Visyn

Into the Land of Twilight

Roxas

---

“Are you alright, darling?” Fia asked. As the sorceress approached, Roxas was tossing away the fletched end of her arrow. Fia stood next to Roxas, one arm reached around the elf’s back. Both her hands gripped Roxas’ shoulders. “We should get you out of here.” Fia looked up at the tree. As much as Tillius’ blocked the view in front of him, he couldn't block it all. Everywhere they looked had evidence of horrors long past. “We should all get out of here. Where is that light? We need to get to Vesemir’s light.” Fia swiveled her head to look about. She didn’t see Carnatia or Nanashi. Hopefully that was a sign they made it out and were with the other elves.

Her gaze moved to Fia as she grabbed onto Roxas. She didn't have any time to say anything though as she looked to her arm, groaning as she seemed to feel the strength just.. leave it. What the hell..? She looked back to Fia, and pointed with her non hurt arm. "Further down the road."

"Lads! We found them!" one of the soldiers cried, his voice was unusually cruel, coarse, and amplified. Their weapons were drawn, sword and poleaxes, and soon they would initiate the skirmish by making a flanking move toward the party's frontline.

As everyone's attention seemed to be distracted by what was happening in front of Tillius, the captain had already galloped toward Rezello and Forbann, brandishing his bloodied hatched.

Her head snapped up to the yell of the phantoms finding them. First it was hurting herself, next it was them being found out!? What else was going to go wrong? She clicked her tongue to herself, and looked to her arm. It had gotten it's strength back, but the arrow was going to be troublesome. In a split minute decision, she wretched the arrow from her arm with a groan, and pressed her hand to it, whispering softly to herself as she healed the arm. Hopefully her magic would work in this realm. If not, she'd do a quick bandage.

"Don't worry about me! They've seen us! Get ready to fight!" She yelled, pushing Fia's hands off her and taking a single step back. Her gaze moved up to the man on the horse. "Aim for the horse!" They needed to act fast, or they weren't going to get out of this.. and if they did, it would be with injuries.

Into the Land of Twilight

Roxas

---

When Roxas stood there unmoving, one of the soldiers threw another rope over the branches and fitted another noose on the dead elf's neck. His partner behind him held the other end and yanked the rope, jerking the corpse and causing blood and brain matter to splatter about as the corpse hoisted upward.

The elven civilian tied to the tree was still alive, weeping in pain. Her executioner had left her for now, to look for another toy to play with.

Her bow came up easily, arrow notched and ready to fire at the phantom if it even attempted to approach her. Her eyes only widening at the sight of the dead elf swinging from the tree. She wasn't about to me added to the tree; she would rather kill herself with her own dagger. She even tried to step back, but whatever or whoever was behind her, prevented her from fleeing.

"Tch." The orc growled, looking around if anyone too was also caught in this. He could simply side-step the elf and continued moving towards the light, but what is to happen to them if he just ignored them. One was clearly ensnared by the phantom, many more could have as well. But how could he get them to break off? His quick-thinking, pressured by the current situation, fired off one solution.

"Heads down, fall in." Tillius gave as short and concise of an instruction as possible for Roxas and anyone in view. He squeezed past the elf and stepped in front of her, hoping to cover her vision of the five butcher-soldiers, his shield raised above his face, hoping to cover even the vision of the people behind him who might be tempted to have a staredown with the abyss.

The poor woman heard Tilli's voice and seemed to watch him come into view, but it didn't stop her from keeping her bow notched and pulled. Her arm trembled lightly as she stood there. Her eyes were still wide as she stared forward, looking at the shield and orc in her way, but not actually seeing him. Softly mumbled words escaped her as she trembled in spot, arms straining to keep the bow and arrow up and ready to fire.

"I can't.. I can't.. I'd rather kill myself.. Stay away.." Her breath had picked up after her words, likely an indication she was about to have a panic attack. In her panic, her hand let the arrow loose. Thankfully, with Tilli in the way, it seemed to just hit the shield, but being so close.. It bounced back; embedding itself in her arm.

A soft yell startled her out of her stupor, bow clattering to the ground as her hand moved to the arrow in her arm, which she looked to. Breath heavy as she looked around and up at Tili. She'd been entranced and thrown into a panic by the phantoms; but the pain pulled her out of it. "Apologies, Tilli.." She held a small face of pain, quickly breaking the arrow so it was shorter and then picking up her bow.

@Conscripts

Into the Land of Twilight

Roxas

---

With the goal of Lasse Library now in everyone's mind; one that seemed to make Roxas curious. Perhaps she could find some things she's been wanting to.. The team set out. Thankfully, it seemed they had fallen in a more singular line, to avoid being touched by the black shadows and masses trying to reach them and plead for their lives.

