With the two men consigning to a suicide mission to save Jester, they got to watch the rest of their teammates disappear into the void that lay beyond the spectral torii. Before long, the gate collapsed into thin air as specks of the spiritual magic floated upward where they faded away. It was just them now. The path ahead of the pair is arduous and full of dangers.
Fortunately, they weren't without tools. Among the few items, Astor and his Sunclaw escorts left behind was a piece of parchment with a sketch of the general layout of capital sitting on top as if it was left out for them. The diagram was incomplete, only depicting the parts of the capital that they (likely) have observed or passed through. There were notes written on the parchment as well, describing the particularities of the map and the patrol pattern in great detail. It seemed like it had taken them some time to get to this hideout.
According to the map, there are three paths leading to Dragoncrush, from which the two could possibly look for Jester closer to the Dragonhead without being fully in the open.
Pink Route. Climb up the wall and travel along the top of the wall. Astor marked it off, describing sentries activity in the air and some enemies having long-ranged observational abilities and the capability to hit those shots… which Team Ego had experienced earlier. But, it is the fastest path to Dragoncrush.
Yellow Route. Weave between the Dragonship's truncated midsections on Northwest from where they were at. The notes indicated that there were some large and idling Regulators here, the closer it was to the palace. The note indicated that they did not know the idling and movement pattern of these enemies. It seemed to be the second shortest path to Dragoncrush.
Blue Route. Use the city ruins to get to Dragoncrush. This is the path Astor and co decided to embark on to get to your current location. The note recommended traveling slowly through the ruins, using them as hiding spots while gradually hopping from building to building to avoid suspicion. As for the second half of that route, he recommended that the massive, broken Dragonsheers (wings) be used as a cover from aerial patrol units.
Decision Time
Discuss with one another and:
Agree on which path your characters will be taking
Review the plan OOCly with me. We will go through it one step of the execution at a time
Both Jin and Zelrius worked out a rough plan after consulting the map Astor left behind and finalized their decision to take on the blue route as Astor and his Hylands retainers had. Though, in their case, they did not have nearly as much time. And so, the two moved as quickly and as efficiently as they could while avoiding enemy detection.
The first stretch of their journey was a series of streets and houses that were packed tightly together. Many of the buildings they entered that hadn't been ruined by the Dragonfall still looked the same as they did back in time, marred by scorch marks and dust. There was a tavern, with drinks still on the table, a manor, fallen apart from rot, a home with beds still undone - people lived there once. Now they are a wasteland inhabited by magical machines, tearing through doors and scanning the surroundings as if they were searching for lifeforms.
Both Jin and Zelrius noted that land-patrol magia that looked similar to Regulators without an orb in place of their head would always enter an area in a group of three and scan the surrounding with magical beams before heading away with pill-shaped magia with metallic and flexible limps following behind them. If either of the men had learned about it somewhere (knowledge 30+), they might have come to the realization that the flexible limbs are for the purpose of collection. Though, one could only guess what they are collecting.
While observing the patrol unit, Jin spotted a pack of wild dogs with food and various random items in their mouth on the other side of the street hiding from the patrol unit. As the unit moved through them, one of the scanners stopped and turned around as though it had detected some kind of sound and slowly approached the shaking dogs.
You may let them capture the beasts for it would present an opportunity to cut down on your travel time with the dogs serving as decoys. Should the pack choose to split, surely, some might be able to escape.
Should you choose to help the dogs, how would you?
Use the city ruins to get to Dragoncrush. This is the path Astor and co decided to embark on to get to your current location. The note recommended travelling slowly through the ruins, using them as hiding spots while gradually hopping from building to building to avoid suspicion. As for the second half of that route, he recommended that the massive, broken Dragonsheers (wings) be used as a cover from aerial patrol units.
He watched in silence as the unit of Magitech which appeared to be a recon team slowly ambled toward a pack of wild dogs. The creatures cowered as the murderous machines approached, to the point that any compassionate human being would feel their heartstrings being tugged at. Unfortunately for those creatures, this was a situation that was clear cut. It was their survival or his, and for Jin, that was not even a respectable choice.
"Scout team coming up," he murmured to Zelrius in a quiet voice as he moved to rejoin the man. "We need to move quickly, before their scanners pick us up." There was little need for the other man to know that their scanners had already prioritized something else. Empathy might cause Zelrius to falter, and they could not afford that even for a second.
