently tosses by the wind, straight towards a large rock formation. Toby calls forth more magic. "Ventus servitas! Ventus tueri!"

Another protective bubble forms around them, just before they collide with a large rock. The two are knocked forward, colliding with their magical cushion. Toby falls unconscious, and the spell ends, leaving them in front of a large cave.

Kita slowly stands, a little dazed from the landing. "Nice job, Merlin! Turn us into human cannonballs! Just figure out how to land, and- Toby? Hey! Toby!" She shakes him, but he remains out cold. "Still alive, at least. Don't die on me, you're the only one I can talk to!" She picks him up, awkwardly carrying him to the cave entrance, where she can hear voices. "Excuse me, but I could use a hand here!"

((That's you guys, by the way. We're with you now.))

Miharu facepalmed and groaned. "Can NO GROUP make the journey without passing out?"

As one of the only medics (and the other one was currently unconscious and probably would be for the rest of the night), it was quite upsetting that she had so many injured people to deal with.

"Andre-sam, bring Adria-san inside. Adriel-san did nice work." Miharu paused for a moment. "Huh, all of the names in that sentence started with 'A'. That is weird." She shook her head slightly, before picking Adriel up. Sure, it was a bridal carry, but it got the job done. "Um, Toby-san's familiar, sorry I do not know your name, do you think you could carry Toby-san inside? If not, I can just come back for him as soon as I put Adriel-san inside on her bed."

Miharu walked inside the cave and blinked at the sight. She noticed the tears, Kenna on the ground, Josh (Mist) above her with a vial in his hands, and Emil looking distraught. She also noticed that there were also slight scorch marks as if something was fired and the two guns and a knife in the vicinity. She also noticed a pool of blood around Kenna and cursed. She laid down Adriel, softly but still hurried, and rushed over to Kenna.

"Knife wound, clean cut, not ragged," Miharu mumbled. "This was caused from a blow that, if it was not aimed to maim, to kill." It was obvious that the two in the cave would never touch a hair on Kenna's head, especially since they were both in love with here. Miharu concluded that they must have had another duel and groaned. "Kami-sama, can you guys not go one day without dueling each other?" she mumbled.

However, before her eyes, the wound began to close and restitch itself. She glanced at the vial in Josh's hand more closely. She could not detect anything special about it, although she did know that appearances weren't always what they are. She soon saw the wound close completely, as if Kenna was never even injured. She slumped backwards.

"Let me guess what happened here," she muttered softly. Her voice became louder with every sentence, but not loud enough that it would be yelling. "Josh-san and Emil-san was probably fighting about Kenna-san; I am guessing since Emil-san and Kenna-san are friends, they were probably acting really close. Josh-san got jealous and probably hit Emil-san first. Emil-san challenged Josh-san to a rematch and Josh-san accepted. However, something must have happened, either Josh-san was close to dying or Emil-san was."

Miharu suddenly remembered there was a quick blur that flew into the cave. She watched it in slow motion in her brain and saw that it was an arrow.

"Probably Josh-san," she muttered. "Otherwise Emil-san would be dead. Seeing that Josh-san was dying, Kenna-san ran in between you two while Emil-san was dealing the finishing blow. Bam, Kenna-san gets knifed instead. Josh-san somehow managed to get that vial that healed Kenna-san's wounds and here we are. I hope you two now realize how incredibly STUPID you guys were. I am not going to say anything more on the subject because this probably is enough a lesson."

Miharu rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache coming on.

Kenna opened her eyes as she felt her wound heal up. It sent a calmer feeling through Kenna's body and she moaned with delight. Relief crept across Josh's and Emil's faces which made her smile. She sat up but had to lay back down because a dizzy spell crept up on her.

"Josh-san and Emil-san was probably fighting about Kenna-san; I am guessing since Emil-san and Kenna-san are friends, they were probably acting really close. Josh-san got jealous and probably hit Emil-san first. Emil-san challenged Josh-san to a rematch and Josh-san accepted. However, something must have happened, either Josh-san was close to dying or Emil-san was." Miharu said. "Probably Josh-san, otherwise Emil-san would be dead. Seeing that Josh-san was dying, Kenna-san ran in between you two while Emil-san was dealing the finishing blow. Bam, Kenna-san gets knifed instead. Josh-san somehow managed to get that vial that healed Kenna-san's wounds and here we are. I hope you two now realize how incredibly STUPID you guys were. I am not going to say anything more on the subject because this probably is enough a lesson."

"You could not be more right Miharu." Kenna giggled as she stood up. She swayed a bit but carried on walking. She wanted to check on everyone else.

Josh was releived to see Kenna alright, he saw the sun slowly rising on the horizon.

"You may be right Miharu... but... I only did that because I... care about Kenna..." Josh grasped the necklace given to him by his ex-girlfriend Marine.

"Won't be needing you anymore!" Josh flung the necklace into the distance.

"You know what? I think I'm going to like it here..." Josh smiled as the light pushed in through the bushes and trees of the forest.

Emil coughed.

