Conrad smiled when Renza said she was feeling better, the antidote worked really well he had experienced it first-hand including it's not too great taste. It really was working and her condition improved even sitting up now as she heard the others coming into the house and talking to the Chief. She turned to him and asked whether they had come to see her specificly and Conrad smiled and nodded at her as Everette spoke up and explained it was indeed the case. "Yeah we did, Renza, you helped us a lot in our job and we wanted to say goodbye before we leave." Conrad said, he watched Everette make his mirror, his own magic didn't really allow for that sort of thing and he didn't really have anything to give her. He could however always write her or perhaps during down time visit her, maybe she could even come visit them some day and Conrad gave it some thought. It was about time to go home "You can always come visit us in Elinpyre... and if you want we can stay in touch, Renza."
"I'm sorry for your loss, Torrin. It's bad enough that she had to go, even worse that you were the one that had to do it..." Boreas said to his friend. "Thanks, I fought hard to get here." When Torrin asked him who else he had lost since he had been gone Boreas swallowed hard. He knew that at some point he was going to have to tell him. "You saw my rage the other day right? I have already spoken to Master Thallasa about it but the reason I went so off the rails was because I was taking the rage and using it as a weapon... Master Errin taught me that, how to do it. I'm not sure if this was the result he expected but it turned out this way. He taught me that when I had returned home from the field and was told Lysandros had fallen to rebel blades... the loss of my brother... it hurt, it angered me but I hid my anger from my mother, I comforted her the best I could...." Boreas looked to his friend, he was the last one of his line now. "Master Errin saw me vent my anger in training and taught me to utilise it rather than vent it... it's because my brother... Torrin... Lysandros is dead..." Boreas mask cracked and the sadness showed on his face as he scrambled to put it back together, to not break in front of his friend who had had to put someone close to him down with his own hands. Boreas had taken his revenge though, but it felt hollow once he had exacted it.
"Look you did what you thought was right, it's in the past and that isn't something we can't change. No, it wasn't easy but there was little else I could do but simply continue on. Being deployed onto the frontlines has definitely helped in that regard, it has a way of keeping your mind occupied like that." Boreas said, he knew his loyalty wasn't in question, he simply explained why he showed loyalty even in the face of such strong emotions. "It's good to have you back around." Boreas added and then fell quiet as he mentioned Mika. "So that's why you asked the Atlantean King how to return a heart to a vacant body... I'm sorry, Torrin, she must have meant a lot to you if you were even thinking about going that far for her." Boreas truly felt for his friend, having someone close to you dying by your hand, he personally didn't know what that was like but he could imagine. "Also you're the most experienced combatant when it comes to fighting the Light Chaser, everyone fighting him is at risk whether they are near you or not. It's a core principle of fighting, you take out your opponents, it doesn't mean you put people in more danger Torrin, they were thrown to the lions when they signed up for this or dragged into it and now we'll just have to make the best of it." Boreas said. "Aye, as long as there are people to remember them, they'll live on in their hearts. Mika lives on in you as do all the other people you claim to have failed, I don't know the details but I don't think that their deaths are entirely on you. And well for me my comrades live on with my men and I. I've been promoted to Captain about a year and a half or so ago, been in charge of the Emerald Company ever since." Torrin had ran because he didn't want to send people he cared about to their deaths and Boreas could definitely understand it was hard but he knew that if he didn't do it someone else would and Boreas accepted the mantle of responsibility without question. He knew it needed to be done and he would always do whatever he could to keep his men safe, he owed them all that.
Torrin shook his head and Boreas was glad to hear his friend hadn't completely broken he just had seen too much and of how things were going he was losing hope. Boreas had seen it happen to others, he himself had lost hope at times but not now. "Look, the fight to save this world isn't over yet, it hasn't fallen yet. Until it has this isn't over, you don't have to fight alone anymore, all of us are here with you. Take, Tinarah, Chrono and good old me. I intend to fight till the bitter end." Boreas said as he walked away from the fire with Torrin who then confused Boreas a little. "What had you hoped to find out here on your own then?" Boreas asked, a little confused. Torrin then went on as to how he couldn't explain it all to him. "Look you've made your choice and you already explained to me why you had made that choice, you shouldn't look for excuses, look for reasons instead. Either way my loyalty to you stems from my family, from my great grandfather Aethalus Thessalian onwards my family has shown nothing but loyalty to the throne and the royal family. Whether you like it or not you still are the Crown Prince, that's something you cannot change and you'll have to accept that someday, perhaps you already have. And that means you'll be the next King, and Thessalians serve loyally. But that isn't everything after you left I definitely was furious with you for abandoning me. I thought you were a coward for running from your duty. It took me five years to get over that. One of my comrades told me: 'Boreas, look your friend abandoned you, you're angry I get that, but if you ever see him again remember at least he's still alive.' I took five years to learn it to finally calm down and get here. Yes you hurt me with what you did, but at the very least you are still alive unlike some of the other friends I made in those past years..." Boreas explained, his loyalty would not be doubted.
