abyssianmelody | [Chapter 2 - SCENE] On the Roof

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[Chapter 2 - SCENE] On the Roof

Who: Anise, Arietta, Guy, Ion, Jade, Mieu, Natalia, Tear, Van
Where: Choral Castle's roof
When: Right after the "Don't tease the Gynophobe" scene
Warnings: None I can think of

Guy paused before checking around the corner, listening. There were some soft noises, barely audible, coming from behind him that he assumed were the others. Ahead of him, there was still nothing, just the sounds of small rodents in an old building.

Listening to make sure that the others were coming closer, and weren't in trouble, Guy cautiously peered around the corner. Regardless of how easily he'd agreed with Jade's reasoning for their plan, it didn't mean that he was entirely comfortable. He'd nearly bitten his tongue trying not to cry out when a rat made him jump slightly, and he was glad that the others hadn't been there to see it (although, it was likely because he was alone that he had jumped).

Not seeing anyone, Guy turned the corner and slid along the wall to the next corner. He caught a glimpse of movement behind him, and turned to see shadows moving along the wall. He pulled his sword, ready to attack, but then saw that there was a broken window, and that the wind was blowing the tattered curtains. Guy released the breath he'd caught, and checked around the corner again. It was a flight of stairs, ending in a door.

Guy didn't like this. If his sizing up of the building was correct, then that door led to the roof. However, once he opened it, anyone on the roof would be able to see him before he'd see them. He could wait for the others, but with the stairs to the door, it would be a bottleneck. Guy slid back to the first corner and listened again. The sounds of the others coming up behind him were definitely closer. If he could hear them, and they were trying to be quiet, then they were definitely close enough to hear him if he yelled.

Guy made up his mind. If he was attacked on the roof, he'd yell, and the others would know that he walked into a trap. If he was lucky, Arietta and whomever (or whatever) may or may not be up there would be more interested in taking more hostages than killing him, although he more hoped he'd be able to defend himself until the others could reach him.

Taking a deep breath, Guy drew his sword, climbed the stairs, and put his hand on the old handle. Releasing his breath, he opened it.

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Although it would be more than worth it to have Ion back, waiting was boring. Her friends were getting restless, too. Enough time had passed for them to get there, so... where were they?

She was really beginning to think they wouldn't show up, when the liger began to growl. Good, that had to mean they were finally close. Arietta quickly hushed the creature, then held up a hand, silently telling her friends to get ready to attack. It likely would've been easier to simply tell them to attack once anyone set foot on the roof, but there was a chance that it could've been Ion. Arietta didn't think it would be, since she was sure that Anise wouldn't let her have him back without a fight, but she wasn't willing to take any chances.

The moment the door opened, the God-General held her breath--only to let it out in an irritated sigh once she realized it wasn't Ion. That was expected, but she'd still hoped that things would've been easier.

Lowering her arm and clutching her doll to her chest, she murmured a quick, "Wait," to her friends. Ion hadn't been the one to open the door, but that didn't mean he wasn't somewhere behind the one who had. She'd never forgive herself if she accidentally hurt Ion, so she didn't want to attack until she knew where he was.

Guy let off a soft sigh of relief, at least he wasn't attacked immediately after opening the door. That was good, right? And, like he'd expected, there was Arietta, waiting for him.

Cautiously, he came out onto the roof, closing down the door, but kicking a rock in it's path, so that the others would be able to hear what was going on and being said, and be ready. Or, if it came to it, hopefully they would hear where Luke was and run, if he had to be abandoned. Guy didn't want it to come to that, and he'd really regret it if he died before getting his revenge, but sometimes there were other things more important.

"Where is Luke?" he asked Arietta directly. "Where did you take him?"

Arietta frowned, seeing that the blond had closed the door behind him. Did that mean he had come alone? He had to be stupid if he did. After all, she'd told them to bring Ion if they wanted Luke back. Did they think she'd been joking when she said that?

