Welcome to Gaia! ::

OOC: Much apologies for not posting in the last few...brain dead sweatdrop

And no, Chibicid, Layla only sees you. She will follow you guys in, but she'll only hide for now since she doesn't quite know what's going on (lack of remembering and whatnot since Ryden disappeared).

IC:

Sion couldn't help but bring back some old memories of what little he had during the time he was actually at the Tuvidal Academy before being transferred.

Hahah, damn, this place doesn't change at all.

"None of the generals actually have an office, if I remember," Sion replied as they continued to walk inside the small passageway. "Their own rooms, yeah, but those were for private use. I'm guessing that they're all in the center of this place, since this leads to the center...I think."

You realize you have a horrible memory, Sion Zell? came Melchoir's voice in his head.

Shut up, I didn't ask you.

He noticed Bryce pause and scrutinize a painting ahead of them. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end just slightly, the sixth sense in him sensing that there was something wrong. Not that he liked to show that anyway.

"Hey, Bryce, what's up?"

~~~~

Where are they going?

After making certain that the group had gone deep inside the passageway, Layla made a mad dash for the entrance before the wall slid back closed. She glanced around the small chambers, eyes adjusting quickly to the semi-darkness of the place. The aura she had been feeling now was getting quite stronger as well as what she knew was Naoko's.

A soft chuckle echoed in the back of her mind. So, the little girl of fire thinks she can subdue the demon inside there?

She knew that voice. You again...

Don't think that I'm letting you try to control me, girl. Ryden's voice echoed back to her. I'm merely just resting before I decide the time is right.

Layla tugged nervously at her blonde hair that had come a bit loose from its braid, wondering if following the others would be a good idea if she wasn't able to control the vile woman inside of her.

~~~~~
OOC: I'm waiting off on Naoko's post for you guys to enter in the scene ^^;;

OOC: Something like that. Naoko can hear you guys talking from the other side of the wall, which was where I last left off with her. 3nodding

OOC: *Patiently awaits Shuichi's 'I found it' or 'Nope, nothing' message, and for someone to RP the others in Kohki's group as Kohki hates puppetmastering.*

Naoko had taken a step back in surprise as Gwyn suddenly appeared in front of her, shielding her. First thing she heard was voices, and now suddenly the people whom she had been separated from ever since they arrived at Tuvidal began to slowly enter in one by one into the center.

"Um..Gwyn, you don't have to ---"

She could feel her cousin's glare and then the expectant smirk as the Mistress of Fire continued to concentrate her energy on disrupting the dark aura that was coming from the pillar.

Oh, great, I can just imagine what's going to happen next, was her first thought.
~~~~

Reika had glared at the intruders that entered the center room through the secret passageway, only to realize that it was just her cousin's so-called comrades making the scene. Her crimson hued eyes stopped at Gwyn, remembering his voice from their conversation earlier.

"Oh, so you're the one who tried to barge in the Crystal Hall that I had to stop," she said, trying very hard not to laugh although that was nearly impossible to as her energy was focused on the aura that was seeping out. "I see that you've really met some strange people as bearers, haven't you, cousin?"

((OOC: Bwuahaha...I love NPCing Reika xd ))

((OOC: That's quite all right. The NPCs are generally for anybody to NPC --though I tend to do it most of the time since sometimes we forget about them sweatdrop But see...this is why I've posted up the NPC profiles for everyone to get a taste of what each NPC is like and whatnot 3nodding ))

IC:

Sion sauntered into the room followed by Daewyn and Shuichi, though he continued to keep a close check on whatever was making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He had a feeling that they were being followed -- not by anybody particularly evil, it was just that strange feeling of being followed.

If only he had actually paid attention to the magic classes in the little time he spent at the Magic Academy would Sion have the ability to sense some magic. However, that wasn't the case. He just proved to be much stronger physically and more capable of being a commander at Tuvidal's sister city of Demetrie rather than one at Tuvidal itself like Reika.

"Hm? So here's where you guys were," were the first words that came out of his mouth, his eyes greeting the Tuvidal general's back and waved.

"Yo, long time to see again, Reika."
~~~~~

"They're not much odder than the people that you've introduced to me in your army," came Naoko's retort just soon after Sion had greeted the Mistress of Fire.

And she added bluntly, "Plus, I believe that you're the strangest one of all in all of this mess."

