Y.Z. Act III [PG-16]

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ooc;; I don't know what I'm doing anymore. xD So in that sense, this post might reflect that. Apologies in advance.

ic;;"Good afternoon, Sergeant Romanova." Adela replied absentmindedly, "I trust Corporal Gradenko has given you the update on the events at hand. In that sense, please lead the clean-up of this investigation, and look into this new rebel organization NEAR, alongside your usual tasks...."

She stopped, letting an irritated gaze wash over the civilians who were going about their business. It was getting harder and harder to distinguish mahstion signatures with all these meddling people. But Cirallie Falls Plaza wasn't exactly a place you could shut down without prior notice. And it seemed that most people weren't all too concerned about NEAR. Not many had yet accepted the prescence of wyverns and phoenix's in general society, and that was something Adela couldn't blame them for. But she could blame them for getting in the way of official investigations.

"Use whatever civil methods you need to dig up something concerning them." She continued, wrenching her gaze away from the crowds to face Sergeant Romanova and Corporal Gradenko, "I have other business to attend to, but report any findings to me as soon as possible." Adela nodded to the two who had just arrived before turning on her heel and leaving with a soldier trailing behind her, scribbling down the agenda for the day after next.

-----​

No response from Kirden. She was busy remembering how much better things had been when Rosaline was just a sacrifice. Back when Tylonstus was still her entire world, her driving reason for living, her very existence. Although, no one could recognize her now. She'd always worn that veil. And it was probably now that she needed to wear that veil more than in the past. Ah, cute little Aertan and his missing left hand. It had been so many years since she last saw that annoying little brat. But he wasn't excluded from those who wouldn't be able to place where they'd once heard her voice.

"Ah." Kirden looked up, surprised to see that Rosaline had beat her back, "Blanc. Ilya. A party is it? Not that I wasn't expecting to run into you guys at least once…"

She jerked her thumb at Levi, who had a strip of ducktape secured over his mouth. Necessary measures to keep him from interrupting Kirden's thoughts moments earlier. He waved a hand as best as he could with his hands cuffed in sand, "I'm taking him over to the prisons now. He'll be spending the night there until Lieutenant gets the order for his pardon."

"His pardon?" Shiraume peered around the doorway to see both Kirden and Levi clearly, "Why is he pardoned?"

"Don't ask me." Kirden shrugged, dragging Levi past the group, "I'll catch up with you later Shiraume."

"Oh… Okay." She said, sliding through the doorway and turning to Reid, Rosaline, and the two she once referred to as 'Cress', "Well, I'm not sure it'll be good for them to have so many visitors at once. I was thinking it would just be Reid." She laughed, "But if you'd all like to see them, then please be very quiet so that you don't disturb them if they're resting."

Leading the parade down the hall she held an index finger up and stuck her head into the room before retreating and holding the door open with a smile, "They're asleep, but it shouldn't be a problem if you're silent."
 
"Oh~ My dear Ailia~ You are like the Sleeping Beauty of my dreams~ But alas! Even in the presence of your Prince, you fail to awaken~" The deranged boy called as he threw his hands down on the bed on either side of the sleeping girl, eventually easing his body in closer. "I know! Perhaps a kiss~!" It was at that moment that the Prince was overthrown by both his subjects and the sleeping beauty, as a foot flew up at his stomach from the bed, and Reid's foot made contact to his skull after being thrown into mid air by the initial kick. It resulted in the "Prince" being thrown at a 45 degree angle at the wall.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?" The siblings shouted angrily, Ailia beat red from having woken up to that scenario of all things. "WHAT ARE YOU? SOME TYPE OF PERVERT!?" This time only Ailia spoke, as Reid had run to the side of Flaire, who was stirring uneasily in her sleep, most likely as a result of the noise they had caused. It was obvious by the glistening streaks under her eyes that she had been crying, although out of pain, or for a different reasoning, was unknown at the time.

"Reid... would it be better if I was dead?"

Reid's eyes widened in shock as the words came from his girlfriend's mouth. If one was to describe the mess of thoughts he had at that very moment, they would have a very difficult time doing so. "W-why are you asking that?"

"...I was just thinking, that's all. Nevermind." She stared up at the ceiling like she was a while before, not even making an effort to look at her significant other.

There was a brief moment of silence between the two for a moment. A brief but thick moment that you couldn't cut with a steak knife. Eventually, Reid was the one who broke it. "We don't have to keep doing this, you know. We can leave the squad and settle down somewhere rural. You, me, and Ellianne, the three of us. We wouldn't have to worry about this kind of stuff..."

"Don't be stupid. You know I can't do that. I'm the Princess, and I... I..." She began to sob softly, and Reid lifted her up into a hug. But something was wrong, he realized, when he brought his hand away from her and saw it covered in blood. He looked over his shoulder, and almost dropped her. As the gasps of the other people in the room were heard, Reid just brought the girl closer to him as she began to cry extremely hard. "...I ...I ...I don't know what came over me! All I could think about was... was... freedom. I couldn't take it anymore, it's haunted me forever! Before I knew what I was doing, I had already done it! God! Oh god, what have I done!" She clung to Reid for dear life, shaking wildly from loss of blood, and he clung to her, crying himself now. For, amidst a thick pool of blood on the bedsheets, were Flaire's wings, severed from her body by her own dagger, which was lying nearby.
 
Shiraume sighed when Blanc flung himself into the room without any concern for the resting. Although she should've been expecting it, she'd wondered if he'd even take to hear the fact that she's specifically asked them to be quiet. She strode briskly over to Blanc's side to help him to his feet and to steer him out of the room. She was halfway there when her feet stopped moving. Such a strong scent. It was everywhere. How could she have missed it? The commotion. The commotion had done it. Shiraume spun around to see the source of the smell. The distinct smell of blood she'd acquired an acute sense for after the back-fire of that vile liquid. Wings.

Phoenix Wings.

"Everyone needs to leave at once." Shiraume instantly moved towards her, a blinding amount of Lionus encircling Flaire and Reid before she could get there. She made no move to force the others out of the room though. She was too preoccupied for that. Rushing to their side, she could think only of stopping the stench. She gagged at the clear sight of wings, roughly cut from their place on her back. Red hair orange eyes. Would it make any difference, if she didn't have the wings? Shiraume hardened her expression. The first priority was healing the wound.

"Reid, please," Shiraume said, hovering her hand over Reid's shoulder, unable to touch him, "It's impossible for me to treat her properly like this. I'm sorry but I'm going to have to ask-..." The words stuck. Piling up in her throat, they were blocked, unable to form themselves out of lack of air. What a strong smell. The smell of phoenix blood? Ignore it. The thought that she was going to ask Reid to move away escaped her mind entirely. Lionus weaved itself around and in between Reid and Flaire, the flood of light encasing the girl's back. To have those wings back was something that she'd already given up, and right now the blood more dire to Shiraume than anything else. If she healed the wound without reattatching the wings, putting them back on would be a near impossible feat. She put a hand over her nose and mouth, shrinking back into the very corner of the room and holding her arm across her stomach.

"Someone… please call a healer…" Shiraume choked out.

Hurry hurry, her mind was telling her, get rid of the blood, get rid of the smell…. There was no need for a healer to heal any wounds in this room. The healer needed to clean the blood. Clean the smell. Escape escape! Massive amounts of lionus had flooded the room in reaction to Shiraume's distress. The sight of a beheaded Kira replaced the phoenix wings, the head rolling off the side of the bed with a heavy thump. Kyra's shriek echoed through Shiraume's head.

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

"I CAN SMELL IT!!" A maniacal voice cackled, the man who stood alone in an endless white room clutching his dark crimson hair as though trying to suppress a massive headache, "I SMELL IT, BLOOOD," He paused for a sharp gasp for air, "BLOOOODDD!!" He shrieked, knocking himself back onto the single victorian lounge couch that was situated beside him. A sadistic and insane grin was spread across his face as red splatters suddenly began to appear on the white walls and floor of the room, marking where they began and ended.

"I hear the sound of despair…."

"REMINDS YOU OF GOOD TIMES, DOESN'T IT DEVITELL?!" The man shrieked with laughter, as he morphed into a little boy who reached out and grabbed thin air, his voice turning innocent and threatening, "Doesn't it, big brother??"

At the touch of the little boy's grasp, a girl appeared in the blink of an eye, no older than 14 years of age. She was dressed in an old fashioned Prussian blue dress, heavily laden with frills and lace around the hem, collar, and wide sleeves. Her gaze was blank and indifferent, completely unaffected by the walls that were slowly turning into a pure shade of blood, or the thick sticky substance that was accumulating around their feet.

"It does… The Everard girl…." Devitell replied in a hushed and reverent tone.

"I REMEMBER!" The boy laughs, stomping his feet so that the blood splashed up and around.

"Phoenix wings…" Devitell murmured and Jazrelli's eyes fixed upon his older twin brother's.

Thought shorter by an entire head's worth of height, his eyes were filled with unending malice and displeasure as he hissed, "Something about those good-for-nothing slaves?"

