Home: The Gemist Lair

Echo woke up like every other morning, tucked under a thick blanket. He woke up before his alarm went off, and when it did he squeezed his eyes tight as it beeped over and over. He quickly hit the top of it and sighed. He looked over at the wall that his bed was pushed against and saw a calender. He looked for the specific day, and his eyes widened with excitement. He pushed the blanket off of him, revealing he was only wearing a slim black v neck shirt and a pair of black boxer briefs. The date read 'First Mission'. This was the day he had been waiting for for a few weeks now. The Cramming year of Gemist Hunter Training finally paid off. Today hes finally going to become a Gemist Hunter.

Echo quickly walked over to his closet, putting on his daily wear. After taking off his night shirt, he put in a thin black and gray stripped sweater and a pair of black pants along with black running boots, and walked out his room. His room was on the 12 level of a 24 leveled building that was away from normal beings. This was known as Home, its not only where the Gemist Hunters stay and train, but its where the Scientists of G.E.M. undergo experiments and where different data on Gemists and threats can be found. He walked down the metal floor, each level had a square perimeter made out of metal for the floor, to the left of the metal floor where the rooms but to the right was a rail where if peered over you could see the bottom level. Echo yawned a little as he scratched his head as he came closer to the northern perimeter of the level he was one where the Elevator could be found. He made it to the elevator and pressed level one.

After a few seconds he managed to get to the bottom floor. He ran out of the elevator and watched as the Gemist Hunters and Scientists walked back and forward. The nervousness finally kicked in. He walked towards the registration desk,"Today is my first mission." He said softly looking up at the lady who was typing on the Holographic computer.

"Please show me your bar-code." She said without emotion, the same as her distant gray eyes and her pale white hair, all the woman across the registration desks appeared this way."Oh...right." Echo said trying not to make eye contact with her. He turned his back towards her and pulled up the hair that fell on his neck, showing a bar-code that looked as though it should have been on a box of cereal or store item. She lady placed her hand, palm up, inches away from Echo's neck. Her hand became unattached to her wrist showing a red scanner rimmed with metal, a red light beeped on Echo's bar-code and her hand became attached to her wrist again."Thank you." She said without emotion. Echo turned around as she begun to type again.

"Alias, Echo. Male, 16 years of age. Classified, Geomancer. Completed Missions, 0. Available Missions, 1. Printing Mission Overview." She said not looking at Echo. The lady grabbed a piece of paper from under the desk and gave it to him,"Have a nice day." She said and didn't acknowledge him further.

Echo walked away with a frown on his face then looked at his Mission,"Hm, it seems that I'm not the only new recruit in this mission."

A dim light strayed into the darkness of Saber's room as sweat beaded down his torso. He had not slept that night due to prepping himself for his first mission. His muscles were strained from vertical push ups, pull ups, sit ups, and several fighting styles he had been practicing while waiting for sleep to take over him. A grin appeared on his tanned face as he caught sight of the clock next to his bed as he finished his last vertical push up. "Time to report in." he said quietly to himself.

He snapped the lights on and walked into the bathroom, catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror. His dark hair was thick with sweat and his eyes were slightly bloodshot from lack of sleep, but his physical appearance made it seem as if he had all the energy he needed. He stuck his head in the sink, washing out the sweat and then grabbed a towel to dry off. He pulled on his regular clothing; a white undershirt, a heavy blue jacket, his pale blue jeans and a pair of white shoes.

He strolled out of his room and onto the metal walkway of the 10th floor, running a hand through his hair and taking a deep breath. His right hand slid across the railing as he made his way to the elevator, peering down to the first floor below him. He could barely see the female robot at the registration desk typing on her computer as always. He couldn't believe that today he was finally going to get his first mission. 3 years of training had seemed like a life time to him, and now that he was finished everything seemed like a dream to him. Probably why he had trouble sleeping at night. It didn't bother him much, however, just as long as his abilities were top notch and didn't suffer from him being slightly tired.

