---

Gods, what an encounter that had been. Just the thought of those two suspicious blondes had Clara's stomach churning with anxiety. At least she knew now to avoid them like the plague for the rest of the journey. Which, seemed simple enough, seeing as the lady didn't want her company in the first place. Clara gathered herself and took a deep breath, calming her nerves.

Her calm wouldn't last for long as the frightening halt of the barge twisted her expression into one of shock and horror. Clara was hurled backwards, and her back met the wood flooring with a loud thud.

In a matter of moments, hell had broken loose. Clara was quick to get up before getting trampled by shrieking passengers, almost as panicked as they felt. Then she saw the window to her sides swarmed by literal crows, hammering at the glass and threatening to shatter it at any minute. Clara was one of the few not taking refuge under the seats; words could not describe her disbelief.

Clara was panicking too, yes, but she wouldn't let her composure waver that easily, even if she was surrounded by a flock of murderous birds. They had blocked all of her escape routes and were about to break through the windows, sure, but toppling over from fear would do nothing to improve her situation. Clara slowly crouched, and watched her sides.

As much as she detested those who called themselves an Inquisitor under the Status Eccelsiae name, she could only wonder where in Vitae the Inquisitors meant to protect the barge were hiding. It seemed her fellow travellers were thinking the same thing, praying for their arrival or for the chaos to suddenly dissipate. Their troubled faces weighed heavy in her heart, and Clara even tried her best to comfort some of the passengers around her, it was all she could do. She encouraged them that they would come out of this alive, that help was surely on the way. Deep down, Clara wasn't so sure.

Then, the gunshots came. Clara prayed that was the sound of action being taken against the flock of birds on the upper deck.

"Well excuuuuse me, Red." Lazulin muttered under his breath, though it was plenty loud enough for the dimunitive girl to hear as she walked off to assist Etoile. Part of Laz wonder why he even gave a shit about the inquistor-looking girl's well-being. Something about the way she carried herself, perhap, or maybe that she gave a damn about the people on deck in the first place. Whatever the case, he could figure out later once this avian menance had be-

The sound of footsteps behind him cut of his train of thought, a set pace of hurried steps, marching to a hidden beat. Trained soliders. Guards. Inquisitors If Etoile's uniform had ignite a slight warmth in his belly, the sight that befouled his eyes now brought forth a raging inferno into his limbs. His entire body seemed to shake for a moment as his hands clenched into tight fists, his eyes turning towards the ground. Slowly, he counted down from 10, keeping his breathing nice and ste-



The roar of gunfire shook him from his attempted mediation, and the voice that followed it made made attempting to slip back into it impossible. He sounded every bit like the kind of snobby, pretentious Inquisitors that Lazulin had grown to hate. With great difficulty, Lazulin stowed all of the hatred on his face away into a small place in his subconscious mind, putting up his usual facade as he walked up to the Inquisitor as the apparent leader asked for volunteers.

"Wild and Crazy, you say? Well, I think you've got one man willing to take that title." The smile on his scarred-face may have come easily, but it didn't make the sting of kow-towing to these glorified thugs burn any less as the words left his throat. "I'd rather try my hand at shutting this thing down then end up as bird feed when you all run out of bullets." He walked past the group of guards and inquisitors towards the edge of the barge, a hand keeping his cloak wound close to his body despite the best efforts of the winds grasping fingers.

"So, Mr. Boss Inquisitor, what direction do you think the damn thing is? Ain't going to do nobody no good if I get stuck walking in the wrong direction." Lazulin spoke without turning back to face the man, letting his face rest a bit from the fake smile, but still keeping up the cheery tone none the less.

That question has to be a trap to see if any of us know anything about magic. Anyone with even passing training in magic would likely be bale to feel their way to the focus by seeing how the magic in their body reacts to the environment, only to come back to face either chains or a firing squad. Depends on the Inquisitor in charge, and despite the cheery smile and demeanor, I doubt that this man is the merciful type.

