Nightshift 26: F21-30 Hallway
Ashe couldn't deny that she was a least a little relieved when the lights went out and the doors slowly groaned as they unlatched and opened. The transmitted and flashlight would of course be needed if she were to progress efficiently in her exploration of this institution; apparently, an entirely new level and a few choice foes had been selected
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Knock, knock, knock.
Cyrille stood up quickly, she wasn't expecting people to be coming to her room! Then again, if she was going to meet Peony by herself, she should have asked him where to meet him. It was the only logical for them to agree on a meeting point if they were to go with meeting at night. Oh, but it didn't matter now, you could just say that even geniuses fail to think ahead sometimes.
As it was to be Cyrille's first time in the darkness, she was unsure of what to expect. Certainly, when she opened the door and peeked through the crack she would have hoped that rather heavy knock was Peony's. It surely didn't seem quite his style, though. Cyrille imagined that even his knock would carry a whimsical and teasing sound to it... if that was possible, anyway. She couldn't help but also think of how bold he was! Coming to a young lady's room in the middle of the night, certainly he was daring... but it was more annoying than gentlemanly to Cyrille.
It was time, Cyrille cleared her throat. She took a deep and swift breath before she gently opened the door and spoke, "H-Hello...?"
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"Good Evening Miss," Jade smiled down at the young woman, taking the time to study whatever features she bothered to reveal. If he were any less of a proper gentleman he'd have to applaud his friend for his taste in women, but the age difference was certainly something to consider. Of course, the Colonel had to remember that his Majesty showed obvious interest in Anise as well, so this was hardly a surprise.
"I'm sure you know of a man that calls himself Peony. We're actually both acquaintances of his. My name is Jade," He paused for a moment to gesture at the teen next to him. "And this is Anise, and we'll be providing whatever company you need until he arrives."
He chuckled lightly.
"I can assure you that it won’t take long. He was never one to be quick on his feet unless it was for women."
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Anise, resting her hands on her hips, looked up at the girl and studied her features. Long hair, fair skin, petite yet womanly in stature... a worthy rival indeed. But that wasn't enough to discourage Anise!
She smiled at the stranger, and offered a cheerful greeting. "Hello! It's nice to meet you."
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For a moment, Cyrille completely forgot she was in mid-sentence. She opened the door ever so slightly more to show more of her room and figure. She was incredibly small compared to Jade, but not so near Anise. Certainly, if this was a dangerous operation, they wouldn't send a small child to help... would they?
"Good Evening, I'm..." Again with the pause, she was quite nervous to be around these strangers, "Cyrille. I'm sorry you were sent to look for me, I completely forgot to ask Peony where we should meet." Jade's demeanor made Cyrille feel even smaller around him, he gave off a rather serious and authoritative air about him. (Even if he was a patient just like herself.)
"Oh!" Cyrille's attention now diverted to the smaller of two figures, "Anise, was it? ...Good Evening." She was cute, Cyrille had to give it to her. Then again, Cyrille was always fond of younger children, they always managed to put a smile on her face. It never failed, especially not here! Anise looked like she could be the cute little sister of a good friend, it was hard to not smile around her.
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"Really? Well, it looks like he's back now, so that's good. And I expect I hired you to walk my rappigs for me again? At least that's how it should be, hahaha," an easygoing, familiar voice said as the two of them turned the corner.
Yes: it was Emperor Peony IX, tonight's main attraction in a white baseball helmet, walking side by side with special guest Gailardia!
Overall, he seemed affected by neither the dense, heavy air around him nor the gruesome, nearly pitch-black hallway, punctuated only by the beams of passing shine-tubes. What did affect him, though, was seeing Jade and Anise standing there talking to the little dream in front of them.
The emperor was sure that Jade understood that he wanted to keep a low profile here, and had probably instructed his younger companion to refrain from addressing him as anything that had to do with 'majesty.' What did irk him a little, though, was Jade cramping up his style.
The knowledgeable approach worked best with cute, brainy girls like this. Even if it hadn't been planned for Jade to show up, he could at least act like it. "Cyrille, my little dream in a bottle~ I see the advance team has preceded me. Just as planned, hahaha! Good job, Anise, Jade. Commendable job keeping her safe, really." He chuckled easily.