"Speak for yourself servant... I admit defeat at your hands... I shouldn't have made that strike from behind... it was dishonourable... I no longer deserve or desire to wear this." Emil closed his eyes and ripped the knight pualdron from his houlder, the sign of his noble status and military rank. It seemed to hold his armour together and everything except his marble whit guantlets fell from him, revealing his grey buttoned shirt and grey jeans beneath.

Josh smiled.

"Y'know, maybe there is something to this honour of yours..."

Emil lifted his nose.

"don't think just becuase I removed my armour that you have the right to talk to me servant, I'm still from the noble family Landcroff... so I still outrank you by leagues!"

Josh smirked.

"and here I was hoping that you weren't a ponce anymore, guess I was wrong."

Emil just kept looking down at Josh with a disrespectful eye but a slight grin aswell now adorned his face.

Josh turned his attention to the new markings on his hand... he had no idea what had appened, but everything had worked out Ok so that was all that mattered. Yet that man, could it really have been his father? Who could have known?

"I suppose "rest" will have to wait..." Emil muttered.

"We have to set out, lets go and prepare the oth..."

"Way ahead of you noble!" The group turned their heads to see Adriel riding one of the main horses with the others in tow. Benjamin sat sleeping on the back of the horse.

"Alright then..." Emil muttered.

"Lets head out!"

***

The man from the shadows watched the group making their final preperations and smiled.

Everything was going according to plan.

***

Emil packed up his bag and holstered his pistol as the group headed off. He wwondered if he had really done the right thing in discarding his status... but what was done was done... there was nothing else to say.

***

Benjamin slept peacefully on the back of the horse as the group marched down the road, he drempt of his past and wondered of his future.

***

Adriel sat on a horse in full steed, she had finished loading the bags and had made sure everyone was appropriately healed before heading out. She was happy she could do some good before she had to resume killing.

***

The group had been walking for about an hour and despite a wave of exhaustion everyone seemed to be in high spirits. Josh felt especially upbeat, he enjoyed playing video games and reading Mangas, but he never actually believed it was possible to be sucked into a magical world and sent to save a princess...

He fell into stride with Kenna and started talking.

"So... Kenna..." He began.

"Ummmm... are you Ok with, everything? You know how things have turned out... Or... I dunno..." Josh asked.

"Ummmm... are you Ok with, everything? You know how things have turned out... Or... I dunno..." Josh asked.

"Of course it is." Kenna smiled at him.

With all that had gone on, Kenna had no time to go through everything that had happened. She had saved Josh and risked her life while doing so. Everyone was in front of them so Kenna and Josh could talk between them.

"So, what are we going to do now?" Kenna giggled.

"Oh... well I suppose we should just... ummmmm..." Josh was blushing with embarasement he had no idea what to say.

"That is you see... I'm not good with these situations...I, I umm... haha!" Josh laughed.

"I must look like such a **** right now..."

"Oh Josh..." Emil sighed.

"You always look like a ****..."

Josh growled.

"Stop eavesdropping you stupid ponce!"

Josh turned back to Kenna.

"I suppose I'm gonna protect you, right?" He asked.

"I mean technically thats my job... and so far I've been pretty lousy at it... but I'll improve." Josh smiled and nodded.

"I mean come on, how much harder could it get!" Josh grinned but then turned serious.

"So... how do you feel about that?" He asked.

Kenna thought about that for a minute. She was always been protected by someone. Her personality was a independent one, but that side never got to be shown. The fought of Josh protecting her felt right.

"I will be happy if you were to protect me." Kenna blushed.

Kenna could not figure out what she was going to do. She just smiled and stayed silence. Maybe that was the best answer for now. The sun was high in the sky now and that made her happy. She could feel the heat on her arms, it made her giggle with delight. The heat was flowing through her and awaking the fire within.

"Anyway, do you like the sun?" Kenna asked Josh who looked confused.

"The... sun?" Josh asked.

"Well... I suppose it depends on how you look at it... on one hand the sun provides warmth from the cold and encouragement to the lonely, its always there for you... However then just when you need it most... it fades away and the cold settles in, you're alone again and sometimes... the sun doen't come back." Josh said, thoughts of his father rushing through his head.

"However... it doesn't give me warrant to dislike it... I just find that its not very dependable..." Josh sighed.

"Why do you ask Kenna?" Josh was very confused.

***

"Hey Adriel..." Emil said.

The elf turned towards him.

"Yes Emil?"

"I can't be the only one whos noticed the new addition..." Emil gestured towards the silver-haired girl standing with Kiroku.

"If you were paying attention I already introduced her to the group about an hour ago..." Adriel said.

About an hour ago

"Whos this?" Josh asked as Adriel brought the girl before him.

"Krioku found her... said she knows her way around the castle dungeons and can help us find the princess..." Adriel said.

"You got a name?" Josh asked.

"M...Miku..." The girl murmured.

"....... Well Ok then thanks for your help." Josh murmured.

"Josh are you sure..." Adriel whispered.

"Well if she says she can help... then she can tag along to the dungeon no problem." Josh said plainly.

"But Josh..." Adriel began.

