The reappearance of Ardyn was not a welcomed one and in fact, he groaned moments after he had appeared. That annoyance and the groan it had spawned from was only short-lived as the news of Glyde's death reached them. He was surprised, shock and any anger he felt towards Ardyn was starting to be mixed in as well. His grip on his keyblade was still firm as the crimson blades summoned by Ardyn was aimed at them. If he was lucky, whatever had happened earlier might occur once more. It did not happen, nor did Chrono become reduced to a pin cushion of crimson blades. A light had exploded before them, blinded both parties while staving off Ardyn's attack. The light faded and Ardyn was no longer standing before them and instead in his place was the Light Chaser. Chrono's heart sank for two reasons, the first being that they were currently faced with the Light Chaser, the man that the council had been taking precautions to avoid facing off with. If the entirety of the council were trying to avoid conflict, then what was it that they, a bunch of students, two masters and a knight could hope to do at this moment. The second was how out of the corner of his eye was Tinarah trying to attack the Light Chaser. He was relieved to see that Illiana had stopped her, but the twinge of annoyance at her actions remained. Chrono knew full well that his sister had plenty to hold the Light Chaser accountable for and he did as well. It had been his student that had kidnapped her and he himself who threw her into the other realm. That had not been forgotten nor would be forgiven til he got his own form of payback. Still despite Chrono didn't act on these desires as it would've been easy it for him to just blow them away and take Aria and leave. Him not doing so must've meant that he was here for a different reason and it was for that reason he too wanted him to just cut to the chase. Whatever it was couldn't have been good and hopefully, it wouldn't keep him from figuring a way out of this situation.
Kel felt some concern upon seeing a bunch of keyblades just lying among the other piles of collected treasures, but decided it was better to not ask about it. The answer to said question felt like it was something he'd rather not know about. Kaida, being the brightly dressed out of all of them, took it upon herself to be the bait to lure out the crab and unlike their wolf friend, he couldn't just throw out some crystals to aid in the shiny. What he could do was to move around and call out his keyblade, ready to toss it as a further distraction if needed.
Chrono had effectively toned out what the horned king next set of arrogant boasting threats due to the simple fact that there had been three of himself going to attack the king himself. He didn't recall ever dodging the attack, in fact, he was pretty certain that he had remained still for most of this. Yet he was completely unscathed from the attack and somehow was attacking him again. He made the smart decision to stop trying to wrap his head around this and attack the king once more. The fight had to have been drawing near its conclusion after everything that they've thrown at him. Chrono used Ars Arcanum and attacked HP: 137/145 MP: 30/35 FOC: 15/50 FLUX: 2/3
Vice was relatively unfazed by the punch, he stumbled back a bit, but overall stayed standing. The punch wasn't going to be something that he was just going to let happen, but what Arian had said rubbed him the wrong way. So instead of simply punching him back, Vice was sure to grab hold of his collar and swiftly headbutt him. "If he was as great as you claim him to be, then why did he get caught? If you care so dearly about him, then why didn't you stop them?" Each emphasis was aimed at Arian with a sharpness that could rival a knife. "Listen here, you don't know a damn thing about me and I don't care to share a single detail about me to you. Comrades, friends, bonding, all that can easily hold you back." Vice had never been one to back down, didn't matter who they were thus while the sight of his K-9s might've intimidated someone else, it was practically moot against him. "If you have a problem with that, then put that nose of yours to use and get back your precious leader, or better yet show me how much worse than a punch you can do and I'll be sure to return the favor."
Gale was pretty thrown off by the sudden mood change Evie had taken given that she was just hiding behind him only moments ago. He may not have thought it was all that needed, but he still made a note of what word had set her off to avoid saying it by mistake. Readying his next attack, Gale heard Raelyn's remark and thought about it. This was going way to easy for someone who was doing all that bragging and it didn't feel right with him. He then fired a Great Fire Blast towards Hector while staying back in case he tried anything. Gale used Great Fire Blast and prepared to dodge
No one else had any ideas on how to get across that wasn't walking and Lazuli wasn't all that surprised by that. Even in own semblance had limited uses in this particular situation. In theory, he could use it on Auburn given her smaller statue, but that would be a horrible idea on multiple accounts. "If we're all in agreement, then let's get a move on," Lazuli said, venturing off towards the temple. "It was his own fault." Vice said bluntly. With the rest of the White Fang either already beaten, having fled, Vice hefted his weapon over his shoulder as he turned to look at his group. "He let his guard down and this is the price he paid for doing so, going after him would just be a waste." Not a single shred of remorse could be found in his voice. Only the usual coldness that seemed to linger as he turned to go off ahead on his own.
