The Manipulative & the Subserviant

~Zeirechele~

*While she is charging, the ghost teleports & throws ectoplasm at Sab, critically wounding her. Lilith starts dueling with a ghost knight on the bridge. While one ghost knight drops dead, the other descends to attack Illiad.*

~1~
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~Lesalia~

E"So, what do you want to do now?"
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"Fourth Rule of Magick: You need to be able to talk as you walk."

"Fine- are you part of a group or just some kind of mercenary?" Astarte continued pull at her arm. "Let go of me! I'm not going to run away!"

Sab isn't in critical condition because she has Mana Shield to eat up the damage, in addition she takes a few steps with Manafont, gets some MP, and Gravigas the Ghost.

Iliad throws another shuriken at the Knight, as he makes his way to this one.

Zac rolls onto his side, and tucks his arm under his head to get more comfortable.

--

Noctis does the same thing as Zac, only on a bed, not the ground in the woods.

--

Mortal thought for a second, "I don't really know," Mortal said, "I've been here for a couple of years now, but I don't really know my way around." She looked at Euryale, "Perhaps a simple walk? I just want to be in your company, it matters not what we do."

~Zirechele~

*As a matter of fact, the Reaction Ability never activated. The ghost, having been hit by Graviga, teleports to attack her with another Ectoplasm. The knight slashes at Illiad's side while the other one slices Lilith, who retorts by stabbing him.*
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~Lesalia~

*He suddenly stops & turns around.*

"That's a good question. I suppose you could say I'm an evangelist."
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E"Okay. Do you want to go on a nature walk? I could take you up to where I trained before I met you."

Astarte narrowed her eyes, not entirely satisfied with his answer, "I see... so in other words, you are taking the word of your faith to non-believers? Like a preacher?"

Iliad dodges the slice and retaliates with a knife to the gut.

Sab takes a few steps and gravigas the ghost again.

Zac continues to sleep.

--

As does Noct.

--

"I would love that," Mortal said with a smile.

~Zirchele~

*Sab is dead. Seeing this, Lilith breaks off her fight with the knight & starts running back. While she's on the way, one of the dead skeletons partially reassembles itself, standing up & blasting her with lightning.*
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~Deugera~

*Euryale leads her out of the city & up a road into the mountains. And up. And up. And up. It starts to get colder, with good footholds being hard to come by.*

"Whew. Been a while since I've had a good workout."
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~Lesalia~

"Exactly. You see, the Glabados Church thinks they have it all figured out. But they're ignorant. As oblivious as a common knave. There IS no savior saint, and there never was."

*He lets go of her, spreading his arms.*

"Look around you--what do you see past Lesalia's borders? Endless harsh wilderness of desert & mountains, punctuated by the occasional desperate buttress against the monsters of the wild. No omnibenevolent deities exist beyond its borders. All there is is Chaos, & the worthless beings who try to deny this, the only absolute truth."

Mortal is practically panting as she climbs, "At least I know know why you have your amazing physique."

--

Iliad furrows his eyebrows, things were not exactly going well, but he had his hands full stabbing the Knight.

Zac finally wakes his ass up, gets his bearings and jumps into action, using a Phoenix Down on Sab, and shooting the reassembled skeleton with Seal Evil.

Sab gets up, and tries a graviga on the Ghost again.

"That seems pretty depressing..." Astarte mumbled, taking an involuntary step away from Seraph. "How could you possibly know this?"

"Perfect, I'll travel with the supply convoy for the Order of the Northern Sky." Sorrel stands and prepares for the journey ahead.

Taiyo:<I don't like any of those.>

"I don't know who that is nor does it sound interesting."

Mimiru:<Where are these thieves?>

~Deugera~

"Well, the real impressive part of the mountain is the top. Only a few more Doma to go."
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~Lesalia~

Tavernmaster<They operate somewhre amidst the Grogh Heights.>
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"Decades of magickal study, but beyond that, the evidence is all around you. But first you need to understand Magick Lesson 5: Spells can only hit inanimate targets indirectly, after first striking a living one."

*He points to a large building, identified by a sign as the Lesalia Preparory Academy for Girls. One of its windows explode as the room inside bursts into flame.*

"Do you see any destructive beams of Holy light? Any Arch Angels descending from the Heavens to smite me? Of course not! Order & justice are false constructs, the true nature of the Universe is Chaos."
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~Zeirechele~

*The world now has one less ghost & one less skeleton. Unfortunately for all assembled, the first ghost knight gets back up, at full health. Two of the remaining knights corner Lilith & attack her. She grabs one blade, but is sliced across the back. The one fighting Illiad sports a few stab wounds, but has given him many more lacerations.*

~3~
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~Siedge Weald~

*About halfway through the trip, Sorrel's convoy infiltrates monster territory in the forest. The enraged beasts begin attacking the domesticated chocobos & breaking up the caravans. There are 3 Goblins on one side of the forest's stream & 2 Chocobos on the other.*

Sorrel pinches the bridge of his nose before putting his helm on. "This needs to stop happening"

"Perhaps... perhaps the gods have simply forsaken us?" Astarte suggested, her voice uneasy. "Please stop attacking that building!"

