..Rock salt, uncommon in Oakridge's ocean based economy. Raw grounded Iron ore, still slightly magnetic. Beef jerky, smoked and seasoned with birch branches. Ethanol and antibiotics, the very basics of first aid. And Phoenix Down, a rare medical injection composed of a secret blend including adrenaline, corticosteroids and various compounds - including a substance that made it glow an incandescent amber in the dark, giving it vidual credence to it's namesake. Afterall, Phoenixes were symbols of miraculous revivication and what the drug did was nothing short of a miracle.

These were the supplies Montero Timberson had found at the marketplace in Oakridge City, even if he had to deal with a shady merchant or two, the variety of goods and discounted prices made the trip worthwhile.

But looking at the time, he wondered what else he could do in the next hour and a half.

Then, just as he was about to leave the stand, a booming soundtrack came over the electronic billboards that dotted the city. Montero stared at the screen with visually brightening expression, more specifically, at the flashing words:



"Seerie. Maps. Directions. Oakridge Stadium. ...Now."

---------------------


The Stadium, unexpectedly and unlike it's name implied, was an underground hall that was led in through the tunnels that go out of Oakridge City. The air gushed, dry and chill, past the grand doors when they slid open - revealing blinding lights all centered on a raised and almost floating stage in the middle of it all.

The Guardian walked in heart beating with excitement that saturated the stands with a nausea inducing loudness whenever a duelist showed up. As expected, there were soldiers on duty here - not as security, but as participants in the grand event. Although he wagered that wearing their gear was uneccessary and possibly detrimental to the enjoyment of others, not everyone liked the military afterall.

Montero included.

-------

"Before we go on a break, we've invited a real Guardian from the famous Oakridge Academy to give us a few words."

Suddenly, the screen panned into the crowd and Montero was soon staring at a reflection of his suprised and awkward self among the others. ...They certainly didn't invite him.

"Let's hear from Mr ---"

He frowned at the many expectant looks coming his way, immediately regretting his decision to wear the Academy badge out in public - even if it was mandatory to do so ...at worst, if caught, he would say that he was tracking possible renegades or some rubbish like that. Anything was better than the anxiety he faced now.

"..."

The silence was painful.

"...Timberson."

So was saying his name. Montero winced physically.

"Timberson! Yes! We've invited him to show us all an example of what Spirits look like. THE REAL STUFF. To inspire our duelists before the finale!"

That's shallow. Montero mused judgementally, but his face was still marred with discomfort from all the attention, too much to even express it.

"...But you know what they look like. They're on the cards." His voice almost a murmuring complaint, too bad the stage crew had a microphone bot hovering right by his sleeves broadcasting everything.

"Of course! BUT! We don't see them everyday like you Guardians do, do we?"

_{Why is he so weird?
It's just a spirit, what's the deal with this guy?
I heard that Kade Sicario came too.
Is he a guardian? Why is he so ...different from her?
Hey, do you think Kade couldn't come and he's her replacement?}

"YEAH! Show us a Spirit! C'mon! GUARDIAN." Yelled one of the duelists, Cebion, with palpable disdain in his voice. A spiky, orange haired punk with piercings through the nose. His rival, Touchspell, a muscular hirsuite youngster with a light beard, seemed eager to see a spirit too though the young man was much less rude than his opponent.

Clearly, the announcer had played with the audience. Now a line between them and Guardians like Montero was being drawn and if he did nothing soon, the divide will only widen further at the egging of the announcer.

"...fine." Montero followed the microbot that led up to the platform where the spotlights were truly blinding.

He took a deep breath.

"Lucy. Harriot. Alice. Ethel. Return at once." He said in an almost parental tone. Immediately, multiple orbs of palm-sized lights appeared from the nooks and crannies of the stage, the spirits had been out exploring. Montero raised his lantern and the small caged door opened on it's own, inviting it's residents home.

The audience kept quiet and attentive at the show, save for one voice.



"Wisps!?"

