Before Aria had a chance to answer the question, "Forgotten Flower" was at Torrin's throat. "As long as we're listing off people who are suspicious, care to enlighten our mutual friend of your... credentials?" After Pagos' greatly appreciated intervention, Chrys had run as fast as possible to the location that Koa and Aria had been. Keyword 'had'. She had arrived just in time to see the two of them leaving the inn. After peeking in to make sure that her fellow apprentice wasn't dead, Chrys had quickly followed them down the street. Aria had obviously gone willingly, so Torrin had likely either lied, or told her just enough to convince her to come along. It would make things harder, especially since she wasn't really intending to hurt either of them, despite what they believed. If Aria was as stubborn as Torrin was, she could definitely have a problem... hopefully she was at least sensible enough to not immediately jump to the same questionable methods.
Chrys shook his head with a quiet sigh. As the group was guided along by Mora, he quickly found himself observing Cerdic noting a comment that was all too likely to cause the others to fall into petty squabbling... again. He wished he understood the man's problem. He seemed to want a plan of action, but anytime anyone other than him suggested anything, his response was something like: 'No. No. That won't work, we need a plan.' Plans had to have a starting point to work with, but he wasn't going to be the one to set the group off on another tangent by mentioning it. Taking into account there current state and how things had gotten to this point... he agreed with Mora; surely Master Ryce was more qualified than them. Even before the mind wipe, he was positive. If he was to get back to the matter at hand however, it seemed that none of the others had remembered, or possibly ever even realized, that he wanted to share something with them. Latching onto Cerdic's latest conversation destroyer, Chrys did his best to attempt to turn attention towards himself... something he would never bother with under normal circumstances. However, this was important, and about more than just him. "If we are to survive... then there is something you all need to know. I wasn't messing around when I talked about learning something... It probably won't directly help with making a plan... but if I don't tell you... if we don't account for it, I guarantee it will come back to bite us later."
Unfortunately for Chrys, she was unable to avoid the blizzard spell, despite her best efforts. With one foot now stuck in the newly formed ice, she began to swing at it with her keyblade. The ice was surprisingly resilient however, and didn't break as quickly as she would have hoped. Her strikes only seemed to chip away at it, rather than shatter it. Zeno had distracted Atmos for the time being, but unfortunately he wasn't really doing any better than her when it came to actually hitting the master. As she had figured, the aero spell was quite the obstacle already. Despite that, she didn't want to risk using her trump card so early in the fight... that didn't mean she didn't have some kind of counter though. The thunder was knocking down the lamp posts in the area. Excellent. If she was lucky... Chrys moved to the side to avoid the metal pole that she had spotted collapsing toward her. She managed to position herself in just such a way that the post fell near enough to her trapped foot. It was in the aftermath that she quickly pulled her now incredibly chilly foot from the shattered remains of Master Atmos' spell. Double checking to make sure she was still unnoticed, Chrys quickly cast an aero of her own. Whilst Master Atmos was busy smirking at her partner, Chrys was speeding up behind her with Forgotten Flower in reverse grip, leaping up in preparation of a blitz attack.
Well, Sho was definitely still... a character... Ananta was a character too. In fact... it seemed he was always surrounded by characters. Like this was all some sob worthy action drama story... but that was ridiculous wasn't it? It would be like... "Sea of Hearts" or something. Or maybe just "SoS" but that seemed like an awfully short title. However, without the words to go with the acronym it would seem all mysterious like, and he imagined that would draw more than a few suckers to the program. For some reason he had the inexplicable feeling that Kaida punching Ananta in the face would be accompanied by a laugh track. He didn't dislike Ananta, as she was one of the first friends he had made... ever really. Luna was probably the actual first, but that was a tangent. The point was that Ananta... didn't really know when not to talk. The thing about Aux had been... unfortunate. Everyone had a motive after all, and that in itself was no excuse. Aux was a brat. A murderous brat. One who had tried to kill them all. That was the thing though; Steel himself was a shard/clone of another murderous brat who had tried to slaughter several people in the name of what he had believed to be right. Those memories were also still within him, and still very prominent in shaping his identity. So, whether or not Steel supported Aux (which he didn't), he was left in unfortunate position of being able to directly sympathize with at least some part of Aux. The man was like him to an extent, whether or not he admitted it. Though he doubted their past or motivations were the quite the same. Aux was murderous brat who he hoped would come to his senses. But that was something yet unknown to the group. Which is the main reason Ananta's behavior made almost no sense. She had been very suspicious of Nigo earlier when it appeared that he might be Aux, so why had she gone and talked like that once suspicion had become reality? His unique position was his reason for sympathy, and Aux' former friend's were either sad and hopeful, or incredibly angry and vengeful. ...Ananta hadn't even met him when he wasn't trying to murder her. Steel just shook his head as he crossed the Portal, having done nothing to interfere with the fight. It was just her way he supposed. She could just be ignorant and a bit naive at times, though it wasn't as if trying to see the best in others was in of itself a bad thing. He arrived on the other side in time to hear... the tail end of a recording by Karina...? "Huh. Punch Club." He enunciated the words clearly, though it wasn't something he was going to talk about with anyone else. "That was fun."
