[IC] Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

[Hero]

The place they were in was where Emiri was born. That...that should be something she should know. And yet she was completely clueless. The fact that someone else knew more about her than she did bothered her somewhat. It would help if she could remember something herself rather than rely on the setting or someone she had just met. Except they hadn't just met. Or did they? How was she to know? She couldn't help but feel slight frustration, though she would follow Jaakuna regardless. They arrived at an old house that looked very abandoned. She could not help but raise an eyebrow at him. What in the world would jog her memory in an old house like this?

"...is this...your house?" She asked him very reluctantly. "I don't really understand...why are we here?"

---

This was another one of those times Nadeline wanted to say 'I knew it'. Still, even she hadn't seen this coming at all. Not this way. And now Clyde was dead, Levi in his place. Nadeline suddenly felt very, very nervous. She reminded her too much of Lola; she would not be surprised at all if the two had some sort of connection. What worried her more was also the fact that she would mention Jaakuna and Emiri. Had something happened while they were away? And a cleansing? The only thing that came to mind was a technique Aloa spoke of long ago, but she was unsure if that was related. She gripped her rapier tightly. Something had happened while they were gone. And what of Grant? Did they find Jaakuna? But then that would have been a good thing, the way Levi spoke was as if something tragic had happened.

Nadeline did not like where this was going.

---

Meli would shoot a look at Michel. Still, she would take his hand as her shadow would stretch around the pair, and they would sink down into it. Once they were gone, Lola would look at Shion. Normally she would never question her orders, but she just felt the need to ask. "Why don't you try to get an Esper, boss?" She asked her rather curiously.

"As both you and Michel have shown me, the Espers seem to side with the Scion of Time. As such, they may no longer be of use to me." She stated clearly. "Even so, were I to obtain an Esper, I would go straight for the top: The High Seraph herself. No other would do, simple as that." That much was understandable. Lola would nod and stand by Shion, her own shadow stretching and surrounding them. The pair would also sink in and disappear into the shadows.

[AlteredTundra]

When Jaakuna told her that it was time for them to jog her memory, Emiri would look at Jaakuna as if he had lost it. She would follow the look up with a question as to where they were and how exactly it would help her memory come back to her. Jaakuna smiled at Emiri. “This is your old house, the one that you lived in before you and your parents moved. You brought me here and told me that it was the last time you remember you and your family being happy.” Jaakuna told her.

Jaakuna was hoping that bringing Emiri to her old home would at least bring back some kind of feeling. Though, the more he thought about it, he remembered the last time they were here. “If I remember correctly, last time we were almost killed by two assassins.” Jaakuna would just blurt out as he thought aloud. “Yeah, that was not fun at all. I wonder if I should say anyth--” And Jaakuna just realized he was thinking aloud, not even realizing that what he meant to say mentally was actually being projected from his mouth in sound. Oh dear. I hope that doesn’t freak her out. Oh boy, Jaakuna seriously hoped it didn’t.

---

Levi smiled at what Wesley had just said. “You’re right. Your uncle couldn’t lose to me cause he was the very man that could sweep me off my feet. Oh the gods how that man had the most gentle touch.” LEvi would just go on and on about how wonderfully gentle Clyde was with her. “The things he could make me do. I swear, if it wasn’t for my orders to kill him, I would have stayed with him forever.”

Wesley was now just a little disgusted and sick to his stomach. “What are you even talking about?”

“Oh--you mean you don’t know?” Levi smiled and placed a hand on her hip and would make sure that Wesley saw her finger, and the ring on it.

“Wait, is that..?”

“Isn’t it lovely?”

“WHERE DID YOU GET IT!?”

“Temper, temper. You know you should never yell in front of a la--”

Before she could finish, Wesley rushed to Levi, Sword of Order gripping tightly, and thrusting it forward. Levi would simply sidestep and the sword as well as Wesley staggered forward thanks to his own momentum. She would then expel a simple pulse of magick to Wesley, sending him crashing into the wall hard. Wesley would get up, going to her once more, sword going for a horizontal slash as his body slightly turned, and Levi would grab Wesley’s sword wrist as he was midair. Her other hand would be placed on his chest and another dark blue pulse of magick would be sent through his body, and sending him crashing to the same wall, but at fast speeds.

“As I was saying, you should not speak to a lady like that.” She scolded Wesley. “So, where was I?”She thought for a bit. “Oh yes, about this wonderful ring. Your dear uncle gave it to me, then we got married.”

Wesley, getting up slowly, had eyes widened at the sudden news that Levi gave to him. “No, that doesn’t mean--”

“You got it! I am your Auntie Levi.” Levi said with such cheer in her voice.

Correction, now Wesley was sick to his stomach.

[Hero]

Apparently they were at her house. But it looked to abandoned and desolate. Killed by assassins? What? The brunette's violet eyes widened, quite alarmed. What in the world had she done to elicit such an action? She looked at the house, and she looked at the door, afterwards looking down at the keyhole. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a necklace. Had this always been there? She would take the key and unlock the door, entering. How could this be where she lived? He did say old house, maybe she lived somewhere else. She hoped that she lived somewhere else. This place was just...dirty. Emiri looked around, slightly coughing from all the dust in the place. Again, the familiar feeling came back, but she just couldn't get the memory from her mind. She half wondered if this was even the right place.

After a moment of just not saying anything she just looked at Jaakuna, offering only a small shrug. "Is something supposed to happen?" She asked him.

---

Nadeline's jaw just completely dropped at this point. Not only had the crazy snake woman replaced Wesley's uncle, she actually had the nerve to have married him before offing him. Had she no shame? The ring she had also seemed to have had some importance to Wesley. It must have belonged to him, or someone of his family, because he seemed particularly distressed that Levi had it. "Lady? Honestly you've gone mad." Nadeline stated. "Have you no limit to your madness?"

[AlteredTundra]

When she would ask him what was supposed to happen now that they were inside her old house, Jaakuna looked at her slightly sad that nothing was popping into her mind. He would have thought that coming to her old house would surely at least bring back some kind of memory or feeling to her, even if it was something familiar or whatever. “My intention of bringing you back here was hoping that you would remember how happy you told me that you were here with your parents and your aunt.” Jaakuna said as he kept on looking at Emiri. “Is there nothing about this place that you remember? Like, not even a feeling of familiarity?” Jaakuna asked as he wanted to know if there was anything that came to her.

---

“Madness?” Levi echoed Nadeline, smiling and looking genuinely surprised. “Oh no, not madness. This is the truth. Wesley is my nephew, I his aunt, and soon to be yours, my future niece-in-law.” Levi smiled, laughed, and then licked her lips.

Lannit and Wendy just couldn’t believe it. They’ve been silent for most of the surprise that was Levi and everything that followed. They both remembered Clyde having some woman with them, but neither of them would have imagined that that woman was Levi, not even counting the fact that they married before she killed him. “You crazy bitch!” Lannit shouted to Levi.

