This was ridiculous. They were sending them on their own without help of a master, up against a well trained organized large group of people. While that was hard enough on its own to deal with, when the slightest slip could lead to someone being dispatched to kill their father, she didn't know how well a small group of young adults could do. But Tinarah didn't argue, she wanted to prove herself worth being a master too much. She wanted to change this crappy situation. The situation with the council, the hurt Fost was carrying with him, the problems with the Light Chaser. He was after her friends after all, she couldn't care less what he did to her anymore, but she wouldn't let him get at Aria or Take, they both meant too much to her. She wanted to go back and fix the situation in the other realm, and she couldn't do that as scared little Tinarah. She needed to be better, she could be better if she tried. She didn't want to see her father though, if she sent him here she would have to explain... everything and that was not a conversation she wanted to have. Tinarah looked to her brother. "I guess we will do what we have to." Tinarah then looked to the others who offered to come. Illiana walked out before Tinarah could thank her, she could only guess that Illiana was coming because she didn't want to go with those who were calling her out. Then Take offered, followed by Chrys, who seemed to be suggesting Take did come. While Tinarah was happy Chrys trusted them enough to come along with them, she was sad that she didn't want Take to come. Tinarah actually was scared that Take would take her advice, but thankfully he didn't. "I would appreciate both of your help." Tinarah nodded, keeping to herself how relieved she was that Take was coming with them. "And I apologize in advance for any complications that might arise from being there. It seems that Chrono and I were involved in something before we even knew what a keyblade was." She smiled slightly, just enough to show that she wasn't resentful about that, she was just felt bad about some of the stuff she had a feeling they would be walking into, first off being the missing persons reports she had a feeling they would be faced with, since not one, both both her and her brother ran away.
Aux stood there dumbfounded as Ignis raced in. "What... Why are people going into the whale?!" "They went to find my boy Pinocchio!" Geppetto replied from his sip. "I volunteered to fix your boats while I waited their safe return. Judging by your clothes, I'd say those kids from earlier were your friends." Aux looked at the tunnel. "Of course they did... Hey old timer! Any of them had blonde hair?" Geppetto nodded. "Two of them actually... And my name is Geppetto. Nice to meet you." Surprised that he could stay so well mannered in his situation, Aux gave a little two finger salute back. "Ditto." "I've warned Pinocchio about traveling in there.. He said there were strange creatures from there earlier. " Aux scratched the back of his head. He wasn't sure if it was best to wait or venture off. Most people had already left except for one of them with silver hair. "So why aren't you going after them?" he asked Faust.
Tinarah started to look a little concerned as she looked to her brother. "Chrono what was mom researching that got her killed?" At the time Tinarah was too young to care, but she knew that Chrono was looking into it though. "If we go. If we do this are we putting our father in danger. I know Chrono. I know that they threatened to kill me and dad if you told anyone what they were doing, if we march in there, and they recognize you, are we going to harm dad in doing so?" She didn't care what the council had to say about her fears, her family meant more, even if she didn't want to see him like this. She had already lost one parent and seemed to be pushed away by who she had thought of as family. She couldn't lose more. Tinarah turned back to the council to explain the situation. She doubted they would care but maybe they would. "I am not sure if this is related, but my mother was looking into something sketchy that some company was doing. When I was a child, that research lead to her murder. I found Chrono and her dead body right before they came back. Chrono managed to hide me, but they saw him and threatened to kill me and my father if he ever told anyone about any of this. I am not worried about myself, after all I don't think they would recognize me, but my father is still on that world and he isn't a fighter. I don't want our actions to cost him his life." She stated to the council in hopes something would come of this. Hoping they would have a solution for that problem.
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At Aux's loud voice, Karina began to stir, slowly pushing herself up while trying to figure out just what had happened. They left the grotto, said goodbye to Sebastian. Then they were swimming, and then.... a whale? What had happened with the whale? Karina put her hand down to try and get up when she realized that whatever this was was slightly soft and squishy. And then there was another unfamiliar voice. Rubbing the back of her head, Karina cleared her mind and made her eyes to focus as she looked at what was around them, not much. There was a small Cricket though now poking Luna. "We aren't here to help you find this thing you are looking for, but we need to get out of here, so if you want to come with us, we might run into him on along the way. I am not however sidetracking for this. We have somewhere we aught to be." Karina stated before kneeling next to Beuce, tapping his face. "Hey princess, wake up."
