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Freece

0 · 266 views · located in Lastra

a character in “Elements”, originally authored by Equilibrium, as played by RolePlayGateway

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Ruled by the Wind Princess who is protected by her gallant yet ever-changing knights much like the passing breeze. Who could ever wonder that beneath such a gentle exterior, a looming tempest was about to be unleashed?

So begins...

Freece's Story

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Celeste Macavelia Character Portrait: Freece
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Freece, Wind Protector
Aeolus' Grand Library


"Oh, so beautiful.... Come here, you sweet thing... Yes, let me... You smell divine..."

These were the ramblings of the clueless protector as he was often called, Freece. He had yet again fallen asleep within the confinements of the Grand Library with piles of books on the table in front of him. There was even one on his face as he messily slouched on his chair with his foot on the table as well. It shows clearly of rudeness and lack of manners or in more refine terms, delicacy. That is why rumors of the damaging sort floated up and about. The fact he was chosen was still unbelievable in more ways than one. There was also the issue of his seemingly unmotivated demeanor in much of everything.

In any case, this is how some of the maids and servants found Freece. Those eyes of disbelief, disappointment, and embarrassment due to the string of words that left his mouth in such a flirtatious manner. One could wonder what he was dreaming about for certain, it was rather perverted because of the type of statements he was saying out of the blue. This continued on and even the names of the other protectors were dragged on as well.

"Aeraki, don't you touch my precious with your filthy brush! ....Ha Tién.... Ha Tién... give it to me... Don't be shy Kanan you know you want it..."

It is not unlikely for a crowd to form around the sleeping Freece. He was truly entertaining in more ways than one and it even counts more when he is asleep. The people could not help but wonder what kind of erotic dreams this particular protector was having. He appeared to be fully unaware that he was not alone anymore and his muttering were audible enough to be heard within the Library Halls. Most of the people were blushing and some were inwardly in confusion. Such a crude man, should have never been chosen to protect their beautiful princess. Yet, the fates were not in their hands after all.

"Is Sir Freece here!?"

A rather heavily panting soldier donned in such standard armor and regalia entered the Library. It would appear the soldier had been running around the Palace in panic more so, in such appearance. Well at very least, it would increase the man's stamina. The people who were there pointed all together to the sleeping Freece. It was like such an occurrence was an everyday activity. The said soldier could not believe it as he shook his head. His superior officer had bid him good luck upon being ordered to find the hapless protector. He took it with pride as he was new in the force. However, his hopes of meeting one of the wind protectors were shattered.

"Eh? Is that really him?"

The rather surprised query was answered by the crowd of people with an a silent nod. Once again, it was well-coordinated that it was beginning to irk the new soldier. Well, it was not like this lot of people would lie to him. As such, he slowly approached the seat where Freece remained asleep. The people made a path for him which unnerved the soldier even further. Soon, he reached his destination but not with a warning from one of the maids.

"You're new right? I must warn you, Sir Freece doesn't like being awaken."

Looking at the maid, the soldier had a determined look. The news he brings was very urgent not to be said. Plus, there was no assurance when Freece would wake up. Anyway, the protector could probably not be that mad once the news was delivered, right?

"This is urgent. Sir Fre---"

He was not able to continue as Freece suddenly lounged forward which surprised everyone.

"Curse you Celeste! Don't take my donuts!!!"

After declaring that, Freece's actions caused him to fall from his chair and for the table to topple down in domino effect. The books were scattered around the floor and an echoing thud filled the Grand Library. If it was possible for everyone to have a big sweat drop on their heads, it would have been there. All this time, the sleeping protector was dreaming of donuts and nothing else. Moreover, the honor of being a protector does not seem to amount much in Freece's case. As for the soldier, he was completely stupefied of what happened.

"Ow... That's going to mark."

Freece muttered from his fallen position as he stood up while rubbing his head and yawning at the same time. He was completely oblivious with the mess he had created or the chaos he inflicted to the others. The soldier took this opportunity to report.

"Sir Freece!" Green eyes lazily looked at the soldier. "What?" Taking a deep breath, the soldier continued on with his head bowed to avoid looking at the protector's face which would be considered rude.

"The Princess summons you to the Debriefing Room. It is imperative."

Stretching his limbs, Freece walked passed the soldier and was already at the exit when the one sent to inform him noticed this.

"Sir Freece! I am not done yet!"

The soldier clumsily followed but tumbled from the books that littered the ground. Some of the curious crowd were now laughing at the scene. As for Freece, he spared the soldier one final glance.

"It is always imperative. Interrupting my doughnut dreams... I'm going, so clean that up will you?"

After saying that, Freece disappeared into the adjoining hallways as he went to the Debriefing Room where he will be waiting for the others. As for the soldier, he was completely caught unaware of the events. He picked one of the books and read the title which sent him chills all over his body.

"The Doughnut Warrior's Adventure with the Glaze Princess and Chocolate-Covered Priest."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Celeste Macavelia Character Portrait: Emrys Character Portrait: Aeraki Character Portrait: Ha Tién Long Character Portrait: Freece Character Portrait: Kanan Thiyer
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Celeste, Kanan, Emrys, and Tien

"It has been a long time, Uncle."
The Princess and the elderly man embraced. Celeste hadn't seen her uncle in nearly two years--since her father left seven years ago, Shifu Tien had periodically left and returned to the Kingdom of Wind. He never told anyone when or where he was going and she, out of pure respect, had never bothered to check. However, whenever he returned, it meant that something significant was happening--the last time Celeste had seen the man, the tyrant Earth King of the time was rebelled against and killed by his own wife. Even whilst hugging her uncle, the Princess' mind was racing. Why is he here? Is he simply late for the Water King's death or is something else coming?
"You're late Uncle!" She stated pulling away from the elderly man. "I already know the Water King is dead."
The old master looked confused. "Is he now?"
In turn, Celeste frowned. She had already anticipated an answer to that effect, but had been secretly hoping--against the odds apparently--that her uncle was actually late for once. Now what? She looked at the man with a grim expression. "So, what is about to happen?"
"I am not sure," he answered, looking out of the window and into the distance. "But, I do know that it will change the course of this land's history."
The Princess resisted the temptation to roll her eyes. Her uncle was always ambigious and it was so annoying at times...
"I see." Celeste turned to the two Protectors beside her, keen to change the topic. She hated being in the dark and talks of the future always left one in the dark. "I guess we had best get to our part in changing history, then." Her gaze rested on Kanan. "Oh!" she exclaimed. "You have never met my uncle before! I'm sorry."
Kanan was startled by Lady Celeste's sudden jump in concentration to him. His eye bounced between her and her uncle, unsure of how to proceed. Luckily, it seemed that Celeste was way ahead of him and spared him the duty of trying to properly introduce himself without making out to be a fool.
She looked from the silver-haired Protector to the elderly master, "Kanan, this is Shifu Ha Tien Long. He is the senior Protector and has been so much longer than any other Protector." Then, looking from her uncle to Kanan, she began, "Uncle, this is--"
"I know." Tien interrupted. He gazed at the other Protector with a gleam of interest in his eyes, like a diviner reading a fortune. "Young Kanan Thiyer..."
Kanan was a bit nervous at having his name known so easily and without his even saying a word. The elder man gazed at him with a strange look that seemed like Tien was looking through him rather than at him. He squirmed inwardly at such a steady gaze. Trying to ignore it, Kanan simply dipped his head down and bowed forward slightly.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Tien Long."
Emrys, had--until now--been standing silently and respectfully beside the platform from which he had come. He had already met the princess' uncle on several occasions now and enjoyed his presence. He, however, had no taste for the elder's ambiguity and subconsciously tapped on the hilt of his sword. Once. Just once.
Celeste heard. She casted her butler a glare for his lack of respect towards the imperial uncle. But, Emrys was right. They had to get the meeting going. She glanced around the room, only two Protectors were present. Breaking the silence, she muttered, "Where are Freece and Aeraki?"




[/b]Aeraki, Celeste, Kanan, Freece, Emrys, and Tien[/b]

The fae in question was currently still immersed in the shifting world of her dreams--where much of the colorful landscape was oh-so-fantastic--wait a moment. There was a pause in the sequence of her thoughts; there was something not quite right about this passing whimsy. All at once, the surroundings that had enveloped her seemed rather dull and insignificant. This was most certainly not where she was meant to be. Not at all... There was something else tugging at her, as if pulling her from this world of washed over hues and jagged shapes. This realization was followed by a sudden jolt from her body and, unfortunately, also accompanied by a swift motion from her fist, which collided with something soft.

Aeraki was at a loss for precisely how it happened, suffice to say she was fairly confused to find herself on the ground and a twitching guard no more than a few feet from her. A frown unfurled on her face as she tilted her head. How very mysterious! She wasn't in the same location she had started out in. Clearly, she had mastered the art of teleporta... Oh. The guard was there. She released a disappointed sigh, wrinkling her nose. How borish, really, she had to do something about this habit of falling asleep in the middle of conversation. But, there was nothing the fae could do regarding the matter, things were just so mundane and didn't hold her interest in the slightest.

The girl blinked, the thing that had been prodding her while she slept still hanging around. There was something she was forgetting, something important, clearly, for it to still hold her focus minutes after she had awoken. Aeraki got to her feet, rubbing her eyes with a yawn.

"Oi, you." She said, ignoring the fact that the guard was laying face-down. She prodded him with her foot, though when she didn't receive a proper response, she proceeded to kick him in the shoulder. "I said, 'Oi you'! Get up!" She kicked him harder, the man groaning in the process and rolling over on to his side. Aeraki had actually just been about to stomp on his face so it was a good thing he opened his eyes, elsewise...

"M... Miss... Aeraki...?" He managed, his voice layered with grogginess. A rosiness found it's way on to her cheeks for her embarrassment heightened. She'd never punched anyone out-cold before.

"Who else would it b..." She trailed off, suddenly catching sight a cloud that looked like a dog with one leg. That was incredibly sad, that poor thing... There was some garbled nonsense in the background, probably coming from the guard, or an animal. She forced herself to look back to him, the man stuttering about as he gazed at her.

"... bringing you to see Lady Celeste." Ah! That caused her eyes to snap wide open, that was the thing that was lingering around! She nodded to herself somewhat proudly for actually having bothered to pay attention long enough to figure this one out. The girl blinked, frowning again as she regarded the man. So why was he still talking? He had already reminded her of what needed be done--now he was just irking her by forcing his presence upon her. "A-Actually, I can accompany you...? I will be needing to report to S-Sir Emrys of your arrival anyway..." Aeraki's wings fluttered slightly, the first sign of annoyance.
"I don't need to be led around as if a child." She said shortly, this was seriously grating on her nerves! The man didn't seem to take the hint as he smiled (creepily) at her.

"Well, you certainly do have the... ah... the... size to compliment one." This was enough to make her pause, and for Aeraki, that was a feat within itself. The girl never marveled upon any one detail for long enough to pause about it. She removed her gaze from him, now observing her surroundings as closely as she cared. She could just about make out the building he was aiming to take her to and scanned it over. There was a whisper of green hair in one of the windows up on the fourth floor. Despite her lack of proper interest, Aeraki was still a girl who took in details closely. She knew that green hair well, the locks could belong to none other than the Lady Celeste herself.

She didn't even bother with a response, wings spreading out and fluttering a bit as they moved to levitate her properly. The guard looked surprised, reaching out as if to stop her but she didn't even pay attention--she just wanted to be as far away from him as possible! Actually, considering that she wasn't even giving him her full attention, there was a chance she had probably misconstrued some of his dialogue but whatever, she was labeling him as a creep anyway! Her wings raised her into the air with practiced ease and without a look down, she left the guard behind her and glided up to the window.