---

The consecutive gunshots soon came to a stop, and from the corner of her eye Clara could see there were a lot less birds by the windows than before. Some had even flown away, likely taking to the skies where the rest of them were gathered. Clara took back everything she said about how rickety this old hunk of metal was.

But there air still felt tense, and Clara struggled to gather her thoughts amidst the chaos. All she wanted wanted to do jump out and sprint away, and had her legs carried the power to outrun the entire flock, she would have done so a lot earlier. Instead, Clara was trapped inside, frantically pacing up and down its floorboards thinking of what to do. It was only when she stopped to breathe and looked out to the depths of Ifrise Forest that she realised something strange, even stranger than the sudden crow attack.

The strong abundance of magical energy Clara had felt before was almost gone.

Ifrise Forest was a land fertile with ether, she could tell from the rich amounts of energy she sensed when the barge entered the area. Yet Clara could hardly draw any into her body anymore, as if she had never been born with ability to do so. It felt wrong, unnatural, and Clara felt the urge to leave. But venturing outside alone, with ravenous birds at her tail? Clearly not the wisest choice.

A familiar streak of red caught her eye as it dropped in front of the window, and the appearance of the young girl she had seen earlier took shape. Clara heard a barely audible yell above where she stood, and assumed that no one else had taken the opportunity to walk into the mysterious forest just yet. But perhaps this was the start she needed to free herself from this pandemonium, a start to finding out the cause behind this strange phenomenon. Clara really didn't want to sit still and wait to become bird food, and clearly, neither did the little girl. Perhaps she had felt the same disturbance in the land's ether, too. Perhaps she was just like Clara.

Still, Clara had her suspicions. Then again, what regular person would even want to risk stepping outside after everything that had taken place? Looking around, she was sure no one inside was itching to find out whatever was causing this mess.

Clara was very, very tempted.

She walked towards an emptier part of the carriage and forced one of the barge doors open, placing one boot on the soil. Ifrise's ether was still there, and it was a relief to Clara knowing she could still sense it. But it had nowhere near as large of a presence as it had just moments ago, she hadn't a clue as to what this magical blockade was or where it was coming from. Clara couldn't let fear overcome her now, even with her magic gone and the Inquisitors in such close proximity. Screw her uncertainty and suspicions, she was going to die here if she didn't take the risk. Clara figured the Inquistors would be too busy defending the barge from the birds to be suspicious of one regular civilian walking into the forest anyway. Clara's pace quickened, intent on chasing after the young girl.

“Wait, you can't just run in there by yourse—”

Something flew over her head before she could finish, and Clara very nearly screamed thinking it was the sound of birds on the hunt for her flesh. With a sharp swivel of her head she saw the reckless blond boy from before accompanied by another man of similar features, hanging from a tree of all things. Clara didn't know what to make of this circus act, other than it was just silly to even think about right now. In another time she would have burst out laughing as any circus act would have made her, but this was a life-or-death situation, she had to take it seriously. Clara could only manage an awkward look of worry at the one who smashed his forearm into a tree branch, before speeding past to catch up to the young girl.

That would now make four people venturing into the depths of Ifrise Forest.

Well, it seemed like at least for now, Etoile was pretty safe in regards to the Inquisitors. They (quite reasonably) seemed much more worried about imminent death via demon bird than taking her into custody, and for that, she was thankful. She didn't have time to be prideful in the situation she was in, and knew it. Oh, it most assuredly rankled her, but that took a backseat to trying to make sure her leg was okay and she was ready to do something silly.

Hiding behind the Inquisitors, she pulled out a strip of clean linen from one of a series of pouches that lined her belt, looking at it for a moment, then back down to her leg, and finally to her nonfunctional arm. "This is going to be rather awkward," she muttered, before attempting to bandage the wound. By the time she'd finished (having had to use her teeth and a single hand, as well as twisting her foot awkwardly to press down the linen on the floor so she could wrap it tightly enough), she'd seen three different people jump off of the barge, and grit her teeth through its grip on the bandage. No matter the circumstances, she wasn't one to be left behind while other people did the work for her. And, as it turned out, the wound wasn't as bad as she'd thought. Though it was painful, it was definitely no artery. The bandage was helping immensely. As long as she didn't do anything too crazy, like, say, jumping off of a barge, it would probably be fine. Which, of course, was exactly what she was about to do.

