“Hey, Adrian, come settle this argument for us.” Burt (?) waved Adrianna over to a bench where he was sitting with his twin brother, Kurt. Both men looked very similar, but Burt liked to wear his hair with his part on the left, and Kurt liked to wear his part on the right. There were a few other differences between the twin Ydra, but neither man liked to point them out. They had been pranksters as long as she had been here, but she was pretty sure the men were born enjoying playing tricks on those around them. Kurt, at least, seemed like the kind of guy who made tree roots pop up when playing tag with other children so they fell. They were probably actually near her age, but they saw themselves as older. Fortunately, they had no illusions of being more mature than the healer.

Adrianna did a double take at the twins, however, when she saw that both of them had parted their hair on the left this time. “Kurt…?” She looked at the one who had called her over, thinking that she had initially gotten the men wrong.

“No, I’m Burt.” He began.

“No he isn’t. That is Kurt. You got it right Adrian. He copied my hair today to try to mess with people.” Burt said.

“He’s lying.” The other one said.

“Is this what you called me over here to settle?” Adrianna asked.

“Yes.”
“No.”

“Yea, well, he’s right. No. There is something else.”
“Well I am pretty sure you are Burt, and you are Kurt.” Adrianna said, pointing to each.

“How did you know?” Kurt asks, a bit annoyed that the younger fellow got it so easily.

“You had a smug grin on your face, which made me think that you were the one being deceptive, and thus not Burt.” Adrianna explained. “Plus you are a little heavier than your brother.” She teased.

“HEY!” Kurt looked mildly offended, and Burt laughed raucously, playfully punching the other man.

Adrianna rolled her eyes and shifted her pack. “Now, what is it you guys really want?” She asked.

“We were hoping you would judge us in a little contest.” Burt began. Though a lot of moving her head back and forth between the twins, Adrianna learned that they were trying to compare their spell-casting, and wanted to know which of their feats was more impressive. Adrianna put down her bag, taking a seat on the bench as the two men moved to the grassy area, standing a few feet apart from each other. The criteria she was judging them on were speed, intensity, and flair—their choice, not hers.

In truth, she found the whole thing more than a little silly, but it was their choice. If they wanted to spend their time casting magic merely to outdo the other in the comfort of Mutebo, then that was their prerogative. Burt cast first, and made some vines grow out of the ground, and intertwine with each other in a rather intricate design. He then used his magic to bring some flowers up the length of the vines, and had them slowly come to bloom. It was actually rather pretty, and Adrianna could see Bert using such a thing to court a woman someday.

Then, it was Kurt’s turn.

"Woah there Cecil, you're going a mile a minute there. Everyone's fine, you're fine... Mostly. We're in a place called Mutebo, your friends are off doing some work while I fix you up here. Considering everyone is alive I'd say yeah, you helped. Don't ask me what happened though because I'm just as confused as you are." Amuné's frantic explanation aside Norman hadn't a clue at all what had gone on or how Cecil had ended up in the state he'd been in. He'd ask the Machina himself but he was in an oddly panicked state. Which was yet another oddity about Cecil: he was panicking. Machina generally didn't have the capacity for genuine emotion like that, programmed responses to simulate emotion sure, but actual emotion? Unless Cecil was a combat Machina fashioned to show panic there was something odd here. Right now he had to calm down Cecil before he went crazy with fright and tried to run off.

"Look, Cecil, I really can't tell you what's happened but Amuné didn't mention anyone else being hurt so I'm guessing everyone's fine. And these people here are engineers who work in Mutebo, fixing up Machina like you." Or they fixed up Machina, saying they were anything like Cecil was an absolute fallacy. So just what precisely was that Demacite crystal for? Cecil had asked and yet Norman found himself unable to offer a concrete answer. There were suspicions though especially if it was aspected Luminous as he suspected. Was it right to make a hypothesis and assumption off of what little information he had?

The other engineers signaled that the metals were ready for casting and they could begin repairs on Cecil's outer shell. Signaling for them to pour it into the casing he'd modeled earlier he stood at Cecil's tarnished arm again and made certain the wires were securely in place. "Having a Demacite crystal inside of a Machina isn't unheard of, and its fairly common in many prototype combat Machina. The idea is that, like Demacite Weaponry, the magic can be used by the Machina as if they were casting magic themselves. That is what I'm assuming your crystal is for. There's something strange about it though..." The engineers had finished pouring the cast and had begun to cool it in a cauldron, and at Norman's direction they began to gather the materials for paint, one of them coming over to judge the color of his current "skin" against the materials they had. Waiting until they were alone again Norman lowered his tone, staring intently at the crystal inside Cecil's chest.

"Cecil, are you able to use any magic? Any at all? Have you ever tried?" If Cecil was incapable of using magic then that ruled out the Demacite serving as a conduit for magic. But then what else would it be for? Norman had seen plenty of prototypes and variations of Machina to be familiar with most any model but Cecil was something new entirely. A Luminous Demacite crystal was typically used as a means to heal people, or for a way to cleanse tainted water sources or as means to fend off beasts. But what could a Machina possibly use it for?

-----

"Yeah I was a bandit. You know, big scary bandits, they're going to rape your family and burn the village! Those scary bandits!" Taliya laughed before rolling her eyes, "Except I wasn't one of those types. I stole shit, sure, and I'd kill a person or two if they got in our way, but we weren't into the real bad stuff. We just did what we had to in order to get by and make a bit of gold on the side, that's all. Compared to some of the bastards out there... Hell, some of the guys in my old crew, I'm a fucking Saint." Was the world really so black and white with Amuné? Typical of a little kid she supposed, they only saw things one of two ways and there was no in between. There were awful guards who abused their power and were killers even and then there were bandits who only took what they needed to survive, and were even known to help from time to time. Just saying someone was a bandit didn't mean shit, that told you nothing about what a person was really like. Just like how everyone heard "Magi" nowadays and associated it with being a criminal.

Amuné's desire to help was admirable and it was good to see the kid finally recognize she had to do something to pull her own weight. There was nothing worse than a freeloader, and even worse still was someone who had to be saved constantly like some damsel in distress. If you couldn't carry your own part of the burden in some way then you were just dead weight, and it was useless people like that which got others killed. That being said what did a girl with powers like her hope to accomplish?

"Not in Mutebo there ain't, at least not as far as I know. Seers a mighty rare ability and most go into hiding. Don't want to turn into someone's bitch I guess," Taliya mused with a shrug, "I'm sure you could find a teacher but it won't be here kiddo. If you really want to help the best option is to grow up by tomorrow, learn to fight and start helping your friends. Then again I'm not even sure why a brat like you is traveling with them... Ah right, you wanted to see mommy and daddy again." Pinesgrove... Did that name ring any bells? None that she could think of, then again she was about two canteens in at this point and little was easy to recall right now. "Listen, look around here in Mutebo, ask around, find yourself a teacher. I'm not doing it for you and you shouldn't make your friends do it either," Taliya said, leaning forward and prodding a finger into Amuné's chest, "You want to make yourself useful? Fine, so go do it."

-----

"Ethan? Can you move? Can you still lure it?" Nymira had hoped in part that she could be bought enough time to come up with a plan to take out the Rökorm. Ethan was clearly in no state to be dashing about right now as he pointed out however, his arm was out of its socket and he labored to even breathe were he stood. Kensen and Gage had both since slain the final of the Vazra yet made no move to help, they were truly on their own. Six seconds was their window in between phasing which meant she would have to somehow strike in that brief window, yet how? What could she possibly do that would kill the beast where a direct hit hadn't before?

"Keep thinking, I'll keep it busy!" Ethan shouted, smiling as Nymira stared at him incredulously. "You'll come up with a plan right? Leave it to me, just be quick okay?" He was really going to regret this later but they needed some kind of plan and he hadn't the slightest clue what to do right now. Grabbing a rock from the ground he threw it at the Rökorm's head and waited nervously for it to come after him again, inhaling deeply before releasing the final reserves of magic and boosting his speed once again. Waiting for the creature to be nearly upon him he dashed aside when it tried to lunge at him and raced past it, dashing again when it turned and threw a hastily made blast his way, wincing as the howling wind struck his ears. He had just enough to perhaps go another minute like this before he was out of energy, then it would be completely up to Nymira.

They had to take advantage of the brief period where the Rökorm couldn't phase out. How would they do that though? If phased out to avoid any and all attacks and it could deflect any projectiles when it came back in. Wait... It could deflect projectiles! If Nymira had been able to stand on one foot then she'd kick herself for her idiocy and not seeing it sooner. Spells had in large been ineffective since the Rökorm could simply counter them with its own, but her dagger had nearly managed to pierce it every time. She could see where it traveled when when turned to mist and could try and get close enough to strike it, and pray to Ralthor it didn't just release a burst and kill her. It was incredibly risky but she had to try it, there was no way they could keep this going for much longer.

Retrieving her daggers from the ground nearby she watched keenly as Ethan darted to and fro, doing a superb job of keeping the Rökorm distracted from her. Raising her dagger and taking aim she waited until Ethan had just passed beyond it before throwing her weapon at its side and watching as it turned to mist, slithering away from both the weapon and Ethan.

Perfect. Eyes locked on the fleeing form Nymira dashed after it, ignoring the burning of her ankle and the dampness of the blood as she ran. She had to kill it now, if this failed then she had no other ideas and Ethan was about to collapse, they would be as good as finished. As she expected the Rökorm had reemerged from its ethereal form and quickly had its sights on her, but by then the Dimuran was already upon it. Leaping into the air and onto the Rökorm's side she grabbed a hold of one of its fins and flipped her dagger over before driving it into its flesh, struggling to remain on as the beast thrashed about. Pulling her blade back she cut open the creature's side just enough before she had to release the weapon and grab its side simply to hold on, her weapon falling away and clattering to the ground.

