Tyme ignored the others, even the one in the trenchcoat, despite how he was yelling at him to calm down. How could he be calm? What the hell did they know about his mental state? His attitude changed once more when they spoke of the bracelets, his eyes traveling to the one he wore, examining it as he went silent. He returned back to the corner of his cell, his fingers lightly tracing the gems, letting out a sharp gasp. "That's cold!" he exclaimed, shaking his hand. Eying the gems for a little longer, he finally lowered his arm, leaning his head back. He heard Sara once again, this time she was telling the others what had happened, what they had borne witness to. Tyme looked at his hands, the memory of the tendril snatching Erin's life away in front of his eyes, it was still so fresh in his mind. He lowered his hands and stood, moving to the edge of his cell, appearing to be sane for the time being. "I agree with Sara, we need to work together if we're going to get out of here. While she's right about me using a gunblade, that's not all I can use. Give me a sword or a gun and I can fight, after all, that's part of learning how to use a gunblade." he told them. He took a seat, "Since you know our names, how about returning the favor and telling us yours, hmm?" he asked the trenchcoat man, mostly keeping his attention focused on the farm boy. He knew that typically farmers had chocobos, and if Red had a chocobo somewhere, then maybe he'd be of use to someone like him.

Annabel smiled at Fuyuto, "Kuroko is fine, a healthy young chocobo." Kuroko, she had forgotten how that black devil came into her possession. That she-bo hated everyone and most of her own chocobo keep their distance from her. Only Fury seemed to mind her. Annabel wondered if she would remember Fuyuto. Maybe she could get him to take her..

Snapping back to reality, "Hello, Laecora. Its good to meet you, if only in a happier situation." The other young woman had come to. Now that everyone was awake, maybe they could come to some revelation about what had happened and what exactly these bracelets were. Annabel held out the arm that had the bracelet on it.
"Anyone have the same color?" She asked jokingly, trying to lighten the mood somewhat.

Mal was glad that Tyme decided to take his suggestion and settle down (or maybe he got bored with being crazy, who knows), and spoke up "Very well. Since you asked politely and since you decided to calm down, I will tell you. My name is Malachi Stanton, and I'm a Hunter. I find monsters, and I kill them. Nothing more, and nothing less. Is there anything else you wish to know?" He asked, sitting back down and closing his eyes.

Red, Malachi, Tyme, Sara repeated in her head. If she were honest, she didn't much trust any of them. Except maybe Red, but he wasn't exactly threatening. "Now what?" she thought out loud, looking around her cell once more. The lock on her cell door caught her eye.

Sara stood up and walked over to the lock, kneeling down to get a closer look at it. She was quickly reminded how little she knew about lock picking, and it looked sturdy. A couple of solid tugs on the door as well as futile attempts to bend the metal bars confirmed its strength. She put one hand on her hip and the other up to itch the back of her head. That rules out the door, Sara thought.

She proceeded to then pace around her cell, occasionally tapping her heel against the floor. It was all stone, no wood or trap doors. A look up at the ceiling didn't seem to show any other exploits in her cell. It doesn't look like this was adapted from a building with a different purpose, She thought, A solid cell, nothing else to it. This is either a governmental setup, or they knew we would be survivors. She quietly chuckled to herself, Unless of course they just happened to have some cells lying around.

After successfully establishing that her cell was secure from the inside, Sara let out a long sigh through her nose, then looked over to her fellow prisoners. "Anyone here know how to pick locks?" Sara hazarded, removing her hat and producing a hair pin from nearby her ear.

With Rena waking, everyone in their block was awake now. She then called out to say hello, but it was weak, and difficult to hear over Annabel's question about the color of the bracelets. It was obvious she was trying to lighten the mood. Fuyuto held up his right hand so the others could get a good look, if they desired.
"A midnight blue, with a clear and black gem." he described. He turned his head to look at Rena.
"You ok, Rena? Oh, by the way, this is Annabel, and that is Laecora, if you didn't catch their names earlier."
"This is Rena, we happened to meet outside Xenon and encountered a giant Flan, before this all happened." Fuyuto turned to Annabel and Laecora, introducing Rena.
With this, everyone knew each others names.
Fuyuto then started to point at his bracelet, "What should we call these things anyway? They seem like bracelets, but they seem to be embedded in our skin. You can't remove it, slide it, spin it, or anything."

