Game Changer & Make Some Noise
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@thosetaleskids
And, whoops, that's my queue empty! Might have to put it on pause for a little until I can get a few more things into it again... I would have been more on top of things, but doing Inktober last month stole much of my time and creative muse! I've finished that now though, of course, so shouldn't take too long for me to get a bit back on top of things again ^^
Honestly? He appreciated that Anise didn't mind worrying over him. It just was difficult to be in a position where he needed that extra care, he supposed. So many people counted on him. Still, he managed a small smile at her words.
"Okay, Anise... thank you," Ion said. He allowed himself to relax a moment, or relax as much as he could with how he felt, and mulled over what she had said. It wasn't so much Tritheim that Ion was worried about, he admitted to himself. He was glad that Anise had that base covered, at least. Tritheim was usually pretty understanding about these things. But as Ion adjusted his position, head resting atop his hands and eyes partially closed, his mind wandered.
"What about Mohs...?" The weariness in his voice was more apparent now. The poor young Fon Master really didn't feel great. He did his best to hide a small cough, but who was he trying to fool? Anise already knew he didn't feel good.
"What if he... still tries to make me read the Score?" Ion didn't like to think that way, but if Mohs could go over his head then couldn't he also go over Tritheim's?
That was better. Anise nodded to herself as Ion settled down, acquiescing to her insistence that he let himself be looked after. Sure, it wasn't exactly within the duties of a Fon Master Guardian to take care of her charge when he was unwell, but it might as well have been, as far as Anise was concerned.
What, was she supposed to just let him work himself to death? Not on her watch!
She was well into work on shredding up the chicken when Ion's next words caught her ears. A scowl crossed the girl's face, lingering longer than seemed quite appropriate for the subject at hand.
"Mohs can just go and shove his head up his own--"
She had to bite her tongue to cut off what would have been quite a creatively graphic description. At least, she had to while in front of Ion: there were some things you just didn't say in front of the religious leader of the whole world... at least not if you wanted to keep your job.
"Whoops, I mean--" she made a pretty pitiful show of feigning embarrassment at her 'slip'.
"I'll make sure Tritheim passes on the message to him as well. Even Mohs has to know it's not going to look great if you keel over in the middle of a reading: he'll just have to be patient like a big boy until you're all better."
Not that Mohs and reasonable were words that went together; but if anyone could talk some restraint into the frustrated Grand Maestro, he was at least more likely to listen to Tritheim than to her.
Leave it to Laphicet to be stubborn. That much must have been something that he'd picked up from being around her, but... Velvet also knew in her heart it was more than that. This was the same malak that had snapped her out of her despair in the earthpulse. The same one who had punched a literal Empyrean in the face for her sake. Of course he would want to protect her.
So there she lay, feeling the paralysis status starting to wear off as Laphicet stood over her and went into his mystic arte. Of course, it didn't end up doing a lot of damage. The thought still counted, though. As he helped her to sit up, Velvet nodded her head. She could see that determination in his eyes. That was what she needed to see right then.
"I think so," Velvet answered. Her movement was still a bit more pained than she would have liked, but they didn't have a choice but to move. Lest they get themselves hurt even worse by that crystalline thing. She was going to get Rokurou for this. Him and his dumb red code daemon obsession...
As Velvet managed to make herself move, she couldn't stop the pained hiss from escaping her. They had to get out of there. Quickly. Just as the thought crossed her mind, she saw the daemon preparing to attack again. On her feet again, she motioned for him to follow.
"Remember - pain's just proof that we're alive," Velvet tried to reassure him as she winced. Then, she swept her leg out to send snow flying at the thing. It wouldn't stop it for long, she knew, but it was something.
"Come on!" And so, Velvet tried to make herself run. She still felt a bit stiff and slower than she should have, but at least Velvet was moving. They could make it out of this.
Gaze cut back and forth between Velvet and the crystal daemon. She was getting back to her feet, and for that he was grateful; but she was clearly in pain, and the enemy was closing in on them once again.
Of course, he knew he could at least help with the former of those...
"Light, heal us! First Aid!"
It wasn't the most potent healing arte, but Velvet ought to feel her pain lessening; and just in time, too, as she took off running. Of course, Phi was close behind - well, as close as his shorter legs would allow, anyway - and for a moment it looked like they were about to get clean away.
