"What's the problem, Cyrin Val? You look like you have seen a ghost." Eleonor said to Cyrin as she climbed the steps leading up the scaffold, where the prisoners had already been positioned. "Don't let your job haunt you before you even get through with it." The Crimson Knight said as she touched Cyrin's shoulder reassuring him.

Just as everything was lined and ready, Eleonor proclaimed the criminal's sentence loud and clear "For the crimes of treason against the Imperium, conspiring to dethrone Her Holiness, The Imperator and stealing tomes, I Asgard denounce you. The case has been judged and the defendants, declared guilty. The sentence is death by beheading. In the name of Her Holiness, The Imperator, let Justice be done."

"The verdict shall be executed by the member of the judicial court, Judge Cyrin Val."

However, just when Eleonor was going to give Cyrin the command to carry on his duty, the explosions rang through the city and as chaos took the execution grounds as well, all hell broke loose. Eleonor ordered the present soldiers to control the crowd, before a riot began "Cease this chaos! You are in the presence of one of the Knights of Ragnarok, I shall not let a riot break right under the Citadel."

When Eleonor turned back to look at the rioting crowd, her eyes widened and she lost all the strength of her knees, falling to the wooden floor "No, it's not true... It's impossible!" Eleonor shouted as her gaze fell over a figure standing on the roof of the Purple Falcon inn, and memories of Warovia flooded her once again for the second time on the night.









"Good evening, Crimson Knight, it's been a long while since we last met, has it not?" On the other side of Eleonor's gaze laid no one other than Emilia, though Emilia's own gaze still laid over Cyrin, her wicked grin all the more wider after beholding his cute "strategic retreat".

"I bet that you are wondering how survived after... that," Emilia said as she touched her neck "however, I'm not here on my behalf tonight, thus I fear that we must postpone our reunion until a more proper time. Despite my lack of time, I'll leave you with two presents for the night, I hope that you'll enjoy them as much as I did."

As soon as Emilia said this, she waved both of her hands through the air, summoning two beings. The first of them was the hideous figure of one of her magical constructs, her doll known as The Tower —Bringer of Ruin—, standing near her on the roof.

The second surprise, made Eleonor all but crawl on the floor until she rolled out of the scaffold. It was her... How could it have happened? The only one to blame for such a needless cruelty was Eleonor herself, so why? Why go as far as take the life of the most, no the only thing that mattered in the world for Eleonor? What laid cradled on Emilia's arms was the limp body of Eleonor's daughter, Fei who had been stabbed through the chest with a sword, the crimson of her blood mixing with her gorgeous hair in a cascade of lifeless red.

As last favor before she disappeared from sight, Emilia gently deposited Fei's body on the roof, caressing the once beautiful girl's face as if she was but one more doll.

As soon as her mistress was out of harm's way, The Tower let out a bloodcurdling roar and one of her eyes lit up in a plume of purple flame. She began to shower the execution grounds with a barrage of shots, not even caring to aim, given the amount of dakka she was spewing forth it wasn't even need in first place.

What could the imperial forces stationed there do against such destructive power? Well, let's hope they can find out fast...







"Well, that's not a thing you hear ever'day, hahaha. Don't say to me that ya got a thing for twins, heh Mei?" Sienna said as they were inquired by Meihou about their, huh... availability.

"Actually, such inquires occur more frequently than you are admitting, one-sama. Don't you remember that farmer from the other day and the duo of soldier from two days before?" Linea eyed her sister with a disapproving gaze as she casually pointed the truth.

"He- hey! Li- Linea, you don't need to tell'em that! It's because that you always do this that we never get any boys." Sienna looked like a ripe tomato as she tried to defend herself Linea's sharp wits.

And it was to no avail, since the youngest of the Aquarian sisters still had a lot of edge to her tongue "I think that the reason we never had involvement with young males is one-sama's behavior. Or have you forgotten that mom said that males don't seek the company of women who can throw punches harder than theirs?"

"Hey, Linea cut it out. They'll end up thinkin' that we are... ya know... that kind of sisters."

"Perhaps it's one-sama's fault..."

Just as Linea finished her last remark, they arrived in front of the tunnel and the sisters turned back to their current charges to see if everything was well, before diving into he thick of things.

