Michellin

Wanderers

The mention of 'bomb' made Elva grimace, though Daryll tilted his head in thought. "Could work. Ever since I heard about those exploding dolls the other day, I'd been thinking about how they managed to do that."
"That's why your alchemy chamber smelled especially foul last night, didn't it?" Elva commented. Gavin was sorely tempted to ask to see it but kept this to himself.

Elva looked down at the map."Having her nowhere near would be best. But..."
"Yeah. Good luck trying to tell her that," Daryll muttered, thinking. "Nullify her how?" he asked Ruli. "Suppress or hide her magic? Disguise her?"
"What about the Ring?" Gavin asked. "Maybe it'll be an even bigger distraction if someone else holds onto it?"
Daryll frowned. "Feels risky. While she may be the only person able to use it, I don't like the possibility of losing it to the enemy. Besides, she would never take it off."
Elva hummed in thought. "She did. She mentioned something about needing to take it off when she was looking for Ed. Isn't that right?" she asked Ruli.

--

"Your answer does not surprise me. Very well, I accept your promise," Kire said, smirking. "Ideally, though, you will be alive by the end of it. It would be an honour to me to keep having you as an ally and friend." She walked beside the elf, hands clasped behind her as they made their way towards the infirmary to get to the library. "And I feel the same way about my power. I was Empress and warrior before I received this Ring." She thought about Ruli losing their sparring sessions, which slightly surprised her. She remembered his drug-fuelled rampage against Akuma and wondered just how much of that was the drug and how much was him, or some part of him.

"Where are you in your discussions?" Kire asked as they entered the library. She spotted the map on the table. "Ah, I see."
"We were talking about the possibility of hiding you and your magic," Elva said. "In case the Gemini are actually counting on your presence there."

Wanderers

Daryll held Ruli’s gaze steadily, even as the man threatened him, flashing his sharp teeth. “A pity, indeed,” he said simply, before catching Elva’s eye.
“What was that?” the healer said, gesturing at him.
Daryll shrugged. “Just trying to see what sort of boy he is.”
Elva arched an eyebrow, smirking. “My dear, you are full of surprises lately. Looks like the Wyvern blood is waking up in you.” Daryll snorted at that, before turning his attention back to Ruli. On a table nearby were loose leaves of parchment with writing on it, as well as notebooks, all of them with Daryll’s near-unintelligible scrawl. Not that Ruli or Gavin would have been able to read it, even if his penmanship had been neater than it currently was. He grabbed one notebook and started writing, following along with Ruli.

“That’s bloody brilliant,” Daryll said, grinning, putting down the notebook and going to one of the shelves, pulling out a large rolled parchment from a protective cylinder. Elva cleared one of the other tables and together she and Daryll unfurled it, revealing a map of the Palace grounds. Already, various scrawls filled the marginalia of the map, written in his handwriting. “The thing about the Palace is that it’s on a raised hill, and consists of two major parts: the old and new buildings,” Daryll said, pointing it out in the map. He pointed to its walls, the gardens surrounding it, explaining how large the area was. “And here is where the Red Tower is.” Behind the Palace was an orchard, but towards the edge of it ran an old stone wall, separating the more groomed orchards from the forest beyond it. Not far from the gate of the stone wall sat the Red Tower.
Gavin whistled. “If the Tower’s the one closing the circuit of the wards, that is a lot of ground.” His eyes went over the map, already picturing how the runes should be placed and where, how far apart they need to be, and how many people might be needed to lay them all down as quickly as possible, silent for a few moments. “Have you thought that the Gemini might be counting on Kire walking into a trap?”

The cousins looked at each other, before turning their gaze on him. “More than once. I’d be surprised they hadn’t been preparing one,” Elva said. “Especially now that our armies are closing in on them, and that we’ve been capturing the traitor lords who had allied themselves with them.” She sighed, drumming her fingers on the table. “Which is the point of this whole scheme, isn’t it? Whatever they might be doing in there, the wards would nullify. And while they may know something of Kire’s Ring, the help of magic-wielders from another world is a wildcard that they couldn’t entirely account for. They could only prepare for so much, just as we are doing now.”
“Why? Do you know something?” Daryll asked. Gavin chewed on his lip, still looking at the map, specifically at the area indicating the location of the Tower.