The wind suddenly picked up as she neared her desination and the light-weighted fae was no match for the gust. She went tumbling through the open window, sprawling on to the ground. Perhaps she could've been a bit more elegant, but the window was open, and that gust of wind was pretty strong... Aeraki shook her head to clear the hair out of her vision, sitting up with wide eyes.

"Miiii?" Was all the girl said, a phrase that was artfully cute and in no way portrayed the abuse she had given the guard earlier. Then she spotted him. "Kanananan!" She squealed, launching herself upon the unsuspecting man and brushing her lips over his in a kiss. The motion was followed by a rather unbefitting faltering of her smile, her expression now painfully bored. She was over the excitement, time to move on to other things. And just like that, she plopped herself on the ground, tilting her head to the side.

Kanan froze. The moment he'd turned to the sound of a body hitting the floor he'd cringed slightly. It wasn't the first time, nor would it be the last he was sure. He didn't know what it was, but Aeraki seemed to always lunge at him whenever they met in the hall or were on duty together. It was the same greeting like always, and like always, he had no idea how to handle it.
The fae jumped at him with arms wide and a huge grin on her face. He should have been expecting it, but utterly failed to do so. Her voice sang out his name as if he were her favorite or something. Then she crashed into him, latching on with an iron grip. Her lips followed soon after and broke his attempt at responding.

"Aer-nnnn!!!" His heart jumped, skipping several times and he was sure his face was beat red. His pale blue eye widened as he stared at her. She released him and in seconds the small fae was bored once more, paying him no heed at all. One hand gripped his sword tightly, tighter than he had when he'd bumped into Celeste on accident, the other had risen half way in a half hearted attempt to push her away. Kanan seemed to be stuck in this position for some time before regaining his wits.

Slowly, his hand relaxed its grip on the large weapon, the other reached up and grabbed a thick handful of silver hair, pulling it back just enough to show the strap of his eyepatch. Kanan sighed heavily and closed his eye as he stood there. Was he ever going to get used to these kinds of interactions? Probably not...

Celeste cleared her throat. "Glad to have you here Aeraki, however... I believe the meeting will proceed much easier without you clamped onto Kanan's face."

There was a slight mutter of agreement from the butler standing beside her. The fae grinned slyly, as if suddenly finding interest in the topic of Kanan again before giving a bat of her eyelashes. "I didn't know you were that jea..." She trailed off instantly as just then, the floating platform glided back into the room with another man on board.

"-Yawnnnnn-..."

This was the timely yet crude greeting that the last Air Protector presented towards the Princess, the robotic butler and his fellow protectors. He greeted them all with a nonchalant wave. His eyes of deep green did not betray his emotions of disinterest and disappointment. It seemed that Freece was still caught up with his beautiful dreams about a world of doughnuts and would rather be there than here with everyone else. Well, no one could blame him since he treats this as an obligatory job more than an honor.

"Are we going... -yawnn-... to start... -yawnnn-... or what?"

Freece asked while still yawning in mid-sentences. He did not bother covering his mouth while his hand scratched his head in a gesture of boredom. Unlike Aeraki, the disenchanted protector could have the bearing to stay awake by hanging on his nonexistent will. At the very least, this would be considered his way of respect or proof manners.
"Now that we are all--finally--here," the Princess started, sarcasm layered in her words, "Yes."

After hearing the Princess' answer, Freece could feel his stomach speaking in rebellion. Thinking of which, he had yet to grab something to bite since his good old library sleep.

"I haven't eaten breakfast yet... We have snacks here grumps?"

Looking to his side, his gaze fell on Emrys who always reminded him to be proper especially in front of the Princess. Well, Freece did listen to the sermons but all the same it exited without resistance through the other ear.

The butler stared at the young Protector with an emotionless expression. "I'm afraid not, sir."

"Nope." Celeste agreed. "We've got to get to the Shrine of Aridea--preferably ahead of everyone else. Freece, you'll just have to eat on the fly there." From behind her back, the young woman produced a thick roll of paper and proceeded to pass a fifth of the stack to each of the people present. And then, she began, "Alright. If you haven't been told already, the Water King is dead--killed alongside his Protectors. This has certain significance in upcoming events." She smirked and spoke with an ominous tone, "However, this does not mean that the turn of events cannot be taken advantage of."

Listening to the princess, Emrys nodded. This was Celeste MacAvelia--the Sky Demoness--always ready to manipulate a change in the winds.

Freece remembered the dream where Celeste took all of his doughnuts. It was slowly coming true even more so when a thick roll of paper was handed to him instead a plate of his favorite food. Stretching his arms upwards, it was then he noticed the presence of the old-timer. No wonder he had that dream with that old geezer in it. Perhaps, his spiritual consciousness foretells of the future, that only means his doughnut fantasies were going to come true. With that notion, the uninterested protector had an immediate change in his demeanor. Ignoring the news about the death of the Water King and his protectors along with the roll of paper handed for his reading, he had a rather meaniful smirk across his face.

"Hey Princess! Let's get this show on the road!"

Had he still been looking at Emrys, the Protector would have noticed the large butler glaring at him coldly. The silver haired man couldn't understand why the princess kept him around. Personally, the butler found the way that Freece address the princess to be disrespectful and overly arrogant. Being in the presence of Celeste helped keep Emrys at bay. This was no time to start an argument.

Kanan looked up to Freece as he took the scroll of paper from Celeste. How could the other protector possibly speak in such a way to Celeste? His pale blue eye narrowed slightly and a frown worked its way on his lips. Kanan didn't say anything though as he rolled the paper opened and scanned the contents, trying to ignore Freece.

"All in good time, Freece," she responded simply. She stepped over to the window overlooking the city. "For the past millenium, Lastra has been in a constant state of war and pre-war. Peace is what the people most desire. I believe that now is the best time to make moves toward that peace."

The annoying hum of words, mother earth they were drowning her in boredoooooom. Aeraki had long since stopped looking at the Princess, who was blabbing on and on about some war and peace and the stupid people who lived in the land. Who cared? There were many more interesting things about, oh! Like Emrys, he looked like fun. She decided to stare at him for all of eight seconds before becoming bored again and then collapsing fully on the floor, puffing up her cheeks. Nevermind, that was a silly attempt to keep herself busy.

It was clear that Freece was more active than his earlier actions. Anyone who knew the lacklustered protector could conclude what was the reason behind this. Doughnuts. Walking ahead of the group, he gestured towards the others to hurry it up. There was no time to waste for his dreams could turn into reality any minute. Truthfully, he really didn't care about whatever the Sky Princess was plotting or what she was aspiring for. All those stuff did not matter to him anyway. He had lived far too long to even care about what he could only describe as mundane things. There was only one thing that mattered and that was...
"Get your butts going to the Shrine already, I don't have all day you know!"

The statement relighted her interests, oh! She hadn't played with Freece yet today! His name reminded her of sheep, and that reminded her of soft things, and that reminded her of fluffy things, and that reminded her of... Oh, the list was a long one--but he kept her mind busy so that was a good focus point! The fae jolted up, probably alarming the others with her quick motion and her wings fluttered with her. She hoped the others would move fast enough while she bothered to keep her attentions highlighted on issue at hand, because her mind was prone to scatter. Very. Quickly. Oh! She hadn't greeted him yet! She'd have to make a note to do that...

Celeste had already anticipated her Protectors' responses--they were so easily distracted and left bored. She quickly turned around and smiled, "Neither do I. That's why I recommend you read through the packets I've given you."

Emrys had already scanned the pages he had been given. Details of nine individuals had been contained in the ink, three of whom the butler recognized. The pages contained information regarding various details about the Kings of the Earth and Fire Kingdoms as well as volumnous amounts of information regarding their Protectors and the abilities of each. he looked up at Celeste with a questioning expression. "Princess Celeste, where did you get these?"

"There are ways of knowing."

That particular response didn't satisfy the butler, but he decided not to make any snarky comments.

Kanan raised an eyebrow as he finished looking through the scroll. All of this information... where in the world did she obtain it from? He wasn't sure he wanted to know though. However, Kanan was fairly sure that if the other Kings and Protectors found out that she'd gotten all of their information... well he figured that things weren't going to be quite a smooth.
"What do you plan to do with all of this, my Lady?" Kanan asked softly.

"It's always advantageous to be able to see multiple aspects of a situation before approaching it. It's best that you all know who you could be potentially up against." Then, she added, "Knowledge is power."

Kanan froze for a moment. Had he heard her right? He knew that he was a new protector and all, but this didn't sound like something that could be... right. He looked up from the scroll and straight to his Queen. Pulling a bit of his lip inbetween his teeth he flicked his gaze from her to the other protectors.

"Do you mean... to... fight them?" He asked slowly. He wasn't sure if he entirely liked that idea, however, he was now in her service and questioning wasn't usually something he did. He felt a tightness in his chest and he sealed his lips right after. Hopefully she didn't get angry with him. If she meant to fight them... well, he would do as he was ordered like he'd always done in the past.

It was a different voice that answered Kanan's question. "Hopefully not." Tien stepped closer to the group, "At best, we can avoid confrontation as a whole." He looked at the other Protectors, "But, it is always best to be ready."

Emrys grunted in agreement. He had been out on the battlefields long enough to know that knowing one's opponent beforehand could completely change the outcome of a confrontation. However, things could always go wrong--one could never know about random factors. He flipped through the packet. The Fire Prince only had three Protectors... Immediately, a question came to mind. How updated are these?

The princess nodded in agreement with the elderly man's statement. "No, Kanan. I have absolutely no intention of fighting. This mission is purely for peaceful reasons."

Kanan nodded in agreement, settled then -if only slightly- by her acknowledgement of not wanting to fight. Still... he couldn't shake the feeling that something could possibly go wrong. His eye glanced back down to the paper he held. He would go through them in more detail later on.

"Should we be going then?" He looked up to see his Queen grinning at him slightly before turning to one of the windows. She opened it and then proceeded to jump out into thin air. For a single moment, his heart clenched and he had the urge to lung forward, throwing his power towards her to catch her. However, he realized she was the Queen of Air and figured she would be just fine.

Kanan walked over to the same window and looked out to indeed see his Lady quite alright as she called the winds to her and hovered in the air easily. With a shake of his head he followed suite, also calling his own magic to carry him out towards her. From there they would fly most of the way to the Shrine and finish by walking the short distance there through the trees where the Shrine was located.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Celeste Macavelia Character Portrait: Aarynn Fletcher Character Portrait: Emrys Character Portrait: Eugene Van Goff Character Portrait: Philomena Character Portrait: Marsaili
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#, as written by Siryn
Kanan, Freece, Aeraki, Celeste, Tien, and Emrys

Kanan tensed as Aeraki suddenly burst into motion. He thought for a mere second of utter shock that she was about to latch onto him once more. He watched her carefully, only calming a little as he heard her say Freece's name much like she'd done his.

"Fleece~" She called out, mimicking her pattern from earlier and lacing delicate arms around his neck, though only brushing her lips across his cheek. "Give me a piggy-back ride, I'm suddenly too lazy to walk." And blatantly ignoring the fact of her wings, which she drooped to add effect.

Upon hearing the nickname that Freece hates, there could be a noticeable vein throbbing on the right upper portion of his forehead, It was intensified more as the fae attached herself on his back. He would never know why Aeraki liked to pester him most of the time.

"Oi you Airhead, let's get things straight. Don't call me that! I am not a sheep! And second you have wings to fly! So fly!"

