#crystfractals

[bravelywego]

@crystfractals from here!

------

By the time Yew made it to the docks, he would see Janne and Geist emerging from what appeared to be some kind of cavern nearby, with Janne mainly panting for breath.

"Wh- Yew!?" Janne looked up at Yew, still obviously trying to catch his breath as he pushed strands of hair out of his face, before realizing- the other probably overheard them just now. "Okay, apparently there might be some kind of monster in that cavern over there...?"

Geist cleared his throat, a sigh leaving him after as he glanced toward Yew. "We heard in passing from some people that there were odd noises coming from this little hidden cavern by the port. Janne and I thought we'd investigate. And once we got deep in there..."

"We kinda-glimpsed the creature. It was...bear-like? What the heck is a bear monster doing in a cavern near a port?" Janne frowned, shaking his head, just before Geist gave Janne a wide grin.

"We may have both screamed, but you screamed way louder than me, pup."

Janne groaned, trying to elbow Geist. "Put a sock in it, Reaper! Either way, there's definitely some kind of monster down there, and we've got no idea what it is...or if the two of us could take it on alone."

Geist shrugged, dodging his elbow quickly. "I didn't get the chance to use Eradication on it because Janne dragged me out before I could do a thing." He glanced toward Yew, eyes flashing. "Now that you're here, maybe we ought to go straight in and find out exactly what that monster is together."

Janne stared at Geist. "Seriously!?"

"We can't just ignore it. And the sooner we deal with it, the better, right?"

[bravelywego]

Lukas chuckled at Saiph, waving at him. "Yeah, go ahead. See ya later~!" With that, he went to check on the other horses as if nothing menacing had ever happened.

Janne looked up at Saiph as the dragon followed him and Dotie. "That would be me for overshooting. I don't have a lot of good luck with teleportation crystals..." A grumble left him after.

He pauseed, making sure they were some distance from Lukas before asking, "But Saiph, you've met that guy before? Lukas? Is he always so....back and forth with friendliness and threats?"

-----

Geist sighed as James rolled his eyes playfully. "Oh, I'm sure we'll talk about it. Though I wouldn't be surprised if some amount of Crystalism-mandated homophobia prevented me from actually thinking about my own feelings until now and it turns out that Fiore and Nobutsuna already have a clear grip on how they feel long before I did..."

That, and he was going through some traumatic times back then including the Great Plague and all that entailed. Not exactly a great environment for figuring out your personal identity and all that goes into it.

Mona stared up at Geist. "Is...Crystalism...conservative?" She seemed to choose her words carefully, unsure of how else to word it.

Geist mimicked Mona's look. "Conservative is a polite way to put it. I prefer calling them closed-minded, idiots, or both." A groan left Geist. Right, right, Mona didn't know his backstory..."I left the church years ago. I'll tell you the story some other time."

That was when Einheria appeared, and he blinked, looking up at Einheria. "You're that Valkyrie that Tsuna told me about? We finally meet, I see...."

Mona blinked, looking up at Einheria as she complimented her hair pin. "Thank you. It was a gift. I hope to acquire more in the future."

[ Yew Finds a Wild Janne and Geist! ]

[bravelywego]

Lukas blinked, before he grinned at her with a friendly, relaxed smile. "Ah, no worries, just - " His eyes took on a glint of straight-up venom, as if looks could kill, and Janne swore he saw Lukas' eyes glow yellowish briefly. "Don't do that again and we'll get along swimmingly~"

Janne shivered, staring. WHO THE FUCK THIS GUY. WHY DOES TAHIRAH HAVE THIS DUDE HERE. WHAT THE FUCK.

Fortunately, Saiph came in to break the weird tension and Janne sighed in relief. "Saiph, so glad you're here. Teleportation mix-up happened when trying to report back...."

"Yo, Saiph!" Lukas waved at Saiph with a friendly grin and matching eyes as if he hadn't been straight-up threatening Janne and Oddette two seconds ago at all. "I was just making sure things were alright here, that's all~"

"Yeah, er, thanks. Let's go." Cue Janne immediately zooming out of the stables. "Saiph, mind leading me and Oddette to the Countess...?"

-----

Geist's face flushed lightly at the mention of DeRosa would love to see him. "You think so...?"

Mona gave Geist a deadpan stare as the two moved to follow James. "You like him don't you."

"Still to be determined." Geist stated, traying to keep a straight face. He failed.

Mona blinked. "You like Kamiizumi too."

"Also to be determined." As much as he enjoyed the curiosity of others, now was not the best time. I feel like polyamory might be the best-case ending in this scenario, but even then how long would it last...?

"They probably like you too. Or at least they like staring at you like they did at breakfast. I don't know. You adults are weird." Mona said nothing else after, before they made it to the doors. "Andd...they're here."

[ Yew Finds a Wild Janne and Geist! ]

[bravelywego]

Janne hummed, looking toward Dotie. "Well, yeah, I asked a few people, but I keep getting the same weird results..."

He glanced down at the bag, digging into it. Dotie had a good point with the warning. "Yeah, I got that vibe too. Let's see..."

Inside was a journal. Janne opened it up, reading the entry aloud.

"I've been trying to find out what's up with Raf lately. He's been more unsettled in the past few days...I hope he's taking care of himself." Janne blinked. "They're writing about Rafaele? Tahirah's godfather?"

Janne flipped a page. "Starling is determined to stamp out those people once and for all...I can feel her rage. Who's writing about both of them?" He checked the journal for any sign of a name - only for the journal to suddenly vanish from his hands. "Huh!?"

"Yo." Janne looked up to see Lukas holding the now-closed journal in one hand as he leaned against the side of the doorway of the stall, raising a brow at both Dotie and Janne. "Ever heard of respecting other people's property?"

Janne stared back. "Maybe don't put it in an obvious random place?"

Lukas didn't seem pleased. "I'm in charge of the stables. This is my place."

------

Mona smiled softly as James helped redo her hair and even fixed the teddy's hair tie. "Thanks James." THe tedy bear waved as if in approval. "I'm...ready."

Geist nodded. "Ready." He took out the teleportation crystal, and...

Soon the three were in the main hall of Melodia Castle! Geist gazed around, frowning at the sight of a surprising lack of people present.

"No Countess to greet us? I guess she's elsewhere in the building...we should probably find the others."

Mona hummed, before pointing up ahead. "...That..way. They're that way."

[ Yew Finds a Wild Janne and Geist! ]

[bravelywego]

A sheepish chuckle left Janne after. "What if you don't know where to start, though...?" He paused ,looking at the stall. "The empty one?" Now that he thought about it, it did seem awfully sus...

Upon further inspection, it had been recently cleaned like the rest of the stalls. There was a small bag hanging at the back of the stall, which caught Janne's interest. Janne tried to open the stall -and it was locked.

"Wait, maybe I can pick the lock..." He took out a pin, messing about with the lock, before opening it. "There! Now we can get to what's inside."

Are we gonna get in trouble for this? Maybe.

Will it be worth it? Hope so.

-----

Mona blinked, looking up at James. "It might...?" She blinked, putting a hand to where the pin was, before nodding and lowering her hand. "That would be most...helpful, thank you."

Quite honestly, Geist noticed that if she had overheard him and Ariel ealrier, she hadn't looked disturbed in the slightest. It made him wonder, briefly, what horrors she witnessed before that made her completely indifferent to discussions of cannibalism. Despite that, he made contact - only for Rafaele's image to appear. It was hard to tell what section of the castle he was in, given that the background was pretty darkened.

"Ah, Geist. Greetings." Rafele paused, then asked, "Any updates?"

Geist frowned. "Is the Countess not available?"

"She's attending to a few other matters - including the Grand Marshall showing up to offer her personal assistance." Rafaele explained. "So, she left me in charge of answering calls. What's the situation?"

"We didn't find DeRogna, but the base is cleared. We found a bunch of magical beasts, and we're helping out all the injured ones before we let them go on their merry way. Nothing else to note, save for multiple dead bodies - all on the enemy's side."

