2019-06-26: Fear The Spheres
- Log: 2019-06-26: Fear The Spheres
- Cast: Ambrosius, Yue Rohay, Catenna, Shalune Amira, Seraph Lanval
- Where: Luca - Blitzball Stadium
- Date: June 26, 2019
- Summary: Ambrosius seeks the contents of Luca's Sphere Theater - whether due to, or taking advantage of, the chaos. He stands opposed by the highest Priestess of Celesdue and the Oracle of Schturdark, as the brewing conflict is looked upon by a conflicted young human girl and a (sort of) loose convict of the Veruni people. An unknown truth about an unsuspecting entity soon surfaces...
=============================================<* Luca - Blitzball Stadium *>============================================= Where the Holy City of Bevelle is the spiritual centre of Spira, the blitzball stadium is its beating heart. The stadium is an enormous, open-air construction capable of holding several thousand spectators; as a result of its size, in addition to games, it has often been used by Maesters of Yevon to deliver particularly important speeches or sermons. The stadium itself is an ancient blend of machina and sorcery, capable of holding a suspended sphere of water in place for hours at a time. Tournaments The stadium is one of the only machina formally sanctioned by the Grand Maester of Yevon, and countless Crusaders have sacrificed their lives over the centuries to turn Sin away from the city. The reason for this is simple - Blitzball lifts the heart of all who live in Spira, and even the smallest joys must be cherished. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-QpnYvldmo
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
The invasion of Luca is well underway. The soldiers of Althena's Guard storm the streets looking to secure the city in the name of the Goddess.
Ambrosius, however, had little interest in this end. Let them take the city - there were more important things to attend to while there was still time. There was no telling how much of the city would remain once they were done with it, and so he decided it would be important to take this opportunity to preserve anything that might be useful toward their goals.
And thus, his interest turned toward the Sphere Theater.
Located just off a fork in the road leading to the Blitzball Stadium, the Sphere Theater stored and display spheres, records of the past, of all kinds - some played music, others were for entertainment, while still others recounted important moments in history.
And so it is that a tall man clad in a red poncho purposefully walks that road toward the theater, seemingly uninterested in the chaos going on around him. He had arrived with the Guard on their ships when they invaded...but those who knew him would know that he was of the Veruni.
What were his intentions here?
<Pose Tracker> Yue Rohay has posed.
LIKE MAYBE TWO HOURS AGO
A literal jail cell freefalls out of the sky and lands in Mi'ihen Highroad. Drifters were there. As well as Ambrosius and Amaterasu. They met Yue and her Minder, Minder No. 7! Then they escorted them to the city--
NOW, TOTAL WAR
Yue stands ontop of a lamppost as she stares to the distance where giant Golems are breaking through the seawall, and a fleet of galleons are invading the city. Fire and fury are the order of the day, as well as artillery and catapults amongst swords and spells.
She hops off.
"'Tis a bad business," Yue looks upset. "Best you do not lose this convict in the midst of such furor, hmm?"
There's a tiny girl in an environmental suit (poorly) disguised with a blue robe and straw hat beside her. Where there would be a face, there's instead a black, matte glass helmet that... has...
A glowing emoji?
>_<!! the helmet emotes. "D-don't mistake me for some fool who rushes headlong into battle, CR-S01! Look there, Ambrosius is retreating. Let's follow him." Her voice is kind of tinny, like played through low-res speakers. As she points out Ambrosius, her face turns to a #-1 FUNCTION (ANSI) EXPECTS 2 ARGUMENTS BUT GOT 1.
"As you wish," Yue remarks mildly as she paces along after the red poncho-ed man. "Friend, do you seek shelter? The skies are ablaze. It is chaos."
..... she hasn't figured out what he's up to, has she?
<Pose Tracker> Yue Rohay has posed.
LIKE MAYBE TWO HOURS AGO
A literal jail cell freefalls out of the sky and lands in Mi'ihen Highroad. Drifters were there. As well as Ambrosius and Amaterasu. They met Yue and her Minder, Minder No. 7! Then they escorted them to the city--
NOW, TOTAL WAR
Yue stands ontop of a lamppost as she stares to the distance where giant Golems are breaking through the seawall, and a fleet of galleons are invading the city. Fire and fury are the order of the day, as well as artillery and catapults amongst swords and spells.
She hops off.
"'Tis a bad business," Yue looks upset. "Best you do not lose this convict in the midst of such furor, hmm?"
There's a tiny girl in an environmental suit (poorly) disguised with a blue robe and straw hat beside her. Where there would be a face, there's instead a black, matte glass helmet that... has...
A glowing emoji?
>_<!! the helmet emotes. "D-don't mistake me for some fool who rushes headlong into battle, CR-S01! Look there, Ambrosius is retreating. Let's follow him." Her voice is kind of tinny, like played through low-res speakers. As she points out Ambrosius, her face turns to a =).
"As you wish," Yue remarks mildly as she paces along after the red poncho-ed man. "Friend, do you seek shelter? The skies are ablaze. It is chaos."
..... she hasn't figured out what he's up to, has she?
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
The heresy war between the Althenians and the Yevonites was honestly something Catenna had wanted to stay out of. Its a squabble between religions she has nothing to do with. Only concern for refugees caught in the crossfire drew her to Luca.
Getting caught in the middle of it has made things more than a little dangerous - but she's done her best to keep her head down and shelter a few Spiran children. "Quickly," she urges them, her voice a whisper as she bundles them onto the back of a bright yellow Chocobo there in the shadow of the Sphere Theatre. "Hold onto this bird tightly. Go to the Caravan Kinship camp. You will be safe there."
With wide eyes, one of the children looks back at her, sniffling. "Y-you're a Summoner, right...? Catenna the Summoner? Th-thank you so much...."
Catenna opens her mouth a little, then closes it - but she's spared the need to answer by a sudden flash of red at the end of the road. Slowly, she glances over, eyes on the figure who approaches.