The slight hum of the elevator calmed Saber's nerves as he descended to the first floor. The door slid open and the registration desk came into view. Hands in his pockets and nerves completely hidden with a confident smile, Saber approached the desk. "I'm reporting in for a mission." he said eying the woman.

"Please show me your bar-code." is all she said, her voice as emotionless as the expressions on her face. Saber nodded and held out his left hand, allowing her to scan his wrist. She then spat out his information like a computer. "Alias, Saber. Male, 16 years of age. Classified, Monk. Completed Missions, 0. Available Missions, 1. Printing Mission Overview." Once the printing process was done, she handed Saber a piece of paper and then went back to typing on the computer. "Have a nice day."

Saber's dark eyes scanned the paper, spotting his alias next to a couple others. Each alias seemed to have a very short description of the person it belonged to. A cooperative mission... he thought. at least I won't be alone. He walked away from the desk and then spotted someone not far in front of him. A brown headed kid in front of him who matched one of the alias descriptions carried the same piece of paper he did. He looked to be the same age as Saber, and so the monk was sure he might have the same mission.

He caught up to the boy and looked over his own paper a second time, trying to remember the boy's alias. "Echo?" he hoped he had the name right. "I'm Saber. I think we might have been paired for a mission together."

Echo looked over at the boy that approached him with a distant smile, his mind was still on the mission, though he didn't want to seem stuck up. Echo was a complete bookworm tried to be the best of the best when it came to Gemist Hunter Testing, his knowledge over the different Gemist and populated Gemist Attacked areas was exceptionally top quality."Yeah, we were in a couple classes together, you're Saber right?" Echo recalled this new Hunter, he was very skilled when it came to fighting, almost to the point of intimidation. Echo looked back at the paper. It was him and Saber as partners, he thought it was a good partnership since Saber was a melee fighter and Echo could perform magic attacks, though Echo's magic was powerful it always depending on the monsters in the area.

"It seems that we are suppose to report to a Airship immediately," Echo said softy, "odd how quickly they are trying to put in the field huh?" Echo sighed, he walk to the Elevator, and pressed for it to open. He walked in and waited for Saber to come so that could go to the top floor, that could also only be accessed by the Elevators(there were 4 on the northern perimeter). Echo was nervous and ready all at the same time.

Hawk awoken to the sound of his alarm clock blaring in his ear. he hit the alarm clock, but it wouldn't stop he then gets up and unplugs the clock. he then gets back in the bed. Hawk tries to sleep but he can't he then gets up. he sets his feet on the cold floor and rubs his eyes. he looks at the calender and says " ah new recruit mission day, what a joy." Hawk stands up and walks to his closet, he grabs his light blue shirt, black jeans and a white jacket. he puts them all on and yawn. he grabs his staff before he leaves. he then heads down the unwelcoming metal floored hallway to the elevator. he presses the button for the first floor and the elevator goes down. Hawk reaches the bottom floor and walks out of the elevator, he sees the registration desk. He walks over to one of the women behind the desk and hold out his right hand to show his bar code. the woman scans it and then says as she types " Alias, hawk. Age 19, Classified, Summoner. Completed Missions, 315. Available missions, 5. the woman prints out a sheet and hands it to Hawk. Hawk looks at the sheet and says " Hm, not bad missions, i wonder which one I should do?" Hawk looks at his bar-code. every time he looked at it he got the feeling that something was going to go wrong that day. it didn't come true all the time, but since he looks at his bar-code everyday something bad was bound to happen eventually. Hawk then goes and sits down on a small bench. he summons Carbuncle, the small blue fox like creature with a red ruby in it's forehead appears in a flash of light. he smiles as it jumps up on his lab. he pets Carbuncle, Carbuncle is the first summon Hawk was ever able to summon. the two are very close, Hawk looks at the sheet and says to Carbuncle " which one do you think I should do?" Carbuncle tilts it's head as if really trying to read the paper. Hawk laughs and then gets up and heads for the elevator.