With all of that said, Freece begrudgingly carried Aeraki despite his complaints. The fae after all was not that heavy to begin with. Even when he would be expressive in his dislikes and rude remarks, in the end, he would still do what is asked of him. Well, he still mumbled and occasionally jolted the fae by bumping her to the nearby trees or rocky walls.

Aeraki was used to this behavior by now, able to deftly avoid being jolted too much, though the motion was progressively becoming repetitive to her. She was sure that Freece regarded her as a child, a mistake a lot of people tended to make for her behavior. Oh well! It made her observations go that much smoother and it helped that he wasn't on guard about it, not that it'd make much different if he was. She shifted her gaze downwards as she flicked her brush around idly with a free hand, scattering the water on the tip all over the place. This was too long of a walk, she needed to be entertained...! Wait a minute, wasn't the knot of the tie of Kanan's eyepatch uneven? Huh... She stared at it, squinting to see if it was indeed parallel or uneven, fortunately distracting herself long enough to stop squirming and sit still for once.

"Hey Disco Wings... Stop waving that pen around!"

Freece shouted in irritation as he shook his head where some of the water nestled. After doing so, he stopped walking and looked over his shoulder. His deep green eyes were sligtly more richer in color due to the spark of annoyance present within. Furthermore, why is that this sad excuse for a fae can't pick on herself. She is a perfect candidate for her antics. Although, he noticed that Aeraki was looking at something or more specifically someone else. Following that line of sight, he noticed it was the new addition to the group of protectors, Kanan.

Kanan felt a stare at the back of his head and turned just enough to see what was going on. Aeraki was still for once, albeit on Freece's shoulders, but still non-the-less. He sighed inwardly, that girl was a lot of trouble... another thing he had trouble coping with. The silver-haired protector turned back around and continued forward as they were making their way to the Shrine.

He idly wondered who they were going to meet there. He hadn't seen any of the other protectors or the Kings before. Curiosity was working it's way into his system and before he knew it he was lost in thought, wondering what they were going to be like. To add to his curiosity he felt a pang of guilt run through him. What Lady Celeste had spoken of back at Anemoi. Were they really going to fight the other protectors? Kanan hoped they wouldn't have to. Kanan straightened, stiffening slightly and berated himself for having been lost to his thoughts. It wasn't like him to question things so much, or for so long either. He sighed inwardly and continued following the others towards the Shrine. They would be there very soon.

Emrys looked back at the trio of Protectors trailing behind him and let out an indignant sigh. Personally, he wasn't sure that they were qualified as the princess' Protectors. Kanan was a 'maybe'. The other two were simply insubordinate and, at worst, untrustworthy. Shifu Tien, though impassibly wise and knowledgeable, was simply no longer fit.

The group reached the Shrine within a few minutes. They were the first there, just as Lady Celeste liked to have things. Kanan was starting to get used to the way she planned stuff. It was only a matter of time before the other King's entered the area as well.

Siya and Kaed

"We'll have to leave the horses here, the woods are too thick for them to go through," Siya said as he slowly dismounted, careful of his injury. Perhaps if things went well, Lady Celeste would heal the wound for him. He could only hope that she would be in a good mood. On the other hand though, his thoughts had been filled with Kaed for the remainder of the trip. The tall protector had looked so worried when Siya had been injured.

There had been a look in his eyes that had shocked Siya and stirred something else inside him as well. He wasn't sure what the feeling was yet, but he could still feel it, swirling around at the back of his mind and causing chills to run their course across his body. The young King took a quick look to his protector. The tall man was quite pleasing to look at, his long black hair always flowing around his face, his dark red eyes were the most alluring. He was warm, comforting and Siya's closest friend among his protectors.

Kaed turned his eyes down, catching the King staring at him. Siya flushed and before he turned he caught Kaed's taunting smile. His heart beat had picked up erratically, his throat tight as he quickly went around to the front of his horse and took the reigns. He tied the beast to the nearest tree and tried hard not to look in Kaed's direction.

"Just beyond here is the Shrine. We should hurry through, I'm sure Lady Celeste is waiting for us as it is nearing the time to be there," the young King announced, looking up through a break in the canopy above him. The stars were getting brighter as night settled in further. Siya took the lead, bringing his companions through the thick brush and trees. It was a lushes forest, beautiful in more than one way and far enough from any prying eyes or well traveled roads.

This place was where the Kings held most of their meetings should they ever all need to be contacted for one reason or another. Siya, naturally, knew the exact way to get to the small clearing where the Shrine was. As he broke through the thick greenery, his eyes were met by Lady Celeste and her troupe already there, just as he suspected. Off in the distance, he could hear another group rummaging through the forest as well and could only assume that is was Lord Byre and his protectors.

Siya offered her a smile and bowed to her. Kaed followed suite and offered quick, sharp, glances to the other protectors as a silent order for them to do the same. Siya straightened and looked up at the Shrine nestled in the far side of the clearing. The woods were slowly beginning to take it over, vines wrapping up the large pillars of the small structure. The stone was dark with years of elemental wear against it. However, it still kept its alluring beauty and power. Siya could feel it eminating from the center of the Shrine, a small square hole where offerings were usually burnt.

"My Lady," Siya offered to her as he stepped in closer to the shrine and the King of Air, or rather, Queen as she prefered, "I assume you know of the Water Kings death. Once Lord Byre is here, I would like to propose a means of finding a new King," he stated simply, trying to keep it short and too the point as to not waste time, but also to assert that he had plans of his own as well.

Hebi

The woods were cool, dark and inviting for a being such as himself. They'd left the Earth Kingdom and had made their way to the meeting place, only stopping once. Hebi, all the while, kept his smile to himself. Of course, he didn't have much to be smiling about as he had only heard portions of what his King and Eugene had talked about, but it was still amusing none-the-less.

The trees were getting thicker as they moved and Hebi knew then that they were much closer to the Shrine then. It would only be a matter of minutes before they were at the meeting. The meeting. How dull, Hebi thought to himself, loosing the amused smile for just a moment. He had better things to do and more interesting ideas to say the least.

No matter. As long as he didn't have to do much, then it wasn't a problem. He followed his King as they broke through the brush, entering the Shrine.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Celeste Macavelia Character Portrait: Aarynn Fletcher Character Portrait: Emrys Character Portrait: Marsaili Character Portrait: Siya Ukomo Character Portrait: Hebi Irikisha
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Celeste, Emrys, and Tien

The Shrine of Aridea stood at the center of Lastra and had stood there for—by scholars’ estimates—at least four millennia. What made the Shrine unique in comparison to the other objects from three millennia ago was the fact that it still held all the glamour that it had back when it had first been built—personally, Celeste believed it was as old as the continent itself. A ring of glistening marble pillars stood about thirteen feet high forming a large ring around a circular area. Pairs of pillars were topped by granite creating what appeared as eight gateways leading to the area at the center which was tiled with reflective obsidian. At the center of the shrine was a circular table.

When she was a child, Nicholas MacAvelia had often taken his daughter to the Shrine. He would detail to her wondrous tales of the eldritch lore and ancient civilizations associated with the Shrine—it had always served as an important meeting place, whether it was peaceful meetings or combative ones varied from time to time. The Shrine of Aridea was, actually, one of Celeste’s favorite places in Aridea and she visited on a regular basis.

Today, however, the Shrine wasn’t the first thing on the Princess’ mind. Today was the day when the realization of her dream and her father’s dream would finally begin. At this meeting, Celeste would begin part of an elaborate plan to unite the four elements.

“Princess Celeste?”

“Emrys, how many times have I told you not to call me by titles?”

“Sorry, Princess Celeste,”—she flashed him a glare, which he seemingly ignored—,“I have just received news about the approaching party from the Fire Kingdom and it seems that—”

“Yes, they have another person with them. The Exelves have returned.”

Emrys nodded. He was completely used to the Princess knowing information before he told her—she always seemed to have her ‘sources’. “My lady, perhaps you should reconsider meeting like this.”

“This is the perfect opportunity, Emrys.” She looked at him with a defiant grin, “How could I miss this?”
Freece released another yawn while still giving Aeraki a piggyback ride. His eyes were bordering between the realm of dreams and the realm of darkness. In short, he was quite sleepy and bored out of his mind. The grandeur of the Shrine did not help to invigorate his senses. Instead, he was getting impatient from all the waiting since the other Royalties seemed to take the scenic route.

She turned to the other Protectors, “Guys, we have a guest of the Fire King coming; she is one of the Exelves. I would like you all to behave in her presence—I won’t have you terrorizing Prince Siya’s guest, no matter what your instincts tell you. Is that clear—Aeraki and Freece?”

"What do I care about some Exelves or whatever it is called? If it's not a dougnut, I don't care."

As if to emphasize his point, Freece finally released his support on Aeraki letting her fall or fly on her own whatever flies her boat. After doing that, he stretched his arms upwards and could feel the rumble of his stomach.
"Anyway, where can I find some breakfast here?"

"If you wait patiently," Shifu Tien suggested, "You will be in for a pleasant surprise. The Shrine of Aridea is an excellent place to meet and, also, to eat!"

Celeste smiled in agreement. The Shrine of Aridea did provide fine cuisine--through some sort of magic. Whenever a meeting convened, a variety of dishes--selected seemingly to the tastes of those present--would shimmer into existence on the center table. It was another one of the wonders of the Shrine.

There was a rustling of branches in the forest. From the corner of her eye, Celeste could see Emry's hand floating to the handle of his sword. She raised a hand to stop him just as the Fire King and his troupe of fire Protectors broke into the clearing. A group of five characters, the King was walking in the lead, a long and dark haired Protector was strutting right beside him--Kaed Kuhti. Trailing close behind the King was a small girl, with wings--the Exelve. There was a young looking girl--a odd aura seemed to emanate from her--Marsali, the demon child. And last was, perhaps, the most ordinary looking Protector the Princess had ever laid eyes on--Aarynn Fletcher.

The Wind Princess studied the group for a moment and took in numerous details.

First of all, there was the odd arrangment which the group traveled in. It seemed as though everyone, aside from the King, was trying to distance themselves from the Exelve. Clearly, she was a new addition to the group and, perhaps, had incurred the jealousy and or hatred of the other Protectors.

They manner in which they walked, with an odd posture, indicated that they had come on horseback--the horses were no where in sight. They must have been left behind when the forest became too thick.

Then, there was the way in which the group carried themselves--they seemed rather exhausted, as if they had recently expended a significant amount of mana. There were several light patches of dirt on his clothes as well as on the clothes of his Protectors--perhaps there had been a skirmish on the way here. And then, Celeste noticed it--a slight hesitation in the King's shoulder. A wound.

Siya offered her a smile and bowed to her. Kaed and Aarynn quickly followed suit, the former casting a glance at the other two Protectors.

The Princess returned the smile and bowed as well.

"My Lady," Siya offered to her as he stepped in closer to the shrine, "I assume you know of the Water King's death. Once Lord Byre is here, I would like to propose a means of finding a new King."

"You assume correctly, Prince Siya. Yes, I have called you here to discuss our next course of action in regards to the Water King." She reached out and, with a bit of magic, blew a leaf off of the Fire King's shoulder--it had been Forest Nymphs that had attacked the Fire troupe. A slight hint of mint filled the air. "But, first, let me tend to your wound."

She reached into Amalthea, the enchanted pouch strapped to her right thigh and produced a small vial containing a brownish liquid. "This is Amrita--sometimes called Ambrosia," she explained, uncapping the vial. "It will heal you very quickly, though, it may sting a bit at first." She put several drops onto her index finger and indicated his wound, silently asking if he would let her apply the medicine.

