• Our friends from the Johto Times are hosting a favorite Pokémon poll - and we'd love for you to participate! Click here for information on how to vote for your favorites!
  • Welcome to PokéCommunity! Register now and join one of the best fan communities on the 'net to talk Pokémon and more! We are not affiliated with The Pokémon Company or Nintendo.
    Register

Y.Z. Act III [PG-16]

Status
Not open for further replies.
Reid raised an eyebrow, although the twinkle in his eyes was a hopeful one. "Rosaline's siblings? She had two younger ones?" Rod, after being absent since the incident at Ella's house, had arrived outside suddenly with some shocking information. Apparently, an execution was occuring that night, and the people who were being executed were, as Rod claimed, Rosaline Dian's younger brother and sister, who were being executed on the charge of being false heirs to the throne after the 'rightful' heir declared it so. It seemed a little fishy. In fact, it most likely reaked of fish. The hope quickly turned to determination. "And it's being held there, huh? It's settled then. We're going to bail them out." He threw his right fist into his left palm as he headed towards the entrance to the estate. Today would be a good day, hopefully, for the first time in a while.

"Psst. Psst, Reid!" A voice called in a whisper suddenly as Reid was on his way to tell the others what had happened. He looked around, confused. Where had the voice come from? "Down here~!" The voice came again, and Reid's eyes darted down to an unnaturally large ventilation shaft. The grate was covered, but Auricia was obviously hiding behind it, barely fitting in the compacted space. "Is Ashton around?" Reid raised an eyebrow, before looking up and down the hall like a sailor searching for land. He shook his head, and went to inquire as to why she was hiding, but was cut off by the information he had been seeking. "We're playing hide and seek!" Reid sweatdropped. He should have known, with the way Auricia was and all. She brought her finger up to her lips to indicate silence, and Reid nodded wearily. This girl... had a bizarre type of energy.

After a while of walking more, he encountered Adela, who was coming out of the kitchen in an irritated manner. Reid, being the dolt he was when he got excited, completely forgot about what he had seen at three in the morning. "Oi, Adela! Rod went to Carn and found out a few things! Rosaline has living siblings, and they're getting executed tonight, so we have to save them! I... need to do it, to make it up to Rosaline!" While it wasn't a lie, it wasn't the real reason. He needed something to snap him out of it all, to set him back on track. This operation would - no, needed to be that thing. "You'll help, right? I mean, you didn't like Rosaline that much, but if she has living relatives, then we might be able to fix things, at least a bit. The first step to my new goal, I guess." He was like a little kid, all excited.

In the meantime, Tsukasa had crept past the two and entered the kitchen. He noticed the glasses wearing boy, and raised an eyebrow. "Are you..." He stopped himself, and shook his head. Nah, it couldn't be.

---

"Bandages." Tilde barked as she slide some underneath the cell door. It would be problematic if Evaline died. It wouldn't be fulfilling orders, and calling in a doctor would just get them in trouble. "Food." A tray of bread came underneath the door next, and Tilde watched the two carefully... or at least, it seemed that way. Her eyes revealed no emotion. Family. She wanted to observe what that was like. She was curious, as she was with most things. She had a family of her own, but that was only symbolic, a crest she wore plastered all over her clothing. She never really HAD a family. Not one that supported her in any way, anyways.

"We'll be okay. I have a feeling." Evaline said painfully before grinning up at her brother, her face splattered with blood. Really, she was completely dizzy from blood loss and overall sustained damage, but she couldn't let herself pass out. She didn't want him worrying.
 
Adela supported her elbow with her left hand, her right tapping her chin thoughtfully as she watched Reid as though deciding whether he was for real or not. Was it just his hobby, to go and meddle with Carn's affairs or something? Well, the first time was an order, she supposed. The teal haired girl brought her hand away from her face, hugging her arms and leaning against the wall, glancing sideways when she replied, "We don't know if these heir's are willing to help out. It may be more trouble than good if we help them. And with a fake Prince implemented, we might not achieve anything but bad favors from Carn's citizens, since until we have proof that he's fake, these real heirs you're talking about might not help at all." Adela was silent for a moment, chewing over something that she'd bit her tongue sharply in order to prevent herself from saying. She heaved a sigh, defeated when she peeled herself away from the wall, "Alright alright, we'll go. You've done this before anyway, it shouldn't be too complicated. Oh." Adela stopped in her tracks, musing over a new thought, "Security might be tighter though, since you did pull that stunt a few years ago with Princess Dian… Ah well." She shrugged, as though not really caring, "Too bad Aertan's not a priest anymore."

She resisted the urge to frown. She'd be prepared to knock Reid about the head with the handle of her mahstion gun the next time she saw him for the fact that he'd seen more than she'd ever intended on showing him, but his excited face burst her bubble. Well, as long as he wasn't getting down in the dumps over Flaire. That would be even worse. "If these heir's didn't want their rightful place after Rosaline died and let the fake Prince step up, then that means that either they didn't want the throne to begin with, or they just didn't know. Hm, either way, that probably means neither of Rosaline's remaining siblings are fit to become the next royal in charge. That would leave the government in the hands of a council of elders or something… That would be a pain in the butt…" Adela blinked. Speaking of royalty, she'd completely forgotten about the Queen and Prince Ryan. Adela was suddenly overcome with a searing need to know what had happened to them, and made a mental note to ask Stahn about it. He'd probably know, seeing as he seemed to know everything.

"Do you want to leave after you find out whether Flaire will be okay or not?" Adela's gaze and voice were obviously very annoyed by the fact that she was the one brining up the subject. She'd regretted it before she'd even said it.

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

Piper stared at Evaline for a moment. He wasn't worried about 'we', or 'us'. He was worried about her. Nothing mattered, as long as Evaline was okay, and he'd already failed to this point. He knew how to administer bandages. But there wasn't much good that bandages could do for her arm if he couldn't use his mahstion.

"Can you sit up on your own for a minute?" Piper asked gently, not waiting for an answer but very cautiously letting go of her. Piper kept his eye on Tilde while he hurried to pick up the rolls of bandages. When he picked them up he paused, staring at the bandages before turning back to Evaline. He left the tray of food where it was. Right now, he wasn't hungry in the slightest. All the blood in the world seemed to be in this cell. He couldn't eat with the metallic smell of blood filling the air. He contorted his face when he looked down at the needles in Evaline, "I have to take these out." He said, apology and hurt in his voice. He reached out to pull out one the needles but hesitated. His hand could only get about halfway from him to the needle before it just stopped on his own. It would hurt horribly when they were pulled out, he knew. And there were so many. "Sorry." He mumbled, pulling his hand away.

He took a deep breath and reached over to quickly slide the needles out, making sure not to cut or puncture any more flesh. The job was done faster than Piper could've ever done had it been anyone other than Evaline, and he swiftly bandaged her torso. Once he tied the final knot, he sighed in half relief, wiping his brow. He felt the cold metal mahstion bracelet on his wrist and stared at it ruefully. It was causing so much inconvenience.

"Well," Piper smiled down at his little sister, "I think we'll be okay too." He glanced over his shoulder at Tilde again. He was somehow in a much better mood already, now that the needles were out of Evaline. He stood up squeezing Evaline's hand gently before walking over to the tray and picking that up as well. Glancing up at Tilde again, Piper stood where he was with a serious and wary expression for a few seconds before deciding to manage a half-smile, even if she was probably what he should've considered the 'enemy'.

"Thank you." He looked back at Evaline, speaking while he came back to her side, not wanting to be too far from her again, "Do you want to eat?"

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

The little boy put his glasses down, standing up on the seat to read the top few lines of the book before picking up the glasses again, peering at Tsukasa blankly through them. He blinked very slowly, and the bright, curious look on his face earlier turned into a completely flat and unreadable face that was all too familiar. He looked back down at his book and turned the pages to the back, pouring over the index as though it was just as interesting as the rest of the book.
 
"Who cares if they want to be the heirs or not!" Reid shouted at Adela, irritated by her way of thinking. Why couldn't she look at things other than the facts for once? "Innocent people could be killed! I know it's naive, and that innocent people die every day, but what good are my goals if I can't even save the family of my friends? Rosaline was important to me, Adela, she was my friend. Her siblings are in trouble, and you'd honestly expect me to ignore that?" He grit his teeth. This girl could be so frustrating sometimes, even though she probably didn't intend to be.

His eyes wandered to Adela's side as Melody approached from beyond Adela's line of sight. Was she going to reveal herself to the soldier? "Actually, I already intended on having you guys infiltrate it. At least, your particular group. Can't have Ashton and the skills going unless completely necessary, since as soon as Gregar realizes they've flipped, we'll be placed in a tight situation. There isn't any real proof of their legitimacy as heirs to present to the public, but a small resistance group has assembled in rebellion against the new 'prince'. That should be enough, if we play our cards right. Also, this morning, Tealia, under the control Mr. Rod's father for the time being, has etched an alliance with Carn for some reason or another. So, Ms. Ciaccio, you should probably decide whether or not you plan on staying or going. I have no intention of allowing an enemy access to my training." The girl spoke quickly and breathlessly, and Reid needed to explain who this girl was before Adela asked questions.

"Er... this is Stahn. I mean, this is Melody, who IS Stahn. Stahn's real form, anyways. He's been using the same kind of pill on himself all along to look how he is. He's actually Melody here..." Melody's eyes wandered to look at Reid, before turning back to focus on Adela."