Wendy looked to Lannit and she agreed. “It’s one thing that you marry our friend and kill him, but to parade yourself in his body as him is the last straw.” Wendy said, “Honey, let’s show this bitch why we’re the top dogs of the sea!” Wendy said smirking and Lannit nodded.

As Levi would smile, Lannit and Wendy began to emit auras of magick. Lannit’s was green and Wendy’s had a yellow color. Both auras would expand to which both were converging with each other, and the auras’ colors would blend each lending the same color to Lannit and Wendy. They would then launch themselves forward, propelling at fast speed. In the same moment that they would launch, they would respectively deliver a single punch to Levi. The Snake Lady would counter it a raising of her left arm and to the surprise of Savayna and Wesley, black tendrils rose up.

“Wait, that’s not..” Savayna said as she looked to Nadeline and Wesley.

“LANNIT! WENDY!” WEsley called out, but it was too late.

As the tendrils of darkness would raise up, they would constrict Lannit and Wendy up in the air, cutting their skin as it did. Levi would then laugh evilly. The blood dripping from their bodies would definitely be seen and Levi licked her lips. “You never know where you’re going to get help, now do you?” Levi said as she eyed the now bleeding Lannit and Wendy and she looked to the other three, proceeding to walk closer to them.

Wesley held his stomach, but raised up his Sword of Order. He definitely wasn’t fit to fight, but he would if he had to. Savayna had her sword out and it was practically oozing out with Blizzaja-level power. “Come at us, I dare you!” Wesley said practically daring Levi to do as such.

Levi smiled and sighed. “I would love to, but I am not to touch a hair on any of your heads — well, not yet anyways. My master has many plans for you. He just ordered me to get you three this far without harming any of you.” Levi said.

“Who’s your master?” Wesley asked.

“In due time, lovelies.” She simply said as her body would soon fade away in a cloud of black and purple smoke, gone from their sight.

When Levi went away, the tendrils that constricted Lannit and Wendy went back into the ground, thus causing their bodies to crash onto the ground(they were about five feet in the air beforehand), but it had done its damage. They had severe cuts all along their bodies. “Nadeline, do you think you can heal them?” Wesley asked Nadeline.

[Hero]

Emiri listened to Jaakuna, slightly shifting her weight on her other foot. "I feel sad here." She would tell him, lightly rubbing her arm. "You say I used to be happy here...but just looking at everything, it actually makes me feel sad." She didn't know exactly how to explain it, but talking about it would help in a sense. She definitely wasn't feeling happy. Maybe she should have. Once again confusion and slight frustration would pop up, and she let out a somewhat irritated sigh. She would walk back to Jaakuna, having been wandering around. "Forgive me if this was a waste of time." She mumbled, equally as sad, and she would hold his hand again. It was comforting to hold and she needed comforting right now.

---

There was absolutely no way in hell that Nadeline would ever be related in any way to Levi if she could control it. Despite the dire situation Nadeline almost had seriously reconsidered her engagement to Wesley. She was distracted, however, by Levi's next course of actions. Those black tendrils reminded her much of Meli for some reason, and yet they were different somehow. Before anyone could do anything, she had attacked Wendy and Lannit. She let out a rather horrified gasp as the pair was attacked. Levi would also mention how the three remaining was not to be harmed. Whose side was this woman on anyway?! As Wesley would ask Nadeline to heal the pair, she would go to their pair, immediately casting over a Curaja on the pair. Their injuries were not too bad, though attention was needed.

"My question is, do we continue?" She asked him. "How do we know it isn't a trap?"

[AlteredTundra]

When Emiri told him that she felt sad being in her own house, Jaakuna strangely was relieved at that. It wasn’t that hwas happy or anything, but at the very least, she remembered the feeling of being in her old house. So, that just meant that they had a point where they could build it upon. There was also the fact that she held his hand that seemed to make Jaakuna smile softly. Jaakuna would then hear her on about how she said that Jaakuna had said that she was happy in her old house, but she just felt sad looking at everything.

Jaakuna sighed slightly. “You were happy here, when you lived with your parents. Your mother didn’t like it as she wanted you to have not to worry about what she had to worry growing up, so when your father got a promotion with the Royal Army of Rozarria, as his family, you and your mother were moved into the Castle.” Jaakuna said as he told her about how she was happy with her family in her old house. “From what you told me, when you and your family moved out this house, things changed. Your father was away a lot and your mother became very strict.” Jaakuna said as he found himself remembering the conversation that Emiri had with him about her mother and the house. He also was remembering how mad Justine was when he told her off and how livid she was at him for doing as such. Yeah, he definitely didn’t make the best impression on her.

As Jaakuna would finish his inner-thoughts and remembering, he looked at Emiri, though he would sigh as if disappointed. “I was hoping we would get more from coming here, but at least the feelings are coming back.” Jaakuna said trying to stay optimistic. “Okay, then let’s get out of here and head somewhere else.” Jaakuna said pulling Emiri with him, gently of course. They would just exit the house and walk the way they came.

---

As Nadeline started to heal Lannit and Wendy’s wounds, Nadeline would ask Wesley and Savayna a question that they wanted to reply negatively to, but they knew that they couldn’t. Despite on whether or not it was a trap was irrelevant. They originally set out to get Hashmaal and even though there was a high chance of them walking right into a trap, they couldn’t afford to turn back now.

“It’s probably a trap. Hell, I’m sure it is, but we have no choice but to move on.” Wesley said. “You heard what Aun--I mean Levi, said. We were not to be harmed until this floor, so as long as we keep our wits about us, we should be alright.” Wesley spoke less certain.

Savayna shrugged. “I’m ready for whatever.” She lazily stated.

Wesley would smile and look to Lannit and Wendy. He was going to say something, but Lannit would wave his hand. “Go, we’ll be fine. Nadeline has more or less stopped any further bleeding on our wounds, so all we need is to rest our bodies and we’ll be fine.” Lannit said, assuring Wesley.

Wesley would just nod and he would motion the two ladies to follow him. Whatever was going to be laid and waiting for them, they would take it head on.

[Hero]

Jaakuna was disappointed. Again. It was her fault. Again. Again? Yes, again. Something like this had happened before. She frowned, letting him lead her out. She did a slight huff, blowing her bangs off her forehead, though with her free hand she would fix them again. Jaakuna's hair was pretty long, too. When was the first time she noticed it? It was after they walked out of her home after being attacked. Without really thinking she would anchor herself, halting the two of them. She would release his hand and step right up to him. There was that feeling of familiarity again, and she was going to go with it. The brunette would raise both her hands to his face. "Your hair is really long." She told him, lightly running her fingers through his blonde locks.

She remembered doing this. She didn't break eye contact for even a second as she lightly pulled his hair. Her hands would retract and would stop at his face. She wanted to say something, but she had no idea what to say. She started thinking again and now she had no idea what she was doing. "I..." She started, but she didn't know how to continue. "Don't...don't be sad. This isn't your fault. Please. I can't stand to see you like this." She kept talking, and she found her eyes getting watery. "What do I have to do to make you feel better?"