Chrys covered her eyes as the fire spell exploded in front of their faces. She immediately turned behind her, not even really waiting for the smoke to clear. Her decision was well made, as it allowed her to avoid a thunder spell from Master Atmos. Chrys was far too used to Torrin's trickery to fall for such a basic diversion; or at least coming from him. However, a quick scan of the surroundings revealed that only the female master remained. Her enemy was gone. As Atmos cast Aero on herself, Chrys slowly clenched her hands into two tight fist. Though her face betrayed no emotion, she was inwardly seething. As much as she wished to attribute his sudden absence to cowardice, she knew better: he wouldn't have come simply to run away. He had a purpose, and Atmos was likely here to distract her and the others in the meantime. Perhaps he was off looking for something? Or someone? Aria. Chrys wanted to rush off to defend the other girl immediately, but she knew getting away from Atmos wasn't likely to be easy. She was going to have to fight. Atmos' Aero spell meant that she would have greater agility, and while the boon was one that would annoy Chrys to no end, she knew that the woman would doubtless have other tricks up her sleeve. Which meant that it was best for Chrys if she saved her own for the time being. With a flick of her wrist, Chrys summoned the Forgotten Flower and charged toward Mater Atmos. With no hesitation she slashed at the woman's torso. If she was lucky, Zeno would recover quickly from the Thunder spell and be able to use the distraction to slip away as Torrin had.
"Speaking of your friends..." Chrys made herself known as she walked to Zeno's side. "Hello Torrin." She greeted. "It's been quite a long time, hasn't it?" She turned her attention to the woman at his side. "...And this must be Master Atmos. So it's true." She observed the two masters silently, noting their drawn weapons. "You don't look very happy to see us." Her voice gave off an almost sad sort of air. An air she quickly buried. "Come now, what has you so on edge? Zeno and I came here specifically to greet you." She gave a playful, taunting, sort of wink towards the male master. "Didn't you miss me?" Normally such mockery was not something she made time to do, but... well Torrin had been a special case for a good time now. "I hope we aren't getting in the way of anything, it's just... well like Zeno said: We wanted to have fun with you like old times. I mean, I don't see why you should have such a problem with it, after all..." Her gaze quickly turned from mocking to a hurt sort of menacing. "You've always been so fond of throwing these little 'parties.'"
Chrys made no attempt to hide her scoff. "It would be uncharacteristic, but... people will do what they feel they must." She seemed to go from scornful to sad in an instant, sighing tiredly as she filed away the information about the Heart of Atlantis for later. Hopefully Dentro was right in his assumption and the crystal had been kept out of the wrong hands. "Whether or not it's him, we're going to be having a long road ahead of us." She wasn't sure she had ever felt so tired in her life, and at only the idea of what lie ahead; but she made a show of playfully punching Dentro's shoulder anyway. "I'm gonna hit the sack. I... have a lot to think about." She playfully smiled his direction as she waltzed out the door. "If she wakes up, try not to get eaten! A headless Dentro would just look plain gross!"
Like Ananta, Steel had noticed the results that Vanellope's glitching had on Nigo. Whilst Sebastian was commenting on the similarities between their teammates' name and racial slurs, the lupine gripped a paw to her shoulder. "Hold on a sec." He whispered. "Don't go needlessly jumping to any conclusions yet. We've seen a lot of weird stuff." Too much weird stuff if he was being honest, and this was by no stretch of the imagination the weirdest, or even likely to be the last. Still, He always tried to be logical. "If it is him, and we confront him here, it's just a lost cause; he'd curb stomp us and go back to our allies with them none the wiser. Let's... just observe him for a bit. At least until we get back to the others. We can decide what to do going forward when we get there." He shrugged as Vanellope began what sounded like her new reign of terror. "Besides, it might not be... quite the same Aux that we know."
"Enough!" Chrystopher invaded the conversation in a calm, yet no less demanding voice. "This diversion is a pointless waste of time. Something you have already stated we have precious little of Cerdic." He began to tap his foot in a show of cold impatience. "Mora has already expressed the possibility of a method to take down Ria, and we have few other options at this rate: It's the most solid lead we've got. You do realize that the lack of paths in the first place only narrows down the amount of places Ria has to look for us once he's realized what's happened? You're all wasting our head start by essentially arguing over where you want him to find us when you finally agree on something!" Remaining stony faced, Chrys walked over to Mora and gently grabbed her wrist before directing them to the exit she had specified earlier. He'd be lying if he said he trusted her completely, but the criteria for a second betrayal were a bit specific, and he wasn't exactly kidding about being short on leads. "It's true that we need to avoid being reckless, but I know from experience that hesitating too long can be just as big of a mistake. So you can stop needlessly agitating IV and VII for things they may or not have been involved in and come with me so I can tell you what I learned, or you can stand around fighting each other like he wants." "Whatever you choose, I'm going to investigate."