"So? What's your answer, Lieutenant?"

---

Evaline did as she was told, and braced herself as Piper went to remove the multiple needles from her stomach. She didn't scream, but squeaked painfully ever time one was torn from her flesh, tears welling up in her eyes and eventually pouring over her eyelids and down her cheeks. When it was done, she was left trying to catch her breath. She ate hesitantly, not saying a word of thanks. She had no voice, what was there to say at this point? Could she honestly say they'd be okay at this rate. It had finally sunk in. They only had a few hours left to live. Her gaze changed to look at Tilde, who only nodded when Piper thanked her. Evaline watched Tilde, Tilde watched Evaline. It was strange. Even though the girl's eyes seemed lifeless, there was a feeling of curiosity radiating from them. Was she examining them for some reason?
 
Adela opened her mouth to retort to Reid, but after a moment of silence, she closed her mouth and glared over at Melody, uncaring at this sudden revelation at the present moment. She was angry at the girl's second-to-last statement. "And I have to word things better?!" She snapped bitterly, before turning to face Reid, discarding any thought for considering her words before she spoke, "I never told you to ignore it Reid! I pointed out things that you need to know, because you never think ahead. You just jump headfirst into everything and cross your fingers and you don't think about anything else!! You don't think about the consequences at all! -Fine! We'll save them! What then?! Leave Carn to a false Prince while we hide the real heir's until someone makes the faker kick the bucket and then somehow convince the people of Carn that we, outsiders, have the real heirs? Oh yeah, that sounds so convincing! And leaving the fake Prince in place, that sounds like a good idea, let's get more people to tail us, Gregar AND Carn, sounds absolutely wonderful!!"

The little boy in the kitchen looked up from his book at the shouting voices before closing his bound literature, heaving the book off the table and hopping off of his chair with the book in both his arms wandering past the scene without even glancing. They were interrupting his enrichment.

She spun around, pausing for a moment as she contemplated the possibility of losing her position as Lieutenant. Looking up and walking away without stating where she was going, Adela barked at Melody, "I already said I was coming."

Adela hated watching her tongue. It didn't help at all. She didn't want to not be allowed to say things just because other people didn't like it. The thought of ditching the effort altogether crossed her mind, but she shoved it aside to contemplate later. It was really no question, that she'd already given up on being pleasant. It was just something she couldn't do anymore. She turned the corner at the end of the hall, planning on returning to the rooms to finish sleeping. If Ellianne could lock herself up and hide away, why couldn't she? The Lieutenant pushed the door shut behind her and locked it, uncaring if Reid had anything he needed in the room or not. He'd figure out a way in if it was really that important.
 
"Maybe it's because I have no 'ahead' that I decide not to think that far." Reid murmured to himself, before being forced to sweatdrop at Melody, who was sticking her tongue out at the retreating Adela. When she was clear out of sight, Reid brought his hand up to his face and dragged it down. "Ugh... I'm just no good with women." It was true. Adela, Flaire, Ellianne. He just couldn't do anything right. Not with them, not with anyone. There was one person, once, who he never had these problems with, but she was long gone now. Banishment screwed his whole life over, he knew that. This was really one of those times where he really needed parental advice. Of course, with no parents, that was impossible. Why did he have to figure out everything himself? Nobody here was any help at all. How naive was he, to think everything in life was simple? He was an idiot. An idiot.

Melody watched him think with curiosity. She had an idea of what was running through his head, and couldn't help but feel responsible. Everything that had happened thus far was in some way or another her fault. "About Flaire's wounds..." Reid perked up a little, interested in the topic. "After further analysis, they didn't seem to be self caused. The angle of the blade was backwards. Whatever stabbed her, she trusted it enough to let it get close enough to take stabs at her. It was probably pretty short." Reid's eyes twitched. It all made sense now, why Kayle came to them with Kanna. That little girl was probably one of his pawns. Had he sent her out here in order to decieve Flaire? Though, Flaire wasn't killed. Had something gone wrong? Of course, this was all speculation. He wouldn't know until she woke up. "Ellianne is with her now. It could be a while until she wakes up, so I took the liberty of informing the others of our task. We'll be leaving in a few hours, and our operation will start at 1900 hours. You'll be Levi's partner in the operation~" Reid blinked. Levi, huh? He didn't really trust him, what with Rosaline being gone and all, but maybe he would realize these heirs could most likely renew his contract.

---

"You're sure you want to go through with this? You could leave now. You'll be branded a traitor the moment you get involved with this." Rod said to Adela, creepily sitting on the window sill, seemingly having appeared out of nowhere. He cracked his neck, before standing and dusting off his snow white wings arrogantly. "I know as well as you do the problems that could arise from this, but it's no use talking to Reid about them. He's a 'shoot first worry about it later' kind of person, but I'm sure you know all about that." His voice was soaked in 'matter of fact'ness, and obviously referring to the fact that he left her. "If you want my opinion: don't bother with him. Not a lot of good in getting involved with someone half dead, you'd just be full of regret after he passes on. And I can tell you're easily irritated by him, so don't force yourself to have feelings for him just because of his condition - of course, I could be totally wrong. But it's just my friendly opinion~"
 
Adela glanced over her shoulder at Rod with an indifferent expression before looking away again, "I'm already involved, so… there's really no difference between pulling out now or later. And I already told Reid that I'd stick around. I'm not about to lie to him, that would make me a hypocrite." Adela sighed and shook her head, leaning her chin into the heel of her palm, "I'm not forcing anything, and certainly not because of the plague. It's just, we don't… I'm always in an argument with him or something." Adela stood up, folding her arms and pacing about, "And it's not like he irritates me all the time, it's just that when he doesn't irritate me, I irritate him, and vice versa. It's like no matter what I do, I'm not laid-back enough for him. It's not like I'm strung up for no reason… And I can't just ignore him! I mean, it's not really as easy as I thought it would be, ignoring someone who's right next to you all the time…"

Adela stopped short and blinked, really registering who she was talking to at last. She gave a wary and unimpressed glance at Rod before sitting back down on the steps to show that most of that rambling was now over, long gone.

"Forget it." Adela stated indifferently, "It doesn't have much to do with you anyway."

Argh, how frustrating could this be? She didn't even care about what happened this morning anymore. It seemed so unimportant, so trivial. She straightened at a memory of something Reid had mentioned earlier. That could be useful! Swiveling around to look at Rod she asked, "You're the one who told Reid about all this heir business, right? Then, do you know them, or the security set-up for the execution, or… anything? It doesn't matter if Reid doesn't care, I want to know myself, so that at least someone isn't jumping in blindfolded."
 
"Actually, the security isn't overly tight in general. Really, only the entrances are blocked. It looks like it may be TOO easy. Not to mention the fact that they were pretty anxious to announce it. The probability of it being a trap is about 90%, really." Rod turned his back to the lieutenant, ruffling his feathers before running a hand through his hair. "Though it may not be a trap for us. If it was a trap for us, don't you think it would look a little more thought out? Unless there's some sort of hidden factor. Either way, you probably don't give Reid enough credit. He may talk stupid, but I'm pretty sure he's weighed out the possibilities. Not that it matters to me either way, skills aren't allowed to participate unless something goes wrong. Even then, we're supposed to hide our identities. It would be pretty bad if the deceased son of a Tealian general appeared." He sighed before stepping out the window of the room. It was true, after all. Things wouldn't be able to go back to how they were, not like this.

---

Reid passed the remaining time by training with Auricia and Ashton. He needed to get stronger. Time wasn't on his side. The sad truth was there. Melody had suggested that if he kept himself on par physically, he might be able to delay his emminent death even longer, perhaps long enough for her to discover a permanent cure. He found that with this new ability his near death experience had granted him, staying on par with Auricia was much easier. He could match her speed, heal his own wounds with the little lionus he possessed, and he had an overall increase in strength. But, would that be effective over what cards Kayle had to play? Obviously, they intended to mass produce the Skill, but what else did he have up his sleeve? How aware was he of the Ophelian core and the power the shards possessed? That girl, Ophelia. She said she saw everything he saw. Was that true? It would make sense, if her presence was at least similar to Mistral's...

"Whoa~" Mistral exclaimed. Ashton had taught Reid how to manifest Mistral differently, and the fael girl stood before him, completely solid. "Even though this is temporary, this is what being a part of the real world feels like? I like it!" Auricia watched on, having never seen a fael other than Ashton's before. It was pretty amazing, and she smiled.

"They can take any form you desire. It could even be a weapon. You've seen me use my fael as a spear before." Ashton added, his index finger pointed upwards, before Mistral faded back into Reid's mind. "And that's that. I think we're leaving soon..." It was three in the afternoon, at earliest, and they had gone without interruption for hours. What the heck was everyone else doing?

---

Ellianne stared intently at Flaire, who stared right back. The phoenix girl had just woken up, and was trying to recollect her memories of what had occurred the past couple of days. They went to train, then she was stupid and broke up with Reid... that's right. Then... Rosaline died, and she ran away. She wandered in the wilderness before days, and then Kanna somehow appeared, and then... and then... Tears rolled down her cheek, her eyes still locked on Ellianne. "I'm an idiot..."