~Lesalia~

"I wasn't attacking the building so much as the people inside. But the REAL proof is the Zodiac Stones."

*He turns & starts walking out of Lesalia.*

"I'm sure the Church told you something like the Zodiac Stones were Holy Artifacts used by Ajora & his disciples to banish an evil demon. But that is not true. Elidibus had one. He always said that his greatest spells were the result of contracts with an entity inside of it. Tell me..."

*He turns to face her.*

"What manner of angel teaches dark magicks?"
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~Siedge Weald~

*One of the Chocobos runs over & starts pecking at him. The Goblins all start running after him.*

Astarte felt as though the question was rhetorical, and so she waited for him to answer the question himself or move on.

Sorrel slashes at the chocobo before using sanguine sword on the first goblin that gets close.

Mortal stopped and took a breath as she looked around, before returning her gaze to Euryale, "I don't know, I think the view here is pretty impressive already," She said in a throaty, winded manner, before trudging along after her companion.

--

Zac sees Lilith getting attacked and springs into action, using Barrage on the Knight that hit her.

Sab chooses to cast slow on the Knights around Lilith, while Iliad, having slit any damage he has taken with the Knight, hopefully ends the damn thing with a stab to the neck.

"All right. First shopping then thieves."

*The three leave, heading for the shops.*

"Why'd you pick thieves over monsters? That's not like you at all."

Mimiru:<Because.>

*When their shopping is finished they head for Grogh Heights.*

~Zeirechele~

*Unfortunately, the knight blocks it & counterattacks. With the knights slowed down, Lilith slips around the one that had just gotten barraged & damn near slices him in half. Needless to say, he's down.*

~2~
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~Grogh~

*They're on a mountain. Good for them.*
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~Lesalia~

"Your imagination is frightfully pitiful. You'll need to broaden it if you want to have any real success at magery."

*He turns around.*

"If a Zodiac Stone holds a soul that can communicate with another soul, thn it might be possible that it can remove, implant, & store souls as well."

*With that, he exits the city gate, not bothering to look back & see whether or not Astarte is following.*
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~Siedge Weald~

*The goblin falls, but the chocobo keeps pecking at him. The next Goblin gets close enough to lunge at him & scratch at his face & throat.*
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~Dugeura~

*When they reach the top of the mountain, Euryale sweeps a hand over the landscape. The entire city of Lesalia, as well as the plains that surround it & the river that flow nearby, are visible, with the mountains & lava fields visible in the distance.*

"Like I said, the view from the summit is quite impressive."

Sorrel maneuvers around a bit to get some breathing room so he can focus on one enemy at a time. He launches a second sanguine sword at the next goblin.

"I'm not seeing any thieves around, great leader."

Mortal is speechless, mostly from the hike, but the view is exceptional as well. After a second to catch her breath, she soaks it all in, "You were right, I've never seen anything so... grand," Mortal smiled a bit, "Thank you for showing me." She then put a hand on her hip and let out a small sigh, "Sometimes I think about my life before in the Sandwastes, it all seems so distant, and despite the brutality of that way of life, I still miss it sometimes. But this, learning what I've learned, seeing what I've seen," She shot a tentative glance at Euryale, "Meeting the people I've met. Even with the pain it took, I'm kind of glad everything happened." Mortal furrowed her brow, "Not that I forgive the church for what they've done to me. Its just... silver linings and all that."

--

Iliad stabs again. Zac Barrages the other one. Sab Gravigas the one Zac Barrages.

~Zeirechele~

*Lilith rushes the one remaining knight, who turns around to block her slash. Also, Sab has enough MP left for one more spell.*

~1, 3~
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~Siedge Weald~

*The other Chocobo runs up behind him & starts pecking at him, while the first Chocobo moves behind the Goblin & spins around, a gold light curing its wounds.*
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~Grogh/Dugeura~

*Euryale scratches the back of her head, looking incredibly guilty.*

"...If you're still looking for a way to change back, I suppose we could try to find an accomplished Black Mage. If someone's made a spell like that once, it could happen again."

*It starts to rain.*

"...And now I've brought you up here during a storm. I'm sorry, Mortal."
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*Meanwhile, over on Grogh Heights, the Southern Sky Wizard from the battle in the castle is walking through.*

"Man this is way too many enemies to fight by myself." Sorrel spins and counters the chocobo.