Sierra followed suit with the girls and the new companion, being mostly silent for the entire thing. By the time she decided to actually talk however, they had already reached the entrance to the tunnel. She stepped towards Mei rather idly, and tried to at least talk and make a first impression rather than seem like an awkward mute.
"Hey, I, uh, don't think I've seen you around Librarian at all. Are you new, or, have I just not seen you?" she said, thinking about where she had heard the name before. Only after did she realise what she had actually said and the information she had left out.
"O-Oh I'm, uh, Sierra. Sierra Periculum. It's... Uh, nice to meet you?" she lightly stammered. Being in social situations with strangers with new, and especially when it was work related. Sierra stretched out her hand, and from her wrist the watch dangled off of a chain, spinning in a circular motion from the chains tension. It had no door to seal off the face, so the mass of buttons and peculiar pattern stood out on black background against the cold, grey steel of the watch. It didn't exactly matter who saw it, as long as no one actually recognised it for what it was; a weapon. As she waited for her reply, she began tuning ham into what the twins were saying. She had pretty much muted their conversations because of how dull it was listening to them again and again. Maybe one day they would shut up. Now that would be a miracle.

Měihóu Niángniang

"Heh, I got a thing for people in general." Měihóu smirks in response. Her stride becomes somehow theatrical in style, exaggerated in purpose, as she launches herself into the tunnel past the twins. Her form shifts in front of her eyes, back to her "standard" appearance.



With the pacing of a well rehearsed speech, "I'm Měihóu Niángniang, the loving fighter!" Měihóu proclaimed to her "audience" of three with an upraised staff, now walking backwards into the unknown... though a keen eye not distracted by her antics would note her tail sweeping for obstacles like a blind man's cane. Měihóu began twirling her staff around arms and neck, the great unwieldy object somehow moving with grace. "The great sage of love and warrior-god of freedom. I see beauty in every heart and permit no body to be shackled!" She stopped for a stage whisper, the staff somehow continuously looping around one wrist held away despite Měihóu barely moving her hand, "Except the fun kind." She continued back into her "routine", "When I say I can be anything you want, I actually mean it! When my staff adjudicates conflicts, it inflicts no true damage!" She winked at the "actually mean it". At "no true damage", she brought the staff down hard, on a single raised pinky. A crack could be heard, yet the pinky did not bend. In another stage whisper aside, she informed them, "Even though that should have broken it, my pinky'll be fine in like, ten minutes. It's only stunned."

Then, rejoining formation as though nothing had happened, "So, that clear up all your questions about me?"

Cyrin pushed and shoved his way through the press of people, leaving a trail of truncated curses in his wake. Now that the Imperator had spoken, he had no time to wait for a path to open up for him. The prisoner’s would be led out soon, and the Crimson Knight would be expecting him to perform his duty promptly and without reservation. He reached the scaffolding and took his position hurriedly, scarcely a minute ahead of Asgard, the prisoner’s already lined up beside him, in chains. All at once memory of the duty he was to carry out tonight caught up with him, and he swallowed, his throat suddenly dry.

He snapped to attention as she addressed him, nodding at her reassuring words since he didn’t trust himself to speak after the debacle with that… girl. He remained at attention as she read the list of charges against the prisoners, wisely using those moments to compose himself. His hand went to the hilt of his blade at the mention of his name, clenching in readiness.

The explosions that shook the city startled Cyrin, nearly sending him off the platform and into the crowd. He drew his blade fully, seeing no enemy before him until Asgard fell to her knees. Following her gaze across the courtyard, he spotted the girl from before, and with his other hand he drew out his tome once again. The dark aura still surrounded her, hanging above the clouds of panic rising from the crowd. Was this an attempt to free the prisoners? Or, perhaps, something more sinister?

From this distance, he could tell nothing of the veracity of her words, besides the fact that they were phrased so as to be useless to his vision. Fortunately for his nerve, he also couldn’t take note of her foul regard. However, as the situation developed it became increasingly clear that something needed to be done, and that he lacked the skill or power to do it.

“Asgard?!” He called, as the girl stepped out of sight and her puppet began its assault. “Come to your senses! We need you!” Seeing his words weren’t breaking through, and having no recourse against the assault, he looked back and forth in a panic. The prisoners, eager to be freed, were testing the strength of their chains. This was the Librarian’s work, come to free their comrades.

His visage hardened, a tremble taking his sword arm. If he could do nothing else, it occurred to him that he could still carry out his duty. A swing took the head of the first prisoner, their blood cascading across the scaffolding to drip to the ground below as he moved to the second. He also knew something of Asgard’s powers, hopefully the blood on his hands would be enough for her to stop that abomination. He proceeded to the third.

Legion

The Legion at the tower had their hands occupied trying to evacuate the civilians and tend to the wounded. When Jessi and his men arrived, the one of the Legion gave them their orders. "Head to the other towers and secure them! Clear this area of civilians, arrest anyone who resist." Then the Legion began to create more of themselves in order to have more hands to heal and evacuate the civilians.