"...Just ride, children," she urges. "And don't look back."
She flicks the chocobo just behind the tailfeathers. With a screech, the big bird sprints off, the children clinging to it for dear life. Tense, the Moon Shaman watches them go. So does the Owlet, perched neatly on her shoulder.
With a smooth turn, Catenna starts forward, reaching to her side and drawing a short Spiran sword. "I assume you came with Kaguya and the Guard," she calls to Ambrosius, her voice level but stern. "Understand that I will not allow you to achieve whatever sick plan the Veruni have for this world, Ambrosius. The Moon is not for you to defile."
The words are larger than she can truly back up, considering that her last battle with Ambrosius ended with him beating her almost to death and her having to resort to biting his ankles to save a Statue.
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
Shalune hasn't been seen with the Caravan Kinship in some time, but it's not like she's huffed and walked off on her own without them; she's just following her own path through Spira, doing what she feels is most important both for her own and for Jay's sake. So it is that when she appears on scene it's dressed as a hybrid between a swordsman and a summoner, a long skirt in a warm orange colour and a comfy-looking white top. Tens of little trinkets tied to her belt jingle as she walks along, a sword(!) at her side.
And what she's doing... is following Ambrosius and Yue. Very, very poorly.
It's been a long day. She got Lunata and several of the Lucans out of the city safely along with Jay, only to run into a Veruni jail call that had literally appeared out of thin air. Having gotten its occupant free - in a manner of speaking - she'd been preparing to get to safety when she noticed the Veruni pair and their minder making their way back to the city rather than away from it.
It would be wrong to say that she's positioned herself against the Veruni - she'd much rather speak with them, learn from them, and be friends with them. Suspecting people doesn't come naturally to her, and she's got an inkling that Ambrosius may just want to check out the technology behind the Spheres to see how it works. In that respect, she's on board with that. (It's a minor miracle she hasn't already stolen one herself, but she's been doing her best to be good here on Spira.)
On the other hand, she's already disarmed one Veruni explosive today.
So she patters along, trailing behind Yue and Ambrosius, occasionally peeking out from carts and behind buildings, and scurries after them as they round the next corner on their path towards the Sphere Museum. It might even work were it not for the way she loses sight of them around the next corner, puts on a burst of speed, and yelps as she accidentally barrels right into the back of Minder No. 7.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
BEFORE THE WORST HAPPENS
Seraph Lanval, at long last, has done what has eluded him for so long. 'So long' as defined as 'for as long as he's been aware of this place,' which is a much shorter span of time than anything anyone would normally say as 'so long' as relative to the largely immortal Seraphim.
This patch of Luca's market road... is empty. Nobody going to and fro. Nobody standing guard. Nobody having anything to do with this singular patch of road he loves so. If there were one thing he could bring back to Filgaia, his new home...
...if there were three things...
...six things?
Okay. One of the things he'd really like, would be this patch of ground. Somehow, the way footfalls and carriages have worn down the stone underneath, it just feels so good as water to lay on. It gives him a clear view of the Gaia above if he feels like skygazing, and even if he doesn't, it's a great place to nap. Nobody's here to tell him not to!! Nobody to shove him around, threaten to arrest him, or anything. ...Well, Talise might, eventually, when it's time to go out working again. Things have been uneasy as of late in terms of mortal affairs, but for Lanval, the spiritual pressure of the place is overwhelming... but stable. He may never be comfortable with it, but he has grown used to it. Enough so that he couldn't have passed up any small joys like this. The small joys of getting to lay down exactly where he's wanted to since he discovered how it felt to him.
Something exploded on top of him moments later.
THE WORST HAPPENING
Things are on fire.
They are about to be a bit less on fire. Seraph Lanval doesn't yet fully understand the scope of what's going on, but there's a lot of mortals in distress - the Spirans, especially - and in his experiences nothing good ever comes from that. It's hard for him to consider this a warzone on the onset because warzones are Malevolence generating quagmires, and there isn't any build-up of it. Maybe... he shouldn't have taken that road's lack of traffic for granted.
He only comes across a voice, incidentally - Catenna's - as she finds steel and fire in her throat to stand up to the Veruni. The Water Seraph's unstable walk finds more footing, eyes opening half-lidded. Going past the blue robe and the straw hat, to that bright red poncho he's now familiar with... to the bearer of the Silver Medium of Celesdue.
"That'sh... a Veruni, mmm." That word didn't used to have much meaning to him. Now, however, something deep within churns at both the name and the presence. A flash of what Schturdark showed him re-enters the conscious sensation of thought. The water that was injured. Altered. Wronged.
Rain starts to pitter patter across way to the Sphere Theater, as Lanval strides along up towards the gathering scene with a rare dignity one would not usually associate with the shameless wastrel by appearance.
"Hm, hm, hm... ya don't shtand alone there," comes Lanval with a stupid smile on his face, the drinking gourd in his hands heavy with the very water of Filgaia, "Schturdark... they shtand with ya."
Just like before, when he came to the defense of Celesdue's statue, he once more comes to the aid of her chosen.
The rain begins to intensify.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
As far as the plan went, Ambrosius was to head to the Sphere Theater alone - there were only four of the Veruni at the time, and there was no point in spending more than that on a task that a single person could accomplish.
That was the plan before Yue and her minder had appeared, and there had been no time to brief her on the situation.
Ambrosius pauses, looking back toward Yue and her minder as they address him. Shalune's 'subtle' movements
"I am afraid I have business in the facility ahead. You are welcome to accompany me, but-" Ambrosius begins...and then pauses, as he hears more movement behind him.
Catenna has appeared, a sword drawn. Ambrosius turns his gaze upon her, studying her for a moment.
"Our 'sick plan'? You do not even know what you speak of." He replies. "They made this decision wholly of their own free will. I am simply lending Kaguya a helping hand."
