Welcome to Gaia! ::

Devian just smiled. "Believe what you want, Ms. Azriel." He simply jumped back away from her dagger and Eloysio's hand. He merely just grabbed one of Shina's cards and ripped it from the whirlwind of them, breaking the attack. Devian didn't even bother dodging the spells. The wind and lightening spells didn't seem to do anything to him, though he did lose his balance for a moment when the water spell hit.

"Such weak attacks? What are you doing? biggrin I'm no demon, handsome. I bury the ones I bring justice to. Even if it's a demon. I may be a maniac, but I'm still human. The only reason why I'm attacking you all is because I want Cinkel to experience the pain I've felt." Devian then points to Azriel. "I'm sorry, but you're the main one I want to kill in this group. Cinkel likes Rhone a good bit, but there's something about you he finds, uh, how to put it? Interesting."

"Now you should see what spells I can do. smile " Devian takes one of Cinkel's pens out and draws a symbol into the air. It falls to the ground before him and merges with the earth. Now, the ground around the entire group turns black and looks as if it is moving. Suddenly, an unseen forces seems to be slowly pulling the group towards Devian. Like a strong wind is pushing them.

...What are...they doing?

Kratos and Azriel had stuck their swords in the ground, hanging on to them to keep the force from pushing them farther. Colette and Sheena, on the other hand, were at a loss for what to do; they firmly stood their ground struggling against the wind, being dragged in slowly toward Devian. And they were too far away to hang on to the other two.

All the while, Sheena had seen what Uriel pulled off and overheard his words. "You IDIOT! Of all times to show your true motives...!" stressed Kratos' eyes had widened slightly, while it appeared that Azriel began to look extremely shocked. She couldn't even bring herself to respond to Devian's words. Colette watched on, bewildered, wondering what Sheena was implying.

Eloysio made a grin that bordered on insane-looking. "...Kill Azriel? No, no...I won't allow that...I absolutely can't allow that... Not when I've come back from the dead for her!" >:D It was futile to try to fight the wind---he phased out in a puff of smoke and reappeared atop Azriel's head, standing firmly. "Using some lost arts, I see? Well, two can play at this game. You're messing with the wrong guy from the same era!" He clasped his hands together, slipping into deep concentration, and began to murmur a continuous stream of words in a dead tongue. A white glyph about the size of a plate extended from beneath his feet, and glowing white symbols seemed to spew forth from his mouth. His murmurs echoed and filled the air as the symbols floated about, going on to form vertically layered rings around the bodies of Azriel, Kratos, Colette, Sheena, Rhone, Zelos, Oro, Schwarz, Raine, Lyra, and himself. The spell served to nullify the effects of the wind Devian casted, and allowed the others to move freely again.

Kratos picked up his weapon and dashed to meet Azriel, as did Sheena, in the hopes of trying to snap her out of this daze she seemed to slip in. But they were too late. Her face was now in an angered scowl, her eyes were glowing a bright red, and she began to speak in a different voice.

"We knew not to trust you...we saw this coming a mile away...but if there's anything I despise the most, it's the DESPICABLE ACT OF BETRAYAL!!!"

Her body now glowed so brightly that only her outlines could be seen, and her batlike wing morphed to match her feathered wing. She grew a bit, matching Kratos' height, and a halo of light appeared above her head. When the glow faded, Chiaro was now revealed to have taken Azriel's place. A being of light that looked like an angelic warrior, but truly was not; a form that felt like it resonated with intense power to those with the sense. Holding one hand out to the side, she materialized a large axe from light energy, then held it in both her hands before herself.

"You will meet your end here, you treacherous rat!!!"

Eloysio was still atop her head, having shielded his face from the light throughout the transformation. Lowering his arms, he fluttered off and spoke up, "Before anyone panics, it's alright for the most part! Since Chiaro expected this, her rage isn't too blind. Just carry on as you were! If she overdoes it, I can handle her!"

"...Chiaro..." Colette droned as she stared at the false angel with a look of worry. She could feel her boiling anger, and it frightened her a bit.

