The road to hell is paved with good intentions
"I've told Ba'ul to look for Ophiuchus. I think we should be able to talk and negotiate with it like we once did with Phaeroh." Said Judith, looking up at the sky. Outside of the castle, things have quieted down a bit, but tensions were on the rise. The appearance of a giant creature that crushed a few houses before taking its leave was a cause for concern.
With a sigh, Yuri stood besides the Krityan. "I'm not too keen in meeting up with that thing again though. It did say something about how humans aren't even worthy of conversing with it." He shrugged, remembering the display of power the Entelexeia used to fling him away.
"That's why we need Ba'ul to talk to him. If we can convince Ophiuchus to listen to humans, you can at least tell him what you're thinking. He listened to Estelle, right?" Judith asked.
"That's what annoys me though." Yuri frowned. "It talked as if Estelle wasn't human just because she's the 'Child of the Full Moon." He continued, kicking a pebble out of the way. "I thought everyone was past that already..." Yuri said quietly.
"Well, apparently not Ophiuchus. But he can't be that bad. No Entelexeia is actively malicious." Judith replied. "Then again, it must have considerable pride to consider itself a deity. Though I guess it does have the power to prove it." She said, leaning back against a wall. "Ignoring that though, we do have time to rest before it suggests a meeting spot. Do you have any plans for tomorrow?" she asked.
Yuri sighed...again. "Promise you won't tell anyone?" he asked.
"Probably not." Judith smiled back, crossing her arms.
"That's not a very comforting thought." Yuri said, "But anyways, I'm going to ask Estelle out on a date tomorrow morning. I'm sure she's tired right now after trying to heal everyone. Especially fixing my broken limbs."
"She's just that good at healing." Judith replied, before the rest of Yuri's words caught up to her and she made an odd-sounding hiccup.
"What?" Yuri looked at her. That didn't sound natural coming from the Krityan.
Judith pointed at him, and began laughing uncontrollably. "H-hold on. I wasn't ready for that." She continued to laugh, "That's great, that's so amazingly selfish, Yuri!"
"Hey, hey...what did I do wrong? What's so selfish about asking Estelle out?" Yuri asked, waiting for Judith to calm down as she walked passed him and smacked his back.
When her laughs decreased in intensity, she tried to regain her composure, but she was still chuckling to herself quite a bit. "Oh, nothing's wrong. I just didn't think you're a person who'd tell someone you're about to go on a date with someone else." She smiled, breathing in and calming down. "Good luck, Yuri. I'm sure you'll do fine tomorrow."
"Well, thanks for the reassurance then. You sure you're not jealous about my decision then?" he teased her.
"You wish. I do have some pretty high standards... I think." She replied, walking back to the castle. She passed Repede, who looked at her oddly before the dog sat besides Yuri.
"Well, come on. The two of us should get back to the Lower Quarter." He told his faithful companion, earning a bark of approval from the dog. "I still need to figure out how to plan this date in the first place. Where do I take her first? It's not like I can just..." he paused, seeing a figure run past him. "Hey! Hisuka!" he called out.
Hearing Yuri's voice, the female knight turned, seemingly out of breath. "Sorry Yuri, no time to explain. I need to make an urgent report for the Commandant." She gasped, before turning around and running off again.
Yuri frowned slightly, before giving out another quick sigh and continued on his way back to the Lower Quarter. Urgent news, yes. But he was quite confident that Flynn would probably be able to take care of it. At least he hoped so.
"I'm surprised, the world has indeed been quite peaceful. Perhaps I have been too quick to judge the barbaric nature of humans." The great serpent told itself, circling its body around the peak of Mt. Temza. "Regardless, watching them right now is perhaps the best thing for me to do. I can punish them for their hubris if needed."
He had recently talked to the Krityans and the Entelexeia that made up their city, Krones. They feared and respected him. That much he can tell. There doesn't seem to be any need for a deity like himself, though he was still very cautious about the recent events.
Hearing a call from a young Entelexeia, Ophiuchus turned its head spotting the whale-like Ba'ul flying towards him.
No true words were exchanged between them, lasting a few minutes or so before Ophiuchus nodded his head.
"Very well, I shall accept their invitation. I shall meet them in three days, above the sword stair of their city." The serpent told Ba'ul, watching the young Entelexeia fly off and deliver the news. He didn't despise humans, though he did see them as a species that isn't too important to the world as a whole. To think they'd be able to accomplish so much and make the world a better place in his absence...he had to admit, he was moderately impressed. But not without some sacrifices. They were still the cause of the decline of the Entelexeia, though perhaps it was a necessity if the Adephagos was to be stopped.
Three days then. Three days and the humans will talk to him about what they plan to do. "This should be interesting."
"Well, you seem to be taking your time." Hazama grinned, approaching Zagi at the base of Halure's giant tree. "Still pondering on who...or what your target should be? I would have thought you'd actually be at Capua Nor by now." he asked him, slinging a small bag over his shoulder.
"Ha! I require time to plan things ahead." Zagi exclaimed, briefly flipping the blade on his right arm in and out. At least they were still intact from what happened in Tarqaron, though without his left blastia arm, he only had one upper limb to fight with. That's not going to be good enough if he wanted a rematch with Yuri Lowell.
