Hmph. The only concern they'd get from me is a broken jaw and a dungeon to rot. I get my hands on them and I'll show you how CONCERNED I can be!

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@armads
Hmph. The only concern they'd get from me is a broken jaw and a dungeon to rot. I get my hands on them and I'll show you how CONCERNED I can be!
I'd be more glad if you SHUT UP
Man... Why didn't I stick an axe to this guy's teeth when I had the chance?
You want sexy? I know a certain green-haired Sacaen swordmaster who'll fit the bill... Not that you'll enjoy it as much when she floors you with her sword, though.
...And don't tell her I said that.
Oh, brother... Eliwood! And here I thought YOUR obsession with hair was uncalled for, eh? Ha ha ha!
HA! It sure took you long enough to show up, Mr. Excalibur Mage!
HAH! DID YOU SEE THAT, ELIWOOD? I'VE JUST GONE INDIE! CAN'T BEAT THAT, EH? HA HA HA!
why do i have this very bad image of sextor being all hippy with a bandanna on his head running around with beers in his hands
this is a very bad image
very bad
except the beers
SNOWSTORM
Lazily, Hector got up on his legs, dragging himself to the window -- if that hole could even be called a window anyway... -- and peeked outside. Well, he had to admit he did expect to find a thick layer of snow covering everything everywhere. But he sure didn't see it coming when he opened the damn thing, almost breaking the lock, and the frigid, north wind hit him straight in the face. And before he had the time to utter an obscenity, another gust struck the snow clumped on the roof above him, and a ball of ice fell straight on his nose.
"Gah!" He snorted as he slammed the window shut. "What the heck is with this weath-- Achoo!" He sneezed as he tried to get rid of the snow from his face.
"Looks like there's not getting away from this place anytime soon..." Hector muttered to himself as he looked outside again: snow flakes were still falling from the sky copiously, and the 'thick layer of snow' there was when they had first got there was now at least three times thicker. Everything -- literally, everything -- was covered in that white stuff, and if a couple of hours before he could tell apart a tree from a boulder, now he wouldn't even be able to see his axe in his own hand.
He snorted, throwing himself back on the wooden bed: anyone else would've been thrilled to be in such a setting. A 'classic Christmas scene', right? But not him. He never really understood why people liked snow that much: it was cold, and he didn't like it. He had no use for layers and layers of snow outside: all he knew was that he was stuck there, with no place to go and no field to train. And on top of that, he couldn't even get himself to sleep, for some reason. The winds raged on outside and the bed wasn't that comfortable but-- since when that stuff prevented him from getting a good night's sleep? He was used to much worse lodgings anyway.
Not to mention, his insomnia brought him to look around his room, hoping the sleepiness would hit sooner or later. "Man, this place sure looks old. Gotta admit we've been pretty lucky to find shelter during the storm, but everything's made of wood here. Wooden bed, wooden walls, wooden everything... I'm going to turn into wood myself!" he grunted. "I suppose this looks like a place Eliwood'd like. You know, snow, Ninian, cozy cheesy sappy setting by the fireplace--" ...Wait. Speaking of which...
"...Eliwood?"
No answer. Hector turned to the second bed in the room: his red-haired companion laid there, with a peaceful smile on his face, sleeping like a log -- unlike him -- and without making a single sound -- ...unlike him --. "Hey, Eliwood. You really asleep there?" he asked, but seeing as he didn't get a reply, Hector left him alone. "Bet he's dreaming his Ninian or something, the loverboy." he smirked, playfully.
"Well... All right." Tired of turning left and right in the bed waiting for the sleepiness to catch up with him, he got up again: if neither sleeping nor leaving were an option, anything he could do was more useful than sit there and do nothing. He picked up his cape and, as he left the room, the last thing he saw before closing the door was Eliwood turning in his bed, whispering something in his sleep.
The building wasn't that big, and it didn't take much for Hector to walk through the corridor, quiet and unnoticed without even trying: he wasn't really used to going around without causing one hell of a noise, and without the usual weight of his armor, coupled with the eerie silence, it all felt so weeeeeeeird to him. Man, I feel like a stalker or something. I wonder if this is what Matthew means when he says "slipping by--
Walking, he had reached the lobby: on one side, bright red flames were burning in a large stone fireplace. And sitting in front of it, someone whose figure he knew very well.
"Owww... Man, that hurts!" // lyon - hector
âYet at war users of other weapons die in great numbers and yet itâs only axe wielders we summon,â Lyon replied, âWeâll never truly know why.â
He rolled his eyes at Hectorâs demands. He didnât know what was more childish. The blunt approach to heaven and hell or the fact that he was scared his soul was going to be used by someone. Dark magic aside, the gods no doubt did something with a dead personâs soul.
âItâs not as if I can pick and choose who I summon. You can choose to resurrect a person if you have their body but summoning? This one,â he gestured to the phantom, âWho knows where came from or who he is? When youâre on a battlefield you donât really care. Theyâre a weapon as much as a blade or axe.â
He could tell Hector was not enjoying the company of the phantom and this partially persuaded him to keep it around, the other reasons for his company were purely practical.