"Look Adriel whatever happens happens... Good tohave you aboard Miku!" He patted the girl on the shoulder then walked back to make some last minute preperations.

Adriel just looked at Josh with a confused look on her face.

Present time

"and he just accpeted her just like that? Without my permission?!" Emil shouted.

"I don't think he felt to treatened by a common village girl Emil, and if she says she can help then I say go for it." Adriel grunted.

"She could be leading us into a trap..." Emil pointed out.

"If it happens it happens..." Adriel murmured.

Emil just stared at her open mouthed.

"You know what fine... I don't even care..." Emil just bowed his head and kept walking.

The group were making good time and soon they would reach Germanias capital city of Caelcorn.

Kita scowls as she carries Toby into the cave. "I made it here just fine, Miharu sensei-senpai-san-sama. Kun. The only reason Master passed out is because he's a poor excuse for a mage. But we do get style points, right? No one else here came by air cannon." She drops Toby onto a makeshift bed, letting the medic take care of him.

If he's still knocked out when they leave, Kita rides with him to keep him steady. She doesn't say much to anyone, as she doesn't know them and is still worried about Toby.

((I don't know which honoriffic to use, so I just put a bunch together. Hopefully one of them is correct!))

(OCC: funny thought, sad thought time:
Funny thought: My dad preparing food for when I returned home late from an afterschool program
Sad thought: The fact that I think the notion of my dad preparing food for me is funny

Just thought I'd share that... - w -'|||)


Kiroku laughed as he suddenly appeared behind Emil and Adriel; Miku ight next to him. He wasn't sure why, but he seemed rather good at popping up from nowhere and chip in his own two cents. Oh well, he not only saved a girl from the enemy on his own but she also had information they could use. And he managed not to injure her nor himself in the fight. By the way Miharu sounded when he returned to the cave, and what he found out had happened while he was away, that was more of a blessing. Although, he couldn't help but feel like it would be more merciful to ditch the campaign and let the princess stay in captivity. Based on how great the journey had been so far, they'd find a way to unleash this world's apocalypse before getting there. And then injure the princess as they returned. What a positive way to think...

"I thought you'd realize by now that your authority is making little-to-no impact on most of us, Emil. Mist especially," Kiroku laughed as he walked ahead of the three and turned his back to the road; walking backwards, "The only real brawls amongst ourselves are solely between you and him. So far nothing has really pushed beyond more than a draw. And I don't think I have to bring up the business back at the c-a-v-e, but clearly you aren't too keen on listening to words of advice. I would sooner trust a total stranger more than a leader like that-- well, what are the odds..."

There was that sharp tongue again. Not only did he think he could get away with it, he knew he could. He himself wasn't so keen on the whole honor thing; he'd risk the cowardly reputation if it meant avoiding pointless fights. He'd run, throw dirty hits(he smiled thinking about that one; that guard didn't know what hit him when Kiroku threw that punch), even resort to some tricky wordplay. Probably not the greatest of traits, but if they worked then they worked. He grew up having to adapt to this mentality. And now it was paying off with this first mission. There was no way the enemy was just going to just hand her over; they'd perform the same methods, probably sink lower, to win and keep her captive. They may even hold her up as fodder to deter them from fighting back. Honor wasn't a bad thing, but it was foolish to think everyone, or only a particular kind of person, would be honorable in this case. That's why a "Rogue's eye view" of sorts was a valuable asset to them.

Kiroku also knew he could get away with it because Miku was giggling to herself as he said it. Probably what he deserved for questioning her character. "I have to say, it feels nice traveling with this sort of company," Miku admitted, a slight smile on her face, "Gives me hope for my village. To think I was rescued by someone working in a small resistance force!"

"Resistance?" Kiroku spoke up, confused by the terminology. The better word would have been "rescue," but he didn't want to put the village girl down. Shattering hopes was the last thing on his mind. "Well anyway, it doesn't matter if Miku's misleading us. Even if she's not on our side she's leading us to the place. Her best bet would have been taking us far, far, far... FAR away from the place. But that's just rude to think so. She's just as fired up as we are to have our individual objectives nearing completion. It's mutually beneficial to both sides to help each other."

"At least someone openly admits that they don't think I'm a spy nor misleading them," Miku said, her smile widening, "Thank you, Kiroku."

"You could say I know a spy when I see one," Kiroku said, smirking to himself, "And your eyes couldn't lie when I saw them earlier: you hate those guys. You want to see them defeated. I can relate to you; I would have done everything I could to help take ne'er-do-wells down in my hometown if I had the power to. I suppose you could say us "commoners" have to look out for one another!" Miku didn't say anything in response. But her light blush said everything: she was so surprised to see someone understand how she felt without a word about it herself.

{{OOC: UGH... Comcast just had to go and die at my place. Thankfully they fixed it and so I don't have to go to school to get net access. Back to posting!}}

IC:
Primeria nodded to Cody's questioning of her words before he began to talk to himself yet again, which she found was an interesting part of his personality that she had managed to observe. Primeria watched as Cody began devouring the food she had given him, however, he suddenly stopped when the plate was halfway empty. She gave him a confused look.