Montero turned to look at Cebion.

"That's lame."

There was a moment that annoyance saturated the Guardian's entire mien, fortunately he had the hindsight to realize he was on camera and kept calm.

"Hmph." Montero still scoffed. He stared at the duelist for a long moment, looking past his eyes, an idea came to him. "...Hold still."



Montero's other hand scribbled furiously at the air, then before Cebion could react, the Guardian lunged at him - only to touch him lightly above the heart with his pointer.

Suddenly, waves of radiance rippled out and when they subsided. A small orb of light, similar to Montero's wisp friends, emerged from the young boy - who looked utterly stunned.

Montero turned to face the audience, flourishing his coat as he spun on heel.

"Just because you can't see them, doesn't mean that they aren't there. Spirits are without-"
He raised his hand in a gesture upon which the new spirit danced freely, the sound of small chiming bells accompanying the dance. "-and within all." Or at least, up until the Jenova crisis.

Montero looked at the crowd, especially at the announcer who sat behind a glass box.

"The term Guardian doesn't apply to just us, it applies to every Human being. For we Humans have an ancient symbiotic relationship with them, we mutually benefit each other and have a duty to one another. They help, we protect. They toil to bring the rain and sun upon our lands where we grow our food and from the earth we till and plants we grow, new young Spirits are born. Such is only one of many ways that our fates are intertwined, since the begining of time." He lectured in a practiced manner, as if he had repeated this many times before.

"Know that not just us Guardians, but the pure of each and every one of you posseses Spirits too, who chose YOU to be their Guardian." He pointed at them, then curled his finger.

"Cherish them."

"So little one," The spirit perched on Montero's finger as he spoke to it. "Want to return to someone who calls you 'lame'?"

At that moment, Cebion's face turned a colour even brighter than his hair.

---

"Stop it Right there, buddy. Not anot'er step from you. We know you ain't no heala. Guardians don't get implants! Now tellus whatcha really after and maybe we kill ya quick?"

Jomen's gaze flitted from man to man examining each, his augmented eyes zooming in on their weapons as he mentally catalogued and sorted the extremists. None among them seemed to be their leader which meant that she or he was somewhere still inside the building. However, there were still six angry, nervous extremists who were already doubting him and ready to pull their triggers given any wrong action. Slowly, Jomen raised his had to his mouth, each motion deliberate, as he made eye contact with the extremist who had spoken. He opened his mouth and sunk his teeth into the thenar eminence, the grouping of muscles between the base of his thumb and wrist, of his right hand. The fierce burn of the wound almost made him pull away, but he resisted the urge, focusing on the task before him. He held the position till blood began to well up and then removed his hand for the extremists to see. Blood dripped down from his hand and settled into the newly cluttered carpet below as the taste of iron registered on his senses.

Ignoring the pain as well as the taste in his mouth, he raised his other hand above his wound. Inside himself, he called out to the spirits who resided within him for their aid. A drop of crystal clear water no larger than a green pea formed at the tip of his left index finger. It would have been difficult to see if Jomen had not added a slight glowing effect to the magic with some slight help of the fire spirits within him. The drop fell from his finger and landed upon his wound spreading outward to cover its entire surface. From where it landed, the flesh upon his hand rippled like that of a stone thrown upon still waters. There was a deep sensation of itching at the site of the wound, but also of relief. When Jomen next raised his hand, the only unmarked skin was upon his right hand.

There were murmurs in the room at this as the extremists glanced among themselves in confusion. Jomen could see it the question in their eyes, if he truly were Guardian Healer, what was he doing here of all places? There was still one more issue to resolve before he would speak on that. He touched the side of his temple were the release mechanism for his left eye was located. There was a small click and half of his vision went dark. When Jomen raised up his augmented eyes for the group to see, the room went silent. Intense gazes around the room looked from the eye to the figure before them. Satisfied that they were no longer doubting that he was who he said he was, Jomen replaced his eye and felt some small sense of relief as his full spectrum of vision was reasserted.