"I suppose a bracelet is the only name we have for them then, isn't it?" Laecora said after nodding to the other two girls who were introduced. "Did any of you three happen to retain any useful or valuable items when you were moved here?"

Rena looked down at her 'bracelet. "Mine's dark green. The gems are light green and white. I...can't get it off either."

She stood up. "Hello, Annabel. Hello, Laecora. As Fuyuto said, I'm Rena. I don't think any of us have anything on us apart from the bracelets." Her eyes went wide when she said that sentence out loud. "My crossbow!"

She took a second to calm herself, and then looked around the room they were in. "Where are we? Some kind of cell? Where's everyone else?

...I hope they're not..."

She looked at the floor. She didn't have to finish that sentence.

Red looked up. "No," he spoke with a frown before looking back down at his feet. He wasn't sure what was going to happen, but while everyone was trying to find some solution to their predicament, he just seemed to have nothing to do but sit there, feeling useless. Sulking as he was, he did hear a slight sound. Something of a pop? He blinked, looking around, then decided it was nothing.

And then it happened again, only a slight bit louder. This time, Red was certain he wasn't hearing things, as the slightest bit of dust fell from the ceiling of his cell with the second sound. "Hey, do you guys hear that?" He asked, standing up. "It sounds like popping..." He mumbled.

That was when a third sound was heard. This time it was much clearer and louder, actually shaking the room. Somewhere in the building, explosions were going off, and they were powerful.

Red's face went pale. It seemed like things were quickly going from bad to worse, and there wasn't a single thing that he could do about it. Of course, at this point, his stress turned to full on panic. "SHIT! LET ME OUT OF HERE!" He shouted, running to the door and struggling against the bar. "COME ON, SOMEBODY! ANYBODY! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!" The thought of being trapped hadn't scared him. After all, he was the one who'd said that it was unlikely they'd just be killed after all that. However, with the new development, the explosions, the fear of death quickly overtook him, and he wasn't the only one. The room where they were imprisoned soon degraded into a cacophony of panicked voices which echoed through the stone hall.

For several minutes this continued, Red starting to shout himself hoarse, until another explosion came.

This one was much smaller, but it was at the door to the cell block they were in.

"Shit!" Red exclaimed as he recoiled from the blast.

About 5 men entered, and they didn't appear to be with the men in black from before. These men and women appeared to be dressed in dark blue padded clothes, and they had weapons on their back. They definitely weren't with the government, that much was clear. "Everyone calm down!" One of them shouted in an authoritative voice. She was a woman with red hair tied back into a ponytail with a bandanna wrapped around her forehead, matching the color of her uniform. "We're here to get you guys out, just stay calm!" The five of them started approaching the doors of the cells and shooting the locks to break them, each of them asking if the people in the cells knew how to use any weapons.

The woman who'd shouted to calm everyone before was the one who opened Red's cell. "Hey, kid," she spoke to him. "It's alright, we're going to get you out of here." She spoke,

"O-okay!" Red spoke, still a bit frightened, but he started up to his feet.

"Do you know how to use a gun or a sword?" The woman continued.

"N-no..."

"Okay, that's fine. Just stay back. We don't have a lot of extra supplies and we can only give them to the most capable here... Don't worry, we'll protect you."