The air around her and the Rökorm began to vibrate and she could feel the body beneath her swelling, an air burst was inevitable. But she'd done what she needed to and she'd won, even if the Rökorm didn't know it yet. Punching her hand into the wound she grimaced as she felt its innards, driving her arm up to its elbow before channeling her magic. Every last drop she could muster without passing out was poured into her spell, a flame that swirled violently within the beast and licked at its organs as it grew. The beast swelled and was about to release its own attack but Nymira was faster, unleashing her spell and letting the flames erupt within the creature, and its effects were immediate. The howl from the Rökorm was unlike anything she had ever heard before and it made her desperately try to cover her ears, cringing and gritting her teeth as its screech assaulted her eardrums. Writhing about even more violently than before she kept the spell channeled as flames began to seep out from its already weakened flesh, smoke billowing from its vents before flames spit forth from there too. Within seconds the Rökorm was on the ground and fighting like a fish out of its element, haplessly writhing about with no means of escape. Pulling her arm free at last Nymira fell back and barely kept herself sitting, watching as the flames she'd released erupted from the Rökorm's eyes and mouth, its entire body beginning to glow as the flame consumed it from the inside out. With one final screech it seemed to attempt to turn to her and attack but only a guttural noise escaped before it fell to the ground, unmoving as the fire continued to eat away at its flesh.

Had they actually killed it? Her eyes told her that the beast was very dead but it almost seemed too optimistic to think so. For a moment Nymira simply stared at the Rökorm as if believing it might spring back to life, or that another beast would appear any moment. Yet nothing greeted them besides silence, an odd yet welcoming silence that washed over the battlefield. It was dead, the Vazra had been slain and by some miracle she and Ethan had actually managed to kill the serpent. Looking to her companion she smiled slightly as he managed to give her a thumbs up from his prone position on the ground, returning the gesture before letting out a curt laugh.

"Your beast is dead... And good riddance to it..." Nymira called, shaking a bit of the blood from her arm and wrinkling her nose at the smell. Hardly the most graceful battle she had ever taken part of but they had decidedly come away victorious, no casualties while their enemies lay at their feet dead. Wiping her face off on her clean sleeve she looked to Kensen, her smile thinning as she lifted her head and slowly rose to her feet. "I trust we've proven ourselves... And that this silly trial of yours is over."

Cecil didn’t understand anything that was happening, he was just completely confused and scared. Sure, he could be told that everything was fine and that he should be calm too, but when the last thing you could remember was a panicky scene he had every right to be completely set off. It wasn’t fair for him to completely accept everything when so much was being forced upon him in terms of knowledge and awareness. He didn’t know what to make of the strange place, he didn’t know what he was supposed to do either when he was finally up and about too. It was a scary thought, all these people know that he was a Machina so did that mean he would have to act like he truly had no awareness or his own thoughts? Just how long were they supposed to be here for?

“Everyone’s fine?? I uhh…I see. Machina like me?” he questioned him, not entirely understanding what he was supposed to get from that. He didn’t know if it meant they had Machina in general or absolutely exactly like him. It didn’t make him feel very secure otherwise, he didn’t know what kind of people they were. It all felt unfair to him, being expected to take this all in after being switched off for so long, especially when he was in pieces. The worst part about all of this was Norman was talking about some sort of crystal in him, but he didn’t know anything about that or where it had come from. He was pretty distraught over all of this, he didn’t know what he was supposed to feel when everyone had their growing concerns developing over what was inside him and his own worry that he would become hated and feared ending with them forcing him out.

Listening to Norman explain what the crystal was just confused him more, especially the magic part. He didn’t understand, he didn’t know what that meant or whether he did use magic at all. “Prototype? I’m not a prototype…I don’t think…” he spoke slowly, trying to understand what would count as a prototype regarding himself and whether he was actually one. He wouldn’t know if he was a prototype unless he was told, he couldn’t search his database that deeply. Staring at Norman as he asked him about magic he frowned, not feeling entirely sure that he understood the question. “Using magic? I, uhh…I-I don’t know if what I use is magic, I mean…I don’t think it’s magic…” he spoke slowly, feeling greatly unsure about it himself, “I can release electricity! But it weakens me sometimes too. I don’t think that’s a magic type…and I’ve seen a lot of magic being thrown around too. What am I supposed to be able to do, anyway? What does the crystal mean?”

When Amuné suddenly showed herself in the workshop he was immediately startled, not quite expecting her to pop up but there she was. She was speaking too fast for him to process, something about wanting to hug him even though he was still in a fair amount of pieces and opened up. He found it quite hard to understand, she was going to put herself in danger if she dared try to touch him like this. “No I-I may give you an electric shock! I don’t know what’s been opened and what isn’t…”

--

While it was a concern that they wouldn’t be able to assist Ethan and Nymira with the greater creature, the Vazra were easily disposed of either way once they were outsmarted and forced into a state of confusion. It was easy to get rid of creatures like them, they were never going to be as smart as them so leading them astray was easy and the quickest way to get rid of them. It didn’t cost too much magic, Kensen had become pretty good at storing his energy properly and not wasting it all on stupid creatures like these things. The noise the other two had been causing was pretty noticeable that was for sure, but he had learned to ignore the wailings and noises creatures like that caused; however, this time it was pretty loud and definitely irritating him. They couldn’t just give that thing a quick death so that it didn’t have to make so much noise and nearly give him bleeding ears.

Groaning as he took the time to give his ears a rubbing he soon looked over to Nymira who insisted on grabbing his and Gage’s attention, giving her a staring at before he looked to the beast. Lifting his goggles momentarily but still keeping his eyes hidden from the others he gave it a brief analysis before fixing his goggles back in place. “Certainly seems like you did. That is pretty dead, alright”, he spoke, not particularly sounding fussed about the accomplishment. “I was beginning to wonder if I was going to have to cut you out of the thing in the end. Ever thought about getting some proper armour, maybe?”

They were pretty filthy so that was gross, he didn’t want to touch either of them that was for sure. Both of them weren’t without injury either, they appeared to had sustained a fair bit between them but that was hardly an alarming thing. They could get fixed up once they got back to Mutebo, but for now their job was done and they were ready to go now. Looking back at the destroyed forested area he sighed heavily, frowning a little. “Hmmm I guess we should call a wood Magi out here to restore balance. Those things just wreck everything in their path, you know?” he spoke, not really talking to anyone specific before he turned around, looking to Gage, “If you’re done we should get out of here before they show up…”

Kurt, as usual, took a more extravagant approach to showing off his magic. If Adrianna ever could not tell them apart by appearance, she knew she would be able to by the way they showed their magic. Kurt stretched, and wiggled his fingers for a few moments, humming a tune before he bent hit knees and crouched down to the ground. Taking a deep breath, Kurt felt through the ground to the nearest tree routes, and drew them towards himself. The roots burst from the ground around him, and began curling and intertwining in the air.

His humming ceased as he had to concentrate on the magic to get the roots to form the way he wanted. It began as a large bundle, and it froze for a few moments, looking like a large egg, before the inner roots began to writhe and wiggle. The outer roots began to crack open in chunks, and then a long arm of roots seemed to claw its way out of the egg. The roots formed a figure, which quickly became apparent as a dragon. The dragon seemed to grow, its root wings spreading out and seeming to flap. The dragon grew, and opened its mouth. The root teeth were barred as the figure froze, and a rather sweat-drenched Kurt stood, albeit a bit shakily.

Clapping from behind Adrianna drew her attention, and she saw that Kurt’s display had garnered quite a few people. He bowed rather extravagantly, though it caused him to wobble a bit on his feet.

“That was fantastic, Burt.” Angelo called out.

“No, wait! I’m Kurt!” He protested. Suddenly, the fact that he had changed his hair part was working against him, and he turned bright red as Burt laughed.

“That’s what you get for trying to trick people.” Burt said, shaking his head.

“Well, I think it is clear from the applause that I won.” Kurt said, still breathing heavily.

“Best two out of three?” Burt asked.

“No way! I won!”

Adrianna stood up, and walked over to both of their sculptures. “In other words, Kurt would pass out if he had to go another round. Go get some water.” He told the one. Most of the people had wandered off, and Kurt nodded to one of the women, walking off with her towards food. That left Burt with Adrianna as the rest of the crowd dispersed.

“How does he do it?” He asked, more to himself than to Adrianna.

“Hmm?” She asked.

“Like, how does he always wander off with a different woman? I mean…we are identical.” Burt complained.

Adrianna shrugged. “Don’t look at me. I think he is immature and impractical. What if his magic was actually needed for something today? He’s completely worn out.”

“What would we be needed for? When does anyone really need wood magic?” Bert asked.

“I don’t know…restoring the balance of nature after a woodland fire?” She posed. Bert sighed, giving a small shrug before heading off. Adrianna stayed there for another minute or so, looking over the results of the magic that had been cast. Kurt was annoying, but his dragon was pretty stunning.

"It isn't as simple as just teaching Sight kid. Sight's something special, it ain't like most magic that we can do. There's no tricks or training that can prepare you for that kind of thing, not that we can give you." If they had someone then fine, Taliya would gladly send the runt on her way to be trained. But they didn't, and far as she was aware no one in Mutebo shared Amuné's special little gift. Finding someone with Sight wasn't impossible but considering how useful it could be she wouldn't be surprised if they were all owned by the Church already... Or dead by their hand. The girl prattled on a bit more about how she'd met that Ethan boy and her parents and Taliya found herself growing more annoyed by the girl's presence with each passing second. What in the world gave the impression she wanted to hear all of this shit? Everyone here had a story and had lost someone or something, that was a given in the day and age they lived in. She didn't have time for everyone's sap stories, she was here to make sure none of them went to waste and made some difference.

"If they can prove they won't just be free loaders then sure. But you should know they're probably not around anymore kid, you should realize that by now." Who knew if Amuné's parents were alive or not, if they had a halfway capable Seer among them then perhaps they could tell. The only way the runt would ever know is if she kept on traveling and looking, sooner or later someone would have a straight answer for her. Before Taliya could give her a definitive answer on whether the girl's parents could even stay or not the Ydran was out the door and off to Saints know where now. Hyperactive little git, must be one hell of a headache for them to have someone like that around.

"A town of mages... We wouldn't have to worry about the Church or anything here."

Taliya smiled at that though, though her smile was one of disgust and held no happiness to it. As if Mutebo was free from the Church, did the girl really believe that? Did Amuné truly believe that a place of their size and with so many Magi was just going to be ignored? Sure the Church hadn't attacked yet but that didn't mean they were safe, to attack Mutebo would be the equivalent of declaring war on one of its own cities. It didn't take a genius to figure out the sort of problems and questions that would raise should the Church ever go that route. They were safe because the Church had put itself into a fix where they couldn't openly attack anyone for fear of causing panic. But really... How long was that going to keep them from acting?