We must hurry and enter the temple, Naoko, Daemon said to her. I feel that there is something beyond the Death Dealer watching us.
~~~~~

Reika gave a long and fairly wary glance at Bryce, but she decided not to say anything nor let her emotions get the best of her -- something that was very much unlike her and more like her cousin. However, despite what had happened in the past, she had grown and her priorities now were much different than back then in the past.

Yet if it wasn't for her priorities and her title, she wouldn't hesitate to set both her cousin and Bryce on fire even though she knew better.

Nida kept her general bearing disinterested in her surroundings, but she shot her eyes over toward Gwyn. She had expected someone to be concerned about the injuries already incurred, but hadn't thought that the dragoon would be the first to speak up. After all, there was the prospect of combat and danger and glory and whatnot in the immediate future, and her impression of the dragon knight orders in general led her to believe that such a prospect would certainly overshadow the party's condition in the mind of the dragoon.

But Nida could detect an undercurrent of urgency surrounding Naoko, and she had a feeling that the party's leader was getting some sort of news feed from Daemon, or her mother, or whichever of the voices in her head had taken the fore. Naoko was exhausted (and probably gutsick over Phey) more than injured, and Nida's own injuries were too great for a quick fix to help in any siginificant manner. She looked down at the warped silhouettes beneath the thick, tacky sludge casts she'd fashioned - she certainly wouldn't blame anyone for immediately wanting to apply healing to her shredded arms. Ick.

Ick, yes. She did a desperate thing, and she reaped the consequences.

Not now, Xachta. Don't give me any crap until we at least get to our portion of this temple, 'kay?

The guardian responded with a sine wave of roiling ache - Nida couldn't figure out exactly what that was supposed to represent. A chuckle? An exasperated sigh?

The consequences were twofold. She's lost a bit of her shell, at least for now. Possibly forever. But she saved the rest, and now she carries onward, ever onward. She didn't allow herself to be lost in the drama of the moment - only let herself think enough to solve the problem, then stopped thinking and started acting.

Was Xachta praising her? Without qualification or snide commentary?

Let it be with you for a time. We're about to be on the move. It is growing anxious, as is she, and it would be best to be ready.

Nida found herself replying with a mental tension, equivalent to biting her lip. Great - now she was emoting to herself in the same fashion as Xachta.

All right, bug. Come on in. But let's take it easier than we did in the last temple. I have a feeling that not everything we see in here will necessitate a violent response.

The guardian slithered into her neuroglia, and they joined, and her posture shifted ever so slightly.

"His concern is noted and honestly appreciated," they half-whispered, half-hissed. "They will hopefully have an opportunity to do just that within the boundaries of the temple. That is, if the Mistresses are done with their jibber-jabber."

OOC: A note, Chibicid: It's Axen, not Axel ^^. And haha, thanks xd

Going past guardian thingy mode...small tidbit. Apologies in advance if I have some of the guardians a bit wacked (though I use Melchoir a lot since um...well, he's Sion's guardian ^^)

IC:

As Naoko began to sort out what in the world her ancestor was trying to relay to her, the memories that Daemon thought he had forgotten since his death had begun to come back to him...

~~~~~

The winds had begun to pick up as their group trekked along the path through the ghost town, or at least that was what it felt like. Daemon could literally feel the intensity of the madness of this city and the despair its people experienced.

Which to a Melbane like him was nothing out of the ordinary, but he had unconciously began to remember about how he attained his status in Melbane in the first place. The feeling was...unsettling.

"What is with this place?" he heard Melchoir say behind him. "The people here won't even come out to even look at see who's come to town."

"It's probably due to Ryden," Kain pointed out. "She did destroy an entire village earlier, if you remember."

"I don't think so," Terra contradicted. "This seems...a bit different than what had happened in Lilandre."

"You have entered the Death Dealer's realm," a voice somewhere nearby called out to them. They all turned to see a young woman wrapped in white sitting beneath a tree nearby. "That is why the people do not come out. It is the Death Dealer that will deal with their punishment if they do. They are too afraid for their lives."

"Death Dealer? What kind of pathetic nickname is that?" Melchoir voiced out loud.

Daemon eyed the young woman suspisciously as he had always done. She seemed too ordinary to be unusual, but the magic beneath her green eyes gave away a small portion of what she was.

"Before I had left Melbane," he answered (though he directed the statement to everyone), "I remember hearing about a young lord from Demetrie who had given up his soul to the darkness in exchange for ultimate power to overthrow the king. His name was Axen, if I recall..."

The woman nodded, just barely. "Yes, in these parts, he is called the Death Dealer. Anyone who tries to disobey his rule will immediately be executed. And anyone he seeks for their energy, he will take without fail."

"And then what about you, lady?" Melchoir asked her, clearly unaware that his voice might draw more attention than necessary. "If he will kill anyone in his way, then why are you sitting out here like it's a picnic?"

The woman only smiled, and Daemon's suspicions went up a notch. "...You are not human, are you?"