Just as one might expect, the swordswoman Hyun was in the middle of a conversation with Mercury, her weapons bundled up and set aside, when an outcry for help reached her. Immediately, both soldiers scrambled to alert. Hyun grabbed a single katana, pulling the entire kit from the ground and flinging the scabbard away with a single sweeping motion, while Mercury grabbed his kamas from the weapon rack. In an emergency, the blade skills they'd spent some time training no longer mattered, for their best weapons were called for in the defense of a comrade. To be certain, they'd never heard Magni yell for help before, but neither paid that fact any special thought as they rushed to aid their ally.
By the time Magni reached the tents, Hyun and Mercury were waiting for him. Though the swordswoman stayed silent, scanning the treeline for incoming threats, Mercury took the opportunity to address Magni for the first time ever.
”Leadin' some kinda enemy t'our base, are you? Well, don't beat yerself up over it. We'll cut 'em down to size, no problem.” He bared his teeth in a savage visage of eagerness and waited for the foe to appear.
For a moment, Indigo paused. Something said by Isla, or perhaps an aspect of her tone, resounded with her. It took several seconds for the Librarian to regain her composure, looking down the street at the facades of buildings and the wealth of humanity meandering through the street. Sometimes, the affirmation that hers was a world of magic came hard, especially in places like this. The arcane arts seemed distant when the culture, behavior, and overall impact of her surroundings stood so definitively normal. Indigo thought about Isla, at how her mischievousness, confidence, and avarice melted into helplessness and pity the moment fate seemed apt to deal her a bad hand. With no small amount of sorrow did the Librarian think
how perfect it is she performs evil and then thinks herself to be the victim. Long ago, humans decided that they'd rather decide good and evil for themselves, and even now do they remain ignorant.She turned her head slightly so that Isla could hear her.
”To you, I am exactly that kind of person. Karma is an absolute law. How many lives have you ruined today? And to think I took only your leg.”Then, the woman left, feeling that she'd just made a very significant choice. Isla had trapped countless people in her portraits, after all, alone for perhaps an eternity. She deserved far worse for what she did...right?
An earnest, fang-toothed grin greeted the question of Argus.
”Let 'em rip! Questions are like my coffee. They get the enyergy flowinya!” She crossed her arms beneath her chest, folding her black claws carefully to keep from nicking herself. At the same time, she sat down, gesturing for the demon to do the same.
Her expression changed to a mixture of mock horror and suppressed amusement when Ni Rensa heard her new friend's first two questions.
”Pfffff” she snorted.
”I guess my accent's just a thing all War Sphinxes have. I wouldn't really knyow but it's the best guess I've got. As for those...people nya mentioned, they've got this creepy obsession for people that look like anyimals. Some of them, uh, 'want me', to put it plainly, and some just don't knyow how creepy it is to see something they think is cute and thenya try and cuddle it in public. Just...weird. I'm sure you don't have any of the same problems, heh!” Ni raised one of her hands to rest her chin in. Unlike catlike humans, she did not have paws, but rather rough, bestial hands with tufts of rigid pycnofibers instead of fur. Claw and finger were indistinguishable, and the whole ordeal was black, as Ni had dipper her arm in a bucket of oil.
With Ayame recovered, or at any rate fit enough for travel, the trio of dark mages strode off down a seemly side street with sights set on some sort of shop suited for a sublime siesta. Nero, taking the initiative, led his friends eagerly, if blindly, through a more cloistered part of Crocus. Here, no magic-mobiles or arcanocycles could hope to navigate; so close were the buildings, so tightly-packed like peas crammed in a pod, that only foot traffic sufficed. This particular portion of Crocus featured a cultural anomaly not present among most of the main motorways, one full of festive colors, banners, and lamps, with various chimes and trinkets hanging from every eave. After rejecting a few places for one reason or another, the triumvirate emerged from this vibrant district onto a main walkway and discovered a little ice cream parlor right on the corner.
”Ice cream, eh? It's not coffee, but way cooler in my opinion. A n-ice way to chill out, doncha think?” Nero chortled as he released a rapid-fire string of puns.
”C'mon, don't give me the cold shoulder, guys. This work for ya?”Unbeknownst to the Genie, the energy bubble containing Trinity and Karn happened to be nearby, just across the road in fact.