Starting to back away now, Sheena muttered, "You better be right, Eloysio." She then dashed off to a position beside Raine with a plan in mind. If there was anything she noticed during the first round of attacks, Aqua Edge caught Devian off-guard. She held out both her hands at chest level, a card floating in front. With the sweep of her right arm to the side, the cards multiplied to form a circle around her. A bluish glyph appeared beneath her as she put her concentration into the technique. "Sylva Seal: Water!" She aimed at her allies one by one; a swirl of cards rose around Kratos, then Zelos, Rhone, Chiaro, Oro, Schwarz, Raine, Colette, Eloysio, and Lyra. They aligned their chosen weapons with the element of water, giving them a bluish glow.

All the while, Colette had drifted back to regroup by Sheena and Raine as well. Training her eyes on Devian, who was the target of most importance to her, she flung both her water-aligned chakrams in a "Triple Ray Thrust!" technique.

At the same time, Kratos had made his way behind Devian and attempted to close in with a "Super Sonic Thrust!"

Eloysio had positioned himself off to the side, conjuring another Magic Hand. This time, thanks to Sheena's seal technique, it glowed blue instead of its usual pale yellow. Grinning, he sent it flying in a punch toward Devian.

Chiaro, at this point, was only half-mindful of Devian. "HRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!" She was jetting toward Uriel at surprising speed, her eyes still blazing a bright red and with her axe raised above her head. Once close enough, she tried to bring it down on the traitorous elf.

((...Yep, Uriel done goofed... lol I actually think this is a really bad time for Chiaro to go half-berserk and I didn't really want her to (our water spellcaster is gone for now, oh noes), but not doing so wouldn't be staying true to character.

And what Eloysio says is true; it's when Chiaro doesn't see it coming that kicks her into more of an "insane muthaf@#*a" mode. rofl

And I think I won't be bringing out Malachai anymore. There's enough going on. ))

Lyra waited for everyone to make their moves before she decided to make her own. She watched Uriel make his move and landed near the boy. She shook her head, not sure of what to do. When Lyra had heard Sheena yell at Uriel, her mind went blank. What did she mean by that? Was Uriel not to be trusted? Either way, Lyra didn't care, she'd have to help the group overcome this obstacle in their way so they could move onward. As she felt the wind pulling her toward the boy, she tried jumping backwards but her efforts were futile.

After the spell that Eloysio had cast on the group, Lyra's foot slipped slightly forcing her to one knee. Getting up quickly, Lyra was stopped in her tracks by a blinding white light. After witnessing the scene before her and under certain circumstances, she couldn't bring herself to attack Uriel even though he had practically betrayed them. Instead, she rushed forward to meet Devian. Stopping a few steps in front of Devian, Lyra heard what Uriel had said and her eyes widened. "Wh... What...?"

She stared dumbfounded at the blood elf, wondering why he would do that, why he would say that. Staring into his eyes she knew she had to run, that she needed to run but she couldn't, not after what she had practically revealed to the group. She shook her head and looked down. Lyra closed her eyes tightly and smiled. Tear were brimming her eyes. "I may not be part of your group and you all don't know me but.... But..." Lyra still couldn't decide on what to do. Run or stay? Run or stay? Live or get hurt? Run...? Stay...? Lyra just stood there still trying to think of what to do.

And the assault was verbal. "Don't you say a word about intolerance to me! I'm not targeting Azriel because of her wings; it's because of her bounty! I don't care if you don't find my reasons very good, they're what I have. I'm willing to ally with who you call a demon, and I protect half-elves more than you would ever know! My parents raised me to be that way and I've upheld that with dignity. They even moved me to Flanoir for that purpose. Don't you accuse me of any bigotry! Maybe you should check yourself, though. You're the first one to mention race." Uriel concluded his tirade panting from the amount of words he'd been saying, his injuries that weren't fully healed, and the speed of the situation. So much force was being used around him.

He did not want to initiate a fight with the others, but he couldn't think of how to diffuse them. Certainly a bribe would not work, and he would not be able to incapacitate them himself. He doubted if he even could with the stranger's help. His two concerns now were getting Lyra to her mother and Azriel to the king - alive or dead. He looked toward Sybak. Too much of a gap between him and the town. He couldn't run, especially not carrying or dragging the unsure Lyra. And he couldn't separate from Devian for fear of not meeting the man again. Uriel definitely needed his help. What to do? Until he found an answer, he would fight.

