Shadows of the Past

Monu:<Or that, since apparently there aren't any guards around.>

"Well, nothing we can do about it," Noct said, "Unless you want to scour the world for her."

--

Mortal walks through the open door, and looks around for an inn, or a main road where one might be located.

OOC: TIIIIIIIMESKIIIIIP!

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*They eventually find a building that boards travelers, & are able to get a ground-level room with a window to get Safian through. The room is very basic, with a bunch of worn cushions to sleep on, & a few simple dressers to store things in. Lilith & Thiera re-enter, having gone into town to get food. They come back with bowls filled with rice covered in some spicy-looking sauce, & a few pieces of baked slabs of bread.*

T"Room service!"

L"And, while we eat, we can discuss the plan."
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*Nero & Noctis don't fair as well, being rudely awakened by a bunch of scimitars being pointed in their faces by [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] & a bunch of similarly dressed men.*

Guard<Thieves, no doubt! You're under arrest, you Street Rats!>
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Braig<Knock-knock!>

*He does not actually knock on Azuma's door.*

Mortal, sitting next to Safian, reached out for a bowl, "Did you try this already? Is it any good?"

--

Noctis looks at the guys point swords at her, "I'm guessing this is a 'gotta eat to live, gotta steal to eat' kind of place..." She stretches a bit, then stands up, "Well, I can assure you I'm no street urchin, not sure about him."

Taiyo looks at the bowls of rice, sniffing the air before backing away not exactly being keen on spicy food.

===================================

Azuma walks out, half-awake, half-asleep.

Azuma: "Yeah?"

*Safian sniffs the bowls*

<I wonder if I can eat this.>

Monu:<Thank you very much.>

*He takes a bowl*
---
*Artexi gets up and looks around, trying to figure out where she is*

L"Yeah, it's not too bad. We could only afford these to drink, though."

*They pull out some small gourds of water that they had strapped to their waists. After distributing all of this shit, they sit down, Lilith using her bread to scoop up some of the spicy rice & eat it.*

T"The Vizier--Jafar, correct? He'll be in the palace?"

*Lilith swallows.*

L"Yeah. And probably."

T"And he will want to prevent us from entering."
=======================
*As mentioned previously, she can't see anything.*
=======================
Braig<Ansem says he'll let us take a looksie into the files. Hitomi's probably in the library. You wanna gather up the rest of your friends, & meet us there? It's that-a-way.>

*He points.*
=======================
*Nero also stands up.*

N"We weren't stealing anything, we were just trespassing. Can we just pay a fine & call it even? You can check our pockets, if you don't believe us."

<Who do you think you are, boy? You'll be lucky if I don't cut off your feet!>

Taiyo just eats bread and drinks water like a poor person.

===================================

Azuma: "Uh...sure."

Whenever Braig leaves, Azuma goes and knocks on Roatha's door.

Monu:<He's obvious up to know good. We have to find out what he did to Tirea. I didn't know her well, but something's happened to her.>
---
*Tirea summons her keyblade and uses Sol's Might to create some light to see with*

Mortal tests out the food by doing what Lilith did, then smiled, and began taking bigger bites, "You're right, this is pretty good. Oh, and didn't she say she wasn't Tirea? If she is going by a new identity then maybe it was her own choice to turn to the Organization."

--

"Team Stubs?" Noctis suggested with a chuckle.

*Monu shakes his head slowly*

<She seemed far too freaked out when Lilith just called her Tirea. All we know is that she came back here, then never returned. I'm positive there's something going on that we don't understand yet.>

*Once they get into the library, they can see Braig drop a large stack of books on the table that Hitomi is sleeping at.*

Braig<Wakey-wakey! Ha ha!>
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Guard<What?>

N"Nothing, really, just KEYBLADES!"

*Nero summons his Keyblade in such a way that it stabs into the head guard's shoulder. He gasps & staggers back.*

<<<<Razoul, he's got a sword!>>>>

Razoul<You idiots! We've ALL got swords! Get them!>

*They rush fowards, swinging about their scimitars.*
=======================
T"We're not going to storm the castle, are we?"

