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Return of the Emblem Chapter Fifteen: Alliance


Phoenix
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Dining Area

So much for a feathery hug ...

More rum could make up for that, though, so Lexi set about getting herself a refill. The fact that Lumi's words of thanks included Lexi as well made the Darklighter Idolus' captain a little happier, as well. "I'm glad we actually made the difference," Lexi smiled and held out her second cup briefly before taking a drink.

"I feel the same," Joanna spoke next, "Thank you for hearing us out, Lumi." It didn't always happen, naturally. "I'm happy you'll be staying with us, and Liam and I will help you however we can going forward."

Lobby

"So," Shadrak glanced back at Anna once Nadya had left, "since that's everything but us picking rooms settled, is it alright if we move everyone onto the grounds?" They still had others to go and fetch, but as long as everyone made it, eventually ...

"Sure," Anna nodded.

"Great," Shadrak smiled, "I'll go give Greta the good news." And with that, Shadrak was heading for the entrance, as well.

Room

"Fight? What?" Nena's confusion wasn't matched by Canaan's, there was more going on in the demon's mind as he puzzled over the situation. Despite wanting to fight him, Eva wasn't showing any signs of aggression. Canaan could only conclude that she wanted to fight as some sort form of play, which was a little strange to him. He hadn't yet encountered humans that saw fighting as anything but a means of survival.

"You can't fight him," Nena said, her dumbfounded expression turning into a glare, "the noise will draw people to the room and they'll figure out Canaan's in here." Not to mention even minor maneuvers from Canaan would see his tail smashing up against things and tearing the room apart in short order. Eva probably had somewhere more spacious in mind, but as Nena had already mentioned, Canaan was staying in this room for the duration of the group's stay in Arugai. An amusing thought occurred to the dark mage, Eva fighting with Canaan in the large chest. There was less room in there, but at least the room wouldn't get destroyed.

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"Ahhh, sorry... I get carried away some times. It's nice to meet you, Canaan." Eva held her hand out to shake, wondering if he'd understand the gesture, either way, it was worth trying. "But, I can see why you were all hush hush about the chest now. I talked to that Hiki... whatever, outside of the ship. Angelica explained that they hunt demons... I guess he's what they'd count as that? Even though he's so cool..." she sighed, thinking about it. "Do you need me for anything else, Nena? ... Am I free to talk to Canaan if not?" She had plenty of questions for him.


Hoshi's explanation on oscillation and in and out phases made sense to Haruhi, it was similar to some of what she'd read. Still the, keeping stuff in the in phase, and returning it as out phase, was lost on her. How could you control that? She confusedly stared at her for a moment, putting things together in her head, or trying to... Not much. "<So... How do you control the phases of the spell? To do something like that? It makes sense, but...>" <That's probably what she's here to teach you, you goon...>

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Well, that was interesting, just what was going on in that room anyways? Thales had his ear against the door now, having moved slightly closer. Eva was the easiest to hear, even able to make out some words. Something about fighting and cool? She repeated the latter, for sure. There was a different voice, also female, which Thales quickly attributed to the other woman that was leading the ones taking the chest. He knew that one hadn't come out of the room, so it checked.

A third voice surprised him, much lower and... almost speaking in growls? Something like that, they were whispers, but it was an accent Thales had never heard before. Was it because he was whispering. Wait, there can't be a man in there, didn't they all leave? What in the... The key was probably sitting in the lock, much to Thales' chagrin, he was hoping to take a peek, but it wouldn't hurt to make sure. Now this is interesting... something that doesn't add up. Was that the chest? Now why would there be a human in that large chest? That seemed... roundabout. Hopefully his movements weren't catching the attention of anyone, slow and steady...

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Danger

"It is nice to meet you, too," Canaan replied. He didn't recall her name; Nena kept referring to her as 'you' and the like.

Demon hunters sounded like extreme trouble. Nena was in too deep to shrink now, though. She'd just have to be even more careful. Somehow. Since Eva seemed willing to not destroy the room, along with their chances of not being discovered, for the sake of a wrestling match, Nena didn't see an issue with letting them talk. "It's fine if you want to talk, just try to do it quietly. And remember, no fighting. It's too dangerous."