Pit was dreaming. It was a wonderful dream. He was flying. Through puffy clouds, and a bright blue sky. He wanted to soar. So he flew high. Higher. Higher. Towards the sun he flew. It was a marvelous feeling. The feeling of freedom. Then he heard it. A loud beeping sound. "No...!" His wings began to melt. He was falling. "No!" Falling down. Faster and faster he plummeted. "Noooooooooooooo!!"

------------------------------------

"--ooooooooooooooooooo!!!" Pit was awake. The alarm was blaring in his ear. Pit shut it off, and sighed a most depressing sigh. "Man...mission day..." He knew without even looking at the calender. He marked all the days he had to go on missions, and dreaded all of them. He just wanted to stay and have some fun, not go out hunting monsters that might kill him. He groaned as he got out of bed, wearing nothing but his dark blue boxers. "Wonder what lady luck has in store for me today..." He got up and walked over to his dresser, and got dressed. He then moved into the bathroom and got a handful of hair gel, and spiked it up. This particularly was an arduous task, but he got it done fast enough.

He then picked up his three decks of cards, two pouches of dice and strapped them to his two belts. After that, he picked up his small pack of darts and put them away in his right pocket. Satisfied that he was ready, he moved out into the hallway, past the rushing crowd and into the elevator. After about a minute, he stepped out and headed toward the receptionist. "And how are you today, doll?"

"Please show me your bar code." She said in her usual monotone voice.

"As charming as ever I see." Pit said sarcastically as he raised his right wrist. The receptionist scanned the bar code tattooed to his skin and took a moment to register the information.

"Alias, Pit. Male, 19 years of age. Classified, Gambler. Completed missions, 10. Available missions, 1. Printing mission overview." Pit was mockingly mimicking the receptionist by saying what she said word for word as she said it. He had heard what she had to say dozens of times already. He accepted the paper she printed, and looked at it.

"Hunting the Black Boss..." Pit sighed. "Sounds like another hard one..." He walked towards the elevator that would take him to the airship designated on his sheet. "Guess my partner will meet me there..." He studied the paper further to see who his partner was. "And the lucky man is...Hawk?" He was partnered with a long time veteran. Interesting. "A summoner if I remember..." Pit entered the elevator and rose toward the shipyard.

Hawk yawned he was lounging on a bench in the hanger with the airship he was supposed to take. Hawk had decided which mission he was going to take. he says to himself " The black boss, hm doesn't leave much to the imagination does it Carbuncle." Hawk patted Carbuncle who was laying on his chest. Hawk took the paper out of his pocket and looked at the mission specifications and he saw who his partner was " Pit, hm I think he was the Gambler if I'm not mistaken. well i guess I'll just wait for him to get here."

Hawk heard the elevator ding, he got up and Carbuncle jumped off of him. Hawk says " sorry about that." He then gets off the bench and walks toward the elevator and then he sees someone with spiky blue hair and a bunch of piercings and he says " ah yes, now i remember who pit is." Hawk walks toward the elevator to talk with pit before they get on the airship, Carbuncle follows closely behind Hawk to his left. As Hawk gets closer to pit he hears the engine of the airship starting up. He gets to Pit and says " So, Pit you ready for this mission, I'm Hawk by the way, but I'm sure you had already guessed that."

She had been up for a while when her alarm quietly went off; a tiny digital pocket-watch shoved down into the left pocket of her black shorts. The woman dipped her fingers inside of her pocket, the painted burgundy nails pushing at one of the clock's tiny knobs and turning off the soft beeping. Vera came to a stand as it was cut off, stretching out her long, lightly toned arms covered in the white sleeves of her long-sleeve shirt; draped with black lace along the end of the sleeve as well as the bottom of the shirt and the tie-up 'V' neck. She turned to her bed, and the shoes fallen over next to it. Taking a seat there on the edge, she slipped her feet into her high-heeled boots, zipping them up along the inside, and coming to a stand once more. She grabbed her jacket and pushed her arms through the black thing. Pulling it together, she laced the burgundy corset-like centerpiece, letting the bottom hang open just below her shorts; giving way to some of her smooth legs. She left the hood down, and grabbed her staff. Holding it by the top orb, she used it almost like one would use a walking stick.