At least until his moment of distraction to cast the healing spell cost him. Another strike from the creature took him in the back, throwing the small Malak forward with force; papers went flying in all directions as the blow hurled him past Velvet to plant face-first into the snowy bank.
He didn't feel stunned, but he definitely hurt - as if he'd needed any more proof that he was alive right now - as he pushed himself back to his feet. He could see Velvet catching up to where he'd landed, could imagine her concern, and waved it off.
"I'm up... keep going!"
He matched action to word, joining her flight. The Code Red seemed to be losing interest in them now; if they could just make it a little further...
"Considering your friends killed her mother, I can't say I'm surprised," Asch remarked. Maybe that was a low blow, since as far as he knew Anise hadn't been involved with what happened to the Liger Queen in the end, but that hadn't stopped Arietta from blaming Anise all the same. He couldn't even call it kid drama. Anise was three years younger than him, and Arietta was one year younger than him too.
At least the Guardian Field looked like it had done something. Maybe not as effectively as Natalia's Cure or Heal, but it was better than nothing. After a moment, he remembered his gel supply. Idiot. He could have just offered her a gel from the beginning and maybe saved himself some trouble. The supply was dwindling a bit, but he did dig into his small bag of items when he found it among his supplies and pass her an apple gel.
"It won't heal your wound any more completely, but here. It's one of my last ones," he huffed. He'd need to buy more gels later. When he wasn't in the middle of ten things at once.
"Where were you and that dreck headed, anyway?" it wasn't Asch's responsibility to get her back to Luke and the others. It absolutely wasn't. But dammit, he already had a feeling that Anise would be stuck with him for a bit anyway. She was perfectly capable in battle, with that plush and all, but getting back to her allies could prove to be difficult.
"If it was that, I'd say she should pick the right target: I didn't have anything to do with the Liger Queen. No, I think she still just has it in for me because Ion likes me better than her."
She knew, of course, that wasn't what it was: yeah, she didn't know the full details, but she knew at least that Arietta had been shuffled off the Fon Master Guardian job when the original Ion had died, so that she wouldn't notice the change. It wasn't Ion's fault, or Arietta's...
If their roles had been reversed, Anise wondered, would she have felt the same way towards Arietta? She might have, at that. The idea of someone taking Ion from her filled her guts with lead, after all...
...but right now, she wasn't feeling particularly charitable, least of all to Arietta. You weren't going to catch her sympathising with with the other girl, no way.
She gratefully accepted the gel at least, popped it in her mouth. Gels weren't quite miracle items of course, but it at least helped with the pain; within minutes she was able to flex even her sprained shoulder without it hurting.
"We were on our way back to Daath for the next passage ring. Just ticking them all off, one after another."
Well, she saw no reason not to answer him, at least; Anise would hardly say that she fully trusted Asch, but they were at least more or less on the same side.
In fact, it was because that was their next destination that Anise had been lagging behind the group to get into trouble like this. She's needed the space for mulling over her own little plots: mostly how to get everyone to and through the passage from the cathedral to the volcano without making it obvious that she knew more about it than she should. They had to go that way, of course, but the last thing she wanted was for anyone to ask too many questions...
It was a conundrum, for sure; and one that she couldn't exactly ask anyone else for advice on, at that. Once again, she hated so much that Mohs had stuck her in this position.
She forced a cheerful disposition that she didn't at all feel.
"I'm sure the others will miss cute little me before long, though! And they really can't have got too far ahead yet!"
...she hoped, at least.
"Indeed-- Elle uses 100 words when 10 would do to describe people, but it in summation sounded like you."
Laphicet, naturally, didn't trust his intentions at first; a good sign of competent parentage. Once Victor presented him with the letter, his defenses went down enough to read and accept the letter's legitimacy. From the way he smiled as he read it, her invite (and the massive cleaning job he'd be tasked with after this club party) wasn't in vain.
Would've been easier if she came in person, but she wanted everything to be perfect, and 'I can't be sure it's perfect if I don't do it myself!'. Such a hassle... Though as much as he complains, her go-getter work ethic did have its charms.