-Deleted-

The ground was shaking.
Annabel could hear explosions, and they didnt sound far away. The tremor became more violent and shouts could be heard outside the room they were in.
"You guys hear that?!" She asked the others, a note of worry tinged her words. Annabel backed away from the cell door and looked around. Not a moment later, the building shook so violently that anything not bolted down jumped up or shimmied off to the side. Before her eyes a large creature had torn open a wall and was now making its way down the hall. Its width was just large enough to bust open the cells and knock down the pillars.
Annabel stifled a scream. She had heard of those monsters. Behemoths. If no one freaked out, they would live. It seemed to be on a mission either way. Once she was sure the behemoth had passed, she moved toward what was left of the cell door. She looked in the direction the behemoth had gone. Its massive body was blocked by a pile of rubble. No going that way. With a small heave, Annabel pulled the door open and stepped out.
"Is everyone okay?" She asked almost in a whisper. There was no chance for a reply as she noticed a group of smaller monsters had wandered into their area. These were a more common variety she was use to seeing in Miris. Cactaurs. There was something different about them... they seemed to be eminating an aura of some kind. With no weapon of any kind, Annabel picked up a steel bar and held it close to herself defensively.
"Cactaurs!" She shouted to the others.

ESPERS - Spanners of Destiny

Picking a lock? Now why didn't I think of that? Tyme thought, staring at the hairpin Sara had produced. He stood and moved to his own cell door, examining the lock on it carefully, sighing as he realized he wouldn't be able to pick this particular lock. "I know a bit about lockpicking, growing up on the streets and all, but unfortunately I don't think I'll be able to pick this lock. It appears to be more complicated than the usual kind." he responded. He looked over at Red when he spoke, listening for any sounds, "I think you're imagining things, kid, I don't hea-" he was suddenly interrupted by a popping noise. Tyme recognized the popping noise right away, Gunfire. But from who? he wondered, his head jerking to the door as another popping sound was heard just on the other side. He narrowed his eyes, fully expecting the men in black to come bursting in, only to find it wasn't them at all. He listened to the red-haired woman, it appeared they were there to save them, not to kill them. As one of the men came to shoot the lock off, he was asked if he knew how to use either a sword or gun, "I'm a gunblader, I can use either weapon. If you happen to have a gunblade, I'd prefer that, but if you don't, then I'll let you determine what to give me based on what kind of fighter you need." he replied. Finally, his luck was starting to change, he was finally getting out of here. However, there was one thing he had to get back before he would consider leaving, "Red Lady, those men took something important from me. A ring. I'd like to get it back before we leave." he said, still waiting to be given his weapon.

"Hate to say it, Toots, but no I don't. I would rather just break the lock. Obviously not an option here" Mal said, a bitter sarcasm sneaking into his voice. Quietly, Farm Boy spoke up, asking if anyone heard a noise. Straining his ears, Mal did hear something. It was a noise he knew very well. "Gunfire..." he whispered as a small sense of dread crept into his stomach. He couldn't help but worry about Rena and Fuu, especially since they defiantly weren't here. The sounds got louder as Farm Boy started to freak out "Oh, great, and we just got Tik Tok to shut up. Now Farm Boy has to go nutzo. Oy! Be cal-" but Mal was suddenly cut off as the door blew open and five armed people rushed in. Realizing these people were not here to kill them, since they wouldn't have blow the door off, his thoughts were confirmed as a chick with red hair shouted with authority that they were here to help. Going from cell to cell, they blew the locks and let everyone out. While red head helped out Farm Boy and some other dude got Tik Tok out, a pretty sexy black haired chick opened his cell. "Hey! You know how to fight?" she asked. Well, more like demanded. "Yeah, just give me a gun" Mal replied and was unceremoniously tossed a... frankly shit rifle, but it would do the trick. Catching it in one hand, he cocked it and walked out, just in time to hear Tik Tok ask about getting his ring from the boss lady. "Oh, my god, are you still on about that ring? Forget it kid, we have more important things to worry about than a ring, no matter how much it means to you" and with that he turned towards the door, just in case anyone... unwanted came in.

Glaring at Malachi, Sara slowly put the pin back in her hair and placed her hat back on her head. It seemed like lockpicking wasn't an option either.

Before Sara could think of anything else, she froze and frowned, trying to discern a sound pointed out by Red. It was getting closer. Sara wasn't sure that she wanted it to be what she thought it was, and Malachi's yapping on top of Red's yelling wasn't helping her to confirm anything.