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On 10/8/2017 at 2:33 AM, Xinnidy said:

Well, that was interesting, just what was going on in that room anyways? Thales had his ear against the door now, having moved slightly closer. Eva was the easiest to hear, even able to make out some words. Something about fighting and cool? She repeated the latter, for sure. There was a different voice, also female, which Thales quickly attributed to the other woman that was leading the ones taking the chest. He knew that one hadn't come out of the room, so it checked.

A third voice surprised him, much lower and... almost speaking in growls? Something like that, they were whispers, but it was an accent Thales had never heard before. Was it because he was whispering. Wait, there can't be a man in there, didn't they all leave? What in the... The key was probably sitting in the lock, much to Thales' chagrin, he was hoping to take a peek, but it wouldn't hurt to make sure. Now this is interesting... something that doesn't add up. Was that the chest? Now why would there be a human in that large chest? That seemed... roundabout. Hopefully his movements weren't catching the attention of anyone, slow and steady...

The moment Jam was told there were rooms, she disappeared to go claim her spot. She went down a hallway to go find a room. What she found instead was Thales listening through a closed door. How rude! The dancer walked quickly towards him and began to hear muffled female voices. Naturally, she began to draw conclusions.

"The nerve!" Jam called out to Thales. "No listening on girls! That's so rude! Back, back!"

She proceeded to start kicking at Thales' shins to get him to back away from the door.

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<"Controlling the in and out phase..."> Hoshi paused, not really knowing what to say to explain it. It was something that she did mostly naturally and had never really had to explain it to someone before. <"Well... Uh... If you... Hmm."> She paused, considering her explanation again. <"There are a couple ways I could try and explain it I guess. If one doesn't make sense, I can try another one maybe..." She frowned slightly, annoyed with herself. How could she teach Haruhi if she couldn't even explain something as basic as this.

<"I suppose it is like... pushing something yourself as opposed to getting someone to pull something for you. When you want to use the in-phase, you're pushing them around. Forcing them towards the enemy to steal their energy. And then you order them to come back to you, pulling the life force with them. If... that makes sense maybe?"> Hopefully it did. It hardly made sense to her right now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Thank you, Joanna. I think... I think the first step might be the meditation that Liam mentioned. Something that can help keep me calm. And focused. So that... if I am in a battle situation, I don't freeze. And maybe... Maybe some non-lethal combat techniques? I mean, they won't always be able to be used. Like against the Fallen maybe. But just so that I have the option of taking people out of the fight without.... without contributing to all the life that's been lost already." She knew it wouldn't always make sense. That sometimes she might need to kill people. But that massacre had made her realize that maybe it shouldn't always be her first option. She couldn't get so upset over something like that and then turn around and kill people in battle again. Not if she wanted to have any respect for herself.

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"Sure thing. No fighting... Just talk--"

"The nerve!"

"Huh?" Oh, great, was someone out there? Eva looked at Nena before heading over to the door, pulling it open, and... "Hi, Thales. Jam." She put a heavy hand on Thales' shoulder, holding him there. She could trust Jam not to run off. "Guess someone was listening in. Should we get them acquainted, Nena? They're both with the group, so..." She gave a sigh and a wry smile to Thales. "Too curious. Not that I blame you." She'd been pretty curious, too.


"<Uh... Are you okay, teacher...?>" Had she already stumped Hoshi? Or, maybe this was just something so simple that it was hard to explain, and any dark mage worth their salt would just naturally get how it worked. That was a bit farfetched, but... Maybe. Luckily, Hoshi didn't take long to offer some sort of explanation. It made a bit of sense. "<So, the units are like, someone that I'm ordering around? Like that? Instead of tossing them off and letting them work on their own, I give them my own orders on how to do things?>" That made sense... If that was what it was.

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"The nerve!"

Thales was easily startled by Jam, backing away from the door (a little bit) to look at the source of the voice. "Wait, this isn't what you think --Oooow!" A painful kick had him flinch and pick up his shin. Why did she need to do that to make a point? Thales had no idea what Jam was thinking, but he wasn't in a position where he could excuse himself, so he had to spin a tale, and fast, and quietly! "L-look, they just dropped this--"

Before Thales could even start his lie, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He shrunk, blood running cold, as he meekily turned to face Eva. The height difference between them couldn't feel more sharp now. Damn his short stature. "H-hey there... I was just passing by, really..." Jam please, please be quiet...

