Reim Empire

[Apollymi]

Shadiya noticed the reddening of this young man's face and thought it adorable, while not connecting any reason for it to be the case. "Yeah, it was one of the things I invested my earnings into for my future. I don't know if I plan to stay here for very long, but at the very least while I am here, my friends and I can live like reasonable people while we train. You as well, if you'd like." she said with a smile. She had no problem offering up anything that was hers to the rest of her friends she was quite open in this way, and in direct opposition to the kinds of people her older male siblings had shown themselves to be. After a second or two she looked at the giant bird at his side. "What about your friend here?" she asked about the giant bird which she'd seen him fly in on... she didn't want him to leave it behind if he considered it a companion of his. After all, there was no telling what the people at the palace would do with it if they found it.

[Bloodedge]

Aiolia had intended to reference the bird he rode into this country, but it seemed Shadiya was wondering what would become of the creature as well. Reaching up, he once again placed his hand upon the bird's beak and spoke of it. "She'll be fine, but I'll have to bring her with me. She'll be upset otherwise." With that said, he hopped onto the bird's back, leaned over toward Shadiya, and offered her a hand. "Come on. Seras can get us where we need to go."

[Apollymi]

"Well we wouldn't want her upset." said Shadiya. "I have a big open air garden, I'm sure she'll like it." she mentioned before being offered a hand up. She looked at the giant bird then back at the boy, and found herself unable to refuse some cool new adventure. "I've never flown on a giant bird before... I mean... I have with Shula but never like this." she said seeming to be excited by the prospect she'd take the boy's hand and hop aboard and give a bit of direction. "The Villa is near the colosseum, on its eastern side, it's pretty much the biggest thing over there so you can't miss it." she finished up waiting for a journey from the sky to commence.

[Bloodedge]

Being the larger of the two individuals atop the bird named Seras, Aiolia seated himself behind the purple-haired girl, placing his left arm at her midriff while using his right hand to direct the creature. "Riding birds is the best way to get around. Just hold on to the sides of the neck." With a whistle, Aiolia instructed the bird to take flight. Small signals of his feet against the creature's neck informed it when and where to turn, eventually leading them on a straight path toward the Colosseum. "You say you don't know how long you'll be here. Does that mean you'll be leaving Reim?"

[Apollymi]

Now situated on the neck of the giant beast with the boy tucked in behind her and leading the bird, Shadiya sooned gained an overhead view of the Reim Empire and it was amazing to her. While taking in the sights it seemed that this young man wanted to know if she'd be leaving the area at some point. "Eventually, I plan to leave. I am here right now training with the Yambala Gladiators, but... after that is all over I will probably go on an adventure, see something new." she said calmly. Seeing them heading for the colosseum from an angle she'd never seen before. "Do you always get to see the world like this?" she asked, because if this was the case, she was envious of this young lad's perspective on things.

[Bloodedge]

"Ah... I see," he said as the bird they rode upon rose higher yet. Being cleared from view of any palace guards, they were now able to properly take to the skies without worry of being noticed by Sorio's underlings. "I'm a bit jealous. I'd love to say this is how I see the world, but I barely go past the end of the ravine where I'm from. I've never been on an adventure or anything like that, really."

[Apollymi]

Even higher up than they'd been before, they flew free of the gazes of the palace guards and thus into the freedom of the skies. It would seem Shadiya appreciated the view as well as the company as it was explained to her by her new friend that he'd rarely left the area he was from before this moment. A smile came to her face. "I know what that is like... and no one should abandon their home completely." she said knowing that she had similar experiences with Parthevia until of course, a couple of random dungeon capturers had invited her along on their adventures. "But... after everything is settled, you might find it fun, to go out and see the world. It's full of interesting things." she said as they flew towards her villa.

[Bloodedge]

Hearing about the perks of adventuring, Aiolia considered how the outside world operated, and what he was liable to think of it. As he did so, a grin crossed his face. "That sounds fun," he said. Afterwards, the bird Seras descended upon the villa and landed in the garden Shadiya had spoken of. Once the bird was situated, he hopped off and reached back to offer Shadiya an escort down. "When you go... are your friends going as well?"

[Apollymi]

Having landed in the open air garden of her villa, Shadiya relaxed immensely. Of course, once they were situated, Aiolia offered her a hand down from Seras which she gladly took and extricated herself from the large bird which was her main form of transportation. "It is fun, but I have no idea whether or not they are going to come with me. I know at least one person who will come with me, he came here... but..." she looked across the garden and approaching the giant bird, herself and the new comer was a certain pink haired dungeon capturer. A grin crossed this pink haired girl's face as she got close and noticed that her friend was unharmed and in the company of someone new.

"Shadi, you're back, and with new friends. Everything went well then?" asked the girl who received a nod from the purple haired girl. Who found this girl's reaction to be about what she expected. She'd taken note that Yasmin was unusually kind to everyone she came across, people, animals and nature alike. It was almost like she didn't really like to count anyone out as unimportant. With that she acknowledged the newcomer and seemed a bit surprised. "Hi, I'm Yasmin. It's nice to meet you."

[Bloodedge]

"He?" Aiolia questioned, though it did not seem intentional; it had simply fallen out of his mouth. Luckily, the approach of the pink-haired girl allowed him to move past this immediately. With a bow, he gave his greeting to the girl named Yasmin. "Aiolia Angelis. The pleasure is all mine. And this is Seras, one of my animal friends," he said as the winged beast, while adjusting to its new location, looked betwixt the nearby humans.

[Apollymi]

"Yep." it would be a moment before Shadiya spoke again, after all she didn't want anyone getting any kind of wrong ideas about what was going on here. Still, she couldn't help but chuckle at the rather fascinated Yasmin as she took in this view of the giant bird and began walking circles around it. "Nice to meet you... and your friend." she bowed in return. After a second though she seemed just enthused. And would quietly spectate for just a few minutes waiting to see if anyone else would join them outside.

"I should explain a bit more, myself and three others here are dungeon capturers. There are also three others who are staying here, and they are our household members. The one who travels exclusively with me is a man named Shaka." she said with a nod. But to her this was normal there was nothing going on between them. As this conversation occurred Yasmin found herself going to look for Fudo as she wanted to ask him something, about the suspiciousness of a giant bird just being in their care, as well as whatever plan the young man had besides simply picking up the potentially endangered individual. As such she headed across the open air garden to the door which would lead inside, in the hopes of finding their other friends.

[Bloodedge]

"Three? There are four total Dungeon Capturers among you!? That's incredible!" he said upon gaining the knowledge that Shadiya and three of her friends were Dungeon Capturers. Something else she said didn't quite click with him, though. "What do you mean Household Members? My sister is a Dungeon Capturer, but I've never heard that term."

It was then that another person would approach them. This person was the aforementioned Shaka. "I'm a Household Member. Households draw power from the Djinn of a Metal Vessel user, and inherit their will. It's said that as long as a King's Candidate has their Metal Vessel, a Household Member can use their power," he clarified. As he did so, however, his eyes fell upon Shadiya with a look that seemed a bit anger-fueled.

Meanwhile, Fudo remained on the window sill of his bedroom, but now he had retrieved a piece of buttered bread to munch on while he sat in solitude. As for the white-haired lad, Bakura... well, he was nowhere to be seen.

[Apollymi]

"Yeah, I suppose it is. Actually our group is kind of big now that I think about it..." she said seeming to have forgotten about it for just a second. Before she could answer the curiosity about Household Members, her own appeared to answer the question which made her smile. She enjoyed her knowledgeable also blonde Household member, but the anger-fueled look he had didn't get past the purple haired girl. "You look upset Shaka... is everything okay?" she asked, completely astounded as her Household member was normal in a much better mood than the fury his eyes had within them.

Yasmin on the other hand wandered about the house. She knew that Bakura hadn't returned since he'd sneaked out the night before, but she wasn't worried about him really. She also knew that Nasira was having a go at one of the Gladiators, though she didn't know which one. Which should leave the teal haired Sindrian prince somewhere within the house, and soon enough she stumbled upon him eating a bit of buttered bread seated in a window all alone. "Oh, there you are, Shadi's back... with our new friend from Artemyra. Are you alright... you've been awfully quiet today." she said of the young man as she joined him in his room.

[Bloodedge]

"Ah... that's news to me," Aiolia stated. The words of Shaka were quite helpful to him in giving him the information he sought, but he couldn't help but sense a bit of animosity toward this supposed vassal of Shadiya. Of course, he was out of place here, so he remained silent as the other blonde replied to the girl. "You've still got your Metal Vessel, but I can't use my Household Item."

As he chewed his bread, Fudo was joined abruptly by Yasmin. He continued to look out the window, and waited until he had finished chewing and swallowing this meal of his before speaking with the young woman. "There's no avoiding this war. I knew Artemyra's residents typically rode large birds, but I never thought they would fly one all the way over here. I hate to say it, but... As we speak, the people in the palace are probably being told to search the land for a giant bird. Find the bird, find the person who brought it... find the key to a war."

[Apollymi]

Meanwhile the words of her household member made her a bit surprised. She thought about it for a moment, but couldn't get to any real explanation for it. "Hmm, I don't know why that would be... I do still have mine." she reached up and touched her locket and in so doing made the eight sided star which denoted the housing of the Djinn glow there. "I'd ask Shula, but she went off with Malik while he did his training this morning..." she said looking around she thought about it some more. "Maybe Samiya or Ali, if either of them are still around can explain it." she said still she was in a good mood, and she figured such a thing was nothing to worry about. Surprisingly enough the redheaded Magi was on the roof where she hung out most of the time.

"I figured that as well." said Yasmin after Fudo went on to explain what he thought would happen as a result of the giant bird being the main method of transportation for an entire group of people. "If there is no way to avoid the war, perhaps we should just figure out how best to help everyone involved. Starting with our new friend from Artemyra... who is surprisingly male." she said of the young boy who she'd seen outside with Shadiya.

[Bloodedge]

"It doesn't matter. I don't care much for it anyway," Shaka replied. He then went on to eye Aiolia up and down, coming to a simple conclusion after a few moments of observation. "This your new boy-toy?" he asked. This question caused Aiolia's eyes to widen briefly, but he still had not place to speak in the midst of this conversation. "Going for the strong military type this time, I see."

"A male? That's strange. I thought Artemyra was full of women. Whatever the case, we should make sure we're prepared. If I'm right, and they did see the Artemyran, then they've seen Shadiya now as well. They'll be coming for all of us, and our mentors by association." Fudo said these words while holding out the bread he had been casually biting, intending to offer Yasmin a bit of it. The more he thought about this situation, the less of an appetite he had. Of course, Fudo had also come to a few conclusions that others had likely yet to realize.

[Apollymi]

"Aww, don't say that. I am sure there is a very reasonable explanation." said Shadiya she was after all, a bit of an optimist, though she hadn't missed the apparent jabs being taken by her present Household Member. She couldn't well let this continue, and as such she simply shook her head no to his question and followed up by chastising his apparent summation of this present situation. "That's presumptuous, he's the representative from Artemyra I went to find earlier. It isn't like you to act so jealously, Shaka. He's a new friend and he's done nothing to earn this sort of animosity and nor have I." Shadiya mentioned. It was rather unusual that this young man was in such a funk and she truly wondered what had caused it. But before she could go further into this line of thought the Magi Samiya descended from the roof and stood in front of the large bird, and was immediately a bit confused by what she was seeing but this young boy was at least a little familiar to the redheaded Magi. "I didn't expect Myrina to send you Aiolia." she said of the Artemyran boy. Beyond this she looked between Shadiya and her Household Member and her brow rose for just a second, she then rather calmly explained that situation as well, though only after moving so that her words would only be heard by the two of them, lest their argument spread any further. "Your Household Vessel won't activate because you are no longer acting in the best interests of wielder of the Djinn who is the founder of the Household of Light. Familiars of Djinn are kind of fickle that way... since they are spawned from your desire to serve... any deviation from that makes it impossible for you to access the power given to you, if you don't intend to serve with it." she finished up this explanation hoping it would be enough to stop the ongoing squabble between this Household and she did this mostly as a favor to Shula as she didn't want to see anything bad happen with the King Vessel she'd chosen.

Meanwhile Yasmin was discussing their current situation with Fudo and she had to agree with the points he had made. She thought more about it, and decided that there had to be a reason that their mentors and Malik had been allowed to continue, especially given they're living within the exact city as the palace. "Hm, well it could be that we walked in on the end of a long game and made it a bit more complicated as a result." she thought of this entire situation and found it to be a bit like a set up of a game of chess. With all the pieces in place spread out and forces weakened, it would be easy to consolidate power after. But the introduction of several unknown Dungeon Capturers was likely more than anyone had thought of. "I mean, the Fallen Magi wanted us to join her, obviously this means we won't be attacked for death only capture. And if they intend to capture us, they will probably try to use the others as bait to lure us out if we disappear, for some other reason... they've been leaving the Gladiators and Malik alone, even though the latter admitted to causing an undo amount of trouble from time to time. Maybe we're just missing something about the situation here." she said. After which she finished the last bit of bread she'd been offered with a smile. "Thank you."

[Bloodedge]

"Just sayin'. Can't say I'm surprised you went blonde again. You're about as bad as that brother of yours with the redheads," Shaka replied immediately. He did intend to continue speaking along these lines, but Samiya approached and offered clarification on the lack of power in his Household Vessel. Apparently, this had something to do with his willingness, or lack thereof, to continue following Shadiya in the way he always had. When he heard this, the young man scoffed and turned away. "Tch! Nothing about me changed here." Without another word spoken, the Household Member took his leave yet again. He had been mostly absent from group activity and interaction since he was retrieved from Parthevia, and it seemed he would continue to be so.

"Well... anything's possible," Fudo replied as he released his hold on the bread. Though he was about 90% certain what would transpire in the near future, he could hold out hope that things would be as easy as what Yasmin suggested. "Again, I hate to say, but I think the simple reason the Yambala Gladiators have been avoided is because of that man called Dio. There's no real reason for them to have an inside person otherwise. Malik also has the protection of the gladiators, and apparently a reputable amount of strength of his own. That old man said he was at least stronger than the two of us, and we faced a Magi yesterday. We'll have to make sure he stays out of trouble today. I get the feeling Shadiya is about to be in danger."

[Apollymi]

"That... was mean Shaka." Shadiya said about the jab taken at her older brother. It wasn't as if she went out looking for anyone to suit her preferences, literally all she had done was go to pick up some person from a foreign country to keep them from being killed she had no idea why this was such a big deal to him. The Magi who had spoken to the other young man alone didn't seem to be at all moved by his present bit of a fit. She was only stating a fact nothing more and nothing less. Whether or not he recovered from this moment was no choice but his own. She'd noticed his behavior towards the others and she also felt that it was either something to correct or something that would lead to friction and she was never sure which given she didn't have much foreknowledge of this young man. Shadiya felt the need to apologize to the newcomer so she did, with a bow and a bit of her blush on her face, seemingly flustered by her Household Member's actions. "I'm sorry about that... I didn't expect him to react like that." she said apologetically. Still there was the matter that Samiya seemed to know this young man. "Samiya do you know him?" she asked to which the Magi only nodded while standing by the large bird. "Yes, I once visited Artemyra and raised a dungeon there. I lead that woman through it, she happened to be the Queen of the country and his elder sister Myrina. I was introduced to him and the rest of his siblings while I was staying there." mentioned the Magi much to the surprise of the young dungeon capturer.

Yasmin heard out what Fudo had to say and she completely agreed with him. Even so, she couldn't bring herself to worry unnecessarily about things which hadn't happened yet. Instead of being really upset or overthinking the situation she held out her hand to Fudo and smiled. "Alright, so the easiest thing to do today is protect Shadi and Aiolia." she said this with the same attitude she had about everything and intended to have Fudo meet the newcomer so they could figure out what to do about this situation while talking it over with everyone present.

[Bloodedge]

"You have nothing to apologize for," Aiolia replied. Now that the bit of tension had left, he felt more comfortable speaking aloud, but in no way did he believe Shadiya was at fault for anything that transpired here. "Do you... have any idea what he could have actually been angry about? It didn't sound like it had anything to do with Metal Vessels." Aiolia had a genuine bit of curiosity about the other blonde male he'd seen on this day, but he also realized he had been addressed, and was now being spoken of, by Samiya the Magi. "Ah... Sorry, Lady Samiya. It's good to see you again. As for me being here, well... I think I'm the only one suited to do this kind of thing, besides the queen herself."

"Right," said Fudo. He remained wary of people from the palace locating them here in this villa, but Yasmin made a good enough point that they could simply protect the two he thought to be in danger. As such, he took the young woman's hand and removed himself from the window. "At the very least, we should be able to handle whoever they send at first."

[Apollymi]

A smile crossed Shadiya's face as she was quite happy to know that her new friend wouldn't hold the actions of her old one against her. With this in mind, she seemed to relax a bit. But hearing that Samiya had answered her question her eyes went wide. "Oh? You chose the Queen of Artemyra... that's so cool." said Shadiya. She always found the choices of Magi not her own to be rather interesting. Moving right along a few seconds of silence would come from the girl as she tried to properly think of why her friend and follower could be upset. While she watched the purple haired girl think, the redheaded Magi addressed the young boy from Artemyra looking at him strangely as she did, like she was seeing something unusual but she didn't remark on that. "Yes I did. And no need to apologize. It's good to see you as well, I suppose the rest of your sisters aren't cut out for diplomacy as much as Myrina and she has a lot of faith in you as well, though your skills speak for themselves." she said with a smile. She had much enjoyed this young boy's company while she'd stayed in Artemyra, and found him to be rather interesting given the way the people from there seemed to behave. After she spoke Shadiya took a second to also answer his question. "Shaka might be feeling a bit neglected. He was my only friend for quite a while. We came to be part of this group under odd circumstances and because of this he hasn't really wanted to be part of the group activities or anything. So he might think we've been leaving him out on purpose, though that isn't the case at all... I don't really know, so I guess I'll have to ask. I will talk to him after he's calmed down a bit." said the girl, who was content to give the other young man a manicure and find out what was actually wrong with him. She seemed to think nothing odd of the apparent bad mood that the other blonde haired male was in. Beyond this point... Samiya seemed to look over her shoulder in the direction Shaka had walked off in a serious look crossing her face as she thought over potential outcomes of this situation.

Yasmin smiled as the young man took her hand and pulled himself out of the window and since he was now standing, she took some initiative and pulled him towards the door headed outside. "Yes, definitely at least the bottom people should be easily handled. Assuming we actually have to..." the girl said with a bit of a smile. She was beginning to think about this in a different way, with a bit of deviousness, but she intended to fully flesh out her plan before she said anything else about it.

[Bloodedge]

"You flatter me," was the blonde's reply to Samiya. When he found out more details about the boy named Shaka, he was left with more understanding, and yet, more confusion at the same time. Before he could open his mouth to speak more on the matter, though, there was a rather sudden distraction taking place. From the old colosseum, what seemed to be a giant pillar of white flames rose into the sky. These flames continued climbing upward until they tore a hole through the clouds, leaving the boy from Artemyra quite awe-stricken. "Wh-... what was that?"

"I think we will have to. I don't like it, but I've been gradually accepting the necessity of violence in situations like this. In that case, though, I believe we can handle anything short of that Magi at full power..." As he was being dragged about by Yasmin, Fudo took note of the white flames as well. "White fire?"

[Apollymi]

"Not at all and you've grown up quite a bit." she said to the young boy, it seemed that Samiya was kind enough to pay compliments to this young man. Though as the question of white flames came into play Samiya looked over towards the Colosseum. A smirk came to her face as she felt the Rukh and understood who it must be. The question though wouldn't just be asked by Aiolia, Fudo also seemed to question this after seeing the flames as Yasmin dragged him out by the hand to meet their new friend.

"Yes, sometimes, we are going to have to fight people, but... I have a plan to limit the amount of that not related to training we have..." she paused also looking at the white flames. Surprisingly enough it would be Shadiya who looked and then commented. "That is probably Malik." she said with a nod. Such information caused Yasmin's eyes to go wide as she didn't know that her cousin had such abilities, then again, she'd only known him for a day, and knew nothing about his Djinn. "Somehow that is both surprising and yet utterly possible." Yasmin mentioned, but soon enough, Shadiya would be speaking again, this time to the pair who'd so recently joined them. "Yas, Fudo... this is Aiolia." she said making an introduction between them.

[Bloodedge]

"Is that so? Well, I'd love to hear such a plan," he said. Fudo was quite surprised to hear Shadiya say that the white flames were likely coming from none other than Malik. "Malik? I see... so that's what the old master meant." What he was seeing was just shy of unfathomable, yet just within the realm of reason. Either way, it was quite impressive. A bow was soon given to the representative of Artemyra, and with it came Fudo's introduction. "Fudo Shakir. Pleasure to meet you," he said. This prompted a bow in return from the blonde male. "Aiolia Angelis."

[Apollymi]

"Yeah, I'm getting to it now." said Yasmin about her plan. Of course, the speech between the pair of dungeon capturers caught the attention of the Magi Samiya which was all but expected given how invested she was in the developments of the pair of them. "Plan? Are you two up to trouble again?" she asked of the pair to which the smile on Yasmin's face would seem only angelic. "No, not at all, actually... I have a small favor to ask of you... part of my plan to keep us out of combat for as long as possible." she said to the woman. This, of course made the Magi's eyes widen and Shadiya look interested as well.

