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Post by The Big Cheese on Feb 4, 2014 22:31:57 GMT -6
The top of the temple slides downward, collapsing into itself slowly and dropping sizeable stone shards around the impact zone. It all crashes into the ground below, taking out the wall of the neighboring building.
"Don't get too confident yet, lads!" A man yells. "What we saw wasn't what happened! He could still be lurking out there somewhere..."
The man is taking a defensive stance, constantly searching for a real body around with the tip of his dagger. At his behest, the two other men with him do the same, although they're visibly more frightened.
Easy targets... If Kaim survived that, then that's where he'll strike.
Hamon ducks behind a large chunk of sand stone, preparing to attack while the enemy was caught off guard by Kaim. Sure enough, as one of the less confident assassins wheels around with his dagger to check his back, he's pulled from the direction he was looking in before, his throat slit in one motion. For Hamon at least, the illusion broke then and there.
"He's among us!" The leader yells, turning around and throwing his dagger into the earth, straight through the street impressively enough. The mana in the air spikes again, and without allowing any opportunity, Hamon leaps out of cover and swiftly fires his coin at the assassin leader.
Although he had been caught unaware, the man manages react just in time, swerving around and pulling an earthen shield from below, blocking Hamon's attack and obscuring his view.
But his as well...
As the wall begins to recede, Hamon's cloak glows silver and he takes a predatory, crouching stance. The cloak erupts into two silver spears, twining toward the assassin as fast as wind. One of the other hitmen throws out the rest of the temple next door, using it to block his boss.
"Oh, S***!" The remaining assassin yells, scrambling to escape from some unseen threat.
"Fool!" The leader yells. "Don't fall for his tricks!"
A hand of sand stone is produced from beneath him, returning the knife to his hand. He tosses it at Hamon, who easily dodges, but is caught off-guard by the spike of rock called up beneath him. Hamon blocks the oncoming boulder blade by pushing off of it with his leg, completely tearing the skin from it in the process.
Landing not so gracefully on his feet, Hamon fires the coin at the leader again. Just as the earthen wall is raised, Hamon uses his cloak to swing to the uppermost wreckage of the temple, pulling the coin back just before it makes contact with the enemy's shield. Before getting the chance to aim and launch again, the stone he's standing on is transformed into a fist, knocking the wind from Hamon as it hit and planting him into the ground below.
S***... These guys are good. Can't even move... Come on, Kaim...
Hamon can feel himself being supported. Although it hurts like hell, he manages to get to his feet with his friend's support.
"Oh no you don'-!" The assassin leader is interrupted as a considerable shockwave resonates right next to him, knocking him onto his hands and knees.
"Such flagrant violation of an ancient stone monument..." The mysterious saviour says remorsefully. "You call yourself a Jafethian? ...Well, do you!?"
The man goes to stomp on the assassin's back. His steel boot, lined with marble glowing a shade of brown, meets with the assassin's stone shield, but smashes through as if it were paper. It makes a painful sounding crunch, to say the least.
As the leader of the assassins cries out in pain, his two remaining comrades make to attack the new fighter, but their efforts are met with the imposing form of a marble statue of a beautiful woman behind them, smashing their heads together like two water balloons.
The man who saved them unsheathes his sword, a steel creation lined with marble the same as the plate armour covering him from head to toe. He shoves it between the leader's shoulder blades. A mercy, really, as he dies instantly.
"Well, well, well." The man says. "If it isn't El'Kaim, the Watcher. And Hamon, the Kid, if I'm not mistaken."
So Azur, the Artisan remembers me. Heh... The Kid will be a famous name, yet.
"Azur... Nice timing." Kaim sighs with relief.
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Post by SwordMasterEX on Feb 4, 2014 22:55:33 GMT -6
Walking through the portal, she stumbles out seeing Arcturus' father with his back turned and Elia about to talk with him. He's humming a song. She likes the tune enough, but she wants to do something else first. Walking outside before the commotion starts, she reaches out to her home.
"This spirit, Jet? And Wha-Wha?"
"Pearl!"
"It's you!"
"Wow, first Rhea and now you two? Why haven't I tried this before?"
"There was no need when we were so close. Rhea knew because she's practically ancient. This was common practice before. I miss your hugs Pearl!"
"I miss more than that. Tell me have you been practicing those moves I taught you? Spare no details."
"Not really, should I try them on master?"
