In The Name of Love

~Grogh Heights~

*The trees reach the dragon & begin raining leaves down on him. Some of the leaves heal his wounds, while others seem to thicken his scales.*

<I think I have a pretty good chance.>

*He rushes her. The Aevis featherbombs Noctis again, critically wounding her before flying away. Figuring they have that handled, Euryale makes her way over towards Mortal while gathering magick for a summon spell.*
=======================================
~Bervenia~

L"Well, standing around here isn't getting us anywhere. Let's find someone to question."

"Um, alright," Zac said, "Lead the way."

--

Noct, having had quite enough of that shit... continues to dance. Sab tries Stop again. Iliad fire bombs the bird.

Mortal uses fire breath on one of the trees. "I will convince you of your folly in due time."

~Grogh Heights~

*Marks in the tree bark distort into a scowl & the tree heals the dragon again. The other tree begins meandering to Mortal's back side. The dragon turns to the side & rushes Mortal again. The Aevis is stopped & critically wounded.*

~2~
==================================
~Bervenia~

L"So these are the slums? The houses are like five times smaller. It's even worse than the conditions in Limberry."

Mortal counter attacks the dragon, then breathes more fire on the tree. She also repositions herself to stop herself from being flanked by the other tree, gaining health in the process.

Noct stops dancing and flies over to the Aevis, stabbing. Sab charges Moogle for Noctis. Iliad moves closer the the other fight, aiming to fire bomb one of the trees.

--

Zac looked around, "Agreed. What does Delita think he can do to fix this, I wonder?"

~Grogh Heights~

*A Moogle descends from the sky, doing a little dance & raining down healing sparkles on Noctis. A few seconds later, a fairy appears & does the same thing, but with significantly more sparkles.*

E"Sorry I couldn't help out earlier, but Treants absorb earth attacks."

*Euryale punches the flanking tree, putting a large crack in it. The other has already been reduced to a burned stump. The dragon turns its attention to Euryale, who promptly screams when she sees it charging her ass.*

~3, 3, 1~
===================================
~Bervenia~

L"I don't know, but that isn't our concern right now."

Woman's voice<Nor should it be.>

*A woman in gold armor with a green hooded cloak approaches them. There are nicks in her armor that show bloody gauze wrapped underneath.*

Woman's voice<We've told your Order time & again that its jurisdiction does not extend to the city of Saint Ajora's birth.>

"And you are?" Zac asked.

--

Mortal gets between the dragon and Euryale, using thunder breath on it, "You will not harm her! I'll kill you if you do!"

Noct stabs it again. Sab walks over to Noct, "I didn't even know you had a knife."

"I don't use it," Noct said, "But this fucker deserves to be stabbed. Are you cognizant of what is happening when you are Stopped?"

Sab nodded, "Yes. It can see you slowly killing it, sicko..."

Noct smirked, "I'm not a sicko, not like I'm dropping a magical space rock on it."

~Bervenia~

???<Meliadoul Tengille, Knight Templar, and Knight Commander of the Gryphon Knights Bervenia Order. And you are a man in possession of poor manners.>

*She turns to Lilith.*

Meliadoul<Now, explain to me what a Southern Sky Knight is doing patrolling this city? We have expressly forbade Duke Goltanna to conduct military actions within the city limits!>
=============================
~Grogh Heights~

*Seeing Mortal so fiercely defensive of her makes her swoon a bit, & she helps out by invisibly punching the dragon. The tree starts cutting her up with leaves & she gives it a kind of "why bother" look.*

<Why do you care what I do to the humans, anyway? Killing me is one thing, monsters war all of the time, but why protect those clumsy, squishy pests?>

*The dragon rushes her.*

~2, 2, 0~

Zac frowned, she was right, he didn't handle that gentlemanly at all.

--

Mortal counter attacks, "Because they are kind to me. Because kindness should be repaid with kindness." Mortal furrowed her brow, "I will not tell you again, back off."

Noct stabs it again. Sab charges another Stop just in case. "You know, I think this is the longest I've seen you not dancing in a fight."

"Don't get used to it," Noct said.

"I should hope not," Sab replied, "Seeing you dance is one of the few highlights of being happened upon by monsters and bandits."

~Grogh Heights~

*While Noctis continues stabbing a dead bird,

<Still your tongue, then. Your words are repetitive, absurd, and irritating.>

*It moves to Mortal's side & rushes her. Euryale moves past Mortal & spins, slamming her fists into both the dragon & the tree. The tree's bark is mostly stripped away & it wilts. The first Aevis yields a red crystal.*

~1, 1~
=================================
~Bervenia~

L"We were just pursuing leads on a gang of bandits--"

Meliadoul<We have already closed the investigation on the Evil Eye in this city. They may infect the rest of Zeltennia and Limberry, but they did not take root here. Not that it is for you to concern yourself with.>

Zac decided to let Lilith handle this one, she was the one with official business anyway.

--

Noct goes back to dancing a Forbidden Dance. Iliad fire bombs one of trees, should any still be alive. Sab walks over and snags the crystal.

Mortal lets out a small sigh, "You've brought this on yourself." With that, Mortal double slashes the dragon.

