“Yeah, I didn't really get a good look myself either,” Chloe said conversationally as she stepped out from the shadows of the gatehouse door and walked toward the group of knights who stood beneath the open gate to the city. There was a playful bounce to her step and she swung her arms in an exaggerated manner. Her body was wrapped in the same white paper coat that she had worn to the meeting the other day, only it was a little worse for wear. Her face was clean, save for a slight smudge of dirt on her cheek. If she had noticed it bothered her little. Chloe turned toward Kendrick. “So what about me? Do I have a nice body?” Chloe said playfully, coming to a stop several feet from the group. To negate any tension her presence may have elicited she closed her eyes and laughed gently. She placed her hands together behind her back cocked her head to the side and smiled. “Chloe Magnolia Chevalier. And you must be HaZaEl,” Chloe said playfully as she deliberately fumbled the pronunciation of Hazael's name. “We didn't speak yesterday. But here I am. And here you are.” Chloe stood upright and laughed heartily to herself before curtsying to Hazael.

Damon began strolling down to the gate, this time accompanied by four members of the Kings Guard that he trusted completely, they weren't coming but he wanted them to help him keep Civvies away from the discussion... the those pesky city guard. The Other Guardsmen looked very prim and proper, in full uniform. They were walking with stone espressions, even if one of them was quite the talked off duty and could rarely hold his liquor, and their mere presence made people keep to the edge of the street, for to them this looked like official business and you never get involved in the official business of the upper classes if you valued your livelihood. On the other hand Damon looked more at ease, he was more relaxed, but not slobbish. He was still in full uniform but he hand casually rested on his hilt and his expression was one of exhaustion. Damon hadn't got much sleep, truth be told he spent most the night on duty and the rest lying down in one of the palace's guest rooms, alert for the slightest sign of movement. Eventually he arrived at the gate to meet the trio and one other from yesterday, his men fanning out to keep the area clear of miscreants and allow them an area not filled by an army of civilians. Officially he was here to inspect the city guard and check that it was ready to deal with this arachnoblaster should Hazael's group fail, unofficially he was here to help in anyway he could. "Commander, these are some of my most trusted few, they have been informed of what should happen should an attempt be made on anyone in the palace's life. They are here to listen, observe and give me an excuse for missing my shift today." he said, adding the last part with a nervous smile, pretending he was happy to be off work. "So whats the plan?" he said getting to within a meter of the group.

Bristlebane snorted and wake up blurry-eyed to see some army people and the MAGIC PAPER LADY! He shook himself awake and discarded the raggedy blanket thing he was sleeping under and stood up. She seemed to be in a good mood maybe she would be willing to teach him magic today. "Yeah whats the plan peps, and does it involve explosion?" he asked echoing Damon's question. He didn't see the gunner lady yet so probably not. He thought about when would be the best time to ask the paper lady when he could learn magic. Probably right after he did something heroic like saving her, Bristlebane began constructing a plan to win himself her favor and learn how to make the ultimate paper everything. Mostly airplanes but he could probably make other cool stuff as well.

Nex was on top of the gate, watching everyone assemble, wandering what he should do. He didn't remember anything that had happened after his master had taken control of him, and he had woken up just an hour ago in a nearby alley. He hoped his master hadn't offended the paper lady in anyway. Deciding he'd had enough waiting, and being a little bored and mischievous, Nex jumped from the top of the gate onto one of the male knights that had accompanied Hazael, except he didn't look like himself, but like the paper mage lady. He was still wearing the same clothes however, or more to the point, wearing the same lack of clothes. "Nex has arrived to slay the monster too!"

