The Library

[Lord Azazel]

“Aelfric do you not remember anything I taught you? A mentally unstable person hearing about a weapon is not a smart idea, not only does the person reacts like you’re going to kill him. But it makes him harder to control but it’s too late to think about that now. Now you must use your vines to hold him down so you can transport him to the apartment “. Hades said in a dark voice as Aelfric watched the man attempt to break free of the giant. The man seems to be afraid of weapons or the thought of them anyway. It would make his integration a lot more difficult. He did not want to use the vines because that would waste time and time they did not have. Soon it was going to be dark and although the shadows were powerful during the night he could not risk the man escaping if he decided to use the vines. No it was best if he used the portal and just hope that it landed them were he wanted it to go, Nobody would suspect that he planned on landing in the apartment, they would just think his portal malfunctioned and now they have to get back to the library another way. It would cost him though because people hated failure and they would blame him for their failure. But in the end if he prevented a attack on the library by the prisoner then all was good.

He heard the woman’s annoying voice and question and clenched his hand in anger. The woman was nothing but a burden someone that would only cost them the mission. If he had his way the woman would be dead and he would get a new team member. But that was just thoughtful thinking as he once again ignored her words. How was he expected to respond to her? Of course he was not going to need the knife to cut fish although a tongue can be cut in the same way. But it did not matter as he turned to face the giant and nodded his head at him before clenching his hand and releasing it slowly as a portal appeared next to him. The portal was stable but it would take a few minutes for it to become stable. He hated the fact that he never mastered making the portal stable instantly but then again not many could and he was not about to allow that thought to enter his mind as he focused on the task at hand again.

“This is a shadow portal and it will take us to the library. The portal to those that used to it will make you sick a little and you mind feel nauseas at the other end of it. But it will get us back to the library so that we can hand in the prisoner to the library officials., Any questions before we go though it ? “ He asked his teammates in a calm voice as he waited for them to respond. Soon he will be able to question the prisoner and hopefully get some answers before handing him to the library officials. Oh what wonderful ways he could torture the poor soul.

[Hedya]

Salia Kyrie

Salia was impressed. Even though she was sure that the blow would be lethal, layers of icicles grew all over her foe’s body, and although she was able to break many of them with her sword, it had been pointless. She needed to change her approach, or the best would simply keep growing icicles and every time it would be harder to hit. If she remembered properly, the back of the head was a weak point of nearly any living thing.

Even if it was a monster, it would have to be a weak spot. Perhaps a place that was harder to protect, or somewhere with less chances of growing icicles. Or simply a place with many blood vessels… that would send the poison she would use on it with the spear. Of course, it was rather obvious. She did not need slashing, she needed piercing. The spear would likely make it to the beast, even if it protected itself with ice.

And so the rook ran towards the black being, that had moved back a bit, but as she did so, she noticed the air was cold. So cold. She needed to be quick, or things would get really ugly. Salia jumped with all her might to the back of the head, particularly what should be the base of the skull, on the rear.

Thanks to the chains limiting the movement of the beast, and the black sphere, she was able to aim quite easily and see the vital spot she hoped for. It was now or never. She made sure to jump in a way that would let her strike again quickly if the first blow did not finish it. One single blow should be enough, but if for some reason it was not, everything was set for Salia to strike again. She hoped with that, the beast would, if not be killed, be poisoned strongly enough to cause it to die within the next minute. The temperature was unbearable.

____________________

Remia Kyrie

The young girl was ready to strike, and so when Bishop ordered her to take down a target in particular, she launched herself towards it, wielding the sword as quickly as she could. No art about it. No trying to make her moves pretty. She simply ran towards the goal as fast as she could and made a wide move with the sword to make sure she would be able to hit the target.

It was essential that she would hit that enemy, so that the sound would stop and everyone would be able to continue the fight, properly. So much strength she had used with the blow and so much was that sound still ringing in her head, that she almost lost her balance, and she had to stop for a moment in order to make sure she was ready to go on and keep fighting.