âIt doesnât have to,â Lyon said simply, âItâs just being useful. If we are attacked itâs better that there are three of us rather than two, one of which isnât armed correctly. Youâll get used to it, itâs only dead, as are the majority of us here.âÂ
He left Hector to ponder what that meant, feeling a little bad for teasing him so but then again this man was annoying and patronising. Also, maybe because heâd just come back himself, the idea that Hector could talk of souls in such a casual manner was somewhat grating. The man clearly didnât know what demons and hell were actually like. Hell was being trapped inside of your own body with no control as own hands committed murder!
As the majority of us here...
"Yeah. I suppose..." he said absently, staring into the void, away with his thoughts. That made him wonder: after all, he guessed he could say he was more dead than alive. Sure, it was clear he was all right and everything for the time being, but how long would that last? He had signed his own death warrant: he knocked right at death's door. He could very well be dead already. He was a dead man walking... And he knew that almost too much.
...
He snorted, breaking his silence. "...Man, this is getting unnecessarily gloomy."
But what Hector completely missed, was the point he was supposed to notice: the one those words had come from. Had it been a different situation, a different place, a different time, it wouldn't have escaped him: after all, Hector was too dense and too unsentimental for any kind of obscure talk. He wanted them things clear and straightforward. But Hector was Hector: he cared about getting the stuff, not understand it. And sometimes he was too thick even for that.
"Bah. Your choice." he continued, ignoring Lyon's words without meaning to. "Just don't expect me to get used to it, OK? And-- hey! What do you mean, "isn't armed correc-- Hmmph." he stopped, unable to voice his complaint: he knew his companion was right, deep down. He had no weapon worth calling it such: wouldn't be a good sight if they got attacked. "C'mon, let's get moving. We shouldn't be far from the edge of the forest, right? Besides..." and he added, under his breath: ...The sooner we get out, the sooner I get rid of this deadthing...
in the city - open { percival / hector }
âThe only thing thatâs âparamountâ here is your stubbornessâŠâ Hector replied gruffly, turning his gaze from the knight to the road. Hectorâs ears werenât the finest, but he had to admit Percival was right: unless their enemies were top-notch soldiers â and they werenât â they would be able to avoid an ambush if they were careful enough.Â
But it didnât take much for him to grow tired of waiting, and that eerie silence wasnât helping: they werenât going anywhere and it was irritating him.
âLook, we sure ainât going anywhere. Iâll rot if I stand here doing nothing much longer, you know⊠Câmon, letâs just get outtaââ
But he was so used to all the clanking and rattling he made with his armor, that he almost didnât notice it when he started walking: and as if that werenât enough, his bulky equipment kept bumping into the walls making the steel clattering, together with the silence and the echo, sound ten times worse than it was.
Stalwartness, Percival corrected in his mind, though he said nothing as flippant as he was thinking. It was one of the key traits of a good knight.Â
Hector moved and Percival visibly winced at the sound. Had no one taught this lordling even the slightest ounce of grace or subtlety? He held his finger to his lips, but Hector did not seem to notice in the slightest.Â
Maybe Ostia really was that classless.Â
âHold,â Percival hissed. âLet me go ahead.âÂ
And before Hector could protest, Percival slipped near soundlessly in front of him to take the lead.
Oblivious to all the noise he made, he watched dumbly and clueless as his blond companion took the lead.
He would admit he had the slight impression that it was because of something he did for a second but... Nope. The thought came and went without him even thinking of questioning it.
Hector sighed. "Guess there's no reasoning with you, eh? Hey, what happened to 'protecting me and stuff'? Not that I'm complaining, you know." He then turned to the road past them. "I'll just have to watch the rear, I suppose..."
With an eye to the road behind, and careful of where he stepped with his feet, he followed the knight with a steady pace. Although, after a while of seeing the same ghastly and abandoned buildings and foggy streets, he grew weary of it. He snorted.
"...Say, smartypants." he shouted out to Percival, whose pace had sped up and Hector was now lagging a couple of metres behind. "You sure you know where we're going?"
[ l'arachel / hector ]
ââGrant me permissionâ, eh? Such the honor. Iâll take that as a sign you wonât keep on hitting me, I hope!â he replied in a playful mocking tone. âAnd do Iâ Whaâ Graceâ UhâŠâŠ..â
He didnât understand a word she was saying. Aside her name? But regardless, she kept on twirling and talking andâ Did this girl ever stop talking?
âUm. Whatever you say. Just keep walking.â
Diplomacy skills⊠Yeah, right. But he guessed he should consider himself lucky, right? At least he wouldnât have toâ But the moment she started slamming on that door, he knew there was something off with that village: it was barely twilight, and there was no one around. Literally no one. He turned around to check a little more, when his companionâs gasp made him turn to the house again: this one greepy guy had come out of it, holding a sickle!
It startled him, but he didnât flinch. âWhoa, old man! Whatâs with theâ Hey!!â he barely moved in time to dodge it as he man shot the tool at him and slammed the door shut.
âMan⊠Talk about hospitality. Hmph!â he grunted. Hector slammed his fists a couple of time on the door, but nothing. No one would come out of that door again. âLooks like weâll have to find another place to stay. Donât they have inns here? Granted, if theyâre all this friendlyâŠâ He picked up the sickle. âŠAt least itâd do some good as self-defence? He roughly shoved it in her hand. âHere. Take this. Itâs too short for me anyway. See that you donât get yourself hurt, you hear?â
Inns?
âAnd who is going to pay for two rooms?â she looked indignant, thinking the possibility of her, being a holy woman, having to share a room with a strangerâ-and a man! If only she didnât sneak out. If only she didnât force herself pursuing the rabbit. If only she didnât wake up here in the foreign land unknown to man. If onlyâŠ
But it was too late for ifs; the best she could think of would be hows.
Or perhaps she was being indignant because she was rejected!
What is this? Nobody has ever turned down LâArachel before! I, the divine princess of Rausten! I, the holy woman traveling on horseback in the name of righteousness! I AM LâARACHEL! RAUSTENâS CROWN PRINCESS!
Ignoring Hector who was about to answer she knockedâ-no, punched the door furiously. âHello there!â her tone was sharp like the sickle she was holding at the moment. âIf only you would allow yourself a little chance to communicate nicely, for a moment, please?â
There was no answer.
âHello?!â she shouted again. She heard the man growling from inside, probably telling them that the house would not welcome strangers (especially with funny clothes⊠oh wait, perhaps the house was closed only to divine people?) at all cost.
She felt Hectorâs large hand touching her shoulder, probably telling her to give up. Enraged, she turned at him. âIâve never used this⊠what is this abominable thing even calledâ-to defend anything,â she hissed under her breath. âOr, let me put it like thisâ-being rejected and having to beg like a peasant, you know?!â
It was the moment when LâArachel thought she heard Hector about to say âHey cut it outâ-â instead, she ignored him again, brushing his hand off gracefully, mumbling a not-so-faint âThis is getting me insane. Even divine princess whose patience rivals that of a saint can be angry too!â
Hector could only drop his jaw seeing the princess attempting to break the wooden door by chopping it using the sickle the man previously tried to attack them with.
âHello~~~!â what in blazes, she smiled and her tone was as sweet as a wren? Wait, was that a smile?
âYou forgot your sickle!â she called sweetly again. The farmer growled, but the insane divine princess did nothing but being a wood-chopper godforsaken maniac for chopping the doorâŠÂ
⊠Mercilessly.
âAhahaha! Oh, my, my, what a good sickle! You donât mind giving such a fine tool to a stranger?âÂ
One more chopping and the door would break for sure.
"I got some cash left." Hector said, searching in his pockets. "It's not much, but it should be enough for-- Wait. What do you mean, "who"? You're a princess... Right? Aren't you supposed to have money with you or--"
But before he could set for the town square, she had already started taking it out on the wooden door... again.
And this time, she had a sickle.
"--Whoa! What-- Hey! What do you think you're--"
Nope. She wasn't listening. She kept on whacking the door, and it was clear the poor thing wouldn't hold for much longer.
And another thing that wouldn't hold for long, was Hector's patience. "Hey! Cut that out! Hold it!" He snapped, ignoring her ramblings and trying to restrain her arms from behind. "You'll get both of us in deep trouble if you keep at it! And I got no plans of ending up behind prison bars, you know!"
But alas, too late for the door: even if he stopped the crazy banshee from shredding it to pieces, it was too mauled to keep on standing, and it fell right as he blocked her. He stared at it dumbly for a second, then realized they had no time to waste: they had to get away. Now.
Without giving her any warning, he clutched her and picked her up like one would pick up a box, grasping tightly her stomach as her limbs dangled in the air, and then started running away from the door-less house.
"Man... Do you do that with all the 'abominable things' you don't know how to use?" He snorted at her baggage as he ran.
"Owww... Man, that hurts!" // lyon - hector
âHey, thereâs a difference between âtelling me about itâ and âsummoning a dead guy out of the blueâ, you know!â Hector replied back, with a snort. âStill, thatâs impressive. Iâm not really into magic, but Iâve never seen anyone do something like that. Not where Iâm from, anyway. I donât know what kind of place is where youâre from, but you donât strike me as the average dark mage.â Something told him there was something odd about Lyon; anyone else wouldâve questioned it, but, well, itâs Hector. He just dismissed it as Lyon being a weird mage: and to his experience, mages were weird by definition.
He crossed his arms. âSo, how does that work? They stand and fight andâumâget killed⊠again? I mean, theyâre not⊠alive⊠right? Do you just summon and the soul of a recently deceased comes running like it wasââ
ââŠâ
Hectorâs mood blackened all of a sudden. âSay⊠Does that mean you get to talk to them? You⊠you could summon people and hear them out as if they were stillââ
No. The dead donât come back. Man, I should know that...