"Thought we covered that already? Kill a big ole spider." Cassie gave a half-assed salute as she walked past the four stone faced guards, her cannon swaying from the harness on her back. She gave a wink to Chloe as she ruffled Nex's head. "I'd say your body is quite...magical? Was that too much? Probably too much. I can never tell. Job of extremes and all that." The bombardier slammed the cannon down onto the stone with a loud thud, giving a proper salute to Hazael before adjusting her monocle and patting the Howler and the heavy case strapped to her hips. "Ma'am. Lieutenant Cutie, liking the armor, very intimidating. Puncture rounds, usually used for dropping braced walls during sieges, should kick through the critter's hide and wreak some havoc. These ones are modified slightly, so there SHOULDN'T be collateral on anyone up close when it hits, but it also means the booms are a bit smaller. But don't worry, I'm the best there is, so just trust that my shots won't hit any of you. I also have scatter shots in case there's infantry or the like trying to give backup, though I really don't recommend being near the target if I use it. I'm ready to go when you are." Extra ammo, designed to minimize impact on her allies. Grenades to light everything on fire if someone gets too close to her. She pulled her pistol out to double check the ammo. Hopefully she wouldn't need to use it. Her heart gave a skip. No drills, no practice shots. She got to blow up a big freaking monster with her cannon. Some days, it was wonderful to be alive, despite the situation. She'd get to hear her baby sing again. Leaning the cannon down into a makeshift bench, she sat down on it, lighting up her pipe and giving puffs with her signature jackal grin. "Our group seems much smaller than yesterday. Where are we intercepting the beastie?"

After a good nights rest, and a tastier then usual breakfast ( courtesy of his favorite tavern ), Avon took his time getting back to the gate. As expected, he wasn't the first one there, not even close by the looks of it. Hazael was there, obviously, as well as a few faces he recognized from the crowd the previous day. However, not all of them he had seen before. Anyhow, as he drew in closer, he heard them speak. The first one he heard was a girl who absolutely butchered Hazael's name. The second, was talking about the guard and asking for the plan. Others continued to go on and show they were present, and a few of them started to go about talking to each other. Avon was feeling a little less intimidated by the group then he had the previous day, but he couldn't bring himself to talk to any of them yet. Avon didn't want to shout above the others to introduce himself, so he inched towards Hazael, all the while listening as before. One of the ladies gave quite the speech. He would have been slightly less inclined to listen to the bombardier talk if she hadn't been so pretty. Avon then slapped himself lightly to get himself out of the mindset. Now's not the time for staring, now's the time for action! he pep talked himself while he merged with them.

Dante Dante had gone back to his forge and whipped up a special pistol, just for today. He happily slung it over his belt and displayed his sword proudly as he went back to where they would be meeting. "Hello!" he said cheerily, eyeing the people that were there. "Seems to be the same people from yesterday still." he said normally, a slight undertone of happiness as he approached Chloe again, her being the only person he really knew at all here. "Hello, Chloe!" He greeted her, grinning as he pulled the pistol out, eager to show her. "I made this last night, it has special combusting flame bullets, and fires as strong as a cannon!" he said enthusiastically, beginning to ramble a little.

Chloe was cut off in her stride by the sound of an unpleasantly familiar voice, causing her to slowly turn head toward the source with a momentarily tense look on her face. Her two admirers from yesterday had arrived. The dark mage and the monkey. The fact that Nex had taken her face was also more than a little disconcerting. Though she laughed at the sight her brow suggested a distinct lack of amusement.“Hehe, yeah, that's not creepy at all,” Chloe said more to herself than to Nex. The women called Cassie made her own entrance a moment later. She had an aura of natural confidence around her that made her presence known. But it was the object on her back that was making Chloe more than a little inwardly nervous. A cannon. It was not the technology itself per see that bothered her but it kind of suggested a specific preference toward blowing things up. And fire. Chloe felt a nervous tinge in her stomach that made her keep her distance. Which was why the arrival of Dante came as something of a relief. Chloe turned to face him and waved in greeting with a radiant smile on her face. “Dante. Oh, what's that you have there?” she asked rhetorically as she leaned in toward the gun that he was holding, his enthusiasm almost blinding compared to the lacklustre enthusiasm that she showed toward her own craft. “F-fire huh? That's...amazing, really,” Chloe said with a slightly nervous laugh as she stood up and backed off just a little.

Nex smiled as Cassie patted her head, before she switched back to his default form and jumped off the blonde knight's back, the one Hazael called Assie. "Sorry Assie, I was bored and wanted to pounce on someone, and you looked like a fun person to mess with." Turning to Chole, Nex turned his head down as he walked up to her, clearing his throat as he tried to get her attention. "Um, excuse me paper lady, but Nex is sorry for anything the Nex's master may have said to you, and for almost hurting you with he book. Nex forgot abut Master's curse on it, says something about protecting his secrets. I hope you'll forgive Nex, he didn't mean to hurt you." Nex then reached into one of his coat pockets and pulled out a black necklace of exquisite finery, the gemstones being a dark maroon in color. "I saw this in a jewelry store once and made a copy using my magic. I hope you can forgive Nex, Nex is really, truly sorry for what Nex almost did."