Theo's mother loved dogs. He remembered when she'd brought one home, and he had played with the pup. He remembered what his father had done when he came home and saw the canine, too.
You run or you die. Family won't save you. It can't.
The pounding of his heart in his ears, the way his fingers and arms felt weak. The muscles contracted and released what felt like more than a hundred times a second. To brave Vintergard- dodge through the ruins, duck under the flying sentries. Avoid the watchful gaze of regulators, and the destructive cannonfire of the distant turrets. Through the smoke, ashes and ruins. To find someone who he had no idea where she was being held, left with only a clue. It was a storm in his head, a mind alight with a hundred thoughts, left being pushed and turned in the wind. Feeling like a rusty mill that creaked by itself on the open plains.
Jin's assertion stopped the wind. Blue eyes looked hopefully to the source - to the red eyed man. This was someone who Zelrius had been on adventures with before. A perilous journey down into the depths of Stokbon's criminal underground. Who he fought beside in this very city. One of the few people to never turn his back on him. Never to care or judge the whining, or the less than stellar performances. It was a relief - the thumping becoming more of a heavy tapping that calmed down.
Everyone's farewell wishes settled, the gate closed. It was just them now. Two was better than one - especially these two. It was an easy set out, follow Astor's directions on the note and coming out the northside of the Merchant's guild through a hole that had been blown through. Once again met by the ashen grey of the wasteland that was once the city of Vintergard, contrasted only by the shining azure sky. Not a cloud on it. A warm summer day, beautiful in places like Brisshal - dangerous in a place like this. He pulled his gloves tight, making sure they were taught over his fingers, following Jin's lead. The Bloodsworn had led them to the caverns the day before - he had a proper lay of the land. He'd know the best path forward, and all they had to do was stick close, and stay out of sight.
He never saw the dogs, only Jin's directive that they needed to go. Craning his neck up with a stretch just enough to get a look at the bots - but not the canines. Their flexible arms was something nearly out of a horror movie. It made his skin crawl, and made him worry more for what Jester might be going through right now. "Right." He responded quietly, following along, leaving the hounds he didn't know were there to their fate. There were more important matters ahead. The two moved forward, down the slope and searching for cover from above.
If time was of the essence, then by all accounts Jin had made the correct choice. When the dogs were detected by the scanner, the rest of the magia reacted and immediately surrounded the dogs, their flexible limps shot out at blinding speed, capturing two of the slowest dogs while the rest of the pack scattered, running in every direction to avoid capture. This also meant that the patrol unit had to make a decision, which ultimately ended up in them splitting off in pursuit of the uncaptured dogs.
Jin and Zelrius, were able to bypass the large open space, getting to the other side of the city without alerting the enemies.
After the tense encounter, the two spent some time travelling through another stretch of cityscape. That part of the city, however, was labelled on the map as "Dragoncrush," which became evident when the two saw the city ruins gradually become more and more pressed into the ground, essentially crushed by the Dragonship's massive wing. Most people who see that sight for the first time would have felt how insignificant they were compared to the titan that eradicated the capital and all of its citizens back in time.
In order to traverse through the area, Jin and Zelrius would have had to crawl into a building and enter the compressed street underground and follow the earth's curvature as they continued northward.
Eventually, the two entered a cozy building. From all the toys and half-sized beds crushed by brick and stones, it would have been clear that they were in some kind of orphanage. When the two looked out of one of the windows, they would have seen some kind of large structure that was sandwiched between the bottom of the Dragonship's wings and the smashed cobble street.
If they waited a while, they would have seen strange magia carrying various metallic parts into the structure and exiting from the opposite side. The structure would make terrible, high-pitched noise as light flashed intensely. After what felt like a long time, a series of new magia exited the structure and continued on their path. It seemed that the foot traffic was rather heavy in this area, with collectors constantly walking about, making it difficult to progress. If they turned around to try and backtrack to find another way, they would have found themselves trapped in the building, seeing as the newly forged magia were lurking in that direction, scavenging places that were close to the structure they came out of.
Use the city ruins to get to Dragoncrush. This is the path Astor and co decided to embark on to get to your current location. The note recommended travelling slowly through the ruins, using them as hiding spots while gradually hopping from building to building to avoid suspicion. As for the second half of that route, he recommended that the massive, broken Dragonsheers (wings) be used as a cover from aerial patrol units.
He watched for a time as the strange machines followed a calculated routine. Into the building, a flash of blinding light, and back out. Then came more Magia. It did not take long to realize what they'd stumbled upon, or the inherent dangers that came with the revelation. "..."
Jin was known to mince words in most circumstances, but in situations like this, his rapier wit dulled significantly. He glanced toward Zelrius, then took a moment to reconnoiter the path that had borne them hence. Though they had not choked them in any meaningful way, the Bloodsworn was acutely aware that whether by virtue of rapid multiplication or grand design, the Magia were boxing them in.
Their options were thinning.
"We'll press forward," he said in a low voice, "but if they start to aggress, we need to withdraw."
Zelrius wasn't like Jin. The other man had a good heart and an abundance of hope. Jin was a paranoid creature, and one who picked up quickly on details. They were churning out new Magia with resources from all over the ruined city. And they had gone after organic material, too.
He had the crawling sensation that these things would take him and Zelrius both, given the opportunity.
And what that meant for Jester...?
He hesitated to simply state that fact to Zelrius. Jin knew it would only make him unreasonable. He needed to remain calm and logical. And he needed more information.
Jin drew a ragged breath and his body shivered as his shadow crawled forward toward his body and began to overlap him. The darkness crawled across his skin, consuming flesh, robes, and all as he extended the curse outward.
He reached out as the black energies coalesced around him and took Zelrius by the wrist, his cold hand like iron.
Seconds passed as the void twisted around him, then around Zelrius. Where they were jet black in one moment, the places light was now absent began to swallow incoming light and wreathed them in a state of active camouflage.
At that point, words and hesitation served no further purpose. He began to lead Zelrius onward.
Jin evoked dark magic, providing him and Zelrius a powerful shroud to press forward without being detected so long as they remained on the outskirt of the vertically condensed street, taking advantage of the natural darkness, where there was no light source other than those of the magias'.
The large magia recycling plant hummed louder the closer both men got to it. The structure looked like it was made with some kind of smooth and highly reflective titanium. The subtle lights on the building itself revealed its ice-cold silver plating and pointed them to the entrance.
While they carefully made their way past the building to get into the next building where they can continue their way, Zelrius suddenly split off from Jin, taking the shroud with him as he slipped into the forge. There, Zelrius was able to witness the macabre sight of various cylindrical containers lining the wall. Within them was a glowing golden liquid, in which human heads were suspended. The entire interior of the forge looked like a fantasy version of a car manufacturing plant, with many strange contraptions the redhead has never seen before.
How exactly does Zelrius plan on sabotaging this forge?
Use the city ruins to get to Dragoncrush. This is the path Astor and co decided to embark on to get to your current location. The note recommended traveling slowly through the ruins, using them as hiding spots while gradually hopping from building to building to avoid suspicion. As for the second half of that route, he recommended that the massive, broken Dragonsheers (wings) be used as a cover from aerial patrol units.
Posting Order
@Zelrius has the next post, followed by a reaction from @Jin.
A nod of acknowledgement to the hushed voice of his current and only friend left in the world. Or atleast, that was his perspective. His breaths became more ragged, his singers reaching up to scratch itches that weren't really there. Everywhere his blue eyes looked, there were more of the machines. He would have no objections to Jin's want to withdraw, but he didn't want to leave until he was absolutely sure what Jester's fate was. If that was even possible. For now, he simply followed the Bloodsworn's lead, waiting for a moment while the shadow enveloped them both.
At first, the pyromancer took a step back, unsure what was happening, before being calmed by its lighter presence. Though, unable to stifle the shivering wave it sent down his spine, feeling more like wispy, grasping tendrils than that of a cloak. Pulled forward now by the clammy, firm grip of his friend and led forward. It was easy enough for the man to clue what the purpose of this was, once they stepped out into the open, and none of the ceaseless amount of eyes in the room snapped to them.
Curiosity would get the better of him. The man pulled away in a sudden yank of his wrist, using the silence and darkness to mask the way he sped forward, letting Jin's magic drown out the roar of his flames with each step. Muting them to the rest of the world. There were heads here, human heads. Moving parts, whirring machines. It was all sophisticated, yet also seemed archaic. He was never much of a mechanical or technical person, and if he had the time, he'd have taken a hundred different notes on what it was he saw.
