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[grandbellknight]

[Have some fitting music...

Croix is sitting in the park, drenched from the chest up with seltzer water. And as if to make matters worse, he's got the remains of a cream pie sliding down his hair. He is not happy.]

What's gotten into everyone...?

Comments

[desertdaggers]

[Hawk's rubbing the back of his head, keeping an eye out for anything on the ground as he heads over.] Haven't the faintest idea! They seem to be enjoying themselves, though. [He shrugs a little, and smiles.] Mind if I sit down?

[grandbellknight]

At others' expenses, sure. But, I guess it could be worse. They could be attacking us.

[He manages the smallest, faintest of smiles and nods.]

No, go ahead. [A beat, then he jokes:] Unless you're carrying a pie.

[desertdaggers]

That's true. Pies and sprays of water aren't that bad!

[He laughs, and sits, leaning back against the bench.] No, not one! I'm not entirely sure where they're getting them. Did you see?

[grandbellknight]

There were tables out, at one point. After a while, though, they seemed to just vanish. I don't really understand it. [A small, somewhat rueful smile] But really, I haven't understood much since I got here. Everything is... very different.

[desertdaggers]

Brought in just for the moment? Very strange. I don't think anyone else is used to somewhere quite like this.

[grandbellknight]

Probably not, from the sound of it. At least, the people I've spoken with, anyway.

Have you been here before, or are you new?

[desertdaggers]

[He nods.] I've been here before, yes. I'm Hawk. I take it you're new?

[grandbellknight]

Yeah, I'm new. Miss Fuu and Miss Sophie were able to tell me a great deal about what happened last time they were here. I assume you were here when they were last time as well?

[desertdaggers]

Mm, that's right. I arrived after them, so I don't know as much, but I'm willing to offer any help I can.

[grandbellknight]

I appreciate it. [He smiles a bit.] I'm Croix, by the way.

[desertdaggers]

Nice to meet you, Croix! [He grins in return.] What kind of place do you come from?

[grandbellknight]

Metafalss. It's a land built around a tower, suspended in the sky. And actually, the city I live in is at the very top of the tower.

[He does, however, conveniently fail to mention that the land isn't enough for the population, and they're trying to create more and pretty much failing miserably at the moment... eheh?]

And your world? What is it like?

[desertdaggers]

[He whistles.] You must get quite a view! Although- would you only have windows on the outside of the tower? Are there are lot of cities in the tower?

We're spread out across the continents- I come from the southernmost land, Navarre. It's mostly desert there. […at least you're not being mindcontrolled to invade the northern neighbours, Croix.]

[grandbellknight]

Ah, no. The city sits at the very top. There aren't any cities actually inside the tower. No one can live in there. [He smiles.] And yes, the view's definitely something.

Desert? Is it possible to live in the desert? [The only desert he knows is completely unsuitable for settlement.]

[desertdaggers]

No? What was it built for, then? [he leans forward, interested.]

It's not the easiest of places to live, but we've managed so far. [Whether they'll be able to live there much longer he doesn't know, though.]

[grandbellknight]

For everything, actually. The Tower processes the song magic of the Reyvateils, controls the watercontains systems to monitor and stabilize the weather so that Metafalss doesn't fall toward the surface of the planet... [A bit of as sheepish smile.] There are more functions that even I don't know anything about. It's a pretty important part of everyone's life.

That's admirable. Is there a reason you settled there in the first place?

[desertdaggers]

So it supports everything… that's incredible! Must have taken a lot to set it up. Song magic? How does that work?

[He shakes his head.] We settled there before I was around, so I'm not all that sure. Probably it was far enough away from anyone who'd want to pursue us.

[grandbellknight]

It was constructed way before my time, also by song magic. [He pauses, trying to think of the best way to explain...] A Reyvateil is a woman who is connected to the tower on a... spiritual level, I guess is the right phrasing. They can sing songs - song magic - and the tower takes those songs and makes their feelings real. So, a reyvateil could sing to heal someone's wounds, or drive back the enemy. They can do any number of things, really.

I see. Not many would chase a group into a desert unless they had some sort of grudge.

[desertdaggers]

Mm, that's really something. Most of the people I know specialise in one way of manipulating the mana in the world. So it's only women?

Mm, I think that's what they were counting on.

[grandbellknight]

[He nods.] That's right. There are only female reyvateils. What do you mean by mana?

[That sounds ominous. Part of him wants to ask, but he has a feeling it isn't his business, so he leaves it alone. Maybe the man will continue on his own.]

[desertdaggers]

Mana is [a wide, sweeping gesture] the force behind everything, back home. It's most obvious in magic, of course, but everything relies on it if you go deep enough- mana's what's helped sustain the oases, for instance.