Command now, post later. Steel attacked with a Combo!
"Well, you know me and people." Chrys continued to gaze at the Princess of Atlantis as she worked out her exact response. "She definitely acts like one of the princesses I think, though friendliness is more a personality trait than something people with pure hearts will innately have. She's also pretty curious... and maybe a bit doubtful." She crossed arms in thought, already having dropped Dentro's question from her mind after her halfhearted attempt at an answer. Though she was definitely known among the others for being less social, if only a little. She turned to look at her fellow chaser, eyes burning with curiosity and the desire to sate it. "They had that one Crystal there, right? The heart? Did you... get a good look at it?" She seemed to grow embarrassed and looked away quickly when she was done, placing her sights back on Kida. The Atlantean was honestly someone Chrys had taken a personal interest in along with her home world. She pondered the possible answers that might be in store for her there: About how the information might aid her in her own personal goals. She could be patient with Kingdom Hearts in the fulfillment of long term plans, but any information she could find sooner without jeopardizing the Light Chaser's mission would be treasured dearly.
So, Felix liked the Sarge, Vanellope was a real racer, and he had pretty much hit the King's hidden plot on the nose. Now he and most of the others were staring up at a giant candy bug/virus while his partner was dragged away to combat the other, smaller threats. Yet Steel was still stuck on the leader board. "Sesame Steel?" It was pretty funny actually. He was holding back laughter. Especially since he used to eat those S.E.E.D.S. See, because... Sesame seeds? It was like... because... His blades became coated in Ice as he started off the battle, charging towards the King. As said King made a failed attempt at attacking AJ, his face rose to meet the first of three furious blows from Steel's chilled sword. Steel used Vorpal Blitz.
Chrys looked to her fellow apprentice with a raised eyebrow that expressed both amusement and confusion. She didn't know what was so urgent that he would threaten her with pebbles, but she supposed she was willing to humor him. Turning around briefly, she gave a quick and sincere bow to her master and Aria. Not wanting to interrupt the conversation, but not really wanting to leave without some show of respect, she decided on this course of compromise. Leaving her new friend in the capable hands of the Light Chaser, Chrys turned and headed towards Dentro and the wall he was hiding behind. "All right then, what's got you so worked up that you-" Her sentence died as she turned the corner; Her thoughts were frozen in complete shock at what she saw. A girl that she could barely identify as Kida, Princess of Atlantis, was resting peacefully on the ground. However... "She's... What happened?"
Placing Metasoma on the end table in his new room, Braden (Or rather, Cadoc) crashed onto the bed quite unceremoniously before beginning to fiddle with Telson. He observed the gleaming blade quietly as he considered the events of the day and the rather odd turn that enrolling at Beacon academy had taken. The two teams with which he was now allied were amateurs just as he was, and he couldn't help but feel worried about their odds. Logically he knew that they would be receiving guidance from the more experienced Hunters and Huntresses in this endeavor, but... some of the attitudes of the others worried him. However, he chose to push that out of his mind; people grew with time and experience. Sometimes the most someone can do in that regard is simply be there. Understanding the importance of rest, Cadoc hid the dagger underneath his pillow and crawled beneath the covers. Blowing out a nearby candle and engulfing the room in darkness, he lay his head down for the night.
