Melody of the Abyss

"Master Ion!"

She could cry from relief. She really could. She'd been worrying for so long and had heard so little and he really, really was safe--

The blond girl in the same room was probably the princess. Colette checked her urge to run straight for Ion and make sure he was all right, and curtsied. "Your Majesty. Are you both okay?"

Colette still wasn't all that sure what was going on, but if neither of them was badly hurt, it was good--what was the Grand Maestro thinking, she was even almost angry at him for this--

From:

"Chester?" There was no masking the surprise she felt, seeing that he was one of their rescuers. She'd expected maybe Asch -- or Luke. Of course Luke might very well still be in Yulia City... But even if he wasn't, there was no way to know whether he'd heard about her and the Fon Master's capture. And if he had, who was to say he'd even care? Considering she had been one of the ones to abandon him, Natalia couldn't be certain of any of those things...

Now wasn't the time to think such things though. Chester and his companion had come to rescue them (and given the commotion she had heard, it couldn't have been an easy task), so some proper thanks were in order.

"Yes, thank you," the princess replied, giving the both of them a brief smile. "I would say more, but I don't believe now is the proper time to talk. We should hurry, before more soldiers arrive."

From:

"Colette!"

And Chester, too, of course, but he didn't seem nearly as thankful to see them. Truth be told, Ion was quite relieved to see both of them, regardless of the situation. It meant something would work out. The fact that he and Natalia were no longer barred from doing what needed to be done was the greatest relief of all.

Ion nodded in agreement with Natalia's suggestion. "I doubt it will be long before they notice you've made it past the other soldiers. Let's leave while we still can."

From:

Chester simply nodded at Ion's suggestion. "We didn't catch all of them, so we're going to have to fight. You prepared for that?" Chester had already left a bunch of the soldiers lying in pools of their own blood (which he was certain wouldn't please any of his companions), but he considered their safety to be of the highest priority. "As much as I'd like to sit down and catch up over a spot of tea, we gotta get to a safe place, first. I doubt they won't send reinforcements." With that, Chester readied another arrow out of his quiver as he turned around to lead the way. Colette was their only close-range fighter, which was going to be difficult, but they would have to manage. "Let's go!"

As if on cue, another barrage of Oracle Knights ascended upon them. "Thunder Blitz!" His ability utilizing the third fonon caused lightning to incinerate most of them. It wasn't going to get any easier.

From:

Colette bit her lip and pulled out her chakrams, leveling them at another soldier who was charging towards them. She didn't like to fight, but--what she wanted even more than that right now was...

"I won't let you lay a finger on Master Ion!" She rose on her toes as she charged a holy Fonic Arte. "Angel Feathers!"

Pink-white rings of light sliced through the air to knock the man into the opposite wall as fonons gathered to Colette's back in the shape of phantom wings. The soldier did not get up; hopefully she'd only knocked him unconscious.

"Chester is right--we have to hurry!"

From:

Despite knowing more soldiers would arrive before they were able to leave, Natalia had hoped they wouldn't arrive quite so soon. Since that couldn't be avoided though, she was grateful that they hadn't confiscated her bow or the quiver of arrows when they had brought them here. Apparently they'd been confident that she wouldn't try to escape on her own, since that would've put the Fon Master in danger. Now that Chester and the other girl (a Fon Master Guardian?) were here though, that helped lower the risk. At least a little.

"Star Embrace!" Natalia called, firing a few arrows into the air, where they rained down on the approaching soldiers. It wasn't easy having to fight against other humans, but they needed to escape. It would only get worse if they spent time hesitating.

From:

Even though Ion had long grown accustomed to the idea of watching enemies get cut down in his name, it didn't really make it much easier. He didn't like watching people get hurt or die, even when it was necessary--like now. The barrage of attacks from his comrades managed to open a temporary route for them, and so they were able to keep moving forward, at least for now.

All Ion could do was hope there wasn't much else stopping them.

From:

The thought crossed Chester's mind that if Ion was supposed to be oh so powerful in terms of the Order of Lorelei, they'd at least give him a means to defend himself or some special super duper arte or some such. But even he was able to ascertain that this wasn't the best idea at the moment. Concentrating his energy, Chester's arrow grew to an enormous size. "Giga Fang!" As he released it, even if it wouldn't be fatal, it would at least push enemies out of Ion's way. "It's our turn to follow, princess." He turned to look at Natalia, as he made sure she wouldn't become captured again. Luckily, the alternate exit wasn't too far from where they were.

