With the decision to wait, Aria sat on the ground Indian style with her arms crossed over her chest. “Thank you,” she said to Torrin, smiling a bit at him. “Meanwhile your costume kind of... yeah.” She laughed to herself. “It matches. It’s nice,” she stated, trying to stay friendly so she didn’t sound like she was such a meany. But the costume did match his personality. Her attention was turned to the sky and she nodded her head. “Clear skies... and sunshine. Nice day for saving folks.” Her eyes then glanced down to the bracelets on her wrist. Her smile faltered as it landed on the golden one and she couldn’t help but to instinctively tug at it until it hurt. No matter how useful it had been so far, it still bothered her that it was there and that it belonged to the Light Chaser. Tracker or not, she didn’t fully trust it.
Aria blew air loosely from her lips, placing her hands on her hips as she watched Master Thallasa speed off. She didn’t understand exactly what was going on, but it seemed really important. “Seems like you were kidnapped,” Aria said as she glanced to the unconscious villain, “by that guy. I’m, uh, gonna tie him up. Just in case he wakes up. Don’t know how effective that would be since he has magic, but,” she shrugged her shoulders, “eh.” The girl glanced around until she found some loose, thin yet sturdy cables laying around and picked them up. She then knelt by the clown and started with his wrists, making sure to make it as tight as possible so he wouldn’t escape. “I got kidnapped once,” she said to Machina while moving to the ankles to tie them up next. “Well, it was more like the place where we were at fell into darkness and I was saved, but then I wasn’t allowed to leave and I got separated from my friends.” She then bound the legs, and the torso. She then stood up and clapped her hands together and dusted them off. “Alright... now what do we do? Should we go help Master Thallasa? Or find the others?” She hoped they were alright. Everyone took a bad beating from that whole ordeal.
As soon as the clown and the bomb guy were gone, Aria groaned and unsummoned her keyblade. “Holy...” She placed her hand on her shoulder and rolled it as she popped it to loosen it up a bit. “That almost reminds me of the one time I got jumped by a horde of heartless while training with Master Choma... I thought it was a test, so I kept at it even though I was being shred to ribbons. Turns out it wasn’t a test.” Aria chuckled sheepishly and then brushed her cape behind her and then combed out her hair with her gloved fingers. “Heh, thanks. Master Choma taught me some acrobatic abilities... but uh,” she dropped her voice to a whisper towards Torrin, “don’t tell him I did that. He’s gonna kill me if he finds out.” She then moved back and moved her neck side to side. “You has some pretty impressive moves yourself. I didn’t get to try that one ability you taught me, but maybe another...” She trailed off when Torrin’s attention seemed to be turned on to the armored guy. She almost forgot about him. Except, it wasn’t the same person she remembered. Aria rubbed her eyes and was taken aback by the sudden transformation, realizing he was under the cheese lady and creepy clown’s control this whole time. She then looked at Torrin when he mentioned the day being saved and panicked while glancing around her quickly. “Um... well there’s no wood to knock on, so uh... I hope you’re right. I’m just glad we have that stupid machine dead.” She then turned her attention to the new, recently-snapped-out-of-a-trance guy and approached him. “Good to have you back! I guess... at least you not trying to kill us,” she said to Machina. She then stuck out her hand to him with a bit of a smile. “I’m Aria. It’s nice to meet ya.”
3 AP, 2 HP D-Linkage Boost Me!
The green light went around Aria, and she looked down at herself, then to Torrin. “Worrying about you!” She replied back as she jumped back in the fight. “I don’t get hurt easily, remember? But thank you!” She didn’t want to sound like she was ungrateful, but Torrin was one of the stronger fighters. If he got knocked down before this was over, that was going to be bad. She glanced over at the armored guy, seeing he barely had a scratch on him since this fight had started. That was worrisome... Her attention focused back on Kefka. “Okay creepy-clown Guy,” Aria said through gritted teeth. “Time to send you back to the toy box!” With that, she landed as many hits as she could on the target at hand. HP: 15/70 AP: +15 0/(49) MP: 0/20 D-Link Activated: Master Choma 2/3 Round (All attacks directed at Kefka.)