"I told you to bring Ion," she said, glaring over the top of her doll and purposely ignoring his questions. "I'm not telling you anything until I have Ion back. And if you don't have him with you, my friend..." She paused long enough to glance at the liger by her side. "My friend will kill you."

As though to prove her point, the liger began stalking forward, even as Arietta continued to speak, "So you tell me where Ion is, before I tell him to kill you."

Guy gripped his sword tighter, slipping the scabbard from its belt and into his hand, ready to fight. "The Fon Master is safe," he put the emphasis on the last word, "with his Guardian. It's her job to protect him, just as it's my job to protect Luke." He moved so that he was further from the door, but that he could still charge at Arietta, if needed.

"I don't want to hurt you, girl, but I'm afraid I must insist that you tell me of my master's whereabouts."

"She took him from me!" Arietta exclaimed, her voice rising in pitch. "I'm the one who wants to protect him, but Anise took him! And you... Y-you were supposed to bring him back to me..." She hugged her doll more tightly, obviously trying to regain control of her emotions.

After a brief pause, she eased her hold and looked straight at the blond. "If you want Luke, you have to give me Ion. That was what I told you, and since you don't have Ion with you... You'll die." That said, Arietta looked to the advancing liger. "Go!"

And with that, the liger charged.

[ooc- tag from both me and Julie]

Guy brought his sword to the front, holding it and his scabbard ready to attack. When the liger came for him, he sidestepped to his left, swinging his sword as he did. He kept an eye on where the edges of the roof were, and where might give way under him, so he didn't fall on accident.

Fighting on the roof left little room to maneuver without risking falling off. As such, there was little for the liger to do other than to let the blade cut into it. The creature roared in pain, but the wound wasn't enough to stop it completely. Turning to Guy once more, it swiped at him with its claws.

"How dare you!" Arietta growled, seeing her friend take a hit. She didn't expect her and her friends to come through a fight uninjured, but it still angered her when someone hurt one of her monsters. "You're going to pay for that." Holding her doll in front of her, she began preparing to cast an Arte.

Crap, Guy thought. He'd forgotten about her, and while he was decent at defending against fonic artes, that was on their own, not when he was trying to fight a monster at the same time. Guy winced as the liger's swipe caught him in the leg, but, as with his swing, not much damage.

He closed his eyes, and called out "Void Tempest!", sweeping his blade in an arc, the attack heading toward the liger.

That attack was more powerful than the previous one, and it managed to knock the liger off its feet. It wad down for the moment, but there was no telling how long that would last.

Arietta's own attacks could come at a distance, but the same couldn't be said for her friend. There wasn't much she could do to help the liger since she wasn't a Seventh Fonist, but she was definitely going to make that human pay for hurting the liger. "O twisted door, open wide! Negative Gate!"

Guy didn't have time to recover from his strike arte and avoid Arietta's attack at the same time, and got hit by it. He was thrown backward a bit, not enough to push him over the edge, but a bit closer than he'd prefer. He was definitely going to need help soon, he wasn't sure how much longer he could hold off both the girl and her monster.

Anise had moved closely behind Ion and at the same time, she was moving a bit ahead. Protecting Ion was priority always. She couldn't leave him alone at all. Arietta always had these tricks up her sleeve and it bugged the Fon Master Guardian. The female continued to move along, checking back, every now and then to see that Ion was safe. Guy was long gone from sight, so she would follow the path that they were suppose to follow. The colonel, hopefully was just right behind her or Ion, maybe he was ahead. Who knew, but Anise couldn't do much.

When she got closer, she could hear voices, people talking. She was getting closer. It must be Guy and Arietta. There was no doubt about it. When she came forth, the door was closed. She didn't know if she should open it right away or not, and hesitated. She didn't want something to come out and strike them. The voices were clear, however. It seemed like a fight was going on. Guy and Arietta? Probably. She would like to help very much, but she couldn't decide to fight without endangering Ion. After all, they needed to rescue Luke as well.