Another group broke into the forest--Earth King Byre's men.

Celeste smiled. "I believe it's about time to get our meeting started."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Celeste Macavelia Character Portrait: Aarynn Fletcher Character Portrait: Emrys Character Portrait: Eugene Van Goff Character Portrait: Philomena Character Portrait: Marsaili
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Byre Cress DelaCroiw
The Shrine of Aridea - Meeting of Rulers


The rest of the journey was more to say a humdrum. Assassinations, attacks, common thievery and the such never occurred or loomed over Byre even once. Somehow, it was a bit of disappointing in his opinion. After all, it was not too often that he manages to leave the domains of his kingdom. Yet, there had been little inputs along the way as he traveled with his chosen Protectors. The twisting conversations with Eugene, the fleeting observations towards Hebi, and his last protector who entertains him through silence. It was a conundrum of eccentricities that he appreciated in different ways.

"Master, they have already arrived."

Radiating within his consciousness, Telius' conjecture brought the Young King to the reason for this sudden walk out of his realm. The odd familiar was still lounging on top of Byre's shoulder as if it was a charming nest of softness. It seemed that the Wind and Fire Rulers had arrived at the Shrine of Aridea. As such, there was no need for him to linger around in such a relaxing pace. He had only done so in respect to the pride of the Wind Princess who always desired being on time. Adding to that, he did like the idea of being waited upon. It is one of the many luxuries of being late and awareness of the time.

"And so did we."

After stating that, Byre walked through the bushes that had gratefully parted to give way to the Earth King. His clothes reflected his status and rather militaristic qualities of his dominion. He wore white collared shirt with a blue necktie overlapped with a black vest which was covered by an opened military jacket with gold stripes at the end of its sleeves matched by a pair of black pants, half gloves on his hands, and combat boots on his feet. Upon the jacket, there were respective medals and badges some connected intricately by lithe silver chains. It fitted his form perfectly and not a speck of dust or leaf could be seen on his person. He was a vision and without a doubt inherited his father's intimidating yet good looks.

"Greetings Lady Celeste." Byre offered accompanied by a cordial bow to the female King who would without a doubt take another step in this three-way game of chess or even perhaps there were more players than he could conclude.

"I extend them also to you Lord Siya." In this regard, Byre only offered a courteous nod of the head. He had took notice the brief scent of magic that pilfered the winds, the touch of cinnamon and the allure of the forest nymphs.

"You seemed to have trouble on the way Fire King. It is good to know you are still here with us."

The string of words that Byre spoke had no specific tone of sympathy or concern. One could say it was rather empty and dull as if spoken only through the lore of politeness. This was only evident more to his rather apathetic expression as he slightly observed Siya's condition. His eyes also transferred to the Fire King's chosen Protectors.

"It is a pleasing thought that you have reliable protectors with you. Keep them well."

There was a seemingly underlying meaning to those word that its depth has yet to be seen. After saying that, Byre's eyes made a passing glance to a specific guest in the Fire Crew. The sense of a tainted being emitted from the frail form of a girl. He had read about such a creature once in a passing whim. It seemed that the world still have many secrets to be revealed to him. Knowing such concoction, the Earth King only spared a second worth glance to his protectors. He expected them to behave or his temperament would not only be limited to mere chaining them to the wall. It was delivered with the subtle serious intent within those greenish-blue eyes of his that seemed to glow.

As if to emphasize this, Telius who was still on Byre's shoulder delivered his words through the mind of the Earth Protectors in complete secrecy to the others present.

"Bad servants shall be punished. Will you be able to be good little protectors? I highly doubt it."

While the mental charade was going on, Byre once more looked at the Wind Princess and her retinue once she was done healing the wounded Fire King.

"Shall we begin then? The matters to be discussed are of great concern after all. The Balance and The Future are on the agenda as they always have."

Without further ado, Byre lead the way knowing full well his protectors would follow to where the Center Table laid. However, the Earth King stopped before the entrance and gestured for the Wind Princess to enter first. After all, he still have his trained and innate manner to consider in such instances.

"After you, Lady Celeste."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Celeste Macavelia Character Portrait: Aarynn Fletcher Character Portrait: Marsaili Character Portrait: Siya Ukomo Character Portrait: Hebi Irikisha Character Portrait: Aeraki
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#, as written by Igari
She woke up again, not having remembered falling asleep in the first place. Huh? What was.. going on? Aeraki shot up, wings fluttering behind her in slight disarray as she tried to figure out precisely where she was and why the hell the cracks in the walls were partially disjointed and not even straight! Terra and earth combined, that was really annoying, look at all those jagged shapes and--oh, wait, something smelled funny. She wobbled unsteadily on her feet as she gazed around, sniffing her hands. What was that scent? HMMMM. The confusion. It increased. And then it hit her, much like many of the things that she forgot only to recall later--she had been on Fleece's back! That was why she smelled kind of like furry sheep. Well, not really but it was better to assume that she did than know what he actually smelled like. Wait, where was Fleece anyway? Had he gone bah-bah-sheep and realized his true place among the flock of said animal?!

She had to save him--he wasn't ready to join his kin--oh hey, what were all those people doing over there?

Concern for Fleece vanished on the spot as she took a few steps forward, easily growing bored of walking and letting her wings flutter a bit faster to allow her to levitate off the ground. Whoa. Where had they all come from...? She was pretty sure she wasn't sniffing the water off her pen brush... She had made that mistake some years back and had been delirious for days. (In other words, very attentive and incredibly focused) That was terrible! So much vivid detaaaaaail... Okay, so they weren't some phantoms of her mind. That had to mean they were real. Not that she'd think of such retarded looking people anyway--seriously, that dude with the red hair and stupid look on his face wasn't anything she'd ever deign to imagine. And that other dude with the eyepat--OH THAT WAS KANANANAN. Ahem, she knew that!

She was only looking at all these people because there was really nothing else to do--oh whoa, that little chick with the stuffed animals, was she ripping them to shreds? That was pretty cool. Like, really cool. Aeraki was already making plans to hang out with this girl after the meeting, clearly she knew what was up when it came to having fun. She paused, was that speaking going on? Ohhhhh, this was a meeting... How. Terribly. Boring. That edge of her brush looked pretty sharp... or she could draw herself a knife... to end the suffering of such terrible--then something caught her eye. To be more specific, someone. Aeraki stopped her mental rambling and her orange orbs swiveled over to a man partially hidden by shadows and possessing a rather snake-like stare. It wasn't really his looks that caught her attentions or even his speech, for she kind of tuned out what everyone was saying anyway.

It was his scent. He carried it with him, the scent of that terrible mar upon the beauty of the earth. She wrinkled her nose in absolute disgust and tilted her chin upwards, crossing her arms over her chest. Aeraki proceeded to sit cross-legged mid-air, lashes falling over her eyes in a half-lidded fashion as she puffed up her cheeks in discontent. What was he doing carrying it's scent with him? And why would he be associating with it anyway? It had been some years since their last interaction, in fact, Aeraki didn't like to linger on the details of when. Suffice to say it hadn't been long enough since the last meeting and for sure she could wait at least a century more for the next one.

For once, she fell to a sort of posture regarding brooding, a rare mood to settle across one such as her. The fae was discontent to say the least but wasn't about to voice her suspicions or start throwing accusations around. Maybe she was mistaken. But then again, she rarely was. She had an artist's sense about these things after all. Pah. This meeting needed to be over really soon.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Celeste Macavelia Character Portrait: Eugene Van Goff Character Portrait: Siya Ukomo Character Portrait: Hebi Irikisha Character Portrait: Byre DelaCroiw Character Portrait: Kaed Kuhti
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#, as written by Siryn
MĂ©nage Ă  trois


After having been dismissed by the Kings, well more like being kicked out by Celeste, they all had gathered outside of the Shrine area, in the woods of the surrounding forest. Hebi turned his cold green eyes towards each of the Protectors. His eyes went to the one he'd antagonized earlier.

"You're gaze towards your King speaks volumes, Kaed."

The fire Protector turned slowly to address Hebi. He ignored the comment, shook his head slightly and turned back to what he was doing. Kaed had one of the small knives in hand and was wiping the blade down with a bit of oil on a cloth.

Hebi smirked, "What do you think, dear former Lare of a non-existant country?"

Unfortunately for Hebi, Eugene disliked his fellow protector as much, if not probably more than he loathed the protectors of the other factions. Such scepticism would have surely been catastrophic amongst allies. Yet it seemed that Hebi Irikisha’s personality naturally bred animosity, like smoke after a fire. Without gracing the capricious protector with his attention, there was a sharp intake of breath as Eugene reluctantly spoke. “I think you should shut that worthless trap of yours,” he hissed under his own breath, “No, on second thoughts, why don’t you keep wailing on them. That way I’ll at least have something interesting to watch when they try to kill you.”

Bored emerald green eyes gazed at the interactions of the other protectors of the other High and Mighty Sad Excuse for Rulers. He really did not like iinteracting with the others. Although, he is quite feeling good since he had finally gotten his hands on a bowl of doughnuts with varying flavors. As a result, he continued munching one while seeing the rather clear hostility between the two Earth Protectors. Well, it was not much but quite entertaining. As such, he continued eating when one of the doughnuts fell in the ground as it rolled between the snakey-type of person and a Lare.

"Try is the key word there, ex-king of some country. Of course it would be entertaining," he continued. His gaze shifted downwards to watch the pastry like thing roll between himself and Eugene. He turned to look at Freece, but didn't say anything. Only a cruel smile curved his lips as he crossed his arms and searched for another target to antagonize.

"So, what is your relationship with your King, dear fire Protector?"

Kaed sighed heavily and looked over, "I protect him, like you're supposed to do with your King."

"Ah, protect, yes I've heard of that. However, with that gaze of yours... makes one think there's more going on then just.... protecting..."

Kaed sheathed the little knife and drew his sword then, turning to face Hebi full on. The Earth protector uncrossed his arms, a look of triumph spilling over his pale face, sickly green eyes widening as they watched with anticipation. Unfortunately, that anticipation was short lived as a hard grasp on the back of his head took hold of his hair and he was suddenly dragged along side his King who growled at all of his Protectors that they were leaving.

Siya Ukomo

The note slid over to him and Siya took it gently. Prior to such, the Protectors had moved a distance away from the three Kings, knowing that such meetings were only meant for King's to hear. It was... common knowledge between them all. Siya opened the envelope and read the contents. A faint blush rose over his cheeks as he realized the very true statement that she'd written down on the paper. Slowly he closed the note and looked up as Byre spoke and promptly tore his apart. A flash of anger and shock washed over the fire King.

"Severus Damien is dead and I have killed him. Now, you know your enemy. What will you do Fire King Siya, Wind Princess, Celeste? Shall we now play a game of war? I will take hold of the Water Orb and all of yours. Make this as the declaration of war."

His dark eyes bore into Siya as he spoke, shifting between him and Celeste. Siya felt his chest clench tightly, his heart pounded hard in his chest. It couldn't be... no... it didn't seem right? Was it even possible that Byre would think such things? Was it even true that he'd killed the Water King? Now he was after both him and Celeste as well? He couldn't... no, he wouldn't believe it. He slammed his hands on the table and stood up abruptly, determined to face Byre. However, the Earth King had already begun to take his leave, dragging Hebi and the other protectors with him.