They defeated the hearltess and everything seemed clear for now, another one of those strange pages appeared out of nowhere again. He could feel the ground shift and roiled beneath his feet but he couldn't see where it was coming from or see anything else that was out of place in the darkness. Tinarah, Take and Chrono seemed rather intrigued with the pages, what bothered Boreas more is that they just showed up out of nowhere, how did they end up here? He listened to the conversation as he kept an eye out on their surroundings. It seemed to pertain to that other realm again pieces of a diary, with a lot of bits missing. So they wouldn't be useful until they found the other bits and even then would their usefulness be questionable. Torrin came over to him but before he got near the core shook again more violently this time and Boreas braced against the haft of his Glaive-guisarme. The core split in two with dark flames erupting, separating Torrin and himself from the others, the flames rose ever higher making going over them impossible, going around it didn't seem possible either. As Torrin cursed and pleaded for this world to not fall, Boreas went close to his friend and placed a hand on his shoulder. He was here, the two of them wouldn't give up until they had no strength left to give. "Come on, don't lose hope quite yet. The battle isn't over until it is over or do I need to drag you along from here on out?" Boreas shouted over the roar of the flames.
Let the corruption spread upgrading Poison to Poisonra Grabbing another AP boost.
When Renza asked if they had found out what hadbeen poisoning everyone Conrad nodded. "It was a very big serpent, that was poisoning the river." Conrad explained "We took care of it though." He assured her with a smile, it wouldn't come back to haunt the village or her again. He calmly helped her drink the antidote and laughed a little when she mentioned it tasted as bad as bean sprouts. "It may not taste great, but it's good for you, it'll get rid of the poison here just a little more." Conrad said as he helped her take the dose of antidote. He knew exactly how it tasted and he hadn't been much of a fan either but he knew he just had to drain the little vial that Samuel had given him if he wanted to get better. The antidote worked miracles as Renza started to regain colour in her cheeks and her breathing wasn't as rgged anymore. "There you go, Renza, how are feeling now?" He knew the answer was going to be much better. "Yes I do, it was a very nice gift from you Renza. I didn't get to thank you for giving it to me so thank you." Conrad said as he heard the knocking on the door and Everette's voice. "It looks like you are getting some more visitors, Renza." He added with a smile.
The Neo shadows retaliated for his veritable culling of their numbers. Their counter attack hurt, but Boreas weathered the assault. When Take supported him with more MP Boreas grinned with the comment. "Thanks Take, let me take care of that." With the new magical energies given to him Boreas lay down another withering barrage of Lightning bolts, strengthened by the dark power of Torrin. With all the Neoshadows destroyed by Torrin Boreas scythed down the Darkballs before him, after those were destroyed he let fly another salvo of magical bolts to take out even more Darkballs, Boreas was racking up quite the tally among the Heartless. After his withering fire there were only scattered remains of opposition. Easy enough to mop up. HP: 61/110 AP: 0/50+10 MP: 11/30 DP: 3/3 Enemies destroyed: 15 Darkballs(9 with Thundara, 5 with AP 1 Combo Plus) Enemies Remaining: 10 Darkballs
Renza slowly seemed to wake up, as her eyes flutter open he smiled and waited for her to wake up enough to talk. She smiled as it hit her who had just woken her up. She seemed a little bit surprised to really see him. "I promised didn't I?" He said with a smile. "I wanted to come back earlier but we needed to be sure there were no problems with the antidote." Conrad said as she tried to get up, but laid back down. "Here let me help you." Conrad said as he helped her sit up and put the pillow behind her back. It would help her with drinking the antidote. "I missed you too, Renza, but Samuel has made an antidote for the poison." He took the vial from his pocket and held it out to her. "Here drink this, it's the antidote you'll be feeling all better in no time, Renza." Conrad said with a slight smile, he was glad that they had found the solution to this sickness, especially after Renza herself had gotten ill. He didn't really want to worry her by telling he had been getting sick as well.