It is around this time that Shalune accidentally collides with the Minder. Ambrosius offers a glance in her direction...but what truly gets his attention is Lanval, as he approaches the scene as well.
Rain begins to fall, and Lanval speaks. Ambrosius frowns.
"...You 'stand with her'. Against me, I must assume." Ambrosius states. He pauses, turning to face him fully.
"No. 7, this area will soon become dangerous. I recommend you take Miss Yue and find safety." Ambrosius states, looking back toward the prisoner's minder before facing Lanval and Catenna once more.
"I promised someone that I would limit the harm I caused, if possible. But if you insist on interfering, then I will defend myself." Ambrosius states.
<Pose Tracker> Yue Rohay has posed.
Catenna arrives and announces her statement of Ambrosius' sick plan and how the Moon isn't his to defile.
"Eh?"
Yue's ahoge sproigs further.
Shalune accidentally bumps into Minder No. 7, prompting a tinny squawk and a brief moment of her helmet going DX. "Shalune! Don't bump!"
"Eh??"
Ambrosius speaks plainly of his intent, about his business in the facility and lending someone called Kaguya a helping hand who she knows noooooot of.
"Eh????"
The ahoge has doubled in height now, gaining a very ?-like quality to it.
The Seraph comes next. It seems Yue is possessed of the sight... but the tiny Minder with her doesn't quite seem to have noticed him in turn. A difference, perhaps, in the Resonances they possess.
Lanval is putting fires out, too, because the rain is coming along with him.
There is a soft clink of chains of her shackles binding her arms and elbows visible as she does an about-turn. She's a human-seeming woman, shorter than Ambrosius' towering girth, wearing an utterly beaten-up black ulster with disheveled blouse and tie combo, along with a black pleated skirt and leggings.
She bears heavy bags under her eyes, and a distinctive crest-like tattoo on her cheek. Her chestnut brown hair... spills long below her, pooling into a small swirl on the Lucan pavement.
"Now, look here everyone! The fire brigade has arrived. We are saved, friends," Yue speaks with relief, her throat hoarse and her tone weary. But her mirth is fake, because her sproig of hair is still standing on edge. The ahoge seems to speak:
This isn't gonna end without a fight, is it?
Minder No. 7 sags as she chirps through her tinny speakers, "You're so cowardly, CR-S01..."
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
"No. Enough of that."
Catenna snaps her fingers briskly and shakes her head, shifting her weight to bring one heel down with a click. Her tone grows visibly more tart. "You try this every time we have an encounter, Ambrosius. The entire basis of your view on the world is that nothing you do is ever wrong and that we humans are simply impeding your progress out of some irrational bigotry or lack of understanding of your higher purpose. And yet it has never occurred to you that there are people with value who do not care about what moral justification you have for your actions, or whether it is simply to help Kaguya or not."
The Moon Shaman sweeps her arm towards the buildings to one side of the street, then the other. "I do not need to understand what moral decisions guide Kaguya's alliance with the Althenians, only what your consequences portend, and that is the displacement of innocents and the support of an army out to convert Spira by the sword. As a person of conscience, I cannot allow innocents to come to harm."
Her eyes narrow. "...But I suppose the concept that human lives have more value than the lives of rodents is beyond your understanding, isn't it, Ambrosius," she finishes acidly.
As she speaks, the rain has begun, dappling the street. Lanval's there at her back. Catenna glances to one side, briefly making eye contact with him and nodding. If nothing else, she isn't alone here against Ambrosius and an ally - Catenna trying to fight an enemy herself does not always end well. But with the support of another--
As Ambrosius's companion reveals herself, Catenna narrows her eyes a little, then straightens her shoulders. "...Then humour us. Tell us how good your intentions are, Ambrosius. Explain why you should get to do whatever you want here."
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
"Wah!" squawks Shalune as she bonks into the Minder, only for the Minder's response to indicate that-- well, that her being here isn't exactly much of a surprise. Straightening up, she puffs a little, then grins in a sheepish fashion, squinting through the sudden rain. "Sorry, sorry! I just wasn't sure what you guys were up to, y'know?" she blurts automatically, before freezing as she basically gives her game away in an instant.
She winces at that realization - but decides to just barrel ahead anyways, glancing past Yue and up towards Ambrosius with a sudden frown. "I can guess you're going for the Sphere Museum. But I can't figure out why. Is it to learn about Sin? Find out how the Spheres even work?" She hesitates, but-- well, this is Ambrosius, so it doesn't hurt to optimistically add: "--rescue them from the fire?"
She glances across at Catenna, her face drawn; her gaze catches onto Lanval's presence somewhat, but has a tendency to slide off him, as if her resonance is still distinctly fledgling even after everything she's gone through. Besides, she's too busy dealing with a sudden flash of anger, and the memory of a terminally ill girl's request being denied before she can even voice it.
She tamps the feeling down as best she can. This isn't the place for it, and it's not like she expects anything out of the feeling other than prolonging the conflict even more. Filgaia absolutely doesn't need any help on that front.
Looking back at Ambrosius, she sucks in a breath. "... as far as I can tell, the only plan here is to try to win a war as quickly as possible. Shock tactics, golems, the occasional bomb - kinda pissed about that last one, honestly. I'd like to think she's trying to save the Museum. I'd like to trust," she adds, her gaze confident - not in whatever the answer might be, but in her own choices.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Words are bandied about - reasons, resolves, worries, wills. The Seraph Lanval has always been a strange, animated sort - as if giving himself more into his element than many of his kind would. He is water, and water likes to be at rest. Water is always at the mercy of outside pressure, constantly picked apart, always having everything get in it. Something everyone and everything fundamentally needs to live, to continue living, to do so much. Water is oft permissive in nature.