ââNothing. Um, forget I said anything. Man, Iâm starving!â he yelled loudly and angrily, trying to drive away his sullenness. âHereâs hoping thereâs not much to the end of this forest⊠Iâm so hungry I could roast a tree trunk or something.â
âI am perfectly normal for my discipline thank you very much!â Even Lyon could tell that had come out far too snappily to be convincing. He pretended not to know otherwise and instead focussed on Hectorâs inquiry.
 âThey are the souls of warriors who have died in combat, who we summon and when they are defeated their soul is no more,â Lyon explained wondering if he should get rid of the phantom now it had served its purpose, âAll the dark mages I knew only ever could summon axe-wielders. The current theory is that they were once bandits or pirates as there are a great deal of those kinds of criminal and they tend to wield axes. Either that, or axe wielders tend to perish in greater numbers.â
Lyon stopped talking abruptly when Hector spoke about talking to the dead and bringing people back.
âThat is called resurrection, not summoning, and yes it is possible if you have the right power. I would not recommend it.â He tried to inject some finality into his tone that clearly expressed we are not going to talk about this.  Thankfully Hector seemed to be of the same mind though his sudden double-take was intriguing. Was there a particularly painful death in Hectorâs past that he wanted to reconcile himself with? If this had been the past, which he was sure it wasnât, he may have used this to his advantage, but times were different now⊠He had to focus on other things. Good things.
âWeâre nearly at the forestâs edge so please resist eating the foliage,â he commented, setting off through the pear trees, the phantom following eerily in his wake.
"'Axe wielders tend to perish in greater numbers', eh? Ha ha ha." Hector burst in a heartfelt laugh. "Can't argue with that! What do you think we use axes for, cutting logs? I suppose we can't really call ourselves the luckiest lot around." He thought it funny, that it wasn't too far from the truth: he'd be the first to die among his closest comrades. Not that he'd have it any other way. "You know, I've always known there was no holy afterlife in store for me. A heaven for goody-goodies like my best friend? Aw, that's not my place. I don't deserve it, see. I could rot in hell for eternity for all I cared. But... Hey, I don't want to wander the earth as a dumb-looking, dead-looking armor...thing! I want none of that! When I die on the battlefield, you leave my soul alone, all right? Oi, give me your word for it, will you?" He continued, still with a playful tone and still with a grin, laughing at his very death.
Without noticing the phantom still following them, he turned and almost jumped again. "--Whoa!" He was getting rather tired of it startling him, but he was tall and... creepy... "Um... Does this--uh, thing have to follow us around? I doubt we'd pass by unnoticed with a creepy dead walking on his feet behind us, you know..."
CATS ARE THE DEVIL [ettavia open]
Hector stood in front of the barn with an unenthusiastic look on his face: he didn't seem too eager bout the whole thing, too. ...Do I really have to get in this thing?
He glanced at the crumpled piece of parchment in his hand, and snorted. Well, he did think getting a job wouldn't be a bad idea. Having some cash wouldn't hurt at this time. I mean, there's gotta be something I can do rather than spending all my time at the arena, right? And the notice he spotted on the wooden board didn't seem so bad at first: he could still remember some parts of it. "We offer 500 pieces of gold to the kind soul who would get rid of the wild beasts hiding in our family barn", it said. "We haven't been there much lately, but we've heard strange noises coming from inside. Please, our cats like to hide in there and we're very, very afraid something could've happened to them! Our cats are irreplaceably dear to us and please see that they are..." and on and on it went.
Honestly, Hector didn't care much for the cats--what did that have to do with anything anyway...-- but hey, at least he'd get to axe some fiend head and earn a little something for it.
What he did not expect was to find an unexpectedly quiet barn: it felt suspicious, but... Looks like I got an easier job than I thought. And without much further thought, he slammed the painted doors open.
"All right, time for some good ol' thrashing--"
But he couldn't miss the twenty--no, at least thirty yellow dots eyeballing at him from a corner in the darkness. Fifteen pairs of golden little orbs following his every movement.
"What the--"
And then it-- Well, he wasn't too sure of what happened next. All he knew for certain was that he heard a loud catlike cry and then an indefinite number of jumping balls of fur ran him over. The next thing he knew, he was lying on the ground outside the barn and had furry cats sitting and purring all over him, complete with tails wagging and hairs. He even had one sitting on his face.
"--Mmmpph!!" He sputtered, shoving the cat aside and trying to get the hairs out of his mouth and face: they were red hairs. Hector looked at the cat he just pushed away: it seemed like it had a sly smile on him. ...It vaguely reminded him of Eliwood, for god knows what reason.
Then he realized--He was covered in cats! He tried to move, but almost fifteen large fat hairy balls of fur were weighing him down and... purring loudly.
"Dang... Look at what I got myself into--Hey! Get away from me, you little pieces of..." but the more he tried to shoo them away, the more the circled and piled up on him. "--Argh, not the--Quit with the tails, that tickles--Hey! Hey!! Not that way! Blasted cat...!"
In fact, while most of the felines had chosen to...err, get to know the axe lord, a couple were walking away towards the town's marketplace: not that he cared about all those walking masses of coats, but he wasn't sure the barn's owners would be too pleased to hear about their cats gone missing.