'Here, Primeria. You can have the rest. You seem pretty sick. You need to eat something or you are never gonna get better. Growing girls need their food, after all.' Cody had stated. Before Primeria could say anything, he forcefully handed the plate of food that she had given to him back to her. She looked at the plate before placing it on the surface of her nightstand since her appetite was not all there at that very moment. Returning to her seated position, Primeria saw that Cody was still looking at her.

'Oh and by the way, I was kidding when I said I murdered all those people and stuff. So there is no need to be afraid of me. Let's just say I made a lot of poor choices back home and it caught up with me. Hence, I am technically a criminal, but not as bad as I made it sound. But let's keep that between you and me, alright?' Her familiar said with an apologetic tone before winking. Cody's tale of being a criminal was told with such seriousness earlier that Primeria was sure he had committed all the acts that he had said he did. Nevertheless, she was quite relieved hearing it was all a ruse save for some minor offenses. Primeria nodded to his proposal since she did not want rumors of her familiar being a criminal to spread throughout the campus.

'I got one more question though, if you don't mind. Why am I here exactly?' Cody had asked, taking a cross-legged seat on his small stack of hay while still wrapped in the white blanket. Primeria was reluctant to tell him that she had "summoned" him and slowly fidgeted as she tried to think of a plausible answer. She wasn't sure how he'd react if she told him straightly, but judging from his previous response, Primeria thought maybe he could handle the truth. She fidgeted for a moment more before she gathered her courage. Raising her head and keeping eye contact with Cody, although it wasn't as long as she had hoped before her face began flushing red, Primeria began to speak.

"... T-The truth... The truth is... I... I summoned you." Primeria started and decided to continue giving her explanation. "... Today was... to be the day... *cough* that we summoned... familiars to our side," She paused to take a large breath of air before continuing. "... A-And so... you are what I summoned... My... Familiar... Partner... you could say." Primeria finished. She was rather embarrassed about explaining the actual ceremony and the sealing of the contract with a familiar so she decided not to say anything of the subject. After all, he WAS the person to take her first kiss.

"... T-The truth... The truth is... I... I summoned you...Today was... to be the day... *cough* that we summoned... familiars to our side," She paused to take a large breath of air before continuing. "... A-And so... you are what I summoned... My... Familiar... Partner... you could say," Primeria finished. She seemed a little nervous, embarrassed perhaps.

Cody took a while to process the answer, his brain still trying to wrap itself around the idea of magic being more than a show of illusions meant to entertain small children. Cody then chuckled before speaking again: "Heh, alright. So I am your familiar. Works for me."

Cody didn't mind this twist of fate. It was destiny his mind that he was going to be teleported to this foreign world. Why else would it happen? It is welcome change anyway. Primeria saved Cody if anything. He was about to be imprisoned and his freedom stripped from him forever. Here…it was a fresh start. In theory, he could live anyway he wanted. A welcome change, indeed.

Him being summoned would explain the whole portal thing. And why he woke up in her room. And why she was being so kind to him, tending to his needs. The only thing it didn't explain that kissing sensation from earlier. Maybe it was just in his head. Or did this girl do it….No. That's jumping to conclusions. But...

"Partner" was an interesting choice of words that Cody picked up on. He didn't know that being a familiar meant. But the use of the word of "partner" made it sound almost fun. It seemed all wizards around her age summon them so it must of been a cultural or traditional thing. Cody figured that "familiars" offer companionship on some level. Whatever it was, he'll figure it out eventually. No point on dealing on it.

"So what's the first order of business then, partner? You can't tell me we are going to just sit here all day?"

"Why do you ask Kenna?" Josh asked.

Kenna just smiled and gestured to her arms. They had a soft glow to them because of the heat that was been fed to her. She opened her arms wide and giggled. She had never felt better. Josh looked like he was starting to understand why she liked the sun, but he still looked confused to why she acting like this.

By the sound of the way Josh talked about the sun was quite realistic. To Kenna, the sun was kind of like her own personal energy. She could feel the heat spreading through her and awaking her fire. It was flowing through her arms and legs. It made her feel powerful and relaxed.

When Kenna was younger, Tristan used to tell her stories every night about her parents. One story that came up was that their mother used to say that while Kenna was the fire, Tristan was the sun who was meant to guide, help and protect her. Tristan had done all of that for Kenna and even now, somehow was still guiding her.

Everyone was way ahead of them so Kenna stopped walking and Josh did the same. Before he got a chance to speak, Kenna reached for Josh's hand and focused herself. She was going to try and give him the same feeling that she felt. She watched as the glow from her arms got brighter and shot there way over to Josh. His arms awaked with a soft glow.

"Can you feel it?" Kenna grinned.

Kenna felt her fire growing stronger as it reacted with Josh's. She could tell that he was feeling what she was feeling, the soft hum as the fire spread through them, the warmth of their bodies, and the feeling of power that was filling them. Kenna closed her eyes and relaxed. Josh still had his hand in hers. Kenna was going to have to pull away because Josh would not be able to handle much more of this.