Exiting her quarters, Vera cut straight through what little crowd existed in the halls to reach the receptionist in the lobby. There, she went through the routine schedule. She raised her left hand, pulling back the edge of her jacket and shirt so that the barcode could be seen and scanned. There, she received the information of what she would be doing mission-wise today. She'd be hunting the Haunting Gemini, with a partner named Jecht. Now she had heard of Jecht before, and simply knew that he was an astonishing warrior. They'd make a great team that way; as his strength would make up for the lack of her own, and her magic would topple any other who dared battle her.

Her staff made a heavy metallic thud as she walked, her left hand's fingers wrapped around the translucent orb. Her white hair seemed to bounce as she walked, heels clicking softly. There was an air of seriousness and duty about Vera. She wasn't one to play around; for playing around was how her last partner failed. The woman reached the hangers where an airship would come to depart her and her partner to the mission area.

As she came, she spotted other Gemini Hunters waiting for their shining carriages out of here and into the world of battle and investigation. Her smooth honey-colored eyes popped against her rather pale complexion and ivory hair. But she saw all in the room as if she had taken a look at each individually. She could sense their ''life'' around her. Vera found herself a bench and took seat upon it there, crossing her legs and leaning her head back. Reaching up with her right hand, she drew her hood over her head; the edge covering her eyes just a bit. This way she could see in front of her for a good distance; but not the horizon. But this lack of complete vision also gave her the chance to enhance her unique ability of being able to detect people and lifeforms around her.

Vera simply waited, soon closing her eyes and shaking her foot almost anxiously as she counted off time in her mind.

"It is fairly odd..." Saber answered as he followed his partner to the elevator, "but I don't care. I'd rather get into the action as quickly as possible than wait for another 3 years." The Airships were on the top floor, so Saber pushed the button and then waited as the doors slid shut. Standing next to Echo, he could already feel like they were going to do good as a team. His only problem was that he hadn't had enough time to get to know him before the mission. Oh well... he thought to himself, plenty of time for that now I guess.

The elevator stopped with a ding and then the doors slowly slid open. A couple Airships had already taken off towards their drop off points. Everything seemed a lot busier and hectic up here than down below where everything was calm and quiet. As Saber walked out of the elevator, he spotted a single girl sitting on a bench, obviously waiting for her ride. She had her hood down and a staff in her hands. She looked almost intimidating with her face slightly hidden.

"Alright Echo," Saber started as his eyes scanned the hanger for their Airship, "you seem to know more about our mission than I do. Where is our Airship and where will it be taking us?" He couldn't help but be curious, and he was too lazy to look all of this up on his own piece of paper. So instead of reading it for himself, he stuff his mission details in his pockets and watched a few Airships fly off, waiting for his partner's answer.

Jecht was in a deep, deep sleep, practically in a coma. It took three staff members of Home to come in and drag him out of bed, right hand still clutching his sword in his sleep. Even then, he only woke once he was halfway to the registration desk, when he was suddenly hit by a killer headache. It was the result of an attempt at drinking himself to death the previous night. Jecht, a troubled alcoholic, was always suffering from some aftereffect of alcohol, and now that he had a headache his irritability would increase tenfold. Discovering he was being dragged, the man groaned and suddenly stood.

"Unnnghh... The hell..?" he grumbled, shoving away the staff members and dragging himself over to the registration desk. One hand on his aching head, he slumped over the desk and glared at the woman sitting there whom was seemingly oblivious to his pain.

"Please show me your--"

"I know, I know," Jecht grumbled, sliding the hand on his head back and brushing up his hair. The woman stood, detached her hand, scanned it, reattached her hand, and sat down again. Jecht let his hand fall from the back of his head to the desk and slowly forced himself to stand at full height.