"Basically, I would like you to hide our new friend Seras for a while using that odd magic you did a while back." she said to the Magi which caused the redheaded woman's eyes to widen just slightly. She highly doubted anyone had noticed the subtle combination of Heat and Water Magic she'd used a few times during her travel with this group. Of course, she'd only used it for cosmetic purposes, basically to hide herself from the general public while they were crossing through small outposts and desert oasis villages. "Huh... I didn't know you noticed that." said the Magi who was more than a bit stunned. But Yasmin simply shrugged. "It's like a hole in a wall covered by a picture yes? You don't really know it's there if you can't see it, but if you stumble upon it, you figure out what it's for." Yasmin concluded. She realized, of course, that this would only be a temporary fix, but it would at least buy them a bit of time, given the direness of their present situation.

[Bloodedge]

Fudo was very curious as to what Yasmin's plan could be. Upon finding out exactly what she was getting at, his eyes widened. This was followed by a wide grin appearing on his face, as he could certainly see the merits of this idea. "That's an incredible idea! We could avoid some major problems doing that." Soon after he said this, something else rose from the colosseum in the form of a giant pillar of light, much greater in width than the previous flames. Though he had no clue what kind of training was going on between Makarov and Malik, he had to admit he was impressed with the outcome of these abilities, whatever they were. "Is that also the doing of this Malik person?" Aiolia asked.

[Apollymi]

"Oh, it's not that great an idea. It's really only a temporary fix for a long lasting problem... but like I said, part of a plan." she said blushing slightly and waving off the attention. Though even the Magi Samiya had to admit that the idea had merits she hadn't thought about immediately including providing asylum to Aiolia without drawing undue attention to them as a group. "Oh, it's a good idea. Though now I am quite curious about the things that go on in your mind. Aiolia, you may lose visual track of Seras for a little while..." the Magi mentioned as she began work on the spell which would hide Seras. But right before she did a giant pillar of light also toppled the clouds above the Colosseum. Which made Shadiya's eyes widen. At Aiolia's question she could only shake her head.

"No, that wouldn't be Malik. Our master, the Gladiator Makarov Dreyar... that'd be him. For such a small old man he's frightening. It's part of the reason he accepted me, because we use the same type of magic." Shadiya mentioned seeming a bit sullen. After all, she was up for training this afternoon, and if they were getting this into it now, she wasn't sure her body would survive the experience. "That man and his training will be the death of me..." Shadiya said thinking about the afternoon was making her faint.

[Bloodedge]

"Of course it is. It will let us focus on our training longer, and may even prolong the coming war. You've done a lot more than you think, you know?" These words were all Fudo had left to say about the idea of hiding the bird Seras, though he was now a bit worried about the blasts coming from the colosseum. Of course, there was every chance that this was a normal occurrence around the gladiators. It would also apparently be something Shadiya had to deal with soon, whether she looked forward to it or not. With a chuckle, he approached the purple-haired girl and threw an arm over her shoulder; something which seemed to cause Aiolia a bit of distress. "Hey, don't worry too much. The master chose you specifically, and he wouldn't have done that if he didn't think you would excel at his training. Just don't push yourself too hard, yeah? I personally can't wait to see how much stronger you've become when this is all over."

[Apollymi]

"Well, I never said I didn't do a lot, but that point brings me to part two." she said looking towards Aiolia and pausing only briefly to have a chuckle at Shadiya who seemed to think her training would cause her immense problems. She assumed as the girl built up her physical strength she'd have fewer worries about what would happen to her in these sorts of situations. Of course, she'd leave the consoling to Fudo in this moment as she turned to Aiolia to ask him a question. But before she could she noticed the distress in this young man given Fudo's actions. This of course, caused a very easy going smile to cross the girl's face as she approached the male and diverted his attention just a bit. "Minor question, may or may not be very important. Do you have a way of contacting the person who sent you? It'd be kind of bad, if we stopped the war on this end, only to have it start on the other because someone assumes something bad has happened to you." Yasmin said. She figured if they covered those to ends of their bases, then at best they'd paused a serious problem and at worst, they'd have somewhere to potentially flee to, if they needed to leave the Reim Empire in a hurry.

Meanwhile, Shadiya in her sullenness was soon approached by Fudo, who had a bit of advice for the girl as well as a comforting arm strung over her shoulder. This young man had always been particularly welcoming to her, since the day they met, and such a gesture while innately friendly, still caused a blush to appear on her face. "I'll do my best!" she chimed, apparently energized and eager to please.

[Bloodedge]

"I know you will. When your training is over, we'll celebrate. How's that sound?" Fudo asked of the girl as he released her from his grasp. If nothing else, a well-deserved bit of relaxation was the perfect follow-up to harsh training and the like, so he thought the least he could do for the person in their group being forced to go through such hardships, was to make the down-time worthwhile.

When asked if there was any way he had to communicate with the Queen of Artemyra, Aiolia chuckled lightly, pointing at his own head. "None necessary. Myrina immediately knows everything I know, because she used the power of her Djinn on me before I left. She can even speak through me if she feels the need to."

[Apollymi]

"That sounds amazing. Assuming I don't pass out or anything..." she said knowing that she was still rather weak she still sought to have fun with her friends and help get to where they needed to be. She seemed to be a bit more relaxed and since Fudo released her from his grasp she was left to pay attention to the ongoing conversation between Yasmin and Aiolia.

Yasmin couldn't keep the surprise off her face as Aiolia mentioned that his sister had used her Djinn on him, to be able to keep tabs on him as he travelled. She had to give it to the woman, her ability to think ahead was rather admirable, but beyond that the thought of a Djinn's power allowing such a thing, even as a Dungeon Capturer herself was kind of frightening. "Wow, that is some power to have." she said as if her own exploits if known wouldn't cause the same sort of reaction. "Well, with that out of the way that takes care of two phases of my plans and gives us what I assume will be a bit of breathing room. If she ever has anything to say, we're all ears." she said giving a minor bow. With that bit taken care of a bit of curiosity stemmed from the girl. "Oh yeah, Nasira took the morning training. I wonder how that's going..." she started to ask a question but was soon confronted by a shocking sight.

The black haired girl who was Fudo's companion, was now flying through the side wall of the courtyard and then skidding to a halt on the ground, rather conveniently missing everyone who had been in her line of trajectory through a bit of quick thinking. She bounced off the ground really quickly after, on her toes. "Wooh, this guy is strong!"

[Bloodedge]

"Well, if you do, we'll just have a rain check on that." After Fudo said his last piece to Shadiya, Nasira made a rather astounding entrance which caused his eyes to focus on the black-haired lass. At the point of her recovery, it became obvious that her training session was still ongoing, which was strange when considering the fact that it should have been over long ago.

There would be no opportunity to address the length of Nasira's training session, nor would there be time for Aiolia to figure out who this new person was. This was due to the immediate and swift approach of the blue-haired man named Jellal. He maneuvered his way around the other individuals in the area while approaching Nasira with his right arm pulled back. Once within range, he aimed an open-palm strike at her face which, if avoided, would be followed by a very interesting move. Jellal would delay his movements just long enough to permit the thought that there would be no follow-up attack, before quickly utilizing stored momentum to spin counterclockwise and aim a powerful kick at the girl's torso.

[Apollymi]

A quick nod would follow what the girl had heard Fudo say. She found her new friends very enjoyable and their willingness to accommodate more than she could ever begin to fathom. Even so, they were soon confronted by a shocking sight. That of a flying Nasira and the gladiator who was apparently her trainer for the day. The ensuing bit of a fight was something that Shadiya found herself incapable of following with her eyes.

Nasira on the other hand, was rather busy. The open palm strike which was aimed at her face was dodged with a quick shift of her tiny body to the left and around the young man she was fighting against. And as she watched the individual she was sparring with, she prepared herself for a counter-attack and after a passing amount of time she didn't expect one to come. Such a thing, came with a slightly unconscious untensing of her muscles, and when this occurring she soon found this man swinging himself into her body with a circular momentum which would send her flying back the direction she'd come from originally. Still there was a large smile on the girl's face even as this happened. Once she was gone, Yasmin gave an appreciative whistle. "Nevermind, Nasira is obviously having more fun than all of us." she said seemingly pleased that the girl was enjoying herself. Shadiya blinked twice, "I have no idea what I just saw... but I am not sure how it counts as fun." she mentioned with only pure shock on her face. "Oh, she was smiling, so obviously fun, right?" this was said by Yasmin looked to Fudo for confirmation of her assessment.

[Bloodedge]

"Is this the best a Genshi Ryu has for me?" the blue-haired man asked in rhetoric, merely to illicit some sort of physical reaction to the apparent battering he'd been giving for the past two attacks on Nasira. Following the connection of his kick, he let momentum continue carrying him around until he landed on the ground, facing the girl. From there, he instantly took off again, aiming continuous palm strikes at her face, one after another. "You should have much more fluidity than this at your age."

By the time he was looked to for confirmation, Fudo was already smiling. Indeed, it did seem to be the case that Nasira was having a jolly good time in her training session. He wasn't quite sure what form of Magoi Manipulation she could be learning, but at least she was enjoying it. "Mm. She's always been the lively type. I saw her on the coast kicking at a Rampaging Unicorn once."

[Apollymi]

Nasira was flying and smiling, soon enough she'd be back on her feet at the training ground more than prepared by the time the next barrage of punches were aimed at her face. "That's the second time I've heard that word, and I still don't know what it means." she commented as she dodged the attacks coming her way. She was seeing them all, and having little problem reacting and soon after about five she found a break, in which she'd aim a harder strike directly under this man's chin, obviously not one to continue taking a beating without at least trying to give one back.

"A Rampaging Unicorn? Like the giant sea horse things?!" Yasmin said utterly shocked by this information. Though now that she thought about it, she supposed she could mentally see, Nasira devoting herself to such an activity. Much like she could see Bakura gambling and doing other activities considered unsavory for fun. "Eh, I suppose if we ever have to find the Imuchakk peoples we could probably get her declared a warrior." said the pink haired girl in a rather funny way. This made Shadiya giggle just a bit as she realized why Yasmin would be able to say such a thing. "Finished reading that book I gave you yesterday, huh?" she asked which made Yasmin blush just a little. "Well, I was bored, and I don't sleep much." she said seeming to be embarrassed about it.

[Bloodedge]

"It's the name of your people. There's no mistaking that. You're cut from the same cloth as that Ren," Jellal replied. Soon enough, Nasira sent a counter-strike his way, connecting with his chin. Though this was indeed a mighty strike, he seemed to shrug it off while swinging his arm over hers, aiming to punch her directly in the jaw as retaliation.

When Yasmin confirmed what knowledge she had of the Rampaging Unicorns, Fudo laughed. "Yes... the giant seahorse things," he agreed. Then, there was the matter of comparing Nasira with the warriors of Imuchakk. This was not something Fudo found himself agreeing with, as he had seen an Imuchakk warrior or two in his time. There was little comparison to be made here. "Oh please. If she took the warrior's test in Imuchakk, they'd have to put her in charge of the entire tribe after the warm-up."

[Apollymi]

This man's words didn't make her understand what he meant any better. To the best of her approximation, she assumed this mean he knew of the people from whatever land she actually came from. But like many things, this had never really been of interest to Nasira. But, if it was full of people who'd be capable of giving her a reasonable fight, she might be inclined to go look for such a place. This man mentioned another such person and it made a grin cross her face as a rather satisfying connection between her fist and his face took place. Right after though, another strike was aimed at her jaw, surprisingly enough the retaliating strike would make contact with nothing, as the tiny girl's body was shifted with innate speed and flexibility to leave her perched upon that arm. Her immediate next action would be to lash out with her right foot towards the left side of his jaw. "Oh, I've never had to try so hard before." said the girl and it would be followed by laughter most jolly. "This is amazing. Also, what's a Ren?" she asked, these people had much contact with lots of people, and if he knew where she should start looking for better challenges after him, she was all ears.

These moments with people laughing with and at her, made Yasmin's face burn a bright red. "I can see that." said Yasmin in direct response to Fudo's assertion that the tiny black haired female would be perfectly capable of becoming a tribe leader of the Imuchakk. Shadiya seemed somewhat astounded, after all, Nasira was smaller than she was, the thought of her taking on a Rampaging Unicorn was utterly shocking. "Are all of you this... outlandish?" she asked rubbing her face seeming to not understand how normal people became so... well over the top.

[Bloodedge]

Just as his previous attack had phased through the air, the kick Nasira aimed at his jaw would do the same. Using a similar form of movement to her own, he twisted himself around into a flip which landed him atop Nasira's right leg. And, with both of them airborne and Jellal facing away from the girl, he brought his left foot back toward her torso in an attempt to send her rocketing toward the ground at an angle. "The most challenging opponent I've ever met. Tao Ren. The last man to receive the master's special training."

"Sure you can," Fudo said through another laugh at Yasmin's expense. He had become quite keen on observing this match between Nasira and Jellal, but when asked about the apparent outlandishness of the rest of the group by Shadiya, he was thrown for a bit of a loop. "What do you mean?"

[Apollymi]

This exchange was getting very interesting, and though the initial hit towards her met nothing, her own counter-strike also met thought. She seemed a bit surprised by this, but as she was airborne there was little to be done. All she could do was try to subvert the attack on her torso, which was diverted as she tucked her body in just a bit causing the strike to meet with the bottoms of her feet instead and sending her rocketing towards the ground right before she would have made impact she flipped herself over though she slid back several more feet before she came to a complete stop. "Better landing that time...." said the girl as she stood, rotating her shoulders and setting her body right for the next attack. "Tao Ren? I've heard that name before... when was it??" questioned the girl mostly to herself. Recent events all seemed to stream together... "I swear... while we were in Parthevia, maybe." she seemed to be thinking about this really hard, but it was mostly because she was certain she had heard that name before.

Meanwhile, Fudo was having another laugh at Yasmin's expense before turning his attention towards the sparring match happening with Nasira which they all could see, though Shadiya wasn't able to follow it with her eyes. Shadiya's random question had apparently caused some sort of confusion in Fudo and this made the girl look a bit dazed. "Well, I mean..." she thought about it more and then. "Well, Yasmin is kind of good at everything she tries... And you are you... so that's a thing. And Nasira is really strong... and has ridiculous reflexes, she's always catching things I'm dropping, even before I realized I was dropping them." she said with a nod. "Actually, the most normal person among you is Bakura and he's been asleep most of the time I've known him." Yasmin listened to what this girl had to say about the others of their friend group, and she tended to agree a bit. Though when it was mentioned that Bakura was normal the pink haired girl exploded into laughter.

[Bloodedge]

The longer this match went on, the more similarities between fighting abilities became apparent. Such a case would have a chance to be true to Nasira when Jellal landed. The stance he took could hardly be considered one at all, as he was just as relaxed while standing at the ready, as one would be when falling asleep in bed. "Do not seek Tao Ren. He is an affiliate of the Kou Empire. Not the kind of person you want to look for a friendly spar with."

"I'm me?" Fudo questioned immediately. "Well, that's not very lovely, is it? Everyone else gets something cool about them, and I get to be... me." In spite of what he said, this was followed by another bit of laughter. This was overshadowed, of course, by the sudden laughter of Yasmin, which was another confusing occurrence. "I suppose you disagree with Bakura being normal?"

[Apollymi]

"Oh stop it." said Nasira who seemed to scoff at the idea that she was looking for a friendly spar with this Tao Ren person. "I am not looking for him, I just remembered the name... I was trying to think of the context. But I don't need it... I got you right here after all, that's more important." said the black haired girl, who appeared not to care either way about the man named Tao Ren. As far as she was concerned the man in front of her was the one to be dealt with and anything after that would be something else entirely. Beyond this point now that she was relaxed she seemed to take a bit of time to look at this man's rather relaxed posture. "Aren't you too relaxed right now?" she asked having never seen her own overly relaxed posture it was odd looking at someone who was so relaxed in the middle of a fight.

As Shadiya processed Fudo's reaction she also went red in the face. "What I didn't mean..." she paused though because apparently the young man was now enjoying a laugh at her expense instead. And soon after, Yasmin's laughter seemed to overtake this moment and it was such a random occurrence that Shadiya looked to the girl who seemed to take a moment or two to pull herself together. "Sorry, it's just... I remembered the first day Baki introduced himself to me. In an alley, in Parthevia in the middle of the summer. A boy in rags who wasn't a slave but well-fed from sneaking into the palace and stealing bread right off the emperor's table. Had himself and everyone else calling him... 'The Thief King Bakura', totally the most normal person of the group." Yasmin mentioned a grin resting on her face. But her story made Shadiya's eyes widen, because when she was a kid, she'd heard of that person. "Really? He's that guy... the stories made him sound like a grown up."

[Bloodedge]

"That's the spirit," Jellal said when Nasira commented that she would use him to keep a regular combat challenge. As for the relaxed nature of the pose he'd taken, he could only raise a brow at the girl. It seemed this was simply a thing she didn't recognize about her own fighting style. "You're kidding, right? Your form is no different. It's a bit strange that you haven't been awoken yet."

"Thief King Bakura, huh..." After hearing Yasmin's story about meeting the white-haired boy, Fudo laughed once more. From what little he knew of the lad, he assumed this to be a name created by Bakura himself, and simply spread about.

[Apollymi]

"Yeah, fun for now." she said with a curt nod. She seemed to be very relaxed herself a point which was made by Jellal which made the girl's brows draw together. His words about her, were confusing to the black haired girl, so she decided a bit of information which she could obviously get from this man. "Awoken? What are you getting at exactly?" asked Nasira. "You say I'm weird, I say you're weird. Are we weird in the same kind of way?" she asked this question, because she'd never been bested in a fight before this moment, not in hand to hand combat anyways.

Yasmin however found herself laughing and relaxing the red tint in her face finally fading given no one was laughing at her anymore. "Yeah, he's an interesting person, Baki." she said wiping a tear away from her eye and allowing her gaze to wander to where the fighting had come to some sort of standoff in the distance. "They are kind of alike, Jellal and Nasira." she said noticing the overly relaxed posture had both taken. It was a bit odd to see from this perspective. It would be Shadiya who spoke next looking at the pair and shrugging bringing something of a conclusion to what they were saying. "So, the whole of you is completely outlandish. My friends you are all interesting people." she said with a quick nod, it was an appreciative sentence but as it stood the girl had nothing more to say.

[Bloodedge]

"As a matter of fact... yes. When I say awoken, what I mean is..." Mid-sentence, Jellal chose to dash toward Nasira and begin his assault anew. The end of his clause was accompanied by a sliding, sweeping kick at the girl's legs, intended to remove her from the ground one way or another. "Genshi Ryu grow into an understanding of who and what they are. At that point, a Genshi Ryu becomes able to tell others through sensing them."

"Indeed they are," Fudo said about the similarities between Nasira and Jellal. From then on, a grin remained on his face due to the assertion of Shadiya that everyone else in their group was, in her words, outlandish. "Not to worry, Shadi. You're no different than the rest of us."

[Apollymi]

Jellal seemed to confirm that they were indeed the same king of being. Beyond this he sought to restart their battle charging in her direction, though this didn't move Nasira and it didn't cause her any real distress. As she watched him come nearer she seemed to jump only as a direct reaction to her feet being targeted with a sweeping kick. "Oh, so ones of us who know what we are properly can tell other ones on sight. That's interesting..." she said remembering that very odd and random conversation she'd had standing in the Harron property in Parthevia with an odd male. All of those questions and his curiosity now seemed to make a bit more sense. Her eyes widened at that moment as she realized that this man was probably the one they'd been speaking about before.

Yasmin found this whole thing kind of interesting, but when Fudo felt the need to point out that Shadiya was also outlandish as she called it, she also agreed. "He's right you know? It's why you belonged with us." she chimed in. And at the words spoken by her two friends, Shadiya's face reddened intensely. She was almost uncertain why both of them felt the need to reassure her in such a way, but it made her happy that they did. "This is what I was getting at, you just being you." she said to Fudo while hiding her reddened face as she tried to get over this particular bout of embarrassment.

[Bloodedge]

"Not just that." When Nasira hopped over his leg, Jellal let his momentum carry him into a full spin. This came with a hop, which brought him up to Nasira's level as he aimed to use his opposite leg to kick her higher into the air. "There is a different level of strength to the sensation. Every Genshi Ryu feels different. It's more obvious with some than others."

Even while conversing with the others, Fudo kept his eyes on the battle. Though his smile was ever-present, there was a bit of confusion left in his mind by the words of Shadiya. "I'm not at all sure what you mean."

[Apollymi]

Nasira's placement, put her in the air, but her opponent soon joined her there, aiming another kick at her which would indeed connect and send her further into the air, but this was all to plan as she flew higher and took in the information that he was giving. "I see, that's good to know... anything else?" she asked this as she was coming down from her flight flipping and adding extra momentum she would aim to land a fearsome blow atop this man in his left side with the full brunt of her body and extra momentum which she'd use to try and force this man back down from the air and straight into the ground.

Meanwhile, the conversation going between Shadiya, Fudo, and Yasmin seemed to reaching an interesting point. It appeared that Shadiya was trying to figure out how to explain what Fudo was like to him, and it was kind of hard to do. "Well..." she started thinking of a way and seeming to have a stroke of genius. "You're like really accepting. Or welcoming, like you make everyone feel needed." Shadiya said, and surprisingly enough Yasmin nodded her head in agreement. "Oh, I get what you're saying... you're right Shadi." she verbally agreed holding her hand up for a high five and the purple haired girl returned the gesture seemingly excited by the rather simple form of appreciation.

[Bloodedge]

"You'll find out the rest," said Jellal during his reaction to the girl's attack. As she kicked out at him, his hand met the side of her leg. With a push, he shifted himself to the side of Nasira, yet he did not make efforts toward another attack. "Once you wake up, that is. This'll do for today. It was fun. Rest up now."

"Eh?" was the next thing to come from the teal-haired man's mouth. Sure, he had to accept that this was a feature he possessed, but he was still confused as to why this was a majorly defining factor of his existence. "Everyone is needed. Everything has a purpose. Anyway, it looks like they're finishing up now."

[Apollymi]

Jellal's reaction to Nasira's attack would cause the girl to shift her weight, after contact was made and no further attacks were attempted she flipped landing on her feet and falling back into utterly relaxed posture. "Whatever you say, it was fun." she said bowing to the man before she headed off to find her friends. "If you want to go again, I'm still good for it." she said rotating her shoulders a huge grin on her face. She had a few things to think about, but Nasira wasn't really inclined to stress. No things would fix themselves as necessary.

Meanwhile Yasmin and Shadiya heard out what Fudo had to say and both nodded their heads in agreement. He was quite right, everyone was needed, he was just a special kind of person for understanding that about everyone. "So they are, Nasira!" these were the words Yasmin said which caught the black haired girl's attention and she immediately joined the group seeming utterly relaxed. "Hi, everyone, sorry about my random entrance and exit earlier." she said standing among the group.

[Bloodedge]

"You are all such... very strange people," were the words of Aiolia from the sidelines. He had remained silent for some time, but had been keeping an eye on both the battle and the conversing friend group nearby. From these things, he only gathered that this entire collection of people was far stranger than any he'd ever seen.

Meanwhile, in the throne room of the palace, Sorio sat in audience, with a staff in hand. "What information do you have for me, boy?" he asked. At this point, the person who had been bowed before him rose his head. This male's blonde hair parted, revealing the face of Shaka, the Household Member of one Shadiya Harron. "I know where the man from Artemyra went, and the location of the invaders to your palace. These people abducted me and the person I worked for in Parthevia, and they've been poisoning her mind since then. I thought if I told you about this, it would benefit us both. You will be rid of an enemy, and I will be able to go back to my previous life." As Shaka spoke to the sitting emperor of Reim, the Rukh around him began to swarm with resolve. However, one with magical inclinations would be able to note that black Rukh were beginning to show themselves around this boy as well.

[Apollymi]

"Oh well, I guess we are. But you get used to it." said the black haired girl who would follow-up the acknowledgement of their oddness with an introduction of herself. "I'm Nasira. I suppose that means you're the representative from Artemyra then?" she asked because she'd missed this boy's initial introduction. Not that she was upset with his presence, after all she was a firm believer in the more the merrier. Beyond this, Yasmin simply nodded at the girl's words and chuckled when Aiolia mentioned they were all strange.

Meawhile at the palace while a meeting between Sorio and Shaka the member of Shadiya's Household took place, a black haired woman dressed in deep red cape and white linen pieces. She had random pieces of gold and jewelry looked on from her position behind this man at his left. Her red glowing eyes piercing through this individual and noticing the culmination of Black Rukh from his person and his resolve to apparently preserve his own way of life. "You don't say..." Minerva said chuckling finding the pretense of this boy's speech amusing.

[Bloodedge]

"That would be me. Aiolia. Aiolia Angelis," the boy said with, once again, the most courteous of bows. "Pleasure to meet you." It seemed like things were finally dying down now that Nasira's fight against her trainer was over. But, such was the perfect time for random occurrences, and one was surely about to occur. Over the course of this meeting, two pillars had come from the colosseum; one fire, and one light. In this moment, Malik himself flew over the colosseum wall, landing on the ground near the group. His body was battered and beaten, and he had barely an inkling of Magoi remaining in him. Tears streamed down the pink-haired male's face as he reached out with one hand, hoping someone - anyone - could save him from the hell that was this training session. "H-... Hide... me..."

"... Intriguing." Sorio seemed to be taking an interest in the boy before him, and as a magician himself, the black Rukh beginning to fixate themselves to this lad did not go unnoticed by Reim's emperor. This was good. Here, he had an ally in the form of another individual like himself; one that simply wanted to do away with the inconveniences fate had thrown their way. "What say you, Minerva? Would you have this boy amongst our ranks in this war?"

[Apollymi]

Nasira bowed in return liking this new guy a bit already. "Nice to meet you, Aiolia." she managed to say, before only a few seconds passed and none other than Malik could be seen on the ground nearby. His presence and plea to be hidden made a bit of laughter escape the pink haired girl but she still went to give the young man a helping hand. "Rough day, Malik?" she asked rhetorically extending a hand to the young man with a smile on her face. "Come on, up you go." she said to him wanting the apparently crying young man to pull himself together, and using her body to try and pull him into the standing position. "We've got a new friend, don't set a bad example." Yasmin had finished this statement, but the words heard next belonged to the old small pink haired woman known as Uzma. "Leave him, you brats are next." she said pointing to Yasmin and Fudo. This, of course, made Yasmin pause still holding Malik's hand. "And suddenly I feel like I might need to be rescued."

To the Emperor's question a smile came across the Magi's face, "I'm sure we could make use of him for the war." she said with a knowing smile. This boy didn't even know what he was getting himself into. He was simply taking the shortest route to apparently getting what he wanted. Still it would be better if he was properly equipped during his time as a spy for them. "Here, why don't you take this with you?" she said offering the a black jeweled metal clawed gauntlet. This would allow him to use the Black Rukh with the kind of magic he leaned towards naturally. "Your Household Vessel doesn't work right. So you might need this~" Minerva chimed with a happiness usually unseen in her.

[Bloodedge]

The pink-haired male's entry led to Aiolia being stunned once more. He didn't know who this person was initially, but the name he was missing was soon spoken by Yasmin. 'This is the Malik they were talking about?' he thought, wondering how one who could create such magic as what he saw earlier could be in this predicament.

When his hand was taken, Malik felt a great wave of relief. It was as if the hell he'd been through had finally been removed from his life, but this happiness could not have been shorter lived. Uzma made her appearance known to the lot, and with her arrival, she sought to claim his savior for her training session of the day. This caused Malik's heart to sink. None would be able to save him on this day.

Looking up to the black-haired woman, Shaka claimed this magic tool she had to offer him. Though he did not know what this was, or what it would do, he believed that these people would see his desires fulfilled. That was all he needed. Shaka discarded the Household Vessel he wore, replacing it with the gauntlet given to him by this woman.

[Apollymi]

Yasmin finished what she'd been doing giving the boy a bit of comfort since he was apparently more than a bit sadder than she should have been. "Not to worry, Malik. We'll be back soon enough, just try not to be so down about it, okay?" she asked him with a smile on her face giving his hand a gentle pat on the other side before letting it go. She then turned to face Uzma and bowed. "I guess we're up then." she said following behind the woman who was now walking away and giving a wave to everyone else. "Come on Fudo. She said you too~" she mentioned not ever one to be stuck in such a predicament by herself. While this happened Nasira kind of appeared beside Malik and offered him a hand up instead. "Come on, training can't be that bad now can it?" she asked, knowing that she'd spent all morning getting her butt kicked by Jellal. Uzma on the other hand was leading what she assumed to be the two young dungeon capturers with their intertwined fates into a large open area in the Colosseum which had a really large boulder and lots of rocks otherwise the space was unoccupied.

At the palace the laughter of the Dark Magi could be heard. She couldn't believe this young man had so easily discarded that which had previously been sacred to him, only to take what she'd given without even asking about what would happen as a result of him taking it. What an amusing boy he was. This only made her wonder what had caused him to wander down this darker path in the first place, though prying at a time like this was a bit unnecessary.

[Bloodedge]

"Of course. I was waiting for you to be ready," Fudo said to the pink-haired girl, having already resigned himself to whatever trials Uzma had to offer them. When Yasmin was also ready, he began to move, following in Uzma's tracks until reaching the mostly open space of the colosseum. Meanwhile, Malik was being raised from the ground by Nasira, and whining all the while. "That's not training. It's like the continuous touch of death while you don't have the ability to be dragged into the next life. You're just... stuck in limbo while the world around you tries to tear you apart by every cell in your body. I need... I need... a caretaker!"

[Apollymi]

Uzma was now standing before Fudo and Yasmin pacing back and forth in front of a boulder which was many times larger than her person. And as she did this she began to explain the purpose of undertaking the start of their training with her. "All the Gladiators start their training with me. Such is done, to make you stronger physically and magically. Many more times than you would normally be capable of. The hopes of course, to make you about as I am." she stated plainly which made Yasmin glance in Fudo's direction. She was such a tiny old lady that the thought of her being physically strong at this point was a bit outlandish. But magically strong that could be anyone.

Meanwhile Nasira found herself laughing at Malik's rather absurd metaphors. "A caretaker? Hmm, that seems like a pretty tall order given what you just said about how your training makes you feel." mentioned the girl, who found this to be overall pretty funny. "Settle for a friend, I can commiserate, I got beat up by Jellal all morning." she said with a swift nod.

[Bloodedge]

Uzma's claims of her strength were just as strange to Fudo as they were to Yasmin. As such, when the latter looked his way, he had nothing to say on the matter. It wasn't quite that he was in disbelief, but rather that he wondered precisely what sort of strength she could have been referencing. Surely it was nothing to be trifled with if she spoke of it in such a way as this, but that was indeed a bit much to take in. "Ah... Well, that explains the venue. Go on then. Show us."

"A... friend..." said Malik. Within moments, the pink-haired young man sprung to life, taking Nasira's hand into his while wrapping his other arm around her. In this moment, his eyes sparkled, and his voice righted itself from its previous tortured state. "Yes! We will console each other as equals and ride off into the night, where we will keep each other safe from our torturers for all eternity!"

[Apollymi]

Uzma looked at the pair of youngsters pausing in front of the giant boulder she'd been pacing in front of. When she stopped she looked at the boulder and reached out for it with her left hand and surprisingly enough she picked it up without seeming to break any motion or sweat. Of course doing this she turned around and continued talking because she was still explaining. "This kind of strength training is meant to be done, so that you don't have to have massive muscles to be powerful, it's only failed once." she said tossing the boulder over her shoulder for both Yasmin and Fudo to watch it land with a thud. "And to be clear you won't immediately be fighting or trying anything, just moving should provide you with a good enough work out for the next couple of weeks." Uzma explained. Yasmin just managed to look stunned. "Note to self, don't make this one angry." she said aloud but in hushed tones only for Fudo to hear.

Meanwhile Nasira was soon put into a half-embrace by the boy known as Malik who still seemed to have given up his solemnness in exchange for some pure outlandish thoughts about running away from their responsibilities. "You really are an odd man. I don't believe in running from my torturers. I'm going to beat them, you should aim to do the same." Nasira slamming her right fist into the palm of her left hand. It seemed that Fudo's assertion that she was a particularly lively individual was indeed correct.

[Bloodedge]

Fudo had come to expect a demonstration of strength by Uzma, but in this case, expecting something was very different from seeing it happen. His brow furrowed during the lifting of the boulder, and only did so even more when Uzma went on to say that moving would be ample training for them during the coming weeks. Though he accepted that this training was likely to be very efficient, and was just as likely to yield incredible results... he still didn't quite like where this was going. "I think I'd rather fight her than deal with whatever she's about to throw our way."

The feedback from his most recent exclamation was not quite what Malik was hoping for. In fact, the words of Nasira made him lose his energy all over again. "Mmfh! There's no beating that old man. Have you seen his eyebrows!?"

[Apollymi]

"You're right not to like where this is going. But it's about to happen." said Uzma. But curiosity was more in Yasmin than fear of this situation, whatever it was about to be, "Who was the failure?" she asked seemingly interested in the negative outcome. "The big blonde guy you met yesterday, Dio. He ended up all muscled up... Everyone else didn't gain too much mass though." she said with a curt nod. And with that said the old woman moved her hat and pulled from beneath it a wand which was more or less a plain stick which seemed like it could have been plucked from any random tree. "Good, if there are no questions." she said the follow up to this would be the casting of a very complex spell, using the wand as a conduit. And when she was done, a pair of magoi based cuffs would be around the wrists and ankles of both Yasmin and Fudo. These cuffs would make it nearly impossible for both of them to move without putting everything they had into the movements, both their physical muscles and their magoi. And after it was done Uzma just watched as, she could only expect interesting things to happen.

"Of course there's no beating him, when you already look defeated at the start. What happened to confidence?" she asked of this young man who seemed to have completely lost himself again. She sighed then because she found it almost astonishing that this one was as powerful as he was, if he didn't think it was done so that one day he could surpass the man who taught him. After all, the point of doing such things was to find the next big challenge and top it, regardless of the type of challenge it was. "Also I am sure you could have angry eyebrows too if you wanted."

[Bloodedge]

Fudo sighed while mentally preparing himself for what was to come. However, there was no preparing for this. The cuffs of Magoi around his wrists forced his arms together, and the ones around his ankles did the same for his legs. He nearly fell over where he stood, but in spite of the surprise of what happened, he managed to regain most of his composure. "Magic bindings?" he questioned. There was an immediate effort from Fudo to separate his arms and legs, but in spite of all his strength, there was nothing to be done aside from a small bit of movement.

"Why would I want angry eyebrows?" asked Malik. He was quite certain there was simply no end to Makarov's training at this point. After all, he had been at this for a year, and it was getting no easier for him. Malik could only wonder how Shadiya fared, considering her starting point was the same as what he went through at present. As for the confidence of which Nasira spoke, he couldn't say there was much present within him. Makarov had a tendency to break his students of any such thing. "I think I'm gonna just..." Without the ability to complete his final statement, Malik lost consciousness and fell to the ground in a deep slumber.

[Apollymi]

Yasmin was no better off than Fudo. Her wrists and ankles came together and she also fell to the ground. She was a bit stunned but didn't immediately try to move. Fudo's mention of magic bindings gave her some sort of idea of what was going on here, and this made her chuckle just a little, after all this situation was quite ironic. Even so, it would be Uzma who answered his question in her usual brash manner. "I call them Spirit Cuffs. Basically... they're like weights for your Magoi. They lock in your magoi and restrict your physical movements. The only way you're going to manage to actually move, is by exerting one hundred percent of your physical strength and one hundred percent of you magical strength. Doing so will increase the threshold of your Magoi to a much greater place, while training your body to fully utilize it. Given what you brats have shown yourselves to be capable of you should be able to move about... but not much else for a while. But you should know the rest of your training won't stop while you get it together." the woman finished up her sentence and waited assuming the pair of children before her would eventually be able to stand. Yasmin hearing the information given would try to separate her arms and sit up. And though it would take quite a few minutes of struggle she would eventually be able to do it. "Wait a minute, did you just say our other training aren't going to stop. You mean, we're expected to fight like this?" she asked this was utterly shocking an idea.

Meanwhile, Malik had questioned angry eyebrows and why he'd want them, which made Nasira shrug, and went on to pass out pretty much on the spot. This was such an odd thing to do, but she supposed if she was as tired as he was, she'd also have fallen asleep like that. Still it seemed like a bad idea to leave someone passed out in the courtyard and thus she aimed to pick the boy up and throw him over her shoulder carrying him into the villa so he could at least sleep on a couch or something until he felt better. "Eh, falling asleep mid-conversation. What an odd man." he stated plainly.

[Bloodedge]

It was disturbing to know that these 'Spirit Cuffs' as Uzma called them were to be semi-permanent affixes to the pair of Dungeon Capturers. Even though he could understand this method's merits, the fact that he had to put forth so much effort 100% of the time just to do something as simple as scratching his nose made it feel like a form of torture. But, he would persevere. He had to. Keeping up his physical effort, he also forced his Magoi to the surface, to the best of his ability. This was indeed a struggle, and Fudo broke a sweat long before he managed to slowly pull apart his wrists and ankles. This was certainly the most difficult thing the teal-haired male had ever been required to do for any reason, but if he could manage through this, he would be much better off for it. "Alright then. When do we start training like this?"

[Apollymi]

It seemed that both Yasmin and Fudo had struggled and managed to at least regain some control of their extremeties. If Uzma was pleased by this development, her face didn't show it, she simply went back to pacing and explaining this situation. "Like I said, you brats will have a hard enough time moving around... so, you won't get anything past the sort of thing you did yesterday until you're ready. But... you'll find that to be significantly more challenging." she finished. It was now Yasmin's turn and after more struggle she was finally able to separate her ankles as well. She was now sitting and breathing as if she'd run a marathon but she was recovering steadily. "This is that soul crushing sadness... I feel it creeping up." Yasmin said in a manner rather reminiscent of Malik just a few moment's prior to this one. Still she wouldn't give up it was just a matter of adjusting to forcing all of herself into every single motion and that wasn't something she was used to. A tsk could come from Uzma. "These brats asking about more training, and one of you can't even stand up yet." she said. This made Yasmin look at the woman and stick her tongue out. "I like it down here, I'll get up when I'm ready."

[Bloodedge]

"Nothing more than sparring, huh?" Fudo asked in rhetoric. He seemed to be contemplating something, but that was a matter for a later time. "I suppose I'm to assume we're done here, then?" he continued. Fudo's first bit of exercise with these cuffs in place was to move closer to Yasmin and offer her a hand up.

[Apollymi]

"It's more than enough for you, for now anyways. I am sure we'll find something else to teach you two." she said waving the pair of them off. She then tucked her wand back under her hat and yawned. As this happened Yasmin reached up and took Fudo's hand and then took all the concentration she had to help pull her own weight up off the ground. "Thanks." she said and once she was standing the girl seemed to look a bit abashed, but the normal mannerisms she would have had to show this were simply too hard to make happen at present. "Yeah, feel free to go join your friends... I'm sure the others will find you when they are ready for you. Nap time now, I'll see you brats later." said the old woman as she simply walked away from the pair of them. Still it was properly impossible for Yasmin to relax right now. With Uzma walking away Yasmin looked to Fudo and shrugged. "So back to the villa then?" she asked taking a few steps towards it while devoting the utmost concentration to the activity.

[Bloodedge]

"Sleep well," Fudo said to the parting woman as he kept his physical focus on helping Yasmin rise from the ground. To the girl he was content to call friend, he considered the trip back to the villa, and how horrendous said trip was liable to be. "Ugh. I suppose we have to get used to this, huh? Sure, but... let's try to avoid having to pick each other up, yeah? That was absolute hell for me," he jested. And, with that, he began moving toward their temporary home space as well.

[Apollymi]

The short woman waved over her shoulder in response, but said no more as she disappeared back into the colosseum. Meanwhile, Yasmin had pulled herself up and was walking towards home, and it was taking very single bit of concentration she had to keep moving. Still, she didn't want to abandon their conversation and figured the sooner the cuffs became background noise in their day, the easier it would be for them to resume normal activities. The girl chuckled only to follow up with a bit of a jest of her own. "No, it will be fine. If we both fall, we can just sleep out here." she mentioned. Each step was grueling as she made her way to the house each movement she made required more focus than she'd ever known anything to need. She didn't know it was possible for her body to burn in such a way. "So, is it just me, or does the villa feel really far away right now?"

[Bloodedge]

"Oh, don't say that. It actually sounds like a good idea. A nice rock for a pillow, a warm body to make it through the night, and the need to give it my all just to go to the restroom. Like being back home, but with extra," Fudo said, making obvious light of the situation in numerous ways. He had to agree that the villa seemed much farther away than it truly was, and it was a train of thought he was not having fun with. "It's not just you... though I wish you were wrong."

[Apollymi]

Yasmin laughed. Fudo seemed to be making light of their very interesting predicament and she was all but agreeable to the terms. "Well, when you say it like that it sounds fun." she said rolling her eyes. She was also a bit more than surprised to find that Fudo also had the same feeling that she did about the distance between them and the villa they were presently calling home. She supposed she should have been more shocked but it was taking all of her concentration to continue walking like it was normal. "I am kind of relieved actually. I thought I'd gone all soft suddenly." she said her tone implied that she was joking, but she was quite serious.

[Bloodedge]

"Doesn't it? Certainly the best idea." Trecking right along, Fudo found himself constantly feeling as if he had reached the limits of his stamina. To be in this sort of situation at all times was ridiculous; as was the idea of being this way for even more time to come. "I can't say for a second that I'm a fan of this. Not much is worse than sweating when you'd normally be relaxed."

[Apollymi]

"Yes it does, I'm totally on board if we decide to not walk all the way back to the villa." she said it was quite stressful this walk, but she supposed there were worse things. To the point that there was nothing worse than working up a sweat while trying to relax. "I suppose, at the very least, we should get to rest while we're sleeping... And if we wear them long enough we won't feel them." mentioned Yasmin who chuckled at the thought of only managing to be properly relaxed while being unconscious. This was a rather interesting change of pace.

[Bloodedge]

"I'd like to say the same, but... I think it's best if we don't take any shortcuts on this," he replied. In fact, Fudo intended to go above and beyond what was expected of this 'training' routine. He had goals to be met long-term, and to meet those goals, he had to get over this stepping stone. "I think I'll have a workout when we get back, actually..."

[Apollymi]

Yasmin found herself agreeing with Fudo, even if she didn't want to. After all, nothing worth having was ever really easy to obtain. With this in mind, and knowing where Fudo's thought process was going, she wasn't at all surprised to hear that the young man intended to work out while using his new found bindings. A smile crossed her face. "I knew you'd say that..." she said in rhetoric. "I'd like to join you if you don't mind. I think if I try and sit still I'll just tire myself out, and I figure if I am going to be tired anyways, there might as well be a reason for it." she offered. Since their other friends were already paired up, missing, and/or exhausted from their mornings she figured it was as good a use of her time as any other.