---

Nadeline did not like that Wesley almost called Levi his aunt. No, no way was she going to have any relation to a witch like her. Still, they were all right as they had no choice but to keep going. Their wounds would be lessened at this point. The princess would dig through her bag and pull out two X-Potions, giving one to each of them. "This should help." She would tell both Wendy and Lannit. "Try not to do anything too strenuous...for a while." The blonde would then stand up, withdrawing her rapier once more. She would look at Wesley and Savayna and nod, following suit.

[AlteredTundra]

When they would exit the house, Emiri would resist going any further. Jaakuna felt the tug on his arm and he turned around to see her sternly looking at him. He was wondering what was going through her mind. As he would look into her eyes, he would notice that she would place her hands along his face making a comment about how his hair was really long and she proceeded to run her fingers through his golden locks. Whatever was going through her mind, this had to be her memories coming back, even if in the slightest bit. As she would trace her hands down, she would stop at his face and Jaakuna would notice her eyes starting to water as she told him to not be sad and how she couldn’t stand to see him feel such an emotion. She would then offer up of what she could do to make him feel better.

Jaakuna smiled gently and raised one hand to her eyes, wiping the tears away. “Just don’t cry. I can’t stand it when you cry.” Jaakuna said as he smiled. He continued to look at her, even as her tears would soon stop, Jaakuna just kept eye contact on her. His right hand caressed her left cheek softly. Despite the area they were in, it seemed that a moment have been set in place. Jaakuna leaned in for a gentle kiss, hand still on her cheek.

---

When they headed through the door and leaving Lannit and Wendy to rest up, the trio would run their way through the halls, avoiding any monsters if they could. This was no longer a mission of just getting Hashmaal. It was not a mission of getting him before anyone else could and getting Levi. Wesley had his reasons to do so. Not only was he going to get Levi for having his mother’s engagement ring that he wanted to give to Nadeline, but he would make her pay for not only killing his uncle Clyde, but also walking around in his body pretending to be him.

As they came to the 80th floor, Wesley noticed something odd within the room. They were in a room just like the one where Levi revealed herself, but there seemed to be an oddly high dose of mist in the area. “I think he’s here..” Wesley said.

“Who?” Savayna asked.

Before Wesley could reveal, he would show himself as his glyph would appear and through it, came The Bringer of Order, Hashmaal. “You have come.” Hashmaal said, voice deep and bleeding with strength.

Wesley gripped his Sword of Order. “As I have promised, I present myself to you, Hashmaal, and I am ready to fight..” WEsley said.

“Calm yourself, Wesley.“ Hashmaal smiled, “before you and I do battle, I must reveal to you something tha you must know despite what my brethren think.“

Wesely would lower his sword for the time being. “And what would that be?“

“The Scion of Time, or as you refer to her, Emelia was stable. Her own esper, Chaos, healed her.”

“What do you mean healed?”

“She was on the verge of being lost to her own power. As such, Chaos — as hasty and foolish as it was — reset her to a time where her powers would not be any danger to her.

“Meaning?”

“She no longer has any memories whatsoever.”

The shock and horror lit up upon Wesley and Savayna’s face. They couldn’t believe what Hashmaal just told them and what was even worse, her own Esper did it to her. Savayna’s thoughts instantly went to Grant and Jaakuna. She couldn’t imagine what Jaakuna was going through. Savayna just assumed that he knew and that brought her to Grant. A slight anger expression came upon her face. Grant was left with her and that meant that he let that happen. Wesley, unlike Savayna, was remaining as calm as he could. He wondered why exactly Hashmaal decided to tell him before they fought? Like, was there some beneficial reason why he told? And if so, then what purpose did it serve? As Wesley mentally asked himself those questions, he couldn’t help but wonder how Nadeline was taking it

“Nadeline…?” WEsley would ask cautiously.

[Hero]

Jaakuna would would her tears away, telling her simply not to cry. But how could she not? She hated not knowing or remembering anything. She also hated seeing him like he was. He wouldn't stop gazing at her so intently, his eyes were so nice to look at. Her heart was actually pounding something fierce at the moment. His touch on her cheek made her feel something that she could not understand. How was she able to feel like this for someone she didn't even know? Except she did know him. Her memories weren't there, but that didn't mean her feelings had gotten erased. After what possibly seemed like an eternity, he would get closer to her. It took her a moment to realize that she was closing her eyes. Their lips touched oh so gently, and all she felt was bliss. It just felt so right. Every thought seemed to go out the window, nothing else seemed to matter. Now she really did believe that they were engaged. She would pull him closer, deepening the kiss.

---

I'm going to kill Grant.

Nadeline was in pure denial. No, she had known something had happened. Levi had mentioned something had happened to Emiri, so she knew it had to be something bad. Today was just full of surprises, it seemed. How could Grant have let this happen? They left her with him to prevent any more bad things, and now she was just wandering around without any memories or sense of who she was? Wesley would get her attention, and it took every ounce of willpower not to snap at him out of anger. It was not his fault. It was not Grant's fault. It was just very bad timing. She was more than sure that in the end, the result mattered more than anything else. Although she would admit that it may have been nice if just maybe she had known about Emiri's issue in the first place. Much like her boyfriend, it seemed Emiri liked to keep her secrets as well.

"It had to be done." She would reply very quietly. "Obviously it had been quite the issue...and it has been resolved. Nothing more we can do now until we get back to them." Her voice was uncannily calm, though Wesley would know that at the moment she was absolutely furious. Had Wesley known this as well? Unable to control herself, she shot a look at him: If you knew anything about this so help me...

[AlteredTundra]

As they kissed, Emiri would make it so that it was deeper than Jaakuna had initiated it to be. Part of him felt that it wasn’t right. She had no memory, so was Jaakuna taking advantage of her in the moment that they were sharing? Jaakuna wasn’t sure, but if Emiri felt any doubts, she would have pulled away from the kiss. Given that she embraced it more and not the other way around, it was safe to say that no advantages were being taken. Still, Jaakuna had this lingering thought that they shouldn’t be doing this, least of all not in the place that they’re in. So that’s when Jaakuna pulled away slightly even though he didn’t want to.

He looked at Emiri, no doubt she was disappointed. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.” Jaakuna apologetically said. Jaakuna would turn away, but not out of regret or anything like that. He would look at the sky and just nod his head. “I think perhaps we should join back up with Grant at the Castle. Maybe being there might make you feel better.” Jaakuna said a she looked back to Emiri, hand out as if waiting for her to take it.

---

As Nadeline would speak about how it had to be done, Savayna would stare at Nadeline would widened eyes. She expected the princess to come in with an overly-dramatic posture that the former general has known the blonde princess to present herself in. Instead, she was almost as cold as the ice that Savayna wields. Though, that was just for Savayna. Wesley, on the other hand, saw right through it. Nadeline was hurting so much inside and she was also so furious. Wesley knew that certain coldness that Nadeline presented and always was a front for her anger.

As Wesley continued looking at Nadeline, she shot him a look. That startled him slightly. Is she implying what I think she’s implying? Wesley didn’t know if she was, but he had to put the thought of that out of his mind. The important thing at the current moment was Hashmaal, who just looked at Wesley.

