Reim Empire

[Bloodedge]

http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss142/vastolordeulquiorra/Magi/Laem_Empire_zps1k3p5ay7.png

The Reim Empire is the world's largest nation. The empire is the most powerful and longest leading superpower in terms of military, technology, and economy in the world. The Reim Empire has two important cities; Remano the seat of power and capital city, and Naporlia, the empire's largest financial and world economic and trading center.

Amphitheater

A place used for theater performance or plays, it is one of the two highest interests in Reim. Much of the audiences were nobles and politicians. The success and popularity of a play depends on the spread of gossip throughout the nation.

Colosseum

The Reim Empire Colosseum is a popular fighting arena where famed gladiators and slaves fight to the death at the entertainment of the audience. It is also the place where the Yambala Gladiators stay to hone their skills.

Gladiators

It is one of the two highest interests in Reim, more than half of population of gladiators are slaves, foreigners and free people comprised from various backgrounds can become a gladiator as a line of work. They were extremely popular especially to noble women.

Gambling

Gambling Halls are one of the popular entertainments and major businesses in Reim.

Bathhouses

A place for a communal need of cleanliness, it is one of the popular entertainments in Reim.

[Apollymi]

At the amphitheater there were a group of women walking by to find seats. They were nobles and this was their favorite pastime, but a young girl of about 15 sat on a cushion all alone and looked exceedingly bored. Her body was cloaked in small pieces of red linen and they seemed to be connected by random pieces of gold and blue gems. Her eyes were the same color blue as the gems and clear as a morning sky. While her mid back length chocolate locks were swept over her left shoulder and braided at the ends in a rather ornate fashion. And this girl was completely and utterly bored until she heard the words of a passing person. "I heard there were Magi coming to the City from far away lands." said one slightly obese woman. "I heard they were already here, and they brought a huge group of weirdos with them. It's the last thing the empire needs really." said another. "I don't know, but I hope the rumors about them coming in from the south aren't true, that is close to my home and I'd hate to have to deal with any more commotion than what already goes on here." said the last woman this information slid into the girl's ears and lit a spark in her eyes. Soon enough she began to hover headed in the exact opposite direction of the Amphitheater much to the chagrin of the women who'd been so close to her recently.

Over at the Colosseum she aimed to find a particular individual and if she found him, she'd say only a few sentences with a great deal of happiness. "Hey, are you done for the day~ Some interesting people might be in the country now and we should go have a look. We could meet some new friends or size up the competition." she said with a lot of excitement. Of course, she'd been known to be wrong about these things, as such information was almost always gossip she picked up from the ladies of the theater. Still she had a good feeling about this, and the Rukh were with her.

[Bloodedge]

In the Colosseum, there was a young man with pink hair and an open-collared, one-sleeved long overcoat. The sleeve covered his left arm with a faux leather brown armband, leaving a strange, red tattoo, as well as his entire right arm, consequently exposed. His right hand wielded a sword against a much larger, more muscular opponent who held two massive swords. When called upon by the floating girl, he looked over his shoulder toward her and smiled. "Hang on. I'm showin' off. Check me out!" he said with a wink toward the lass. As he spoke while ignoring his opponent, the large man ran toward him and aimed to strike him down with one sword. The pink-haired fighter caught a glimpse of this while turning around, and quickly responded by ducking low and dodging toward the man's body. As anticipated, a follow-up with the second sword was attempted. This prompted him to perform the same dodge outward this time, followed by a forward flip onto this man's back. This maneuver ended with a sword held against the hulk of a man's neck, though the obvious victor in this match had his left hand raised toward the brown-haired lass. "Tell the truth. That was the hottest move you've ever seen, wasn't it?"

[Apollymi]

The young girl watched this boy perform his feat and had to admit it was rather impressive. "I'll give you that." she said a bit of pouting would ensue this admission though as she crossed her arms over her chest and pointed outward. "But but... can we cover that later. People... awesome people... other Magi I could see my friends too!~ And I'm bored... you're always training. I should have kept up with the other one, she's a bookworm, I wouldn't have to go looking for her so often." complained the rather young brunette. She seemed playful and impetuous but all around good. And these weren't even the most interesting things about her. After all this it appeared the boy had given up his training for the day, and chose instead to offer his hand to the girl floating girl which she took and pulled the boy along flying over the area looking for something of interest which she was sure she'd find if she looked hard enough.

[Bloodedge]

When his hand was taken, the lad was lifted from his standing place atop the gladiator's back, and taken toward an unknown destination. "Oh come on, you wouldn't have stuck around her over me. I might be training all the time, but I need to if I'm gonna get where I'm going. Besides, looking for me is the fun part for you, isn't it? You get all that time to look forward to seeing this face," he said, stifling a chuckle throughout the statement. "So, these friends of yours; what're they like?"

[Apollymi]

"You think that don't you?" questioned the girl who was rather easily carrying this young man and flying at the same time with nothing more than outright ease. She began to explain after a second or two. "Well, I do enjoy having to look for you, but it's less because I want to see your face and more because you are so prone to showing off when I get there. And I probably wouldn't have chosen to hang out with her over you... but Shadiya could probably use a bit of looking after... she's a great deal weaker than you are. But I'm sure you'd like her if you got to know her. She's actually supposed to be showing up in this area too... but I don't know what's been keeping her, it has me a bit worried." the girl of a mere 15 seemed to be much more stressed than the average person of her young age. Even so, she didn't let this distract her, and she was following the Rukh towards the place she considered to be the largest disturbed in the area and what she was seeing of them as she was lead towards them also made her curious. She was brought back to this conversation by the boy with her, only to remember she'd never really described her friends. "Well, Ali is a guy with spiky hair. He's cool but he sleeps a lot and always in the weirdest of places. Sami... I mean Samiya she's a bit older than me she has awesome red hair, but we don't actually get along that well. I think it's 'cause she's all calm like water and I'm... well me." mentioned the girl. "But even if it's only one of them... I can't wait to see them. And maybe whoever they picked. They said it was a band of weirdos." she mentioned of her sources who were officially just the town gossips.

Meanwhile on the outskirts of town where they were flying towards a Caravan could be spotted and it had a rather large occupancy.

[Bloodedge]

"We swapped a couple of words once," the boy said about this Shadiya individual whom he'd really seen only in a few passing moments in the company of the girl he conversed with. "If she's that weak though, I guess we could bond over a few pointers being shared."

Meanwhile, on the carriage boarded by two Magi, three Dungeon Capturers and their Household Members, the male Magi known only by the name Ali slept. As they drew closer to the encroaching pair of flying residents, the Rukh shifted around him, causing him to stir. When he came to, his eyes widened, and a grin crossed his face. "Shula!" he exclaimed, immediately hopping up and pulling off his cape. He threw it into the wind, hopping atop it in the meantime. This allowed him to fly atop it and approach this Shula and her companion in the sky. "Good morning, Shula. What brings you here? Wait... where are we?" he asked while looking around the area.

[Apollymi]

"I suppose. She's well read, she'd probably trade information with you, fighting for random stuff she knows. She's cool like that." she said of her apparent other charge who was presently missing. Of course, soon after they approached a caravan and on top of it, a man whom she was quite familiar with. As he greeted her she smiled and casually dropped the man she was holding without a second thought because she needed her hands free. "Ali!~ I knew it was you... I missed you." she squealed aiming to capture the man in a hug. With the stirring of the Rukh above, a redheaded woman soon stuck her head out of the side of the carriage she currently inhabited soon enough she too was outside the sweeping body cape she wore floating her upwards as well. "Oh, Shula~ It is you." she mentioned and to the man who had so recently asked a question she sighed. "We're just outside the Reim Empire, which you would know if you didn't sleep literally 90 percent of this journey." said Samiya.

Shula was elated both of her friends were here. She squealed with a childish amount of delight. "Sami!~ You're here too!~ This is the best." she said grinning and offering the redheaded woman a hug as well, which said woman reluctantly accepted as she didn't hate this young woman and was quite happy to see her well. After this was done the brown haired girl answered the question posed to her. "Oh, I've been waiting for my other King Candidate to show up here, I also... made another while I was waiting... Malik Matar the pink haired guy I just dropped." she said smirking.

Meanwhile a few of the other inhabitants of the cart noticed the stirring and began to look around outside of it to find out what was going on exactly.

[Bloodedge]

"Yeah, that'll probably be pretty-aaah!" Whatever this lad intended to say, he was incapable of finishing. The reason for this was, of course, that he had been dropped from the sky during one moment of apparent excitement by Shula.

"Likewise!" said the Magi Ali as he met the younger Magi's embrace. As for where they were, the question was soon answered by Samiya, who joined the pair in the sky. Ali had nary a clue why they had come to the Reim Empire of all places, but he supposed there was nothing to say about it now. "Ah... well... that's new."

While the conversation between Magi commenced, Fudo continued driving the carriage forward. This did not stop, but there was a bit of a hiccup in the ride. This was caused by the impact of the pink-haired male. Malik, as he was called by Shula, fell upon the closed top of the carriage, breaking through it. Within the confines of the carriage, he was fated to land atop none other than Nasira.

[Apollymi]

"Is it really okay to drop someone like that?" questioned Samiya who was let go from the embrace only to see the girl look a tad sheepish. "Oh, he's tough; he'll be alright. Sorry though, about anyone down there." mentioned tanned young Magi. Still there was more to be said by redhead Magi who seemed to be the only one in this group of Magi in the know about their whereabouts and the reason behind them. "We are in Reim because the new girl recommended it. The others wish to become better at using their magoi, djinn and household vessels." finished Samiya with a smirk. "What new girl?" asked Shula confused about what kind of arrangement the pair of other Magi had with what had to be their King Candidates. The falling boy having made impact with the cart made the redheaded woman look down. "That's going to cause a ruckus."

Meanwhile, Nasira had only a second to look up and see a body falling towards her. She had no idea how or why this was happening but moving in this moment wouldn't cause anything but more injury and panic and as such she simply accepted that this thing was happening, but still a small sound would escape her. "OOoof." she managed as the wind left her torso and this young man landed on her. This commotion also caused a stirring from a purple haired young girl with her hair up in a ponytail. She'd previously had her nose pressed into a book but now her golden eyes were focused on the new comer. "Hey stop the cart!" she yelled to the front not knowing if anyone was injured given the randomness of this moment. "Are you alright, Nasira and..." she looked to the pink haired young man she'd only met once before and struggled to find his name in her head. "Oh... It's you!!"

[Bloodedge]

When Samiya began to explain, Ali had to admit that he was just as "out of the loop" as it were, as Shula. Of course, his very long nap was to blame for this, but he hadn't expected so much to transpire during his sleep. "I'm with her," he said following Shula's query. "What new girl?"

Within the cart, Malik came to momentarily. When he did, he realized he was atop a person, he quickly extricated himself and offered the girl a hand. "Ugh... Sorry about that. You alright?" he asked. He was also being addressed by Shadiya, who recognized him, and he, her. "Oh... You're here. Shula says you're late."