“Ikegai said something to me,” he began, and the word echoed eerily in the library once he had heard his own voice say the name out loud. “World gates have been an obsession for the Gemini. But he said that the Gemini have this belief, that once, before the magic went to sleep in Amria, they were more common. And you didn’t need all the sacrifices and whatnot to open the gates. Like what Kire does with the Ring. And the goal is to find that lost art where you don’t need that. Without the massive-scale blood rituals, you’d need to tap into the best sources of magic: places where traces of the old magic is strongest, dragon-blood, the blood of magic-users.” He looked back up at them. “What if they want Kire there all along? And after that stunt with destroying the gate, they know just how much potential her power has with portals now.”

--
Kire smirked when Ysaryn answered, watching with her own feeling of satisfaction as the elf tested out the weight and feel of them. She grinned at Ysaryn’s compliments on the blades, chuckling as the elf turned to hug her, squeezing her back in a one-armed hug. “They match the new owner, yes,” she said with accented Elvish, winking at her. “Promise me you will also survive, and I will call it even,” she added, before stepping back, going towards the section of the chamber where the armor is stored. “’Chainmail’, is what Ruli was saying, I presume,” she said over her shoulder, beckoning her closer, gesturing at the various kinds of armor. “Most of these are in larger sizes, but I’m sure there should be at least one in your size. You’d probably want something that’s lighter than full-on plate armor, hence his suggestion.”

She stepped back to let Ysaryn have a look at which ones fit her best, nodding in approval once she had found the best option for her. “What Gavin said, about the limitations to Shadow-walking, does that worry you?” she asked, leading her back out the armory.

Wanderers

Of course she’d say that, Kire thought with a grunt. Kire listened to them explain the safeguards they would work into the wards and nodded, remembering that frantic moment when the Gemini mage instructed them to destroy the ward in a specific sequence. She began entertaining another possibility then of perhaps having such a ward permanently around the Palace, or even the Capital, for protection. Because of the Gemini, there had been a ban on such magic, and there wasn’t much guarantee it would work, but if they pulled this off, Kire would seriously consider it now.

The question about her death gave her pause, though she did smile, amused, when Envy forbade her to die. If it were only that easy. “I can’t die. Who’ll send your sorry asses home?” She smirked at them, though only briefly. Joke though it may be, it was still an uncomfortable truth. If she fell, the three of them couldn’t go back, not unless they found some other errant gate to take them home. “Either way, whatever is necessary for the wards to work, I’ll do it. I wouldn’t have had much of an issue with my own magic being negated within the wards, but I’d rather have the option open in case an emergency happens.”

“Hang on,” Gavin put in, “just to clarify, if the ward’s intent is to negate the magic inside, does that mean you two can’t Shadow Walk, either?”
That definitely was a cause for concern. “My assumption would be that once the wards are set, the rest of our forces would enter, and the heaviest fighting would be directed at the army,” Kire put in, “the infiltrators should ideally be in and out. But we’ll hash out the details when we’ve met up with the others. As for how much or how little you’ll be involved, we’ll have to discuss whether or not you’ll even need to be anywhere near this.”
Gavin frowned at that, but decided that whatever objections or details needed to be discussed might be better when they everybody else was gathered. “Fine.”
Kire sighed. “Alright. If we’re ready. Let’s go.” She wanted to say more, some words of comfort or promise to Envy that she would do all in her power to make sure all three were returned whole and safe. But she knew the only real comfort would come once this is all over. “Thank you, Envy.”