[Bloodedge]

Several minutes later, it seemed to be the case that the two youngsters plagued by these Spirit Cuffs had made no headway whatsoever. Since the path ahead still seemed so far away, Fudo decided to look behind them to check on their progress. When he did this, he was surprised to see they had barely moved away from the Colosseum. "That... that's not right," he said. Surely, no matter how little progress they'd made, it couldn't have been this insignificant.

It was at this time that Shaka appeared within the villa, wearing the dark gauntlet which used black Rukh to fuel its Magic, instead of his usual Household Vessel. Alongside him, there was a small group of six individuals who wielded various similar pieces of equipment, in the form of Household Vessels to his Dark Metal Vessel.

[Apollymi]

Hearing what Fudo had to say, Yasmin's brow rose, she also turned around to look and found that they actually hadn't managed to move very much at all, regardless of the fact that they'd been walking for several minutes. "I have a bad feeling about this..." she said. Figuring that Uzma wouldn't have done anything more to them than what she had, it was starting to seem like they'd been trapped between the Colosseum and the house for whatever reason.

Shadiya was within the villa, she'd been in the company of Aiolia up to this point, but whether or not she still wasn't wouldn't really matter. As when the she heard the entrance of a person she called out a name to try and figure out who had just come back. "Shaka or Bakura??'" she asked aloud apparently she'd be happy to find whoever, but surprisingly enough when she made her way to the front entrance she found Shaka and six other people standing around with him. This was very unfamiliar to her and made the happiness drain from the purple haired girl's face. "Shaka, what's this?"

[Bloodedge]

Aiolia approached as well, from the rear of Shadiya. When he looked upon Shaka and the others he had with him, he grew a bit wary of the other blonde. After all, his leave earlier this day had not been on a very good note. When Shadiya decided to question him, Shaka simply raised his right arm to the sky. "I'm ending this farce. We should never have been confined to the same place as these worthless scum."

[Apollymi]

Shadiya found herself staring at her companion for an extended period of time. His words and his actions, didn't match any scenario that played out in her head. After all, there was no farce, there was nothing going on here, and whatever Shaka was claiming he planned to end, she couldn't well allow. "I don't think I know what you mean..." she said. As she looked at his raised right arm, she noticed the lack of his original household vessel and instead some type of odd clawed gauntlet. "What exactly is that on your arm, and what are you planning to do here?" Honestly she didn't believe this man would hurt her, but in recent times she'd become worried about the actions people would take and justify to themselves. Her own family was proof of that sort of thing. All while she spoke she stayed in front of Aiolia, he'd only just been met, and it was completely unfathomable to her to want to involve him in whatever it was Shaka had planned though she could think of nothing good he could want, what with him leading six strangers in and his lack of Household Vessel on his arm.

[Bloodedge]

"This? This is something you couldn't give me. Something you don't have. Something that will make a difference!" Shaka exclaimed. "I'm going to fix all the problems you're letting take root! A group of people come to our home, kill your family and demand that you get rid of the slaves, and you just let them get away with that? What's worse, you join them! Now we sleep, eat and live like commoners. We were more than this!" With a click of his fingers, Shaka gave his order for the group following him to run rampant with their Household Vessels, all for the sake of ripping apart the villa to remove this trash heap they had been calling home thus far. "I'll kill them. All of them. Then we can go back to the way things were meant to be, Shadi. No... We can make things even better."

[Apollymi]

Shadiya listened to the words spoken by her household member and as he continued to speak her face began to fall. What little hope she had left of settling this before it got out of hand seemed to disappear from her eyes. Just when she thought everything would be okay, just when she believed that she and her friends could complete their goals and continue moving forward, it would be the one person she trusted most in her life, who would stand in the way of her own growth. "It wasn't like that, you weren't there, I was. This is better, but you don't want to see that do you?" Shadiya wished to argue, but she wasn't sure if she'd get through to this man or not. On the one hand, she knew only one thing. "I won't let you kill them Shaka. We, built this together and we're better than that, and they're our friends." she stood between herself and him the heart shaped pendent on her neck glowing with the power of her Djinn. She would spare just a moment for Aiolia smiling over her shoulder at the young blonde man. "You don't have to stay here for this..." she said. Her eyes though seemed sad, it was like the young girl, just had an odd realization about what was going on here.

Among this group with Shaka was a girl with dark brown messy hair and she had a vessel which was a ring, which had the ability to warp space allowing her body to move through solid spaces. She did this behind Shaka and began to walk through the rooms, obviously looking for people to slaughter. She knew nothing of this situation, but she had nothing better to do, and as such she'd do this for a few minutes.

[Bloodedge]

"These are not my friends. They might be changing you, but I won't let them change me. If it's too late to being you back to reality, I'll take you down with them." As Shaka spoke, his arm was brought back down. Black Rukh began to spew from his Dark Metal Vessel, and the space around the item began to warp. Meanwhile, Aiolia stepped up to Shadiya's side. Though she cleared him to vacate the premises, the look she had when saying so made him want to do the exact opposite. "You're right. That doesn't mean I won't stay. You went out of your way to help me when we didn't even know each other. The least I can do is return the favor." Before he continued speaking, Aiolia used his left hand to grasp the sheath of his sword right next to the guard of the weapon. "Do what you can to save your friend. I'll deal with these palace thugs."

[Apollymi]

Shadiya looked at her friend and was amazed by the things he said, but not in a positive way. Perhaps she had been changed since coming into contact with Fudo and Yasmin, but she didn't consider this change to be a negative thing. To her, any changes that happened were much better than the status quo, than sitting and waiting while watching others suffer. Before she could open her mouth to speak on this though, Aiolia said something to her, which made the girl's eyes widen just a little. A glimmer of hope returned to the girl as his words touched her heart. "Alright then, I'll leave you to it." she said with a quick nod. After this there was the matter of figuring out how to deal with Shaka.

Shadiya knew her own strengths and weaknesses and though she was well aware that she couldn't fully use her Djinn Equip, in this case she figured she wouldn't rightly need to. She'd been learning the start of a new form of fighting and as such her own Magoi began to culminate within her hands. She didn't have that much, but she hoped she'd be able to disrupt whatever was going on with Shaka and bring him back to normal before that became a factor. "I don't want to do this, but you aren't leaving me very many options, Shaka." she understood that whatever his new magical item did it was similar to her own vessel, meaning she might have to do more thinking than actual fighting. Still she said that as a final warning those golden eyes of hers narrowing and burning with the determination to bring her friend back to himself.

[Bloodedge]

"Right. I'll be back," said Aiolia. It was his intention to clear out the six underlings and return to assist Shadiya in whatever way necessary. His eyes had followed the movements of five followers in Shaka's company, but one had managed to evade his gaze. Still, while having knowledge of the others' locations. As he prepared to take off, Shaka interrupted. "Such loyalty in only a day. You disgust me. You'll die first," he said. Shaka's Dark Metal Vessel was at the ready to assault Aiolia, but before this could happen, the blonde from Artemyra vanished. Numerous steps in rapid succession were made with enough intensity to crack the floor beneath Aiolia, but by the time this happened with each step, he had already moved on. His movements never seemed to stop, but instead seemed to pass each of Shaka's apparent underlings before they spurted blood from unseen slashes. One by one, they fell with deep slash marks across their bodies. This left only one person standing after about fifteen seconds... whichever person had evaded Aiolia's lingering gaze.

"Your new boy toy has a strong pair of legs on him. You must be so proud," Shaka commented, seeming apathetic about the likely death of his men. Whatever the case, they were expendable anyway. Before he continued, Shaka moved his hand and Metal Vessel in a sweeping motion through the air, accessing the item's magic to remove the space itself between himself and Shadiya. In doing so, he aimed to reach out and grab the girl by the throat with his other hand; a feat that would be more easily achieved with the space between them gone. "I wanted to see you rule the world, Shadi. Both of us standing high above everyone else, and me doing anything you desired. Why would you abandon that dream for these pitiful commoners?"

[Apollymi]

It seemed Aiolia was quite equipped to handle himself. She'd done no reading on Artemyra but, Shadiya figured if there was a man among them sent on such a task as the one he'd undertaken, then he was bound to be a great deal better than average. Even so, it appeared that Shaka had developed quite the unseen hatred for this boy without even bothering to get to know him. "Stop saying that." this was something Shadiya felt really strongly about which was the reference to Aiolia as her 'boy toy'. "He's a person, and he's strong on his own merit. He is kind to me, because I was kind to him nothing more. He's done nothing to you, why are you so content to hate him?" she asked only to find herself trapped within this young man's grasp. She still didn't seem upset by this, it was simply a matter of her figuring out the best way to go about her particular task. 'Hmm, so instead of stopping time like his Household Vessel, it alters the space found between two people. Practical, but... annoying to be up against.' the girl thought as her friend spewed hatred and dissent the likes of which she'd never heard from him before as she gripped at her neck and kicked with her feet off the ground she spoke. "I didn't." she managed as punched towards his arm, it was only for a second but the amount of magoi she positioned within this hit was meant to stun, to force his hand to release her body. If this succeeded she'd be capable of speaking properly, obviously her first friend and follower didn't understand what she was trying to do here.

Meanwhile the one brunette who wasn't soon joined by her friends was more than a bit a surprised. "Oi?! Am I supposed to do this all by my..." she started to question, only to find that five out of the six other people she'd come in with lay spread out across the ground with slashes on their person. To her knowledge the person known as Shadiya didn't have this as a power, and as such it had to be someone else. "Who... did this?" she asked.

[Bloodedge]

"Cut the shit, Shadi!" the boy exclaimed while his hand wrapped around the Dungeon Capturer's neck. "You and I both know you'll be chumming it up and trying to do his hair and nails as soon as there's downtime. But that's not what's important here." Shadiya's punch, while lacking in physical strength, somehow caused a painful shockwave in Shaka's arm, accompanied by the spewing of blood from said limb. This indeed caused his grip to loosen, which resulted in the boy staring at his arm afterwards. "Got yourself a trick? Nice..." Whatever Shadiya intended to say, Shaka didn't care to hear. After her claim of not abandoning any dreams, Shaka clenched his gloved fist and swung it in the girl's direction, aiming to use the Dark Metal Vessel to deal additional blunt damage with the punch.

Elsewhere in the building, Aiolia finally stopped moving. It had taken longer than he initially anticipated, but he finally found the last enemy, who seemed to have already taken note of his handy work. "That would be me, and you would be next. First, tell me... Why does the emperor seek war with Artemyra?"

[Apollymi]

Shaka's words still brought a great deal of pain to the girl's heart, even after she'd managed to free herself. She'd caused his arm a great deal of damage and it hurt her to do so, but she couldn't risk allowing herself to take too much damage. "I am sorry about that... really." she said of his arm. It seemed that she was quite remorseful even though she knew at this point she was simply defending herself. She was beginning to wonder if the only way to make her friend listen would be to completely immobilize him. But instead of anything good happening, his praise of her skills would simply lead into an attack with his new weapon, she aimed to stop it with her palm and then another quick Magoi infused strike was aimed near the joint of his shoulder, again it was simply meant to immobilize him, it was as if she intended to pick him apart systematically so long as she was within striking distance of him. "Really, would it be so hard for you to just stop and think about what you're doing here? You're my first friend and you're trying to hurt me right now, and you once promised me you wouldn't." she said to the blonde young man. It was sort of a surreal experience for her, having to fight her friend in such a way for no reason other than he just didn't believe in the same dream as she did anymore.

Meanwhile the chocolate haired lass, was asked a question by the blonde young man who'd dispatched all her friends. And in response to his question she laughed. "Yes, because the Emperor really wants to discuss his plans with me." she said. Though she had some knowledge of what the head of this country was planning she had no desire to explain this to an enemy. "Besides, you're planning to end me too... I got nothing to say to you." the girl mentioned her dark eyes fiercely burning beneath that mop of dark colored hair.

[Bloodedge]

"Yeah... Go ahead, make it sound like I'm the one with empty promises. You're a King's Candidate who's no longer fit to be above anyone." The block of his punch meant nothing to Shaka. An important matter, though, was the following strike to his shoulder joint, which made his arm go limp immediately. This was very strange, and very annoying. "Of course you'd go the passive route. You don't even have what it takes to take out a traitor."

Aiolos' left hand remained on the sheath of his sword. The woman before him was not at all willing to give him the information he sought, but she didn't seem to know, either. "It's not my goal to end you. It's my goal to stop you by whatever means necessary. From your attitude, I'm willing to guess those things are one and the same. That's disappointing."

[Apollymi]

"No longer fit to be above anyone?" she questioned this because it made it sound as if she ever truly thought herself to be above anyone in the first place. Her strike having succeeded she backed away stopping the flow of her own Magoi so as not to waste it and perhaps hear out what her friend had to say about this entire situation. She was starting to think her friend her took a very different view on their previous lives than she did and now she was almost tempted to see exactly what it was he meant by his statements, because unraveling them would be the key to stopping this fight. "Nothing has happened here that can't be forgiven." she said this because she meant it. Yes, he'd led an assault on their home in a misguided attempt to apparently sway her beliefs, but this wasn't something that was horrible in any way, no one had died. And nothing had changed... she saw no reason to try and harm her friend more than he forced her to.

Meanwhile, the girl with the dark hair seemed to be watching this boy. His words about not wanting to do anything to her made her smile, but it wasn't a nice or friendly smile. It was the sort of smile, which an animal created when it was backed into a corner. It was malicious and cynical. "It isn't as if you can hit me with that sword, so there is nothing to stop me from walking out of here anyways." she said there wasn't nearly as much commotion in this house as she expected so she figured their new leader was behind held up. Still, she didn't really have time to worry about this, instead she simply walked towards the boy as if she was going to go past him towards the front, but at the point where they would have touched she simply phased through him a small dagger appearing in her hand after she was finished she'd aim to plunge it through the back of this boy's head as she passed him. Her intention to go check on Shaka and see what was taking him so long.

[Bloodedge]

"You're wrong... You can't be forgiven." If he couldn't move his upper arm to assault Shadiya, Shaka would go for another method. The palm of his right hand opened and warped the space between himself and the girl once more. This time, however, the space was twisted, which created an effect akin to a spiraling strike of Shaka's right hand toward Shadiya's face. Once his attack had been attempted, Shaka aimed to return space to normal, restoring the distance between them.

Aiolia scoffed. Never had he been unable to strike anything with his sword technique, and as far as he was concerned, this would be no different. As such, when the woman moved toward him, he aimed to slash at her neck with great speed and pinpoint accuracy. To his surprise, the blade passed through her without doing any sort of damage, and she went on to phase through him just the same. As she did this, he turned to have her within his gaze again; the end result of this being Aiolia leaping away at a moment's notice due to the sudden dagger coming toward his face. "What the hell? What sort of magic is that?" he questioned aloud as he aimed to lunge his blade through the woman's torso.

[Apollymi]

At Shaka's words Shadiya's eyes widened. She couldn't believe at that this very moment, she was being blamed for this incursion. What came next to her was a manipulation of time and space, which ended with her receiving a twisting punch to the face and sent her flying backwards. She hit a wall but seemed to be fine other than the extreme soreness her body would likely feel because of this later. "Uh-huh... so I've broken our promise because I've changed. Not because I've done anything wrong, or because I gave up on my dream... but because I found another way, which doesn't require me to climb over a mountain of bodies?" she questioned rhetorically as she rubbed her cheek. It had hurt, but she supposed, she'd done worse to him in the last few moments. And with that in mind, she couldn't help but wonder how such hypocrisy had been seeded between the pair of them, how had she not noticed that he'd been stuck on these things while she moved closer to their overall goals.

Meanwhile the brunette girl was rather surprised by her opponent's aptitude. It seemed he was at least able to follow her motions even if he couldn't touch her with them. His question as he backed away from the dagger she'd been about to plunge into the back of his head made her brow raise. "I should be asking you that question, it isn't everyday someone dodges a back stab assassination attempt." she chuckled only to point at the black metal ring she wore on her right hand. "It's the offshoot of a Dark Metal Vessel. Like the ones which belong to those little nobodies who follow King Vessel's around. But... connected to something else. Mine allows me to make my body intangible so I can pass through solid objects. So... you can't touch me." she said with a smile on her face. It seemed this girl had no intention of falling here, or giving up any information and though this boy had jumped away from her first strike, this would only lead her to try again, right up until the moment she'd chose to strike her body would be passing through and around this blonde boy, but after a few passes she tried again, this time aiming the shot with her short blade to his kidney on the left side.

[Bloodedge]

"You just don't get it. You never will," Shaka said while warping the space between them again, this time moving himself closer to Shadiya. Being the taller of the two, he perfectly aimed this movement so he would be just outside of Shadiya's physical reach, while she would be just within his if necessary. "It doesn't matter. I'll sever my ties with you here, and move on with my life." With that said, Shaka raised his left foot and aimed to stomp Shadiya into the floor with it.

The brunette's assertion of his dodge caused Aiolia to chuckle briefly. "You'll no sooner hit me than I'll hit you, I'm afraid," he said. Though, this woman's ability to avoid all forms of physical contact until she chose not to was troublesome indeed. This meant that even if he managed to keep her attention, he would only end up being the one to tire out and lose in the end. Once more, he found himself shifting about as she continued phasing through his body, anticipating the next strike. When it came, he avoided it just as he'd done with its predecessor, but his blade would do nothing for him here. 'This is bad,' he thought. 'She was on her way to Shadiya just then. As long as I can't cut her, I can't do anything. I have faith in Shadiya's abilities as a Dungeon Capturer, but with everything going on... I can't let this sort of distraction make its way to her now. But... how the hell do I stop it?'

[Apollymi]

Shadiya seemed to be having a rough go of this day, the space between the two of them disappeared again, and soon the man known as Shaka was standing just outside of her reach but aiming to harm her once more. She was mortified but ready for more violence, as apparently this was something that her friend could just dish out. "No, it's you who doesn't get it... but somehow I'll make you understand." this as the difference between Shadiya and Shaka, as he was content to let his point fall to the wayside and separate himself from her. She wanted him to understand, to learn, to grow, and to get better as a result of this interaction. It was all she ever wanted, her own thirst for learning was never probably brought to the surface but she loved this in other people. She loved helping people find understanding. She wanted a world where people were free to purse their academic interests and where there was nothing stopping anyone from finding out anything they wanted to know. As his left foot came into her person she didn't stop it, after all, she couldn't reach him until the impact was made. But even so, once he was stomping her, she used her new technique again, this time she would aim hit him with her Magoi forcing a lot of it right into his Achilles Tendon and thus mar his leg, her intention beyond what it had been in her hit before, to maim the muscles there. If she succeeded the tendon would snap, as every one of these hits was layered and intended to cause stacking damage as well as cut off the flow of his Magoi. As she went through this ordeal, a Rukh Bird would fly from her necklace and head for the young man who was presently nowhere in sight.

At the back of the villa the brown haired girl was trying but failing to slash this blonde man before her. "Ugh, just die already, it will be quicker for everyone." the girl mentioned as she continued her assault which kept her just out of the range of danger that physical attacks would cause. But at this time a small Rukh Bird would nestle itself into the guard of the boy's sword right behind a red gem and it would speak to him, as it did. "I'm a familiar spawned from the Djinn Dantalion. If you really believe in her, you can call upon my power and go to her. Call upon me and become a Member of the Household of Space & Time." said the little bird as it waited.

[Bloodedge]

"Shut up," Shaka said as his foot made contact with the purple-haired girl's torso. Immediately after he gained this bit of satisfaction, the enjoyment was taken away from him. Whatever the contact with his leg did, it caused a sharp pain to shoot up to his core, and afterwards, he could no longer command the limb for some reason. He remained standing due to his right leg, but he was now two limbs down in a battle he thought he was sure to dominate with this Dark Metal Vessel. "Bitch. This resolve of yours is pissing me off. Just give up and die!"

In the midst of his dodging, Aiolia was visited by a mystical being the likes of which he'd never seen, though it gave him a feeling of comfort somehow. When the familiar spoke, it was as if he understood its very will. With it in his sword, he knew what he could do to be of use here. 'Household of Space and Time, huh?' he thought. Aiolia then ceased his attempts to look behind him as the woman went about phasing through his body. As he faced her, he followed the given will of the familiar in what was now his Household Vessel. "Household Vessel: Miftah Danti!" As the brunette came his way to phase again, Aiolia slashed at her midsection. Though he was sure she'd be using her magic tool to phase through it again, this time, he had countermeasures against her attempts. His sword was now a weapon with the power to cut whatever he wanted it to, leaving everything else in its path unharmed much like the woman's own ability. His aim was to phase through the magic affecting her body as she moved, and specifically slash through the internal organs of her midriff horizontally. If this worked in accordance with his faith in the Household item, Aiolia hoped he simply would not have to worry about the next attack this woman had in store for him.

[Apollymi]

Shadiya was told to shut up, but it only made her laugh. She completed the action she'd intended and with the man two limbs down she finally began pulling herself up off the floor. There was a large bruise covering her exposed midsection and one across the side of her face as well, but she didn't seem discouraged at all. In fact, there was the light of her resolve burning behind her eyes, and beyond that she simply felt pity for Shaka. Because he lacked understanding something for simple. Because he threw a tantrum like he was a toddler instead of asking her to clarify her motivations, because he didn't understand the friendship they were offered because he didn't want to work for it with his own two hands. "No, I won't give up and just die, I still have something I need to do, but you should. You're hurt, Shaka and if you continue attacking me... I'll have to keep hurting you." she said calmly though there were tears forming in her golden eyes. "And I really don't want to."