Meanwhile on the rooftops the Legion had surrounded Alexandria, though only one who was speaking had actually drawn his sword. He was making it clear to her that he was not going to hesitate to run her through if she showed even an ounce of resistance. "In the name of Imperium Law, you are under arrest for suspicion of heresy. Come with us peacefully and you shall receive a fair trial to prove your innocence. Resist, and justice will be swift." This promoted two other Legions to fly down to Alexandria's level, one of them taking out a pair of manacles and the other just to stay close in case she tried anything.

Of course considering the chaos going on, Alexandria would should hope that she isn't simply executed with the other prisoners on today's list. Chaos quickly began to spread in the city, forcing other members of the Legion to go off and maintain order. Only the two near Alexandria and the one who was speaking to her stayed, while the other three left to do peace keeping.

At the Execution Grounds a group of soldiers arrived, and the Legion themselves would show up as soon as possible. But they must first deal with the Tower. Being normal humans, regardless they went to fight the monstrous entity. They charged at her with their long spears, hoping that they could collectively stab her to death, or at least hold her in place for a finishing blow by the Crimson Knight.

Elsewhere, a soldier looked at Cecilia. "They must be! We've just gotten reports of an attack at one of the towers housing fireworks and the execution grounds! We're trying to evacuate civilians away from there, go seek safety!" The soldier commanded Cecilia, unaware of her status os an officer of the Observer District. He didn't stay to contest anyways, as a Ragnar ordered him to rejoin ranks and set off towards the Execution Grounds.

@BytheSpleen@Aristo@Savo@KoL

Rainer

When Alex tried to move forward, he would ran into a wall. An invisible wall. "Not the sort of greeting one of my station would be receiving. You need more training." Rainer turned to face Alex, his feet back on the ground. Despite what he said, he seemed rather calm and collected. Who knows how like this may last. "Out of uniform, with no documents, nor an escort. Are you lost, boy?" Of course Rainer knew he wasn't. He wasn't even suppose to be here. A quick dive into Alex's mind and he was able to pick up most of his thoughts in the last ten minutes. Rainer knew the boy was here to steal treasure, that he had sneaked in through the gardens, and that his Tome allowed him to create solid platforms of condensed air. Thought Rainer did take the boy's advise to tighten security: stunts like this was a learning experience, but if it happens again it becomes a weakness.

"Or perhaps... You'd hope to get a tour of the Citadel?"

@Flamelord

Syn Kor

Before Cyrin could execute the third prisoner, who begged for his life, a lance intercepted his blade. "The blood of the innocent shall not fall today!" It was the demon knight Eligos, who smashed his lance into the execution platform itself, causing it to collapse. Those who weren't dead were still alive, albeit a bit bruised. But more importantly, the chains around their feet were broken, allowing them to make a run for it. Syn, in her glamoured disguise, met with the Prisoners half way and threw cloaks over them bodies and fake hair on their head, to help disguise them as they made a break for the alley ways. Eligos made sure to distract Cyrin the best he can, attacking him relentlessly with swift thrusts and wide sweeps.

Meanwhile at the towers Syn's imps did their job of lighting up the first one, and now they needed to take out the other four. That's when Jessi spotted one of the Imps, prompting them to make a run for it. Their small size helped them maneuver through the tight alleys of the city, even squeeze through cracks in the walls too large for a normal human, but their destination was obvious if Jessi could keep up. They were heading towards the second tower, and at the speed the imps were going they would arrive before the city guards could reach them. But Jessi could make it to the second tower himself, if he goes alone and quickly.

@Guilty Spark@Awesomoman64

Alex had just thought he had gotten clear, only to slam face first into....nothing. He couldn't see anything, but it was definitely nothing. Almost like his Tome, except he would have known if he was using it. And that could only mean one thing, given the situation that he was in.

'Really, he grumbled to himself. 'How the hell did he figure it out so easily? Well, there was what he said, but that could have been explained away. And with the stupid invisible wall that was apparently the guys tome, he couldn't exactly make a break for it. He'd just have to hope that he could bluff his way out of this, before he ended up like those people who were scheduled to be executed outside. He did not want to share that fate.

"Heh, yeah, you got me," he ceded with a chagrined look, rubbing the back of his head as he fell back on his usual efforts to slip out of situations like this. He would just have to bluff for his life and then look for an opportunity to make a break for it. He was sure that one would appear sooner or later. After all, everyone slipped up eventually, no matter how good they were.

He glanced around then, indicating the impression that he wanted to get across while unaware of how useless it would actually be. "This place is pretty big, How do you find your way around in here without a map?"