"Hey! Hey!! Someone get the cat!!"
"Owww... Man, that hurts!" // lyon - hector
âI suppose⊠You know how they say, âmind the wielder and not the weaponâ, right? Well, scholarly or notâ Hey⊠What was that just now? It was one impressive boltââ
But he sure wasnât expecting a⊠suit of armor with an axe or something and⊠bones. âWhoa!!â he almost jumped a couple of steps away from the thing. âWhere did that comeââ
But while his heart couldâve skipped a few beats for the surprise, it looked more suspicious than frightening to him. Did that come out of nowhere? It wasnât there before, he was sure of it. Hector approached it with an inspecting look on his face: it was armed, but⊠It didnât seem like it was planning on attacking them?
âYou⊠You real?â
Huh. Weird, he thought. It almost felt like it wasnât evenâ
Hectorâs eyes went to the mage next to him. âYou!â he snapped. âYou⊠This is your doing, isnât it? Walking dead⊠Well, thatâs new. I hadnât seen that one before. Thatâs some power you got there for such a little guy⊠But I guess they donât call you Necrodancer for nothing, eh? Heyâ Câmon, donât look at me like that! I was kidding! Kidding, all right? Ha ha ha. But, man⊠Thatâs quite the scare you gave me! Donât go play those tricks before telling me, you hear?â
Now he knew what that urge was. It was annoyance. The sort-of annoyance that arose when you had your discipline mocked when you were too used to having it insulted by other ignorant people. On the other hand, the sight of Hector jumping in such an ungainly way was rather amusing so his temper had abated.
That amusement lasted all of a single minute before Hector opened his mouth again. If Hector thought patronising him and then calling him a dancer again was a good move then he was clearly an idiot. More of an idiot than Ephraim had ever achieved in fact. Lyonâs scowl was well-warranted.
He deliberated on whether to accept Hectorâs sort-of apology as he moved to inspect what he had summoned.
âItâs not going to attack unless I bid it to,â he commented. This particular soul seemed to have died with a killer axe in his hand, well, it certainly had one now, âAnd besides, what would be the point of a trick if I told you about it beforehand?â
âHey, thereâs a difference between âtelling me about itâ and âsummoning a dead guy out of the blueâ, you know!â Hector replied back, with a snort. âStill, thatâs impressive. Iâm not really into magic, but Iâve never seen anyone do something like that. Not where Iâm from, anyway. I donât know what kind of place is where youâre from, but you donât strike me as the average dark mage.â Something told him there was something odd about Lyon; anyone else wouldâve questioned it, but, well, itâs Hector. He just dismissed it as Lyon being a weird mage: and to his experience, mages were weird by definition.
He crossed his arms. âSo, how does that work? They stand and fight and--um--get killed... again? I mean, theyâre not⊠alive⊠right? Do you just summon and the soul of a recently deceased comes running like it wasââ
ââŠâ
Hectorâs mood blackened all of a sudden. âSay⊠Does that mean you get to talk to them? You... you could summon people and hear them out as if they were stillââ
No. The dead don't come back. Man, I should know that...
ââNothing. Um, forget I said anything. Man, Iâm starving!â he yelled loudly and angrily, trying to drive away his sullenness. âHereâs hoping thereâs not much to the end of this forest⊠Iâm so hungry I could roast a tree trunk or something.â
"Owww... Man, that hurts!" // lyon - hector
âColours, huhâŠâ Now that he thought about it, that Lucius monk did wear white clothing and fought with Light tomes. Wait, didnât Serra had white robes too? âThat sounds reasonable enough. I never really noticed it myself, but I suppose⊠See, Iâm not really a mage kinda guy. You hit your target with fireworks and fancy spells? Thatâs fine in my book, but me? Nah, I like going at it the rough way. Cold steel and all that. I canât really say Iâve ever seen that many mages in Ostia, but⊠Dark mages are a rarity. Always heard Dark magic to be pretty heavy stuff. Powerful, too.â
For some reason, he remembered meeting a number of druids on his journey too⊠Oh right, that scholar we met in Badon, too. Weird, though⊠He saw most of them on the enemy lines. He wondered why. Wait, didnât Nergal useâ âYou know, there was this mad druid a while ago, back where Iâm from. A real blackheart, he was. He had this Dark magic tome and wanted to bring back dragons into the world⊠All that power he wanted ended up corrupting him in the end. Good thing we got rid of him for good. So, uhâŠâ
Hector went back to the tomes in Lyonâs hands. âWhat does a, uh, Necrodancer do anyway? You a researcher of sorts? Like, you bring dead corpses back from the grave and waltz with them or somethinâ?â
He was tolerant but he was ignorant, even more so than an adolescent Ephraim. That was the conclusion Lyon had come to about Hector. Fireworks had nothing to do with magic and he wasnât going to ask him to define what âfancy spellsâ meant.
âDark magic is powerful, but also incredibly risky. That is why many dark mages are scholarly. Learning is far less dangerous that casting and can be used to find other uses for magic.â
âPower tends to breedâŠunsavoury characters,â was all he had to say to Hectorâs little anecdote. So they had dragons wherever Hector was from? Lyon could honestly say he had no control over the situation when it came to his own dragon encounters. At least he didnât have to feel as guilty about those.