Hazama smiled back. "Well, as I was saying when we first met, I have something that can help you. A gift of sorts, since one arm just doesn't do you justice." He grinned, taking the small bag off of his shoulder and opening it up. "The arm of a person I cut off a few days ago..." Hazama nodded, reaching behind him and taking something else out. "...And this, a blade of ice fitting to your personality."
"Ahh...what exactly do you plan to do?" Zagi glared back. "That arm is entirely flesh, it's not something that can be attached so easily."
"You underestimate the power of the Azure." Hazama continued to smile, picking the arm up. "Best to do this operation at night. Everyone in this small city is fast asleep by this time so I'm sure no one will notice." He continued, making a motion for Zagi to turn around, the man muttering quietly to himself as he followed Hazama's order.
Attaching an arm that doesn't belong to you is hard enough as it is. For Hazama however, it was merely a simple gesture, and a few words that allowed him to perform the operation without any trouble. Even Zagi was a bit nervous around him by now. Who is he?
"Good as new." Hazama nodded to himself, letting go of the arm. "You should be able to move it around normally. It is the arm of a war hero so, yeah..." he said, stepping back and watching Zagi flex the fingers.
"Exciting..." Zagi grinned, raising his new arm. "I should really thank you, Hazama, if that's really your real name." He continued, mesmerized at what just happened.
"You can call me Terumi." Hazama told him, reaching down before holding out a sword to him as well. "Mucro Algesco: Yukianesa. The ice blade." He nodded, watching Zagi take the hilt with his new arm. 'Your mind is already twisted enough as it is not to be influenced by the negative effects of that sword' Hazama thought to himself, seeing Zagi's wide grin.
"I want to test this out." Zagi looked at him, expression unchanged. "I want to see if I still have the proper skill to fight properly. I may not use a sword like this all the time, but my skills back then should still be proficient in their use." He grinned.
"Very well then. I'll be your... trainer for tonight." Hazama nodded, stepping back from Zagi. The base of Halure's tree is to be their battleground and it shouldn't take too long. Lest they attract the attention of people around the area.
Dreamscape
'Am I still alive?' Sodia thought to herself. Opening her eyes, she found herself in a white space, a familiar white space actually, from where she heard 'Virtue's' voice the first time. 'My mind again?' she wondered.
"Correct." A voice told her. "Though I must ask you to forgive me for invading your mind. I had no choice but to force my soul into you."
"Vir-... I mean, Jin." Sodia sighed in relief. Turning around in her mindscape, Sodia was surprised that Virtue had a proper form she could see this time. A green-eyed, blonde-haired young man who eerily reminded her of Flynn in terms of looks alone. Well, not really. But both of them radiated an aura of authority and respect at least. "Sorry, for dragging you into this."
"Excuse me?" Jin asked. "As I recall, you got dragged into this mess when you picked up the hilt of Yukianesa. Don't blame yourself. It's too late to back out now."
"I don't plan to." Sodia frowned. What an arrogant jerk. "Once I recover from this mess, I'm going to make that man pay."
"If you recover." Said Jin. "You don't seem to get it. The injuries you received from Hazama was definitely life threatening. You can't even wake up by your own will right now." Seeing him wave his hand and begin walking away, Sodia had no choice but to follow. There's nowhere else to walk in her mind anyways.
They continued on, neither of them talking as if to contemplate the recent events. A few more moments, and Sodia broke the silence. "Why did you come here, Jin?"
"Into this world, or transferring my soul into you?" he asked.
"The latter." Sodia promptly responded, staring at Jin intently.
With a wave of his hand again, the surroundings changed. It was an open field, the torrent of rain obscuring the vision a little bit. "With my soul inside you, this means you have access to my memories as well. Looking into your mind, I don't want you turning into someone like me." He said, pointing to a small figure in the distance. It was quite far away, but Sodia recognized Jin's form...impaled by the very sword he wielded, or rather, wielded by Hazama this time. "Who is the most important person in your life?"
"The Commandant." Sodia replied abruptly. It was an instinctive response, and she did not regret it.
"I see. You truly are determined to prove yourself to him, aren't you?" Jin asked as Sodia nodded her head in response. "Do not forget that then. If you ever wield Yukianesa again, keeping that mindset and die, your soul will be trapped in the sword like my own."
"But you can still escape from it." Sodia reminded him.
"I chose to let my soul enter you. Out of pity perhaps, but considering the fact that you're barely alive as it is, there isn't much I can do." Jin answered. "That is why I'm going to make sure you wake up eventually. Had I stayed in Yukianesa, you would probably be stuck in this limbo for the rest of your life."
"And why is that?" asked Sodia.
"Nothing to worry yourself about." Jin chuckled lightly. "But I'd suggest you rest your mind now. It wastes too much energy if you continue talking to me."
"And I'm supposed to just let you run around in my mind while you look through my deepest, darkest, secrets?" she frowned again.
"Don't kid yourself. I already know most of your deepest secrets when you carried me around inside Yukianesa." Jin replied, watching Sodia storm off with a huff. Well it's true. It may take a few days before she'll be able to wake up. In the meantime, he can at least keep her mind in proper, working condition.
