"Umm..." Lilliana evaded Lucas' gaze as he congratulated her about resolve and all that. And then Alex continued the assumption. "Er?" Fortunately, Kyros cleared things up for her. And Lilliana gave a thankful nod in his direction.

As Damianos asked whether a wizard was needed, Lilliana jumped up and down and waved eagerly, "Oooh! Oooh! Over here! Me!"

"So, like, how long have you been a wizard? Magic's very new to my world so everyone is pretty much equally winging it. We're doing fine, but I wanna know if there's like, secrets of magic that someone like yourself who's had study and training and a history of magic might now!" Not quite actually waiting for Damianos to approach at his own leaisure, Lilliana started scooting her way over as she gushed once more about magic.

"In particular, I'm curious why some forms of magic seem to be like, unlimited, like some people can fly forever effortlessly, or shoot basic blasts of energy without end, but other spells seem to drain your 'mana' as we call it and you run out real fast. Personally, I'm in the category where I really like my spells, but they seem to drain me really fast." @Letter Bee

Alex sighed and told Lucas, “Yes, I am a trained killer, but I’m not sparing to get a little bit stronger or to hone my skills. I’m sparing to know how much strength I need to output to counterbalance this so-called team of ours. If I use too much power while you all have sufficient enough skills in combat I run the risk of over excreting myself and becoming a burden to you all. However, on the other hand, should I output too little power while you all have insufficient skills: Then I run the risk of harm to myself as I try to counterbalance that while also trying to save some if not all your asses. You see where I’m coming from? Working as a Bounty hunter you usually don’t work in groups, but in this situation, I have no choice and have to properly prepare myself for the trials ahead.” With that out of the way, Alex smiled when Lucas mentioned not having a keyblade.

“Who needs a keyblade,” Alex mused before he lifted his right arm and tapped the watch on its wrist and added, “When I got this.” He wasn’t too sure about the whole Keyblade thing, but he knew his Zoo would be able to take on anything that got in his way.

“If we’re going to spar with Kryos, then I’ll let the so-called knight go first. It will give me enough information to know what type of strength output I will need when fighting alongside him,” Alex said not really caring who fought first. Seth really didn’t pay too much to Damianos or Lilliana’s bombardment of questions. He wasn’t too keen on the whole magic talk. He stopped believing in magic a long, long time ago and didn’t understand her fascination with it.

Seth watched Damianos leave and when he was gone. Seth turned his attention to the bottle once more. He let it sit in his hand as he marveled at how quickly they created the serum. He laughed a little, “Since it was this easy to make. I wonder how pissed Jinx will be when she finds out.” Seth laughed as he remembered How Jinx was quick to fly off the handle when she found something to be much harder than anticipated. Especially when it came to vaccines and remedies since she claimed to be the best Healer in the world.

“I wonder how mom and dad are doing,” Seth said to himself before he placed the Calming Draught on the table next to his bed before he walked over to the door Damianos had left from. He figured getting in a few hours of training wouldn’t hurt. He walked through the threshold and found a group of people near the end of the hallway. He sniffed the air and mentally listed off everyone: Lilliana, Damianos, Kryos, and, Alex. He growled when he smelled Alex’s scent. Something about his scent made Seth tense up. The amount of blood surrounding him made Seth uneasy.

As the Seth walked towards the group Alex saw him coming and mocked, “Oh look. Fluffy decided to grace us with his presence. Guess you decided to train with us instead of curled up in a ball and sleeping through the whole day.” Seth stopped and let out a low guttural as his pupils became slanted.
@The 42nd Gecko@Letter Bee@WXer

"Well, Lilliana," Damianos said, "I've been a Wizard since...fourteen years of age; I am eighteen now. As for secrets, well, there's a few I can teach you." A frown. "Well, so-called 'unlimited' spells aren't really unlimited; thier Mana cost is just negligible."

Another frown. "You don't have Mana Potions where you are from?" He then drew a blue bottle, of a different shade than the calming draught, "Here, try these; Moogles also sell them."

Kyros, meanwhile, had been wiping off the vomit with a handkerchief and some hand sanitizer, and looked at Alex, saying: "You didn't notice me sparring with Lukas?"

@Rai@The 42nd Gecko@Rex@WXer@Double@Gentlemanvaultboy@Drifting Pollen

Eli squished his face against the window of the Gummi Ship as he stared at the architecture before him. ”This is amazing! I’ve never seen anything like this before!” The pilot was quick to chastise the young man for getting out of his seat, but such strange buildings were rare to his eyes. For the most part, all of this was incredibly rare to him. He remembered waking up in a strange world, one that he did not recall, withiut any knowledge of where he came from. It was from there that a moogle had delievered a letter of invitation to him.

Even so, he imagined that whoever had sent him this invitation would think him even stranger. So there he was, the ship landing, ready to recieve a welcome from his host...or so he thought. Instead, he was approached by a few guards. He was rather confused over the whole ordeal, but did not question it. Perhaps he would be led by these men in armor to his host inside the magnificent building before him.