During this time, the carriage was brought to a halt by Fudo. When it stopped, he turned around to look into the vehicle and see what had actually caused such a fuss. "I didn't expect a visitor. Reim is going to be an interesting place."

[Apollymi]

Samiya palmed her face as the other Magi with her asked about the apparent new girl. She remembered after a few seconds that Ali had been asleep during the time period in which the girl had been acquired while this happened. "The new girl, Shadiya Harron." she said before being a bit more descriptive. "She's the youngest sister of those now deceased slavers. She's a surprisingly nice girl though." said Samiya. This information made Shula's eyes go wide. "Shadi's down there! Yay! I was worried about her, but if she's been with you guys I know she's fine." said Shula. Obviously making it obvious that Shadiya was the other King Candidate that she'd chosen.

Meanwhile below the girl known as Nasira was soon offered a hand and an apology from the pink haired young man who'd fallen from the sky. "I'm fine, I was able to prepare for the hit, mostly." said Nasira as she accepted the hand up, after all she had no reason to bear this one any ill will. And beyond that point it seemed that this one was known by their newest companion Shadiya. "Who's Shula?" asked the black haired girl while Shadiya gave an excited squeal. "Shula's the Magi who lead me through my Dungeon. She's great... and she's here! I'm so happy. I didn't mean to be late, I just got caught up in some stuff in Parthevia." she mentioned. "She's not mad is she?" the purple haired girl asked of the pink haired boy, she didn't know what to expect from her Magi and she had been missing for a few months longer than she'd initially anticipated.

Along with this, the cart had been brought to a stop by Fudo and this caused Yasmin who'd been sitting up front with him to hop out as well and go see. "Me either but there are some pretty lively people here already. Sounds like it will be good fun." she said as she stepped around to the other side of the cart to enter properly and see what had gone on here. "Is everyone alright back here?" she asked as she poked her head in.

[Bloodedge]

"Shadiya? Dantalion's Dungeon Capturer?" The reaction of Shula indeed made it apparent that she was the Magi who took Shadiya through the 71st Dungeon. This also allowed Ali to infer that she was the one to raise said Dungeon, putting his mind at ease for a moment. "That's a relief. We were worried about how Dantalion and Glasya-Labolas were raised, but if you were the one to do it, there's nothing to worry about."

Nasira had accepted his assist, and presumably his apology as well. This caused Malik to grin and chuckle, being able to put the past few moments behind him. "You reacted that quick? Wow. Cute and capable, huh?" he said. Moving along, it seemed Shadiya was concerned about Shula's outlook toward her absence. Thinking back, he could not recall any time in which Shula had expressed any sort of anger toward the purple-haired Dungeon Capturer. "I don't think she's mad. She might have been a bit worried, though."

"Lively indeed. From the looks of things, there's nothing to be concerned about." As Fudo said these words, his eyes wandered toward the sky above, where the trio of Magi conversed. He could only assume the third Magi was where this pink-haired individual had come from, but he also couldn't help feeling as if this man was familiar somehow.

[Apollymi]

Shula's brows came together a bit after Ali spoke. Though it was quite true that she'd opened the dungeon for Dantalion she'd done nothing with the Djinn known as Glasya-Labolas. "I opened Dantalion for Shadi, but I don't know anything about Glasya-Labolas. I didn't lead anyone into that dungeon." she stated looking a bit confused. If the three of them hadn't done something it was worth being a bit confused about. Samiya looked to Ali as this was explained and was only left to wonder what else who could have raised that dungeon if none of them had done it.

Nasira looked towards this pink haired young man and blushed just a little. Such compliments were oddly placed to her so she shied away from them in general. "Ah, well... uh..." she seemed to be lost for words. It was a bit of a saving grace that this young man seemed to be more interested in talking with Shadiya and that Yasmin and peeked in to ask of the welfare of everyone present. "We're fine Yas, this pink haired guy fell from the sky." she went on to say which made Yasmin giggle just a little as she looked up to where Fudo looked towards the three Magi. "Oh, alright then. As long as everyone is okay." the girl mentioned before turning to look up at the sky. "Apparently not, maybe everyone will come down and have a chat soon, it has to be rare for three Magi to appear in one place." Yasmin mentioned finding it a little odd that three beings so powerful managed to find themselves together in such an odd way. Shadiya's hearing that Shula might have been worried about her prompted the young girl to exit the cart waving her arms about to catch the attention of the red robed magi. "Shula~ I finally made it." she screamed to the young woman whose attention was grabbed and thus her descent began.

[Bloodedge]

"You... didn't raise Glasya-Labolas?" Ali's expression shifted rather suddenly to one of pure confusion and distaste. Either there was somehow another Magi these three knew nothing about, or someone else in this era had gained the ability to raise Dungeons. Either way, this was not good for the job of the existing Magi. "We're going to have to look into this..."

"So then, you guys are the ones they've been talking about in town. It's a pretty big deal, coming in with two Magi on a caravan, y'know? Got a name for yourselves already," Malik began to explain out of the blue. "That name is something along the lines of weirdos, mind you, but... you guys seem alright to me," he went on, looking toward Nasira and winking toward the end of his clause. In the meantime, Fudo continued to address Yasmin, paying little mind to the carriage's interior. "It's unheard of, actually. We might be the first non-Kings to see this sort of thing happen."