"I see." Rafaele glaneced in one direction, as if looking past Geist. "And James and Mona...?"

"Are fine. I'm fine, too." Geist decided not to disclose anything else.

A chuckle left Rafele after. "I see. Come back when you can."

"Thanks." Geist ended the call, before looking toward James and Mona. "Apparently Edea decided to show up at Melodia Castle and the Countess is recapping her on things right now. We should get back."

[ Yew Finds a Wild Janne and Geist! ]

[bravelywego]

Janne and Araceli took notice of Oddette informing them of Edea heading to Melodia castle. Janne nodded.

"Alright, let's get going."

"Have a good time, you two~" Araceli half-singsonged, chuckling. Janne just sighed and used the teleportation crystal to get him and Dotie back -

...Only to end up in the stables of Melodia Castle, accompanied by the neighing of horses and hay all around them!

Janne groaned, burying his face in one hand. "For crying out loud, seriously!?"

------

As James asked about a key, Ariel and all th eother guards awkwardly looked toward each other before Siobhan sighed and took out a key, using it to unlock all the cages and fenced-in areas.

"Found a master key, sir. You're welcome."

"Thank you, Siobhan." Ariel looked somewhat amused, a brief chuckle leaving him. "That'll do." He looked toward Geist, James and Mona. "After we're done taking care of the animals here, my troops and I can take care of the rest."

"We'll report back to the Countess," Geist stated, "Right Mona? James?"

Mona nodded, trying to stick by James and Geist's sides, but the cloak that James had lent to her was hindering her movements more than helping- much to Geist's amusement. "Right." she tripped and rolled herself up in the cape, accidentally making herself stuck in the rolled-up cape. "Help. Please."

Geist snapped his fingers. "Undo." Cue Mona instantly being unwrapped from the cape, and he helped her stay upright. "Maybe we should get you a cape that, er, fits your height a bit better once we're back."

"Maybe." she agreed, and her teddy bear nodded in agreement.

[ Yew Finds a Wild Janne and Geist! ]

[bravelywego]

Janne stared at Oddette as she brought up the possibility of a mole, eyes widening.

"Oh damn. If that's the case..." He swallowed. "I think we'll have some potential dragon people to deal with back in Luxendarc."

"That's a you problem for the future." Araceli smiled at them, but it was one of those "you've got to be fucking kidding me, seriously!?" smiles.

Janne checked the area for anything else useful, but that was about it. "Dang. Okay...so, I guess we report to the Countess? How are we doing this - in-person stuff, communication crystals..?"

Araceli sighed. "My troops can clean up the rest of the mess if you two want to run off to the Countess and give her an update - or if you have one of those fancy communication crystals, give her a call. I'm sure she'd be happy either way." A groan left her after as she shook her head. "I can already imagine her being like - oh, I'm glad you claimed victory, have a cupcake!"

Janne stared at Araceli's imitation of Tahriah a bit. "Remind me where you stand on how you think of Tahirah?"

"Well, I did wage a civil war on her eight years ago- but she's earned my respect after she won and put me in a humiliating defeat when she was simply a young teenager at the time," Araceli sniffed, nose wrinkling. "Let's just say the war reparations damaged my ego enough to consider never doing it again."

-----

Mona blinked once, then twice as she felt the cape on her shoulders. She looked up at James quizzically, but she wrapped the cape around herself as if trying to bundle herself up from cold weather. "Thank you."

It felt nice, for sure, and much appreciated.

Ariel nodded, before looking toward the soldiers and giving them the warning to get out of the way and so on.

The gryphon that addressed James nodded in understanding. We understand. You have our thanks. It spoke to the other magical creatures, which seemed to understand it pretty well despite being completely different creatures, which was pretty darn cool.

[ Yew Finds a Wild Janne and Geist! ]

[bravelywego]

Araceli hummed at the mention of investigating the base. "Well, I say we look around for clues of DeRogna's whereabouts and her next target first before we contact Countess Tahirah and let her know that things are all clear..."

Janne looked around at anything but the snakes. "Good to know..." He glanced around again, before noticing a set of doors that looked like a regular closet- no one had opened it during the chaos. Janne stepped forward to open it, and....Revealed a hidden room inside!

