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Return of the Emblem Chapter Fourteen: Fight


Phoenix
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Thinking back on that mission, things had certainly gone south in a hurry--or west, more accurately. The arrival of that spear wielder and Sonya had all but doomed the mission, and given the lack of both a command structure and morale, the subsequent scramble seemed almost inevitable in hindsight. Amon himself had nearly been taken out, and if not for Jamilla, likely would have been. The sancturan wondered if Shadrak, and to a greater extent, Pete, didn't have a point earlier. How were they supposed to dismantle a siege gate if they couldn't even deal with one spearman, a dragon, and a small number of wyvern riders? Granted, Kozel was a very dangerous combatant, and Sonya probably more so, but if they were truly too much for the group to ever handle, then their number one priority right now shouldn't be heading to Kigen--not just yet, but first recruiting Kozel and Sonya for the mission.

Amon doubted any explanation in existence could fully satisfy Norbert, so he decided to put that concern out of mind and simply clarify a few points of interest. "We didn't actually plan on leaving anyone behind in Urquium. We just took precautions in some of the wrong areas and that just made things worse when the battle started." One decision Amon felt had been particularly bad in hindsight was staying away from the group while they prepared the ship. Haythem didn't need help looking after Isis and Malik was smart enough to come up with a workable plan on his feet, certainly better than what Amon had thought of in the heat of the moment. Another mistake was taking to the sky in the hopes of flying over the battle rather than being beneath it and slightly off to the side. If they should have gone anywhere, it was further inland. There hadn't been any need to reach the Darklighter Idolus, formerly the Deadly Dandelion, right away, and in the end, it'd taken them until nearly the end of the battle to reunite with the majority of the group.

Amon felt that in his absence, communication between the group and Lexi may have been minimal, which more likely than not contributed to them leaving the port as quickly as they did. Whether setting out so quickly was truly a mistake was up for debate, and not one Amon was willing to pick up here and now. "We split up when we reached the city so the Ursians wouldn't harass us over the wyverns and the wrathites wouldn't find Joanna. I wasn't here when they had their talks with the captain so I don't know exactly what happened or what we agreed to. The important thing is the battle. We were split into three groups when the battle started, Joanna and Liam; Malik, Haythem and me; and then everyone else. We weren't trying to leave anyone behind, but nearly everyone that wasn't with the main group had a flying mount, so it wasn't the worst decision."

"I'd also like to point out," Shadrak chimed in out of nowhere, "that we barely even made it to this ship in the first place. The docks were already under attack by the time we were ready, so we had to drive through a battle just to get aboard. This wasn't some whimsical thing we unanimously decided on."

That was news to Amon, though not in the least bit surprising. It actually wasn't far off from what he'd envisioned in his mind. Hoping to cut down on the abrasiveness some, the wary sancturan continued. "To make a long story short, we took some measures to protect ourselves, the situation spiraled out of control, and we're all lucky to even still be alive."

"You just know that siege gate's going to be easy compared to the Neviskotians," Shadrak said sarcastically, "oh wait ... there's millions more of them."

"Spirit springs. Good. Death. Bad," Malik retorted, "we get it."

"Lastly ..." Amon pressed on, dreading this next part, "the situation with Kozel and Sonya ... was a disaster. I'm glad you managed to save the pegasus knights, anyway. Also I'm sorry about what happened. I know what it's like to feel like you've been betrayed, even if that's not exactly what happened." He felt his eyes, despite their newfound weight, drifting toward Shadrak. The sancturan refocused on Norbert before the druid could spot the tell. "Going forward ..." assuming they could continue to function as a group, "we're going to have to be more than just careful." It seemed like their precautions tended to blow up in their faces in some way or another. "We're going to have to be smarter."

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When Eva sighed and began walking out of the room, Norbert's eyes locked onto her, infuriated by her cavalier attitude. His opinion of the group was sharply and drastically turning hostile again, his suspicions of being unable to trust them -- that they couldn't care less if he died, let alone needed their help -- beginning to cement in his mind. A violent and determined fire began to burn inside of him, just like in his childhood days, screaming that his life wasn't worthless, as though that would prove it to them.