When they emerged in Elva’s manor, Gavin doubled over, clutching his head. “Need a bucket?” Kire asked. Gavin shook his head, then closed his eyes, the movement making his motion sickness worse.
“I was wondering when you lot will show up,” Elva said, entering the great hall, her eyes on Ysaryn and Ruli, before settling on Gavin. She looked at Kire, her gaze questioning, pipe between her teeth, which told Kire she had been anxious while waiting.
“Elva, this is Gavin,” Kire said simply. Elva’s brows raised for only a moment before she smiled.
“Ah. I see.” She stepped closer, observing him, and Gavin stood ramrod straight before giving a well-practiced bow.
“Good day, my lady,” he said before straightening up; the healer blinked, not expecting the sudden formality.
“Huh. Well. Good day to you, too, Gavin.”
Kire could see that Elva didn’t quite know what to make of this young man yet. She wondered if the lad’s age had anything to do with it, especially given how Earnest had been that age, or roundabouts. Elva cleared her throat and turned to Ruli.
“Daryll is in the library. We’ve put together everything in the list we talked about.” She glanced at Gavin. “Is he going to join us?”
“Yes,” Kire said, a hand on Gavin’s shoulder. “He’s agreed to help us. Did my request arrive?”
“Ahh,” Elva said, grinning at Ysaryn. “It’s in the armory.”
--
“Ed isn’t here, he’s currently where the war council will be held,” Kire said, leading her to the armory, “we’ll see him and Maika too. Now, here we are.” She went inside, towards one of the tables, “I know you only asked for blades, but if you need anything else, like armor or shields, you’re welcome to it. Now this is for you.” She unfolded something wrapped in leather, revealing two sabers, slightly more curved and slenderer than Ruli’s. The handle had the same level of intricacy, with a stylized wave motif winding around the hilt. But the blades themselves were impressive even without the handle, whorls forged into the metal. “Are they satisfactory?” Kire asked, grinning.
--
Daryll looked up as Elva, Ruli, and Gavin entered. “You’re back. And that’s him, then?” He said, gesturing at Gavin.
“Mmhmm,” Elva said. She had put out the embers in her tobacco before she had entered the library, though now she was itching to smoke more. Daryll stepped closer, extending his hand to Gavin, who took it.
As soon as he did, Daryll pulled him closer, his hand tight around Gavin’s. “You better not screw us over,” he muttered.
“Daryll,” Elva warned.
Gavin kept steady, though his voice trembled slightly when he spoke. “I promise you, I want them to bleed.”
Daryll let him go. “Well. If this works. There will be plenty of that.”

Wanderers

“Finer details, huh,” Gavin noted, stepping inside, a little relieved Ruli had already arrived and, presumably, been the first to wake the Kartaian. At Envy’s question, Gavin pulled out the small pouch with the pebble inside. After retrieving the pebble, he stepped closer to place it in Envy’s hand. “I’ll keep it on me at all times,” he promised. “Where are the women?”

“’The women’, huh?” Kire said. “May we come in—” she cut herself off when Ysaryn sauntered into Envy’s chambers, shaking her head a little with a smirk. She spotted Ruli sitting by the cushions and, after a deep breath, raised a hand briefly in greeting before turning to Gavin and Envy. “Gavin, before we go, just to be clear: at any time you feel you aren’t up to it, if it’s too dangerous or too much for you, you don’t have to tell me the reason, I will take you back here. Granted, I’ll do that, myself, anyway, but just know the option is there.”
Gavin nodded. “I will.” He slipped the charm back into the pouch and secured it in his pocket.

“That goes for you two,” Kire said, looking at Ysaryn and Ruli, before turning to Envy. She wasn’t sure how Envy felt about her now, after everything. Going behind his back with Ruli, and roping Gavin into this. “I’ll bring them back,” she promised.

Wanderers

The door swung open, and Kire was on the other side, having already bathed and dressed to leave half an hour prior, her scarred arm free of the bandage. The irritation in her eyes showed that she had tossed and turned all night, too, and had, to her own displeasure, woken up earlier than intended. After a couple of moments, though, Kire put on an amiable expression. "Good morning. Ready to leave?" she asked, ignoring the elf's teasing.

She walked beside the elf on the way back to the caves. "We had a nice dinner, then a chat. At some point, we both realized there's just too many things stacked against us," Kire said bluntly, knowing the elf was probably chomping at the bit for juicy details. Kire shrugged. "Or, more accurately, he knew it, and I simply caught up. It is what it is. Nothing else happened. I suppose we're probably better off just friends." She looked at Ysaryn and smiled. "Better to nip it in the bud before things get too hard. But! Enough about trivial matters," she said, waving a hand.

--
Gavin, too, hadn't slept well, but he had risen in a much better mood than the other two. After finding a small pouch for the charmed pebble yesterday, he had packed quickly, then, wondering if he had forgotten something, undid his packing and repacked again. The knife Kire gave him, which he had religiously kept polished, he wore at his hip now. Gods, he was so excited, anticipation and anxiety combined, that he felt like he had drunk a whole jug of coffee.

He grabbed some bread to nibble on for breakfast, not wanting to eat too much in anticipation of the discomfort of the portal. After that, his pack in tow, he headed to Envy's chambers. "Envy?" He called.

Wanderers

They emerged in front of the house they fixed up for her. She let go, turned towards her door, brow creased. She sighed, hands in her pockets, head tilted up. "Yeah, you told me. Envy told me," she muttered. "I was just too thick-headed."

She looked back at him, offered a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Goodnight, Ruli. Thanks for dinner. And for trying, anyway. " She turned to her door and stepped inside. She leaned against the door once shut, sighing.

"Kire, you idiot."

Wanderers

When he turned away and fumbled through an apology, Kire stared at him a bit longer. She could almost see the moment he had decided to retreat. Even when he said he agreed with her about seeing where things go, why did it seem more like a kind of resignation than an openness to see where this would lead? She faced the ocean again. Why did it have to be someone from a different world? And why did it have to be him?

"Yes. We should head back," Kire said, standing up with a grunt, picking her boots up. She sighed. "Can't have anyone thinking we're just having fun while we can, right?"

Wanderers

Kire sighed. "I feel the same way. I mean, I would have still done the same thing, if it meant saving people. But what if it had been the last dragon? The more I thought about it, the more it confirmed to me that it was a test of some sort. I guess I passed it." She looked at the reflection of the setting sun in the water, remembering how it felt to behold those fiery, reptilian eyes.

His next question though made her turn sharply towards him. "Point?" She frowned, though she bit back most of her temper. "I've been empress for sixty years. I've received proposals ever since. Every single one of those people who tried to arrange a match for me all have some idea or other about what I 'have' to do, what I 'ought' to do, who to do it with. Like every move I make, every relationship has to have some 'point'." She huffed. "Can't we just--maybe just see where this goes first?"

Wanderers

“Nope. Didn’t kill it. Couldn’t.” Kire toyed with a pebble before tossing it into the water. “All the hacking and piercing and slashing I did? Barely hurt it. Or if I did hurt it, it wasn’t enough to really maim it. Meanwhile, it kept flicking me off like I was a gnat. I had to tear off my chestplate at some point because the armor had caved in and was making it hard for me to breathe. Hence the whole ridiculous plan to go stabbing around in its mouth.” She hugged her knees. “The dragon will sleep for a thousand years. I’ll be long dead by then, so presumably it’s going to be the next Paladin’s problem. Good luck to the poor fucker,” she said, chuckling. “Anyway, by the time I had realized I had no prayer of actually killing it, I lost desire to do so. You’ve seen it. Even if I could kill it, it was a dragon. I don’t know if I’d bear actually maiming it.”

Wanderers

Kire grinned. “You give me too much credit. I still get plenty scared of many things, and war is one of them. But—yeah. Facing a dragon and living to tell the tale does wonders for your nerves, turns out. And I mostly worry about others.” She let her hand linger in his grip for a few moments before gently tugging it free. “As for this war, well, my anger at the Gemini wins out over whatever fear I may have, if only a little bit.” She shrugged. “Alternatively, maybe I’m just too thick-headed to be scared shitless at things I should be backing away from,” she added, smirking.

She stepped back a bit to find a spot to sit on, facing the sunset. The colors reminded her of the memory she had just shared with him, and she smiled softly at the thought before pondering his question. “Maybe. There are stories, art, songs about dragons in Amria, but none of them quite measured up to the one I saw. Either nothing that humans make could ever really capture something so godlike, or this is a different kind of dragon.” Kire frowned. “The Seers aren’t exactly the most straightforward people I’ve met. If they even are people. The most they’d told me after I woke up after days of unconsciousness is that I was successful in my battle, and the dragon had gone back to hibernating. I should hope so, I portalled into its mouth and stabbed around in there before it tried to eat me.” She wrinkled her nose at the memory.

She looked down at the Ring in her scarred hand. “You know how in legends and fairy-tales, there’s barely any explanation for how the hero gets his powers? It’s just some deity saying, ‘here lad, magic sword, go forth upon thine holy quest’. Or the hero was off on some other errand when he stumbles upon some mysterious forest and presto! Magic animal grants you wishes. When I got older, I’ve always wondered about that. And then I go and meet some Seer who practically gives me the ‘here, magic Ring, take it’ speech. I mean, the discussion was longer than that, but when I look back on that moment, there weren’t a lot of real answers there.”

Kire shook her head, sighing. “Sorry. Rambling.” She grinned, running a hand through her hair.