Welcome to Gaia! ::

answered Keldan nonchalantly.
"My name is Siber, and I'm not doing so bad myself. Besides the whole being-tossed-in-a-small-room-by-a-pair-of-zombies-with-no-sense-of-humor thing. And living in perpetual fear that my immortal soul by be unduly damned. Other than that, everything's pretty peachy." He offered a small grin. He would need to make friends fast, he sensed. Plus, Keldan had told him- he needed to set up alliances before anyone had the sense to want to pull traitorous tricks on him. Keldan looked through Siber's eyes at Joe's face and for the moment, at least, seemed satisfied by what he saw.

Seeing that Paul had agreed, Linda went along with it, also nodding.

Arturo commented.

After waiting a few seconds, Josh sighed.

"I suppose two is more than I could've hoped for. Take the tape off," he said. Upon seeing Alan smile mischievously, he added, "As slowly as necessary to keep it from hurting."

Alan stuck his tongue out at Josh and pulled the tape from the mouths of Linda and Paul.

"Well, technically, this isn't it. This is just our primary outpost," Josh answered. "Our main base is a lot more defended, a lot more staffed, and a lot less visible to people who don't work there. If I had to estimate, I'd say we have maybe three other operations of comparable force, counting each special weapon as being worth three people."

"So, uh," Linda began, building up her courage. "How exactly is a blood pact made?"
Arturo reminded her.
"And what are the conditions of ours?"

"You're so eager, are you?" Josh asked with a laugh. "All right. First, the pact is going to be with me - someone knocks me off, you'll be released."

He smirked.

"And nobody is going to knock me off. The terms are simple. None of us will be capable of attempts at harming the others until Legion is defeated - it's him or us. We will help each other in all things relevant to Legion's defeat until he is dead and gone. After Legion's death, there will be a forty-eight hour grace period, and then the pact will be terminated. If there aren't any questions, I'll be walking you through the process. Either of you ready?" He paused, and the second that Linda nodded, he and Alan were next to her, unbinding her and helping her to stand.

"Uh, what do I do?" Linda asked, suddenly aware that everyone was watching her.

"This," Josh replied. He rolled his sleeve up and drew Alan's knife across a patch of his shoulder. "Do the same on the same shoulder." Before she could start, he interrupted. "Here, let me make the cut, it has to be precise."

An identical slash was made on her shoulder. He repeated the terms, rubbed his thumb in the blood and put it to her wound.

"Do the same," Alan said. Linda copied him.

"Let the pact be sealed," Josh muttered. There was a quick flash of reddish light and the wounds were gone, replaced by thin scars. He turned to Paul. "You ready?"

"Considering I emphasized speed, I would think so," he replied, reaching out for the knife, taking it, then carefully sliced the blade across his shoulder, waiting for Josh to do the same.

"A precise cut is better. It would've been easier for me to copy," Josh said with a little annoyance. He read off the terms, placed the blade carefully, and perfectly imitated Paul's slash. "Let the pact be sealed." The red light and the transformation of the wound. "I don't know what I'd do without these things," Josh commented, flexing his hands and the gauntlets.

"What about you two?" Alan asked, squatting in front of Melissa and Taylor, knife dangling loosely.

~~

Legion showed Takeshi and Erik a few simple movements.

"These will focus your magic. Evocation is very imprecise, and difficult to control, but if you can direct it carefully, it can be very useful. We're going to start with something that has a very good intimidation factor - something Takeshi is just learning, despite a two-day head start.

"On that subject, magic is not learned in two days. He's made as much progress as could be expected. Anyway. Use of evocation consists of holding a symbol in your mind, while defining the effect, while keeping yourself from getting fried. When you are skilled, you can snap off effects as quickly as you conceive them," he said. He then blasted thin jets of fire from his fingers at three targets against a metal back, then thrust his other hand and froze one over. He then jerked his head at it, and the ice melted. The water drilled a hole through the target's head, then dispersed into the air. "This takes more time than we have. We're going to pre-define a couple of effects. First is a fireball that will expand on impact, the second is a shield based on manipulation of air currents. These will be your foundations for magic-based offense and defense.

"Hold in your mind this symbol," he instructed, holding his hand out. A luminescent symbol vaguely resembling a kanji appeared above it. "You should feel your mind instinctively channeling the magic from the symbol's sight. You then must shape the effect - define it in your mind, by thought - not images, not words, just the very abstract idea of it. Then, target it, determine where it will go. Make the motion I showed you and force your willpower into the magic, merge the symbol with the idea, and release it."