It would be troublesome if Ion was taken by the God-Generals as well. It would be so very troublesome. She turned back again. Yes, Ion was safe, though she would want to help her companion soon, "Do we go in, Colonel?" the girl mused, waiting for an answer of yes or no, to continue, "Stay behind me, okay, Ion?" she mused in a serious tone.

[[OOC: Eek! Sorry for not replying. I thought I had this one tracked and I didn't. Uh, should I wait for Jade before actually doing anything?]]

Battle erupted almost immediately, which didn't come as a surprise in the slightest. Guy was on Arietta in an instant, sword unsheathed, but the girl had an obvious advantage with the use of her powerful monster allies. If they could subdue Arietta and her companions quickly, it would probably be for the best, but if not... Ion would have to see how willing she was to listen to reason--and hope it works.

((ooc: I'm telling Jade to shut up and deal with it, he hates this tag, but he can deal since he won't tell me his bright idea))

Through the crack in the door that was left, Jade had a good idea of what was going on, though not all the details and locations. However, there wasn't a good way to deal with this situation, not at this point in time since if they go out and assist Guy, that would expose Ion and Natalia to potential risk. Ion being captured was not an option, so that was discarded.

Of course, their being separated from Van made things difficult, the Commandant could stop this right away, since it was doubtful he would openly go against Ion's wishes. No, if he was behind this, he'd wait for a better time to recapture Ion. For now, he was best suited showing that he was indeed following the orders of his supposed superior, even if he was not. But if he didn't arrive, that wasn't an option either.

"Anise, you wait a few steps behind me with Ion and Natalia. I'm not exposing him to being kidnapped."

He didn't wait for Anise to obey, instead he listened carefully to get an idea of Arietta's location. He'd probably miss her, and he didn't have any good artes yet even if he did hit her thanks to that fon slot seal that was her fault. However, it was only meant to be a temporary measure to distract the girl and buy them a few more minutes. At best, it would be enough for Guy to deal with her while she decided what to do. At worst, she'd change her target to them and come after Ion. If that was the case, it was best that they were ready to get away quickly.

"The three of you get ready to run away at my command. She may well change her target to us, I'll hold her off if that is what she does. Find Dorian General Grants and Tear if that happens."

He readied one of the few fonic artes he had available to him and aimed it towards the pink haired girl, sending a stream of water towards her and hoping it did the job.

Then he waited to see if there was a sign that she'd change her target.

After the discussion with Tear, Van couldn't seem but to feel pleased. The circumstances for it were not the best but he was finally making progress with her, there was still a chance that he could keep her safe until the end came.

That pleased feeling didn't last long. Once he was at the stairwell, he could clearly hear the sounds of battle up ahead. Van's hand immediately went to his sword as he rushed up the stairs, trusting Tear to follow. Hopefully he would still be able to prevent some damage from being done.

He wasted no time on taking note of the area as he rushed up, slamming open the door and stepping out onto the roof. Already he could see Guy on the ground with Arietta's liger friend far too close, and he could feel the charge of a fonic arte as a stream of water obstructed his view of the rest.

Immediately, Van's hand went to his sword, prepared to use force if necessary. "Arietta! Back down at once!"

"Van!" Guy called, climbing to his feet after the last swipe from the liger. He wasn't about to put his sword down until Arietta made her liger back down.

Anise nodded her head to the words that Jade was telling her. Yes, she should keep Ion safe, but she would really like a piece of that Gloomietta! Always causing them trouble and endangering Ion. She stayed back as the Colonel moved forward. She took a few good steps away, prepared to use Tokunaga if the time called her to protect Ion and herself.

Then she saw him, the Commandant coming through towards them. The door bolted opened almost instantly and he was in the field. Yeah, if anyone could stop Arietta, it had to be the Commandant. He was the only one she listened to besides Ion. Anise let out a surprise gasp when Van leaped completely into the field and she saw a rather injured Guy.