“Now, let’s begin, Hashmaal.” Wesley said stepping forward, sword in right hand and he brought it up slightly in both hands.

Hashmaal grinned. “Time to see if you truly are worthy of Raithwall’s strength.” The Bringer of Order said as his claw-like hands changed into fists, raising them up, and he was ready for battle too.

Savayna was about to join Wesley, but he removed one hand from his sword and placed it in front of Savayna as if blocking her way. “I’m sorry, but..” Wesley would then look at Nadeliine. “This is something I must do on my own. I hope you two can understand.” Wesley stated. Savayna huffed, but she nodded. “You know, you’re just like Jaakuna. Always wanting to show your strength.” She grinned and laughed. Wesley smiled, but looked to Nadeline as if wanting to hear what she thought of him doing it on his own.

[Hero]

It looked like the two had thought differently of the kiss. To her surprise, Jaakuna had pulled away. Emiri didn't understand, and while it was not the first time she didn't understand something, this felt like she had done something wrong. But they were engaged and in love right? Why was he reacting like this? Should she have ignored her feelings and moved away? Perhaps it had been a mistake after all. She made a mental note not to do it again no matter what, it was just...not right. He would apologize to her, to which she wouldn't respond. She also noticed his turning away and she would feel guilty. He would suggest that they would go to the castle to join up with Grant. That was the dark haired man, she remembered.

As he would look back at her he would hold out his hand. She looked at it for a moment, though he would probably notice her hesitation. Was anything she wanted to do right? How did she know what to do and what not to do? When would she know what to do and how would she know if it was right? "Alright." She would mumble, taking his hand. Even if it was wrong, it made her feel better.

---

Wesley had gotten the message. Good. They had a lot to discuss when they got out of here. He would then turn his attention to Hashmaal. To her surprise, Wesley would let them know that this would be his battle. A duel, it would seem. Savayna would note that Wesley was definitely picking up on Jaakuna's traits. Great. Except she wanted to marry Wesley, not Jaakuna. He would look at her, as if seeking her approval. Nadeline would simply nod. This was not her battle. She would sheath her weapon and step back, making sure to get out of the way.

---

"What do you mean it wasn't an accident?"

Getting to the castle had turned out to be more of a hassle than Grant had anticipated. The soldiers almost didn't even let him in, after that the castle was swarmed with people protesting and complaining about what had happened in Anther. He had almost gotten evicted with them, though luckily for him one of the royal guards had recognized him and pulled him to the side. Once that had been cleared he had to wait for the Council to finish their meeting with his sister (to which he had heard the yelling and fighting all the way in her office) and finally, when she did show up, Lorenzo and Karolina had come in as well. Vlyn had not been far behind as well, and so they had all gathered to catch Grant up on everything that had happened.

"From what witnesses and surviving members of Anther have testified, there had been an initial blast from a piece of nethicite. Said blast is what caused the magicite to react and overload as a result." Karolina read off the official report. "The nethicite is rumored to have been deifacted...but this has not been confirmed, it is only speculation."

Grant let out a somewhat irritated sigh. "Deifacted nethicite...that means that whoever did this has the Midlight Shard." He muttered, looking at Reia.

"We're told that apparently the last known holder was an Archadian." She would tell him, lightly rubbing her temples. "Everyone here has gone insane, the Council wants to declare war on Archadia, using the fall of Anther as justification."

"We don't know that Archadia was behind this." Lorenzo would cut in. "They're being much too hasty."

"The only reason that people are pointing fingers is because the number of casualties is staggeringly high, the amount of damage has gone into the trillions, not to mention everyone is raging." Reia placed her hands on her desk, rapidly tapping her fingers. "This entire situation has out more confusion into an already chaotic state."

Things were truly hectic here. Grant was just in shock at how downhill things had gotten. He looked at each person in the room, though his eyes would land on Karolina. He didn't think it was possible, but she looked even paler than the last time he had seen her; and she had looked as white as a cloud last time. She looked very tired. "Karolina, are you alright?" Grant couldn't help but finally ask.

Karolina would nod. "I'm fine. I ordered my doctor to go and help the wounded. So long as I take my medication and not do any strenuous activity, I will be alright until he can tend to me again."

"I have been looking after Lady Karolina in her doctor's stead." Vlyn piped up. "You have nothing to worry about."

Grant would nod, though he ran a hand through his hair. "How things have changed..."

[AlteredTundra]

When Emiri took Jaakuna’s hand, the two of them would head back the way that they came. Soon enough they would find themselves in what could only be described as the middle-class district. Jaakuna would look around and he saw that something was up. Sure, Stigma always was busy, but it only occurred to him now that the higher of the class districts they went, the more Jaakuna noticed the people were in disarray and just acting completely crazy. Jaakuna didn’t know, but it would soon be revealed to him as they proceeded to the castle gates that something bad had happened.

When Jaakuna and Emiri were at the gate, he would notice that all the guards were running around, people were frantic. Jaakuna approached the gate with Emiri and they were stopped by a guard. “Sir, I am afraid, but you cannot enter without proper reason!” The guard stiffly said.

Jaakuna looked at the guard. “Oh don’t be like that.”

“I’m sorry sir, but without proper reason, you cannot enter.”

“We are friends of Prince Grant! He said if we needed him, we could come to the Castle.”

“Sir, I cann--”

As the guard stopped himself, he noticed Emiri. “Oh, Lady Emiri, my deepest apologies. I did not notice you were there.” He said letting them through.

As they went through, Jaakuna looked around and everyone was just running around and Jaakuna would make sure he had Emiri close to him. “We need to find Grant.” Jaakuna would state as he looked around and he was trying to remember where exactly Reia’s office was. Last time he was here, he was brought there. “So, while we find our way, does this place bring anything back to you, Emiri?” He asked her.

---

“That’s either really brave or really foolish of you, Wesley.” Hashmaal seemed amused. He did not think that Wesley wanted to fight him alone.

Wesley smirked. “I like to think it’s the former, Hashmaal.” Wesley said taking his fighting stance, which included his legs to be behind each other, back leg bent slightly, front leg bent even more and sword centered in front of him with both hands gripping it.

As if on cue, Hashmaal, using his fast speeds, propelled to Wesley, to which the prince would do the same. Hashmaal went for a straight right punch and Wesley would slice downward. The colliding forces behind both of their respective attacks would cause their respective magicks to expel in all directions. Hasshmaal laughed as if enjoying this little test of strength. Wesley also found himself laughing slightly. Even though it was the first attack from both of them, Wesley found that he was keeping up at a good pace.

While both of them were just grinning, Hashmaal would turn up the heat. His hand would begin to glow dark orange and then send out minor pulses of magickal energy. Wesley felt it and it would cause him to step back slightly. Hashmaal smiled and would keep the pressure on, increasing the pulses every second that went by. Wesley would try to withstand it and even though he felt himself slipping, he would expel his own magick, but this came in the form of a white aura with a tint of blue and orange in it. This sudden rise of power from Wesley evened out the odds, but even more so, it allowed Wesley to push Hashmaal back enough to which he staggered back.