"NOO! I mean they probably wouldn't be to his liking."
"Hold on you two, I heard yelling. Let's catch up later."
Pearl walks back into the scene at the forgery, "Why Beard man sad? And why Elia on floor?"
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Post by Golurkcanfly on Feb 4, 2014 23:20:04 GMT -6
"Nevermind." Arcturus' father sighed as he slumped lower in his chair. "Oi, Pearl, just call me Barbas. Did you get the steel?"
"Yup." Arcturus himself responded as he entered in from the portal before closing it and summoning the ore. "Here it is. We got almost one-hundred pounds of it."
He paused to look at Elia who was just sitting there on the floor, shaking a bit.
"Dad, she helped us retrieve the steel, so in return, could she stay here for a bit?" he asked as he piled the ore onto the dining table.
"Of course!" Barbas beamed with joy as he bolted up from his seat. "My son, bringing home not one, but two girls? I expect fine children from both of you!"
Arcturus gave Elia an 'I told you so' look as his father laughed at his un-funny joke.
"You can sleep in my bed tonight." Barbas told Elia as he picked up some of the ore and carried it to the smelter. "Of course, without me. I'll stay here in the forge since I'll be fixing up Natasha. It's getting late, so you should probably go ahead and get some sleep. We have some clothes that should fit you, and a washroom should you feel the need."
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Post by SwordMasterEX on Feb 4, 2014 23:31:10 GMT -6
"Jam try best to make good children with master!" She does not get the joke, and looks at Arcturus with a confused expression, "How make children master?"
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Post by Golurkcanfly on Feb 4, 2014 23:35:20 GMT -6
The sound of a sorrowful union of face and palm echoed throughout all of Shaldra, reaching even the court of emperor Titus.
Whyyy?
Whyyyyyyyyyyy?
"Just, nevermind." Arcturus sighed as he began to walk upstairs. "C'mon Pearl, we should go to bed."
He didn't even bother checking to see if the nymph was following him as he entered his room and rolled into bed.
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Post by SwordMasterEX on Feb 5, 2014 0:04:41 GMT -6
"Ok master." She runs up the stairs, about to crawl into bed, when she realizes her clothes were soaking wet. She quickly strips it all off and gets under the covers with Arcturus. "Mmm, Master feels so warm."
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Post by Golurkcanfly on Feb 5, 2014 0:26:55 GMT -6
Why are you doing this to me, o universe?
"You feel warm to Pearl, but could you please stop pressing up against me for just a little bit?" he asked as he turned over to face her. "It's just making me really uncomfortable."
---
"Looks like it's just you and me." Barbas spoke as he looked back at Elia before grabbing more ore to smelt. "Would you like to hear the story of how I met my wife?"
He didn't even bother for an answer before going on.
"Of course you do. Anyways, it all starts when I was a lad. I was born in a small village under the protection of the Jorkun Pact and worked in my family business of blacksmithing. However, when I came of age, I left my home and joined a travelling Alibaban caravan. For years we traveled across Austur, selling our respective wares. Well, that is until I met Caesaria. We met in a small city about fifty kilometers east of here called Gardasha, where she had been working in a pub. I was in town selling foreign weapons to the locals when I came in looking for a drink. She was being harassed by one of the drunken patrons there who was trying to court her, and failing at that. I punched the brute right in the jaw as soon as he touched her, and she thanked me before kicking the man's arse herself. All I really knew about her was that she ran away from home a year before because she feared what might have happened to her if she stayed. She was a Type-1 after all, so she decided to stay low and pretend to lack any sort of skill in Magick. Anyways, she was beautiful, like yourself, and I decided to stay in Gardasha as a local smith, and I would visit the bar every night. The booze tasted like s***, but it was worth it to see her. Well, one day, I decided to forge her a golden bracelet as a gift in an attempt of courtship, and then I became known as the only one to reach the heart of iron-skin Caesaria, which is what they called her. We decided to get married, and we had a child, whom you have met. Anyways, soon, she became ill with a disease that even she herself couldn't cure. She wanted to die back in her hometown, which was here in Shaldra, so we moved here so she could live her final moments where she wanted."
Barbas began to tear up, not even looking back at Elia to see if she was still there as he worked to rebuild Natasha.
"This lance was the very first thing we forged together." he continued as he sniffled loudly. "Oh Caesaria, how I miss you."