With Torrin not wasting time either and going at it fully these Heartless stood no chance and it made Boreas smile. The warning that more might be laying in wait for them elsewhere wasn't necessary for him, he didn't expect it any other way, why else would he have wanted to wait for everyone to recover. Either way it mattered little right now, with the enemies all around them they should worry about that right now. As the Heartless surged Boreas held his ground, he would not break he would not falter, their attacks hurt but he had been through much worse. Others didn't fare as well as he did, Tinarah seemed in trouble but Take was taking care of it trying to draw more attention to himself. Boreas drew on his friend's power and shifted his keyblade into the crossbow again and unleashed an intense barrage of lightning bolts, the bolts themselves giving off a slightly purple glow as they sailed through the darkness before slamming into a group of rather unfortunate neoshadows. The barrage of lightning bolts was followed up by a hail of regular ones the neoshadows stood no chance and were scythed down mercilessly by the withering firestorm. He then sent another hail of lightning bolts into the neoshadows followed with another volley to scythe the weakened neoshadows down. He then shifted his keyblade back into his glaive to cut down the two darkballs that were creeping up on him as he took out the neoshadows. HP: 85/110 AP: 0/50+10 MP: 8/30 DP: 3/3 Activated D-link with Torrin Boreas Twin-Cast Thundara Enemies killed: 18 Neoshadows 2 Darkballs Enemies left: 40 Darkballs (12AP) 10 Neoshadows (16AP)
It didn't take long for the door to be answered. It was the Chief, his condition had worsened and the lack of sleep that was clear in the dark circles beneath his eyes probably didn't help. "Yes, we did. The poison in the water originated from a big serpent. We slew the beast and Samuel managed to make an antidote for it, speaking of which this vial is for you." Conrad said holding out a vial with the antidote for the Chieftain, the man really could use a dose, at least the worries about the illness would be gone now. The Chief lead him to where Renza was, she didn't look good, a sick white skin, her breathing ragged, it pained him seeing the energetic girl that had met them. According to the Chief it had been shaky throughout the night. "We did what we could for her, we're here to help after all." Conrad told the Chieftain. He pulled a chair closer to the bedside and sat down by her side, gently stroking her hair. He had promised her he'd come back with an antidote, here he was. He figured that the sooner she'd have the antidote the better and shook her a little. "Renza, wake up, I have returned like I promised." He said, he didn't like having to wake her like this but it was for the best and she really needed the antidote having taken in a rather significant dose of the poison.
"Yeah... I guess I was lucky I didn't swallow any water, it could have been a lot worse..." Conrad said as Samuel examined him in the moonlight. "I'll be okay, I am not feeling too terrible and the other people need it more than I do." Conrad said "Let's just get back, I feel exhausted, could use some rest. I like the sound of that." Conrad continued, he trudged along with Samuel and Everette back towards the village. When they arrived, Conrad just found a bed and lay down in it to rest up a little bit and wait for Samuel to get the antidote ready. He slept a bit restlessly but when Samuel awoke him to notify him of the fact the first batch of antidote was ready and he was to test it. He didn't mind being the test subject, better to test it on one of their own just in case there were complications even if he thought other people needed it more than he did. His symptoms didn't worsen significantly as he had been asleep and he still wasn't feeling too terrible. He tested took the antidote and the rash started to disappear and he started to feel better and his energy was returning to him. He remained in that same room he had grabbed for his quick rest as Samuel came and went several times to observe the developments. After a couple of hours Samuel declared the antidote safe for use and gave him a vial of the antidote, meant for Renza. "Yeah, I'll give it to her. Thanks Samuel." Conrad said as he took the vial and put it in one of his coat pockets, after realising that visiting Renza at the Chieftain's house would also result in a run in with the Chieftain he requested another dose for him too, just in the case it was needed for him too. "I'll go visit her right now." Conrad said as he left the inn where they had set up shop and headed for the Chieftain's house. Once there he knocked on the door and waited a few moments for an answer.