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There had never been any sign of Luke wherever he'd gone, but that didn't matter much now. His friend was back, and with memories or not, it was still Luke.
But here they had apparently happened upon the star of the evening (in His Majesty's eyes, at least), plus two more. Guy couldn't stop his face from lighting up when he saw Anise. He was genuinely glad to see her again, even if it might spell out his slow death due to back attacks from the small girl.
"Anise! It's good to see you." He grinned at the girl, then lifted his head to give Jade a greeting nod, and finally turned to the other girl (Cyrille, her name was?), to whom he sent a charming smile.
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"Of course, what are friends for?" He shrugged while he replied before looking upon their group as a whole. As heartwarming as this reunion was, this wasn't quite what Jade had in mind to spend his first night in the Institute.
"Since only two of our little group are armed, and with the hallways as small as they are, it would be best that we not travel in such a big pack. Not that I had any intention of staying, of course." As he said this, the Colonel switched hands on the mop and held out his right arm. Jade's eyes narrowed slightly, mustering enough energy to summon out every foreign particle in his body. There was a big flash, and in an instant a three-foot long pipe was caught in his loosening grip.
However, Jade found himself sagging against his mop, shoulders hunched. Yet unlike previous attempts, he kept himself composed overall.
"Peony, take this." Jade started after a moment, offering the aforementioned object towards the blond. "Meanwhile, I can escort Anise off to find a suitable weapon for her."
He chuckled, smile turning all too cheerful.
"Well, unless anyone has any qualms about this. Then please, hesitate to speak up."
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And then the man himself arrived. Oops! They were caught. Anise could only grin sheepishly (and cutely!) and hope she wasn't in too much trouble. Still, the sight of both the emperor and Guy was a welcome one, and it put her in considerably high spirits, despite the circumstances.
It wasn't until the colonel used the unnatural-sounding name a second time that a realization hit her. Were they were neglecting titles on purpose? But why would they do that? ...Unless Cyrille didn't know just who her date for the night really was. How big of an airhead could she be, not even knowing the Emperor of Malkuth? Was everybody living under a rock in this stupid institute?
The colonel's suggestion for travel parties made sense, and was probably the best setup. But Anise didn't like it! That meant the girl and the emperor would have the whole night to themselves! Sure, Guy would be there, but he wasn't one to interfere when girls were involved.
Anise looked up at the colonel with the best doe eyes she could manage. "B-but I want to stay with Guy and..." What could a commoner like her call the emperor if not His Majesty or Emperor Peony? The answer didn't come soon enough, so she let her voice trail off and then asked quietly, "Do we really have to?"
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There was no turning back now, of course. She meekly greeted Peony and his companion, this was certainly a large group! Perhaps she underestimated how dangerous this trip would be. She wanted to escape from this place, who didn't? It still worried her on just how well prepared they were. Mops?
Of course, Cyrille's ideal weapon of choice wasn't very spectacular. She raised her hand to her chin to think, perhaps she should bring her journal? No... it was far too light, she needed a good heavy book to swing. What she wouldn't do at the moment for an unabridged copy of a Gaia Codex. Truly, it was a shame her magic didn't work here. It was no use to think of that now.
"Um, Peony?" Her voice shy and meek, perhaps it would win points over with Peony, "Where are we going... exactly?" Yes, that was just the right amount of cute defenselessness, she thought.
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Then he looked down at the cute blond girl in front of him, producing a small, folded-up piece of paper and taking her hand long enough to press the paper into it. So naive! That spark of purity! Yes. "Upper left, second floor, my little dream. That's where we're going first, and this is my first gift."
With that, Peony turned to Jade, planting a strong hand on the cute little Fon Master Guardian's shoulder and attempting to draw her back close to him. Sure, Anise was a little young now, but in two or three years she'd be just the perfect size to date! He had to bring her up right. "Here, I'll take Anise and Cyrille. Jade and Gailardia, you two can go find a weapon for Anise. We'll be going on ahead, thanks, guys!"
He started inching backwards towards the next hallway, trying to bring the girls with him..
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But hey, if that meant he could keep that bat, then he wasn't going to complain! He also had no issue with splitting up, but Anise apparantly did. They could always switch things around, as Guy didn't really care who he went with.