The princess of heart could tell they were ticking off the clown cause how fiercely Kefka was attacking them. She put up her arms to block the electricity, feeling the sting of it radiate through her being. Her bracelet was creating its own lightshow of sorts, making the bubble around her every time the electricity bounced towards her. “N-No,” Aria replied with a smirk, “that actually kind of tickled-” She then glanced at Torrin and her eyes widened as she caught the last bit of the spell that Kefka pulled. “Torrin!!” Aria felt helpless; she had no magic left to help him. And behind her, Iliana was hit hard on by the bombs. “Alright, my turn.” Aria activated the D-Link to Choma! She was at it again, forcing Kefka on the defense while Torrin recovered somehow for at least a moment. HP: 26/70 AP: +15 0/(49) MP: 0/20 D-Link Activated: Choma (All attacks directed at Kefka.)
Aria made a face to show she was creeped out by all villains coming back like what they did to them was nothing. She barely had time to react when all the spells were thrown at her and felt some pain through the protective light bubble. Aria fell to one knee after it was over, and then forced herself to get up again. She wiped her mouth with the back of her glove to get rid of the residue from the magic attacks. “I don’t go down so easily either,” she muttered. She then raised her keyblade up to cast another Cura spell, using the last of her recently restored MP reserves, and then moved her keyblade up again, encasing all of her party members in her Rainbow Glow protection. Hopefully that would save most of them from the stronger attacks to come in the next couple of rounds. With her team taken care of, Aria brought her hand back to her chest, dropping the Drive Form completely and going back to her original costume colors. She then gripped her keyblade and dropped down to an offense position. Aria charged right at the clown, laying out the most powerful blows she could muster. She even fiercely yelled while doing it, trying to disarm Kefka somehow and remembering how offputting it was when Take did it (even though it wasn’t directed at their own team). HP: 24/70 AP: (-10) 0/(24) MP: (+10) 0/(30) DP: 1/3 Special Attack: Rainbow Glow Spells: Cura (All attacks directed at Kefka. Drive Form deactivated)
“Ack!” Aria did her best to dodgeroll out of the way of the fire attacks that were thrown at her, still taking some damage. The thing that mostly bothered her was the fact that he threatened to put out her light. Did he know she was a princsss of heart? Or maybe he just assumed all keyblade weilders has some kind of light in them. Anywho, she had to focus back on the battle. It seemed like her plan to be a distraction didn’t bode over too well and the rest of her party was attacked. Before she had time to apologize to one of the masters, Torrin praised her for her effective landing though and told her they needed to go all out. “That’s what I’m good at!” She declared with a grin. She then placed a clenched fist over her chest, following Torrin’s suit to go into Drive mode. Her body was engulfed in light, and then faded away to reveal a little different kind of Aria. Her costume had hints of red, yellow, and blue on it, the white parts on he costume being overtaken by these colors. She emitted a faint, colorful glow to reflect the new form. Aria raised her keyblade above her head. “Cura!” All party members were cured, and then Aria focused on the clown. “Let’s go!” With that, she closed the space in between her and Kefka, using her Blitz + ability to get him knock down. She then hopped back and spun around, getting in a counterattack. She practically danced around the jester, dodging attacks where she could, and landing as many hits on him as possible. When she felt like her energy with physical attacks were spent, she moved back and aimed her keyblade at the fire enemy. “Time to cool off!” And with that, a Blizzard spell was shot off towards the villain. Honestly, she didn’t know where these cheesy lines were coming from. Maybe it was the costume? HP: 38/70 AP: (-10) 0/(24) MP: (+10) 10/(30) DP: 2/3 Special Attack: Blitz + Spells: Cura, Blizzard (All attacks directed at Kefka)
Aria inhaled sharply when they took off. She felt her heart leap in her throat and held on tightly. Everything suddenly felt lighter and more floaty than the pirate world. Her eyes were shut tightly as they floated along, only to open gradually. She could see the buildings, trees, and houses go by, almost like in a dream. Her hold around Torrin loosened as she made herself relax and sat up a little more on the glider. “Oh, it’s not so bad.” She shivered as the cool air kind of seeped into her super suit, but then heard her cape flying behind her and catching on the breeze so magestically. Aria couldn’t help but to smile to herself and made a fist with one hand, pointing it in the direction where they were heading. She then tighten her knees around the seat of the glider and balanced herself, putting her other hand on her hip. She felt kind of heroic in this pose, like she was actually flying into battle, and couldn’t resist to let out a soft giggle. It was then she saw a pigeon flying by them and then glanced down. Gasping, she