Alexis (Alex) Eera's Story

Ivan
Ivan hummed as he walked around aimlessly. He knew he was supposed to be doing something, but couldn't quite remember what. As he walked, it slowly came back to him. Oh, yeah. Jaren wanted to meet, he thought, changing his course of direction and heading for the training grounds. Wonder what he wants...
Ivan wasn't wearing armor at that moment, just a black and white outfit. Of course, he had both his swords sheathed at either side of his waist. He never went anywhere unprotected, always suspecting something bad to happen. Some call it paranoia, he called it not wanting to get killed. Ivan was feeling really lazy however, and was glad that the training grounds was a short walk.

Ivan didn't really get along with people on purpose, and usually avoided them, so it took him some time to remember Jaren. Some guy who used dark magick, and looked fairly stronger than Ivan himself. Not that Ivan believed he really was. He also was pretty sure Jaren was older than him. Letting out a breath, Ivan paused to look up at the sky. It seemed much duller lately, but maybe it was just him. Maybe everything was just losing his interest. Wouldn't be the first.

Finally coming to the training grounds, Ivan immediately saw Jaren sitting on his bench. Upon seeing Jaren, Ivan confirmed his earlier thought about the man looking stronger. Sticking his hands in his pockets, Ivan walked up to him, curious about why they were meeting in the first place. Ivan wasn't much of a captain to be honest. He did his job well enough, but only because he had to. Leading usually wasn't his thing, fighting was. And being captain involved fighting.
"You need something?" Ivan asked.
Alexis
"Oh no oh no oh no oh no..." Alex repeated to herself over and over hurrying around her room. She came to a large stack of papers and began to sift through them swiftly with long, thin fingers. There was no way, no way at all, she could have lost it. Giving up on looking through there, she decided to look somewhere else. It wasn't like her to lose things, but even she should know goggles wouldn't be in a stack of papers.
Opening one of her drawers, she was met with many metal pieces and tools, but she ignored them. In the corner of the drawer, was her favorite pair of wielding goggles.
After putting them on, Alex heard a loud meow which caused her to jump. Looking behind her, "Flee Bag" (Shadow) was sitting on a pile of books, staring at Alex. The expression Shadow had was something like, "my owners nuts".
Rolling her eyes, Alex adjusted her goggles before going back over to her work bench to mess around with a few trinkets.

Satou was awake. He was awake for a while, but could not find himself getting up from his bed. He wanted to go back to sleep, into his where his mother's voice could be heard. Her voice ever so soft. It was only in his dream now that he could meet his mother, only just a dream.
Satou opened his eyes looking straight at the white ceiling that reflected the blaring sun. They were like daggers poking his eyes, and Satou could not help but cringe. He gathered himself up on his bed to sitting position, and looked at his open hands. He could still feel her, holding his hand through the land of the dragon. What was years seemed like a matter of moments. He could still see her incapable of speaking, deprived of her mana. He closed his hands, as he shut down that memory. His lips trembled and his body shook, as if he was about to cry. Then with deep breaths calmed himself. He got up and looked at the picture frame on his desk.
"I'm going." He said in a faint whisper. With that he went out of his room.
The smell of mana flowed in the air. Alexis, he thought. He walked towards the door and was considering going in, but then again it was best not to bother her while she worked. And so he walked out into the open air where he could see New Aerios. It has been ten years since Satou was here. He closed his eyes. Memories came rushing towards him, mixed with the good and the bad, but it was quickly shattered by a sound miles away. Like glass shattering.
Satou quickly opened his eyes to scan the area in that direction. A crowed gathered around a man who was bloodied all over. It was a murder. A man with a mask was walking out of the store. He must have been the killer. Initially his instinct told him to go over, but then he realized that this was Aerios.
"Let the magis take care of it," he thought to himself "After all they are good at taking lives."
Memories stated to fill him again. He turned around, and walked back inside.