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Post by SwordMasterEX on Feb 5, 2014 1:04:45 GMT -6
"But Pearl cold master! Want stay like this." Without releasing the hug, she fell asleep holding him.
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Post by GX1997 on Feb 5, 2014 8:20:57 GMT -6
"She was a Type-1? Could this get any stranger?" Elia wondered aloud. "I'm going to get some sleep. Thank you for letting me stay here."
Elia then left to get ready to go to sleep, still thinking about the uncanny similarities between herself and Caesaria. When she finally put her head down on the pillow, she found it hard to sleep. But eventually exhaustion took over, and she fell asleep anyway.
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Post by Golurkcanfly on Feb 5, 2014 10:56:41 GMT -6
I can't turn back over without waking her back up.
Arcturus tried to wrestle his head away from Pearl's uncovered chest as she held him tightly but gave up after realizing it was hopeless.
Hopefully she doesn't try anything in her sleep.
Unable to move and unwilling to wake Pearl, Arcturus himself fell asleep.
---
Barbas separated the slag from the steel as Elia left to go to bed.
What does this mean? To have a girl show up who looks just like you, Caesaria.
He poured the steel into a mold before placing the two halves of Natasha next to it, and then hammered away at it.
This is the only thing that I have left of you. We poured our heart and soul into this, and then she shows up to help gather the steel. If there is a god out there somewhere, I am ready to believe.
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Post by GX1997 on Feb 5, 2014 13:57:52 GMT -6
Over the course of the next few days, Elia had managed to arm herself with a new bow and a large quiver full of arrows. After that she had asked Pearl to buy some fabric in different colors from the market using the money she had made helping around the house. With the new fabric she worked on altering her coat, which had been plain black before. After she was through, it was longer and now had many details, including sections of magenta fabric, making it impossible to recognize as the same coat.
With that and the new clothes she was wearing, she had a better chance at blending in. The only things left to do were to pack food and water, and finishing planning where she would go. So she decided to spend the next few days working to help pay off her debt to Barbas and Arcturus.
Anyone can clean, but very few can do this.
Elia had taken numerous jars and had sterilized them in hot water. She was taking purified water and treating it with the same healing magic she had used in the pond, and filling the jars. She was making as much as she could, as it was one of the few things she could make that would be really useful to them. It was also the first time she had used magick since the day they fought the golem, because it had seemed really weird to use her magic when Barbas was around, now that she knew about his wife.
He'll know I'm also Type-1 once he sees the jars. It's hard not to notice glowing water.
As Elia was filling the last few jars, she thought she heard something coming from the living room or maybe even outside the house. She just kept filling the jars, knowing that if someone was indeed outside Barbas would check to see who it was. After she finished the last few jars and put the lids on, she walked back upstairs, continuing to ignore the sound.
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Post by Golurkcanfly on Feb 5, 2014 15:05:42 GMT -6
"Oi!" the tall man with dark red hair shouted as he began to knock harder on the door. "Open up or I'll be forced to... force myself in! This is a dir-"
"Graecius!" the older man to his side interrupted him. "We want to do this as peacefully as possible. Just retrieve the girl and take her back to Titus."
"Whatever." the first one rolled his eyes as he continued knocking.
After the knocking grew loud enough for Barbas to hear it over his hammer, he walked over to the front door only to be greeted by the other, older looking man with brown hair holding a piece of paper in his face.
"What is this?" Barbas asked in confusion as he grabbed the piece of paper to read it.
"It's an inspection warrant." the tall younger man answered as he pushed his way past Barbas. "We have reason to believe you are harboring a fugitive. Comply or you will be taken into custody."
"Now now Graecius, no need to be forceful." the older one told him as he too brushed past Barbas. "Mr. Galatine, I presume. We have been told that you have been taking care of a girl by the name of Elia. Do you happen to know of her current location? However, my nephew is right, if you resist us, you and your family will be taken into custody, branded as traitors, and executed."
"What did she do to warrant your attention, milords?" Barbas asked nervously as he walked backwards toward his room and opened the door a bit.
"Ah, so you know who we are." the older one sighed in relief as he looked around at the forge. "She has denied her audience with the emperor, my brother. He demands her to be at the palace, so we will deliver her. She won't be harmed, don't worry."
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Post by GX1997 on Feb 5, 2014 15:20:22 GMT -6
Elia looked up from packing extra clothes in her bag when she heard the door open slightly. She could see that Barbas was alarmed by something, and then she could hear someone downstairs talking about a girl. Talking about her.
