A weapon of hope. (Open)

[Kain Angelo]

"Thanks for the recap of everything," Kain hissed as the man stood strong against him, "My enemy is Duo and anyone who sides with him..." He raised his hand towards Kyoki's mask. Without his sword Kain was a lot less formidable, however, he still had the powers of Odin with him...

Kain could feel the guilt in his heart, hearing the names of his brothers and sisters was painful. He wanted so badly to reach out to every one of them, but he couldn't... he couldn't even think what to say to them.

The guilt quickly turned to anger, that anger focusing on Kyoki. "You've got mere seconds to tell me who you are before I fry you."

[Kyoki]

"And why should I? It's like you're thinking right now... Without Manni Katti, you are nowhere near as powerful as you should be, and even then, if you had the power to split me in two, why should I forsake my name in order to appease your human curiosity..?" Kyoki gave a small grunt, a mockery of a chuckle, before pausing for the briefest of moments. "Many people both on and off of Allorum tend to refer to me as 'Kyoki'. You may call me thus, if you so wish." Standing up, Kyoki brushed off his robes with more grace than he had done so before... He stepped around Kain, back into his original position as the glow behind his mask started to slowly fade away.

"I do suppose that we should allow everyone else to partake in this conversation should we not..?"

With that, the glow fully disappeared, and the Archangel suddenly threw his hands behind his head. His goofy persona suddenly launching straight on to the forefront... It was unknown as to just how he had done it, but Kyoki had managed to trap Kain within a temporary illusion hidden within his own mind just so that he could speak to the Demi-god on a one-to-one basis before everybody else got the opportunity to barrage him with questions. Now that Kain was effectively conscious again, Kyoki jump-started the conversation.

"HurHur. THANKS FOR SAVING ME... I guess..."

[annabelle]

Annabelle had not a damn clue what had just happened but her long and wide extension of knowledge in the magic field told her that something really scrambled had just happened. Her eyes narrowed at the newcomer who'd apparently just been 'attacked' (playing, so said the strange man) by dogs, heavily suspecting he had something to do with the thickening of magic forces in the air.

And yet he seemed fairly harmless. Where he seemed intimidating and a little...off...she wasn't terrified by any means.

"Stay off the damn ground and dogs won't attack you," she pointed out to the masked weirdo.

[Kyoki]

"Attack?" Kyoki asked, tilting his head to the side with genuine confusion. "They weren't attacking me, silly! We were just playing 'you-roll-around-on-the-floor-whilst-we-knaw-at-as-many-of-your-limbs-as-we-can-leading-to-you-screaming-out-in-pure-unadulterated-agony-thus-spurring-us-on-to-continue-biting' It's a great game, I'd love to play more of it, but no-one ever likes to play that particular game with me... I've always wondered why..." He paused, humming slightly to himself.

"Maybe I bite a little too hard..?" He left the question hanging in the air, along with the wonder as to how he could bite whilst wearing a mask.

[annabelle]

"Oh ho! That's what you kids call it nowadays! I grew up calling it a 'rustling of the sheets' but we didn't do any of that with dogs, mind you," Annabelle answered with a shaking of her head, "just who the hell are you, you strange lad?"

[Kyoki]

"I ask myself that question every day..." Kyoki muttered, looking out to the horizon, reaching out a hand as if trying to strike a dramatic pose. He looked briefly over his shoulder to see if anyone was impressed, and upon assuming that nobody was... Well, his shoulders slumped down and his arms dropped to his sides.

"Kyoki." He admitted, waving a hand at the group.

WAIT. HAD SHE JUST INSINUATED THAT HE WAS TRYING TO GET IT ON WITH SOME DOGS?![/s]

[A.B.A.]

"This is asinine. We don't have time for a nobody. Get lost and find some shelter before Duo's men decide to play a game with your corpse." Velestia's kind voice soured as she could only bare to endure the masked man. "I'm going up to the rooftops sir. I'll see if I can perhaps see something that might give us a clue."

Hmmm, now that was interesting.[/b] Seigmand teased, hoping to beg the question from A.B.A. as she made her way into one of the abandoned buildings.

What, the idiot? You have to be joking.

Idiots don't last by themselves in times like these, girl. Can't say the same for the ones who play them though.

Fine then, I'll deal with him when we, I get back. At last finding a good foothold in the remains of a second floor bedroom A.B.A. pulled herself onto the roof, taking survey of the surrounding city, and just for a moment down at Kain and the rest of the strangers she seemed destined to deal with.

"So, somewhere in here is a God's sword. Where would it be?" Wondering aloud, she looked for anything, anyone who might point to it's hiding place.

[annabelle]

It's Annabelle, of course she did!

Annabelle raised an eyebrow at the strange man and smiled, reserving all additional comments as the young woman with Kain seemed to do a fine job dishing them out. Annabelle really didn't care as long as he wasn't messing up any of their own plans. And apparently their plans involved finding...something.