Levi listened to his plufael and negafael silently, his arms loosely embracing his knees. It was incredibly cold in this prison. It tasted nothing like the freedom he'd been so desperate to acquire. Perhaps there was no such thing as true freedom. But the feeling was real. He knew this. The feeling that you could do whatever you wanted. Levi closed his eyes as Devitell and Jazrelli continued to converse. Devitell was so annoying… mentioning those phoenix wings and wyvern wings. That those two girls had had earlier.

Rosaline was saying something about not trying anything with them. As if he would. He didn't particularly care about politics, but he'd never been raised to treat them as equals. As if he'd try something on someone of that low ranking. The Jaquez family once flourished in the trading of phoenix and wyvern slaves. He'd only ever seen those wings behind steel bars before today. Acting and treating them equally was not difficult. But considering them as true equals was a different story entirely. It was not a feat that could be done in less than an hour. Princess Rosaline had nothing to worry about. Neither did that Reid kid.

That stupid Everard family that had been insufferable enough to doubt whether the Jaquez family had truly ceased trading. Liza was suffering because they stopped the trading, living an increasingly less luxurious life as their parents continued to spend the same amount as when they'd had a stable income.

They'd deserved to die.

"I want to rip someone's head off again!! Again, again!!!" Jazrelli shrieked with laughter, falling back onto the couch, overcome by his mirth. Devitell and Levi both watched silently, but the scene was blocked from Levi's eyes when he opened them.

Freedom, huh?
 
"Ilya, remove Reid, Shiraume, Ailia and Ellianne from the room. Place Shiraume in a bed in room 34 with Ailia, and take Elliane to room 37. Bring Reid to that room as well, I'm sure he won't want to be around that many people right now. Afterwards, I want you to check the archives downstairs for any files regarding phoenix' and bring them up here. Blanc, come here and give me a hand with the repairs. If she loses anymore blood, it might make recovery difficult!" Rosaline took charge at the sight of Shiraume's malfunction. Thankfully, she had been studying the ways of a healer for the past five years, and with the added power of Blanc's lionus, she wouldn't run into too many errors... she hoped. But that's why she wanted Ilya to check the archives. Dealing with the health of a wyvern or a phoenix was different than any normal person, as rumor had it they both possessed some sort of unique abilities.

Ilya dealt with Reid first, as he was a direct obstacle to the healing procedure. While the tall, quiet girl couldn't help but admire his determination not to leave the girl's side, she couldn't help but feel sorry for the couple. There were going to be many trials for them to overcome in the forseeable future, and they'd have to have more than pure determination to overcome them. What troubled Ilya more was not knowing what would possess someone to cut their own wings off. Sure, Flaire's kind was discriminated against, and she must have met many hardships, but wasn't that a little extreme? Was she mentally ill? If it was deemed so, what would Reid do?

Eventually, Ilya's work was done.

---

"Has she really been this disturbed the whole time? Did I really not notice? Is this somehow my fault?" A tap on Reid's shoulder snapped him out of it. He had been moved into a room with Ellianne, who had only witnessed the end of the event, and she had invited him to sit on the bed she was lying in upright. When Reid turned to look at Ellianne, who shook her head in response to his many questions. It was obvious by the glint in her eye that there was so much she could say, so much she wanted to say, but couldn't. Mute, and half blind, she was the epitome of unfortunate. Yet, she was one of the few people Reid felt really understood him. Ever since they set out on the journey, he had always felt he had a big brother relationship with her, but he always failed to notice that he hurt her when he decided to go steady with Flaire. Even still, she persisted in helping him whenever she could. She pointed to her heart, and then to Reid's heart, which was her way of indicating he needs to have a heart to heart with her. "I guess you're right... I can't help but worry though. She mutilated her own body, she must be deeply troubled..."

But Ellianne didn't have a response for that. She wished she did, she truly wanted to help him. After all, the feelings she had for him were genuine, there was just no way a relationship could ever work between them. About an hour later, Rosaline came into room 37 and found the two playing cards on a table in the middle of the room, Ellianne obviously in prime physical condition. Placing his card hand on the table, Reid stood to face the Princess, who wore a troubled look upon her face. Ellianne watched and listened intently. "We... couldn't reattach them... But we stopped the bleeding, and the combination of mine and Blanc's lionus should have her up within the hour..."

"Don't worry about the wings though. I have a feeling it'll work out."

"Huh?"

"You'll see later!" She knew something he didn't, and it didn't sound like she intended on revealing it anytime soon. "More importantly, it's about her mental state. After we sealed up the wounds, we had a psychiatrist have a look at her. The doctor says it probably won't be a problem anymore after doing something so extreme, but she whatever is troubling her has something to do with Rod... You should probably sit down and talk to her in a bit, once the bandages are off."

"Thanks Rosaline. You've done so much. It's hard to believe five years ago you could barely use lionus."

"Thanks..." She turned to head for the door, her white wings still covered in blood from dealing with Flaire. "One more thing though... Watch her carefully, Reid. If she acts abnormal again, something could be wrong with her. And if it really is related to Rod, and you haven't told her you killed him yet-"

"I know."

"Okay."

And with that, Rosaline took her leave, leaving Reid to figure out what to say to the girl, the girl who took her own wings.
 
"Jeez," Kirden sighed, using a sheaf of paper to fan Shiraume, who was pressing the heel of her palm to her forehead, breathing deeply yet unevenly, "This is why I told you-"

"It's not like I knew she was going to do something like that." Shiraume replied calmly, wiping her brow with the back of her hand and sighing. Sitting back against the post of her bed, she peeled her long blonde hair away from her face, revealing the burned and gray skin underneath that she kept hidden. After she found sufficient cooling through the breeze, she ran her fingers through her hair a few times to pat it back down into place, slapping her cheeks lightly to bring herself back to reality. Putting the packet of paper down on the nightstand, Kirden sat back in her seat with folded arms, cracking her neck as the silence continued to engulf the room.

How embarrassing, a breakdown like that in front of everyone. Shiraume made a mental note to apologize later on. She was wiped though, from the sudden exhaust of all her concentration on focusing the Lionus. And it wasn't even all that focused, fizzing in and out of materialization and doing little proper healing. She was glad Rosaline and Blanc had been in the room, but she'd wished she'd told at least someone that she couldn't handle all that blood. Remembering it was enough to send her sliding back down the bed to lay down.

"Levi is properly locked up, don't worry about it. I'll inform Lieutenant Ciaccio of all the developments later on." Kirden replied, judging Shiraume's thoughts by her expression alone, "She's been acting strange for awhile though." She glanced at Shiraume and shrugged, "I know, but she's been lenient and more irritating than usual. It's like she's being thrown off balance. It's actually kind of entertaining to watch her be the one squirming instead of us."

"That's true." Shiraume laughed.

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

The sweet smell of smoke filled the air as Adela watched the flames flicker weakly as they ran out of fuel to burn. The faint flecks of white amongst the black ashes were a reminder of what the powder that was now slipping through the cracks in the cobblestone once were. As much as she hated it, a sense of guilt had been eating away at the edge of her mind. Faewyn had been her favorite out of everyone, but Alicel was definitely the runner-up. There was nothing wrong with doing something that so reminded her of the past like this. It was precisely because it was now in the past and nothing could be done about it that Adela had foraged up enough willpower to let go of almost half a decade of stony principles.

Adela blinked. Oh. She'd forgotten two more people. Not that she'd ever really known Juliet, it wouldn't hurt. She waved the soldier standing by over to her side again, having requested he stand a fair distance away. Removing a yellow carnation and a pink flower she couldn't name off the top of her head from the boquet of randomly assorted flowers, she tossed those onto the pile of ashes and lit another match. Aertan wouldn't have needed matches.

Again, she watched in an almost awe-inspired fascination as the swirls of smoke curled into the air and disappeared. She'd visited Rod's grave a few times already. It was as though it was far away, like Juliet's or Alicel's. Scoffing to herself, she twisted the end of her red bandanna around her finger as the flames died away for a second time. Her expression hardened. Ugh. Self-pity. This whole day had just been made for breaking rules she'd set for herself, wasn't it? Standing up, she took a deep breath, smelling the burning perfume of the flowers. Enough.

Sleep before the dinner. That would do plenty of good to regain her calm. Bare minimal of words and social exchange. Ignore everything that doesn't matter.

She felt better already and almost broke another rule by letting a smile tug at the corners of her lips.

"See, I knew you were somewhat human. But, she likes forget-me-nots."

Adela's expression wiped off to reveal indifference, maybe a hint of annoyance. She recognized this voice, of course, and turned around to see a calmly smiling Lazarus who was carrying two thick books under his right arm. She glanced at the books for only a split second before folding her arms.

"Mind your own business." Adela was engulfed by Dation, disappearing as the soldier left behind sweatdropped, unknowing where his Lieutenant had just run off to.

"Do you know where the hospital is?" Lazarus asked the soldier plainly, white pink streaked forget-me-not sprouting from nowhere, "I can't find someone I've never met before with mahstion." He tossed it upon the ashes, turning back to the man who watched the flower for a moment before nodding and setting off.

After being led to the hospital in perhaps half the time it would've taken for him to find it on his own, the soldier let Lazarus wait in the lobby while he informed a passing healer that there was someone to see Princess Dian. Lazarus turned a silver bracelet over and over between his fingers as he waited, his elbows resting on his books that were weighing down on his legs. Ah, after this, he would be free to go back to studying herbs.
 