She let go of his hand and he didn't kind the disappointment that crept on his face. The glow slowly died down from Josh. Kenna still felt everything but she could control it more then what he could. She turned around and kept walking. After hesitation, Josh followed her. Kenna covered up her arms so Josh would not see them glowing.

Josh felt the fire flow through him, the bright light from Kenna surging into him it mixed with his own darkness and seemed to boost Kennas control, but Josh could feel an imbalance within him, some darkness deep within him was fighting Kennas light and surging it back into her, sort of like recharging a battery. But Josh felt extremely uncomfortable. His ruins began to glow with dark as Kennas light began to grow larger. Kenna released and a wave of relief washed over him, yet disapointment covered his face.... He hadn't got to experience what that darkness was.... but did he really want to know?

Suddenly a single spear struck the ground in front of Josh, Josh looked forwrd to see that it was thrown by a single clay soldier. However despite the fact that it was only one who threw the spear, it was followed by countless others.

"This is Germanias army!" Emil shouted.

"Its a powerful Earth spell called clay battalion! We don't stand a chance!.... hurry over there!" Emil gestured towards a small nearby town.

"We can lose them there! We'll have to abandon the horses, they bear Tristeins brand! Now run!" Emil hopped off the horse and Adriel did the same cryying Benjamin on her back. The others followed running through the planes of grass between them and the town.

Josh grabbed Kennas hand and ran.

"We have to go!"

Josh felt the imbalance surge through him again but he had no time to think about that

The soldiers began to charge after them, in perfect form they marched as if the same bodys movements controlled multiple entitys.

A few raised their spears in perfect sync and threw them with equal accuracy, they mostly missed but one struck Joshs leg, he tripped and fell to the ground, the soldiers were gaining. He let go of Kennas hand hoping that she would at least escape, but something was wrong the unequal feeling in Joshs body wouldn't stop and he roared with pain as it in increased.

***

Emil turned when he heard Joshs scream.

"Oh God no...." He murmured.

"Kenna get away from him he's going to..." but it was too late.

***

As Emil was talking Joshs familiar ruins glowed furiously but they couldn't contain what was going to happen.

Commoners were not meant to hold magic in their beings, it was against the laws of nature.

Josh screamed louder as fire began to seep from his body and errupt around him, burning everything too close, including himself.

Josh screamed louder and louder, the ground around him burning the ground around him to a crisp as fire energy destroyed everything in the surrounding energy, the few clay soldiers too near melted into a puddle and the others stopped before the raging firestorm.

***

A wall of water surrounded Kenna before the fire could engulf her and Emil grabbed her from behind and ran from the inferno after the others.

"We have to go Kenna! Theres no hope of him surviving any spell cast if he's a commoner, especially a spell that fierce." Emil said.

He looked back at the raging firestorm behind him and though of Josh, he winced.

"Stupid servant... you've only warranted Kenna to be upset with that little show... even though you didn't know that... goodbye Joshua David Mist..." He murmured.

***

Emil rushed with the others into the town.

A hanging sign with the word Mayhearth swung from the gate.

***

...

What happened?

Whats going on?

Kenna?

Is that you?

I can't be sure, I don't know if...

I... I have to... rest

***

Leonda sat on her cold cell floor and held a damp cloth over the mans head. Princess or no, she wasn't going to let him go uncatered for, apart from some third degree burns and some burnt patches on his clothes he seemed fine.

He began to mutter something in his sleep.

Leonda couldn't comprehend most of it but she did catch one line.

"Kenna... is that you?"

Leonda gasped, how had she not noticed it... it was the young man who had dueled Emil. Kennas familiar.

He began to mutter about resting, but in his current condition it was imperetive that he woke up.

Leonda shook him violently.

"Wake up Mist, Wake up."

***

Josh groaned as he opened his eyes, a beautiful woman wearing a torn dress leaned over with very long bedraggled purple hair falling from her head and to the floor.

"P... Princess Leonda?!" Josh cried.

"Is that you?...."

"How nice of you to remember me Mist san... yes it is I the princess... I'm afraid however the Germanian army has taken a very drastic move and taken me hostage, I have not had any word from the outside world, except of course when they dragged you in earlier..." She murmured.

"W...Wait how am I?! What happened I... I was burning and... Kenna?! Wheres Kenna?!" Josh blurted out all his questions in a big old mixed up bundle.

"I'm afraid I don't know the answers to Mist sans questions... but I'm afraid the situation looks pretty bleak for us..." Leonda murmured.

Josh stood up. His body felt stiff and sore.

"I'm not worried..." He muttered.

"How can Mist san not be worried? When our odds of survival are little to none!" Leonda cried abbysmaly.

"Because..." Josh sighed.

"If the rest made it out Ok... I'm sure they'll come for us..."

***

Emil sat at the bar of the Mayhearth national inn. It was roughly 4 A.M. and had been about eight hours since they had arrived in Mayhearth.