Kel listened to Kaida as she explained the reason behind her wooden charms, understanding why it was that she made them, but was also curious as to what animal she would consider him. It wasn't even a question that he could answer himself. So the whittled frog that Kaida was holding out to him was a surprise on two accounts. The first being that he wasn't expecting to be given a frog and the second was that frogs were actually one of his favorite animals in general. The charm was accepted with a smile on his face as he said, "Thanks, frogs are actually one of my favorite animals." He took care in pocketing it and walking up to the abyss. Taking in a deep breath, Kel jumped into the darkness and whatever was awaiting them below.
Luck had been on Chrono's side more so than usual as he managed to get off of that last attack unscathed. Now, this is where things felt off with some of the others. At a glance, they appeared to be fine, but something was telling him that something was wrong. It wasn't gut feeling like usual in these situations, his gut feeling never caused the keychain on his keyblade to start shaking as much as it was now. Chrono decided to try to figure out what was going on and just go with it. Focusing his thoughts on his keyblade, a surge of magic coursed through him as his sister's D-link was activated. Chrono turned towards the others and used said magic to cast Esunaga on Tinarah, Take and Illiana. "Hang in there you guys!" His keychain stopped its shaking following it which meant that was a strange way for his keyblade to alert him on the condition of his teammates. Chrono activated Tinarah's D Link and cast Esunaga on Tinarah, Take and Illiana HP: 117/145 MP: 25/35 FOC: 23/50 FLUX: 2/3
Chrono instinctively went to protect himself when the flames headed towards him. Despite feeling the warmth of the flames on his arms, there was no actual impact. He gave Take a quick thumbs up before turning back to the battle at hand. Once again thanks to Tinarah the lingering pain had gone away and following Torrin's fancy display, he himself went in for the attack. It was pretty simple compared to what had occurred just before, but Chrono wasn't that athletic. The best he could manage was a leap in the air that caused a shockwave to occur right when he landed. Chrono used Meteor Crash and Attacked HP: 127/145 MP: 35/35 FOC: 26/50 FLUX: 3/3
Kel's opinion of Maui wasn't exactly improving at any point. He was even starting to doubt that Maui was as great as he continued to claim he was, but the answer to that would come in due time. Long as that hook was as important as he claimed it to be. Arriving at their destination, Kel stared upward at the large mountain that they were expected to climb. Honestly using their gliders seemed like it would be an easier way to go about it seeing as they could fly all the way up on them, but after seeing Maui, Moana and the wolf climb up, he decided to do so as well. The wolf climbing up the mountain was more of the tipping point to that decision. First, however, he made his way over to Kaida. "What were those wooden charms you took out of your bag?" He had noticed them out of the corner of his eye when they caught up to Maui but was more preoccupied with getting some answers to ask about them at that particular instance.
Whatever it was that had been causing Chrono to feel weaker despite not fully taking a hit thanks to Take, had gone away with his sister's magic. Admittedly it felt like a weight was taken off his shoulders, despite there not being any actual effect beyond that on him. Light had begun to take form around keyblade, forming a blade that allowed for a shockwave to be fired off towards the horned king. Chrono used Blade Beam and Attacked HP: 145/145 MP: 35/35 FOC: 30/50 FLUX: 3/3
The sudden appearance of another Thea, rather Nagata, was surprising for a bit until the reveal itself had been made. He had forgotten that Nagata could actually do that with her magic. Zephyr didn't have much to add beyond a simple shrug to Shawn's question. "If she wants to, she can." And she did state that she wanted to come along with them. Keeping that in mind, Zephyr noted who actually would be tagging along. Nagata, Shawn, Gavin and myself, that makes four. That was an interesting composition for a group. He nodded in affirmation and said, "That leaves letting Midarah know about this." Maira had taken the job and almost instantly the laidback smile on her face faded. Between the key points on the mission and what Lakoda had told her, it was easy to see what she was referring to. In fact, it wasn't surprising to hear that both Conrad and Everette were going along with her. The two of them had been with her for just as long as she had, possibly even longer. Maira then proceeded to smile, then placed a hand on her shoulder. "Count me in, let's get your voice back."
The army around them had backed off for the main villain to step up to bat. The way the mist from the cauldron had swirled around the Horned King reminded him of Kefka and how unpleasant that fight had been. It actually made him sigh in relief that there were a lot more of them here now then there was on that fight. Following behind Boreas, Chrono had attacked with his keyblade using a simple strike of his keyblade and quickly followed up with a fury of blows that ended with Chrono putting distance between himself and the Horned King. Chrono used Ars Solum and Attacked HP: 145/145 MP: 35/35 FOC: 39/50 FLUX: 3/3
Catching up to Maui had been easy enough with their gliders, though the actual convincing of Maui had taken a bit more judging from the spectacle that he had witnessed. he pulled his glider up to the side of the boat and boarded it, dismissing his glider as he did. As soon as he was stable, he turned to look to Maui. It may have been good that they had an objective of sorts now, none of the names that were mentioned rang any bells, which was to be expected, but still. However, the wolf that had started tagging along with them actually growled when this 'Te Ka' person was mentioned. Shame none of them can speak wolf, especially when the wolf in question can actually understand them. "So who or what exactly is this 'Te Ka'?" Kel asked, wanting to know exactly what it was they would be dealing with. It sounded like something that should be pretty intimidating if a demi god was wary of it. Not the most encouraging of things to know, then again Kel wasn't certain what to think of Maui still. Said demi god didn't want to face it without his hook, which could be presumed to be his weapon in instance. Explains why those tally marks were shaped like hooks. "While I'm asking, do you even know how to get to this Lair of Tamatoa?"
Zephyr saw no reason to respond to Yukyo once the small group of cats had appeared and rubbed up against him. He did smirk though at the evidence that had conveniently shown itself. He was however surprised by Yukyo's sudden outburst of fish and how casually Thea said she wanted to ride on a yacht. Sometimes he forgot that she was rich. "I appreciate the concern, but I'm fine." He assured Gavin, then glance over to the pet sitting mission. It sounded easy enough and an easy mission would be appreciated right now. "If that's the case, we can take that mission off your hands." He offered. As there was nothing urgent that needed her attention, Maira had just been lingering around up until Lakoda had run into her. Even though the charm had done the job of greeting her, she still attempted to figure out Lakoda signing it to her. She never picked it up despite her many attempts at trying to do so. Alas, the attempts ended with little success. "Hmm, she should be in her office last I checked. What mission did you choose?"
First it had been a dragon that had caught Chrono's attention, then it was a horde of the undead heading their way. Chrono took in a breath to mentally prepare himself then proceeded to head down into the fray alongside the others. His glider reverted to its keyblade form once he was inches and the ground and despite the somewhat rough landing, Chrono kept his footing and turned his keyblade into its gun form. Now was as good as a time as any to get some practice in with it. Standing his ground, Chrono started firing shots towards the horde of cauldron-borns to both keep them at bay while knocking them back.
The crack of wind was a clear answer to his own question. He wasn't sure what kind of luck had them face someone a much higher level than them right after they had gotten through with the tutorial fight, but it couldn't have been good. "I'd be careful back there." Evie had hidden behind him once more and he'd rather not her get injured due to an attack knocking him back. Turning the pages of his spellbook, Gale unleashed a combination of fire and wind towards Hector. Gale cast Great Tornado and Blaze Column
Following the strange wolf had led them to find Stratos, Kaida, and AJ there talking to someone who was apparently the 'Maui' that Moana had been looking for. First however Kel greeted the ones that he actually did know with a quick wave. He then went ahead and shook his head 'no' to Kaida's question, during said time Maui had heard of the boat Moana had and promptly ditched them to sailed off in the distance. "He actually ditched us." There was slight disbelief that hung in Kel's voice. He may not have had any idea on who this Maui guy was or what he did besides stealing the heart of Te Fiti, whatever that was, so this wasn't helping his case. He followed the lead of his comrades and called out his own glider and wasted no time boarding it and chasing after Maui.
His conversation with Midarah did help him feel at ease, the underlying concern he felt was still there and not going anywhere anytime soon. Zephyr managed to distract himself from it over the coming days with a variety of things. His usually training routine with the occasional new thing thrown in there to help with his magic, plus speaking with Izra. All this had made it so his worries were not at the top of his mind, but unfortunately, there were still there, leaving him with little to do beyond trust in Midarah's words and not dwell on this. Now, however, Zephyr found himself in a new predicament, he had no idea what to do right now. He didn't feel like training right now, nor did he wish to visit the library. He'd ponder on this as he walked towards the main hall and stopped upon hearing a small mewl in front of him. The reason being that there was a little kitten in front of him, staring at him. Zephyr stared back at the kitten, then the latter walked up to his leg and rubbed its head against him. Crouching down, Zephyr picked up the kitten and it very quickly found its way to his shoulder and perched up there. This seemed like something Yukyo would know about this. The stray kitten had effectively given him something to do as he made his way down to the main hall, he spotted Yukyo by the job board next to Thea. He still needed to get a look at those anyway, but first thing first. "Hey Yukyo, you have something to do with this?" Zephyr motioned to the kitten that was still comfortably perched on his shoulder.
Kel had immediately looked to the strange wolf who had just appeared between the two of them. It didn't look native to the island at all, not that a wolf being on an island like this was something he'd thought he'd see anyway. Not mention it had shaken its head to Moana's question, meaning that it could understand them. "Okay? What's on your mind?" A valid question seeing as it had made an effort in showing them something by biting into his clothing. Maybe it was about the rock it was currently sitting on and the oddly shaped tally marks. "You think that this 'Maui' person left those?"