But before they left, Laphicet wanted to do the good kid thing: tell the adult in the room he's leaving. "It's more than okay-- if you need help talking to her, I can explain things as well," Victor's face slips into a smirk, "At worst she'll feel better if should something happen, she knows the face to find and punch in."
"...Is something likely to happen?"
That stopped him in his track, a tilt of the head betraying confusion. He wouldn't have expected that anything untoward would, and he supposed that Victor was just being cautious of an absolutely worst-case scenario; but something about the way he worded that made Phi wonder just a little bit.
Still...
"I think it'll be okay. Still, I can point you out to her if that would make you feel better about it."
Honestly, the boy thought Velvet might be more sceptical of an ominously masked man approaching the crew than she would of him simply saying that he was going to catch up with a friend; because while he trusted that Victor had been sent by Elle, he wasn't completely sure that anyone else would. Plus, Laphicet wouldn't really wish Velvet's wrath upon anyone, especially given that she would be far less likely to punch Victor than to simply eat him whole with her daemon arm if something should happen to him.
"I'll be back in just a minute, okay?" Still he lingered a moment, waiting for confirmation, before scampering in the direction of the docks.
Some part of him got why she was trying so hard. He did. She probably saw Ion every time she saw him, which just made it so she didn't want to see him die. Because Yulia forbid she see Ion die again. If she was tired of the back and forth, Sync was too. There were only so many ways he could say that he didn't know what to live for.
Spiting Van, though...?
Sync seemed... conflicted, at that thought. He hated what Van had done to him. Of course he did. It was the Commandant's fault that he had been molded the way he had. At the same time, Van had given him a life. A shitty life, but a life nonetheless. He grit his teeth, clenching and unclenching his fist as he let Anise's words tumble through his mind again.
"Look, I don't know what to tell you. What part of 'I don't know anything that I'm good at' is so hard to understand? I did strategy, and I did fight. That's it. You think any of those Oracle Knights would respect me if I tried to get back into that line of work? When people look at me and just see him? And if they don't see him, they see the ex God-General." Frustration mounted, and his fist found its way to hitting the ground in front of him. Not enough force to do damage, but enough to make a point. Quick breaths escaped through his clenched teeth, until finally he slumped forward a bit and heaved a sigh.
It must have been so easy for replicas like Florian. That naĆÆve child was welcomed because he looked just like Ion. Daath loved him. Sync still had his status as a criminal hanging over his head. Anise's little pet project, he imagined some people thought of him. Both of them just frustrated one another. He should've just let Jade do him in, but that wasn't how his story went. So he was stuck.
"Feels like I'm just beating my head into a wall at this point."
"Still... living out of spite," he managed after a moment. It wasn't something he was unfamiliar with. That was, in essence, a part of what had driven him as a God-General. Spite for the Score. The whole system that had made him come into being in the first place. Would it really be so hard to transfer that spite over to just... Van? He wondered.
"I guess that'd be better than nothing. Until I figure out what more there is to being Sync," he said. Not that he was that optimistic about that much. When had he even started backing down from just straight up arguing? He didn't know. Maybe it was just because he was still tired from everything that happened that day.
Here came the arguments again, of course. Anise screwed her eyes shut, almost wincing away from the same retorts all over again. It wasn't that it was hard to understand what Sync was saying; it was just hard to accept.
Sure, she didn't know what it was like to be him, to have his very first memories be those of being thrown away for not being 'good enough'... she wanted to say that if it was her, she would be trying all sorts of things until she found something that she was good at and could enjoy... but really, what did she know? For as many frustrations as she had with her parents' utter gullibility, the fact remained that Anise had never wanted for love. Mama and Papa had always made sure she knew how much they cared for her.
How could she ever imagine a life without that?
She couldn't even say she was happy that Sync seemed to be latching onto her suggestion. Living out of spite wasn't much less sad than living simply to die, in her mind; yet still, wasn't it at least a start? Living for spite was at least living for something, and once he took that step then it might be easier for him to find something a more valuable purpose to transfer that to instead.
Small steps, Anise. Small steps.
"Don't think I don't get it. I know it's not easy."