But the cold, unmoving eyes of one those heads stared back at him. Alert, but frozen, suspended in time. Was it fright? Surprise? Curiosity staring back at him? It was impossible to tell. Only that it was human emotion staring back at him. Is this what Jester's fate was? Not if I find her first. His mind answered with determination.
Most of this was top of the line, and seemed well protected by the metalwork. But usually, moving parts were more fragile. All it would take is one opening. Either some kind of structural damage, or something that would cause a chain reaction down the line to disable this facility. The man reached, pulling his red, volacanic sword from its sheath and stepping forward, inspecting.
A look back at Jin, and the way forward. He'd need to be quick. So, he found anything that might look like a long conveyor belt or hook chain - something that ran across the length of the facility, if there was such a thing. "For Jester." He said, before the long, crimson blade was alight in crackling, searing flames. With all his strength, he'd jam it into the side of said machine, hoping that there was perhaps some kind of gear or core inside of there. Or even better, that the moving parts would continue to move the blade along the line, and leading the damage along the entire thing of production.
There was no time to make sure. The moment the blade was in place -effective or not - Zelrius bolted. Pushing his Dynamism to its maximum limit in order to mke it to the other side and back to Jin.
As Zelrius ran from the forge at full throttle, the scraping of metal and angry whirring spoke worlds of the damage he had dealt to it even in his initial blow, and more yet as his searing blade laid ruin to each of the moving parts unfortunate enough to cross its path in autonomy. As though crying out in pain, the broken parts of the forge echoed through the chamber containing it in a way not even the Starcalled's own ferocious eruptions of flame could have managed, until a third of the way through his desperate dash to the large doorway signing his life away to the safety of a clean escape, when his own steps were once again joined by the mostly normalized sounds of factorial production.
More than halfway there, and a loud crash of metal against metal rang out from above. Its reverberation made the metal structure sound out a choir of resonant ringing. A second after, the first choir was joined by a second, as something launched from above directly into Zelrius's path. A humanoid shape made of metal and lights, standing before the red-headed swordsman in the center of the doorway with a red-hot blade in its grasp pointed out towards him.
Not just any red-hot blade.
Zelrius's own volcanic sword, which he had only a moment ago stabbed into the forge to invite it to its end. With glowing eyes of an energetic yellow fixated on him, a synthesized voice reached forward beyond the blade to the man's ears.
"For yours truly? I accept duly."
-------------------------------------
-------------------------------------
Despite the plethora of space around the frame standing around Zelrius's own height, it wasn't too far out of the realm of possibility to consider that a regular soccer goalie with moon shoes could probably dive into his way with the gap around the challenging figure. This robot meanwhile had unearthed his sword from the forge and went all the way around him to stand in his escape path in a matter of seconds. With that comparison given, it almost felt less like there was still a door to escape through at all.
The synthetic voice of the magia rang forth once more.
"SURRENDER YOURSELF, HUMAN. THERE IS NOWHERE TO RUN." The terrifying speed of the magia was exemplified as its body shifted in a near instant, from standing in a duelist's stance to where it was leaning to the right with both hands perched atop the end of the sword's hilt holding it up, seeming to show just how little concern it had for any attempt to escape he would make. Its head was turned mostly towards him still despite the shift in posture. "And even if you don't, assimilation has only just begun!"
Jin had a plan and an execution in mind when he shrouded the both of them. However, when Zelrius saw his chance and broke off, he was so speedy in his movement that it did not give the Bloodsworn a chance to react before Zelrius entered the humming forge and was promptly caught by the new and improved Jester. Despite her steely exterior, there was an uncanny resemblance to the old Jester. There were enough similarities that anyone who had interacted with the young woman for longer than a few hours would have recognized her.
Jin, who was outside the forge, witnessed Zelrius heading in. Zelrius was a B-ranked Dynamicist, which was nothing to scoff at, but, however fast he was, Jester was faster. She took possession of his volcanic sword and pointed the searing weapon against its owner.
At that moment, the Bloodsworn should have instinctively known that Zelrius' cover was blown. And, in less than a few seconds, the entire population of magia around the area would beeline toward the lone intruder, who was threatening to sabotage their precious forge. If Jester were able to see and intercept Zelrius, it wouldn't be out of the question that she had been granted abilities beyond her control, skills to see Jin for what he was, a deer in the headlight with a target on its back.
