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 Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 3:40 pm
The lyrics of the grand fonic hymn floated over the dark garden. The singer of the verses was sitting amongst the Selenia flowers, with tears rolling down her cheeks. She was singing to remember those she had lost just recently. Her older brother, her teacher, and the person she loved the most were now in a place she couldn't reach. She was still stuck here. Very much alone.
What snapped her out of her trance was the sound of footsteps moving across the small patio. They were to far apart to be Anise's, and they didn't click with each step, so they couldn't be Natalia or Jade. She quickly wiped the remaining tears out of her eyes as she addressed her visitor.
"Aw. I didn't mean to make you stop, Tear. Please continue singing." The familiar voice of the blond count she had come to know very well broke the silence of the garden.
"No. I was just finishing." Tear retorted, and stood up, dusting off her uniform.
"You stopped right in the middle of a verse. I know you weren't finished." Guy shot back.
"Really. I was. So I assume Anise sent you? Don't lie to me." She said as she turned to face him.
"No. I wanted to check on you myself. Luke wouldn't be happy seeing you like this."
"I'm fine. There's no need to check on me. You should be more concerned about Natalia. She's the one that has taken it the hardest."
"Please. I can tell when you're lying Tear. I may not be able to force it out of you like Luke, but we can all see that you're hurting."
"I'll say it again, because apparently you didn't hear me. I said I'm fine." Tear shot, her voice edged with ice.
Gailiardia Galan Gardios just sighed. He had forgotten that Tear was about as emotional around others as a rock. However, he knew that he had to try something. It was futile, he supposed, but something was always better than nothing.
Tear focused on her visitor. Since his return to Malkuth as a count, his clothing style had changed drastically. He was no longer in the simple outfits of a mere servant. He now fully looked the part he played in society.
After awhile, Tear's eyes drifted from Guy. She didn't want to make him feel awkward. Instead she chose to focus her attention on the window behind him. She could see inside her small room through it. Though something was off. One of her grandfather's pages was running up the stares, looking awful distraught. It took the girl a moment before she burst through the door.
"Tear! Tear! There's been an accident of some sort! There have been unregistered hyperresonances all throughout this region. We sent the ships out to investigate, and they've come back with what looks like greatly injured civilians. We're out of seventh fonists to care for them all."
As the aid was speaking, Tear had moved past guy and to the aid's front. She grasped the young girl's hand and held it for a moment.
"Calm down. Where is the lowest concentrations of healers? And has grandfather sent word to Daath to request a back up unit?"
Tear's blue eyes seemed to glare at the young girl. She calmed down from her flustered state and spoke.
"It's in the secondary quarters of the residential District. The Mayor is in a meeting. He hasn't been informed of this just yet."
"I'll head there. Right now, you need to focus on doing whatever you must to get into that meeting. I don't care if you have to walk through the door and interrupt it." Tear said with her usual level of coolness.
She let go of the girl's hand and shot a look at Guy.
"Are you coming?"
"Well, isn't that kind of obvious? I may not be a part of the Oracle Knights, but I'm sure you could use all the help you can get." He said, smirking. He walked in close proximity to Tear. Though he kept his distance, understandably.
"Right. Then let's go."
With the two of that, they were out of Tear's house in almost a minute, heading towards their destination. This would be the last time that both of them would have to rest for awhile.
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Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 6:28 pm
Jade Curtiss sat at his desk, silently reading a stack of white papers to himself. When the Emperor wasn't in the room distracting him, he actually managed to get work done. Though it seemed the Malkuth Colonel would always be behind. Jade was interrupted in the middle of a sentence by a light tap on his door. He finished the sentence, and closed the document booklet.
"You may come in." He called, lightly. He looked up from his desk as the new, young recruit entered the room. "Colonel Curtiss. I have received word from the Castle. You are to report to the throne room immediately. His Majesty urges you to come quickly."
"Oh. Really. Send word that I will be arriving shortly." Jade said, reaching his hand to adjust his glasses. As the recruit left, the slender man rose from his chair and pushed it in. He sauntered to the door and cast a glance over his office once more before leaving it. Aside from his "assistant's" mess in the corner, it was in perfect array. One of these days he was going to get Peony to put those books back on the shelves.
Jade mentally laughed at himself. The thought of the Emperor cleaning anything up was very unlikely. For the time that they had known each other, Peony did nothing to tidy or organize his things. It was a common occurrence for a maid to quit her job when assigned to the Emperor's living quarters. Between the rappigs and his personal disorganization, it only took a few months before they went insane. Though some maids learned to stop trying to organize the room, and just let him do what he willed with it.