"Aright les say you is who you say you is after all, Heala. What is it you be wantin?" The same one spoke up as before, this time, however, a new man entered from one of the nearby doors. The most distinguishing feature of the man was his massive sword that hung from the man's back as well as the air of authority that hung over him. Jomen altered his focus to the new man picking up visual cues from the mans demeanor. His muscles spoke of the ability to use the weapon effectively, but there were several interesting clues to the man's current state of mind. His clothes were wrinkled and very well worn, in addition bags under the mans eyes spoke of several sleepless nights, and the obvious tension in the man's shoulder muscles all told out of an exhausted man at the end of his mental rope. It was possible that what this man really wanted right now was an escape from this situation.

He turned to face the man stared slightly above the man's spiked up hair, avoiding direct eye contact. "I would like for everyone to leave this building alive and safely. Everyone in this building." There were disbelieving mutters from around the room, except for who Jomen assumed was the leader who just watched silently. Jomen's face did not change from its calm neutral expression, he simply waited for the room to calm down once again.

"I have a proposition for you all that I hope you will consider with utmost seriousness. One that will not only save not only the lives of the innocent civilians you have stored above, but also your own lives while simultaneously helping to change public perception of your cause to a more positive light." At that the leader's eyes rose in surprise and it seemed a light of hope began to show in the faces of his men. "The offer is this. Release the hostages, come with my unit to fight against the Stigma directly at the Battle of Ledale. I know your fight is with the UDF and Field Marshall Angelos and as far as I am concerned, you may have some valid points. I have not yet examined or heard enough of your doctrine to say one way or another. My responsibilities are to the civilians and the spirits in this land threatened by the Stigma, not to dispose of potential fellow human allies. I can call another vehicle and travel with you to Ledale to ensure that you will not be harmed. If you help save your fellow humans then you will improve your reputation in the citizens eyes. Especially if they hear that a Guardian reached out to you for assistance to turn the tides of the battle."

At this moment, his eyes at last made contact with the leaders eyes. "You are in Oakridge, a city filled with police and Guardians, this is your only opportunity to get out of this situation with your lives and your honor. Come with me, fight the Stigma, and further your own goals." Jomen settled back as the men in the room began to talk among themselves some excitedly, some more cautiously, but the obviously the only one whose opinion mattered in the room was now the leaders. Jomen hoped internally that he had offered the correct argument to sway the man, otherwise it would become much more difficult to save the hostages. If they did accept, there may be some political consequences to allowing them to join the fight, but the lives of the citizenry were more important as well as doing everything possible to obtain victory at Ledale.

The leader spoke at last. "What happened to your eyes?" The question threw Jomen from his train of thought and he blinked in surprise and discomfort. Memories came back to him that he would have rather never have remembered. He hesitated, before answering.

""I had an accident when I was young."

"Did you truly?"

"...No."

"What then?"

"...I burnt them out of my skull." Jomen closed his mouth and took a slow, deep breath, his nostrils flared out as he waited for the leader's decision. Would he accept or deny him?

As Kade made her way down through the roof top entrance she would find no other obstructions. With the building being held by so few, there weren't enough people to have a regular patrol walking the hallways, especially with two in the entrance, two on the roof, one guarding the hostage, and the boss floating from area to area. That only left three people stationed along the front of the building on the second floor with their guns drawn. Each and every member had a modification of some sort, whether they were voluntary or modified by necessity after a Stigma attachment no body could tell at a glance, however, this group of people had taken advantage of the opportunity and had armed themselves. This was part of what made dealing with Augmented peoples so dangerous, was that you were never quite sure what they were capable off, what weapon they had hidden. Typically these augmentations were uni-tasked, designed to do one thing really really well, and little other than that. Brett's arm, for example, was capable of shooting very big bullets, very fast, or shooting a lot of them all at once like a shot gun. Despite its awesome offensive capability, Brett could never open a bottle of water with that hand, could not open most doors, could not even wipe his own rear with that hand. So once you figured out what their unique quirk was, all you had to do was watch out for that. Unfortunately for Ajax, he was simply standing around out front waiting for the signal. He was standing still, statue like, waiting for something to tell him it was time to act. A sign of struggle, a spirit to call on him, something. He couldn't even see the three in the windows well enough to make out what kind of modifications they had.