Unforunately there was no way a commoner could survive the flow of magic passing through his body. Josh was certainly dead. Emil tossed down his third pint of ale as the plain stone fireplace burned in the corner covering the almost empty room in a pale yellow glow. Emil could normaly hold his drink but he felt sick that night. He was sure the others, especially Kenna if his logic was right, were upset about the fate of Josh. Even Emil himself felt bad about it, he had almost killed him a few hours ago and now for him to die so easily didn't seem fair. Emil wore a plain white shirt with a red Germanian cape and blue denim jeans... they had made their first stop at a clothes shop to get duisguises in order to blend in with the rest of the people.

Mayhearth was a pretty little town situated roughly a half a days walk from Germanias capital of Caelcorn, it had clean cobblestone streets lined with houses shops and bussiness' along the sides, this was the usual sight seen on each of the eight streets that led to Mayhearths center where a large fountain called the fountain of dreams and the church of St.Maria were located. That is the usual sight of all the eight streets except for the one that lay directly North which was lined with military barracks and weapon shops. The architectural layout was built around the idea of a compass, with eachstreet leading in a different direction example: North street, East Stree, North-East street etc. and all the streets would meet at the center at the church and fountain of dreams. It was a nice town to visit, but the group had no time for sightseeing, they might have to stay in the town for a couple more days in order to raise the money for supplies.

Emil lay on the bars surface and banged the table in anger. That stupid servant had to go die... now what was Kenna going to do... he worried for her.

***

Adria stood in front of the appropriately named fountain of dreams, Benjamin sat on the side and was splashing water around in a playful manner.

Adriel wore a black beret, a red tank top and black slacks, she bore a red quiver with the Germanian symbol on her back with her bow and arrows stored inside.

She wasn't sure how Josh had died but she had respect for him and it saddened her to see him go. A single tear was shed from her eye.

She thought of her master, he always wore a dark hood and deepened his voice... she didn't actually know anything about him and still she would have been willing to kill Josh anyway if he had asked. That made her doubt herself, doubt her loyalties, she didn't know what to think anymore. She felt a single tear fall from her eye.

"Adriel I assume..." A mans voice murmured.

Adriel turned with a shocked look to see a man with hair and rough shaggy beard coloured grey but still with streaks of auburn in it standing before her. He was leaning on a rowan wood staff and wore a black robe.

"I beleive I can help you and your friends..." He said.

***

Benjamin sat smiling as Adriel talked to the man, he waved his hands through the water and felt the coolness wash over his fingers.

He was actually playing, it was a very small way of doing so but he was playing, he had never been allowed to play before. He guessed he owed that to Josh... he wasn't very upset however. He was so used to those he cared for dying during his life as a nothus he had begun to easily get over such things.

He wore a black wig with a short spiked style to hide his shaved head, the sign of the nothus. He also wore a white shirt with a tartan vest over it, the vest bore the germanian symbol on the pocket, he wore beige cloth shorts on his bottoms.

Benjamin continued to wave his hands through the water.

***

"H...How do you know my name...?" Adriel asked totally surprised.

"Thats not important... whats important is that I can help you save your princess..." The man said.

"How can I trust you... what do you have against the Germanians?... that you would want to abolish their only hold over us..." Adriel asked.

The man decided to take away his ruse and stand up straight, he removed his cloak to reveal a white shirt, black pants and a black trenchcoat that had been worn to grey as his clothing.

He clicked a button on his staff and the top half detached to reveal a hidden blade he clenched his other hands fist to reveal an assasins blade. He raised his arm and pulled up his coats hood, he wore black leather gloves on his hands.

"I want revenge... revenge for my son... My name miss Adriel... Is Gergory Alenzio Mist..." The man made a quick bow.

"and Joshua was my son."

Adriel reeled back in shock.

"J...J...Joshuas father?!" Adriel gasped.

Her master had not mentioned anything about Joshua having a father, let alone him being in this dimension...

"H.... How... How are you here?!" Adriel asked.

"Same reason as my son..." Gregory sheathed his blades and removed one of his gloves to show the ruins of a gandalfr on his hands.

"I was pulled away from my son seven years ago to be a familiar, my master has now died but the love for my wife and son has kept me from becoming a souless husk." Gregory finished.

Adriel looked at the ruins, they were dull and blotched with faded parts, the sign that the master was dead.

Adriel was sceptical at first, but considering all the information Gregory knew and his shocking resemblance to Josh... it was in those circumstances a very beleivable answer.

"So..." Gregory began.

"Will you allow me to help you take down the ****ards who lead to my sons death?"

"That is not my decision to make Sir Gregory... I will have to ask Emil our current leader..." Adriel finished.

"Fine with me..." Gregory said.

Adriel called Benjamin over and the three began walking towards the bar.

(OOC: Hell yeah for big posts! You guys can choose what new clothes your characters are wearing.)

"What about Mist?!" Kiroku said, running alongside Miharu as the inferno darkened the whole trail. Miku was in his arms, almost crushing the boy's neck in fear. "Emil has water spells! We should get that ****ard to put it all out before he becomes bacon!"