As Jade made his way through the military headquarters, all was silent. The lower ranking privates stood at each door, guarding. They saluted Jade as he walked past, but Jade paid them no attention. He didn't go out of his way to make friends, and people often avoided making contact with him for one reason or the other. It didn't bother him at all. In fact, he found that he liked this arrangement much better than the pleasantries most officers were put through on a daily basis.
When nearing the exit, Jade slipped both of his hands into his pockets. After saluting, both of the soldiers near the doors opened them for him. Though it took unnecessary time, Jade had to deal with the formalities of being a superior rank. It was just one of those quirks.
The first thing Jade could smell as he stepped out into the bright, midday sunlight was the scent of the sea. The breeze coming off the waterfalls in the distance was as cool as ever. The years of living in this city had caused Jade barely to notice it and the deafening sound of the roaring water from the aqueducts. The military base was near the palace, so it was only natural that there were more waterfalls defending it, and with the water came the noise. It would only grow more louder before he reached the palace.
Not bothering to walk at more than a brisk pace, Jade walked slowly along the white stone bridge leading to the heart of Grand Chokmah.When he was in the middle of the bridge, the sound of falling water had died away, leaving only the lap of the waves against the stone. In the distance, he could see the hundreds of small islands that made up the intricate labyrinth of the impregnable city. Overhead, the white skeleton of the aqueducts stood against the blue of the sky. He would not deny there was a certain, unalienable charm to living in this city. Perhaps that was why it was the largest on the planet.
Continuing his walk, Jade passed the first part of the grand waterfalls that surrounded the island of the castle from either side. The walls of stone that made up the massive supports for such a grand display of water were some thirty-five feet thick, and nearly forty stories high.
Jade made the rough estimate that 10 million gallons of water rushed over either side's edge at any given second, though measuring the volume of the flow of the water held no particular interest for him. However, he had studied the massive fonic glyphs carved into the brick many times. It was a relatively simplistic glyph, repeated almost 10 thousand times over to draw the astronomical amount of water needed.
The island that the castle stood on was crowded. Filled with mostly the upper class whom were enjoying the benches on the semi-circle that was open to the public. The grassy patches on either side of the long brick thoroughfare leading the castle had gates recently placed on them, making sure the public no longer crossed into them. There was a small, blue line of shallow water that edged the grass which lead to the white stone of the castle. All along the road, there were groups of soldiers on either side, saluting Jade as he had passed.
There was the customary din of an interested crowd forming at the beginning of the road. It was common when anyone was summoned the castle in for any particular reason. Perhaps the fact that it was Jade made the crowd slightly more rowdy. To them, seeing him meant that Emperor Peony needed someone he could trust as if it were himself on the mission. That of course lead to something of the more scandalous or deathly important variety popping up in the news, which made the citizens all the more pleased with Emperor Peony's decisions.
The doors to the castle were opened for him as he approached. Sinking into the dismally light front hall Jade had to blink. His eyesight was stronger than most, and transcending into the dimness affected him more than it would someone with regular eyesight. When his eyesight had adjusted, he took a hand out of his pocket to grab the white marble railing of the stairway. He rounded his way to the top, where a high ranking fonist stood. He nodded at Jade as he headed down the small passage leading to the throne room. He took his other hand from his pocket, and pushed lightly on the deep brown door. It opened into the spacious hallway of the throne room.
From across the room, Jade could already see the bored to death Emperor sitting on the throne. His facial expression was hard and rather distant. His arms were gripped firmly on the edge of the chair itself. As Jade approached, Peony face seemed to twist into a rueful smirk.
"You're late. I thought you said yourself that you didn't like being late."
Jade merely shrugged. "Forgive me your majesty. I was in the middle of an important document you assigned me to review last night. I simply thought that the Kimlascan treaty would be more important than something trivial his majesty needed me for."
Peony looked down on his friend. From where Jade was standing, he could tell that Peony was beside himself with frustration. It wouldn't be good news that he would be receiving. Jade had known Peony long enough to tell that.
"Forget the treat for now. With things as they stand now, it might be off. Recently our fontech devices have picked up massive amounts of seventh fonons being gathered and dispersed throughout the middle regions of Rugnica. We can't tell what's been causing them. For all we know, Kimlasca might have developed a weapon that can cause a hyperresonance like that. If that's the case, which the council believes it to be, then they want to place immediate sanctions on Kimlasca."