If not for the group still letting her stick with them, Anise knew that she might well have lost all purpose of her own after Ion had died. After she'd failed more completely than any Fon Master Guardian had ever failed in the history of the Order, by not only not keeping her charge safe but actively being the one to put him in the situation that cost him his life. If not for Luke understanding, she might have ended up something like Sync.
On that point, at least, she could understand him at least a little.
She could offer to help him figure that out... but what good would it do? It felt like he'd shot down that offer a hundred times already, and she was sick of making it if it was just going to be refused. He knew where she stood; not that he'd ever come to her for help, she was sure, even if he had a change of mind.
She shook her head, thrusting off the dismal thoughts.
"Can you stand? We should get back to the rest of the group; the fighting's probably over by now anyway."
Incomprehensible embarrassed Hubert noises escaped the young man as he looked around, trying to make sure no one he knew was there. They weren't, of course. Why would they be? No one knew he was there and looking for comics other than Laphicet. When he was certain of that much once more, Hubert allowed himself to relax again.
Of course Laphicet wouldn't know that he was a little embarrassed about his love of comics. He didn't want the world to perceive him as a nerd, even though he definitely could fit that category like a glove. He often presented himself as more serious than that, after all. But in this instance, Hubert tried to tell himself, it was okay. Had to be okay. Otherwise he'd never be able to live with the potential reputation damage. But that was just his own inflated worries about the matter, he supposed.
"Oh, um..." Recommendations, recommendations... Hubert looked over the books that were for sale. He purposefully passed over the Silver Mechaknight Avalanche book, though. Not only did it pale in comparison to the Sunscreen Rangers, at least in his own mind, it just wasn't to his personal tastes.
"Let's see what we have here... Lulu's Sweet Home, Katz Souls Eater, Seraph Tale..." Some of them were better options than others. He ran his finger over the different comic spines, blue eyes darting this way and that as he read the different titles. He frowned.
"Well, I suppose it would help if I knew what sort of comic you were interested in in the first place," he said at last. He probably should have asked that much first. "What sort of a story would you be interested in reading?"
"Oh, we've met a few Katz on our travels; that one sounds like it could be interesting!"
He hadn't known that Katz ate souls; or did it mean something that ate the souls of Katz specifically? Either way, maybe that was something that was unique to the plot of the comic, rather than being derived from real life. Of course, Laphicet was aware that was the whole point of fiction, after all; even if he hadn't consumed much of it himself, he still knew that much. Didn't always make it easy to tell where the line fell between fiction and reality, though, when he still had a lot to learn about the word.
Speaking of; it meant that Hubert's question was one that, it had to be admitted, he didn't have an easy answer too.
"Well... this is really my first time looking at comics. I usually read a lot of history books, if that helps; these caught my eye because they're so different from what I've seen where I come from."
That wasn't to say that comic books necessarily didn't exist in Desolation; but they weren't something that Lady Teresa or the Abbey stocked in their libraries.
Perhaps for understandable reasons, he supposed.
"I'm really up for trying most things! I do like stories about visiting new places, especially, if that helps?"
Whether it actually did help or not, well... he'd see what Hubert thought, at any rate.
Patient as could be, Tear listened to Anise as the younger girl vented. She couldn't blame Anise for venting about any of this. After all, they all had seen everything that happened. All of Class I and Class M, as far as they knew, were dead because of Legretta and Van. There might have been other civilians that had gotten hurt or killed that they didn't even know about. Not only that, but the rest of the God-Generals were indeed still out there. Ion did indeed still wear himself out every single time they needed him to open one of the Daathic seals to let them have access to the Sephiroths. And...
She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Even though the information was fresh in her mind, Tear didn't really like to think about what she herself was going through. She was doing what she was because she wanted to help. Even if it meant that she was putting her life in danger.
So, Tear did what Tear did best. She shoved the matter of herself as far back as she could and offered a sympathetic look to Anise. Worrying about someone else did make it easier to avoid worrying about herself. Self sacrifice? Never heard of her.
"I'm sorry, Anise," Tear finally said. "I don't think it will get any less tiring from here. We still have to But hopefully, once we've learned where the rest of the Sephiroths are, we can get some rest for a bit." She probably needed it, but this wasn't about Tear. The others needed it more. Especially Anise, who already worked hard enough as it was to keep Ion safe and do what she needed to in order to help out as a whole.