Listening to Cecilia, Tori smiled condescendingly at her. Before ignoring her orders and returning to the map. “I’m from the Intelligence Division, not the Observer’s. I have no obligation to follow any of your orders. The only reason I came is because it stupidity itself to disobey Yggdrasil or any of the guardians. If, however, Lord Nifilhiem had given me an order, his would take priority. I hope that I have made my standing with you clear”

Then an explosion rang out and Cecilia ran off to check on the situation What an awful guard committing the holographic map of Arcadia to memory, Tori walked after the rushing girl seeing her get told the situation by a guardsman. Silently standing behind her Tori added intangibility to her invisibility and spoke

“It is now obvious that the reason you joined the Observer Division was because you are far too stupid to ever make it in the Intelligence Division.” walking past Cecilia, Tori turned and looked the Observer in the eye “What kind of guard are you? Rushing off towards an explosion, disregarding the important package you are carrying? Imbecile.” walking back around Cecilia the scholar whispered in her ear “I would be more subtle in my insults, but I'm afraid with your limited mental capabilities that they would simply go over your head.”

Standing straight Tori, unseen and untouched, had her travelling cloak spread out behind her like wings and began to over above the Observer to look down on her “So tell me you mentally impaired Observer, what great new action will you take? Will you throw your charge down a well? Will you parade it about for all to see? I wait with bated breath to see what amazingly stupid action you will perform next!”

@Aristo

"Blood washes blood... blood washes blood... blood... washes... B.L.O.O.D..." Eleonor mumbled the grim words from Vladimir as the chaos ensued around her. When the fresh blood of the prisoners Cyrin had slain touched her, Eleonor finally snapped back to reality, or... had she not?

Blast of magic flew everywhere the demon knight besides her destroyed the scaffold, allowing most prisoners to try to run and people were dying left and right for no cause at all. Was this all within the Imperator's plans? It must have been, at least the possibility of it happening. If not the Imperator, then the Jester, Nifilheim, Yggdrasil, Midgard, one of them must have known of it and even then... they let it happen.

How better it makes the Imperium? Isn't it the same as the time when they sent Eleonor's squad to their near deaths on Warovia? If that never happened this nightmare could have been avoided as well. And Fei...

"Only blood can wash blood..." Eleonor whispered summoning her tome into existence. As she did so, the blood began to gather around her and levitate off the ground, forming numerous spear-like crimson spikes. "However, I'm not like them..." With that said Eleonor's stoic complexion returned and as she commanded her tome to shoot out the bloody lances that earned the Impaler his dreadful title, Eleonor was once again the Nemesis of the Imperium, the one who delivers judgment be it to men or the gods.

The spears impaled both the fugitive prisoners, the demon knight and the insane doll, the wounds draining them rapidly of their very life blood. The humans died instantly, but the doll managed to jump away from the roof, not very much afflicted by the attack since she wasn't even alive in the first place. She made a break for it with a huge flare bomb that blinded all in the square for enough time for it to escape. If the demon was smart, he would catch the cue as well.

As soon as the foes were dealt with, Eleonor raised her voice speaking with enough authority to break through the commotion "End this riot immediately and go back to your homes. I'm declaring a city wide curfew, whoever is found wandering the city streets from now until daybreak will be taken to prosecution. Those under my jurisdiction are commanded to spread the word around the city, the deadline for for the curfew is two hours from now. Dismissed."

Eleonor then turned to Cyrin and said "I'm obliged to thank you , Cyrin Val. You have done your job maintaining order when even I have failed. But sure that this event will not go unrewarded." And finally, she went to fetch Fei's "body" only to find that it wasn't real, when she touched its skin and felt how it wasn't anything like her daughter's and under her clothes grotesque seam lines held the body together.

Never before Eleonor felt so much relief and at the same time self-loathing, for believing in such a dirty trick, however, she still feared that Emilia could try something against Fei, o Eleonor went to the only one that could cover the whole city in an instant if he wanted to, Midgard, and asked them "Can you do me a favor, Midgard? My daughter is still out there and I fear that she might become a target for the Librarians. Can you send a couple of you to escort her back home? Also, if you find her friends, bring them as well, since they might be secondary targets. I will be in your debt."









"You should be more careful, you won't be able to detect the traps on this tunnel like that." Linea said to Meihou, and as if a testament of what she said, Meihou' tail was almost burned by a laser that came out of nowhere. The smell of charred hair being a little remainder that they were entering in the Imperator's own residence, treating this like a game would result in not so much healthy consequences.