Fine tuning my character for inevitable battle. Change Log -Spending 10 crowns each on Speed, and 20 on AP. New Totals for Modified stats: Spd- 44 (+3) AP - 29 Removing Guard to make room for Hunter's Mist. Removing Fire Strike in exchange for Barrier Surge. ------------------------------------------- New Load Out: Keyblade Oath Keeper [3] Stroke of Midnight [Via Synch Blade] Accessory Musketeer Hat Abilities High Jump -1 Combo -2 Dodge Roll -2 Item Boost -2 Combo Plus -1 Second Wind - 4 Battle Cry -3 Job Ninja -10 Limit Hunter's Mist - 4 Items Ultra Potion Mega Ether Elixir Phoenix Down Skill Commands Barrier Surge Splatter Combo Vorpal Blitz Reluctancy April Showers Equipment Bonuses Strength +5 [Oath Keeper] Magic + 5 [Oath Keeper] MP +2 [Oath Keeper] Heart's Promise [Oath Keeper] MP Gift [Stroke of Midnight] Strength +3 [Musketeer Hat] Speed +3 [Musketeer Hat] Stats HP: 51 MP: 6 (+2) Strength: 16 (+5) (+3) Speed: 44 (+3) Defense: 19 Magic: 18 (+5) Resistance: 19 AP: 29/29
"Well Mr. Noble, I'm sure someone of your mental caliber should have no problem coming up with a plan." Steel was currently walking towards the group with AJ, Glen, and Nigo following shortly behind. Mysteriously, the armor he had still been wearing only moments ago was now nowhere to be seen (though it was data in retrospect, so it was possible he had just 'unequipped' it), and he now sported a pair of sunglasses. "But I suppose for any sort of plan you need information; something we have astounding lack of at the moment." He turned towards the mountain and formed a sort of frame with his fingers. "So here's what I'd like to know: This "King Candy" fellow, what's his angle? Is he really concerned about anyone's well being, or does he have some sort of hidden agenda? Like, the 'big twist' in a movie plot? I say we investigate." He moved his claws to the end of his muzzle in a thoughtful sort of pose. "We'll need his address; some sort of castle I suspect. Some key witnesses to interview would be a good start as well, perhaps other of the royals we could talk to, though there may not be any nearby." He seemed to pause for a moment in further thought. However, I suppose going to the race with young Vanellope is probably the most reliable path to take, but if perhaps we could have someone else explore these other avenues-" He turned to see his three comrades doing, quite simply, nothing. He reached up his claws to remove his sunglasses, revealing his eyes in the process (Which if Sebastian needed to know, were still quite ghastly). He motioned to the aforementioned AJ, Glen, and Nigo with the occupied hand. "One of you should be writing this down."
Chrys remained silent as her master spoke with the two girls. She listened to him explain about his plans to rid the worlds of darkness, Aria's position as a Princess of Heart, and her resulting place in those plans. None of this was new information for her. Yet... She could only imagine how they must feel. For Chrys, being the Light Chaser's apprentice hadn't been much of a choice; Not that he forced her into it. On the contrary she wouldn't allow herself to pick any other option when he had offered. She could barely consider the alternative; Perhaps she should have slept on it or something, but she hadn't regretted her decision since she had made it. The darkness in people's hearts... That darkness had destroyed her family. Destroy it? Heck yeah. Destroy it and bring back the only family member that still mattered at this point? Darn straight. She had to set things right. If she hadn't run her mouth than maybe things could have been better from the start. Maybe she could have made a difference when those final hours came. As things were now though... she may never bridge the gap she created. She owed him though. It was all her fault after all. She had talked. It was these thoughts that shrouded her in a veil of silence as the three others continued their conversation. Eventually, the encouraging Aria gave the horribly confused Tinarah a hug, (something which she had found incredibly sweet) before departing. It was then that the nearby conversation decided that it was going to delve further into Aria's background. She didn't know the other girl's master personally, but she hadn't had a good experience the last time an authority figure decided not to tell her something. Still, it was a keyblade master, so she would give the benefit of the doubt that he had the best intentions in mind. She didn't want to be too hasty, unlike another certain keyblade wielder she knew. She did her best not to scoff aloud at merely the thought. Instead, she merely looked to Aria in anticipation of her answer.
"Yes, I believe I still have mine as well." Chrys' response followed Chrono's, and fell just before Cerdic's suggestion. He raised his hand to his chin in thought. "I'm not so sure X. It's a good thought to be sure, but how far of a detour from Mora's intended destination will it be? How might the decision affect our goals?" He was quiet for a moment as he looked at the two paths in thought. It will be a tough decision for sure, but it's one we're all going to have make together; carefully. I'm loathe to let the group split up again, what with what happened last time. Though I know I'm not in charge here, I'm fairly certain everyone is of the same mind on that front." He folded his arms as he leaned against a nearby wall. "We can only make one choice this time."
"Of course." Steel answered for the group. "We'll make looking into it our top priority for now and meet up with you later." He turned to the other three as Felix went after Calhoun. "It seems that going after her is probably the best thing to do for now, So let's head for this Diet Cola Mountain." He brought his hand to his chin as he began to reason aloud. "While it's true we don't where that is, there can only be so many locations in a video game, and it would have to be pretty close if they're calling all units there hoping for immediate results. Signage is littered about, so what say you all we take the road towards the nearest mountain we can see?"
Steel tried not to let his offense show at the Sargent's comment. After all, he had a handgun as his secondary weapon most of the time. Then again... that wasn't quite actually him, was it? Though, he did no the basics of wielding a gun. Nevertheless, the Cybugs were finally defeated, thanks to the arrival of AJ and... X if he remembered right? If he was honest, he was a little upset about not being able to complete his assigned mission with his partner, but... Glen hadn't even pulled his trigger since the target had changed from the copies to the Cybugs. He felt someones eyes on him as his own were glancing worriedly at his partner. He looked over to see AJ, ready to head for Sugar Rush and glancing at the two of them. "Yeah, I'm coming."