From:

"Hurry, Master Ion, we're not too far away..."

Colette moved a little closer to his side, glancing around looking for other soldiers or impending danger. If anybody else discovered them here, there'd be more fighting--and people would be hurt, and she was worried that Ion would feel bad about it. He already looked so disheartened...

From:

Ion knew that Colette probably wasn't any more keen on the idea of killing than he was, but the fact that she was willing to do it for the sake of duty showed just how far she was willing to go to protect what she thought was right.

"I know," he replied as normally as he could, frowning slightly as he tried not to look back on the bloodshed behind them. "Do you know where the closest exit is?"

From:

"I think I saw another door over that way." Chester responded to Ion's inquiry. It was their best bet, after all. Ramming his bow into another guard who attempted to catch them off guard, Chester quickly opened the door, revealing a hallway with light from the outside beaming inward. "The sooner we get outside, the better, after all." He responded with a smirk. "Blondie, take the front and make sure the Ion kid doesn't run into any more unpleasant surprises. The Oracle Knights wouldn't dare make a scene if we make it to the inside of the city."

From:

B...blondie...?

Still, Chester was right: Ion's safety came first. Colette took a few steps into the hall, then held her hand out to him. "Master Ion, just a little further and we'll be all right..."

From:

Despite the situation, Natalia couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief at the sight of the light filtering into the next hall. That meant they were almost outside, and Chester was likely right; the Oracle Knights wouldn't possibly risk a scene in the city. The people of Daath would certainly not take kindly to such an act against Ion.

"Let's just hope we make it before anyone else arrives," Natalia said quietly, readying an arrow -- just to be prepared.

From:

"I doubt all of the soldiers are even here at the moment," Ion responded in kind. Perhaps that left them a better chance of getting out with as little blood on their hands as possible. He accepted Colette's hand, holding onto it firmly as though the link between them had reassured him. How terrible that the very forces intended to protect the church were now working against him.

"We'll have more time to talk once we're outside."

From:

Firing several more arrows against their assailants and pursuants, Chester tried to make sure that Natalia was safe as well. She may not be the Fon Master, but she was surely kidnapped for a reason. On her dignity, though, she was able to defend herself to some extent, unlike the Fon Master, it seemed. "Okay, we're here!" They stepped outside, with a breath of fresh air.

"Let's head to town and find a place to lay low while you guys regain your energy. May as well inform you on what's been going on in the outside world as well, right?" he asked, turning to both Ion and Natalia.

From:

"Um, if it wouldn't be too much trouble--I'd like to hear more about what happened here, too," Colette ventured, glancing around to make sure there weren't any more soldiers lurking about. It seemed like they were safe now, though. "After all--I just ran into Mr. Chester and wanted to help out with the situation."

And see Ion again, of course, now that she had known where he was.

From:

Thank goodness.

Now that they had made it outside, they should be safe. Or at least relatively so. That didn't mean she wanted to spend more time lingering in the area though. Therefore, Chester's idea of heading to the city in order to rest sounded like a good one. Hearing about what had happened while they had been detained was important too.

"Yes, of course. Explaining what happened is the least we could do, after the both of you went through the trouble of rescuing us." There was a pause, and the princess smiled. "And for that, you have my gratitude. Thank you so much."

From:

After getting everybody into the inn, Chester sighed as he locked the door as a precaution. The Ion kid was known to faint, at least from the last time he saw him, so resting up was as good of an option as any. "It's dirt cheap, but it'll do for now." He said. At least opening the window to allow some ventilation into the room, he sat down to rest his own weary feet. Philia would meet up with them later, he supposed.

"I don't know much about the news myself, but apparently Akzeriuth... disappeared. Where it was is now a big hole, like there is in the middle of the sea from Hod. This is causing tensions from all three of the major world forces, apparently, and when I realized that you two were missing... well, these two girls deduced that you might be here. So we came to rescue you." he stated. "The other one being some green-haired chick who looks like a priestess, anyway."

From: