The Valiant

~Bervenia~

R"Yeah, I hired them for a job."
=============================
~Riovanes~

*The golden sparks emanate from Noctis, but pass over all of the demons with no effect. Belias moves to Ramza's side, punching him with two fists & critically wounding him. Agrias stabs him, blasting him with lightning. The one Archaeodaemon counterattacks Illiad, while another positioned safely behind that one begins charging a spell. The one Mortal is after her blasts her with explosions of darkness from below her feat. Euryale runs past Mortal, lobbing an invisible fist at it.*

~2~

"Ah," Zac nodded, then waved.

--

Mortal continues running after it, hopefully finally being close enough to slash the fucker. Iliad stabs again, trying to put the fucker to sleep. Noct frowns, and switches to a Last Waltz. Sab is still chargin' her las-- space rock.

~Bervenia~

L"And what is this job?"

R"Why are you interrogating me?"

L"You know why."
==========================
~Riovanes~

*The demon sits down on its haunches & curls up, head on wrists. It begins snoring. Ramza attacks Belias with another red sword strike thing, before backing off down the steps. Deciding he's had quote enough of that shit, Belias begins charging another spell. The other demon is stabbed. It decides to lash out on Euryale & Mortal with a Giga Flare, critically wounding them.*

~1~

Zac put his hands behind his head, things were getting awkward.

--

Mo' fuckin' Meteor mo' fuckers! Noct is still dancing. Iliad then moves away from his demon and begins to bomb it with thunder. Mortal double slashes again.

Parker: <I never realized he was paying us to do this.>

Reiter: <Shhh, just go with it.>

~Bervenia~

R"Don't tell me you believe that crap!"

L"Of course not! That's why I'm trying to get to the bottom of who's been doing this!"
===================================
~Riovanes Castle~

*Belias walks out of the explosion from the meteor as Euryale administers first aid to herself & Mortal.*

E"This is crazy. Any normal monster would surely be dead by now. Are you sure this thing can even be killed?"

*A sea serpent undulates its way into the room, dumping a torrent of water on Ramza, Agrias, Sab, & Noctis. Sab finds her MP completely drained & Ramza is knocked unconscious. The other demon drops dead as the last remaining one finally manages to cast Unholy Darkness on Illiad, critically wounding him.*

~3, 0~

Sab runs towards Iliad, gaining MP in the process, and cracks Iliad with her stick to cure him. Iliad then thunder bombs the fucker that attacked him, "Yes, I'm sure, I've already killed one of the lucavi. They're hardier than most, but not without their limits."

Mortal takes this as enough of a reason to charge Belias so she can double slash him. Noct is still dancing.

--

Zac was still quiet.

Reiter: <That's what we're doing. Maybe you might as well just join us.>

~Riovanes Castle~

*Belias begins making his way towards Noctis, smacking aside Agrias & knocking her unconscious. Euryale grabs the crystal soon after it springs up. Renewed, she launches a shockwave through Belias's feet, causing the Lucavi to quiver slightly. The third demon dies as the remaining one begins charging a spell & heads to the very back of the chamber.*

~3, 2~
================================
~Bervenia~

L"I don't know if that's smart. Officially, Roatha is an enemy commander, & officially, I am supposed to bring him to justice. I can't very well claim these orders are unjust without reasonable suspicion."

Reiter: <I suppose that's true. Do you know anything we should know?>

Noctis flies to the opposite end of the hall. Iliad gives chase to the fleeing demon, throwing a lightning bomb at him if close enough. Sab takes uses Stop on Belias, and Mortal tries for a double slice again.

--

"I don't know, Roatha seems a bit devious," Zac said, "How can we be sure you're not behind it all?"