It was definitely unsettling for Roxas. As someone who only ever wanted to help someone, she felt pity for the souls stuck; if they could even be called souls anymore. With the warning from both the Boss and Gray Flame, it was a little.. concerning. It seemed for not for Roxas though. She saw the flashes of the illusion in her mind, so much to cause her to stumble a little, nearly tripping on the slight rubble that had gotten on the path. Finding her footing was easy. Whoever was behind her would bump into her as she stopped straight in her tracks.

Her eyes widened with the realization that.. The illusion had grabbed at her mind and now she was stuck staring at the five men who very likely had just killed that elven man. She could feel her blood run cold at the thought. Her hand already moved to grab at her bow, the other grabbing an arrow from her quiver to notch.

Into the Land of Twilight

Roxas

---

For the remainder of the night at the house, Roxas didn't come downstairs, not even for dinner. She stayed upstairs, reading the books on medical knowledge. When it was time to leave in the morning; Roxas did come down and apologize to everyone about her behavior. She gave the option for anyone to look in her bag if they suspected her that she was stealing the items.

---

On the route towards their destination, Roxas can either be seen playing her flute or caving into wood. Whenever she carved into the wood, she was infusing it with her mana. Whenever she was done with the carving, she would give it to the respective person; possibly as an apology but most because they would need it.

All items were replicas of items she would see on the person; Mask for Gray Flame, the flower from Fia's hairpin, Rezello's pendant, a random flower for Forbann and Engelbert, Evelyn's brooch, Nanashi's katana, Carnatia's rapier and she even gave Vesemir a small charm of his cane, incase he needed it. All items, save for the flowers, have an engraved flower into it somewhere. It was likely her signature.

---

Once everyone was disembarked from the wagon and told to gather around, Roxas stayed close to the edge as best as she could. She looked to the map, looking up as others talked.

"Tonight, Ser Vesemir?" Asked Engelbert with a slight tilt of the head, peering down on the map. It's... hmm, looked like it was actually close enough to feasibly reach, but a night march was an entirely different beast than daytime. "It would be quite dangerous, if only from the risk of someone tripping and breaking their ankle. May I know the reason why?"

As eccentric as their boss were, Vesemir was nothing if not logical. If he wanted a night visit, he should have a good reason why.

"Injuries can either be taken care of with bandages and salves, or minor healing; as long as it is not needed frequently. I am knowledgeable in taking care of wounds without mana. For clarification on the charms I've given you, they will allow you to enter my barrier if you are not already within it. Do not lose them; I will only make you one other if so. Do no let them be taken from you, anyone who has them will be granted entry." She then went quiet, looking to Carnatia and Gray as they examined a tree for possible illusions or something more nefarious.

Into the Land of Twilight

Collab between

Tillius

&

Roxas

Upstairs on the second floor

---

Her head shifted the slightest bit, as if to tell the next person to leave her alone before she paused. Her head turned further to look at Tillius before looking back to the window. “I didn’t like being questioned.” She frowned lightly to herself. “It hasn’t happened in nearly 100 years and it did not sit well, when I felt I had good intentions.”

“I realized as I walked away, it was fairly childish to do what I did; by yelling at Gray Flame.” Her hand moved from around her leg and brushed some hair away from her face. “I will apologize to everyone tomorrow.”

She looked at him again with a turn of her head. “Did they ask you to come here?”

Tillius was prepared for a lecture, but she pretty much knew right away she was wrong. Saved him a lot of time and quite frankly he was somewhat impressed to hear.

”Good. Credit to you for being self-aware of your own faults.” He didn’t really mince his words, but was fair when it came to it. ”And no, I came up here of my own volition. I don’t want to see unresolved discontent. On a journey, it’s always more dangerous with discord than any monsters.”

The focus then ought to become just letting her sort her frustrations out herself. That’s not a big deal.

”You said you haven’t been questioned in nearly 100 years. Tell me more about it.” He said. ”Where are you from exactly?”

Roxas gave a soft laugh. Her posture became more relaxed as she pulled her legs away to dangle versus scrunched up in defense. He was changing the subject, which was fine by her. “I’m actually from Alkaustar, but I moved after fumbling about for 100 years. It grew boring for me.”

She turned, so he could see her more, but she still had a view of the storm. “After wandering for a couple years, I found an out of the way small city and have been living there ever since; being one of two best adventurers and guides for newbies and anyone who needs help when they come through.” Her gaze moved to her bag that sat by the bookcase, as if she was remembering something that she had inside; likely a keepsake.