"OW. WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR?" Flaire shouted at the white cloaked figure standing beside her bed. She was upright, and had her left hand covering her right cheek. She removed it temporarily, a red mark becoming visible making it look like she had been hit, although not hard. She moved the hand to hit the cloaked boy, but dropped the hand as she caught glance of the serious look in Reid's eyes. Submittingly, she finished her own question. "Yeah, I know... I did something really stupid, didn't I?" She had an unusually sincere glint in her eye; a rarity that Reid had noticed she only had when she had come to a deeper realization. "But Miss Rosaline had promised I was going to be okay, so I'll trust her word. She also told me that you were the one that killed Rod, but I'm okay with it, 'cause she told me it was your negafael's fault..."

Reid raised an eyebrow. Did Flaire just submit without causing a rukus? Did she just refer to Carn's Princess as "Miss Rosaline" and not act like Rosaline was public enemy number one? Had she taken a severe bump to the head? His raised eye began to twitch upon hearing that Rosaline spilled the beans and then lead him to believe she didn't. It seemed the princess had a strange sense of humor. "Idiot..." Was the only word he could manage to put forth at first, and her head sunk at it. "Do you understand how worried I was about you? Ellianne too. I don't see why you would... remove your own wings."

"She was scared, you emotionless twit." Yules voice boomed in the heads of the two. Reid, having recovered from the eye twitch, started twitching. Reid and Yule were on terms about as good as a cat and a mouse. To make things worse, Mistral and Yule were fighting, so Yule probably held that against Reid as well. "Because YOU couldn't protect her when you said you would, she got hurt because of her heritage. Can't you see, because of you, she wanted to get rid of that heritage." Reid's eyes hit the ground like an anvil at the statement. Was it really because he couldn't protect her? Was this really all his fault.

Mistral, completely pissed off by Yule's declarations, decided to get involved as well. "I can't believe you, Yule. You have no respect for the feelings of other people!"

"WOULD YOU TWO JUST MAKE UP ALREADY." The two reila's shouted in sync. Seriously, they had been fighting over something so trivial for so long.

"Not until he apologizes for insulting my outfit!"

"That's absurd. Why would I do that? You're just overreacting!"

"Oi, Mistral?"

"Yes Reid?"

"Since when did you care what other people think, let alone boys?"

"..."

Bingo. So she did have a crush on him all along. She had been strangely distant lately, so that must have been the reason.

"I'm... er... sorry. I wasn't thinking when I called your outfit bland..."

"See, that wasn't so hard." Flaire responded to Yule's apology aimed at Mistral, and the two faels fell silent. Finally, the two could get back to their conversation. "Listen, Reid. It's not your fault I got hurt. It's just, I was scared of everything. I'm afraid of being hurt again for being who I am. But that's why we joined the Archai Squad, right? I was being selfish..." Her eyes met the bed below her sadistically, before Reid's hand sat itself on her head, causing her to look up at him again.

"Yeah, you were being selfish. We were all worried about you, and you forgot that you aren't the only one suffering from that sort of treatment. I was exiled from my hometown because I lost my wings, remember." He winced at the memory of being held down and having his wings torn from his back. "But, that's why it's so easy for me to forgive you. I once thought about suicide after being exiled, so what you did is completely understandable..."

Flaire gave a meek grin. "But some good did come out of this. I've realized I can't get on in life acting like I have been, so I'm going to try harder to change. I want you to watch me change. I want you to be by my side the whole time!" She finally got out of bed, and walked over to the far window, looking out at the darkening sky. Reid couldn't help but feel awkward looking at her back without wings. He saw her reach up to her neck to unbutton the hospital gown she was wearing, and it dropped to the ground, leaving her in nothing but the bandages around her upper body and her underwear. Reid, bright red, was thankful she was not facing him. "The party is going to start soon, right? Can you help me take these bandages off so I can get ready?"

"S-s-sure." Reid responded hesitantly as he slowly approached her.

The girl turned her head to look back at the boy, and raised her eyebrow. "What are you being such a wimp about? It's not like you haven't seen me naked before!" Reid sighed and got to work removing the bandages.

---

"Oh right! The meeting!" Rosaline exclaimed to the hospital employee that told her the person she was supposed to be meeting with had arrived. "I really hope it's short. We need to get back to the castle soon."

Ailia sweatdropped. "Er... Princess? Should you really go see anyone dressed like that? You still have blood all over your hands and sundress..."

"Ah, I'm sure it will be fine. He'll understand the situation I hope." Blanc now sweatdropped as well, before thinking "She looks like she just murdered someone..."

After a few minutes of walking, Rosaline found herself at the place of meeting. "I apologize about having to move the meeting so suddenly. There was an incident which required my immediate attention. I am Princess Rosaline Dian of Carn, and these three are my royal guard, Ailia Davies, Blanc Twirette, and Ilya Arco." She motioned to each one of the soldiers as their names were called, both Ailia and Blanc waving happily when they were introduced. "I am to understand you have some sort of business with me?"
 
Lazarus looked up from his books and stumbled to his feet in surprise, the books toppling out of his lap. The silver bracelet was just about to topple to the ground before he caught it, apologizing profusely for his clumsiness. Collecting the books off the ground as quickly as he could and putting them onto the seat of the chair, he stood and bowed respectfully, nodding to her royal guard as well.

"I-It's an honor Princess Dian, I'm sorry that I interuppted..." He paused when he caught sight of her blood-stained sundress. Pointing, he opened his mouth to say something, but shook his head. It was a hospital after all, and it wasn't his place to ask.

"Y-You seem to be in the midst of something important, so I'll cut straight to the point. I've come to inform you of a girl named Alicel Florinen's death about four years prior. Victim to the plague that is infecting mahstion users, she was able to arrange matters before her passing and left me with the duty of delivering this to you." Lazarus held out the silver bangle, "She informed me that another pair is buried with Rod, and that within the letter I gave to a man by the name of Aertan Svartel is the third pair, which Alicel has request to be left upon Princess Juliet Dian's grave. I'm sorry to say that she did not live long enough to recieve the letter you sent."

Lazarus paused, thinking of a way to close such a blunt and to-the-point revelation. He remembered that Alicel wanted him to apologize for her lack of ability to go out and pick a different gift for her inaguration as Princess, but Lazarus couldn't apologize for something that belittled the deceased like that.

"A-And... Oh, yes, the Aertan fellow told me that should I find the chance to meet with you, to tell you that he says congratulations on your inaguration as Princess of Carn. "

Lazarus glanced at his books, wondering if she would give the same reaction as the Lieutenant. But the Princess, no matter how much blood she was covered in, seemed to radiate a different sort of aura than the Lieutenant's cold and unfriendly exterior.

"...And that's... all, I suppose."
 
"Ah, yes. I learned of her death upon visiting Alta a few months ago. I wasn't with her very long; only a few months in fact, but I knew her very well." Rosaline finished her thoughts abruptly. she had already come to terms with Alicel's death, as had Reid, who wasn't really that involved with her friendship wise to begin with. She bowed politely. "I apologize for being the reason you had to travel such a distance, and I apologize for my current appearance." She really was a girl of manners now, while once she was an uneducated fifteen year old without a clue about how the world worked at all. It was obvious to anyone who knew her then that she had put a lot of effort into creating a life during the past five years. The princess reached out and took hold of the bangle, before bring it back to her chest with both her hands on top of it. "I'll make sure to carry it with me.

Reid was in the process of making his way back to the lobby. Flaire, still worn down from the procedure and blood loss, was attempting to walk along side him, but ended up using him as a support instead. It had been unusual when an attendent of Rosaline had found them in Flaire's hospital room and given them fancy clothing to wear. On top of that, the same attendent, a female, had stripped him down and thrown him into a shower. It was embarrassing. In the end, he had to admit that he looked pretty spiffy. He sported the all purpose penguin suit- er, tuxedo, with a pair of shoes to match. His brown hair, despite his own will, had been combed back, and the small ponytail taken out so that it all fell down. Flaire, he had to admit, was quite stunning despite the weakened physical state she was in. He figured that she was probably just tired, and after a nap on the way back to the castle, she'd be fine. Taking a break from the bland black, grey, and white dress she had been accustomed to wearing, she had been forced into wearing a sleeveless dress, knotted at the shoulders with a v-neck wrap collar. Empire-waisted, it had a black ribbon tied into a neat bow in the center, which seperated the bust of the dress from the skirt, which was light and flowy. Her red hair, while usually tied up in a ponytail, was for once... not, and completely down. Although, she had cut it shortly before departing, so that the wavy mass only reached halfway down her back, as opposed to her ankles. She had put a hair clip in the right side of her head, with a silver feather on it. It was a gift she had gotten from Reid a long time ago, but had only recently learned to appreciate. She also had on a pair of black high heels, which added to her walking inability.