Wesley, using the opportunity to capitalize, went forth and would slice downward, to which Hsshmaal noticed and would use his left arm to block. As he did so, the blade cut down, and caused a minor cut. Hashmaal span and Wesley’s blade would slice some more, but would meet the armor part, and that caused Wesley himself to lose his footing and Hashmaal used his other hand to punch Wesley in the side, sending him gliding five feet in the air and landing on his back and he screamed slightly in pain.

“Oh don’t tell me that you’re done already?” Hashmaal said with a tone of cockiness.

Wesley smiled and got up. He removed his long coat, revealing the obvious bruisng on his body. He paid no mind to it. He would just hold his stance from before and surrounding himself in the aura from before.”You would like that, now wouldn’t you?” Wesley smirked.

[Hero]

It seemed that there was something going on with the castle. A lot of people seemed to be protesting and angry at something. The pair would go to approach the guard, only to be denied entry. Jaakuna would argue, and at that point Emiri wondered if they would ever get in, seeing as how chaotic things seemed. Just when it seemed hopeless, the guard would recognize her. She was just as surprised as he was, though at the very least they were granted access. She had to wonder exactly why they would let her in. Was she a princess? Jaakuna and Grant definitely didn't mention that. Maybe she wasn't. But she had to be someone important at the least, because they were not just letting people into the castle. And soon she would see why.

People were walking and talking and doing all sorts of things around the halls of the castle. It was very, very busy. Jaakuna would hold onto her tightly as they walked and she didn't blame him for a second. He would tell her that they needed to find Grant and would ask if anything seemed familiar. Perhaps it could have, but with all these people it was difficult to concentrate. She looked around for Grant but did not see the man anywhere. Something clicked in her head, however, and she felt like she knew where to go. Gripping Jaakuna's hand tighter so that he would follow and not lose him, Emiri would navigate through the halls. She knew where to go. She didn't know how she knew but she definitely knew.

Without hesitating Emiri would go to the door and open it, revealing a somewhat startled royal family meeting. Reia looked at the two somewhat insulted while Lorenzo, Karolina, Vlyn and Grant were just plain surprised. Grant immediately noticed that Emiri had been the one that had led Jaakuna here. The brunette would look at each person in the room and would retreat somewhat sheepishly. "Ah...forgive me...we were looking for Grant..." She apologized.

"Do come in." Reia would state rather sarcastically.

"How do you feel, sweetie?" Karolina asked Emiri as she and Jaakuna would take a seat on the same couch.

The brunette looked at her somewhat confused. "I feel fine."

"We were in the middle of discussing a rather urgent matter." Reia said. "What are you two doing here?"

"We were looking for Grant." Emiri reiterated.

The blonde woman looked at Emiri incredulously. Lorenzo coughed slightly. "The reason for the chaos in Stigma is that there was a magicite explosion in Anther, which is where we get most of Rozarria's magicite. The explosion wiped out half of Anther...and many people are blaming Archadia for it." He told Emiri and Jaakuna.

[AlteredTundra]

As they were allowed entry into the castle and Jaakuna would both tell Emiri that they needed to find Grant and also asked her if anything about the castle seemed familiar to her. She didn’t say anything to him in response, but Jaakuna just knew that something clicked as Emiri would lead him somewhere. They would turn corners, go down some hallways and all the while Jaakuna had a smile on his face. He didn’t know where exactly they were heading, but the fact that Emiri seemed to know exactly where it was made him happy. At the very least, some bits and pieces of her memory were coming back and that made Jaakuna happy .

When she led them to the location that she had been doing, they walked through a door and to his delight and surprise, there was the Roselian Royal Family all gathered — Empress Riea, Prince Grant, Lady Karolina, and dear ol’ Grant — all gathered in the same place. Of course, they weren’t gathered cause they wanted to be, which prompted Emiri to apologize as she stated that she and Jaakuna were merely looking for Grant. Reia, obviously in a sarcastic way, told them to come in and of course ignoring said sarcasm, they did come in. Karolina would ask Emiri how she was doing as she motioned them to take a seat next to her on the couch. They did and Emiri replied with a ‘just fine. Reia would instantly jump on them and asked them what they were doing here and Emiri would repeat her earlier reason and that caught her a look from Reia.

As Jaakuna just looked at Reia with shifted eyes, Lorenzo would cough and state that the reason that Stigma was in such chaos was cause there was a Magicite explosion in Anther. Jaakuna remembered being told that Anther was their largest mine or something of the like. That’s when Lorenzo would state then state that half of the explosion destroyed Anther and that many people in Stigma were blaming Archadia. That’s when Jaakuna’s jaw dropped. Sure the news of the explosion was bad, but he couldn’t believe people would actually think that Archadia would do such a thing.

“There’s no way.” Jaakuna right out refused to believe it. “Sure, Archadia might have done some shitty things in the past and sure, even till this day, they do questionable things, but even if my brother Roman was put out of commission and that my Grandfather took over or my other brother Vincent, there’s no way that they would approve of such a bold move against Rozarria.” Jaakuna said in raised voice, and his eyes shifted straight to Reia. “This is your doing, isn’t it?” He instantly jumped the gun. “You’re trying to start a war so you can sit comfortably in your throne and all the while, you can have anybody who can succeed you to be put to their deaths.” He said clearly angry. “You even hired an assassin to kill all of us.” Jaakuna was beyond a point of just being angry at the fact that his homeland was being accused of attacking Stigma.

---

It was like the two were some kind of dueling samurai or something. The more that they upped each other, the more that they seemed to be enjoying it. “I take back what I said.” Savayna whispered to Nadeline, “He might be more like Jaakuna than Jaakuna is himself.” She told Nadeline as she shook her head.

As Hashmaal would grin at Wesley, the esper just examined Wesley, looking into his eyes, seeing his stance and how focused he was. He did notice that the boy was definitely hurt and he showed exhaustion, he couldn’t help but feel that Wesley wouldn’t win the fight that the two of them were going to continue. “Boy, you are not well. You show signs of physical exhaustion that indicate you will not last much longer.” Hashmaal would point out.

Surprised by this, Wesley spoke, “What are you talking about? I am just fine!” Wesley retorted.

“You might think so, but I can sense otherwise.“ Hashmaal shook his head and extended his arm, a glow of orange would emit and a blast of sorts would instantly surround Wesley, healing not only his physical injuries(bruises mostly), and would rejuvenate him to full strength. “There, you are at full-strength. Now, you can come at me without any worries.” Hashmaal said and saw the surprised look on Wesley’s face.

As the two looked at each other smiling, it soon turned to the expressions of battle as both had serious looks on their face. Wesley would take his stance as he did before and Hashmaal would simply put his fists up like a boxer would. Then, in a speeding dash, Hashmaal went in. His body being surrounded by a brownish-orange aura, mainly around his feet and arms, he went in for several punches, each either being dodged by Wesley’s quick reflexes or being deflected by Wesley’s precision-timing blacks of his sword. Each punch got faster and stronger as each one went on and the same with Wesley. Either he would have quicker reaction time and/or his sword would be able to block Hashmaal more effectively. Even while Hashmaal increased the amount of force his punches would push out, Wesley equally increased his magick to increase his speed and reflexes. It was like a never-ending exchange.