This man either needed to clear the wax out his ears or learn to listen better. Lyon tried to stick to the fact Hector was utterly uneducated in the ways of magic so he wouldnât get annoyed at him.
âNecromancer,â he stated, very clearly, âYes, I research, and yes I have some ability to raise the dead.â He didnât know where the urge was coming from but he had the impression this man needed a good sharp shock, maybe that would encourage him to clean his ears out! Perhaps he needed to see that even magic users had a way of using âcold steel and all that.â
 He concentrated on a patch of ground directly behind Hector and whispered his incantation so hurriedly and quietly that it could be mistaken for a mere sigh. There was the tell-tale flash of light and an axe-wielding phantom now stood directly behind Hector.
Hector had to have noticed that flash of light. Now all he needed to do was turn roundâŠ
"I suppose... You know how they say, 'mind the wielder and not the weapon', right? Well, scholarly or not-- Hey... What was that just now? It was one impressive bolt--"
But he sure wasn't expecting a... suit of armor with an axe or something and... bones. "Whoa!!" he almost jumped a couple of steps away from the thing. "Where did that come--"
But while his heart could've skipped a few beats for the surprise, it looked more suspicious than frightening to him. Did that come out of nowhere? It wasn't there before, he was sure of it. Hector approached it with an inspecting look on his face: it was armed, but... It didn't seem like it was planning on attacking them?
"You... You real?"
Huh. Weird, he thought. It almost felt like it wasn't even--
Hector's eyes went to the mage next to him. "You!" he snapped. "You... This is your doing, isn't it? Walking dead... Well, that's new. I hadn't seen that one before. That's some power you got there for such a little guy... But I guess they don't call you Necrodancer for nothing, eh? Hey-- C'mon, don't look at me like that! I was kidding! Kidding, all right? Ha ha ha. But, man... That's quite the scare you gave me! Don't go play those tricks before telling me, you hear?"
"Owww... Man, that hurts!" // lyon - hector
Hector looked at him dumbly; he just didnât get what was so special about a dream. ââŠI got no clue myself. Hey, it was just a dream anyway. Donât think too hard about it in that head of yours, all right?â
Dropping the subject, he turned to the road ahead of them; it seemed quiet enough. âAll right, letâs get moving! The sooner we get out of this forest, the sooner I get whatâs up with this blasted placeâŠâ
They walked down the narrow path at a regular pace, without anything to slow them down; much like before, the forest was silent and quiet, its silence broken only by birds chirping and birds flapping their wings in the foliage. âMan⊠It sure is quiet heâ Huh?â
It was by chance that Hector noticed the tome Lyon was holding. âWait, hey⊠Isnât that aâ?â He couldnât really say he knew what kind of book that was exactly, but tell apart a Dark magic tome from an Anima one? Even he could do that. âHuh⊠Youâre into dark magic? Fancy that. Wouldâve never guessed. Looks sure are deceiving, man.â
Lyon disagreed. Dreams could be very important, they gave insights into oneâs own character, revealing hidden truths that could have perhaps been previously denied from you by your own thoughts of emotions. Still, he wasnât about to argue on behalf of some very strange texts he had read quite a while ago.
Also Hector seemed rather stubborn, there would be no use in arguing with him anyway. He had plenty of experience in trying to debate with stubborn people, well a person, and heâd never been very good at that.
âIt should be this way,â he told Hector as they walked. The apple trees had given way to a majority of pear trees, they were getting closer to the outskirts now he could tell.
âYes I am,â he replied, slight surprise creeping into his tone, Hector had recoiled or made any sign of revulsion or fear or even plain disapproval. There evidently must be dark magic users wherever Hector was from howeverâŠdid they not carry the same stigma as they did in Magvel? It was also a bit surprising that Hector couldnât tell what kind of mage he was from his robes. There was generally a bit of a colour scheme about these things. White for the holy, purple and black for the not so holy and every other colour for the anima mages⊠Perhaps it was different where Hector came from.
âI am a necromancer,â he said, Hector didnât seem to believe dark magic was bad so he felt safe saying it, âYou can usually tell someone who uses arcane magic by their purple robesâŠmages do tend to colour code a bit.â He smiled at the rather amusing idea of having set uniforms.
"Colours, huh..." Now that he thought about it, that Lucius monk did wear white clothing and fought with Light tomes. Wait, didn't Serra had white robes too? "That sounds reasonable enough. I never really noticed it myself, but I suppose... See, I'm not really a mage kinda guy. You hit your target with fireworks and fancy spells? That's fine in my book, but me? Nah, I like going at it the rough way. Cold steel and all that. I can't really say I've ever seen that many mages in Ostia, but... Dark mages are a rarity. Always heard Dark magic to be pretty heavy stuff. Powerful, too."