After breakfast had wrapped up, Tinarah had help lead Stamatis down to the meeting room, trying to even help him to his seat, but once in the room, he refused her help, hobbling on his own two feet to his chair. Tinarah scanned the room looking to the other masters trying to figure out what this was all about, but no clue could be seen on their faces. They were probably being sent out again, but for what reason? Slowly everyone trickled in the room and the meeting got underway. How it started however was not what Tinarah expected. Mark of Mastery? Her eyes flashed to Stamatis, then to Fost. Fost words echo'd through her head from what seemed like so long before. "I know we haven't had a lot of time together, but I'm glad I met you, kid. You've really grown up since I first met you and you're really starting to grow into a real keyblade wielder. Hell, if your original master doesn't mind I'd be honored to get an invite to observe your Mark of Mastery exam when you're ready for it." Tinarah looked away again, she knew he didn't have the same mentality as back there. Maybe he would still attend though, maybe he would have a shed of care for her, but chances were that he wouldn't. Tinarah wouldn't get her hopes too high. The conversation switched however, before anyone was to take their Mark of Mastery, they were to head out and find that metal. What Tinarah didn't expect to hear, was the location on it. Unable to hide her shock, Tinarah glanced to her brother to see what he was thinking. She couldn't go back like this. She didn't want to see that world again, and she didn't want to see her father, not after running away and showing back up how she was. He would never believe what happened. What was worse was that it was mandatory for them to go. Tinarah wanted to protest but what they said before about this being part of proving who was ready for a Mark of Mastery, she knew she couldn't. If she did it would only prove how weak she was, not how strong that she could be. Tinarah glanced to Stamatis, searching for support before looking down at her hands. She didn't know what would happen upon going back, but she had to try, besides Torrin seemed to be in the same boat, and it made Tinarah feel slightly better that she was handling this better than he was, even though he was a prince of the realm and she was just some runaway.
"Nothing was ever keeping us here, besides our own need to do the right thing Aux." Karina tried to correct as she glanced over at Beuce and laughed a little. "It matches your necklace, it is perfect!" She added, her eyes lingering on that necklace for a moment wondering where that conversation would have gone if it had lasted a little longer. Perhaps she would find out another day, for now she was just happy to be back. With Sebastian's help, Karina figured that was the closest to direction that they were going to get, not that her and Caster had it much better when they were sent out. She supposed that if the tides were in her favour it would bring them to the right place. "Well I think I have some people to show off my new title to, you guys aren't the only masters anymore. Lets go." Karina was anxious to see the others again, share with them just what their support did for her. It was time to leave this ocean and find another.
Tinarah was almost to her feet as Stamatis was struggling to reach for his communicator, before she could grab it however, there was a flash of light and it was in his hands. Tinarah had a sneaking suspicion that their plans might not happen. Taking a seat again, Tinarah listened quietly to the conversation that Stamatis was having with Kide. He sounded surprisingly young with the way he was struggling for words and scared of Gero, it caught her off guard hearing him more like this. Tinarah didn't mention that however as Stamatis finished the call, still wanting to finish breakfast. Tinarah couldn't help but smile at that. "Well we might have time to finish eating, but maybe we shouldn't wait until after we clean up though. I can come back after the meeting and clean up for you however." Tinarah assured not wanting Stamatis to strain himself too much yet. "Well I guess we aren't going to the library or the music room, oh well." She was slightly disappointed about that, and there had been something that Tinarah wanted to ask Stamatis, but now she supposed that would have to wait until after whatever this meeting was about. She hadn't had the courage to ask about it yet, but that was partly why she brought Chrono along, but now, Tinarah supposed it was too late.
