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Valthis watched as everyone was trying to help Tsunaimei. He then noticed that more mercenaries were advancing on their position. Valthis met with five men, fighting them all. Trading blows with the company of mercenaries, he was dispatching them one by one. However, Valthis was sufferring damage as he killed them. One of them got through Valthis' guard, and stabbed him. But Valthis merely staggered for a moment before gripping his knife, and shoving the blade straight through the man's heart with enough force to throw him off. Valthis pulled the sword out of himself, and was now near death.... But Valthis did not look scared.... his look instead got more intense. His Hatred, and lust for revenge drove him to keep standing as he waited for any more men to come by.

Tsunaimei laid completely limp in Bane's arms. She felt like she was floating in air in a state of purgatory as Bane yelled for her to wake up. She could hear feint voices but they were too distorted to make any sense of them. However the mention of marriage threw the sapphire clad woman for a loop. "Where am I?" She asked aloud. Her dream self was standing in an empty void of space. Darkness all around her. The slap Bane gave Tsunaimei's physical form made her lose her balance in the dream world as the contact transferred over as a minor earthquake. Shortly after the shaking subsided, memories of Tsunaimei's life danced about the area. "What kind of sorcery is this?" She asked as she watched the images in confusion. Most were haunting memories from battles of years past and of the mistakes she made that sent thousands of lives to their graves. Tsunaimei let out a cry of anguish as the sight brought tears to her eyes. "I did what I thought was right! I'm sorry for my foolishness. I would have gladly traded my life if it meant saving all of theirs! I... I just wish... I..." Tsunaimei yelled in frustration at herself. A sudden dizziness overcame the Vice Judge as she collapsed onto the blackness of the floor. She looked skyward and saw a small beacon of light fall down upon her like drops of water. Everything faded and slowly the Holy Knight's eyes began to open. She nearly chocked on the potion that was being forced down her gullet and gagged. Gasping for air, she looked up to see none other than Bane holding her in his arms. Tsunaimei gave a smile to the dark haired mercenary. "Are you trying to drown me, you fool?" She said weakly in a jest. Being stubborn, Tsunaimei tried to will her body to sit up but fell back into Bane's arms after not gaining so much as an inch in the effort. She let out a sigh and laid there helpless. The potion had helped stabilize the Holy Knight enough to live but she was still wounded severely and needed major medical attention. The healing spells casted upon her by Gloria helped her regain her wits a bit faster too. Tsunaimei let out growls of pain as she pulled out the three arrows from her body and tossed them aside. Questions soon flooded her mind. Looking around the blue haired woman saw Kayla and Gloria next to them as well. It took her a moment to realize that she held her prized Excalibur in her hand. "Ugh... Lady Anivier, I thought I told you to use my sword? Did I fall unconscious before you could take it?" Lady Nightbreeze asked.

Kayla had buried her head into her knees crying up a storm at the thought of her idol dieing right before her very eyes. "Why?! Why couldn't I have been stronger and braver?! Why couldn't I have saved her?!" Kayla yelled aloud blaming herself. It wasn't until Tsunaimei started to stir that she immediately flipped her emotions to that of being overjoyed. When asked about the sword, Kayla replied using big gestures with her arms, "I obeyed your order and took your blade. And then all of a sudden there was this huge golden flash and I couldn't see anything for awhile but once it disappeared, so too did the rest of the cathedral save for what's left over our heads currently. I think I accidentally blew it up? And then after that, there was this weird voice that spoke to me. It told me to put your sword back into your hand and so I did. I was majorly creepped out by it but I didn't want to anger the spirit thing either. But I'm just so happy you're not dead Lady Tsunaimei!" The overzealous youth glomped the Holy Knight.

Tsunaimei nodded as Kayla explained what had happened. She was taken by surprise by the tackle hug. A huge shock of pain surged through Tsunaimei as a yell escaped her lips. "I'm glad too Kayla." Her eyes fell upon Gloria once more and tears of joy fell down her cheek. "Gloria! My dear sister, thank Altima you're alright! I wish you didn't have to see me like this. Can you forgive me?" Tsunaimei asked as she stretched her arms out wanting a hug from the young female bard.

