FEF: The Lost Lands [IC Thread]

[rokubiraijuu]

"I just thought she was going crazy, but who knew? I guess those mom sixth senses of yours really do come in handy sometimes," Beatrix teases Yuel good-naturedly.

[Ragnarok97071]

Anea was on the deck of the ship, thinking.

 

She'd helped in the fight, kept people going, healed their wounds, but it felt like it wasn't enough. People were hurting, and it was all she could do just to keep up with them. That wasn't good enough, not for her. She had to do better. She had to... is that Marl?

 

"My, my, finally find your way out of your books, have you? I'm glad. As important as your studies are, learning to socialize wi..."

 

Oh. He's just... Shooting. She sighs, slumping a little.

 

"I see... Well, I suppose martial training is important as well, as much as I do hope you'll spend time among the crew and our allies as well. You'll need to be able to understand and work with all kinds of people if you're going to be a leader one day."

[ElfCollaborator]

"Learn to have a little backbone, boy. Even strong, Kahlese men have their weak spots; the same goes for any fool dumb enough to cross your path. Not that I'll be telling you mine, of course."

[RedMageCole]

"You are correct. Confidence and standing up for oneself is important in times like these. But I thank you... a reality check is something I greatly needed in this hour of battle. I'll make sure to show those who oppose us... who's flames are truly to be feared."

 

Well, that last part sounded a lot cooler in Aidan's head.

[ElfCollaborator]

"....close. You have.....a lot to learn, Aidan."

[Unlurking Sentinel]

"Perhaps another day, Anea. For now, a war is on the horizon, and there's no doubt we'll find action yet. Besides..." He stopped to check if Elizabeth was nearby, before lowering his tone this time. "That Paxi invasion can't be a coincidence. Right on the day our covert search reached its destination, a foreign enemy invades the very same town. We aren't out of the woods just yet, and if they pursue us, we need to be in fine form."

 

Of course, saying this, he realized that this also meant he would be spending plenty more time with his comrades than he anticipated moments ago. Surely, understanding how not to get on your contemporaries' bad sides would be incredibly helpful, both now and in future practice. His sister always advised him on this, but no matter the subject, he always hated to admit how right she always was. 

[RedMageCole]

"...yes, yes, I suppose I do. That sounded much better in my head... but I'll work on speech as well."

[Code: PIRULUK]

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"I see. Well, I'm glad for your assistance. It's always good to know that there are people around that will put themselves at risk to protect strangers. Other people, anyway; that's sort of my job." She laughed slightly at that, before her expression settled back into a more curious one again. "So you've been traveling for a long time? Are you headed anywhere? And, is it physically or. . . spiritually, I suppose?"

 

"My destination, is it? In truth, I'm seeking an answer for that myself. Both physically and spiritually."

 

Shiro wondered how much it was safe to tell this stranger. After all, they had only just met, so there was no real reason to tell this woman anything of actual importance. Well, the first half of the question was probably harmless, in any case.

 

"My journey has lasted a considerable amount of time. This year would mark the 5th year since I began my wanderings."

[Twinwolf]

"LAND HO!" the man in the crows nest shouts. In the distance, one can see he's not lying - there's land, dotted with buildings. Opus is in sight. 

 

It takes nearly the rest of the day to make landfall, the sun setting as the ship begins it's final approach. Winston directs the helmsman to dock at the royal shipyards, and disembarks first.

 

"I'll need to talk with some of my colleagues. Those of you who came to Aica with me, you've earned a night of more comfortable lodgings than the barracks. I'll send someone to bring you to them. Civilians, I ask that you go as well - I know not all of you are Opus citizens... actually, I'm not sure anyone besides Elizabeth and Leslie are... but, the higher ups are going to want to talk with you about what happened."

 

He steps off, and is briefly accosted by the dock guards - ships can't dock here without royal permit - but he shows identification and waves him off.

 

While waiting, Leslie turns to the others. 

 

"So, I never got to thank you all for saving me. I'd never have gotten out myself, let alone with any stock. I noticed most of your things are practically falling apart... I'll replace them, free of charge. I'll sort through my stock, see if anything stands out as useful and give you a discount. I'd give 'em for free but with my shop probably burning down or something I sort of need something to get new stuff." 

 

All QL refunded. Leslie's shop opened when the lazy GM writes up the shop and prices. 

 

Afterwards a guard arrives, and says he'll be escorting them to their temporary lodgings. They walk through the city for a while. At first, it seems they'll be going to a standard inn. Then they're in the high class district. A fancy one, maybe? But they keep going. As they approach the castle and the gate opens, it seems clear that they're not staying in an inn. "The king will be wanting to hear of what happened in Aica personally." their escort explains at this point. 