And then the tables turned.

Hashmaal was getting fed up of the exchange that he roared, causing Wesley to become slightly startled by it. Hashmaal then, with one right uppercut, punched Wesley in the jaw and the Dalmascan prince was sent flying into the air, flipping five times before landing on his back. The amount of force that was pressed into his jaw would have killed any normal Hume, but for some reason Wesley did not die. He didn’t even have a broken jaw. Now, the trip he took from the impact to where he landed, that was a different story. He probably bruised a rib or two, but Wesley’s jaw was fine.

As Wesley felt his jaw, Hashmaal smiled. “Good, the seed was planted in time.” Hashmaal said as if satisfied.

Wesley looked at Hashmaal. “What seed?” He asked confused.

“Unlike what I told you about The Lion Seal, there is another way that us Espers can elevate our ones to the status of The Chosen Ones.” Hashmaal said, “I gave you both, and as such, you are worthy, Wesley.”

“And that would be what exactly?”

“You are worthy to summon me.”

Completely surprised by this, Wesley actually had an expression on his face that implied he was against it. “What are you talking about? In both times we went at it, you got the better of me. How exactly is that me being worthy?” Wesley asked completely confused.

“You are right. I kicked your ass both times, but this fight was never about you beating me alone.” Hashmaal said, “I mean, come on Wesley. You might be strong, but I’m the Bringer of Order and the third-strongest Esper of all time. Against me on your own is like you taking on The King of Precepts, which as you might know, would be entirely foolish.” Hashmaal laughed, “this entire exchange was about me seeing where your true strength was.” Hashmaal revealed to Wesley, “truth be told, I’m surprised you lasted the first exchange, let alone multiple rounds. You are ready for The Lion Seed and you are ready to become a Full Powered Chosen One.” Hashmaal said.

Wesley was so taken back by all of what Hashmaal said. He just didn’t know what to think. He was thrilled that he had gained an esper, but he was also slightly angry at the fact that it was all a test to see if he was ready to become a fully-powered Chosen One. Still, Wesley couldn’t help but smile and laugh at the entire ordeal. “Well okay then. How does this work then?” Wesley asked.

Hashmaal smirked. He would say nothing and instead his body would glow in ethereal orange, to which he would be reverted to his glyph. The glyph would flash three times before disappearing and appearing on Wesley’ right arm, and that was that.

[Hero]

"I hate to be 'that guy', but are you sure about that?" Lorenzo would ask Jaakuna. "Roman's a good guy, but if someone else were to do it, it wouldn't be that surprising. This...this doesn't seem that out of place for someone like Hamut or Vincent--so long as they had a valid reason for it. Both countries have been waiting for an excuse to go ahead and blow one another up."

"What reason could Archadia possibly have to attack Anther?" Vlyn asked."Zodiark is running amok, now is not the time to be fighting among one another."

"Taking advantage of the state of things is an Archadian specialty. With Anther in its state our resources have been seriously crippled. Archadia could launch an attack now and we could possibly lose." Reia stated, still looking at Jaakuna. "How do I know you aren't here to gather intel for your Empire, Jackson? For all we know you could be taking advantage of Emelia's status in Rozarria."

"Reia, please." Grant intervened. "No one knows who was behind the attack on Anther. Obviously this is just a ploy to get the Empires to turn against one another. Jaakuna is here with me as well, so I will take responsibility for him."

"That's my point exactly, though." Reia replied. "Everyone is just jumping to conclusions. We do not have any hard evidence and as such the people are panicking. Obviously the first thing a Rozarrian civilian will do is blame the enemy. That doesn't mean that I believe this was done by Archadia."

"Then the question is, who is behind this?" Lorenzo asked.

[AlteredTundra]

“Hamut might be if desperate, but Vincent has changed, just ask Grant.” Jaakuna said defending his other, much-younger-than-Roman brother. Vlyn, thankfully, would be the voice of reason here and Jaakuna would sigh out of relief, but only lightly. He would mention that since Zodiark was out and about, the time to be fighting each other wasn’t now. Jaakuna agreed and he would remain silent.

As Jaakuna would just assess everyone else, Reia would make a point that she wasn’t real clear on if Jaakuna, whom she referred to Jackson — only his family was able to call him by that name — was in Stigma to gather intel and whether or not he was in Stigma to take advantage of Emiri. That almost made Jaakuna just want to jump on her verbally and really let her have it. Plus, he was looking for any excuse to tell her off for all the shit that she put him, his beloved, and his closest friends through. However, by whatever supernatural forces were at play in her office, he was able to control himself, but a deepened expression of anger was locked on Reia.

As Jaakuna’s face was deadlocked on Reia, Grant would intervene and state whoever was behind the explosion wanted to get the two empires against each other. Jaakuna agreed and he would sit back down next to Emiri and Karolina. As he would, Reia would respond by saying that was her point, that since everyone was jumping to conclusions that they would instantly suspect the go-to target, which in this case was Archadia. She would also admit that she didn’t believe that Archadia was behind the attack. Jaakuna was surprised from that admission.

As Lorenzo would ask — no doubt rhetorically — who really was behind the attack, Jaakuna felt he had to address something first. “I’m sorry, but I need to ask, cause if I don’t, I fear I’ll never get this chance.” Jaakuna said standing up once more. “Empress Reia, how on Ivalice’s crusted earth did you get in contact with Lola? Who did you have to contact to get a hold of her services?” Jaakuna asked, definitely wanting to know. He had no doubt that Grant wanted to know as well.

---

“Wow, that was unexpected.” Savayna said impressed and shocked.

Wesley looked at her. “Yeah, you and me both.” Wesley had to admit that he was shocked at this as well. He did not expect that Hashmaal would allow Wesley to get him so easily. Still, it was lucky. Wesley felt that his body was nearing its breaking point, so Hashmaal must’ve sensed that somehow. As Wesley would pick up his longcoat, he used some of his magick to patch up the holes in it and got any dirt off it by shaking it.

He proceeded to put it on and he looked at Nadeline and Savayna. “Well, I guess we should go then.” He said as he motion them to follow, Savayna did.

---

“You know their going to blame us, right?” Hamut said.

Hamut was in Roman’s office and he had just presented the facts of the Magicite Mines of Anther of Stigma was attacked and that most likely Rozarria would place the blame on Archadia. Anything remotely bad that happened, regardless of where it was or how far out of Archadia’s reach it was, they were the first to blame and it definitely was at bad timing.

“All of this happened at the worst time. Francis resigned, and Robur died. The only judges left are myself and Isaiah. I mean, Levi is still one, but with Levi not able to be located, Archadia’s judges are at an all-time low.” Hamut said to Roman,

[Hero]

To nearly everyone's surprise, Lorenzo would actually raise his hand in response to Jaakuna's question. "You may or may not remember, but a time ago our eldest brother murdered our father. Despite two eye witness accounts we could not bring him to justice. After asking around the vine, I found Lola and had her investigate. She was the one that found proof...and because of her, Roland was persecuted and properly punished for his crimes."