"Yes, you are." Ellianne replied, her eyes now showing irritation at the first words Flaire and spoken. Ellianne had just... talked? Flaire almost passed out. Was she still dreaming? She was suddenly slapped across the face by Ellianne, who glared angrily at the redhead. "How could you do that to him!? Then you ran away, do you know how worried he's been!?"

Flaire closed her eyes, and rolled to face the other way. "I'm an idiot..."

---

Tre D. Florence neatly put away a book away amidst his brown, wooden shelf of many, before brushing a dark blue strand of his short, but curly hair away from his eyes. Being the only priest in the Underneath city of Azern, he wore a white, robe-like garment that fell down and covered his feet, a black hood falling off the back to about his mid back. On the back of the white sweater, the ensignia of the New Church of Ophelia, a black cross overtop a golden wing, was imprinted. He was a large man, standing at about 6', and he was fairly muscular as well. His wings, grey and owl-like, were folden at his back. Things had been tough recently, what with the incident at Flazure nearby, and with Alta right above their small city, things were bound to get worse.

The young Father let out a heavy sigh, before picking a new book from his shelf. "Romeo and Juliet" was the title. Ah, how he loved ancient literature. Wasn't a fan of modern stuff, but ancient lit was where the party started. This writer, William Shakespeare, interested him incredibly. His grey eyes looked out the window of his little room amidst the church, to see one of his childhood friends entertaining two guests that had stopped by to use the church as a rest stop on their search for some people.

"Reid Davies?" The girl outside spoke, looking at the two strangers with a raised eyebrow. She knew who they were talking about. "Well, I'd be lying if I said I didn't know 'im. We were friends as children, close ones, but then he up and disappeared without a word..." The girl's hair was certainly a unique colour. It was long, probably to about her waist, although it was tied into a ponytail by a black ribbon, but it was orange, of all the colours. Her eyes, big and curious, took on a sepia hue as they analyzed her surroundings. Her outfit was split into two portions. A tight, black vest stood overtop a white t-shirt, a grey zipper running up the center. The t-shirt was exposed at the sleeves, as the vest had none, and the girl's midrift was exposed as the vest and shirt were just a little too short. She also wore a pair of black shorts, that came to just above her knees, before the remaining leg length was rolled up to that height. There was a white button at the waist, and a white belt ran around, indicating that the shorts were in fact actually rolled up pants. Her shoes, black, with white bottoms, were dirty, indicating she had been doing some adventuring during the day. A blue, teardrop shaped earring hung from her right ear, the other ear not possessing one, and black, leather fingerless gloves wrapped around her hands. "Well, I suppose I could take your names, and tell him you were looking for him if I see him."

"Cress."

"Kyra."

"He'll know who we are."

"Gotcha!" The tall, fit girl exclaimed. She had a particularly good memory. There was no need to right it down. "Just in case you see him first, tell him to come home and see Bianca Wereste!"
 
"I don't know what they want from me." Levi whined, rolling around on the carpeting of the hallway, bored out of his mind, "Do they want me to go to Carn to rescue a bunch of heirs dressed my PJ's? They're even kind of too small for me, considering they were Gil's." He sighed, flopping flat on his back. Lazarus had left long ago, saying something about fresh air, while Levi was still waiting to be let into the room. Apparently, nobody remembered that he was waiting to change. He rolled over onto his stomach and stared at the crack between the door and the carpet, waiting for something to happen. Of course, nothing did. He lifted his head and let it thud against the ground. "Bored." He announced to no one. Voices interrupted his own train of thought for the first time in what seemed like forever though. Looking up, Levi listened silently to Flaire and Ellianne talk to each other.

"I'm an idiot…"

Levi blinked, pushing himself up into a sitting position.

"Yes, you are."

He froze, staring at the door in surprise before a frown crossed his expression. Getting to his feet, Levi brushed himself off and opened the door without invitation after Flaire had repeated herself. His face looked annoyed when he wrenched open the closet door, pulling out his old outfit and looking over his shoulder as he pulled the garments off of their hangers and tossed the plastic articles over his shoulder, addressing Ellianne casually, "Could be a little more considerate with what you say, or more like, how you say it, y'know. You sound like that cranky Lieutenant, harping about pointless stuff. What's done is done." He sighed in exasperation at being unable to find his pants, deciding to pull his T-shirt off first. He balled it up, tossing it across the room into the bathroom before pulling on the teal shirt that was issued to the members of the gang he'd run with in Tealia, differentiated by the swirl design around his shoulders. "It's not like getting on her case is going to make all of Reid's worryin' go away."

"And besides, he's gonna worry more if she's all depressed, so it's not like you're helping that any by telling her she fails at life." Levi pulled his black pants out of the closet, grinning in victory to himself as he snapped out the wrinkles before finishing changing. He glanced pointedly at Flaire while he dug around for a belt, "Which, you don't, if you were wonderin'. Hmm, aha! Now…" Levi extracted himself from the closet, looking around, "Where are my gloves...?"

"Levi, we're leaving soon." Lazarus' voice came, peering into the room. He held three rolls of bandages in his hands and glanced at Ellianne once without addressing her, "I brought three, I didn't know how many you wanted."

Levi stood up from looking under the desk standing in the corner of the room, pulling open drawers as he spoke, "Three is good. I'm not going to bandage my legs or anything that's already covered up, so it'll be more than enough." He caught the three rolls with one hand when Lazarus threw them to him, sighing as he looked around, "Aww, forget it. It's not like I can wear them on my left hand anymore anyway." He pulled a chair closer to him with his toe, and tossing two rolls of bandages onto the desk, unrolled the bandages in his hand and wrapped them around the mangled skin of his left arm and on his hand and fingers, "Sorry ladies, I'll be impeding on you a little while longer."

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


"Tonight?" A blonde-haired-blue-eyed teen said without revealing much interest as he turned the screws in the skyboard back in place with a screwdriver, "That's pretty sudden."

"Yeah, but my ma wants to go watch, same as the way it was with Rosaline last year. Says that somethin' big's gonna happen again and she's not gonna miss it for the world. Can't stand her stupid gossip sessions. She's closin' up the shop just to go see." The customer, a teen about the same age as the mechanic across from him, rolled his eyes, sitting on the end of the counter with a roll of half-eaten bread in his hand, "I don't see much point in doing this whole execution scene though, it's not like they ever denounced the Prince, or even said that they were the real heirs anyway. I don't see how they were doing any posin' to being with."

Solomon shrugged, appearing not to care or know anything about it. Tossing the screwdriver aside before flipping the switch, the flow of energy slipping through the jumpstarted piece of junk metal sent the skyboard up in the air. Sol's keen eyes spotted a 3 degree off-balance, but it's not like the kid did anything important with the board to begin with. It wasn't worth fixing while he had more important things to do. "How's it look?" Solomon asked, sitting back to watch the floating skyboard.

"Great! Thanks Sol." The boy turned to leave, "One of these days, I'll get enough money to buy one of your customs!"

Solomon's mind was far from his work at the moment, or even the prospect of selling an expensive custom skyboard. Piper would be expecting him to show up. But the heck did Piper want him to do, showing up in the middle of a Carn execution? It would be problematic for him, since he was located in Carn to begin with. He gave a quick wave goodbye to the kid from the shop across the street before sighing, getting up from his seat behind the counter and poking his head out the door to his shop. Looking left, then right, he saw no regulars, or potential customers lugging big things of machines around, and shut the door, turning the sign on the door to 'closed' and pulled the blinds down on the display window.

Stepping upstairs to his little flat, Solomon pulled out a mask, smooth with slits for eyes and a sinister smile. It was plain in appearance, but it was quite valuable in itself, since it was something that Levi had stolen from his parents' treasure heap. He waved the mask around, spinning it by the sash as he pulled open a drawstring bag with one hand. Peering inside, he counted the right amount- ten, and yanked the little bag shut again, tossing it onto his bed before he pulled on a black long-sleeved turtleneck and flexible black gloves that stuck to his skin. He pulled out a dark green cargo vest, pulling it on over his shirt and filling the pockets with bombs that had been made for Levi. He'd make more of whatever he used later, Levi'd just have to suck it up.

Stepping downstairs again, Solomon slipped down the trap door under the counter and once safely in the tunnel under his shop that was drilled to the spot in the slums of Carn where he got most of his better paying jobs, Solomon pulled on the mask and adjusted it so that he could see. Opening the bag, there were ten pieces of finger armor, sharpened and elongated to become claws. Customized weapons made to fit like a glove over the pair he was already wearing. It was Solomon's favorite part of being a mechanic. He flexed his hands before setting out across the tunnel, ignored by other criminals who were scattered across the insides of the tunnel. Man, this job he'd picked up as Piper's bodyguard was really more trouble than it was worth. This was why the only friend worth being friends with was Levi, who could bail himself out when he got caught.
 
"So, I see Reid is associating himself with circus freaks now." Tre muttered to nobody in particular is he tilted his novel back a bit so he could see out the window. Ah, they were finally leaving. It was about time; they had been talking to each other for quite some time now. Perhaps an hour or so? Either way, four o'clock had finally rolled around, and the sun was beginning it's descent. The sun always set early in the spring months, though Tre had no clue why. It just... kind of happened that way. There was probably an explanation long ago, but that information was probably lost. A lot of things were lost, and that's why he doubled as an achaeologist. He adjusted his circular glasses, but had them knocked off his head as his head was met with a rolling kick, sending it towards his knees. He calmly picked his glasses of the ground nearby, and set them gently upon his nose. "Great, another crack. Thank you kindly, Bia." He said calmly, as if nothing had ever happened.