"Kiroku, we cannot win this fight. Whoever summoned the clay army and that fire spell Mist is channeling is just too powerful. Besides, commoner familiars were never supposed to have any magic outside of their cores and familiar ability. I am sorry," Miharu said as she shook her head. Even Miharu seemed to think resistance was pointless...

"You idiots! We're abandoning him!" Kiroku yelled at them all (though thanks to his familiar ability he was running faster than them without meaning to), gritting his teeth as he tried to work up the courage to turn back and run for the frontlines. However, his feet kept him moving in the same direction. "DAMMIT!!!"



"I could have done something back there..." Kiroku murmured to himself as he sat on the side opposite of Benjamin and Adriel at the fountain. He sat on the ledge, looking down at the reflection of himself in the water. He hated himself more than anything; being one of the faster ones to flee from the attack. Miharu hadn't really talked to him that much in the last eight hours while they were in town, too. It put him in an even sulkier mood. The two didn't really have the time to talk in light of all that had been going on, but it was still unnerving to feel like there was a wall between them.

Hugging his weapon close, he thought about the new clothes he had to get for his disguise. Black leather gloves were the first articles he thought of. If not to cover his brand, they looked cool. Next was the torso, and he chose an undershirt, a dark blue tunic, and a layer of chain-mail between the two. When he got past how weighed down he felt it gave him a better sense of agility and protection. The last item was a pair of dark leather boots to change out of his sneakers. He had no need to buy pants because, miraculously, his own pair didn't get torn or anything since they left for the journey. And try as they might to make him lose the naginata, Kiroku refused to discard it. There were no crests nor other symbols on it, so there was no way to distinguish it as an enemy weapon. If anything, he looked like a traveling knave with better-than-average clothes.

As for Miku, she didn't need to get any new clothes since she could be identified as a villager from a controlled territory. This made it all the more easier for them to obtain their disguises; they could just use her to buy them and travel out in the open until everyone was disguised. She was becoming more helpful as the journey progressed. As of right now, she was in the fountain trying to coax Kiroku to react by disrupting his view in the water through her splashes. "Hey, come on and join in! You're supposed to look inconspicuous!" she said, walking over to him and grabbing his arm. She tried to pull him up to his feet, but he stubbornly refused.

"That doesn't mean that I have to play in the fountain," Kiroku grumbled, folding his arms as he stared blankly at the village girl, "Why would I have to?"

"Maybe you just want to, but you're too down about earlier to realize it! Kiroku, what we did wasn't your fault. Whoever summoned that army wasn't normal," Miku said, trying to sympathize with him.

"Whatever it was, I'm killing it. Even if I have to take on those clay soldiers for three days to get to the marionette," Kiroku stated, then bracing himself for impact. A small wave of water hit him directly in the face; soaking a good portion of his body. Miku had kicked the wave at him, and laughed as he looked at her dumbfounded. She taunted him by sticking her tongue out.

"I don't think you'll beat it if you have such a tough time with water~!" Miku chimed, turning around as she saw the boy throw his weapon to the ground and remove his boots and socks.

"I'll show you!" Kiroku stammered in aggravation as he chased after Miku in the fountain. Without being in actual combat, he had to deal with the water resistance and the girl splashing water in his face. Eventually, he leaped for her and manage to tackle her into the water. When the two came back up, they were completely soaked and Kiroku had Miku in a lock. He had maneuvered behind her and arrested her arms. That didn't seem to trouble her; she was laughing that whole time.

"Haha! Kiroku's all wet~!" Miku sang as she held his fists. She knew that deep down the boy found it funny. "I think I'm the true warrior, no?"

"Not even if you were the last person on Earth," Kiroku growled, having to resist the urge to do something along the lines of snapping her neck. This made Miku laugh harder.

It had all happened way to fast. Kenna could not believe it. She had been the one who gave Josh the fire, and that had killed him. Emil had dragged her away from the scene kicking and screaming. All she wanted to do was go and see if there was a possibility that he was still alive. Kenna was mad at her self mostly because all of this was her fault.

Kenna was too shocked to even cry let alone think. Emil had made her go shopping to buy some new clothes. He had asked her to choose but Kenna remand quiet, so in the end, Emil picked a soft green dress for her. Emil had tried to talk to her but Kenna would keep quiet and would turn away. She was not ready to except the fact that Josh was dead.

*Shouldn't I feel something if he was dead.*

All of this was a big rush for Kenna. She thought for a little bit. She didn't feel pain or loss, she felt guilt. She blamed herself for Josh's death but deep down, she didn't believe that he was dead. Kenna had to find Emil.

She stood up and it was not long before she found Emil. He was banging the table he sat at in frustration. Kenna just watched him and a tear fell down her face. She walked over behind him and grabbed his arm before he could slam it down again. He turned around with shock and then his face softened when he saw Kenna.

"How you holding up Ken?" Emil asked as he pulled her onto his lap.

"As well as can be expected, I guess." Kenna sighed as another tear rolled down her face.

Emil quickly brushed it away and studied her carefully. He took in her long hair which was now in neat waves around her shoulders and back and the green dress he had picked out for her. Then he looked at her face, she had on a blank expression that Emil could not read.