When Peony started putting the charm on for Cyrille, all Guy could do was shake his head. That guy... was pretty unbelievable sometimes. Though when he suggested Anise go with him instead, Guy wasn't about to argue. He would avoid being around girls that way, and he and Jade could probably get a lot done on their own.
"I'm fine with that, but... If Anise is going to be protecting you two, then she should probably take this," he said, twirling the bat in his hand. Even if Peony was already armed, Anise had a better chance of fighting off whatever might attack them. Then he would be unarmed, but Jade had his... mop, and they could always find him something else.
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"If that were the case, then I hope you don't mind if I take this," He smiled innocently at his friend before offering the pipe to Anise instead. "I do believe this would be a more suitable weapon for you, seeing as that Peony doesn't mind keeping all the ladies to himself."
Taking everything into a logical perspective, it would've been best if Guy was the one armed if they were going to travel together. Not only was the man quick on his feet, but the blond could also provide a long enough distraction for him to cast his fonic artes. Yes, it all fit in quite nicely, not to mention that Guy could always speak for him when he didn't feel like talking about the more useless aspects of idle conversation. But part of him wasn’t completely satisfied with how they were shuffled, and for obvious reasons.
"However, I have one more question before we part ways." He expression lowered into a passive stare as he glanced back towards the black haired teen. "Anise, have you had a chance to test out your fonic abilities yet? In either case, I wouldn't advise using them unless absolutely necessary."
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To her surprise, they did! Guy and the colonel were even offering her weapons. They really trusted her with the emperor's protection? It was a little touching.
Anise shifted the pipe in her hands. She wasn't feeling especially confident--while she did get some training in close combat as an Oracle Knight, years of using Tokunaga as her weapon of choice didn't exactly result in any experience in that field. The pipe was a good weapon, though: it was heavy enough to deal a strong blow, even if someone her size were using it.
But the colonel raised a really good question. "No, I haven't had a chance to." Only an idiot would try to fire off a fonic arte in a crowded room, and she was in a hurry to meet her friends the moment nightshift started. She remembered Asch had mentioned something about impaired abilities earlier... this was bad! "But... it sounds like we've had them sealed or something," she added with a slight frown.
The colonel himself seemed to struggle a bit just to summon a weapon--even with a fon slot seal, he could do that much effortlessly before! Anise knew her skill level was several notches below his. Would she be able to conjure anything at all? The pipe could possibly be used as a medium for fonic artes, but what she really needed was a decent amplifier!
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She was a bit surprised that the youngest of all would get such a lofty weapon! From looks, Anise didn't really seem to be much of a fighter. No one else seemed to protest, and it wasn't like Cyrille wasn't accompanied by younger children on her adventures. Then again, Faulklin was just a timid healer and Amitaliri used spells from afar. Still...
"Will you be okay with that?" It was an honest question, she was worried for the girl. Having a child fight like this... it was cruel to think about. Were the terrors that injured Peony as horrifying as she imagined?
It was true that Cyrille doubted that Peony was careless, just from meeting him it felt as if there was more to him. Perhaps it was wishful thinking, he could just be a dirty old man but he wasn't! ... she hoped.
As she listened to Jade talk, she remembered her inability to cast magic this morning. Quite interesting, Peony did mention he was from a different world, perhaps their system of elements and magical abilities wasn't far off from those she grew up with and mastered. Her difficulty with magic really must be an effect of this place!
"Are fonic artes like magic?"
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Second order of business? Taking off with the goods the two girls.
"She'll be fine, cute Cyrille. She's a battle-hardened valkyrie under the posh schoolgirl exterior," Peony laughed, then turned around and headed quickly toward the hallway exit, waving to the two guys. "See ya upstairs, guys!"
He'd address the topic of fonic artes, Force, whatever the common thread that bound the multiple worlds was - when they got out into the hallway.
[ to here ]
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He was a little surprised that Jade had given up both of the weapons he had found, but he could probably use some fonic artes, right? Unless everyone's skills were sealed, which was possible. Still, if there was one person who might have retained some of his skills, it was Jade.
Hopefully he hadn't miscalculated.
Of course, this meant that plans had changed. He had no idea what the colonel had in mind, but he was sure the older man had already thought of something. He turned to him, resting his bat over his shoulder as he put his other hand on his hip. "So, where are we off to?"
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