Tear... she just sang her fonic hymns. And was able to get the Sephiroths to respond to her because she was a descendant of Yulia. But again, this wasn't about her. Tear shoved the thoughts right back where they belonged. Down as deep as the Qliphoth ran. She drew in a small breath, but that breath hitched. A small cough threatened to come up, but Tear stifled it as much as she could.
Smooth. Breathe in, breathe out. She was fine.
"We'll get through this. We've come this far, after all," Tear tried to assure her. "All we have to do is just... keep going. We have to stop my brother."
"I know..."
Still, that didn't stop Anise from pouting. Of course things were going to keep getting more difficult, and she had no illusions otherwise - least of all not as long as she was unwillingly on two different sides in all this - but knowing that and being happy about that were two very different things. She propped her head up on one fist, staring grouchily off past Tear to where the sky was streaming past the Albiore's cockpit.
It wasn't even just her; by this point, Anise was sure they all had to be feeling the toll of their rushing here, there and everywhere. She'd have to be blind to miss that Ion was, even though he tried to insist otherwise. The Colonel, of course, was unreadable as ever, but everyone else was showing their own signs of weariness too, if she was any judge. Even Tear herself...
Oh.
Right.
Of course.
Anise winced at herself. She was so used to Tear being the fellow strong Oracle Knight that it had quite missed her, at least in that moment, that this all was taking a greater toll on her than any of them.
"I guess you think it's pretty dumb for me to be complaining at all, huh? You're soldiering on through miasma sickness and fighting your own brother and everything, while I go on about a bunch of trivialities..."
Not that Ion's health was a triviality, of course; nor were people's deaths. But still. Anise tended to give about equal weight to all her frustrations, big or small... but she couldn't exactly blame Tear if that kind of approach was grating right now: after all, Tear's health was equally not a triviality.
"Just between us Oracle Knights, Tear, how bad is it really?" she wouldn't tell the others, if Tear really didn't want her to; she understood not wanting people to worry. But surely the two of them, at least, were roughly on the same page?
Eizen: Hardly worth breaking a sweat.
Laphicet: I totally wrecked them! I meanā¦ I think I did?
Eizen: Stand proud, Laphicet. Youāve earned it.
Laphicet: Iā¦ I will! Thanks, Eizen!
āLaphicet, huhā¦?ā
Something that Karol noticed immediately was that Laphicetās smile was infectious as Karol found himself returning it. He was relieved to know that he wasnāt in the younger boyās way at the very least. Still, he hadnāt been expecting the boy to offer actual advice for his troubles, even if Laphicet wasnāt fully sure what the issue was.
Despite the lack of context though, Laphicetās words did seem to resonant with Karol in some way at least. Karol was worried about running this guild of his correctly, was worried about running his members ragged with what he wanted to do. Everyone was so fixated on finding a purpose for their guild butā¦ was it really so bad that the goal was just to help people?
āYou bring up a good point, Laphicet. Every experience is different. I guess I should just go with what I know and then adjust from there.ā Seeming a bit satisfied with that answer for now, Karol shot his hand out towards the other to offer a handshake.
āMy name is Karol Capel! Iām the leader of my Guild thatās known as Brave Vesperia.ā Any anxiety that had been showing on Karolās face beforehand had now vanished, or at the very least had been pushed away in favor of greeting the younger boy with a wide grin. āYou said you were traveling with your party? So does that mean that itās your first time in Dahngrest?ā
He was surprised to see the young boy wandering around by himself and briefly wondered if he had gotten lost. The city was rather large and it was easy to get turned around if you didnāt know where you were heading. Glancing around, Karol tried to get a good look of the area to see if there were any travelers nearby that could possibly be watching over Laphicet but with how crowded the city was, it was a little hard to tell.
āWhere is your party anyway? Youāre not lost, are you?ā
"Something like that, yeah!"
Not that he really knew the specifics, of course; but it sounded like Karol had found something useful in his advice, and that was good enough for Phi. He accepted the other youth's handshake, even as strangely formal as it seemed for boys their age.
"Oh, you're a guild leader? That's really cool."