For some reason, he remembered meeting a number of druids on his journey too... Oh right, that scholar we met in Badon, too. Weird, though... He saw most of them on the enemy lines. He wondered why. Wait, didn't Nergal use-- "You know, there was this mad druid a while ago, back where I'm from. A real blackheart, he was. He had this Dark magic tome and wanted to bring back dragons into the world... All that power he wanted ended up corrupting him in the end. Good thing we got rid of him for good. So, uh..."
Hector went back to the tomes in Lyon's hands. "What does a, uh, Necrodancer do anyway? You a researcher of sorts? Like, you bring dead corpses back from the grave and waltz with them or somethin'?"
BARRICADE // Sue + Hector + Elincia + Marisa
Again, panic quickly found its way to Elincia in the darkness. It had been an unexpected move, and once again she found herself completely unarmed - who knew what Van Sol was doing now? He could be creeping up behind them, or finding his way of escape⊠she told herself to calm down, however, and instead focused on the source of the thumping - the door. It was unfortunate, but Van Sol should not be on her mind right at this moment.
âEveryone, watch out, and try to grab something heavy!â she cautioned, as she approached the door. âI think itâs about to burst!âÂ
Elincia, however, continued to move towards the door, hoping to reclaim her staff before the door broke it in two. Carefully feeling around in front of her with her hands, she finally reached the smooth but trembling door, moving her arms down until her fingers came in contact with a smooth, crystal sphere. And it was then that she realized that once she pulled this out, the door would burst.Â
âIâm about to pull out the staff - prepare yourselves!â With that, she deftly pulled out the wooden rod, and the doors swung open.Â
In came a group of assailants, only lit by the light of the torches from the hallway. However, it was more than enough for Elincia to make out their silhouettes and their weapons. Quickly countering a swing of a blade with her staff, she grabbed the wooden rod further down and swung down on the personâs head, making contact with a resounding thud, followed by the person falling on the ground. Holding her staff out on top of her head as someone elseâs blade made contact with it, she stepped on the fallen personâs sword and swung it out towards her comrades -
And then too many things seemed to have happened all at once. There was the door opening after the green-haired womanâs warning, to which sheâd begun to brace herself. If there werenât any weapons here, the only way to survive was to disarm the men coming after them.
âŠTo which the woman had also done, in her relief. Marisa picked up the sword that was swung right beneath her feet, and hurried to engage her pursuers, keeping in mind to disarm as many others as she could and help equip these strangers in the process. Trust wasnât exactly of importance here right now - all she knew was, they were in the same mess as she, and they didnât have a choice but to fight these pursuers off if they didnât want to end up dead themselves.Â
She moved to step in between the green-haired woman and the armed mercenary, thrusting her blade to his side before he could take another swing at his target. A groan escaped him as he fell, to which Marisa had swiftly taken a hold of the manâs blade and briefly considered handing it over to the staff-wielding woman. Would she fare much better with a staff, or a blade? There was no time to ask, however, as yet another pursuer charged in. Marisa deflected his downward strike with the sword on her right, still holding on to the other on her left. But the strike was getting heavy, as the man continued to push downwards. Realizing she had to let go, she threw the sword backwards in hopes that someone else would catch it and take care of the other pursuers. She swiftly relented backwards, leaving her opponent imbalanced and moving in to thrust once more.Â
And thankfully, Sue had caught the sword, partly to even her own surprise. Admittedly, all of these things were happening much too fast for her liking and it was obvious that these assailants cared little for who theyâd be striking down - their order, whoever had given it, likely was to kill every last person in this room.Â
Given their current positions, one of the strangers, the woman wielding the staff, right  now was at the highest risk to get harmed, since she was still closest to the door. In an attempt to hurry to her aid, Sue took a nimble leap forward, burying her blade deeply into the stomach of a foe and swiftly pulled it out to strike down another one.
But her attack proved to be useless against this one, the sound of her steel against another kind of metal made it obvious. Against a heavy armoured fighter like this man, her fairly imperfect swordsmanship would not suffice. If only she had her bow-
There was no time to finish the thought; her opponent had leashed out towards her with his own weapon and although she had barely been able to block the blow, it was powerful enough to make her stumble a few steps backwards. Slowly a sense of panic began to overcome the nomadâs senses. What if they wouldnât make it out of this place alive? She was fairly certain that the attacker her blade had pierced through had fallen down close to where she suspected Lord Hector to be; maybe heâd be able to arm himself. For now, the girl braced herself for the next blow.
The moment the woman sent her last warning and the doors burst open, Hector knew that was his main concern for the time being: questions and introductions would have to wait. Not that he had forgotten about Van Sol either: the creepy words, the unanswered questions, the darkness he had left them in just served to fuel his anger even more. An anger he was taking out on the coming enemies. Whether they were Van Sol's allies or simple mercenaries, he didn't care: if they wanted to be hit, then he wouldn't be the one complaining.
"You lot couldn't choose a worse moment get in my way!" he taunted, dodging an enemy sword thrust in time to trip the guy, clout him right on his nose and, grabbing him by his collar, send him flying to the other side of the room. "Prepare to die!!" and slammed his makeshift weapon on a swordfighter's head, stunning him.