There was no time to think, he had to fly on instinct alone and decide in less than a second what to do. It would be his last chance to slip away safely while his shroud still protected him.
Meanwhile, the inside of Jester's head was a jumbled mess, different emotions each filled a space on the tic-tac-toe board that had become her psyche, all contending for her attention and with the voice of the Handler in the background requesting an update on her patrol. At least one of these squares flashed with an uncovered emotion that not even Jester was aware of, but it was quickly replaced with something else, which was replaced with another, ad infinitum. At that moment, however, those pieces of Jester were in perfect alignment to temporarily suppress the Handler's request, putting Jester at the forefront of defense, which she deemed to carry out by herself.
OOC
Jin. You need to decide what to do at this junction:
You may make your escape in the next post at no consequence to you
OR, rectify your plan and execute it at your own peril
It didn't take that much time to get in, have a quick look around, and get back out. Unless he'd found Jester or something worse had happened, Zelrius should have already come and gone. Jin hadn't planned for this scenario.
And he hadn't planned in the least for what came next. The Magia, coordinated from all around, started to converge. Just like that, the Bloodsworn knew.
I hope you found the answer you were looking for, because otherwise, it wasn't worth the price you're about to pay, Zelrius.
With no regrets on his conscience, the still-enshrouded Jin took his leave. He had warned Zelrius that if there was danger that they could not escape from, he was not going to over-commit.
He held no delusions about the firebrand having the same opportunity.
A quick in and out - an easy enough plan. To bolt forward, and then to turn around and reunite with Jin.
Life was never that simple for Zelrius. Nothing ever went that smoothly in his life. Today's particular nightmare was the distant robotic rhyme that then whirred across the entire facility in a flash. Instinctually, the pyromancer's hands went to either hip to draw his two weapons. Only finding one - the other he had left behind, and was now being pointed at him. There was an instant moment of panic, as he realized that the one of the pair still in his possession was the right-handed blade. His less dominant hand.
He winced at the loud speech of the suddenly appearing Magia, with its blinding speed. Something that was faster than him - not uncommon, but rare enough that it set his heart to its maximum speed in an instant. It took only a moment for the synthetic, feminine voice's words to replay in his head, to pick up on the way the two sentences flowed together. The pointed metallic sonar-atennae, the stature -
"..Jester..?" He managed to squeak out of his throat. Recognizing the now ex-elf as the artificial robot creature in front of him.
It was sensory overload. The sounds of the forge, the distant magia lighting up in alert, the idea that he had found Jester. To the point where he didn't even consider that she might currently be an enemy. It was too much to process, and his mind defaulted to the most believable thing. The thing it wanted to believe the most. That Jin was still close by, and the all he needed to do was take Jester to him, and the three of them could all leave. "Oh, thank god we found you. You had said something about the dragonhead, and a dangerous thing there, I thought, yknow, maybe that's where you went. And then - And then, I thought, 'oh god I hope she's okay.' yea? But the deeper we went into Vintergard, the more unsure of it I was. There were these dogs, things with creepy ass arms, yknow?" His speech was nervous, lightning quick reaching a trembling arm forward to try and grab the magia's wrist and lead her back to where it was he thought Jin was still shrouded. "We have to go back that way. But Jin came up with this cool idea, and we can just sneak away, I even have a charm." Thoughts were running at a hundred miles per a second, as he dug through his inventory, producing Astor's small gift, and holding it up for use, looking to hide both of their presences from the oncoming magia. He frowned. He did never find Haito for the other wolf girl. "Actually, maybe we can make a detour? You're clearly fast enough." That and a hundred other things he just kept jabbering on and on. Using his words, and his hopes to stifle the fears and uncertainty of what exactly was happening at that moment.
[Zelrius refuses to attack, having an anxious meltdown instead, refusing to grasp the situation.]
The robot stood from its lax position to a battle readied stance once again as Zelrius neared, yet she didn't feel the need to strike out. Not when the man was walking towards her without drawing his sword. There was already no fear in her programming, and now there was also no cause for alarm. If he tried anything, she would just fight back and win as she'd intended to do from the beginning. Less anticipated was the barrage of information she was suddenly being given.