With a sigh of relief that it was over, Karina let Beuce grab the trident as they got Ariel and headed back to Triton. She flashed a smile over at Aux that was not friendly at all. "I told you I would be fine." Unfortunately a dramatic turn didn't work as well under water, but Karina swam head to deliver the princess, and the trident back to the king of the sea. It seemed that he was doing well enough on his own figuring out his own mistakes, and as smug as Karina had felt before for being right was washed away with just a contentment that they lived, she didn't feel like being smug right now. Though as Ariel bragged about how nice this guy was and how much she seemed to love him, Karina had enough of that and just turned away. She didn't understand why listening to her talk about it was so painful, but it was a pain that Karina wasn't ready to face. Soon enough thankfully they changed conversation and were given one last task to seal the keyhole. Wanting to just get it over with, Karina didn't consider the idea that someone else might have wanted to do it, not that it was really that special of a thing to do. Following Ariel, Karina got to the grotto and pointed her keyblade at the key shaped hole, letting her keyblade do most of the work. A bright light shot forth and she could hear a slight click noise. "Well that is done. Now how do you suppose we get to Olympus Colosseum from here? That is where we were supposed to meet everyone, if memory serves me correctly." She wasn't even really sure where here was, or where Olympus was for that matter, so getting there was a more difficult task than she first imagined.
If she could just do this then it would be over, just a little further. Karina pushed herself a little bit more, not breaking her body to do it this time, she had refrained from that as she attacked Ursula in a last ditch attempt to burst the sea witch down. The swagger that Karina carried going into this battle had vanished, replaced with a desperation to end it as she through herself into battle one last time doing everything she could to make it worth while. Karina Combo'd twice
Just one more volley, that is all that she had to survive through, one more. Karina repeated the words again and again in her mind. She wouldn't be able to survive this much longer. "Let's just finish this, now. It's all or nothing." No more saving up, she would just end this now. She had to. 30/30
It wasn't until she fully backed off that the pain hit her. Through the adrenaline of the attack she had felt fine, but when she backed away, giving room for her teammates, when she finally exhaled the breath that she didn't realize that she was holding, her body reacted, and badly. Karina had to bite her lip to keep herself from crying out, she didn't want Aux hearing that after she assured him she would be fine. A coppery tang filled her mouth as she attempted to fight of the pain long enough to keep in battle. She had nearly forgotten about her friends until Luna came up behind her, healing her. Exhaling again, this time in relief, Karina barely managed out a thank you before bracing herself for whatever was to come next. 29/30
It had been so easy before, but now that it was time to actually do it, and Aux pointed out just what she was doing to herself, Karina found herself hesitating for a moment. There was always a chance that she wouldn't be able to recover one of these days, after putting such strain on her body. But as she looked to her friends, she didn't know what choice she had, so she gave it her all and put everything she had into the attack. Karina used Sacrifice and then combo'd 28/30
It was weird to think about what Aux had said to her, weird to face it, especially in the middle of battle. She couldn't believe that it was happening and with Aux of all people. It seemed every time she looked over to Beuce for support, Aux stepped in instead. Unlike Beuce however he didn't have all the right words for her, the support she desperately wanted, but Aux spoke as a real person, not like a friend or enemy. It was still taking her time to sort out what to think of him, but for now, Karina figured that she could work with him. It made her wonder however, if she should go through with her plan, sacrificing her body to try to win this battle, but looking to Beuce, Luna, and even Steel, she knew that wasn't a question, just something she would have to do, and soon at that. 27/30
Karina smiled just slightly. "You think so. It is something new I am trying. Turns out people don't like brooding. Who would have thought?" It was an attempt at a joke, but a poor one. "Family drama seems to be everywhere from what I have seen. I don't think I am the only one, but one day I would like to see someone listen to me for once." Karina looked at the trident around them. This would have been so much easier if King Triton listened to her from the start about how he treated Arial, but now they were here and there was nothing that she could do with it. "Also if something does happen from what I am doing here, and I push myself too hard, don't you dare tell anyone else about this. Even if I am dead, I will find a way to haunt you. I swear." She lightly joked. 26/30