"Hmm? Who's that, Rosaline?" Reid asked upon arriving at the lobby, and finding Rosaline and Lazarus chatting it up. See two available seats nearby, he sat Flaire down in one and then took one beside it, allowing her head to rest on his shoulder as she regressed into sleep. He watched Ailia joke about something to Blanc, most likely a joke about being dressed up, and his attention turned to Rosaline looking him over. "Er... is that the person you were meeting with?"

Rosaline snapped out of her moment of brainlessness and attempted to gather her words again. "Oh- right. This is indeed the man I was to meet with. He is familiar with Alicel and Aertan, and came to deliver something. Reid, I'd like you to meet-" Rosaline remembered something. She had never caught his name. "I'm sorry, I don't believe you introduced yourself to me." Reid looked interested. Despite what differences he had once with Aertan, it was still interesting to hear about old comrades.

He was taken back once more when Ellianne finally entered the lobby, all dressed up herself. She was wearing a vertically textured light prussian blue dress, spaghetti strapped with black fabric lining the folded bust, along with iridescent sequins scattered across the ankle length-skirt, and it was all accompanied by matching high heels. Her silver hair was brought up into a bun, while her bangs still hung down over the sides. Unfortunately, not used to high heels at all, Ellianne made a big stepping mistake, and began to fall for the ground at an incredible rate...
 
Lazarus shifted in his seat, uneasy around all these people who seemed to know each other so well. It was like being a third wheel, only this time he was the... four... five... seventh wheel. He swallowed a lump in his throat and glanced around at his surroundings as the Princess and the guy who was apparently 'Reid' began to converse. How casual he was with her. A princess, and he addressed her by her first name, and not only that, but spoke to her as though she were just your every day civilian. But, he supposed, a princess needed a few accquaintences like that to stay sane. He snapped out of his thoughts when Rosaline addressed him, asking for his name.

"Uh." Lazarus began, having lost all train of rational thought, interuppted by the sound of heels once more. A stumble and trip later, Lazarus' books were once more scattered across the ground. An expression of light surprised crossed his face when he noticed he'd managed to catch the girl around the waist. She was awfully thin, and just one look at her back and Lazarus' calm demeanor that had already been rattled by being able to come face-to-face with the Princess of Carn shattered. He gaped freely at the Wyvern girl's wings for a second or two before quickly realizing the position his was in, slapped back to reality. Helping her back to her feet, he cleared his throat in embarassment and bowed his head a little.

"S-Sorry about that. Uh... are you... alright?" He said, trying his very hardest not to crane his neck around to look at her wings, instead determinedly looking elsewhere. Wyvern wings! In the flesh! Not just books, but the real deal! He longed to examine them, but... well. He wasn't really in the position to be pulling her wings around at the moment. After a lack of response he mentally slapped himself. Of course not. She'd just gotten harassed by a total stranger.

"W-Well anyway." He turned quickly to collect his books off the floor a second time before focusing on Rosaline and averting his gaze from the wyvern wings. She was considerably less interesting, because pulling around white feathered wings would probably get him landed in jail. "I apologize for not introducing myself earlier. My name is Lazarus. A pleasure to meet you."


-------------​


"Find someone else then." Adela snapped, tapping her fingernail on her front teeth, avoiding the clear gloss on her lips, "How about the seventh squad? It's not like they're doing anything particularly spectacular. There will not be another terrorist attack right under my nose."

She folded her arms, leaning back in her chair.

Adela's dress was far from fancy, due to the canvassed texture of the rayon fabric. Had it been her choice, she would've worn her uniform to the dinner, saved herself the trouble of digging through her closet for the off-white dress Commander Milo had bought her for her sixteenth birthday. The square necked piece resembled her usual uniform anyway, double breasted. With 3/4 blouson sleeves, the fitted bodice was complete with metallic buttons, and a waist top over the gathered skirt that reached just past the middle of her thigh. The only color apart of her outfit were her pumps, complete with wide yellow, buckled straps over the open toes and pyramid-shaped studs at the heels made of thick, stacked leather heels and lined with green. She had done little to nothing to her hair, leaving it hanging between and around her eyes causing her to look essentially the same from the neck up save for light gunpowder gray eyeshadow and clear gloss. Combined with her irritated gaze and crossed legs, she looked more like a stuck-up rich woman than a Lieutenant. Then again, she could technically be counted as both.

"Lieutenant, aren't you going to bring your mahstion gun...?"

"Mind your own business." Adela replied in a snippy tone, bringing her fingernail away from her mouth and signing a document that had been laying on her desk. Tch. A pardon for a convicted murderer that had already been proved guilty? That Rosaline was really pushing her luck. And Adela had thought for sure that Rosaline's sense of righteousness would've kicked right in. She dated the beginning of the pardon for the next day before standing, "Mr. Pak-Jaquez has yet to have his evening meal." She rolled her lavender eyes, "Be sure to get one to him."

The assistant nodded silently, making a note of it on his clip board.

Adela pressed her fingertips to her forehead. She wasn't sure if she could last through this dinner. Since when was a simple meal able to become such a headache? She shook her head and exited her office, making sure to dodge as many people's eyes as she possibly could.
 
Ellianne broke free of Lazarus' hold and regained her own composure, before wandering over to Reid where she took a seat on the opposite side of him, her hands together on her lap. She was quite embarrassed, as noted by the bright shade of red her face had taken. Reid, understanding that Ellianne may have come off as a little rude, slowly got up and sat Flaire's head on the back of her chair, before turning to face the man. "I apologize. Ellianne is actually mute, so she isn't capable of expressing her thanks directly. She's actually blind in one eye as well, so I apologize for any trouble."

Rosaline looked worriedly over at Flaire, who obviously wasn't in the greatest condition. "Er... Reid? Are you sure you should be bringing Flaire? The doctor recommended at least a full night of recovery before she was out and about again. Don't forget she just had her wings cut off. Being a phoenix, it must be pretty hard on her mentally as well." She made a valid point, but she didn't factor in Flaire's own personal will.

"Don't worry about it. I tried to get her to stay, but she insisted on going. Besides, you're the one who told her she'd be okay, Rosaline." He wanted to add the line 'just what are you hiding from me?' but he thought it best to avoid it in front of company. "Just how are we getting to the castle, anyways? You said we wouldn't have to walk."

"By airship of course. That's how all of the royalty travel now a days." She glanced over at Lazarus, who most likely felt out of place. "Well, I'm going to go get changed. Sir Lazarus, would you like to join us at dinner tonight? We were just about to depart, and I'm sure we have an extra tuxedo. You are a friend of Alicel and Aertan after all... Well, I'll take my leave."

Rosaline left, along with her guards, leaving the other four alone. "I'm Reid Davies by the way. I believe you already met my sister, Ailia. The sleeping one there," He gestured at the red head, " is my girlfriend Flaire Teluia, and you've already met Ellianne DuCharme. We're a part of Flazure's Archai unit. I once travelled with Alicel and Aertan, five years ago in fact. In reality, I'm the one who freed Rosaline from her fate of a sacrifice." He extended his hand. "Anyways, nice to meet you."

---

"But sir-"

"Tappen, you've recieved your orders, now follow them. Your unit is to penetrate the castle in Meredy and act as a distraction, before rendevouzing with the main force at Flazure in the morning."

"Yes, I know that sir. I may be speaking out of line, sir. But is that not suicide, attacking that castle?"

"Auricia should be more than enough to deal with the guards there."

"But sir, she's nothing but a girl! She'll be killed."

"She's isn't just an ordinary girl, Lieutenant. You've seen what she can do first hand."
 
Lazarus rubbed the back of his neck and pocketed his free hand as Rosaline departed with her invitation still hanging in the air. A friend of Aertan huh... Lazarus still vividly remembered the experience of getting less than ten minutes close-up sight of the snowy country of Beta before the man kicked him back onto the airship telling him to never come back again. Right. Friends. Something like that. Lazarus sighed and switched himself back to reality, listening to Reid's speech, choosing not to respond to certain comments and listening silently instead. Rosaline and Reid really left little opening for him to interject anyway, but it was just the same. He was too busy with his thoughts to bother with words anymore.

Lazarus glanced at Ellianne. Unfortunate to be both mute and blind in one eye; Wyvern to boot. He didn't have much chance to dwell on it though, because he turned his entire attention onto the girl that had been called 'Flaire'. He was sure he'd heard 'phoenix wings'. He mentally forced himself not to gape a second time. It was easier though, because apparently the rare articles had been cut off. What a shame. His attention returned as his speeding thoughts were sliced through by Reid's voice once more. Flazure. That would explain the wings. And the freeing of the sacrificial ceremony would explain the casual speech. Lazarus nodded slowly, finally saying, "It's nice to meet you too."

He paused at the opportunity to study Wyvern wings up close and added, "I'd be glad to attend the dinner tonight, as long as it's no trouble."

Lazarus considered clearing up the mistake that he and Aertan were on good terms, but decided that it was a useless bit of information that wouldn't really make much difference. As long as the person in question never heard of the mix-up, his head would at the very least remain where it was.
 