L"We can try to sneak in, but we might have no choice but to get into a big fight."
=======================
*She sees that she is in the middle of some kind of underground lake. The flickering lights on the water show 2 waterfalls, the only ways out.*

Noctis draws her keyblade, and parries one guy's swing while blinding another one and pushing him into a third with a blast of wind.

--

"I don't see anything wrong with that," Mortal said, "If we beat them they'll pretty much have to listen to us."

Taiyo: "Won't that cause more trouble? Aren't we supposed to be the good guys?"

===================================

Hitomi sits right up and adjusts her glasses before glaring daggers at Braig.

Azuma: "Was that really necessary?"

"Well, yeah, that is the point," Mortal said, "The good guys are the strongest."

*Artexi activates her glider, then flies towards the waterfalls, looking for a way out*
---
Safian:<Do we have much of a choice?>

L"I suppose not. So what we'll do is, we'll use my ivy to scale the wall, and once we're in, I'll try to lead us to a cellar entrance. We'll go in wearing armor, as a disguise."
==========================
*She is presented with the choice of flying down one or the other, the layout of the cave didn't magically change.*
==========================
*Braig steps back & holds his hands up.*

Braig<Hey, hey, it was a joke! Lighten up!>
==========================
*Nero disappears into darkness, reappearing behind Razoul, the guy that Noctis blocked, & another cohort, knocking them each out with a single strike to the back from the Keyblade. He then runs out of the doorway.*

"Let's get out of here, we'll fly to the desert!"

Taiyo: "Okay..."

===================================

Azuma: "Anyway, what's on the agenda? We meeting what's his name?"

Monu:<That's a good of plan as any I can think of.>

Safian:<Do you think we could stop and get some meat first? I can't eat rice...>
---
*Artexi flies down the right waterfall*

Noctis slips between shadows and appears behind her opponents, running towards Nero, "Good idea, I've wasted enough time here."

--

Mortal nodded her agreement, but was more interested in finishing her food.

L"Sorry, but I want to get in there while it's still not too bright. You'll just have to find something later. There's some meat in the sauce, though."
=================
*And so they reach a window & fly out towards the desert. Nero sniffs the air.*

"I smell a lot of darkness out there."
=================
Braig<Naw. I can get you what you need.>

*He slides open a panel on a pillar & pushes the button inside. With a clicking, the wall slides away, revealing a much more modern set of metal stairs. Fluorescent light panels blink on every few feet. Braig motions for them to follow along, & descends.*
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*After quite some flying, she arrives in a [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] lit by glowing gems embedded in the walls.*

"Any of it pointing you in the direction of Artexi?" Noct asked.

--

Mortal began separating her meat and rice, then offered it to Safian, "Here, there isn't much left, but you're welcome to it. Fighting on an empty stomach will be bad for all of us."

And so they follow him in.

Azuma: "So what is this? What his na-"

Hitomi: "Ansem."

Azuma: "Ansem's secret laboratory?"

*Safian licks up the meat, then nuzzles Mortal*

<Thank you!>
---
*Artexi keeps flying, looking for a way out*

OOC: Mortal got buzzled by a cat. Gross.

L"Alright, well, let's get going."

*She places her mostly empty bowl on a table & gets up to leave. Thiera follows suit.*

L"We'll distract the inkeeper. Some of you will need to go outside to help smuggle Safian out."
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Braig<Somethin' like that, yeah.>

*They come to a small, squarish room. On one end is a series of circular patterns surrounding a red lens that looks like it might be a light or something. On the other end is a computer console & an observation window overlooking a simply massive switchboard extending for several stories, with switches as large as a small child. Braig starts typing into the computer, & windows of text pop up on the screen.*
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*A trio of Archravens fly out of the darkness, dive bombing Artexi.*
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N"Maybe, I can't really tell. It's all converging over by those cliffs."