immediately looked back up and held onto Torrin again. “Nopenopenope,” she muttered under her breath. Torrin asked her a question and she snapped back to the present. “I did. About... two to three hours?” She answered honestly. “I’ll be okay. I usually can get by a few nights with little to no sleep...” Aria trailed off when Torrin mentioned the generator and darkness becoming more powerful because of it. She fluttered her eyes and forced herself to look down. After adjusting to the idea that she was fine and and her vision wasn’t swimming, she spotted the three villains she met briefly yesterday. She then felt the heat of the sudden fire and shielded her face with her cloak, blinking rapidly as she felt the warmth of the atmosphere wrap around them. They were a powerful force all together... they had full strength as well and weren’t weak like the rest of the team were. She lowered her cloak and sat back on the glider with her arms to her sides. It was like being on a Chocobo almost, just not on the ground. She heard Torrin’s comment about working together to beat them and nodded her head. “Alright, I got a crazy idea,” she said as they began to descend. She then carefully moved to stand behind Torrin, keeping her balance on the seat as they went down. “I’m going to jump when we get close enough, give them a bit of a surprise so they don’t attack us while the rest of us are in the air or something. I’ll be okay,” she reassured, squeezing his shoulder lightly. “Probably never gonna get picked again to go in a small group, but hey! It’ll be fine.” She gave a thumbs up and then concentrated as they got closer. “One... two...” When she felt the height was just right which was about 15-20 feet, she jumped. “Three!” With that, she was airborne. Aria’s cape whiped behind her in the wind as she fell with her hair flying as well. She then curled inwards while hugging her knees to do a cannon ball like flip. She then sprung out at the last minute into a downward kick while summoning her keyblade, her foot connecting right in Kefka’s face.
Village in Peril- Conrad, Everette, Samuel The sounds around her were muddled as her ears were ringing loudly. Yet she heard Conrad's voice through it all. Renza shook her head at Conrad's question if she drank the well water or not. She tried to answer his question in more detail, but ending up wheezing and wincing as another painful cramp shot through her stomach. Samuel was immediately on the other side of the bed, his hands hovering over the little girl. He could feel the poison working through her body rapidly, and feel its strong magical presence. "This is bad," he mumbled. Perhaps because it was fresh and taking such a quick effect that he could feel the strength of the black magic now instead of earlier with the other patients he helped. He started by pulling the poison affecting her throat, pulling it down towards the stomach carefully so that it didn't disrupt any other vital organs. From there, he was going to nullify the poison and pull it out the best he could with his solar healing. The healing heat against the fever that was wracking Renza's body made a cooling effect through her, causing her to shiver. Renza clutched Conrad's hand, her eyes welling with tears as her body and mind fought through the pain and fear the best she could. "I don't mind if you use the kit," Samuel said after a moment, concentrating hard on Renza. It was then Everette announced he was going to take off. "H-Hey!" Samuel called after him. But his comrade was already gone. "Damn it." He went back to concentrate on Renza as his solar energy was visibly emitting a golden glow throughout her body, burning up a now visible, sinister purple glow through her veins that had already tried to reach to her finger tips through her blood stream. "He's going to need help," Samuel said to Conrad, looking up at him slightly. "But I need your help here, at least for now." He felt conflicted and sighed out heavily, making sure his power was steady over the little girl. "She needs a cool cloth on her forehead, and someone to comfort her through this process." He then dropped his voice so only Conrad could hear, "This is almost worse than the others with how fast it's affecting her... I can't do everything at once to help her be comfortable. Not physically anyways. My hands are full." Renza then gasped out as a feeling of pins and needles shot through her chest and Samuel was quick to move his other hand over her heart to take care of the poison that had already started to seep in that way. "It's okay, Renza," Samuel soothed as small beads of sweat began to appear on his forehead. Renza was trembling while she was being healed, taking in quick, shallow breaths to try to not make things more painful or uncomfortable for herself. "I've got you... You're going to be okay." "Everette!" A friendly, yet tired voice called out for the young man. It was Chief Yolvun. He was dabbing his forehead with a handkerchief as he approached Everette, looking worn and rather exhausted. "I have just finished making my rounds to all the houses to tell them to only drink the rain water." He then noticed how perplexed the mage seemed and raised an eyebrow. "Is something the matter?"