As he looked around the interior of the castle, he wondered how someone could have built such architecture without some kind of divine direction. Honestly, it was amusing to him. After passing by many paintings, doors, and corridors, he was led to a single door. There, the guards broke off from him, and he was left alone. He stood there for a few short seconds, preparing himself, and walked into the guest chambers.

”Hello? Is the host here?” His eyes darted about the room curiously, trying to take in as much of the scenery as possible. He thought of a room almost like this. It felt familiar and welcoming. Somehow, despite the nervous greetings, he felt comforted. It was as if he was close to home - wherever that was, anyways.

All right- maybe this weirdo was a little creepy, but he didn't seem to have any malignant intentions. Could be that this was just a meeting of happenstance, and he really was only a curious foreigner like he said. Jill still eyed the boy warily, but she lowered her gun, letting it hang lightly in one hand, pointed towards the ground.

"All right," she said slowly, "I barely understood half of what you just said, but from what I can tell you're either lyin' or you don't mean any harm. And I'm damn good at sniffing out liars." She sniffed at the air, as if she'd meant it literally, then nodded her head in satisfaction. "All right, I'm just gonna call you Orphy. And this here is-"

She jumped in surprise as another voice piped up, whipping her flintlock towards the source of the noise and then lowering it again with a sigh when the speaker turned out to be a harmless-looking... kid? Goat? Damn it, weren't there any normal people in this place?

"It's not magic," she snapped back, sounding a little like an irritated teacher, "it's Alchemistry." She looked back and forth between Orphy and the newcomer, having a hard time believing they couldn't recognize such a simple weapon. "Do they not teach you landlubbers this stuff in school?" Maybe they didn't, if they came from places where people sat around and ate leaves. Seemed the other worlds might be more different than Jill had thought.

@Gentlemanvaultboy @Rai

"The only thing I know about school is what I've seen in ancient movies." Orpheus said, floating down onto the ground nest to the body shrub and sitting cross legged like a student. "They were places you went to learn and find love, and sometimes everyone spontaneously burst into song, but I never saw one teach anything about weaponry." There was another short, electric pop as his broken eye spazzed out in his head before re-syncing with his other eye. He picked his fallen book up off the ground, gently brushed it off, and set it in his lap. This was far more interesting.

He glanced over at the boy peaking out of the bushes, the same one he had seen with the other guy in the big room. It looked like he was gene-modded too, unless he wasn't and things were as different on his word as it was on the others. Still, he tapped the spot on his own head where the boys horns would be and mouthed the word "nice" before turning his attention back to the lady.

"If you wouldn't mind, I'd love to learn how alchemistry works. Could you explain your process as you go about your business? It's sure to be interesting if its involved in weapons manufacturing. Are you making something that explodes or is it something darker?"

((Collab between Rex and Letter Bee.))

Alex Shrugged as he told Kyros, “I saw a little bit of it, but then Fluffy decided to come down.” Alex said as he motioned to Seth. Seth finally snapped and grabbed Alex by his shirt.

“What’s your deal?” Seth growled as he added, “I’m sick and tired of this BS name calling and treating me like I’m some kind of pet!” Alex didn’t seem too worried when Seth grabbed his shirt. Instead, as soon as Seth actually grabbed his shirt a smile formed on Alex’s face.

“Alright, fine. I’ll stop calling you pet names. If you can prove to me you deserve to be treated like a true warrior,” Alex said with a sly smile. Seth let out a guttural growled before he let go of Alex and turned to Kyros. He took a deep breath and calmed himself before he started.

“Master Kyros, I’d like to spar with you. I know you’ve been through a battle already. However, please allow me to battle you to prove my worth,” Seth asked Kyros as he placed his hand on his chest and bowed. Alex just rolled his eyes as Seth bowed.

Girogios nodded at that, holding out his two shields. He then said, "Whenever you're ready."

It was clear to him that Seth had a focus on melee, which in turn played to his strengths as much as others' ranged attacks. If he wasn't called upon to attack others, Giorgios would be a powerful combatant, good for most forms of defense. The stone wall to Damianos' 'nuke'.

Seth nodded, but before he got into a battle stance. Seth placed his hand on his chest once again and recited, “Oh great Solstice, please watch over us as we train. Please let your guiding light protect us from any harm. Should we parish now or in the future. Guide us through the between so that our Spirits can safely travel from the physical plain to the spiritual one where our fallen can great us with open arms.” Seth let out a breath before he looked back at Kyros and a sheepish smile formed on his face.

“Sorry about that. It’s a sort of prayer my clan recites before a battle,” Seth apologized before he quickly took his battle stance. His eyes narrowed as he examined the two shields Kyros wielded. He formulated a plan and once ready. He sprinted towards Kyros. He went for a punch, but then suddenly jumped back before quickly reaching behind him and equipping one of his Wolf Bite yoyos. He then flung the yo-yo towards Kyros.

‘Really a toy, that’s your weapon?” Alex scoffed. Seth paid no mind to him as the yo-yo flew through the air. In a second the chainsaw blades moved from inside the yo-yo to its outer radius. The teeth of the chainsaw blade spun letting out what sounded like a wolf’s howl with a metallic twang mix into it. He hoped the sight of the yo-yo would mislead Kyros, but he wasn’t banking on it.