"Alia--"

"I already know my own info, dumb bot," he snapped, not in the mood for the programmed recital. Grabbing a piece of paper under the desk, the woman handed it to Jecht and then went back to her work.

"Have a nice day," she said, indifferent to his behavior.

"As if I ever could," he grunted back, slowly dragging himself off towards the hanger that held the airship to wherever he was going. Glancing at the paper as he entered the hangar, he read he was going to be working with some young girl named 'Vera'. Why did it seem that Jecht was always stuck with these punk kids? Tossing the paper aside without reading his objective, Jecht stumbled into and eventually out of an elevator, emerging in the massive hangar where his airship would eventually arrive.

"Alright, where is she," he mumbled to himself, slowly regaining his sense. Fully lifting his sword in his right hand and forcing himself to stand up straight, Jecht spotted the girl sitting away from a group of more kids and slowly walked over. The way she was sitting made her seem vulnerable to Jecht's approach, but Jecht decided to comment on it as he arrived.

"Hey, you the kid I'm stuck with today?" he called out in his gruff, deep voice. Stopping a few feet ahead of her, he stabbed his sword into the ground and put his free hand on his hip. Leaning forward, he noted that it looked like Vera had fallen asleep. Just perfect! A drunk and a sloth. No way this could go wrong.

Soon enough she sensed it. A man coming behind her, tall and powerful. His energy was somewhat soft, as if he had just woken up. Vera closed her eyes and breathed slowly, when he finally reached her. His words reached her ears smoothly and Vera brought her head up, her full lips pulling into a grin.

"I guess I am. Are you the old man I'm working with?" She stood up, using her staff like a walking stick again as she moved towards a docking airship. Soon enough, she stepped inside, moving up and into the bridge. There, she took a seat. Vera pulled her hood back a bit more, unveiling her eyes as the ship stayed docked for a while, and her legs crossed out of habit once more. She looked over Jecht and grinned.

"Wow, you really are buff. I thought it was just a bunch of rumors." She chuckled softly. "Our mission, if you didn't know it, is the Haunting Gemini. You ready for it?"

Vera turned a bit in her seat and looked out the front window and at the rest of the inside of the hanger from the ship's interior. She sighed, pushing a lock of white hair behind her ear within her hood.

The faster this is done, the faster I can return...

Everything happened so fast that Saber's adrenaline kept pumping through his body even after the battle was over. He had never seen power like Echo's before. It was something very amazing and frightening to witness at the same time and for a moment, the Monk wished he was a Geomancer. He stood beside his partner as he breathed heavily, trying to regain his energy. It must of taken a huge punch of MP for him to call up something like that.

It appeared that Echo had finally caught his breath. "Thank you...I guess I have to keep my guard up. Are you okay?"

"Not a scratch on me thanks to you. We both need to keep an eye on each others backs from here on out. I have a feeling things are going to get worse." Saber answered, watching as Echo then knelt to the ground. At first the Monk had no clue what his partner was doing, his head slightly bowed and his hands resting on the grassy terrain.

"There are a number of Warrior Gemist in the area. We have to keep moving if we want to make it to the Ruins without attracting to much trouble."

Saber nodded. "Right. Lead the way, I'm right behind you."

Saber ran directly beside the other 16 year old hunter as they both sped through the forest. His training had given him an incredibly amount of endurance and agility, so the run didn't take hardly any energy away from him. In fact it only felt like a light jog as the finally came upon what they were there for. The ruins which consisted of a temple sat right in front of them, now covered in vines. A dim light shined at the very top.

"That looks like the place we need to go." Saber pointed to the top of the temple. "What's our point of entry? We want to travel through the ruins and up the temple, or can we climb these vines to the top?" The natural ladders looked strong enough to hold a young 16 year old, but then again Saber had been known for small mistakes in his training. Unsure of what needed to be done, he planned to leave the decision up to his partner.

"Old man?" he repeated, raising and again stabbing his sword into the ground. This kid really had some nerve talking to him like that! However, just as he was going to say something back the airship arrived, and so he bit his tongue and followed her inside and on board. Once in the bridge, Jecht stood beside Vera's seat and looked down at her, surprised to see she didn't have a half-bad face.

