The Golden Age. Act 2: Converging Paths.

[SB.]

Upon the mention of his axe, a smug smile crept onto Aaron's face. "It's hardly standard issue, yes. Perhaps you recognise it." The design was certainly distinctive enough, and considering Albano's occupation, it would be strange if he didn't. ...Then again, it had been lost to the ages. The idea wthat he might not wasn't too outlandish.

Regardless, he paid close attention to the discussion of the dukes. Bereen and Galivor will be the real challenge, then. With no tyrant to unseat however, Aaron would need his own way of convincing the duo. His path was not yet clear. "What are their ambitions then? Self-gain? Hm..." Knowing your audience was always important, even if he didn't plan on bending to their will. What can I do? Assembling the Gifts seemed like his best option still, but he was open to alternatives, should they present themselves.

[Juliette]

"The shopkeepers... I suppose so. Anything interesting you've heard?" Velvet inquired. "I've been talking with other people at the inn, but no luck on hearing much about the adventurers. Mostly people either praising or complaining about the Commander's orders, or complaining about the Council. No positive words for those ones. So... the same way people in Madrigal usually talk about things, basically. Oh, and I briefly caught wind of a sort of commotion in the King's Square. Something about a foreign ruler who has come to visit soon... I never knew the world outside of Titan was so big, there are only rarely visitors in Koerm. But, I suppose that stuff isn't relevant to our objective, even if it is interesting."

[eclipse]

"Nah, that's important stuff to know," Kolmar said quickly.  "'cause if some foreign bigwig is comin', the top dogs in the city are gonna want to put on a stronger face than usual.  If we're lucky, they'll be better things than normal on sale at the shops.  So far, I've only been to the bar.  We ain't the only group of adventurers, but anyone coulda figured that out.  Was gonna hit MadrigalMart next, an' see if they got anythin' of interest."  He paused, thinking about what she said regarding Koerm.  "You'd think anyone comin' from another country would pass through Koerm.  Unless they were all seasick or somethin'."

[Juliette]

"Aha, that is true. How very forward thinking of you!" Velvet giggled briefly, but recomposed herself right away to continue the discussion. "It's strange, though. Apparently, his title is Emperor... I've never heard of that being a real title, just something in fantasies. And I didn't manage to hear his name at all, which also struck me as odd. As for Koerm, well, apparently that's where he'll be arriving, but since it's a journey for political reasons, he was to head here quickly afterword. That makes sense, if you ask me. Anyway, for places to go, I agree that MadrigalMart would be as good enough a place to start as any. Though, to expect pricing changes too much might be a bit optimistic. In this time of year, they're already pretty competitive!" She smirked, adjusting her hood before starting off on the pathway towards the Square once again. "Well, unless you suddenly have new plans, we can get going there right away!"

[Xinnidy]

"The frosty mantle... yes, that will do." A grin as she spread the dress, examining its dimensions. It didn't drag on the floor for her height, which was important. The fabric around the back of the torso was thinner and allowed it to breathe well, as well as the shoulders, which was fantastic for Raz --she'd never been caught dead wearing a heavy, suffocating costume and had no plans to start doing it now. "For that price, it's as good as sold. I'll take it." She giggled, taking some comfort in the money she gained from the last adventure. It sure was good to be able to pay for mild vanity.

[Bluedoom]

Wow, she's really into politics for someone of her age. That makes apathetic people like me out of place...I'll need to be careful about this one.

"So people hate the Commander for starting too many investigations? That's weird, you would think that she is just doing her job. I don't hear a lot about the capital where I live, so I've only been catching up since I started traveling again. Oh yes, just in case you know something, do you know anyone in the city who is the most knowledgeable when it comes to lore?"

[riariadne]

Dubious Pride

Albano inspected the axe at Aaron's further mention of it. "I can't say I do. Axes are not ranked highly among famous weapons, as people generally seem to prefer swords for their style. And even so, the axes themselves tend to be more mundane, such as a Brave Axe- very common among skilled axe wielders, but that tells much less of a story than, say, the Masamune or Zodiac Spear. The only axes of true fame I can think of are the Lionheart and the horrible Axe of Madness. Clearly, it isn't the former, and I would hope you would never boast about the latter."