Girogios caught the chainsaw blades with the edge of his right shield, and sure enough, the damage from the blades was 'reflected', not on Seth but on a random training dummy that was soon sawed to smithreens. The soldier's left shield came up, reflecting the light onto Seth's eyes in order to try and take advantage of the Faunus' more sensitive senses. Girogios then took a few steps forward...but then remembered that he cannot attack much, except perhaps when he was doing a shield throw, but that would not work as well on Seth as it did on Lukas. Why? Because Seth can transform into a fox, a smaller target.

Seth Retracted the Yo-yo back and cursed at himself, forgetting about the dummies. He should have known the shields could have reflected his attack. He figured the two shields were more for an ultimate defense but forgot that there must be some type of magic that allowed them to reflect any attack. He cursed at himself again as the chainsaw blades retracted back into the yo-yo so Seth could safely catch it.

“Now I’ve seen everything,” Alex said. He might have been heckling, but he was actually surprised that the yo-yo’s hid chainsaw blades. Seth snarled at him, but suddenly a bright light appeared in front of him and he winced as he was blinded. He shook his head trying to see again when he sniffed the air and his ears twitched. He suddenly jumped back from Kyros. He might have been temporary blinded, but he still had his sent and hearing. He closed his eyes to let them heal as he began to snuff the air. He then waited. Standing perfectly still.

“Damn it!” Alex yelled as he shielded his eyes and yelled, “the hell you trying to do blind me too?” Seth let out a long sigh trying to expel Alex’s ranting. Relying on Scent and smell was something Moon Bloods occasionally used. However, because Seth was partially deaf in his right ear relying on hearing was going to be difficult. Both his ears moved, trying to hear where Kyros was even if his right ear was moving so he didn’t notice a weak point.

Kyros moved closer, not running, not walking, but instead zig-zagging at a fast pace. Then, he would charge, trying to bash his shield at Seth; a weak form of offense.

Seth’s ears twitched and he sniffed the air. he had the scent but needed to pinpoint Kyro’s exact location. When Kyro’s zigged left, he seemed more alert, but when he zagged to the right. It seemed he was less sure of where he was. He could hear his footfalls clearly on his left, but it sounded like he was running in a tunnel when he was on Seth’s right.

Both ears suddenly perked up and he jumped back just barely avoiding his shield. He could feel the whooshing of air as it passed close to him. He skipped a few feet away and sighed. [i]Did he figure it out[i]? Seth thought before he shook his head and tried opening his eyes. They were still suffering from the blinding light earlier. Everything was still a flash of white.

“Shit,” Seth cursed to himself. He couldn’t use his yo-yos without sight and he didn’t dare attack either since one trip up and he’d be left open for a major attack. All he could do was play the defensive and hope Kyros didn’t see the weak point.

Kyros directed another shield bash with his right shield, then with his left, slowly increasing his pace as he began to notice a weakness in Seth's own defense. On a guess, he struck at Seth's right with his left shield, aiming for the young man's midsection.

Seth continued to try and dodge the shield attacks. It seemed his attacks were getting faster as Seth tried to pinpoint where Kyros was. He heard the muffled steps and tried to dodge his next attack. However, part of his shield slammed into Seth’s midsection and he let out a gasp as all the air in Seth's lungs was sucked out. He flew through the air and slammed into the ground before he quickly got to his feet and tried opening his eyes. The blindness has gotten a little better, but he was still blind. He again tried to listen to where Kyros was. He hopped Kyros attack from his right as an accident and hoped he didn’t see his right ear was a handicap.

“Now I see,” Alex whispered to himself as a smile formed on his face. Looks like the fox has a small handicap and Kyros knows is. Alex thought to himself. He wouldn’t say a word since he didn’t want to give Seth’s ear away.

Too late; Kyros was now striking at Seth's right with his shield, careful to pull his punches, while reserving his other shield for defense. He was getting faster as well, trying to hit the Faunus as many times as possible without hurting him too much...

Lucas observed from his comfortable spot on the floor as the foxman from the earlier meeting took up the same challenge he had just undertaken. However, as entertaining as the spectacle was, the mercenary whose name he didn't bother to commit to memory kept egging on the combatants. Has he never gone out to a night of cabaret or is he simply ignorant of basic spectator etiquette, Lucas wondered in disdain. Instead of rectifying Alex's behavior though, the inebriated knight simply stood up and started walking away just as the fight was getting good. The fun was spoiled, and he had already fought Sir Kyros anyway.

However, just as he would exit through the training hall's doors, Lucas would loudly state one thing to Seth. "You better not get upstaged by this mercenary, fuchsmann! Your people's honor depends on it in the eyes of Byzantium and Italy's aristocracy!.. My eyes!" With that, Lucas would exit with what little grace he had currently left in him. The effects of the fine wine were starting to worsen as it had been a while that he didn't have watered down swill that could still be considered alcohol. He would stumble towards his room, struggling to open the door. The windows were easier to unlock once he was inside though.

