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 Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 1:05 am
Aiketh was startled as well. She bit her lower lip as Baran talked, forcing herself to look somewhat unconcerned by the news. A little worry was permissable to show; he was the Dragon Lord, after all.
"What about the next day? You met the Dragon Queen then, correct? How did you find her?" She found she was squeezing the stone tightly in her hand under the desk.
"Huh?" Baran looked at her, confused. Hadn't he covered that in his report? s**t... No, he definitely remembered writing it out. He hadn't wanted to leave out that information, but he had also wanted to get something to eat. It had taken up a full page and way too long to get out.
"We went further inland... started heading up towards the mountains. It was just getting to be a hike when they," a note of distaste was in his voice now; it was obvious that Baran was still salty over how they had been treated by Micoi and Kanak, "showed up. They told us to head to some abandoned shrine, then a few minutes later, appeared again. Micoi sent us all back home."
"And how did His Highness react upon seeing them?" Aiketh didn't need to wait for Illusia. She almost smiled to herself as a sudden idea came to her. Perhaps this would be enough to throw Baran off of the trail.
Baran gave a half-shrug, glancing away again. "I was behind him, with Celia. I guess he was kinda annoyed to find out that they'd tricked him."
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Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 1:20 am
Tricked... yes, that was ceertainkly something but he had read about that too. But still... who had initiated it? Who of Micoi and Kanak had come up with it and who did the magic? He wondered if Aiketh would ask that for him, though it would probably be way too much of a challenge to inform her of what he wanted and staying hidden.
Sighing mentally, Illusia shook his head slightly and then made a small gesture to his side before pointing to his eyes, hoping Aiketh would get it. Just to be sure, he took a silent step forward (he was wearing flat boots today, thank the Spirits) and mouthed "who".
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Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 1:39 am
...Who? Aiketh blinked, risking a closer look at Illusia since Baran was still staring down at the desk.
"...Micoi cast the spell?"
"I think so?" Baran cocked his head to one side once more, sending the same curious look at Aiketh. This really was strange. "I don't know much about magic, apart from when it's being cast. I think it was her, though. The spell didn't feel like a Youkai one. Actually," he mused, "it didn't feel that bad at all. It must've been pretty strong, right? I mean, to send us all the way back to the capital..."
"Yes," Aiketh agreed, "it must have been very powerful. Baran," she leaned forward, intertwining her hands as she leaned her elbows on the desk, still holding tightly to the rock, "I won't lie to you. Your report was... not up to par. I expected better from you. You have written much more thorough things after returning from missions that were not nearly as important as this one. The fact that you were a member of the party send to retrieve Lady Micoi aside, I would have expected a much more detailed report seeing that you travelled to Arinas." She let the rest of her words remain unsaid, certain that she had made 'the point' glaringly obvious. "I'm making an exception this time and I won't have you write up a second report," Aiketh continued with the brisk air of getting down to business, "but I would like to know if there is anything else that you have forgotten to tell me."
Baran gulped. So he was in trouble. "U-um... No... Not that I can think of. Can... can I come find you if I do think of anything else?"
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Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 2:06 am
Illusia sighed heavily, mentally of course. That did not give as much as he had hoped. Would Baran be able to highlight more things if they told him more? Especially about what they were looking for or concerned about. As it stood currently, they had not gotten very far in any direction. But the fact that Micoi could perform strong magic...
He would like to know more about the youkai, Kanak. How had he acted and how had he accepted the leaving of the girl?
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Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 2:16 am
"Yes." Now that it was all said and done, Aiketh was troubled once more. It looked as though they would have to tell Baran more about what had happened in order to get any more information out of him. He simply didn't know what they were looking for and she wsn't able to ask him without giving their position away.
She stood, absentmindedly straightening out the pages in Baran's report. "That will be all for now. You're dismissed. And Baran..." Aiketh allowed herself a small smile as the Fighter froze, standing half at attention. "Thank you. You have been helpful. I do not think I need to remind you that what happens on missions is, of course, confidental." She paused, then added, "your ability to sense magical presence has been useful once again. If it is possible, I would like to you work on further developing it." Aiketh nodded, releasing the Dragon Fighter.
As soon as he left the room, closing the door behind him, she turned to face Illusia. "Well? What do you think?" She went to lock the door, then drew the curtains across the window. "That wasn't as useful as we had hoped."
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Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 2:24 am
Illusia stood still for a moment, once again leaning on the wall, arms crossed. Finally, he raised his head, their eyes meeting, before slowly taking off the necklace. The stone stopped glowing. "Partly good, partly bad," he sighed. "I'm sure that you, as well as I, know that we won't get far on this and will need more." Eyes fleeting away from Aiketh and to the door that Baran had left through just a few moments ago, Illusia let his mind wander.