She didn't call out to the blond, because that would further reveal their spot in the shadows, and the possible chance that Arietta would really attack them instead of Guy if they saw them.

Her attack had knocked him closer to the edge; that was a good thing. Arietta would've preferred if he had fallen off, but at least it had given her friend enough time to recover from the hit it had taken. It was injured, but the wild-bred girl knew that her friends weren't weak. As long as the human was taken care of quickly, and Arietta trusted that would be the case now that he was down, there shouldn't be any problems.

Unfortunately, she hadn't taken into account that he would have allies of his own close by. The water Arte didn't hit her directly, but it hit close enough to knock the girl off her feet.

So others had come with him... Arietta looked towards the door as she got back to her feet. She couldn't exactly see them, but casting in the general direction would hopefully be enough to draw them into the open. Before she was given enough time to cast though, the Commandant suddenly arrived.

"Commandant!" Arietta froze, unsure of what she was supposed to do at the moment. She really wanted to know where Ion was but, even though they'd been doing this without Van's permission in the first place, the fact that he was actually there now (and ready to fight himself if he had to, it seemed) made a lot of difference.

Even so, she still hesitated, glancing between Van, the blond, and the door leading to the roof. Finally, she called, "That's enough, come back!" to the liger, calling it back to her. Although she would've liked to allow it to attack again, she was afraid of what might happen if it accidentally attacked Van.

Once the creature was back at her side, the wild-bred girl put a hand on its back and lowered her gaze to the ground. "Commandant, I was... just trying to..."

Only when the liger was back at Arietta's side did Van put his sword away. At least one of his God-Generals was willing to still listen to his orders. Not that that made his frustration any less at the moment, but it was better than having to fight her into submission. It simply wouldn't do for a commander to need to show force to get his subordinates to follow him.

"We'll discuss the reasoning of your actions later." Van gave her a stern look, trying to give an authoritative presence without seeming angry. "For now, I want you to tell me where Duke Fabre's son is. I can't protect you from any of the consequences if he's been harmed..."

"Van."

The sureness of Ion's voice was enough to stop the conversation momentarily. He redirected his words toward Arietta. "I don't know why you're doing this Arietta, but if you stop and tell us what you've done with Luke, I promise we won't need to fight."

Why was she being this way?...

Anise moved to step in front of Ion as he talked towards the Commandant, revealing himself. She was sure that Arietta would notice. She didn't want Ion hurt and who knew what Arietta would do if she saw Ion, even if the Commandant was here. She glared at Arietta before speaking as well.

"Always causing everyone trouble aren't you Gloomietta?" she retorted in a stern tone, "Give Luke back!" she added.

"Ion..." The Fon Master was there! Again, Arietta was torn between what to do. Both Ion and the Commandant wanted to know where Luke was, so it would probably be a good idea to simply tell them... It might make Asch mad, since she wasn't sure whether or not Dist was finished doing whatever it was he had to do, but if Ion was asking...

Of course, then Anise had to show herself, and she even took up a position in front of Ion. Arietta glared back at the current Guardian; if she hadn't been standing so close to Ion, she likely would've tried attacking her, despite the Commandants presence. Anise's arrival also determined Arietta's response.

"No!" the God-General countered, shaking her head. "Ion, Commandant, I'm sorry, but... but he deserves whatever happens!"

When Van put his sword away, Guy did likewise. He moved slowly closer to Van and Anise, holding his side where the liger had managed to catch him while he tried to dodge an Arte.

"Listen... We don't want to hurt you, we just want Luke back. Can't you just tell us where he is?"

Van frowned deeply, then started to walk toward Arietta, closing the distance between them. As angry as the whole situation made him, showing that anger wouldn't work. But compassion, that rarely failed him before.