"Huh." Janne peeked in carefully. "Well, that's new."

Araceli hummed, taking a step closer, tilting her head to the side. "Looks like they had one trick up their sleeve after all."

The hidden room wasn't rigged with any magic, but it did have a set of drawers and a shelf, and a desk with a journal in it. The drawers didn't have much useful in there outside of writing tools. The journal on the desk, however, had far more useful material.

Araceli picked up the journal, frowning. "This...is a record of potential targets...Mr. DeRosa's name is on the list."

"Anyone else?" Janne asked.

Araceli shook her head. "All the other names are listed as deceased. DeRosa was their last-ditch effort to find someone who met their criteria of 1), the capability of wielding a sufficient variety of magic, and 2) being someone who wouldn't be easily missed by the community or place they're from." Her nose wrinkled at that. "And they don't have it written here, but I'm assuming that the third criteria is making sure their prisoners stayed alive for long enough to be sufficient human sacrifices later."

Janne's eyes widened. "You mean...even if we find their corpses, they don't have any next of kin that we can tell them about?"

Araceli shook her head. "Most likely, no. For all I know, they could've taken advantage of the destitute who happened to have potential in wielding multiple magics, or came from incredibly small communities."

"Then why DeRosa?"

A scowl left Araceli. "Someone must've fed them information that he was on the way out of his job - and knowing his history pre-Al Khampis teaching, he probably doesn't have a lot of notable connections if any at all anymore. That's why they went for him."

"But then..." Who gave them that info to begin with?

-----

Geist had to admit that he was impressed at seeing James' outfit as the Beast Tamer. Part of him expected it to be wilder, but it still suited him well. All the beasts stilled as soon as they heard James speaking to them. The gryphon was the one that answered him, however.

Jamison...thank you for informing us... The gryphon ruffled its feathers. We have a few of our own that are wounded and need immediate attention.

Mona shook her head, looking up at Jamison. "I-I can bear it." She stated. Geist found it hard to read her expression. She seemed hesitant, but she also seemed like she wanted to tough it out.

"Alright, but if you want out at any point, let us know." Geist stated to her. Mona nodded quickly in return.

Ariel, Sibohan, and the other soldiers with them were already getting out any healing potions and/or bandages. "Are any of them hurt...?" Ariel asked. "I know we usually use these remedies on fellow people, not magic beasts, but they should work in a pinch..."

[ Yew Finds a Wild Janne and Geist! ]

[bravelywego]

Janne let himself get pulled along and a chuckle left him as Oddette moved to walk back towards Araceli. He followed soon after.

"So, Lady Nemesis, any updates?"

Araceli sighed, looking toward Janne and Oddette. "Apparently, Mara DeRogna is NOWHERE in the damn base, so boo!" She pouted, shaking her head, before a smile came across her face. "Good news, my little friends did get a nice snack."

Janne stared. "...wait. Your snakes...they..."

A giggle left Araceli, smiling at Janne. "I mean, they do eat actual food for snakes, but a snack of something else can be a fun treat for them. Lord Sukumara and his fellow cannibals can't hog all the bodies to themselves!"

Janne tried not to make a face at that. "...Cool. Great."

-----

Mona nodded , holding onto the charm, and Mona's teddy bear nodded in agreement. "Very well...we will keep hold of Ursine...until the dragon nonsense is over."

Ariel nodded as he looked toward James. "Yes, calming them down would be very-much helpful - "

Cue Geist overhearing a roar of a beast in dismay, and he almost jumped a bit, startled. "I think that's the gryphon...?!"

"Yep." Ariel sighed, nodding. "I had a feeling it would be pissed. Gryphons do not like being stuck in shut-in areas for too long, based on my experience. Siobhan, lead us there...?"

Siobhan nodded and quietly led the group to the barn at the back of the base. Chained and in various stalls or cages were a variety of magical beasts - one gryphon, several golems, and even some salamanders. (Fortunately, no dragons.)