Alexis
Alexis was using fire, hammers of different sized, tweezers, knives, and a variety of other objects to make something that was more or less- useless. She had decided she'd been stressing out on making things that were useful, so she needed a break. Her decision was to make a metal fairy. It sounded weird, but with all the stones and types of metal around, it could be done. Usually she built weapons or things that required more basic building than things that required sculpting, but she could do both. The fairy was almost done, and she had put a small black rock for the right eye and a white for the left. Her hair was a darker metal that the rest.
Alex sat up straighter feeling a presence outside her door, but it soon disappeared and she heard a door shut. She hunched back over her work, using needle to put final touches on the still hot metal. The door opened and closed again, causing her to jump. Whose that, she wondered, and considered checking. Looking at the figure she had been working on, she picked it up with her gloved hand and got up to go check.
Leaving her room, she found Satou just coming inside. What was he up to? To be quite honest, she thought he looked a bit troubled. With her free hand, Alex pushed her goggles up, making her hair push back and stick up in random places. "Hey, you okay?" she asked.

As Satou came inside, a familiar voice struck him. He turned around to see Alexis, with a concerned face that she wore so well with her icy blue eyes shining on her soot-covered face. He put a weary smile on, noticing that he has worried her. Satou walked closer to her so that their eyes met. He gently put his hand on her fragile arm.
"I'm fine," he said with a reassuring smile, "just, a little tired."
But everything was not fine. Everything was wrong: this place, the city, his life. They all felt like a dream, a bad dream and at any moment he would wake up in his mother's lap to her soft voice to her warm smile, but he could not tell Alex that. He could not.
"We got a long day ahead of us," Satou said in an upbeat ruffling Alex's hair despite knowing she gets annoyed when he does that, "The Old Man (this is what he calls the leader of the rebellion) is trying to work us to the bone." He let out a sigh before continuing.
"Apparently a magi was seen entering the royal palace, and we are to investigate, which makes me wonder," Satou said as he looked around the room searching for someone, "Where is Sky?"
After a quick glance, he let out another sigh.
"Well I'm hungry, so I am going to get some breakfast." He turned to head towards the kitchen, but stopped momentarily and turned his head, "Are you coming?"

Alexis
Alex grunted, rather unlady like, as he ruffled her hair but didn't comment. He was obviously not fine, she knew it. Though she was slightly scatter-brain, she was smart. And anyone with relative intelligence could tell something was bothering him. But she could also tell he didn't want to talk. "Tell me when you need someone to talk to," she said, sticking the figurine in her pocket and taking off her worn leather gloves.
She watched as Satou looked around the room and questioned about Sky. She shrugged. She had no idea, since Satou was the first person she'd talked to today. Besides herself and Shadow.
When he talked about breakfast, Alex's stomach growled. Usually she got so focused on something, she didn't notice she was hungry till she was starving. "Are you coming?" Satou asked her, causing her to smile. Sticking her gloves in her other pocket and leaving her goggles on her forehead (which she'd probably later forget were there), she ran to catch up with him and followed to the kitchen. "Of course I am, I'm starved," she told him, shaking out her hair and brushing dirt off her clothes, for all the good it did. She really needed to wash her clothes, but even when she did they were usually stained. At least, working clothes were, she did have some decent clothes. She was a girl, after all.

Sky pulled out a piece of bread from his pack. He never went to bed last night, so he was a bit tired. All he had left to eat for now was the bread, which he almost ate in one bite. This morning, he had met with the Old Man, and he had asked him about investigating one of the Magi entering the Royal Palace. Thank goodness the Old Man's lips were easy to read. Sky wasn't sure if he had been silent or not, but he had followed the Magi after he had left the building, sticking to the shadows. When they had reached the training grounds, he seen he was meeting with the Captain of the Royal Guard. He read their lips while the spoke. There wasn't much said.

When a fight broke out on the training grounds, Sky took the chance to sneak away. He should probably head over to the others. A sudden gush of wind being felt against the side of his face caused him to look in the other direction, noting a person pushing some of the guards back with some sort of magic. Oh, it was the fay. Let him decide what he wants to do. Instead of going to help or bug the fey, he decided to just move on. Not like he'd be useful right now anyway.

Should he morph into his wolf form, so he could run faster? No, that would just bring attention to himself... He decided to stay as he was, in a sort-of human form. He took off running in his usual form, his tail flowing behind him.

Soon, he was at the apartment-like building (if I am wrong on this assumption, let me know). Walking in, he smelt mana assault his nose. Scrunching his face up at the sudden strong scent, he knew Alexis had been working on her project. He could ask to see it later. Right now, he wanted to get more food, as bread wasn't enough.