---

"Machina like you are... Well, different from your usual sort. Most are made for simple housework or to act as assistants, not as tools of war. Sure you could give any Machina a weapon and make it fight I guess but they wouldn't be very good at it, not like your type." There was more to it than that though, there were other things which made Cecil unique from so many others. His capacity for experiencing emotion was unheard of in Machina and his ability to think freely was highly unusual too. They hadn't made that great of strides since his departure so what was the explanation for it? How did they manage such a marvel? Naturally if Cecil had been developed then that meant they had blueprints for his type elsewhere too and he could be replicated, but to what end? Why make a combat model appear alive like Cecil did?

Scratching at his head Norman considered any number of possibilities, some of which made his gut churn uncomfortably. Machina had been developed to act as aides to those who could afford them and were meant to be harmless and subservient. Combat models undid that idea and made war a very frightening prospect; sending men and women to fight wars had the toll of lives, of torn families and lost loved ones, but what toll was there when machines were sent in their stead? Just what in the world were the Church and the corporations planning?

"No, no that's not magic. You're just discharging electricity from your body, from your power cell. I suppose that was a feature built into you, and you have the conduits for it as well so it makes sense." There was no electrical aspected magic known to them so that ruled out magic entirely, so still no explanation for the Demacite Cecil possessed. "Simply put you're built for combat. That being said you're far more complex than any model before you, you have abilities that no other Machina do and to put it bluntly I have no idea why you do. The crystal though... Perhaps..."

Norman's trail of thought petered off when the doors to the shop were thrown open and an exhausted Amuné rushed back in. Blinking as she rushed to Cecil's bedside and all but threw herself at him in a hug she only stopped when the Machina insisted she refrain, sighing himself as he rubbed at his neck. "It should be fine to hug him Amuné, but let's be safe and hold off for a minute, okay?" Norman suggested as he leaned back over the table and began to inspect Cecil's wiring yet again. "Cecil's going to be just fine Amuné once we finish closing up these gaps in his shell. And I want you to let him relax when we're done too so he doesn't put strain on any of the repairs, we want everything to cool and settle."

As the casts for Cecil's body were cooled down the hissing of the metal cooling was music to Norman's ears, they were nearly finished. Smiling as he gave Cecil an approving nod he took a moment to roll up his sleeves and slipped his goggles over his eyes, gesturing for the engineers to bring over the piece. "We'll just go ahead and fit these pieces to your body Cecil and then repaint them once they've completely cooled, make sure you're as good as new. While we're at it though, and while it's easy to access," he continued, reaching across and sealing Cecil's chest cavity again, "Are there any kinks you'd like me to look at? Anything that's not working as it should? Now's a good a time as any to fix them."

---

Slaying the Rökorm had been far more trouble than she had bargained for but it was dead at last, and for all their bumps and bruises they were alive and well. There was some semblance of pride that Nymira felt for felling a beast she had never encountered before and Ethan looked to share in that as he lay upon the ground, barely awake but smiling like a buffoon. To hear Kensen's appraisal of their work however one would think they had done little more than dress themselves successfully for all the good it did them. She wasn't looking for praise or to be celebrated but at least a little acknowledgement of their success rather than snide remarks would be appreciated. Rolling her eyes at his comment of their dress as well she looked back to Ethan and instead helped him to his feet, mindful of the arm which hung limply from his side. It would be back to the healers for them, something which had become almost a laughable routine at this point. Fight, slink off to be fixed up, fight and end up hurt again. Injury was part of combat but their knack for ending up almost bedridden was embarrassing.

"No shit, I'm glad Taliya had the sense to have us kill it outside the city," Gage commented as he appraised the ruined forest, "Aye, sounds good. Come on you runts, time to pack it up and leave!" What a mess this little test of theirs had turned into. He and Kensen were fine but the two kids were battered and useless, they would probably have to be carried down if they used any more energy. Slinging his weapon over his shoulder Gage took point and started back down the hill, which now thanks to the sparse trees their path back home was much more clear. The mayor would probably have an absolute mental breakdown seeing all the lumber that was wasted in their trial but Taliya would have a chat and he'd just fume silently, happened every time they went through this thing.

"Be honest, you think those kids even have a chance? They're about as well trained as toddlers," Gage pointed out as he glanced back over his shoulder at the hobbling pair. Shaking his head he adjusted the sling and wiped his face free of grime and sweat, wiping it off on his shirt. "Isn't that little lady supposed to be some Princess too? She sounded like she was your Princess at one point, how's a leader like that so useless? Then again..." The man trailed off for a second as he let out a barking laugh, grinning tauntingly at Kensen as he jabbed the Dimuran in the side. "Your clan lost to them didn't they? Some fighters you lot are if that's what your best look like. Either that or she's just awfully weak for royalty."

Caught somewhere between jubilation and depression Ethan just wanted to go lie down somewhere and rest for the remainder of the day. His broken arm wasn't helping matters any either nor was the absolute exhaustion that came with fighting like they did. That trial had been to earn the trust of Taliya and her people, that much had been explained to them. But why did they need that? What were they trying to accomplish by earning their trust? Taliya had mentioned in passing their joining her ranks but he couldn't see himself doing such a thing, there was no way he could live his life constantly fighting even if the Church was in the wrong. For all his sadness and heartbreak over knowing Cedric's death he still found it almost impossible to wish death upon anyone else, even if it might be deserved. Was that wrong of him to not want those responsible to pay the price? Retribution would be great but he knew it wasn't going to bring back Cedric, nor would imprisoning those who did it. But at least the latter was some kind of punishment he could get behind, lock away the killers and let them think over it for the rest of their lives. Was it so wrong of him to be content with just that?

"This woman had better give us straight answers when we return. I am through feeling like I am being toyed with," Nymira muttered aloud, her eyes boring into Kensen's back as they walked. The way he carried himself now, his indifference towards her and the clan, had it really meant so little? Whether wrongful or not he should be thrilled to be allowed back and among his kin so why did he reject her offer? What had these people told him to make him forget where his loyalties should lie? Once you were a part of the clan then that was that, you adapted and you fought for a common cause. Kensen staying here wasn't just an insult to her clan then but their people as a whole, over generations of tradition that demanded tribes to work together to survive and thrive. What gave him the right to turn his back on all of that?

"Yeah... It just kind of feels like we were doing an errand for them," Ethan admitted with a rueful smile, "I mean I guess its good we killed that thing and protected the city but why did we have to do it? Kensen and Gage could probably have killed it way quicker by themselves even with those Vazra, so what gives?" Taliya had spoken about trust but they had nearly been sent to their deaths, why should they trust her after a stunt like that? It wasn't like they were asking for much to begin with either, just a place to stay and rest for a little while. Or did they owe her and her people now after being saved?

"I need to speak with Kensen too. Even if he hates my clan he's still leaving behind his family, his kin, those in his own clan. He can fight but he should fight in service to them, not for some woman and her band of misfits. He claims he's doing this for the greater good but to me he's just shirking his duties. I can't stand for that." Clearly she and Ethan were preoccupied with different things here but they ultimately could agree on one sentiment: Taliya was after something through all of this and neither was absolutely clear as to what that was. Was she really just trying to gain their trust and fight the Church? Did she want something more from them than this? "When we get back I'm leaving you in the medical ward, I'm going to speak with Taliya. I need to know where we stand in all of this."

---

It had been much too long since he'd been able to enjoy fried fish like this! He never was allowed to have it back home and Taliya's compound didn't really make special dishes, they cooked for bulk and you ate what you got. No doubt the other healers were going to be sour at his slipping away again but Lionel found it hard to care right now. Not as he bit into the flaky fish and laughed as a pair of dogs raced across the road, the smaller of two chasing the larger who had its toy in its jaw. He understood he had responsibilities but there had to be time for fun too, working all day burned you out and made you a miserable sod. Besides their patients had been seen to and no one was in any real critical condition, they could manage without him for a while!

Mutebo was an interesting city for one reason and one reason alone: Magi could live and practice indiscriminately here. So many cities across Adelon had begun to persecute and admonish them for simply existing but Mutebo allowed them to flourish and live in peace. The Church's presence wasn't felt so far out as the provinces on the edges of the Kingdom but there was always the chance someone might turn you in, that the town might send you away for simply being a Magi. Not here, not where Magi were celebrated and treated just like anyone else, as they should be. Magi here were able to live as they pleased and that freedom made all kinds of wonderful things happen here. Some took up arms and defended the city from the Void beasts that roamed around, some helped by simply working in Mutebo's many shops and her bustling docks, and others still took on more unorthodox professions. Street performers were not uncommon in Mutebo and the city could boast a wholly unique brand of them: Magi performers. Some people took to entertainment as a living and used their magic to perform and the people here adored it. It was not uncommon to see someone casting minor spells for a spectacle and every time Lionel found himself enamored by it.

Finding himself absentmindedly in a crowd Lionel was treated to a display of magic as a man weaved and manipulated tree roots, building a sculpture that would take any normal man months to create. The lifelike dragon which was formed was breathtaking and the crowd applauded the man's efforts, Lionel included as his fish hung from his mouth and dripped over his shoes. Glancing down at the stained boots with a pout he hastily finished the rest and wiped his mouth clean, eager to applaud the man further only to find the man had wandered off at some point. Another was still present, his apparent twin, but he wasn't the one who had created such a splendid sculpture. Somewhat disappointed Lionel nearly left on his way before he stopped himself and looked back as he caught sight of the woman the twin had been speaking with, her face sparking a memory in his mind and a grin spread across his face. Who would have thought he'd see a familiar face out here?

Weaving his way through the dispersing crowd he was prompt in cutting off Adrianna's path, greeting her with a bow as his face remained one of elation. "Well hello there! Fancy running into you here, I was thinking I might be alone in Mutebo!" She wasn't anyone especially important as he recalled but at least it was someone he knew! Realizing he was a bit of a mess he wiped away any remaining grease and straightened out his clothes, offering a hand to shake. "Nice to see you again! I'm Lionel, and you're Adrianna right? One of the healers from the Church!" So she was a defector then? She had to be if she was here, how interesting! "Do uh... Do you know the man who made that?" the boy continued suddenly as he pointed to the sculpture of wood, "I want to meet them! They're amazing!"

Cecil just didn’t understand any of this, worst of all was it was concerning him and his origins. He didn’t know what he was made for, only that he was capable of combat; however, Norman acted as if they were mindless and just went on orders only to be destroyed later. He didn’t want to do any of that, he just wanted to experience the countryside, meet new people and head off to the city he thought he belonged in. The city he was going to was supposed to be full of Machina and the chances of him finding another like him was pretty high in his mind. He didn’t want to be referred to as a ‘tool of war’, especially when he didn’t want to be seen as a simple tool. He was tired of not knowing what he was, he was tired of all the assumptions and guesses; he just wanted answers for once.