"As for the ambitions of those who refuse... I cannot say for certain. There are too many Councilors to make a collective judgement call on all of them. For Duke Glaivor, it is a simpler explanation, in that he is extremely paranoid. There is almost nobody he trusts other than himself, a trait of his that dates back to his days as a warrior. Duke Bereen is complicated, in that he is generally a supporter of provincial rights. Fernait has done well under his rule and many of the possible candidates want to make nation-sweeping policies that he dislikes. Neither of them could stand someone they have any issues with on the throne, even if it would lead to Titan as a whole benefitting. Were only the five of them to all agree- the approval of all five Dukes has in the past overruled an unruly Council like this one. But that does not seem to be in our future."

Cool Party

"Well, then we have ourselves a deal. A pleasure to be of assistance," Cornelius spoke agreeably, counting the money and handing her the dress. "If you ever feel the need to dress yourself for a different occasion, then the Silver Lining is always open- well, nine to seven on weekdays, ten to three Saturday, Sundays off, and with national holidays off of course."

Present and Past

"Well, she is just doing what the law says. But a lot of people are just resistant to change, even if it's good. They don't like her being in charge instead of a Monarch," Layla explained. "If you ask me, I think most of the people who dislike her are that sort of resistant, ignorant, or just greedy. As for lore- what do you mean? History? There's the library for that. Or if you want to hear about famous people, there's Monarchy Hall and the Heroes' Shrine." She looked up at the front seat. "I hope the Councilor gets here. Higana looks really annoyed too."

[Xinnidy]

With nothing to complain about, Raz simply smiled back, content with her new acquisition. "Thank you. Nine to seven on weekdays... I'll keep it in mind." With the transaction over, Raz left the establishment, considering wearing her new dress already. Well... It wasn't so late yet, so maybe she could visit somewhere else first. I wonder where the others are... hopefully Telmara is not alone. Raz should've checked before leaving to pursue her own devices, rather. Oops.

"Hmm... I don't want to spend more money right now." The options were fewer in the square for one that didn't want to spend much, but still...

Raz goes to the library!

[scorri]

Kaya thumbed through the book on the basics of dark magic. She knew that light magic came from the mind. That was straight forward. It was why she studied so much. She even knew that anima came from emotions which wasn't her strong suit at all. But dark magic... No one really talked about that much in the Order. There were a few who used it, but they mostly kept to themselves unless specifically asked. And given how busy Kaya had been, it had never really come up. But now apparently she needed to find out more about dark magic. So reading the book it was.

She had only made it through the first chapter when she had to look up and start talking about what she'd read. It was mostly just talking to try and work through what she had read, but she directed it at Telmara to try and bounce things off of her. "So light magic is from the mind. That's what I'm used to. What I know. Anima is emotions, like what you use. But dark magic... It's the heart. And I don't... I don't really know what that means. How is that different from emotions? I never learned much about dark magic back in the Order but now... Well someone I met... I..." Kaya hesitated, not sure how much to say and then sighed and continued pushing through, "I met Shylah, the youngest of the Magi. She's a prophetess like me. And she told me that prophecy is dark magic. And she told me that we wouldn't find the Fire Emblem in the forest. Or at least she was pretty sure it wouldn't. She said... it would end in tragedy. Which it didn't, but it wasn't the Emblem there. And then..." Kaya froze, realizing what she had forgotten. "I... I forgot. She told me that if our current path didn't pan out like she thought it would, I should go to Calimdour..."

[Nanami Touko]

Having drowned herself in everything she could get on that Zeta Flare from one tome, Telmara had turned to going over the other fire spells available, just to make sure she had the incantations and casting methods down in her mind completely should she come across any others. She was so close to getting that Conflagrate spell cast properly that any extra reading would do her so much good. Just a few more castings...