"Though, I guess it's to be expected. Now, watch this..." Sienna said as she produced a bag full of glass beads and threw then at the area with the laser trap, after tellng Meihou to stay away. A moment later, the laser began to shoot like crazy and be deflected by the beads, hitting the walls randomly until the whole trap had destroyed itself.

Proceeding throught the tunnel, they faced a series of traps, but thanks to everyone's efforts they managed to overcome the deadly dungeon, getting to the heart of the palace's underground where a giant sinkhole bloked their path. A side walk around the dark pit was the only passage, but as soon as they came in...

"Fff... When I thought that I have heard something coming from the sewers, I should have expected to find a group of rats." said the same old gentleman that reprimanded the soldiers of Jessi's squad a couple hours ago. "Now, how's it that I should deal with you?" He had a wicked grin under the lowered brim of his hat as is devising the best method to dealing with the quartet of invaders.

"Well then..." The old man sighed as powerful mercury colored beams of concentrated magic shot from behind him, targeting eachh of their hearts, clearly, he wasn't going to go easy on them from the looks of it...

"Damn, I never thought that we would run into oppositon here. This tunnel isn't even guarded normally." Sienna complained as she dove out of the path of her beam and to her sister's side.

"Azzas!" Linea shouted drawing her rapier and using it to inscribe a rune in the stone before her, causing a wall of rockrise and block the attack launched at her. "Misjudged assumptions are hardly a novelty when they come from you, onee-sama." The young mage said, as she moed to cover her sister's back.

"Well, I never heard you alerting us either, Linea."

"Because, as long as we are together, we can overcome anything, even onee-sama's blunders."

"You know what? Let's shut up and kick ass."

"Likewise."

With their discussion finished, the twins got ready for battle, just as the old man shot them all an amused grim, waiting to see how Sierra and Meihou would fare against the weak, but lethal attack.

Měihóu Niángniang

"Wouldn't destroying the trap rather than simply evading it set off some kind of alarm? Or at least a call to a maintenance crew?" Měihóu was absentmindedly patting out her tail

As the beams of magic were launched at each of them, Měihóu twirled her staff once, while leaping forward to the precipice, perilously close to the beam, "Hup." before she slammed her staff deep into the stone, angled forward, with one hand on the top of the staff. Suddenly, the staff began both widening and lengthening, Měihóu clinging onto it. The magic slammed into the staff, unable to penetrate further, as Měihóu was part of the way across the sinkhole.

"MONKEY, GOOD SIR!" Měihóu tipped her suddenly existent top hat to the gentleman, which promptly popped back out of existence as she finished the gesture. She continued approaching him, the weight of her staff was slowly pulling the angle of her staff lower and lower, so that just as she reached him, she would be eye level with him.

Sierra continued along the tunnel, following on with the... Rather eccentric woman and the two sisters. When Mei turned and put on a rather terrifying show, she couldn't help but laugh at how rediculous some members of the populous truly were. When the laser trap suddenly activated, however, she was greeted with a forbidding and truly frightening reality. She had forgotten for a while now, but she remembered that they were in fact infiltrating the Imperators own residence. Her eyes widened at the sudden realisation, and she sucked quite suddenly as a laser shot straight above her head from the refractive beads. When the trap deactivated, Sierra's heart was pounding. She had never been good with stressful situations, and that went double for ones where her life was in danger.

They continued walking, and a strange old man appeared from the hall, talking about rats of some kind. Then he fired a series of magic blasts directed squarely at their hearts. That was, by far, the thing she needed to allow direct combat. She sidestepped the beam and grabbed the watch that dangled from a chain on her pocket. Then she did something completely unnatural, that if anybody who didn't know what it was saw it, they would be dumbfounded. Then, she moved the thumb away as all the buttons she pressed lit up in the exact order she pressed, only to all converge it the centre. She moved her left hand over the top of it and seemingly grabbed something straight from the air just above the watch.
"Renal Ich Zen Fulloken" she chanted, the watch suddenly glowing white and vanishing from her hand. Then it appeared again, this time dangling from a chain on her left side, hanging from her front jacket pocket. In her right hand a great white light formed, melding into the shape of a katana. As it formed, it spread out from her hand and gained colour; a dull, shineless grey. Then she spoke, but this time instead of her normal, light and slightly nerdy voice, came a hard, yet still light, dark tone reflective of her weapon.
"You know somethings are best left forgotten. Just like your body will be after
I'm finished FLAYING YOU!" she yelled, directly at the man and beyond; to the Imperator herself.