 

The group is escorted to what could be, if one was in the habit of understating things, a guest house near central citadel. It's huge, with plenty of room to fit them comfortably and a variety of amenities. It also has several guards. The king, it seems, takes responsibility as a host very seriously.  

 

"I've never been anywhere like this before..." Elizabeth said. She had been looking around in awe the entire time they'd been present - the locale was impressive, even in the dim light of the moon. "Do you think they'll let us use those stables we passed? I haven't rode in ages..."

 

"It's uncertain whether you'll be called tonight or in the morning, but please be patient." The escort says, before heading off. 

[rokubiraijuu]

For the first time in as long as can be remembered, Beatrix is quiet. Subdued, even. She seems overwhelmed, eyes darting over everything in sight and expression tense. She barely even seems to notice her impromptu allies around her.

 

Opus...

 

Maybe the sword at her hip feels a little heavier than usual. Or maybe she's just imagining things, making up nonsense in her stress. Nothing feels right. She's nowhere near as confident and hopeful as she thought she would be, stepping onto these shores. Shouldn't this be exciting, for her to finally be here? But she surprises herself; usually intrepid and adventurous, no obstacle standing in her way too great to dull her temerity, this time she only feels uncertainty.

 

"So close to the Opus court..."

[RedMageCole]

Aidan could never be more grateful to anyone in his life at this point in time. First, he was grateful to Leslie for supplying him with a brand new Fire tome even though it only looked slightly worn. Then, he was grateful to Winston and the king for allowing him to rest in this wonderful guest house. He hadn't known an actual place that felt like a home since... well... home. 

 

Before he could start suddenly moping, he heard Johan's booming voice in his head.

 

Stop getting yourself down. You're in luxurious company, show some self respect. And in the meantime, stop slouching. Stand up straight.

 

Another thing he had to be thankful for was Johan. His recent interactions with him made him try to show some initiative with being social, and not be worrying about everything or be reclusive every chance he got. All of his thoughts to tell him to cut it out have usually been in Johan's voice, like a shoulder angel with a long beard.

 

As Aidan finished inspecting the entirety of the guest house, he caught a familiar face in the corner of his eye. Was that the dark magic user? He never got to thank her as well. Almost immediately as he heard the small Johan tell him to go thank her, he found himself walking to her, clutching his new tome in hopes that they could somewhat resonate as magic users.

 

Finishing up walking towards Beatrix, he gave a little bit of a cough, which was more on accident than to draw attention to himself.

 

"...Good evening. Forgive me if I may seem abrupt, but... I wanted to thank you for banding together with us and helping us with that battle. Your dark magic was incredible, and I don't think we would have been able to get far without your help... Thank you."

[rokubiraijuu]

"Huh?"

 

Standing in a little nook in one of the manor's halls, Beatrix hadn't exactly expected to be addressed. She'd wandered away from Cassidy and Yuel for a while to have some time to collect her thoughts, and it wasn't as though any of the others knew her.

 

"Oh! You're... that guy— " Her eyes flick to the tome in his arms.

 

" —The anima mage! Aha!" 

 

What trepidation she'd been harboring seconds before vanishes entirely in light of this ( for which she'd be grateful, later ), and both Aidan's modest thanks and the fact that she doesn't even know him seem to fall to the wayside. "Well, of course my dark magic was incredible! Hehe, bet you've never seen anything like it." Though her words are boastful, her tone is bright, confident without being belittling. "I'm Beatrix. Everyone just calls me Bea, though."

[RedMageCole]

Aidan had to admire the girl's confidence, and found himself growing just a tiny bit more relieved that he did not run too much of a risk of offending as long as he kept a polite tongue. At the same time, it somewhat rubbed off on him. He felt happy seeing that she was fired up just from him coming over to talk to her.

 

"You're correct, I haven't had the pleasure of seeing dark magic in action, but as another mage, I could see that the way you applied it in battle was truly incredible." Aidan did not hesitate with complimenting her prowess. Indeed, he was rather happy to be surrounded by such talented faces. He gave a slight bow to Beatrix after she introduced herself.

 

"My name is Aidan. Well met, Beatr-... Bea." He almost caught himself being overly formal, but decided to go for a more familiar approach. "Like you've noticed, I am more of an anima user, particularly in the art of fire. I haven't had much of an opportunity to enjoy time with a fellow mage in quite some time; I am one of the few mages in Opus's army, after all. I'm delighted to make your acquaintance."