[On the other hand, Hawk doesn't know much about the details of most of the Guild's raids before his time- except when they've been related as horror stories to tell the newer thieves what not to do. That might not go over so well.]

[grandbellknight]

[He smiles, clearly interested.] In a way, it's like the tower... without the physical tower.

[desertdaggers]

Ah, well- the Mana Tree is the source of all Mana, so I suppose that would be like your tower. Though there aren't people living around it.

[vengefulagent]

[Wash shuts off his video feed before he replies, but Croix may note a different quality in Wash's voice. it doesn't sound filtered or anything as it did when they first met. (shame the damn whistling music hasn't exactly left him...)]

They got you too, huh? [he sighs loudly, and there's a sound like a spray bottle being sprayed]

[grandbellknight]

[Croix leaves the video on - he's a little more concerned with trying to dry off his glasses.]

Yeah. They did. Everything was so calm one minute, and then everyone started throwing pies. I didn't find shelter until it was too late. [Mumble, grumble...]

[vengefulagent]

[cryptically] Be glad they were only pies.

[grandbellknight]

[That's worrying.]

Don't tell me you were hit with something else just now?

[vengefulagent]

[he was thinking of something a bit deadlier, but decides to let the matter pass]

Not...exactly. Let's just say that banana peels are more trouble than they look. [slipping on four in the span of fifteen minutes certainly was not one of his proudest moments]

[grandbellknight]

[Have a sympathy wince.]

I managed to avoid those, but I saw others who weren't so lucky.

[vengefulagent]

I'm betting none of them had armor to clean later.

[a pause as he notices the video feed] ...Do I even need to ask what happened to you?

[grandbellknight]

Definitely not. [A pause] You know, aside from us, I haven't seen anyone else wearing armor... [And he's removed his since then, so... looks like you're the only one until shit gets real. Sorry, man.

And at the question, he sighs, and pulls off his glasses to try and rub the water spots off of them with his shirt sleeve.] No, it's... pretty much what you see. Pies and... soda water.

[vengefulagent]

It's very possible we're the only two soldiers in the area. If things get ugly, there's the possibility we might break a sweat. [and he's counting on things getting worse. never hurts to be prepared.]

[watches Croix do that for a moment before returning to his own cleaning processes] Someone around here must be a comedian.

[grandbellknight]

We'll just have to take care of it ourselves. [Croix will be ready. It isn't as though he's exactly expecting things to get worse, but he won't be surprised when it happens.]

A comedian, or a child. Though how a child could convince all of a city to get in on the act... [Sigh. It's not like he hasn't seen mind control before, but saying it as a possibility might drive it home and it's not something he wants to think about.]

[vengefulagent]

[he doesn't respond, but the faintest hint of a smile twitches at the corners of his lips. Croix's words are a welcome respite from the bickering simulation troopers he was dealing with before arriving in town.]

It's not that difficult to imagine, especially if that child has parents in high places. [he's no stranger to the preferential treatments those in power show to their favorites.]

[grandbellknight]

[He thinks about that... and realizes there's a prime example in his own life: a particular Maiden getting her way at the drop of a hat, ever since she was just a small child. ... ... yep. He sighs.]

Things in this place keep getting more and more... ... interesting.

[vengefulagent]

Interesting isn't always a bad thing. Right now, I'm more concerned about what's going on back where I'm from. [and what those idiots are doing while he's not there to keep an eye on them.]

[grandbellknight]

I am, too. [But then, he narrows his eyes, recalling something he heard from Miss Sophie before.]

Someone who was here before told me that when she did make it home, it was like time didn't even pass. Nothing happened while she was here. [It still doesn't make a lot of sense to him, though.]

[vengefulagent]

[there's a soft clunk as he sets his helmet down] Is that right? I'd heard something similar, but I wondered about the validity of that claim. Nonetheless, we don't know if that's how it will be for us or any of the others who were here before.

[grandbellknight]

I do think it's a valid claim. [He trusts Sophie.]

But that we'll have the same luck is a pretty optimistic assumption, and not one I'm willing to directly act on. [Always prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Always.]

[vengefulagent]

[yeah, he's going to reserve some judgement there until he can see it happen before his own eyes]

We can't exactly act on it until we find a way out anyway. There'll be time for optimism once we find a way to break through those teleportation loops or whatever is keeping us in this bubble.

[grandbellknight]

[He only knows one person - er, wolf? - capable of teleportation, and he's pretty sure it's not the same thing they're being subjected to.]

We have nothing like it in Metafalss. Do you have any leads or ideas?

[vengefulagent]

Back where I'm from, teleporter units exist to aid in the safe distribution of troops in the battlefield, though the return trip isn't always as easy as the original one going out. However, I haven't seen any technology around the borders of the town to indicate such a device is being employed. [the lack of glowing light fields is also a good indicator that such things aren't here]