Fresh air was what he needed, and the gardens just outside their quarters promised to have an abundance of that. To his non-surprise, the odd lady was still there but she had a new acquaintance with her, the even odder Orpheus. From window sill, Lucas stared at the pair with dumb grind on his face. Now this was interesting.

@Rex

Eli observed the room quietly as the sound of a clock ticked on inside. Every moment he spent in the room was used to inspect the fine furniture and material used inside. Deciding it would be best to wait for the others, since he assumed they had gone elsewhere, he plopped down onto a chair, and waited. Of course, by the time he sat down, he was already quite bored. There was nobody here to greet him, 'nor to talk to for that matter. He looked up over at the door, as if expecting someone to walk in at any moment. Finally, after another minute, he decided to stand up and leave. If nobody would come to him, perhaps he could come to them?

He walked silently through the halls, before making his way to a door outside. The garden was an amazing sight to see and almost seemed to remind him of another garden elsewhere. He stopped to look at every single flower and piece of vegetation around to admire it's beauty. Of course, this was cut short when a small ladybug crawled up on a leaf he was inspecting. He went pale, stood up straight, and moved on to find the others. He was quite tense from the ridiculous experience, but soon calmed himself down when he noticed a few individuals in the garden.

Once more, he took a deep breath, and approached them. He put a hand up in a wave and smiled. "Hello!" He called out to none of them in particular. Better to greet them all at once and get to know them individually another time.

((Part 2 of the collab between Rex and Letter Bee.))

Seth continued to try and dodge the shield attacks. It seemed his attacks were getting faster as Seth tried to pinpoint where Kyros was. He heard the muffled steps and tried to dodge his next attack. However, part of his shield slammed into Seth’s midsection and he let out a gasp as all the air in Seth's lungs was sucked out. He flew through the air and slammed into the ground before he quickly got to his feet and tried opening his eyes. The blindness has gotten a little better, but he was still blind. He again tried to listen to where Kyros was. He hopped Kyros attack from his right as an accident and hoped he didn’t see his right ear was a handicap.

“Now I see,” Alex whispered to himself as a smile formed on his face. Looks like the fox has a small handicap and Kyros knows is. Alex thought to himself. He wouldn’t say a word since he didn’t want to give Seth’s ear away.

Too late; Kyros was now striking at Seth's right with his shield, careful to pull his punches, while reserving his other shield for defense. He was getting faster as well, trying to hit the Faunus as many times as possible without hurting him too much...[/quote]

Seth did his best to dodge, but it was clear Kyros found his weak spot. He tried to open his eyes, but still, the effect of the flash was keeping him from seeing clearly. Normal humans would have probably been able to see by now, but because of his heightened sight. It was lasting a lot longer and plus this was the first time he had seen a flash of any kind. Each strike kept Seth walking backward and one caused him to stumble back and fall to one knee. He dug his nails into the floor and knew this was a losing battle. Even if his sight did return he knew Kyros would cause another flash and cause him to go blind again.

‘I concede,” Seth said. He wasn’t one to feel ashamed to bow to a strong enemy, but he knew Alex was watching and knew he'd never hear the end of this. He gritted his teeth and waited for what came next.

Kyros gently laid down his shields on the floor, and said, "You fought well despite your disadvanatages, holding out long despite fighting an opponent who is best at defending."

He would then offer his hand and say, "Here, take my hand and get up. If you're seriously hurt, I'll take you to the infirmary."

Seth sniffed the air and went to grab Kyros’s hand. He missed once, but then took it and he was helped to his feet. She shook his head and said, “I’m fine, but the effects of that flash are somewhat in effect still. I’m getting gradually better. I could have tried to hold out, but I figured once my sight returned. You’d just use that flash again. I guess I’m not the Hunter I thought I was.”

“Nah, he just took your advantage away,” Alex spoke up before he continued, “If Kyros hadn’t blinded you. I’m pretty sure he’d be on the offensive.”

“No witty pet name?” Seth asked.

Alex just shrugged and said, “Nah, you’ve proven to be one of the good teammates However, I’ll need to come up with something to help you out with not being subjected to stuff like flash grenades. Kyros might have something already though.” Alex then sighed and added, “Although I would have loved to see what your Keyblade would have looked like since you're half human, half animal.”

Kyros smiled. "Well, Alex's world is more advanced than ours', but we do have sunglasses." Looking at Seth, he then said, "See, the Merc isn't so bad after all."

“Sunglasses should do nicely,” Alex said before he sighed, “I think that’s it for me. I’ve gotten all I needed.”

“What? You’re not going to fight Kyros?” Seth asked.

“Nah, I’ll pass. I just came down to see what I’m dealing with as far as teammates. I think I know what I’ll need to do as far as my share of the teamwork,” Alex said.

“Right,” Seth said not impressed by his response. He then asked,
“When will the Keyblade manifest by the way? I get the feeling that without it, I’ll be more of a burden than any sort of help.”

“Yeah, good question,” Alex said before he continued, “What are those who don’t have a Keyblade supposed to do? Since Heartless can only be defeated by keyblades. How can me or Seth actually help in battle?”