[ElfCollaborator]

Johan releases a loud breath, stretching his muscular arms and adjusting the cloak around his neck. He grunts, combing his beard with his right hand, looking around at the others. Here was Aidan, trying his best to look good in front of a girl. The boy was learning. Not that he needed much education from a warrior like Johan. They were companions of circumstance, but Aidan and Johan walked different paths in life.

 

His gaze was drawn towards the blue-haired woman in armor. Alwine, he'd heard her name was. The eyepatch, the build, the posture; all of them told Johan enough. She was a fellow warrior; Johan, as all Kahlese men could, could tell from a glance who were warriors. He'd seen her fight a little, too. Not nearly as brutal as many of his comrades; he'd fought alongside men who tore tree trunks from the ground and used them as battering rams, men who wrestled bears with naught but a loincloth, men who tore through iron armor with their bare fists like knives through butter. But these were men of Kahla's mountains.

 

He approaches Alwine with a confident stride.

"Ah. How was the voyage for you, fellow warrior?"

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

lt seemed a bit quiet, too quiet. Usually a good sign that Cassidy was sneaking around somewhere. She was as loud as she wanted or as quiet as she wanted. A quality of a true Treasure 'Unter it was it was. ln her sneakyiness Cassie had managed to note that Bea was off talking to one of the folk from the other band they had come across the other day, when they had fought the soldiers to get to the docks. A scholarly lookin' fella, one of the types that was definitely wise on the readie Wordsies, perhaps he was similar to Bea in some ways. From as far as Cassidy could tell he was certainly coser to a Bea then a Yuel. She'd wanted to dive tackle her god old friend like always but she saw an opportunity this time. Perhaps she could scare the bejeebus out of the poor lad and give him a good laugh.

She snuck up quietly, without a sound. She was in clear sight of Bea's vision however, so she knew it was coming. Cassidy signelled to her by putting her index finger over her lips. A clear "Shhhh! l'mma get'em!" hoping that her friend wouldn't blow her cover. She crept closer and closer until she was almost directly on top of the poor lad,almost pressed directly up against him. She leaned close to his ear, and shouted "BOO!"

[RedMageCole]

If there was another problem with Aidan, it's that he tended to get very, very focused on subjects at hand. Whether it was reading or having a chat or being in battle, he'd often forget that basically everything else existed in the midst of what he was doing. As a result, he also tended to be very, very easy to startle.

 

"WAUGH!"

 

Aidan almost tripped, having to catch himself before he fell onto Beatrix. "S-sorry...!" He mentioned to Beatrix, as he regained his footing. He turned around to see the perpetrator; another one of his teammates, thankfully, and not an ambush. His expression turned from that of shock to one that wasn't necessarily angry or upset, but more of a gentle 'why? why would you do that?'

 

"I... I beg your pardon?"

[rokubiraijuu]

A mage in the Opus army. Beatrix feels a jolt run through her, as though it was her days on Emries again, and she'd been struck with a Thunder tome during training. She regards the guy hesitantly, as though trying to see something about him. 

 

"...Then... do you know—"

 

She catches sight of a shape coming up behind him, but doesn't even get a chance to think about whether she wants to warn Aidan or not. "Ahh...!" Though not startled, Beatrix staggers back a little as Aidan lurches forward with a yell, hands out half to keep him from falling onto her and half to catch him if he did end up toppling over.

 

Thankfully, neither ends up happening. "Oh, hey Cassidy." She knows that, with Cassidy's appearance, she's lost the opportunity and momentum to talk to the anima mage a little more, but a small part of her is almost grateful for it.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

"Hehe! Gottem' " Cassidy flashed Bea a victory sign, two fingers forming a V, over her left eye. Her smile once again so big it scrunched her nose. She seemed quite proud of herself in the moment, after all, her sneaky stealthy was quite the roaring success. She noticed the look on the man's face, taking note of it though it just made her giggle even more. "Oh Bea dis one scares all easy-like. He bess watch out for da Lilac Fox den. She's good at spookin' she is she is." Cassidy leaned forward and ruffled the man's hair like one would do to a small child they thought was cute. "D'aw, frazzled is a good look fer ya."

[Swordstar]

Brad found himself moving away from the group that he had originally been a part of, mostly because  he had no real connection to them. However, finding himself in the palace, a place he never truly intended to be, he found himself with some interesting opportunities ahead. But first, information would need to be gathered. Making his way over to the woman in bright blue armor, he extended a hand.