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"Yeah Eva! Hold him there so I can kick him some more! Gotta kick that eavesdropping habit outta him!" 

Jam's flurry of shin-splitting kicks stopped before it started. She had just noticed the other guests in the room. Most notable was Canaan, who was instantly recognizable as not human at all. In fact, he looked more related to the things they fought at Weyland's than anyone in Kigen. She stood there, shocked that such a being was in Eva's room of all places. 

"WHAT. THE."

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Dining Area

Liam knew plenty of non lethal techniques. Joanna knew a few as well, but didn't have the physical fitness and skill to be able to implement them against anyone significantly stronger than her. Even if that weren't the case, she would much prefer to use magic if possible. Lumi's ice magic would at least come in handy for her in the area of non lethal combat techniques. Liam could hopefully help with the remaining options available to her.

"Non-lethal?" Lexi grimaced slightly, "that sounds rough. Good luck to ya, though. Hopefully your enemies appreciate the gesture."

Lobby

"Well, I should probably get some things and go look for Bert," Anna sighed, half turning toward the back of the lobby, "Did you need anything else before I go on break?"

"Not really," Amon squinted, hoping he wasn't forgetting anything. Sure enough, he was. "Oh, right. Is there a place here where we can have a meeting? A bedroom would get really crowded."

"Yes, there are two meeting rooms, though they're about the same size as the bedrooms. There's more space without the beds and so on, but that's something to keep in mind. Is this a private meeting, or should I be expecting someone?"

"We're meeting with a man named Daichi ..."

Amon had more to add, but he'd hesitated just long enough for Anna to fill in the rest. "Kazemi, the firewhatsit that's been hanging around here lately. Got it. It's not smart to turn away those types even if they don't have an appointment, so you don't need to worry about that."

Room

"Yeah," Nena scowled at Eva and the unexpected arrivals, "just open the door without thinking. That's how we're going to keep this under wraps." The damage had already been done, and judging by the shin wrecking blonde's reaction, it would be both easier and safer to manage this by bringing the latest visitors inside. "Hurry up and come in and I'll explain ..."

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Oh, great. Yeah she shouldn't have just opened the door, but they couldn't just let people go on after hearing things! When Jam started shouting, Eva quickly grabbed her and Thales both, dragging them into the room and shutting the door. "Shhhh! No yelling. We can't let anyone outside of our group know what's going on in here... We probably can't let a few even in our group know." Eva thought to Bert, and then his dad. As nice as he'd been, this was definitely something he wouldn't overlook. It was his job, after all.

"Alright, both of you, this is Nena. And this... Is her friend. I'll let her explain, but, just... No shouting, no yelling. If you're freaked out-- and I can't imagine why you would be --keep it quiet as best as you can. Gods..." What a little mess this had turned into.

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"O-Ow! Stop it!" Thales flinched and braced at the cruel kicks by Jam, trying to push the angry blonde away, only to be thrown off further by her shout. "Wha--" He couldn't help follow her eyes to meet a gargantuan... human-like creature? Lizard-human? Four arms? He shrank even further, "E-Eva, what's--" Thales was pushed into the room, feeling even more threathened and pushing himself back against Eva as she kept him in place.

"What do you mean? I mean, I've never seen anything like that --who is that?" There was no race in Nature's green Sardius that looked like that. Was it a demon? Why were they helping a demon? "Explain." Thales' thoughts weren't getting anywhere he liked, it was best to hear what they had to say before jumping to conclusions. He was fairly fearful, but had calmed down his struggling, if only because it was pointless with the door shut.

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Explanation

"Okay where to start ..." Nena quickly decided on a brief summary. She could handle any consequent questions, really. "Canaan's technically a demon, but he's not interested in hurting people or serving the fallen. He was trying to get away from all of that, but life on a ship isn't really ideal. That's why I'm helping him find someplace to go where he'll be comfortable living, even if it just means moving around like a nomad. Kigen's not the best starting point ... not by a long shot, but that's the hand we were dealt."

Canaan looked down at his lower left hand, trying to figure out the idiom Nena just used. The best he could come to was that it had more to do with the situation and less to do with actual hands. "I won't hurt anyone," Canaan promised the four present, hoping that hearing it from him would help put them at ease more quickly.