He meant it, too. Honestly, when Eizen and Rokurou had been telling him about the guilds, Laphicet had sort of imagined their leaders to be, well, older; but while Karol seemed to have maybe a couple of years on him, they had to be pretty close in age. So it was for sure cool that even those as young as them could be taken seriously as guild leaders here.
"That's right, it is. Some of my companions have been here before, but not me. I like it here so far, though." Head tilted as he watched Karol looking around, wondering for a moment, before the other voiced what he was thinking.
"No, I'm not lost. Most of them went off to do their own thing--"
As per usual: Rokurou looking for somewhere to upgrade his weapons, Eizen seeking information, Magilou doing... Magilou things, he didn't rightly know what she got up to when she went off on her own.
"--But see that lady over there, talking to the shopkeeper? With the long black hair and the bandaged arm? She's part of our group. Well, kind of the leader of our group, actually."
Once again, though, his curiosity was going to get the best of him.
"What sort of thing does your guild do? I've heard that all the guilds have different purposes."
She guessed it was pretty weird. Even her friends would have said that much, except for maybe Pascal. ...No, even she would have. Sophie didn't have much more she could say about that. Especially not when Anise confirmed she didn't know any of the places that had been mentioned. So she was just stuck for the time being. That was... disheartening, to say the least.
Sophie lowered her head a bit, eyes closing for just a moment, until she heard Anise speak again. Finding somewhere to stay in Daath until she could figure things out didn't sound too bad. A faint smile formed.
"Thank you," she said. Oh, right, gald would be helpful. Hubert usually was the one that tried to keep track of their spending, but she had been given some gald just in case she wanted to buy a little something for herself. Just enough to spend a night in an inn, it looked like as she retrieved the gald. About three hundred, from the looks of it.
"I have some," Sophie confirmed. "So... I guess I'll be able to stay in the inn." She did look happy about that much, at least.
"Maybe you could show me around, too?" If that wasn't too much trouble. Right then, Sophie was a stranger in a strange place. Any help she could get was appreciated.
Though she knew she shouldn't react, there was no hiding the little glint in Anise's eye at the sight of the gald. Of course she wasn't going to do anything about it - not only was it not all that much, but it also seemed to be all the girl had on her at present and she wasn't so cruel as to rob someone of all the money they had to their name - but it was an instinct all the same.
She strove for a neutral tone, however.
"If that's all you've got on you, you might not want to spend it all on one night, just in case it takes longer to get you back where you need to go. Maybe you should stay with my parents instead and save the money for when you really need it."
She knew: she was always telling her mama and papa not to be so trusting, and here she was inviting a stranger into their home. But this was kind of a rare circumstance; this girl legitimately didn't seem like a threat; and there had been a spare bed in the house ever since she'd moved into the Oracle Knights barracks anyway.
And what could she say; growing up with so little had made her very careful about money when there didn't seem to be much of it. If Sophie had been rolling in gald, that would of course have been a different matter, but...
"Oh, of course I can do that!" She perked up again, her usual upbeat facade self on display once again as Sophie asked for the tour. It was almost an unstated part of an Oracle Knight's duties to help people around Daath if they didn't have any more pressing tasks; and right now Anise was between jobs.
"I'm an Oracle Knight of the Order of Lorelei, you know. Ionian Sergeant Anise Tatlin! And I've lived in Daath my whole life. So you really couldn't have picked anyone better to ask! āŖ"
She'd have to tell Ion where she was going, of course, just in case he needed her; but Anise already had a plan for that. Just make the cathedral her first stop, and get someone to pass a message on to Ion for her, right? No problem.
Getting a birthday meal out? It was a thought that did strike his fancy a little bit. Usually that wouldn't have even been an option, especially not when he'd been living back in Wigaseya. But... right, the cost of the meal. He reached into his pocket, but didn't find much gald. He grimaced.
"It's not a bad idea. I just worry about being able to actually afford it. Funds have been... hard to get as of late," Aegis admitted. Maybe because Laphicet knew the owner, though, they could cut him some kind of a deal? Or was that too optimistic? Aegis didn't know for sure.
Then he seemed to perk up a bit when Laphicet asked about the books he liked. Of course he was happy to explain! Why wouldn't he be?
"It's a series of books about a mechanical knight, designed to fight the forces of evil!" The gleam in his eye suggested he was a big fan. Even if the series might not have really been intended for his age range, he still enjoyed it.