Meanwhile the girl with her Dark Metal Vessel was content to try and attack this boy again, not knowing of the magic she now possessed and this time the strike just like the ones she'd been avoiding made contact with her actual torso. The magic she'd cloaked her body in was cut through by this boy somehow. He'd become a Household Member already? He'd given himself to someone like the girl in front... The only thing that registered on the girl's face was shocked as her blade fell out of her hands inches away from this boy's person, she opened her mouth to speak, but blood flowed out and across her tongue instead. She fell to the ground then the light beginning to fade from her eyes.

[Bloodedge]

A deep scowl appeared on Shaka's face. He began going through the motions of removing the gauntlet on his right hand, as it would no longer respond to him due to Shadiya's earlier attack. When it rested in his left hand, he held it before his gaze. "You're right. Even with this Metal Vessel, I can't bring myself to kill you. There's no point in going on like this." Shaka seemed to have given up all hope of annihilating the purple-haired girl in the way he intended to when coming here. However, his resolve to cut his ties to her only grew. "In that case... I consecrate myself..." Without further ado, Shaka stabbed the clawed fingers of the gauntlet into his torso, pushing the gauntlet through to the other side of him in one swift motion. The moment he did this, black Rukh began to accumulate to a point of becoming visible to the normal human eye, and the Household Vessels to this item were attracted toward Shaka's body one by one, also making his flesh their home.

Aiolia sheathed his sword when he came to realize his Household Vessel had done what it needed to do. He wasted no time beginning to move toward the area Shadiya and Shaka inhabited, but he paused the moment he arrived. From his perspective, it looked to be the case that Shaka had killed himself while standing over Shadiya, but he somehow felt that was not the case. "Shadi! What's this?"

[Apollymi]

Shadiya watched her friend resolve himself but she didn't know what to. She would have felt at ease but there was a lingering tension there as Shaka removed the Dark Metal Vessel from his hand. Beyond this he said he consecrated himself, but when he stabbed himself through the torso with it Shadiya was shocked. "NOOO!" she exclaimed as she began to physically see the Black Rukh. This was something she simply didn't understand... and as she watched this happen to her best friend she pulled herself up and stood completely and utterly shocked by what she was seeing. "But why?" she asked seemingly stunned. She'd never seen anything like what was taking place here, and soon enough Aiolia rejoined here which was rather surprising. To his question she could only turn to him with tears streaming down her face. "I really don't know..." she said. This wasn't at all what she expected from today and she didn't really know what to do about what she was seeing. All she knew right now is that she wanted to save her friend, in fact it was all she wanted.

[Bloodedge]

Shaka had no answers for the girl before him. His only thought now was achieving his ultimate goal, which involved the demise of any standing in his way. As the black Rukh took shelter in his body, the young male transformed, quickly amassing a size great enough to destroy the building around him as he grew. A third eye, like that of a Djinn, appeared on his head after this massive black form was gained. Like this, Shaka had a second right arm growing out of his shoulder. This arm seemed to emit the same space-warping magic the Metal Vessel itself utilized.

With all this going on, Aiolia took a side to Shadiya, once again gripping his sword's sheath. Though she seemed to have as little an idea as he had about what was going on here, he was ready to assist in whatever way necessary. "I'm here. What do you need me to do?"

All this ruckus next door woke the sleeping Malik. In his groggy state, he looked out the window to see the black Djinn Shaka had become. This made him hop out of bed and snatch up his sword immediately. "Damnit!" he said. From afar, Fudo was observing the same thing. "Not good, not good. We've made a bit more progress since that initial setback. We'll need to run."

[Apollymi]

As the massive black form appeared before her Shadiya had little to no idea what to do. With the destruction of the buildings around them she had only the instinct to protect everyone involved. "I really don't know, Shaka's in there somewhere, but right now he's a danger to all of us... and if this is an evolution of the power he was showing earlier, it's even more dangerous than it looks." Shadiya mentioned. She wondered if it was even still possible to immoblize him by stopping the flow of its Magoi. As it was collecting Black Rukh steadily she wasn't sure if anything would be able to damage it. "Right now we really need to survive." she said with tears glistening in her eyes. She still intended to help her friend, but she had to figure out how first.

Among all the commotion, Nasira also stirred. Though she'd claimed earlier that she wasn't tired, she'd also taken to resting in her own room after setting up Malik to get some rest as well. As she stumbled out of her own room fully dressed, she came across several blood soaked bodies in addition to the signs of a battle taking place. As she walked past a window her eyes widened just a little. "Oh well, it's going to be one of those days." she said hopping out of it and heading straight towards the danger. Meanwhile Yasmin who was accompanying Fudo seemed to only nod, taking off. "I know." she said in reply to him, taking off without a second of forethought, mostly because she was so worried about all of the people in the house, that she didn't really have time to consider the amount of distress this kind of physical activity was likely to cause her.

[Bloodedge]

The moment he received some form of instruction from Shadiya, Aiolia was ready to do what was necessary. Drawing his sword, he dashed forward and slashed at one of the Dark Djinn's right arms. This effort was for naught, as his sword could not penetrate its skin. So, Aiolia called upon the power of his Household Vessel, bypassing the skin to cut through the arm inside. This was successful, but the Dark Djinn began healing its internal wound immediately. Worse yet, the black Rukh were beginning to spread to Shaka's fallen comrades, beginning their transformation into Black Djinn as well.

As Malik ran toward the location of this enemy, he ended up running alongside Nasira. "Any idea what's going on here?" he asked as they approached the wrecked building where Shadiya, Aiolia and the Dark Djinn Shaka were. Little did he know, he and Nasira were about to be assaulted by a separate Black Djinn that spawned from behind them.

[Apollymi]

It seemed that Shadiya was watching some sort of nightmare unfold before her eyes. Her best friend in the world became a monster and this was something that she couldn't allow to continue, as Aiolia had attempted to cut the things arm, she noted that he was capable of doing so without disrupting it's skin. She wondered what kind of weird sword skills this young man had, but this wasn't the time to question that at all. "This isn't good at all, not at all..." she said bringing her hands together she charged them with Magoi she had an idea but she wasn't sure if it would work or not. Still, she had no choice other than to try. So she did, using the same skills she'd been their entire fight, she attacked the Black Djinn Shaka had become aiming a myriad of strikes towards the parts of it's body she could reach they numbered 16 and were meant to cut off the ability to create or use Magoi as they spread about. Such a set of strikes was nearly exhausting to the small girl, but she didn't have a choice. 'I will pull him out of this...' she thought as she tried with all her might to strike the center of his being.

Meanwhile Nasira found herself running beside Malik, she looked to the boy at her side and shook her head from left to right. "No idea, I brought you in and took a nap myself, I woke up to dead people outside of my bedroom door and thought I'd missed something." she said with a nod. Still she didn't like this, it would be very bad for all of them if something like this was to attract and undo amount of attention to them right now. As such she'd help in any way she could, once she got to the place the actual fighting was happening.

[Bloodedge]

No matter how many of Shadiya and Aiolia's attacks connected with the Black Djinn, it seemed completely unfazed. Its sole focus for the time being was raising the others like it. The first to rise was the one from outside Nasira's door, and with a mighty swing, it brought its arm down upon her and Malik. As they were running, its attack was destined to fall short of striking them, but the impact with the ground behind the two caused a large shock wave to occur. Malik was blown forward and left to tumble before turning around to see the culprit. "More than one. Great," he said while drawing his sword. "Astaroth!" At his command, his sword became a black blade adorned with gold and silver. When the Djinn attacked once more, his blade was there to meet the fist; as was a mass of fire stemming from the weapon. With it, he split the creature's fist into two halves between its middle and ring knuckles. "These things are like Djinn. Wonder what made them."

[Apollymi]

Shadiya and Aiolia were left to deal with the main one who didn't seem to be taking any of the attacks they were dishing out. It seemed tireless but she had some hope so she didn't stop, she couldn't give up here. Meanwhile, Nasira felt the shock wave but she seemed perfectly capable of responding to it. Her movements which would have normally caused her to tumble instead made her roll into a flip where she turned around to find a very large black Djinn waiting for the pair of them. "That came from by my bedroom..." she said as she bounced on her toes, her household vessel burning with a small eight sided star as she bounced in right after. "Interesting, I've always wanted to fight a Djinn." she said figuring the boy with her would be more than capable of dispatching this if he needed to, she attacked it with a flaming kick concentrated enough that it could potentially blow a hole out the back of the beast from it's chest.

[Bloodedge]

As the two humans beneath it continued their assault, the primary black Djinn that housed Shaka's body looked down upon them. The others had been created successfully around the villa, and now he could focus his attention on Shadiya. The secondary right hand which held the power of the Metal Vessel performed a swiping motion in the air between the Djinn and Shadiya, but this time, its aim was to remove her from space, instead of erasing space itself.

In the meantime, a smirk was crossing Malik's face. Nasira had managed to place a hole in the body of this black Djinn, and she'd done so via a method he could appreciate. "You've got fire? Blimey, it's like destiny. Got anything else you wanna show me?" Even with all that went on, his personality remained intact. As the black Djinn worked toward healing the hole in its chest, Malik pointed the tip of his sword at the hole, and created a blast of fire to widen the opening instead.

[Apollymi]

It seemed that nothing Shadiya and Aiolia tried made much of a dent in the body of the Djinn that had become Shaka. Beyond this point it seemed that now that it's new offshoots were risen they were back to being the main focus. Even so, Shadiya couldn't have imagined what would happen next. This Djinn swiped at her but instead of harming her in anyway when this happened she simply disappeared from the world she was part of, gone in the blink of an eye. Such a thing lead to her floating around an unknown space wondering how this had actually gone so wrong. 'I know I am not wrong here, but how... how do I fix this when I am not even there...' she wondered to herself as she floated in some distant space.

Meanwhile, Nasira was left with an apparently astounded and ever flirtatious Malik. His words made her look at him after she landed as if she was confused by what he was getting at exactly. "You know... I am starting to think you're incapable of communication without being such a flirt." she said only to laugh afterwards, after all a battle like this was right up the dark haired girl's alley and the more the odds stacked against her, the more she wanted to press forward. "Come on then... obviously you got more than that right?" she asked cheekily wondering if she'd get this young man to show off a bit and help them out in the process.

[Bloodedge]

Aiolia's assault continued until the moment he noticed the attack on Shadiya. He didn't know what had become of her, but she somehow vanished where she stood. The sight of this made the blonde boy's eyes widen. "No way..." There was hardly time to rationalize what he'd seen, as Aiolia was immediately required to avoid attacks against himself.

Malik's flames had succeeded in staggering the regeneration process of the black Djinn he and Nasira were up against. Since they had accomplished this, they had a bit less to worry about for the moment. "You didn't say no," he replied with a cheeky grin. When asked if he had more to offer in this battle, said grin only grew wider. "Of course I do. Wanna see it, don't ya'?"

[Apollymi]

Shadiya was gone, but she was not out, she didn't seem to know how to give up, and instead of trying to, she did the one thing she's been putting off for the entirety of this fight. The heart shaped locket around her neck began to glow and when it did, she called out to her Djinn, asking to borrow her power. "Dantalion!" she invoked a Djinn Equip closer to complete than any other she'd managed in the past, in so doing, she gained horns and a bit of light armor in addition to the eight sided stars on the back of her hand. And now with her Djinns ability in place, she began trying for a way to get out, and she saw it across the dimension like a small beam of light connecting her own power back to the place she'd come from. 'Huh, I wonder why I can see it...' she thought only to receive an answer from Dantalion herself. "It's one of my familiars." and just like that, Shadiya knew she could go back. A smile on her face as she reached out into space and began separating it. And within a few moments she would burst back into her own dimension still half equipped and ready to continue working.

Meanwhile Nasira seemed to be having a fairly good time. Though it was soon pointed out that she hadn't turned down the advances of the pink haired young man. This made her chuckle, "I suppose I didn't. But I can't say yes either." she said, for whatever reason, the girl wasn't entirely interested, in anyone. Whatever the case, she was interested in seeing what this young man had to offer as far as battle prowess was concerned. "But that, that is definitely something I would like to see." she said her entire posture utterly relaxed.

[Bloodedge]

Aiolia continued to move about, being able to do nothing about this dark Djinn's attacks. Well... there was one thing he thought to do, but he doubted it was for the best. If Shadiya was gone, though, perhaps it wouldn't matter. Aiolia's consideration of this was halted when the purple-haired girl returned to this dimension. Another evasion preceded a pause in which he addressed her return, as well as her changes. "You're back! With... horns..."

As his sword was lowered, Malik accepted the words of Nasira with a hint of disappointment. "Yeesh. Way to kill the buzz," he said. But, if there was one thing he could and would do, it was showing off his abilities. "Spirit of Terror and Meditation, thou who gives power to kings, bring forth the great hellfire that judges the earth!" A wild inferno engulfed Malik. When it subsided, Malik stood with long hair resembling snakes, a heavy necklace, scales along his forearms and back, and a black tattoo on his abdomen. He had even gained a goatee during this change. A serpentine dragon of white flames was in an arch around his back. When he pointed his sword at the black Djinn, the dragon rushed through the hole in the creature, then looped around and punctured another hole in its body while returning. "Flashy enough for you?"

[Apollymi]

Shadiya returned and offered a smile to her new friend. It seemed there was a bit more to their friendship than she'd initially planned. And now that she was standing again she addressed what he had to say. "Yeah, I think this is about half my Djinn Equip, more than I've managed before though." she said lightly a blush appearing on her face. "You lead me back, thank you." she said a she began drawing a magical transportation circle, she had no idea what she intended to move yet, but she figured their opponent was still something to be reckoned with.

The laugh that came from Nasira following his statement was a tiny bit apologetic. "Well, I didn't mean to kill the mood... but blunt is kind of my specialty." she mentioned as if it made sense to her. But what came next, was pretty impressive even given the other thing's she'd seen. Her brow rose in appreciation and a whistle ensued. "That's um, very flashy." she said not really knowing what to do with the various differences between these Djinn Equips. "And very scaly... very different... pretty cool." she said her face breaking into a wide grin. "And powerful forgot that one." she said giving the man the thumbs up as he rather easily dispatched a black djinn.

[Bloodedge]

"I led you? How exactly did I do that?" he asked. Afterwards, he was immediately pressured into leaping out of another attack's path. "Anyway, I may have a way to make this work. This sword of mine... I can decide what it cuts through. It's the only way I've been able to deal any sort of damage. If you put your faith in me... I may be able to sever the ties between your friend and this beast... maybe."

With two holes yet to be healed in the black Djinn he faced, Malik was without a hint of worry. Well, except for the usual, anyway. "Blunt to the point of pride-shattering," he said. As his sword rose again, a magic circle appeared behind him, and both he and the circle began to float into the air. There were six other black Djinn in this area, but it seemed one of them was the target of someone else. Still, he intended to clear out the one he faced, as well as five others in one move. "Extreme Magic: Astor Inqerad!" From the magic circle, a much larger dragon of white flames emerged, and carved its path through the six Djinn he intended to annihilate. Everything in this dragon's path was incinerated on impact, and though it seemed the black Djinn had the power to regenerate through even this, the flames did not stop burning. In fact, until he willed them to stop, these fires would bun for all eternity.

[Apollymi]

The boy dodged another of the attacks from the Dark Djinn after asking how he'd managed to assist. She was moving herself before she was able to reply. "You believed in me..." she said pointing to his sword. "The familiar you gained from Dantalion was a link between me and you... so I was able to tear back into this dimension from another one. I think... I might have been stuck there without it." she said. And when this boy said he thought himself capable of doing something about the giant djinn she simply nodded. "I have faith in you, tell me what you need." she said standing at the ready, Shadiya would assist him in anyway she could in an attempt to rescue her friend.

Meanwhile Nasira sighed thinking that this young man's worries were not nearly as focused as they should have been. "Really? Pride-shattering? It isn't that bad... I've known you all of a day, surely you didn't expect for me to just fall all over you?" she questioned while watching him work, with a bit of magic she'd never expected to see. Malik seemed to handle the threat without much of a problem and with it came another clap. "Well, I didn't get as much out of that as I would have liked." said the girl, seeming to pout that she didn't get to fight a bit more. "Either way, you're amazing." she mentioned with much approval.

[Bloodedge]

"So that's what that was," said Aiolia as he inspected his own sword more closely. There had been mention from the familiar about the Household of Space and Time, but he hardly had time to think very hard about it. Either way, Shadiya asked him what he needed of her, and in response, the young man shook his head. "Faith. Nothing more. I'll do what I can to help you." Without further ado, Aiolia locked eyes with the black Djinn. As it swung its third arm at him, he made use of his rapid movements once again, closing in on its torso. In a series of four slashes, he slashed at what his memory of Shaka's form told him would be his limbs. In doing so, he aimed to sever the physical connection between Shaka and the black Djinn. "There's something you can do for you, though. Right here!" His left hand patted the Djinn right where Shaka's core would be, indicating the place he meant for Shadiya to aim at. "Felt like a clean cut. Your friend is there!"

Malik's Extreme Magic continued to perform its duties successfully, and the man himself descended back to ground level. When he did, he looked toward Nasira. "Expect? No, but a guy can have hopes. More importantly, if you wanted to fight, you shouldn't have provoked me to use Djinn Equip. I've been working with this power for a long time."

[Apollymi]

"Yes." said Shadiya confirming what exactly had been done between the pair of them. Apparently he hadn't known such a connection had been made between them, making him a member of her Household, but that was fine for now, as he was willing to help her out right just now. Still, all he asked for was her faith and she could give that to him, he'd already proven himself. "Of course you have that." and with that Shadiya watched this young man work. While this happened she prepared another transfer circle. Upon seeing the area he cut she placed one just over the chest of the beast, intending to remove from it her friend. "Shaka, Come back to me old friend." she said reaching in she'd grab for the young man known as Shaka and aim to pull him out and with her back to the world they inhabited together, her only intention to bring him back and help him with whatever problem he was presently having.

"Hopes, huh?" she asked still amused by this entire thing. She couldn't help but wonder what went on in the minds of men, but this one seemed to wear his thoughts right on his sleeve. Beyond this she wasn't really all that upset about not getting more out of this fight. "Well, I am not that upset, and I did want to see your Djinn Equip and you showed me something I've never seen before. What's with that crazy magic? These things are interesting to those of us who don't have them." she said only to add a bit more. "Plus it gives me something to look forward to seeing what with Fudo and Yasmin." she said a cheeky little smile appearing on her face.

[Bloodedge]

Shaka emerged from the body of the Djinn with dazed eyes and a heavy mind. As he looked at Shadiya, tears streamed down his face, yet there was a smile on his face as well. "Shadi..." he said in a weary tone. "You can finally use it..."

"I show a lot of people a lot of things they've never seen before," Malik said while waving his free hand about nonchalantly. Before going on to answer Nasira's question, he looked toward the remaining black Djinn to ensured that it was not too much of a hazard. Indeed, it was no longer moving, but still very much there. "Extreme Magic. It's the most powerful kind of attack that can be used after mastering Djinn Equip."

[Apollymi]

It would be Shadiya holding her friend so recently emerged from the Dark Djinn with a smile on her face and tears in her eyes. "Yeah... I think it's only about half way right now, but I'll keep working on it." the girl said. She was so happy to have her friend back at this moment she seemed to relax. "But that's fine we can talk about it later. Are you okay now?" she asked of her friend, those golden eyes of hers shining bright and this was all she wanted to accomplish and she'd manage to with he help of her new friend. At this point her eyes turned to Aiolia and she offered her him her gratitude. "Thank you... so much."

Meanwhile it seemed the ruckus was dying down and this was fine with Nasira. And even as it died down it appeared that the ego of the pink haired young man had returned in the form of another cheeky comment. Still she didn't want to crush him twice. "I'll bet." she said to that moving right along he went on to explain to her about Extreme Magic. "Extreme Magic, huh? Sounds like fun, it will be interesting to see what that's like later..." she mumbled to herself. "Speaking of, I'm surprised Fudo and Yasmin weren't spotted from the window." she said thinking about this was rather odd. She wondered if the pair were still in training but that didn't make much sense.

[Bloodedge]

"Good. Keep growing with the others. I'm the one who can't progress," said Shaka. The majority of his body, particularly his extremities were blackened by the transformation, and this darkness seemed to be spreading along the rest of his body as the black Djinn faded away. In spite of this creeping shadow, he reached out to touch the side of the purple-haired girl's face. "Do me one favor, Shadi. Don't go on to be the Queen I or anyone else wanted you to be. Become the Queen you want to be."

In the meantime, Malik sealed away his Djinn Equip and sheathed his sword. "Uzma took them, didn't she? If that's the case, I know exactly why they're not here. There's a chance they've been working on taking about five steps for the last hour, depending on whether Uzma told them about what her training was or not."

[Apollymi]

Shadiya was still crying and she didn't know why. Actually she knew exactly why, because she looked down at Shaka's extremities and knew that he was dying. But somehow her mind hadn't rightly accepted that, even as the young blonde man gave his farewell speech. "Don't... why are you talking to me like you're leaving? I didn't do all this for you to leave me." the girl said as a single tear feel from those big golden eyes of hers. His hand reaching up to her face gave her comfort, beyond this she seemed to just be getting sadder. "I already decided to do that... so I have no problem doing it for you." she said to the young man. He had been her only friend for so long she couldn't imagine him leaving her. "Please, don't leave me, you said we'd do this together... you can't die now." she said those final words and they broke the small girl, she couldn't stop her tears from falling nor could she try to remain calm.

Meanwhile Nasira, found herself chuckling. "Yes, Uzma took them." she said wondering what she could have done to them to make their steps take so much more time. "What did she do to them?" she asked but as she did this she began looking into the distance to see if she could spot them, afterall, she'd been knocked from the Colosseum to the garden of the house, there wasn't that much distance between them now. Little did she know, that Yasmin and likely Fudo as well, had been running full speed towards the house since this problem had began. And soon enough a pink haired girl would be spotted headed in their direction.