~Riovanes Castle~

*Belias counterattacks, & is promptly counter-countered, also pelted with ice crystals. A scream seems to come from inside of him. He then begins rumbling internally.*

Belias<How did it come to this...brought down by the hand of mortal man?>

*The Lucavi disintegrates in a blue explosion, which leaves behind Wiegraf's lacerated body & the Ares Stone. The remaining demons fade away as the wind passes through the building, like a groan. The Stone then slowly falls to the ground & twinkles innocently. Ramza & Agrias groggily rise to their feet.*

Ramza<Rapha continued on above to confront the Duke! We must continue on!>
=================================
~Bervenia~

R"It would be obvious to anyone who isn't a Chocobo's ass."

Mortal picks up the stone and looks it over.

Sab asks, "Who is Rapha?"

--

"Calm down, I was only joking," Zac said, chuckling.

~Riovanes~

Ramza<I'll explain on the run, follow me.>

*Without looking back to make sure they are following, Ramza dashes out of the entrance hall & continues.*

Ramza<When we found her, she was fleeing the Duke's forces, but the Duke was trying to stop her. She had recently found out that the Duke burned down her village to secure her & her brother as assassins-in-training.>

*Ramza found a spiral staircase & began his ascent, Euryale following a few steps behind.*

E"That's awful."

*Once he gets to the next floor, he begins throwing open doors, looking to see if anyone is in there, & continuing on. Euryale does the same.*

E"Hey, I found a meeting hall with a bunch of dead knights in it."

Ramza<We can't save the dead! We can come back to investigate later!>

*Ramza starts up the next staircase.*
================================
~Bervenia~

L"Be that as it may--"

R"If you say, 'This is no laughing matter,' I swear to Ajora...."

L"...We have no leads."

R"We have one. Apparently, this copycat order has hit up Fort Besselat a few times in the past."

"Then that is where we should go looking," Zac said.

--

Everyone follows.

~On the Roof of Riovanes Castle~

*They exit the side of the building onto a staircase to the roof spires. On the roof is a girl with dark skin and shoulder-length brown hair. She is wearing a white cloak & wielding a sword, but Barrington, a bald Duke with blonde hair & green robes, is holding her at gunpoint.*

Barrington<*Chuckles.* You cannot do it, can you Rapha? The flesh remembers. The fear, the cold, the trembling. But it will not always be so. In time, your fear will blossom into another flower--& I shall have that one as well!>

*A boy with dark skin similar to Rapha's emerges onto the roof from an entrance on the other side.*

Marach<You meant the words you said just now.>

Rapha<I'll kill him, I will!>

Marach<Rapha, no!>

*Barrington goes to shoot Rapha, but Marach pushes her out of the way, & is shot instead. He falls to the ground as Barrington looks at the group from the corner of his eye.*

Barrington<And you must be Ramza. Make no step further! If you wish to help your brother, Rapha, bring the auracite he carries to me.>

E"...I think I recognize those two. It's been a long time, but...yes...yes! Those are definitely the children of the Seer from my village!"
========================================
~Bervenia~

L"But not as one group, obviously. It is only safe for the two of us to officially enter and question the denizens of the Fort."

R"I was thinking of scouting the location from the old caves my dad used to use as a base."

Mortal thought for a second, "Wait, didn't Ramza say that their village was burned down? Doesn't that mean your village was burned down."

Noct keeps quiet.

--

"Noted," Zac said, "Wouldn't be my first time at the Fort, though that was with a different name."

~On the Roof of Riovanes Castle~

"I guess it does...but there might have been...no, if my parents survived a massacre like that, they would be certain to let me know. That fat piece of garbage murdered them & laughed about it behind my back."

*Euryale is shaking as Rapha draws the Scorpio Stone from Marach's robes. Meanwhile, a blond woman walks up behind him, her attire a modified pink Dancer's dress. When he turns around, she grabs him by the collar & chucks him over the side. Another woman, a brunette with a blue dress, appears nearby. Leading the pack is Marquis Elmdore, a man with long, silver hair & a black cape wielding a blood red katana.*

Elmdore<Now that that has been taken care of, perhaps you would relinquish the Stone to me instead?>

Ramza<Rapha! Those are no ordinary humans!>

Elmdore<Ramza, was it? Get in my way, & I'll have no choice but to kill you as well. That goes for the remainder of your brood.>

*Senthose teleports onto a roof tile back and to the left of Rapha.*

Senthose<'Fraid I can't let ya do that!>

Ramza<...What is going on?>
========================================
~Bervenia~

L"There's good news."