Grant had no idea of any of this. So he owed his brother getting punished to Lola of all people? He had no idea how to feel about that. He looked at his sister, who would offer a shrug. "Last I heard you took a job to kidnap a girl. The pot cannot call the kettle black. No harm, no foul. Satisfied?" She asked Jaakuna, crossing her arms. Emiri raised her eyebrows, though she said nothing. Oh no. Grant thought, shooting a look at Reia. "More importantly I need to know who has the nerve to go ahead and blow up one of my cities. If you will excuse me, I need to endure another lecture from my Council accusing me of being too irresponsible for not being clairvoyant enough to have seen this coming.' She stated, standing up.

"I'll join you, see if I can alleviate some of that blame game they like to play." Lorenzo stated, hopping off her desk from where he had been sitting. "Ladies. Gents. Jaakuna--I bid thee farewell until next time." He winked at Jaakuna as he would follow Reia out. "Any further questions can be answered by Karolina and Vlyn. Take care." He would tell Jaakuna as he and Reia exited her office.

Grant let out a long sigh, looking at Jaakuna. "What do you want to do now? I'd like to think Wesley and the ladies have finished their business in Balfomheim...if you are ready we can meet up. Only if you want to."

---

Nadeline remained completely silent, her mind being elsewhere. Now that Wesley was done, they needed to get going back. She didn't want to admit it but she had to wonder if Jaakuna had come back or not. She certainly hoped so, and when she saw him she was going to hit him. She just couldn't believe everything that had happened. What was next? How could things get any worse, really? The princess was clearly unhappy and would remain tight lipped.

---

Of course all this had to happen while he was in office, right?

Roman wasn't happy. He hadn't been happy since he took the throne, but today he was really unhappy. The fact that he had waken up to such news didn't help any of course. All fingers were pointing at Archadia; rumor had it even Dalmasca wasn't diminishing the rumors. And of course, that also meant that everyone was blaming him. Fantastic. The normally nonchalant Roman was visibly annoyed. Not distraught, not angry, just plain annoyed. He was slightly surprised Vincent hadn't come down just to mock him, but the gods had an odd sense of humor, because instead his grandfather decided to show up.

"Quite honestly I am surprised that Reia hasn't come knocking at our door with a declaration of war already." He would admit, pushing the report away as if just seeing it pissed him off. "Levi's disappearance is...actually I am not that surprised she is nowhere to be found. I need new judges and I will be putting that into your department as Head Judge." He said, rubbing his temples. "The timing couldn't have been more perfect. I have to wonder who exactly is the mastermind behind all this."

[AlteredTundra]

To say that Jaakuna was surprised was an understatement at the very least. In his mind, he thought that Lola was contacted by just Reia. It took him for a loop that Lorenzo actually was the one who originally contacted her and even worse, she was the one who eventually found out the sufficient evidence that was needed to find his royal brother guilty of murdering his father. Jaakuna could understand that. When one becomes desperate, they would do just about anything to do whatever that they could.

“I can understand why you did it.” That’s all Jaakuna would say as both Reia and Lorenso would depart to the Council. Jaakuna just nodded as they went, but Lorenzo would state that if any of them had any questions, that they could ask Vlyn and Karolina.

As Grant would offer up the question of what Jaakuna wanted to do, he would mention that he hoped that the others already finished up. He would also state that if Jaakuna was ready, that they should meet up. Jaakuna just thought about that. He sure he wasn’t totally ready and what was even worse, he still had a lot of more questions, specifically on Lorenzo and whether or not if she was on her own at the time or if she was with Shion’s group. Jaakuna didn’t know how to process it all.

“I think for the time being, we should go.” Jaakuna said, “we could always get our questions in later on when things aren’t too hectic.” Jaakuna said, probably surprising everyone. “Wesley and the others need us and if they are in trouble, then their going to need our help.” Jaakuna admitted, but he would then look to Emiri, “I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to stay here with Lady Karolina? I’m not sure what’ll happen when we leave, but I can’t guarantee that you’ll be safe. I mean, Grant and I will definitely protect you, but I’m just saying, just in case.” Jaakuna told Emiri.

---

As Wesley would lead the ladies back, he would hear something deeper up the floors. It sounded like a loud explosion. Wesley wasn’t sure exactly what it was, but it definitely was close and that’s when Wesley saw it. Faint as it was, there was a darkness slowly covering the room that they were in. “WE HAVE TO HURRY!” Wesley yelled as he would grab Nadeline’s hand, and dragging her arm with his running motions.

When Savayna heard Wesley yell, she saw the darkness coming. It was both a mixture of Zodiark’s darkness and some kind of deep blue darkness. Whatever it was, she would heed his advice and run as well. Whatever that was coming had to be from the explosion. Wesley didn’t know what it was, but something that he was sure of was that it would soon make the entire Pharos collapse within the hour.

---

“If that is your wish, I shall make it so.” Hamut said as he just looked at Roman. There was more eating up at him than just this, “You look troubled and I mean more than just this news abo--”

“SIR!”

Hamut turned around angrily. “Can you not see we’re in a meeting, soldier!?” Hamut angrily said.

“I’m sorry, but there’s been an explosion at The Phoros!” He reported.

Hamut looked shocked. “An explosion? Of what kind?”

“According to several eye-witness accounts, a humungous cloud of black and blue smoke enveloped The Pharos just twenty minutes ago. “

“Black and blue smoke?”

“Yes sir. It has traces of very strong mist, according to our Mist specialist. Rumor has it that Zodiark was behind it.”

Hamut couldn’t even fathom what he just heard, but he just looked towards Roman. If Roman was annoyed before this, then he might as well be more pissed off than a Humbata who was rudely awoken from his nap.

[Hero]

Grant would nod in agreement to Jaakuna's reply to his question. He thought it would just be best if they all stuck together, things had a tendency to go well whenever they stuck together. When they were separated, well...he would rather not think about that, really. As he would stand, Jaakuna would let Emiri know that she could stay here in Stigma with Karolina. That much managed to surprise him; he was so sure he would never want to let her out of his sight. While he wanted to ask Jaakuna what his reasoning was, he remained quiet for now. Perhaps it would be for the best, at the very least she was safe here.

The brunette seemed slightly confused at Jaakuna's question. "Stay here? But..." She frowned at Jaakuna.

"Now, now, absence makes the heart grow fonder, but I do think she will be terribly lonely without you." Karolina speak as she stood up, getting to her feet. "She may be home but it will be as if she were surrounded by strangers." She told Jaakuna, having been informed of her memory loss. "Vlyn, do you have the...?" The viera perked up and would jump out of his seat, reaching behind Reia's desk and pulling out a small basket. It was filled with blue, violet and pink flowers--forget-me-nots, to be exact. "Listen here, Emiri my sweet, make yourself a wreath--you have to do this yourself, alright? Make yourself a wreath of these, sprinkle some of the Dream Powder, and I promise that the recovery process will be much quicker." She would instruct her as Vlyn would hand Emiri the basket.