Giorgios Kyros responds, "Two things. One, Heartless can still be temporarily destroyed by Non-Keybladers, and Two, the Thirteen Seekers have plenty of Non-Heartless minions; Humans, mostly. The majority of their auxiliaries come from another version of Earth where Leo prevented a Nuclear War from occuring and replenished all natural resources, and now the people of that Earth serve him. Those people are armed with power armor, lasers, plasma weapons, railguns, and just ordinary guns."

He was speaking of Fallout: Apocalypse Averted. Then, Damnianos, not getting anything from Lilliana Lilliana, spoke up, turning to Alex. "People from your 'Chronos' might also be approached by the Seekers of Darkness. There's no hard evidence that they are, but they might still be."

"So we can fight the heartless," Seth said a little bit better now that he knew he could help out a little bit more.

“If they go after Chrono, they might try to get BTI on their side. If that happens we’re in for one hell of a fight since they’re the main manufactures of Robotics. However, my Zoo is one of a kind and therefore we won’t have to worry about fighting other Robotic animals. Even if they get other bounty hunters on their side, we can handle it. If we can get the king and queen to buy out their bounty hunters we can have spies among their ranks,” Alex said.

“Fighting other humans won’t be a problem for me. I’ve fought humanity for all of my life, but I’m not sure if I can kill a human. I was raised to not kill a human unless it’s necessary. Faunus don’t like to anger humanity. We know that will start an all-out war,” Seth said.

“Yes, but this is different. These aren’t your humans from your world so an all-out war against the Faunas won’t happen, but I’m wondering if these seekers will go after the Faunus.” Alex said.

“The Shadow Bloods might join them, but the others won’t. This is unless they have a Faunus already on their team, but I’m not sure if any Faunus would join them,” Seth said.

Damianos said, "They might offer the same promises we make...calming draughts are within their capabilities, as well as various apocalyptic plagues, weapons of mass destruction, and transformation spells that can permanently change the species of people."

Turning to Alex, the Wizard said, "Yes, undercutting BTI's bounty is within our power...hopefully."

“Some Faunus like the aspect of becoming Beasts. Many of them feel that becoming Beasts are the next evolution for Faunus. So it depends on who they ask and even if some of the Moon Bloods get offered. Jinx can see right through them. She might be an old wingnut, but she’s like a walking lie detector,” Seth said.

“And don’t worry about BTI’s robots. They might seem advanced, but there are easy ways to get around their AIs. They cut corners in software and therefore they’re easily hacked if you know where to look,” Alex said with a smile
[@The42ndGecko]

"Wow~ it's really that simple? No secrets of drawing power from the environment or unlimited wells of ancient power? Just drink a potion? How convenient, I'll make sure to stock up." Lilliana happily took the proffered potion. "Yeah, we didn't have moogles or magic potions, magic was still so fresh and new to everyone that we're all trying to figure out how it works together."

"Wow, Kyros is really strong! Unless there's something that can stop that reflection effect, I can't imagine how you could beat him without like, being so fast you could swoosh behind him so quick it was like you teleported, you know, with the 'vwoosh' sound." Lilliana commented on the fight. Personally, she was quite glad she didn't give it a try. All Kyros would have to do to defeat her would be to hold his shield between the pair of them and reflect the butterflies back at her.

- Lilliana, the Radiant Heart -

"Wow~ it's really that simple? No secrets of drawing power from the environment or unlimited wells of ancient power? Just drink a potion? How convenient, I'll make sure to stock up." Lilliana happily took the proffered potion. "Yeah, we didn't have moogles or magic potions, magic was still so fresh and new to everyone that we're all trying to figure out how it works together."

"Wow, Kyros is really strong! Unless there's something that can stop that reflection effect, I can't imagine how you could beat him without like, being so fast you could swoosh behind him so quick it was like you teleported, you know, with the 'vwoosh' sound." Lilliana commented on the fight. Personally, she was quite glad she didn't give it a try. All Kyros would have to do to defeat her would be to hold his shield between the pair of them and reflect the butterflies back at her.

Damianos would say to Lilliana: "There are various ways to defeat Kyros, actually; all you need are good tactics. You see, Kyros' main skills are defensive; he's known as the 'Ultimate Defender' among us. This means that he can't attack as well as other people can. Note too that the training room is an environment that plays directly to his strengths; it's relatively small and confined and he's facing only one opponent." He continued on, happy to give his knowledge to the Magical Girl, "So if you can fly, or just jump really high, and the ceiling was high enough, you can get behind him, no problem."

"Another solution is to aim at his legs; even with double shields, defending them and the feet would be very hard. Also, if you can vary your spells to create whips or tendrils, that would be even better. Versatility, Ms. Magical Girl, Versatility." The Wizard then thought of something. "Also, grappling can work, too. Lukas came close to defeating Kyros due to his grappling skills."