It may say the most, then, as curious observations are made, that Lanval might offer the least to the picture in terms of the details and nuances of movement or reason as the rain starts to pick up. For those accepted and protected by Filgaia, the rain is not hostile in feel. No, it bends by the will of another, as more of it starts to gather about those Filgaia would identify as enemy. Those that Filgaia would reject - not anywhere near enough, yet, to constitute an assault on their person.
Nature's equivalent of a warning shot to find shelter.
"Begone." The drunkard spirit's voice is firmer, insistent, standing tall a ways off from Catenna's side - as if that would be that. That there were no further important context to consider. A broad black and white reasoning.
Ambrosius and his ilk are to leave.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
"Do not lecture me, Catenna." Ambrosius replies, his eyes narrowing. "If that is the value you believe I place on human lives, you do not understand me quite as well as you believe yourself to."
He studies her for a moment, and then glances toward Yue as she speaks, as if trying to defuse the tension.
"...What she says is true, Miss Yue. Myself and Amaterasu, who you've met, as well as Kaguya(who I mentioned before) and the Sentinel Elvis - we are assisting a group known as the Althena's Guard in the takeover of this city. I apologize for not informing you sooner." He states. He might as well come clean on that.
He looks toward Shalune then, as he speaks. Assessing her for a moment, and then, after a moment of consideration, nodding reluctantly.
"...It is as she says. My purpose is to preserve a copy of the Sphere Theater's library." Ambrosius confirms, looking back toward Catenna. And also to glean from it whatever details he could, but he was hesitant to give out more information than necessary.
However, there are those who object even to this, who simply wish him to leave. Ambrosius can feel the rain intensifying around him. It beats down, like a warning of an approaching storm. This isn't lost on Ambrosius - but he is at the same time not about to leave before he has done what he must.
"I will not." He replies, just as insistently, turning his gaze upon Lanval. This is perhaps the most direct Ambrosius has seen him.
What happened, since last they met?
<Pose Tracker> Yue Rohay has posed.
From Yue's perspective, Ambrosius' quarrel with Catenna and Lanval come across as a great shock out of nowhere. But then again-- being in prison does kind of mean that you miss out on everything.
"Goodness gracious, Ambrosius," Yue accidentally rhymes, shaking her head. Her tone hasn't ceased with its tired hoarseness. "I knew Commander Amaterasu's presence implied things. But a Sentinel too! It certainly is a shock to the system."
"I'm not sure I really care about being talked about that way," grumps the Minder No. 7 towards Lanval. A rather mixed =S appears on her helmet.
"Ah, but you must exercise patience, dear Minder," Yue sighs very faintly. "For we are not equipped with the facts. Still... if that is truly the purpose, I believe that to be agreeable... perhaps?" she casts a tired, baggy glance at Shalune as if to indicate such.
"Perhaps we can rescue a font of wisdom together."
"Do not try to weasel out of your duty, CR-S01! If Ambrosius requires assistance, whatever form it may take, you are to provide it," grumps Minder No. 7 in turn.
"You do drive me to the bone, dear Minder..." Yue muses with a quiet tinge of sorrow. A pause. "By the by, I am Yue Rohay, a convict. 'Tis regrettable it is not under more favourable conditions."
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
"I am Catenna," the Shaman answers Yue with a simple nod. "I am sorry it had to happen like this. I did not want to be involved in some inter-church feud."
The mention of Elvis causes Catenna to square her jaw with a sudden tension. All she can think of is rocks falling on Cyre H. Lorentz.
The Moon Shaman tosses her hair back, then rests a hand on the arch of her hip, her sword hand slowly sweeping off to her other side. "You make your intentions sound very noble, Ambrosius." Her tone is a little milder.
It hardens again quickly. "But I understand you better than you think I do. You are pointing at a forest and trying to convince me to see a single tree. I will not. You are not coming here as an innocent man with good intentions. Your mission here is part of a campaign to take over this city."
Shalune's there; Catenna glances towards her for a moment, momentarily unsure of what the girl's actually going to do. Catenna cannot read the pink Lunie's inner monologue, but eventually she lets her breath out and pivots back to Ambrosius.
"I will offer you a deal," she says with a flick of her head, snapping her hair back in an arc to send it spilling over and behind her shoulders. "If there is something you wish to retrieve from the library, tell us. Then you and I will go there and study it together. But we will both leave our weapons behind, and when we are finished, you will leave Luca."
Catenna holds her free hand out to Ambrosius and locks eyes with him. "You say I misunderstand your intentions," she challenges, her voice lower. "Then prove me wrong. Show me that you have honour."
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
Shalune visibly wavers, puffing out an uncertain breath in how conflicted she's feeling. She's not from Luca, nor even Spira; she knows she doesn't have any claim to the contents of the Sphere Museum. She doesn't even know the contents of it, not really, but it crosses her mind that they're likely to be more personal than govenmental. Is it really alright to let someone into there, or to go in there herself? Is it really alright to leave it to potentially be damaged by the war raging elsewhere in the city?
Biting at her lip, she meets Yue's gaze, puffing out a breath. The careful patience of the woman seems to help; she almost feeds off it for a moment, before puffing out a breath. A flicker crosses her face at Lanval's blunt imperative, but she draws in a breath, feeling really unsuited for situations like this. "... a copy, sure. But a copy for who?" she finds herself asking, immediately hedging herself. "But-- I'd rather save the place than not. I know what those golems can do."
There, at least, is a faintly disapproving note; she might recognize the reason Kaguya brought them along, but she can't help feeling that it's a bit like taking hammering in a nail with an entire house.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
The =S is met with a half-lidded :|... sort of. Lanval doesn't appear too inclined to introduce himself in that silly way in which he's oft inclined. From his earliest days in getting entangled with the lives of the general Drifter community between worlds... Lanval was something of a tag-along pest who occasionally rendered aid and help but mostly sponged up anything he could while he had the attention. A novel thing he almost took for granted, carrying burdens he didn't want to have to have mortals shoulder because they never were expected to have to.