[Bloodedge]

"Don't be stupid. There's no stopping it now," Shaka replied. The hand that had been against Shadiya's cheek moved to the back of her head as he continued. "And you still don't get it. Oh well... Have fun with your new boy toy," he continued. With that said, he pulled with the hand he had behind Shadiya's head, pressing his lips against hers with the last of his energy. In doing so, he subconsciously transferred his Magoi into the girl before falling back. In a few moments, his life force was no more, and his entire body became like stone.

When Nasira asked what Uzma had done to the others, Malik looked around to ensure that no one else was nearby at the time. When he confirmed this, he grasped one of the wristbands he wore, and pulled it aside. Doing so revealed Uzma's Spirit Cuffs on his wrists, but only for a moment to preserve the secrecy he wanted for whatever reason. "I guess I'll let you in on it. Just you." Returning his band to its proper place, Malik put a finger to his lip. "Round the clock Magoi workout, but don't tell." Soon afterwards, Yasmin would be seen running up in the distance, and Fudo could be seen right beside her. "Looks like we missed the action. We've been running... for nothing..."

[Apollymi]

The words Shaka said initially were exactly what she'd expected. She didn't want to accept this initially but she figured if he was sure as well, then she had to. "Shaka..." she said still crying. When he went on to say she still didn't get it confusion spread across her face mixed in with her sadness and tears. This would only be further complicated by the dying young man kissing the girl's lips and passing her the rest of his energy. But she had no idea about that it was very odd to her this, and caused a confusion in the girl's feelings the likes of which she'd never experienced before. Shaka was after all her best, first and previously only friend in the entire world, and watching him turn to stone after doing something so touching shocked her violently.

Meanwhile Nasira was shown a secret and given an answer to the question she'd previously asked. "Oh, I see. Well your secret is safe with me." Nasira said, she found that she said this sentence a lot in her life, and began to wonder if either, everyone liked her, or everyone simply thought her trust worthy. Either way, the joining of this pairing by Yasmin and Fudo. The pink haired girl, she seemed to be running faster than she'd ever done, but came to a stop once she realized that they didn't have to go any further. Yasmin looked to Fudo and shook her head from left to right. "I wouldn't say for nothing, this counts as the workout right? The extra we were going to attempt?" she said in the same kind of light-hearted manner that she'd been speaking in the entire time. Of course now that they were here and everything had been settled the pink haired girl looked to Nasira and Malik. "Both of you look better, any one got any idea what happened?" she asked now curious but before she could even properly relax and get an answer to her question she heard something disturbing... a scream which came from somewhere deep inside from the front of the destroyed building where Shadiya was. This sound which was blood curdling coming from Shadiya as she cried for her fallen friend. And it was a sound with which Yasmin was quite familiar... it made her eyes widen as she looked off into the distance, and she felt sad without having to know the details of what happened.

[Bloodedge]

Following Shaka's passing, Aiolia stepped closer to Shadiya. He crouched to her level, placing a hand upon her shoulder while looking toward the now-stone man. "Are you going to be alright?" he asked, though he was quite certain what the answer was.

"Trying to skip out, huh? No chance," Fudo said regarding the workout they had agreed upon earlier. He still very much intended to continue with the original plan, but now that they had done all this running, he figured it could perhaps wait a bit longer than intended. When Yasmin spoke, Malik was the first to respond. "No clue what happened. I woke up to buildings breaking, and there were seven black Djinn-like creatures in our neighborhood. We took care of six. Pretty sure Shadiya over there took down the other one."

[Apollymi]

Shadiya cried for Shaka, but soon enough there was someone at her side, already. Her new friend Aiolia crouched with her and asked if she'd be alright. She looked at him with tears still in her eyes and wiped them away, reaching over her hand she placed it atop his on her shoulder. "To be honest..." she kept wiping away tears that kept falling. "He was my only friend for a long time..." she said looking at her friend. She was sad, but she knew she couldn't dwell on it too long, after all, this sort of dwelling is what lead to people not being able to move forward, and it wasn't something she intended to do. "But he wouldn't want me to completely stop for him... right now, I'm just sad... but eventually, I'll be better." she said to Aiolia. "Thank you..."

"I wasn't trying to skip out... I am totally still ready for a workout after running for what felt like several miles." said the pink haired girl rolling her eyes at Fudo. Still that scream combined with what she was hearing from Malik gave her a decent picture of what had occurred here. Not the full details but at least who Shadiya was crying over. "Uh-huh, we missed everything... and you guys took out six black Djinn-like creatures while we were trying to get here." Yasmin said in summation. It would be Nasira who spoke next mostly just because of the details. "Yeah, I don't know what they were either. But I never know anything important... seems like something was wrong. There were people killed in front of my bedroom... which means they got pretty far into the house." she said wondering how this had happened but not really understanding. "Perhaps we should ask Shadiya, she seemed to be the one taking care of stuff when we woke up." she said with a nod. Which only caused Yasmin to shrug. "Give her a minute..." she said of the purple haired girl. Yasmin didn't know for certain but she was pretty sure she'd just lost someone important to her, and it seemed a tad disrespectful just to show up and start questioning things.

[Bloodedge]

Aiolia's gaze was nothing shy of sympathetic. Reaching into his pocket, the young man retrieved a white handkerchief with green lining, which he then offered to Shadiya. "I can't say I understand, but I do have an idea of what you may be going through now. I'm here if you need to talk."

"Black Djinn? That sounds strange," said Fudo. It was his understanding that Djinn were blue in color, and the idea that there were black ones attacking innocents, but he couldn't argue with what he'd seen on the horizon. Whatever the case, it seemed they would be giving Shadiya a bit of space for the time being, and when Yasmin spoke of this, Fudo felt as if he knew why she said so.

[Apollymi]

Shadiya looked up to find sympathy in the eyes of the golden haired boy, and it was comforting, even though they'd only met just a few hours prior. She accepted the handkerchief offered to her to begin drying the tears on her face. She knew she probably looked like she'd seen hell, what with a bruise on her face and across her always showing midriff. She also felt like she'd been hit really hard, but more so that that she felt emotionally drained, which she also thought was likely normal, not that she was that used to this. Though just a while prior to this she'd lost her brother, she was a lot less attached to him than she had been her friend. Either way she took a few moments to get herself together and when she was finished she took a breath. Surprisingly enough her other friends had yet to join them and she was kind of curious as to why. Even so, she finally stood up again looking to Aiolia. "Thank you, for helping me and hearing me out just now. I really appreciate it." she said those golden eyes of hers just a little red around the edges. With this done she moved Shaka's arms so they were over his chest and walked over him, she figured she still needed to explain what happened to her friends and figure out what to do with the young man's corpse. "I think, I'll have to explain what happened to everyone else now... will you come with me?" she asked. It was an odd favor to need but she wasn't sure if she'd be able to fully explain what happened without breaking up in the middle of it, and felt like this young man would offer her moral support.

"It was, strange. I fought it though, it seems to be damageable by magic, though they are capable of regenerating to some extent." explained Nasira who'd obviously been fighting against the thing though not just for her own amusement, though she would have. The smug look on the black haired girl's face, made Yasmin smile a little as she thought the girl was a bit funny.

[Bloodedge]

When Shadiya accepted his offering, Aiolia provided a warm and gentle smile. His next action was a shake of his head, which came in response to the girl's thanks. "There's no need to thank me. I'm at your service, and of course I'll accompany you." With that said, Aiolia reached out to take Shadiya's hand, intending to walk with her to where the others were.

A few mornings later, Aiolia awoke on a couch in the house claimed by Shadiya. He was just outside of her sleeping quarters, and had passed out on this couch the previous night after stopping by to check the purple-haired girl's condition. With a yawn, he rose and stretched, looking through a window which showed a view of the villa. It seemed none of the others were out and about yet, or at least not as far as he could see.

[Apollymi]

A few mornings after the appearance of the Dark Djinn and the death of Shadiya's Household Member Shaka, the villa being shared by the group of Dungeon Capturers and their Household was in the early stages of the morning. And while Aiolia was waking and looking out the window there was at least one other person awake in this place. Surprisingly enough the other person awake at this hour was actually, Yasmin who never slept for very long in the first place. She'd gone out and done a bit of shopping for breakfast this morning and was carrying a large basket back to the villa from the market. Upon entering she passed Shadiya's room which was also a library and in the process saw the already woken Aiolia and smiled at the young blonde man. "Good Morning, Aiolia... want an apple?" she asked reaching into the basket and offering the boy some breakfast.

[Bloodedge]

As Aiolia went about situating himself, he was approached by the pink-haired girl known as Yasmin. "Oh... Good morning, Yasmin," he said before another yawn escaped him. Whatever she had in the basket she carried, he didn't think to ask. But, he was soon inform anyway due to Yasmin's offering of an apple. It just so happened to be the case that Aiolia was a rather big fan of fruit. Reaching out, he accepted the apple with a smile. "Sure! Thank you."

[Apollymi]

"No problem." said the girl who stood with the basket she carried balanced atop her head. Though she was presently under training, it seemed she was less strained than the very first day she had her Spirit Cuffs on. In fact, she'd been able to go back to pretty much the normal amount of moving she'd been doing before within such a short time period made her rather happy. She'd take a moment and have a bit with their new friend and question the rest of the inhabitants of the house. "No one else is up yet, huh?" she asked as she had a bite of a green apple she'd taken from the basket which was now sitting beside the couch. She was using hushed tones, if only to allow everyone to get the amount of rest they wanted for the day.

[Bloodedge]

"Not that I can see. Don't quote me on that, though; I only just woke up myself," Aiolia said as he rubbed the apple against his shirt. Afterwards, he took the first bite and relaxed into a seated position on the couch. "I've always been a bit of an early bird, though, taking care of my sisters and all. I'm actually surprised to see anyone else awake."

[Apollymi]

"That's fine, they can sleep." said Yasmin as she had a large bite of her own apple, she also relaxed into the couch apparently very pleased. In hearing that this young man had been prior to this taking care of his sisters she couldn't help but smile and nod. "Ah, that explains it then... what a nice brother you must be." she said offering he boy a smile. After a bite she went on to continue her conversation a bit. "I don't sleep very much myself. So, I am awake a bit more than everyone else." Yasmin said a sideways glance at the boy. He was interesting, and Yasmin was happy that Shadiya still had a friend to help her out. "If you find yourself awake early and need to chat with someone... I'm usually around." Yasmin mentioned, but she was hearing the stirring of Shadiya in the other room.

More specifically the books falling from the desk she fell asleep at more often than her bed. A few more stumbles and random noises and the girl's door would open and she'd pop out of it. That purple hair of hers all over the place and sleep still staining those big golden eyes of hers. Yasmin extended a hand to the girl and offered her an apple as well. "We didn't wake you did we Shadi?" she asked of the girl who shook her head no and wiped at her eyes. Her feet shuffled forward to accept breakfast and managed a few words. "No, I kinda... fell out of my chair." the girl said having a bit. "Sorry..." she said to no one in particular she seemed to be not much of a morning person. "Good Morning, Yasmin and Aiolia."

[Bloodedge]

"Well, I try to be," he said regarding the relationship he had with his siblings. As he took another bite of his apple, his eyes darted toward the door to Shadiya's room. The noise coming from within was an attention grabber for sure, but the girl soon emerged from the room, seemingly unscathed bar the night's weariness. "Feeling alright, Shadi?"

[Apollymi]

In hearing the response of Aiolia, Yasmin gave him a more direct look and a bright smile. "Well, trying is all anyone can do." she said with encouragement laced in her voice. Even so, they were soon enough joined by Shadiya who claimed she'd simply fallen out of her chair. This caused the girl to chuckle. "Good Morning, Shadi. If you fell asleep in your bed though, you wouldn't fall out and wake yourself up." mentioned the pink haired girl. Shadiya just waved the girl off and began her breakfast. "I'm fine, thank you. Just...a little groggy." she mentioned to Aiolia who always seemed to be interested in her well-being. "And if you're interested... I was reading something good... and I fell asleep before I got to the end." she mentioned staring to come out of the haze which was caused by her sleep and becoming more like herself as she addressed the pink haired girl who had so lovingly brought them breakfast. "And thanks for breakfast..." she said at the end which just caused the pink haired girl to scoff. "No need to thank me for that... I feel wrong not doing stuff. Anyway.... I am going to make sure everyone else gets some too." she said with a smile on her face. It seemed that Shadiya found it easiest to bounce back when she dove headfirst into reading or physical activity. So, she'd been doing exactly that for days. But Yasmin accepted this because it was obviously it was one way to deal with potential stress. Thinking about the happiness of her group she also placed the basket over her head with a single arm and smiled, leaning over she said but one thing in passing to Aiolia before preparing to leave. "Also, you could have your own room, you know?" she questioned rhetorically.

[Bloodedge]

Aiolia continued to eat his apple in silence as Shadiya explained where and why she'd passed out. When she was done explaining, he finished chewing the bite that was in his mouth, and spoke. "Sounds like a good read. Would you mind me having a look when you're done?" With his query posed, he returned to his apple. Yasmin's departure came with the mention to Aiolia that he could have his own bedroom, but when told this, he shook his head. "I'm fine here. I told Shadi I would stay nearby, and this is about as near as it gets."

[Apollymi]

A chuckle came from Yasmin as she walked away from the pair now awake and sharing breakfast on the couch. "Yeah, I figured you'd say something like that, I'll be around and likely in the kitchen if anyone needs me." she mentioned as she disappeared down the hall. Even so, Shadiya managed only a small noise which seemed happy in response to what the pink haired girl had to say, and also she wanted to answer Aiolia but needed to finish chewing after she did, she seemed to be a bit livelier and continued to nod excited about finding a potential companion for her love of reading. "Sure, it's really interesting... well, if you like the mythology about Djinn." she said a small blush appearing on her face. She didn't much like to talk about things that she liked because she had been previously accused of being odd because of how interested she was in things considered to be unladylike.

She then really thought about what Yasmin said and seemed to catch up finally with why the girl would have mentioned such a thing. "Oh, Yasmin is right, you can have your own room... even with you wanting to be close by." she said standing motioning for Aiolia to follow. while holding the apple close to her face she turned and opened the door to her room walking past a couple of bookshelves. Once she was in the space, she opened a small door which connected her bedroom to a closet and then to another large bedroom. She grinned, she'd forgotten about this one, mostly because even Shaka hadn't taken it when she'd first come here. "This one is connected to mine and has a door to the outside... and you can stop by and borrow the books whenever you like." she mentioned carrying on with her breakfast. "It's a tiny bit odd though, it doesn't have another direct door to the house, from the inside, like it was meant to be hidden, so you'd have to share my door, but since you're sleeping outside if it now anyways it wouldn't make much of a difference, right?"

[Bloodedge]

"Djinn mythology? Now, that does sound interesting. I don't know the first thing about it, but that's just more reason to have a look," Aiolia said before taking one of the last few bites from his apple. Shadiya went on to speak about a room he could make use of without distancing himself. He got up to follow the girl, at which point he was taken through her bedroom/library to the place it was located. He didn't seem to have any issues with this venue; in fact, he grinned while looking around the room. "Even better. It actually reminds me a bit of my room back home. That is, of course, assuming you don't mind me walking through our room every time I plan to go outside."

[Apollymi]

"Oh? Well, I've got books on the basics of it, if you'd like to work your way into the more dense material or... you could hop right in on what I was reading, it isn't too complicated. And the stories are kind of... enchanting." she mentioned books seemed to be the girl's true passion. But that was a topic for more discussion later. When it came to the spare bedroom she couldn't help but chuckle just a little. "Oh, I don't mind that... usually my door is always open anyways, I wouldn't want to deny anyone access to the library..." she said a small smile forming on her face, because in all honesty this wasn't even something she'd consider. "If you want it, it's all yours." she said still being very free with things she would have once considered hers, but she liked it this way. If Aiolia chose to take this room, he wouldn't have to sleep on the couch and have more comfort while he stayed close to Shadiya which was in general all she wanted anyways.

[Bloodedge]

"I'll start small. Books with more detail tend to leave out the little things, and those are sometimes the most interesting." As he spoke, Aiolia walked around the room and had a bit of an in-depth look at what would be his new quarters. "I think I will stay here. Maybe it'll give me easy access to stop you falling off a desk again," he jested.

[Apollymi]

"Okay then, I'll give you a few of the smaller ones to start with." chimed the purple haired girl, who seemed to have fully woken up now. She also had a bit of energy from her fruit breakfast so she seemed to be pretty much her normal self. It also seemed that Aiolia would take to his new bedroom which pleased her to no end. It would seem though that his joke about helping her out should she fall again would be taken as such. "I'd appreciate that... books are kinda mean sometimes~" the girl mentioned laughing just a little. Now that all was settled she happily walked back into her own room, and began picking through bookshelves to find things to help the young man with her begin his djinn research.

[Bloodedge]

"Well then... I'll have to remember to stay attentive," said Aiolia. Shadiya returned to her own room to search for books, and in the meantime, Aiolia tossed around what remained of his apple. At the end of his journey around the room, he seated himself on the bed and took the final bite of the apple he'd been toying with for the past minute or so.

Meanwhile, in the same building, Malik was walking around with an apple he'd received from Yasmin as well. Of course, this was actually his fourth for the morning, but Malik was a lad with a very large appetite. Following his morning stretches, the pink-haired male pushed open the front door to this house, intending to step outside and get a bit of fresh air before the day's training sessions began.

[Apollymi]

A few minutes of searching later, and Shadiya came back to Aiolia's bedroom door, with a couple of volumes in hand. Seeing him enjoy the rest of his breakfast she sat the books beside him on the bed and smiled. "Those are good starting ones, the one on top being my personal favorite.~" she mentioned with a smile. "I'll be just over there for a bit, if you need me." she stated heading back to her own bedroom.

Meanwhile as Malik was opening the door, a blue haired girl would be seen approaching the house. She was prepubescent and quite small but her hair was up in pigtails and hanging down to her waist. She was wearing a small kimono bound at her waist and she was moving towards the house only to take a step forward and trip over her own feet. Doing this caused small tears to well up on her eyes.

[Bloodedge]

"I'll start with that one then," Aiolia replied, speaking about the top book which he would proceed to pick up and open. "Thank you."

Just when Malik opened the door, he was greeted by the sight of a stumbling blue-haired lass. The girl was too far away at the time for him to catch her, but he was quick to spring to her location with an offered hand afterwards. "Jamila, are you sure your shoes fit? I saw that; there was nothing for you to trip over."

[Apollymi]

Shadiya smiled to see this boy so interested in books. "You're welcome~" she said. She moved right along. But outside an interesting and apparently common occurrence was taking place.

A blue haired girl, apparently known as Jamila was being offered a hand up by Malik and the extension of his hand was met by her rather large brown eyes. They seemed to sparkle and her heart beat just a little bit faster as she accepted the hand up and pulled herself up and began dusting herself off. "Thank you, Malik." she said sheepishly. To the question posed to her by the pink haired young man she only pouted seeming to become upset. "Yes, my shoes fit. I just tripped it's not a big deal." she said her facing turning red, mostly from embarrassment. "It's normal." she said seeming to forget why she was approaching this place initially.

[Bloodedge]

"Normal for you, maybe," Malik said as he assisted the girl in getting back onto her feet. He quickly inspected her for injuries, checking knees, the front and either side of her face, etc. Everything seemed to be in order. "Well, you look alright this time, so no tears, yeah? Anyway, what's up?" he asked while offering the lass what remained of his fourth and final apple.

[Apollymi]

"No, it isn't just me..." she said still pouting. Though she wasn't sure she could properly explain that beings like her were just a bit clumsy while they were growing into themselves. She stood still for the usual inspection and it seemed that Malik found she'd managed not to injure herself in her most recent fall, so she looked up at the young man as he spoke to her and nodded her head. "I wasn't going to cry." she protested, knowing full well if she'd been alone that would have been exactly what happened, but she accepted the remaining bit of apple she'd been offered with wide eyes and took a bite of it. Regardless of this point they were brought to the point of her actual visit which she remembered and motioned Malik down for so that no one else could hear. If he acquiesced to her wishes she would soon begin explaining. "Jellal, asked me to come here. He says I have a mission to find the person he's training. And he says... I should know who that is when I find them. He hasn't told me much about it, he says... I should be able to tell on my own. So... I'm here to meet the people in the house... I haven't seen any of them yet except you." said the girl. This as apparently some sort of training exercise for the small girl. "Oh and you can't help me. It will spoil it." she said with a curt nod.

[Bloodedge]

Malik acquiesced to the girl's desires and crouched to her level when she beckoned him forward. The information she gave him sounded about as mysterious as Jellal always was, at least around him. Jamila said he was not allowed to help her, but with what he was told, he wouldn't be able to do so even if he tried. "That's a really weird thing to be sent out for, but I guess I get it. Just... make sure you don't fall over when you're looking. I don't want to be the guy walking around the villa and catching you with a bloody face."

[Apollymi]

"I am always careful... it really is normal. Eventually I'll be the best at moving around, and I'll never fall again. You'll see." the girl said burning with her intention. Of course, this was soon diverted to her eating an apple and heading towards the house. "I'm going in for now to find the person I am looking for." she said as she headed into the house. With this she entered and began to wander the halls, wandering about she'd peek into every open door she found to see if there was someone there, and if there was, she'd speak to them to see if she could find the person she was looking for. Each step she took while she was doing this was exceedingly careful as she didn't want to fall too hard and make anyone worry about her.