Elijah Antol Early to Mid Afternoon, somewhere along the border of Nijiara and New Torrea “You sure that thing is on it’s leash?” “Yes, yes. Just make sure you do as you were told to do.” The magus controlling the spider replied, giving the merc an exasperated look. It was obvious that the ensemble of hired muscle was not up to his liking. “Just as long as we’re paid. It’s a good thing your master, Donat, pays well. That bloody spider gives me the creeps. Sasha here holds the same sentiment.” The merc’s dire wolf emitted a short howl before continuing to smell what it could apart from the smoke and ashes. “Jeez Arni. You’ve got a bigass wolf that can literally tear people apart and you’re complaining about a little spider? I ain’t scared of it one bit. All it’s been doing is spewing flames. That’s probably what it does for a living. Burn down forests and shit, ya know? Hardly givin a fuck!” Elijah laughed as Arni frowned at him. He was one of those serious types that never knew how to lighten up, and was a general downer. Elijah turned to the other merc, desperate to avoid Arni's gaze. “So what do you think of it Leandra? Knowing your god, he’d probably be angry a sister like yourself is collaborating with something straight outta hell.” “All of his creations are equal in his eyes. The All-Knowing One must have his reasons for creating even something as foul as the Arachnoblaster.” It seemed odd that someone from the church had accompanied them. But, it was as much as a mystery as the job they had all accepted. The job was supposed to be top secret. Hence only three escorts along with the mage who was controlling the titan of a spider. Alas, they were three very good mercenaries. Arni, despite his lack of a personality, had more than enough hunting and tracking skills to make up for it. Need a scout, hunter, or someone flashy to put the fear in your enemy? Arni’s your man. His dire wolf can track you miles away, and Arni had a penchant for adorning combat claws to rip your shit. Need a personal bodyguard for a day? Need something unexpected? Bloody enemy not perishing from a good bullet to the face? Leandra got your back. Holy magicks and pure faith, that’s right, PURE FAITH turned into holy retribution for your foes. Watch as light magicks smite your foes. Healing package included with every purchase! And then there was Elijah, Guns are his name, fastest gunslinger of New Torrea… At least as far as he knew. Every person he'd dueled had a slower draw. Not to mention bad aim. But if you needed someone disposed of fast, Elijah was the one you call over to get shit done. Sure the job was shady for Elijah. “Burn these forests down, but also look for these two women in the woods! By the way, they just happen to be Knight Commander Hazael's Sisters! Kidnap em for me!” How shadier could you get? But the pay made him decide to accept. Elijah really didn't have a choice anyway, but he’d like to think he had one. Donat made sure he accepted, along with the other mercs. So here he was. Miserable from the neverending fire of the Arachnoblaster, with two other strangers, protecting a spider and looking for two women for reasons unknown….

Dante Dante smiled briefly at Chloe's nervousness, before putting the pistol away. "Don't worry, it isn't loaded, nor are the bullets really able to combust right now. We'll be fine." he said, waving a hand in the air, smiling. He knew his craft, the gun would be working. It was meant specifically for this spider. "Anyways, anything happened with you yesterday after the meeting?" Dante asked, before turning his attention to everyone else, but keeping an ear ready for Chloe's response, and his gun hidden now in his cloak, as to hopefully calm her down a little.

Bristlebane looked down sheepishly at the necklace he had stole to bribe the paper lady that WAS the necklace that Nex had copied. Well now if he gave it to her he would just look stupid. Well plan A down. Oh well there was more where that came from, "So when do we kill, this spider thingy?" he asked to no one in particular.

