In The Name of Love

~Lesalia~

*Naturally, the second they enter, the door locks behind them. Ramiel's voice echoes from further down.*

<I imagine you concluded that I was a monk, as you were. But that is only half true.>
================================
~Sal Ghidos~

*As he's walking along, he spots the flower girl from before, surrounded by thieves. One has her by the hair.*

Thief<You know, now as I look at you, you're quite the rum-duchess, aren't you? Seems to me as you'd earn a lot more selling that tinder-box o' yours than them flowers!>

???<Get your hands off of her!>

*Some jackass with ridiculously spiky blond hair walks onto the scene, opposite the direction that Zac came from. He wears baggy blue pants, some kind of vest, a belt buckle, & one shoulder pauldron, but is unarmed.*

Thief<What did you say?>

???<I said get your filthy hands off of her.>

"You're also a Squire," Noct said, aghast, "Oh, we're in trouble now guys."

--

Zac looked over at the scene, "What's going on here?"

~Lesalia~

*Noctis, Mortal, & Roatha are hit by a shockwave. Euryale quickly uses Chakra to heal Mortal, who is standing beside her.*

E"On the bright side, we're getting close to him."

R"Yeah. Lovely."

<You never appreciate how integral your family is to your identity, until they are gone. Of course, in my case, it is a bit more literal than some.>
=================================
~Sal Ghidos~

Thief 2<Nothing that concerns you, pretty boy. Just move it along.>

*The thief lets go of the girl & walks over to the mystery man, grabbing his vest & inspecting it.*

Thief< I'd not be talking to me like that. Might be as you get blood on them fancy riggins of yours.>

*The mystery man shoves him off, telling the girl to run. She does so, but then he grabs his head & falls to one knee.*

Thief<What's with this cull?>

Noctis was about to make another sassy quip, but Mortal turned around to glare at her, "Fine, whatever, lets just go beat him up..."

--

Zac rushed to Cloud's side, er, I mean the blonde guy's side, "Hey! Are you all right?"

~Lesalia~

*They arrive in a dimly lit wine cellar. The shelves have been arranged in a peculiar fashion--the 4 corners of a square, with a cross connecting the imaginary "sides," but not meeting in the middle.*

"You know, if you were trying to hide, you didn't do it very well. This room isn't very large, we greatly out number you, and Noctis can fly."

<The only purpose of this battlefield is to give me a variety of angles.>

*Another shockwave is sent through the ground from somewhere in the arrangement of shelves towards Euryale, kicking up dust as it goes.*
===================================
~Sal Ghidos~

???<No...stop! I'm a member of SOLDIER! I was not...made!>

Thief<Come on, boys, twice the number only means twice the pain for them!>

Zac let out a sigh, "Dammit." He turned to face the thieves, but called over his shoulder to Cloud, "I'll hold them off. Try to calm down." With that Zac leveled his gun at the first thief and shot him in the leg.

--

Noct began to dance a Polka, figuring a Monk would go down fairly fast if his punches felt like feathers.

Sab used Hasteja on Euryale, and all those close enough to benefit.

Mortal began running towards the origin of the shockwave.

~Lesalia~

*Euryale decides to hang back until the Hasteja goes off, so that everyone receives its benefit. Mortal has to run around between 2 shelves, at which point she sees Ramiel standing in the center, wearing the King's robes, sans crown. He holds up a hand & an explosion centers on Mortal. Followed by another in front of her. Then 2 behind her. Then the air around her explodes again. Then 3 more explosions follow in rapid succession behind her, in front of her, & finally on top of her. Seeing all of the explosions, Euryale frowns, & tries to hit him with a Shockwave, but it does nothing.*
============================
~Zeltennia~

*He throws a shuriken at the dick who just shot him in the leg. The other 2 thieves advance. Cloud jumps to a rooftop, where the Squire starts chasing him. The Monk tries to get to Zac's back.*

Mortal, blown to hell, furrows her brow and chases him down. She then swings two slashes of Rend Strength down on him.

Sab begins to charge a Slowja for Ramiel.