[Apollymi]

"Yes, we are." said Samiya. It would be a second or two before she spoke more. Shula seemed to be a bit more carefree than the other two, though she was confused by this situation. "Oh? Well, I mean, look into it or whatever but it can't be that bad right? I'm happy about this..." she said pointing down towards the caravan which was now housing 4 different dungeon capturers of good quality by her own knowledge of the kinds of people that both Samiya and Ali were likely to choose. Samiya thought about it for a moment. "We could start by asking Shadiya about her brother, perhaps he revealed something to her that we could use to identify whoever led him into his dungeon." she mentioned, following Shula's descent as it was obviously the easiest way to find out about the things they wanted to know.

Meanwhile, Yasmin looked up at the now two descending female Magi hearing and appreciating the words being spoken by Fudo. "I could see that being a thing. I wasn't completely caught up on the Magi, Djinn, and Dungeons thing, but Shadi has some interesting books on the subject. This meeting seems to be more coincidental, like us happening to bump into each other because of that minor misunderstanding." she said with a smile. Knowing that her first meeting with Fudo had been one of complete happenstance.

While that discussion happened Shula made her way to the cart where she lowered herself in and pounced Shadiya who had been waving up at her. "And what kind of time do you call this?" she asked the girl chiding her even though they appeared to be around the same age. "Worrying over you is gonna give me wrinkles." she finished up, while Nasira was left to wave off the commentary of this pink haired young man and reply to his words about their arrival. "I suppose our group is a bit odd in this way. We only have two Magi as a coincidence, our dungeon capturers were chosen by two different people." she said blushing again as the wink in her direction was definitely noticed.

[Bloodedge]

"Hah! There's the optimism I've been missing!" Ali chimed in response to Shula's attitude. Soon after Shula descended, Ali's carpet began to lower itself as well, eventually leading him to the top of the carriage again. "I wonder if Shula knows anything about those weird Rukh," he said nonchalantly toward Samiya while approaching the carriage.

Now that it seemed the Magi were done discussing things among themselves, Fudo brought his full attention back to the surface. He figured it was about time to return to the driver's seat, but a few words were yet to be exchanged. "I'm willing to say Shadiya has a lot of interesting books on a lot of things. She's had her face in a book every time I've looked back into the cart. Anyway, let's just hope this coincidence is as much of a positive thing as our previous example, hm?"

"Oohhh, right!" was the utterance of Malik. "I forgot about all that. Some of you guys are Capturers. Are you one of them? More importantly, what's a group of Dungeon Capturers doing here?"

[Apollymi]

Samiya nodded as Ali spoke on the optimism that seemed to leak from Shula's very being. The girl was nothing if not happy and always looking on the brighter side of things. As she also landed on the roof of the caravan she looked down into it and upon hearing the question garnered about it she shrugged. "It is possible she knows something, or she doesn't and she'll do something reckless to figure it out. Those are pretty much the only two options." Samiya said with a knowing smile. Though it would often seem as if the redhead disliked the younger girl, she held a great bit of respect for her and the amount of moxie she showed when approaching new and different situations.

Meanwhile Yasmin nodded and agreed completely about the vast library the purple haired girl carried around with her and on its general diversity. "We can only hope." said the pink haired girl as it seemed the groups were being joined by the Magi who had gathered above previously. Both Samiya and Ali had landed atop the cart and the newer dark haired girl was within with Shadiya from what Yasmin could see. Nasira was also having an interesting conversation with the new comer which brought about an explanation for her place here. "No, I am not a dungeon capturer, but my friends are. I went with Fudo to help in his adventure... he was the one driving." she mentioned gesturing out of the carriage. "The girl with him, Yasmin, is a dungeon capturer as well. Though she captured her dungeon with the help of Bakura who is currently unconscious still... and obviously you've at least met Shadiya before, that is all of the dungeon capturers." she finished. Looking around and having no problem telling this young man why they were here. "We're here because Shadiya recommended it, she said we could learn to better control our Magoi here, and that is why she was headed here as well." she said with curt nod.

Shula on the other hand had finally let go of Shadiya as the purple haired girl blushed and tried to explain. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you worry. I just got caught up in Parthevia and crazy stuff happened like my older brothers doing stuff... it was stressful." said the girl who seemed to be quite tense. This would cause the dark haired Magi to sigh and give the girl a hug. "Oh calm down, and introduce me to your new friends hmm..." she said sticking pulling herself and the other girl out of the cart. "Fudo, Yasmin... this is Shula. She's the magi who lead me through my dungeon." Shadiya said as she pulled herself together. Yasmin looked towards the young woman and gave a small bow, but much like the other two Magi had done, this one seemed to be looking around the girl and her teal haired male companion as if she was confused by their existence. "What's up with these Rukh? Oi?! Sami, Ali what did you guys do?" she asked completely astounded by what she was witnessing here.

[Bloodedge]

"My bet's on the latter," was all Ali had to say about Shula's outlook on these Rukh, assuming she did not know anything about them already.

Malik seemed a tad surprised by the confirmed Dungeon Capturers among this group. Though he had always known Shadiya's status as one, he had expected this black-haired girl to be among their ranks as well. The more he thought about it, though, the more he became visibly giddy. "Ah, but that means!" he began, only to fall sullen after a different idea passed through his mind. "Wait... you're in one of their Households, aren't you?"

"Pleasure to meet you, Shula," Fudo said with a bow most courteous. Once again, a Magi held a strange expression when looking between Yasmin and himself, and of course, the reaction was along the same lines as what he'd gotten from the other two. "Crazy, right!?" Ali shouted from atop the cart, not bothering to change his position. "I can't tell what's going on with them."