After the arrival of Chloe, Kendrick just smiled at her with the best ladykiller smile he had in his repertory. "Very much so! That's a nice body if I ever saw one! Would you be willing to accompany me all the way to my chambers? I swear you won't regret it." Kendrick said, taking the girl's hand and kissing it. "My name, as you may or may not know, is Kendrick, Lieutenant and the Sniper of the Triumvirate." Kendrick said, never letting his plastic smile fade away. Still, when a girl looking exactly the same as Chloe falled upon Astarte and then another girl called him cutie, he just couldn't shut up. "Oh, c'mon! How come the easily flustered one is more popular with girls than I am!?" "I-I 'ave told you before! My name 's Astarte, an' ya better use it!" Astarte said, his accent deep as always. After Nex climbed down from him, he just sighed. "Assie, Assie, your accent is showing." Kendrick said, mocking his brother, who looked really flustered and covered his mouth. Hazael could only sigh. "All right, seems everyone's here, with some exceptions but most of us are here anyway. It's good to see that you are well armed. We will be leaving as of right now. I hope you are carrying enough food and supplies, since the Evergreen Forest isn't all that near from here. You know what's our objective already and why we are doing this. By the time we return, I hope the fighting hasn't already started..." The two Michaellis sisters were hiding inside their little and brittle wood house. Before, it was barely furnished and now it looked like a high class appartment, but the fact that it was still only a log house remained. The fire would soon reach it, and the two sisters while it was at it. The older of the two, Uriah, decided to stop cowering back in fear. She hurried to the entrance and took one of the swords that her other siblings had left there, for protection if needed be some day. "I'll be right back! Stay hidden, Isabel!" She said, before hurrying out of the house with a determined look in her face and before her sister could say anything. "Sis!" The youngest of the Michaellis sisters shouted, before her sister disappeared through the front door. Running as fast as her two legs could carry her, Uriah hurried through the woods. Only to come face to face with the Arachnoblaster, and all of her rowdyness escaped her after seeing the horrific monster standing in front of her. Her eyes went blank, she felt like screaming. She was about to, but she stopped herself. After seeing the men that were accompanying it... It was nothing as simple as just a monster. She dropped the blade and hurried back to her home, hoping no one had seen her.

After the little meeting Salazar and Hazael had, an exchange of information and confirmation of fears from both parties, Salazar blinked away once more. Returning to the room he had taken refuge in for the last fortnight he gathered the items that he deemed relevant and necessary, packing them away and organizing his thoughts. Monotonous activities always allowed Salazar to compartmentalize things and establish a baseline for the day. He breathed in deeply before collapsing into a seated position in the middle of the room after the cleaning was done. Cloaked in the sapphire aura that was his trademark, the illusionist mentally prepared himself for the lesson with his instructor. The dog eared leather bound book in his hand writhed with emerald flames. Salazar’s eyes snapped open, the deep blue burning with unnatural colour. The lesson had lasted the entire night and Grim had once again proclaimed that Salazar had advanced further down the path of an Illusionist. Grim had even imparted some of his own constructs into the young mages mind. Salazar looked at the pale sunlight the cut through the thin sheets these people considered curtains and decided it was once again time to make his travel easier. He grabbed his things and focused on the ever present mental wavelength the Triumvirate exuded. He popped out of existence from the room and once again reconstructed himself from a mental image within Hazael’s mind. The group was filled with something else today...sex was on someone’s mind. It always tasted vaguely of sugar to Salazar’s mind. Anger was always strongly acidic…depression was sour and fear was….intoxicating to him. He loved feeling fear in a mind. He gave a small shudder before tuning in to the conversation “Don’t tell her that Kendrick…the ego of Chloe is big enough as is” He said with a good natured grin before clapping his hands together and creating a small illusion of the Arachnoblaster “So…we ready to hunt a bigger one?” Salazar said as the spider skittered up to Salazar’s shoulder and prepared to jump on to Hazael.