The next target was the very last one, and Remia switched from her sword to the Ice Crossbow, and shot the last guy. She felt bad because these people probably fought for a reason. But it was just her job. And she was supposed to do it properly. Which, of course, she had done.

[Kestrel]

Violently the monster shook in it's final attempts to break free, but it was felled by Rhongomyniad. The spear pierced through the skin and mud-like substance; spreading it's poison through the beast. The beast's strength was being sapped, it's struggles became weaker and eventually; it fell before Salia and Soneillon. Then, it vanished... In the same manner Soneillon had when it had been ripped in two by a golem. The monster... Was a knight's spirit. But then... Where was the knight? And where was Nuka?

[Player2]

Glow in the Dark
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"Yes, I can cook Ms. Justus, and never shall such a paltry meal of bread and oatmeal pass through the kitchen doors whilst I'm still around. Perhaps a meal of blueberry muffins, crisped bacon atop cheese, egg and a sausage patty with a coat of buttermilk biscuit, accompanied by some fresh-squeezed orange juice for the 'morrow then, hmm?" Coffee would've been his normal suggestion --black with two sugars and a spoonful of creme-- but giving such an energetic a strong cup of joe might just turn her into something truly terrifying. He would've continued listing options and pondering meal plans if Michael had not attempted to wrest himself from his grasp. Sol's hand tightened a bit as the man wriggled, though it didn't seem the smaller individual had anything near the strength need to wrest himself from the iron like hand of Sol Brumick. "I think it would be wise not to mention any implements used for aggression any more."

Sol's eyes looked down to Michael as the madman began to chuckle. He murmerd something about a "bouncing skeleton" beneath his breath, causing one of Sol's eyebrows to sharply ascend. At least he seemed to calm down a bit. He followed Micheal's gaze to Tonia's face, and had to agree her gaunt, pale face was indeed a bit reminiscent of a skeletons. The thought made the corner of his mouth turn to a smile. At that point, Aelfric flexed his hand, a portal appearing next to him. "A bit of discretion wouldn't hurt next time..." Sol softly spoke as everyone on the street immediately turned they're eyes towards the group and the large portal that had just popped into existence. He tightened his grip on Micheal in case the sudden appearance spooked him as well. Hopefully the 'bouncing skeleton' would keep his mind occupied for a time.

What occupied Sol's own mind though was why exactly Aelfric wanted a knife. If there were taking a car, it would be understandable. They could be attacked by whatever --if anything-- was after Michael. Supposedly though, this portal was taking them straight to the library. There shouldn't have been need of defense, even with the onset of nausea. It made Sol wonder if perhaps the darkly dressed man knew something he and Tonia didn't. Or if he simply had an extra plan of his own. Perhaps he was just being overly cautious on his first mission since the last. Still, being cautious didn't get many killed...

"Sounds good. Lead on Aelfric, I'll be shortly behind. If Michael gets loose somehow on the way over then you'll be able to subdue him. That is, unless the lady would like to go first," Sol said as he turned to face Tonia.

[Asuras]

What was this, curfew time for filth? The streets had emptied somewhat, much more so than what she had originally witnessed just several dozens of yards ago, though it was apparent most of the absentees were ones she noted to be of a particularly shady characteristic. It was as if her wandering into the area was some electromagnetic force, and the creepers were well aware that her presence wasn't to be trifled with. She had also just recently heard some rabble in another street that could have scared individuals away. It came to a point where she was the only individual walking along a narrow and dusty path -the others were standing about or walking in and out of their open-door homes- overlooked by tall apartment buildings. That is, it was her and Zephyr alone until the sound of an extra pair of footsteps could be recognized, trailing a few yards behind. They were neither loud nor seemingly driven or fast. Sairen passed them off for a few moments before she realized they were still continuing to follow her. It certainly was an ominous feeling, and Sairen had to hold herself back from spinning around to confront the person with stern eyes and an even sterner spirit.

Sairen took her mind off it to consider her choices here; she could go door to door like some persistent missionary asking timid citizens dark questions, or she could continue walking until she came across someone who stood out from the rest and seemed to be fine with staying alone on the streets. Such an individual would be likely more brave and willing to speak than one who retreated into the woodwork. Then again, the person behind her seemed to be such a person. Sairen took a quick glance over her shoulder to see who this person was, and was surprised to realize they were most definitely not a native to Paggio.