Bianca's left eye twitched angrily. "Stop acting like I didn't hit you, Tre! And they weren't circus freaks!" She huffed, before brushing a strand of her orange bangs out of her eyes. She stomped her foot with irritation. The two had a sort of love-hate situation. Childhood friends with each other, they were often like this, though Bianca solved all of her problems with violence anyways.

Tre closed the book with the hand he was holding it in, and set it on his lap. There was an awkward silence, and Bianca sweatdropped at it. "One had three eyes, the both had horns. I don't think 'human' fits that well. Anyways, we should be going."

"Going?" Bianca inquired thoughtfully, pulling her left leg up with her right hand behind her back to stretch. "Where are we going?"

"Didn't I tell you, Sister Wereste? We have an appointment in Carn tonight."

---

"Is everyone ready then?" Melody chimed happily as she stepped out of a large blimp. Reid stared up at the giant balloon-like vehicle with starry eyes. He didn't have the opportunity to show it much anymore, but he was still very much a technology geek. His attention was brought back to Ellianne and Flaire, who watched him carefully from farther back in the courtyard. He needed to talk to them at some point, but not now. Why was Flaire even coming? She was in no condition to fight. "The skills and Ashton will be coming as backup. They will not leave this blimp unless it looks grim for you guys, although there shouldn't be too much difficulty. The trip will take about 3 hours, and we'll arrive outside of Carn's capital just in time to intercept the execution. As for strategy, you guys can talk amidst yourself on the way there. Now, all aboard~" Reid began to head back to Flaire and Ellianne, but soon found himself ushered onto the blimp by Rod before he could do so.

---

"Three hours." Tilde informed Piper and Evaline of their remaining time to live. Evaline had a fever, and was shaking violently from a mixture of the cold, and her infected wounds. Even if they somehow survived, it was beginning to look like it'd take a miracle for her to live beyond that in her current state. Tilde watched on, unable to provide anything useful for this. If that girl died before the execution, it would be her fault, and her orders would be left unfulfilled.

Evaline smiled up at her brother, before grabbing his hand, still shaking. She was in a lot of pain, especially in the arm where she had been shot. "I guess I can't keep my promise to become a good artist, huh?"
 
Piper looked over at Evaline, his left wrist raw and red from tugging and pulling fruitlessly on his mahstion bracelet while he let Evaline hold his right. Letting his frustrated expression slip off before drawing his little sister into a hug, Piper was vaguely aware that he didn't feel particularly warm himself. It was much too cold in this cell, and he forced himself not to tremble. The body heat he had left was measly, but better than nothing. Piper leaned his cheek gently on Evaline's head, "We'll be fine," He said, wishing he'd brought his jacket along. His eyes had been burning ever since he'd finished bandaging Evaline's torso, needles sticking themselves into his eyes while he forced down tears. "And when we get out of here, we'll fix your arm." Piper had been careful not to bump her arm, and thus his embrace was awkward and cautious to steer clear of the multiple places that Evaline was wounded.

It wasn't fair. Piper would've given the world to trade her wounds right now. The blood that had been streaming down his face had long dried, caking itself onto his skin. The stinging cut was just a throb, a little headache, while the rest of his body merely violently protested whenever he tried to move, after being bruised from Audi's heel and the weight of an elaborate, expensive wooden bookshelf. Little points on his body stung from book corners digging their weight into his flesh, but it was nothing. He wasn't bleeding, he wasn't with fever, and it wasn't fair. He was older, and his existence now was essentially pointless. Three hours. Piper swallowed the lump in his throat, pulling his arms away to try pulling at the mahstion bracelet again. If he could just use some wionus, then he could at least clean the wound on her arm. He tried to pull it clean off his wrist, pressing his hand as narrow as he could. Without butter or oil of some sort, it was no good. The bracelet was tight against his wrist to begin with.

Three hours. Solomon would definitely come. Piper was reassured by this idea. It didn't matter that Solomon wouldn't be able to bail out of a spectator filled crowd with two people; Evaline was more important, which cut two down to one. And Solomon had a lot of customers who could heal Evaline in a heartbeat. She'd be fine. That was really the only thing that was damming the salty water threatening to brim in his eyes any second now. Just three more hours left to live, Piper told himself. If he'd gone and done things differently, the only thing he'd change is waking up on time that day. Then Evaline might've been able to escape.

He looked over at Tilde, as though the number of hours he had left would suddenly change and go up. But when he was only met with her blank expression, he turned back to Evaline, "You're already a wonderful artist, Evaline. There won't be anyone who doesn't know your name in the future, you'll see."

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

Levi's face twitched uncomfortably about every three minutes. Having bandages all over the left side of his face and a few around his right cheek to cover the burns closer to his nose was really uncomfortable. He randomly waved his left arm about, hating the feeling of it trapping all the heat and causing his arm to burn up to a crisp. He pushed up his sleeve to help the air reach his arm, fanning his face with wionus. It was irritating, but at least it didn't leave him with any real disabilities. Well, other than the one he'd had his entire life. Stepping onto the blimp, Levi looked around, commenting sarcastically, "Well ain't this the stealthiest thing the world's ever seen."

"Who knows." Lazarus commented, following Levi with his eyes fixed on a book about the old Carn and Tylonstus relationship.

"Y'think it's cooler than it looks?" Levi asked, sighing as he peered around, stuffing his hands into his pockets, "I mean really, I feel like we're going on some kind of lame tourist joint, rather than- bleh-blehck!" Levi stuck a finger in his mouth, swirling it about before pulling it out and making a face, "Man th- ew, yuck!" Levi made careful precautions not to stick his tongue out too far as he spoke carefully, "These bandages taste horrible!"

Adela walked past him without a word, carrying her boots in one hand and walking onto the blimp with nothing on her feet but black stockings. Armon was really messy. It had taken her ages to find her boots kicked under the bed, which was possibly the only thing that left her to be one of the last to show up. She immediately took a seat and pulled on her shoes, paying no mind to Levi who was trying to keep himself from adjusting the bandages so that he could speak more easily and breathe. He seemed inclined to be able to do that, and cover up his burns at the same time. Impossible. Dieter laughed at Levi, able to look at him without a sick stomach now. "You look like a monkey! But you don't smell like one, you smell like old carpet. The hell do you smell like carpet?"

"I got bored, waiting to get into my room." Levi replied. Dieter and Levi. Birds of a feather. They chattered away about pointless things while the old man persona of Rasch wiped off his cane with a red silk handkerchief, idly wondering why he'd been pressed into coming along when it really was none of his business, this Carn stuff. And besides, if they needed a healer, they had Auricia, it was really quite the overkill, sending all the skill under Ashton's jurisdiction to this scene. He'd end up just sitting around on this blimp being bored in the end, because Dieter would of course, gladly take over any killing or intervention that he needed to do.

"So how are we going to be set up? There are quite a few people here, so I don't know how you all want to execute this…" Lazarus began the strategy conversation when he closed his book.

"Hmph." Adela zipped up her left boot, readjusting the long white tongue before folding her arms stubbornly to show that she would not be participating in any discussion. She was good at holding grudges.
 
"Ehhh, what's this?" Reid whined, looking blankly down at the parchment in his hands. Melody looked up at him cheekily, a 'gotcha' kind of grin spread across her face. He knew what this was. Probably the layout for the execution. He sweatdropped, probably not wanting to know where she had gotten it. Rod? Improbable, he sucked at obtaining that kind of thing. Oh well. Best not to ask questions. The truth remained that he was apparently now in charge of strategizing this operation. He pulled open the chart, and set it on the table in the blimp for the convenience of everyone around him to see. What was on the chart was a map of an all too familiar colosseum-like structure that Reid knew like the back of his hand from his initial mission to free Rosaline. At the northern part of the structure was a large pedestal, which had two X's on it - one on the left, and one on the right, both the same distance from the center. There were red circles on either side of both X's, indicating soldiers. At least two of these circles were located at each of the entrances in the east, west, and south, and row upon row of seating was spread out before the pedestal. This, the top part of the structure, was just that - the top.

"Okay, if you haven't already figured it out, the X's are our targets, and the circles are enemy soldiers. There aren't a whole lot of them, so we should be cautious in case of a trap. There are two entrances to a group of catacombs that run underneath the entire city of Nephistos - here, and here." He marked two squares on the chart in the very back. "If we can escape into there, we can follow them out of the city, where this blimp will be waiting. The problem is getting there, since Levi and myself," he drew two triangles on either side of the colosseum, outside the walls but in line with the pedestal, "will each be taking one of the siblings and running to the back."

Ashton grunted. It was sound in theory, but there were too many uncertain variables. "You're joking, right? You'll be killed before you get back the-"

"I'm not done." Reid crossed his arms, before drawing two more triangles on both sides at the back, up in the walkway above the seating. "Adela and Ellianne will provide cover fire from here. We don't want to alarm them of your presence right away, so you'll need to take cover until we start. If anything comes at us, you need to shoot it." Ellianne nodded, not expecting such a large role. "As for Lazarus and Flaire, you two will be waiting at either catacomb entrance. They're hidden, so search for a lever as soon as you arrive, and pull it when we start running. Melody will be with you guys, so leave anything to her that may go awry." Flaire wearily nodded. She was still a little woozy, but she could rest on the trip. "I've left a radio communicator with Ashton. So, if anything goes wrong, we can call for backup."