"In other words, you want me to go investigate the causes of the hyperresonances, and prove that they are not of Kimlasca's doing." Jade said, continuing to eye his friend.
"Yeah, that's the gist of it. None of us here want war, Jade. Not after the hell we've put the people through with the abandonment of the score. I've got a feeling that Kimlasca's probably going to send an emissary my way soon. I want to be able to tell them in full confidence what's happened. I really do owe you for this, man."
Jade nodded slowly. "I understand. Consider it done."
Peony's face returned to the state it had been in when Jade entered the throne room. He gracefully stood up from his chair, walking towards Jade. "Oh, and I'm issuing you a land dreadnought just encase you need it. If you don't mind, try to return this one in one piece." He winked at Jade, who merely pushed his glasses up.
"I will try, your majesty. I cannot make a guarantee what will happen."
With his parting words from Peony, Jade spent the next several hours returning to the military base and preparing to take out one of the large Malkuth land ships. It was going to function at it's full crew number. It took almost four hours before they departed through the long tunnel from beneath the city. It took almost five hours to reach a small, grassy knoll near the edge of Engeve which often served as a landing spot for such a ship.
Jade had issued the orders. Most of his regiment was to search the surrounding hillsides for the spots of the hyperresonances, while he himself went to speak the with mayor of Engeve and set up a temporary marshal law over the town.
The walk through the hamlet felt familiar to the time he had just a few months ago, during the time when the last treaty between the two largest countries in the world had taken place. He had a feeling Rose felt the same way when the two of them sat down for tea together. The conversation went casually between the two of them. It wasn't until Rose glanced down sorrowfully into her tea cup that Jade sensed the difference.
"Forgive me Colonel Curtiss. I'm half expecting Kelly to burst through the door any moment now, carrying a boy with long red hair accusing him of stealing an apple.
Jade looked into his own tea cup. "Yes. That does seem fitting, doesn't it? Since the fall of Eldrant, the whole world has been expectant of Luke's return. The Emperor himself has sent me out a few times to Eldrant just to examine the ruins for him. However, at the current time we must presume him to be dead."
"Colonel. My. You almost sound as if you miss the boy." Rose said, smiling at him.
"Whatever gave you that idea? He was merely an acquaintance of mine. Nothing more." Jade retorted.
Rose went to add in her own two cents, when she was cut off by a low rank soldier.
"Colonel. We have confirmed that cause of the hyperresonances are people."
"Are they Kimlascan?"
"No. They don't appear to be. Nor do they have any sort of device that would cause a hyperresonance."
"Very well. Have the soldiers round them up and bring them here. Don't use force. Tell them that they will get a free bed and meal if they cooperate with the Malkuth military. I'd like to get a look at these people myself." He retorted, calmly.
The soldier nodded, and left with a formal "Yes. Sir."
Rose looked at her guest with an eye of approval. "So I take it you'll be needing Kelly's inn tonight?"
"I'm afraid so."
"No worries. I'll send word over there in a little while to get you the rooms you need. Though you'll have to promise me you'll come for tea again when you're not on official business."
"Hm. Perhaps if time will allow. Thank-you for your hospitality, Rose. It is always quite pleasant. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to my soldiers." Standing up, Jade pushed his chair in and left the small house. He laughed at himself mentally again. Was this nostalgia he was feeling?
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Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 9:47 pm
Kanji's eyes opened slowly, almost as if he was waking from a coma. He had a pounding headache, and a bad pain in his right ankle. He tried to look around but his vision was blurry due to his pounding head. He was alone in room, laying in a comfortable bed. "Where the hell am I?" He asked himself. Unknown to him he was inside Yulia City, and was one of the many new arrivals to the world of Auldrant.
(Is that good for a first post?)