Aria observed the keyblade gliders. She had seen Torrin use one the previous day to go after the villains, but she didn't think she herself would ever get on one. She was paired up with Torrin, which made her shrug her shoulders. "Alright... I mean, I already kinda flew once? Back at that pirate, sailing ship world. Just, uh, promise me you won't crash," she said as she took his hand and hopped on behind him. She then looked for a place to hold on, and realized she would have to hold on by wrapping her arms around Torrin's torso. She swallowed hard, finding this to be a little intimidating to be on something she could fall off of easily. Her feet mainly stayed on the ground all her life. Eventually, she wrapped her arms around Torrin's waist and waited for take off. "R-Ready..."
A Price Unpaid- Gavin, Zephyr, Thea Izra looked over to Thea when she seemed to be worked up over the fact they couldn't save Selena. She could sense something powerful bubbling, but didn't have the master insight to know just how powerful it could be. She looked down to the children at her side and pat them gently on the head before moving to Thea. "It's alright," she assured. She smiled a bit, keeping a calm voice. "We have everything planned out. Even for just in case this happened." Kyo nodded his head. "Izra is right... Jack, can you go get the book?" Jack mumbled with a nod and then disappeared back into the house. Kyo adjusted the child on his hip, making sure he didn't slip off. "We've been working in the background for quite some time. There's a sinister plot at hand, and it has been going on for years. Did you notice the spiderwebs when you made your way here? That's part of the problem." Jack came back with a leather bound book, which Kyo gave Jack the child in his arm and took the book. He opened the pages to show an illustration that looked rather old. There were people cowering in fear while spiderwebs larger than them were all around them, and spiders of various shapes swarming towards them. "You see, when Murgate was founded, the first settlers ran across a nest of spiders and stirred them up. As we came to find find out, it belonged to a demon called Xislyn." He turned a page to show a sinister looking monster that was crossed between a human and a spider, the torso being human and the rest being spider limbs. "She made a bargain with our great, great grandparents; if they sacrifice one of their children every two to three months, she would not only leave them alone and let them live, but help them prosper as well; crops would be successful, there would be hardly any diseases or illnesses, and they could obtain wealth and power... the demon takes the child and encases them in a web. After that, she slowly drains their life force out of them, feeding on them for weeks until there’s nothing left but a husk." Kyo sighed out and looked to the group. "The sacrifices have been going on for years. My twin... was one of them. I saw it. And there was nothing I could do to save him. I was only twelve at the time." He closed the book and offered it to the group if they wanted to have a closer look at it. "Jack lost an older sister and a younger brother... We wanted to do something about it to stop it, but there was no way to. Leaving the village means certain death. Sending out a message was treacherous since mail is closely checked, and the mayor has more than half the town as his devoted followers... And that's when Izra came along." The flutist bowed her head a little behind Kyo. "She was just passing through, helping the mayor get rid of some pests, rats and mice to be exact that seemed to flood us out of no where. Perhaps from the heavy rains that had happened... The spider demon promised to keep her hatchlings at bay so long as a sacrifice wasn’t provided, and I guess she limits on how much help she will give the Town..." “We formed a group,” Jack decided to explain what was left. “Me, Kyo, Izra, and Maliel...” Jack rubbed the back of his neck. “Maliel got caught bringing an empty wagon back in the village after curfew. She was taking supplies