His glare was all the action he could take on these thoughts, though, as Amon began to speak. His attention turned to the Sancturan. And as he listened, even as the speaking shifted between Amon, Shadrak, and Malik, Norbert began to take in the new information and calm down enough to think with rationale again. Once they were done, Norbert took a quiet breath and slowly released it. Then, still a bit wary, but much more calmly, Norbert told Amon, Shadrak, and Malik, "Thank you...for telling me. I understand why you had to get on the water as quickly as you did, now. It would've been nice if you left a note or something, at least, but it sounds like there wasn't time for that. You probably would've found a way to explain what happened to me if I hadn't caught up, anyway. You all did the right thing, there -- in the port -- I think."

He wasn't sure what would've happened to him if he had arrived later, but he couldn't fault the group for trying to protect itself under such circumstances. If the port was swarming with Wrathites or something after the battle, then he was fairly certain he would've been caught and detained yet again. Thankfully, it hadn't come to that, but he was a little worried that Fizza might have been forced to face something similar. Maybe not, though, if she had been able to get the information that she had written about in that black letter. It was probably had to take her by surprise.

That left the second topic, though. Amon gave his condolences, effectively, but that was about it. He supposed he couldn't expect much more, but it was enough for him, right now. I should probably still be careful, though. Despite what he's saying, that fight was proof that I just can't rely on these people to have my back. I want to trust them, but after that fight... They're going to have to earn it. That's all there is to it, even if it makes us weaker for now. I'm not dying because I relied on people who're unreliable, whether because they couldn't stay conscious long enough to help, or they just don't care enough to.

A bit of anger began to flare a little again with that last thought, but he was fairly certain Amon, at least, fell into the former camp, at least in the Kozel situation. Eva was undoubtedly in the latter...along with most of the group, probably. No, if he was going to survive, he had to be cautious of being truly a part of the group. Instead, he had to do what he always had to: be able to stand alone. That said, he could help where he could. One such instance was right in front of him.

"I agree that we need to play this smart," he added, folding his arms and giving Amon a nod. He was still a little upset about the events at the bandit camp, but at least the matter had been more or less put to rest for the time being. "Fizza borrowed my sister's pegasus when we escaped. When we came across that pegasus again, that letter I showed to Joanna so she could tell all of you, was in her saddlebag. There was also something tied to the reins: a metal, x-shaped symbol. Darcey -- my sister -- looked into it at Ursaea. She said that it was the symbol of some messenger. Do you guys know anything about it?"

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Questions & Answers

Amon hoped they did indeed do the right thing, but on his end, the result for Haythem still wasn't acceptable. If he'd just done a couple of things differently, maybe they could have still ended the battle without Haythem and Isis winding up the way they had. Amon didn't see how, exactly, but he felt confident enough that he could have done far better leading his own team during that battle if he'd just not been so caught up in the moment. At least explaining it to Norbert had calmed him again, if nothing else.

What Norbert went into next concerned Fizza and whatever shenanigans she'd pulled during the escape from the bandit fort, as well as the message that was relayed to Joanna. When he mentioned the little metallic symbol, Amon opened his mouth to speak but was again beaten to the punch. "An 'X'?" Shadrak asked, his tone grave, "Like two sets of wings?"

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Norbert shrugged. "I guess so. It was kind of small -- about the size of a coin. It's in Rizen's saddlebags if you want to see it."

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Questions & Answers

Well, they weren't getting anywhere on some of the other fronts, so they might as well take a look, Amon thought. Nodding at the pegasus rider, he said, "Yeah let's take a look."

"Yeah, let's," Shadrak gave the words more emphasis, "I've got a feeling we've seen something like it before."

"And since," Malik spoke up, looking at Joanna, "we need to look for Fizza before we get too far from Urquium anyway, how about we get started on that and call this meeting finished?" As far as the sancturan could tell, any issues they could agree on right this moment, they already agreed on ... and any that they didn't were stuck at an impasse for the time being.

"If that's alright with everyone else," Joanna nearly shrugged. She had more to say but with some people missing and others barely getting along, now really wasn't the best time.