Eli observed the room quietly as the sound of a clock ticked on inside. Every moment he spent in the room was used to inspect the fine furniture and material used inside. Deciding it would be best to wait for the others, since he assumed they had gone elsewhere, he plopped down onto a chair, and waited. Of course, by the time he sat down, he was already quite bored. There was nobody here to greet him, 'nor to talk to for that matter. He looked up over at the door, as if expecting someone to walk in at any moment. Finally, after another minute, he decided to stand up and leave. If nobody would come to him, perhaps he could come to them?

He walked silently through the halls, before making his way to a door outside. The garden was an amazing sight to see and almost seemed to remind him of another garden elsewhere. He stopped to look at every single flower and piece of vegetation around to admire it's beauty. Of course, this was cut short when a small ladybug crawled up on a leaf he was inspecting. He went pale, stood up straight, and moved on to find the others. He was quite tense from the ridiculous experience, but soon calmed himself down when he noticed a few individuals in the garden.

Once more, he took a deep breath, and approached them. He put a hand up in a wave and smiled. "Hello!" He called out to none of them in particular. Better to greet them all at once and get to know them individually another time.

From an ordinary door would come Tocsax, clad in his black robe and hood and carrying his Keyblade openly. He would wave a hand to Eli, saying: "Hello, how are you? You must be the new Keyblader that they recruited? The...amnesiac?"

@Letter Bee Eli turned to face the stranger that had approached him. The black robes were a little off-putting to the boy, but he nonetheless gave the man a smile. He rubbed the back of his neck at the mention of being an amnesiac, though he wasn't entirely sure if that was who he was. "I suppose that's me, yes. Pleasure to meet you. My name is Eli Vaelum. And you must be the host. Right?" Eli's gaze directed itself to the keyblade the man had. He bent down, putting his hand to his chin, and inspected the weapon. "Oh wow, so that Moogle was telling the truth. You're the first person I've seen aside from myself with a keyblade." He straightened himself back up and crossed his arms, looking back up at the man.

The idea that there were more keyblade wielders fascinated Eli, though it wasn't exactly something he hadn't known. Somewhere, deep in his heart, he knew there were others. Why he couldn't think of any was something unknown to him, for he knew it was true. Despite it all, he was at least glad that he knew someone now...or at the very least met one.

@Letter Bee Eli turned to face the stranger that had approached him. The black robes were a little off-putting to the boy, but he nonetheless gave the man a smile. He rubbed the back of his neck at the mention of being an amnesiac, though he wasn't entirely sure if that was who he was. "I suppose that's me, yes. Pleasure to meet you. My name is Eli Vaelum. And you must be the host. Right?" Eli's gaze directed itself to the keyblade the man had. He bent down, putting his hand to his chin, and inspected the weapon. "Oh wow, so that Moogle was telling the truth. You're the first person I've seen aside from myself with a keyblade." He straightened himself back up and crossed his arms, looking back up at the man.

The idea that there were more keyblade wielders fascinated Eli, though it wasn't exactly something he hadn't known. Somewhere, deep in his heart, he knew there were others. Why he couldn't think of any was something unknown to him, for he knew it was true. Despite it all, he was at least glad that he knew someone now...or at the very least met one.

Tocsax smiled, "No, I'm not the host; the Hosts are the Emperor and Empress of this place. As for Keyblades, well, we've been gathering as many people with them as possible, for the purposes of survival. You haven't been to the main discussion in the throne room, it seems? Perhaps you can use a refresher on the group's main mission." A pause as he drew his Keyblade and pointed it at an empty spot on the air and said: "Replay."

The scene from the Throne room began repeating itself again, this time as a holographic effect. This time, however, there was an artificially-placed emphasis on the section relating to the Multiverse's origins and the Old Keyblade Order. Then it skipped forward to the section about the Princesses of Heart. Once this was finished, Tocsax would then say: "Eli Vaelum, from yet another broken world. You are a mystery to us as well as yourself. Nevertheless, I offer my friendship to you."

@Letter Bee Eli seemed to be unfazed by some of the information given to him, namely the Heartless. It was as if he had heard this information somewhere before. Yet, at the same time, it appeared to be new to him as well, due to his posture. "So...we're just here to stop the Heartless and Nobodies, while also ensuring we find out who the Seventh Princess is, while at the same time preventing the thirteenth candidate from being selected?" His face contorted a little bit in confusing, trying to process as much of the information as possible. "This is quite a lot to deal with." His keyblade disappeared from his hand and he crossed his arms, giving a short nod. "I understand our task, then."

He looked back up at Tocsax, giving him a small smile in return. "I accept your friendship and return my own. I recall you mentioning 'us', though. Where exactly are the others?" He uncrossed his arms to relax and placed his hands inside of his pockets.

Renovation

In his quarters, Zarxe sat in an almost awkward silence. Alpha was in the room, but neither spoke to the other. Zarxe was lost in thought, something about his argument with Xagram earlier made him start to remember something. As he tried to piece together his limited memory, the Nobody began to doze off.