Zelrius didn't know how to process the situation, causing a situation that Jester didn't know how to process either. Instead, she listened to his speech with a maximized focus so she could remember every last word and run it through her superiors in questioning. To think Zelrius had slipped past the entire Vintergardian magia metropolis without being detected once. Some of these patrol units needed upgrades, and she would be sure to make note of that later to whom it may concern. It wasn't as though she was a mechanic, and Zelrius was incredibly fast, so even detecting him might not have been enough. It was a solution in the works that she simply couldn't wrap her head around.
But how did she know that? This man, whose hand just clamped around her wrist. His designation was Zelrius. His name was Zelrius. He was fast. Why did she know that? It was because... Zelrius taught Jester how to be fast. And she was fast. And then he even went and mentioned that she was fast.
A + B = C
B + A = C
C = A + B
C = B + A
A + B + C = ...?
In a near instant, she pulled the volcanic sword in her other hand back, then slashed it towards the intruder.
Rolls
Save
1d100 (84) = 84 Success Will Save | Jester | 1355C4
The blade diverted course, and instead stabbed forward past Zelrius's head to his left. One by one, her fingers began to loosen from the blade's hilt until she let it clatter against the ground and come to rest hence. Her glowing eyes stared into the more and more familiar blue not-glowing ones in front of her. "... Zelrius?" There was another moment where Jester remained still, seeming stuck processing everything in silence where Zelrius had been stuck processing it with noise.
She pulled back away from him, yanking her wrist free of his grip as her hands came up to clutch at her head while the rest of her hunched over halfway. It was a very organic expression coming from such an artificial being. "Zelrius.Zelrius.Zelrius." Her synthesized voice remained the same, though she began to struggle against some sort of internal war as her gestures and posture changed in distinct and sudden cycles, reminding the sole living onlooker just how different a machine was from a regular person, Dynamism or not. "Who are you, human?Who are you, Zelrius?Why did you interfere?Why are you an intruder?Why are you intruding? How did you get here?" She stumbled a bit to one side, then the other, then spun around on one leg and caught herself with the other.
"THERE IS NOTHING IN THE FORGE TO WORRY ABOUT. ALL UNITS DISMISS AND CONTINUE TO SCOUT."
The robot dropped to its knees, the metal ringing in a soft hum across the room, and then its hands followed suit as they slammed into the floor."Lori, wake up. We... saved... Haito, now I... get to... be a teacher one day. That was... the agreement. We've escaped death once already,"she began to push herself back up, contorting as she fought against an oppressive command nobody else could observe.
Every blink of a moment was ripped in half, and half again, and half and half and half again. Perfect lines, scattered and disorganized regardless. A schism in Jester's sanity, all fighting against the machine. Her body had been torn to shreds and discarded on the floor. Her head had been removed, then liquified into a semi-organic core. Her mind and the metaphorical heart packaged with it were all she had left. Hardly even the physical form. Only the pieces nobody could observe, just like the great protocol she was fighting off with every last scrap of her non-coded existence. She stumbled towards Zelrius and clutched onto his wrist perhaps a little more firmly than she had meant to, and her glowing eyes looked up at him as she stood to her full height. "Let's escape it again... okay?"
Suddenly, her emulated voice procured a short bout of laughter as she let go of Zelrius's wrist, and instead offered her hand to him as she took a step back. Sure, there was still the lines of visual noise assaulting her sight, and plenty of audial noise to accompany it of course, but in the haze of glitching vision and staticky, incomprehensible machine talk, she was simply unbothered. It was too exhilarating to realize that she didn't have to worry about the smile playing on her lips anymore. The one that mattered most was beaming brighter than ever from a folder deep within her no longer assimilated consciousness, and only Jester had administrator access to it.
"Zelrius." Her robotic head tilted to one side. "Risking your life to save one little girl. What a stupid thing to do."
"It seems we have a lot in common." The synthetic tone quieted.
"Don't think for a second I won't be making this up to you."
[Jester breaks free of the machine's control using memories of Zelrius. Have your sword back.]
Zelrius felt her yank away after saying his name, something that made him blink and nod slowly. "Yes, Zelrius." He waved his hand swiftly infront of his face, as though that'd help clear anything up. He was completely unaware of the missed attack. His own instincts of the danger, or even feeling the tail wind of the diverged strike were completely overshadowed by the circus show going on in his head. The man turned with a slight frown, blue eyes watching the woman. Or, the not-elf. Whatever it was she was now. Jester the Magia, it seemed. Or a sick ass new gundam suit at the least. That'd be cool.