"Perhaps I could let you borrow one of the books sometime," he offered. "Maybe you'll like them."
"Well, since it's your birthday, why don't I treat you? I'm sure Velvet won't mind..."
In truth, he wasn't quite sure of that. But, he felt, she'd understand, at least; and by this point on their travels they certainly seemed to have more gald than they could spend. Where was the harm in buying one guy a nice meal? He nodded to himself.
"Don't try to talk me out of it. This is the course I've chosen, and I'm sticking to it!"
He'd learned that, of course, from Eizen.
"Oh wow, that sounds really cool!"
He couldn't help but stare, wide-eyed, as Aegis described it. He wasn't quite sure what a mechanical knight must be like - maybe something like the possessed suits of armour that he and the others had fought on their travels? - but that just made him all the more curious.
"Maybe I will; I do like to read," he nodded earnestly.
Jade: Excellent work all around.
Anise: Hee hee! With you at the helm, Colonel, we canāt be beat!
Jade: Iām counting on you, Anise.
Anise: No, Iām counting on YOU, Colonel! āŖ
Yeah... that sounded like something Luke would do, considering everything. By then, Anise's nonchalance toward the topic was pretty expected. She was taking the longest to come around to Luke's desire to change, after all, and that was something Guy couldn't blame her for. Luke had messed up with Akzeriuth. Still, Guy didn't speak on that much. He just offered a tired smile.
There wouldn't be any avoiding it when the topic came up with everyone else. Anise didn't seem too inclined to pursue the reasoning of why the curse slot had effected him as much as it had. Why it had made him attack Luke in particular. Guy knew why. It just meant revealing things about himself he hadn't originally intended on. Thankfully, though, Luke had managed to get away from the encounter with no injuries. He wasn't sure how he would have proceeded had he actually hurt his friend.
"Thank goodness," Guy said at length. "I don't think I could have forgiven myself if I'd hurt him." He knew Anise probably would disagree with him there, but Guy still viewed Luke as one of his closest friends. Luke hadn't deserved to be put in danger like that.
"And don't worry. I'll thank him as soon as he's gotten rested up," Guy assured her. "We owe Ion a lot in general. But this... yeah. Guess I owe him a favor or something." Or just a lot of thanks. Either way would have suited Guy.
"Not to change the subject back or anything, but what happened to Sync and Largo, by the way? Did they decide to withdraw?" It would have made sense if they did, and Anise didn't look any worse for the wear. That had to mean that there wasn't a big fight while he'd been in that state, right?
"Eh..."
Oh, she could well have argued there, Guy was absolutely right on that point. While Anise wouldn't seriously advocate hurting someone needlessly, she was still of the opinion that the spoiled brat would quite deserve it... but while Guy was still recovering was hardly the time to get him all worked up.
She nodded, hands resting on little hips at the blond's promise. That was good enough for her for the time being, and Guy was definitely someone who she'd take at his word more than some other members of their group; still, she wanted to make sure he knew she'd be holding him to that. Ion deserved to be appreciated.
Of course, Guy still wanted to know about the battle. She wasn't much surprised by that, in truth; what fighter wouldn't? Still, she cast a disapproving eye at the plate of food that he'd barely touched.
"I'll tell you if you eat up. Maybe it's not the best food, but I put effort into that, you know." She projected hurt into her voice. Overdoing it a bit, perhaps; but when you grew up poor you learned to never waste food. Guy was going to eat that meal one way or another, if she had her way.
On the subject at hand, however: "The commotion drew over the Malkuth soldiers, so Largo and Sync decided to run for it rather than get caught up in tangling with them. Then the soldiers arrested us because we were the only ones left at the scene, and..."
She thrust her arms out wide, gesturing vaguely around.
"That's how we got here."
Eleanor really was a good 'Malak Mom' as Laphicet put it; her parental wisdom got full points! Maybe sometime, she and Julius could have a chat as parents/siblings.
"And she's absolutely right!" Ludger nods along. "A gift can't be perfect if it's just objective-- it needs that dash of love and care on top. Love saved my Father's Days gifts when I was still learning to cook. But I won't bore you with those stories."