to the kids and then one of the kids got sick. She tried to take care of the kid until one of us came to relieve her. Normally we let the older ones take care of the younger ones if there’s no way we can get to them for an hour or two, but this one was really sick...” He sighed out frustratingly. “So instead of killing her or punishing her like the normal rules state for those breaking curfew, the mayor made her worked along side of him and used her sister as insurance. Maliel was a good liar though and kept our plan a secret, but the mayor had suspicions something fishy was going on. So I guess he was trying to find out if there was a group saving the kids and Nec- I mean, Izra wasn’t working alone. Something happened though that made the mayor not want to keep Selena as insurance, I don’t know what...” “Neither do I,” Kyo spoke up. “I’ve been working for the mayor since my brother’s death to try to figure out a plan to get the children out of here. But Selena was taken tonight. That was our initial target. Perhaps he grew tired of Maliel not revealing us or the true reason why she was late.” “But then they decided to go after your young friend while everyone was distracted,” Izra said. “And a child with magic abilities being sacrificed to the Spider Demon could mean ultimate wealth and power given to the village, especially the mayor... which would have made them more bloodthirsty than they already are... I didn’t want to risk it. But that’s where you come in. We need your help to save Selena. After that, I was thinking the Magic Council will finally take me seriously if I have more than one witness to this evil happening. And then we can put a stop to this. Will you help us?” Village in Peril- Conrad, Everette, Samuel “Hey, stop beating yourself up,” Samuel said with a smile as he nudged Everette’s shoulder. “You pull your load, you help the guild out, and you are way smarter and capable than what you give yourself credit for.” Renza hummed to herself as she went to the rain water storage on the side of the inn. There was a full moon tonight, yet it was obscure by clouds passing over. Renza used the dim lights coming from the inn windows to show her the way. She stopped under the spicket of the water storage and turned on the spout, letting the water rush out into the pitcher. She listened to when it sounded full enough, and then stopped it. It was then she felt a little thirsty herself from all of that running around and smacked her lips. She debated drinking out of the pitcher, but then realized the boys probably didn’t want to share her germs. She then spotted a large ladle close by and grinned, setting the pictcher carefully aside. She then got some water for herself, filling the ladle just enough and took a few sips of water. On the third sip, she realized the usually good tasting water had an odd after taste and a peculiar smell, unlike earlier when fetched the water for the stew. A burning sensation suddenly spread through her mouth and down her throat, making her gasp and drop the spoon on the ground. She felt sudden cramps in her stomach and clutched at it, her face contorting in agony. She tried to call out, only to feel like she could hardly breathe. Renza was beginning to panic and then remembered her new friends were still in the inn. She clutched her stomach, wheezing as she leaned heavily against the wall for support and made her way back to the front where she came out of. Behind her stood a shadowy figure, right by the water supply. They watched as the child struggled and grinned, tucking the vile of purplish-green liquid inside their cloak. They then retreated back into the shadow, disappearing out of sight. Renza made it back to the front, just as her legs collapsed under her as she was going up the steps. She fell in a heap, struggling to get to the door and reaching out to the entrance. She wanted to scream for help, but she couldn’t. She could just only gurgle and gasp. A rash was already forming around her mouth and spreading all over her aching, feverish body. It felt like she was on fire from the inside.