Geist gazed at all of them. "The fact that the dragon people managed to imprison them all in one building is....well, bad for the creatures, but convenient for their captors. I could just 'undo' the chains and such, but then we'd have them stampeding out of the place."

"Agreed." Ariel frowned. "Better to soothe them first before we do the unchaining and unlocking - and I want them checked for any wounds or ill health."

Mona flinched at seeing all the other magical beasts, brows furrowing. "...No better treatment than my old master..." Her teddy bear shook its head in dismay.

[ Yew Finds a Wild Janne and Geist! ]

[bravelywego]

Janne followed Oddette - only to realize that yep ,she was giving him a crash course right here and now. "Okay..."

It took him a few moments to get the beat, but he managed it after then, moving carefully. Like this...?

----

Ariel looked toward James with a nod. "Thank you..." He focused on making sure all the enemies were bound and imprisoned as needed, with his soldiers moving to help with those efforts.

Mona blinked at seeing James' raised hand, but then gave him a high-five in return. "I-I'm okay, thanks. Didn't even have to use the charm." she held it up to James. "You can have it back if you want..."

Siobhan appeared by Ariel's side, looking up at him - Geist honestly had no clue how the hell she got in without anyone else noticing. Then again, she is an assassin... "Lord Sukumara, we found the magical beasts - they were all locked in a barn behind the base."

"Lead us tot hem right away." Ariel swiftly looked toward James and Mona. "Let's go - we'll need your help with these."

Geist sighed, stretching his arms behind his back. "Should I change back to the more Melodian-appropriate outfit? I don't think those magic beasts would appreciate seeing a bloody-looking me."

"Only if you want to," Ariel shrugged. "Either way, you smell like an amalgamation of blood to me."

[ Yew Finds a Wild Janne and Geist! ]

[bravelywego]

"Why, thank you very much~" Araceli smiled before busying herself with checking on her troops to see who was injured, who wasn't, and the status report of all the enemies they knocked out and/or killed.

Janne sighed as he looked toward Dotie. "If we're going to be sticking around Melodia for a while, maybe I should take lessons from you." He admitted. A little grin made it to his face. "Could be fun..."

At least, he hoped it would be. It would be fun, right?

-----

Geist let an "oooo" leave him when the bahamut went on to demolish some enemies, with said enemies screeching in surprise at seeing the beast. "Good shot~!"

"Behind you!" Ariel called, and Geist turned in time to see two mages firing spells at him, Geist dodged, before charging forward and slashing at both of them. The mages were immediately downed, and soon the floor was cleared to head up to the next floor.

Because some of the soldiers had gone on ahead to said second floor, they were already halfway through dealing with the enemy by the time Geist and Ariel made it up there.

"Alright - "Ariel looked around, "Which one of you is the leader of this base, if not the entire group?"

One of the dragon people flailed in panic. "Y-you lot already killed him on the first floor, sir!"

"We did?" Geist blinked. "What did he look like?'

"Tall, with a mean big sword..."

"Ahhh, that one." Geist tapped his chin in thgouht briefly. "Yeah, I think I killed him while in the midst of killing everyone else on that floor."

"Yeah, that makes sense." Ariel admitted, before looking toward the other dragon people. "Drop your weapons and surrender, or," He flashed his teeth at them, "Or else you're dinner."

Cue all the other enemies dropping their weapons immediately in surrender. Several of Ariel's soldiers came forth to bind and cuff any still-alive and surrendered troops.

[ Yew Finds a Wild Janne and Geist! ]

[bravelywego]

Janne looked toward Oddette briefly, sheepishly as he shrugged. "Let's just say I'm not always the best at improv...?" He slashed at two more enemies that tried to charge at Oddette and him, taking them down fast.

Araceli could be heard singing, and Janne looked up to see her charging up a particularly powerful wind spell.

"Diamondssss!! Are aaaaa, GIRLSSSS! BESTTTTT....!"

Silence. You could hear a pin drop if you tried to listen for one. Araceli grinned, before ending with the last word.

"Friend....!"