After he left the gathering of crazies, Tsubasa had at first returned to his inn. He spent a great deal of time checking and double checking his equipment; he sharpened his sword, but not quite to a razor keen edge. If he had to clash blades, he didn't want the sword too brittle. A razor sharp edge might cut, but it would also shatter. A decent whetting was good enough to cut through flesh without sacrificing the integrity of the blade. He sorted through his supplies and extra clothing; he would need a disguise in case he were discovered snooping around the castle. His black coat and normal dark clothing was just personal choice--for actual stealth, he would need something dark enough to blend into the surroundings at night. Anything that was an actual, solid black would be unnatural. Dusk turned things a hazy blue, or a shade of midnight, or a dull gray. By the time he was done making his preparations it was much later. He ate a meal, and then sat on his bed for some time, relaxing and meditating, his sheathed weapon lying across his lap. A knock at the door prompted him to open a single eye. "Come in." The man was wearing casual clothing, but Tsubasa had an eye for these things and knew he had seen combat. The way he held himself, the man had to have been a soldier. "You are Mr. Kojiro?" he said. When Tsubasa nodded, he held up a sealed envelope. The wax was blank, no signet...but it was also a deep red color, the kind from expensive candles only people in high standing could afford. "I've a letter for you from a mutual acquaintance." "And?" The soldier stepped aside, and a pageboy walked in carrying a chest of coins. He placed the chest in front of Tsubasa and backed out. With the toe of his boot the assassin opened its simple catch lock and pushed the top over. He stared at the contents for several moments as the soldier and page stood nervously awaiting his response. "Alright." he said finally. "That looks about right." He opened both eyes now and gave them an icy stare. "Thanks. You can go now." He had the money--Three hundred thousand up front. Hell, that was more than he would've gotten for a normal job of this caliber. He could just high tail it out of the city now with this and let that knight woman and those crazies deal with this for themselves. But of course, that would tarnish his reputation. And that would affect future employers. Again he checked and double checked his equipment. He secured what belongings he would not be taking with him, and the chest, in his room and left the inn in a set of clothes not at all conspicuous from those of the still bustling citizens around him. His hair was now a deep, chocolate brown after a quick wash with a special dye. As the sun set, he nonchalantly set off down the streets, taking a long-about route that would take him past the castle a few times. For the rest of that night, he did his "research." And the next day, as the rest of the group gathered around Hazael for a second time, a pair of servants driving a cart full of laundry underwent their usual daily inspection at the castle gates before being waved through. Tsubasa was in.

Chloe hummed as if in contemplative thought, once again walking in a overly exaggerated manner, her hands again clapped behind her back.“Oh, you know, whatever it is that they say we mages do in the black of the night,” Chloe replied to Dante with light hearted evasiveness. “Dancing naked under the moon, blood sacrifices, that kind of thing,” she said jokingly. She turned to face Nex as he approached her and looked at him with genuine confusion. He was apologising for his actions the previous day, that and anything that his master had said to her during their brief exchange. Chloe really wasn't sure why he was apologising though. Not about that stuff anyway. She waved a hand up and down in a conciliatory manner. “No no no, there's no need to apologise, I had absolutely no intention of actually touching that thing, even though you offered. I already have a master, I can't be apprenticed to two people at once, after all,” Chloe offered with slightly strained cheer. In truth the book had made her feel ill to look upon. Though this was by no means conclusive evidence she had a feeling that the nature of Nex's magic and her own was incompatible by nature. It had certainly been beyond her ability to influence or control the pages within the tome. But she didn't want to tell him that lest it cause some manner of offence, which made the fact that he had produced a necklace in reconciliation even more awkward. As a token of apology she could readily accept it but if it was an indication of other motives it would only foster misunderstanding. “I don...” she started to say but hesitated immediately and relented. “Fine, I accept your apology,” she said as she gingerly took the necklace from Nex. She looked at it for a moment before placing it into her backpack. The monkey had looked as though he had something to say as well but before she could raise the issue the most egocentric of the knightly trio made his move on her. It was her own fault so she had no right to complain. Chloe grinned playfully in response to Kendrick's proposition, neither embarrassed or affronted by his very forward suggestion. She just laughed in amusement as he took her hand in his own. The kiss was a cute gesture but it did little for her. “Well, aren’t you the charming one,” she said in mock surprise as she turned toward Salazar and smiled at him.

Dante Dante laughed out loud and clutched his stomach for a moment, the thought of those actions incredibly funny to him. "Yea right, and I fire magic rockets from my hammer by holding it up and shouting Dirty Underwear." he chuckled. He watched Salazar project an image of the Arachnoblaster, and he looked at what details he could glean from it. "Looks like a mighty foe, but I think we could handle it, with all of the people here." he said surely, looking at everyone present, armed to the teeth, mostly.

Bristlebane looked around, looked everyone was here, "ALRIGHT TEAM LETS GO BLOW UP A SPIDER THING!" he shouted and then calmly began walking out of the city. Somewhere. Probably the wrong direction as Bristlebane had no idea where the spider was but he would probably find it eventually.