”Mhm.” He mused. ”Not a bad start.”

Also explained why she wasn’t used to being questioned. She might be the best adventurer there, but here everyone is at least several degrees experienced.

”Boredom is a strong motivator, I will say.” Tillius continued. ”I was an officer in the Westernant military. Retired, no drama, good relations with the general. But civilian life was boring, so I came here with you rowdy folks.”

Another smile graced her lips at his profession of coming with rowdy people. ”Rowdy, huh?” Her gaze moved down to the desk she sat on, fingers running along it. ”Military is impressive; hence why you’re a light sleeper.” She swung around and hopped off the desk, moving to her bag.

She rummaged through it and pulled out a small wrap of leather. She pulled out a piece of jerky, taking apart a piece and then putting the wrap back. ”I love adventuring and I love helping new adventurers. It’s fulfilling to see them win their first battle or sell their first materials.” She tore the jerky in half and moved to him, offering him as she took a bite of her own piece. She looked up at him, not all the way tilting her head, looking through her lashes.

”Everybody starts their journey somewhere.” Tillius bowed lightly as he took the jerky offer from Roxas. ”Any particular adventurer that you remember?”

The blonde elf gave a hum of thought as she moved and leaned against the desk now, crossing her ankles. ”Ah! Rentt. He was a new one in town; a tank. He was having trouble getting used to using a shield and blocking attacks so his party members could get in to attack. In one of our jobs; he had gotten too flustered and caused an attack to happen to one of the others. He felt so sorry that he bought them something later because he felt so bad.”

A smile pulled at her lips as she told the story, looking up to him with a genuine smile. ”Those two married five years ago and have a child now.”

”Wow, nice lad.” Tillius raised his eyebrows as he munched on his jerky. ”A happier ending than who I knew, that’s for sure.”

Roxas’ smile faltered to a smaller one with a nod. She knew what loss of people she helped was one she knew well. She looked back up to him, chewing on a piece then tilting her head a little. ”And you, Tilli? Anyone you were fond of?” She had subconsciously given him a nickname; likely just a habit with newbie adventurers.

”I do.” Tillius didn’t really budge with the nickname. ”I met him just before crossing into Varenheim actually. He’s my former superior, Marcus.”

”I could go on about him, but if you want a short story that tells all about him, it’s one when he one day saw a poor lad, a completely new recruit, scrubbing a stable all alone, all night. Marcus decided to give the guy double pay for that month.” With an air of reverence, Tillius narrated. ”A few days later, both of us came to the same stable, and saw a dozen or so soldiers scrubbing the stables, all from the same company as that new recruit, by the way. So you obviously knew what they were up to.”

”Both Marcus and I saw that, and he said something like: ‘You guys should instead go and scrub each other in the bath.’, then left.”

The elf chewed on her jerky as she listened to his short story. Her gaze lifted to him and she gave a laugh at the end of it. Her face lit up in the dim room. ”He sounds lovely.” Her smile faded a little, before she took a deep breath. Her head fell back to look up at the ceiling. Her ear shifted slightly at the noises from downstairs before looking back to Tillius. ”Thank you for talking to me, Tilli. Don’t feel obligated to stay up here anymore.” She turned and moved to the bookcase where her bag was, scanning the spines.

Being up here by herself would likely be lonely, but she still didn’t want to go downstairs. She pulled one of the medical books and sat in the chair at the desk. ”Feel free to tell them, if they will believe me, that I have no intention of stealing the items. They are safely back in their respective places.” She looked to Tillius and offered him a smile.

”If they would ask, then yes, I shall convey.” He too felt it safe to leave her alone. It seemed like everything worked out in the end. ”It is a pleasure to help.”

Tillius gave her a single firm handwave before backing away to the stairs and then descended.

Roxas waved back to him and went about reading the medical book, one of the few things she had been looking forward to when she saw the room and what was inside.

Buggs Wimsy Search [Fantasy/Sci-Fi/Paranormal Detective Sort of thing]

Am interested! Sounds fun! <3

Into the Land of Twilight

"What's the matter, darling?" he said calmly, emphatically. Holding his walking cane behind his back, he stopped right in the middle of the room, giving the disappointed elf some space.

@Mas Bagus

Roxas

---

As Vesemir came up and then stopped, Roxas was found climbing onto the desk. She had moved the flier and lamp to one side of the desk as to not sit on it. She turned, back towards him and the stairwell. Her legs came up as she wrapped her arms around them, ankles crossed.