Kade, on the other hand, came across them before she found the hostages. They were on edge, obviously under a lot of stress. They had either been working on this non-stop for far too long, or they were complete amateurs. With her spirit enhanced senses, Kade could probably hear the dry swallows and the increased heart rates. They felt so confident they didn't even think to check behind themselves periodically. All the same, there were three of them with guns and only one Kade. She could see, if she chose to look, that one of the gunners was a small girl, not much to her frame, but it was clear that her left shoulder and arm had been replaced, and probably her left knee and down as well. Next to her on the ground laid a large four-way throwing star, an incredibly impractical weapon for anybody who didn't have colossal strength.

"Hey Yumi," A metallic voice rang out from one of the other people at the window.

"What, Cat?" The girl with the shoulder prosthetic replied tensely.

Cat, apparently, was covered head to toe in a cloak of some sort, so Kade couldn't make out the details, but the way the hood of the cloak was formed indicated that there was something other than a normal human head under there, and with the extra metally voice, it seemed as though they may be wearing some sort of armor.

"I'm getting tired of this. This isn't working. We should be out there going after him, not waiting for him to show up..."

"It's not our call," the third person responded. A raven haired woman with enough bust to make Kade question if that was her modification. Though as she shifted her position slightly it became obvious from the motion that it was her arms which were covered in long black gloves from the elbows down and ended with oversized red gloves that were her augmentation. "You know we just need to follow Nimbus's orders, he will see us through this one way or another. I've known him his whole life."

The other two in the room simply murmured in compliance, though perhaps Yumi was less convinced.

Kade had not been detected, she could slip on by and continue her hunt for the hostages, or she could attempt to take out these three and reduce the resistance getting in and out of the building.

Meanwhile, in the entrance lobby, Jomen faced down the two guards and Nimbus who was apparently this group's boss.

"I see..." He said, "What if we refuse. What if we don't want to go quietly into the night? What guarantee can you give us of your promises? Sure you are a guardian, but I can see by that badge that you aren't even out of school. You have no jurisdiction, no authority. Your promises are empty."

The two guards raised their guns again at the boss's words.

Ajax stifled a yawn...

---

Jomen considered the leader for a moment, paying little heed to the guns trained upon him. This, in its own way, was yet another test of his abilities. The leader had not outright denied him yet, the man wanted a way out of the situation, but retained enough of a sense of caution to need assurances that Jomen's words could be true. Given that he had managed to maintain to control discipline with his men, it was clear that the man was a good leader. If he were to apply his focus to the task of ending the Stigma, he could become a valuable asset to the citizenry. However, if Jomen were to show himself as either weak or duplicitous, he had no doubt that he would give the order to fire with no hesitation. The scene was a precarious one, the threat of oncoming bloodshed heavy in the air, but still Jomen tried.

"If you refuse this deal, there is no penalty. The situation resumes as it did before with either a new hostage in tow or a new corpse. That's was the risk that I took when I entered this building. My goal here is save human lives, yours included. I have no desire to fight you, only the Stigma destroying our world. The situation here as it would before I made you this offer. No doubt with violence, bloodshed, and suffering on both sides.

To answer the second part of your questions, I may be an Academy student, but I am also a final year student heading into an active war zone under emergency conditions. Under UDF Military Code, Paragraph 18, Section 2 it clearly states, 'Any Guardian or final year Academy Student may recruit suitable individuals for service in times of emergency, including those that have violated UDF previously, so long as the Guardian is aware that she/he is responsible for their actions.' As for a guarantee, you may look up that specific part of the UDF Military Code yourselves for confirmation. And as I have already said, I will also accompany you myself to the Battle to ensure your exit is not impeded.