Ambrosius is right to notice that something has changed in this spirit's behavior and approach to things, standing unmoving as the convict kindly introduces herself and Catenna offers an outright reasonable deal that would ensure both parties get what they want if Ambrosius' word holds true.
"The bountiesh of Filgaia... it ain't fer you." Lanval speaks again. It's a weird hodge-podge. They've heard him slur and stumble about vocally, they've heard him take on a more authorative, even mystical air - but they almost certainly have never heard Lanval mix the former with strongly-worded opinions. He doesn't wobble, he doesn't move - the water element stands firm by Catenna's side. "Whatever walksh on Celesdue'sh domain... it ain't fer you neither. I mean... if all thish ish becaushe yer goadin' the Guard... mmmm."
A stupid smile crosses his face. A smile that'd normally be reassuring, a reflection of finding a simple joy - here, a simple, easily-grasped solution by someone who technically does not have a brain.
"Jusht ash shimple ash ashkin' all of ya ta be gone, shoooo~"
The smile goes away. The eyes open up all the way, to that telltale light, and the rain accelerates.
"Begone."
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
"Indeed. We have all found ourselves here, through similar circumstances as yourself. Though it is Miss Kaguya who has gathered us for this operation." Ambrosius replies.
Catenna speaks, then. Ambrosius frowns.
"A deal." He repeats. "How magnanimous of you, to offer a deal in a manner such that you can continue to paint me as a villain should I refuse."
He shakes his head.
"My time is limited. There is not enough to review everything - particularly not if I must do it under your scrutiny. I must refuse." With that said, he turns...but before he can walk away, Lanval speaks. He states that the bounties of Filgaia aren't for them - and neither is Celesdue's domain - Lunar itself.
"And what is left for us, then? To deny us Filgaia and Lunar both is to condemn us to death, and that is not something I can accept." He says.
Lanval states, more forcefully, and with a greater power behind him, 'Begone'.
Ambrosius frowns, and raises a hand. At this gesture, water begins to swirl and converge about his hand. It bends even the will of the rain pelting him mercilessly, conglomerating into a single sphere.
And then, with a gesture, it rushes outward toward Lanval, seeking to push him back and away.
"I will not. We are here, and we have no intentions of leaving." He says.
He starts walking, and says a single word. "Minerva."
At this word, something - or rather, someone - drops from the sky, landing between him and Catenna. A woman dressed in blue with silver armor and a horned helmet that conceals her eyes stands before them. Catenna would have seen her before, and others present may possibly recognize her as one of the mechanical Scutum soldiers used in the Temple of Rejection.
She stands wordlessly, her face betraying no emotion.
"If they attempt to press forward, then remove them from this walkway." He states, and continues forward toward the Theater. "Miss Yue, No. 7, you may do as you please."
<Pose Tracker> Yue Rohay has posed.
Well, that all turned out terribly pear-shaped, did it not?
Yue droops just a bit at Lanval's words, noticing the shift between jovial and mirthful to dead serious. He speaks of how the bounty of Filgaia isn't for them. There's a weary look for a moment.
"Well...! That is a rather prejudiced view, is it not, ser?" she speaks with a quietly enigmatic smile. "I would say I am mildly afeared of such words. Take care that your worldview does not become too Guardianesque, spirit. You may find yourself losing commonality with your subjects. Yet..."
Minder No. 7 jolts at the rise of the sentinel, stammering out a, "W-whoa! He brought a Scutum all the way out here? CR-S01--"
"I will say that as a convict and a gaol minder, we are not binded to the invading force until someone decrees otherwise," Yue is unnecessarily firm in her appraisal of the letter of the law as she points that out to the Minder.
Minder No. 7 stares dumbfounded. ?_?
Miss Yue, No. 7, you may do as you please.
Yue lowers her head... and then steps closer to Shalune. "I do not sense a spirit of engagement from you, Lady Shalune. Come, I have a solution to all this."
She rummages into her coat pocket, which is actually a remarkable feat given how shackled up her arms are-- and procures a very old-looking, small Golem core.
"An old friend of mine shall spirit us away to safety."
She concentrates as she whispers...
"I have need of you, dear Prometheus. Aid me."
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
"Ambrosius," Catenna sighs, her eyelids lovering slightly as a deep sense of resignation takes over her. "Kaguya stabbed me in the kidneys and I still have an easier time talking to her than I do to you. For all that her intentions are awful, I wish her good health. But I will not sit here while you try and gaslight us again."
Lanval decides to try and escalate things. Catenna tenses ever so slightly, then lets her breath out and shakes her head. When Ambrosius starts towards her, she twirls her sword into a ready position.
The Scutum drops in. Catenna clicks her teeth together - then glances towards Shalune and Yue.
"Shalune," she calls out. "We need to stay here and take care of Jay."
Ambrosius keeps on walking. The Moon Shaman flicks her left hand forward.
She doesn't try to push past the Scutum - but Ambrosius will feel what she's trying to do. A familiar heaviness attempts to close around him and anchor him to his spot on the road, aiming to keep him from actually advancing - but the force she puts on him isn't particularly crushing or painful. It's as if she's just trying to keep him where he is.
"Ambrosius," she says, "if you seriously want to share this planet with humans, then I would welcome your friendship. But understand that you cannot do it by imposing your will on us. Turn around and leave the Sphere Museum be and I will gladly release you."
Kaguya may have put a sword through her, but Catenna at least cares enough about her to try to avoid jumping to the same kind of assessment Lanval does.
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
"What are you-- we're not on Filgaia!" blurts Shalune towards Lanval, her eyes wide. "We're on Lunar, a living breathing world of it's own! And I'm not sure it counts as Celesdue's domain if absolutely no-one here has even heard of her! We're all aliens here, and more unwelcome by the day the way the Guard's handling things!" she adds with amazement.