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"I'm fine with it," Norbert replied as he stood up from his chair. Then, he began walking around the room, towards the door. "I'll go ahead and show the symbol to whoever wants to see it. Just follow me."

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Jam looked away as Norbert began speaking about their abandonment  of him during their last skirmish. She had felt bad for leaving the others at the time, and Norbert''s angry tone only brought those feelings back. Amon managed to diffuse the situation, but not before Eva stormed out. While the others followed Norbert to look at some symbol, Jam took the opportunity to leave the meeting. She went to look for Eva to maybe calm her down and talk about their wild day.

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Nadya found Malik's reply rather condescending, but that was how he was. She figured that if push came to shove she'd just talk to Amon instead since he seemed to be the one calling the shots. The meeting seemed to be ending, so she took the opportunity to go below decks and spend time with Luca, lacking the energy to do much else.

Shadrak dismissing light magic came as no surprise to Liam, since his goal was obviously to use spirit springs to gain more power for himself. Norbert had some issues with other members of the group and a mysterious symbol that Liam figured was none of his business. He stayed by Joanna's side for the time being- whether she wanted to look for this Fizza or whatever else, there was no telling what might happen. 

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Inspection

Amon decided to leave the Fizza matter to Malik, since he seemed intent on seeing that through, anyway, and followed after Norbert. Shadrak wasn't far behind. Along the way, and not long after leaving the dining area, Shadrak asked, "You got that thing with a letter, you said? Does anything else stand out besides the 'X' shape?"

"We'll see it soon enough," Amon murmured.

Search

Once the group began to disperse more completely, Malik made his way over to Joanna. "So you'll help me search for her, then?" he asked her. She nodded. "Alright, where can we go where you'll be comfortable and able to focus?"

That was a good question, and Joanna honestly didn't know. With a crew of nearly three hundred, all of whom were still awake and full of either energy, awe, or resentment, a quiet place was a tall order. Perhaps it'd be best to settle for someplace with a more acceptable level of noise. To that end, Joanna was considering somewhere around the helm. Looking outward from the ship would also reduce her chances--if only slightly--of bumping into the wrong people. "Let's head back up to the main deck."

Malik cocked an eyebrow. "I doubt it's quiet up there ... but I guess there won't be so many people all packed in a small space up there."

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Rizen was still two decks up, so they had a bit of walking time to kill. Besides that, answering questions helped keep Bert from noticing his increasing fatigue. So, he didn't mind stating the most obvious answer that came to his mind. "The letter was black." Half a moment later, though, Shadrak's question prompted a question of Norbert's own. "How much did Jo tell you, anyway?"

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Heading Up

"We were on the lookout for trouble after she contacted you," Amon began, "Like I said, we split up so the wrathites wouldn't find Joanna and the Ursians wouldn't be bothered by our wyverns. I was expecting Fizza to show up somewhere in the port, but we didn't even have enough time to look for her."

"Yeah," Shadrak nodded soberly, "that blockade turned out to be one massive distraction, even before the battle. Plus, there were soldiers everywhere in town."

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Heading Up

"We were on the lookout for trouble after she contacted you," Amon began, "Like I said, we split up so the wrathites wouldn't find Joanna and the Ursians wouldn't be bothered by our wyverns. I was expecting Fizza to show up somewhere in the port, but we didn't even have enough time to look for her."

"Yeah," Shadrak nodded soberly, "that blockade turned out to be one massive distraction, even before the battle. Plus, there were soldiers everywhere in town."

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"So, she told you that there was danger in the port, but that's about it, huh? Guess that was the most important part," Norbert responded. He thought about relaying what he could remember of the wording, but then he shook his head. "I'll just show you guys the letter when we get there."

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Heading Up

"You have the letter, too?" Amon said, a little surprised, but only at first. "I guess that makes sense," he nodded.

Joanna, Liam, and Malik weren't all that far behind Norbert and his own little entourage. With Joanna planning on beginning her search from somewhere on the main deck, they had to head on up from the lower deck, too. There was still no telling if the avian would be able to locate Fizza in the dissolving chaos, but with the Deadly Dandelion moving further from the port with each passing moment, they were running out of time to find her and address the problem if she was really out there.