"You said he was good at sensing magical presence... why has he not been trained to further that ability yet?" Illusia turned somewhat sharp eyes onto the Black Dragon Officer in question.
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Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 2:30 am
Aiketh bristled but kept her voice calm. "I did not know it was so advanced. Up until this point I didn't believe that he was able to do anything more than sense when magic was being used. This was still very useful; I sent him along on as many missions searching for demon activity as possible. He was the one who alerted us the the portal created by Youkai, Illusia. I haven't been wasting his talent."
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Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 2:38 am
"Alright, I'm sorry then," the Yellow Officer nodded. "But these news also tells us something more..." he looked directly into her eyes, "he needs to be trained in his abilities and that almost directly calls for us to promote him in some way. If it comes down to promoting him and someone asks on what basis, we don't even need to pretend." Illusia went quiet for a minute, averting his eyes to the floor as he thought. Finally he raised his eyes again, looking at her seriously.
"Assess his skills for me, right here, right now. How good is he at swordsmanship and with the bow? His accuracy. Does he have any other magical abilities or inclination towards such?" What was the Secretary of the State getting at?
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Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 2:47 am
"His skill," Aiketh brushed a hand over her mouth in concentration. "He isn't the best," she finally admitted, "but he's got talent. He is quite accurate with a bow and arrow and when it comes to hand-to-hand combat what he lacks in physical strength I feel he makes up for in technique. He is easily distractable. That has been my main concern about him. Once he is paying full attention to fighting, he is very good. The problem is that it is hard to get him motivated. He joined our forces on a whim and he's... not as diligent about his work as some of the others.
"I would not attempt to teach him any sort of spellwork," Aiketh said, walking to the window and twitching the corner of the curtain away to look down over the castle grounds. "Apart from the fact that he would protest the entire way, I doubt that he would be able to pick any of it up."
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Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 3:01 am
"What kind of motivation does he need to get going and be determined enough to take it all the way?" Illusia asked, remaining in place but following Aiketh with his gaze. If it all was a matter of rank and pay they could easily get around it... but if it lay deeper then maybe they should just drop him completely...
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Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 9:40 am
((I couldn't go to sleep for ages after I signed off last night. gonk I was seriously considering getting back online.))
"I'm not sure," Aiketh admitted. "He means well. I confronted him on it once. I think he needs to be able to see the purpose of his actions; to see the direct result." She dropped the curtain, turning back to face Illusia and speaking with a sudden earnestness. "I can convince him of the importance of his actions if it comes to that."
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Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 1:45 pm
Illusia nodded, a small smile on his lips. He had no doubt about Aiketh's ability to affect people when she had to. "Whatever you might need, I'm sure we can get..." he said before pausing for a second, then continued. "Aiketh, I have been thinking... what about a Dragon Rider?" he said, knowing she understood what and who he meant. If Baran was cut for it, even if it would take some (serious?) training, then that would be a possibility. But it was also one of the highest promotions they could give at the moment without making too much of a scene or drawing eyes and questions.
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Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 10:51 pm
Aiketh nodded. "Yes. I was considering that myself. I believe it would be within his capabilities. He certainly has enough balance that he would be able to stay on the darna and I can arrange for him to learn the rest. I think the idea would appeal to him." The pressure at her temples was starting to return and Aiketh pressed her hand briefly over her eyes. "I will think over it some more, but I don't see any reason why it shouldn't be all right. I'll talk to him about it after breakfast."
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Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2007 6:54 am
"Alright, then that's all good," Illusia nodded once. "Is there anything else we need to discuss concerning this or his Lordship?" the officer asked, walking up to Aiketh and holding out the hand that the necklace rested in - he obviously wanted the stone, which she was still holding, back. The stone that the necklace held was, upon closer inspection, of a pale blue, near aquatic, color and had a transparency close to that of glass, the chain was silver. The companion stone in the Black Dragon Officer's hand looked the same, the shape was, perhaps, the only thing that looked a little different. Also, curiously, the pair looked as though they had not been worked on for they were not faceted in the least but more looked like a stone you picked up at the beach, polished smooth by the years and years of waves rolling over it.
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Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2007 7:56 am
Aahahaa. Precious, yes. She was indeed having a bit of turn in her circumstances, lately. But Empress knew at least three-quarters were from solid, insistent work on her part. But this, meeting the Quee... Micoi in the gardens and then having her accept to walk with her... Liozu, rather, was a stroke of good fortune no amount of diligent work could substitute.
"I'm honoured!" Liozu winked and came up to stand beside Micoi, pointing into the greenery at a half-covered, though neatly paved with stones small path.
"How about following that one? I can't remember seeing that one around here..." Which was true. Empress had tried scouring Liozu's memories of the garden's layout, and that path had either been ignored, or simply not seen. Either way, it was worth exploring, and might take them even further away from the castle. All good things, in Empress' mind.
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