Her gaze moved to the window; which she has now closed from the ninja guy coming in. She simply sat there for a few silent heartbeats, staring out at the storm as it rattled the window lightly. “I am fine, Sir Vesemir. Thank you though, for your concern. If you need me later, I will be sleeping up here.”

Into the Land of Twilight

Roxas

---

The Gray Flame

The Gray Flame was still busy with the map he did not realize that his boss had moved on to greet the newest member. Strangely, he didn't remember someone named Fia on the list.
He was even more perplexed when watching the elven healer Roxas bringing am assortments of keepsakes from the upstairs. He was too occupied with Vesemir's whim, a carefulness to not show any sign of association with their current shelter, and observing the house itself. Which gave him a not-really-pleasant memory.

And now such sense of carefulness was challenged by the healer's action, who argued that her deeds were just. The gray flame stood dumbfounded for a good second, before Engelbert pulled him out to the corridor, out of the others for now.

"I know what you are thinking." The Gray Flame said. Despite looking like he was experiencing a blow to an old scar, he was quick to regain his focus. "But my hands are tied. What a rotten luck this is. You know what, let's see how it plays out or whether she was being true to her words."

It was obvious that Gray Flame was not in an optimal condition to talk, but who knows, things might resolve quickly with to of them talking?

So, with Engelbert in tow, The Gray Flame returned to the living room. The items Roxas brought have already been laid on top of the table, like some sort of auctioned goods. He breathes heavily as if to prepare for a great confrontation.

"Roxas," he said, slowly, clearly, like an elder brother telling his sister that the playtime was over. By the time he initiated this conversation, she was speaking with a giant Fellow The Gray Flame who hadn't had a chance exchanging names and pleasantries yet.

"To be honest we already overstepped our boundaries simply by taking shelter here and using this very room like our own."

Maybe intentional, or coincidental, the Gray Flame's gaze briefly fell on the photo and the bloodstained quiver. His hand slowly reached to touch them, until something snapped him out of it and brought his attention back to Fia, Evelyn, Carnathia and Roxas again, the main perpetrator.

"But what is done is done. If you think you have a very good reason to remove these items from their initial places, then I am willing to hear it. Otherwise, this is not a decent thing to do, and we better return them back."

@Mas Bagus

"Does no one understand what the word investigation mean?" She set the pictures down, letting out a frustrated sigh before snapping her eyes to Gray Flame and giving him a glare as well. "FINE, FINE, fine, fine, fine!" Her magic flared around her in anger, silvery with amber flecks as it swirled and then settled. "Fine."

After Evelyn scryed the items, she scooped them back up. She paused at the bottom of the stairs, jaw clenching and unclenching. Loud enough for everyone to hear, before she disappeared; "Roxas. Healer." She then moved upstairs to put everything back. Damin might have been right, why did she bring herself on this expedition. Once upstairs, she put the chest items back, the flier on the desk and put the pendant, draft and picture back in the bedroom. She didn't come back downstairs.

Into the Land of Twilight

Roxas

---

Roxas looked to Engel as he proceeded to tell her that most of his encounters lately were people stealing. Unfortunately, Fia coming over did not help the case, but it was still rude of him to assume she would just take things in the house. She wasn't a monster. She frowned lightly, about to say something before he walked off hurriedly to talk to Gray Flame. She set her hands on the table again and sighed. "Still.. I'm not a monster. I don't steal from the dead."

She blew out air and then lifted the pictures again, looking them over. Why would the one in the chest be so.. melancholy and the other one show such a pleasant expression. Yes, the house was freshly built in the picture, but.. Something seemed off about it. To her, the first picture was either the woman's true personality, or it was taken after the second picture and something happened. Based on Engelbert's moving over to his compatriot in a rush; something was up.

Into the Land of Twilight

Roxas

---

Her hands paused in looking over the pictures. She raised her head slightly, her eyes moving to Engel and giving him the glare of his life. How dare he. "Excuse me?" She looked up further, slamming the pictures down on the table. "We walk into this house, with blood on the floor and the weapon and you expect me to not look into a possible death; despite the couple being gone for 30 years." She blew out harsh air, jaw clenching lightly. "And then you have the audacity to accuse me of wanting to steal from said probably dead couple."

Was everyone trying to piss her off today? First the.. weird stalker creepy guy and now the large armored tank of a man. She clicked her tongue angrily, standing straight. She crossed her arms, glaring at Engelbert again. "You've known me for a possible 5 hours and the first thing you ask me is if I'm going to steal.. I don't think in all my time as an adventurer the first thing someone accused me of, was stealing." She shook her head, closing her eyes as she was trying to calm down. God, this trip was going to be a nightmare if she was going to get angry at everyone.. At least Tillius seemed nice..

@A5G