Suddenly the door to the cell block failed. Loudly, and with a lot of smoke. Sara stepped back and shielded her face with her hands, shocked by the explosion. When she lowered her arms there were a bunch of armed strangers in blue uniforms. Sara didn't recognise anything about them, but they mentioned breaking them out, and that was enough for her. Shooting out the locks certainly made them more believable.

Sara was at a loss for words at first, she glanced around and came to her senses after being asked if she had any weapon proficiency. "Whatever polearm you've got, preferably a halberd," Sara replied. It was wishful thinking to hope that they would have anything other than spears on them in terms of polearms, and she would manage well enough with a spear, but it didn't hurt to try. "Who are you guys?" She asked with a mix of confusion and confidence.

Shurikai said
The ground was shaking.Annabel could hear explosions, and they didnt sound far away. The tremor became more violent and shouts could be heard outside the room they were in."You guys hear that?!" She asked the others, a note of worry tinged her words. Annabel backed away from the cell door and looked around. Not a moment later, the building shook so violently that anything not bolted down jumped up or shimmied off to the side. Before her eyes a large creature had torn open a wall and was now making its way down the hall. Its width was just large enough to bust open the cells and knock down the pillars.Annabel stifled a scream. She had heard of those monsters. Behemoths. If no one freaked out, they would live. It seemed to be on a mission either way. Once she was sure the behemoth had passed, she moved toward what was left of the cell door. She looked in the direction the behemoth had gone. Its massive body was blocked by a pile of rubble. No going that way. With a small heave, Annabel pulled the door open and stepped out."Is everyone okay?" She asked almost in a whisper. There was no chance for a reply as she noticed a group of smaller monsters had wandered into their area. These were a more common variety she was use to seeing in Miris. Cactaurs. There was something different about them... they seemed to be eminating an aura of some kind. With no weapon of any kind, Annabel picked up a steel bar and held it close to herself defensively."Cactaurs!" She shouted to the others.

"I'm sure we aren't the only ones left," Laecora said, in an attempt to reassure Rena. She was about to speak more when she was cut off by tremors and then the wall being broke through by the biggest creature she had ever personally seen. Immediately, she closed her mouth and stepped back into what little shadows remained in her cell as it passed, not wanting to be noticed. As it passed and Annabel was able to open her cell, she tried the same and found she could also finally step out of her cell. Instinctively, as Annabel raised arms to defend against the newest set of enemies, she ran to open the others' cells. She felt bad about not immediately backing Annabel, but their chances were better the faster they grouped up.

"The others are surely ..." as Fuyuto went to reassure Rena, Annabel interrupted, "You guys hear that?!" There were tremors and shouts outside the room. With the building violently shaking, Fuyuto lowered his body, almost hugging the ground, to stabilize himself. One of the walls broke down, and a behemoth came through it. He steadied his breathing, keeping calm. Letting it walk past was the right thing to do right now. It won't attack normally if you stay out of it's way.

Annabel seemed to step out of her cell, asking about everyone else, but before anyone could reply, there were Cactaurs. Different from the ones back on Miris. Laecora opened her cell as well, the two seemed to do different things. As Laecora came over, I pointed her over to Rena.
"Help her, I'll take on the Cactaurs." Fuyuto said, pulling out two bars from the cell.
Stepping out through his cell, he walked over to Annabel. "Even though their different from back on Miris, it should be fine."
The Cactaurs prepared themselves to fire their needles. Heading in front of Annabel, Fuyuto spinning one of the bars he took, and started to approach. The spinning wasn't perfect, the bar wasn't something he was accustomed to, but it deflected most of the needles.

From the side, one Cactaur tried to attack head on, Fuyuto flicked it away with the other bar. He turned back to the others. "Everyone ok?"
The torrent of Cactaur needles was intense, there were some needles that had gotten into his hand and leg. But it wasn't anything too bad. But if he tried to close in, he would be surrounded in a semi-circular formation, he wouldn't be able to shield the needles. "I'll keep blocking the needles, someone go take them down."