Kaya decided to interrupt their silence with her question, and a few statements. "I don't know who that is, and I don't really remember where Calimdour is either... As for dark magic, uhm... It's odd." She closed her book gently and stared up at the ceiling trying to figure it out. "Light magic is thoughts, yes. Concentration, clear thinking, focus on what you're casting... Anima is emotions, and Dark is from the heart, but... Well, Anima isn't just emotions. It's, uhm... I-I'm so good at it because i'm, a-almost always angry, or some other s-strong emotion..." It was embarrassing to admit, but her power had a source.

"Dark is... It's not about how you feel right now. It's about... Inner desire. What you really want, no matter what's happening right now..." I'm not going to say it, but if I focused on you hard enough, I'd probably be able to cast dark magic too. Blush on that aside, Telmara thought for a moment on why Kaya's visions were dark magic. "Well... Y-You want to find the Emblem, right? That's your... Biggest desire. So your visions feed off of that. And either spontaneously or, when you're dreaming, at your most calm... They pop up and invade your mind. I don't quite know how they would've started, but... Well, that's what makes the most sense in magic theory. If your visions are just magic... And nothing greater." Telmara glanced back at her with her talk finished, wondering what Kaya thought about any of that. She's so pretty...

[scorri]

" Calimdour... I can't place it... Maybe someone else in the group will know." She shook her head, frustrated but set that to the side for now as Telmara began to explain more about magic to her. What she was saying made sense, somewhat, and she found herself nodding along. "So it's... desire. More than heart. Well why couldn't they have just said that? Still, I suppose that makes sense. The power of prophecy comes from a desire to know the future, something inherent in people with that power maybe. They started years ago. I just didn't realize what they were at first. But the first one I had... I didn't realize it at the time, but it was about my father having my mother killed."

 

Her smile faltered, and her gaze fell to the floor. "I wish I had realized but I was too young. All it did was scare me. And what mother would have believed their young daughter telling them that the man she loved was going to kill her anyways? All because of a dream... There was nothing I could have done." Silence filled the void her words had left as she stared at the floor until finally she broke it again. "At least, that's what I need to believe. Because otherwise... Well, otherwise I don't think I could live with myself."

[Ether]

Mikhaila mostly stood in place as the woman spoke, following her movements with her eyes. Nodding lightly at her words, even that small bit of information was more than she had gathered before, in regards to this mask. How knowledgeable she was, even of things that she had never given voice. Were Mikhaila's thoughts really so easy for this woman to read? Well, if her final claim was to believed, she supposed that there remained little doubt of the scope of her ability.

"Shylah the Dark Prophet. Even one with so little teaching of magic such as I is aware of that name and title. You are correct, of course. We search for something we do not truly understand, I myself only joined in hope that I might gain control of this mask, through a power that many speak of in both whispers and shouts, yet few if any could claim to understand." Mikhaila replied, considering what she had said... was looking to relieve herself of this mask wise, if one as mighty as one of the Magi recognized it's worth?

"You've certainly given me pause for thought, youngest Magi. I am humbled that one of your stature would find me of enough interest to speak to... even if I am lent the assistance of this mask and my company, in that regard."

[Nanami Touko]

"Your mo... I, uhm..." That was... Gruesome, to say the least. So Kaya had baggage like that too. Telmara wasn't quite sure what to say. Illness had claimed her parents, but it wasn't anything plague ridden, or magical, it had just been age and sickness. To hear that her own mother was killed by her father was... "I don't, I-I, uh..." What am I supposed to say? I don't know how that feels, or how to make her feel better. Can I even do anything about it? I... This is a pretty tight spot I've been stuck in.

After moments of deliberation, Telmara finally moved a bit, gently putting Kaya's hand in hers and giving it a squeeze. "It's... Uhm... N-Not your fault, Kaya... These v-visions, they're... I've never h-heard of anything like them, in magical acad-demia... So I can't blame your actions. Don't... B-Blame yourself either, okay?" She tried to offer a smile, but it fell flat behind her blush. Holding the woman's hand was already hard enough.

