2019-07-11: Gone With The Wind

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===============================<* Macalania *>================================

The Macalania region is home to two ancient, crystalline formations of unsurpassed mystery and beauty. The first is the Macalania Woods - a shining maze-like forest overseen by strange, ancient, birdlike Beastmen who speak in bizarre riddles and weave light like silk. The second is Lake Macalania - an eternally frozen lake surrounded by snowy crevasses, which one can just see the frozen Temple beneath. Macalania is a distant, remote region -- and full of its own dangers.

BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jz644GeAdE
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

        It's a beautiful day in the Calm Lands.
        
        Most days are pretty beautiful in Spira, to be honest. Though it might be a spiritually unusual place in that almost everyone can see Seraphim just fine, the bounty of nature is basically everywhere. Maybe that's to do with the Yevonite ban on machina; maybe it's just how this part of the world is. But here, in particular, is just a great wide expanse of grasslands, occasionally cut with great scars in the earth, that stretches out for ages before the small cliffside that overlooks it. This, too, is a nice, sunny, grassy, windy spot. Perfect for a picnic with a Wind Seraph.
        
        Perfect for the murder of a Wind Seraph.
        
        Nimue had gone off somewhere, as is her wont as what is essentially an air-elemental spirit. However, she'd been mindful enough to leave a message with ARMS letting her know that she'd be off at the Calm Lands--that part of Spira that is normally off-limits to people due to Yevonite guards protecting the entrance, which is to the east of the capital city of Bevelle. Anyone interested in checking up on her, or anyone who spots all the activity and wants to see what all the fuss is about, would have to sneak around them, or perhaps set them to sleep, or something like that, but this isn't an occasion that'll be happening all the time; these guards protect the way to the ancient city of Zanarkand, so they're generally on the ball, and after today they won't be removed so easily. So it's a good thing everyone will be making this count, right? Right.
        
        When they enter, they'll see Nimue not far away from the entrance--close to a grassy cliffside that overlooks the massive, expansive grasslands of the Calm Lands. It's sunny, there's a nice breeze, and a low campfire and the remains of food from a picnic basket indicate that a good time was just had.
        
        Maybe. Because Nimue is just staring out at the empty lands. And Ragnell stands several feet behind her, a gun aimed at the back of her head, energy charging white-hot into the muzzle for a sizzling light-lightning beam to pierce right through her target.
        
        "Rest well, Nimue," Ragnell is saying, all of her attention and concentration on her. "And sweet dreams."
        
        There is only an instant in which to act.

<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.

"...Wait. What did you say the Calm Lands are like?"

That's how it started for Eleanor, at least, a simple conversation with a local about geography while she was thinking of her friend--and an unfortunate revelation that made sense of one of the many things rattling around in her seemingly always-harried head. It became absolutely necessary to move onward and quickly--not that Eleanor could easily explain exactly what was wrong, because really she can't be certain that it's linked, but...

Well, Marivel might get it. She'll probably go along. Also she'll probably think of something about the monks guarding the way north.

For her part, Eleanor jogs along--she can't quite keep running the entire way, she frankly isn't in good enough shape for that--but she forces herself on at what speed she can manage, and sees--

Basket. Cliffside. Grass, curved just so, and...

"A heavenly path made manifest--guide our steps home!"

The voice of the young elf echoes from behind Ragnell as light bursts around her, the Crest Graph in her hand burning brown and blue both, "AUSPICIOUS SPAN!"

The magic of the elements erupts around Nimue in that instant, a brilliant shield that seems to knock her slightly out of time, as if healing a wound not yet dealt--

"GET AWAY FROM HER!"

<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.

A sunny day AND almost no cover? This is not the sort of situation that Marivels tend to appreciate. Sunny days are best appreciated from indoors through a window. Standing outside in it and feeling like you're burning alive, well, Marivel must admit NOW that it's not quite as bad as being struck by dragonfire so long as she remains properly covered in her (new) red mage garb that comes with that ridiculous hat that shadows her face just enough but it's still decidedly unpleasant. Tis rather difficult to unleash her true capabilities in this kind of weather.

But Marivel appeared before Ida and said, "We gotta get moving!" and promptly ported alongside her to...Macalania. Marivel has never been to the Calm Lands before and there are some limitations to her teleportation capabilities that she decidedly doesn't talk about in case it gets people thinking. "Let's move! No time!" She hasn't explained anything as usual but she does periodically glance down at her Wisdom of the Crimson Nobles book which seems to have more obscure scribbles in it of an unknown language that she glances at periodically that weren't there before.

So they end up pushing through the Macalania and not at a meager push either. Marivel who is normally happy to hang back and let events unfold with commentary is eager to rush ahead on htis one. They eventually make it to the Calm Lands shortly after Eleanor and Marivel, at least, ends up following her shortly before Eleanor manages to save Nimue! Hooray! Mission complete??

Well maybe not because Marivel's eyes flash red briefly before she rears back with her hand and flings a BLITZBALL that just appears into her hand towards Ragnell's...

Well, it's at Ragnell's gun-arm seemingly propelled by something OTHER than Marivel's throwing arm as it zips towards the Seraph.

"I am afraid I need our friend Nimue to stay awake." Marivel says. "As the monster under the bed, tis my duty to keep her eyes open."

GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Seraph Ragnell with Shut up And Jam Ball!
GS: Marivel Armitage has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Marivel Armitage has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Clarine has posed.

Nimue had left a message with ARMS. Normally, Clarine would be satisfied with letting Nimue go off to do her own thing. She was a Wind Seraph, after all - they were known for being flighty, with a tendency to do as they pleased. But today...today, other members of ARMS have decided to go after her.

So, of course, Clarine decided to join them. They were going to a place called the 'Calm Lands', past Macalania Forest. Clarine had never been that far into the forest before - the sight of armed mortals who she knew could perceive her was something that always deterred her.

But this time...while the others distract them in their own way, Clarine sneaks by beneath her Lightbending Veil - she's small, so her passage is easily missed when she's not visible.

It isn't far from the entrance that she spots Nimue. Clarine nearly raises her voice...but then, she sees Ragnell. Ragnell, with her gun drawn and aimed at the back of Nimue's head, a white-hot light emanating from the barrel.

Clarine knows Ragnell well - she knows how she fights, and she knows what that means. Clarine doesn't dwell on the 'whys' just yet - she glides forward quickly, thrusting a hand forward. A series of silver mirrors flies out of her sleeves, and as Eleanor calls forth a shield around Nimue, a mirror flies toward Ragnell's gun - looking to knock it out of her hands, or at the very least force the shot to miss.

"R-Ragnell...!? What is going on? What are you doing...?" Clarine demands as she slows to a stop, her mirrors beginning to spin around her protectively. She sounds...hurt, and there's a look of abject confusion on her face. There were many things she could tolerate, but attempting to murder one of her friends...?

Was this really Ragnell's way...? Clarine didn't know, but...right now, she could only face what was right in front of her.

GS: Seraph Clarine has attacked Seraph Ragnell with Flashing Mirror!
GS: Seraph Clarine has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Seraph Clarine has completed her action.
GS: CRITICAL! Seraph Ragnell takes a solid hit from Marivel Armitage's Shut up And Jam Ball for 198 hit points!
GS: Jam! applied to Seraph Ragnell!
GS: Seraph Ragnell takes a solid hit from Seraph Clarine's Flashing Mirror for 120 hit points!
GS: Shield! applied to Seraph Clarine!
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

        Not half an hour ago, Ida was examining a strange piece of machinery alongside Marivel. Then the Crimson Noble abruptly decided they had somewhere else to be, and barely gave Ida enough time to grab her poncho before transporting the both of them halfway across the continent. The naturalist is not pleased with this development, but she's followed Marivel all this way, and if this is some sort of initiation prank, she's going to--

        going to--

        Time slows to a crawl. Ida sees the tableau on the hill, illuminated by the overhead sun and the energy building in the barrel of Ragnell's gun. Her teeth leap on edge. She's suddenly in a gunfighter's stance--her right arm is a blur, her green capelet flaps as she whips something out from underneath it.

        In a heartbeat, she levels Devil's Due at Ragnell's chest, and pulls the trigger. A single bullet races downrange at the Seraph, as if Ida were the only one poised to stop this.

GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked Seraph Ragnell with Lightning Draw!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Liath has posed.

The Calm Lands. It is here where very few people are allowed, let alone outsiders -- let alone members of a Guard who have so freshly and painfully established themselves as the enemies of Spira's lone faith, lone hope. For good reason is this place so zealously guarded, then.

And all the more beautiful for how difficult it is to reach.

The Calm Lands is an apt name. Breathtaking fields of green rustle faintly in the swelling pass of a warmth breeze, tranquil and quiet. One can barely even hear the sound of nature around them, so easy it is to get lost in the sublime serenity of this place. It is, truly, calm here. Calm... but not empty.

GET AWAY FROM HER!

And that calm was never really meant to last.

Two Seraphim. The barrel of a gun. It whines with a charge of white-hot promise for the back of the one in its sights. Only an instant away from a squeezed trigger.

And in that span, there is a tiny fluctuation of light in the air.

It's difficult to discern the nature and origin of, and all too easy to fail to notice as a barrier of glyphic elements erupts around Nimue, and others launch a sudden, desperate attack. It's like the way the misty air starts to change just before light refracts into a rainbow. A little distortion...