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There wasn't much else to talk about until Norbert, Amon, and Shadrak reached Rizen, so conversation fizzled out. Rizen, herself, wasn't exactly where Norbert had left her. She'd wandered a little bit and, in all honesty, was a little disgruntled. Here they were again, on this piece of tree that couldn't decide where it wanted to be in the world, swaying this way and that. And this time, there wasn't even a decent place to stand where she could get any rest, let alone a good brushing and some food. No, her daft rider just went down into this ridiculous thing again, leaving her completely alone. Humans in general didn't have good survival instincts, but this was just negligence. And when he finally returned, she made sure he knew as much, pawing at the ground, snorting and braying her fatigued complaints. He was talking to her and brushing his hand against her neck again... Good. He got the message. Now she just hoped he'd listen this time. Honestly, without equines looking after them, how did humans survive?

"Here they are," Norbert commented as he handed the letter and the signet -- the latter having been placed over the former, held in place for the time being by the Crusher's thumb -- over to Amon and Shadrak. He'd just dug them out of a grumpy Rizen's saddlebags after soothing said pegasus. She was obviously tired. He was, too, and, in fact, was already making plans to head over to the other ship, find somewhere to stable Rizen, and find a place to sleep, himself. Maybe he'd give her a brushing, and, if available, fill a trough for her, too. As for himself, though, food could wait.

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A Sign

Amon tried to accept the letter and insignia, but Shadrak quickly plucked the latter out for himself, leaving Amon with just the letter. "I knew it," the druid said, looking at the insignia from multiple angles, "four wings, just like the pattern on her dress. It's definitely Ryder." He really was a busy messenger, as he so flatly put it.

Amon meanwhile read through the letter in silence. It was a quick read, and once he got to the end, the sancturan nodded softly to himself. "It wasn't word for word, but it was close enough. I just wish we had been able to do more with it." Granted, they hadn't run into any wrathites, at least not an up close, face to face encounter.

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"Wait, who?" Norbert asked Shadrak. Amon said his piece, but there wasn't really anything to respond to there.

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The Messenger

"Ryder," Shadrak answered, "he ... well I don't know if Ryder's a man or not, but he acts like one. Anyway, he's a messenger that works for Nyx. He has a cloak with a hood and a strange mask. The important thing is that he manages to travel all over extremely quickly." Thinking about it, Shadrak supposed there wasn't anything to worry about. "If Fizza met up with him, she probably owes Nyx a favor. That also means she could be anywhere by now, though. Joanna might be wasting her time looking for her."

"It can't hurt for her to at least try and find her," Amon chimed in, a hint of guilt in his voice, "There isn't much else for us to do until we reach Kigen, anyway."

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To Norbert, given Shadrak's own account of how Nyx treated him, the shaman's news was more foreboding than comforting. The color of the paper made sense if this Ryder guy was a servant of the minor goddess of night.

"Especially if she's been captured or something. Do you think Ryder fabricated the letter, himself? It sounded like Fizza, but it'd be stupid to ignore the possibility if it's at all likely," Norbert ask Shadrak. The druid seemed to be the expert on all things Nyx, after all, given his experience.

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"I'm not sure Ryder would bother abducting anyone," Shadrak admitted, trying to puzzle out what might have really gone down between the two, "but if she was trying to meet back up with us and got ahead, she should at least be in Urquium. She didn't know which ship--err ... ships we were getting on, so my guess is that Ryder dropped her off somewhere in the city and we accidentally left her behind in the chaos." He put special emphasis on 'accidentally,' hoping to not sound like he was contradicting Amon's story from earlier. There was no need to get caught up in that, again.

Shadrak's thoughts on Fizza's location more or less mirrored Amon's own suspicions. "We're still not that far from the port," he noted. It was too far for a swim unless one went straight to shore and then headed north into the city proper, and there were dozens of ships in the area that might pose problems. The only thing they had going for them at the moment was the cover of night. Now that it was fully dark, visibility was poor enough that fliers would have to be quite close to be spotted from below. That worked both ways, of course.

"It's not too far, yeah," Shadrak agreed, "so if Joanna finds her, maybe we should send someone to bring her back. It's risky but, I don't see another way to get her aboard from here."

