Welcome to Gaia! ::

((Ha ha ha...kazoo. XD))

Thanks to the double-punch to Lloyd's back, the piece of food that was lodged in his throat was forcefully ejected. It probably landed on some poor, unsuspecting fellow, but he didn't notice—he continued to pound on his chest as he gave a few last coughs then started gasping for air. "Augh...I'm fine...I'm okay now. Thanks, guys." After downing a mug of water, he continued, "Eheheh, I guess some things never change!" He was referring to his habit of eating too quickly.

~~~

It took every fiber of the shopkeeper's being not to yell at the sight of that huge sword being stabbed into the wooden floor of his shop. Mizuhoans in general were people conditioned to keep a collected manner almost all the time. At the very most, he just stared wide-eyed as his entire body shook with anger; his fists curled at his sides shaking the most.

But in the next moment, Hunter's demeanor toward the Chief would surprise him. He went from being an exasperatingly excitable fellow to someone so calm it was almost eerie. Calming down, the shopkeeper cocked a brow, unsure what to make of it.

Sheena, on the other hand, hadn't seen as much of Hunter as the shopkeeper did, and thus thought he was acting normally, though she was a little caught off-guard by how he seemed to brush off what she was telling him about the conference.

She folded her arms and smiled softly, replying, "You raise a good point. I've actually thought about that and posed such a question many times since I started being Chief. It becomes difficult choosing between what the people want and what's good for the village, however." She bowed her head, closing her eyes as she continued, "As you already know, our people have complacently lived in seclusion for generations. Such a transition would come to be a shock. But their biggest worry is the ultimate dissolution of Mizuhoan culture. They fear blending too much with the outside world...traditions becoming warped by mixing them with foreign ideas...the eventual loss of what defines them as a people."

She opened her eyes now. "At the very least, I've accustomed my people into being kinder toward those from the outside who manage to find their way here somehow. Might that be a good enough start, in your eyes?"

~~~

Azriel looked a little pale as she left the infirmary with a small, dark case in her hands. "I-I've worked with monster guts before, b-but there's just something about handling human remains, even if it's little bits." Her lips were pursed in slight uneasiness after she said her piece.

("Wait, even after the images I've run through your head?")

"Especially after the images you've run through my head." sweatdrop

("I do apologize for your discomfort, my dear. Er, if you want them out of your hands quickly...how about we try this to—wait...we do need to consult Lilith first...")

"Huh? What for?"

("Um...you'll learn when you meet with her." )

"Some things never change, but other things do!" As if to demonstrate, Eduardo rotated his plate a half-turn in his hands.

"Something that doesn't change is the sign of success, or whatever the word is!" Eduardo swung his hand for a hybrid thumbs-up/high-five (apparently, the sign of victory did change) with Rin. If he was left hanging, he'd just wave his hand anyway and go back to his usual dining hall business.

If Sheena's smile could get any warmer, it would. The young man was showing some impressive insight. "There certainly were..." Turning her glance aside and out the window, she reflected mainly upon the journey with all her friends a century ago for a moment. Without those experiences, she wouldn't have defeated her inner demons and left her past unresolved.

Glancing back to Hunter, she continued, "Another fair point. It is true that the Elves are stagnant, but I also believe there's kind of a different story to them." A ninja stepped into the shop's doorway by now. Even without turning to look back, Sheena was aware of his presence. "A story for another time, however. I'm sorry to cut this discussion short, but it appears I have something to attend to now. Have you picked up on what I've told you earlier?"


((Tried to have Sheena hint at something that would keep consistency with the canon, because the Elves remain largely the same in Phantasia. Let me know if I need to edit this in case Hunter had more to say.))

~~~

Azriel was walking around in search of Lilith, and finally spotted her on a bench. She hesitated a bit, because at first she thought she had chosen to sleep there for some reason. After mustering up some nerve, she approached.

"Hey, um...Lilith? Ah, I hope I'm not catching you at a bad time... Would you mind if I relay to you some questions from Eloysio?"


((The quoting's just to let you know I replied. ))

Rin gave a thumbs up. "No problem, Lloyd. We don't need you to go dying on us." He laughed a bit then his ears twitched from Lloyd's next comment. "You know what they say, 'Old habits die hard'. I have that habit myself so you're not alone there, though my bro used to get at me about it." He swung his hand at the same time Eduardo did for the high five as he looked to the dragon werefolk. "We make a pretty good team, don't we?" His gaze then shifted to Colette. "And we got your back too, Colette, so don't choking on us too!"

Colette laughed softly. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. Really." ^.^;

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As she wandered around the village, Sirea noticed that she wasn't the only one doing some site-seeing. "I see I'm not the only one wanting to look around." She asked as she approached him. "Enjoying the sights so far?"

Azriel settled in the empty spot of the bench next to her, and had a silent pause listening carefully to Eloysio in her mind.

"Um...he wants to know...the 'tethering a soul to a body' part of necromancy, how exactly does it go? How long does it take to get down right?"



~~~

Sheena nodded and made a slight smile at Hunter's confirmation. "Interesting, what you intend to do with your pact... I'm glad to hear he'll be in good hands. I think he'll even enjoy your company." Partly turning, she concluded with, "I'll be seeing you around, then. Your other comrades have decided to take more of a breather and stay a night here. Food and your rooms have been prepared back at my place." And with that, she walked away to accompany her subordinate.

((lol, keep in mind I'm mostly just pulling this stuff out of nowhere xd ))

Lilith took a moment to collect her thoughts

"It ain't exactly easy to explain, necromancy is complicated. If its just mindless undead they're just powered by magic, but the ones that are capable of thought, speech and possibly even free will...require something a bit stronger..."

she paused a moment

"You can use a new corpse, but it needs to have something from the original body...and to make it stronger and possibly capable of free will the Necromancer has to sacrifice something of theirs, usually a body part..."

Lilith's face darkened, a hint of anger in her tone

"There are some however who cheat this system, being able to revive and control powerful dead without consequence to them; by becoming something despised by both man and spirit...the Lich..."

~

Kai smiled at Sirea as she approached

"Yes, I had only read books about Mizuho before this day, a truly fascinating place this is."

Sirea smiled as her ears twitched a bit. "That it does. It has a unique air to it in comparison to other places, and with how welcoming they are toward us, it's actually quite comforting." She said.