Welcome to Gaia! ::

(WHOO! I have to read the locked threads to understand why the castle is over run! But I'm just going to say that I got here with everyone else. Why? Because I was in the castle wearing Christmas-colored clothes and no weapon.)

Ashnard, who had went to the FEF Castle's armory before they left, now wore the plate armor of a general. He also grabbed a Silver Blade and a Silver Lance. Now armed for battle, the mad king was anxious to regain the castle.

"I don't really care where they're from," he said,"but I want them obliterated off the face of this world."

"That sounds like a plausible theory. It also means that we're dealing with two people..." Victoria considered it carefully. "It also means that they're not working together, as they both seemed to be acting on their own."

"I noticed that. Most of the time, it was just me and my killing edge that was doing the work." Sue nodded towards the Ranger, a fellow horseback rider with similar weapons. "It's a good suggestion. However, I'm keeping my Myulgre with me, just in case I need it, like last time."

She recalled when the S-Rank bow lead to victory against Granny-N, how easy it seemed compared to now.

The ranger shook her head.
"When running around other places besides Valni and the Ruins, then yes. But we aren't in Magvel, so there isn't really much to place a theory on. The fact that these monsters are even showing up here is more than enough to say something bad is going down. There's three different plausible explanations: Formortiis, however there would need to be someone around to resurrect him and there are no sacred stones in these parts; a portal to either of the places I mentioned; or, they're just simply being summoned up and created by the mysterious being mentioned by Father Renault."

"So then, our enemies are two separate forces, each with a different objective in mind. One of them might just be confused, while the other has a wicked heart." Sue took all the facts in, analyzing them carefully. "But I don't think we've seen enough of either one of them to know how to defeat them. And... something has been bugging me. The "King", that's what I'll call him... he seems to think that Nino was his wife or something. What does this mean?"

Soren abruptly slammed the shutters together and threw himself against it, his back to the wall, his breath heavy and his vision a bit distorted. The mage had to blink delirium away. He exhumed a soft breath, a breath turned cold from the assault of wind and hail. Snow and ice alike were stuck in his dark unstyled hair.

The mage spent a few moments recollecting himself. Whatever had compelled him to such an act of madness, he was not certain, but the thought finally occurred to him that Sue had attempted to address them a few moments ago. Soren glanced the room. He stared vacantly at Anna, then at the room's features, seeing no one else there.

"...I'm sorry, Anna," said Soren as he pushed himself away from the wall. His joints felt frozen. "...Are we having a strategy conference?" His voice was calm and the kindliness which once possessed it had subsided, returning Soren to his usual serious demeanor. Voices were drifting down the hallway.

"Blast it all. We must have missed a few important details already. Sorry we couldn't get a casual conversation — let's meet up with the others." The mage glided away from the door, the snow and ice in his hair neglecting to melt. He pulled the door open and slipped into the hallway with a glance back at Anna.