White of hair and with golden eyes, she wore a magnificent black and white outfit complete with several patterns and designs akin to battle-armor. As opposed to the simply-dressed Sairen, this individual was as obvious as it gets; she had to assume she was from the Library just like her, though she had not seen her face before. Sairen stopped in place and turned to face this woman head-on, though not in the way she had originally intended. There was no stern face on Sairen's visage, but a light smile to lighten the confrontation. Zephyr too turned, though being such a large and fearsome being, couldn't have been any less intimidating no matter what it did. Sairen clasped her hands before her and called out just loud enough for Ophelia to hear,

"Your appearance... It is reflective of the Library, no?"

[guinness]

“Hippety, hoppity, there goes the boppity,” her voice was high pitched and shrill.

Being a rabbit had to be so interesting. They had those big feet that looked like clown shoes. What if clown shoes were actually modeled after rabbit feet? What if rabbits actually made them? Now that would be a worthy ending for some fancy book. Just when the hero finds his lucky pair of polka dotted shoes he comes face to face with the greatest horror of all. His father was actually the Easter bunny. It was now his turn to take up the mantle, cut to a scene with the hero growing fur than bam end the book.

She should have been a writer instead of top secret agent lady. You couldn't brag about it because then it wouldn't a secret. Keeping secrets was never one of her strong suits. It is just so hard to not tell the world about new exciting news you heard. What was even the purpose of secrets? Why tell someone something if they can't tell other people? People did such weird things.

“Ahhh!” she squealed as the portal caught her attention. It was all dark and gloomy just like rubber man. It swirled like butter being churned in one of those big buckets. She never liked butter. It was so fattening and tasted like butter. Butter was only good for rubbing on people so they could fit into tight spaces or for like sliding down a big hill. You could roll around and collect blades of grass or dirt on your body. It would be the ultimate camouflage thingy. Maybe butter wasn't so bad, just wasn't for eating.

Her head bobbed eagerly between all three men, seeing their mouth’s move yet not hearing any words come out. They were such quiet types, all reserved and junk. The big guy seemed kind of nice at least, he did cook after all. She would like to hang out with him after this. She guessed biggie small was ok to. Rubber man still seemed like a bigger downer than a mallet to the head.

Without thinking she jumped towards the portal, holding her hands outward, she yelled, “Wheeee!”

[Lyzan]

Every step that he took, Ramza merely eyed through the goggles which Emily have handed him with earlier, onto the sand below as they rise from around his footfall and then flowed down the sides of the small hill like a mini landslide. Other than that, he occupied his thoughts with the sound of those grains grinding and crunching from under his sandals as well as the sound of the occasionally rushing winds by his ears. Those were the little details he busied himself with aside from savoring the cooling sensation and shelter from under the canopy of his hood and from the scarf around his neck and mouth. Not even the weight of Shroom on his shoulder or the little tugging by his cloak where Pixie was holding on to as she trudged alongside the Rook could distract him.

Seemingly, the Rook appeared somewhat disturbed or caught in the state of a daydream from behind the shadows of his teammates. He'd also adapted a slower pace to accommodate with that of his minions which may be mistaken for a sign of depression or lack of enthusiasm for the mission. But the matter of fact was, Ramza had his focus fixed on the task assigned to him. Or at least he was struggling to. He couldn't entirely ignore the prick under his skin with the way Emily was reacting around him. On top of that, he wasn't quite sure how to respond to Lux's teasing either. So the best he could do was move on and remain silent, distracting and reminding himself of his own duties and responsibilities.

Forget about the others for a moment, Ramza! Thinking about them would only bar you from achieving your goal! Take it out on the target! Take it out on the Drake, Ramza! I know our objective is capture one alive but a dead one is definitely better than nothing!

Ramza then lifted his line of sight for a brief moment as he thought something just flew overhead. But after a few moment of looking about himself, he found nothing.