Melody hummed loudly to herself as she bounced a soccer ball up and down with her feet. Would things really go that smoothly? Probably not. She was a little disappointed though. She didn't expect him to have thought it through that much.

---

"If we have a future, I'll be known as Evaline the imposter princess." Evaline whispered to herself as she closed her eyes. Exhaustion, shaking, she couldn't take much more. Her eyes were already starting to lose light, so why bother trying to keep them open? It was futile now.

---

"Audi~ How much longer until I can cut people up~?" Saral chimed in a bored manner as she threw a shortsword into the air, spinning, before she caught the blade of the sword. Blood came, but she did not wince or exhibit any other registration of pain. The wound closed itself, and she grinned a satanic grin as she picked up her headless, armless, and legless stuffed dog. "I'm so boooored, and Tilde keeps hogging the prisoneeeeers! I just want to cuuuut soooomeoooone~!"
 
Lazarus chewed on his lip, looking over the plan. Even with this map, it felt like a lot of important things were missing.

"So basically yer askin' me to bust through an entire battalion of soldiers," Levi pointed at his triangle and then drew his finger across the circle to the X, "and then go to the back of the catacombs under heavy fire?" He drew his finger up to the other triangles, Lazarus or Flaire in an L shape. He stepped back from the table for a minute, smirking, "Sounds like stealing. 'Cept the baggage is about ten times the usual weight- how old are these heir's anyway? I mean, if they're younger than Princess Dian, they're gonna be about my age. I don't know about you," Levi waved his hand at Reid, "Because you're like, two years older than me, but I'm not exactly built to run around with someone as heavy, or maybe even heavier than I am. And I mean, we can't exactly assume that they can run on their own. Maybe I can just punt the kid to the catacomb and catch up."

Adela rolled her eyes at Levi, but said nothing. It would be easiest to open a warp, but sending other people across a distance like that wasn't exactly in her range. She wouldn't be able to guarantee that they'd end up at the entrance to the catacombs. They'd probably end up somewhere in Beta, for all she could do. That was just fine with her though, it meant that she still had nothing to contribute to the plan. She stared at the map with a scrutinizing look, memorizing every last detail before finally looking up at Flaire at Lazarus' words.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Lazarus asked Flaire, looking over his shoulder at her. He didn't really know her at all, but she most certainly didn't look like she was in the condition to go perform a rescue operation.

Adela glanced at Rasch, "It's possible for you guys to change your appearance entirely, isn't it?"

Rasch nodded slowly, saying nothing more. Dieter explained, peering at the ground below the blimp interjected for Rasch, "Our mahstion signatures are pretty messed up though, so they'd be able to figure out it was us if we went anyway. I would love to take your place if you'd let me though, Lieutenant!"

Adela scoffed, and dropped the subject, much to Dieter's disappointment.

Levi rubbed his left cheek making a contorted face as he scanned the map, debating whether to tell about the abandoned tunnels that ran deep underground Carn. It was the criminal's ideal hideout, and he wouldn't be surpised if there were one or two hanging out in the catacombs, since it was disrespectful to actually enter that place unless someone had died and they were stickin' a body in there. Most royal deaths were publicized, so there was always plenty of time to hightail it out of the catacombs before anything figured out the criminal had even been there. He sighed, and mentally shook his head. Nah, they didn't need to know. He'd just have to beat Reid to the catacombs and make sure any thugs down there didn't have the nerve to pick a beef with them.

"Sounds good to me." Levi shrugged cheerfully, "We should go over this again when we're almost there; I'll probably forget it all by then, so really!"

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

"Aww, who knows?" Audi sighed, throwing Alice over her shoulder, gripping the paw with her purple nails in a vice grip, "Tilde's probably having a cow over worrying that the cutie and his annoying sister'll die before the show. Don't know what got her panties in a twist- think she was born like that?" Audi cracked her neck, before pulling Alice back onto her lap, playing with the floppy ears as she chewed on the end of a cigarette, "Go slice the songbirds outside if you want to cut something," Audi suggested, pushing her smoke to the other side of her lips with her tongue, "They're annoying as hell."
 
"Just focus your wionus around your feet, Levi." Reid informed the criminal, looking at him gently despite the concern that had just been thrusted at him. "It'll enhance your speed, and I doubt any of the soldiers will be using guns, so evasion shouldn't be too difficult. Adela and Ellianne are there to clean up, mostly, and just in case any enemies are hiding in the stands, sooo...." Ellianne sweatdropped. Cleanup? She didn't want to kill people unless absolutely necessary, so she hoped he was only referring to those that could be considered a threat. She looked over at Flaire when Lazarus addressed her, and the phoenix shook her head in a 'I'll be okay' fashion. Right, she'd be okay. Her dress was still torn, and the gashes were still present beneath them. Were the wounds like those Sanako had sustained? Unable to be completely healed? Anyways, they were about to depart...

---

"Get up, rugrats." A gruff voice comanded Piper and Evaline as two soldiers entered the cell and grabbed Evaline and Piper by the backs of their shirts. Evaline was barely conscious at the time. Her whole body hurt, but she couldn't die yet. She didn't want Piper to see her die. That'd be the worst for him. Tilde's eyes followed the two soldiers as they left the prison, the two prisoners in tow. Her job done for now, she headed back to her comrades.

When Evaline opened her eyes again, she found herself secured tightly to an extremely thick log. She barely found the energy to turn her head to the left to see Piper in the same situation, spotlights blaring in her eyes causing her to wince in discomfort. Beneath Piper, firewood was set out. Realization suddenly struck her, and she began to struggle against the ropes despite her pain. No, she didn't want to die like that. No way, no way! No way was she going to burn alive! Her eyes suddenly met a malificent pair of golden eyes in the king's throne before the execution scene. The figure was cloaked, but you could see his eyes, his blonde hair, and his goatee. He was the 'prince'!? He grinned an evil grin as he threw his hand out, indicating the beginning of her demise. One of the soldiers lit a torch and threw it at her feet, another doing the same for Piper, and the kindling went ablaze. The heat intensified.

"This is somewhat nostalgic. You even look kind of like her." A voice suddenly said from beside her. His presence was different. Comforting, friendly. And who was 'her'? Rosaline? where had he come from, anyways? The soldiers recovered from their surprise, and Reid unsheathed his sword, locking blades with the nearest opponent. He grit his teeth. He hadn't practiced with his sword in a while. He concentrated, and a black aura formed around his blade, before it solidified and cut through the soldier's sword. All it took after that was a kick to the head to knock the soldier out without killing him. He pointed his index finger to the other side of the stage, an extremely strong gust of wind bursted across the stage, putting out the two fires. He cut Evaline's rope, and the girl fell into his arms. Now, the- CRAP. He had totally forgotten about the other soldier. No time to react, he was already on top of him with a lance. The boy braced himself, but the blow never came.

"Seven years and you still need us to protect you? Pa-the-tic." The girl staring back at Reid stuck out her tongue as she raised her hand, spinning a large metallic hoop around her index finger. The soldier lay on the ground nearby, his body twitching from the heavy impact. "You could have at least writter, ya know. The church is a wee bit boring." Tre was flabberghasted. There were plenty of books! Sweet, sweet books. The priest nodded at Reid, and Reid just smiled. "What!? Wipe that stupid grin off yur face! This isn't the time! We can play catchup later! Yur hittin' the catacombs, right?" Reid nodded, unaware of how Bianca knew that. "Tre's been doing too much reading lately... You go ahead, we'll catch up in a bit!"

"Just as pushy as ever..." Reid sweatdropped as, with Evaline in hand, he leapt off the pedestal, landing on the top of one of the rows of seats, before leaping to the next. Gunfire was heard as Ellianne followed her orders. But Reid wouldn't look, he couldn't look. He had to push forward. Evaline had lost track of what was happening ages ago, but she was being rescued, and that was all that mattered, right? Finally, Reid caught sight of the door up ahead, Flaire's silhouette on the other side. He was taken aback, and dodged to the side, however, as a body fell from the walkway above and landed nearby. He looked up, and saw Bianca charging down it, smacking any soldier that had originally been heading towards Ellianne. All they needed now was...

The entire colosseum lit up with blinding white light, allowing for the group to escape through the exits unseen, and leaving a very confused audience scared and furious at the lack of a show. The 'Prince' stood angrily. He had been promised that they would not get away!

---

"E-evaline..." The young girl replied to the inquiry about her name from Reid. "My name is Evaline, and that's my brother Piper." Reid held his hands over her wounded arm, the little lionus he possessed flowing into it and slowly repairing it. She felt a little better now that the pain was subsiding. Her expression became an embarrassed one as she realized that she looked like a complete mess. In front of her saviour, no less! Reid blinked. She really did bear a resemblance to Rosaline. There was no doubt in his mind that this girl was Rosaline's sister. The boy, however... he'd need some convincing.

Reid smiled comfortingly. "That's a pretty name." She blushed. His attention then turned to Tre and Bianca, who stood off to the side, Tre holding his finger up so that he could read while the lionus created light. He was checking what this book said about the catacombs. "Tre, thanks for the light back there. I was afraid we'd be seen escaping." Tre just nodded, adding a 'Uh-huh'. Bianca looked pretty irritated, glaring at Reid angrily. "...What now?"