--

Zac shoots the monk with a Barrage, then jumps up to the roof after Cloud to avoid some of the damage anyone down there might do to him.

~Lesalia~

*She is a bit too slow, more so when he teleports atop one of the shelves & points at her, igniting 3 quick blasts of fire on top of her.*

<I am impressed. There aren't many I would expect to remain standing after so many Ashura.>

*Euryale runs towards Mortal, with Roatha behind her. He points at her & begins charging his next spell.*

<But I am less impressed with your ability to evade traps.>

R"Are you part of the Corpse Brigade?"

<The Brigade is no more. I sat, silent, as all of its members were eradicated. I prayed that those calling themselves nobles would learn, before it was too late. Did they think that genocide would be forgiven? That there would be no consequences? No. The only way for Ivalice to achieve salvation is for the highborn to suffer as they have made the lowborn. Only then will they come to understand each other. You know this as well as I, if not better.>
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~Zeltennia~

*The Squire turns around & stabs him, as the thieves continue up after him, while the monk retreats to heal himself with Chakra. Cloud donkey punches the squire, but it doesn't seem to do much.*

Sab uses Slowja on Ramiel.

Mortal is getting pissed off with getting blown up and begins to climb up after him, gaining health back with lifefont.

Noct is still dancing.

--

Zac shoots the Squire with a barrage after splitting the damage with him.

~Lesalia~

*The shelves can't support Mortal's weight & snap. After she falls, wine bottles start dropping on her. Euryale stands back, sighing, & Roatha stands even farther back from her.*

<You are wasting your time. The Gemini Stone protects me from malady. Clear with a mighty breeze, Adamantine Blade!>

*Four green blasts, like spiky tornadoes, strike around Euryale, but amazingly, none hit her. She then resumes rushing to Mortal's side.*

R"You should know that being lowborn doesn't put the Gods on your side."

<I was born high, & always acted as such. I only fell after my sister & I discovered our gift. We were disowned for our powers, so naturally, we believed them to be a curse. When she stole food from a governor, & was slain for it, that is when I learned that this power was a blessing. One which I could use to cleanse the rest of Ivalice of its sins.>

R"Euryale, I'll take care of healing Mortal. You hit him with magic."

*Ramiel begins charging his next spell. As does Euryale.*
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~Sal Ghidos~

*The Squire falls off of the building, now dead. One of the thieves has finally caught up with him, & stabs him. Cloud punches him in the back of the head. The monk heals himself again.*

~3~

Zac splits the damage, and shoots the thief with a barrage. Zac was starting to become incensed at getting stabbed.

--

Noct is dancing, Sab begins charging a graviga, Mortal, in a fit of rage, uses fire breath on the shelf Ramiel was standing on, hoping to burn it down.

~Lesalia~

*It doesn't light.*

R"Calm yourself, how am I supposed to get close enough to administer a potion like this?"

*He stuffs the business end of a bottle of Hi-Potion in her mouth to stop her from blowing fire all over his business.*

<A great strategic decision.>

*He uses Adamantine Blade. The attack hits Mortal 3 times, & Roatha twice. Mortal is in critical condition. A woman comes down through the roof & sprays Ramiel with icicles. Roatha looks at Euryale.*

E"It's the strongest offensive spell I know."

*Shiva is followed by a black hole appearing over Ramiel.*
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~Sal Ghidos~

*The thief proves not to be any tougher than the Squire. Cloud is already on the next page, punching the other thief, who stabs him for punching him. The monk has mostly healed himself, & marches towards them, healing himself more on the way.*

~3,2~

Zac shoots the Monk with a barrage again.

--

Mortal wasn't a fan of being treated like a child, but couldn't exactly do much about it. The same could be said for her position with Ramiel, since she couldn't get to him.

Sab used Graviga.

~Lesalia~

*Ramiel points to Sab.*

<And now our fate is in the hands of the Gods.>

*Fire blasts explode all around Noctab, including once on Noctis, putting her in critical condition, & twice on Sab. Afterwards, the Gravity spell hits, & Ramiel falls off of the shelf, coughing up blood when he hits the ground.*

<Before I go, you should know...I had an accomplice. A man...he wore the emblem of Pharism.>
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~Zeltennia~

*He continues advancing, hurling an invisible punch at Zac when he gets close enough. Cloud continues punching at the thief, & continues being stabbed for his efforts.*

~2,1~

Zac shoots the thief stabbing Cloud with a barrage.