Don't tell me you don't feel the urge to spill more blood, boy?! Don't tell me you're going to throw all that pent up frustration by playing nice! You and I both know that sooner or later, you'll eventually lose it! So give in, boy?! They won't blame you for it! Give in!

[Lukas Kelly]

Seeing that the Library was fairly empty, Aiden grabbed the mission info off of the board and fell back into a nearby chair. Exhaustion wasn't the proper word. He had been exhausted before, but this was something mental or "spiritual". Ever since arriving at the Library, he'd been training with the usage of Rasifah and the various weapons he could materialize. It was like beginning to use muscles you never really used before. Aiden looked down and examined the paper. Storms in El-Hnur? He hadn't heard of the place before, but a desert didn't sound to bad. It was sort of poetic, he thought, to return to the desert now that he was fully acquainted with his spirit. Aiden didn't have the sharpest memory, but the first time Rasifah had manifested was vivid in his mind still.

"SANDSTORM!". Aiden was in the middle of reloading when the cry began to echo across their line in the dunes. A monstrous wall of wind and sand was sweeping across the landscape, eager to devour and blind to the color of the flag either side carried. He had only personally been in two others, neither in an actual conflict, but they had drilled for this hundreds of times. He calmly and quickly finished up the reloading before pulling up his face covering. Skirmish lines in the dunes were usually pretty spaced out, but they moved closer together, no more than 10 meters from the man on either side. "BAYONETS... AFFIX". Still under sporadic fire from the guerillas, Aiden and his comrades mechanically pulled out their blades and put them solidly on the end of the rifles before leveling them at the line of enemies across from them. "FOOOR-WARD". They began to stalk forward methodically, step by step, the sandstorm only seconds from hitting. Across from them, the Khanars had formed a tight defensive line. "FIRE". Aiden someone and pulled the trigger. The man fell back, but it was hard to tell whether he was really hit or just clipped in the shoulder. "CHARGE!".

Aiden let out a yell and started sprinting forward. When the sandstorm hit, the sun went out the cruel wind interrupted his stride, knocking him off balance at impact. He continued running, near blind, through the sands, bayonet leveled forward, going up and over dune after dune. All of a sudden, the wind stopped. The roar continued, though, drowning out any battle cries and clashes of metal there might be around him. Aiden looked around. The broken stone ruins of what must have been a house created a small haven from the winds of heaven. But, though a haven, it was not a safe haven. Three Khanar guerillas burst into the pocket of calm, covered head to to in rough cloth, protecting them from the sand and wind of their home. Shit, he thought. Aiden began to panic, but a calm intensity over-took it as he prepared himself to fight. Aiden moved first. "Gah!", he lunged forward, getting the tip of his bayonet into the chest of a guerilla who couldn't jump back far enough. As soon as he felt the ever-so-slight resistance of blade into flesh, the gun was kicked out of his hands and he took a sharp blow to the head. Before he got reoriented, he found himself shoved against the wall, his head cracking against the wall as it happened.

Aiden tried to break free, but their grip was too strong. There was a Khanar on either side of him, pinning him against the wall, while one stood in front of him and unsheathed a wicked looking blade. The Akhrid, a weapon indigenous to this area. It was curved forward half-way up the blade and had a heavy spine, giving it the heft it needed to chop of limbs. "You see?", the guerilla asked, "This is our home. The sand hide you. No one will help". This is it, he had thought, but something was changing. The wind blasted through the ruins, knocking them all to the ground. Aiden got up and looked around. It looked as if they were in the middle of a dust devil, but Aiden felt no wind himself. Blind instinct had taken over. The Khanar with a knife had jumped to his feet and slashed in one motion. Aiden leaned back out the way of the blow and delivered a punch to his gut. When he pulled his hand back, he found himself wielding a bloody katar that had seemingly come from nowhere. The winds around condensed into a swirling dervish, 8 feet tall, in the shape of a man. He looked back at Aiden, You, my name is Rasifah. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I've been watching.. The last he remembered of the incident, the two other guerillas took the mortally wounded one and left Aiden alone in the ruins.