... before a prism of ribbons whistle through the air, vibrant bands of energy each a different color from the next. They flow past Ragnell like a rush of wind, bringing with them a tingle of warmth that might feel pleasant... if, at least, it did not preface something more violent.

Those streams of brightly-colored energy all converge between Nimue and Ragnell in a bright, and in a bright and blinding flash of white, -something- lashes out from the coalescing mass -- the edge of a blade, painting a rainbow smear of energy in its wake as it carves a circular pattern through the air that threatens to bite into Ragnell if she is not careful -- but broad enough that the real intent is something else: forcing her to put more distance between herself and her seeming target.

The light slowly fades. And in its place stands a woman in green, gold and white hair rustling in the deceptively tranquil winds of the Calm Lands, sword and shield in hand.

Bright gold eyes narrowed in perfect complement to the severity of her frown.

"What," begins Liath, her tone deliberate. Direct.

"... is your intention here, Ragnell?"

Demanding.

GS: Seraph Liath has attacked Seraph Ragnell with Shimmer Spin!
GS: Seraph Liath has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Seraph Liath has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Nimue has posed.

The moment Nimue hears Eleanor shout, something about the situation, the world, the moment she's in -- all of it seems to break. She seems almost *confused*, more than anything else; she has the look of someone who was reading something and heard a thud outside. She starts to scamper from her current position, turning her gaze toward Eleanor.

"What the -- why are *you* here?!" she half-shouts, before noticing that she's not *alone* in coming, either; indeed, most of her recent new acquaintances have shown their faces! ... And Clary, but *that* one feels comparatively more expected, or at least expectable.

"... Why are *any* of you here?!" Nimue asks, a few moments later; She doesn't join in attacking Ragnell; she just starts *moving*, pulls herself to her feet and starts shifting away from ... honestly, from *all* the action, really. "I know I left a note but it wasn't an invita --

Nimue sees Liath, and her mouth promptly stops working; that look of startled confusion gives way to a heart-stinging hurt. "... why are *you* here?" It's the third variation on the question -- and yet, while the first two were confused, then almost irritated, the third is just... shocked.

GS: Seraph Ragnell takes a solid hit from Ida Everstead-Rey's Lightning Draw for 93 hit points!
GS: Seraph Ragnell takes a solid hit from Seraph Liath's Shimmer Spin for 144 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

        Eleanor calls up a protective barrier around Nimue, then screams at Ragnell to get away from her friend. Marivel hurls a blitzball, and Clarine a mirror, at Ragnell's shooting arm. This throws Ragnell's aim off just enough that the pistol-beam refracts off of the magic barrier Eleanor erects around Nimue, past her ear instead of through her head.
        
        It sizzles as it goes by.
        
        Those who know and dislike Ragnell are treated to the almost comical sight of her being caught completely off-guard as she staggers back in the wake of the initial attacks, then knocked hard off her feet by Ida's and Liath's when the former's ARM spits lead at her chest, an attack that likely would've killed a mortal. It's perhaps thanks to the way the rainbow bite of Liath's spinning sword knocks Ragnell back, away from Nimue, that the bullets do only heavy damage instead of, say, fatal. Which doesn't help a lot considering that it comes at the price of getting sworded into the ground.
        
        She staggers back to her feet at speed, clutching the worst of her wounds, and boggles at Eleanor and company in surprise. ""Wha--? What in the hells??" she utters, staring from her to the rest of the imminent oncomers. "What are you people doin' here??" When she spots Clarine and especially Liath, she utters a noise like "!" as her red eyes narrow under the shadow of her feathered cowboy hat. Clarine's plaintive inquiry doesn't help. Liath's commanding, demanding stare is even worse.
        
        However, she stands her ground, albeit to pinch the bridge of her nose with her free hand. "Look. I think y'all are jumpin' to some conclusions," she says, gesturing sharply towards them. She very deliberately does not address Nimue's shock at the sight of Liath; this is so not the time or the place. "Nimue wants to die. I know because I asked. I'm jus' savin' her the trouble of doin' it herself." Her jaw sets. "And y'all are kinda ruinin' her final moments, so could you, like. Not?"
        
        In truth, it's already well past that moment. She wanted to make Nimue's passing as peaceful and painless as possible, for her sake, but that's no longer an option. This is absolutely going to come down to a fight. Ragnell weighs her options. Call it a day and leave now? Run these guys off so Nimue can have some privacy? Or erase Nimue quickly before it gets even worse? The lattermost will be tough with that magical barrier in place, though, and she's not really enthusiastic about fighting Clarine or Liath, especially over the dubious privilege of ending Nimue's tortured existence. So--
        
        She glances at Nimue. "Hey, Nim. What do you wanna do?"
        
        --the best thing for everyone is to make Nimue's wishes clear.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Nimue has posed.

Nimue is asked 'what do you wanna do,' in a way that matters -- and while she's still a little gobsmacked at Liath, it's at least enough to force her thoughts back on the here and now. For a second, she locks up; there's visible distress in her eyes from the question alone. Frankly, it's the least at peace she's looked all day. "I -- what do *I* want? I -- I want, to --"

She continues to move away, though it's at a bit of a stagger. "I -- I don't know what I want! I'm just tired of being *pitied!* You made it sound so simple! And you, did, something nice for me, and --"

She stays there, forcing out, "I just want to stop hurting and I don't know what that looks like!" She turns to the assembled ARMS members, pointedly not meeting Liath's gaze just yet. "It was so obvious until you guys showed up and now, I --"

She tries to find the words for what she means to say, and fails; in the end, she just continues to back away, looking more lost and confused by the second.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

        The distress wrought in Nimue sends distress through Ragnell, though it's not quite as obvious: a taut jaw, gritted teeth, a thin line of a mouth, furrowed and worried eyes. She looses a faint sigh; then she turns a hard look towards the interlopers. Like Nimue, she doesn't quite look at Liath.
        
        "You heard her. Please leave," she states.
        
        It isn't her intent to follow up on killing *now*. But it might sound otherwise to those assembled.

<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you!" Eleanor calls to Nimue, even as she starts to turn to look towards the new arrival in light and brilliance. With ARMS behind her, she can identify the voices, the presences, the magic of some--but this...

It would be another moment for the silence of the plains here, the brilliance of the elemental beings, perhaps some awe at the sheer light in play. Except...

"Uh--"

"You..." Eleanor blinks, looking between Ragnell and Nimue in some confusion. She holds no weapons per se, though she still bears the same crest, marked with the powers of Geo and Muse in gilt and runes. She... just holds onto it, in the moment, not quite frozen but...

...She lowers it, and puts it back with the others, as she listens. "..."

"...It..."

She looks down, soft, "It never entered my mind that... you wouldn't want to be saved."

Shaking her head, the sorceress lifts her eyes again. "It doesn't look like this," she says firmly, despite what she's seen now. "If you want not to be pitied..."

"Doing it this way will only ensure that pity is how you're remembered. I'm sorry to have caused you distress, but..."

Eleanor turns to Ragnell, and bows lightly. "I apologize for leading harm to you." But then she stops. ...She stops, and her jaw sets.

"...And I apologize for ignoring her stated wishes. But I'm not willing to allow that to happen."

<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.

Marivel doesn't dislike Ragnell particularly. Honestly the most irritating thing about Ragnell is how similar they appear to be.

"No," Marivel says to Ragnell when she accuses them of misunderstanding the situation. "I understand completely that Nimue likely asked you such a thing. That was my expectation upon seeing you aim a weapon at her. I threw a ball for your hand instead of a spear for your throat, after all."

She glances over to Liath for a moment and she exhales out a small laugh upon seeing her. She wonders if she's heard about her proclamation to the Guard but that brief fond moment is just a brief flicker that fades as Marivel focuses on the business at hand. She listens to Nimue's words, though this does not stop her approach. She smiles ever so faintly as Ragnell tells the party to leave.

"I understand the desire to walk into the sun as well as anyone." Marivel smiles. "But I do not wish for Nimue to die, so I will not allow that to happen regardless of her requests. Tis not out of pity, but pure selfishness on my part. I will not leave her simply because you care for her."

She extends her hand to the side, her blade of blood shimmering into her hand. "Love does not carry a sword so you can stick it in those you love."

Her eyes slant towards Nimue and adds, "The hurting does not stop. It never stops."

"But..." Marivel looks to Eleanor, noting her words. "But you have not begun to experience a fraction of the joy our worlds can provide you and I refuse to allow you to die until you do." Her own is still towards Nimue in this moment as she looks back towards her, still armed and at the ready. "Tis my selfish desire."

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Clarine has posed.

The other member of ARMS who were with her all filter in as well - and then, there's a prism of ribbons. Clarine can feel the presence before the Seraph fully coalesces.

"Liath...!" Clarine calls out, entreatingly. And then, she looks toward Nimue as she shouts in surprise. It's...not really the kind of surprise that Clarine expected from the situation. She starts to connect the dots, especially at Ragnell's surprised reaction - Ragnell, who almost always seemed to be fully in control in any given situation - and as she does a look of tragic horror starts to creep across her face. Her mirrors clatter to the ground as if whatever force was holding them up abruptly vanished before dissipating into motes of light.

Ragnell states it plainly, confirming her fears - this was what Nimue wanted. Clarine doesn't have to question her on this. She knows, because Nimue had told her as much herself before.

"I-I...I..." She starts. The fight seems to go out of her a little and she hugs her arms tightly to herself. She's quiet.

"I...I-I cannot." She eventually concludes, shaking her head before looking up. Little beads of light like tears form at the corners of her eyes, falling freely.

