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 Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 7:08 pm
"Me?" answered the chimera, pointing at herself. "I'm Edina. People call me Ed."
Chimera, huh. So now I'm a combination of things instead of a simple human. Or beorc, as Tellius-people would say. ...I can't believe I just realized that.
Ed didn't allow her thoughts to appear in her face, beaming at the girl. "And what's your name? Who's your mom?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 7:11 pm
"Ed... That's a nice name!" Amara nodded, pulling the dictionary off of the shelf (and nearly dropping it in the process). "I'm Amara Kaua-Aelfgar, Alihi's daughter!" She said with a sense of pride as she began to flip through the pages of the dictionary. "G... g... g..." She repeated softly under her breath.
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 7:15 pm
Whooooaaaa, she's Alihi's daughter?! Oops!
Ed's face dropped into a sort of comical shock as she observed Amara look through the dictionary. She felt foolish once again, but it was hard to be down on oneself with such a cute child around. Ed managed another feeble smile as she watched. She sat on the ground, stretching her arms out.
"That's cool," she remarked, trying not to disturb the girl's search through the dictionary.
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 7:21 pm
"Mm-hm! I hope to be like her someday..." Amara replied with a smile, continuing to flip through the pages. "G! G...o... go... go..." She continued to murmur, eyes focused on the black text printed in the dictionary.
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 7:30 pm
Ed relaxed against the nearest bookshelf. "I'm sure you will be! Alihi's a great person and tactician, and you look like you could be one too." Which was true, this child seemed to hold a lot of potential. Especially with how she was focusing so intently on some word in the dictionary.
Ed tilted her head as though attempting to read from that distance. She didn't actually see the words, however. She simply let Amara try her hand at what she was trying to read.
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 7:31 pm
Amelia had rather liked the nice, quiet environment for their brief conversation, and it was almost regrettable to pull away from his hug. She vaguely realized just who had been lost to this evil plague, however one could classify it; for the time, Nino lost a son (Learania pulling people from all different times sort of explained that one, since Nino was so young, considering), Ninian lost a brother, Alihi lost a potential love, and Ayra a husband, but Amelia then realized one more; Vah had lost her dad. How could she have forgotten Vah? Even babies knew when things were going wrong. That was why they cried.
Who's going to be next...? Who else are they going to take from us? Amelia glanced at Rhys as they arrived back at the kitchen, trying not to garner too much attention from their re-entry. As if to make sure he wasn't going to run off, Amelia put her hand in his, squeezing his palm gently.
Blossom decided to let the older adults organize things. She still didn't have a good handle on what was going on, only knowing that Tibarn had gone evil, and maybe Abel, too, but not the how or why. She sat back down at the table, fists clenched in her lap. Aidan had been fine when they checked on him, but she had thought he would have arrived here by now... he was all right, wasn't he? She knew he had been training with his spear, and he was improving by leaps and bounds, but she was still worried. Aidan was not a born fighter; he was a born strategist. And you can't strategize your opponent into submission, Blossom thought.
She sat very quiet and very still at the table, praying Aidan would be all right, that the others would be okay, that no one else would get hurt. However they could do it, she just wanted everyone to be all right. Was that so much to ask?
Blossom kept her eyes down, letting the others talk, listening carefully. Her hunger was ignored, her food getting cold on the table, uneaten.
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 7:35 pm
"Go... gon..." Amara paused, looking up at Ed with wide eyes, her mouth forming an "o" shape. "D-do you really mean it...?" She grinned happily, setting down the big dictionary with a light "thump" (though keeping it open to the page she was on), and ran over to give Ed a tight hug before she could respond. "Thank you!!"
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 7:41 pm
At the sight of Arashe's bow, Ayra nearly jerked her hand back away from this new noble... and not for the reason one might have thought. For though she associated the bow immediately with the bane of all aerial combatants, she also recognized that bow from the moment she first laid eyes on it. It was a weapon whose owner had never allowed her to touch it- and it was just as well, for she didn't particularly care for long-ranged weaponry in the first place- but it also was untouchable for another reason. It was a bow meant only to be held by the hands of those with Ulir bloodline; a prestigious bloodline of the hero who wielded the mighty bow Ichival all those years ago.
"Brigid..." Her old friend's name came out as almost a faint whisper, and Ayra found her rage coming to an abrupt end as nostalgia and a sense of loss took over. This couldn't be her son, could it? It would certainly take a lot of explaining to tell this blond boy why Lakche and Skasaher weren't with her, if that was the case. Perhaps he knew Sigurd's boy, as well? Shannan, Oifaye, and Celice had all gotten away before that dreadful battle. Perhaps they knew the boy who stood before her?
"...My name is Ayra. Ayra of Isaac, daughter of the late King Mananan." Taking his hand with her unwounded one and looking to his bow, she looked back up at him with a slightly furrowed brow and a nervous nibble of her lip. The taste of the blood was a tad bitter, but it was too familiar now- it seemed as natural in her mouth as saliva, as it was to many who chose the path of the sword as their means of survival.
"That's Ichival, isn't it? Who are you descended from, Arashe? Are you blood of Brigid or Aideen?"
Turning then to Melethia, there was an understanding yet somber stare, followed by an acknowledging bow of the head. There was no more to be said. And as the boy introduced himself to her, she still caught nothing else. Which of the blonde sisters- the holy maiden of the healing arts, or the sniper that could shoot the stars from the sky- did this boy hail from? Surely there were no others that would have been given the bow, since it was only through Aideen's hands that Brigid obtained her weapon.