Celeste's cool voice followed him right after, “Earth King Byre DeLaCroiw—we have not the time for your game of war. Now, there are much larger things at stake. You may choose not to side with us but know this: The lone warrior may the bravest of them all, but there will be a time that he slips. He will turn and find no one to help him regain his stance.”

Siya's head dropped forward. A heavy sigh left his lips and his shoulders sagged a bit. After a moment he looked to Celeste, "I don't think he's truly left us, Celeste. Let us try to believe that he is still our ally, no matter what he may say. Until he completely proves that he's declared war against us and comes after our lives... only then will we think him our enemy."

A loud sound stopped Siya from further expressing his thoughts. It was like the forest had suddenly come alive after Byre's departure. A deep growl filled the air and following it, the sound of breaking branches, crumbling bushes and finally a large rock-like beast broke into the clearing. Of course, it wasn't only one beast, it was a few beasts and not all of them were rocks, others were twisted up vines taking form like that of foxes or wolves, even twigs had bonded together to form tall like figures that limbered in and loomed over the group with deadly intentions.

Siya's eyes widened slightly as he whirled around to face the sounds. He exited the small Shrine where the table was and got out into the open. Drawing his sword, he prepared to face off with the first of the many creatures, all the while his thoughts going to Byre and his declaration of war. Had he spoken to soon?

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Celeste Macavelia Character Portrait: Aarynn Fletcher Character Portrait: Emrys Character Portrait: Siya Ukomo Character Portrait: Hebi Irikisha Character Portrait: Aeraki
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Diavel Melchor

Shades covered the forest floor. A dark figure walked silently through the seemingly endless mass of trees. Spiky brown hair reached to a sharp jawline from under a black cap. A blank expression sat upon a tanned face.

Diavel Melchor stopped as he noticed the forest become significantly thicker. The hatted sorcerer looked up at the evening sky. This had better be the right place. He quickly added another thought, If not, I'm going to burn the whole forest down and find the destination the easy way.

The sorcerer reached out with his left arm. His left hand and half of his forearm were pure black--almost as if his skin had been eaten by the shadows themselves. A purplish aura flared around the darkened skin as Diavel lay his palm on the elk tree beside him. He blinked slowly. He opened his eyes to slightly different scenery.

The sun drifted high in the sky, no longer was it setting in the western horizon. It was midday, perhaps, or just a little later. The forest was an emerald shade of green. Birds were chirping and many woodland animals were trudging through the forest, the sound of their footsteps echoing through the trees in a symphonic sort of way.

A foreign sound drifted to Diavel's ears. It was the sound of wind blowing against ones ears. The tanned man turned his gaze skyward just in time to see a woman--her hair as green as the forest--fly overhead. Following her were four other people, an elderly man balancing on a walking stick, a younger fellow reluctantly carrying a winged girl on his back, and a tall man wearing a red suit of armor. A cruel grin crept to Diavel's lips. Emrys. He felt his left hand, still held against the tree, twitch in excitement. So, the knight had survived after all these years...

The group trudged out of sight and the scene shifted.

The sun was lower in the sky now. Another troupe of humans, led by a blue haired man marched through the forest. Diavel's eyes rested on a single person, ignoring the rest. A dark haired and pale-skinned slinked with the other members of the group--he moved differently than the others, almost in a snake-like fashion. Without warning, the man glanced in Diavel's direction as if he could sense the sorcerer's prensence. His lips curled in a cruel smile. Perhaps he could.


Diavel rolled his eyes at the thought, taking his hand off of the tree and returning his mind to the present time. It was an insignificant thought and Diavel had just seen all that he needed to see. They were in the right spot. A devilish grin turned the sorcerer's face ugly.

"Tarean!" He called. "It's time!" The darkly clothed man rubbed his hands together. Time to have some fun. He held out his left palm and a ball of purplish light flickered to life, hovering in the air above his hand. Diavel took a deep breath before proceeding to blow on the purple orb causing flashing sparks to fly off the orb and into the shadows of nighttime forest.

There was an inhuman growl as several bloodred circles appeared in the shadows. The eyes belonged to creatures that could not possibly fit in the area that they appeared to be present at...

Aarynn Fletcher

Flynn was in awe. Between the ancient air of the Shrine of Aridea—which he had only caught a glimpse of during his travels—and the sheer aura emitted by the gathering of some of the most powerful beings in all of Lastra, the Protector found it slightly hard to keep his mouth from being caught in a gape.

The first thing his eyes had caught sight of when the Fire Troupe had entered the clearing of the Shrine of Aridea was the red. A woman, probably around his age, with forest green hair and sky blue eyes, had been clad in a red mini-dress and had been observing the entire group as they entered. The Princess of the Winds was as pretty as rumors had said—though, the stare of her eyes was cold and distant.

Beside her stood a large man, suited up in full set of red armor matching the princess’ dress. The stare that he received from this man was much colder—this man clearly didn’t like him for some reason. Flynn thought about it for a moment. Had he ever done anything to upset this man? The samurai had never seen the man in his life. Then again, Flynn had a horrible memory. He just hoped that this wouldn’t end in some sort of confrontation.

While he had been busy contemplating his possible relations with the knight, the Earth King and his Protectors had marched into the clearing. The King betrayed little emotion as well as little word before going straight to business, convening the intended meeting. The Protectors were to wait outside while the Kings parleyed.

Very quickly, Flynn had found a soft spot of grass to lie on. None of the other Protectors had approached him and so, he found himself observing the evening sky. Small puffs of clouds drifted overhead forming ambiguous shapes. Hazel eyes caught what appeared to be a man running, running from something large. Two smaller figures formed behind the running man—the figures were also running. The reddening sky suggested a fire blazing all around the three forms, enclosing them in the same area as the larger cloud. The four clouds flew in close to each other, specks of moisture being exchanged. The larger cloud had just begun to consume the two smaller clouds when a voice snapped Flynn back to the present.

“Haunting memories?”

It was the knight from earlier. From up close, he seemed much larger and intimidating. Not that he needed the accentuation. He carried a large white shield and it appeared as if his sword, a typical straight sword, was sheathed into the shield. The man’s expression was grim and emotionless—there was no contempt at this time.

Flynn got up and brushed the grass of his armor and clothes. “Nah, I was just—”

“There is no need to lie, Master Fletcher.”

For a moment, Flynn was confused. How had this man, who he had never met before, learned his name? The moment passed over with a shrug. It didn’t really matter anyways. “You’re right. I’ve been cursed with recollections that trouble me.”

“Memories are not curses.”

He eyed the knight. The man wasn’t looking at him; he was staring off into the distance as if looking for something that wasn’t quite there. “What makes you say that?”

“It’s something you realize when you lose your memories.”

Celeste MacAvelia

The King of Earth hadn’t turned back—the Princess of the Winds’ hopes for a united Lastra had been delayed, again. Quite frankly, Celeste was a bit upset—she had been a fool to have hoped that the path to unity would be easy. On the other hand, she had made a gain. She wasn’t the only one who was upset.

The Fire King drooped in a sigh and he turned slowly to look at her. "I don't think he's truly left us, Celeste. Let us try to believe that he is still our ally, no matter what he may say. Until he completely proves that he's declared war against us and comes after our lives... only then will we think him our enemy."

Those are words of a benevolent king—a beloved ruler, Celeste thought. Benevolent and beloved but naïve and lacking in forethought
 If one truly wanted to win, the first move was an essential step—a defense by reaction was difficult and a victory with only reactions was impossible.

Celeste’s thoughts were interrupted by a movement in the direction that the Earth King had left in. The princess looked on, inquisitively. There is no way he is coming back


She was right. Unless Byre had taken on a couple hundred pounds and the complexion of a boulder—which Celeste supposed was possible—the creature that burst through the dense forest meant trouble. It was followed by several other beasts composed of various wilderness components. There was clearly some denomination of Earth magic involved. Byre


Celeste was immediately out of her seat, her right hand flying to Amalthea. She pulled out two glistening black knives. A haze of green flickered to existence around the princess. “Siya, I’m going to need you to—”

The King of Fire had already exited the Shrine and was drawing his sword to face against the creatures.

Celeste cursed and launched herself into the air, currents of wind lifting her into the nighttime sky. This was more trouble than she had been willing to bargain for.

Celeste, Emrys and Flynn

The armored butler had been confused when the King of Earth stepped out of the Shrine without the other Kings. His confusion turned short of panic when he dragged the hateful Lare, Hebi, away stating, “Let us leave. It is time to prepare for war.”

“Well, that was really a jerk move,” the red-haired Protector beside the butler noted. “I think I’ve just decided that I don’t like him.”

Liking the Earth King was the last thing on Emry’s mind at the moment. Celeste. She hadn’t walked out of the Shrine. What had he done to Celeste? The butler’s heart only settled when he heard the Princess’ voice, layered in emotionless and foreboding warning, echoed out of the Shrine. The butler spoke grimly, “I’m not sure what exactly is happening, but it certainly isn’t anything good.”

Flynn shrugged. “Eh, it’s nothing big. Even if he is serious about leaving, there’s nothing that can touch us if we were to be in an alliance—The Earth King wouldn’t dare attack us.”

A firm hand grasped the samurai’s shoulder. “Be careful Master Fletcher. You speak to soon. Look!” Emrys pointed in the direction that the Earth king had exited the clearing. Trees shifted and moved as if they were reeds being brushed aside by animals. The first beast burst into the clearing, an earthen creature crawling on four legs. Red eyes blazed on a rock-like head. An assortment of other creatures, all formed of different things, stepped out of the forest depths.

“Now, that is just plain dirty,” Flynn commented. Then, he grinned, catching the pun that he hadn’t intended. “Literally!”

The remark had brought no smile to Emry’s face. The knight drew his sword and readied his shield just as the figure of the Princess of the Winds dropped to the ground beside him in a crouch, two knives unsheathed in her hands. “Are you all right, Milady?”

“I’m fine, Emrys,” came the cool reply. “I'm simply not liking the forest's excretions.”

"Excretions," Flynn reiterated, chuckling and unsheathing his katana. A red flame crept up the black blade. "Maybe, it's having indigestion—I doubt Byre and Hebi tasted good."

The forest haired woman eyed the samurai inquisitively. Such a strange Protector, joking at a time like this.

The butler stepped in front of Celeste. “Please stay back Milady, you need not deal with this rabble.”

Apparently, the beasts didn’t like being addressed as “rabble”. There was a collective roar from the creatures—one that caused the ground around the Shrine to rumble—immediately before the assortments of dirt, rock, and tree parts charged forward towards the Shrine, tearing up the ground as they ran. Several of the creatures, being formed of light-weight tree vines, were faster than the others. Within a matter of moments, this first wave of forestry was upon the Kings and their Protectors. Two creatures broke off from the main group and launched itself at the the trio, their hard rock claws flying through the air.

One set of claws were deflected by blur of red and white. The first creature lost it's balance and toppled over.

The second creature lashed out from the side and was met by Emry's tower shield. The sound of rock smashing against steel echoed through the clearing. The creature snarled in delight from under a mess of roots and tree-vines. It's second claw flew out from behind the knight's shield.

There was a scream. Not one of agony but one of combat.

A mass of forest landed on the ground beside Emrys. The creature's arm had been severed. Furthermore, the creature was now on fire. It howled in rage and agony as a red-haired samurai plunged a flaming sword into its side. The creature rolled to its feet and tried to shake the Protector off. Holding on tightly, Flynn took a deep breath and muttered an incantation. Then, he blew out, straight into an opening in the creature's side. At first, nothing happened. The creature roared and lashed out at the man on its side. Flynn had hardly the time necessary to extract his blade before being pummeled by a tree branch. The samurai landed on the ground beside Emrys with a grunt. He collected himself and had began to brush the dust off his clothes just as an explosion destroyed the forest creature. He looked at the knight with a grin. "Impressive, huh?"