Conrad did what he had to, to make sure Everette could deal the deathblow. When the serpent was dead and the poison was evaporating into a mist, Everette however seemed unharmed by it. Samuel joined them again having hidden away from the battle. "Nicely done everyone." Conrad said as he dispelled his armour with a quick gesture. In the moonlight a starting rash could be seen all over him and just like Everette and Samuel Conrad was exhausted, more so than he normally would have been. He didn't feel exactly briliantly. "I don't feel too well...kinda itchy too..." Conrad said. He wasn't in too terrible a state with the sickness only being in the starting stages as he didn't gulp down any of the water. "I'll be okay." Conrad added, Samuel was working on an antidote and Conrad was glad they had destroyed the apparant source of the poison and were now able to get an antidote for the condition. He saw Everette drawing the mark he had seen when on the back of the serpent. "I think I have seen that symbol before... but I don't remember where exactly..." Conrad said, he tried to think of where he had seen it. "It must have been working with people... those guards they weren't killed by a serpent, the wounds didn't really match anything a serpent this size would do to a person." Conrad explained, he looked around in the low light. There were trails that implied the snake had been around. "In addition it's like you mentioned the water supply was not connected to this river it had to be done by someone having access to the serpent's venom..." Conrad said putting puzzle pieces together. "Either way without the serpent to provide new venom the water in the well will clean up eventually. We got a critical piece in the plan of whoever did this, so they can't continue poisoning the water. We did what had to be done. We can get an antidote and cure these people." Conrad was exhausted but he had to hold it together just until they got back to the village, maybe they could all get some rest when they got back.
He had been mildly succesful in his initial attack, leaving a vulnerable spot on the snake's back, however it was out of reach for now and as Conrad hoped to direct his attack towards the opposite side of the snake's head that Everette was targeting the great Serpent reared back and made for Everette, only to be protected by Samuel's magic, Conrad looked over the mage was giving every last bit of his magic power to make sure the two of them had a chance at defeating this beast. "Samuel, withdraw to the trees. Everette and I got this." Conrad called over to him, he wasn't being mean, with most of his magical energy spent on saving Renza and keeping the villagers safe today he was at the end of his rope, it'd be better if he stayed out now, for if Samuel were hurt badly or worse poisoned they were in big trouble. The Serpent however wasted no time in attempting to make short work of them in spraying poisoned water their way, he could protect himself and Everette had a way to protect himself too, but Samuel... Everette rushed over and cast a reflection spell to shield Samuel, Conrad utilised his own reflection to deflect the water sprayed at him, he had his armour but having ended up in the poisoned river he was certain that getting hit by that spray would still have it's effects on him, he already had a bad feeling about having been in the water and in such close proximity to the poison, he couldn't focus on that now though. Before Conrad could try and get on top of the snake again, Everette leaped on the back of the serpent in the hopes of utilising the weak spot he had created, so Conrad fell into the role of distraction hoping to keep the snake steady so Everette could end this. Conrad charged up a sphere of lightning in his hand, more to draw attention to himself than anything else, the magical orb softly glowing in the dark of night. He waved it around in his free hand to make sure the Serpent's attention was on him when Everette dealt his blow. Conrad remained wary though, ready to dodge out of the way very quickly if necessary.