Despite the current chaos taking place within the Infinitum, Fei marched toward her the academy without looking back. Plans, supplies, tactics filled her mind. Finding at least one of the seven relics would be challenging and required serious thought. Fei knew she was more than capable enough to take on such a journey but nothing was going to stop her from making sure it went perfectly. This would be her moment of glory and if anyone tried to get in her way, Fei wouldn’t hold back.

As soon as the tips of the academy came into view, Fei took off sprinting. She could feel the adrenaline pumping through her, feel her hands yearning to grasp the edge of her swords. When training, Fei finally felt at peace with herself. She felt like her mother.

Zooming past the dorms and the classrooms, Fei made her way to the school gym. Most students would still be out in the carnival wasting their coin and precious time over meaningless games. Fei could never fully understand how someone could waste their life away, moping around and complaining about their life. It was a disgrace to their entire society! Fei huffed in annoyance.

The clatter of metal echoed throughout the room as Fei pulled out both of her maroon swords. Positioning herself in a fighting stance, Fei danced. Dummy after dummy, her swords seemed to have a mind of their own. Being a double wielder required power and speed, something Fei had practically mastered. All of her energy was focused on the targets, each target down meant one step closer to her goal. This would be her moment, Fei was sure of it.

Chasing the creature was no small feat. Slipping through tight areas, even disappearing through cracks in the walls, these little devils did all they could to elude the young soldier. Eventually they succeeded, as the sounds of what could only be described as a demon yelling from the center of the Infinitum distracted Jessi. Having lost sight of them Jessi had to think quick for his next course of action. Recalling the chase something dawned on him. Even though they could have gone any direction to lose him, the imp creatures seemed to stay on course to one destination, the second tower.

It made perfect sense. If these things were in fact responsible for the fireworks malfunction at the first one, then why not attack the other towers and create even more chaos? Betting his conclusion to be right Jessi wasted no more time in running full speed to the next tower. There was a good chance he wouldn’t beat those Imps there, but he might be able to catch them before they even got in.

He arrived at the tower just in time to place himself in front of the entrance. Knowing the imps would attack at any second he readied himself. His tome, still around his head, began to glow slightly as it began further increasing Jessi's perception and processing. The imps might be getting the first move, but he would get the first hits.

@Lucius Cypher

The force of Cyrin’s blade meeting the knight’s lance sent pain lancing up his arm, and his foe’s strength was such that his weapon did not yield an inch to the blow. Cyrin sprang backwards as the scaffolding collapsed beneath him, unclasping his cumbersome cloak with a single, deft motion as he tumbled through the air to land, rolling, on the ground. He sprung to his feet, readying himself for battle, but Asgard intervened with a barrage of bloody lances that took all their enemies by surprise.

The summoned creature that had attacked the square from the inn’s roof fled the scene with a blinding flash of light, and when his vision cleared the knight had made use of its distraction(?). Seeing no further enemies, his shoulders slumped, the point of his blade lowering. The stress of the past few minutes was quickly catching up with him, and he was afraid the night wasn’t over quite yet.

“I have only done my duty, Sir,” he said, in response to Asgard’s praise, he managed a salute as she crossed the courtyard to find out what happened to her daughter, and he went to reclaim his discarded cloak; keeping an eye on the emotions swirling within the crowd.

---

The world continued to turn and things were moving forward at their own pace. To those in power, the events that unfolded on that night were observed and gauged for how best they could be utilized and manipulated. But alas, the night could not go on any further. The battles would soon end, the chases would come to their resulting climaxes, and the promise of riches and treasures sparked in the hearts of the many. Darkness gave way to light as a new morning approached…

The machinations revolving around the residents of this Shattered world could not be judged. While some would go on forth and continue conspiring against the Imperator-likewise, those in the Imperium made their next moves to crush this resistance-others would be goaded onwards for a new journey to pursue the famed Legend Relics that were now in such high favor.

And for the students who would be returning to the busying schedules that encompassed their time at the Academy, it was simply another day of scholarly teaching. The Student President herself was in particularly high spirits, having become excited for the two new lovebirds to make their nest into the lives of their fellow peers.

Mariette skipped along the hallways, heading towards her space in the Student Council Office to conduct her work. Even so, she was quite aware of the current events surrounding her as news began to spread amongst the students. Some were bringing up whispers concerning the peach from last night. No sane citizen would do something as stupid as that, right?

The Student President chuckled as she gave several students knowing glances, reminding them that there were still classes to be attended to. Regardless of the commotion, she would continue to be the role model and paragon that others needed her to be. Yet even she had to admit that things were getting…interesting all of a sudden.