[Apollymi]

"With Shula reckless abandon is always the better bet." mentioned Samiya. Who was now also sitting atop the carriage waiting for the moment of craziness to ensue. Meanwhile within the carriage, Nasira was still talking with this pink haired newcomer and his apparent giddy behavior which rather quickly became sullen as he realized the truth of Nasira. "Yes, I'm Fudo's Household Member. We've been friends and partners since childhood and it was his only real demand when capturing the dungeon. Why does this sadden you?" the black haired girl questioned. She was rather confused about the Household Member situation and because of the situation with Bakura and Yasmin figured such things were completely normal. Even Shadiya had a Household Member so she was quite a bit confused by what made or didn't make them.

After this it only took a few seconds for Shula to rather recklessly mention the oddity of the Rukh surrounding the pair of individuals. In fact, this was about the most direct any of the Magi had been about the strangeness and it brought a bit of shock to Yasmin's face. "And they're talking about us again." she mentioned with a sigh. It was kind of odd to feel like a spectacle but as Shula inspected the quality and movements of the Rukh she'd explain what she saw to the pair of Dungeon Capturers but only after acknowledging what Ali had just said. "Yes, it's crazy." her hands came together then showing an entwining of her fingers and their subsequent fluttering. "One of you is Paimon's Dungeon Capturer and one of you is... Amon's Dungeon capturer. But the Rukh around the two of you... is kind of mixing them together. It's weird. I've never seen anything like it before." Shula said coming to a stop around them. "Oh, do you two have Household Members?" she asked of the pair, she was content to investigate this, but there was lots of unknown potential variables. This questioning of Shula's and her outright honesty about what was going on with the Rukh of the two Dungeon Capturers chosen separately by Ali and Samiya made the latter palm her face, this had to be the most reckless way to tell someone random information.

[Bloodedge]

When asked why the idea of Nasira being a member of someone else's Household already, Malik rubbed the back of his head, managing to seem a bit abashed during his retort. "Well... see... I don't have any Household Members yet, and I wanted the first one to be hot stuff. It's a little fickle, I know, but... yeah..."

Meanwhile, Fudo's eyes shifted between Yasmin, Shula, and the two Magi atop the carriage. "I expected as much. I didn't expect this sort of reaction from our new Magi here, though," he said. For some reason, Shula sought information about Yasmin and his own status as Dungeon Capturers; specifically whether they had Household Members or not. Fudo would be the on to confirm this. "We do. Nasira, the girl there, is my sole Household Member. Bakura, the sleeping one near her, is Yasmin's. Why do you ask?"

[Apollymi]

Nasira looked at this boy for a few seconds seeming to process what he was saying. "Oh... you were aiming to recruit someone special, but wouldn't it just be easier to pick a friend?" she wondered. This was obviously how she and the sleeping boy Bakura had managed to become Household Members and it didn't seem to be very hard to become one, requiring only a bit of devotion to the person with the Djinn.

Outside the carriage however was Shula still looking over the two of them staring at their intermingling Rukh and getting the answer to her question. When asked why though the tanned girl merely shrugged and began walking past this young man and towards the carriage to have a look at the people inside. "Oh, no reason. Rukh behave oddly when people who are driven appear in the world. I was curious about whether the pair of you had anyone else with you who went along with your ideas enough for you to have Household Members. Also I want to see something about them is all." she said sticking her head inside of the carriage she glanced over her own King Candidate and her eyes fell to the black haired girl. After a few seconds her eyes widened just a bit. "You must be Nasira... that means..." she thought flicking her eyes over to the corner where the sleeping boy was still and had a look at the Rukh around him as well. "That one is Bakura. Interesting... I hope you're being nice Malik." she went on to say before coming back outside. She looked up to her two peers and asked them a single question. "Did ya' notice the difference in the Rukh on the Household Members or is that new?" she asked of them. She was content to look into this with absolutely no pretense of hiding anything from everyone else. In her own exploration of those Rukh, she almost couldn't tell which Household Member belong to which person... if she hadn't been told who was who, she might not have made any assumptions either way. This was quite a curious case indeed. And it only made the girl wonder what could have transpired between this group to create such new and strong bonds. Her words caused Samiya to look down into the carriage and have a closer look at the Rukh around Nasira and the still unconscious Bakura.

[Bloodedge]

Following Nasira's question, Malik brought his hand from the back of his head, around to the side of his face. There, he began scratching his temple with his forefinger as a bit of nervous laughter passed his lips. "Eheh... Yeah, I guess it would be, if I had friends to speak of. I kind of err... ran out of friends years ago. Long story."

"What about who now?" Ali questioned from atop the carriage. He then moved at last, looking into the carriage to view Nasira and Bakura for a moment. When he did, he was left blinking for several seconds. "Huh... I've never really looked at their Rukh side-by-side before..."

[Apollymi]

Samiya was having the same random realization that Ali seemed to be having. Blinking thoroughly as she looked at these individuals and all their mixed up Rukh. She'd never seen a set of people so indiscernible from each other. It was as if the Household Members were interchangeable and so were their leaders. "This has to be different it wasn't like that before the most recent events in Parthevia." said the redhead who'd been conscious most of the time she'd travelled with these people. This was an unusual moment indeed but Nasira was still engaged in conversation. "Sounds like it's time to make some new friends then. You can start with us~" she said not at all one to press these matters any more than they had to be.

"Parthevia, huh?" said Shula as she came back out and looked again at these two Dungeon Capturers. "This is new... and different. Seems like fun..." she said seeming to be more enthused about the mystery of the Rukh than about anything else this day. "I wanna know why!" she said now conversing with Samiya and Ali. "I've heard that sometimes, Household Members can share Vessels, like they have the same attachment to the same things and equal attachment to the Dungeon Capturer so their Vessels' abilities manifest as the same things or they share a single object and can both use them." she said with a nod. "But their mixed Rukh and the lack of clarity around their Household Members are kind of making it seem like... they are sharing more than just..." she stopped between the pair and grinned staring at both of their Metal Vessels and looking at the pair of them equally enthused. "Are you following any of this?" questioned the pink haired girl who seemed to be a bit confused by this attention and wanted to know how Shula would complete her sentence.