Despite the warm welcome he provided, Reid couldn't help but be skeptical about this newcomer. His eyes kept darting back to Ellianne's wings, which troubled him greatly. It was too early to come to any conclusions, but it would probably have been worthwhile to watch him closely for any suspicious actions. After all, there was the chance he wanted those wings for himself. Whether or not Ellianne was attatched, however, was unknown. Ah well, he figured it was best not to dwell on it. He didn't really think that, he just forgot all about it when an incessive nagging arose in his mind. "Reid, Reid, I want to wear a dress too!" Even though she wasn't really an independent being, the fael girl still longed for real world interaction. It was sad, really, that faels lived such a life, bound to another. Though, some faels chose to control their reila, so Reid was lucky Mistral wasn't like that.

After a while of Rosaline's absence, one of her attendants came out of the hospital room to leave us with a message. Apparently she was taking a little longer than expected to get ready, and with the time of the dinner drawing near, it would be best they went ahead. Reid sweatdropped as the attendant told him. Why does she word things like that when she's a Princess? It sounds more like an order than anything due to her status... Reid finally rose from his seat after a moment of thinking, and lifted the sleeping Flaire into his arms, allowing her head to rest peacefully on his shoulder as her body arced downwards. Ellianne made her way to the boy's side, and looked down at Flaire with a meek glint of envy in her eye. She didn't make eye contact with Lazarus, as she had caught him looking at her multiple times. It made her... uncomfortable.

The three finally made their way outside (they weren't particularly patient with waiting to see if Lazarus followed), before making their way over to a bulky, yet sleek looking airship. It looked similar to an elongated minivan of ancient times, times that utilized long since diminished gasoline supplies, only it had a pair of wings and a wionus engine strapped onto the back. Reid carefully sat Flaire in one side of the vehicle, before running around to the other side so he could sit in between the two girls. Before getting in, he looked down the street to the site where just earlier that day they had encountered NEAR. What was their purpose? He winced as a drop of rain suddenly fell onto his nose. Rain. It was symbolic of so much for the boy. Would it's significance further increase in the not too distant future? He decided it best not to consider such a thing, and got into the machine while taking Ellianne's hand to lead her in. As the door shut, it began to downpour outside. It was pure luck that it was timed so well.

After a flight of about ten minutes, the vehicle landed upon an airstrip high atop Tealia's castle. The castle itself was nothing special in design. It was reminiscent of something from the medival era, yet was designed with the latest in mahstion technology. The halls were lit with lionus lights, fionus heaters were used to heat the huge structure, and wation pumps were used to circulate water to all of the rooms. Before stepping out of the aircraft, Reid gently woke Flaire, who mumbled as she regained consciousness. He tickled her a little, which got sn immediate response from the girl. As immediate as jumping and hitting her head on the roof, actually. "Ow! That was uncalled for..."

"That doesn't make it less funny..." The two laughed together. Ellianne found it surprising. Flaire generally would have hit Reid for such an action. Were they becoming even closer? Was it too late to try?

The group was eventually lead down many long halls and corridors until they arrived at the dining hall. It was an enormous room with a ridiculously large table, although only about half of it was set for dinner. The room had a very medival feel as well, decorated with swords and armor on the walls as decoration, and a huge chandalier hung over the table, lit by lionus. There weren't many people in the hall yet, other than servants running around to get things ready. Reid gulped, however, as a ball of fionus went whizzing by his head from off to the left.

The origin of the flame was Kayle Spar, leader of the Archai Squad, and Flaire's mentor. The thirty year old wore a stupid grin as he walked up to his subordinates, before grabbing Reid's hand with his own, large, hairy hand and shaking ferociously. "Good to see ya guys again! Feels like it's been years!" The stupid grin matched his jolly appearance perfectly. He was a muscular man, standing at about 5'11", dressed in an incredibly blue tuxedo. His hair, blonde and combed back, made the few black hairs on his chin stand out. His eyes, while green and comforting, seemed to take in every aspect of the room around him. Despite his appearance, he was an incredible soldier, and his mahstion ability ranked much higher than that of Flaire or Reid. "I heard all about what has happened to you guys since arriving here, and I apologize for not sending more backup. If I had, Flaire may not have-"

"I'm fine, captain." Flaire replied, her salut looking ridiculous while dressed so formally. She always did have an incredible respect for the man, so much as to talk formally with him. Perhaps it was because he trained her, but it made Reid a little jealous. "I assure you it will not impair my services to the squad!"

"Good to hear, good to hear. And what about you, Ellianne, fairing well?" He eyed her carefully. He was the only one out of the whole squad aware of her special health condition, and it was up to him to make the call as to when to retire her from the squad for such reasons. She brought her hand up to salut, before bowing graciously in indication of her well being. "Excellent. Now, Reid, Flaire, I brought you guys a present when I flew up here."

Reid raised an eyebrow. That was unlike him. "A present?"

"Yes, yes." He stepped aside, revealing a young girl behind him. She was no older than ten, and had an eager yet loving look in her blue eyes. Her straight hair, royal blue, was cut messily at her shoulders, and she possessed a pair of tiny phoenix wings, like those of a hatchling. She was dressed in a small flower print dress, with white nylon going up her legs. She also wore a heart necklace around her neck.

"Mommy! Daddy!" The girl exclaimed as she ran up to the couple, jumping into Flaire's arms before the redhead lifted her "daughter" up. Reid sighed. He had to bring Kanna, didn't he? She was a girl who had lost her parents because of their nationality, so the Flazure government charge Reid and Flaire with looking after her as a test to see how dedicated the two were to the cause. Despite the annoyances the girl seemed to possess, such as talking in third person, Flaire seemed to be really happy when Kanna was around. It gave her a very maternal feel. He smiled sheepishly as he watched the little girl hang herself around Flaire's neck, saying "Kanna missed you, Kanna missed you!"
 
"Preparations are moving along smoothly?" Adela asked, walking with unexpected grace. She'd never been one to do high heels. Her head held high, she glanced around imperiously. After calming down a little, she felt refreshed and ready to face Reid and Flaire civilly. She might even take the time to strike up some random conversation with Rosaline, catch up a little, ask what she's been up to these past five years. The attendant following her with her mahstion gun and a clipboard in hand nodded in response to her question. The silence was all the young Lieutenant needed, and she bit the inside of her lip to keep from smiling. This was by far the best mood she'd been in since she'd heard that the Archai Squad would be coming to Tealia. Instead of a smile, she let out a content sigh, before entering the hallway. She was early, but this dinner seemed like a pebble in her way, rather than the mountain it'd been this afternoon. Dressing up... wasn't so bad.

"Mommy! Daddy!"

Or something like that.

Adela stopped in her tracks. A little girl. And Flaire? That meant... No matter what she'd told herself earlier, and no matter how good a mood she'd been in seconds earlier, nothing, not even her own concrete will that had kept her sane for the past five years, could keep the look as though she'd just been slapped off of her face. The attendant leaned over to ask why she'd suddenly stopped, but seeing her expression, he stepped back. Adela wrenched her gaze away from Flaire and the child, swallowing the lump in her throat, pressing her lips together tightly to keep from saying anything. Digging her nails into the palm of her hand, a new thought surfaced. That girl was too old to be their child. This fact changed nothing. She whipped around. Calm. Keep calm.

"Stay here." Adela ordered the soldier, taking a deep breath and escaping the hall. She walked with her usual poise and even gait, but after the door shut behind her, it was as though a switch turned off. Her lungs felt like they'd deflated. She had to recollect herself. This was a stupid time to start pitying herself.

"Lieutenant?"

Adela immediately straightened and glared at the person who'd mindlessly intruded. Not this guy again.

"Are you... okay?" Lazarus asked, raising an eyebrow and tilting his head.

"Mind your own business." Adela replied curtly, looking away with her best most irritated look on her face. He took a moment to gather his thoughts. Scoffing and shrugging, he shook his head and continued on to the hallway. He wasn't particularly interested. Breathing air back into her lungs, she pressed her cold hand to her forehead, taking another deep breath. This wasn't a big deal anyway. It would be bad if people began to assume things from her reaction. It didn't matter if it was right or wrong, it would just be a hassle. She nodded to herself. This was a good reason to keep being civil and acting as usual. A good mood would be bad too. Just act as always.

"Lieutenant," A soldier hurried up to the girl who immediately straightened again, his voice hushing as he stopped before her and saluted quickly before whispering, "We have a problem."

Adela furrowed her brow as he continued, "The guards that are watching Mr. Pak-Jaquez have concerns about him being pardoned."

"Don't tell it to me," Adela sighed impatiently, "I wasn't the one who-"

"No, excuse me for interuppting, but, the problem is that, we're not quite sure that... the Archai Squad will be safe with him around." He said, quickly hurrying to the main point before Adela could interject again, "Mr. Pak-Jaquez doesn't seem..... entirely sane."

Adela raised an eyebrow and regarded the soldier.

"...What?"

"He's been muttering things like... well, we can't tell whether he's asleep or not. But myself and the other guards believe that... He's still a very dangerous criminal. We... We think that his fael's might be controlling him right now... his faels might be more dangerous than he is."

Adela scoffed before shaking her head and walking back to the hall, calling behind her, "Well that's a given. Don't bother me unless he says something important. I don't care if he has a taste for blood, he'll need it if he's going to be apart of the Archai Squad."
 