He was answered by a swift movement and barely evaded the shield which flew over his head. There was growl as the first creature—which had earlier been deflected and knocked over—crashed into Emrys' shield. "You'll have your compliment after this is all over." The creature slid off the shield and ran off in a different direction. It was running towards where Celeste was fighting another creature. Emrys cursed and called out, "Celeste!"

The Princess of the Winds heard the call just as the mass of vines and stones pounced at her. Within two seconds she had impaled her daggers through the paws of the creature she had been fighting—anchoring it to the ground—and ducked, sliding straight under the attacking creature. The two creatures collided in a mass of forestry.

She turned to see her butler's horrified expression. The princess gave him a smile and mouthed a 'thank you' before launching herself back into the air. The two knives, glowing green shapes flew back to her hands. “Siya!” Celeste called out, “We are going to have to work together on this one if we are to avoid casualties! We need to stick together in a group, if we try to fight individually we’ll just end up being picked off one by one!”

Emrys turned to the man beside him, "Master Fletcher, I believe you should go and tend to your King."

The samurai nodded before running off.

The knight, in turn, ran after the Princess of the Winds, calling out to the other Wind Protectors as he did so. "Freece, Aeraki! Join forces with the Fire Protectors—take out those rock creatures! They pose the greatest threat!"

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Celeste Macavelia Character Portrait: Aarynn Fletcher Character Portrait: Emrys Character Portrait: Eugene Van Goff Character Portrait: Marsaili Character Portrait: Siya Ukomo
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Marsaili pulled a face. Why was everyone so boring? Not even poking at Kaed's (obvious) attraction to Siya seemed like fun.


Well, not when the Herby guy was taking all the good jibes. That guy seemed to suck. Although it was rather fun. Marsaili groaned loudly and poked at Kaed's shoulder with the handle of her sword.


"Heeeeey. Heeeeeeeey, Kaaaaaaaaed. Pssst. Kaed. Hey. Hey Kaed. Psssssst." Marsaili mock whispered, her orange eyes bright and playful.


Kaed turned to the incessant pestering of the young child who poked him, "What is it! Marsaili!?" He nearly shouted at her, though his voice was clipped. Between her and Hebi, the normal Protector who always seemed to have a good hold on his anger, had just about lost it completely. Though he had to say, watching Lord Byre drag Hebi by the hair was almost satisfying, made better had Kaed done it himself.


Marsaili blinked and drew away from the yells. Demon she may be but being shouted at was never fun for any child.


"Sorry. I just wanted someone to talk to..." Marsaili looked down at her teddy and poked the loose stuffing a little before wriggling away from the other Protector. It wasn't her fault if she was bored! Demons get bored super easy! Like, she had once gotten so bored, she decided to sink this big ship. It was a super big one and was all "insinkable".

Hey, when anything had a few holes screwed out, it went down. And that wasn't easy stuff to drill out either.


Marsaili made a face as she thought about who else she could bother but realised only Kaed would tolerate her and he wasn't too forgiving right now. So she was stuck. The hellspawn sighed heavily, glaring a little at Kaed. She couldn't blame him though. He was being bullied about something really important to him. But still! It wasn't very nice.


Kaed sighed heavily immediately regretting losing his temper. Even though he'd scolded the girl plenty of times before, he'd never yelled at her like he did right then. Sheathing his sword which was originally intended to be sheathed in Hebi's chest, he turned and knelt down in front of Marsaili who was currently glaring at him. Yeah, he deserved that.


"I'm sorry Marsaili," he replied softly, he reached out and gently patted the top of her head, running his fingers through her hair slightly and smiled at her, "What did you wish to talk to me about?"


Marsaili squirmed under the Proctector's gaze. Nobody really asked her stuff like that. She was more of an interjecter than a conversation starter. Although, something had been preying on her mind.

"Who are all those guys and how come you know 'em?" The demon asked, her small face furrowing. She hadn't met any of these guys before. But she was a rather new Protector and had never really ventured around Lastra. She wasn't there to sight see after all. But still, it intruiged her to no end. Who were these people? And why did Kaed hate Mister Herby so much? Sure he was...frustrating (Marsaili didn't think so but Kaed was a little sensitive, obviously) but why all the hate?


Kaed smiled at her warmly and shifted his body to a better position in order to talk to her and maintain eye level. He sat down, one leg lifted up revealing the black pant beneath the long robe like dress that fit his frame. The split ends of the robe fell away, off to the side and he shifted again so that the other leg was underneath the risen one.


"I met them a long time ago. The only one's I don't know much about are the new ones. Hebi was a protector to Lord Byre's father, and his father before. Eugene was once a Lair to an old country some years ago, but he started serving as a Protector soon after Lord Byre took over from his fathers death.


"Freece, well... Freece has always been the same, a man who is easily distracted by things and has no real care for anything else." Marsaili giggled at this. This Freece guy sounded like a few demons she knew, Aza and Zale. The little mischeif makers where her partners in crime back home. She was obviously the brains of that operation. She had to say, she missed them. She missed hell. "Then there's Celeste's protectors, Aeraki has been with her since Celeste began her reign, a unique creature who posses a special skill over the winds. Watch her carefully some time Marsaili, I think you'll find what she does interesting.

"Then there's Kanan. I don't know much about him, he is very new, much like yourself. However, I get the feeling that he's worthy to be a Protector and will do everything in his power to protect Celeste. Finally there's us and you know all about that," he sighed heavily and looked up through the canopy of tree limbs over head, "I knew the Water King and his well too..." he muttered softly but didn't indulge in anything more.


Marsaili looked Kaed dead in the eye and frowned a little. She wondered what that meant if he knew that Watery guy. Was he sad? The hellspawn cautiously patted Kaed's knee and gave him a tiny shy smile. Well, that's what people did to make others feel better, right?


"Uh huh, I know you," Marsaili poked her fellow Protector's chest lightly and grinned, "and Flynn, the late samerai. He is always late. And I said before, where I come from, late means lava." The hellspawn shrugged. "And then there's me too." She grinned again before lifting her teddy.


"And Mister Smiles too! He's my Protector. My daddy gave me him. So he can be Siya's sub-protector, OK? Cos if he's protecting me and I'm protecting the King, it works!"


The girls touch on his knee was a surprise and he looked down at her, crimson gaze widened in shock at her action. She replied to him in a matter-of-factly tone and he smiled in return, a slight laugh coming from him as she poked his chest. His gaze shot over to Flynn as Marsaili continued on with how he'd been late early that morning to the meeting with Siya.


He turned to look down at the teddy bear that Marsaili always had with her, it was the first time he'd heard the name of the bear. Or maybe he had been told it, but he hadn't been paying attention. Mister Smiles, hu? Kaed reached out and gently touched one of the bears ears, the fluff around the stitching was coming out so he was careful not to desturb it too much.


"Yes, I think between you and Mister Smile's our dear Siya is in the best hands, don't you think Marsaili?" He started to stand then and that was when the ground rumbled under his feet. Immediately he turned, all thoughts of their conversation gone as a large rock like creature came bursting through the trees. Siya came into sight as well and Kaed's heart leapt as he watched his King jump out right in front of all of the creatures.

"Siya!" Kaed shouted and drew his sword, calling on his fire to leap forth and protect his King


Marsaili leapt to her feet before wincing a little. She still hurt from earlier but as the hell energy was still rather detatched, it would be easier to summon. She clenched her fists and a tall hell hound shaped animal took form in front of her.


"Easier...than I thought it would be!" She giggled quietly, her hand reaching out to grasp Kaed for support. It may have been a little easier bringing this piece of hell up but holding it here? Now that would be a different story. A handful of metal scraps in her pocket disappeared as the demon made her creature charge. The beast of pure darkness collided with the rock creature, causing a gasp to emit from Marsaili.


"Alright, dear, calm your tits. No need to go bashing into that thing, it hurts, ya know?" The hellspawn complained, clutching her side. Stupid hell essance, always so disregarding of the poor demon's health and wellbeing. The form flickered as Marsaili fought to stay alert and focused. Focus was hard to maintain when you had a big old drain on your mind.


A large being came forth from the earth, his form that of dark magic and the air was filled with a certain scent. Sharp sulfur and brimstone filled the area around Kaed immediately after the black dog was summoned. The tall Protector was about to lung into the fight as well, but a tug on his clothing took his attention.


Looking down, he spotted Marsaili's small hand gripping the side of his robe tightly. She leaned towards him, her lips moving as she said something that he didn't quite catch. She doubled over slightly, her other hand snaking over to grip her side and Kaed dropped down next to her. Wraping his arm around her, he pulled her against him and stayed there, covering her as she controlled her summoned creature.


Several of the twig like creatures limbered over to him and Kaed ground his teeth in irritation. The fire wall he'd sent to Siya moments ago had taken much of his energy so he needed another sacrifice. Reaching into his pocket with his hand that was around Marsaili he felt a couple of rings there. He invoked the power to change them into energy and he felt the power rushing through him.


Fire erupted from the tip of his blade and he allowed it to lung forward off the steel's tip and engulf each tall twig figure. The creatures went up in flames in a matter of seconds and waved their spindly arms around giving off a high pitched, inhuman shriek. A growling sound got his attention and he spun around to face the next opponent. It was a wolf like creature formed from vines. The wolf-thing bristled and arched forward it's back. From the back of the thing, it released a dozen sharp vines at them.

Kaed pulled his sword back around them, dragging Marsaili to the other side so he could better sheild her. His blade cut through the vines as they shot at him, a few getting through and cutting into his arms and exposed back, "Focus on the rock, Marsaili," he told her as he fought off the attack, "If you need more energy, there are more sacrifices in my pocket. Take the dagger if you need," he managed to get out as he struggled to free his sword from the vines wrapping around it. An eruption of fire did the trick, and he continued with slicing.


Marsaili exhaled deeply as she forced herself to focus. Her huge animal like thing reared up and roared. A sweat broke out over the little girl's forehead and she burrowed into Kaed for protection. The demon knew pretty well that if something went after her, she'd be doomed. The large demon threw itself at the rock creature, causing a tiny gasp to fall from Marsaili's lips. She clutched Kaed's side tightly and sighed harshly.


The beast snarled and its huge jaws snapped around the rocky beast. The hell hound jumped back and growled darkly. A few wolf-fox vine creatures launched themselves onto the hell animal. Marsaili let out a weak cry and started swatting at her back in desperation.


"Shhh, get away, get off me..." She whined as she fought to hold the huge beast of energy. The being seemed unconcerned of his demon's problems and slashed his claws through the vines. The flora shriveled up on contact with hell. Suddenly, Marsaili's concerntration broke and her beast faded into nothing. A quick slash across her back forced the little girl to her knees. She fell almost limp, her hands torn away from Kaed's robes. A shrill scream grabbed the other Protector's attention as the hellspawn was ripped away from his side by a gang of vine foxes. She wriggled, too tired to do any real damage. Marsaili's demonic qualities fell away and revealed a scared little girl underneath. She let out another scream as one of the monsters slashed across her stomach, slicing neatly through the skin.


"Kaed! Siya! DAD! Help me!" Marsaili cried out, trying to crawl against the things dragging her away. The vine creatures carried on their attack, biting and scratching at the hellspawn who had almost no strength left. She didn't have any magic anyway. She had used the last of her sacrifices earlier and was much too tired to gather up any form of protection from hell. She was completely at the mercy of the animals.


