"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.
She might never say it out loud but Karina was very thankful for the constant support from Luna, keeping her healthy. If it wasn't for that girl, Karina knew that she would have been down already. Giving a slight nod towards Luna Karina rushed forward in her ink like form once again, taking a few good slashes at Ursula before backing off a bit. "You know, I could do more, but I think I will hold off." Karina taunted as she studied Ursula and started to draw connections to weak points, things that she could exploit. Turned out she learned a thing or two from her dear old man after all, and she was going to use it to her advantage. Karina attacked with a combo Karina used Magnify 22/30
"Is it never nothing else? I feel like in this place there is always something." Tinarah commented turning away from the window and jumping as she noticed Enzo standing there. "Beautiful isn't the word I would use to describe it." Tinarah muttered as she looked around, glancing back outside for a moment before looking back to Enzo who was distracted now by her tray of food. "We were just heading to Stamatis to have breakfast with him. I could share some food with you if you want, and I will just get something else later." Tinarah didn't really want to share, she was actually hungry for once, but she wanted to be polite at the same time. He seemed really focused on food, but that at this point seemed like nothing new to her. Tinarah did not expect that her offer would turn into what it did though. "W-what? What are you talking about." Tinarah started to blush and just push past Enzo. "That is not what any of this is. I was trying to be nice, there is nothing between us." She protested, but he was already off addressing Chrono. If it wasn't for the fact that Chrono was joining her for breakfast, she would have used that moment as an escape, but instead she stood a few feet up the hall and waited until her brother could catch up before walking up to Stamatis' room, and entering without knocking. It wasn't to be impolite, but she became comfortable enough with this Stamatis that it was alright that she did just let herself in. "I brought breakfast. Chrono is joining us this morning too. I hope that is alright." Tinarah called out into the room as she set down the tray, unloading the plates and the tea pot, ready for breakfast. She was still slightly awkward about the situation with Enzo, but she chose not to bring it up anymore, she did not want to talk about it at the moment.
Tinarah had been stretching her magic to the limit more and more these days, and it wasn't entirely from just training, though that had pushed her to become better as well. Whenever she spent time at Stamatis' side, she would pour a little more of her own magic into healing him, despite Selene's insistence that it would just take more time at this point. She would often play for him, her violin mostly, but occasionally try her hand at the piano. When she wasn't there, she was slowly bridging relationships with those around her, trying to fix what had been lost, and rebuilding her relationship with Aria. Sure she liked having Take and Chrono around, got along with them well, but she realized she missed having a female companion, that was something that she had not had for a very long time. In this time she had also gained back some weight. She was still thin, but between starting to eat full meals again, and muscle put on by some training, she found herself able to keep on her feet longer, being of more help to those around her. She could almost completely hide the marks left by her time in the prison cell. It was around the time that Stamatis was finally up and walking that Tinarah noticed the different atmosphere around the castle. She has been on her way to bring Stamatis some breakfast that she had made when she stopped and looked around, just feeling like something was off. "Is it just me, or does it seem oddly quiet today? Maybe it is just the rain, but I don't like it, it makes me uncomfortable." Tinarah stated as she looked around and glanced out the window, seeming a bit distracted, almost forgetting entirely about the breakfast she was about to bring to Stamatis.
Tinarah is getting Blade Buster Tinarah is upgrading fire Spending 3 points on hp to bring it up to 200 Spending 7 points in AP to bring it up to 30 Spending 2 points in defense to bring it up to 15 Spending 8 points in MP to bring it up to 110 Spending 1 point in Focus to bring it up to 18
Buying MP Haste
Karina gave a nod of thanks to Steel before looking back to Ursula, well this would be helpful. Karina watched as Beuce changed forms into something that was more blue in colour and nature. Taking his queue Karina went into a form of her own, this one not as appealing in aesthetic to Beuce's but more functional for her. In an inky blot form, Karina swam around, now this was better. Closing the distance Karina started to attack Ursula once more, not giving the witch a moment to breath before continuing her torrent of attacks. This wasn't over yet, but she would make it as quick as she could. Karina goes into blot form Karina Combo's twice. 21/30
