Times of Darkness

~Crone, Ryzell, and Lumyr~

*Lumyr, Crone and Ryzell are in the Melodic Flow after being told to wait there by Aera. Crone is standing on the stone arc, looking down at the river. He glances at the others and smirks.*

Crone: <I wonder if she intends to keep us waiting for much longer.>

=====
~Cecenia, Balmung, Winston, Ranmaru~

*Aera is standing atop the staircase in the Grand Hall, looking down upon a small crowd of army soldiers, among them Cecenia, Balmung, Winston and Ranmaru.*

Aera: <...A team of two of our soldiers fell in battle against a group of Leudellian adventurers yesterday, after attempting to destroy a fishing village. This isn't the first time it happens either. There are several of these groups of warriors constantly attacking our soldiers, and they're stronger than what we are used to face in other worlds. This is why I have orders to send squads out specifically to destroy those meddling rats today.>

*Lumyr is sitting down nearby, a bit far from the others but still close enough to hear what everyone else is saying. Next to him is a red umbrella, folded next to him and a mask attached via string on the right side of his face.*

Lumyr: <Have patience, she'll be here soon enough.>

====

*Winston simply stands there, listening to Aera. He stands still vertically like a brick wall as he does so, looking a bit too formal, even on army standards. Thank god he wasn't wearing his armor at the moment, or he would look even worse.*

Ryzell is sitting near the river on a rock. He's playing with some will'o'wisps in his hand juggling them or letting them float around him. "Crone a lady can't be rushed, dontacha know that? Ain't ya a gentlemen?" Ryzell said in a mock uncouth accent with a sardonic smirk.

---

Ranmaru remains silent, listening.

*Balmung leans on some column or something facing away from Aera. He has a stern look on his face*

*Cecenia looks at Aera curiously, then continues to stare at her fingernails*

*Crone looks at them and shakes his head, smirking.*

Crone: <...Fools.>

=====

*Aera glares at them all and groans, frustrated. She then points at Cecenia and then Ranmaru.*

Aera: <You and you. Get up here.>

Cecenia sighs, then walks over to Aera, trying not to let it bother her that she has mud on the tip of her right boot.

*Lumyr ignores Crone and sits there, waiting patiently.*

====

*Winston just stands still the same as he was before.*

Winston: [I wish this would just end already... I want to get back to my room. So much work, so little time.]

"Ah get off yourself Whitey, Aera'll be here when she gets here. Not much we can do about it" Ryzell's sardonic smile remains plastered on his face as he shoots a small wisp at Crone which begins to form into a star like shape which turns and smacks its ass in his face before disappearing.

---

Ranmaru silently moves through the crowd and takes his place at Aera's side wordlessly.

*Crone smirks and hops aside to dodge it.*

Crone: <...So worked up, General.>

*He then turns to stare at the glowing water again.*

=====

*When they get to her, Aera reaches into her pocket and takes out a tiny translucent red sphere which she hands to Ranmaru.*

Aera: <You two are now a team. That thing contains the coordinates to one of most recent attack locations. What you have to do is kill the ones that attacked our soldiers there. I couldn't be assed to get a description so you can just find them by any means necessary, if you know what I mean. Just give that to the Gatekeeper.>

*She smirks, points at the large door behind her, and turns to the crowd again, this time pointing to Winston.*

Aera: <You. Get him and get up here.>

*She points to Balmung when saying "Get him".*

"You'd like that Whitey. What about you Umbrella? What's your take on why Legel's esteemed gopher is late?" the wisps orbited around him apparently doing a mock strip tease obviously meant to insinuate that Aera was giving Legel a lap dance.

---

"As you wish" Ranmaru's surprisingly deep voice said as he took the sphere.

*Lumyr looks at him before speaking.*

Lumyr: <It's none of my concern why she's late. You should probably stop saying things like that out loud, it could get you into a lot of trouble.>

====

Winston: <Fine.>

*Winston walks up to Balmung, drags him along without even looking at him, and brings him up to Aera.*

"Yes, ma'am," Cecenia whispered. She turned and looked at Ranmaru.

Ranmaru remains silent as gestured towards the door as if to say, "Ladies first"

*Balmung jerks Winston off of him*

Balmung: <I heard her.>

*Balmung walks up to Aera*

*Crone, yawns, sits down on the edge of the bridge, takes out a pocket book with a blue cover, and starts reading it.*

Crone: <Never took you as the smart one out of the two of you, Lumyr.>

=====

Aera: <You two are also a team.>

*She rolls her eyes, takes a tiny red translucent sphere out of her pocket, and gives it to Balmunh.*

Aera: <Same orders. Find and kill whoever attacked our soldiers in that location. Take that to the Gatekeeper.>

*She points at the large door again and proceeds to call up more groups.*

Ryzell keep his smile up as he said, "I don't know, planning a rebellion isn't very smart."

---

Ranmaru heads towards the gate.

*Lumyr looks away and down at the ground.*

Lumyr: <I... don't know what you're talking about.>

====

Winston: [Well this is great. No armor and I'm stuck with this guy... shoot me now, dammit.]

*Balmung starts walking to the gate*

Cecenia smiled slightly, and walked out the door.

*Crone shakes his head because they are idiots and waits patiently. After a while, Aera walks into the chamber, laughs, and talks to them loudly and with a Russian accent.*

Aera: <Grreetingzz, gentelmann.>

=====

*The door leads out to the void. Whenever they head to the Crossroads, the Gatekeeper is waiting next to the portal on the floor, as usual. He's a slim man wearing a dark cloak, the hood completely obscuring his face except for two thin curtains of red hair hanging down to his chest from either side of his face.*

"Greetings Aera" Ryzell said, his wisps vanishing. It was business time now.

---

"Here" Ranmaru gave the Gatekepper the orb.

*Balmung gives his orb to the Gatekeeper*

*Lumyr just remains silent and waits for Aera to continue speaking.*

====

*Winston just stands by Balmung, waiting.*

Aera: <So, here's how it is: This world, due to a combination of several different factors, has become much more of a challenge to Helzol Palace than we could have expected. But it is strictly necessary that we win this last battle, so this time we can't just let the soldiers wander around blowing things up.>

Crone: <...Which is why Legel told you to start sending out two-man teams.>

*Crone gets up and turns to face her.*

Aera: <Master General Legel to you, doll face.>

Crone: <You're one to talk.>

Aera: <Just shut up.>

Crone: <So this is what it has come down to. We're using teamwork now.>

Aera: <Some of these hero wannabes have demonstrated to possess enough power to defeat some of our soldiers who were out alone.>

Crone: <What does this have to do with us?>

Aera: <I have missions for each of you too. We're going to try to weaken the enemy.>

*Crone smirks and runs his fingers down one of the curtains of silver hair framing his face.*

Crone: <But aren't we the enemy?>

Aera: <Funny. Something you're not.>

=====

*The Gatekeeper takes an orb in each hand and they change colors, turning black. He then returns them to Ranmaru and Balmung, and turns to Ranmaru.*

Gatekeeper: <You two first. Step on the spell.>