---

Chen walked through the streets, there had been a fair going on yesterday and everything seemed empty now in comparison to yesterday. He looked around and yawned quietly, he had gotten up early after he had gotten the message. He was to meet up with someone named Syn to help break out prisoners that were deemed important. Chen started to go through a mental checklist so he could kill some time while looking for Syn. He had his backpack which was filled with various tools for cutting through metal and such, check. He had his inconspicuous clothes on, check. He had a few smoke bombs just in case, check. He had his dagger in his sleeve, check.

Chen finished his checklist and stopped. It would appear as if he had just found his meeting spot. Alleyway near the execution grounds surrounded by a workshop selling various magical items and a restaurant. Chen strolled into the alleyway and sighed. He could already tell this was going to be chaotic. "Hello there. Are you Miss Syn?"

Alex sighed to himself as he relaxed in his little hideaway, an upper loft that stood in a disused belltower near the Academy. This was his place, a little spot to hide away, to think, to plan, which he had discovered a couple weeks into exploration around the area after he had arrived at the Academy. Now he had made it a place for himself, and while he expected it wasn't that much of a secret, it didn't hurt either, at least from his perspective.

But now he really needed the time to think. His attempted heist had gone totally wrong, and it was only through quick employment of his tome as well as some of the stuff that he had nabbed before that he was able to escape, after lighting a room or two on fire. It was actually impressive, especially considering whom he had been up against, but you really had to be there to appreciate the sheer genius of it. But it wasn't exactly how he had imagined that it would go, and he had gotten basically nothing for it in the process, besides the bragging rights of sneaking in.

"Well now what do I do," he asked himself as he sat on the balcony, looking out over the city. There was always trying again, which was a viable option. But there was also this treasure hunt that had been announced, however it was supposed to work besides a generic 'go find stuff' sort of quest, which in all honesty seemed pretty boring without some idea of what to do or where to go.

Humming to himself, his chin rested on his hand as he looked down at the city below him. Those people, he wasn't like them. He'd seen the world, and he aspired to be more, greater. To make a name for himself and to write his own legend, so he could be talked about and remembered. And failed break in attempts didn't exactly help that effort. Sure, he had time, but that was a small comfort to his ambition.

At last he came to a decision, snapping his fingers before he rose to his feet. "Well, no point in sticking around here," he said to himself as his hands moved to rest in his pockets. He just needed to come up with a plan, that was all. Then he'd know what to do and could act upon his new plan.

Turning, he headed down the stairs and out of the small room that he had been in, en route for the Academy archives. His purpose there was twofold, either to find a map of the Citadel that he could use for his next attempt, which would make it that much easier to find something valuable. Otherwise, he might be able to find something that would help with the whole treasure hunt. Book diving wasn't his favorite thing, but he would bear with it. At the moment, he had only a few other options, and none of them pleasant.

Fei strutted through the hallway of the Academy, keeping her head well above the other students. Eyes followed her but no one dared making eye contact, as it should be. There was no news about her unpleasant encounter last night, at least that she had heard. Not that she cared what anyone thought about her, but the idea that people might believe she was dating such an atrocious creature was outright irksome. A group of mingling students quickly caught her attention at the mentioning of her name.

“Did you hear about bookworm and Fei?”
“The school prez saw it herself.”
“Wow. I feel bad for the boy.”

The abrupt stop of Fei in the middle of the hallway caused everyone around the area to freeze in complete, awkward silence. The group of students, first years by the look of them, stared at her with wide eyes. Oh how Fei could rip them to shreds, she wanted to, too. The audacity they showed gossiping loud enough for her ears to pick up. It wasn’t that she cared or anything… Fei just couldn’t stand for such false rumors spreading, it was beyond repulsive!

“What did you say?” She glared at them, daring them to repeat their little talk. She almost smiled as the burning flame of her tome began to light her already crimson hair. The group squirmed and looked at each other, begging one of them to talk. However before any of them could get a peep in, Fei interrupted. “I don’t recall giving either one of you permission to speak about me. You disgrace this academy and the entire Imperium, rotten filth.” She stepped closer to them, barely two feet away. “If I ever,” Fei warned, the entire top of her head blazing with fire, “Catch you spreading false rumors, I won’t hesitate burning you all to crisps or sending your abominable heads to the justice division.” And with that, she continued her path to the school library. There’s was a lot of research ahead of her if she wanted to make this journey possible. Fei slowly let the fire on her head simmer as she continued her walk down the hallway, smiling as people literally stepped out of her raging path.