Primus ~ Kingdom of Ashwall, Crimson Keep

The Crimson Keep was the home of Ashwall's royalty. Both Lyon and his sister Rena called the keep home, being the son and daughter of Ashwall's king, Duran. And for a few years now, it was also the home of a certain young knight who was also the closest friend of both Lyon and Rena. The good King Duran had recently taken ill, and whispers of succession murmured throughout the hold. Everyone knew that Lyon would sit upon the throne should the worst happen, but the Crown Prince was still fairly young and had not the same level of experience with ruling and politics that his father had. Even so, that wouldn't stop Lyon from serving his people as best as he possibly could.

"So the... expedition went well, I take it?" Lyon asked of his friend, who had just returned from an expedition he had left for some two fortnights ago. The knight nodded in silence. Unlike other kingdoms in the Imperium, Ashwall Knights held the appointed duty of scouring the land for ancient Lost Cities and to procure their most powerful relics for the sake of protecting them. Lost Cities were ruins that dotted the lands of the Imperium, not properly lived in since times of antiquity. The only things that did still inhabit the Lost Cities were Chimeras and Ogres, fearsome and territorial beasts that slaughtered anyone foolish enough to intrude. The other kingdoms considered the Lost Cities to be forbidden grounds and outlawed their exploration. Ashwall was the only kingdom in the entire Imperium that actively tasked its knights with recovering the powerful artifacts Lost Cities often held within their depths.

"Who cares about some Relic?" asked Rena in a snappy tone, "Father has taken ill, and the physicians have yet to cure him! Lost Cities and expeditions can wait a while." she didn't intentionally mean any disrespect. She understood perfectly well the importance of the expeditions. But she couldn't help it, she was a girl currently scared of losing her father, and no one would blame her for being in a sour or gloomy mood.

"Actually, I've been thinking about that..." Lyon pondered, hoping to change the subject to alleviate the depressing aura, "...how many more Lost Cities could there be? Ashwall Knights have been braving their depths for many years. Surely we will have recovered every relic sooner or later but... what next?" this got a curious glance from the knight. Had this thought occurred to him as well? Lyon continued, "There are more Lost Cities than those within Ashwall. But the other kingdoms fear them, so I fear their Relics remain buried and in danger. Could we not send our knights to those Cities as well?"

"But they're beyond our borders." replied the knight, "And outlawed in many of the other kingdoms. If we went on expeditions outside our borders, the Council of Kings might view it as an act of aggression or even war."

"But something must be done about them!" was Lyon's response as he became fired up over the issue, "And bandits and brigands have been getting better and better equipped. What will happen if they manage to loot the Lost Cities and claim the Relics for themselves? They could use their power to plunge the entire Imperium into chaos!"

"I..." the knight began, but a messenger interrupted the debate.

"Your Highness!" the messenger addressed Lyon and Rena, "It's his majesty, he... he is asking for the two of you." both the Prince and Princess nodded and silently left with the messenger, and the knight was left to his own thoughts.

And then another memory made its presence known. Some time had passed, perhaps a year or two. King Duran didn't survive that fateful night, and so Lyon was now King. And one of his first acts as King was to order the Knights of Ashall to expand their expeditions to beyond the borders. A year after this, King Lyon found himself on opposite sides of his former Knight and friend.

"Look around you, Lyon!" the knight yelled, "You've started a war! You broke the peace that your own ancestor had fought and sacrificed so much to create!"

"What I do." replied Lyon, his voice low and his tone colder than it had once been in the past, "I do for the good of everyone in the Imperium. If the other kingdoms will not protect themselves from the dangers of the Relics, then so be it. Ashwall will do it for them." his words sounded an awful lot like those of a conqueror. And without warning, both King and Knight found themselves charging at one another and becoming locked in battle. Not like the sparring they had once partook in as boys. No, only one of them would live through the day when this battle was over.

Renovation

Zarxe suddenly awoke. Another few pieces of his memory had returned. So he really had been a knight. But if that last memory was any indication, his knighthood eventually led him down a painful path. But that was all he could recall. He would have to wait for longer to remember more.

"Some of us are over here." Orpheus said from his place on the grass. It was probably rude to listen, but he couldn't very well be expected to not listen. That would be like asking water not to flow. Besides, that guy in black had shown up and the look of that coat put him on edge. That was surprising, he didn't think just the sight of something so mundane could effect him like that. "Though, I can't be sure if we count for the keyblade thing. I don't have one. She has a gun." He said, pointing to the chemist. Then, he turned his attention to the horned boy and considered him. "I'm not sure what you have. Do you have a gun too? You knew what hers was..."

His babbling was cut off by the loud, echoing clearing of a throat from Orpheus's open door. Standing there was the maid he had spoken with earlier. "Excuse me, sir." She said. "But your first course is ready."

"Bring it out here. I'll have it out here." He shouted back, waving her over. She signed, walked back into the room, and came back rolling a cart the bumped and jostled over the grass. Orpheus looked at everyone in the garden. "Anybody want some? I'll be honest, I wasn't planning on having more than a few bites."@Rai@LordVoldemort@Drifting Pollen

"Some of us are over here." Orpheus said from his place on the grass. It was probably rude to listen, but he couldn't very well be expected to not listen. That would be like asking water not to flow. Besides, that guy in black had shown up and the look of that coat put him on edge. That was surprising, he didn't think just the sight of something so mundane could effect him like that. "Though, I can't be sure if we count for the keyblade thing. I don't have one. She has a gun." He said, pointing to the chemist. Then, he turned his attention to the horned boy and considered him. "I'm not sure what you have. Do you have a gun too? You knew what hers was..."