Rena looked up. She could feel the rumbling before she heard anything. There were explosions. She stood up. They were getting closer. She backed up against the wall, nervous, but silent. When the wall caved in, she held back the urge to scream. She saw the creature on the other side. She'd never seen one before, but it looked dangerous. She didn't want to get it's attention. Annabel was the first to leave. Rena merely nodded when she asked if she was okay, coughing from the settling dust as quietly as she could into her hand. That's when she saw the cactuars. There were quite a lot of them. Even one was dangerous, and these somehow seemed more dangerous than usual.

Fuyoto had told Laecora to help her, and he went off to fight them. How reckless! She shook off any help offered to her and started gathering the medium-sized rocks from the ground, picking up a bar too for good measure, and tying it to her waist. "I don't need help. I can fight too." She said, still noticeably shaken and scared, but also with some strength to her voice. She was still in the cell, but she could see the cactuars through the hole. She threw one of her larger rocks at the furthest away cactuar. What was odd is that she didn't lob it like somebody normally would. She threw it from chest height, with a spin on it. The rock was a direct hit.

The commander of the small troop frowned and shook her head at Tyme. "There's no time to be looking for something like that this time. We're not armed to fight the Abyssions, and if we spend the time looking for a ring, they're certain to pin us down." She then smiled at him before pushing a sword with a wide blade into his hand. "For now, focus on escape, and when we're better prepared, I promise, we'll find your ring." She assured him. "Alright, everyone who can't fight, srqy back, those who can, take the front behind me! We're getting out of this hell hole!"

Red gladly got in the back, finally feeling somewhat calm. They were going to get out of there, and then he was sure he'd be able to go back home.

Annabel watched in awe as Fuyuto deflected the needles. He had changed since he did work for her back in Miris. She noticed as some got through and tightened her grip on the steel bar. She had to do something. She had to get out of this place and make sure Elizabeth is okay. For Elizabeth!
Without another moments hesitation, Annabel moved around Fuyuto so she wouldnt accidentally hit him and swung at the cactaur. She back away at she realized it didnt do much besides make the monster angry. There had to be something she could do.. she couldnt be this pathetically unhelpful. She didn't want to have to do what she was about to, but there wasnt much choice. Annabel took a breath and jabbed at the cactaur. The steel punctured the skin with a disgusting pop that made her stomach turn. When she pulled it out, the cactaur toppled over and didnt move. There were only three more. Thankfully, they seemed to be concentrating fully on Fuyuto. This gave her and the others the opportunity to take them out without too much trouble.

The only response Sara got to her question of who these blue-unformed militia were was a sword pushed into her hand. Not Ideal. Her sword technique was rudimentary at best, but at least she could help.

The one who appeared to be the leader, the redhead, urged them all onward. Between being talking down Tyme about his ring, the redhead also mentioned something about Abyssians. Whoever, or whatever they were was a complete mystery to Sara, but if they had anything to do with their kidnapping and the massacre in the crystal room, she wanted to know.

"Hey, excuse me." Sara raised her hand to get the redhead leader's attention, "Who the hell are Abyssians? And where are we?"

Just as the redheaded woman turned to Sara to answer her question, footsteps were heard as a squad of guards burst into the room. "There they are! Don't let them escape! Kill the rebels, and recapture the escapees!" the leader cried out, as his troops fanned out and blocked the busted doorway. "I'll explain when we get out of here. Quickly, everyone with a gun, cover us! Swordsman to the back and head for the other end of the hallway! There's another way out! Unarmed in the middle. We will protect you. Come on, people move!" she shouted her orders, and immediately, everyone did as they were told, Malachi included. The group moved as one to the other end, swordsman protecting the civilians from unwanted surprises while the gunners easily picked off the guards. In no time at all, they were out of the prison block and into a large hallway. Closing the door, the leader spoke again, "No time to dawdle, let's move!". And with that, they took off down the hall for some stairs at the other end, passing up several doors on the way. They hadn't gone twenty feet before about 8 guards burst through from the doors, surrounding them...

ESPERS - Spanners of Destiny