"Were you...w-were you simply going to do this without...w-without telling me...?" She asks both of them, quietly. She doesn't make a move toward either of them.

...Thinking about it, though, she knows why. She would've interfered, just as she did today.

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

        A single spent shell casing hits the grass at Ida's feet. Very deliberately, she pulls her finger off the trigger, but she doesn't lower the gun. Ragnell's surprise draws her out of the realm of calculated violence, and she blinks. "I could ask the same of you," Ida says, her voice low and dangerous. She falls silent, though, as the others speak, and in doing so, reveal more about the woman Ragnell was poised to execute. Pieces snap together.

        Ida looks, for a moment, not at Nimue and Ragnell, but at Devil's Due. She'd entrusted the ARM to Lily Keil, along with the others, for fear of what she'd use it for.

        Ida has never met Nimue, and has no idea what could've led her to this. But in this moment, pain pierces through to the very core of her.

        "NO!" Ida shouts. That seems to be her response to Ragnell's request, or perhaps to the situation as a whole. She steps forwards, glances sidelong at the others. Not even Liath's presence manages to comfort her.

        Ida remembers lying down, with the Mirror in her hands, and not caring if she ever woke up again. All she wanted was for the pain to stop.

        "She's sick," Ida whispers. She looks at Eleanor, someone she barely knows, alarm in her eyes. "She... she can be treated. This--this is--"

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Liath has posed.

... why are *you* here?

It is a question thrice repeated, with a fluctuation in tone for each. But when that question is pointed at the Light Seraph now standing between Ragnell and Nimue, painted in raw and blatant shock -- it is only then that Liath turns that hawk's eye stare from Seraph of Lightning to Seraph of Wind in a brief but guileless flicker of confusion.

She's nothing if not earnest. Even now.

It soon passes. She spares a small smile for Nimue, no less genuine or warm for its own brevity.

"It would seem it does not matter why I am here," is her answer; her gaze steels anew as it focuses on Ragnell, lips pulled into a tight line.

"Simply that I am here."

There are others here, she realizes, most of whom she recognizes -- one of whom is a new face. She catches them from her peripheries -- she takes note of Marivel's approach, but does not yet so much as budge. If she has heard of Marivel's proclamations, it is doubtless a topic for another time. For now...

... that gaze is squared wholly on Ragnell, even as she avoids hers.

She watches. And she listens. Impassively, she listens to Ragnell's explanation. Impassively, she listens to Nimue's staggered, desperate answer. She listens to the pained rawness of her words, and the implications of Ragnell's. And those golden eyes shut.

Please leave, states Ragnell. Liath's eyes crack open; she turns on her heel, to face Nimue, and watch her in careful silence as the others speak and reach out to her. It's her wish; the wish of someone Liath does not even know. What right does she have to say anything, then--?

Please leave. Liath says nothing to Nimue, not yet. She just smiles, one more time. A plaintive thing.

A thing that speaks to understanding.

"No. I refuse."

And as her gaze turns sternly once more towards the Lightning Seraph,

Liath lifts that sword.

"I will not yield. I will not leave her side."

It's a gesture, perhaps, that could look like pity all on its own. But there's none of it in Liath's voice.

"Do what you must, Ragnell. But I will not move, nor let them be moved, for you, or anyone."

Just a resolute line in the sand.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

        None of them leave. Figures. Yet as distressed and pained and harsh as the explanations come, it does serve to cool tempers temporarily. Ragnell in particular is surprised by the change in Eleanor's demeanor, especially when she bows and apologizes to her, specifically. The Lightning Seraph blinks, then scratches the side of her head under her hat with her gun.
        
        "'S'fine. I get how it looked," she replies. Then Eleanor adds she won't let her kill Nimue, despite that being her stated wishes, and Ragnell sighs. She can't even get mad, really. "I know," she murmurs, expression turning grim. "It's only natural to want someone you care about to live." Marivel likewise explains that she understood perfectly, and that's why her attack was so benign. Ragnell frowns at her, then nods. "Yeah, okay. I get you."
        
        Pity. To not *be* pitied. To be unable to picture a way to not be in pain, to not suffer. It's because of all that that Ragnell made her dark offer in the first place. But she'd wanted it to be gentle, easy, quick. That's definitely not going to happen now, and in fact it looks like Nimue's more upset and pained than ever. Ragnell gazes back at her, jaw clenching. It's not beyond her notice that if Nimue keeps backing away like that, she's going to trip and fall off the cliff. Maybe that's the point. She keeps her observation to herself.
        
        Clarine's mirrors drop. Ragnell winces at the sound of it, at the heartbroken agony on the little Seraph's face. At the same time... she has a feeling that Clarine knows. That she understands, even if she doesn't agree. After all, her question isn't why Nimue would want such a thing, but if they were going to do this without telling her. Without giving her a chance to say good-bye.
        
        "Yeah, we were," Ragnell tells Clarine, quiet and morose. Just--laying it out there.
        
        Ida's shout draws a flash of irritation from Ragnell. When she goes on to whisper about sickness, about how it can be treated, that irritation melts into something like melancholy, something like resignation. "If only it were that easy," she mumbles. Then Liath speaks, proclaiming she will not move, not for her, not for anyone. Ragnell finally meets her gaze, lingering for an expressionless moment; then she smiles and ducks her head, tipping her hat down over her eyes. "You wouldn't."
        
        A pause. Then Ragnell looks back over at Nimue as she gestures at Liath. "Nim, this is Liath. That Seraph I mentioned to you," she explains for reasons only Clarine will understand. "She says she won't leave your side." She expands her gesture to encompass the entire group. "All these dorks say that. Is that what you want?"
        
        Probably not a helpful question since Nimue just said she doesn't know what she wants. But Ragnell asks it anyway.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Nimue has posed.

It's -- strange, to hear so many people... *bother*. To Nimue, it feels -- unbelievable, almost alien. She looks to Eleanor, first, and... she has to admit, she has a point. This *would* be committing to being pitied forever. Marivel offers a different tack -- one about experiencing the joys of the world... which kinda bounces off Nimue, though she does at least give the Crimson Noble a slightly strained smile.

Clarine, though -- Clarine's the first one to get a response. "... It was kind of a spur of the moment thing! Ragnell invited me for lunch, and then pitched, it, but -- yeah, I don't think you were gonna get told no matter what..."

Ida shouts, and Nimue flinches; it stops her backpedal for a moment -- which in turn gets her to look more directly at Liath. She doesn't know Liath -- but something about the Prime Lord puts her at ease. "... Why? Even though I left *hers*..." Nimue murmurs, quietly -- a thought meant only for herself, that escapes her lips in the moment.

Nimue moves to take a half-step back again --

-- and then pivots hard to the side, instead, her stance lowering a little bit. She fumbles in her pack for a moment, saying, "You know what, Ragnell?" There's a little heat in her tone -- heat that builds as she withdraws a knife. It's still got a little butter on it, despite being... *very* much not a butter knife. "This is what I get for still thinking of you as a kid! Ugh -- *come on!*" She moves forward -- first parallel to, then away from, the cliff. "You always think you have to be the one to solve every problem, and if it means you need to do something painful, well, then that's just You, isn't it? That's just you living up to your ~ * ~ big pure purpose ~ * ~! Ugh, Althena *gag* me!"

It's about Ragnell, and it isn't -- but Nimue doesn't have time to unpack all that. "And you can never just, like, fucking *say* why something is important! All 'uoohhh, you should see for yourself, or maybe it doesn't matter' -- no! Fuck that! Just tell me why I should care about something you know *damn well* I'm going to care about!"

Nimue's fists clench -- one of them around that knife. "I guess this is on me, huh! Spending hundreds of years doing whatever and another hundred curled up in a book made me lose track of time -- you really grew up! And you grew up into an *asshole*! You're so obsessed with carrying burdens you doesn't know when you're *making them yourself!* I still don't know if I wanna live -- but buttering me up so I'd accept that you were probably right was really just about making you feel like you ~ * ~ made the hard choice ~ * ~ or whatever, *wasn't it*?!"

She throws the knife at Ragnell; it's not really an *attack*, per se, and indeed it's very likely that it comes up short, sticking into the ground instead. It certainly makes her feelings on the matter clear, though.

<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.

Marivel dispels the blade she was forming. It doesn't seem like there will be need for any more clobbering. Marivel has never claimed to be nice and often thinks of Irving's own words when someone would call him nice as if were her own.

She listens to Nimue's words for a bit more and then looks to Ragnell, "Oh shit she's calling you out." Her lips twist into an amused grin becaus she just can't help herself when confronted with THIS. "I guess this is what happens when you act like the weight of the world is on your shoulders and you have to make the hard choices while being so mysterious and obtuse... well it can get a little grating I suppose!"

Marivel...

...Marivel you do this shit all the time too.

Marivel everybody knows you do this shit too.

Needless to say none of this stops Marivel from saying all this anyway in the slightest.

She turns to Ida. "That behavior can get really obnoxious real quick, isn't that right Ida?"

Now she's just milking it.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

        Nimue lays in Ragnell. Ragnell is, in a work, shocked. "What?" is all she can manage at first; before long, when Nimue starts in on her ~*big pure purpose*~ and not mentioning things that are absolutely important like they might not be, her jaw works noiselessly as she stares, gobsmacked, at the Wind Seraph. Soon, she deflates, shoulders sinking, weapon returning to its holster, as she looks troubled.
        