Her glare intensified. "I don't even get a thank you!?"

"Oh yes, the great and mighty Bia. I am forever indebted to you. Please, let me be your husband." Reid said monotonously, his voice rich with sarcasm.

"You're just as annoying as ever."

"I'm aware."

"I hate you."

"Probably."

"Idiot!"

"Yes?"

Ellianne sweatdropped, before turning to Tre. "Have they... always been like this?" Tre looked up from his book.

"Yeah, you could say that."
 
ooc; Uh-oh, Era got blocked too. xD Sorry for the crappy post, but here it is... *shot'd*

ic; Piper's eyes were fixed on the Prince. He glared at him, and didn't turn his gaze even when the flames were set on the firewood at his feet. Solomon would come. He knew he would. Piper blinked when he saw steam floating up from the fire. Steam? But before he had time to contemplate it, he yelped in shock when the head of the soldier who'd lit the fire smashed violently into the pedestal, barely missing Piper's own head.

"I don't get your logic man!" A pink haired man was grumbling to himself, "I'm the younger one and I have to haul the older heir around? Makes no sense to me! I'd outrun you anyday, with or without wionus!"

Piper stared at the shirt he was wearing. It was strikingly familiar... "AH!" Piper shrank away from the strange boy's kick, the metallic things sticking out of his feet scraping huge gashes into the concrete and cutting the ropes as soon as the gale of wionus had subsided. Piper fell, barely landing on his feet and stumbling to safe ground that didn't consist of glowing firewood. Piper wasn't sure if they were trying to save him or not. He let out another yell when an explosion blew the soldier headed straight for the intruding teen away, sending him into the pedestals as the man grabbed his arm roughly without much care.

"Suck it up, and !" He grinned at Piper, before bending over to feel around on his shoes. Piper had no idea what he was trying to do, but he did know that one minute, the metallic things on his feet weren't any longer than half his arm, and the next, they were the size of his own broad white feathered wings. And also that one minute, he was standing on solid ground, and the next, barrelling through arrows of Dation that pierced soldiers that ran after them. He looked back for a second and squeezed his eyes shut when a sharp blow burst against the ground with a sound like thunder. Just a minute ago, he'd been burning with heat, and now he was freezing against the wind chill that was pelting at his face while his... kidnapper seemed like the best word, propelled them across the ground with wionus, pressing a button on his shoe that made a click sound every time the weird things on his feet grew smaller again. Evaline. Piper forced his mouth open.

"Where's Evaline?" He asked with difficulty, and the person who had his arm in a vice-grip said nothing in response. Did he not hear?

By the time they slowed down, Piper felt like he'd just gone on a trip to dreamland, nauseous from the ride while the kidnapper seemed completely unaffected.

"You really are a horrible guy." Piper heard an unfamiliar voice say, as he was dragged down a hole.

"Yeah I know, but hey, it's not like I made sure they were dead before I left, I just did my job and didn't pay attention to the details. Can ya blame me? Alright kid, we're almost in the clear." The pink haired boy jerked his thumb at his face, "The name's Levi, and the loser over there is Lazarus."

Piper peered over at a dark haired man who smiled at Levi, "You've been making so many jabs about your age, why don't you respect your elders?"

Levi laughed at the other man. Just laughed.

"Where's my sister?" Piper spoke immediately, and urgently.

"In better hands than you are." Lazarus replied, glaring at Levi who whistled innocently.

-----

Piper looked over his shoulder at Evaline distractedly while Lazarus sighed irritably, grabbing the sides of Piper's face and wrenching his gaze back. "Stop moving!" Lazarus commanded, holding a white flower over the cut on Piper's forehead and letting the excess sap slip down Piper's face to heal the blue bruise on his cheek which he'd attained from yelling out in protest when they'd set the firewood ablaze. The feeling of a fist crashing into his face was fresh, and the sap felt good against the sore muscle. Piper flinched when a drop fell into his eye, quickly apologizing for moving again at the annoyed look on Lazarus' face.

"Man you don't look like Princess Dian at all." Levi's arms were folded as he bent around Lazarus to look at Piper, who laughed and sweatdropped.

"Hahaha... the servants like to tell me I was adopted... Since I don't look like anyone in my family..." Piper rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, and Levi sweatdropped too. What a depressing thing to say to someone. Piper forgot about Lazarus for a moment and looked worriedly over at Evaline.

"WOULD YOU-" Lazarus threw up his hands as he stood in frustration, the flower turning back into a seed in mid-air before he caught it, sighing and sitting back down. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. He'd never had this much trouble with a patient before.

"Sorry!" Piper bowed over and over again, "Sorry, sorry! I forgot, I'm sorry, it won't happen again!"

He looked over at someone he recognized. He hadn't really ever seen her in real life, but they'd touched on her identity in studies. The Lieutenant of Tealia glared at Piper, and he looked away immediately. She didn't seem too friendly, and the mahstion gun in her hand looked even less friendly. "Um," Piper held up his left wrist to show the mahstion bracelet tightly attached, "Is it possible for you to get this off?"

Lazarus looked at it for a moment and smiled, "We have people who can make a key for it."

"Thank you. Ah, you know for... everything, I guess." Piper smiled, as Lazarus pulled the flower away and pulled out a different seed, "But... who are you guys and why... did you save us?"
 
"Eat this." Melody bluntly commanded Evaline as she shoved a piece of bread into Evaline's mouth, and then into Piper's mouth. "It's laced with a compound I created, meant to re-energize the body and mind. Give it a few minutes to kick in." Evaline nodded. This teenager could make such a thing? Amazing. She was even starting to feel a little better. "As for who we are, I suppose you could call the organization NEAR, but this little mission was all his doing." The demon girl, although her hat and various other tricks kept her identity hidden, jerked her thumb at Reid, who seemed a little embarrassed by the acknowledgement. "The one who single handedly rescued Rosaline Dian five years ago." Reid brought his right hand to the back of his head in embarrassment. He had never really asked for credit for it, and he hated being flattered.

"So you're... Reid Davies?" Evaline inquired. There probably wasn't a single Carn resident that hadn't at least heard his name. Whether that was a good or a bad thing was dependant on who you were talking to. It was good though. She at least knew his name.

"WAIT. That was REID that rescued the princess? Our wimpy little REID?" Bianca shouted, and Tre sweatdropped as he brought his hand to his face. That girl tended to be slow on the uptake. Nobody justified her outburst with a response, and she sweatdropped. "Fine, I guess he was!" She wandered over to Piper, and grabbed hold of his arm so that she could see the lock on his bracelet, before pulling a lock pick out of her pocked. It didn't take long for the wristband to pop off. "You owe me." Both Reid and Tre sweatdropped now. Where had she learned such a skill.

"Some Sister..." Tre murmured.

"Shut up."

Flaire wearily kept herself standing, but occassionally used Ellianne for support. "We should hurry about and leave... the longer we stay here the more at risk we are..." She murmured.

"Right, let's go. Can you use mahstion, Evaline?" Reid was assuming no, since she had no bracelet.

"Ah... not yet."

"Can you walk?" She nodded. "Fine then, let's head out."

---

"Catacomb exit. Half hour." Tilde informed her comrades of their next order. Saral spun her sword into the air again, the severed head and body of a songbird falling to the ground as she caught the blade again. "Exterminate."

"About time. I can finally cut some people~
 
Piper gently rubbed his wrist, "Thank you." He said quickly to Bianca before giving Reid a quick glance. Their family owed so much to him. Could Piper ask for more than what he'd already done? Well, the boy mused, he'd save it for later. It was important to get rid of that horrible fake prince, but it was more important to get out of here safely, into the clear. He followed the Lieutenant, who had been the first to step out across the ground, beginning their trek to the exit. He extracted clear water from the the ground before he rubbed his face with the disk of Wation while he walked, getting rid of the caked blood on his face. As soon as he was done, he pulled out a new sphere of wation, holding it out to Evaline, "Want to wash off your face?"

Levi opened his mouth to say something to Flaire but closed it in consideration. He made a face. This was so unlike, him, considering whether it would be a bad idea to say it now. Therefore, without a second thought, he went ahead and blurted out, "Want me to carry you?"

"You just live in that gutter, don't you?" Lazarus asked, sweatdropping as even Piper eyed the distance between Levi and Evaline at his questionable savior's suggestive comment.

Levi shrugged and smirked in response, "It's always worth a try Lazus. This is why you never get the girls man, you think you can marry your books but you just can't!"

"I don't see you getting any girls either." Lazarus pointed out, completely indifferent to idea of not being a ladies man. Levi waved it off as though it were nothing that he wasn't a ladies man either, more of a failure flirt. It was silent for a long time before Levi finally figured out a good come-back.

"I don't get any permanent girls, but hey. Commitment is like flushing your life down the toilet. Especially if you get a naggy one," Levi shot the comment straight at Adela's back, the latter tensing up at the jab, "Who's particularly got something shoved up her-"

"Will you shut up?!" Adela barked, whirling around and only proving Levi's point further, "We're not safe yet, so save it until we get out of here, you retards!!"