Reid caught a glimpse of Adela just before she stormed out of the hall, obviously in reaction to seeing Kanna. He really did need to talk to her at some point about his reasons for leaving, about why he didn't contact her, about him and Flaire. Everything, he needed to explain everything, or else she'd never call him a friend again. Things simply couldn't continue like they had been. He apologized to Flaire and said he was going to use the washroom, before following the lieutenant out the door a few moments after her. He didn't have to go far after leaving the dining hall, and just barely missed the end of her conversation with the soldier. "Kanna doesn't belong to Flaire and I, you know." He said out of nowhere from behind her as he placed his hands in his tuxedo's pockets and leaned against the wall. "Remember the incident five years ago in Gregar? Where all of the phoenix and wyvern were captured? Her parents were killed there. Flaire and I were just asked to watch her until she's actually adopted by a proper family. Flaire and I are still nowhere near clear enough with our relationship to actually consider raising a child..."

"Moreover, you need to... understand. I left five years ago because I was blackmailed into it with my life, I didn't have a particular choice in the matter. It was a long road I walked those five years, and the only two people I had to rely on were Flaire, Ellianne, and Sven. We all relied on each other. I wasn't even permitted to contact anyone I knew, especially with the formation of Flazure. I was only allowed contact with Ryan and Rosaline, and that's because they needed my contacts to establish a country. I'm a tool, I have been since I left. But I'm okay with that. I agree with protecting the wyvern and the phoenix, and I agree with the path Flazure is taking. But... that doesn't change the guilt I have for leaving you... and the fact that I killed Juliet." He stood upright again, before pulling his hand out of his pocket, the necklace that had belonged to his mother, and then Adela, held firmly in it. He lightly tossed it at her, but whether or not she caught it was up to her. "Keep that. It may not symbolize what it used to, but think of it as a token of apology, our friendship, and my trust. Or, you can choose to throw it out. I don't care. My mom died from that damn plague last year anyways. Besides, Mistral's heart still belongs to Xaviae, I believe."

"Hello? Xaviae? Jeckt?" Mistral called out into the depths of Adela's mind, still dressed in her white sundress. "I'm... sorry I left you guys. Guys?"
 
She'd nearly toppled right over, catching the necklace in her heels, with legs like jello from suddenly running into Reid. Staring down at the necklace, Adela felt as though just having this discussion with Reid was enough to deflate her lungs again. She glanced at the soldier, who saluted and exited the hall. Calm. Adela took a deep breath as quietly as she could manage. Civility. She blinked away tears as her thumb pressed against the butterfly. Peace. She bit the inside of her lip, staring a hole in the ground. What could she say? She'd envisioned this many times for the past five years. This scene, where Reid would come up with a half-assed excuse. In her visions, she would give him a disgusted look, shake her head, and just walk away. Or she would ask him whether he thought that was a good enough reason for her. She would ask him whether he knew who he was talking to. Not the Lieutenant of Tealia. A girl who was always left behind. Self-pity! Adela started looking around at anything but Reid. She'd already given herself an hour before this dinner to pity herself. She needed more? Selfish.

Finally she scoffed, managing an awkward smile as she turned away from the hall, "It... It's not like it matters anymore." Adela quickly abolished the last of her tears. She was proud to know that not a single one had been shed. Smiling at the same time. This was a good feeling too. "I've been mad at you for five years now." She nodded and stared up at the ceiling, "I think that's good enough."

Wiping her eyes again she rubbed the salty water off on the skirt of her dress and turned back around, glancing around herself.

Her hands stopped moving. She was suddenly remembering her conversation with the guard just minutes earlier. Reid was apart of the Archai Squad. That little girl... said 'Mommy' and 'Daddy'. Adela sighed. Reid, Flaire, none of these people deserved to know this. "The soldier I was speaking to earlier mentioned that Mr. Pak-Jaquez, the thief and murderer from earlier, may still be a little dangerous, even though it's been at least a year since he last murdered someone. Be on guard around him, and watch out for your friends while he's around. This is confidential but, I think you need to know, his family used to be slave traffickers, before Flazure was organized. He probably doesn't have a very good viewpoint on wyverns and phoenix's. I don't approve of Rosaline's decision, regardless, I can't go against it. Keep an eye on him for me in Flazure, be sure he doesn't do anything radical. Basically, as long as you treat the people around you with a little more consideration than you used to, and don't tell me you treated me and Faewyn and everyone the same way you treat them," Adela nodded towards the hall, "and as long as you can reach your goal for phoenix's and wyvern's being accepted into society. I guess I can forgive you for leaving without saying anything. This whole equality thing is the whole reason you left right? So then, if you can convince everyone else in the world, you had a good reason to leave."

Adela took a deep breath.

"I think I've said enough. Too much, probably." She nodded, patting her eyes before heading back towards the hall thank god she didn't use mascara. Thank god she didn't use eye liner. Thank god the eyeshadow was waterproof.

She stopped again turning around with a smirk, "Oh, Mr. Davies. It would be good if you would just send militia requests directly to me. It's slow, tedious, and unecessary to go through Prince Ryan. It makes no difference if it's you or him that tells me to do something. I'll do it if I want to, I won't if I don't. This, in return for not yelling at you until your ears fell off."

Entering the hall again, Adela picked up her usual indifferent yet constantly annoyed mask. She motioned for the attendant that he could continue to make sure her mahstion gun was always at her side. She contemplated greeting the leader of the Archai Squad but... Reid would have to first convince her that the phoenix and wyvern people were worth her time before she would willingly go



Jeckt's laughter rang through the forest as usual when the two fael's heard Mistral's voice. It wasn't his usual cackle, it was just a laugh of mirth, lacking any underlying schemes or intentions. He hung limply off the tree, the chains being the only thing holding him up as he practically suffocated from laughter.

"Your face!" He said between fits of laughter with a hoarse voice, "Your face!"

Indeed, Xaviae was sheet white. Of course, there was only one reason that Mistral would come back. He looked down at the necklace around his wrist and let a distressed look grace his features as he glanced back at the dying Jeckt. He sat in a patch of sunlight, while Jeckt was shrouded by the gray shadows.

"Shut up already, will you?" Xaviae pleaded, but this only made Jeckt laugh even harder.

"We're where we always are, little princess!" Jeckt called out as soon as he recovered from his laughter. Xaviae glared at Jeckt who raised an eyebrow and smirked. Standing up, his black hair suddenly turned snow white at the sight of Mistral. He found himself at a loss for words as he fiddled with the hem of his shirt.

"Princess," Jeckt began with a smile from his place at the base of the tree, "It's been a long time. How can we help you? Prince Charming here is a little too shocked to see you, so I imagine that the big baddie here is going to have to-"

"Jeckt." Xaviae shook his head with an irritated look as he glared at the negafael, "You're really bored, aren't you?" He didn't wait for a response from the all too willing to respond Jeckt, "Just shut up already. Five minutes. One for every year, how's that?" He turned back to Mistral before replying to her last comment before Jeckt decided to take the stage, "... It's fine Mistral. I'm sure you had your reasons. Is there anything you need from us?"

"Us." Jeckt scoffed, "You mean you."

The tips of Xaviae's hair turned black as Jeckt mouthed silent curse words, the chains tightening visibly as the black haired fael writhed to find a more comfortable position. His expression of irritation mirrored Xaviae's, but he zipped his lips.
 
"Jeckt, I'm physically almost 20, and you're physically 18, but I guess you haven't grown up mentally like I and Xavaie have. And don't refer to me as Princess. You know better than I do that I'm nothing but a common and simple girl." Mistral sighed as she ran up to the two male faels of opposing forced. As she approached Xavaie, her eyes locked on to the necklace around his wrist. He was still wearing it. She had assumed he would have thrown it away like Adela had intended on doing, but apparently not. It made her happy, and she grinned out of this happiness. Was that why he was so flustered, though? Was he afraid she was going to take the necklace away from her? "Hmm?" She hummed as she got up in his face, before giggling and backing off. "Xavaie, you're so cute when you're nervous~. But no, I only wanted to see you guys again. It's been five years, and the one guy I've had to talk to is Reid since Ellianne's faels are mute and Flaire's are annoying! And Reid is so dry!" Reid sweatdropped. Did she forget he could hear everything? As Adela departed, Mistral decided it was time to go for now. "Well, see ya! Maybe we'll see each other again?" And with that, she disappeared.

Content with what had occurred, Reid made his way back to the dining hall, where he found Flaire, in her dress, on the ground playing cards with Kanna. He sweatdropped for the second time in the last five minutes, before moving in and sitting down beside Flaire, whom leaned on him and placed her head on his shoulder. "You've been wondering what this dinner is about, haven't you? It's bugging you, I can tell." She whispered into Reid's ear before playing another card to the obsessively amused Kanna's game.

Reid nodded. "Yeah. Why now? Why all of us? I thought Sven was supposed to be here as well, but I haven't seen him yet. Something feels wrong, but Rosaline didn't seem too concerned so I don't know..." He watched as Kanna moved into Flaire's lap, and the Phoenix girl began to stroke her "daughter's" head as she sang an ancient Phoenix folksong quietly. It was in old tongue, so the meaning of the lyrics were unknown. Reid admired Flaire's singing voice, and he had since he first heard it. It was her main source of revenue when she was with Ellianne, after all.