He began to cut a symbol into the open space around him. A few lines were started, but this symbol was much more complicated. He continued carving as he charged toward Azriel. It must have looked like he was attacking an invisible enemy. Halfway towards her, the glowing, detailed shape of a lion's head floated before him. Quickly he worked on the body, shouting "Conflagration!" as he focused the flames in her direction. He hoped to surprise them by actually targeting Eloysio. But would it work?

((...Eloysio is not anywhere on Chiaro's person, he's off to the side working with Kratos and Colette, attacking Devian in tandem. ("Eloysio was still atop her head, having shielded his face from the light throughout the transformation. Lowering his arms, he fluttered off and spoke up...") I'll just take it as if Uriel weren't targeting Eloysio.))

Now through with imbuing her allies' weapons with the Water Seal, Sheena saw Lyra frozen in her place, vulnerable. "What are you doing?! Don't just stand there!" She sprinted from her spot, snatching up the dazed Half-Elf girl to carry her to safety as fast as she could, somewhere back near Raine.

To prevent hitting herself, Chiaro followed through the reverse motion of her axe by performing a backflip. Keeping a grip on it, she allowed the head to slam into the earth while she deftly landed on her feet. Picking up her axe again, she put up her defensive stance, maintaining her hard-eyed stare.

"You sicken me. You want to make ends meet by taking a life...her life... You have your own issues, but you don't consider what she means to other people...to us...or how she truly is that would evoke all of us to protect her... Instead, instantly listening to the lies about her that are circulating... Defending Half-Elves, you say. Don't you know that Azriel IS a Half-Elf?! Or do you consider her just a creature already just because she's like this?!"

While Zelos' Thunder Blade was dissipating the fire, Chiaro remained standing her ground, allowing Uriel to continue charging at her. She raised her axe above her head, channeling light mana to amass around the head. After she had willed enough into it, she slammed it down into the ground before her. "Flash Destruction!" The technique sent a massive shockwave of light toward Uriel that tore up the earth in its path and threw about large chunks of dirt and stone.

Sheena sighed as she eyed Lyra with concern, then turned her attention back to the battlefield to be careful and spoke hurriedly.

"It's not a problem at all. Hmm...I put a Water Seal on your weapons, but I think it would be best to keep your distance right here next to Raine... Have you got any water spells? Those just might help catch that Devian guy off guard. Only...we don't want to go too hard on that body...because it's not actually Devian, it's him controlling our friend Cinkel's body.

And...I don't know what could be done about Uriel...I could hear everything. He seems to be on good terms with you...but he betrayed us. He pretended to be on our side because he wants to kill our friend Azriel, which is also what Devian wants. Irony is that he says he defends Half-Elves, but wants to kill Azriel who is one... Still, I wonder if you might be able to change his mind at all, because things will get ugly if Chiaro ever goes overboard. We're angry with him...but we don't want to end up killing him. Chiaro...that's the one with the axe you see over there right now, who looks like an angel...she took over Azriel's body to protect her.

I'm going to go see if I can get Chiaro to ease up. My seals are near useless against Devian and my Summons might be too much. Meanwhile, you...above all, please keep your guard up and try to stay safe."

With that, the ninja chief rushed over to the side where some of the others were taking care of Uriel, watching and waiting for things to calm down considerably so that she could get a word in at Chiaro.

Uriel saw the powerful white light approaching. His gut provided an idea of how powerful the wave was. In a continuous movement extending from the last slash of his Conflagration, Uriel designed a "V" that glowed before him in a green light. He quickly added a few more details such as extra lines to give the head shape, talons, and and some miscellaneous strikes for feathers. Putting as much force as he could into the wind-based spell, he shouted, "AIR BLADE!" As quickly as he exhaled, a bright grass-colored surge of energy propelled toward the approaching white one. All the while he was asking himself, How can I form a plan? How can I catch her off guard? How can I send her into a fit of rage, as his opponents seem to fear? This was the only hope he could see of survival.

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed the oddly, and revealingly-dressed woman returning to the battlefield. He waited for enough mana to accumulate within him to begin another spell while waiting for the his Air Blade and the "Flash Destruction" to collide.