"Of course I'm buff. You gotta be tough to handle things like this." Jecht stabbed the sword into the ground, possibly damaging the ship a bit, and crossed his arms. "Haunting Gemini? Sounds too easy. I'll probably just let you handle most of this one." Reaching up, Jecht crudely stuck a pinky in his right ear and began cleaning the thing out as the ship lifted up and took off, heading towards wherever their mission was.

"What are you, anyway? Some kind of mage or somethin'?" Jecht plucked the pinky free and flicked the odd residue on the tip away. "Just so you know, I don't work well with snot nosed brats. If you're another overconfident punk I'll gladly take care of this myself."

Vera chuckled as he repeated the comment- perhaps to himself. Had no one the balls to call him old before? Well Jecht was not truly old, as he simply out-aged her. She rested in her seat, the airship lifting up and hovering within the hanger before slipping out into the sky. They'd have quite a little ride before them. He continued, as if he were going to bite his tongue about the earlier comment. His next series of words were based upon being buff, and whether she was a mage or something. Vera chuckled quietly, nodding her head.

"Black Mage of the Elements. And don't worry, I won't toot my own horn too much." She grinned, thinking it was funny that because he was working with a late teenager he assumed she might've been snot-nosed with perhaps tunnel-visioned battle tactics. Vera was a great combatant, and a team player by all means. When he flicked away the resisting residue, she made a slightly grossed out face inside of her head, studying and recognizing his energy as he sat with her.

"So how's your record sir Jecht?" Vera questioned. "I've heard a lot of rumors about your battles prior against the Gemini."

Jecht grinned at the mention of his record and the title 'Sir'. He hadn't heard anyone call him 'Sir' in a long time. Plus the kid wasn't acting like a typical brat, whining about his comments or trying to strike back at him with more insults. He liked her!

"So they're starting rumors about me now?" Jecht chuckled. "Well, I don't want to brag or anything... buuuuut I do have a long list of successful missions under my belt." Patting his hip with his free hand for emphasis, Jecht laughed and leaned on his sword. "You should feel lucky, little girl." Jecht pointed out towards Vera. "You're working with a veteran!" Jecht let his hand fall back to his side and groaned, headache becoming slightly worse as he raised his voice. Standing up straight, he brought his hand up and rubbed his temple, hoping it would calm the raging storm in his skull.

"What about you kid?" he asked, turning the questions around on Vera. "Think you got what it takes to keep up with me?"

Vera + Jecht: Haunting Gemini


Vera chuckled again, watching as the airship began to dip a bit. They were close, so near and hoping to find what they were looking for. The mission was about to begin, and there was indeed a tiny fringe of excitement tacked to Vera's thoughts. Her honey-colored eyes could almost pass as being golden when the sun struck them at that perfect angle, as she raised her sight to Jecht. Leaning up, she gripped the seat she was in and stood, the airship rocking a slight bit as it dipped further through the canopy of a wooded area. The first thing she noticed was that some of the trees were petrified. Ah, a petrified forest? Not exactly a good place for people to be- but a great place for Gemini.

"Do I have what it takes?" Vera smiled brightly, her full lips pulled over her white teeth. "I'm not even going to answer that. You can see for yourself. I believe we're here Jecht." She turned and looked to the back shuttle-like door that parted open and created a ramp as the ship had made a full landing. Outside, the stone limbs shadowed over the forest floor, and nearby was a small village. But closer than that village was a thick, broadly built manor with erosion a highly encroaching factor upon the architecture's decline of health. The doors were shut and heavy, with windows boarded up. A top window was open, letting a breeze inside, but the manor was tall and there was no way they could make it up there. Perhaps Jecht could just tear into the home and through the front door they'd go.

Vera gripped her staff at the center, kneeling just a bit, and stamped the staff against the ground, and a small flame engulfed the orb at the top of her staff, soon growing enough to be like a golden torch. She held it up, and looked back at Jecht, before pulling her hood up over her eyes.