"I'm not sure exactly," Noct said, looking around, "But that is Senthose, an assassin."

--

Zac nodded, and stretched a bit, "So, when should we get going?"

~On the Roof of Riovanes Castle~

Senthose<Those are also assassins, I recognize them from my time in the Khamja. So, you two ladies went solo, as well? No, there's something different about you now...did you change your hair?>

Elmdore<Senthose is a minor nuisance. Focus on eliminating the witnesses.>

*Elmdore quickly dashes towards Rapha, slashing down at her. She goes rolling dangerously close to the edge of the roof, muttering for her brother. Ramza runs up to try & intercept Elmdore before he attacks again. Agrias attempts to circle around the other side of the roof. The pink clothed assassin uses Shadowbind on Illiad.*

Ramza<Rapha!>

"How dare you kill the Duke! That was for Rapha and I to do!"

Elmdore<The Grand Duke was scarce the only noble keeping secrets from you. You may yet see your vengeance through, young girl. That is, if you live to see ought at all.>
===================================
~Bervenia~

L"If they make the trip first, it will appear as though we were pursuing them."

"Well, you heard the lady, get going," Zac said.

--

Iliad is stopped. Sab uses haste on herself, Mortal, and Euryale. Mortal rushes off to double slash the pink assassin. Noct begins to use the Forbidden Dance.

~Beddha Sandwaste~

*While travelling through the desert, Roatha kicks up a scrap of black cloth.*

R"Well, I'll be damned. This tomb has been used as a fort recently."

*He digs up the cloth to find an eye emblem on it.*

R"The copycats are definitely real."
========================================
~Riovanes Roof~

*The assassin dodges the first half, but is hit by the second. Deciding not to push her luck with melee combat, she runs across the roof while muttering into her hand, gathering blue-white energy for a spell. As Ramza is clashing blades with Elmdore, he steps back, holding up his katana so that ghosts pour out of it, attacking both him & Euryale. Euryale then pounds on the ground, sending a shockwave blasting apart the roof tiles underneath him. Since Senthose is not immune to his own attacks, he takes the initiative to Shadowbind the third assassin.*

Parker: <Gross.>

Reiter: <So they could show up and attack us any moment? We might want to hurry.>

"So, should we start heading after them?" Zac asked.

--

Noct, dancing. Sab, charging a Meteor on the Shadowbound assassin. Mortal, chasing down the fleeing assassin, and double slashing again. Iliad, stopped.

~Fort Besselat~

*The group arrives at a small mountain overlooking a walled city. Hidden partway up, along a craggy mountain road, is a moderately large cave entrance with some egg shells strewn about it. It slopes upwards, making it appear from a distance to be just a dent in the mountain.*

R"In case it was ever found, Dad tried to make it look like a dragon's nest."
======================================
~Bervenia~

L"No, we'll give them some time to get through the desert, in case they were attacked by monsters. But not too much time, in case it was a lot of monsters."
======================================
~Riovanes Roof~

*Since she's quickly getting to Celia, who is about to be hit by a damn meteor, Lettie takes a new approach to escaping from Mortal, sliding downwards down the other side of the roof. Though Agrias is waiting for her, she uses Shadowbind & takes cover behind her. Rapha takes off running towards Senthose, waving her hand at Elmdore as she goes. Three blasts of lightning appear around him, but none hit him. He takes off afterwards, so Ramza & Euryale hit him with an ethereal sword & an invisible fist, respectively.*

"Senthose! You were part of the Khamja when this would have happened! You were a part of this!"

Senthose<What? No. I was off on an unrelated mission at the time. Hell, it's one of the reasons I planned to kill the Duke myself, if Ramza failed to do it.>

"Don't lie to me!"