 

"I don't think we've met. My name is Bradwr. Tell me, what was the original mission of your group? It was interesting timing when you showed up after all. I don't think it could have been better, honestly."

[RedMageCole]

Trying to hide his embarrassment at being scared so easily, Aidan looked away, all but too aware of his expression changing into nervous rather than calm. He figured this was going to be... problematic if he did not work on his jumpy behavior. His eyes shut tight when the self-proclaimed Lilac Fox ruffled his hair, not used to such sort of physical contact, making his knees buckle a little.

 

"Erm... thanks?" Were all the words he could muster in response to being... complimented? "Er... you two know each other, then...?"

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

"Oh ye ye, we're besses buds we are we are. Bea and me, we's a dynamic duo dat'll go down in history as de greatest folk who ever did duo." The bubbly Theif animated just about every part of that statement with quite fanciful florishs. Cassidy had wonderful control over her movement, somehow. lt was likely she just sorta went with the flow then actually had known what she was doing. lmprovising was apowerful skill she possessed in spades. "After all, l'm de greatest Treasure 'Unter ta ever live so... my besses bud is bound ta make it inta those readie wordsies about my greatest exploits and adventures as certainly more den jus a footnote. OH!!! Ya might be famous just for meetin' me ya might be."

[rokubiraijuu]

"Heehee..."

 

Seeing Cassidy so lively and full of energy never fails to pick up her own spirits. With her and all her antics, gesturing, and theatrics, it's easy to forget where they are or who they're going to be talking to soon. 

 

"You got it. Cassidy'n and I've been through thick and thin. Er, well, at least since we met each other, anyway." This moment feels almost deja vu, and not in a comforting way in the slightest. But she doesn't let it show, maintaining a cheerful smile even as a sinister doubt lurks in the back of her mind.

 

"Aaanyway, Cassidy, I was just about to challenge Aidan here to a destined face-off between mages!!" She clenches one fist close to her chest, the grin on her face almost mischievous. "I can't have an anima mage showing me up, after all."

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

"Ooooh, so he's one of ya folk that use the readie wordsies ta do all de fancy tricks with the elements and what not ye ye?" Cassidy perked up... well maybe stayed at the same level of energy but directed it else where was more accurate. She looked the new mage up and down once again now that there was new information presented. First impressions didn't remotely shift, figured as much. Even though Cassidy was illerate she could read him like a book. What ya saw, was what ya got it seemed with this no. Nothin' wrong with that, Cassidy liked when folk weren't so complicated.

"Oh, a face off doe? Hehe, Ya got dat no problems Bea, youse the bess magicky person l know. Just lemme know if ya need help or if the lad's a no good cheater fufu~" Cassidy said suddenly producing eight knives, one held between each pair of fingers. She placed them away just as quickly as she had made them appear however. So whether or not their new pal saw that was up for debate. He'd have at least seen the flash of metal if ot what it was though.

[RedMageCole]

The recently introduced Cassidy was a little bit overwhelming to Aidan, as he found himself trying to study her words that were going by at a mile a minute. It was clear that she had lots of confidence in herself, another trait Aidan desired, but it was still a lot to take in. Aidan could only give but a slight nod of understanding as Beatrix and Cassidy both confirmed that they've known each other for a while.

 

However, Beatrix's declaration of battle threw Aidan off greatly, and he couldn't help but throw a slightly surprised look at her when she offered him a challenge. Aidan then also looked rather surprised at the fact that Cassidy was immediately willing to throw plenty of sharp metal if he was a cheater. Aidan did not consider himself the dishonorable type, but...

 

"Er, let's take it one step at a time, shall we? I... can assure you I do not think of bending the rules to my will. I fight with honor..." Aidan turned back to Beatrix, trying to put on a little more of a confident smile.

 

"If you desire a duel... well, I suppose I can't very well turn you down. We'd best take it outside, or to a room with minimal furnishings, however. I would not wish to burn down our lodgings if we are indeed sparring."

[rokubiraijuu]

"Sparring? Hmhm, that's small fry to what I have in mind," she replies with a sly twinkle in her eye. "Next time we're on the battlefield together, we'll see who can bring down the most opponents. How's that for a destined face-off!"

 

Despite the fact that there was no indication they'd even be seeing each other again past this supposed audience with the king, she seems assured in her plan. "And if we end up going our separate ways, we'll tally up the results then and see who's really the best mage around here."

 

She folds her arms across her chest, standing up a little straighter. "You better be ready. You're my rival now, and I don't go easy on rivals."