Despite being pretty much in the dark and without his armor, Hector seemed to fare good enough with his decent dodging skills and punches alone: granted, he mostly used his hardwood chair as a shield to parry incoming strikes rather than to bludgeon people, but his fists handled the job pretty well and he thought that was good enough for the moment.
Slowly, the enemy numbers began to decrease. The crowd of mercenaries waned, and corpses were starting to pile up in the room. The uninterrupted sound of clashing steel around him told Hector his companions -- if he could call them such, but at least they seemed to be on the same side as him: anyone who didn't try to saw his head off was good enough in his book -- were still alive and fighting: it wouldn't take much longer now. Good. We keep at it and--
But suddenly, the last mercenaries Hector was fighting stepped back and joined their remaining comrades who, in the meantime, aided by the darkness, had surrounded the four fighters on all sides and now encircled them.
--Ah!!
"Blast! We're surrounded!" Hector cursed, taking a few steps back, just to find himself with his back to one of his only allies in the room.
BARRICADE // Sue + Hector + Elincia + Marisa
Too many questions ran through her mind now. Tension brimming through her chest, the loud thump from the barricaded doors sent her heart almost bursting in agitation. This was the man whoâd invited her here, along with these people, their unfamiliar faces coming to light by the fire. The situation demanded for a fight, but here she stood in the manâs room with assailants after them for whatever reason -  still unarmed. She quickly scanned the area for weaponsâŠanything she could use at all to defend herself. The walls, the tables⊠But there was nothing.
ââŠWhy did you invite me here?â
She enunciated her words clearly. Her voice was ringing with curiosity, losing what was left of the supposed edge in her usual tone. Fear was not entirely absent from her being, but she would ask now, despite her lack of weapons to back up her next demand.Â
âYou invite guests but choose to lock yourself up in here. Explain yourself.â
But the loud thumping of the doors continued, unable to escape her ears. Just how much time did they have left before the door would burst open with these assailants coming after them, only too soon slaughtering them to lifeâs end? At some point in her life she remembered thinking of death resulting from a stupid mistake. A mistake in battle, perhaps, but not a mistake to respond to a nobleâs invitation and die in his castleâin his room completely unarmed. It was a mistake to come hereâshe kept telling herself that, but the thought was naught but a useless reprimand that gave her no answers. She made her mistake. How was she supposed to come out of this alive now?
âOh, Iâm just a rather antisocial individual,â he said with a wave of his hand and a light laugh, the first motion he made since their entrance. âWould it not be bad form if the lord was found to be someone who couldnât hold up a decent conversation with other people? Why, it would be a most unfortunate smear on the reputation of the ruler.âÂ
Again, the man laughed, as if to shrug off everything he had just said. He remained seated, although by the firelight it could be seen that his attention turned away from the four âunexpectedâ guests back towards the flames in the fireplace.Â
âAs for why you were invited, dear Marisa - because I do know of you - I was simply curious. Like you are now, I suppose. Just as you are curious as to why you were invited here, or even perhaps what made you choose to come, I am curious about you, just like with the other guests I have asked to come.â The doors continued to shake, the sounds of yelling outside penetrating into the relative silence of the room. âAnd those people are curious, too. Theyâre curious as to whatâs stopping them from coming in, and who is actually in here.â
So, this was the mysterious ruler of the castle. Sue couldnât say she liked him much. He invited them here out of mere curiosity? That didnât seem very likely and although she wasnât sure about the other two women, she knew for a fact that neither herself nor Lord Hector belonged into this world to began with. They had made no name for themselves yet in Ettavia and at least the young nomad had given her best to avoid drawing negative attention to herself. How would this Van Sol even know of them?
Sueâs frown only deepened. The man didnât seem keen on giving them proper answers and judging by the noises coming from the door, soon the room would be crawling with enemies - and how would they defend themselves? Perhaps the group could take this man as a hostage, but maybe he was even armed himselfâŠ
âWe should move some more objects in front of the doorâ, the girl stated plainly towards Hector and the woman next to him and began to move one of the sturdier tables towards the blocked entrance. They was little sense for her to talk to this Van Sol, so sheâd rather direct her energy towards this barricade.
Hector did not like the guy.
A couple of words, and he already thought it was all mouth and no action. What's up with shutting himself in this room anyway? And he was so calm, so eerily calm about all this... Calm people just got on his nerves, he couldn't help it. In short, he hadn't seen much of him yet, and what he saw didn't please him.
"Hey! Cut out the fancy talk!" he snarled, addressing him. "You the one who brought us in this land? Dunno how you have, but I'll make you send us back... And how do you know our names? Answer, you smooth-talking--"
Hector took a step forward, but the growing chaos behind him reminded of the weakening barricade. Damn...! Not now! Sue was right, they should reinforce the door, but... How much longer could that barricade hold anyway? They were better off preparing for the worst. Hector looked around: he had to find a weapon. Now. Unable to find any bladed or spiked thing, he got hold of a sturdy-looking, heavy hardwood chair: if he couldn't axe through them, he'd resort to bludgeoning them.