When she finished the song, she gave the boy some words of encouragement. "Don't worry, keep your head up high. I'll be here to support you, and I swear I'll will protect you." She looked at him and gave a pure grin. Reid grinned back, knowing full well he had said the exact same thing to her three years before that day.

---

"How long until the operation commences?"

"Ten minutes."

"Isn't this mission sort of suicide, lieutenant?"

"That isn't for us to question."

"What about the girl you were ordered to bring? Is she not a liability?"

"Soldier, you apparently aren't familiar with the capabilities of a Skill."

"A skill? What is a skill, sir?"

"That isn't for us to question."

"Lieutenant Tappen. I'm ready."

"Auricia, are you absolutely positive you want to go through with this?"

"...You know I don't have a choice. Besides, it's the reason I'm still alive..."

"..."
 
ooc; FILLER POST, GO!

ic; "Did..." Xaviae began, staring stupidly at the place where Mistral had disappeared, "Jeckt, Jeckt, did you see that?! Did you hear that?!" His face broke into an undeniably elated grin, the negafael raising an eyebrow as Xaviae punched his fist into the air. "She said I was cute!!" His hair popped out a vibrant shade of orange, and Jeckt raised an eyebrow. The negafael's yellow eyes were filled with a mixture of amusement and pity.

"You're the happiest I've seen you in five years just from that? Get over it already Xaviae, your pheromones are showing." Jeckt stuck his tongue out, before sighing and slumping down in the loosened chains, "Ahh, that was considerably more boring than I thought it would be."

Nothing could dampen Xaviae's spirits though. The plufael was beyond happy.

"You're just jealous!" Xaviae laughed, plopping down on his patch of sunlight and turning his tanned face up to the blue sky. Jeckt regarded the once-depressed fael that he'd put up with for five years. Jealous? Jeckt smirked to himself. He was the one who'd gotten a kiss- If anyone, Xaviae should've been jealous of him! Choosing to keep this to himself however, he silently stood by as Xaviae revelled in his good luck, holding the necklace up. Ah, he really was too nice of a negafael. Still, 13 years of plotting... He'd give Xaviae six and a half years of peace for that. Jeckt closed his eyes. Seeing the happy guy was starting to get disgusting.


- + - + - + - + -


Levi's head lolled back-and-forth from one shoulder to the other, in time with the cheerful tune he was humming to himself. No, it was not Levi. Jazrelli suddenly stopped humming, his head suddenly stock still as he stared up at the ceiling of the prison he was encased in. This sudden lack of movement didn't last long however, as Jazrelli stood up in his reila's body, taking three even strides from the back of the cell to the front. It wasn't particularly roomy, this cell for one. He peered through the bars at the three guards, who stared back just as curiously. Silence passed between the four, before Jazrelli turned back around and began to walk in circles. His eyes scanned the entire dungeon, passed his hand over every single stone, knocking on some of them.

"This cell is boring Devitell!" Jazrelli announced, Levi's voice an entire octave higher than usual as he flailed his arms about.

Silence. Followed by, "Well they gotta have some trap doors or SOMETHING!"

More silence.

The guards watched in amazement as the person in the cell carried on a conversation solely by himself.

"Faels." One guard whispered to the other, nodding solemnly as they looked on in pity at the solitary teen complaining to what seemed like an imaginary existence. They lost their casual observation stances when Jazrelli voiced his opinion, each one clutching his weapon at the ready.

"I want out." Came the childish voice, the sound of a boy who would not be reasoned with, "I want out." He repeated, "Out, out, out, LET ME OUT!!!"

Levi's body went rigid as an ironing board before crashing to the floor, unconcious.
 
"Has anyone else noticed that we have yet to be graciously greeted by our hosts?" Kayle inquired to the entire group within the large dining chamber, after cautiously looking at the time on his small, black pocket watch. His blood red Phoenix wings twitched nervously. It had been a half hour now. No sign of Sven, no sign of Rosaline, no sign of Prince Ryan, and no sign of the leaders of Carn and Tealia. It really was odd. Not to mention, there was something suspicious about it.

Kanna had gone to an upstairs room with a nanny to get some rest, while Flaire, Reid, and Ellianne had resorted to the card game 'Golf' as a means of entertainment. Flaire was getting a bit hot under the collar because Ellianne kept winning, but Reid didn't mind. After all, he was troubled by this absence as well. Finally, one of Kayle's men returned from scouting the castle. The soldier, dressed in a white robe, with long black hair, whispered some news into the ear of the commander that left him completely shocked. Kayle regained his composure, before doing what he knew he had to; he confronted the people in the room.

The Archai Squad leader coughed to clear his throat, before clenching his fist in preparation of the announcement he was about to give. "Comrades, military staff of both Tealia and Carn in favor of our cause, and unfortunate employees of this grand estate, it is my great misfortune to have to inform you of this." Reid was captivated, as was everyone else. He proceeded to smell the air curiously. What was that smell? "I have learned that, at approximately 7pm this evening, half an hour ago, the nations of Beta and Gregar launched a combined assault against my home nation of Flazure." Sounds of surprise and discomfort echoed across the room. Flaire gasped as she brought her hands to her mouth, and Reid and Ellianne's eyes met the ground. But... that smell, what was that smell? "Also, it appears that both the King and Queen are absent from the castle, as well as their royal guards." That meant... no... There was no way they sided with the Beta and Gregar after all this of their own will. Reid should have been furious, but he was beginning to feel dizzy.

His eyes shot open in realization as to what the smell was, before throwing a hand to the air as wind gushed upwards. "Flaire! Take out a portion of the roof!" Flaire, confused as to what he was talking about, nodded as she threw her hands together before aiming them upwards. Feeling a bit tipsy, it took her a minute to channel the Fionus into her hands, but eventuallu a large ball formed that was fired off at the roof, leaving a large gap up into the rainy night sky. Reid blew the falling rubble away with his own abilities, before channeling the air in the room up through the hole. At that moment, the lionus lights in the room flickered wildly, before they went completely out. "Dammit. Commander! This castle is being targetted! That was gas just now!" But, what were they going to do? His weapons were still in Rosaline's flying limo. Ellianne and Flaire had theirs, but he was left unarmed...

---

Lieutenant Ashton Tappen of Gregar's Special Defence Squad adjusted the thin, circular glasses surrounding his blue eyes carefully, before pulling back his short blonde hair so that it fit neatly under his white, military issued beret. It had a red vertical stripe down the middle so that it was not to be confused with Tealia's similar uniform piece. He proceeded to pat down the white jacket (three red stars across a black stripe in the top left indicating his rank), as well as his white pants that met a pair of black boots. After he was finished fiddling with his uniform, his attention turned to the girl hanging off of his right arm as they walked down the corridor of Castle Tealia.

The girl was cute, only about fifteen years old in contrast to his age of about 18, but still cute. Her hair, violet in colour, fell gently down a short ways past her shoulders, as her bangs fell down to cover her left eye. Both her eyes were violet as well, and both the strange hair and eye colours were the results of experiments she had been forced to go through as a child. As a Skill, one who was saved from death only to be made as a tool for the military, she really did live a sad and lonely life. She was dress in a white, skin tight bodysuit that covered from her feet up to her neck. The bodysuit was decorated with horizontal red stripes where her wrists and ankles were. Overall, it wasn't a very attractive outfit, but she was forced to wear it. And, Ashton felt uncomfortable around her in it, since it outlined all of the girl's curves. Auricia, Ashton has noted many times before, has some sort of mental condition that leaves her dependent on a single person. Unluckily for him, Auricia had chosen him. That's the reason he was Lieutenant at such a young age, and he hated it.

The boy looked around, troubled. Nothing was going according to plan. The gas hadn't worked, and he was forced to give up half of his unit to combatting the forces of Rosaline Dian at the front of the gate. That Princess should have been gone with her father. Not to mention that other Skill. Where had he gone? Had he gone ahead? Or had he stayed behind?

---

About ten minutes had passed since the realization that they had been trapped dawned on the group. Kayle had ordered the evacuation of anyone who wasn't military personelle capable of combat up to the second floor, and the rest had to be prepared to engage any enemies in the room at any given moment. They needed to finish things quickly. They needed to go and save their homeland. That was all that was on the mind of the Archai Squad. Luckily for Reid, he had found a sword on one of the suits of armor around the room. And, while it was terribly heavy and bulky in comparison to his own, it would have to do. Now all that was left was to wait in silence, the only sound being rain from outside falling through the hole in the roof hitting the floor, in anticipation of the enemy.
 
ooc; There's so much that I feel like I should do, but I don't know what to do. xD; Sorry~


ic; Sitting on a pile of four dead men, a boy no older than 17 watched the last bit of smoke from his cigarette waft up into the air, curling into long tendrils of gray. But from his point of view, everything was tinted yellow. Wiping off blood staining his hands on the jacket of the highest corpse, the ruby haired demon pulled what was left of the cigarette from his mouth and stubbed out out the flame on the back of the dead man's head. Blowing out a mouthful of smoke, he smacked his lips, stepping over the bodies littering the ground. He swayed to an inaudible tune, snapping his fingers every now and then with the beat. Sparks flew from his fingers whenever he snapped, and he was almost caught off guard when the clothes of one of the numerous dead men caught fire. The youth considered putting it out. But... he decided against it. They would have more fun trying to identify everyone if they were all burned to bits! Even metal plates would melt in the face of his flames. Dieter grinned.