This is unnatural. Rasifah snapped him out of his thoughts. "Hm?" The rains. They have over-stayed their welcome. They are to keep the desert alive. Nothing more, Rasifah spoke in a raspy whisper, not unlike wind tossing sand. Aiden continued to read the paper. "It seems so. I was never a fan of wet sand, but it's whatever". He paused to take a drink from an unmarked water bottle he had brought with him, "We'll see what missions people are taking. I'd rather be on my first assignment with someone who has done this before". Glancing around, he saw no one still. Rasifah remained invisible in times of calm, only able to be seen when he whipped up sand out of nowhere. It'd probably be seen as odd to talk to what appears to be nothing anywhere else, but such is life in the library.

[Xaltwind]

For a while, she had been walking behind this moron.

This idiotic girl who saw it fit to flaunt the fact that she was a Holder. Yes, brilliant idea, let's show everyone in a superstitious and Library-hating city that we stand out just that much by walking around with our Spirit manifested and in tow, like some kind of bizarrely oversized bodyguard or pet. The action was worthy of face-palming, but Ophelia withstood that urge and simply kept walking behind the other woman, some small distance away. In truth, she hadn't expected to see another Librarian out here, as her team had all but gathered when they first arrived - and this person had not been present. She must've been a late arrival... Just great.

However, suddenly, the woman infront of her stopped, turned around and called out to her. Words that should not be said and certainly not half-shouted. Had it been only the two of them, Ophelia might've considered shooting the moron down with her wings right there and then - but as there were still civilians and other dreg out to watch the meeting, that was not a possibility at the moment. Besides, she had other business to attend to, so for now she would just have to deal with this moron quickly so she could keep at it. Stopping within regular conversation-tone distance of her new 'colleague', Ophelia tilted her head slightly, smiled pleasantly as she always did and looked at the woman with eyes that said what?

"Hm? The Library...? I'm sorry." She pardoned herself, bowing her head slightly. She also spoke in the native tongue of Paggio, as a countermeasure to alleviate the situation to any unwanted bystanders or eavesdroppers. "I don't know where the library of this city is. Me and my husband just moved here recently and we haven't had the chance to go for a visit there yet." She explained, and lied, to the other woman. "Now, I must apologize, but I have to get going. I need to pick some things up for tonight. A good day to you, miss, and I hope you'll find the library." She finished, giving a slight curtsie to the dark-haired Librarian before her, she then proceeded to walk in a slight half-circle around said person and her guardian - as if to keep her distance.

Hopefully, the imbecille would leave her alone and go chase down some streeet-rats or something... Not that she'd find many, seeing as the ambassador had already worked the back-alleys of this area.

[Asuras]

Who was she fooling? A husband? Paggian accent? She was certainly no Paggio citizen, not with those eyes. Not with that attire. Sairen's welcoming smile dropped into a scowl as this pretender denied her question. She might have expected to pass of as a strange civilian here in the presence of nobodies, but when she would come across those individuals who knew what they were doing -the ones who knew of a Mr. Bond- her ruse would be nothing. And what good information came out of those dumb enough to think of her as one of their own?

"You would think someone recently moving here would lack a Paggio accent," Sairen spoke softly, staring down the street that Ophelia had followed her from as the woman passed by her side. Evidently this was no individual she wanted to associate with; she evidently didn't understand true stealth all that well, and if she was going to attempt some silly secret agent game, Sairen didn't want to be there when the big boys saw through it at their doorstep. Sairen only hoped this woman wasn't attempting to hide her origin from her, because it certainly didn't work. With a quick glance to the side to see a woman staring out into the street from a dirty window, Zephyr too followed her gaze and easily scared away the Paggian.

"Good luck to you and your husband then," she called back to Ophelia, walking away. She took a side path from her original course, nevertheless still headed in the same general direction. A diagonally placed alleyway split off from the street she had encountered Ophelia on, narrow and seemingly even taller than before. Only an occasional soul stood out on the cobblestone path which rather reeked of grimy water and mold. She regretted taking the detour. Zephyr's head perked up from its normally stooped position and stared down the hall-like path. Sairen had noticed the change, and knowing that his attention rarely meant anything less than danger or grave importance, stopped herself.