"Someone, please!"


Her scream caught Kaed's attention and he whirled around as he lost her from his grip. He lunged forward, desperate to get her back but missed entirely and instead failed to protect himself. The vine wolves lunged at him and several of the nasty things cut deep into Kaed's shoulder, back and legs. Unable to move, pinned as he was, he couldn't get to her. Twisting around he concentrated his efforts on freeing himself before he was further injured.


Siya whirled around as he heard the high pitched scream. He watched in horror as Marsaili was ripped from Kaed's grasp. The vine wolves tore into her without mercy and she was terrified. The Fire King wasted no time as he pulled away from his own fight and sprinted towards her. Already he was preparing his magic to burn away the vines that tore into her.


As he rushed to her, he spotted the Wind Princess' protector turning at the same time. It was the younger, newest protector who had turned. His one bright blue eye widened in shock at the sound of Marsaili's wails. Without a thought it seemed, Kanan brandished his sword and a rush of wind blades tore through the area, sending with it a calming smell of chamomile.


The wind blades cut through several of the vine wolves just as Siya's fire erupted over the group and burned them to ash. Kanan continued his attack, turning to where Kaed's form was being overwhelmed by vines. Wind blades slashed and cut into the thickests parts. Siya dropped next to Marsaili and pulled her close to him.


"Marsaili? Hey, hold on, ok? You'll be just fine," he told her as he looked over her wounds. Across from him Kaed was freed from his prison. A mixture of wind attacks and his own explosion of fire was what did the trick. Kaed slowly crawled from where he'd been trapped and looked over Siya's shoulder.


The large rock formation was going on a rampage and his current target seemed to be the bulk of the group. Kaed was too tired to continue fighting, and he also knew that Marsaili was in no shape to do much about it either. Siya caught Kaed's gaze and turned to look over his shoulder.


The young King gasped as the rock beast tore at the ground in preparation for a charge. Siya pulled Marsaili up into his grip and moved out of the way as quickly as he could. The beast tore through the area and hit a couple of trees before stopping. Turning to look over his shoulder Siya shouted to the others, "Help me kill this thing!" After calling out he starting building up on his power, the more fire he could produce, he thought that he could at least melt the beast down.


Marsaili's orange eyes widened and she let out a wail as the rock formation charged again. She was starting to get familiar with the thing's attack. Run, charge and go through anything in its path. In her panic, the demon burrowed into her King and cried out for the one person she knew would help.

"Daddy. Please!" She whimpered and almost instantly, a calming feeling of hell washed over her. The child's muscles relaxed as the comforting growls of pure hell hounds spitting fire filled her ears. Her daddy didn't seem too pleased and was giving her a bit of a helping hand in killing the thing that tried to hurt his baby girl. Combined with Siya's fire, she felt comfortable in the thing's demise. The blast of heat showering her back told her that the rock beast was slain. All the energy slipped away from her and her eyelids fell shut as she let the tiredness claim her. Before she fell unconcious, she mumbled to Siya quietly.


"What even were those things, Siya? And why did they wanna hurt us?"

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Emrys Character Portrait: Eugene Van Goff Character Portrait: Nes, Son of Dar Character Portrait: Hebi Irikisha Character Portrait: Byre DelaCroiw Character Portrait: Freece
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Freece, Wind Protector
Shrine of Aridea - Battle grounds


"Butter cream Doughnut. Strawberry syrup Doughnut. Chocolate covered Doughnut. Sugar glazed Doughnut. Vanilla Mint Doughnut. Mocha coated Doughnut. Original recipe with sprinkles Doughnut."

These were the thoughts that played within the Air Protector's head. His green eyes affixed on the bowl of doughnuts that he cradled so delicately like a precious treasure. The meeting was underway and the Princess was inside with the other Kingly personae. So, all that he has left to do was to eat his most favorite food. Actually, the only food that he recognizes worthy to be eaten. Leaning on one of the pillars, he munched on his meal while occasionally listening to the hearsay of the other people that were there. He disliked being dragged to some meeting but the freebies were amazing so, he really didn't mind it this time too much. As for the fleeting conversation, some were not worth listening to and others do peak his interest from time to time.

“Let us leave. It is time to prepare for war.”

This was enough to make Freece glanced towards the direction of the Earth King who was now dragging one of his protectors by the hair. It was very entertaining. But the most important fact that took his attention was the word, 'war'. He pondered on that which made him stopped in the middle of his doughnut eating. Isn't this meeting for some peaceful purpose or something? He really didn't read the report beforehand, so he has no idea. Perhaps, these days war means peace or something.

“Earth King Byre DeLaCroiw—we have not the time for your game of war. Now, there are much larger things at stake. You may choose not to side with us but know this: The lone warrior may the bravest of them all, but there will be a time that he slips. He will turn and find no one to help him regain his stance.”

Scratch that. It was not a peaceful term at all judging by the Princess' echoing words to the wind. However, the Earth King seemed untouched by it and continued on his way without looking back even once. Soon, the Earth Crew disappeared from their sights. With one question in mind, is the Earth Country really hell bent on war and domination? Well whatever the answer would be, he will remain still in his position and that is eating his doughnuts. At that point on, he resumed his meal and has a nonsensical care of everything else until----

BAM!

A huge boulder just missed his head by a mere inch. That did not bother Freece at the very least. What bothered him was the fact his bowl of doughnuts was now on the ground.

BAM!

Adding insult to injury, another boulder was thrown and it squashed his doughnuts to oblivion.

"Freece, Aeraki! Join forces with the Fire Protectors—take out those rock creatures! They pose the greatest threat!"

Oh, there was no need for Emrys to say that those rock creatures were the greatest threat. Freece will pulverized them into ashes! They will pay for their actions of harming his precious doughnuts. Those eyes of green glowed in an eerie manner as flames enveloped his lithe frame. Before leaving the palace, he had turned all the kitchen wares and table wares into sacrifices due to the fact they do not produce doughnuts. The Princess would probably scold him for it later on.

"You dirtbag! I will grind you into a fertilizer!"

Without missing a beat, Freece lunged into the air with incredible speed which was inherent in him. He landed on top of the rock creature who had dared throw boulders at him. He then accumulated all of the flames that surrounded his body into one big ball of fire into his fist.

"This is my vengeance!"

Delivering a punch straight to the noggin of the rock creature as it pierced through the rocky exterior and blowing it from inside. It was then Freece landed on the ground as he wiped some dirt on his face.

"Who is bloody next?!"



Byre Cress DelaCroiw
Shrine of Aridea - Outskirts


The land reverberated beneath his feet. Byre stopped from his walk and took a long glance at the forest lines near the Shrine. He could sense the turmoil through the swaying of the trees and the words of the Wind Princess permeated around him. However, it was only scoffed at and continued on his way once more.

"Master, they seemed to be in trouble." This was Telius' remark as his eyes could perceived the scene currently happening at the Shrine grounds. The creature was also sure that Byre knew of the sudden attack as well.

"They would not be defeated by such earth-bound manifestations so easily. If they are, then it was not worth it making them my enemies now." This was the answer of the Earth King who was mildly amused of what was going on and did not care its possible meaning to be attached to him. At the same time, there was no ounce of concern dripping from those monotonic statements. As Byre finally released Hebi's hair from his hold, he spoke.

"Once, we returned to the Castle. I will have the armies mobilized to strike at the Fire and Wind Kingdom. Furthermore, we will seek the Water King."

His eyes of green-blue did not reveal any hints or doubts in whatever plan was being concocted within Byre's mind. However, those eyes looked at his protectors with such seriousness as if piercing through them with a warning if they ever choose to betray him, death would be their just rewards.

"Eugene. Hebi. Nes. Your place is by my side. Do not ever forget this."

Once that was stated, Byre continued on his way knowing his protectors would follow even if they have confusion of what was going on or why the sudden declaration. For in the end, they were bound to him one way or another. The shackles placed upon them could only be removed at his demise. That was not going to happen for a long time.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Emrys Character Portrait: Aeraki Character Portrait: Byre DelaCroiw Character Portrait: Freece Character Portrait: Diavel Melchor Character Portrait: Tarean
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#, as written by Igari


Aeraki




Maybe she needed to start learning better hobbies than totally staring down one person. Who was being dragged out by the hot Earth king dude. Hey, Aeraki was pretty sure the guy was probably a part-time model, more than likely, posing nude in front of other artists. Why wasn't she invited? Her skills were obviously cause for envy within the whole entire kingdom, of course. She could depict life itself and bring it to being! It was pretty absurd that she hadn't been summoned for such sessions in the first place. So what if she came from a different kingdom? Her talents were sought out by the most prestigious of rich, stuffy-pants. Ohhhh wait a minute... Had... that guy just been talking about war? That was a... bad thing... yeah... She scratched at her head, now wondering why the heck everyone was in a panic. Honestly, paying attention to all these fast paced events was going to wreck havoc on her good senses.

There was a lot of iffy movement going on in the forest and as she turned, she saw a large creature make its way out of the forest. It was obnoxiously misshapen and offensive to look at, hell, she wouldn't draw it even if it were a life or death situation. Which strangely enough, it always seemed to be. Seriously. Someone was always dying or at risk of dying or being kidnapped... The kingdom really needed to get that "damsel in distress" thing accounted for. Those girls were always getting whisked off by big, ugly monsters--particularly girls in pink dresses. There was one with blond hair that got kidnapped last week by some dragon. That kind of sucked, she guessed. Wait, oh, there were more of those ugly things stumbling about. Ew. Were they reproducing by some form of mitosis...? Maybe asexual reproduction. Hang on, did rocks even have that sort of capability in the first place?

Aeraki was drawn out of her rather horrifying thoughts by a loud shout from Emrys, who had somehow gotten many meters from her... how had that happened? "Freece, Aeraki! Join forces with the Fire Protectors—take out those rock creatures! They pose the greatest threat!" Oh grossssss, she had to do stuff now? She lazily stopped her idle floating and glided over towards the scene with a wrinkle of her nose. Might as well get this over with. The fire kingdom's protectors seemed to already be involved in their nonsense, and Fleece was doing some... shouty thingy over on his end. One of the creatures spotted the fae and made to swipe at her, the girl fluttering her wings faster to give herself some altitude. Okay, hovering so close to battle probably wasn't the best of ideas. She raised herself up several meters into the air, casually holding her pen-brush in her hand. With ease, she made light strokes in the air, the water droplets shimmering with many distinct hues. Given that she had just been thinking about dragons, it seemed to make sense for her to choose that as the model of what she would paint.

Her lines and curves were made with acute precision, well-practiced hands and keen eyes making quick work of her drawing. With the outline completed, she gave a flick of her brush, causing it to change color and quickly shaded in her new creation. Now the last step. The best part. With a deep breath, Aeraki blew across her pen-brush, the air scattering about over the form of the dragon. At first, nothing happened. Wait for it... wait for it...

With a sudden roar, the colors seemed to vibrate as the water molecules came together to give the dragon physical form and the creature was released into the air. She gave a laugh of delight as her creation glided down at the earth creature that had previously attacked her, claws slicing into the rock and cutting it in half. She directed her dragon with her pen-brush, leading it around to the various golems here and there and swiping each one off with a yawn. Honestly, these creatures were such a... Then she paused, narrowing her eyes. Hold a fae wing, were those...?