It felt like Norman had ran out of answers to help him with, everything now was just a case of ‘it’s possible that’ and ‘what if’ being the ‘right answers’. There was no ‘it’s definitely’ or ‘it is because’ with him, just questions that couldn’t be answered. It made him a little upset to the say the least, but just what he was he supposed to do about it? Nobody had ever come across something like him from the sounds of it, at least not out where ever he was. He would have to go deeper into the land and find where Machina were common if he was to ever find the answers, but if he couldn’t there then where? He didn’t want to go back to the factory, he would be dismantled for leaving it in the first place. Those men in the suits wanted him, they were probably part of the factory’s team. He was dangerous just by being around which was the most discouraging part of hanging around here. He hoped he wasn’t going to be too badly damaged for that long, maybe they’ll be out of this place before they knew it and back on the road again to not end up being caught by those men. He didn’t know, he didn’t even know what plans the others had conjured up while he was offline.

With all the more disturbing thoughts going on in his mind he was fairly uninterested in what the crystal might’ve been for as Norman continued to talk about it. All it meant was there was one more mystery to add onto the table and he was probably never going to get an answer to it. It just made him annoyed now, definitely something that was causing him to feel angry about himself. Amuné suddenly appearing didn’t really help matters. He was in pieces and a possible danger to others if touched so attempting to was definitely out of the question. He didn’t care about how he was and whether he was in any shape that should be a concern, he would rather not harm someone else because he was prone to malfunctioning.

As the casts were completed Cecil stared at them as they were brought over, his eyes quickly averting away from the engineers as they came closer with them. He didn’t want to talk to them and hoped they wouldn’t want to talk to him, he didn’t know who they were or whether they would try and contact someone because he was capable of more than what other Machina were. He didn’t know who these people were or if they were affiliated with Norman, only that they were helping with the repairs. Gasping lightly when Norman sealed up his chest, frowning when Norman decided to ask him about the state of his body before. “Why does it matter? I melted. Who cares anymore”, he spoke quickly, “Any previous problems are null and void until I actually manage to move again”. The work on him was already underway even as he made the rather bitter comment, but it didn’t hurt or anything. He didn’t know if it was going to take long or enable him to move safely again, he didn’t even know if he was going to look the same after or even more like a Machina. He was fine when the only telltale was his gauntlets and eyepatch, even his legs just looked like stylised boots to others. He was worried about his future, especially when he was in a strange place that he had never heard of.

--

Kensen was pretty confident that the area was safe. Once the big one was gone then the rest of the beasts would retreat and remain away from the area, especially with the stink of the beast’s blood still in the air. Those things were like typical predators and knew to stay away from areas where their own kind had died, so bringing in a wood magi and a few specialists would be key to rebuilding the area and making it less conspicuous to the Church. It was all a matter of covering up the evidence, even if it could’ve been much less destroyed than it was now. There was just a mess everywhere and even if there were clearer areas to fly he didn’t particularly want to do that all right about now after using magic and with the other flightless lot around. If he was by himself he would be away already, but he had to make sure the others were safe especially when the pair had managed to get pretty hurt by the end of the fight.

Getting through the land was a lot easier without the trees and seeing where they were going. It shouldn’t take them long to find their way back since they didn’t have to search anymore, they could just walk straight in the direction they needed to go. What a pain it all was though, maybe one day they would invent a Machina that could carry flightless people from place to place so that he didn’t need to do so much walking. Looking to Gage as he made a comment about the pair he looked back briefly before grunting. “Tch, they barely know how to use wind or fire magic…” It was hard for him when he was an expert on both fields, something that was rather rare in the Magi world. Maybe he should try and help them out with that, but then again the Princess was hardly a nice woman and was constantly on his back when it came to keeping away from the clan. They were her clan, he was just a part of it because his own was. Looking to Gage when he practically punched him he glared from behind his goggles, even though Gage wouldn’t be able to see his eyes or overall expression before he huffed, looking away. “We are great fighters! Just hers had the number and overall brute strength…” he spoke before shrugging with a sigh, “Doesn’t matter though. If she inherits the clan as she is now, she’ll just be taken over and conquered…seeing how weak she is…”

Adrianna blinked in confusion as some man appeared and blocked her path, apparently having watched the display. He mentioned something about not being alone, and she tilted her head. She couldn’t recall this man at all, and looked him up and down to try to place him. His voice certainly sounded like a man who had gone through puberty, but with his long blonde hair and bangs, Adrianna could have easily mistaken him for a woman. He was a bit taller than her, but similar in frame.

Before she had time to ask what he meant by not being alone, he mentioned her name and former affiliation. Her eyes widened for a moment before she recovered and adopted a more neutral expression. “I’m sorry. I think you have mistaken me for someone else.” She said. Adrianna stepped to the side to leave—all the more reason to get out of this town soon, really. Of course, his words about not being alone took on a bit more value now. Was he also a healer? Or had he also been with the church. She generally thought she had a pretty good memory when it came to people. Then again, this was quite a few years ago, and if he hadn’t hit puberty then, perhaps he looked…even more feminine? It was quite perplexing.

Lionel's smile lingered as he stepped in front of Adrianna, cutting off her path again before she could move away. "That disguise is pretty neat! Doesn't help with someone who knows you though!" he reiterated with a wink. As the crowd continued to move around them he leaned in closer, lowering his voice as his smile finally receded, "Why'd you leave? Not that I'm blaming you, but why? What did it?"

Adrianna had completely ignored his second question about finding the wood magi. She should have known, in a place like Mutebo, that there wasn’t any active threat or malice, but she had been hiding herself for so long that she didn’t know any other way. Lionel cut off her path again, and Adrianna glanced around to see if anyone was paying attention. No one seemed to give the pair a second look, which was fortunate. Lionel seemed to enjoy recognizing her and commenting rather bluntly about her choices. Adrianna was much less amused, and openly glared at the man. She hated being out of the know on things.

Clearly, he knew her, and she to contend with not remembering him in the slightest. “I’d rather not speak…out here.” Adrianna said. She gestured off of the main thoroughfare, and walked until she found a place that was very quiet. “The exaggerated wink, by the way, not very subtle. And if you are looking for Kurt, he is probably eating, or rooting.” Adrianna couldn’t help but grin at her own joke, a nice reprieve from the stress of dealing with this individual.

“I don’t remember where we met in the slightest, but I would appreciate it if you kept that to yourself. People here know me as Adrian. It is…easier.” She wanted to say that it would help if she ran across some of the Church’s hunters, but since this guy recognized her with ease, she wondered if she was getting too old to pull it off. “And I left…because I didn’t like the idea of constantly fixing people just so they could go out and hurt more people like us. Even the hunters knew how fucked up it all was. I hated seeing them eventually turn to the drink to soothe themselves, and I didn’t want to turn into that.” She grew quiet. Adrianna didn’t enjoy letting her guard down; it had been a long time since she let anyone in. “What about you?”

Most people who paid more attention to her assumed she was a younger boy, probably in the same way Lionel no doubt got mistaken for a younger lass if he spent too much time in a tavern after midnight. Those who thought he was just a lad rarely treated him as if he had any valuable life wisdom, and it was strange, in a way, to be treated more in kind with her age. Then again, perhaps this was how Lionel treated everyone. He certainly seemed to be an odd duck.

Was Cecil actually showing bitterness? Again another surprising revelation and something that Machina were not traditionally able to express, not as genuinely as Cecil was. The more time he spent with the machine the more curious he became about it and the more questions which arose. Some point later when they weren't busy repairing Cecil he would need to make time to examine him more closely and try and solve this mystery. For now however they would have to sit on these revelations. With Cecil's casts finished and cooled Norman moved to begin the final repairs, using heavy leather gloves to handle the pieces and set them in place. A welding torch was fetched from a rack for him and helmet with a head shield as well, which he needed to wipe several times to clear the visor.

"We've just got to weld these together and you'll be as good as new. Amuné you might want to step back a little, there's going to be plenty of sparks." Setting up the torch and flipping down the visor Norman rolled his sleeves down and put Cecil's replacement parts carefully in place before igniting the tool. Over the soft roar of the flame he hummed to himself as he worked, eyes unblinking as he focused on his job. Moving slowly he let the flame lap at the gaps in between the metal and made certain there was not a single space before moving along, ensuring the seal was as perfect as possible. It took only a few moments and the task was finished, the metal around the fixtures aglow as the metal continued to cool. Before putting away the tools Norman double checked every seam and examined every joint and piece of Cecil's shell, leaving nothing to chance. Only once he was certain that there were no other repairs needed did he finally set aside the tool and mask, a smile of satisfaction on his face as he wiped it free of sweat.

"And you're as good as new. It's unfinished metal so we'll need to paint it later once it cools, but otherwise it's finished." Patting Cecil on the shoulder he called for the engineers nearby to take away the tools and spare parts, preemptively gesturing for Amuné to wait as he suspected she'd try to hug Cecil the moment he'd given the clear. "He still needs to cool off, and we should let him move around a little to test for stiffness before we let him go," Norman explained before turning to Cecil himself, "How are your energy reserves? Did your battery take any damage, do you need to be recharged? They have everything here if you feel like you need it."

---

"Numbers eh? You mean like how the Vazra had numbers? Lotta good their numbers did them," Gage pointed out with a smirk, "Admit it, your clan wasn't as strong as theirs, you just got stronger is all. Unless that pride of yours won't let you own up to it." Was their entire clan really as weak as the Princess was? They were supposed to be one of the dominant Dimuran clans so that seemed strange, maybe Nymira was just exceptionally weak? They had Dimurans of their own and each was powerful in their own right, Kensen included, but was that unusual for their race? "Either way you're not wrong, the two kids are useless. The boy I can understand, he ain't nothing special and no royalty, but the Princess? Makes you wonder what the hell sort of training they give their people if they can't even kill a damn Rökorm." They had technically passed though and they'd shown they were willing to fight for Mutebo's sake, that should be good enough for the boss. And so long as the little miss wised up and didn't act like she had the run of the place they would do just fine.