She puffs out a final uncertain breath as Lanval goads Ambrosius into an ultimatum, muttering something to herself as she watches the Minerva touch down in front of them as an inexorable presence. Her eyes flick quickly across it; maybe not all that inexorable. Here and there she can spy vulnerable joints, the suggestion of cabling acting as a nervous system. A vector of attack... but the fight's gone out of her from this much, and she chews at her lip as she nods to Yue's offer. "... okay."
She perks up again as Catenna calls to her, though - and at least there's some good news to be found here, as she splits into a brighter smile. "She's okay! Lunie and I got safely out of the city with her, with a bunch of refugees in tow-- I guess it was a few hours ago? I think she's leading them back to the camp now!" she explains, immediately more upbeat about it.
(Of course, it's Jay, so maybe she came right back to the source of danger. But Shalune reckons there's at least a couple of hours before that happens.)
She's interrupted and struck dumb with surprise when Prometheus is summoned to its master's side. It turns out to be a compact Veruni Golem, not one that was part of the attack on Luca. Quite the opposite, in fact - rather than beeline for the prisoner who called for its presence, it moves carefully around buildings, at one point even pushing a card gently out of the way as its heavy footfalls approach the party. Pitted, rusted, and old, Shalune nevertheless stares at it in absolute astonishment, because:
"Big Shal?!"
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Ambrosius reasons that the only alternative - an unacceptable one - is death.
The convict Yue lectures about the scope of their worldview and the very disconnect it could bring to their subjects.
Even Catenna, on some form, chafes underneath where Lanval seems intent on undermining her attempts at a peaceful solution.
His words cannot be any clearer - nor can Ambrosius' sign of defiance as he channels the free water and flings it right back at the Seraph to shove him back. Even before his new lot in life, Ambrosius had a control and mastery of water that exceeded anything the Seraph could comprehend. A Seraph who is basically an embodiment of an element with their own will - like Ambrosius knew his own essence better than he did himself.
It was always weird. Even a little scary. He made attempts to try and recreate the water cutters by himself, always coming up short for he has no idea how to make the water move anywhere near that fast on its own.
The Seraph's gaze turns towards the conflicted young woman, Shalune - the first he's looked towards her this whole engagement. Those eyes of his don't project hatred or disapproval - he just sees her there, as she picks apart his assertions. They aren't on Filgaia - but this is also one who gave up his everything outside of his very life to protect Celesdue's statue. If her domain is the moon, and this is Filgaia's moon... as his thinking might go.
There is a purity and a cruelty alike to this.
Something is said, to a Seraphic Arte chant. The rain starts to focus and come together in a far sharper focus above the Scutum. A Scutum of ice - the color coding is lost to Lanval in the heat of the moment, the level of disadvantage he would be swimming uphill against. On that walkway, right where the Scutum stands, it is met with a localized torrential downpour that looks to batter it as though every raindrop were an arrow, a spear, a stone in impact.
He knows the vow he made in the depths of Love's Cradle. Even without Schturdark speaking to him, it's not one someone casually tosses aside out of convenience.
DC: You switch forms to Oracle of Schturdark! DC: Seraph Lanval switches forms to Oracle of Schturdark!
GS: Seraph Lanval has attacked Ambrosius with Rain of Terror! GS: Seraph Lanval has completed his action. GS: Ambrosius guards a hit from Seraph Lanval's Rain of Terror for 70 hit points! GS: Poison! applied to Ambrosius! GS: Seraph Lanval assumes the Avenger stance!
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
Ambrosius pauses in his tracks as Catenna speaks.
"...Is that what you think I have been doing?" He asks. He doesn't sound accusatory - if anything, he sounds surprised. That was never his intention. It causes him to hesitate for a brief moment.
And then he starts forward again, but as he does he feels a force close around him, preventing him from moving forward.
He's quiet for a moment, as he considers her words.
"...I still have a mission I complete, and a duty as a man with an interest in history to see to. I cannot agree to this." Ambrosius replies. "However, you have my word that I will allow no damage to befall it - I shall even leave Minerva behind to ensure that it remains standing. Would that suffice?"
And then, he sees something unexpected. Yue procures the core of a golem, and calls upon it. This in and of itself would be nothing special(though impressive, considering the shackles), but then the golem itself appears. A familiar golem.
Ambrosius looks toward the golem, and then to Shalune.
"...Did you know of this?" He asks her, surprised.
But even so, it seems they cannot escape this without a fight. Lanval chants a Seraphic Arte, and the rain that has been pouring down begins to focus. It falls toward Minerva like a barrage of arrows.
"Aggression confirmed. Beginning removal." She states. She begins to float, just slightly off the ground, and a shield of blue crystal forms on her right arm. She raises it to defend herself against the falling rain, with clear effort required to keep it there, while her left hand extends out toward Lanval himself.
Suddenly, the air around him begins to drop rapidly in temperature. It's a painful, lingering cold that sees water gradually turn to ice - and even a spirit of water may not be immune to its harshness.
GS: Ambrosius has attacked Seraph Lanval with Bitter Cold! GS: Ambrosius takes 16 damage from Poison! GS: Ambrosius has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Yue Rohay has posed.
Minder No. 7 looks on with astonishment as she flabbergastedly =Ss, "I--if this is some kind of jailbreak strategy you were hiding from me, CR-S01--!!"
Yue reaches, even with her shackles, to Big Shal's side and pats the Golem on its side. "Oh, dear Promme! It has been such a long time. I weep at the time it has been since we last acquainted. But I thank your temperance in rescuing us, Prom--"
Big Shal?!
A pause. "Oh. Are you acquainted? Hmm." She moves to sit on one of Big Shal's mitts as if it were the most natural thing in the world, being raised near where Shalune usually would stand on its scaffolding.
She leans over to listen, as if hearing the Golem's very own words.