"Why don't we just ask Amon and Paimon what they are doing?" she said in a single moment of clarity which caused Samiya to flush a gentle red with embarrassment for not having thought of this herself.

[Bloodedge]

"That easy, huh? Alright..." Without further ado, Malik extended his right hand toward the black-haired girl, a smile passing his face as he did so. "In that case, you're my first pick. Malik Matar."

Fudo's brow raised as Shula went on to explain the workings of the Rukh around Yasmin and himself. A proper example, as finally given by the Magi in red, was all he needed to gain a bit of clarity on the matter. Though he remained lost on the reasons behind this, he at least had the gist of it all in mind. With this information, he was able to look toward Yasmin with a nod. "Basically, the two of us are interchangeable. Same goes for Bakura and Nasira. I don't know exactly what this is leading into, though..." Sadly, Shula's clause did not reach its conclusion, leaving Fudo wondering still. On the other hand, she sought to ask the Djinn of this pair. This prompted Fudo to unveil his sword and show the Magi in front of him.

[Apollymi]

A hand extended to her, Nasira met it with her own a grin crossing her face as this man accepted her rather simplistic logic a lot easier than she'd initially expected. "Nasira..." she said thinking about this young man's surname and remembering something important. "Oh, you have the same surname as Yasmin." she said and in thinking about that she realized that this young man kind of looked like her pink haired female companion. Now that they'd been properly introduced she looked to the outside and after shaking this young man's hand pointed towards them. "You should meet the others, I'm certain we'll all get along." she finished up actually stepped outside the cart in time to see, Fudo presenting his sword to this new Magi.

As Fudo explained this situation Yasmin nodded. "Oh, I suppose that makes sense. Perhaps then asking the Djinn why would be the best idea." and with that she removed the flabellum which was her Metal Vessel from where it was attached to her person. And once she had she held it in front of herself and towards the Magi Shula who looked at both of them. "Yay... I've never woken two of them at the same time before!~" she said being all giddy before pressing a finger into the eight sided star on each of their vessels and thus prompting the blue smoky bodies of the Djinn Amon and the Djinn Paimon to appear from their respective vessels. "Oh!~ This is happening again how fun..." stated the half nude Djinn Paimon with all of her piercings and chains seemingly attached to her person and moved according to the sway of her body.

[Bloodedge]

"Yasmin?" Malik asked. "Wait... How did you know Yasmin?" He followed behind Nasira, moving out into the light to view these 'others' she'd spoken of. Though he wasn't surprised to see two Djinn appearing, given the fact that there were now three Magi present, he was surprised by the appearance of the pink-haired girl who claimed the 9th Djinn, Paimon. "Y-... Yasmin...?"

Alongside Paimon, the Fire Djinn Amon rose in the form of a pot-bellied old man with a full beard, as well as a ring through his navel. "Hmm? Who has the power to materialize me in full form?" he asked before having much of a look around. Obviously, the first thing he noticed was the other massive entity in the area, Paimon. "Oh? Paimon. I don't remember being in your Dungeon. Did the boy have you beforehand, and hide you from me?" Amon asked this of the Wind Djinn simply because, much like the others who could see Rukh, he saw Paimon as being shrouded in the Rukh of his own Dungeon Capturer. As he continued to look around, his eyes were brought down to the culprit behind his summoning. "Another Magi, hmm. Greetings."

[Apollymi]

"We met Yasmin after we captured Amon... she's one of the Dungeon Capturers that is part of our group." said Nasira. She thought about this some more and decided that this young man must know the girl, and perhaps was unaware of how she'd come to be in this place. If this was the case she didn't feel it was her place to reveal the sad past of the girl known as Yasmin. Yasmin looked up from her Flabellum upon hearing her name called and saw the pink haired young man who had fallen through the roof of their cart. "I'm Yasmin. Do I know you??" the pink haired girl asked without the slightest bit of recognition for this person, to her knowledge he was simply the boy who'd fallen through the roof, and though he'd likely heard her name from Nasira he said it with a feeling much different from the average person.

Meanwhile, Paimon was addressed directly by Amon and seemed to simply chuckle at the words spoken by the Flame Djinn. "Oh please, I was brought out right after you were captured, and this lovely girl here is responsible for my capture. But... now that I look at you... you seem to be attached to her too." Paimon said looking over the man and pointing at his chest with both her index fingers while chuckling. Shula on the other hand was staring up at the two of them her emotions shuffling through excitement, amazement and finally settling on pouty indifference. "Aww, you two are talking like you don't know what's going on either. I was hoping you could tell us why your Dungeon Capturers' Rukh are all mixed up. Oh and it's me, I brought you out, I'm Shula." mentioned the tanned girl her blue eyes staring at this pair of Djinn and their surrounding Rukh and sure enough both seemed to be covered in the Rukh which obviously didn't belong to their Dungeon Capturers. "Do neither of you know why, you're so mixed up?" she asked of the Djinn. As she thought over the question, Paimon settled down draping herself over the shoulders of both Fudo and Yasmin. "Well, it is nothing I've done purposefully... though I do like both of them. They are kind of different from others now that I think about it. Their motivations and the kinds of people who follow them are quite similar, I'd have been just as happy if this one had captured my Dungeon." the Wind Djinn mentioned, as she turned her head and nuzzled Fudo in the same manner she'd previously nuzzled Yasmin and returned to doing soon after.