Valthis turned to Dmitri, as he cut down the man behind him. "No...." Valthis replied. Valthis then noticed that Tsunaimei had regained stability, and would more than likely survive the odds against her now. Valthis then started walking off toward the exit of the cathedral before accidentally tripping over a dead mercenary and being knocked unconcious as he hit his head against another dead mercenary's armor. Valthis looked just as scary and likely to kill you in his unconcious state, as he did when he was when he was awake.

Gloria's eyes had been running with tears at the apparent loss of her "big sister" and only dared to look up when she heard the White Phoenix leader yell at Bane. She cast a regen and another cure or two while Kayla and Tsun spoke, only stopping once she was the spoken to. The girl moved forward and hugged Tsunaimei, crying again. "Yes, thanks to you and Kayla and...Mommy too..." she said, trying not to squeeze too tightly. After all, Tsun was still injured. She looked up at Bane, wondering what he was doing there, and then her eyes gazed over to where Fiora's sword had been so carelessly tossed aside by Gwynn. The blade was still there, and she made a note to get it. She then smiled and looked back at Tsun. "And I can forgive, but I don't see why. You did this for everyone."

Celine had gone to help Valthis, but the look on his face made her too unsure of doing anything but casting Aegis on him. "I'm going to check the cathedral," she said, looking at Dmitri before heading off. The mercenaries were starting to retreat now, apparently guessing that their leader had been taken out. She got through the door and gasped, not having seen Tsunaimei in that bad of shape in the past.


Dominic shook his head. "Nah, I'm not really needed I think. I'm not exactly healer extraordinaire," he chuckled, speaking with Mer'loct yet. Though, he couldn't help but look in the direction of the cathedral. He worried about Tsunaimei. Not to mention, hadn't he heard her say something about the judge? "I guess I should check on the others too though," he sighed and walked up to the shell of an entrance. He grinned sheepishly at Tsun. "Well, and here I thought you'd be on your feet. Guess even the leader takes a rest every now and then. Heh, glad to see you're okay overall."

Fiora entered the tower, grimacing at the discoveries of battle that awaited. Not that she wasn't used to battle, but it was something else to see so many young ones struck down. It seemed Virgo hadn't recovered as much as she had hoped. She picked up a sword that had been dropped sometime during the battling there, having no other choice but to use what she could. There had to be some way to warn those above! Or, perhaps they had evacuated?

Gwynn got to the passage's entrance into the tower as well, however, once he got through, the blue-haired judge wasn't in sight. "If she's going through so much trouble, the stone probably is there..." he mused to himself. He decided he didn't really have time to play hide and seek with his sister and exited the tower. He faced the tower and then began to chant the spell for Flare as straggling mercs began to cheer and then move around him to let him concentrate without interruption. It would take a powerful spell like that to destroy the building, and that was his aim. If it crushed Fiora as well, so be it! He'd find some other way to get the stone. Virgo was still finished.

Valthis twitched, and groaned. He regained conciousness but realized that he was in worse shape than he could just walk off. Valthis sat up, and turned toward the Virgos and said, "Help......"

Valthis did not want to let them be up close and personal with him as they would (hopefully) heal him, but he did not have a choice. He needed help, and he felt that at the very least, they wouldn't kill him in his weakened state. After all, if they were going to kill him, they would have done it.

Loud crackling and booming noises filled the chamber, as smoke blanketed every nook and cranny. Loud laughter could be heard as more exploding fireballs attempted to drown it out, only to be over taken by louder laughter. Suddenly it grew eerily quiet and still. The thick black smoke ever so slowly dissipated as Order member's began rushing into the chamber, casting whatever spells they could to put out flames and remove the smoke.

Standing over several corpses stood a single being. Looking around himself, Ra'Zir finally focused in on the reinforcements, his long dragonic face smiling as if he was happy to see them. "Ha ha ha ha! Do you know what it is like to be caged, like a beast for so long? No... I don't think you do... Pity." The dragonkin said as he began to stretch he wings and arms. "Ahem... You must excuse me." he said to the surprised Order members. "You see... I find it ironic, that you kept me locked up like a pet, and I'm just going to kill you all now. Ironic huh? No? Whatever."

The Gemini members gave each other puzzled confused glances before focusing back on their threat. Cracking his neck, Ra'Zir moved forward, his hands beginning to glow with fire. "Don't worry! This is going to hurt a lot!" Screams echoed down the Order of Gemini's halls, followed by laughter.

((So um... does that mean the tower if falling towards the cathedral or away from it?))