They found me!? But... but how?
Elia would normally have been frozen in fear, but for once she wasn't. She took a letter from her coat pocket and left it in the drawer of the bedside table, before putting on her coat and slinging her bag over her shoulder. She then peaked out the window, and didn't see any soldiers or mercenaries outside. She then started trying to open the window as quietly as she could, but it obviously hadn't been opened in years, and was stuck. She kept trying to open it as she began to panic.
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Post by Golurkcanfly on Feb 5, 2014 15:34:19 GMT -6
"Guhh..." Arcturus groaned as he woke from the light commotion downstairs.
The position he found himself in was rather uncomfortable, not physically of course. He was somehow nestled on top of Pearl, but was thankful that she still had her clothes on.
May the universe have mercy on my soul.
Arcturus managed to slide himself off of Pearl only to fall of the bed and onto the floor. Although it hurt a bit, he quickly recovered and summoned his scholar's robe before putting it on and exiting his room.
"Boy, do you know where Elia Arrington is?" he found himself being questioned by a fairly old man who was walking up the stairs.
"Yeah." he yawned, still drowsy from waking up. "She's just in here."
Without even thinking, he opened the door next to Barbas and walked downstairs to retrieve some food, not even minding the other important looking man.
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Post by GX1997 on Feb 5, 2014 16:00:01 GMT -6
No, no, no! I have to get away from here!
Elia then tried to open the window using all of her strength, no longer concerned about the noise it would make.
Come on! Open already!
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Post by Golurkcanfly on Feb 5, 2014 16:17:12 GMT -6
Oh s***!
The two men had already rushed up the stairs as Arcturus realized what he had done.
"Elia Arrington!" Graecius shouted as he burst into the room to see her struggling to open the window. "Come with us. You have my word and honor that you will not be injured. Those shopkeepers that held you before along with those mercenaries have been punished for their misdeeds. Please, come with us. You will be treated with honor, care, and riches. I do not want to force a lady to do anything, but this is a decree straight from my father, the emperor."
He neared Elia and grabbed her arm, softening his expression as he did so.
"Please, come with us." he pleaded with almost sorrowful eyes. "You can have anything you want, just follow me."
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Post by GX1997 on Feb 5, 2014 16:38:57 GMT -6
"No! I'm not a fool, you were in on it, and giving them orders!" Elia shouted in Graecius' face as she tried desperately to pull away.
I can't go back and be treated like that again, I can't!
"Get away from me!" she screamed as she finally pulled out of Graecius' grip, and ran until she was as far away from him as she could, even though she was backed into a corner. "Stay away from me."
Elia could hardly see through the tears in her eyes, and she wasn't really thinking clearly. But she frantically started searching her coat, trying to figure out where her knife was.
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Post by Golurkcanfly on Feb 5, 2014 16:51:46 GMT -6
"Yes, I was there." Graecius admitted as he neared Elia. "However, the deal was that they took good care of you, providing food and water along with any other needs until preparations were ready. That cell was to be your private area, and they weren't supposed to keep you locked in there. I swear on my mother's life that no harm will come to you as long as you don't try to hurt anyone. I wish that I didn't have to take you by force, but I wasn't sure you would cooperate. Please, Elia, don't fight me, and I won't have to do it again. Trust me, if you try to attack me, you won't win. Just come along and make this easier on the both of us. You will be granted almost anything you desire. Please, for the sake of my father, for Cleatia, for yourself, take my hand and follow me to your new home."
Graecius got within arm's reach of Elia before extending his arm towards her in a gesture of peace whilst Arcturus and the older man entered the room behind him.
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Post by GX1997 on Feb 5, 2014 17:00:09 GMT -6
Elia just slid down the wall, sobbing uncontrolably.
I won't go willingly. They'll have to drag me out of this house. I don't care what the emperor wants with me, I still won't go!
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Post by Golurkcanfly on Feb 5, 2014 17:12:45 GMT -6
"Why do you cry?" Graecius asked as he bent low. "No one is going to hurt you. We're all here for you. It's alright. If anyone even tries to bring you harm, I will stop them.
His voice was sincere as he bent lower to hug her.
Listen to me, please.
Arcturus came in to the room prepared to smash Graecius with Lenna, but now wasn't so sure.
Is he really going to do that? Is he really sincere?
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