        Then Nimue throws the knife back at her--the knife Ragnell had lent her so she would have a vessel after losing Sundancer, when she was so scared of all the Malevolence she had no protection against--and she stares down at *that*. And Nimue finishes up--and her expression hardens. Marivel being a little shit--much like she would be in her position--absolutely does not help.
        
        "You know... you got me there on a lot o' that," she says slowly, voice low. "I definitely should've been clearer about her. An' it's true I'm all about my mission, maybe more than is good for me. An' it's true I did try to make your burden my own. But you know why that last one is?
        
        "Because you never take responsibility for YOURSELF, you dumb, selfish, self-centered piece of shit!!" she snarls. "I wasn't fuckin' trying to butter you up, idiot! You think I WANT you dead?! You're the one who is ALWAYS TALKIN' about how existence is awful and how your pain is unending and you don't even know what life *without* pain is like!! WOW, someone actually took you at face value! What a fuckin' shock!! You know what that was?" She thrusts an arm out towards the remains of the picnic. "I was tryin' to do something nice for you so at least you could go out knowin' some kind of peace! I asked you a DOZEN TIMES if this was what you wanted and you just kind of went 'yeah whatever'! I literally JUST asked you TWICE MORE what you wanted, after these assholes showed up to save you from yoruself! But you try to pin this on ME?"
        
        Her fists clench. The once-sunny skies of the Calm Lands darken as thunder sounds ominously in the now-beclouded heavens. "Well FINE, Nimue. You wanna make me the villain in your bullshit personal tragedy where you get to run away from everything that hurts? Where you don't take any kind of responsibility for your own stupid life so you can blame everything on everyone else? Where you get to go 'uwu it hurts so bad, I don't want pity but I'm gonna act real pitiful anyway because Althena forbid I do anything but hide behind others'?"
        
        She draws both pistols, spins, and cocks them at Nimue. "Okay. I'll be the villain. I'm REAL GOOD at it."
        
        It doesn't matter if she's wounded. It doesn't matter that there's half a dozen people here poised to stop her. She spreads her pistols, unleashing a spray of ball lightnings that she shoots up to the sky, and which then rain down on the defenders assembled in crackling bolts. "You don't know if you wanna live or not?" she calls, leaving Nimue about of this particular attack. "You better fuckin' make up your mind, Nim! Because if you don't start assertin' your OWN will for once--"
        
        She re-aims her pistols at the Wind Seraph, glyphs lighting up beneath her feet, and beneath Nimue's. As golden light sparks up, she unleashes a barrage of powerful blasts, rapidly fired, unrelenting, until at last she charges her power and unleashes a beam that makes that one from before look like a spitwad at the other Seraph. "I'll show you what REAL pain is like!!"

GS: Seraph Ragnell has attacked Seraph Nimue with Prism Tango EXTEND!
GS: Seraph Ragnell has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Seraph Ragnell has attacked Marivel Armitage with Storm Shot!
GS: Seraph Ragnell has attacked Seraph Liath with Storm Shot!
GS: Seraph Ragnell has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Storm Shot!
GS: Seraph Ragnell has attacked Seraph Clarine with Storm Shot!
GS: Seraph Ragnell has attacked Eleanor Klein with Storm Shot!
GS: Seraph Ragnell has completed her action.
GS: Seraph Clarine takes a solid hit from Seraph Ragnell's Storm Shot for 200 hit points!
GS: Marivel Armitage takes a glancing hit from Seraph Ragnell's Storm Shot for 175 hit points!
GS: Seraph Liath completely evades a hit from Seraph Ragnell's Storm Shot!
GS: Eleanor Klein takes a solid hit from Seraph Ragnell's Storm Shot for 200 hit points!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey completely evades a hit from Seraph Ragnell's Storm Shot!
GS: CRITICAL! Seraph Nimue completely evades a hit from Seraph Ragnell's Prism Tango EXTEND!
<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.

"...Marivel," Eleanor says quietly, glancing once to her for a moment--there's a lot in that soft use of her name. A question? A caution? ...Sympathy? Unfortunately not using words makes it hard to be sure what she feels or means, there. She doesn't elaborate. Instead...

She thinks of Clarine, and how she must feel, how she seems to feel, knowing both of them. ...Ida's clear distress. And this Liath...

Eleanor seems unfazed by Ragnell's apparent surprise--and indeed, when she replies, and when she sighs--Eleanor thinks she understands some of that grim expression, too. Not enough, not enough to get around all this maybe, but, "It's a difficult position you're in," she says.

"...And I admit, the social dynamics of all of your history are not entirely clear to me..."

She stops. She frowns. Spur of the moment--Ragnell's... suggestion? Eleanor had a narrative put back together after her earlier misread, but it seems even that is changing, and the girl in her Spiran attire looks between the three Seraphim in front of her (assuming Clarine stays behind) with a mix of discomfort, anger, compassion, and... awkwardness. There's a lot of feelings here and she is not entirely sure which of them are most appropriate at the moment. What does Nimue want?

"Ah," Eleanor answers, and that's fancy noble speak for 'good question'. She waits, for her friend's answer... And--

"Marivel," Eleanor starts, as the much older woman does her thing, as if Eleanor were the responsible one here because maybe she is and isn't that a terrifying thought for everyone. She at least has the grace not to sigh--

Which is good, because she needs that breath when the lightning crashes down. Magic formed from an elemental spirit herself is different from magic formed of another mage--Eleanor can't account for that difference in time to avoid getting zotted hard enough to force her onto one knee, a thin cry slipping past her lips before she presses her mouth closed and looks up--into blinding amounts of sheer electric power. "Well--"

"Nimue!" Eleanor calls. "Now's the time!"

Does this have to drag out? Maybe, maybe not. But Eleanor, rather than going for her magic--pulls a length of wood, gently angled, with a point at either side, its arc curved--yes, it's--her boomerang. She hurls it for Ragnell with a sound of speed rippling through air--

And takes the chance to stand up.

GS: Eleanor Klein has attacked Seraph Ragnell with Comeback!!!
GS: Eleanor Klein has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Eleanor Klein has completed her action.
GS: CRITICAL! Seraph Ragnell takes a solid hit from Eleanor Klein's Comeback!! for 123 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Clarine has posed.

Clarine's gaze drops to the ground as Ragnell confirms that she wasn't going to be told about this. Nimue says as much, as well - though she also says that it was a spur of the moment decision. This gets Clarine to look up at her.

She stares at Nimue for a moment, and then at Ragnell...but before she can say anything, Nimue starts to speak, and it draws all attention to her. Clarine stares, shocked, both at her and at Ragnell as she counters her argument with one of her own.

She looks very distressed, caught between two of her oldest friends shouting at each other. She opens her mouths to say something...and then, she flinches back as the sky darkens and thunder rumbles honestly.

"P-Please...calm down...!" Clarine starts, to know one in particular, or, perhaps, everyone gathered, but before she can say anything else, she lets out a pained cry as a powerful blast strikes her solidly in the midsection.

She hadn't been prepared for a fight - at the very least, not anymore, after the shock she had received earlier. She goes down immediately, smoke rising up from her form. She's still alive, at the very least - but it clearly did a number on her.

She lays there for a moment, and whispers something quietly.

"C-Converge...and contain..." She murmurs. The faint hint of a Seraphic glyph appears underneath her for a split second before rings of golden, runic light appear around Ragnell, looking to surround her and lock her into place. Normally this would conclude with a detonation, but right now she's just trying to limit the damage caused.

"N-Nimue has...m-made a decision... Please respect it..." Clarine says with some effort as she attempts to pull herself back to her feet. The mirrors don't come back out yet - whether that's a conscious effort or because of the injuries she's sustained is hard to tell.

GS: Seraph Clarine has attacked Seraph Ragnell with Photon!
GS: Seraph Clarine has completed her action.
GS: Seraph Ragnell takes a glancing hit from Seraph Clarine's Photon for 37 hit points!
GS: Entangle! applied to Seraph Ragnell!
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

        Ida's lips pull tight. Part of her insists that she shouldn't be here, that she shouldn't be charging in and trying to save this stranger from herself. The rest of her realizes that Marivel brought her here for a reason, and this is it. "Now is not the time," she mutters, to the Crimson Noble's rhetorical question. Ida cannot guess at whatever history the two Seraphim have, but it does seem to her like they were close--she feels like she's watching the sort of virulent argument that only happens between people who know each other well. Thunder rumbles in the distance, as if the sky were mirroring Ragnell's emotional state. Ida smells ozone in the air.

        Ragnell opens fire. Ida surges forwards, her whole body blurring as she crosses the distance. A burst of lightning roars downwards; Ida feels the prickle on her skin, and reacts before her conscious mind can process the input. She twists on a heel, leaps, and tumbles in a single, perfectly-executed motion. Even then, the ball lightning comes close enough to raise her hair, and send waves of static crackling across her flesh. The ground where she stood erupts in a brief, violent conflagration. Had she been a second slower, that would've been her.

        Clarine wasn't so lucky. Ida sees her go down out of the corner of her eye. She bares teeth in a snarl, her hand blurring as she returns her ARM to its holster. Her hands clench into fists; pinkish-silver something bubbles out of the gap between her sleeve and glove, flowing up around her right arm. Within seconds, the limb is encased in light, form-fitting armor, all blue and gold. "You will do nothing more to her," Ida snarls. She balls up her fist, and drives it right for Ragnell's jaw. She follows up with a left jab, flowing seamlessly into a series of lightning-quick punches--she's trying to keep Ragnell off-balance, if only to keep her from unleashing another attack of that magnitude.

GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked Seraph Ragnell with Forceful Instruction!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has completed her action.
GS: Seraph Ragnell takes a solid hit from Ida Everstead-Rey's Forceful Instruction for 144 hit points!
GS: Disrupt! applied to Seraph Ragnell!
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.

Marivel says, "Speaking of Althena--" but then Ragnell draws her guns AGAIN and this time tears into Nimue in a way Marivel can't entirely argue against judging from what she's seen today, let alone earlier but well--Marivel and Ragnell do have a lot in common.

Like an appreciation for stormclouds, for example, but unfortunately for Marivel Ragnell has an affinity with lighting and unfortunately lightning has UV rays in it. It doesn't last long, but it's enough to hurt that much more when lightning strikes at her. The blast strikes MArivel's left arm and leaves it charcoal black. Marivel hisses through her fangs and looks towards Eleanor.

"Whaaaat?" Marivel smiles at her though there's a grimace to it because sure, the lightning may not SHATTER HER SOUL but it still hurts a lot. It's LIGHTning after all. "Isn't it wonderful? The sun is taking the day off..." She heaves out a long breath. "Most likely because tis too embarrassed to be seen here."

She straightens up and adds, "Well, tis not as if I am unsympathetic but I am simply grateful to see soe of that fire churning..."

The sun being obscured IS a relief but that lightning bolt has deterred Marivel from unleashing her TRUE POWER all the same. Besides, the supplies she's got has to last for the rest of the module. She flexes her charred arm and the grimace tightens.

"This escalated quickly, did it not Eleanor?"

And with that she gestures with her hand, eyes flashing red once more as she sends a tumbling of coins dropping down for Ragnell's head!

"I wonder if we could have done something to stop this," She adds, sinking back to a crouch as that pain fills her once more.

"This is why I give history lessons." She murmurs to herself. "Of course they go through one ear and out the other nine times out of ten, but ahh that tenth time..."

She digs her fingers into that charcoal and shreds it from her own arm, black smoke drifting from the wound as it billows nearby.

She never gets back to what she was going to say about Althena.

GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Seraph Ragnell with Gella Crazy!
GS: Marivel Armitage has completed her action.
GS: Seraph Ragnell takes a solid hit from Marivel Armitage's Gella Crazy for 142 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Liath has posed.

Bright eyes stare for a moment at a hat that was not there when last they met when Ragnell calls attention to it with that tug. The Lightning Seraph smiles.

And Liath's gaze drops, a smile of her own touching her lips.

"No," she states, voice flatly matter-of-fact. "I would not. Now stop this folly; it's hardly becoming. Yours is a different brand of foolishness altogether and it, at least, has some charm on rare occasion."

The point of her sword lowers, slowly. And as Ragnell addresses Nimue, Liath turns on her heel, stance unerringly dignified. It's only muddied the befuddled cant of her head as Nimue murmurs to herself, words that, without context, inspire confusion within the heat of the moment.

"... Her?"

It does not dilute the genuine welcomeness of her expression she shoulders that shield of hers once more, however; nor does it stop her from lifting her hand out to Nimue in preparation for a greeting...

... one that never comes to her lips before Nimue takes Ragnell suddenly and fiercely to task on the tip of a flung knife. The reasons seem myriad, weighted by a long history their kind are all too known for; but even devoid of context, one can see the most obvious of reasons layered amongst complex cocktails of emotional responses.

The less obvious ones...

Liath might be one easily confused by seemingly simple turns of phrase, but her expression is nothing if not wordlessly, quietly perceptive as the two exchange heated words. I definitely should've been clearer about her, Ragnell shoots back lowly. And the Prime Lord's blonde brows knot together to match her contemplative frown. Gold eyes downcast. Her free, gloved hand grips bracingly at its more armored companion, holding fast to its weapon.

"..."

And the skies darken.

She can feel the swell of Althena's Blessing before the assault begins.

"Ragnell," she breathes out. Her gloved hand reaches behind her. "That is--"

Lightning is shot from gunbarrels, like seeds to sow the heavens, and are thusly reaped in the crackling BOOM of bolts that follow. Fast as -- well -- lightning, one rips towards Liath in the middle of her words. She is engulfed in plasmic fury for a brief, blinding moment.

"-- ENOUGH!"

And electricity crackles raw and wild in a tempest's dance along the broad side of a ceremonial shield; there, beneath it, crouches Liath, weathering the brunt of that raging power with a look of sheer, intense disapproval, standing literally within the eye of a storm without flinching.

She feels the strain of heat against her forearm from where the lightning cooks her armament to a bright orange glow. She ignores it, sword coming up in front of her face, pointed sideways. Her eyes close. Lips part.

Magic flows around her like liquid rivers of light.

                      "Thou who wouldst take revenge,

                        carve here thy holy seal!"

And as Clarine attempts to cage Ragnell, the ground seems to literally -open- up beneath her into a gaping seal of light, violet-pinks a pulsing, ethereal undercurrent to a searing cross of radiant gold.

                            "Eclair de Larmes!"

That will promptly explode, to ward Ragnell off further.

She made her decision?

"No," Liath breathes out finally, slow and sure as she stands. And despite fighting the Lightning Seraph--

"She has not, Clarine. Not yet."

-- she doesn't hesitate to agree with her on that much, at least.

GS: Seraph Liath enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Seraph Liath has attacked Seraph Ragnell with Eclair de Larmes!
GS: Seraph Liath has completed her action.
GS: Seraph Ragnell takes a glancing hit from Seraph Liath's Eclair de Larmes for 82 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Nimue has posed.

Nimue's eyes widen. Even with Eleanor's help, it really would be easy to just let go here -- which is exactly why she *doesn't*. Now is the time, indeed. Even though Eleanor's shield remains, Nimue starts to move as Ragnell's glyphs light up; she hops to one side under a hail of fire from Ragnell, draws her sling-staff, and...

... disappears. It's hard to tell if she moves so fast she's invisible for a split second or actually teleports, but it's markedly faster than anything she's done in the last... well, as far back as her memory extends, at any rate. She looks as surprised about it as anyone else might, frankly.

"Yep! There you go again!" Nimue says, only missing the briefest of beats in surprise at herself, at least. "See? 'Oh, well, someone has to be Nimue's bad guy so it's gonna be me!' I don't need a villain and I don't need a murderer, dipshit! I needed..." She pauses. ... what *did* she need? What *does* she need? She just managed to wind-step -- something she'd thought lost to her entirely. ... *Did* she need a villain?

"... Ugh!! You're right! And now I'm mad about *that*, too, actually!!" She looks like she's about to say something else, but Ida's anger genuinely startles her; given most of her offense is... explosive, that's probably best for Ida, too. The martial artist gets a brief, helpless look -- before Nimue's allows herself to look yet again at Liath.

"It's -- a long story," Nimue offers the Seraph, expression a little strained; a lot of the bluster escapes her, in favor of something that looks much more... sincere. Almost contrite. There's a pause, as something clicks in her head though; she appends, "... And it's one I'm gonna' take the time to tell you about, *myself*, later!"

She gives her staff a quick twirl; something silver enters the pocket in a blink of an eye. She gives Ida time to gain a little separation. "That's my answer, Ragnell! I'm gonna try to stop sleepwalking through my life and admit I'm not okay, and you can do what you want with that -- even if you still wanna play the bad guy! Sorry, Clary -- we might need to have this one out a little longer!"

That silvery something-or-other sails through the air. Needless to say: it's a fragmentation grenade!

Her strafing movements, meanwhile bring her close to Marivel; after a moment's thought, she adds, "... I think I might need one of those history lessons, actually. Maybe later?" There's some sincerity in that, too.

GS: Seraph Nimue has attacked Seraph Ragnell with Razor Monsoon!
GS: Seraph Nimue has completed her action.
GS: Seraph Ragnell takes a solid hit from Seraph Nimue's Razor Monsoon for 121 hit points!
GS: Seraph Ragnell enters Critical health and gains 25 FP!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

        It's hard for Ragnell to give a proper response to anyone but Nimue given how heated, intense, and *personal* all of this has gotten. This doesn't mean she doesn't hear them, though. She sees them, too--in particular, Clarine. Clarine takes her attack head-on, without running away. The sight of it actually makes Ragnell hesitate, to jitter for a second as she sees someone she cares about, who she's not even actually angry with, drop like a stone. It, combined with Nimue facing her and yet still evading with a speed she thought long lost to her, might be enough to get her to stop.
        
        Then Ida gets her in face and demands she stops as she unleashes a series of punches, and Ragnell's contrariness kicks in with a vengeance. She takes the flurry of blows like a champ, even as they hurt like hell as they rain down upon her. Likewise, Eleanor hurls her boomerang with force as Marivel throws a bunch of heavy gella coins, and they all WHAM into Ragnell, shoving her along the grassy strip of land and bowling her over and, ironically, out of Ida's reach. Ragnell falls into a sideways roll, jumping up as the boomerang swings and passes to return to its master, and the coins fall to the ground. As Ragnell rises, Clarine's Photon arte shines and bursts around her, extending lines of light to contain her. Or try to, anyway; Ragnell has always been too stubborn for anyone's good, and even though the Photon slows her down, it absolutely does not stop her as she death-marches towards her opponents.
        