Cue her immediately firing three mini-tornadoes of wind, bowling over the last of the enemies. The enemies screamed in terror as they flailed around, getting bashed around by the wind, and they hit the ground either dead or unconscious.

Araceli landed on her feet, smiling as she clapped her hands together. "Well! I believe that battle ends in our favour~" A chuckle left her before she looked toward her soldiers. "Take any living ones as prisoners. All the dead ones, well...loot their corpses for anything useful and report them all to me. All injured, see a healing mage."

"Yes Lady Nemesis!" All the other soldiers moved to do just that. Janne wiped his brow with the back of his hand, looking around.

"That's it, huh...? That was fast...."

"Let's just say that we may be entertainers, but we're also efficient." Araceli beamed, sauntering over to Janne and Oddette. "You two did a lovely job over there~"

-----

Mona nodded, taking the charm from James as she listened to his instructions. She nodded a bit, meeting his gaze.

"Understood." She clutched it carefully. "I'll try not to break it...her...it...?" She blinked, staring down at the charm. How exactly did one label a charm that hosted a spirit within it? Who knows?

Geist, Ariel, and the troops had busted into the base and were, predictably, slashing at enemies, cutting them down, and overall terrifying the hell out of all of them. Geist used Eradication on a group of enemies charging at them, resulting in several falling down dead instantly while the surviving few screamed in terror.

"That's right, you've got a choice!" Geist cackled. "Scream and beg for mercy, or don't!"

Someone tried to fire a spell at Ariel, but he dodged it, rolling across the floor to reach the mage before he stabbed them in the chest fast and deep. The mage crumpled to the floor instantly, gasping for breath but losing blood fast. Ariel moved to stand, licking the blood off the blade before he sniffed the area, looking around. "There are more upstairs. Mages, shatter the windows!"

"Yes, sir!" Several mages shot at the windows, shattering them. Some soldiers, Geist noticed, climbed the walls somehow and just climbed right into the second floor that way to get to the enemies inside.

[ Yew Finds a Wild Janne and Geist! ]

[bravelywego]

Araceli was thrilled that Dotie basically joined in on the number. Janne, meanwhile, hadn't gotten into the groove as smoothly and nearly tripped when he was trying to keep slashing at enemies while keeping up with the beat of this melody.

It took him a few moments, but he did get into the moment, rotating and slashing at several enemies. Each of them went down fast. Some charged at him, but he dodged, sidestepping them with quick footwork.

Janne slashed at one enemy, then another, just before he noticed Araceli singing some more.

"There may come a time when a lass needs a lawyer!" Araceli called.

Janne groaned but quickly added, "But diamonds are a girls best friend!"

Araceli cheered before going on, blasting down several more enemies, "There may come a time when a heart-boiled employer thinks you're awful nice, get that ice or else no dice~!"

There were backup singers also singing (and taking down enemies at the same time, somehow). "He's your guy when stakes are high but beware when they start to descend~!"

Given the surprise beginning of the battle, the enemy was so caught off-guard that most of them had been knocked out already. The battle was definitely in Araceli's favour, for sure.

------

Mona looked up at James briefly as he complimented her skills. A satisfied grin came across her face.

"Thanks." She then continued concentrating on the illusion. Soon, lightning appeared to strike the area, followed by a wind that was starting to howl.

"We move in now." Ariel stated, looking toward Geist, Mona, and James. "Mona, stay back with the archers and keep up the illusion." He looked toward the archers, telling them to keep her protected, before looking toward the rest of his troops. He took out a horn before blowing. An enthusiastic cry of troops hungry for battle answered him.

"Charge!"

The soldiers immediately charged at the base, with mages firing spells from the back of the group to hit any gates or obstacles that could be in the way, knocking them down. It only took a minute before the soldiers breached the actual building, with Geist and Ariel following not too far behind.

Geist cackled as he let his usual, default bloody appearance appear- terrifying a few enemy soldiers right before he cut them down. "Let's do this...!"

[ Yew Finds a Wild Janne and Geist! ]

[bravelywego]

"Well, the guns singing will be good enough, and..." Araceli hummed, grinning at Oddette before looking toward the base ahead. "As for when we head out - we're going now~"

Janne stared. "What?"