He walked into the kitchen, panting lightly from running earlier. He wasn't sure how he looked right now, what with his all-nighter, but he could care less. He seen Satou and Alexis in the kitchen and he smiled, his voice strangled as he spoke, "Hay ghuyz!"

Satou was finished with cutting up the carrots for the curry he planned to make, when a strained voice came through the room. He knew it was Sky, Satou could distinguish Sky's voice from a mile away. He put the carrots in the pot with the rest of the ingredients as the pot began to boil. Satou had learned how to cook, providing he lived all by himself starting at a young age. His cooking was not great, but it was not atrocious either. With Sky being gone, and Alexis busily working on her projects, he ended up becoming the chef of the house. He let out a sigh.
"Where were you Sky?" He said as he playfully pushed Sky, "Don't tell me you scouted ahead? You look awful. Come take a seat."
With that Satou went back to cooking. The rice was done, and so was the curry. With a quick maneuver, Satou poured the curry on the rice filled plates and brought it over to a square table where two of his co-workers sat.
It was very awkward to see Alexis not in her working clothes, but casual ones. It looked cute on her, and Satou could not help but smile. Then he looked toward Sky so that his mouth was clearly visible when he spoke.
"So, what have you got for us?" He asked as he shoved a spoonful of food into his mouth.

Alexis
Alex took a bite out of an apple, staring at the ceiling. She was thinking about the checklist of things she had to do that day, and was mentally crossing things out and adding other things.
Upon hearing Sky, Alex pushed her thoughts to the side to wave at him. She would say good morning, but thought a wave was good enough so he wouldn't have to read her lips. When Satou came over to give them food, Alex smiled and said thanks before eating, ignoring most everything else. She really was hungry. Only when Satou asked Sky about what he found did Alex pause from eating to look up at Sky curiously.
Ivan
Ivan glanced at Adion as Jaren told him to attack him. He really didn't see why he should. He didn't know what he did to make his guards restrain him in the first place, and he wasn't one to attack people randomly. Glancing at Jaren's fight, Ivan couldn't stop from rolling his eyes. People are obsessed with killing and fighting, he thought before turning to "Wolf the Dragoon". "I'm Ivan. Just Ivan," he told him, sticking his hands in his pockets. "Do you feel like fighting? I really don't. It seems," he started, looking over at Jaren,"like a waste of time."
He wasn't sure if the Wolf guy would agree with him or not, but he wasn't attacking him at the moment so that was a good sign. Even when he seemed to get involved in Jaren's fight, Ivan didn't appear to care. He wasn't part of the fight, and no one was asking for his help. So why get involved?

Sky could smell the carrots and rice, along with other ingredients. Much better than mana, he thought. The scent made his mouth water as he noticed Alexis wave to him. Waving back, Satou had ended up playfully pushing against him. Sky pressed back just as playful, touching a knuckle to his shoulder, smiling, making sure to read Satou's lips when he spoke. "Might huv. I also couldn' sleep las' night, so I was wanderin'." Some of the syllables of the words he spoke may have been more stressed than they should have been, but he really couldn't tell.

Taking a seat, he draped one of his arms on the back, to let it dangle there. His tail curled into his lap and his unhearing ears were perfectly erect upon his head. The only time they ever moved was when they were touched or to more greatly express an emotion. When the food was done and a plate was set in front of him, he didn't care that it was hot; he took a bite anyway.

When he read Satou's lips, asking what Sky had for them, he took another bite, preparing for much signing and speaking. Placing the spoon down, he figured he probably should sign what he'll be saying, to help himself. If the other two knew sign language, it could help them, too. Signing his words as he spoke, "Well, in da mornin', da ol' man asked me to follow a magi out from the palas (palace). I didn' hear anythin' the king and magi said dough. Da magi went to da training grounds an' met up wid the guard cap'in. A fight broke out, somethin' about murder, causin' the cap'in guard to think about trainin' the guards to defend against magick. Dat could possibly become troublesum for us. When I was sneekin' away, I saw da Fay fightin' some guards an' da magi from earlier." When he finished speaking, Sky went back to eating the delicious curry Satou made, knowing he really didn't get a lot of information this time around.