Such fanciful words, and from Aux of all people. Karina didn't know what to do with this new Aux that was in front of her. "That's cruel, you know? Throwing my own words back at me like that." Her voice was caught somewhere between a laugh and a cry. "I ran away saying I wouldn't let my father define who I was to become. It's funny really. I did just want I intended not to do. I thought that if I left, I wasn't under his shadow, I could choose who I wanted to be. Turns out my fear of him finding me turned me into another kind of monster altogether." She had become this strong, out of fear and she wasn't sure if that was a good thing anymore. "But you are wrong in some aspects. I don't do this to punish myself. I might deserve it, but that is not why I push myself to my limits. I do it because I have people worth protecting now." Her free hand drifted up and touched her necklace that Beuce gave her. "Unlike you I don't think it will make up from the past, I just hope it will change my future." It sounded sappy the moment it left her mouth, but it was too late to take the words back. She could never erase the scars on her back. No matter what form she took, they always followed her. But she wasn't wrecking her body because of what she had done in the past, no, she was the one that was scarred, now she just wanted to make sure no one else got scarred the same way. 25/30
Taking a deep breath, Karina turned slightly so Aux could get a better view of her back. When she was speaking before she had still been fighting with herself of that merit of admitting to something like this, but in the end she couldn't see any reason not to say it. "Pain is an old friend to me. Back then I didn't have any... friends...." She struggled to get the word out given how Luna reacted before, she didn't want to make a big deal over it. "..to make sure that I was alright. My brother was the closest thing that, but he was ordered to not come near me in those times, often ordered on a task or training so he didn't have time to help heal my back." She added. "I would much rather tear myself up to make amends for the past and keep people safe, than let someone else do it because I couldn't cook well enough." She was not okay, and it did hurt, but Karina kept telling herself it was for the right thing and it was for others. With the help of her companions she could deal with it anyways. She didn't want Aux to take pity on her for her scared and torn up back, she just wanted him to stop questioning what she could handle. She had handled enough in her life, that no matter how easily her body got hurt, he knew that she could persevere through it. Whether they were in the end, ally, or enemy it was a lesson she believed he needed to learn. 24/30
"I will be fine. Don't have much of a choice now, do I?" Karina retorted. "She is only. Going to get stronger, if we do it fast she want have as much time to mess with us. I will survive as long as Luna has my back. I will deal with the consequences later." Karina confirmed even if she was aware that wasn't the best idea. "Hitting it hard is all I know how to do. So I may as well do it well." 23/30
"You always have had a unique perspective on things. Though I suppose I have never had quite the same cheery perspective as some. Enzo even went as far as to say it was beautiful." Tinarah laughed a little bit. "I wish I could live so care free like that, it must be nice." Tinarah mused looking out the window, knowing that she could only see the rain and not the sun that the clouds were hiding. She had cheered up a bit since coming back, but it didn't mean she was blind to her own mentality. She knew exactly what she was like and as much as she was learning to face it and live with it and the consequences of her life, something she wasn't able to do with a child, she still found herself wishing it was easier to be a better person. "Perhaps we could go down to the piano room. I will play you something if you aren't up to playing piano." Tinarah suggested, not knowing where else to go in the castle. There was no point in going outside, and she didn't want to risk running into Kaio or Thyella, because that would just lead to being lectured about coddling Stamatis instead of focusing on her own training, when Selene could take care of him just fine without her help. "If not that we could do something else I suppose..." She didn't know what else to suggest however and glanced at her brother for some suggestions.
Tinarah watched Stamatis summon his cane to walk over to them and she couldn't help but bristle a little bit at it. She wished that there was more that she could do for him, just bringing him breakfast didn't feel like enough. When Stamatis sat down, Tinarah quietly began casting a spell under the table. She figured that her magic could at the very least ease some of the minor pain. It wasn't like he couldn't do it on her own, but Tinarah felt better about herself if she could help in some way. She had been doing this as often as she could, but by the afternoons her magic tended to be running short after all the training she was doing. Some times it reminded her of the intensive training that the other Torrin put her though, but Tinarah had learned to keep these thoughts to herself, knowing that she would be accused of hiding behind excuses if she didn't. "I slept fine..." Relatively at least. "I woke up early and couldn't go back to sleep though." She admitted as she glanced out the window. "The rain makes this castle feel... foreboding? I don't know if that is the right word for it, but it makes me uneasy. It is probably just one of those days though." Days where the weight of everything that had happened crushed down on her and she struggled to get over it. It was normal at this point, something she was learning to live with, but wished she didn't have to. Before Tinarah dug into her own plate of food, she went to a corner of the room where a container sat. Grabbing a scoop of cat food, she grabbed Nini's bowl and filled it. It had fallen on her and Take to take care of the cat, and since Tinarah had started eating breakfast in here with Stamatis, so had Nini. Bringing food for her up here was easier than carrying another item on her already pretty full tray of food. Giving the kitten a scratch on the head as she placed the food down, Tinarah went back and joined the table. "Do you think you would be up to try walking around the castle today Master?" Tinarah asked hopefully. She wanted to see him doing better and it was a step in the right direction.