Adela turned around again and picked up the pace. Levi pointed at Adela's back silently and raised an 'I-told-you-so' eyebrow at Lazarus who rolled his eyes. I-Told-You-So only worked when you denied it, and Lazarus most certainly had not disagreed with Levi about Adela's tendency to be strung up about everything, though he was skeptical about the second part, which was probably just a poor choice of words on Levi's part... or a lack of knowing the expression on Lazarus' part. The two continued to have a hushed conversation, to keep out of Adela's earshot, and by the time they were almost at the exit, Adela looked ready to shoot someone. But before she could blow off Levi's head, Adela faltered.

"That…" Piper's voice interrupted her, and she threw a dark look at him only to loosen up at his expression. She followed his gaze to a stuffed animal that was limply sitting against the wall next to the exit, "That stuffed animal…" He threw an arm across Evaline instinctively as the rabbit's head lolled to the other side, "It belongs to someone who was torturing us earlier in the cell. I don't remember her name."

Levi slapped a hand over his mouth to stifle a laugh, but Lazarus punched the other's arm when a steady flow of blood slipped from the stuffed animal's button eyes, staining its pale pink velvety fabric. "It's crying…blood?" Lazarus asked, but he took a few steps back in surprise when the stuffed animal fell onto its side, bleeding across the ground before it pushed itself up into a standing position.


"Oops~" Audi smirked, examining her nails while she chewed on a cigarette, "I wonder where Alice has run off to?" Waiting was so boring.


Piper ducked when a dagger flung itself out of the place where the stuffing was slowly falling out of its heart, the sharp object having been headed straight for Piper's head. His duck was unesseccary though, because Levi had stuck his leg out and kicked the knife off its course, looking down at the toy with a confused look to match the ones on Adela and Lazarus'. Moving, hostile stuffed animals weren't really something they encountered every day.

"My name is…." A recording played from inside the stuffed animal of someone introducing themselves before the words fast forwarded to an excited squeal that was obviously from a different conversation. "Alice~!!" Adela did a double take, having registered the name as 'Alicel' instead of 'Alice' at first. She shook her head after she'd noticed the lack of an 'l' sound at the end of the name. And besides, it was a stuffed animal, not a blonde bimbo. A butcher knife with a small ring attached to the end of it's handle tumbled out of the cotton bursting from its skin and the stuffed animal bent over and picked up the knife, wrapping its stubby arm around the grip. "Aren't you a cutie?" Audi's voice came as apart of a recording. At once, a streak of wobbly wation sliced at Alice, who cut through the water with her knife and disappeared up the exit, as a dation bullet blasted at where the normally inanimate object had been but seconds earlier. A squeak emitted from its feet every time the fabric hit the floor.

Outside, Audi picked up Alice in her arms when the stuffed animal ran over, with butcher knife in hand. Alice's master looked over at Saral and Tilde with a poor explanation, "It'll be more fun if they're prepared to fight us~ That way it won't be so boooring. I only want the cutie- Alice says that he can fight now. You guys can have the rest~!" Audi looked down at the stuffed animal, "Oh?" Audi shook her head, "No, changed my mind, Alice says there are a whole bunch of cuties! So whichever one is the cutest, I want that one."

She giggled, "But I don't know, Princey was about as cute as it gets, don't you think Alice?"

The stuffed animal handed Audi the butcher knife, the girl spinning the object around her index finger with her other arm securely around Alice's neck.
 
"Actually, I'd kind of-"

"No." Reid interrupted Flaire's acceptance of Levi's offer. There was no way he'd let Levi touch her, what with his mind and all. The chaos was interrupted as Piper pointed out the bizarre stuffed animal near the exit. Evaline hid behind Reid, as he was closest to her position, and the toy proceeded with it's routine. A girl's voice came from the doll, before the disgusting, bleeding thing fled out the door. Reid sweatdropped. It was... so lame. Yet... effectively creepy. He drew his blade, holding it out to his left. "Piper, Evaline, stay in the back with Flaire." Flaire opened her mouth to protest, but he interrupted sharply. "I've already decided I'm not losing anymore friends. Stay in the back." She couldn't say much more to that. It was, she decided, useless. He was never this cautious before. How much had she missed in the three days she had been away?

Bianca surveyed the exit, before bringing her large hoop to her side. It was about her width and height in size, and was decaled with roses and vines etched into the metal. "Frig Audi, now you've gone and spoiled it!" A voice echoed down the cave as a small figure stepped into the entrance, the moonlight producing a long shadow of the girl that extended down the route. Her gothic dress and white hair blew lightly in the breeze. "Now, who am I going to play with?" Her orange eyes locked on Melody. "Ohhh, you look like fun to cut up. There's something different about you, bitch." She swung her hand horizontally, and a scratched etched itself across Melody's forhead, a tiny slice of her bangs falling. Melody didn't say a word. Her mind was racing. What kind of ability was that? She was getting the same vibe she had gotten from Laeina! She couldn't be sure about this girl's capabilities, but there was one certainty...

"Everyone split up! We're dead if we group up!" As if on cue, Saral disappeared at the sound of Melody's voice, appearing only two ruler's lengths away from the demon girl. Before she had time to react, her entire outfit tore into shambled, aside from a pair of black shorts and a white undershirt, revealing all of the pieces she had worked to hide. "Bitch!"

Saral cocked her head to the side, stepping back a bit to admire Melody's assets. The tail swung violently, and her horns reflected what little light there was. "I like you better like this~ There are more things to cut~" How was she doing it? There was no way the limits of the human body could allow one to shred clothes in less than a second, especially with no blade. But if this girl truly was like Laeina, then what powers she had weren't linked to mahstion or the Ophelian core at all. Then... what? "If you get distracted, you'll get cut too quickly~" Saral chimed as she swung her hand over the general area of Melody's chest, and she felt her flesh tear open and blood spill out. She began to cough up blood. Not good, not at all.


"Die." Tilde commanded Reid as he finally reached the exit with the others, only to meet up with another one. Evaline hid again. This girl was the reason she was still alive... Reid sighed, before throwing his sword into the ready position again. Tilde drew her bow. "Unfortunate."

Reid smirked. "I'll say! I really like your outfit. It'll be a shame to damage it!"

"Jokes." Tilde replied, shaking her head as she drew her bow. There was something about how this girl acted that bugged Reid. She seemed almost emotionless; inhuman. He motioned for the others to go ahead, but Ellianne, Tre, and Bianca stayed behind, just in case. Tilde looked back at Audi. "Pursue." She parried Reid's dation coated sword with her bow, an blinding, pale yellow energy arrow firing without her pulling back a string at all. Although she fired in the opposite direction, away from him, much to his surprise he found himself dodging the arrow as it flew back from the direction it had shot. It came around again. What the hell!?

"TAG!" Bianca shouted as she ran past Reid, smacking his hand like if they were in a tag team match. She threw her hoop horizantally in Tilde's direction, but it suddenly became possessed by dation and disappeared, only to shed the dark energy as the hoop appeared from the ground beneath Tilde, knocking the girl into the air enough for Bianca to catch the hoop, jump, and smack the girl back to the ground with it. "HYAAA!" Much to her dismay, the girl got back up, despite the fact that at least some of her bones should have been shattered. "WHAT THE HELL!?"

A subtle grin formed on Tilde's lips. "Checkmate."
 
Lazarus hurriedly 'shhh!'ed Levi after he burst out laughing at Reid's statement about friends. "HAHAHAHA, THAT WAS EPIC! SO CHEESY- Oww." Levi's loud voice was abruptly cut off when Lazarus smacked him across the back of the head, whining in annoyance and glaring at Lazarus, "What, didn't you think it was lame?"

Lazarus rolled his eyes at Levi, wondering why Levi had suddenly decided to say whatever he liked. "They left already, light bulb-" Lazarus' statement was cut off when he heard Melody curse, "See?!" He snapped to Levi, pulling himself out of the exit to find himself face-to-face with a harmless looking girl, save for the face that she had a cigarette in his mouth. It was a stalemate as Levi barked for Lazarus to move his 'fat ass', but the gears in Lazarus' head were already moving at the speed of light as he and the girl stared at each other, sizing up their opponent. Finally, she bent away and pulled the tobacco roll out of her mouth, blowing a cloud of second-hand smoke out of her mouth as Lazarus quickly tried to wave it away. He didn't mind smoke, but he did when it was blown directly into his face.

"You're not so cute." She said, "There's one more guy behind you, right? Move, so I can see him."

Lazarus yelled in surprise when something grabbed about his ankles and dragged him aside, Levi popping up and looking over at the general direction he'd been flung, "Lazus!"

"Hmm..." The girl peered down at Levi who ignored her entirely, crawling out of the exit ungracefully and mashing his foot down on the skeleton that was holding onto Lazarus' ankles, "No, you're not as cute as Princey either!" She sounded disappointed, "A~lice," She called, putting the cigarette back between her lips as she began to skip over to Piper, "Take care of those two, will you? Maybe you'll have a new friend soon!"

Audi stopped in her tracks when a skeleton that had suddenly rose up behind her blew to bits. Turning to look over her shoulder, she smirked, "Sooooorry, buuuut... I'm not interested in girls."

Adela swung her leg around, landing on solid ground before swiping her other leg at Audi, who dodged all of Adela's attacks with ease, avoiding the occasional bullet by a hair's breadth. Close combat wasn't really interesting to Audi. "Play with the garden," She said, sounding uninterested as she turned around. Skeleton hands burst out of the ground, "You can't win against me here, we're practically standing on a whole city of dead people!" The hands pushed themselves out of the ground, little red shards glowing in their empty sockets as Adela warped herself away from the group that had just tried to dogpile her, showing up between Audi and Piper just as the former raised her index finger.