"Mani Katti?" her question directed at Kain, "that's something I've heard before I think. What would this particular thing look like?"

[Kain Angelo]

Kain shook his head as he tried to wrap his head around what had just happened. This man clearly had power and Kain questioned who was pulling his strings. Unless it was Kain pulling the strings it made him nervous, he'd have to try and make eye contact to figure out everything...

There were more important things to do, though, and Kain needed to get to the blade before Duo's forces did!

"Indeed, you should go find someplace safe to hide," Kain warned Kyoki before turning away from him and looking at Annabelle, "The blade is a katana, and it'll be someplace where I'd know to look." There wasn't anything special looking about the blade, except the ancient text written deep into the steel but to anyone who couldn't read angelic it simply looked like weird markings.

While the group spoke below, up above where ABA viewed the surrounding buildings, there wasn't anything special... she could easily see smoke in the distance that signaled where the fighting was taking place, but the most notable buildings stood on complete opposite ends.

One was a large church that stood above most buildings, it was a couple centuries old for sure and the markings on it showed that it belonged to the church of Unda. The second building was actually more like a monument that was easily the largest object in the city - its pure white stone was from Roccian and it could easily have dated back many centuries older than the church. The third building stood a fair distance away from the Marine base, the thick of the fighting, and the large words inscribed on it showed that it was the city's treasury.

"What do you see, ABA?" Kain questioned from below, the group waiting on her answer.

[A.B.A.]

Surveying the area for a while, A.B.A. rested her chin against her open palms and let out a long thoughtful sigh. Despite all the boring housing and insignificant shops, only a few places made sense when it came to keeping a relic of history in place.

Deciding that staring wasn't going to get them moving, she decided it best to take what little intel she had back to Kain. Strolling over to the edge of the roof she stopped herself short of merely flipping off the building down to them. Stupid ruse, this better pay off. Turning away with the playful thought still fresh in her mind she went down the way she came as quickly as possible to reunite with the group.

"Sir, no sign of the blade itself, but I suppose there are some places that we could start on. To put it simply, there's a church not far from here, a fairly huge white statue, and a pretty dense looking building where there's a lot of fighting going on." She reported directly to Kain, though loud enough that the others could take it in if they desired. After all, if the old ones were indeed as magically attuned as they claimed, perhaps they'd have some insight to help with the task. As she spoke she also took care to point the estimated direction of the buildings, just in case Kain's "sense" was pulling him in a certain direction.

"However, if I may be allowed to speak sir...Perhaps it would be best were we to split up. If you and I took the monument, the elders could take the dense building, and should we need to, we meet up at the church. It would be certainly easy for us to signal the other group should we need to, that is, if these people are as trustworthy as you claim." The very act surprised A.B.A. herself, but thrilled her in the very same moment. She wanted to flaunt her new skills and intellect before her leader. She didn't just want the same acknowledgement of a job well done that she'd received from her as before, she wanted something more from Kain. While she couldn't place what exactly it was, it felt far stronger, and with the way it excited her heart, far stranger too.

[Athereon Whispersilk]

"I shall commit that to memory, Ms. Fraus," the elder mage continued in an effort to further charm the woman.

Turning his attention back to Kain, Athereon cleared his throat before resuming conversation with the man. "Oh, I see...we're trying to be incognito, are we? I remember my time with a band of adventurers where we had to infiltrate a castle, more like a fortress really, the entire structure armed to the nine with all matter..." Athereon continued to blather on about his tales and ventures, unbeknownst whether anyone was even paying attention, breaking from his tales only upon the odd sight of the man being seemingly attack by a group of canid creatures.

Turning his focus to the young lad as he rose from the earth where he was rolling and frolicking, Athereon felt the sudden bending of energy coming from the being and took a sudden defensive stance, culminating the energies around himself in a preparatory maneuver to counterspell the man's magical assault, but soon sensed that he was not the man's target.

Carefully analyzing the intricate weaving of mana that constructed the man's spell, Athereon realized the illusory magic called forth by this "Cookie" character, and would be all too ready should he try it again. Distracted from his intent glare on Cookie by the pasty girl; "Grandma," "Lava"....ermmm..., whatever her silly nickname was, Atherron turned his attention to her, picking up on the talk of destinations and splitting up into groups, and could only protest the idea.

"Nononononono...no. Adventuring has taught this old man one truth that holds fast all the time; never ever split up the group! What if I need a meat shield to soak the blows and stings of a foe's blade, or you need my magics to traverse the blackened halls of an abandoned keep or..." Athereon continued, giving all manner of reasonable and ludicrous reasons to never split up.