"Only question now is what is Tali going to do with these brats. I doubt they're gonna join up with us, but you know damn well she ain't gonna let them run out and get themselves killed either. Ever since that old bastard Cedric kicked it she's been trying to do his work, it ain't suiting her." Anyone else in the group could have taken on the role and they could have gone back to traveling and picking up work where they went, not fighting some stupid war against the Church. 'Course what they were doing was wrong but it wasn't up to them to fight it, but Cedric had asked and Taliya, for whatever reason, had answered the call. "Probably going to get stuck training them, just like we do with all the fresh meat. Gotta make sure they can at least last a day on their own," Gage continued with a groan, rubbing his neck before glancing sidelong at Kensen, "Which means you're stuck training the Magi again, especially since their elements are ya own. Have fun with that."

Getting back to Mutebo was a blessing and Nymira couldn't wait to actually sit down and rest. The last two days of fighting had really added up and were taking its toll on their bodies, and having to half-carry Ethan down the mountainside didn't help that any. When they reached the streets again she let him go to walk under his own power and did their best to keep pace with Kensen and Gage who were in far better state than they were. Had she the energy to do so she'd likely have thrown a fireball Gage's way when he yelled at them for the fifth time to pick up the slack but even creating a spark would probably make her collapse now.

"You know.. My arm doesn't hurt so much now, I think the worst of it has passed," Ethan said with a halfhearted smile, promptly rebuking that statement as he stumbled and jostled his arm, wincing as a hand shot up to cradle it. "Ow... I guess all things considered we got out of that pretty okay," he continued, chuckling as he slogged alongside Nymira, "Kind of wish Kensen and Gage would actually tell us we did a good job. I mean we did, didn't we? We passed their test and we're alive, that seems like a good job to me."

"We nearly died when it should have been a simple task, and we would certainly have died if they hadn't dealt with the Vazra. I think we did a terrible job," Nymira spoke bluntly, frowning as Ethan tried to argue her point. "It's one thing for you to struggle, you're inexperienced. I should have had no issue with that fight even if the enemy was new to me. The fact remains that I have a lot of training to do before I'm worthy of taking my father's place at the head of the clan." Had her father ever fought a Rökorm before? Vazra were common in their region as were other breeds of beasts but she had never encountered such a creature in her life. Come to think of it she knew very little of her own father's early life, or that of many of her clan's elders. What sort of trials had they endured growing up to bring the Rumia clan to power?

---

There was no mistake, Lionel knew this person. Even if she had tried to disguise herself he never forgot a face and he'd seen her about in the cities before, he even remembered her name. Though Adrianna tried to play it off initially when he persisted she finally had to accept the fact someone here knew who she was, dragging him off to the side to speak in private. Laughing as a joke was made about Kurt he smiled innocently at Adrianna, folding his hands behind his back and leaning towards her.

"Oh I'm not looking for a two bit street performer, don't be silly! Though his magic was really neat," Lionel said, tilting his head curiously, his eyes closed as he continued to smile, "And don't worry, I'm not here to oust anyone. I get why people run away from that and I respect it, there's a lot of people here that are like you. In fact I'm surprised you're not in Taliya's group with everyone else here, that seems to be the popular thing to do. I guess you're free to do whatever you want though." There was safety in numbers but then all of Mutebo was a haven for Magi, whether you belonged to an organization like Taliya's or not mattered little. But why had Adrianna left? Now that was the one thing he didn't know here and he was curious even if he was sure he had the answer. She was a healer assigned to the Church, there was a good chance that she'd left because she was worked to the bone taking care of their Hunters. Sure enough she confirmed his suspicions and stated as much, telling him all he needed to know.

"Me? Oh I'm like you really. I didn't like what the Church had me doing so I left, that's all!" Finding a stack of crates alongside a wall Lionel sat atop one and crossed a leg over the other, leaning back into the wall. For a moment he seemed to silently appraise Adrianna as he looked at her without a word, folding is arms across his chest and tilting his head again. After a time of silence he smiled again and clapped his hands, leaning forward and placing his hands upon his knees excitedly. "So what's your plan now that you left? Are you just going to live your life here in Mutebo and hope everything blows over? Who knows, some people think the Church will stop eventually and things will settle down," he said, lifting his shoulders in a shrug and smiling thoughtfully, "It's a really optimistic view, but I don't buy it. That's why I'm helping Taliya! But you're not, I know I've never seen you there." He looked to Adrianna again and his eyes narrowed slightly, the playful gleam disappearing as his smile waned, "So what are you planning? Where does Adrianna... Sorry, Adrian go from here?"

Cecil didn’t know if he was actually going to be functioning as well as he did before with this repair and was a little worried that he was going to be weaker because of his actions, but as he recalled he didn’t regret his action that ended with him being nearly destroyed completely. It wasn’t some sort of duty that was holding him responsible for his actions, he just wanted to help and his existence mattered less than organic lifeforms. He didn’t want to make anyone worried, but it wasn’t as if they knew him all that long or even enough to consider him as important as somebody who had been living a relatively long life until now. He didn’t even know how much longer he had left or whether he was going to be able to continue to exist forever. Nobody really gave him any answers to these things and it made him feel pretty upset that he couldn’t find them anywhere. Nobody seemed to know enough about Machina like him to give him an answer, even Norman wouldn’t talk to him about anything because he didn’t seem to know anything at all.

Keeping fairly quiet, Cecil simply let Norman continue with his work until it was finally completed, looking to him when he looked over his shell. Everything seemed to be in order by the looks of his expression, but he could never be too certain if he was just keeping things neutral as to not make him worried if something went wrong. Luckily for him it didn’t appear as if anything was wrong as Norman finally gave him the good to go, his eyes looking down at himself before he slowly moved his arms around to see to pushing himself up. He felt as if he hadn’t moved in forever, not to mention everything felt stiffer than normal but he just put that down to not being used to his new parts. Making a glance at Amuné he soon looked away again, looking to his hand as he flexed his fingers slowly.

“My energy reserves? I guess I could do with a recharge…I mean, I used a lot of energy since getting the battery”, he spoke, frowning as he twisted his wrists around, “I can’t check its percentage at all, probably because everything isn’t loaded yet after being shut down”, he spoke before sighing heavily, shaking his head, “I don’t want to run out of battery again! I want to be able to use my abilities, but if I keep having to be recharged then I shouldn’t use them! All these dangerous fights are going to get me all depleted in no time. Why do I have such a design flaw when normal organic people can just shut themselves down for a bit and get up all fine again and energised! I don’t understand my creators…they’re horrible if they think that was an acceptable flaw…”

--

“Tch, you can’t compare Vazra to people with actual experience…” Kensen muttered, shaking his head before he frowned at Gage. He wasn’t right at all, especially when it was an eight to one ratio between the clans. He just didn’t understand how any of it worked, what with his more or less civilised and modern upbringing. “All I did to get strong was manage to nearly die near Mutebo and that’s it. Being with the clan wasn’t going to give me strength when all they did was use me because I could use two elements and exhaust me”. He wasn’t going to let that one go, but neither was the Princess who was still probably itching to try and convince him to go back. She wasn’t at all concerned with how he felt about it all, she just felt pride for her clan even though she was really weak thinking about them all the time and what they wanted. They probably didn’t even want her to learn how to be a proper Magi, what with how little she knew about fire magic.

“Hm? Taliya? You kind of underestimate her if you don’t think she cares for others and the state they’re going to get themselves into if they don’t look after themselves”, he spoke quickly, waving his hand a little, “I mean, after what she did for me you make it sound as if she’d never bother helping anyone in need, even if these two got into their own problems by not training by themselves. It’s like they don’t even care about the fact that they can use magic while not everyone could”. Maybe it was a pride thing with Nymira but Ethan had no reason not to use magic and try to train it, especially when Cedric had apparently encouraged him to use it. It was almost as if Ethan didn’t even know what wind magic consisted of other than blowing things around and making him jump high. It was a little frustrating, especially when wind magic was his primary magic over fire. He would never be able to go as fast as he could fly if it wasn’t for wind magic and yet Ethan could barely manage to fight wind against wind when it should’ve been easy. When Gage came to the conclusion that he would be the one teaching them he let out a groan. “Hooray for me. Maybe I can just find some way to challenge them over acting like a babysitter…”

Upon arriving in Mutebo Kensen felt somewhat relieved but also a little anxious that he was going to end up being confronted by some of the locals. Even if he did the place a service he was still seen as pretty suspicious and strange, his wings and long tail standing out fairly well in a crowd. There was also the whole hiding half his face away with his goggles, especially when only a few people like Taliya and Gage had actually seen his eyes. They said the eyes were the window to the soul but with him always having them hidden there was a natural suspicion, but then again if they did see his eyes they would probably send more questions his way which would just make him self-conscious. He just wanted to get back to the headquarters as fast as he was allowed and yet Nymira and Ethan continued to doddle along like there was no urgency. “C’mon keep moving!” he called to them, glancing over his shoulder, “The faster you move the faster you can get treatment!”

Adrianna tilted her head as Lionel said he wasn’t looking for Kurt. Hadn’t he…just asked about the man? Was he really someone who remembered her face from years ago and yet couldn’t remember the question he had asked moments before? She opened her mouth to protest and ask him about it, but Lionel continued to talk. He explained the he wasn’t going to out her. Adrianna gave a small sigh of relief. Granted, she had been planning on leaving anyway, but there was no point in burning bridges here when she didn’t have to. Ideally, Adrianna might like to return to Mutebo one day. She might even want to help with their fighting more. She just…didn’t want to do that now. Adrianna had grown up doing exactly what others expected of her. She had followed their rules, obeyed their commands, and when she found out she was different, she still found a way to be what they wanted.

Hearing Lionel repeat her answer for leaving, only vaguer, was less than satisfying. While she might have been a little vague, he knew her, so she hadn’t felt it necessary to go into more detail. He already knew that she didn’t know who he was, though, so the fact that he gave such a brief and nondescript answer annoyed her a bit. On the other hand, Adrianna was pretty confident that Lionel was quite familiar with annoying people. It seemed to just be his natural state. So how come you don’t remember him? Adrianna was pretty sure he was a healer, though that was prompted mostly by him saying earlier that she was like him. He could have just meant a Church defector, in which case he might not have really left for the same reasons as her at all. He might have been a hunter. Adrianna didn’t…really imagine that he could do such things, but perhaps he was just very good with a ruse? And perhaps you are simply way too paranoid?