[Bloodedge]

"Yas... You're Yasmin," the pink-haired male said, seeming to be in great disbelief as he exited the carriage and approached the female Dungeon Capturer. "You don't recognize me? It's me, Malik... Remember?"

"Have some decency, Paimon! You're setting a bad example for the children," was Amon's reaction to Paimon's slightly inappropriate behavior. As far as this connection between Dungeon Capturers and their Household Members, Amon had no clue whatsoever. Fudo, on the other hand, had a slight idea, which he would make known as the Wind Djinn rubbed herself against him. "I heard of a pair of legendary Dungeon Capturers once. It was said they could use each other's Metal Vessels as well as they could their own. I wonder if that is the case here."

[Apollymi]

Yasmin was left to look at the pink haired male stunned as he asked if she remembered him. And Yasmin thought about it for a while and looked at the boy, though she had to admit they bore similar physical characteristics she couldn't really say she knew who he was. His disbelief at seeing her gave her an inkling that he might have known her even if she didn't really recognize him. "Sorry... I can't say I do. The name sounds familiar but..." she trailed off. Her words made Nasira look at her and it was then the black haired girl had a realization. "You don't remember being a child do you, Yasmin?" she asked upon seeing the confusion in the girl's face, the black haired girl had seen this one break down a while back and understood she'd probably seen something very traumatic at some point. People's psyches didn't often survive that sort of thing, and Yasmin's appeared to barely have given her reaction to the stabbing of Bakura in Parthevia. This got a firm shake of no from the pink haired girl who had been a slave and experienced a trauma which had suppressed her other memories. There was something about this boy that seemed familiar to her, but she also wasn't sure... she didn't really know much of her past and felt bad about potentially creating sadness for this young man.

While this happened Paimon shifted releasing her hold on the two young Dungeon Capturers and crossing her arms over her chest in what would be apparent discontent. "Oh, Amon you're still so stuffy. All this time and you still haven't learned to relax, and I am not setting a bad example for the children, most of them can't even be called such. And you're also tied to her Rukh so you can't say you aren't fond of Yas in addition to your little Prince." she said sticking her tongue out at the man. Only a few seconds thereafter Fudo seemed to have some kind of idea of what was possibly going on with himself and Yasmin as far as their Djinn were concerned. This made Yasmin look to him with a brow raised. "I didn't know that was even possible." Yasmin stated. And surprisingly Shula would listen to this explanation and turn to the purple haired girl for confirmation. "Shadi, you know anything about that? she asked finding the girl already digging through the pack she carried as if searching for something. "Wait, wait... I got something on that right..." she nearly fell over pulling a large tome from what had to be the very bottom of her bag. "Here! I read that story too. It's here." she said opening the book and showing the story that Fudo referenced about some legendary dungeon capturers who could use each other's Metal Vessels and how it was their likeness which caused this ability. Shula took a few moments to read the information before her then her eyes widened. "Oh if this is true, that'd be amazing and I'd be so jealous I didn't pick you two." she said of Yasmin and Fudo.

[Bloodedge]

"Familiar? That's it? Yas, we've known each other our entire lives. We used to play together in the palace all the time, until you were kidnapped..." Though there was the slightest chance Malik did indeed have the wrong Yasmin here, he couldn't even see the smallest of possibilities that were contrary to his beliefs. This was the Yasmin he'd known, but he didn't know what could make her not recognize him. After all, he hadn't changed all too much since childhood.

Fudo waited in silence for Shadiya's research to be completed. She was very quickly proving very useful to the group by being such a vault of accessible information, and she was quite quick to confirm Fudo's memories of this story. "I guess there's only one thing to do, then..." With that said, Fudo turned toward Yasmin and held out his sword. In doing so, he also extended an open hand in hopes of retrieving her Metal Vessel, if for no other reason than to confirm these possibilities.

[Apollymi]

Yasmin looked at his pink haired young man and had to admit that they looked a bit alike when she considered it from the third person perspective. Beyond that, she was relatively certain she hadn't always been a slave because her parents weren't slaves and most of the others from where she was also knew her to be an addition a great purchase made by one Shaqeeq Harron. The idea of playing together with someone made the girl smile, as she remembered the only other person she'd been close to... And in remembering that boy, she remembered the face of a little pink haired boy that her slave friend had reminded her of. "Palace? Kidnapped?" she mentioned as if confused. "What are you saying?" she asked of him. As this conversation happened Nasira found herself questioning these moments but believing more and more the words of the pink haired lad. 'Her skill with a weapon and her education were far too advanced for her to have lived her whole life as a slave.' she thought but she knew this could potentially be a shattering moment for the girl.

She was stunned but Fudo holding out his weapon for her brought her back to this moment. She shifted handing him her flabellum by the end. She knew at least what was being discussed and though she had no inkling that such a thing would work. Once she was holding the sword in hand she looked at it a bit. "Hmm... " she thought looking at it only for a second before turning the sword around in her hand as if she was at least familiar with the basics of sword handling. After a second though her Magoi was concentrated through her hands and into the sword which took on the flames provided by the Djinn Amon. "So... that works at least." said the girl who only created a small bit of flame directly in front of her person.

[Bloodedge]

"I'm saying... wait..." Malik's attention was dragged away from the immediate discussion by the words of Nasira. "Slave? What do you mean slave? Yasmin is the first princess of the Reim Empire."