Just when the two of them were about to start talking, Adriel in walked. Kenna was about to say hello when something stopped her. She was followed by Ben and by another man. She took him in, he looked familiar to Kenna. She quickly got of Emil's knee and walked over to him. She stood in front of him. Then she turned towards Adriel when she heard her speak.

"Emil, this is Gergory Alenzio Mist." Adriel said gesturing to the man stood in front of Kenna.

"Mist? You don't mean…?" Emil gasped.

That was when it all clicked for Kenna. She gasped the same as Emil. This was unbelievable. Emil walked over to Kenna and rested his hand on her shoulder. She looked at this man one more time before she spoke.

"Your Josh's father." She whispered.

He nodded and watched Kenna. What was he doing here? How could he be here? All of this was getting really confusing. As if reading her mind, Josh's father spoke.

"I am here for revenge and to help you all." He explained.

"Revenge for your son?" Kenna guessed.

He nodded again. This really scared Kenna. This man looked like he could kill anyone of them if he really wanted to. Kenna took a step back and leaned on Emil and he squeezed her shoulder in return. Tears started to roll down her face.

"If you want revenge, then you need to talk to me. I am the one who killed Josh." Kenna whispered and hung her head.

Miharu smiled gently as she watched Kiroku and Miku splash around in the fountain and generally had fun. Although she hadn't exchanged a word with Miku, she quite like the girl and her exubarance. It contrasted nicely with her own personality.

She was wearing all black, like she normally did when they were allowed to wear casual clothes. A black muscle shirt, along with black cargo pants. She was still wearing her Chinese black flats though; those were too comfortable to throw away and she fought better in them as well. She also had holsters on her legs, holding about 35% of her senbons and 45% of her throwing knives. She also had a collapsable Bo Staff in one of the other holsters, as well as a katana whose blade was easy to push in.

Miharu felt kind of bad; Kiroku and herself hadn't talked ever since what happened in the cave between Adriel and herself. She wondered if he was mad that she had given up a small part of her past to Adriel, as she didn't tell Kiroku anything, but she was a firm believer of letting someone know if they got something right and not to try to deny it. If they guessed it, they guessed it. Unless, of course, it was an enemy, but there was always an exception to every rule.

However, she had a strange feeling concerning Josh's "death". She was, perhaps, the only one who felt that he was still alive. Kenna, although heartbroken, was not acting like someone had ripped out her soul from the last time she saw her; and she knew that the reaction was immediate. People seemed too blinded by their emotions and the impossibility of Josh using a spell, to truly see how strange Kenna was acting if she was really a mage whose familiar had died. Perhaps there were still some humans left on Earth with magical abilities; she had read once that humans once had magic on Earth. Scared of the unknown, however, they killed all of the humans with magic. Perhaps, just perhaps, that one person with magic had survived and managed to have children with magic, or he was somehow descended from someone who used to have magical abilities. Perhaps Kenna accidentally transferred some power to Josh; there had been a case where that happened once too. Although the fire was great, she had seen people survive from worse, which is why she was okay with leaving Josh. Most likely, they would take him as a prisoner if he was still alive.

And if he had died...Well, then that's when things would really begin to suck.

Gregory didn't even think twice... he didn't care who it was, of what age, gender or even species, they would die.

Gregorys hidden blade snapped out and he slowly crossed the room to the young girl who claimed to take the life of his son. He grabbed her by the neck and lifted her high he pulled his blade back and drove it forward. It was about to stab her in the face when he stopped it short. It was mere milimeters from her face but he stopped it before impact. Emil was standing up now his blade drawn, he would've been too late anyway.

Gregory dropped the girl and withdrew her blade.

"I recognise you... your the one... your his mage..." Gregory took a step back, I... I... He cared about you... I can't kill you... he wouldn't have wanted anything less." Gregory felt tears fall down his face he drew his blade and drove it into the wooden wall.

"God damn it!!!! It wasn't meant to happen like this! He wasn't meant to....." Gregory fell to his knees.

"My boy!.... My son.... he's... gone... the one thing keeping me from becoming a lifeless shell is gone!" Gregory had tears running down his face.

He stood up and turned to Kenna.

"If you felt the same as he did... then you couldn't have openly wanted this... none of this is your fault it's the fault of those God damn Germanians.... I'll kill them for this..." Gregory fell back down to his knees and took a slip of paper from his pocket. It showed a ten year old Josh standing with Gregory at the zoo.

"I'll kill the bastards that did this son... I swear..." Gregory stood up and slipped the photograph in his pocket.

"We have to prepare... but we'll need money any ideas?"

"What makes you think we'll let you come after you almost killed Kenna!" Emil shouted.

"I'll be there wether you like it or not ponce, Lets make it easier on everyone and let me come anyway..." Gregory snarled.

"Sigh... your definetely his father... I have no idea where to get any money..." Emil sighed.

Gregory looked over at Adriel then Kenna.

"Well there is one way... but I'm not sure you'll like it..." Gregory murmured.