With the sound of Renault's calming voice, Ayra dipped her head, holding her bloody hand to her chest. A change of vows, but no bitterness- a sense of calm seemed to seep into her with each word. Logic attempted now to wrestle itself from the weakening forces of her anger, removing the festering boils of frustration and seeping at last to the surface.
"The Rescue Staff... could one get close enough to use it?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 7:59 pm
Rhys felt Amelia's hand in his, felt the squeeze. For a second or two, he wondered why until he realized what Ayra had done when she'd learned of Tibarn's corruption. That's right. This isn't any ordinary conflict. This is... family against family. Almost a civil war. Amelia knows this. Is she worried that we'll have to fight our friends? That, maybe, one of us will be corrupted and we'll have to fight each other?
Rhys grasped her hand firmly, his jaw set more firmly, his eyes looking more alive.
Like hell I'm going to let that happen. This corruption will fail when we come face to face. Asami, do you think that everyone can fall to your level? You're wrong. You can work magic on people, you can bring the darkness to the forefront...
But you can't banish the light within.
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 8:04 pm
Ayra. The Isaacian Ayra he'd heard so much about. The one who'd single-handedly ravaged battlefields, her beauty unmarred by the tides of battle. As unparalleled as her beauty was her skill with a blade, dancing like a firefly through the summer sky. And to make the experience even more surreal, the woman knew of his past.
"A-Ayra of I-Isaac...?" Arashe had a breach in composure, dumbfounded by the woman. "...Astounding!" Arashe took her hand, shaking it like an obsessed fan. "To survive that hell in Barhara, and still look as young as the stories said! It's such a pleasure to meet such a warrior as yourself!"
But, his reverie was shattered as she kept questioning. "...descended from? Ah, that's simple enough. My grandmother was the Briggid you speak of, so I guess it's her blood." Arashe looked around at the group, looking for one most apt to deal with the trials to come. "I'd heard nothing but stories of my grandmother, fables of her skill with the bow, from my father. My mother was never concerned with political affairs, let alone the past. She was more worried for the here and now, and how we would rebuild from the war before my time." He looked out the window, gazing up at the sky.
"...but, this raises quite the question. How can you be so young, and I be from a time you might not even be alive for, but we meet today?" He looked at the Priest as he came in, holding a small child. "The Rescue Staff? Well, we can get as close as we need to." He pointed up at a small cloud drifting through the sky. "We shoot him down, then get within range as he falls?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 8:08 pm
Amelia relaxed a little as she watched the events unfold before her in the kitchen. Ayra had calmed down, they were now talking logically. They were all tightening back up again. Good. Amelia tightened her grip a little on Rhys' hand, shifting closer. They had to all stick together if they expected to solve everything. Then this newcomer, Arashe, was speaking to her as if quite familiar, at least with the name and the lineage. Amelia had no idea who any of these other people were -- Briggid, the country Isaac, any of it.
"So... someone would strike Tibarn so he would fall unconscious, and then use a Rescue staff to get him safely to the ground?" Amelia wondered aloud. She knew Tibarn's strength; diplomacy was unlikely to work with him if he was darkened. "I think it'd work..."
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 8:10 pm
Nometal just sat there, listening in, though he believed most thought he was unconscious. Well I will just stay here for sometime, then move off somewhere else...that way no one knows. Though Arashe or whatever his name is seems to be opening up now...least they are learning about him...maybe I shoudl open up sometime.
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 8:11 pm
"We may not need to fight him."
Rhys spoke up at last, feeling a bit nervous about this. Explaining it to Amelia was one thing, but to these people, well... he grasped her hand a bit more tightly, trying to find the words.
"Yesterday... when Amelia fought Rei... something stopped him in the middle of the fight. Whether it was of his own free will or his subconscious fighting the corruption, he stopped. He fled the battle."
He paused to let those words sink in.
"I think that maybe, just maybe, if the ones who are closest to those corrupted speak to them... we can persuade them to shake the corruption. We wouldn't need to resort to fighting."
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 8:19 pm
"What did you say, Rhys?"
Ninian had stayed in her room, thinking. The slow throbbing that had begun in the back of her head was still present, but it had quieted some. She assumed it was because Ayra had calmed down after being told such horrifying news about her husband. Still cautious, the dancer chose to return to the living room to see what had become of everyone.
It seemed that most everyone was awake now, although one knight appeared to be unconscious, slumped in a heap on the floor. Ayra had indeed calmed down, and was talking with several others, strategizing. Ninian had walked in just in time to hear Rhys's last statement.
"We may not . . . need to fight?" Ninian repeated. If they could rescue their friends--their family--without fighting, that would be ideal. "Do you really think that would work, Rhys?"
Could she get Nils to reason and stop acting so strange, so evil? Was it possible to save him that way? Or would he still fight back?
But could he--would he--hurt his only sister? She knew Nils would never hurt her. But would this new Nils?
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 8:22 pm
"I agree with Rhys." Alihi said softly, jumping into the conversation with a couple of steps and an apologetic nod. "When I was in Eyris with Sue, we ran into Abel... but he couldn't strike me. His arm... it just wouldn't move." Her eyes closed as she visualized the scene again. There was a moment where she knew that she was going to get hurt... but it never came. She didn't understand why, but the pain never came. Her eyes reopened and her gaze focused on her feet.
"We might not be able to persuade them, though..." The tactician looked up. "But if they hesitate, we could use that to our advantage. Take that chance..." She hesitated for a moment, trying to think of the best way to word the next phrase. "... And act."
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