With Take getting into his cloak and Tinarah commenting having worn one of those before. It seemed noteworthy, but it was probably in that other dimension she loved to talk about and his assumption had been right when she elaborated on the matter. Boreas was in his armour, the cloak of his costume hanging from his shoulders, the only sign of him still wearing the super hero costume beneath his armour. The Bowler hat guy wasn't at all helpful but it didn't seem to matter too much. Torrin warned them to prepare for some heavy combat and to stick together. Well Torrin had suggested it would almost feel like home, perhaps even more so than he realised, Boreas would be ready for heavy fighting, without his comrades then again they probably wouldn't be as useful in combat against the heartless. Boreas followed after Torrin through the portal keyglaive-guisarme in his hands. As he exited the Portal Torrin had been right it felt more like home than the world itself was. The Darkness not bothering him, just like Torrin, Boreas' eyes glowed a little in the dark as he remained wary. As the others spoke among themselves Boreas remained quiet, looking around him, as he only half-listened to what was said. When Torrin asked him if he was getting anything Boreas was about to speak up when they appeared as their surroundings darkened. "There's your answer, Torrin." Boreas said back to him. "Alright everyone stick close, backs to each other, weapons facing out. It's the strongest formation we have." Boreas said. "We have faced worse than this and come out on top, trust the person beside you to have your back. As long as we all stand they cannot overcome us. We shall hold this ground to our final breaths if we have to! We shall not falter, we shall not fail!" Boreas shouted planting the back of his glaive-guisarme into the ground as if planting a banner to give his words force, before taking his position. Boreas shifted his Keyblade into his crossbow and fired off lightning bolts at all the red nocturnes, they were a significant threat to their static position. The lightning bolts crashed into the Red Nocturnes wiping every last one of them out in a single volley. And having two bolts in the magazine left he fired those at a rather unfortunate pair of Blue Rhapsodies closeby, which were followed up by regular bolts. He then shifted his Keyblade into it's Glaive form, stabbing and slashing a few Darkballs apart with reckless abandon he wasn't going to let these heartless overtake him, he would not falter, he would not fail. He kept the two people beside him safe, hoping they would guard his flanks like he did theirs. HP: 110/110 AP: 8/50+10 MP: 22/30 DP: 3/3 Boreas used Inspiring Presence Boreas cast Thundara. (9 Shots due to Black Mage) Enemies Defeated: 7 Red Nocturnes 5 Darkballs (4 AP + 1 from Combo Plus) 2 Blue Rhapsodies(2 hits from Thundara + AP) Remaining Heartless: 61 Darkballs (12AP) 49 Neoshadows (16AP) 12 Yellow Operas (4AP) 8 Blue Rhapsodies (4AP)
The serpent was trying its best to dislodge him which told Conrad he was on the right track at the very least. The beast writhed and flexed beneath him as Conrad battered the spike with the lightning ball. The beast made it harder and harder to keep his footing with the scales covered in the poison they made for a slippery and treacherous surface. As the spike finally started to give, Conrad noticed something on the head of the snake, something that should not have been there. The mark seemed very familiar, but he couldn't place it not in the moment, Conrad was dragged out of his thoughts by the snake smashing it's head against a rock, Conrad not paying too much attention to the movements of the great serpent and he felt his foot slip, he tried to regain his balance but another jerk of the snake sent him falling down into the water crying out in surprise as he did, the ball of lightning disappearing from his hands. The armour wasn't as heavy as it seemed and it didn't weigh him down as much as a normal suit of armour did but Conrad disappeared under water for several moments, he had to contend with the serpent thrashing in the water and try to swim away from it to not get crushed, Conrad put some distance between him and the serpent before he surfaced gasping for air. The serpent seemed furious and understandably so, he felt more and more tiredmore so than he usually did when utilizing his armour something definitely wasn't right, especially not with that mark. He had to go to the shore, he couldn't let Everette and an exhausted Samuel deal with this on their own. He dragged himself onto the shore taking a moment to catch his breath, something wasn't right, he didn't want to think of it, but he had to keep going. He got up and drew his sword, going over to help Everette, the plan had failed, unless he could get back up there again there was no way it was going to work now. He inscribed the runes on the blade, the same purple glow enshrouding it's steel blade and Conrad surged forward, putting the speed added speed and the magical power into the thrust trying to pierce the serpents thick hide with his rapier, if he could make an opening then perhaps Everette could exploit it, or atleast he could definitely put the hurt on the snake too.