The cold logician in Etoile appeared to be asleep. She felt a little bit like she had a fever, actually. Flexing her leg and hoping it would take her through the jump, she walked over to the edge, testing the limb at the same time. It's amazing the difference a couple minutes and a bandage makes, she reflected. Then, with a little hop, she cleared the railing, flipping about it and ending in a cat hang against the side of the barge. Looking down at the twenty or so feet beneath her, she scouted for the best, most even place to land. Eventually deciding on one (pressed for time as she was), she took a deep breath and released her grip.

The wind rushing by her ears gave her a few seconds to appreciate just how high up she was before she thumped into the ground, absorbing the impact with her strong legs, falling into a deep crouch. She winced slightly. On one hand, it might've been a better idea to roll. On the other, she looked down at the barge track, covered as it was with rocks of varying levels of jagged and unpleasant, that's not something I want to try rolling on without an arm. Out in the depths of the forest, she could just barely see the torch-red hair of the oddly familiar girl, and above him he could see the gold-haired kid and the sliver-haired adult whose permanent job seemed to be keeping the kid in line. She rolled her eyes at the kid's tree-hopping theatrics (and at the fact that the older one didn't seem quite as acrobatic, given the shout) and began to pat herself down, making sure everything was still in place. Sword, mantle, belt, pouches, backpack, she ran through all of her essentials before setting off at a reasonable pace after the red-haired girl. Though it turned out that she wasn't the only one out there, as Etoile ran into the older-looking Thlecian woman that had initially spoken to her in the Eoldysseus, glaring slightly at her.

"Hello there, nice day, isn't it," she said dryly.

As she continued walking, her metal arm clanking uselessly by her side, her eyes narrowed. Whoever had started this whole mess was...irksome. Yes, that was a good work. She pulled her sabre from the sheath, using it to lop an irksome branch out of her way. While she wasn't particularly skilled with left-handed swordsmanship, she was good enough to be a threat. And that's what she wanted to be to whoever decided that demon birds was a good idea. Her leg twinged unpleasantly, and she winced, looking down midstride. Blood was starting to show on the outer layer of the bandage. She put the sword away, pressing a hand to it and closing her eyes, breathing deeply. Whatever was going to happen, it needed to happen quickly.

---

From behind, Clara could hear the faint clinking of metal.

"Hello there, nice day, isn't it."

Clara tensed, realising it was the blonde woman she had spoken to earlier. Her face had become more beaten and dirty since the first time she had seen her, and the unsettling glare in the woman's eyes told enough about her current condition. If Clara could recall, the woman had left for the top deck just minutes before the birds attacked. She would have offered words of sympathy in that moment, but her previous suspicions forced her mouth shut.

An ominous screech rang from within the darkness of Ifrise Forest, and Clara felt every single bone in her body shiver. Her heart pounded against her ribcage as a massive shadow flew overhead, she was too afraid to gaze up at whatever had just passed over group. It was at this point that Clara knew she had ventured way too far to turn back now. Whatever lay ahead had to be dealt with if she wanted to escape.

With an actual group forming it seemed Clara's survival chances were looking a little better. But with her absence of magic and the people this current group consisted of — a girl who looked to be barely in her mid teens, two careless boys who could jump through trees better than they could think rationally, and a mysterious swordswoman that, though looking as if she had actual combat experience, had her fighting chances incapacitated from her injuries — she could only worry. The gunshots that resounded in the distance did little to calm her concerns. Clara could only mutter a small prayer to the Gods to ease them.