In addition, you can seize the narrative shown to the public, that will gain you yet another layer of protection from the UDF. Broadcast yourselves, make it known what you are doing: protecting the innocent people of Ledale. All of you who make it through the fight will be hailed as heroes and if any of you should fall, you become martyrs. Surely that is a better goal for you to accomplish than remaining in this office building. I am not asking you to go quiet into the night, I am asking you to fight alongside me."

The six guns trained on him wavered slightly, but did not move from his person, as their owners glanced to their leader for their orders. Jomen awaited silently, he had done and said all he could for these people, if they fired he would have no choice but to defend himself and hope someone had gotten to the hostages while he spoke to the group. He hoped they would agre though, mankind needed cooperation to survive and prevail against their shared foes.

---

---

@Prisk

Jomen tensed slightly as he felt Celise's light touch as she hooked her arm around his. He forced himself to relax as he recalled that this was a specific pattern of behavior that she had acted upon before. Celise merely showed approval for certain actions through touch rather than vocal responses in most cases it seemed. He looked at the shrine where new spirits had gathered satisfied that it would remain. As he watched the new spirits enjoy their new cover, the corners of his lips twitched ever so slightly.

Sometimes I wonder what’s going to happen after all of this. Will our spirits just leave us once the Stigma is gone? For every day that passes, I feel more connected to them than the day before, and I’m not sure I could handle all of them just disappearing. Do you ever feel like this?"

Celise asked the question as they trod toward the Main Street. Jomen remained quiet giving the question the thought that it deserved. Before he had finished thinking his answer through, he spotted two of the Mayor's private security ready with their transport vehicle to the mayor's office. Celise entered the cramped space in the back first, awkwardly holding her sword between her legs. The blade was certainly an odd one as well made of black metal Jomen couldn't identify and seemingly too light for its size. He would be quite interested to know where it came from and and made a mental note to ask her after the current mission. His own staff was even more awkward to handle inside the car, and ended up wedged against the floor closer to the front of the care and the rear view window.

They drove the only path they could, navigating through the flooded streets often backtracking to find another path. They arrived at the larger government building that housed the Mayor's office. The two security personnel entered inside to ensure that the interior was safe leaving Celise and Jomen to get their respective weapons out of the car. With some complicated manuevings and possibly some small scratches on the interior of the car, Jomen extracted himself from the vehicle. They had a moment before the guards came back outside to get them.

"Regarding your earlier question, yes. Each of my spirits are a part of me, central to my being. They are my closest friends in their own way. They allow me to be who I am and without them, I am not certain who I would be. But I believe that most of them will return should we end the Stigma, but not all. Some will need help to rebuild their homes and for however difficult it may be to let them all go, we owe them that much for all they have done for us." Jomen paused for another moment in thought.

"Perhaps they will allow us to visit."

The security team came back out and ushered them inside as a heavier rain began to come down. The Mayor, a smaller man who had heavy bags under his eyes and what seemed a near perpetual sheen of sweat on his skin. He ushered them into two ready chairs in his office and shut the door behind them as though trying to ensure absolute certain they would not be overheard.

"Thank you, thank you both for coming so much, it means so much to our town to have such valiant Guardians come to our town and rescue us from these dire circumstances. I have ready the maps of our whaling industry that you requested Guardian Jomen and as I am sure you will see, we had expanded our ability to supply the UDF with more Whale Oil before these incidents started."

Jomen reached over and took the handed maps and operations data examining them searching for additional clues that may support or disprove his hypothesis that the expanded whaling may have been the start of the problem. He left the talking to Celise as he attempted to pinpoint the creatures location.

"I see," Nimbus said as he contemplated the offer and the information. He put his hand up to his ear and said, "Cat, look up UDF Military Code, Paragraph 18, Section 2. Let me know what it says." The men gunmen in the room all retrained their weapons again, their grips getting tired, their arms not used to holding a weapon in this position for very long. It was obvious to Jomen that this was the first time these men had done something like this. All the more reason to not let it end in bloodshed.