--

Mortal rushed over to Ramiel, "Tell me more, where is he now?"

Noct stopped dancing, and sat against the wall, "I'm done for today... that hurt..." Sab nodded and sat down next to her.

~Lesalia~

<We met in Gollund.>

*Ramiel stops breathing. When he slumps, a purple gemstone larger than a fist falls out of his pocket. It rolls for about a foot, then twinkles innocently.*

E"AHHHHHHHHH!"

R"What the Hell are you doing?"

E"Using my Revive skill. Why, is it weird?"

R"Yes. But moreover, that stuff won't work if the spirit doesn't want to come back. And why would he? So you can throw him in jail, or beat him up for information?"
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~Zeltennia~

*He dies. The immobilized thief is able to move again, & administers a potion to the monk, who throws another invisible punch from the base of the house.*

~3,1,0~

Zac shoots the Monk in his arm.

--

Mortal picked up the stone, "A zodiac stone?"

~Lesalia~

R"Well, he did imply that he had one."

E"Which...makes sense, because the Pharist Guy gave Senthose one, too!"

R"...When the Hell'd this happen?"
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~Sal Ghidos~

*The monk starts running the Hell away. When the Squire crystallizes, the thief snatches up the crystal, & throws a shuriken at Zac.*

Thief<This one's got a pricey lookin' weapon on 'im! If we can finish 'im off, the other should be cake!>

~2,0~

"A while ago," Mortal said, putting the stone away. "You seem to be oddly receptive to believing any of what Ramiel talked about. What do you know?"

--

Zac shoots the thief with an arm shot as well, "I don't think the odds are in your favor here."

~Sal Ghidos~

*They decide to just start running away. The other thief yields a blue crystal.*
==================================
~Lesalia~

R"What are you talking about? The Zodiac Stone? Of course I believe it, it just fell out of his damn pocket."

*He points to it.*

R"Now would you explain whatever happened 'a while ago' in more detail? Please?"

Zac isn't one to shoot people in the back like some kind of sicko, so he turns back to Cloud, "Are you alright? You seemed to have something wrong with your head."

--

"Well, there was a sect of Pharists that attacked us a while ago," Mortal said, "We've seen them a few times since, notably when they were handing out Zodiac Stones to assholes."

~Sal Ghidos~

<I've not been myself ever since. Who...who am I now? What should I do? How...how can I stop this pain?>
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~Lesalia~

R"I'm not sure any of that made sense at all. How did you know they were Pharists?"

*He snickers a bit at the last word.*

E"A priest showed us the symbol of the old religion, & it matched the one the cloaked knight was wearing."

R"Cloaked knight...you mean like an executioner's hood? With a cape, & some kind of y thing?"

*He grabs his cloak where the clasp would be.*

E"Wha--yes, but how did you know that?"

R"I saw that guy! Once when I defeated Baron Grimms, & again when he was impersonating me."

E"You did what now?"

"Hey man, are you going to be alright?" Zac asked, putting a hand on his shoulder, "Everything is going to be alright. Just, try and calm down."

--

"Wait, Grimms, like, the leader of Blackram knights?" Noct asked, finally making her way over to the group.

"More importantly, the guy, what happened to him?" Mortal asked.

~Lesalia~

R"Yeah. Long story short, Grimms was an asshole. As for the other guy, he stole some Zodiac Stones from Limberry, then teleported away. He had a bunch of strange powers. He could use an illusion that made him perfectly resemble another person, he could modify his abilities in the middle of a fight, he had Master Teleportation...the only other thing I know about him is that he's working with an elderly Black Mage named Seraph. But he's not a big deal, he's just an ass."
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~Sal Ghidos~

*By this point, the sun is starting to go down. The mystery man smacks Zac's hand away.*

<I'm a mercenary now. You can call me Cloud.>