Then the reckless blond boy from earlier decided to sprint ahead of the group, shouting the most foolish thing he could have come possibly up with. Clara gasped as she saw his fair hair fade into the shadows, into the direction that wretched, bone chilling shriek had come from. She shot a panicked look at the swordswoman as if she could somehow stop the boy from running into certain death, until she realised the woman's leg was starting to bleed through hastily improvised bandages.

Clara felt her heart swell up in that second of panic, something she hadn't felt in years. In front of her very eyes, a child had made themselves vulnerable to a danger beyond their control, exposed to a force they alone couldn't possibly fight against.

It all felt dangerously familiar to Clara.

Her steps quickened, zipping past the blonde swordswoman. For a moment, Clara pushed her fear aside, only a single unrelated intention in mind. Without a word, she took off into a terrifying sprint towards the imminent danger she had once thought of retreating from. She could hear the wind rush past her ears as she gained more speed, swiftly closing the distance between herself and the young boy. It wouldn't take long for him to come into her sight again. Reaching her arm out, Clara grabbed the him by his collar and tugged him back with great strength.

She didn't wait to catch her breath, nor did she have time to regret what she had done. Clara locked eyes with the boy as her hands gripped his shoulders like a pair of vices.

""You idiot! Are you out of your mind, boy?”" she hissed.

"The only otherworldly force looking out for Blondie over here is called dumb luck, Red. Perhaps with an emphasis on the 'dumb part of that equation, but at least he seems like he grows on ya." Laz came up behind the group, having taken his time following them in order to watch the new threat that had descended upon the Inquisitors. Part of him said it was purely to gauge how much of a threat they would be, as the stench of Malum was plain to see in their twisted forms. Another part of him almost believed that, if it wasn't for the ghost of a smile that danced upon his face as he saw one of the bastards go down as one of the raptors went for his throat. His gurgling death wail and the cries of his comrades served as Laz's cue to leave before the dark smile on his face grew into a full-on grin.

Honestly, he was surprised to have been able to catch up with the rest of the group but didn't give it too much thought, instead choosing to take a deep breath as he felt the magic crackling through his veins again. Bringing a hand up in front of him, he smiled once more as he let the ether flow and bring forth wisps of necrotic energy curling around his fingers. After this brief display, he cut off the magic, turning around to face the group.

"Childhood fairytales aside, let's get moving, yeah? I don't care how many of those inquisitors end up bird chow, but if we all keep dragging our feet like this, then it's only a matter of time till they move on to the civilians." On that note, he set forth deeper into the woods at a brisk pace, eyes glimmering beneath his silver locks as familiar urges started to surface within him, stirred by his interaction with the Inquisitors. "And do try to be careful. We're facing a Maleficarium if that last batch of devil birds were any indication, and that means they likely have a whole host of nasty tricks in store for us if we let our guards down and charge in like idiots. So, in essence, move quickly yet also carefully, and try not to end up a quivering pile of decayed rot on the ground if you can help it. The smell is quite atrocious."

A moment's pause.

"Anything you want to add onto that, Red? You seem like the type who always have something to say."

---

Clara ignored the boy's retort and false courage and kept her worried eyes fixated on him. She hadn't felt this way in a long time.

But a realisation snapped her back to reality, and she quickly pulled herself away. Clara had panicked, in that moment she had let her emotions overwhelm her. She cursed herself for making such a careless mistake.

Steady yourself, Clara. Don't let it happen again.

In that same moment, Clara felt a surge of energy pass through her body, as if a part of her soul had been restored. There it was, the ether from the forest soil circulating below in great abundance. She allowed her own ether to flow throughout her body, from the ends of her toes to the tips of her fingers.

The group soon caught up, and Clara realised the presence of a person she hadn't encountered before. He was a young silver haired man with an unsettling glint in his eyes, which Clara was quick to avoid looking at. It shocked her to see his overt display of his powers, and his knowledge of what was likely going in ahead garnered her suspicions. Perhaps he wasn't as overly cautious as she was when it came to using magic, but something about the man's smile and demeanour made her want to keep her distance.