"Sure," Siri said, "I'll tell you first, just in case..." She detailed out the route getting down to the basement, she even made a point of telling Kade how to get there that would take her around the main stairwell in the lobby, and that the electrical room would be down there in the corner. "Can't you get me out now, r-rather than take me with you? I've got a baby at home!" It was obvious that she was scared, and that she was doing her best to be brave and keep calm. She could double back with her to the roof and let her go out the roof escape, or she could stay on task and risk bringing her along. Or tell her to stay put until the power was out, there were a number of options available for how to proceed for Kade and she knew, of course, that time was of the essence.

Ajax was thoroughly bored now. He made note of the amount of time that had passed. "Jomen, we need to wrap this up quickly, we have a little more than an hour before we have to meet up with the rest and head out!" Ajax said out loud. Not lout enough for anybody inside to hear, but loud enough to make the UDF forces standing by and the police on the barricade to get nervous.

"Nimbus," Cat called back after a moment through their metallic voice, "Looks like what he is saying is true."

"Brett," Nimbus said through his ear piece, "Bring the hostages to the lobby."

"Aww man, come on, I just got them settled over here. Why the lobby?" Brett responded to Nimbus, only people on the comm lines would be able to hear it.

"Because we are letting them go, the situation has changed, and we are going to leave with them." Anybody could hear this, including Jomen.

Off of the comms, Nimbus said to Jomen, "Alright, we'll go with you, with your personal guarantee as a guardian that after this battle, we walk free. Part of that is helping us hide our identities as we leave here with the hostages. You know the second we start to leave the media drones will be all over us, and all of our negotiations will be for nothing. We will mix in amongst the group, cover as much of our augmentations as possible and head out together. We will abandon what weapons we can, so your UDF will have to re-arm us once we get to the battle sight. If this is acceptable to you, it works for me."

---

"You have my guarantee as a guardian, that you will walk free. However, if any additional crimes occur during your period of service you will no doubt be tried on that charge alone, so I recommend against any further illegal action. You may consult with me if you have questions about specific actions and their legality." Jomen felt muscles in his back relax as the group in front of him began disarmed themselves of their weaponry and prepared their needed disguises for their augmentations. The hostages began to filter slowly downwards talking amongst themselves. Another of the guards found the rooftop guards unconscious and bound up.

They were cut loose and Jomen healed them their injuries quickly. The blows they had suffered had knocked them out, but were so professionally done that the injuries were rather simple to heal. Neither had seen who had done this to them, as they had been taken out near simulataneously. The other guards glanced at each their nervously, obviously appreciative that Nimbus had decided to agree to Jomen's deal, glad they had not suffered the same.

Jomen spoke to the assembled group. "Wait here, I will have the way clear soon and after we leave all of you who were held here will be free to return to your loved ones." Jomen exited the building and approached Ajax."The situation has been resolved and we have obtained several new recruits. Thank you for being ready with backup, it is appreciated."

He pulled his staff out of the ground and put his sidearm back on in view of police and crowd. After he calmly walked towards the police and explained the situation to them. The police were openly skeptical but eventually bowed to Jomen's authority as a guardian on the matter. The media drones zoomed in on Jomen's face as he spoke to the cameras on the drones. "I am Jomen Sury and that is Ajax Armstrong, both Guardians in Training at Oakridge Academy. The hostages are to be released and the captors have agreed to be taken into my custody in order to support the war effort at Ledale. There have been no casualties on either side and we will be leaving the city in less than an hour. If you have any further question please contact the UDF Communications Office or Oakridge Academy. That will be all, thank you. Please clear the way."

Jomen gathered the large group as the police opened up the path through the media and onlookers. They walked past the crowd the augmented humans mixed in with the hostages to help hide their identities. As they walked, he sent a message to Celise with a brief summary of the situation and a request to gain passage for them all.