Heavy curtains blocked the rays of light that desperately wished to invade Cyrin Val’s sleeping chambers, but exhausted as he was from the previous night’s affairs, he wouldn’t let them. He lay face down, snoring into silk sheets. The heavy blankets cast off onto the floor as their warmth became uncomfortable. Left to his own devices, he might have stayed there several more hours, unfortunately he was not.

The heavy oak door slammed open against the wall, and the clangor of armored boots on stone floors roused Cyrin from his slumber. His eyes cracked blearily, but as the sound fully registered he sprung out of bed, saluting as seriously as he could, considering his silk nightclothes. Mailed arms were crossed over a red steel breastplate as Lorus Val took in the state of the room.

“Why are you still sleeping?” he asked, continuing without awaiting an answer. “You have duties to attend to, and you will not spend the whole day lounging about and making me look like a fool.”

“No, father, of course not,” he replied with respectful deference. “I will ready myself immediately to participate in the Imperator’s Treasure Hunt-“

“No, you will not. The Legend Relics are too powerful for you to wield considering how you handled yourself last night. I will be pursuing them, you will be pursuing the prisoners you let escape,” without another word, his father strode from the room, closing the door behind him.

Cyrin sighed, his narrow shoulder’s slumping. He’d really wanted to leave Infinitum. He had the sneaking suspicion that the… girl from last night was still lingering in the shadows, waiting for him. A shiver raced down his spine at the dark swirl of emotion, the cold empty eyes, the child-like mannerisms. Suddenly noticing how many dark corners his chambers held, he threw back the curtains to let in the sun’s warm light. Feeling just a little refreshed, he set about getting dressed for the day.

Earlier that day...

Syn and the prisoners had narrowly evaded recapture by the Imperium, though only able to do so through the use of the sewers, highrise, luck, and multiple disguises. By the time Syn had met up with her contact with the Librarians, she and the prisoners have drastically changed their attires to that of servants of a near by restaurant. The man approached and asked of her identity, snarling at him. ""Syn? I'm the Courier. Dammit you fool, don't you remember? Don't use real names." Sighing, she was just going to have to trust the rookie. Her job was done. "Take these three to one of the hideouts and await further orders. Good luck out there, and remember codenames!" Syn sluck back into the shadows, escaping though a service tunnel back to her own HQ, also known as home.

Presently...

After the incident yesterday, Syn was glad to know that there were minimal casualties on her part. Granted, there were many injured when her imps attacked the towers, and something happened over at the execution grounds that killed more than Syn intended, but for the former it was inevitable, and the latter turned into a mess well out of her control. While it wasn't a perfect job it still served the purpose of freeing some of their own agents from the chopping block, as well as reminding the common folk that the Imperium weren't as invincible as they seemed. Of course any loyalist would downplay what happened yesterday, and indeed as Syn was on her regular morning commute there wasn't even whispers about the botched executions. Information was a high price to pay for in the cities controlled by the Imperium, but Syn was confident their message was spreading nonetheless.

At nights Syn would leave her home, using secret routes to head to a Librarian HQ which had the cover of a teacher's office. Not all the teachers there actually were part of the Librarians, quite a few were staunch loyalist of the Imperium in fact. But that just made it all the better as cover, allowing Syn and her fellow revolutionaries to work right under the Imperium noses. It helped that at this facility, the Imperium also had it's secrets to keep. Here Syn and the teachers would review information and textbooks they'd receive to teach their curriculum. It's not spoken of, but the Imperium censors much of it; sure it shows everything that happens, but from the perspective of the Imperium's allies, if not the Imperium itself. It was very patriotic, but also filled with half-truths and sometimes lies, or at least deliberate misunderstandings. Syn's little acts if rebelling was introducing the truth into these textbooks, as did some of her allies.

Aside from altering school documents, Syn also was a teacher. She didn't teach conventional subjects such as mathematics of language, but of Tomes. Their uses, their creation, and their mastery. Syn liked to think of herself as one of the most popular teachers, because nearly all the students wishes to learn more about their personal Tomes, and Syn was more than glad to teach it.

The green teacher was walking down the school halls when she noticed many students distancing themselves. Syn sniffed her armors wondering if she still smelled of the sewers (She did not), only to notice a fiery redhead walking down the aisle. It was Fei, daughter of Asgard. Everyone feared her, openy or secretly, even Syn. Though she kept it secretive for many reasons: One, she obviously can't let a student cowl her in public. And two, because she feared that if she did anger Fei in particular, her mother may look into Syn's life and discover her affiliations with the Librarian. Thus Syn had to tread carefully, but not give into fear. When they crossed paths, Syn stopped and bowed her head respectfully to Fei. "Top of the morning, Fei. I hope the day's been treating you well?"

@BlueAjah