Lionel hopped up and sat on a crate, and Adrianna shifted the bag on her shoulder. She could tell that he was going to say something else, and since he was capable of annoying her into stopping and listening, Adrianna figured it was easier to simply stand here and wait. She wasn’t really in a rush. If she wanted, she could even wait until another day. No one was kicking her out, but the weather was nice and she was feeling the itch to move. No point in forming too close of ties with anyone. As her thoughts drifted to what she planned to do next, Lionel asked what she was planning. Once again, she began to answer him, but Lionel continued to ramble, and so she waited until he was really done before she spoke. “I’ve spent the last few years traveling around, picking up different skills, and I plan to do the same. Nothing against Taliya and crew, it just doesn’t feel…right for me right now.” She didn’t want to say how eerily church-like it felt, since Lionel had just admitted that he was here now, helping out Taliya’s people. Perhaps he hadn’t noticed, or perhaps that had been his very reason for joining them. In any case, it wasn’t her place to criticize, not after the choices she had made in her life.

“I’m not sure, really. I plan to head out of town, probably today, though I’m not really in a rush.” Apart from you knowing who I am and being completely untrustworthy—possibly. “If anyone else is heading out, I might join ‘em, you know, safety in numbers. But I don’t really have a direction in mind. Just going to see where the wind takes me. And you…are you going to stay here, help Taliya until…” Adrianna trailed off. That was the problem, really. With such fighting between the Church and the magi, and the Church still utilizing those with magic to carry out their dirty work, Adrianna didn’t know what the end would even look like. It was the Church’s hope that it ended when the mages against them were dead. And those who had helped them were…what? They certainly didn’t fit into the Church’s vision for the future. Would the loyalists be eradicated last for not fitting into the worldview? Or would the Church simply squash all future magi and let the current generation die off? Adrianna was a little cynical when it came to the church. She believed that they would continue to let loyal magi serve them, but tighten the reigns until the magic was nearly snuffed out. Why would they eradicate healers, for example, when loyal healers gave them near immortality?

Before Adrianna was able to come up with a proper way to end that question, she saw Lionel’s gaze wander back towards the main streets. She turned as well, and saw a quartet entering Mutebo once more. She thought she recognized at least one of the two in the front from being around Taliya, but her attention quickly shifted towards the pair in the back, who looked quite hurt. The man was cradling an arm, and looked like he was barely able to keep up with the ones walking in front. The woman had mostly bruises and bumps. Neither of them were on their death bed, but Adrianna could sense that it wasn’t just physical injuries. They hadn’t been jumped and robbed of their possessions, they had been fighting with their magic, and they were both quite drained.

It was rather easy for her to pick up on the signature of magic exhaustion. She had seen it from the hunters, at least the ones who had to really work to dispatch their targets. They came back injured physically, but their aura of magic was also dim or flickered about rather than maintaining consistency. She never talked about this observation with others, and the one or two times she mentioned someone being worn out in such a manner, she was reminded that of course they were worn out, they had been defending the Church against dangerous people who wanted to tear down its very foundation. Doing such holy work was tiring.

“Excuse me.” Adrianna couldn’t just ignore them, though. Whether or not they were fighting the Church directly, Adrianna didn’t like to see any one hurt and worn down in such a manner. They clearly weren’t prisoners, so she doubted they were enemies of Taliya. Though it certainly wouldn’t have been the first time she had healed Hunters, if they were. Not to mention the fact that it was rather dangerous, if there were to be an attack on Mutebo, for people to be in such a state. They wouldn’t be able to defend the city at all, and Adrianna much preferred for everyone to be in their best condition, physically and magically. Working in Taliya’s medical bay would have worn her down in days with such a disposition.

She turned and approached the group, though immediately heard Lionel’s feet hit the ground lightly behind her as he walked over to them as well. Good. Adrianna walked right past the men chatting in front and moved up alongside the boy with the hurt arm. “Excuse me, I couldn’t help but notice that you look a bit roughed up…” She gestured to his arm but didn’t touch it. “May I help?” Her hand hovering near the arm began to glow a light golden color, the mark of her Luminous magic. She glanced to the woman who accompanied him as well, she was most certainly not Mura, but Adrianna hadn’t ignored her initially for that reason. The quite short Dimura was simply in better condition…and perhaps Adrianna would learn if Lionel really was a healer.

"Right... 'Cuz no one's ever won a battle that they were outnumbered in. Face it lad, your clan was just outmatched. You say she's weak and I agree, she's pitiful for some royalty. But you still lost to her, and if their royalty is as lousy as that then what are their average fighters like? Say what ya want, but your clan was weak." The number of times they'd evaded capture by the military or the Church was more than Gage could bother to count but it had been plenty enough for one lifetime. They had started as a ragtag bunch of misfits and only grew since coming into Cedric's circle, but they'd had plenty of fights they should never have walked away from. If Kensen was too proud to admit his clan just hadn't been up to snuff then fine, he could keep living in whatever world he was in. "And lad, don't you go lecturing me about Tali, you hear? I've known her years longer than you and this ain't her. She's done stuff you couldn't believe, only reason she's doing any of this, only reason she helped you, was that old bastard. She ain't doing it out of the goodness of her heart, its an obligation." No way in hell was he going to accept that Taliya had gotten soft, certainly not to the point she was extending a hand to anyone that needed it. That just wasn't her and it wasn't their job to try and save every damned Magi that stumbled into Mutebo. "Besta luck training them whelps though, considering how they did today they'll probably drop dead before they ever figure it out!"

Aside from the whole nearly dying and the broken arm things had gone pretty well for them. That said Ethan wouldn't mind going back to the compound and sleeping off the rest of the day now. Get bandaged up and healed, get some hot food in his stomach and maybe nuzzle up into Wyth's soft fur for the afternoon, that sounded nice. At least they had made it back to Mutebo by now and they were no longer at risk of being eaten alive by molten-lava-dog-things. It was almost relaxing if Kensen wasn't shouting at them to move faster. Smiling exasperatedly he tried to stumble forward faster but had Nymira grab his shirt and slow him, giving her a confused look. When he realized then she was now leaning against him and not the other way around he blinked in surprise, looking down at her leg and seeing her bloodied ankle. "Y-Your wound! Why didn't you say something? We need to get that fixed!"

"Shut up, it's fine. I just can't lean on it," Nymira retorted, gritting her teeth as she stepped down to prove her point, "Don't go running off, I need help walking right now." She wasn't going to have Kensen barking orders at them like that, they would move at their own pace and get there all the same. Obviously they would all love to be back and not in their current situation but shouting at each other didn't make anything move faster. Plus who was he to demand anything of them?

If they were anywhere else other than Mutebo he could understand Adrianna's disguise. Traveling was unsafe for Magi nowadays, especially those who defected from the Church, and the punishment for people who did as much was imprisonment if you were lucky. Lionel considered pressing her for more information but let it be as he decided she wasn't up to anything bad here. If she was still with the Church and trying to find them a way in he'd have to do something about it, but it was clear by her disguise that was the furthest thing from her mind. Smiling as she in turn questioned him he gave as vague an answer as possible and left it at that. Who he was exactly or where he'd come from didn't matter much, what he was doing now was all that mattered. Unsurprisingly she wasn't pleased with his reply but Adrianna took no further measures to get any answers so he took his turn again, asking about her future plans for Mutebo. Would she stay or would she move on? Only so many places were safe for Magi now and Mutebo was one of very few safe cities, if she left here then where would she go?

"I'm going to do whatever I feel like doing. The Church isn't telling me what to do anymore, so I just kind of plan on... Traveling," Lionel explained with a dismissive shrug. A smile crossed his face again as he slipped off of the crates and raised his arms in a stretch, humming as he rocked back and forth on his feet. "Maybe see the world, get to meet people, practice some of my skills. Who knows! I could spend my life as a fisherman, or I could take up a trade, or maybe I'll settle down and have a family!" He had plans of course but nothing he was going to divulge to Adrianna. Maybe if she was a good girl he'd throw her a little tidbit, just something to pique her curiosity.

Lionel figured they were good as done when Adrianna begun to move away. He was just as ready to depart until he noticed where she was heading, his shoulder slumping as he spotted Nymira and Ethan all banged up yet again. Hadn't they just fixed those two up yesterday? And by the looks of it they were barely keeping it together as they sluggishly walked along, presumably on their way back to the compound. Time to fix them again... Following after Adrianna he smiled politely at Kensen and Gage, waving to them before stopping behind the other "male" healer, peering over her shoulder to see her at work. "Ooooh, Luminous magic. Very cool, wish I could do that!" Lionel commented with a whistle, looking away from Ethan to Nymira, spotting her bloodied ankle. With a sigh he threw Kensen an accusatory glance before standing before her and kneeling down, reaching into his back pocket for a cloth. "You didn't bring any medical supplies with you? Either of you? Taliya would kill you if she found out..."

"If the kids were even half-able they wouldn't have ended up hurt. It's a miracle they even got out alive." Gage wasn't having any of Lionel's crap, the healer tried to shame them for not babying every single person that walked through those doors.

"Oh, so its their fault they probably were in over their heads. Good thing they had two perfectly capable men to do absolutely nothing to help," Lionel replied, smiling as he looked back at Kensen and Gage, giving a chuckle, "I'll be sure to mention that to Taliya when I get back! I mean after all it is my job to tell her if someone's hurt." Back to helping Nymira, he didn't have any real medicine on him but he had a spare cloth he could bind the wound with anyways. Once it was completely covered he smiled and gave the Dimuran a thumbs up and smile, her utterly perplexed look amusing him. "At least we know they won't drop dead! If they were any more bloodied they would probably have to be carried!" Reaching out and slapping Ethan on his just healed arm he seemed to not notice him wince as he turned then to Adrianna, gesturing towards Ethan and Nymira. "Since you're a healer would you mind coming to the compound with us? I could use the help of a Magi fixing them up, and I'm sure they'd appreciate it."

"Uh... Actually can we go and see Cecil first? If it's all the same," Ethan asked, looking to Kensen for the okay, "I mean if its not too much trouble, I just want to see how he's doing. Just to be sure he's doing alright, if that's okay. Plus I think Amuné wanted to see him, we should pick her up too before we go back." Before getting too carried away he looked to Nymira with a hopeful smile and added, "Uh... If you're okay with it that is."

"My ankle is bloodied, I'm not dying. If we must go see Cecil before returning then I'm sure I'll survive," Nymira answered before speaking then to Adrian, "If you intend to heal me then it can wait. We'll visit our friend before I worry about my little wound." Taking a step forward to move along the Dimuran winced and nearly fell forward as she put weight on her injured foot. Ethan suggested possibly even carrying her to make things faster to which she grabbed his arm and pulled him closer, forcing a smile as she spoke. "Just be there for me to lean on and we'll be fine. Now let's go, I'm sure Cecil must be fixed by now."