"Oh come on," Audi barked, irritated, "Don't be so persistent."

Adela's eyes widened for a second before she spun around, slapping her hand on Piper's shoulder and roughly shoving him aside just before a skeleton gripping a rusted broadsword crashed the blade down on Piper's head. Smashing into the ground, Piper looked up and felt a pang of guilt at the gash on Adela's arm. It wasn't large, but it was deep, by the blood spattered across the floor. Adela swallowed the pain and picked up her mahstion gun with her good hand, "Move, Flaire! Get them out of here!! This place is swarming with skeletons!"

Audi sidestepped a bullet, "I don't really like fighting myself, you'll ruin my outfit. Can't you just go fight Mr. Gramps behind you?" She ducked, swerving from side to side and stepping back and forth to dodge the shower of bullets that were being sent towards her.

"Stand still." Adela snarled.

"You wish." Audi stuck out her tongue, looking down in surprise when her cigarette fell out of her mouth.

"That wish came true!" Dation encircled Audi, rooting her in place before a bullet seared through Audi's abdomen.

"Aww, look what you did to my favorite body." Audi sighed, looking down at the clean bullet hole in her midsection. Not a single drop of blood flowed out of it, "It was the only one that wasn't all messed up and now I don't have any bodies that aren't all chopped up... Well, why don't you give me yours instead, then?" Piper was completely forgotten as Audi refocused herself on getting a new... body. He glanced over at the stuffed animal, which was lying limp and ordinary on the ground. It was not bleeding, and there were no stains on it's fabric. It was just normal. He turned his eyes to Lazarus and Levi, who were trying to fend off the garden of skeletons, an entire battalion's worth. The skeletons merely picked themselves back up after they'd been knocked to pieces, causing an endless battle, save for the ones that got swept up in the huge venus flytrap's mouth.

"Man, and I just got through with 'Respect the Dead', but what am I supposed to do if they attack me?!" Levi cried, his foot smashing a skull off the spine, "Lay down and let them mash me into chopped liver?!"

"What the heck are you talking about?!?" Lazarus asked, giving a confused glance at Levi the wires wrapping around a group of skeletons and dropping them in the open mouth of the plant, acidic liquid boiling up over the rims of its giant petals.
 
A large bolt of lightning ran through the chest of one of the skeletons, separating the bones long enough for Flaire to lead the two siblings down a safer path. It was no good. Skeletons here, skeletons there. Great escape route choice, Reid. She'd have to give him props later in the form of a kick to the head. She looked back occassionally to see if those two were still safe as she fended off the undead, and quickly noticed that the girl - Evaline was her name? - was distracted by the fight Reid's group was fighting with that strange archer. Though it seemed they at least had the upper hand. Thank god. A girl who could cut from a distance and without a weapon, a girl who could raise the dead, and an archer girl with a substancial ability yet to be revealed. She was scared to wonder how Melody was doing, still inside the catacombs with that little girl. Though the young demoness could probably handle herself. Flaire had been quite shocked when Melody's true form was revealed. Who would have thought?

---

"Checkmate." Tre repeated the archer's comment as he looked up from his book to see white chains rising from the ground, eventually wrapping themselves around a dumbfounded Tilde. The girl's confused expression quickly turned to one of amusement, causing a great deal of discomfort in Reid's stomach. What were they overlooking? There had to be something, based on her reaction... Oh shi- "That arrow. Where the hell is that arrow!?" Tre pointed out the absence first, but even that was too late. Moments later, arrows began to rain down on the group. Tre attempted to cast a barrier, but was shocked when the arrows passed right through without even breaking it. As Reid fell to the ground, bloodied from the arrow rain, he was trying to comprehend where so many arrows had come from. He closed his eyes, giving in to his inevitable death.

Light. Where was that light coming from? It touched his heart and made it feel warm. His eyes opened once more, and found himself where he should be. On the ground. Strangely enough, he felt better than ever, as if something had given him an energy boost. In a matter of seconds, one of Tilde's arms fell to the ground with a clunk. Only then he caught sight of Evaline in the distance, who was radiating with white light. So that's where-

"Look away!" Tilde monotonous voice was filled with fear as she clenched the joint which had once kept her arm in place. From the bloodied mess, long ropey things could be seen hanging out, and sparking. The same came out of her arm on the ground. Wires? She wasn't human? That was incorrect. She was human. She had blood running through her veins. Had she been modified somehow? Either way, the technology was far beyond their time...

---

"It's unfortunate. I'm not allowed to kill you. He told us not to." Saral sighed as she dropped her hands to the ground, slash marks forming in the rock below from the motion. "Oh well, I'll just have to cut you up enough that you wish you were dead~" Melody, originally relieved by the fact that she'd be spared - of course he wouldn't wish to kill her, he still had his uses for her - was suddenly taken by fear again by the girl's new threat. With her power, she could easily have all of her limbs severed and still live through it...
 
A shriek ripped from Adela's throat as an old rusty butcher knife severed a deep gash in her shoulder, a half-rotted corpse spinning the knife expertly in it's fingers. Pushing one of it's decaying eyes back into it's head, the corpse stuck out it's tongue as it stepped up to Adela again, grinning madly as its opponent gripped the cut that had left her right arm completely immobile. A gurgle of blood dribbled out of her mouth, suffocating another scream when the blade ripped through her stomach. The animated corpse gingerly lifted Adela into the air by the dull end of the blade, cutting into her flesh slightly more, throwing her aside when it pulled the blade out of her body, lazily dropping its hand back to its side as it waited patiently for Adela to try to push herself off the ground. "New body!" Audi clapped her hands together excitedly, spinning around in glee as skeletons picked the bloodied Lieutenant off the ground. She fell roughly again with a fwump onto the ground when a foot smashed the skeletons away.

"Oi!" Levi's voice barked down nervously at Adela, "What're you doin', dying over here?! Hey, w-wake up- GUH!" He crashed into the ground after the corpse threw its leg against Levi's chest, knocking the wind out of him, but not before her left a bomb in his wake, the explosion blowing the corpse into bits and pieces.

Levi looked over at where he'd left Lazarus while gulping air back into his lungs and scrambling back to his feet. It was practically a forest, where Lazarus was, but he could still hear the distinct sound of skeletons clanking around. A highly entertained laugh came from within, but it was not Lazarus' voice. It was a mature female sound, and Levi could only guess that Lazarus had loaned his body to his fael to support the forest. An ominous quiet followed by the complete stop of all the moving skeletons gave Levi the chance to scramble over to Adela, who was biting her lip and squeezing her eyes shut as she tightened her grip on her shoulder, taking short gasps of air. There was no chance to say anything though, because a yell of pain that was distinctly Lazarus came from the overgrowth of plants. The cry was cut off with the dull thud of a heavy blade hitting flesh every now and then, and Levi trembled with each pause. The plants all shriveled up at once and turned back into regular seeds, revealing Audi behind Lazarus with her arms around his neck, hugging him from behind as she smiled smugly at her victim.

"I don't really like your body- I don't like boys. But you were being so mean to my cute little skeletons. I really don't like that venus flytrap you know." She crooned as Levi noticed a giant pool of blood at Lazarus' feet, "And you're not even as cute as the fake princey! So impertinent. But your personality seems good. Maybe I'll make you into a stuffed animal, like Alice." She giggled, pecking the already unconscious eation user on the cheek before letting him drop into the puddle of crimson, "Well, have fun dying! I might come back for your soul, later."

Levi stood up from Adela's side, looking with wide eyes at the huge X brutally hacked into Lazarus' back, "You bit-"

Audi turned a cheerful look on Levi before her eyes shifted to her left, glaring at where Flaire and the others had escaped to.

White light, and the gash was gone. White light, and Levi looked down at Adela, who was staring back up at him in disbelief. "What the-"

"Aliiiiceeee!" Audi wailed, more of a whine than anything else as she pouted, looking at the pile of sliced bones and the mashed up corpse that was now completely unidentifiable, "You're so nice!" Five shallow gashes ran across Audi's stomach, "Really, it's not like this is an important body, you didn't have to die for it."

The stuffed animal on the floor twitched with motion, "Oh!" Audi looked up, smiling, "Revived, already, are you? You're getting better at this! Tilde, do you want to go ho~oome? Me and Saral will clean up the stupid princess and the cutie, if you want! See, watch~" Audi put her forefinger and thumb in her mouth, blew, and with a sharp whistle, every skeleton in sight moved to resume the battle, more than half headed for Flaire, Piper, and Evaline, "Hey wait a minute, they never said anything about Princess knowing any kind of tricks! Princey can use wation and general swordplay is what the thing said, right? The heck are they doin', cheating us like this!"

Audi huffed, ignoring Levi and Adela as they pulled Lazarus out of the blood. He was healed, but completely knocked out.

"Wake up, y'old man!!" Levi snapped, shaking Lazarus by his arm as Adela made to kick Levi where it hurt.

"Forget it, he's out for now, you go get Flaire and them, bring Lazarus with you!" She turned back to Audi, who had since extracted a new cigarette and was carelessly puffing away on it as she contemplated useless things, having lost her interest in the battle, "I'm sure if we can knock this girl out the skeletons will disappear."
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top