[Bloodedge]

After leaving Malik outside, the next person Jamila encountered would not be the person she sought. In fact, the next person to be found in the same space as the blue-haired girl was the prince of Sindria, Fudo. He ate not an apple like everyone else, but bread instead. He was in his bedroom with the door open, left that way from Yasmin's trip around the building, when Jamila passed by. The young man locked eyes with the girl as she moved through the building, and spoke when he did. "Good morning. I believe I saw you in passing yesterday, right?"

[Apollymi]

The blue haired girl found herself standing before the young male eating alone in his room. This was a bit surprising, as he choose to speak to her and she was initially lost for a greeting. "Umm..." she stared for just a few seconds because up close this man was quite beautiful. His eyes and his hair, everything about him physically was intriguing and made the small girl's heart beat faster. Her face then became blushed as she managed to look away diverting herself to looking elsewhere. "Yes... that was me." she said giving a small bow the girl would remember at least to introduce herself. "My name is Jamila. It's nice to meet you." she managed. And though she did feel strangely around this man, she was fairly certain he wasn't who she was looking for.

[Bloodedge]

"Ah. I thought so," Fudo replied. A plate was on the table near the window in which he sat, and this plate was where he placed his bread before stepping away from the window. Approaching the blue-haired girl, he returned her bow with the due respect of a guest in another's household. "The pleasure is all mine, Jamila. My name is Fudo Shakir," he said. Once introductions were out of the way, he righted his posture. "I'm guessing you're with the Yambala Gladiators, then?"

[Apollymi]

"Um... no." the girl said to the question of her being part of the Yambala Gladiators. She went on to clarify, knowing that it would be strange for a young girl they didn't know to be walking around inside their dwelling. "My brother is, Jellal. He gave me a special mission to complete this morning and I have to do it all alone. With no help." the twelve year old explained. As she had already figured out that this man wasn't the person she was looking for, she really didn't want him accidentally helping her out. "So... I came to meet all of you." she said bowing again unconsciously. "Sorry for the intrusion."

[Bloodedge]

"No?" he asked. It was strange to know of someone occupying the same space as the elusive Yambala Gladiators without being directly associated with the group. Jamila went on to explain, though, that she was connected to one gladiator in particular, via sibling relationship. "Ah, I see. You two do look alike, now that I think about it." Thinking back to the man with the tattoo across his face, Fudo mentally placed these two side-by-side in his mind. In doing so, he also ran figures for what this girl's age might be. "There's no intrusion. I enjoy sudden company, and you seem to be good company to have."

[Apollymi]

The girl simply nodded her two pigtails waving from side to side as it was acknowledged that she looked a bit like her elder brother. "Yeah, we do look a bit alike, he's way older than me though. My parents thought it a good idea for me to stay with him for a while." she said with a nod. Beyond this point it was stated by Fudo that he enjoyed random company so she wasn't intruding. This seemed to make the young girl relax a great deal. "Really?" the girl asked as she sheepishly played with her hands in front of her having already finished the half apple she'd been given a few moments prior to this meeting. Still, she had work to do and couldn't tarry for very long, so she'd ready herself to leave. "Aww, now I am sad you aren't the person I'm looking for..." the girl concluded. She was rather sure this man wasn't the person she was looking for and with this knowledge she shouldn't continue to tarry here, even if he enjoyed her company.

While this took place Yasmin was standing in the kitchen having another apple to herself, when a dark haired girl dressed in black and white with gold accents walked in from her room. "Uh, good morning, Yasmin." she managed as she rubbed sleep from her eyes and glided around kitchen obstacles like she'd lived in this place her entire life, not just the past three days. "I take it, I'm the last one up again?" she asked as she opened her eyes from a particularly long blink to find the pink haired girl holding out an apple for her. "Good Morning, Nasira. And yes, you are.. but that is fine. Rest is good for you... breakfast?" she asked as she waited for the girl to take the apple, which she did with a smile offered to the other girl. "Thank you. I take it then you've been awake since long before the rest of us, I can assume everyone else as eaten too... one day... I'm going to wake up before you and do the shopping." she mentioned groggily taking a bite of her apple.

[Bloodedge]

"Yes, really. I very much enjoy meeting new people from different backgrounds. Stumbling upon people like you is what makes traveling all worth it in the end." According to what Jamila had been saying, her 'mission' of whatever caliber involved finding someone, likely within the group of individuals Fudo called his friends. This was a bit strange, but he couldn't rightly question it considering how unorthodox things tended to be around them even on the most normal of days. "Ah, you're looking for someone specific, and it's not me? What a shame. I enjoy being involved in things."

[Apollymi]

The girl's big eyes seemed glued to Fudo as he explained why he liked meeting new people. After a few seconds she supposed that she understood this reasoning and while a bit different from anything she had ever heard before, she figured it was at least a respectable reason to have. "I understand, I think." she mentioned looking a tad perplexed, but seemed to breeze right by it. It seemed that Fudo questioned her mission a bit at least understanding that it wasn't him and commented about that as well, which made the girl explain since she'd already determined this young man wasn't it. "Yes, Jellal told me to find his training partner. But he wouldn't tell me anything about this person, he simply said I'd know them when I saw them and to let them know he was ready when they were." she said with a nod. "He said it was something only I could do... so here I am, but I'm certain it isn't you... but I'm sure you're involved in lots of things." mentioned the girl. "Anyways, I should get going..." mentioned the girl, who turned but in so doing slammed directly into the door frame knocking herself down again. It would be very unclear how she even managed to do such a thing, this level of clumsiness wasn't that common after all, except in certain people. Tears welling up in her eyes, she rubbed her face and wondered how many had heard the loud noise caused by her random moment of clumsiness again.


Meanwhile Yasmin and Nasira were chatting and eating together in the kitchen the latter of which having a seat on an unoccupied counter-top eating away at her apple with a piece of bread by her side. "Yeah, yeah..." was the ending to whatever sentence Nasira had been speaking before hearing a noise. "You hear that?" she asked Yasmin who nodded before both of them rose to go investigate the origin of the noise. Soon enough both would find themselves outside of Fudo's room where the small blue haired girl had ran into the door way.

[Bloodedge]

"Ah, I see," said Fudo in response to the girl's explanations. If this Jellal had sent her to find his training partner with such instructions, there had to be some connection to the type of fighters they both were. Chances were, this lass would be able to locate Nasira due to being the same as them, too. Fudo thought of offering assistance, but recalled Jamila saying she was required to do this alone. With her announcement of being on her way, Fudo turned from the girl and waved, intending to return to his window space. However, a thud behind him made the young man turn around instantly, at which point he saw the fallen girl and moved to her location. "What happened? Are you alright?"

[Apollymi]

Soon enough Jamila was joined by Fudo who was inquiring as to what had happened and asking if she was okay. She was still rubbing her face and sitting on the floor, tears in the corner of her eyes but she managed to answer him, her face flushed red with her own embarrassment. "Yes, I'm fine... I just ran into the door frame." she said in the same way she'd explained everything else. "It happens, it's normal... don't worry." she said. Of course, many people wouldn't find this level of clumsiness to be normal at all, but it was rather normal for her at this point. Even so, she sat there looking a bit sheepish thereafter.

Meanwhile, Yasmin and Nasira made their way up the hallway and to the doorway of Fudo's room to find the small girl with her blue hair and red face and Fudo. "What happ..." the pink haired girl started to question before having a look around and coming to a bit of a conclusion. Yasmin was in front this time and as such she knelt down to the girl's level to have a look at her. "Oh? You fell then..." she had a look at the girl's face and nothing looking to be out of place. The blue haired girl nodded but she hadn't met this one yet so she introduced herself beginning to work herself back into the standing position. "I'm Jamila it's nice to meet you. Sorry for the intrusion." she said concisely. Which made Yasmin smile. "I'm Yasmin Matar, it's nice to meet you... want an apple." she offered the girl a piece of fruit which she accepted. Still the prepubescent girl looked the pink haired young woman over and scoffed internally crossing her arms over her chest without thinking about it, in reaction to the appearance of the rather buxom young woman. As such it would appear she had taken an immediate dislike to Yasmin, though it wasn't intentional at all. 'She can't be his training partner, I won't allow it.' she thought with all the impetuousness of a child. Yasmin would see this change in stance and backed away a bit giving the small girl space. It would be Nasira took look over at the girl her brows drawing together but the girl was too busy facing Yasmin to see her immediately. Still, looking at this girl gave Nasira a weird sensation... like she was similar for some reason.

[Bloodedge]

Jamila's explanation of what happened to her while he had his back turned was, in a way, very familiar to him. As such, he sat there looking at the girl with curiosity in his eyes while thinking the matter over. It was during this time that Yasmin joined the girl's side as well, though Jamila didn't seem too fond of that after a moment. It wasn't until he noticed that Nasira had entered the room as well, that he realized why Jamila's fall felt normal to him. Nasira had once been the same way. Perhaps there was some connection between this and the other similarities between them.

[Apollymi]

Yasmin moved further into the room, going towards the window Fudo himself often occupied while looking at the young man with a bit of a smirk on her face. She wasn't sure what was going on here, but she was sure she'd find out in a few moments. Either way the girl watched Yasmin move further into the room and stood thereafter. "Sorry again." she said before turning and without focus aimed to walk out again this time tripping over he own feet the apple she'd so recently gotten flying into the air as it happened. Of course, when it happened this time Nasira stepped forward catching the small girl and her snack without any problem. This was very much surprising to the girl as she fully expected to find her brother here, as he was the only one to ever do such a thing, but... instead there was a small dark haired girl. "Oh, a bit clumsy... it's fine, I was that way when I was younger. You'll probably grow out of it." she mentioned. Looking at the girl that feeling still there.

"Oh!" the girl said looking at her. "You're the person I'm looking for aren't you?" she asked of Nasira who seemed a bit confused. "Maybe... I didn't know you were looking for anyone I'm Nasira. Are you by chance a Genshi Ryu?" she asked which made the blue haired girl nod her head. "And you're one too, yes? You seem really familiar. So it has to be you, you're Jellal's training partner." she asked which brought confusion to Nasira's face as she sat the girl back down and handed her the apple she'd lost. But in looking at her, she supposed she looked a bit like Jellal.

[Bloodedge]

Since Jamila and her tripping had been addressed, and it seemed she would be moving right along, Fudo also began moving toward the window. In doing so, he was in the company of Yasmin. "This 'Genshi Ryu' thing is becoming interesting. This is the third time in my life I'm hearing mention of it regarding Nasira. I'm becoming a bit jealous of these special traits everyone seems to have."

[Apollymi]

Yasmin couldn't help but agree. These traits everyone had begun showing since they'd arrived were starting to be worth being jealous over. Even so, she didn't think Fudo had any reason to be jealous. She nodded her agreement while watching the goings on between Nasira and this new child Jamila. "Yeah it does seem interesting. I am a bit shocked we seem so normal by comparison... I'm a little jealous too." she said. "Well I mean the only skill I seem to have is making prepubescent girls dislike me on sight." she said mostly in jest, because she was pretty sure she understood the reason for this happening to her.

Beyond this, Jamila was now excited because she'd found the person she was looking for and she'd done it all on her own. "Yes. Jellal is my brother, he told me to tell you, that he was ready for your training session when you were, he's at what he calls your usual training spot." she mentioned which made Nasira smile. "Oh, he was testing your ability to find someone like you, that you didn't know then huh? Nice... thank you for delivering the message." said the black haired girl as she turned extending her hand to the blue haired girl who seemed to be about the same height. "Would you like to come along, I'm going to see him now..." she asked of the girl who took her hand with her left and kept the apple in her right and began out the door. "Yes please." she went along happily. "I'll be back after morning training is over. See you guys later." she mentioned to Yasmin and Fudo as she headed out. The small blue haired girl would also turn and smile at the pair of them. "It was nice meeting you both as well, Fudo and Yasmin." she bowed to both of them but her eyes narrowed toward the pink haired girl which caused a bit of a chuckle from her as she waved at both of them as they left.

[Bloodedge]

A light chuckle from Fudo followed Yasmin's mention of sparking distaste in younger girls. He understood exactly why this was the case, but also knew such was a normal part of development. "I think that's a skill that can be appreciated by most... Well, not by young girls, but... you know. Besides, that is far from the only trait you possess. I'm sure you'll be discovering more abilities while we're here," he said. If there was one thing Fudo was, it was an observer. He'd seen Malik run along to the same master as Shadiya, and knowing that the old man had only taken one more apprentice for the sake of passing his skills into the next generation, Fudo narrowed the reason down to a special trait possessed by the pink-haired male. If such a thing were familial, which these things tended to be, he was sure Yasmin would show the same, if not similar abilities. "Just trust me when I say, you're anything but normal."

[Apollymi]

Hearing what Fudo had to say on their initial subject matter of speaking caused the pink haired girl to laugh as well. Obviously, young girls had very stark reasons for not being able to fathom her figure, and she noticed the younger girls were in comparison, the more they seemed to dislike her. She wondered if other women had the same problem. Still, as the topic of conversation shifted to actual skills she was a bit surprised by what was mentioned by Fudo as far as her developments of actual useful skills would be concerned. "Obviously, I trust you completely and when you say it like you have such absolute faith in it... it feels like you're right." she mentioned with a smile on her face. Even if there was nothing particularly special about her she'd still try her hardest which is all anyone could actually ask for. Beyond that Fudo was surprisingly good at bringing such feelings of worthiness out of people. It was quite the skill all on its own. "Though, you being able to say just that seems to be a special thing about you... ever observing and quiet but encouraging." she mentioned of Fudo, who seemed to have the special skill related in how he dealt with people. "Anyway, morning exercises? Or did you have something else in mind today?" she asked of the young man extending her hand content to spend the morning with him as the rest of the household seemed to already be running about for the day.

[Bloodedge]

"It's not like I have a strong reason to have faith in the idea, or anything," Fudo clarified. "However, I've yet to be given a reason not to have absolute faith in your ability." As much as he had faith in everyone around him, Fudo felt as if he could believe in Yasmin more than anyone else. He had no idea why this was the case, but it was certainly so. "I suppose exercise is best done before running to the baths. Let's have a go."

[Apollymi]

"I also retain absolute faith in your abilities... though I was never entirely sure of the reason." said Yasmin, still, she found his faith in her interesting and couldn't help but have similar faith in him as well. This was rather odd, given the relatively short amount of time they'd known each other, even so it seemed they were heading up for exercise before bath time. "Alright... we'll do a battle then have baths and see if anyone else wants to come." she said and with that she'd head off to whatever grounds the pair of them used to practice.

Sometime later... Nasira would be seen engaged in combat with the male Genshi Ryu known as Jellal. His younger sister, watching the entire fight between them with wide eyes. She'd never seen such a thing before, and over the course of this morning's training had come to retain a great deal of respect for Nasira. Beyond this the black haired girl was still her entire body relaxed as she waited for whatever was to come next. She'd obviously taken quite the beating, but this simply seemed to be the case whenever she was matched up against Jellal.

[Bloodedge]

Jellal stood opposite of Nasira with a lackadaisical battle stance. Though Nasira awaited his next maneuver, the thing he chose to do was relax completely, exhaling a deep breath as he abandoned the fight entirely. "That'll be enough. Your rate of improvement is exactly what I expected it to be; no need to get too in-depth before you've awoken. Go relax for now. Jamila, you should go too. You'd have fun with these people."

[Apollymi]

Nasira looked at the blue haired man as he claimed she was making good progress for where she was at and that she needed to relax. She seemed to give up then her hands resting on her hips as she heard out the rest of what he had to say. "I still don't really get what you mean when you say that, but fine. Yasmin and Fudo should be done with their fight by now. Catch you later." commented Nasira as she turned on her heels to leave only to hear this young man tell his younger sister that she'd enjoy hanging out with them. His explanation to his younger sister that she would enjoy hanging out with the group currently being trained by the Yambala Gladiators made her look at him oddly. "Are you sure?" she questioned this because she'd not really known too many people outside of her family. Though she had no problems with the people she'd met, she didn't want to impose.

[Bloodedge]

"Positive," was Jellal's reply to the young, blue-haired girl. Without speaking so much as another word, he turned away from the pair of lasses, and began walking toward the Colosseum. In the meantime, Malik was approaching Nasira from the opposite direction, carrying a message from the others. "Yo! Done training? Everybody's headed back to the bathhouse; you in?"

[Apollymi]

Nasira turned her head towards the approaching Malik and nodded her head. "Apparently I am. Also we've got a plus one." she said tilting her head in the direction of the small girl at her side. "Malik!~ You're done training too?" she questioned stepping forward, to end up beside Nasira but nearly tripping in so doing and ending up being caught by the black haired girl. "Whoa, slow steps." she mentioned which made the girl nod. "We're apparently headed to the bathhouse, do you want to come, Jamila?" she asked the small girl who looked up at her and nodded swiftly twice. "Alright then, let's go." mentioned the black haired girl. She then looked to Malik and smirked finding the girl's apparent knowledge of the young man to be a telling thing.

[Bloodedge]

"Eh? Plus one?" For a moment, Malik had no clue who Nasira could be referencing as their apparent plus one, but the gesture in Jamila's direction cleared things up immediately. "Oh, you're hanging with us now? Cool. And yeah, I had a different routine today. Shadiya and I had a one-on-one this time around." As the girls began to move, Malik saw the impending fall of Jamila. Luckily, Nasira was around to catch her this time, but Malik rubbed his palm against his forehead nonetheless. "Again? I thought you were gonna be more careful." Moving right along, Malik began walking toward the bathhouse as well, keeping pace with Nasira and Jamila. "So, Bakura's still MIA, and Fudo's been on the girl's side every time," he said while cutting his eyes toward Nasira with the usual sly grin painting his visage. "Is it too much to ask for some company?"

[Apollymi]

Nasira found Malik's reaction to the clumsiness of the small girl amusing but chided him just the same, as the girl seemed to blush and not really know what to say aside from the things she'd been saying all along. "Leave her be, it's normal for her. I was the same way when I was smaller, she'll grow out of it eventually." she mentioned of the girl who nodded her approval. "Yeah, what she said." she commented. It seemed Jamila was quite attached to Nasira as a person, given their similarities. As the two older people talked and they all walked Jamila just trudged along seemingly without knowing what they were even getting at. Still, it would be Nasira who cut her eyes in the pink haired young man's direction. "I suppose Bakura isn't back yet... I am still surprised Yasmin isn't more worried." she said of the white haired boy who was also part of their group. More directly to the bit about company she had something more pressing to say. "Are Shadi and Aiolia coming, if they are you are bound to have company. He probably doesn't get to hang out with guys very much." she said with a grin coming to her face. "Or you know, you could just test your luck in joining us." she added after a few seconds of silence.

[Bloodedge]

"Normal or not, it's dangerous, and it bugs the hell outta me," he replied. "I'm not sure why Jellal isn't just as bothered, but... I dunno, I worry too much about dumb stuff I guess." As they continued toward the bathhouse, the missing Bakura was brought into the conversation at hand. He did wonder where the white-haired lad had run off to, but if Yasmin wasn't worried about her long-time friend, he figured she had an idea what he was up to. The idea that he could have been captured by Sorio again still plagued Malik's mind, though. "Aiolia? Oh, right... that guy that's been attached to Shadiya by the hip for the last few days. Fine, I guess I'll get to know the guy. I dunno what Fudo did to get in there, but I get the feeling I won't have the same feedback."

[Apollymi]

"But it isn't dangerous. I am a lot more sturdy than you think I am. Jellal knows this so he's fine with it... plus he knows I'll grow out of it." mentioned the blue haired girl. Which got a nod from Nasira. "She's right, we're built a bit different a few falls isn't going to make much of a difference to her physically. Plus, if she's hanging out with us, I'll be around to catch her, so it really isn't a big deal at all." mentioned Nasira which caused the blue haired girl to beam up at her. She'd attached herself to Nasira like the girl was her big sister, likely because of the similarities they possessed and the way she carried herself even without being an "awoken" Genshi Ryu. Still, it seemed that Malik didn't understand how exactly Fudo seemed to be in the good graces of all the girls. "Aiolia, would probably be happy for the male company given where he's from." she said figuring like everyone else, Aiolia would enjoy getting to know them all, but about Fudo there was something else to say. "Well Fudo is just Fudo... " she mentioned of her long time friend. Of course, she still had no problem with their shared baths, and beyond that none of the other girls ever seemed to have a problem with it past the shock of their initial interaction as such.

[Bloodedge]

"I've got no idea what this 'we' thing is, but whatever floats your boat. Guess I'll catch up with you guys later then," Malik said. During this conversation, they had reached the bathhouse. Malik wasted little time before entering and seeing to his pre-bath needs. When he went on to discard his clothes, he noticed there was already a set nearby. It seemed some, if not all of the others, had already arrived.

[Apollymi]

"Well, that's our secret I guess..." she said offering a wink to the small girl at her side, who nodded her agreement. As they had reached their destination it appeared that Malik was leaving them for some time. Jamila at least had some understanding of bathhouses and knew she wouldn't be able to see Malik for a while even so she waved at him as he left. "See you later, Malik." she said, seemingly attached to the young man a small blush on her face. If, Nasira noticed this she said nothing about it, simply offered a wave to the young man as they parted ways for this bathing ritual.