Cecil knew there wasn’t much for him to ask for, there never was something other than maintenance. It shouldn’t had been something to ask for anyway, it should’ve been standard to give him a recharge when all he did was travel around. Not knowing exactly why he had been made in such a way his train of thought had been quickly interrupted by Amuné bouncing on him for some reason. He didn’t understand what this was supposed to be for, all it might end up doing is make him stiff because he hadn’t cooled yet. Not particularly understanding what she was supposed to be doing or what he was supposed to feel from it he moved his arm to try and push her away. “I don’t get hurt…I’m a Machina. I just get damaged”, he spoke lowly, giving his head a shake, “I’m nothing like a person, I just look and sound like one. I don’t get why you don’t understand that…and I don’t understand what you’re doing or why you’re touching me when you were told not to”.

--

Kensen was getting a little annoyed at the accusation that he was the one who lost, even though Gage meant it figuratively. He felt like he was representing a collective and he didn’t like that, especially when he was supposed to be an individual. “How do I lose to someone who was barely a person at that time? Nevermind me, I’m younger than you keep making me out to be”, he spoke quickly, seeing no relevance in saying he was the one who lost to her, “Sometimes I wonder if you just enjoy getting me involved in something that was beyond my control just to try and make fun of me for it”. It was certainly irritating and he didn’t try to do anything that would otherwise get him involved, he was just being a bit of a jerk for the sake of it. He was well aware Gage didn’t like him but attacking his past was going a little too far, he wouldn’t even do something like that.

“People change…or most people. I don’t know about you but most people do change”, he shook his head, waving his hand, “You just hate the thought of me having some stability, is all”. Taliya wasn’t some heartless monster, people just preferred to see her like that because of how she spoke and how her mannerisms were. They’d soon see what she was really like if they tried to get to know her better, but then again they barely wanted to get to know him and he was generally seen as a bit of a quiet thug like they saw her except as the loud type. Who cared really, anyway. If they were going to see him as that then he would just have to carry on with it. “If they drop dead they aren’t my problem anymore. You watch, I’ll give them something fun to do so they don’t have to die in a depression”.

Having Nymira moaning was pretty amusing to him, even if she wasn’t having any kind of fun. She wouldn’t had gotten so hurt if she had just trained in magic properly, but of course she had spent most of her time strutting around like a little diva with no worries in the world. It was just proof that her clan were doomed the moment she would take over, there was no reason for them to follow someone like her. He may had abandoned his clan, but she was going to fail them all at this rate. Letting out a groan in response he continued to carry on, ignoring the people passing him as well. Even though he was known to exist he still got a lot of people looking at him and just because he was behind a pair of goggles he didn’t fail to notice. Among those having a look at him was Lionel, his arms folding as he stopped, waiting for Lionel to approach them.

Just the usual crap, it seemed. Just typical that he’d bring a friend along, probably to show them off. He wasn’t taking any of it, he was just going to mind his own business. Probably some extra healer or something, so who really cared. He didn’t exactly have the best experience when it came to getting healed, but it wasn’t as if he was going to project hate onto the person, just the magic itself. “I don’t care what you tell her. Bunch of their stupid rats kept getting in the way so we got rid of them instead. They wouldn’t had stood a chance against even one of those things…” he grunted, shaking his head, “Not like you actually know what combat is like to understand, anyway…”

Who really cared, that was the question. He certainly didn’t care at all about that kind of stuff and just wanted to get back so he could rest. Despite his ability to use his magic without much of a second thought he still got pretty tired from flying around a whole lot along with using so many different types of magic. They didn’t get exhausted from using magic much anymore, but doing so much all at one time meant he deserved a nap. Adjusting his goggles a little he looked to Ethan when he was approached, staring at him for a moment when he tried to think on who Cecil was. “…Your…Machina?” he questioned him, humming slightly before looking off in the direction of the building, “…Sure. If we must go see it then whatever. So long as neither of you collapse in the workshop, that is…”

Adrianna was not a fish to be baited. He went on about being a fisherman, or having a family, but she was already focused on the injured person. She couldn’t really care less what Lionel did, as long as it wasn’t running to the Church to announce what she had been up to and where she was. Then again, that was another reason she kept on the move. Even if Lionel said something about her being in Mutebo, Adrianna would be gone before anyone came looking. She honestly didn’t think anyone cared enough about her to go seeking her out. No one would harbor such a large vendetta against her. It wasn’t like she set fire to one of the Church buildings when she left. At the same time, she knew that it was more a matter of principle. The Church didn’t think kindly of people leaving, it made the whole foundation seem weak.

With permission given to heal the injured man, Adrianna promptly rubbed her hands together for a few moments before her hands began to glow. She pulled his arm with one hand to make sure that she healed it in the right place, using her magic to feel the area with her other hand. It would feel uncomfortable for a few moments, but she was pretty good at sending just enough energy to keep the pain at bay until most of the injuries were healed. Hunters had short tempers, and the faster she was at what she did, the better.

Lionel’s interruption about her magic nearly broke her concentration. It wasn’t the fact that it was someone talking, it was the fact that it was Lionel—he was already seeming to grate on her nerves. It was also the fact that he had said he recognized her from the Church, and he had magic. If he wasn’t a healer…had he been a hunter? She finished the healing promptly, but her thoughts were temporarily halted as she saw him pull out a cloth. “I can take care of that.” She offered, knowing that his cloth wasn’t going to do a whole lot. “Or if you prefer, I have actual medical supplies.” She was fully stocked, since she had been planning to depart, and though she hadn’t made the offer to the Mura male, she figured there was a reason that Lionel immediately went for the basic non-magic form of assistance for the Dimura. Perhaps he knew her and that she would not consent to magic. Perhaps she should have offered the same of the man—though he didn’t seem to take any issue with the healing she had done.

Lionel was arguing, albeit jovially, with the men guiding them, as he wrapped the Dimura’s wound. It would do until she could be healed, but Adrianna didn’t understand what was stopping them from doing so immediately. As the group seemed keen to move on, Adrianna was nearly going to excuse herself when Lionel volun-told her to go to the compound with them to help continue to fix them up. Adrianna opened her mouth to respond, but the male Mura she had just healed requested to see someone else first. He seemed to seek permission from the guide as well as from the Dimura companion, and Adrianna waited for them to reach some sort of accord. Clearly her opinion wasn’t needed here.

The Dimura spoke, and Adrianna got the distinct impression that she was more of an authority than the male, used to getting her way. “Ookkkay then.” Adrianna said slowly. She was tempted to reply that she didn’t give a damn about healing the woman. It wasn’t like she walked around looking for people who needed to be heal—Oh. Well, perhaps the Dimura had a point. For all they knew, she did simply walk around looking for people to heal, and Lionel hadn’t helped. The Dimura tried to walk on her injured foot, and Adrianna just sighed, shifting her bag as she began to follow the group. The woman was only going to make more work for Adrianna by walking on her leg like that. She didn’t really have anything better to do for the moment than follow this strange pair as they went to gather two of their friends. Though, they certainly weren't heading to the medbay.

Wait, did they say ‘fixed’? As they made their way towards the Machina repair building, Adrianna silently confirmed that they were, in fact, talking about a Machina. They went inside, and it became quickly obvious that ‘Cecil’ was no ordinary Machina.

"But people isn't what you look like, it's who you are," the child protested. "You think and you feel and you worry and you hope. Just like everyone else." She let go when he pushed her away, but she was obviously upset by the rejection. "There's all sorts of different kinds. Why shouldn't you be a person too?!" Was that really such a strange thing to think?

The question of what she was doing made Amuné frown. "You don't know what a hug is?" she asked, gaping. "But...but...everyone knows about hugs, right?" She glanced at Norman for confirmation. How did you even explain something like that? "Hugging, it's...a way of saying I care about you and I'm glad to see you. Glad to have you here." She looked thoughtful. "It can be other things too -- a hug can comfort or reassure, it can encourage and give strength...."

She trailed off, looking a little uncertain. "It's hard to explain, I guess? But I was scared because you were hurt -- you /were/ hurt, not just damaged! And you're okay after all, and that makes me happy and I hugged you to say all of that. Daddy says touching says things without speaking." The girl scuffed a shoe on the floor, one hand wrapping around the other wrist. "You pushing me away like that, I don't like it. That hurt. I wanted you to hug me back."

Amuné was paying a lot of attention to her attempt to explain such basic things to Cecil, and she didn't notice right away when the others entered. Upon spotting Ethan, however, she pushed away from the sturdy table she'd been leaning on and made her way over to him. "Ethan! You're okay, you're back!" She was careful of any visible injuries, like his arm, but the hug she gave him was on the tight side of gentle.

"You think I enjoy grinding yer gears do ya? Well you ain't wrong, maybe I do get some kick out of it," Gage admitted with a barking laugh, "I just think its funny is all. You got this complex that you think you're better than them, but you and yours lost to them. Way of battle shows a lot and you know exactly how things turned out, seems kinda funny don't it?" Maybe Kensen was stronger now but a lot of good that did for him or his clan. The case with the Dimurans was fairly typical of how the world worked though and Gage had witnessed it plenty of times to understand what happened. The Princess and hers were stronger and won, got lazy with their laurels and got too comfortable while others kept getting stronger. Either that or the Princess was just a weakling.

"It ain't about you runt, you're thinking way too highly of yourself if you think its about you. I'm just telling ya that you're wrong, you don't know Tali like I know her," Gage explained as they walked along. Glancing upwards towards the sky he smiled and reminisced about their times as bandits, before they got themselves mixed up in this mess. He was no Magi and frankly could care less what the Church did, but he'd follow Taliya to the ends of the world if that was her order, so he'd tagged along. "Sure she ain't the type to kill kiddies or anything but she's no saint either. But hey, you live in whatever fantasy makes you happy and keep telling yourself she's good. I didn't follow her because she's a good person, I followed her because she's a leader, that's that." As enthralling as their conversation was they'd have to put it on hold with Lionel suddenly popping up, he didn't want the pesky healer butting in on anything. Why was he even outside again? They had told him repeatedly to stay put in the compound and do his job yet he was always slipping out and running around Mutebo like an idiot.