When the young red head spoke, Clara frowned. The word 'criminal' wasn't the most appealing title to her, but as sinister as it sounded it wasn't necessarily false; in essence she was just a homeless runaway, a deceptive thief who stole to survive. But she was at least grateful that she had found herself with people who were just like her. Clara never thought she would ever find herself amongst a gathering of magi in her lifetime, even in such unusual circumstances. From what had just been said, the reserved young girl was a fulgur magi, and the talkative blond boy an ignis one.

Clara was still hesitant. Despite her company, just the thought of letting her crystal surface made her nervous, it had been so long since the last time she had. But if she was going to live to see another day, she was going to have to cooperate.

"Well, life story aside, I was born under the sign of terra," she said in a low, but audible voice. "I can make this red crystal that can cover my skin and any solid object. Like this, see?"

Slowly raising her left arm for observation, a bright scarlet crystal covered Clara's hand. After a few seconds of turning her hand the crystal shrank back into nothing, disappearing from the surface of her skin.

"It's very, uh… hard," Clara added, unsure what other obscure details she could give like the boy before her had. "I guess if there's one thing my crystal can do, it's to not break. Unless your magic is that strong, you could probably swing a sword at this stuff and it wouldn't leave a scratch."

Without a reply—barring the full-body tensing that Etoile had become so familiar with in her own life—the taller woman took off after the stupid blonde jackass. For once, Etoile could agree with someone; she had no idea what the kid was doing, going off on his own like that in a forest with a known murderer who was capable of controlling the wildlife. She was tempted to ask what he was thinking, but then realized: In all likelihood, he isn't thinking at all..

She wasn't quite as fast as she might've been with an uninjured leg and functional arm, but she could keep up passably, at least. It took her some time to catch up, and by the time she reached the other woman, a small grouping had formed, composed of the woman, the kid, the redhead—Arghh, who IS that?—and other man who she hadn't seen before. As she watched and listened to what she assumed the ending part of his speech, she felt a chill run down her spine. She hadn't seen a malum in quite a while, and she always forgot how uncomfortable they made her.

Despite that, as soon as she approached them proper, she felt a weight in her chest that she hadn't realized was there disappear, and more importantly, a sudden jolt of pain as the magitech arm reconnected with her nerves, regaining functionality. She sighed out a heavy breath of relief as she joined the group. From what she could gather, they were having a little strategy meeting, going over their capabilities. Another rush of relief, this one internal. Finally, a beat she could really dance to. She might've been out of practice, but she hoped not too much.

That said, she didn't want to advertise her past too much, unlike the blonde. So the first thing she said upon rejoining the group, flexing her arm to make sure it was working properly, was a short little bit-out couple sentences.

"Classically trained ventus, specifically scholaris, with a study focus on force projection, be it precise or general, and object manifestation. Adequate at swordplay, but not surpassing at it."

Then she abruptly shut her mouth, starting to think about their composition. Crystal-based terra, sun-based ignis, sword-based fulgur. I don't know enough about the malum to guess his specialization. Sword-based fulgur isn't going to be particularly useful outside of direct combat applications, so we know that. It might be wise to start building a strategy around that. She said the crystal could coat skin and solid objects, but she didn't mention projecting it into projectiles, so it mightn't be too useful for direct offense; perhaps more of a combat support application in general. The crystal would be useful for frontline protection if it can be used to make sufficient amounts of armor, though I don't know the extent of its capabilities. Solaris pallio seems versatile, so he could fulfill multiple combat roles, but as with the terra, I don't know enough about it to adequately gauge him. Also, she thought sourly, I don't know how much I would trust him in a fight.

Her mind continued chugging through the possibilities, and she turned to the terra woman to ask about the limitations on her crystals before suddenly realizing something: If we don't have anything to call each other in combat, things could go very wrong very quickly through lack of communication.

"This is all well and good, but if we're going into combat, we should know what to call each other." She took care not to sound too imperious; she already looked like an Inquisitor, there was no need to act like one as well. She dipped into a traditional Iquenos bow. "Etoile."