[scorri]

Kaya returned the hand squeeze with her own squeeze and smile as the woman did her best to reassure her. "I... I know that. I do. At least most of the time. Some days it's just hard to remember I guess. Especially when people are all... in awe about my visions. I know you aren't but some people, especially in the Order, are, and it's hard to take some days. That's all." She sighed, and leaned back against Telmara, still holding her hand. "And it's nice to be reminded. So thank you."

This time, the silence was more pleasant, and Kaya felt no desire to break it. Instead, she rested up against the taller woman, enjoying holding hands and just being there. Such a change from their previous interactions. It was amazing what a few simple truths could do.

[Nanami Touko]

Oh Gods she squeezed back, uhhhh... What do I do now? "You're, uhm... W-Welcome. I... If I had to say a-about your visions, it's... Interesting, b-but..." Telmara slowly got quieter as she spoke, finally cutting herself off, letting Kaya just rest there. What happened with her resting up against her sent a sharp shiver up her spine, glancing between Kaya, the ceiling, the floor, and other escape routes. Finally she decided to just stay put, half frozen in her mini panic. We're so close... D-Does something else happen now? Why did I never bother to look into these sorts of things past infatuation... There were so many books printed! And I never opened any of them! Ugh! This is the wooooorst... But she looks so comfortable, resting against me... Ahhhhhh! Internal screaming continued, as she remained entirely silent.

[SB.]

Aaron could have sworn he must have misheard Albano's inspection of his weapon, mouth left slightly agape. "A-are you sure?" he stammered, colour quickly draining from his face. It was only when his weapon - or not - was mentioned by name, that he realised that there was nothing wrong with his hearing. 

He must be wrong. Fate had brought him to the lost axe of King Peregrine, surely there must have been some kind of mistake.

It's his job to know historical weapons perfectly. The logical part of his brain tugged back, wrestling against Aaron's shock and denial.

Well, maybe he was just joking! It wasn't a very funny joke, that was for certain, but still-

Did he sound as if that was the case? Of course he didn't. There was no hint of sarcasm or any other lick of humour in Albano's speech - it sounded far closer to confusion.

He's a liar, then! This was HIS destiny. He would gather the Gifts, take the throne and-

You were an idiot to believe this all along. 

Aaron was fixed to his spot, staring past Albano towards the sculpture of Peregrine. Was the statue mocking him? Their weapons seemed similar, but yet... there was almost certainly something different about them. It was only a statue, and perhaps that was all it was, but it lent credit to Albano's words.

How long had he stood there for? Seconds, minutes or hours? Aaron couldn't tell any more, passing the time in absolute silence, until a faint, cracked "Excuse me," escaped his throat, and he began to move away from the monument. His face was glassy, and he roamed the city with no destination in mind - barely even conscious of his surroundings. He had a lot of thinking to do.

[riariadne]

Plenty to Browse

The girl behind the desk was no longer sleeping as Raz entered the library. "How do you do! Do you have anything you're interested in particular about?" she piped up, but remaining quiet and brief still- it was still a library after all.

Temptation Revelation

Shylah looked over Mikhaila, eyes lingering on the mask. "The paths you can take are interesting. You could embrace the mask's power more fully, but that doesn't seem to be what you want, but if you were to seek to do that, I could help you. Or you could go on an arduous journey to find an artifact even more powerful to drain it of power, possibly a Gift... but that could take a very long time, and you don't know what exactly you seek. I know one... I could tell you. Maybe I will. Or you could ask someone powerful to destroy it immediately... I could do that, too, but only if you are willing to pay the price. You could even make the most boring choice of all and do nothing different. You'd get stares, but using the mask sparingly could be power enough."

Fall of Arrogance

"Quite certain," Albano responded, watching Aaron's silence confusedly, only nodding at the young man's departure and turning back to his work. Aaron's roaming throughout the city proved fairly fruitless for a long period of time, mostly serving as a period of time to reflect- at least until a young man almost ran headlong into him.