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"... Technically a demon?" What in Wrath's name did technically mean here? Did he grow a conscience? That seemed to be the implied case, but it was a bit hard to swallow from his appearance. "If he counts as a demon, yeah. I can imagine it's a terrible idea, people are hunting demons over here. Military and stuff." Mr. Kazemi came to mind immediately. A man who was consecrated or something to hunt demons... people certainly had no good opinion on them here. Thales could kind of see why.

"He... you're not serving the fallen, huh?" It was kind of weird to be addressing a demon like that. All of a sudden no less. "Then... what do you want to do? You just want to hide? From them?" It'd feel safer if Thales could know the demon's reasons for this... it had dawned very harshly that he had no idea how demons worked, after all he'd never dealt with one before today. Was the demon's motivation even something Thales could understand?

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Dining Area

"Members of Cloud Legion are trained in the use of hand to hand combat techniques that are designed to incapacitate hostiles without killing them. There are occasions where lethal force is the only option available, but I respect that you are willing to seek alternative methods. I am not sure how useful I will be in attempting to convince these humans to aid our cause so we should have sufficient time to train coming up," Liam explained to Lumi.

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Servitude

It was a good question now that Canaan thought about it. He supposed he did want to get away from them, not hide, exactly ... just not be dragged into that world. He had no interest in killing people, and certainly not in eating them or anything of the sort. "I don't serve them," Canaan shook his head, slightly awkwardly, as he'd only recently adopted the gesture, "I just ... want to get away from ... that life. I won't ... hurt anyone."

Nena sighed, hoping Canaan meant that in the practical sense. "Well you need to at least defend yourself if something comes up. All I can do is hit them with dark shots. Yeah that kills people but it's not good for ... things like crowd control ..."

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So... he was a fugitive demon, of sorts, one that could speak some Common and wanted away from that life. That was surprisingly relatable, in a sense. Many people in that group just wanted to escape to a better life, huh? Well, tha might have been confirmation bias, but it sure felt like it to Thales.

If he was a demon intent on deceiving humans he could do much better than his daunting appearance and awkward, slow-spoken Common. Thales was inclined to giving him the benefit of the doubt. "Alright... so you just want out. Yet, we will fight demons one of these days. Do you plan to stick with us, or do you have a place to go?" He was probably warned of their mission details, but Thales found it worth mentioning in case he didn't. That was... a curious predicament.

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<"Yes, that's generally the idea. You don't just let magic do what it wants. It doesn't really have a will of its own after all. You need to control it. So even now while you're 'just throwing it out there', you're still controlling it. That's why it takes your energy to do magic. So you need to focus on how you want it to act, and generally it will follow. Of course, if you try a spell that's too difficult, or you're too tired to use magic, things could go badly. So try and be careful with how you fight."> She knew that Haruhi wanted to learn and that was good and exciting but it was also dangerous. She needed to know the risks she was facing if she wanted to continue to pursue dark magic.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Yes, I... I would like that. Thank you Liam. I know that this was all sudden and probably strange to you two, but you've both been so kind. I'm not sure how I can ever really thank you." She knew that she was basically just repeating herself at this point, but everything seemed to have finally worked out. She was going to be learning ways to control her fears, she would get to stay with the group, and she had made new friends. Somehow, what had been headed towards being a terrible day had turned around. I will be useful to this group. I will not be a burden and I will help save our world from the threat it faces. I promise.

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Delight

What Lumi was aiming to achieve here was already making Joanna's day, so the avian was slightly amused by the prospect of even further thanks.

"Pretty sure the featherfolk here," Lexi chimed in with a sly grin, "are happy just knowin' you're makin' all this effort. Am I right?"

Joanna nodded fervently. "Yes, of course."

"Figured," Lexi shrugged, "oh and if ya can, make sure Greta doesn't forget to get back here and sell the rest of the stuff we don't need. I'm stayin' in port for now so she's got some time, but don't let'er forget." She'd thought about just letting the merchant track her down somewhere and sometime in the future, but with how much inventory she had to work with, and how little of it the merchant could travel with, it was better for Lexi to stick around in Arugai for a couple of days while Greta lightened the cargo hold and made them both some money. After that, Lexi could set sail again with a lighter ship, and hopefully a better group of hires.

