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 Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 4:56 pm
Aiketh sighed. Obviously this was something that had happened before. "Please try to be on time. You've missed the other preliminary reports, so you'll have to be briefed on the situation later. However, now that you're here, why don't you give us yours?" She leaned forward slightly in her seat, crossing her legs as she moved. Liozu's report was one she was very interested in hearing, since he had been the first at the scene, apparently arriving before anyone else even knew about the attack. "How did you get there so quickly?"
Baran, she thought distractedly to herself as Liozu began to speak. We need to find him, as well.
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Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2008 5:23 pm
Waving a hand as he sat down, Liozu shrugged, his smile faintly soft, eyes giving a brief sparkle.
"I was already in town for a few errands. Since they had already put fire to that warehouse, I only had to follow my nose," Empress said with another shrug, drumming her fingers on the heavy wood.
Honestly. How did the dear Officer think we otherwise got there so quickly? Empress rolled her eyes and sneered internally.
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Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2008 5:49 pm
"Did you encounter any demons in the town?" Jett spoke up, grateful the squabbling between his officers and knights had been cut off by the subject change.
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Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 12:07 pm
"None closer than the ones burning the warehouse," Empress said with a shrug, wishing she could get away with jumping the dragon emperor right then and there, just wring his disgusting, fool neck... But there were too many in the room, and they were all still high strung.
This still needed a careful hand, meticulous planning and subtle maneuvering done well before anything started to happen. There was the possibility that she would have to show her hand before she'd managed any direct substantial damage, but as her primary goal was taking back her body, she could sacrifice immediate (or near-immediate) satisfaction of the goal to annihilate the royal line and instead just lay her traps and preparations.
You'll die... I'll bleed every last drop of your blood dry, cut off your line of decedents... I will have it, finally! Snarling mentally, Empress yet again cursed the brat that had been responsible for locking her body up. But she hadn't been stopped forever... and they would all feel her wrath.
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Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 6:55 pm
Celia was relieved when Liozu came back in...Finally, that meant she would be off the hook for any more questioning. She slipped into the empty seat she was supposed to have occupied from the beginning of the meeting, hiding her slightly shaking hands under the table...She hadn't realized they were shaking, nor that she had them balled into the fists while she spoke...The knight only knew now thanks to a glance at her quivering fingers, and small crimson crescents leaking just a little on her palms. That was truly a surprise...Why had she clenched her fingers so tightly? She hoped Liozu hadn't seen them when he came in.
The knight took a deep breath. There wasn't any reason for her to be nervous anymore...was there? No...Not really...Right? But somehow she couldn't stop her hands from shaking...Thus, she neatly folded them together under the surface in front of her, hoping it would go unnoticed.
Of course, her dragon wouldn't just let that sort of thing slip past him. 'Celia, are you alright? Why are you shaking...?'He asked, clearly concerned for her. This had not been a good day...and she had been making such excellent progress up to now! Hopefully this would pass...
She nodded in reply, not wanting to draw attention to their silent conversation...besides, Liozu was giving his report at the moment, and she didn't want to accidentally interrupt him.
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Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 5:57 pm
Jett was silent for a moment, thinking, more then a little frustrated at the collective lack of information.
"Kushina, I'm going to need you to go out to the surrounding provinces. We need to withdraw a portion of our forces from those areas, and the politicians are not going to like that. However, the demons seem intent on attacking us, ignoring the human provinces."
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Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 1:04 am
((So... ending this meeting now. >__>))
Aiketh sighed, equally frustrated by the situation. "If you'll allow me, Lord Jett, I'll need to head back out to the battleground. I would like to take a closer look at the route the demons took." Aiketh felt guilty about asking for permission for this. It was simple tracking and while she was right that it could not be put off for later for the risk of it fading away. Still, it was something that she wanted to do; this sitting around and discussing and not getting anywhere was driving her up a wall and she was feeling the urge to take action.
She stood as Jett nodded, their meeting breaking up with her movement and, excusing herself, left the room. Aiketh smoothed her hair with excess nervous energy as the door closed behind her. Shaking her head, face drawn and tense, she was jolted from her thoughts as she noticed Baran standing awkwardly in the hall.
"Baran? What are you doing here?"
"Oh, Officer," Baran began, reddening and shifting his weight uncomfortably. "I guess you don't need my report..." He glanced into Aiketh's face and, getting neither confirmation nor denial, continued hastily. "I needed to speak with either you or Officer Illusia."
Aiketh glanced out the nearby window, then back at Baran, debating which task was more pressing. "...Will you be long?" When he shook his head, she continued. "Illusia should be coming out in a moment. I have other things to attend to. If he's not too busy, please speak to him. If he is, I'll speak with you when I return."
Baran nodded, resigning himself to more nervous waiting in empty halls as Aiketh brushed past him and out of sight. Hopefully Illusia would be done soon...
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Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 2:47 pm
Kushina nodded, her face serious enough as she pursed her lips, but then she saluted, gesture snappy and way too overblown.
"I'll be sure to break the news to them like they were sweet, innocent virgins and it was their wedding night! How much of the forces do you want back? A third? Half? A quarter? I would suggest we start with a third, at least for the closest ones, and a half for those further away, since if we need more, the provinces closest to us would then be able to give up more forces, and it'd take less time for them to get here if it was desperate." Despite her fooling around at the *beginning* of her speech, it seemed Kushina was well able to switch tracks in the middle, without batting an eyelid.