Instantly, she stopped her offensive tactics and relaxed her wings slightly to allow herself to fly a bit closer to one of the fallen creatures. As she came to hover over it, she peered closely between the gaps of it's torso which had been recently sliced open. There were faint wisps floating about, translucent and fading just as soon as they hit the air. But she knew that appearance very well, she knew the feel of this type of magic. This wasn't earth magic at all, like everyone else would've been prone to think. No, it carried a tinge with it, one that had to have belonged to...



Tarean




The han'ruun was currently hanging upside down in the air, legs crossed and hands behind it's head. Its mismatched eyes were partially closed as it regarded its companion through half-lidded eyes. It had what appeared to be a straw between its lips and was making quite obnoxious noises as it drew in air through the item. To others, it would just appear as if the green-haired being was trying to be a bother, for the straw was not submerged in any liquid and was just poised in front of the creature's face. But for the han'ruun in question, the straw was providing a delicious treat indeed. Indeed, for such a creature, the air was rife with emotions to feed off of. Especially from Diavel. Tarean had adopted many feeding methods over time but this one was always the most entertaining. It glided a bit closer to him, slurping through the straw quite loudly, right next to his ear. It kept its face very composed, waiting for it, waiting for that one...

It was just a flash, just the smallest flash of annoyance but Tarean caught it. Quite literally speaking. The han'ruun "happily" grasped at the newly, tangible emotion and let the refreshing taste wash over its tongue. Mmmm, now that was the frosting on top of the doughnut. Not that it had ever had frosting or doughnuts--han'ruun didn't exactly need to eat food. But it assumed both had to be delicious, because that Freece character loved to banter on and on about them. Personally speaking, Tarean sort of thought they were gross and squishy looking and not at all appetizing. If it was going to even consider food, it wouldn't choose a doughnut first.

It turned over in the air, levitating next to Diavel--straw dissipating into the air. The straw had never really been in the physical realm to begin with, having been summoned to physical form by Tarean from the dream realm. He was still doing his ridiculous chanting, really quite the one for theatrics, it would give him that. With a yawn, the han'ruun gave a lazy sweep of its hand to add its magic to the glyphs. "You seem to be enjoying yourself," It commented as it decided it had become bored of its position and went back to its previous one. The world looked a tad more enticing when it was hanging upside down. Truthfully, Tarean had no need to care about the world itself and the physical realm was nothing compared to the dream one. However, it did need the beings that resided on this particular plane if it wanted to retain a tangible form here. Semantics, really. Annoying little things.

"Though I was wondering..." It began offhandedly, placing its crimson and azure orbs upon Diavel. "You know not all the protectors and their kings are as retarded as they've led us to believe, right?" It said with oozing amounts of sarcasm. The han'ruun did not think much of the kingdoms whatsoever, or the man that had approached them. He was the most foolish of them all and it would be funny to see his plans crumble. Actually, it was always fun to see someone's world fall apart around them because that desolation was probably one of the sweetest emotions to feed on...~ Mmmm, ah, it would get a watery mouth if it thought about this too long. Tarean did not feel the need to expand on its thoughts, for it had intentionally kept out the one party in all of this that knew of its existence. The distasteful greenery hair-shrub of a fae. It did not believe she would be causing any problems--in fact, knowing the twat, she would keep her mouth shut and thoughts to herself. So there was little point in even mentioning their previous interactions. It was not that it was protecting her. Nah. But having information that others did not always proved to be the wiser course of action.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Celeste Macavelia Character Portrait: Aarynn Fletcher Character Portrait: Emrys Character Portrait: Marsaili Character Portrait: Siya Ukomo Character Portrait: Aeraki
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Diavel


"... corruent coram vobis. Prodiit, qui obscurus est terra. Tolle forma, resurge, et fac sicut vos es iube!"

A tree shriveled up and withered as the last words departed from Diavel’s purple tongue and drained the tree of the last of its mana. It collapsed into a heap of bark, vines, leaves and branches. Twenty-three, an inauspicious number, the sorcerer thought to himself with a smile. The pile exploded as an earth elemental doppelganger formed itself and raced off to join its brethren at the Shrine of Aridea.

Diavel had to resist the urge to run off after the beast. In the distance, the sounds of combat could be heard—the pinging of rock against metal, the cries of war, the bass of explosions. Part of Diavel—a really large part—wanted nothing more than to go and join the chaos but the other part of him kept him back. It is all part of the greater plan. We must cooperate with Hebi to accomplish our ultimate goals. The sorcerer felt a wave of annoyance crawl up his throat. About a month ago, the dark-haired Protector had approached Tarean and Diavel with the proposal and plan to obtain the four elemental orbs. The Protector had acted as if the idea had been solely his own. Diavel snorted at the thought. Such a pathetic arrogant fool. The fate of the orbs had been decided long ago—long before even the Aridean civilization.

The sorcerer gritted his teeth and had just been about to summon another elemental when, suddenly—with a slurp—, his feeling of annoyance was gone. In its place was an emptiness—void of all emotion. He found that he actually missed the feeling.

There was a yawn from beside him. “You seem to be enjoying yourself,” Tarean noted.

Diavel shrugged impassively. He was still feeling the numbness of having one’s emotion sucked away.

“Though,” the han’ruun continued with a tone of sarcasm, “I was wondering: You know not all of the Protectors and their Kings are as retarded as they’ve led us to believe, right?”

“Oh, I am very aware,” the sorcerer answered with a cruel laugh. “It’s no fun having an experiment with stupid test subjects.” He turned to the sky, looking at the stars. “Come Tarean, I believe it is time that we went hunting for the next Water King,” Diavel said with an enthusiastic tone. It had been a long time since they had seriously been hunting for anyone. Perhaps the next few months would be interesting ones.

From the Shrine of Aridea, a screech echoed through the night signaling the death of another elemental. Diavel scoffed but, even as he did so, a hateful upward curl crept onto his dark lips. “Intelligent little rats.”

Emrys


There was the pinging of rock against metal as Emrys dashed in front of the Princess of the Winds to deflect another attack from an Earthen Elemental. As the collision pushed him backwards, the butler got a good look at the creature. This one had the figure of a bear and the complexion of a tree—sharp rocks formed razor like claws and long branches made up the creature’s rib cage. Between the branches of the rib cage, the knight caught a glimpse of purple—a activated rune. “Princess Celeste,” he called, “there is a rune on the Ele—.”

“Already on it,” came a reply from directly behind him. Two knives layered in a greenish aura flew out and curved towards the bear-like Elemental’s chest. One cut a branch in half before flying away and the second slipped straight through the opening into the Elemental. There was a sound like shattering glass and the purple glow from the Elemental’s chest disappeared. The lifeless heap of mana-less nature fell to the ground with a crunch.

Seventeen, Emrys counted. Of that seventeen, he had fought a total of eight and slain four of the eight. He glanced around the battlefield with stoic eyes. A dragon—smaller than what one might expect of a dragon—sped through the air, cutting down an Elemental not too far to his right. Aeraki was floating nearby, paintbrush in hand, directing her colorful creation. To his left, there was a flash of green and red as Freece smashed through a rock elemental utterly pulverizing the beast in the process. From the corner of his eyes, Emrys could see the Fire King crouching over his young-looking Protector who had taken a beating during the battle. A pang of pity pulled on the butler’s heart. Then, he noticed the black-haired Fire Protector walking over towards the group.

“Emrys!” Celeste called. The collected group of the Fire King and two Fire Protectors had caused a huge opening in their lines. Already, two Elementals had found the opening and were dashing through.

The butler was already sprinting towards the collected group. There isn’t enough time!

Aarynn Fletcher


Fortunately, Flynn had seen the opening as well and, unlike Emrys, had been much closer to the two invading Elementals. The fiery haired Protector raised his left hand and swiped it through the air in one fluid motion. Two ovals of yellow whistled through the air towards the rock and wood creatures.

Unfortunately, the Fire Protector’s mana had been running low and the first oval had taken most of his remaining spare mana. The first missile struck its target in an explosion of orange and yellow—obliterating the Earthen Elemental. The second wasn’t nearly as effective. It splashed against the wooden creature with a flash of flames but did nothing but ignite the creature. The Elemental didn’t seem to notice the fire and continued straight towards Flynn.

The Protector groaned wearily and readied his sword for another direct engagement. Much to his relief, the Elemental didn’t make it into Flynn’s melee range. Two knives, glowing with a green aura, shot past him and struck the Elemental square in the chest. The creature fell apart before it could even touch the ground.

In an instant, the Princess of the Winds and her butler were standing beside Flynn, making sure that none could reach the Fire King and the other Protectors. Flynn looked over at Marsaili, who Siya was holding closely. Personally, he had never been too close to the other Protector and had even, at times, found a distaste for her. Seeing her like this, though, made him see her in a slightly different perspective—despite being a demon, she was also a child.

“What were those things, Siya? And why did they wanna hurt us?” she asked softly.

The Fire King sighed, as he attempted to heal her. “I don’t know Marsaili
”

Celeste MacAvelia


The Princess of the Winds stood quietly over the group. She was taking in whiffs of air, trying to identify the aura of the Elementals. They were Earthen Elementals—it was all too easy to simply place the blame upon Byre and his Protectors. Celeste shook her head. There was only one thing that she was certain of: “It wasn’t Byre and his men. There are absolutely no traces of their scents on these Elementals. The person—or persons—who did this is pretty smart, trying to set us upon each other’s throats.”

Standing beside her, the Fire Protector, Aarynn Fletcher, nodded in agreement. “It must be the people who already have the Water Orb.”

Upon the topic of the Water Orb, Siya turned to look at the other Protectors and Celeste. "I don't know what you plan to do, Lady Celeste, but I still plan to find the King of Water. I have a feeling that no matter what enemies may be following us, they may already be several steps ahead of us in finding him. If we find him, we can protect him until he's given his orb. There's no way we can find the orb, we've not the power to do that. Only the Water King can. I'll be on my way once Marsaili has been healed in the village not far from here. If you wish to accompany me, I'll gladly welcome you and your protectors. I could use all the help I can get". His eyes betrayed a stubbornness and refusal to listen to other reasoning. Without another word, the Fire King and his Protectors stood and began to walk in the direction of the aforementioned village.

Aarynn looked back at the Princess of the Winds and her Protectors with a smile. The Princess kindly returned his smile and Emrys gave him a nod of approval. With a thumbs up, the Fire Protector turned and walked off.

Just then, Kanan walked up and dropped to one knee, bowing to Celeste. The princess shook her head and bade him to stand up—the time for formalities was not this time. War was at hand. She raised her gaze, looking around at the destruction wreaked upon the sacred grounds of the Shrine of Aridea. The Shrine itself was untouched. “This alliance is important, but I am unsure if we can risk leaving our kingdom with Byre preparing for an attack.”

“A good defense provides for a good offense,” Emrys noted. “Perhaps, we should pull back and organize ourselves before making our next maneuver.”

“Time is of the essence now. We must decide our next move now.”

Kanan spoke, slightly surprising the Princess. “My Lady, forgive me, but I think that Lord Siya is correct in going after the Water King. We should find him first before Lord Byre or anyone else does. Offering him protection is, in my mind, the best course of action.”

For a few seconds, there was no response.

The butler looked at Celeste, “Princess?”

Slowly, but certainly, the Princess of the Winds nodded. “You are right, Kanan. Whoever was responsible for this attack is sure to be going after the potential Water King as we speak—his safety is of the utmost importance.” Turning to Emrys, she grinned. “I believe it’s time we began the next phase of our goal.”

The butler nodded with a slight curl to his lips. “Freece, Aeraki,” he called. “It’s time to go, we will be accompanying the Fire King and his Protectors to the nearest village—following that, we begin the search for the potential Water king.”