(( If Sky's speech is difficult to "decode," message me! ))

Alexis
Alex finished her food quickly, and watched the other two in the room silently. Listening to Sky, she understood every word, even if it was only because she was use to him. Smiling, she nodded to him in silent thanks for sharing. Even though he could read lips, Alex rarely spoke directly to him unless she really had to say something. She found it rude, in a way. Taking her dish, Alex got up and took her dish to the sink.
When she came back to the table, she was putting her gloves back on and moved her goggles back into place. There didn't seem like anything to troublesome for them, based on Sky's report. Just a lot of fighting amongst themselves. Taking the metal fairy out of her pocket, Alex examined it for a minute. It certainly wasn't great, but it was still pretty good. Smiling, she sat back down and began to polish it with her shirt sleeve, even though it didn't need to be. It was just a habit to keep her hands busy.

Satou, listened carefully to what Sky had to say.
"Hmm... I see. So they are fighting amongst themselves." Said Satou to himself. "Okay then."
Satou finished his meal and got up to put his dish in the sink. Then he turned around to face Sky, so that he could read Satou's lips clearly.
"We are going to rig, the royal armory!" Satou grinned as he continued. "You see the old man has been bugging us about getting into the royal's nerves, and what better way to do that then to blow up the armory?"
Satou clapped his hands together. "We are going to need Alexis help of course, and we would need to disguise ourselves, and plan on how to get in and out." Satou was getting worked up. It has been a week since he came here to New Aerios, and nothing has been happening.
The days were always the same: Alexis worked in her room, Sky was coming in and out of the house, and Satou was left alone for the most part, but this would change everything. He had a plan after all.
Not waiting for a response Satou began walking to Alexis' room.

Alexis
Alexis had left for her room, and stuck her small metal figurine in one of the many cluttered drawers that held various metal objects. After looking about her room for what she needed, Alex got the materials to build herself a new pistol. She had made many for herself, since she got tired of the design or something of old ones quickly. After setting the things on her work table, Alex realized that she, for once, wasn't in her working clothes.
Going over to the pathetic excuse for a closet (she stacked a few boxes on their sides to keep her clothes in, finding that clothes were the least important things and they shouldn't take up room), Alex quickly looked through and threw on an over sized, stained white shirt and her normal brown pants. Just as she sat down, Alex felt the familiar presence outside her room. Satou.
"You can come in!" she called, deciding to get it over with before she got caught up in her work.

"Yo!" Satou said as he opened the door showing his smiling face in between the crack. Seeing that it is safe to come in, and that nothing was going to explode, Satou came inside, leaving the door open for Sky to come in. He looked over to her, very excited at the idea.
"You see, the magi's and the royal's are fighting right now! So I was thinking-" Satou quickly cut off his word. He quickly dragged Sky in and closed the door. Footsteps. He heard footsteps, but not one of regular human. Alexis was about to protest, but he quickly hushed her with a finger on her mouth. He face turned serious.
"I'm sorry Alexis, but" he said as he turned his face to Sky so that he could read Satou's lips "Someone's here. Something irregular. You smell it don't you sky, dark energy?"
What caught Satou really off guard was that what ever this thing was, it carried a scent of a dragon.

After he had finished eating, he had cleaned off his plate and sat back done where he was, eying the metal fairy that Alexis was working on. It seemed like it was coming along well, but what did he know?

When Satou turned back to look at him, Sky did his best to read his lips. Something about rigging the royal armory and blowing it up. He smiled, "I thin' dat's a good idea." When they were both gone from the kitchen, Sky went back to his own room to gather his sword and back to the kitchen to sit and polish it up, thinking of a good way to disguise themselves. What if they pretended to be guards? Or technically joined the guards, but were spies for their cause? It seemed like a good idea... if it didn't get caught that he was deaf. If he couldn't fake being a guard, then he wasn't sure how the disguises would work. It should have something to do with armories though.

Polishing the blue-tinted blade carefully, he made sure he sniffed the air. Something caught him as off, and he stood up, walking into the hallway, only to get dragged into a room by Satou. Alexis' room. That told him for sure that something was off. He sniffed the air more deeply, closing his eyes. "I smell it, yes." He opened his eyes, looking between the two, sword carefully held in his dominant, left hand. "Smells hue-man, bu' da scent's off abou' it." He looked over at Alexis, seeing her say something about checking it out. It would be a good idea. Get to them before they get into the building. Looking over at Satou, he flicked his ears back. "Shoul' we go?"