        "Goddess knows we got a hell of a history," she growls at Eleanor. To Clarine, she snaps, "Has she, though? *Has* she? Or is she runnin' away, AGAIN?!" Ida she has no words for--there's little to say there--but especially when Liath's Seraphic arte sears up around her, sending light like knives through her form even as Nimue's frag grenade sends down piercing shrapnel. When Liath shouts at her that this is enough. "No! It's *not* enough!!" she shouts back, bleeding from a thousand wounds, not all of them physical. "You don't even know! You--" And she cuts herself off with an agonized grimace that utterly betrays her own pain, her own anguish, that she works so hard to conceal. Because this is exactly what Nimue was just talking about, wasn't it? "I'm sorry," she chokes out, trembling with a sincerity that she is so often loathe to betray. "I can't tell you."
        
        Marivel makes a crack about the sun. Perhaps her comment about Althena was going to be about how Her blessing comes in mysterious and sudden ways, because now Ragnell has an easy target. "An' YOU!" She levels an accusatory gun at her. "You don't have a *fraction* of an idea of what this is all about, so maybe SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH ABOUT IT!!" Which won't stop Marivel, just like it wouldn't stop Ragnell, but what's a little hypocrisy between enemies?

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

        "What, Nimue? What the fuck DID you need? Say it! Fucking say it for once!!" Then Nimue acknowledges that, actually, maybe she *did* need a villain. Ragnell barks out an ugly, humorless laugh. "An' you figured *I* was the kid! That *I* didn't say the important things enough! Maybe that's true, but here's somethin' you might not've noticed, Nim: all this time, I've been treatin' YOU with kid gloves! But I guess lookin' at me like I was still the baby was one way you got to feel like you were better than someone else without actually havin' to *do* anything!" The words that Nimue offers in return--that she'll stop sleepwalking through life, that she'll acknowledge she's fucked up--that she'll tell Liath her story herself--almost get her to stop, too. But then she shakes her head.
        
        "Sorry, Nim! Words are cheap! Let's see you COMMIT!" she calls.
        
        A Seraphic glyph forms at Ragnell's feet, sending golden sparks shooting up around her as she casts with greater and greater speed. As she roars to the heavens, three blades of lightning shoot down at an angle near Marivel, Eleanor, and Ida, sending blasts coursing out towards them; an instant later, the swords *explode*, sending another powerful blast their respective ways. Mysteriously, none of them come anywhere near Clarine or Liath, though perhaps that's because she doesn't have the time to include them. Perhaps
        
        Instead, Ragnell turns back towards Nimue, the storm picking up rapidly and spinning around her like a localized hurricane. "Let's see you give it your all! Let's see you give it EVERYTHING YOU GOT!" She spins with it, firing rapidshot blasts into the tempest, and then snaps to a halt, pointing her pistols at her former comrade. "CYCLONE MIXER!" she roars, sending the depression form to potentially swallow Nimue up and batter her with all the force of a typhoon... and more.
        
        A serrated hunting knife quivers, rips out of the ground where it had been thrown, and tears around back towards the Wind Seraph, spinning, with a vengeance.

GS: Seraph Ragnell has spent 3 Combo on Gatling, including 3 on Gatling!
GS: Seraph Ragnell has attacked Marivel Armitage with Thunder Blade!
GS: Seraph Ragnell has spent 3 Combo on Gatling, including 3 on Gatling!
GS: Seraph Ragnell has attacked Eleanor Klein with Thunder Blade!
GS: Seraph Ragnell has spent 3 Combo on Gatling, including 3 on Gatling!
GS: Seraph Ragnell has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Thunder Blade!
GS: Seraph Ragnell has spent 1 Combo on Link, including 3 on Gatling!
GS: Seraph Ragnell has attacked Seraph Nimue with Cyclone Mixer!
GS: Seraph Ragnell has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Seraph Ragnell has launched an attack Link!
GS: Seraph Ragnell has attacked Seraph Nimue with Tornado Chaser!
GS: Seraph Ragnell has completed her action.
GS: Marivel Armitage completely evades a hit from Seraph Ragnell's Thunder Blade!
GS: Marivel Armitage enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Seraph Nimue takes a solid hit from Seraph Ragnell's Cyclone Mixer for 171 hit points!
GS: Amplify! applied to Seraph Nimue!
GS: Seraph Nimue completely evades a hit from Seraph Ragnell's Tornado Chaser!
GS: Eleanor Klein guards a hit from Seraph Ragnell's Thunder Blade for 99 hit points!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey takes a glancing hit from Seraph Ragnell's Thunder Blade for 79 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.

"You know what you did!" Eleanor frowns at Marivel, and then sighs. "...Yes, it did, though I'm not sure it's an escalation exactly..." Pause. "But I don't think there was a way for us to avoid this, no."

That's the impression she's getting--that one way or another...

Eleanor is paying attention as best she can still to Liath, to her own questions--to the apparent reality that she's not completely informed on all of this, either. But this means she has a front-row seat to l i g h t all of a sudden. And to--

"...Not yet," Eleanor agrees there. She has to wait for her to say it. And apparently not only can she say it she--

"Wow," Eleanor answers Nimue's sudden ability. "I'm--still interested in hearing!" Pause. "It..." A hell of a history is right. "So I see," she answers.

Words are cheap. Eleanor's not the fondest of that saying; words can be important, can do so much, but... Hers aren't the ones that will matter here. She is aware of that, as she snatches her boomerang back out of the air from its return trip, just in time for a blade of lightning to crash down at her feet. Eleanor has time only to focus for an instant, and she breathes in--and relaxes against the blast. She doesn't outright zot to death, though its power rushes through her. ...Instead she sails a few yards and hits the ground again, hard, wincing. "She's... very strong," Eleanor can't help but note. "Well, no one said making friends was easy..."

Burned, injured, the sorceress brings herself up to a knee again... and this time, she pulls another Crest from a hidden place. This one is emblazoned with the mark of Muse answered by Fray in secondary position, marked as unusual like most of her crests.

"...As the passing blaze kindles new growth..."

Her eyes snap up, "Douse our woes, by this wound! Scarred Gift!"

She winces harder as the spell takes effect, though it's easily missed--and in moments, sparkling light erupts about a number of them, multiple colors to soothe and protect, but drawing inward instead of outward like the wind.

GS: Eleanor Klein has attacked Marivel Armitage with Scarred Gift!
GS: Eleanor Klein has attacked Eleanor Klein with Scarred Gift!
GS: Eleanor Klein has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Scarred Gift!
GS: Eleanor Klein has attacked Seraph Nimue with Scarred Gift!
GS: Eleanor Klein has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Eleanor Klein has completed her action.
GS: Eleanor Klein heals Eleanor Klein! She gains 150 temporary hit points!
GS: Eleanor Klein assumes the Stoic stance!
GS: Eleanor Klein heals Marivel Armitage! She gains 150 temporary hit points!
GS: Eleanor Klein heals Ida Everstead-Rey! She gains 150 temporary hit points!
GS: Eleanor Klein heals Seraph Nimue! She gains 150 temporary hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Clarine has posed.

Clarine's Photon arte interlocks around Ragnell...but even so, Ragnell pushes through it, though Clarine focuses hard to maintain it. It seemed about right, Clarine thinks - Ragnell wasn't one to let herself be contained for long.

Liath refutes her words - and so too does Ragnell. Clarine hesitates a little...and then, for a moment, a look of determination crosses her face.

"Maybe... I-It is possible. But...! I want... I want to believe in Nimue...!" Clarine replies earnestly. It wasn't like she could judge anyone for running away - she had only just recently decided for herself that that she didn't want to run away anymore.

Maybe it wasn't perfect - but none of them were.

And then, Nimue comes up with her answer. Clarine nods.

"...It is alright." She replies. But, Ragnell isn't finished yet - and Clarine has to brace herself against the force of the attack as the Thunder Blades land, erupting with electrical force. Even though none of them came close enough to harm her, she can feel it.

But Nimue...

"Nimue...!" Clarine calls out in concern, turning toward the storm that Ragnell envelops her with. She frets for a moment, clenching her hands tightly together...and then, she holds them both out in the Wind Seraph's direction.

"Please...accept my support...!" She calls out. A red, strengthening light emits from her position - but, rather than washing over everyone as her Acuteness spell normally did, this light settles on a single person.

But how would it be put to use?

GS: Seraph Clarine has attacked Seraph Nimue with Sharpness!
GS: Seraph Clarine has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Seraph Clarine has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

        Ida glances away, shielding her eyes as Nimue's frag grenade erupts. When the flame dies, she turns back, and raises both fists. She's angry, she realizes, but to her surprise, it isn't the burning, overriding anger that boiled up when she felt helpless and hurt. It helps, immensely, that Ragnell isn't laying into her, but the more Ida hears, the more familiar things get.

        Ida steps forwards as Ragnell starts casting, but this time, the Seraph is faster. The lightning blade rips through the sky, straight for Ida; the martial artist twists, raises her right arm, and braces herself. The blade glances off her gauntlet in a shower of brilliant sparks. Arcs of lightning crackle down Ida's limb, through her torso. The blade flies past, detonates behind her in an eruption of sorcerous might. Ida steps forwards, braces herself. Her right hand twitches, her fingers spasming and clenching. Eleanor's healing might washes over her a moment later, dulling the pain. Ida offers the sorceress a grin--well, tries to. It's part-grimace, since she did just get electrocuted.

        'Let's see you give it EVERYTHING YOU GOT!'

        This isn't her fight, Ida reminds herself. She is just a participant. Nimue--

        Nimue needs to do this. She said it herself.