"And taking only a third from the provinces closest to us might might lessen the disillusionment of at least some of our precious, precious virgins!" Kushina's expression and voice were completely straight, despite her words.
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Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 3:02 pm
Jett wanted to slam his head onto his desk at Kushina's 'metaphor' but refrained.
"A third will do for right now. The rest of you are dismissed." He motioned for them to leave, rewarding Kushina with a private eyeroll once he was sure no one was looking.
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Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 3:13 pm
Grinning widely back, Kushina cackled and then stuck her tongue out, even going so far as trying to touch the tip of her nose with the tip of her tongue, before she put her tongue back where it belonged and stood up.
"Well, I'll go get ready, then, Jett. But I better hear you actually try with your intended or I'll be cross!" She said it while still smiling, which was possibly what made it all the more terrifying. Then she frowned and shook her head.
"Keep everything together while I'm gone, uhm? And you know you don't even have to so much as breathe and I'll be back in a snap if you need help."
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Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 5:27 pm
Illusia bowed lightly with his upper torso before exiting the room after Celia and Liozu but before Kushina. He stopped to blink once when he saw Baran but then walked up to the fidgeting Dragon Rider. He was pretty sure the other was standing there, waiting, for a reson and somehow he felt that it wasn't about how his first battle had been.
"Baran," the officer spoke up as he came closer and stopped a step or two from the other. "Is there something troubling you?" he asked, giving the other a small smile, hoping to ease the mood.
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Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 8:27 pm
"Sir," Baran began, feeling both guilty and annoyed with himself for it. "Could I speak to you for a minute? If you're not too busy, that is," he added quickly, remembering what Aiketh had said. "I, uh, received a report after getting back that I think you should hear about..."
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Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 7:07 am
At these news, the officer's brow furrowed then it smoothed out and Illusia gave a nod. "I'm not busy. Let's head over to my office so that we may speak in private," seeing as I fear there's a need for that, he added mentally but hoped to high heaven that it wasn't anything too bad.
When they arrived at the office of the secretary of the state, Illusia closed the door behind them and motioned for the set of armchairs standing a little to the side, diagonally, in front of his desk. The Yellow Officer himself first went and pulled the lighter curtain set over the window to not have all of the glaring late afternoon sun shining in on them. Moving over to the chair behind his desk, Illusia sat down and inhaled once, deeply but discreetly, before turning his full attention onto the other dragon.
"Alright, tell me."
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Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 9:37 pm
Baran was sitting stiffly in the armchair, looking down at his hands in his lap. "One of the other Fighters," her began, turning his face up to meet Illusia's eyes, "told me that he overheard Lady Micoi and Celia talking about the battle. He said that Micoi seemed to think of it as, ah," he searched quickly for a politer way to phrase what he was about to say, "practice and nothing more. She said that it didn't matter who it was that she was fighting, demon or dragon; if she was engaging them, she would take them out."
Baran paused, not sure if he was getting his message across clearly or not.
"Either side's the same to her, sir," he finally added, leaning forward slightly. "If they're going against her, she's going to kill them."
The silence in the room grew after his last statement, encompassing the two of them, and Baran shrunk back in his chair, feeling unreasonably guilty. "Celia heard her," he said defensively. "She got real upset about it too, he said."
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Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 10:43 pm
So glad to be out of the meeting, Celia rushed out of the room without actually seeing Baran. Something in her stomach just twisted itself into a knot and continued to do so until she was a little dizzy with it. Was it guilt? Was it remorse? How could she have those things when she hadn't meant to do anything wrong in the first place?...she hadn't, hadn't she? No; that first shot had been intended to just go by...It was a warning...That's all.
Wait! No, that wasn't an excuse! She should be feeling guilty, and sorry! But the more she thought about it, the more the Water Knight realized she wasn't. Not in the least...Except still a little about all that blood she had tracked everywhere...What was going on?
'Celia, what's the matter? You can talk to me, we're partners...'Kahaku was worried for her. Why was she resisting him? She hadn't been like this since Micoi convinced her to let him out...She never used to even acknowledge that he was bound to her, but lately they had been doing so well...He looked around the familiar hallways they were in, realizing at least that they were heading into the right direction to get to the library...that was a promising sign...
Unfortunately for the little dragon's hopes, Celia turned a corner, heading in precisely the opposite direction of her favorite haunt. Shoes or no shoes, she was heading back out into the garden...Given, it was the opposite side of the castle from where the battle had taken place, but the garden none the less. The Knight gave no answer to her Dragon, simply continuing until she found a tree she liked; hidden from the sun and view of the castle, the woman flopped over onto her back, her dragon fluttering into its branches just before she toppled.
Big gold eyes stared up into the leafy, bright and shaded bows...She could feel her long damp hair soaking into her outfit as she laid on it, cool against her skin where it was exposed...It felt nice. For now she just wanted to stop thinking a while...Maybe if she just avoided all the officers and the other knights, the whole thing would be like it never happened...If she stayed outside, they probably wouldn't even know where to look, since it wasn't the library...One thought after another, all following the same pattern of wanting to simply disappear for a time flowed through her mind until at last something sort of clicked in her head...Whether or not she realized it, a way to get just such a wish had just started to open itself to her.
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