Araceli looked toward her forces, yelling. "Mages - FIRE at the main gate!"

A whole gathering of mages immediately stepped forward and blasted a variety of wind, fire, and ice magic at the same time. Parts of the main gate of the base immediately splintered apart from the force of the gate, before the rest of it shattered and collapsed. Screams of horror could be heard from within the area surrounding the base, from evil dragon people who absolutely no idea what the hell was going on.

Araceli snapped her fingers as several of her forces charged forward to attack the dragon group members, taking the enemy all by surprise, and Janne heard actual music coming from the band! And was Araceli - singing!? Now!?

A kiss on the hand May be quite continental, But diamonds are a girl's best friend!

A kiss may be grand But it won't pay the rental On your humble flat, Or help you feed your pompus cat~

Some enemies charged at Janne and Oddette, but Janne immediately went to fighting them after going into Blazing Wolf stance, kicking and slashing at the enemy. Other enemies tried to attack Araceli, but she just smiled and rose into the air with her wind magic to dodge, before blasting them away with more wind magic. From the corner of his eye, Janne saw the snake on Araceli's shoulder leap off and bite an enemy soldier in the neck, making them scream in agony.

Men grow cold As girls grow old And we all lose our charms in the end!

But square-cut or pear-shaped These rocks don't lose their shape Diamonds are a girl's best friend~!

-----

Ariel looked toward James, nodding. "Good to know. We'll make sure the golems don't get too close. Now," He looked toward Mona. "Start the illusions. We'll wait for them to start panicking a bit before we run in."

Geist raised a brow. "And once we do go in...?"

A grin came across Ariel's face - but it was a bit of a hungry one, to Mona's intrigue. "Geist, you have full permission to go as full-out you like with slaughtering the enemy. Try to leave a few alive by the end, though."

"Yes!" A wide grin came across Geist's case - one of his signature, bloodthirsty ones. "Ooh, I've been craving this for a while. This'll be a fine time~!"

Mona decided to focus on the illusions and not so much on Ariel and Geist's shared bloodthirst. Her eyes glowed as she held out a hand toward the base - and dark clouds seemed to appear only seconds later, immediately starting a heavy downpour, then the sound of thunder rumbling...

[ Yew Finds a Wild Janne and Geist! ]

[bravelywego]

Tahirah, Nuriel, Arlyn and Rafaele nodded in understanding at James' explanation. "I see..."

Janne sighed in response to Oddette. "I promise that I'm not that scared of random snakes..."

Geist nodded. "Er...good luck, everyone."

Soon enough, the three groups used their teleportation crystals...

-----

Kamiizumi, Nadine, and Lena found themselves entering the area upon hearing Luciano and a now-healed-up Usama...well...arguing a bit.

Luciano threw up his hands briefly, scowling. "This is ridiculous, we should've just stormed the entire base already and defeated them all! We've been waiting forever for the enemy to just straight-up surrender!"

"Without our backup?" Usama sighed, shaking her head. "You told me about what happened when you and the others busted out DeRosa, Luciano! We can expect similar tactics from our foes here too."

Candace noticed the three first, waving at them. "Greetings. Thanks for coming along to help us out - and, er, sorry about Luciano and Usama, those two argue with each other half the time."

"As long as it doesn't get in the way of accomplishing our task, we should be fine," Kamiizumi reassured her. "What's the situation?"

Candace pointed up ahead. "We've already cornered all the dragon baddies within their base. We're trying to negotiate to get them to surrender - mainly because I really don't want to deal with more fighting. But, they're being hard-headed about not surrendering, so...."

"So...?"

Candace sighed. "I need you three to sneak into the building and start bashing heads. We already found a hidden entrance that the enemy did an embarrassingly horrible job of hiding, so you can use that to go through. We already got rid of all the traps."

----

Janne and Oddette found themselves staring at none other than Araceli Nemesis, who smiled a bit upon spottting them. She wore a surprisingly shiny dress, jeweled and elaborate, but there was some chainmail embedded into it for the sake of protection.