"My apologies, sir," the man spoke after skidding to a halt. He had short blonde hair and a dark blue stripe diagonally across his armor, distinct from the standard lighter blue, signaling his province of service being Trine. Even more distinctive was the spear he held, the red rope around it being a possible signal if Aaron paid enough attention at the Shrine. "I'm here to deliver a message to the capital... but I'm afraid I'm a bit lost. Usually I don't visit here on my own, but Duke Reid insisted, and he had to be in Jotun. My name is Maximus- do you have any idea the best way to visit where the Knights are?"

[scorri]

Kaya glanced up at Telmara's face and chuckled slightly. "You ok? You look like you're scared or something. Is this bothering you? I thought... I thought this was what you wanted? I can stop leaning against you if you want to get back to your books instead. I still have stuff to read too after all. Though I doubt I'll get through enough to help too much..." She glanced dubiously at the book that she'd barely managed to get through a short chapter of. It wasn't overly complicated but it also wasn't especially interesting. Still, it would be good to read up more on dark magic. She quietly groaned as she started to reach for the book again while she waited to hear how Telmara responded.

[Nanami Touko]

"I-Im... Fine." She swallowed, hard, trying to calm down. You're just going to worry her if you get all tense and frozen... You have to at least put on a smile. Come, on try... She didn't try to smile, but she did calm down a bit, trying to soften up her arms and not stay frozen. "You're, just... S-So close, so... I'm... E-Embarrassed." She cleared her throat a bit, setting the book down. "I've never, r-really... Looked into this stuff. How relationships are supposed to, be... A-And we just met... And, I've... T-Tried to hurt you... Uhm..." That went down the wrong path. "I just... Am n-not used to kindness... Let alone affection. Or returning, a-affection... What is, or isn't appropriate. How far w-we should go, or what happens, now... Or if th-this is even a, thing... Too many, v-variables." She let out a quiet sigh.

[scorri]

Kaya took in what Telmara was saying and pushed herself back away from the other woman so she could look straight into her eyes. "Alright then, the first is easy. Now I'm not as close, so that should make things easier. As for the rest..." She took a second to consider her words carefully before pushing on. "I don't think there is one right way to do relationships. Everyone moves at their own pace. Some move quickly, some move slowly, some stay in one spot the whole time. And that's ok. What matters is that both people are happy. And yes, we've only known each other for a while but, I really do enjoy spending time with you, especially when we're not throwing magic or words at each other."

She chuckled, hopefully making it clear that she was teasing Telmara before continuing. "If there are too many variables, lets try to simplify it, ok? You like me and would want to be more than friends if the opportunity presented itself, yes? As for me... I think that you're nice and cute. The problem is I don't know how much more than that I want. Which I guess makes sense. Your strength is the strength of your emotions while I have thoughts and apparently strong desires even if I don't know what those desires are if our magical abilities are anything to go off of. But... I do know that I'm open to seeing where things go if you're willing to risk that I might not get to where you are. So I guess the decision is yours. Would you rather remain friends to wait and see if I develop feelings or... pursue something more and hope that I don't back out?"

[Nanami Touko]

"W-Wait..." She wanted to tell her not to slip away, even if it was awkward, it was nice. Too late. Now she just had to listen... Felt like being a student again, the teacher speaking slower than necessary just to explain something clearly. It felt a bit belittling, but she understood the reason, so she didn't let it get to her. "What if, I-I'm too protective, a-again? What if... I snap. I'm... N, Not very, stable... You know that." It wasn't a lie, these last years had truly changed who she'd been as a person. Getting this close to anyone was causing so many anxious thoughts to spring back up.

Getting called cute was the nail on that anxious coffin, the end up her tail coiling up to cover her face, and try to hide. And being asked to make a decision like that? Right now? There's too much I don't know, do you honestly think I can commit to either answer? You really are stupid, that's so unfair. Trying to pin this all on me, huh... She frowned, poking her eyes out behind her tail. "L... Let's..." A heavy breath followed her talking, taking a few deep ones with her eyes closed. "T-Try, ssssss, something... M-More..."