"Also," the elder man stated suddenly, interrupted his own though with a sudden divergence. "Never trust the crazy one in the party," He stated with an accusatory glance towards Cookie. "Defecating in corners, backflipping along walls, or hurling their urine with aquamancy in the heat of combat; that's what you get when the crazy ones are around, and to company such as that I say good riddance! Besides, whenever some stranger starts slinging illusory spells at the party, little good can be assumed from his presence," Athereon accused, hoping the rest might take a stand against this Cookie character along with him.

[annabelle]

"A katana, eh? Dense building, you say?" Annabelle chuckled again as she turned her gaze back to Athereon, "you hear what the young lady says? She's trying to shoo us away together! And speaking of shooing..."

As if on cue Annabelle shuffled by Athereon, flapping her bony fingers at Kyoki as she continued, "go on, now, you strange little rabbit! Go find your dogs, leave us be and behave yourself!"

[Kain Angelo]

Kain considered everything that was occurring around him, from the information relayed by ABA to the strange masked man. Everyone else thought he was weird and maybe even a little bit threatening...

The air of innocence about Kyoki seemed off, and letting him out of sight might be a fatal mistake. "Actually, the rabbit stays with me." He then turned his attention up towards ABA, considering her words carefully as he envisioned where each building was she mentioned.

He glanced over to her and simply smiled, "Our time away seemed to sharpened your deduction skills." He turned his attention towards the two older individuals, "If you wish to help us out you'll do as the lady suggested. The fighting is occurring around the Marine base, so if you two think you can take on any of Duo's minions, then you should go there and look for the blade. We'll meet up at the church as directed."

Kain was sure he'd hear some resistance on the plan, but it was better this way. Kain and ABA could work together really well and if this Kyoki was truly a threat then the two could take him on. It wouldn't be the first time Kain and ABA had walked straight into a trap - they'd improvise if needed!

"ABA and the rabbit are with me," Kain said while making a quick motion for the two to follow them in the opposite direction of the Marine base.

[A.B.A.]

"S-sir!" A.B.A. jaw went slack, her short lived enjoyment dying the moment Kain instructed them to include Kyoki in the party. "I, I mean..." In a moment her old ways clashed with the new. Orders were orders, but just looking at Kyoki's disheveled mask brought Seigmand's words back to mind. Hell, she didn't like him, or the two old farts that had intruded on their mission, but that didn't make their points any less valid. Everything about the weirdo made her on edge, and worse than that, having him along would mean she wouldn't have Kain all to herself.

A.B.A. stopped, starring vacantly for an awkward moment as she dismissed the thought. Ridiculous, having the stranger around, any stranger only means I have to be wary of one more distraction. One more potential enemy, that's why he has to go. But... She looked at Kain intently, her lips pursing tensely as she hesitated, trying to find the words for what would come next.

"Sir, that is, we cannot possibly take such a useless risk. What if we need stealth, strict timing, anything that a man who growls at dogs would upset? Nevermind the fact that he might be an agent of Duo's. I'll tolerate those two if you command me, but him?" She pointed out towards him. "You haven't even seen his eyes." Crafting an idea the moment the words came out she called out to the rabbit-masked man.

"Hey! You! Yeah you! Take off your mask or we'll leave you where we found you, with the dogs." She barked out at Kyoki.

[Kyoki]

Kyoki had simply stood with his hands behind his head as the others spoke. Every time he was referred to as a rabbit, he would interject simply with the word 'Bunny' before falling back into silence. He was quite enjoying the company of other people, especially the normal mortals, they were like little adorable ponies that he couldn't ride. Which was a shame. Kyoki liked ponies. And then someone suggested he remove his mask...

His gaze twisted slowly in order to fall on A.B.A. where it simply halted, his head tilting to the side slightly in curiosity.

Something about his air and personality changed. As a man, he seemed to grow darker, the shadows cast across the mask elongating and hiding the small bandaged fragments of his face from view, he seemed to almost grow slightly, be it physically or merely in presence was hard to place, but he grew nonetheless. Similarly, the air grew thick with magic, not so in a way that an ordinary mortal would touch on it, but enough that suggested a great strength pulsating nearby. It was impossible to place, the waves of mana bouncing and rolling off the nearby surroundings, encompassing everybody within a warm sphere of what felt like white mana, the kind normally used for healing magics. But alas, it felt like it had a more sinister taste.

"A man tried to make me take my mask off once." Kyoki muttered, his voice still high pitched, giddy and manic, but in a much less harmless sense all of a sudden. "I didn't like that man all too much. He looked a lot better when he was dead." His head straightened up again. "So much better... He had a nasty face. I preferred it in smaller pieces." He giggled. "So no. I think my mask shall remain firmly hugging my face... It's like having a constant friend! A permanent cuddle! I think you need a cuddle, missy, you're all angry! DO YOU WANT A CUDDLE?!" He flung his arms out wide.