His babbling was cut off by the loud, echoing clearing of a throat from Orpheus's open door. Standing there was the maid he had spoken with earlier. "Excuse me, sir." She said. "But your first course is ready."

"Bring it out here. I'll have it out here." He shouted back, waving her over. She signed, walked back into the room, and came back rolling a cart the bumped and jostled over the grass. Orpheus looked at everyone in the garden. "Anybody want some? I'll be honest, I wasn't planning on having more than a few bites."@Rai@LordVoldemort@Drifting Pollen

"I'd love some!" Tocsax said warmly, before going to the cart. He would then look at Baqar and Eli and say, "It's almost late afternoon. I think that we should go back to our rooms."

And indeed, the shadows were lengthening.

((Sorry for the short post; I have a long one just later.))

GM Post

It was the next day, and the group would be called to the Throne Room once more. Below the Basileus and Bassilisa was a tall, thin man in a formal outfit of black-and-white, with a Blue, Red, and White Tricolor badge that Lukas would recognize as a French Republican Tricolore. Before anyone could speak, Emperor Michael would say, "Everyone, this is Ambassador Louis Perrot of the French Republic from the World known as 'Glory of France'. He has come to us with news of one of the Princesses of Heart; as well as offers of alliance against the Heartless threat, so please treat him with the respect due to a diplomat."

Lukas might feel as though that last sentence was dealt directly at him, which it was; Basileus/Emperor Michael knew about how Lukas' world resembled the Original Timeline in that the Germans hated 'Liberal Republican Frenchimen'. Nevertheless, he trusted the Prussian-Texan to not do anything that would endanger diplomatic procedure; the man clung tightly to honor; this was admirable.

Now, the Frenchman in diplomatic clothes would say, in an elegant musical tone: "Greetings. I am Monseiur Louis Perrot of the Grand French Republic, which avoided the atrocities and industrialized murder of the original timeline and actually acted according to Sanity and Reason. And I have news of the 'Luminous-based Metahumans' that the more...romantically-minded and less clinically exact among the people of the Worlds call the 'Princesses of Heart'."

He would then pull out some sort of magitech device, whose glowing components were covered up by polymers and materials produced with pure technology to make it resemble magitech as little as possible. Pressing the button, he'd show a hologram of a young French sheperdess in traditional sheperdess clothing. "This is Adelle Le Agathe, one of our citizens from a village in the Franco-Swiss border. A woman of exceptional purity of character and mildness of temprament, she has demonstrated aptitude in Light-based Learnable Talents, which the romantically-minded and less clincially exact term as 'Magic'."

"Adelle Le Agathe has been closely watched by Agents of the French Republic since you alerted us to the existence of Luminous-based Metahumans," the Ambassador continued, "And if the danger she is in is real, and if she can truly end the Heartless threat for a lasting period, we are ready to ask her to go with the...delegation you wish to send."

The Basileus smiled indulgently, but Lukas can see that this was a mask to hide his true feelings. "Thank you for your aid," Emperor Michael would say to Ambassador Louis. "It is genuinely looked-for in such dark times, and due to the urgency, we will send the delegation via Gummi Ship immediately."

And with that, a rumbling noise can be hard in the Palace Grounds; the unmistakable and obvious sound of a magitech vessel hovering overhead with no magical muffler. With no ado, Damianos would raise his wand as flamboyantly as possible, and send out a hologram of a multicolored Gummi Ship the size of a small Corvette.

"This," the Wizard would say, "Is the Party - or Parties - Gummi Ship. Despite being a diplomatic vessel, it is equipped with Reflector Shields, a Cloaking Device, and powerful Gummi Railguns and Magitech Lasers. It is also capable of Orbital Bombardment on stun. Ambassador Louis will be going with you on this ship, by the way."

@Rai@The 42nd Gecko@Rex@WXer@Double@Gentlemanvaultboy@Drifting Pollen@LordVoldemort

Lilliana didn't pay much attention to the ambassador's slights towards magic and those who called it magic. She certainly couldn't claim that she knew what it was! Maybe he was right (though she was pretty sure he wasn't). Just because he said stuff like that didn't mean he was a bad guy. It just means he hated fun, she thought to herself with a nod of the head.

"It can lay down an orbital bombardment, that STUNS? Wow, that seems even more sci-fi than an orbital bombardment that kills. And that's pretty sci-fi in the first place. Well, it's nice to know you're so committed to being good guys that you only put nonlethal orbital weapons installations on your diplomatic vessels!" Lilliana pondered for a moment the idea of a diplomatic vessel so heavily armed.

"Seeing it's got all these crazy strong sounding stuff, but there's hopefully no one to fight at the destination, I presume we're expecting trouble on the way there?" Lilliana asked the wizard.