~Grogh Heights~

<Brought what? Victory?>

*The dragon rushes her again & she begins to feel a little woozy.*

<You banged me up worse than I thought, but after you're gone, those other humans don't look as tough.>

*Illiad kills the remaining tree. Sab is...full healed, I guess. Noctis begins emitting magic sparkles, but they pass over the dragon without doing anything. Euryale hits him with another Aurablast.*

<I think that one will be first after you.>
=====================================
~Bervenia~

Meliadoul<You should leave this city at once. Your Order has much bigger problems to deal with.>

L"What do you mean?"

Meliadoul<Our lookouts estimate that Duke Larg's army will be upon Fort Besselat tomorrow.>

L"What? Already?!"

Meliadoul<Do you doubt the word of the Holy Glabados Church?>

Mortal counter attacks, moves to regain HP with lifefont, then double slashes with a Rend Power. Sab begins to charge a stop on the dragon. Noct is dancing. Iliad thunder bombs the dragon.

--

At the line about trusting the church Zac chuckled, then coughed, "I apologize. I must have had something in my throat."

~Grogh Heights~

*The dragon moves away before Mortal can get off her second attack. Euryale raises a fist.*

E"I don't want to hurt you, Mr. Dragon. Can't we be friends?"

*It tilts its head aside & looks at her, before rushing her. Euryale lets out an eep & punches him in the face. The two trees yield green crystals. And yes, Sab is too far away to get them.*

~2~
======================================
~Bervenia~

*Meliadoul looks at him with her eyebrows raised.*

L"...Then that's all the more reason why we have to sort out this Evil Eye business. Please, could you at least tell me where else to look?"

Meliadoul<...I fought a heretic in this city, who looked to be on his way to Zeltennia. He escaped. It is possible that they are linked.>

L"What makes you say that?"

Meliadoul<That is a Templarate secret.>

Mortal double slashes with Rend Power again. Iliad fire bombs the dragon. Sab uses Stop. Noct is dancing.

--

"May I ask what the heretic looked like?" Zac asked, "It would be hard searching for a nameless, faceless heretic only knowing that he was heading to Zeltennia."

~Bervenia~

Meliadoul<It was Ramza Beoulve.>
========================================
~Grogh Heights~

*The dragon collapses, dead. Euryale uses Chakra on Mortal.*

Mortal looks unhappy, "Fool..."

Sab looked confused, "Are you insulting a brainless monster?"

"He wasn't brainless, just foolish," Mortal said, "Wait, you think all monsters are just murderous animals don't you?"

"Well, they did try to murder us..." Sab said, "I'm not trying to insult you, but, well, you're an exception to the rule if I ever saw one."

Mortal looks even unhappier.

--

Zac nodded, "Well, that makes it easier."

~Grogh Heights~

*Euryale puts a hand on Mortal's shoulder.*

E"I'm sorry. I don't know much about monsters, but I'm guessing--he--was looking for something to eat. Either way, this can't have been easy for you."
================================
~Bervenia~

L"Then I suppose we have no choice. We'll have to head to Zeltennia."

Mortal put her hand on Euryale's, "It wasn't. But I couldn't let him hurt you." She let out a small sigh, looking over at Noct as she flew over towards them, "Anyway, the battle is won, we should get going."

--

Zac nodded his head, "Alright then, lets get going."

~Lesalia~

E"Well, we're back. Guess I should go about finding a room at the inn."

The battle is won:

=============================
~Finath River~

*Today, the river hosts a large number of dead Chocobos, & a few Aevis flocks feasting upon them. Lilith lets out a heavy sigh.*

L"Is it just me, or has all we've done since we undertook this mission consisted of traveling back & forth between a few cities?"

"What? Why?" Mortal asked.

--

"I believe so," Zac said, "Is it always like this, or do you usually get things done?"

~Lesalia~

E"Well...so I have somewhere to sleep, of course. I mean, normally, I sleep outside, but aside from it being nice to get out of the rain, the city guard really frowns on that. It is kind of a drain on the Gil, but what can you do?"
=====================================
~Finath River~

*Lilith scowls at him.*

L"I usually don't go back-&-forth, at the very least!"

"You're going to sleep with me," Mortal said, before blushing, "I mean, in my home."

Noctis giggled slightly.

--

Zac chuckled a bit, "That face you made reminds me of my sister. Anyway, wasn't trying to be rude. I was just making small talk."

~Lesalia~

E"Oh no, I couldn't possibly impose!"
==============================
~Zeltennia Castle Church~

*They meet Delita outside of an old church. He is accompanied by a blond woman in a loose black outfit, with a blue cape, wearing her hair in a ponytail.*

Delita<Have you any leads on the Eye?>

L"No. We were just pursuing Ramza--"

Delita<Ramza Beoulve is in the church. But he does not have the information you seek.>

"But you've stayed over my house multiple times before, and that was before we were... you know."

--

"Well, this led us nowhere..." Zac said with a small huff.

~Lesalia~

E"Well...yeah, that's my point, actually. Back then, I was only staying as a guest. If you want me to stay with you because we're now a couple, that would imply that it will be a much longer, if not permanent arrangement. How could I do that without giving anything back?"
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~Zeltennia Castle Church~

L"Not exactly. If this Evil Eye is serious, they will attack during the assault on Fort Besselat. And yet we haven't seen them building up their forces in our journey, there's only one possible place for them to hide."

Delita<Dorvauldar Marsh. And that would imply that they either plan to join in the assault on the fort, or attack Limberry, on the belief that it will be a weak point during the battle.>