Once in front of Arietta, he moved down to one knee so that he was eye level. "I know you wouldn't disobey me without a very good reason. However, Luke needs to be found safe or else something terrible will happen." He placed a hand on Arietta's shoulder, making sure not to hold too tightly. "If he's hurt, then everything that Fon Master Ion has been working for will be undone. You still want to help Ion, don't you? He would be pleased if you did."

He glanced back at the Ion replica and only hoped that he was smart enough to play along.

Ion was made suspicious by Van's alignment to his cause. After all, if anything Tear had said was true, something was amiss with him. There was no time to spend pondering that now, however. He would simply go along with it because any plan that worked was a good one at the moment.

"That's true," Ion said. "Luke is going to help me, Arietta. We need him in order to keep going with our plans. Please help us, and give him back."

Arietta looked back and forth between Van and Ion, her loyalty to the both of them warring with the hatred she felt for Luke. "I do want to help Ion, but... But..!"

How could someone like Luke help Ion? If anything, the redhead probably put Ion in more danger... Although she no longer held the title of Fon Master Guardian, she wanted to keep Ion safe. And, in her mind, that meant keeping Luke away from Ion. After all, she already considered Luke to be her enemy; who knew how many others felt the same way?

"He... He's not hurt. At least, I don't think they were going to hurt him," she began, her tone initially low but growing more frantic as she continued on, "But, Commandant, he really shouldn't be allowed to help Ion! Luke's not a good person, I know he's not! He... He killed Mommy!"

Anise remained silent, narrowing her eyes at the girl. No, why not? Well, she wasn't expecting much from Arietta. Arietta was one of those people who wouldn't listen, unless she truly trusted them. At least in the eyes of the Fon Master Guardian. Maybe she shouldn't have said anything to begin with, but it was tiring to stare at the girl who always caused them trouble.

The worst part was, Luke was still not found. They had to go find him, or else the letter would be hard to get to King Ingobert. Anise had no idea if Luke had killed the Liger Queen or not. She wasn't there with them the whole time after all. She was only there to take orders form Jade, and when she came back with the soldiers. That was all she got. She gritted her teeth and continued to shield Ion from harm.

It was just as Jade had thought, the pink haired God-General wasn't going to be in the least bit cooperative in their search, but at least Ion had not been taken hostage...yet. Though he very much doubted the Commandant would go against Ion's wishes at this point in time, not with witnesses present at least.

The problem was, this wasn't exacty a small vacation home. It would take some time to search and there had to be at least one more God-General present who held Luke, if not more than one.

"It would seem this was a complete waste of time if she's not going to talk. Obviously Luke is elsewhere and we are going to have to search for him."

Logically, he could narrow things down a bit. Luke had been kidnapped, so his abductors wouldn't want him to be easily found. Quite possibly a location where they could easily hear if someone arrived so they could leave quickly. The lower levels would be most ideal, they should start there.

"I propose we start our search with the lowest level, it is the most logical location to keep a hostage in a place like this. If you have no need of our assistance with this, Dorian General, the rest of us can search for Luke."

Van had to focus to hold back a frustrated sigh. Normally trying to get information out of his subordinates wasn't this hard. It likely would take less time to search the entire castle than to try and convince Arietta to tell them.

Of course, he couldn't do that himself when Arietta was clearly distraught. It likely would be best for them to all leave so he could say whatever the young girl needed to hear, without any prying ears.

"Very well," he said, looking back at the Necromancer. "I can handle this on my own. Try and find Luke quickly if you can." If they found any evidence of what last happened here, he'd simply be sure to have an explanation ready for them.

To Arietta, he gave a soft, concerned look. "You believe that Luke killed your mother?"

Guy moved over to where Jade was, still holding his side. "She said there were others, you have a plan for searching?" Guy wanted to find Luke quickly, but he couldn't hide that he wasn't in the best shape, and was not going to be playing point again.

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[Chapter 2 - SCENE] On the Roof

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