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Shadrak had a good point. If there were Wrathites in port, it'd be foolish for everyone to go back all at once. It was better to just send one person to go bring her to one of the ships. The problem was that they didn't know for sure she was back at the port until Joanna confirmed it, but they were getting further and further away by the second. They were fleeing a rather unusual battle, though, so it wasn't as though it was safe to just stay put. And even if Joanna confirmed the wayward woman's location right then and there, it'd be irresponsible for him, himself, to be the one to retrieve her. He and Rizen had been traveling all day, and they were both exhausted. Besides that, he was fairly certain a good number of Wrathites could identify him on sight.

"I guess all we can do is wait for Jo to find her, and try to figure out how to get her back here. Probably best not to send a wyvern, and I shouldn't push Rizen too much more tonight. Lumi and Star are our best bet if Jo finds Fizza before we're too far away. Otherwise, do you think she could find her own way to Kigen?" he asked the two, "I don't like leaving her like this, but we can't just run into the Wrathites' arms if we don't find her in time."

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Requests

"She could definitely get there," Amon nodded, "it's just ... annoying that things turned out like this." Add in what happened to Haythem and it was more or less a disaster for the sancturans in particular. "I'm going to have to ask Joanna to send Fizza an apology ..." Amon was starting to understand how Haythem felt, and why he insisted on apologizing so frequently. This really was his fault, splitting everyone up the way he had, leading his own group right into the maw of that deadly twister, condemning Haythem to ... whatever life he would be forced to live, now. All of it.

Shadrak glanced at Amon briefly, then held up the insignia for Norbert. "Do you mind if I hold onto this for now?" Shadrak couldn't sense much, but there was definitely a hint of dark energy inside the insignia. He wouldn't have noticed it if he hadn't been looking for it, which meant there was likely more to it than one might assume. "If it wasn't a seal for the letter it might have some other purpose."

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Well, it sounded like they were leaving Fizza to find her own way back. That was probably the safest course of action to take, not only for the group as a whole, but even for Fizza, herself. From the looks of things, she could handle safe and effective passage much more easily than the group could, after all. He was glad Amon was going to ask Joanna to update the woman, though. And more than that, having the decency to apologize for the circumstances. It wasn't right to just leave someone in the dark like that when they were relying on you for something.

And then there was Shadrak's request, followed by an unusual explanation. Norbert shrugged. "I don't need them anymore, so you guys can do what you want with them. As for that signet's use, maybe it was just to tell us that she went with that Ryder guy. That's what I figured, anyway." Of course, then there were all those trinkets Raquel accumulated from unusual individuals. It could never be as simple as just a tchotchke, could it? "She was discrete enough in the letter -- and a good thing, too. Maybe not sealing it with the signet was just an extra step of caution." Wishful thinking, probably.

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Off to Investigate

Shadrak doubted this little thing was just Ryder's version of a calling card, but without further investigation, there'd be no way to tell for sure. "Alright, thanks," he said, nodding at Norbert before turning to leave. "I'll let you know if I come up with any new theories."

Amon watched as the druid made his way back toward the staircase leading into the lower decks of the ship. It was good that he was always trying to be helpful, but Amon still wasn't sure if letting him investigate that thing alone was such a good idea. "I guess I'll hold onto this, then," he raised the letter a few inches in his hand.

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Evidently, Shadrak didn't think that was all there was to it. Well, there was no harm in him investigating it...maybe... Either way, they needed more information if there really was more to it than what was readily apparent, and Shadrak's willingness to be the one to do so was useful. It was also good that he was ready to share any new findings he had.

When Amon spoke up, he looked to the Rexian, then nodded when he'd finished speaking. "That's probably for the best, since she was with you guys to start with." Well, all that was dealt with, so he shifted his attention to what else he had to get done before returning to the Emi Maru. "I have a few more things to take care of, but I'll be on the other ship after that. It's best to keep the pegasi separate from the wyverns, if it can be helped."

With that bit of common sense, Norbert began heading back below deck. He needed to talk to Liam, but first, he may as well finish delivering things to people.

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