"That settles that, then." Grant grinned at Jaakuna as Emiri examined the basket curiously. "Let's get going, then."

---

A cold chill ran up Nadeline's spine as the boom was heard. What in the world was that? Just as Nadeline considered inquiring about it, a sort of darkness began to cover the room. She actually found herself more curious than frightened, and Wesley ended up grabbing her hand. Good thing he did, too, as another few seconds and she may have gotten caught in it. Pushing herself to keep up with Wesley, she would look back and notice the hue to it. There was something very sinister about this, but she didn't know what it was. Withdrawing her rapier with her free hand, she pointed it behind her as it glowed. "Holy!" She called, shooting off her spell. The brilliant light seemed to have pierced through it for about a few seconds before the darkness would eclipse it.

Nadeline would sheath her blade and run faster at this point.

---

What Roman wanted to do was slam his face onto his desk. What he did was simply shake his head very, very slowly. No good deed goes unpunished, it would seem. "Grandfather, I would ask that you continue with the new judges. As for the Pharos a team will be sent out to investigate...though no doubt by the time they're dispatched there may just not be anything to investigate." He would note rather dryly, raising an eyebrow. "What is happening to Ivalice, Grandfather? Truly she is in turmoil...is it her destiny to fall into darkness?"

[AlteredTundra]

Along the way of getting out of The Pharos, the trio reunited with Lannit and Wendy, to which both of them were surprised to see that the place was coming down. They didn’t have time to explain in account of the building slowly becoming a big cloud of black and blue. So, the five of them would run as fast as they could, going down the floors one by one. It seemed that with the possibility of dying, one runs faster than usual. The entire group found that to be true as within a half of an hour, they nearly escaped death and by the last minute of the hour came, they were out of The Pharos and they just kept on running. They wanted to at least get to the edge of Ridorana to get away from the explosion. Thankfully, there was the Hoverboards still where they left them.

When they got to the hoverboards, none of them thought about any of it. They just got on and would ride it back to Balfonheim. If anything, they needed to get the hell away from the explosion, but Wesley looked back and saw, for just a brief second, the head of a giant snake. What was that? Wesley thought as whatever he saw, he knew it couldn’t be good, not in the very least.

---

By the time that they had decided, the trio were already back on the Ifrit and the course had already been set for Balfonheim. Jaakuna was hoping that what Vlyn and Karolina told Emiri as well as what the viera told Grant and Jaakuna back in Eruyt would indeed make the recovery of her memory go a lot quicker. Hweover, as Jaakuna and the other two sat at the table, he knew that there was so much to discuss and not only the information that they just found out. Jaakuna had yet to tell Grant about his soul-searching journey.

As they sat at the dining room table, Jaakuna knew he had to say it now or forever hold his peace. “I think while we have this time, I should tell you two why I left.” Jaakuna said, not even knowing where to begin. “I know I shouldn’t have left, but I wasn’t right in my mind. As you know, everything that happened last night put me in a bad place and when I went to sleep that night, I knew I couldn’t face any of you, not Wesley, not Nadeline — none of you. So, I left and went to go find my reason. It took me to Rabanastre, at least at first. I got some advice, so I went to The Garif village of Jahara. They helped me and the Elder of the village told me to go see Aloa.” Jaakuna said as he looked at Emiri. Of course he would cause it revolved solely around her. “I told her my case and while I was very…well rude to her and the other two — Ryua and Mtra — she still decided to help me. She did so by means of what she called The Cleansing, which pretty much was having me face every tragic thing that happened to me.”

“I went pretty far into it. Actually, it was at the last step that I found my inner-peace with everything. Maybe I was scared cause the last step required me to give myself away from earthly attachments and in a sense, become like the viera who themselves deserted the world and chose to live in isolation. “ Jaakuna looked down and smiled. “I almost did it and I’m still considering it. I don’t know if I will end up on doing it, but I thought that both of you should know.” Jaakuna said as he finished.

---

As Roman told Hamut to continue to find the new judges he would just nod as acknowledgement and agreement of sorts to Roman. He would state that he would send a team to the Pharos, but as Hamut was thinking, Roman was right in saying that by the time that they would get there, it would probably be too late for that. The concerns of Roman for Ivalice was apparent. “I don’t know, Roman. She can only do so much, but it’s up to her children to make sure she is protected.” Hamut would offer as he would depart and leave his grandson to his duties.

As Hamut exited Roman’s office, he felt a sudden chill-like feeling and suddenly was transported to what seemed like a courtroom. It was odd, but it had a woodsy-like appearance to it. As he would look around, he saw none other than the Judge-Sal sitting at the Judge’s bench. “Well, this is a surprise, Exodus. Last time you presented yourself to me was when I met The Scion of Time for the first time.”

Exodus smiled. “It indeed has been a while, but dire times befall us all.”

Hamut raised an eyebrow. “So even the great espers feel it huh?” Hamut lightly joked.

“Aye, that we do and soon every race upon Ivalice’s land, sea, and skies will feel it.” Exodus would state.

“So, Judge-Sal, what reason do you have for calling me to your court? Surely I am not under trial, am I?” Hamut asked curiously.

Exodus chuckled. “No, you are not, Hamut. Quite the opposite. The Espers have more-or-less been ordered to hasten our efforts.”

“Meaning what exactly?”

“We, at our own pace, will give our Owners The Seed.”

“Ah, so it is that time already, huh?”

“You don’t seem shocked.”

“Please, do not take me for a fool, Exodus. You know why you chose me. I am the only one who shares your views on the world and you know as well as anyone that I am deeply versed in the history of you Scions of Darkness.”

Exodus had to admit, he was actually shocked that Hamut knew so much. He knew that the Head Judge of Archadia was one of the few that fully-comprehended the dire state of affairs that Ivalice herself was enduring. He just wasn’t sure if Hamut could handle both The Dragon Seal and The Aether Seal. “Indeed, you are well-versed in every aspect of our history, but are you truly ready is what I’m trying to decide.” Exodus said.

Hamut smiled at Exodus. “It is your decision, but while you ponder and wait, Zodiark continues to plunge the world further in his darkness.” Hamut would state.

“It is settled then.” He said as the scales on his desk would spin and magicks of ethereal orange and gold would begin to surround Hamut. “Brandon Hamut Darcone, you are the father of Simon Darcone, grandfather of Vincent Darcone, Jackson Darcone, and Roman Darcone. You are the Head Judge of the Archaidan Imperial Court, and I, Exodus the Judge-Sal find you worthy of the title Chosen One. May it bring you strength for whenever you need it.”

As Hamut heard all of the words that Exodus said, he would feel his body to react funny to the new power he was given. First, he would feel overwhelmed, but after the initial feeling went away, he suddenly felt a calmness overtake him and within the seconds that followed he was back in the hallways of the Emperor’s Building and it was with that Hamut was graduated to Chosen One status.