Rules for Demons

"I am staying with ... Nena," Canaan answered, clearly thinking through the situation on the spot. He didn't know of anything else he could do. Nena wanted to help him, but she had obligations, now ... and he could use her help. He had made it quite far on his own, but it hadn't been easy, and it hadn't been a perfect escape, either ... "If demons attack ... I will prot-"

"Only if there are no locals around," Nena warned, quietly but with all the sternness of a perturbed parent, "This group can look after itself just fine, so your biggest priority should be to stay out of sight."

"... okay," Canaan nodded, feeling awkward about the situation, now. He was stronger and faster than any human, but he was the one under protection.

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Liam raised an eyebrow at Lumi. Is it really so uncommon for humans to aid one another without expecting anything in return? "It is no trouble, truly. If anyone is bothered by your staying, I would be very willing to discuss the matter with them," he offered. 

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All these questions and concerns... All from Thales! What was his deal? "Listen here nerd," Eva said, huffing, "he's a really cool lizard man. That's totally trustworthy! I don't care if he's technically an anything, stop being so testy. You don't pale in the face of a wyvern, do you? Just think of him like a super smart wyvern that can talk. Honestly..." She didn't really get the worries. She was probably biased, due to her own appreciation for the man-monster, but if Greta trusted him to be lugged around in the first place, there was no way he was actually trouble. He would've done something by now, if he was.


"<I, uh... O-Okay.>" This sounded like a lot of safety talk, for some reason... Haruhi knew first hand how dangerous this dark magic stuff was, but she was still interested in it. Maybe Hoshi thought she'd jump at the bit and not think about what she was doing when practicing. Well... Maybe she would've, just a little bit, but, still! "<So... Should I try it now? Or should I make sure I can cast the basics without issue first?>"

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Jam was sceptical of Canaan at first, but the fact that he spoke their language was enough to humanize him in her eyes. His desire for a monkly lifestyle away from his fellow demons assured her that he probably wouldn't eat them in their sleep.  Still, she was concerned with people finding out and turning the entire country against them.

"So...what's gonna happen when people do find out? Hate to tell you, but you can't hide forever. I mean, we haven't been here a day and me and Thales found you."

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So he was staying with this Nena, and with them by proxy. Understandable, albeit that spelt a lot of potential trouble. Were the locals to ever find out, their attempts to get Kigenese help would all but go down the drain. "Monsters are one thing, but--" Eva interrupted him, Thales even noticing her huff as she protested to his suspicions? "What? Hey, don't call me a nerd, and I don't pale--I am not judging him over appearances, that's all. I wanted to know what he wants!" Saying that he didn't get afraid in the face of a wyvern was a big lie, but on the other side of the coin was miss wyvern rider over there. "Do you trust him just because he looks like a half-human half-wyvern?" Well, wyvern wasn't the right term, but the demon certainly had some reptile traits to him. Perhaps a dragon? Nevertheless, that was enough getting sidetracked for Thales.

Jam asked exactly the question Thales wanted to, though he had been worrying about it in the back of his mind for a while now. "I think more people being in the know about him is good. We can hide him better, without needing strangers to carry a heavy chest, I think." That was still a bizarre method to carry the demon around, though. "We have to know if they won't freak out, though." Helping a demon... when did things become like this for Thales?

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Room

Jamilla made a good point, and had Nena glaring at Eva again. Just for a brief second. "We'll be more careful going forward," Nena promised. She pointed out the half empty chest in the middle of the room. "We'll just have to keep moving him around in that for now. If you need to tell the others, bring them in here, first. We need as much privacy as possible. Even if they freak out at first, it's better than having them say something suspicious outside or around the workers."

Canaan was more interested in the exchange between Thales and Eva. The comparisons to a wyvern were interesting. He hadn't seen one up close before, so his mental image was simply of himself with wings. That was really all he knew about the creatures, that they had wings, similar to dreads, and were ridden by humans.

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"That... makes sense." Thales slowly agreed. There was some wisdom to tackling people who would likely figure out there was something going on like that. They couldn't expect to hide that well for the whole, indefinitely long journey, even if this time was on Eva. Heh. That was enough to bring back a cocky smirk. "Well, I'll make sure I don't open the door on anyone without you knowing~." He winked, "But really, I won't tell on him. I don't want us to get in trouble, and I'll give him a chance." Canaan was trustworthy enough, his final judgement.

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