        Ida raises her right hand. Something glows beneath the Hyadean biometal as she clenches it into a fist--a bright, pure power, a spark that flares to life. Flame wreaths Ida's hand, but it's not the fire of chi--it's something more elemental than that, more primal. There is no Malevolence for Moor Gault's power to chase off, but it's a beacon in the darkness nevertheless.

        "Seraph Nimue," Ida says, as she tries to meet the Wind Seraph's eyes. "Go on."

GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has spent 1 Combo on Inspire, including 1 on Gatling!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked Seraph Nimue with The Flame that Sustains the World!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has completed her action.
GS: Seraph Nimue takes a solid hit from Seraph Clarine's Sharpness for 0 hit points!
GS: Hyper! applied to Seraph Nimue!
GS: Quick! applied to Seraph Clarine!
GS: Seraph Nimue takes a solid hit from Ida Everstead-Rey's The Flame that Sustains the World for 0 hit points!
GS: Seraph Nimue gains a Combo from Inspire!
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.

Marivel says, "Yes, I do." with a smile to Eleanor. "But if I cannot be self-critical, who can?"

She looks towards Nimue thoughtfully for a long moment as if truly sizing her up for the first time rather than simply treating her as a cat that lived in a book and seeing her as one sees cats that lives in books and so forth. Words ARE cheap but that is why Marivel can produce so many of them at a moment's notice because they are barely a dent in her pocketbook. Marivel similarly cannot deny that Ragnell is a dangerous enemy, ESPECIALLY dangerous to one such as her.

But Nimue is asking for a history lesson. It can't possibly be easy for one of the oldest Seraphs she knows to inquire about history. It's certainly hard for Marivel to see those little cracks in her understanding of the local galactic history that appear from time to time, but she hasn't spent the past several months asking about Lunar simply to waste air and act aloof. Those were simply some of the reasons.

"There are elements I do not understand." Marivel admits. "I do not understand how your people can be so adept at being cruel to one another when they are your sole eternal companions in this cosmos. I suppose I will never understand something like that for I have no people."

"But if you think I have not seen what it is to walk into the sun, to feel that desire within myself and fulfilled in others--then that I understand far too well, perhaps not as strongly as you, but I do feel it."

Her eyes narrow. "But if we are to speak of Althena. Of sacrifice. Of loss. Of betrayal."

She snaps forward in instant, lightning striking down where here position was but moments before.

"On these topics I could educate you greatly... Tell me Ragnell! What use is a pulse that does not quicken?!" And as she says this, a burst of flame explodes out from underneath Ragnell's feet as Marivel's eyes shift from red to glowing red once more. She is channeling more of that Red Power of hers than she had before. Perhaps Nimue is special or perhaps she is merely willing to unleash her techniques more readily than before.

"For I tell thee, even the hearts of the dead shall race!"

And what follows that is a blizzard of ice swarming the recent and brief inferno in a cold icy chill of ice and snow.

But these strikes are not unleashed directly at Ragnell, rather--they seem more aimed around Ragnell--some of it will still lance out towards her but it seems more she is intent on keeping a path opening for Nimue to take her shot.

"Even the spirits of the seraphim shall dance in the end." Marivel whispers before looking to Nimue. "Nimue."

She cracks a small smile before looking to Ida. "And Ida..."

She turns her gaze back to the spell she has unleashed.

"My offer to join ARMS remains. I care not if you curse me or find me frustrating or annoying, I simply ask that you defend our worlds and smile towards the future."

GS: Marivel Armitage has spent 1 Combo on Link!
GS: Marivel Armitage enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Seraph Ragnell with What Use Is A Pulse That Does Not Quicken - Cremation!
GS: Marivel Armitage has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Marivel Armitage has launched an attack Link!
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Seraph Ragnell with Even The Hearts Of The Dead Shall Race - Absolute Zero!
GS: Seraph Ragnell takes a glancing hit from Marivel Armitage's What Use Is A Pulse That Does Not Quicken - Cremation
for 80 hit points!
GS: Riposte! applied to Marivel Armitage!
GS: Seraph Ragnell takes a solid hit from Marivel Armitage's Even The Hearts Of The Dead Shall Race - Absolute Zero for
186 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Liath has posed.

There's history there beyond even Liath's apparent reckoning, and yet, she is not so blind as to not notice the words flung between them, either. Far from it. Even as her spell meets its sharp, explosive end, Liath's gaze turns downward towards the scorched grass of what was once a beautiful plain. Calm. Not anymore. After all.

It's never meant to last.

Her expression knots up, briefly, in a look of frustration that she cannot -- does not care to -- hide. It twists the right corner of her lip, binds her brows up together, narrows golden eyes. Her hand clenches tremblingly tight around the hilt of her weapon.

But it, too, does not -- cannot -- last. It's Nimue's words that cut through Liath's reverie. She turns a blinking gaze upon the other Seraph; ripped from her thoughts, her expression is a humanly surprised look of wide eyes and parted lips in the face of that dissolving bluster, that look verging on contrition. A long story. But one that she'll...

Liath's expression falters, briefly. And then she finds a smile in the midst of the storm.

"I will hold you to that," she proclaims as she pushes up off her feet, stray, torn blades of grass falling from her armored knees. She looks Ragnell's way, as she contends with the others. And in that brief time before Nimue begins her attack, the Light Seraph offers her own words, finally.

"... Lady Nimue," she begins, after a moment. "There's not one of us who hasn't fallen off our path at some point. ... We have all done unforgivable things, in our own way. But we can still find reasons to walk strong." She looks back towards the other Seraph, head cant.

"I believe you can, too. With every fiber of my being."

And with that, she turns back towards the fight. Sword snapping to one side, shield to the other, she leaps in the direction that Ragnell has ended. Her smile swiftly becomes a frown. It's not enough, Ragnell cries.

"Then tell me WHY it is not!" demands Liath as she lands, booted heels digging trenches through earth as they halt her forward momentum.

I'm sorry, Ragnell says, her voice choked.

                           I can't tell you.

"........"

The silence from Liath is palpable. Even as others provide support -- encouragement -- for Nimue, she falls wordless. Sword and shield lowered at her sides, her head dropped, it's still hard not to see, or just feel, the way her frown deepens.

"You cannot."

The way her anger spikes in a way all too rare.

Fingers tremble tightly around the hilt of her weapon. A tempest of electrical blades roars around her, but she does not so much as budge even as one swings close -- none of them, coincidentally, conveniently, getting quite near enough to hit her.

Her frown deepens.

"You 'cannot,'" she repeats, lowly. "No." Althena's Light roars up around her, a myriad of glyphs spawning sprawlingly immaculate patterns at her feet.

"You WILL not tell me!"

And for as warm as she is in her kindness, she is searing in her fury. She swings her sword up, the motions graceful but indignant, each smearing rainbow hued seals into the very space surrounding her.

"Very well."

Something seizes hold of the swelling clouds above them. And the dark heavens start to shine with light. It's almost beautiful.

And a prelude to how bolts of lightning infused with Althena's Blessing, commandeered by the Light, SMITE the ground around Ragnell in a swiftly growing seal.

"Then you ought well leave, now, Ragnell."

And from the heavens something pierces a circular hole straight through the center of those clouds. An immense sword, forged in holy power.

Crashing into the earth near Ragnell like the Goddess' own compassionate blade, exploding into a seething radiance no less than absolutely blinding in its every ounce of pent up frustration.

GS: Seraph Liath has activated a Force Action!
GS: Seraph Liath has attacked Seraph Ragnell with Indignant Judgment!
GS: Seraph Liath has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Seraph Liath has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Nimue has posed.

"You wanna see me commit!?" Nimue shoots back, as the storm picks up. She tries to meet it with a storm of her own, but she's exhausted her magical reserves remembering how to wind-step; it blows clean through her, with the blast-augmented tempest starting to swallow Nimue up.

For a second, it's agonizing -- but then Nimue remembers: for Ragnell, this is a mere consequence of mastery over another element; for Nimue, this is *her* element. Rather than fight the wind she rides it -- and when that knife rips itself out of the ground, she's ready to catch it, riding high into the sky. She considers flinging it right back at Ragnell... but ends up stowing it in her pack instead. Maybe it's worth keeping, after all.

Nimue gets the history lesson she asked for -- and it hurts her to hear. It's been so long pretending that her pain isn't real to her and neither is anyone else's that, in this vulnerable moment, hearing about someone else's pain is nearly too much. Thinking about Marivel's pain is heartbreaking. She swallows hard, once -- unable to say anything, but knowing the weight of what she's been entrusted. It gives her time to let Eleanor's magic do its work -- work which gets a momentary blink of understanding, as she looks to the sorceress briefly.

'There's not one of us who hasn't fallen off our path at some point...' Nimue winces as she hears that. Even if what she's told next is encouraging, Nimue still shrinks under it a bit. "... If you really believe that, then -- I guess I'll try to believe it too," she offers. It's very tentative -- but she still means it. And maybe it's that belief, tentative though it is, that enables her to do something much *less* tentative a moment later.

Ida and Clarine both offer their support -- and Nimue lets Clarine's magic and Moor Gault's power wash over her, with a firm nod, as she floats back to the ground. "All right -- here we go!"