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Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 9:52 pm
 Neo SatoshiHeaven HunterNeo walked around Yulia city with his hands inside his pockets, and whistling as he had come across some money that fell to the floor by amother person right in front of him. Neo walked towards the man and tapped on his shoulder, saying " Dude, you dropped this?" The man took it, and didn't say a word. He just kept on walking like nothing ever happened, and Neo put his hand on the back of his head, and simply scratched it. He looked around, and stood in the middle of Yulia city, staring at the flashy things. (Is good lol)
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Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 10:05 pm
After steadying himself a bit Kanji got out of the bed. His jacket was lying on the ground next to the bed. He picked it up and draped it over his shoulders, not bothering to put his arms into the sleeves. He opened the door to the room, His shield was also in the room, which he was glad about. It at least left him with a weapon to use in case he was attacked by Shadows. He opened the door to the room, looking up and down the hallway that connected to it. There were some people walking around, which is what really surprised him. He knew that he jumped through the T.V. at a different location so he didn't really know whether or not there would be a change in the place he landed. Though this was just weird. At one end of the hallway he could see light shining through a large window that nearly covered the whole wall. And then he noticed the door that was also down there. "Hell yeah." He said. "Can get outta this freaky place." He said as he walked down the hallway, not trying to get any attention directed towards himself. The people were... weird. They wore freaky a** clothing that looked like it should be in some stupid RPG. As he was about to leave someone ran down the hall yelling something at him, something about getting more rest or something. He ignored it and went outside into the bright sunlight.
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Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 10:15 pm
Neo SatoshiHeaven HunterNeo heard someone yelling at someone else to get some more rest, and Neo immediately tilted his eyes toward the side to see some blonde guy with a skull on his shirt just wandering the hallway. Neo immediately butted in with his ongoing nature of being friendly, and while tilting his postion toward the walking guy, he said looking stright at him " Dude! Somebody is calling ya! as he smiled with his hand in the back of his head., and with his other hand in his pocket. It was his right arm behind the back of his head. Of course, Neo was always ready for anyone's assault, so he always had his knife hiden under one of his pant's pockets.
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Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 10:19 pm
Kanji turned to the black haired guy. "Yeah, and I don't care." He said as he push by the guy, walking in the main street of Yulia City. He stuffed his hands into his pockets, his shield strapped onto his back. He looked up into the sky and began to think. "Wonder where Yukiko-sempai and Adachi-san are?" He asked himself.
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Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 10:28 pm
Neo SatoshiHeaven HunterNeo raised his right eyebrow at the guy, when he pushed by him, and said " Well, you definitely got issues man. Chillax, no need to get rude." as he looked at the shield on this person's back, and simply tilted his head sideways like saying "no", and then tilted his body again frontward, looking at all the glowing thingies. Neo was still wondering what that guy's problem was though, but it was none of his business, so he ignored the guy.
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Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 10:35 pm
(Introducing Yukiko as Kanji goes to let out his anger =w=)
Yukiko had awoken awhile ago. She talked with one of the 'healers' here. but hadn't really paid much attention to what the person said though. She was instead worrying about Kanji-kun and Adachi-san. When she awoke they were gone, even though they jumped into the T.V. at the same time. She had been walking around the city for a while now, and had ended up back to where she started. It was that same building with all the rooms for the people who were taking here after, 'arriving in Auldrant' or whatever the healer said. She walked to the exit, noticing a guy in clothes much different than the ones the people here wore. He wore a black tanktop and jeans. "Um, excuse me?" She asked the man.
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Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 10:39 pm
Neo SatoshiHeaven HunterNeo looked back at the girl asking him something, while he was so infused and concentrated at the lights, that he didn't notice a girl getting near him at all, so he twisted his head at her, and smiled, while asking " Cha, wazzup?" He wasn't really looking at her, how she looked, he simply raised his arm again to scratch the back of his head, and smiling.
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Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 10:43 pm
"Well, I'm looking for two of my friends." Yukiko said. "One has blond hair, is kinda tall, and has a bit temper. And the other has brown hair and carries a gun. Do you know anyone like this?"
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Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 10:59 pm
Neo SatoshiHeaven HunterNeo finally looked at the blakc-haired girl, and answered while removing his hand, and putting both his hand into his pocket " Well, yeah. I saw that guy head that way" as he points the way were he saw the other man go to, and then saw a figure moving among the people in the city. H elooked toward that strange figure, raising his eyebrow at him, and wondering what kind of weirdo was that. He thought his vestment was tacky, and weird, but didn't really suspect anything from that figure in disguise, and with such a weapon.
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Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 11:02 pm
"Oh, which one?" Yukiko asked, glad one of them was at least here.
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Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 11:05 pm
Neo SatoshiHeaven Hunter" Oh, the one I saw was the blondie, who had an attitude, and a shield on his back or something. Cha, I thinks that it." answered Neo as he tilted his head back to looking at all the light thingies, and wondering who the hell was that guy with the tacky outift.
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Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 11:10 pm
"oh, thank you very much!" Yukiko said as she ran off in the direction that Neo pointed.
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