Ethan uttered a sincere thanks when his arm was fixed though he made no quick movements, afraid if he did he may just break it again. Cradling it across his chest he smiled at Nymira as she was offered to be healed as well only to question her when she turned it down. Why wouldn't she take the healing? He assumed it was a matter of pride and didn't press the matter, if she didn't want to be healed for whatever reason than that was her decision to make. Assuming Nymira was okay to keep going they should really go and check in on Cecil if he was awake. No doubt their friend had plenty of questions and it was only right they visit him while he was recovering. Kensen graciously allowed it and so off to the workshop they'd go. Slow moving due to Nymira's ankle still being injured but they got there in well enough time, and to his delight it seemed that Cecil was awake and all fixed. And surprisingly Amuné was present as well, he'd been wondering where she might be.

Smiling at the Ydran girl as she came over he reached down with his good arm and pat her head, relieved to see she was doing well in their absence. "Yep! And good as new thanks to our new friend here!" Er... What was his name anyways? They hadn't gotten it come to think of it.

"Adrian, his name is Adrian," Lionel explained, smirking as he reached up and pat Adrianna on the back, "Good ol' Adrian's back in town and is going to help you two get all patched up. After all as healers its our job to make sure everyone's healthy, isn't that right buddy?" Throwing in a wink just to add insult to injury he turned his attention to Cecil curiously, looking the Machina up and down and stepping closer to inspect him. How strangely lifelike he was, and how odd that he'd find something like him out here in Mutebo. Where had he come from? Was he smuggled in on a ship? With seemingly no regards for personal space or manners Lionel got as close as he could to Cecil without actually touching him, inspecting him until Norman loudly cleared his throat and suggested giving Cecil some space. "Oh, sure thing! Sorry, I was just curious," he explained with a smile to the Machina, "Very interesting stuff!"

"Anyways... Cecil should be all repaired now. It's going to take an hour or so for the welds to completely cool but everything should be in order. Before you go let's get you hooked up to a station and recharge your cell, may as well top you off while you're here." The station in question was a bit crude, a cabinet with a charging module inside and a cable to plug into a Machina's power core, definitely outdated. He should probably put together a new one before he left Mutebo again. Waving Cecil along they went across the room to the station itself and Norman again opened his chest compartment, opening a small panel to access the charging relay and plugged in the machine. "It should only take a couple of minutes even with this old beater, just sit tight and we'll be done in no time." Cecil wasn't the only one in need of repairs judging by Nymira and Ethan's condition, just what had they been up to? If Lionel was with them then they should be fine, though his presence raised even more questions. All he'd come to Mutebo to do was fix some things and now he was finding himself questioning everything going on around him, what a headache.

"Hey Cecil? I really didn't get a chance to say it before but I just wanted to thank you for earlier. You really saved us back there," Ethan said as he looked down at Amuné, smiling as he pet her head again, "It would have probably been a whole lot worse, so thank you. And I'm sorry you ended up hurt because of it, we'll be sure that doesn't happen again!" He needed to improve his magic and his overall ability to fight, these past few days had been proof of that. Training from the town guard was only going to get him so far out here and his training with Cedric, however helpful, wasn't enough either. Hopefully he could find someone here in Mutebo to train him. "Uh... So how are you feeling by the way? I don't think Machina feel pain do they? Are you doing okay?" Ethan asked uncertainly, "Anything we can do to help?"

Cecil really wasn’t understanding anything, especially why it was essential for her to do that when it was possibly dangerous for her to. He didn’t know what his body temperature was right now and if he was too hot he could injure her. She was just risking her body by touching him and whatever hugs were supposed to do they probably weren’t for causing damage. The way Amuné was rambling just confused him, he wasn’t like her and constantly having to tell her that was just making him feel even more alienated from normal society. She was just making him feel bad for not understanding it, he didn’t mean for that to happen but she was definitely making it feel that way. He was not sure what he was even supposed to say about that, if there was something he just couldn’t wrap his head around he wasn’t going to get it with an explanation as simple as that. Just what did she want from him, anyway? If he did what she just did he would probably crush her, or melt her if that’s what happened when organic matter got too hot.

Gasping as the sound of people entering had been brought to his attention he very quickly he turned immediately, not just seeing Ethan and Nymira but a whole load of strangers too. Just who were these people and why were they here? Had they gone away and got new friends already? He didn’t even know how long he had been offline for, but it seemed as if they were already out trying to find new friends. He didn’t even know if he should say something, these people definitely knew he was a Machina just from looking at him in this state and in this place so that wasn’t a secret anymore. He felt a little scared, he didn’t know who these people were and here one was very quickly approaching him. Gasping he pulled back his head, slightly raising his fist as if ready to defend himself if necessary before they finally backed off.

Just what was going on? He thought he had a handle on everything until Amuné got all defensive over something he didn’t understand and these people with Ethan and Nymira entered. It was good to know that they were somewhat okay, Nymira seemed to be suffering from a leak on her ankle area but otherwise she didn’t look like she was going to cease functioning like he did. He felt pretty bad, even if he didn’t know how she got that injury. Frowning, he looked away and flexed his fingers a little, giving his reaction time a little test before looking to Norman when he gave him the option to recharge. Giving the others a quick glance he soon looked away and slowly moved off the bench, walking rather stiffly off towards the station. Frowning at the sight of it he glanced at Norman as he was opened and plugged in, keeping relatively silent as he was told to stay put.

Just how was he supposed to act around these people? He wasn’t supposed to be seen as anything but a Machina so he couldn’t act like himself, at least while there was strangers around. It felt awkward and worrying, like if he so much as spoke he would be exposed for being too much like the rest of them and they might panic too. Why didn’t they tell him anything before coming in? It was fine for them to act all normal and come on in like they had done so normally for however long they had been alive, but for him there was a lot more danger to it. He was going to have to act like a Machina might until they went away. It was one thing to trust mechanics that were around Norman and helped to rebuild him, but these people were strangers and probably Magi and all that; who knew if they were dangerous or not.

When Ethan decided to approach him and started to talk all casually he froze up, staring at him. He understood he was trying to show his gratitude but he didn’t know how he was supposed to express himself. He didn’t know if Ethan should be thankful either, he was just doing what he was supposed to do. He wasn’t like them, he was made for combat and using himself in a combat situation shouldn’t be something he was thankful for. “I was…doing what I was built to do”, he spoke, looking down at himself, “I’m a Machina, I’m not supposed to feel pain. I was just doing what I was built to do…everything is functioning correctly. I don’t need any help, thank you…” All these people must had been their new friends, but if that was the case how was he supposed to be himself? He certainly couldn’t pass as a Muran in the state he was in, not to mention he had his chest open and his body plugged into another machine. “I am having my battery charged. Don’t touch me, my body is still a high temperature after repairs…”

Kensen didn’t know what to make of the little get-together, nor did he think too much about the Machina. It did look a little too real for certain if maybe it missing some paint, but even if that was the case then why did this group have a combat Machina? Did they even need it? Surely it cost them a lot of money and it certainly didn’t belong to the Princess, especially considering how Dimuran tribes typically thought of Machina. It was certainly a little suspicious not to mention those things were dangerous. That was definitely a little too suspicious for him to let pass by, but it was probably the fact that they gave it a Muran name that made him wonder. Just where did they find it if they’re too poor to afford such a thing? Lone combat Machina were typically owned by high profile businessmen and military, something none of this lot were.

Entering the workshop, Adrianna considered just ducking out the back. The Dimura certainly wasn’t interested in being healed, and had hardly acknowledged her. Adrianna wouldn’t have really cared, except for the fact that the woman suggested she wanted to be healed later, as it if was Adrianna’s sacred duty to simply follow them around until she decided she wanted to be healed. Until then, she would continue to injure herself further, and make more work for Adrianna. What joy. The whole group was clearly preoccupied with other things, and Adrianna knew that there was a whole abode for the healers, should the group wish to venture there. The one she had healed addressed a child who was in the workshop, and Adrianna realized she recognized the girl from a short while earlier. She had been the one rushing through the halls when she left Taliya’s.

She found her gaze lingering on the kid, but that shifted abruptly when Ethan gestured to her, and Lionel pat her on the back. The man then continued to speak, and his words battled Adrianna. Back in town? job? Hadn’t they just talked about how she didn’t work for Taliya? It wasn’t her job to heal everyone just as much as it wasn’t a wood magi’s job to grow trees. Adrianna liked to help others, but she hated being treated like she was only as useful as her magic. Most magi she knew didn’t refer to others in that way, and Adrianna found herself wondering if perhaps Lionel had no magic at all.

“I uh…guess?” Adrianna said, puzzled by every passing moment this guy lingered around her. Fortunately, he busied himself inspecting the Machina next, and Adrianna watched him get quite close to the machine, and then a man who seemed in charge suggested he back away a bit. Adrianna had seen her fair share of Machina, having lived in one of the larger cities growing up, but she never saw one with the mechanisms that this one had. It looked to be a child, like a companion or ‘nanny,’ but was definitely set up for combat. Perhaps a bodyguard to a wealthy child? Her gaze shifted back over to Amune…wondering if she had some kind of status.

As the man in charge talked with her companions about Cecil, she realized what was bothering her so much about the kid. She had been using a lot of magic lately, and as she began to waver on her feet, Adrianna stepped out from behind the others and steadied her. “It’s okay, kid.” Adrianna guided her to a spot to sit, and then pulled her own water skin out of her bag. “Here, drink a bit of water…Did you get in a fight, too? Using that much magic in such a short time is going to wear you out.” Adrianna was trying to be friendly, but the look on Amune’s face was nearly that of pure horror. Had…she been trying to keep her magic a secret? In Mutebo? Adrianna clamped her mouth shut. She had spent the last few years on the road trying to hide her magic, of course it would frighten a child for her to just “out” the young girl like that.

Adrianna knelt down in front of the girl, meeting her at eye level. “Sorry for upsetting you by speaking so abruptly. I’m Adrian. I have luminous magic, and I’m a healer. I can tell when people are hurt and need to be healed, and I can also see…some of the exhaustion they feel when they’ve used a lot of magic.” Like two of the people she walked in with. “What’s your name?” Perhaps being honest with the kid would help her be a little less afraid. And if it backfired, there was always the door.

In her periphery, Adrianna noticed the guy she healed going up and talking to the Machina, but she didn’t turn her attention from the kid completely. She got the impression that something was…wrong between the two, but as they seemed to know each other well, she wasn’t going to judge. After all, she cut off all of her hair and walked around pretending to be a boy—how could she judge the strange things other people did to feel safe?