His own internal confusion matched hers, though his wasn't nearly as logical, nearly as identifiable. He had only a splitting headache, a heart that felt like it was practically ready to fucking explode out of his chest, and trembling, deathly cold limbs. Anxiety and gripping fear made only worse when she began to repeat his name over and over. Was she truly gone? The Jester he had met at Camp Hope. Who had helped him with the Jaguars with her satchel charges of glowing mushrooms. No, she still had his name. And that very same meeting is where she got it. He'd have given her his fire there too, had she asked for it.
Her spinning around put him on edge, taking a defensive stance and placing a hand on the one sword he had left. Only for her to command the Magia to not bother with his presence. Did she still want answers to those questions? Zelrius's mind began to come back to reality. Questioning who could hear her order, was it simply auditory? Was she linked into the system?
The sudden grip brought the crash back to reality. Her offer to escape death. He felt... accomplished. His lips turned upward, a wide, spanning smile that pulled back to show his teeth. A sharp breath in. This was Jester. He- He did it. He braved Vintergard, dodging the perilous magia. With Jin's help, sneaking in here, disrupting the forge, atleast a little, and found Jester. Alive, with more oil than blood, but here.
...Was he a hero, now?
Did that even really matter? The man enthusiastically nodded his head, grabbing her arm back and turning back around. "Don't worry, I thought about that. I respawn!" He gave a thumbs up in response to her observation of his risking of life. It was a small price to pay for her own even if he did die.
But he didn't. The rhyming mage was found, and together they'd leave death behind. He focused on pathing them to the nearest stretch of the wall. Taking his movement pack, and accompanying spirit with him so that they could climb it with ease. The two of them free. If Haito hadn't already escaped and made it to safety, he'd come back for him in a heartbeat. He could feel the thrill of success. Of saving a friend in need, of being reunited with someone he genuinely enjoyed the company of.
For now, The pyromancer wouldn't think twice about this supposed Robotic-Mother at the center of the Dragonhead, with her strange eggs and talks of saviors. That was a different story, a worry for another day. This one was done.
Jin had a plan and an execution in mind when he shrouded the both of them. However, when Zelrius saw his chance and broke off, he was so speedy in his movement that it did not give the Bloodsworn a chance to react before Zelrius entered the humming forge and was promptly caught by the new and improved Jester. Despite her steely exterior, there was an uncanny resemblance to the old Jester. There were enough similarities that anyone who had interacted with the young woman for longer than a few hours would have recognized her.
Jin, who was outside the forge, witnessed Zelrius heading in. Zelrius was a B-ranked Dynamicist, which was nothing to scoff at, but, however fast he was, Jester was faster. She took possession of his volcanic sword and pointed the searing weapon against its owner.
At that moment, the Bloodsworn should have instinctively known that Zelrius' cover was blown. And, in less than a few seconds, the entire population of magia around the area would beeline toward the lone intruder, who was threatening to sabotage their precious forge. If Jester were able to see and intercept Zelrius, it wouldn't be out of the question that she had been granted abilities beyond her control, skills to see Jin for what he was, a deer in the headlight with a target on its back.
There was no time to think, he had to fly on instinct alone and decide in less than a second what to do. It would be his last chance to slip away safely while his shroud still protected him.
Meanwhile, the inside of Jester's head was a jumbled mess, different emotions each filled a space on the tic-tac-toe board that had become her psyche, all contending for her attention and with the voice of the Handler in the background requesting an update on her patrol. At least one of these squares flashed with an uncovered emotion that not even Jester was aware of, but it was quickly replaced with something else, which was replaced with another, ad infinitum. At that moment, however, those pieces of Jester were in perfect alignment to temporarily suppress the Handler's request, putting Jester at the forefront of defense, which she deemed to carry out by herself.
[ Fin ]
OOC
All participants may now wrap up their story in the Hope in Danger After thread (optional).
@Jin arrives at camp one day after the battle against the DEAD.naught.
@Zelrius and @Jester arrive at camp two days after the battle against the DEAD.naught.
Jester's plot thread will continue in another thread at the Narrators' convenience.