That just left Eleanor's fishing-related gift... His first idea was creating a rod, but that'd be a lot of gluing and waiting for said glue to dry. Plus a lot could go wrong with two newbies at the helm. What's something smaller... Picturing a rod, there's the hook, the wire, and the lure-- oh!
"How about we craft some custom fishing lures? I remember making plastic 'paddle tails' is kind of like baking cookies, and that I know how to do. Sound good?"
"Oh wow, that's a great idea!"
He'd wanted to say that he didn't think that Ludger's stories would be boring; but the man's suggestion managed to absolutely thrust that thought out of his mind. Laphicet hadn't, after all, really known what direction to take his thought of something fishing-related beyond that; but that idea was such a good one! He almost seemed to bounce excitedly in place.
Did he know the first thing about making lures? Not really... but Ludger sounded like he did, and that was good enough for Phi!
"Can we start that now? What equipment do we need to make those?"
As Anise spoke, Raven just listened to her. It sounded like there was a lot weighing far too heavily on the girl's mind. Someone as young as her shouldn't have been worrying about whether or not people could trust one another. Or why her friends were willing to forgive known traitors. Or even how her parents were far too gullible, and how they had ended up in a terrible situation.
One of those things stood out more than anything to Raven, but he kept his mouth shut. When her voice hitched, though, and he heard the sob getting choked back, Raven moved to sit beside her. He didn't put his arm around her or anything. They didn't know each other well enough for that kind of comfort. But Raven wanted to be there for her.
Boy. He knew a thing or two about people getting a second chance who probably didn't deserve it. He was one of those people.
"...It's real hard, isn't it," Raven decided to say. Now, Raven didn't know her backstory. He didn't know that she had been made to betray the very person she'd been sworn to protect. It sounded like she needed someone who understood, though. Since he had the most experience, that might as well be him.
"Sometimes, people see somethin' in someone that you can't see. And it can get real confusin', y'know? Makes ya wonder why the people around 'em decided ta give 'em a chance." He definitely knew from experience. His hand went to his chest, gripping the fabric over his blastia.
"I don't know what happened, young miss. Ain't my place ta judge. But... ya ain't alone. I... know where yer comin' from." A crooked, tired smile formed after a moment. "Got folks in my life that were surprisingly forgivin'."
Head tilted away, not specifically trying to put distance between her and him, but simply because she would be having trouble facing anyone while this was the topic of conversation. Sure, she'd brought it on herself, but that didn't mean...
Didn't make it easier.
"I... guess."
She faltered through the acknowledgement. In the case of, as the other obvious example, Spinoza, she understood exactly why the others were willing to give him a second chance, and it wasn't because of anyone seeing some innate 'good' in the researcher: it was just that they needed his brains. Even understanding that didn't mean she agreed with it, though.
And when it came to herself...
She shook her head.
"See, when Luke came back, at first we just let him tag along because whatever, and it was only when we actually saw he'd changed that we started to trust him again. That's how it should work."
Perhaps not strictly true in all their cases, looking at Guy and Tear here; but for herself and the Colonel, and even Natalia, that had been how it had played out. That made sense to Anise; trust, once broken, had to be earned and, whatever other faults he may still have, Luke had certainly done that.
"But since then it feels like they've just been throwing out forgiveness to anyone. Just because Luke earned it, doesn't mean the same's going to be true of Spinoza, or Guy, or..."
It felt like it would tear her heart out to finish the sentence; but she'd come too far to stop now. And maybe... maybe offloading to a stranger - at least without going into any details that contained sensitive information - might help get it off her chest. Still, her voice was very small, very subdued, compared to what anyone would expect from irrepressible Anise.
"...or me."
Don't get her wrong, she was grateful for the chance to make up for what she'd done; she didn't rightly know where she'd be if everyone had refused to let her come along with them, it gave her a sense of purpose amidst the all kinds of ways she was feeling. But that didn't change the fact that it was hopelessly naive of them.
And she was wrong, saying it aloud didn't help; it just made her feel sick to her stomach all over again. What she'd done was unforgivable, why would they possibly--?
She abruptly turned her back on the guy, unwilling to let him see just how badly this was affecting her. They weren't even talking about her here, why had she brought that up? Stupid, stupid, stupid--
oops it must be pick on phi day