 

[scorri]

Alright then. I hope... I hope you don't end up getting hurt here. She smiled and moved back in, leaning against Telmara and wrapping on arm around her waist. "If you're too protective, if you snap, Raz and I will be there to help you calm down. That's what you asked her to do, right? Well with two of us there, it will be even better." She rested her head on Telmara's shoulder with a small content sigh. "And don't worry. We can move at a pace that you're comfortable with, ok? So if I ever do something that makes you uncomfortable, or anything like that, just tell me and we'll take a step back. And hopefully... hopefully things will work out."

[Nanami Touko]

I hope this doesn't hurt you, Kaya... "Y-Yeah... Uh... U-Uhm..." Now that Kaya had managed to get herself even closer, Telmara was at a loss. Was she just a very physical woman? Was this normal for her? It must have been, or she wouldn't be doing it so casually... Or so Telmara had convinced herself. "I'll... B-Be, alright." As long as no one else walked in on them like this. Gods, if Raz showed up, of all people, Telmara would be making a hasty escape into the nearest crevice... She did her best to pick the book back up. One more read over that new spell couldn't hurt...

[Xinnidy]

Raz nodded to the girl as she was greeted, a brief smile back. "I'm doing fine, thank you. I'm just going to take a look around, it's been a while. Maybe I'll pick up something." Being just courteous enough, Raz left the attendant be, and walked upstairs. It wasn't her first time in the library, but right now she didn't want to do much but waste time until later tonight. Well, I guess I might be in the mindset to start reading a book...

The perks of being upstairs was that there wasn't usually a lot of people in the upper parts --well, aside from the fifth floor, aspiring mages liked showing up there once in a while--. If she wanted to, Raz had free reign to change and test out her new dress, but ultimately decided to be patient. She had all of later to use a changing room. I hope the inn room is pretty comfortable... Huffing, Raz continued her walk upstairs, finally reaching the fifth floor herself. I suppose reading up some more on anima wouldn't be bad... it's so exhausting, I wonder if reading up on some theory will make it click. A turn past a bookshelf, and Raz's eyes met a visage she never expected.

Quickly taking a step back, Raz hid behind the bookshelf, hand over her mouth. Gah, I could tell there were people here, but these two?! What's going on... She'd caught them sideways, Telmara and Kaya talking to each other, and it somehow didn't end up in a heated argument... in fact, didn't they look kind of close? Taking another peek, Kaya seemed to be holding Telmara by her waist? Oh, my... Should she continue peeking, or should she reveal herself now? ...The bookshelves weren't exactly thick and hard to hear through. If they paid attention to their surroundings soon, Telmara and Kaya would definitely realize they weren't alone up here anymore, and that would be pretty awkward...

But, wouldn't that be fun?

This pretty much proved Raz right after her argument with Kaya, some much needed catharsis. Furthermore, learning of how the two interacted now was good. There was no need to make her presence noticed until whatever the two were talking about simmered down. Trying her best to contain a grin, Raz continued walking to the other side of the bookshelf, right behind the two. Taking a look at the book covers, Raz picked up one of the more basic anima theory books from the shelf, back turning against it, and opened its pages to start reading, a low hum to herself.

[scorri]

Taking her arm back, she began to flip through the book again, mostly skimming at this point. The material was interesting, but it wasn't anything that she was going to learn in a day. So her idea was get a general idea of what it was talking about and then maybe learn more about it later. Already she'd learned more than she had known, so it was a good start. She thought she maybe heard someone else, but ignored it. It was probably just another library patron and they weren't hurting anyone just sitting here. flipping through the pages, she was about to give up on it when suddenly she brightened visibly.

"Oh! This chapter is on prophecy and the like. This could be helpful!" She started to read it excitedly, though as she progressed through the short chapter, she got more and more frustrated. "Ugh... No. No this is all just the things Shylah already told me. All it's really telling me is that 'the exact nature of prophecy is hidden' and that it 'varies widely from person to person' and that 'those who manage to harness this power are few and far between.'" She slumped back down against Telmara's shoulder, dropping the book to the side. "I just wish I knew more about my powers. Then maybe I could harness them better, you know? Use them and help... help me become a better leader. I know I can trust in what I see but... It's using what I know to direct people to a goal that's hard."