Closing her eyes, she got a good grip of her mind's eye. She saw Gemini too... A good number of them- scattered through the manor. And one who's vital appearance in her mental radar could abolish all the others. That was probably the Haunting Gemini.

"Let's go."





Ferrah: The Gemist Lair


She moved through the room's space, tapping her nails on each of the many thin golden mints that hung from her top and waist, attached to the dancer's burgundy outfit. She finally gripped the skirt at edge and twirled once, just feeling the air wrap around her legs and push through the thin fabric. Against her feet, she wore Greek-fashioned sandals that tied up her leg with vinyl; though her feet were the only things seen from beneath her long skirt. As Ferrah moved, opening her door and stepping into the hallway, a smooth chiming melody followed her. Along her wrists were thin golden bangles, and her upper arms bore thin white bandages. At her neck was a choker-styled necklace bearing thin golden circles and semi-circles, and golden mints like her clothes at their ends.

Outside, before scanning in for her mission, the redheaded dancer moved through the room, searching for either familiar faces or somewhere to grab a bite for breakfast. Ferrah's eyes- a smooth hazel tone- danced over the room as she grinned. Finally, she found herself in the cafeteria, grabbing an apple and moving back to sit on a bench in the nearing hall to the lobby. A bite into the apple, and her legs crossed, Ferrah took a deep breath and yawned. She could only wonder if she had a mission today; since she'd had one the day before.

"Do I have what it takes?" Vera smiled brightly, her full lips pulled over her white teeth. "I'm not even going to answer that. You can see for yourself. I believe we're here Jecht."

Looking over his shoulder, Jecht could see that the door was opening and they were finishing up with their landing. Hand moving now to his neck, Jecht lifted his sword up and out of the ship's floor and turned to face the exit.

"Got it," he responded, walking down and out. Stopping just off the ramp, Jecht let his hand fall and took in his environment.

"This place gives me the creeps," he mumbled, feeling depressed just from looking around. Not far off he could see a village, but a bit closer was some gloomy looking manor that he felt they'd probably end up visiting at some point during their mission. Jecht turned towards Vera and crossed his arms, his sword dropping and seemingly vanishing into thin air. He'd get it back later.

"Just a heads up, I'm not usually the guy who does most of the thinking in the group. I'll leave that to you." Jecht glanced down the path and a chill ran up his spine, visibly making him shiver. "So where are we headed first?"

Vera + Crabnek: Haunting Gemini

She nodded to him, as the door opened. "I can think fast on my feet. I'll be brain if you'll play brawn." Vera moved onward until she was stepping through the doorway. Once they were both inside, she shut the door. The lobby of the manor was pitch dark, and the only light that could be seen were the soft highlights on corners and furniture that came from one glimmer of light from the distant stairwell. Of course, Vera had light herself. She stamped her staff against the ground and the flame engulfing it growing; doubling its previous light. The room was filled with a brilliant glow as she held it up as a torch. She could sense one near- almost on top of them. Where could it have been hiding?

"One is near." She said, moving further into the room. Suddenly over them dropped a quick Gemini, fighting like a thief or very light swordsman class. It slashed a blade out and Vera jumped back, the blade catching her robe and just barely making a cut against the breast of it- leaving a white mark where the shirt beneath could be seen. She hissed, and swung her staff forward, torch light availing the lean, tall woman. She had a dagger in each hand, and wore robes of deep black, and eyes like pools of hollow, milky emptiness. The fire made the woman jump back, and with a twisting turn Vera quickly took this into her advantage. She pulled back her free right hand and created an orb of water within it. Throwing her hand forward she sloshed a blast of water over the woman. Her clothes hung damp and heavy, slowing her down as Vera pulled her staff down and shoved it forward, a fireball born from the torch-tip and scorching the Gemini til she fell weak and unable to stand, flesh searing.

"Well, one down, but we've got a few more..."