"What do you see?" she asked, looking up into his pitch black eye holes.

"..." Sairen knew what his silence meant, or rather, that his words were not silence. Zephyr was an odd character, as far as Sairen had compared to other holder's spirits. He could not express words themselves, but was still capable of speaking to Sairen alone in some strange wordless language. It was not quite telepathy as it was feeling him speak, like a rumble in space or something. She wasn't ever truly sure. Zephyr had pointed out a set of armed individuals that had quickly peeked out from a corner in the alleyway. Sairen had not seen them, likely glancing to her side to look upon some other thing. Zephyr, despite appearing as an inattentive creature, was more than aware of his surroundings. To some degree, he could even see through sonar, though it required him letting out a rather loud and painful metallic noise, and Sairen did not want to bring the ire of a audibly disturbed neighborhood.

Sairen had not yet encountered any armed individuals since arriving in Paggio, and so this stark change elicited a slight fear in her. Walking up to them plainly might pose a risk, but attacking them out of the blue was not in her character. She took a step closer to Zephyr and whispered up to him,

Sairen gave a subtle cue with her eyes and Zephyr complied, walking off for the concealed corner. His unabashed and heavy footsteps would surely be noticed, but she knew the hulking metal beast would be far from in danger. If the potential assailants were truly worthy, they'd have taken her on in any environment, uncaring of stealth. Zephyr stopped at the corner and glanced from side to side to find four different bandits awaiting her arrival with axes, swords, and knives in hands. Their faces contorted into ones of despair as they realized Sairen wasn't coming beforehand.

With wordless expression, Zephyr spoke out to Sairen without notifying the bandits of his voice, and the girl replied with a rather cheerful voice. "Well you know what to do then!" Zephyr directed his attention back to the bandits and immediately sparked their complete fear. The bandits either attempted to run or erratically swung their poorly-forged blades at Zephyr's metal body. With a supernatural quickness three blades found their way in the bandit's own weapons, slicing them in two like butter. A single bandit had run from the alleyway, his tattered cloth swinging side to side. Zephyr shot out his larger blade and sunk it into the backpack of the bandit, freezing his run in place.

Sairen walked upon the scene with crossed arms and a dismal grin. The three remaining bandits were under the scrutiny of three tentacle-like blade hovering inches from the sides of their necks, and so she had little fear.

"I was thinking maybe I had some assassins. I mean, I must have been noticed by now with this big guy walking around, but you seem untrained and unfit to take on a Holder. Maybe you guys are just petty thugs. A disappointment, really," Sairen spoke. The bandits maintained raised hands to save their necks, a small sweat appearing beneath their wide eyes.

"We didn't-"

"Didn't what? didn't want to kill? Steal? Ruff me up? You're thugs, no doubt, and you have no leeway to speak. Shut up." The snagged bandit that Zephyr had caught with his blade was dragged towards the gathered three, his face evidently angry with either his own failure or the manner in which he was trapped. Sairen looked the bandits up and down, trying to discern their worth to her investigation. Their dirty leather armor and poorly-made weaponry didn't speak much to her in terms of information, but they did indicate they were unlikely to be mercenaries. Any organization capable of trapping a Library agent surely had the cash to afford someone more... capable.

"I'm sad. Here I was thinking I could glean some info off of you idiots. Guess not. What have you got in your dirty pockets? You're bandits, you must have intercepted few little boys before." One of the men immediately reached for his pockets to bring out a handful of coins. It wasn't spectacular, but it wasn't as pathetic as she was expecting from the failure-thug. "Not bad," Sairen commented. She made no motion to take the coins from him, instead staring into his face.

"Kill them," she ordered grimly. Zephyr complied without hesitation, spearing the three bandits with the already poised blades. A cacophony of gurgling filled the narrow alleyway, and the pavement was covered in a layer of blood. The entrapped bandit became two bandits and Zephyr retracted his blades with a metallic ringing. Sairen found the coins on the floor, covered in red and slid them around the puddle with her foot.

"I wonder if an information broker takes dyed coins."