Seraph Nimue tosses something from her pack with her sling-staff -- it's a grenade, but this one's full of *powder*, masking her approach. "Here it comes -- from me to you!" She swings the staff up into Ragnell's gut, then gives it a quick twirl to smack her on the *head*, too; hopping back, she pops a couple more grenades out of her pack, hurling each in turn; neither explodes -- yet. "One thousand years of heartbreak! I don't know what I'm going to do with all of it..."

Hopping into the air over Ragnell, she dumps out the remainder of her pack. Landing on the other side of her friend, she shouts, "... but my pain is *mine*, dammit! And I know I'm not gonna have it be a sad footnote in someone else's story!"

Over the din of a chain-reaction explosion, she cries out, "Millennium Desperado!"

GS: Seraph Nimue has spent 1 Combo on Link!
GS: Seraph Nimue has attacked Seraph Ragnell with Millennium Desperado!
GS: Seraph Nimue has launched an attack Link!
GS: Seraph Nimue has attacked Seraph Ragnell with Explosion!
GS: Seraph Ragnell takes a glancing hit from Seraph Liath's Indignant Judgment for 87 hit points!
GS: Seraph Ragnell takes a solid hit from Seraph Nimue's Millennium Desperado for 189 hit points!
GS: Seraph Ragnell has Fallen! She is no longer able to fight!
GS: Seraph Ragnell takes a glancing hit from Seraph Nimue's Explosion for 80 hit points!
GS: Seraph Ragnell has Fallen! She is no longer able to fight!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

        This time, when Ragnell eggs Nimue on, Nimue's friends focus in on her--Eleanor sends healing power coursing over the group, Clarine gives her power, Ida gives her strength. Marivel carves a path open for Nimue by sending power of her own at Ragnell in the form of flame and ice and words.
        
        "None!" Ragnell shoots back to her question, of what value a hear that does not beat has. It seems like Ragnell has a retort for everyone, for every question--
        
        Except then Liath's anger flares. If Nimue's words stung, then Liath's are like a slap. Ragnell hesitates again, for a reason completely different from Clarine. She hesitates even through that magnificent building of power, towering up into the heavens that she ought to command--
        
        'Then you ought well leave, now, Ragnell.'
        
        "I..." she utters, trailing off in an uncharacteristic show of submission. But then Nimue steps up, launching her powder grenade and a thousand years of pain and an ongoing, unrelenting explosion. As thunderbolts fall and fire rises, the forces envelope the lone Seraph.
        
        But there's the shadow of a smile on her lips before she's gone.
        
        "I'll hold you to that," she promises Nimue.
        
        Then the explosions overtake her, lightning coursing through the blasted Calm Lands. It's fine if they're damaged; truthfully, that's why they're there. To take on all the pain and battle and anguish, and then grow calm anew.
        
        When all the heat is clear, Ragnell is gone. The thunderclouds clear. And, once again, it is a beautifully sunny, windy day.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Nimue has posed.

No sooner has Ragnell gone than Nimue collapses in a heap. She's not dead, or even unconsious -- she's just exhausted. She stares up at the clearing sky, letting out a labored sigh.

"Oowwww... my mana lobe..." Is a mana lobe even a real organ? If it is, do Seraphim have them? Nimue might just be talking shit -- but there's something *adjacent* to truth in what she's saying, at least. "Whhhhhoooof. I'm just gonna lie here. For. ... oooof."

<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.

To be honest," Marivel says once Ragnell is gone. "I am mostly a dick to her because I like her."

"But don't tell her alright?" She smiles down at Nimue before grimacing as the clouds part and the sun shines down once more.

And then she looks out across the Calm Lands and says, "The calm winds called out to me, 'don't turn away keep on walking'." in a murmur like she got it from a fortune cookie or armengard.

"The offer is open." She says one last time. "But for now, I suppose rest is in order."

<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.

Brilliance; light, yes, the fury of the storm... and the joy of the wind. There is so much here, in the moment, even a heart that does not beat, and... yet...

"Ah..." Dancing, Marivel had said. Ragnell, however, has disappeared. Maybe she took the advice; Eleanor doesn't... know what it looks like, for a Seraph to be gone, but she doesn't imagine this as the end.

"I..."

Pause. "Well I think that's a wonderful sentiment and i'm proud of you for deciding it," Eleanor tells Nimue with a warm smile.

Then she pauses, glances around, between Clarine and Liath. "And... I'm... sorry for hitting your little sister with a boomerang? I confess this is... It definitely has raised more questions than it's answered, but..."

She looks at Marivel. "I'm going to have to lock you in a room to recover, aren't I?" she asks, before looking to Liath again. "...I, ah...." Pause. "Um. It's... nice to meet you!"

her shoulders slump slightly. "...This is a bit of an embarrassing way to meet someone..."

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Clarine has posed.

Nimue makes her declaration. Clarine's spirits lift a little...though that dampen just a little when she reminds itself that it's Ragnell they're fighting.

Nimue fights back, and it's magnificent - it's good to see her in action again. Ragnell disappears and Clarine hesitates...but then she makes a beeline right toward Nimue.

...But, she pulls back at the last second, noting how exhausted Nimue appears to be.

She doesn't do it now - but there is a hug in Nimue's future, at a time and place of her choosing. Be Warned.

"Nimue...!" Clarine says, a genuine smile on her face. She looks toward Marivel as she points out her offer, then, and then to Nimue.

"I would...be glad to have you with us!" Clarine says, clasping her hands in front of her, and then hesitates. "...But...only if you want to be."

She looks toward Eleanor then, and hesitates for a moment.

"...Honestly, considering Ragnell...I do not think she would have had it any other way..." She murmurs. She does not answer which part she's referring to, but honestly it's most likely 'all of the above'.

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

        The tension drains from Ida's body as Ragnell vanishes. Her shoulders sag. The strange armor on her right arm melts back into protean flesh-stuff, and flows back beneath her clothing. Ida wiggles her fingers, lets out a breath, and asks, tentatively: "Is everyone all right?" She waits for an answer. She's not sure if she herself is all right--even beyond the argument between Seraphim, something was going on. That something was serious enough to draw raw anger out of a woman who has been the very image of calm and compassion.

        Ida glances at Liath, and offers her a shaky smile, as if to reassure her. She doesn't ask what that was about. She's still seeing afterimages of that blade of light. "...Seraph Liath?" Ida asks, with the tone of someone who isn't sure if they've gotten a name right, and don't want to offend.

        But Liath isn't the one most in need of support right now. Ida steps over to Nimue, stopping about five feet away, and crouches on the grass. "How do you feel?" she asks. Her voice is soft, gentle.

        Marivel restates her offer. Ida cranes her neck up, looks at her. "We can discuss the matter later," she says. "I recall we still have something that needs our attention."

<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.

Marivel blinks at Eleanor in surprise, but it's kind of a mild surprise like Eleanor locking her up is unexpected but not like in a mind blowing sense. Then she allows a small grin to flicker on her features.

"Well since you offered so kindly, just pray give me something to read while you throw away the key."

Ida brings up what they were just working on!

"Ah yes," Marivel says. "the glorb."

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Nimue has posed.

Nimue continues to lie there for several seconds; she doesn't answer much of anything. She does eventually say, "I, uh -- honestly I feel, like, really exhausted and bad, physically! I need a minute! But I feel... alive, I guess, again?" She lies there, eventually asking, "Can I, like, come home with you guys? And lie there? Maybe on a, like... actual, not just curled up in your bookshelves, way." There's a pause, before she adds, "Someone is either going to have to pump me, just, *full* of magic or carry me to make that happen."

There's a few seconds, before she adds, "I, uh -- thanks. And don't worry about Ragnell -- this is kinda... not *normal* but not not normal, either. Sometimes people get hit with boomerangs!"

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Liath has posed.

And just like that, in the fading haze of those multitudinous explosions, Ragnell is gone. All that is left is light and the clingy haze of humidity that lingers at the end of a strong storm.

For a long time, the Seraph Liath just stares at that empty space where Ragnell once resided, her expression unreadable. The glow long-since faded from her blade, the light having dissolved away to leave only the calm warmth of the day, she only realizes how tightly she now grips her weapon when she sees the blade tremble in the corner of her vision. Her eyes shut, slowly.

...Seraph Liath?

Liath's eyes open, dimly. She relaxes her grip around her weapon. When she looks Ida's way, it is with that same warm smile as when they first met.

"Do not worry about me, Lady Ida," is all she says, and this too is sincere. After all, it is just as Ida realizes -- there's someone else who needs her help more, at this moment.

And thus does the Seraph sheathe her sword with the hiss of metal on scabbard. Her shield soon finds its place strapped to her back, too, as she looks Nimue's way. Her expression manages to gentle, in those moments.

"Lie as long as you require," she begins, earnestly, "for your mana lobe's sake."

Does that mean mana lobes are real, or has Liath once more been suckered--?

But then, Eleanor addresses her. She blinks. Her response is an immediate one: "She is not my sister. She is..." And then, there is a rare mote of hesitation.

"... someone I know."

If she cannot keep the frustration of being unable to quantify it at this moment out of her tone, well, that's because it's simply not in her nature to.

But even so, she manages one last sincere smile for Eleanor. "It is nice to meet you, too. Worry not; you have little to be ashamed of. You fought well, and passionately." She looks out, and frowns.

"... But I should leave this place now. As should we all. We are not meant to be here." Perhaps odd for a member of the Guard to care about Yevon's rules -- but it does not stop her from walking towards the entrance nonetheless.

"Take care of yourself, Lady Nimue. Your rest is well-earned. ... I will hold you to your word, another time."

Leaving with just her thoughts to accompany her.