"Well, well, look who the cat dragged in. I presume the Countess told you what needs to be done?"

"More or less, yeah." Janne answered, facing her. He noticed several other armed people with Araceli, and there was also...a backup band nearby. "Where's the baddies?"

"Right up ahead." Araceli pointed at the base, before smiling at them. "So, tell me, what experience do you have with killing people while performing a musical number?"

"Er...none?" Janne blinked. "Why?"

"Why, we're going to bedazzle them to defeat them! We'll storm the base, start up the music, and defeat them while it's all going on." A chuckle left Araceli after. "And I'll have my precious friends pick off whoever's left standing, too."

"Friends...?" Janne immediately noticed a longer snake staring at him while perched on Araceli's shoulders. "Ah. I get it now."

Araceli hummed, nodding. "All I need for you two to do is to shoot down and stab anyone that tries to escape. Sounds pretty fun, right?"

----

Geist, James, and Mona found themselves in the midst of soldiers preparing for the battle ahead. Ariel had redressed in armor and a bit of fur lining to go with it, and he greeted the three as soon as he spotted them.

"Good timing," Ariel noted, before glancing down at Mona. "And you are...?"

Mona stared up at him. "Mona. I can use illusions and stab people." She held up her teddy bear. "And this is my friend."

Ariel looked like he was about to question why the heck Countess Tahirah sent a literal child to join them on the battlefield, but he decided not to ask after he heard about her abilities. "How elaborate are these illusions? Can they..." he paused, pointing at the base ahead, "Can they create the illusion of bad weather in a specific area, like surrounding that building?"

Mona nodded. "Yep. How bad do you want it to be?"

"Absolutely terrible. I want to strike fear in their hearts. The moment they start feeling helpless, it's all over for them." Ariel looked up at Geist and James. "I also heard from one of the spies I sent that there are some magical beasts locked in the base somewhere, so we'll have to be careful with handling them when we find them."

Geist raised a brow. "Are they dragons...?"

"Fortunately, no. There are, however, a bunch of golems, salamanders, and possibly a gryphon."

"That many creatures?" Geist stared. "Are any of those native to any places in Melodia!?"

"The salamanders can be taken back to the Anwara Region. The golems were probably summoned from who knows where, and the gryphons are usually in the mountains."

[ Yew Finds a Wild Janne and Geist! ]

[bravelywego]

Tahirah blinked, looking up at James. The description was - well, certainly interesting, even if slightly confusing to her title-wise. "The King of Cards? Does that...make Julian good at playing cards...? The ballet sounds pretty cool though..."

"Maybe we should challenge him to Go-Fish," Nuriel joked, grinning wide.

Arlyn sighed, pushing a strand of hair out of his face. "For all we know, dear, it could mean that he's an expert at making greeting cards."

Rafaele stifled laughter. "I don't think that's what it means...!"

Mona reached a hand toward Saiph to pet him. "You're the most sensible being I've met...that makes sense..."

Rafaele blinked, looking toward her. "We don't make sense?"

Mona stared at him hard. "You're really weird."

Janne couldn't help but quietly agree wiht Mona. He does kinda have a weird mysterious air to him. Gotta keep an eye on him. He looked toward Oddette, shaking his head. "Nah, I'm not scared- unless one happens to randomly leap on me out of nowhere and startle me."

Geist sighed wistfully. "Now I want to come along with you and throw snakes at you...that would be amazing."

Janne glared at him. "Don't you dare!"

Kamiizumi broke those two up immediately, before looking toward Nadine and Lena. "I think we should all get going to our respective destinations before we start actually throwing snakes around. The three of us working with Candace will be interesting - I don't think I've seen her go all-out with her illusion magic before."

"I'm just ready to break some bones with Lord Ariel." Geist hummed, standing and straightening himself. "James, Mona, ready?"

Mona nodded, looking toward Geist before hopping out of her chair. "Ready as I'll ever...be."

Tahirah passed each group teleportation crystals. "Here, for getting to who you need to get to! Good luck~!"

[ Yew Finds a Wild Janne and Geist! ]