Dubhán merely looked in Blaine's direction when he apologised and assured there was nothing holding them back now. With the other team returned they could finally get going now. Noire told them that they wouldn't be lead by Qrow from now on but by her, he had already noticed that Qrow wasn't among them anymore and simply assumed the change in leadership. Arian joked he probably had to go refill his flask which got a bit of a chuckle out of Dubhán. As they headed out he remained near the back of his team, providing rear-guard it also provided him with the excuse to be on his own a little more, he wasn't nearly as talkative as Arian was and wasn't very good with small talk anyways so he focussed on his surroundings and remained sharp. When they hit the fork, Arian suggested going to the left, it was fine with him either way. With the other team going down the other path they were left with Noire. She seemed to insinuate something strange, but he wasn't going to question it. He also wasn't going to speak up that he was already doing exactly what she had asked of them to keep their eyes and ears open, figuring pointing it out one time that day was more than enough and he didn't want to be on the receiving end of the power she had displayed in front of them. Dubhán heard the sounds around them in the bushes and as Noire grabbed her weapons Dubhán had already drawn his. He was however not expecting to see people here wearing masks in imitation of the Grimm, were they bandits? Noire seemed to be more familiar with them. However the message was clear, they were told to leave now. Dubhán patiently awaited word from the leadership on their decision, even if they didn't have much of a choice. Arian mentioned not wishing to kill any of his own... these people they were faunus too, if they hadn't been Dubhán might have questioned what he meant exactly with that. If Arian had been a bandit himself Dubhán would have a problem with him. Vice too now looked ready for a fight. They were on a collision course and there was no avoiding it. With Arian's plan failed they called the attack, Dubhán was already waiting. Holding the twin blades in a guard he waited for the inevitable attacks that came his way. The first White Fang Member that came his way lunged with a blade. Dubhán parried the blow off to the side, opening up the White Fang member for an attack, which Dubhán made a use off first attacking with his free hand, using the blade of the golok to slash at his enemy's exposed torso, then following it up by a second slash from his other golok, running all the way along the arm to the torso before kicking the man away, falling over onto his back. Dubhán then whirled around blocking a downwards strike with his left hand golok and intending to slash at his foe but his blow was parried so Dubhán spun out from under the blow freeing up his blade and going directly for another slash this one hitting home. Dubhán took up a low crouch with both weapons at a guard waiting for his foes to come at him, remaining wary of his surroundings. Enemies Defeated: 2 White Fang Members Enemies Remaining: 13 White Fang Members BP: 1/7 remaining Bullets: 3/3
Chrono asked the villains what they were up to and Boreas wasn't really interested in their plans too much, they weren't here for those plans. One thing was notable however... a woman in a dark robe provided them with the plans for the machine. Boreas turned to the villains. "Woman in a robe, what can you tell us about them? Ever seen them before, anthing more unusual about them than simply wearing robes? Did she mention where she showed up from? Just anything." Boreas asked, before Torrin explained what the next move forward was. Headed for the heart of this world? As Take, Chrono and Tinarah questioned whether it could be done, the rather monotone tone of Take making him raise an eyebrow. "Obviously it would be dangerous hence why Torrin wanted to make sure we were all in good shape before moving forward." Boreas said. Torrin explained why it was necessary with an interesting analogy, it was a sound analogy though and it all made sense. Torrin had been prepared for this occasion and mentioned that the two of them would feel right at home, Boreas was still going to wear his armour though, he also did that back home, up to the point it had pretty much become his second-skin. "Let's get to it then..." Boreas said, eager to go after getting the answers from the Villains there was hardly any reason to get to it right away then, it was a pressing matter and they didn't have anything else left to be done.
Torrin and Darkwing finished the machine off and for a moment it looked like it would rise up once more but the super heroes of this world destroyed it for good. Boreas snorted when Darkwing complained. "It's a thankless job, Darkwing." Boreas said with a smile. Mr incredible gave them a compliment albeit a little back handed one. Boreas was still going to play along though. He put away his keyblade and joined Take and Tinarah that were talking to the heroes. Take asked how it had been possible for those super heroes to be overwhelmed that easily and it was something Boreas was interested in hearing too, the hats were rather flimsy after all, even taking them by surprise it would require several dozens of the flimsy things to get it done. As Boreas listened to the conversation he was thinking, it made sense heartless were a lot harder to fight without the keyblade. Torrin had an idea on how to solve it but according to him they ought to rest. "Alright so what is the plan to resolve this issue? What might lie at the core of all this?" Boreas inquired if they knew what they were up against then perhaps it'd be easier to convince the others to rest up for a little bit. As green light washed over him he looked around for the source of it and finding Tinarah was the source of it he gave an appreciative nod in her direction before turning back to Torrin. He trusted his friends judgement and clearly he had an idea of what might lie at the core of this all and if he figured rest would be beneficial it'd be fine, even if he himself wasn't in particular need of it.
Let the Repeating Crossbow scythe through the enemy lines! (Double Cast) Twin HP One AP