"That's a great idea!" Dieter said to the corpse, now burning up in flames. He snapped the bones in his hand before ripping it straight off his wrist, ignoring the searing knives of pain jolting up and down his arm. He ignored the smell of burning hair and flesh. This boy was a skill, and a downright insane one at that. This was his mental condition. He hadn't a single definite personality that one could pin down and label him with. He was here, he was there, he was happy, he was sad. Dieter was just… out there! At the moment though, he was rather pleased with himself, and the dead man. The hand he'd broken off stretched, morphing into a sky board that Dieter promptly hopped onto, replacing his stump of an arm with an open hole, lined with metal on the inside. He shot off across the dead people, fire spurting from the open hole like a giant torch. He knew he could've just changed his feet into the skyboard, save some pain for himself. But, that would look stupid, having a skyboard for feet. Besides, none of these soldiers could even put a hole through him without him putting a hole in himself first. He couldn't leave the battle field without feeling at least some pain. It'd been ages since they'd let him out on the loose anyway. Pulling up his yellow sunglasses, when he reached the end of the scene of carnage, Dieter smiled at the flickering flames. It smelled pretty bad. He replaced his shades.

"Ahh, now what?" Dieter mused, opening one of the multiple cans of carbonated and caffeinated beverage he kept with him at all times and downing it all in one go. He crushed the can in his fist, stepping off of his sky board and reattaching his hand with a sick slurping sound of flesh mending itself. Tossing the can over his shoulder, Dieter sighed. He was pretty sure that Tappen had said something about the main hall. Stupid phoenix and wyvern trash. They wanted to gain independence? Hah! Yeah right. Those fools didn't have a single Skill on 'em. Humans could never fight on an equal level with a living, breathing weapon. And this Dieter knew. Wandering aimlessly, the Skill had 'lost' his group earlier. More like he'd turned himself into an empty shell of armor and they'd walked right past him. But regardless, he was hopelessly lost now. Why did these people make such annoyingly large castles? A sudden realization hit Dieter. Fear gripped him on all levels. He grabbed the smokes he had on him. Three, including the one he'd picked up from the dead soldier. Knowing his habit, it'd all be gone by tomorrow. What if he never found his way out?? Death, Dieter did not fear. As long as he had soda and smokes, he was a-okay. Finding a destination was now ten times as important to Dieter. Again, his hand suffered the fate of becoming a skyboard. He was a pro at skyboarding. Honestly, what else could he do other than practice? Locked up in that empty room all the time.

The castle's endless mazes became less annoying and more interesting. The sudden turns and dead ends were fun. And the gas that knocked out the majority of the guards was even more fun. Today really was a good day! Whichever guard wasn't completely out of sorts due to the gas got skewered by the knife that occasionally molded out of nothing on the front of his skyboard. But Dieter ran into the last thing he expected to see and the abrupt stop caused his to fall right off of his board. He hit his neck first on the fall, the broken bones mending themselves quickly as he let his feet, which were sticking straight up in the air, fall back to earth.

"Reporting, Lieutenant Tappen, I am most certainly not wasting time and energy!" Dieter said, saluting with a stupid grin across his face before getting to his feet. His eyes came to rest on Auricia as soon as he began to brush himself off. Switch. His cheerful gaze became wary, and he stood lazily, his weight on one leg as he snapped his fingers, the skyboard hovering in the air turning back into a hand that fell into his other hand. As his hand was reattaching itself, Dieter looked up at Tappen, "Lieutenant, is there anything you'd like me to do? Back-up at the front gate? Ambush in the main hall? Patrol for surviving guards and dispose of them?"


==================================


"That was too easy." Levi sighed, holding a ring of keys in his hand as the door to his cell swung open, their hinges shrieking with the sudden movement. He twirled the keys around his index finger, whistling as he strolled out of the jail cell. Sure, he was getting pardoned tomorrow. But he was still a free convict right now, wasn't he? He'd come back in the morning or something. Before everyone woke up. First though, he wanted to know who had set the gas bomb. It was a good thing that Jazrelli had been in control of his body, otherwise he would've been out like a light as well. No, make that, good thing there was a small window that Levi could use to get fresh air. Stepping over the unconcious bodies of guards, Levi made his way out of the prison. But the minute he opened the door, he was faced with something that reminded him of a great battle for the fortress of Tealia. Clashing swords, banging guns, bursts of mahstion- all over the place. Hm. Levi blinked twice before closing the door again.

Maybe tonight wasn't a good night for going out to the bar.

'K.' Jazrelli said to Levi, sitting on his couch with his head hanging, 'Maybe busting out of here wasn't a good idea. I don't want to go swim through battle with a mahstion bracelet on.'

"Agreed." Levi sighed, sitting down on the bed in his cell, "If they weren't causing so much noise, I could probably get a good night's sleep, too."

'... You're not going to help...?' Devitell's slow and sleepy voice came.

"Naw." Levi said, tossing himself onto the very uncomfortable bench that doubled as a bed, "I'm not gettin' paid to help Tealia, and I'm supposed to be locked up anyway. Don't stress on it Pak. I'm not really required to do my job yet."
 
OOC: Due to the fact that we lost three long posts that we don't particularly feel like rewriting, this post will take the place of the three that disappeared when PC went down. It contains a summary of what occured in those three posts.

Ashton and Auricia stormed into the dining hall, only to find that it was seemingly empty. In reality, under Kayle's guidance, the Archai squad had developed a surprise attack strategy. While Reid, hiding in a suit of armor, caused a distraction, Ellianne weaved ice around their feet, leaving them vulnerable to a fireball shot from Flaire, whom was lurking in the darkness. The attack proved uneffective, and ultimately lead to Flaire's downfall as Auricia revealed her bizarre ability to transform her arm into a blade. That, paired with speed that Reid noted to be impossible even for one using a fael, ended up with the red haired girl receiving a blow through the stomach by Auricia's sword arm.

In the meantime, Reid was engaged in combat with Ashton, whom was using some sort of weird translucent spear that seemed to appear and disappear according to his will. A fellow wionus user, Reid was intent on stopping him. Unfortunately, Ashton's bizarre weapon and speed proved to be too much for Reid, and before falling into unconsciousness, he was left with some parting words. "You think you can beat me when you can't even use your faels properly? Pathetic." At this, Mistral took control of the unconscious Reid and attempt to rebel some more. Just as she was about to become finished as well, something strange occurred.

-

But while the Archai Squad dealt with Ashton and Auricia, Lieutenant Ciaccio was preoccupied with a surprise attack from Dieter, who was thankfully in a good mood. Adela's natural disposition however, spoiled that good mood as she failed to hold up her part of the conversation. After crushing the bones in her right hand with his foot, Adela managed to use her left hand to shoot a hole right through Dieter's chest. His heart, the only part of him that could be truly damaged without immediate repair, was unfortunately not in his chest, and the shot proved ineffective. Before being thrown back by the shot however, Dieter rooted his prey in place by drilling a nail (which was his pinky torn off,) through Adela's left hand. His weapons proved to all be dripping with poison, and the nail split Adela's median nerve in half, while also sending poison into her system. The poison had little time to kick in however, as she was immediately picked up from the ground by an irritated Dieter, who simply chose to pull her off the nail, rather than extracting it first. Her mutilated hand would soon become of little importance however, as Dieter became bored with his toy and tossed her aside, expanding his hand into a mahstion gun and shooting her through the stomach before she hit the ground. The impact of the shot sent her reeling into a wall, and with that, the Lieutenant was crushed between rubble from the roof that had already situated on the ground, and the stone that she'd knocked off the wall as she smashed into the wall.

In the meantime, by order of Ashton, Auricia was about to kill Ellianne, but Lazarus intervened with the bud of a monstrous flower, knocking Auricia's blade away from Ellianne's throat and lifting Auricia into the air with vines of ivy. Just as Lazarus was preparing to drop Auricia into one of his giant venus fly-traps, Ashton destroyed both plants, and ordered Dieter to take care of Lazarus. Without delay, Dieter appeared right behind Lazarus, who had no time to react before Dieter's fingers turned into longswords, plunging his arm through the eation user's back without a second thought. However, Dieter was given no time to finish the job quite as cleanly as he'd done with the Lieutenant, as he was promptly interrupted.

-

Flaire, thought to be unconscious or worse, suddenly lifted into the air and became surrounded in flames. The flames enveloped the castle, forcing Ashton and the skills to retreat. When Reid awoke some time later, he found himself on the floor in the ruined dining hall. He was greeted by the voice of Sven, he's friend. He was informed of the enemy retreat, and that Sven had a hand in protecting Princess Rosline during the attack. When Reid inquired as to where his girlfriend was, Sven motioned to a girl, no younger than ten, with red hair and red eyes sitting shyly over with Ellianne, tiny phoenix wings in tow.
 
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