"I see. Big Shal is a lovely name, Prommie, and I shall defer to your wishes," she whispers in turn. Minder No. 7 looks deeply flabbergasted, and yet hurries as a gravitic field surrounds Ambrosius and she hops up to the same mitt before it gets too high.
"D-don't think I won't be reporting this, CR-S01! Your cowardice does you no favours!!" she =Xs, even if she sounds genuinely afraid at being exposed to violence, as Lanval's rain starts to erupt down upon the Scutum.
"I am certain cruel punishment awaits, dear Minder," Yue smiles in turn as she reaches out for Shalune. "Now. Let us see to our evacuation. Prom..."
A pause. She looks to Shalune.
"No, I shall let you call out to her, Lady Shalune. Pray let me hear it. That most dramatic of calls..."
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
Catenna's cheeks flush as she smiles towards Shalune. "I'm so glad," she calls back to her. Jacqueline's the closest thing she has to a lovable sibling.
The smile vanishes when Prometheus shows up, looking entirely too familiar. The Moon Shaman clicks her teeth together and lets out a rush of breath through her nose. "...I see...."
As Yue reaches out to Shalune, Catenna calls out in her own right: "Shalune! Don't forget that your friends are waiting for you."
But Ambrosius is making his move, and Catenna takes a quick step back, twirling her sword and scowling. "You're again trying to ignore the forest and focus on a single tree!" she snaps, before Minerva takes action.
Catenna darts forward. The Owlet on her shoulder flutters up and into the air, circling away, as the Moon Shaman springs over a fallen piece of debris in the street and holds her upper body low. She lunges, landing just shy of Ambrosius, then carries herself forward the rest of the way with a spring of momentum, aiming to roll by him with a deft thrust of her short sword - hoping to try and jab the blade into some squishy but non-vital organ along the way.
GS: Catenna has attacked Ambrosius with This Won't End Well! GS: Catenna has completed her action. GS: Ambrosius critically Guards a hit from Catenna's This Won't End Well for 12 hit points! GS: Seraph Lanval takes a solid hit from Ambrosius's Bitter Cold for 137 hit points! GS: Poison! applied to Seraph Lanval!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Water, when it hits a certain temperature range, goes from liquid to solid. A fact that Ceimglace has used at times when she feels mischievously coy in her affection for the Water Seraph, among the Fox Company crew. Ambrosius and his people have this sort of thing down to a science - an understanding so transcendent that it may no longer suffice to simply call it science. Something more than that. The base elements of creation oft seem like their playthings.
The Oracle grunts and exhales a frigid mist as if to try and move that freezing air out of him. His movements grow stiff, crackly, uncomfortable. The natural flow of his hair comes to a halt, seeming to expand and go rigid like they were earlier Playstation era polygon models...
...but he advances anyway.
The Scutum doesn't register to his senses as being a someone, but a something. A something making noise that can be construed as spoken words of clear diction and intent.
It is a laborious effort on the Water Seraph's part to keep moving, to keep flowing. The rain around him turns to hailstones, occasionally battering further.
Ambrosius posits he'd be alright with leaving Minerva here to stand guard so nothing happens.
Lanval intends to be the something that happens, taking the drinking gourd by the attached rope. It doesn't look like an intimidating mace head, but as he rears back and swings it right into Minerva's shield...
...the unit will find that it compares somewhat favorably in impact to that of the late Berserk's own mace, as though what were inside of it were so unfathomably heavy as to seem too unwieldy to wield that way. (It is, for the way the Oracle twirls and stumbles on the follow-through, awkward as it is through fighting being frozen.)
GS: Seraph Lanval has attacked Ambrosius with Layabout's Lariat! GS: Seraph Lanval has gained 1 Combo! GS: Seraph Lanval takes 21 damage from Poison! GS: Seraph Lanval has completed his action. GS: CRITICAL! Ambrosius critically Guards a hit from Seraph Lanval's Layabout's Lariat for 29 hit points! GS: Riposte! applied to Seraph Lanval!
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
Shalune stares up at the familiar golem. Big Shal does not have facial features outside of a pair of rounded eyes, but the body language definitely carries a little bit of an 'oh shit' air to it. For the first time, the golem briefly raises a hand as if it were imitating the way she herself picks at her hair when nervous. "--I didn't know anything about this at all," she blurts back towards Ambrosius, and then firms up her expression as she moves for the scaffolding on the side of the machine, speaking to Big Shal when she adds: "But you and me are having a talk later, young lady."
She meets Lanval's gaze as she rushes for the golem, and hesitates; her look isn't one of anger, at least, because that doesn't really come naturally to Shalune in any way. Instead, it's uncertainty, and the hesitation of someone a long way from home who's still trying to figure out what her own path is rather than just sticking to other people. Then she's turned to haul herself quickly the rest of the way up the scaffolding, perching atop the golem as the Minder jumps on.
As she does so, Big Shal bows downwards, lowering its hands long enough for the pair to climb aboard. It's hard to pick out whether the golem is offering more in the way of deference - it's usually cautious and careful when offering anyone a ride - but it does feel like there's a ceremony to it that isn't usually there.
"... I know!" the pink-haired girl calls back to Catenna, and then offers an olive branch, of sorts: "I'm going to see if there's any other refugees to get out of here!" Part of her is still uncertain about leaving this situation as it is, but-- thinking about it that way makes it easier. It's something important that she can do, and she focuses in on it as she nods to Yue, and pats the golem on the shoulder. "Big Shal, let's go!"
<Pose Tracker> Yue Rohay has posed.
"... ... ..."
Yue squints for a moment. "Ah ... mayhap I err ... but... was it not... 'showtime'?"
Her sproig of hair deflates all the way down as she tilts her head down, dejected.
"It is now truly a different era..."
Minder No. 7 stares behind her helmet.
"You're a real idiot, CR-S01..."