Within the girl's side of this bathhouse, Nasira would see several sets of clothes already and surprisingly enough Jamila was already on board with the bathing ritual and soon enough the girl was put together in a set of towels naked underneath and ready to join the bathing situation on the whole. Nasira also soon found herself with one large towel wrapped around her whole body as was her standard. Soon enough they'd walk into the big room, and find, one pink haired girl submerged neck deep in the water. One purple haired girl half in and half out of the water seeming to be relaxed and wrapped in dual towels. And one deeply tanned naked girl was right behind the purple haired girl rubbing her back and speaking to her. "Aww, Shadi you worked really hard didn't you, you're all stressed." she mentioned looking up to find Jamila and Nasira she seemed happy and surprised. "Oh look, Nasira is here and she brought someone new. Hi!" mentioned the Magi who apparently only really showed up for trips to the bath. This would cause Nasira to smile as she introduced the girl to the ones who didn't know her. "This is Jamila, she's Jellal's little sister, and she'll be hanging out with us for a while." she said. The girl bowed her head and nodded. "Nice to meet you all." she said as she approached the water with Nasira following behind her just to make sure she'd make it there in one piece, and surprisingly enough she did. "Aww, she's adorable, it's nice to meet you." the tanned magi with the brown hair soon approached the girl, finding her adorable.Once at the steaming pools edge she sat down and put her feet in first trying to figure out how deeply she wanted to go in. With her new friend set up Nasira also settled in the pool to the left of the child making sure she had the space to feel independent but also knowing she could reach her if she needed to. She'd wait until she was sure everyone was around before she introduced anyone.

[Bloodedge]

Malik continued until he reached the men's bath, at which point he was greeted with the sight of Aiolia, who sat at the water's edge in solitude. "Yo! Not weirded out by being in here by yourself?" he asked. Aiolia looked toward the pink-haired male with a quizzical expression. These two had shared a few words in previous days, but nothing that could be called a proper conversation. Noticing that Malik was the only person entering this side, and knowing Fudo would not be showing up here, he figured now would be the time said conversation occurred. "It doesn't bother me. I'm used to being alone during certain times of the day. Back in Artemyra, I'm usually off doing things for my sisters while they relax."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the bathhouse, Fudo completed his preparations. Shortly after the entrance of Nasira and Jamila, he, as per usual, entered the room with soaked hair being twisted into relative dryness as he walked clad only in the towel around his waist. "Really? Does no one else do this before entering the bath? You don't know what you're missing out on," he said. At this point, Fudo was walking with closed eyes, and as such, he hadn't even noticed the arrival of the two whose presence was lacking when the others came to the building.

[Apollymi]

"Fudo you still don't understand girl problems. If we did that before we got in here, we'd then have to do something with our hair. The length of the bath would increase drastically because of the rest of us can't wash and go." said Yasmin who spoke with her eyes closed and her head leaned back against the edge. She didn't even have to look at the young man to know what he was referencing. Beyond this, the newest person to come in, Jamila seemed to be a bit shocked by the fact that Fudo was in this bath. Even though she had heard Nasira and Malik discussing this, she hadn't thought it would play out exactly this way. Shadiya joined in next but not in the way that Yasmin would have hoped. "Well, actually, I could do something about any problems you have with your hair if you wanted to go at it like Fudo does." she mentioned with a smile. It would be Shula who approached the small blushing girl as she stared at the close eyed Fudo. "You've met him already right? His hair is the softest you should totally ask to touch it." the girl mentioned before floating right out of the water and aiming to do exactly that. "Yas, is right, we could wet our hair but it wouldn't be this nice and fluffly and that would be disappointing." she mentioned while running fingers though his still damp locks.

"Oh, Shula that didn't take very long." mentioned Nasira who found this as amusing as she always did. "Whatever, everyone knows they want to touch his hair, don't look at me like I'm the one wrong about this. Someone else has to get in on this once he's in the water." the Magi complained. It was very odd for someone who was supposed to be so very important to be so transfixed by something as small as the feeling of Fudo's hair. Jamila was still just a bit stunned but now she was curious about Fudo's hair.

[Bloodedge]

"I don't see the problem with that. If you can't just wash and go, then deal with your hair before the latter. Easy," he claimed. Before Fudo even opened his eyes, he could feel movement in his hair, not of his own doing. His gaze fell upon Shula soon after, and it was of no surprise to him that she'd gotten up to do this. Still, he laughed with the young Magi in such close proximity to his person. "Hello to you, too, Shula. Oh, and what's this?" he asked as his eyes wandered the area, eventually landing on Jamila. "Are you one of us now, too?"

[Apollymi]

"Always with the answers... what would we do without you?" Yasmin said in jest, though she still hadn't opened her eyes or bothered moving as she knew someone else would soon be in the water, and it would be time to have her fun as well. Even so, Shula's random accosting of Fudo's hair did not go unnoticed by the young man. His words brought a smile to the young Magi's face as she stuck her tongue out at Nasira and had the other girl return the favor. "Hi Fudo~" mentioned the girl as she played in his hair and floated along beside him. Beyond this Fudo noticed their newest friend sitting in the water among them. Jamila's face was still burning red, but she seemed to nod her agreement. "Yes, I suppose so. Sorry for the intrusion." she said her eyes darting to the left, it would be Nasira who clarified. "According to Jellal, she'd have fun with us, so he said she should spend a bit of time hanging out with us... this simply happened to be the first group activity of the day." she said. Knowing that none of their group would have a problem with the young girl enjoying their company. "Also you literally can't intrude on a public bath, welcome to the group." said Yasmin who finally lifted her head up with her eyes open to have a look at the young girl who was a bit stunned by how relaxed everyone was at this point. She'd also relax a bit and settle in to the murmurs of this group.

[Bloodedge]

"Nonsense," was Fudo's reply to the blue-haired girl's apology. "Intrusion implies an unwanted presence. I'm sure everyone here will be much better for the added company you'll bring." As Fudo spoke, he continued moving until he could submerge himself in the water. While doing so, he looked toward the floating Magi who seemed to retain some strange fixation with his hair. "Having fun, are we?" he asked with a laugh.

[Apollymi]

Jamila seemed to be set at ease when Fudo spoke to her of the positive effects of her company. All the rest of the girls seemed to agree, with Shadiya moving closer towards Jamila and Nasira to begin conversing with the pair of them. "I'm Shadiya Harron, it's nice to meet you." she managed to the girl as she hung herself over the edge on this side as well, apparently getting comfortable. "Nice to meet you." the blue haired girl managed. As this trio settled into conversation it seemed that Fudo was now rather easily sandwiched between Yasmin and Shula. The latter of which floated into the water on the side of him she was touching, the former of whom simply ended up on his right side by virtue of where she was sitting. When the brown haired girl was asked if she was having fun she nodded happily. "Of course I am, your hair is really soft it's fun to pet. Still not boobs though..." she said before cutting her eyes to Yasmin. "But I already had a go at Yasmin so here I am." she said seemingly fine with the fact that she'd just admitted to molesting another girl just a few moments prior. "You sound almost proud of yourself, Shula." said Yasmin who'd unconsciously began running her fingers through Fudo's hair on the other side, as she knew Shula would eventually demand someone join her in her activity.

[Bloodedge]

Fudo, being stuck between the two women he'd most recently been addressed by, found himself inspecting his own torso when Shula spoke of his lack of breasts. "Well, I am a man, so I think I'll do without. A bit of muscle will have to suffice," he said. Moving along to the admittance that Shula had so recently fondled Yasmin, the teal-haired male felt compelled to comment. "I think she is proud. On the other hand, Yasmin, you don't sound too bothered by it."

[Apollymi]

Shula seemed to hear what the young man had to say on his lack of a chest by the standards she used to measure them. Of course, she fully understood that he was a man and thus should probably have muscle mass but this didn't change the fact that it was simply a lot less soft. "But but, soft is fun..." she said pouting. When it was mentioned that she seemed proud Shula was ready to exclaim that she was, but Fudo beat her to it so she just nodded. "Yep, of course I am." she seemed content with her activities for the day and that just made Yasmin smile. Of course, when it was mentioned that the pink haired girl didn't seem to have much of a problem with her apparent molesting she simply shrugged and was still playing in Fudo's hair while she explained her stance.. "I am not... look how happy she is... she pets you like a small animal, she nearly smothered Makarov to death on sight, she molests me on occasion. It's simply who she is, and she's a good deal of fun... so why would I be bothered. Seems like it's just Shula showing her love and appreciation for all the different sorts of people she comes across. And that is nothing to be bothered about." the pink haired girl mentioned. She found it amusing that in a world where violence and sadness existed on such a massive scale, a happy, touchy-feely person like Shula still managed to exist. She wouldn't change that about the young Magi, and aside from that it was a far better reaction than the kind of hatred she received from prepubescent girls.

[Bloodedge]

"Oh, I agree. Quite right," was Fudo's reply. With that said, and the apparent agreement to leave Shula to her random moments of imposing physically, Fudo allowed himself to relax within he water, leaning his head against the floor at the pool's edge. As per usual, the temperature in the bathhouse was perfect."Everyone is entitled to their enjoyment, after all."

[Apollymi]

"Indeed." Yasmin said, she somehow knew this young man would agree with the logic behind allowing the young Magi to continue on her random spree of spreading happiness via random physical contact. And Shula seemed to be really excited about the whole thing. "Aww, Yasmin is so nice." she said bounding around the young man to hug the young woman. And in finally leaving Fudo's hair alone, she seemed to be content to move right along to the next group and chat with them. All along spreading merriment in her wake as pretty soon thereafter, Nasira, Shadiya and Jamila would all be seen laughing or giggling in the girls' company. The temperature of the water was great, and all seemed to be having a very good time. "Shula's enjoyment seems to be spreading laughter to others, look." she said pointing to the girl who was at that very moment, practically latched onto Shadiya's back making grand gestures and apparently telling a story which was getting the people she was entertaining to laugh as well. All the while Yasmin was still playing in Fudo's hair with her fingers, an apparently unconscious effort which continued even after Shula had abandoned the pair of them to play with the other girls in the water.

[Bloodedge]

"Hm?" the man muttered. He had relaxed enough to close his eyes prior to Shula's entertainment of the others in the bath. When Yasmin addressed the Magi, his left eye opened and looked toward the latter and the other lasses. "Mm. Indeed. It's very refreshing, being able to relax and see people having fun like this. Even our new friend seems to be enjoying herself."

[Apollymi]

As the two dungeon capturers watched the goings on of the other young ladies, Yasmin had to agree, it was quite refreshing to see such fun being had. The small girl, Jamila was now seen splashing and making merry with Shula who seemed to enjoy the fun of having someone around who had just the same amount childishness in them that she did. "Yes, she does seem to be having a bit of fun. It's good for Shula to have some people around to play with." she mentioned of the girl. It would be then that she'd see Shula pounce upon the purple haired Shadiya tickling her and making her break into laughter which Jamila was also in on much to the dismay of the other Dungeon Capturer. "Though we can hope little Jamila doesn't just hop in on all the activities Shula seems to enjoy." she mentioned with a chuckle. Not seeming to realized she'd already picked up one of that young Magi's habits in playing with Fudo's hair.

[Bloodedge]

"... I think, given what we already know, we can make the assumption that there's one habit of Shula's she won't be adopting. Though, we also have to keep an eye out for you," he said, shifting his eyes around until he could see locks of hair that draped over his forehead. "You may pick up the habit instead, at this rate."

[Apollymi]

The laugh that escaped Yasmin when Fudo mentioned a particular habit that the girl known as Jamila was least likely to pick up was nothing short of fully and deeply amused. After she managed to pull herself together it seemed that Fudo thought that she needed an eye kept on her instead, which caused a bit of confusion. "Why on earth would you think I'd pick up such a habit?" she asked genuinely curious. Apparently the pink haired girl, didn't seem to realize she'd been playing in Fudo's hair since Shula had joined them in the water, and that she'd continued on to do it even now she was turning teal locks around in her finger tips as if it was the most normal usage of her hands in the world.

[Bloodedge]

"Oh, I don't know," he joked. "Probably for the same reason you picked up the last one... in case you didn't notice." Since it had become apparent that Yasmin didn't realize she'd developed this habit, when Fudo spoke, he pointed to the hand of Yasmin which remained occupied with his hair.

[Apollymi]

Yasmin seemed to be following the joke until of course he the gesture to her hand was made while he spoke her eyes went wide and she seemed utterly surprised. Her entire face flushed to an embarrassing red tint and the movements of her hands completely stopped. "Shit." the curse slipped out of the pink haired girl's mouth followed immediately by her covering her mouth as she realized what she'd said. "Oops." her hands moved to cover her mouth, in a single moment of being more flustered than she'd ever been shown to be before this moment. This was a rather hilarious moment unfolding. Which was attracting the attention of even the girls who'd been chatting and playing across the pool. Nasira would chuckle, nudging Shadiya. "Did Yasmin just curse?" she asked in jest. "Yeah, I wonder why though..." said Shadiya with wide eyes. This would be followed by Shula hanging over both of their shoulders. "Aww, she looks terribly embarrassed though, her face is so red." she whispered only for the trio to burst into laughter thereafter.

[Bloodedge]

Fudo began to snicker the moment Yasmin blurted out a bit of profanity, and did not stop doing so for quite some time. This was such an unexpected turn of events, he simply couldn't help himself. "What's the matter? You look like a tomato," he commented as the laughter continued. It seemed the others were also beginning to take note of this... as did one other, unseen individual. "She curses when she doesn't have time to think before she talks."

[Apollymi]

"Nothing is wrong... I just didn't know what to say." said the girl adamantly while trying to recover. Still the red flush of her face, wouldn't fade. She had some knowledge in the fact that she likely looked like a tomato given the heat of the bath and the amount of embarrassment she presently felt. Even so, she hadn't expected to let the curse slip out of her face after it was pointed out that she'd adopted one of Shula's odd habits. It was simply a lot for the twenty year old to cope with. Still the laughter of her friends was more calming than ridiculing so she was soon able to relax herself though she turned to rest her chin and still red face on the side of the bath and away from everyone else in a manner most pouty. It was a very new side to Yasmin's personality originally unseen by the group and thus they were taking note of it.

Meanwhile on the other side of the pool an answer to the question posed by Shadiya was received though not from any voice she recognized. Of course, just having an answer given made a simple reaction happen. "Oh, well, I suppose that makes sense." she said, Nasira too, seemed to think the answer was worthy of the explanation. "Yeah, she always seems to have it together, so it's just kind of fun...." she stopped talking and looked a bit stunned. "Wait, who said that?" she asked turning from her position and beginning to look for the sound of the voice she recognized as belonging to Bakura but confused as to why she could hear it if she couldn't see him.

[Bloodedge]

"Well, that much is apparent." Fudo returned to his relaxed position against the waterside. Yasmin's sudden pouty nature did not go unnoticed, but her doing this did little more than make him chuckle further. "Haha! There's hardly a need to be upset about it. I think it's rather cute, actually," he said. In the meantime, Nasira would be left continuing to wonder where the voice of Bakura came from. A laugh would follow the girl's inquiry, but it seemed to echo lightly from all sides, as if his voice had been thrown.

[Apollymi]

As Fudo seemed to be having a chuckle at her expense, Yasmin seemed to finally get the coloration of her face back under control. Since the teal haired young man had settled back into his relaxed position while explaining that he found her cute in this moment of fluster. "I'm not upset, it's just a bit embarrassing... " she said, still having a lightly pink tint to her face, she wondered why on earth anyone would find this kind of moment cute, but she thought the better of questioning it.. Even so, a small smile appeared on her face as she turned and crossed her arms under her chest (as the size of her bosom wouldn't allow her to cross them over). "Admittedly I usually have more time to think about what I'm going to say. I was just caught off guard..." mentioned the pink haired girl. Who seemed to be capable of getting over her embarrassment pretty easily. Beyond this she heard the sound of familiar laughter, but didn't feel the need to search for it, figuring that if Bakura wished to say something to her he would, after all, they had ways of communicating which didn't involve speech for obvious reasons.

Nasira on the other hand was very sure it had been Bakura's voice she'd heard, but she couldn't see him anywhere. He was also the only person who would have such information on Yasmin in her current state, so the connection there was obvious. She looked around for him for a few more seconds, but if she didn't find him, she sigh and return to her friends, at least accepting the fact that the young man who'd been unseen for the last four days was safe. "That's really weird..."

[Bloodedge]

"That's good. Being caught off guard means any given response is as honest as it gets. That's not to say one couldn't be honest regardless, but... it gives a bit extra, you know?" was a question of Fudo's which followed the justification of his earlier statement. Considering the amount of time that had been spent here, Fudo thought it was about the right time to leave the water. As such, he stood in the water and turned around, aiming to relocate the towel he'd discarded while entering the pool and out of the sights of all, bar Shula who'd been right next to him at the time.

[Apollymi]

"That makes sense, I suppose." said the girl, feeling infinitely better about her apparent misstep in speech as well as her moment of embarrassment. She had to agree at the very least, that there was a great deal of honesty in the way she behaved when she was caught off guard and that probably applied to all people now that she thought about it. Seeing that Fudo had taken this opportunity to exit. Yasmin was going to do the same, taking a moment to sneak a look at the naked teal haired young man before extricating herself from the water as well, and locating her own towel which was to the right of the pool on her own side. Shula who saw everyone exiting took it upon herself to relocate as well, and when she was next seen it would be holding Fudo's towel in front of his person with a smirk. "Oh, Fudo's naked, Yasmin's swearing, random voices answering questions... what an interesting bath." said Shula in a teasing manner though she fully offered the young man his towel and had no intention of keep it from him. Her tease of course, made a pink tint appear on the pink haired girl's face as she wrapped herself up and prepared to move to the next room. "Oh stop it you." she said sticking her tongue out at the other girl, again all in good fun.

[Bloodedge]

In the search for his towel, Fudo was soon faced by the Magi Shula. The brown-haired girl had the towel he sought in hand, and upon realizing this, he reached out with a smile to claim it from her. "You say this like it's something new, Shula. We've been doing this for nearly a week now." When he took the towel, Fudo twirled it around in his hand for a moment before resolving himself to wrap it around his waist. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were bringing attention to the matter on purpose. Though, I don't actually know any better, considering it's you."

[Apollymi]

A playful pout crossed the magi's face. "Eh, yeah well, not new to us... but..." her eyes darted back to Jamila who had just been helped out the other end by Nasira and Shadiya. Yasmin seemed to put this together pretty quickly as she joined the pair of them with a bit of a teasing grin of her own. "Aww, Shula you're looking out for Jamila then huh? Teasing and all?" she asked. "Or are you just stalling 'cause you don't want to go to the cold room?" she asked which caused a bit of a shocked look to cross the Magi's face. It would be the confirming factor of this moment, and a bit of an interesting point that Yasmin was just as capable of eliciting an embarrassed reaction from the other girl as much as she managed it with her. "Now who needs to stop it." claimed Shula as she floated off to join the other girls, she'd stick her tongue out at Yasmin who would simply move right along as if she hadn't done a thing. "Cold room then?" she asked of the teal haired young man as she headed off in that direction.

Soon enough both Shadiya and Nasira were standing around the outside of the cold pool trying to explain the necessity of it to Jamila who didn't seem to like the idea very much. "I don't like it much either, but... it's good for your pores and helps retain cleanliness." the black haired girl explained. "But... it's cold." mentioned the girl with her blue pig tails dripping a bit of water. "I don't want to go." she mentioned. To which Shula replied. "Alright, that's fine, I don't want to go either." she mentioned standing at the edge of the pool with a look most devious in the blue haired girl's direction. Before she moved behind Shadiya and pushed that girl in. A splash would be heard then Shadiya would come back up a bit surprised. "Always with the randomness with you..." she laughed splashing the girl as she moved across the pool. Shula looked at Jamila giving a wink before she also tried to push in Nasira from behind but this would only make the black haired girl move out of the way and the Magi would then tumble in herself. "I always miss her." she pouted when she came back up. It would be Nasira to extend a hand to the girl and sit at the edge. She went feet first and Jamila followed suit. It seemed that both would simply take it slow.

[Bloodedge]

"Hm?" Fudo's eyes followed the gesture of Shula, which led his gaze toward their new associate. Frankly, he'd momentarily forgotten this girl was present, but he'd now been given something to keep in mind for later. "Ah... right." Moving right along, Fudo nodded when Yasmin questioned a trip to the cold room. By the time he reached the next room, most of the others had already entered the water, one way or another. He once again witnessed Shula failing to shove Nasira into the water, but seeing it this time gave him an idea. Fudo decided to go through with this. He first winked in Yasmin's direction, then Followed Shula's lead. Soon after the Magi fell into the cold water, Fudo was behind Nasira and Jamila, holding one hand at the ready before aiming to thrust his palm into Nasira's back and force her into the bath. "In ya' go!"

[Apollymi]

It seemed a plan of sorts was taking place to try and get Nasira into the water. The next part of this was Fudo aiming a palm thrust at the girl but she was still on edge, and as such shifted her body left and let Fudo's hand meet nothing but air, and letting her turn to him with a slight frown. "Really? You too?" But the next thing to happen would be Yasmin also behind Nasira to the left where she'd moved to, also aiming to push her in, though this time from her blind spot. Such a maneuver would end with the black haired girl looking a bit shocked before she fell into the water. she crossed her arms over her chest pretending to be cross when she reemerged. "That's why it took two of you to get me." she said. Seeming to be in a good humor because unbeknownst to Yasmin, Jamila was behind her and she'd push the pink haired girl in as well. This would surprise the woman but she fell in too. "Woah, that's brisk." she said after coming back up. Shula managed to look pleased. "Finally someone made her not take her time getting in here." she said offering a high five to both Yasmin and Fudo. It would be Yasmin who extended a hand to Jamila. "Oh come on, the water's fine." she said which prompted the laughing young girl to shake her head, she was still firmly against this cold water pool.