A Price Unpaid- Gavin, Zephyr, Thea The flute was taken, and things were settled for the most part. “Alright, follow me.” With that, Izra led the small group into the thickets, moving farther away from town. There was swamps all around them, even spiderwebs here and there, and strange noises, but Izra kept her cool. Sometimes she would stop and shadows would come out from underneath her robes, sneaking ahead. But then they’d retreat back to her and she would continue on. After a while, they came to a clearing and Izra looked over her shoulder to the group. “We’re here...” Ahead was an abandoned house next to a disheveled looking barn. Frogs were croaking all around, smoke was curling up from the chimney, and clothes that seemed to be small enough for children were hanging on a clothesline right outside the house. Izra approached the house and then put her hands up to her lips. She made a low, whistling sound and then stopped. “They’ll come out shortly.” Gradually, the front door squeaked open and one by one, little heads began to appear at the entrance and by the windows. Children from ages three to about ten appeared outside, walking cautiously to greet the mages. “It’s alright,” Izra soothed. “They’re here to help us.” Some suddenly broke out into a run, embracing Izra and hugging her tightly. “We missed you!” “Did you get a new kid?” One looked over at Thea. “Who’s that?” “She’s part of the mages here,” Izra explained. She then turned to the group fully, putting her hand hands on the heads of the little ones cliging on her sides. “See? Every child I’ve taken. All safe, all accounted for...” “Ah, you made it.” Kyo stepped out from the shadows of the house, holding one little one so they were resting on his hip. “I’m glad you convinced them to come.” Izra nodded her head to Kyo, and then looked to another figure that stepped out of the house. “Jack...” “Hey,” he said with a small wave. “I brought more supplies, like you asked.” Izra nodded her head. “Thank you...” Jack looked to the party and then frowned slightly. “You... didn’t get Selena...?” “No...” Izra sighed. “It was either her, or the mage.” “Damn...” Jack obviously wasn’t happy with the news and clenched his fists. “You’re wondering what’s going on, I assume?” Kyo addressed the group as he walked down the porch steps with the sleepy child in his arms. Village in Peril- Conrad, Everette, Samuel Samuel frowned slightly when Everette seemed distressed about his memory. He was about to open his mouth to comfort his friend when Conrad spoke up. Samuel smiled slightly at his guild-mate and patted Everette on the shoulder lightly to not disturb him much while he was preparing vegetables. "Conrad's right, you got us to fall back on. We help each other. That's what teams are for, right? No one has to strictly rely on themselves. At least that's what I'm learning from going out of the guild once in a while with you guys." Samuel glanced outside and saw that the sun had disappeared over the mountains and it was becoming dimmer outside. "It would be too dark to really get a good view on everything. I mean, even with my powers, we would probably miss details. Plus," he laughed nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck, "I can't really expend my powers freely right now. I have to be careful with all these people needing a healer to save them from the inevitable until we can solve this." Renza was done washing the potatoes while the boys conversed with each other. She dried them off, and then got to peeling them right away. After she got finished with those quickly, she chopped them up into nice bite sized pieces, placed them in a bowl, and then handed them to Conrad. "Here you go!" She grinned and then dried her hands off with a towel. "I'm going to set the table!" Renza hurried to the cupboards, taking out some wooden bowls and utensils, and goblets. She set the table for four, finding a tiny vase and placing the flowers she collected from that morning inside. They were droopy and wilted, but Renza figured they would perk up soon. She took some of the water from the bucket and placed it in the vase, smiling to herself. She then tilted her head a bit, humming to herself as it didn't look complete. She gasped and grabbed for the duck feather in her hair, placing it in the vase amongst the wilted flowers. She nodded to herself in satisfaction, and then went to the kitchen again, finding a pitcher. "I'm gonna get some drinking water for us," she announced, hurrying out of the room to carry out her task.
Aria turned her attention to Master Thallasa when she addressed the group. The two parties and how they were going to be split up made Aria do a double-take. “Wh-wha?! Me?” She trailed off when Master Thallasa explained that she would keep an eye on her, and... Aria was more than capable to handle herself. Aria stared for a moment at the Master. So far the girl had been told she was too reckless, couldn’t be taken seriously, and too naïve. The last thing she was expecting was to be in a team two masters... and the team with the fewest people. The only one she was more familiar fighting alongside was Iliana. Everyone else was somewhat completely new to her. Once the plan was explained, Aria looked back to the group. “Sounds... like a plan.” She nervously smiled with a small chuckle and then it dropped as she rubbed the back of her neck. “Oh boy...” She really believed Take or even Chrono or Boreas should have been in her place so they could give the bad guys a good punch... but she wasn’t the master, and she wasn’t experienced with strategizing in battle. She would have to blindly trust the reasoning behind why she was going with this group... besides the fact she had a bracelet that could keep her from getting seriously hurt.
A Price Unpaid- Gavin, Zephyr, Thea Seeing they were not getting anywhere with this small group, Necos sighed out. Without another word, they reached up to their hood and pulled it away from their head, revealing their face from the shadows. Spoiler It was a girl with short hair and haunting reddish, purple eyes. She looked to be around Gavin's and Zephyr's age, maybe slightly younger. "My real name is Izra. I'm an independent mage, looking for odd jobs while trying to figure out what guild I want to join. And then I ended up in this mess. If I would have come out in the opening like a normal person in Murgate, you would have been killed," she said bluntly. "Or others would have been killed. Probably children I hadn't saved too. We're wasting time here. I'll give her my flute if you need some sense of control," she said, gesturing to Thea and then held out her flute to her while looking at the young men. "I'm putting my life and others on the line putting my trust in you. I hope I didn't make a mistake... We really need your help... Please. As soon as I show you that the kids I took are alright, I'll explain everything more. We're running out of time."
Village in Peril- Conrad, Everette, Samuel Renza grinned from ear to ear as she took Conrad’s hand. In the short period of time she was with the mages, she had grown quite attached to them. They were like the siblings she never had. And though they were busy, they addressed her respectfully and treated her with kindness. She went along with him, going into the inn. The place was kind of dark, so Renza let go of Conrad’s hand and ran along to get the flame and candle stones going; a safer way to make light inside of homes and shelters than actual fire. Though sadly, they didn’t make much heat. Soon the inn was lit up in the kitchen as well as in the hallways and towards the rooms. She looked over her shoulder when Everette asked her to help with the potatoes and smiled. “Okay! I’ll go get some water from the rain supply to scrub the potatoes!” Soon she bounded off again with a bucket, making Samuel laugh as he watched her run by. “I wish I had that much energy again,” he said with a smile. Samuel put himself in charge of the fire with his magic and all and grabbed some kindle and tinder to start up in the stove. “They really do live a simple life out here...” Samuel muttered to himself. “I kind of like it.” He got the fire started in the stove and then looked over to Everette. “How are you holding up?” He asked in a low, gentle voice. He knew about Everette’s memory problem, perhaps a little too well. Midarah assigned Everette to him when Everette had first arrived in the guild. Ever since then, he kept an eye on him and his well-being. Renza came back in with a bucket of clean water, humming happily to herself as she plopped down at a table. She took out a large bowl and a laddle, scooping up some of the water in her bucket and into the dish. She went right to work washing them, sticking out her tongue slightly as she concentrated to scrub them as hard and as fast as she could to get to scrubbing them. Delivery of Cakes- Shawn, Yukyo, Lakoda The dark guild members were thrown back by the sudden attacks. Rueben fell in the river when Lakoda and Yukyo attacked him, Lytton ended up in a crumbled heap, and Jy being stunned barely had enough time to dodge Yukyo’s attack and got some of his feathers sliced and squawked in surprise. Lakoda hopped in the wagon, grabbing the reins once more. When she knew Yukyo was well on his way and would catch up, and Shawn was in the carriage, she whistled shrilly and snapped the reins, getting the horses to speed off. The dark guild members were in too much of a daze to really do much about their eacaping targets. Lakoda made the wagon race to the bridge and over the river, making a break for the road ahead to lose sight of them before they regained focus again.
Aria emerged with everyone else, fitting her gloves on her hands. “Everyone looks so super and snazzy.” She never wore anything like this before, and played with her cape a bit. She smiled to herself before the childish moment was interrupted by reality once more. She looked to the others and rushed out, just in time to see the fancy letterings up in the sky. “Oh boy...” she muttered to herself, staring up at the remaining words. “I guess... that’s our cue, right?” She glanced to Frozone, and then looked back to the others. She was worried about them. They (including her) weren’t holding up so well with their keyblade powers inhibited. Most of them, if not all of them, hadn’t even fully recovered at all. She swallowed a knot in her throat, waiting for the next plan of action to commence .
Village in Peril- Conrad, Everette, Samuel “We went out after the storm that struck us a few weeks ago,” the chief explained, “but none of us had really the strength or energy to go check with the condition of the river since this outbreak happened. The water was only polluted with extra run off from the mountains, branches, trees, and the likes. But after we cleared that out, it was just fine...” He rubbed the back of his neck. “The rain water should last us at least a week if we use it sparingly... plus the rainy season is not yet over. We might have more rainstorms soon...” “To be on the safe-side, no one should touch the well water,” Samuel said. “Yes, you’re right.” The Chief looked back to the Town Hall. “I’ll go let our healers know and spread the word. You should all get your rest.” Yolvun took each of their hands and shook it, he felt somewhat clammy. “Thank you all so much for your help.” Samuel observed the condition of the chief with a trained eye. Sadly, Samuel wasn’t going to interviene unless it was dire. With the possibility of the illness being related to poison, there was no way Samuel was going to completely heal everyone until he had the antidote from the source of the poison. So he was going to save his energy until then. “It’s our pleasure to help out.” “I will be on my way then. If you need anything, let me know. I should be hanging around here or my hut, which is right there,” he said, pointing to a humble looking cottage not too far away. “Have a good night.” He bowed to the boys and then ducked back inside the Town Hall to began to spread the news about not using the well water. Renza quietly waited for the conversations to be somewhat over before she spoke up. “Okay, but it’s fun to help. Really! I’ve been kinda lonely and I love to give a hand. Can I help make the dinner, pleaaaaase???” She looked up at Everette and Conrad with big, round eyes, puckering her lips out playfully.
A Price Unpaid- Gavin, Zephyr, Thea The flute player could hear the fear on Thea’s voice and for a moment, it seems like the flutist’s features softened. They motioned with their head that they were going farther into the tree line behind them, and led Thea more into the wooded area. As soon as the town noises seemed to be muffled by the thickets, the flutist’s feet touched solid ground. The flute was lowered and they raised their hands up in the air. “I mean you no harm,” they said to Thea in a calm, gentle voice. The spell was broken on her, and she was free to move according to her own will. They then looked over the girl’s shoulder, seeing her friends were not far behind. “Your companions are here,” they said, pointing to the boys heading their way. They stood there calmly with their hands up still, their features obscured by the hood. “I’m the one known as Necos... That’s not my real name though.” They took in a deep breath, looking to Thea. “You were in terrible danger back there. I was here to save someone else, but you needed to be saved first. There’s something evil going on in this town, something I uncovered while I was here on another errand... and it involves the children and young ones like you.” They looked up to the boys approaching, yet the flutist stood their ground and kept their hands up. “When I heard that mages from an official guild were here, I had to find a way to talk to you in private, away from the ears and eyes of the townsfolk. I wasn’t expecting it to turn out this way... I’m sorry I had to do that.” They paused a moment and then continued to speak. “I don’t know how to make you believe me. But the children I took are all safe. I can take you to them, only if you promise not to turn me in or show the mayor or anyone else in town where the children are. I want to keep them safe. I don’t want anything I’ve done so far to be in vain. I want to trust you, and I want to show you what’s been going on in the shadows of this place. It’s not good... I tried to get the attention of the Magic Council on the manner, but they turned a blind eye. Please, we need your help. I don’t know how much longer I can do this alone...”
“Ooo...” Aria looked at hers with amusement. There was no vibrant colors at all, saved for the hint of purplish-pink on the hem of her cape. So this is what she meant by black, she thought as she ran her fingers over the fabric. It felt soft to her, but sturdy in a way. This was something she would definitely not wear on a regular basis, which was probably the point of this whole thing. The villains she saw thus far had the most ridiculous costumes, and the heroes had the snazzy, cool looking clothes. “These are nice, Edna. Thank you,” Aria said with a smile as she picked hers up. She tested the material by tugging at it, only to feel that indeed it was sturdy. She then glanced at everyone else’s, seeing how unique they were from each other’s. Not one looked the same and seemed to bring out a different side of them; someone they usually weren’t which she had come to figure out was the point of this world. Torrin’s on the other hand looked like it fitted his dark, brooding personality to a T and she couldn’t help but to smile in amusement. She then looked over to Tinarah and Qamar and grinned. “Yeah, I guess we do. Let’s go!” She then grinned at Edna and knelt down to her level, giving the tired woman a hug. “Thank you for doing this for us.” She then stood up and draped the bits of her costume over her arms. She was excited to try it on to see what it would be like, and hurried out of the room back to her room. Once she was behind closed doors, she started to figure out how to change into it. “Eyup, this is something I wouldn’t wear on a daily basis... but it’s so cooool.”