Adion had finally made his way over to the door of the house. He could tell by the mana emanating around the building that there was indeed people inside. They had not yet come out to try and kill Adion yet, so he waited at the door. He thought that knocking might not be the greatest idea at the moment. However, Adion did not believe that those inside are certainly friendly, thus he summoned his shadow dragon to stand by his side in case of an attack. Adion decided that the summoned dragon would be enough, and that a weapon might make him look more like a threat to those who lived in the building.

Satou closed his eyes to get a better hearing of the outside presence. It seemed as if there were two now, one of human, and one of a dragon. He opened his eyes back again.
"It seems like we have no choice." said Satou getting up. He could feel the dark presence growing. He motioned for sky and Alex to follow, as he opened the door. Satou stepped outside into the night air. The stars sprinkled the sky, and it was a beautiful sight, but now was not the time to be focusing on that. Satou turned to the threat, a man in a helmet with a shadow in form of a dragon.
'So he is a dragoon.' Satou thought. He took a step forward, one hand ready to take out his sword.
"I don't know who you are and why you are here," he said " but if you are here for blood it is yours that will be shed."

Adion spoke calmly "If I was here for blood, this building would not still be standing. The reason I am here for is because I 'removed' a man who abused his workers, and the local guard did not take kindly to my actions. I was wondering if I could stay for about a week to get the worthless guards to stop pestering me." After saying all this, Adion reminded himself of the massacre between him and the guards. It was sad really, but he also remembered something else that may be good to mention. "If you plan on going against the guards soon, my last display made the guard captain think about training his guards against magic. Just thought that I should mention that."

Satou was taken off by the stranger's words. For a moment Satou thought the stranger was the enemy, but now he could see that this man did what he felt was the most just for everyone, like a superhero of some kind. Satou looked up at the night sky. The stars were ever so bright. Mother used to like the stars. They used to go out at night times on a cloudless night on top of the rooftop of his old house, right here in Aerios. Satou would reach out and try to grab one of the stars, while his mother looked on smiling. A lot has changed in Aerios, but the stars seemed to be same.
"So are you here lend us your strength?" he asked not taking his eyes off the stars. Then looking at the figure directly he said "why? How can we trust you?"

"I did not intend to get into any war schemes. I merely seek shelter from the prying eyes of those who overlook corruption and believe in easily manipulated laws. But, in exchange for a couple of nights shelter, I will do my best to answer any questions you might have." Adion stated. It was true that if these people were rebellion and they were planning anything big, then information would be little trade for a few nights housing. Adion really did not want to get involved with this war at all, but he needed the shelter from the eyes of the "law" that guarded the most abusive from being brought to justice. He knew that even information carried the power to topple governments, so long as its user knew how to use it. This was all the more he willed to get involved with this war.

Alexis
Alexis was standing a little ways inside, listening to Satou talk to the dragoon guy. She still had a pistol in her hand, but she wasn't planning on using it. Though the guy seemed a bit off, she didn't feel any immediate danger. Still, she was going to keep an eye on him.
When they started talking about him needing a place to stay though, Alex tensed slightly. Someone else living with us? she thought, eyes widening. ...but he could kill us, or snitch...oh god or he could move the stuff in my room. Alex thought. Walking up behind Satou, she tapped his shoulder. "Oi! If he stays here, make sure he knows my rooms off limits," she whispered, though Adion could probably hear anyways. She then backed off a bit, muttering something about killing him if he touched her stuff.
Ivan
Ivan walked away from the training grounds after Adion left, uninterested in anything there. Training was useless unless with a real person in his opinion, because a dummy can't dodge nor block. Or fight back, for that matter. So, what to do of the so called rebellion, he thought, looking up at the sky. He remembered what Adion said about them most likely being weak, but that didn't make it any less a problem. If word got around, then people could want to take their side. Fools, he thought bitterly, deciding to sit down near the wall of a building. He didn't want to go home, as it was close to where royals lived and while he would fight for them, he didn't really want to talk to them. He was fine with taking simple orders, but chatting wasn't his thing.