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
Ambrosius takes note of the way Yue, her minder, and Shalune climb onto the golem. It is better that they are not part of this, he thinks. If he had had his way, Yue would have remained safely away from this war.
But he cannot focus on it too long - Catenna shouts and rushes at him, her blade ready. Ambrosius turns, catching it in a gauntlet-protected hand.
"And what else would you have me do?" He asks, eyes narrowed. There was little he could do but focus on one problem at a time - he did not have the luxury of much else. "I am...sorry. But-"
He then shifts, and with a push of his arm attempts to send Catenna's sword - as well as Catenna herself, if she still holds onto it - flying away from him forcefully.
At the same time this is happening, however, Lanval advances on Minerva - it requires effort, for him to move under the weight of the cold overtaking him, but even so he pushes through it toward her.
For a moment, she seems conflicted - she has her orders to remove Lanval, but she can see, too, that Catenna is attacking Ambrosius. This may be the distraction Lanval needs...
...But his gourd soon meets Minerva's shield. It is a far weightier thing than it appears, and the loud crack as it meets the crystalline shields echoes loudly. The sheer force of it causes Minerva to drop from the ground from her hovering stance...
But then, before it can be removed, she pushes back against it to create an opening - though, with the way he stumbled after the attack, he has already done so himself.
She lashes out with a snap kick, made all the more dangerous by the armor on her lower leg that curves like a blade, and the rime forming on it to give it a jagged edge.
GS: Ambrosius has attacked Seraph Lanval with Cold Snap! GS: Ambrosius takes 23 damage from Poison! GS: Ambrosius has completed his action. GS: Seraph Lanval completely evades a hit from Ambrosius's Cold Snap!
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.
In a way, Catenna had hoped to take Ambrosius out of the fight before he could actually do anything of particular consequence. She remembers all too well how useless she was in her last battle with him. Her magic works best when she's supporting someone else against a single strong enemy; with Minerva there to divide her and Lanval's firepower, that left her with one option, namely taking out Ambrosius herself.
It doesn't come to fruition. The sword lands in Ambrosius's hand. The Moon Shaman clicks her teeth together and tries to wrench the sword back.
It doesn't do her much good. She opens her mouth to snap something back at him.
Before she can get a word in edgewise, Ambrosius flings her with all the ease of a child throwing a paper airplane. The sword is torn out of her hand and goes spiralling wildly up into the air. It pinwheels a few times before dropping to the ground and landing point-down in the bottom of an overturned fruit cart by the roadside.
Catenna herself has more mass. She doesn't soar as high, but sails further, all the way across the road. Her momentum plows her through the window of one of the buildings. Shutters explode out around her in a burst of wood as she tumbles through into the empty house behind, hits a kitchen table and explodes through it before hitting the floor on her back and skidding the rest of the way.
For a couple of seconds she doesn't move. She hurts far too much. Then, groaning thinly, she attempts to push herself up - only to wince and turn onto her side as a spasm shoots through her back.
Catenna's been mauled worse by more objectively dangerous opponents. Those ones didn't land her hard enough to fracture a vertebra.
<Oh, child,> Saarda-Shanta sighs as she touches down on the windowsill, shaking her head.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
The report between mace and shield has such a tremendous impact that even having the gourd meet the shield at all is enough to send the Oracle spinning - something that looks to be entirely to his positional disadvantage, as the grip of icy cold compels him to be still, lock up. As long as water flows and moves, it is harder for it to do so. There is another truth in play that comes to the Scutum's advantage.
Ice can be shattered.
Seraphim do not play so nicely with the laws of physics, but there is plenty to gain by attempting to apply the same principle as an icy kick comes to do just that... but then there is a moment of something more familiar to come from the one who has gone quieter on outward displays of mirth, and louder on sheer elemental defiance.
He all but flops on his back like he did in presenting himself as (...and actually being...) a drunkard. The kick sails overhead, and Lanval's form glides across pooling water that has grown slick as it is converted to ice, distance growing between them. More distance than he would like. More ground symbolically being given to the construct and its master. More space for Ambrosius to continue to capture his interests.
A sword clatters into a fruit cart a ways past him. Soon after...
Catenna flies over him, and already opened eyes widen. He thinks to try and catch her in a bubble, but it is much too late for that. Wood splinters and explodes.
Someone who has been around among the worst mortals have had to offer for at least a few centuries... does not go innocent of knowing when one might stand to be truly hurt. Mortals come and go, as that is their nature. This one, though - this one has a high honor that has not been bestowed for some time.
"...Shaman Catenna...!" Celesdue's chosen. The Oracle scrambles to rise, and momentarily goes rigid - the ice gains more ground on him. The eyes face down a thing that needs not a face, and the water adept Ambrosius whose control of the very element may still yet even be beyond his own now.
...
Saarda-Shanta's disapproving head shake is all the reassurance he needs that she needs to be helped. The ravages of war could come to where she is, and claim her within moments.
With an outward sweep of an arm, another Seraphic Arte to splash some water on himself to fight off the freezing, to enable him to move - to move like a rushing wave of water after where Catenna was hurled, to see to her safety.
He will need to see to Talise and the others in time, too. He remembers what was said off-handedly about a camp - he must see Catenna there once he can make contact with the rest of Fox Company.
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.
Ambrosius watches Catenna fly with a hint of guilt. For all his words on how he viewed humans, this still ended in violence.
And nearby, Minerva's kick flies over Lanval's head as he flops backward. She observes this impassively...and notes Lanval's distraction, as he watches Catenna fly.
She raises a hand as Lanval's priorities shift, as if looking to take advantage of this. However...
"Minerva." Ambrosius says, looking toward the Scutum. "That is enough for now."
There is a moment of silence as Minerva registers this and, eventually...
"...Understood." She replies, lowering her hand. With those words, the two of them turn, continuing once more toward the Theater beyond them.