Meanwhile, Fudo handed off his sword, simultaneously taking Yasmin's flabellum into his other hand. Yasmin was the first to act by successfully producing Amon's flames from the sword, which left Fudo to look even further into things. Holding the item in both hands, he began to focus his Magoi. "The Spirit of Maniacal Love and Chaos, I order thine ancestors, To use my Magoi to give me power. Paimon!" As he spoke, wind began to stem from the flabellum. With a quick expulsion of Magoi and wind around him, Fudo's attire changed to a gold, pink and white armor and robe set, which strangely left his upper torso exposed. One issue Fudo took with this was the chains attached to his nipples through this armor, but he supposed the trident-like weapon he now wielded was enough confirmation that this was, indeed, Paimon's Djinn Weapon Equip. "So... this is what the whole weapon equip looks like? Not that I have a problem with this or anything, but it' definitely not my style," he concluded as he reverted to normal form. With that out of the way, he held the flabellum out toward Yasmin. "I guess that's that. We're ridiculously compatible."

[Apollymi]

"Woops, didn't mean to say that aloud but the truth stands. When we met Yasmin, she'd recently gained her Djinn and her freedom in Parthevia. She then went back to liberate that country, we helped." Nasira said. This was kind of interesting to her, and since Yasmin had heard what what this young man said she'd looked to be rather calm about it. She was content instead to watch as Fudo used her Metal Vessel to take on her full weapon equip which she liked the look of though it was rather obviously meant for someone with a female figure. Still she couldn't help but giggle just a tad as she found it odd for this to be possible and amazing that she'd gotten to see Fudo dressed as such. "Aww, I don't know about that... seemed pretty cute. And of course we are..." while she had been speaking she'd retrieved her flabellum and returned Fudo's sword but once this exchange was complete she stopped speaking. Her words seemingly lost as she returned her attention to Malik with her eyes wide. "Wait a minute, what did you just say?" she questioned because it would seem that the girl's brain had completely glanced over the information this other young man had just provided. That he would say such a thing made Yasmin's stomach turn with uncomfortable recognition.

While this happened Samiya looked to Ali and sighed. It was completely like Shula to cause the kind of ruckus that was happening below, but at least they now had a reasonable understanding of the mixing of the Rukh around their two chosen candidates.

[Bloodedge]

"That... but that's..." Malik's words were jumbled as he tried to find the sense behind Yasmin, the former crowned princess, to be subjected to the life of a slave. Soon enough, Yasmin's attention would be brought back to him, prompting the pink-haired lad to sit on the back of the carriage and sigh. "I guess I should start from the beginning, huh..."

"More reason for you to keep it," Fudo had replied to the girl, though he too was quite interested in what this other male had to say. As such, he took to Yasmin's side with a hand upon her shoulder, in wait for the coming explanation.

"My name is Malik Matar, first prince of Reim's seventh Emperor. Emperor Caligula, the previous Emperor of Reim, had a child once. Many years ago, he and his betrothed lost their child to what the Vizier called a kidnapping. The Emperor and his wife were assassinated a few years later, but with their child missing, the only one to take over was the Vizier himself. That child returned about a year ago, and began training to stage a coup against the Empire and reclaim it. Thing is... I let people believe that, but that child wasn't named Malik. It was Yasmin Matar. Malik is the name of the son had by the old Empress' younger brother. I just wanted to use the name of the rightful child to help keep the family's legacy intact. Your legacy."

[Apollymi]

Yasmin seemed a bit astounded, still she managed to return her object back to the place it belonged enchained by the jeweled and gold studded chain belt she wore around her waist. As the boy began to speak on what was apparently his plan to take by the Empire from the Vizier, Yasmin learned of her history, her place in this world, and even the death of her parents in the space of a very short amount of time. Even so there was a reassuring hand on her shoulder so she was able to remain standing even though her knees felt weak and her heart felt heavy. She opened her mouth to speak after Malik was done, but she couldn't find the proper words to say to this situation. Instead she found herself fidgeting with the bangles around her wrists. "I..." Yasmin started the sentence only to have her vision blur and her knees lose what little strength they had. The girl simply started to collapse right on the spot only to have Nasira appear at her side catching her by her unoccupied arm, assuming of course, that Fudo would help out as well. "Whoa, you might want to have a seat? It'd probably be easier for you." mentioned the girl who thought this information was rather fitting given the demeanor of this particular young woman. After a few seconds Yasmin finally managed to take a seat beside Malik on the back of the carriage and she turned to him offering a smile. Of all the information she'd managed to process, the best news of it was that she had family.

"I'm really happy to have family." Yasmin said looking to the boy beside her as she wiped a fallen tear from her face. "But you know, you don't have to do this for me or anyone else. Though, if you want to liberate this country... I'd be more than happy to help you. What's wrong with the Vizier?" Yasmin said curiosity about this situation replacing all the possible negative feelings she could have had when finding out this information.

[Bloodedge]

When Yasmin collapsed, Fudo was at the ready with his free arm to prevent what he thought to be an otherwise inevitable fall. As he went about catching the young woman, he looked to her other side to see that Nasira had been up to speed on the catch as well. With a nod, he took up half of Yasmin's weight and offered what assistance he could in helping her to her sitting place. "Easy does it. Lean on me if you'd like," he said as he sat down at her other side.

"But I do," Malik replied. Though Yasmin's claim that he didn't have to do what he did for her, or anyone else for that matter, was a lovely sentiment, it simply wasn't one he could agree with. "I'm glad you feel that way and all, but your parents would not have wanted this Empire that Sorio has created on their graves. They had goals for an amazing country, and those goals deserve to be met. That's why I came back to train with the Yambala Gladiators."

[Apollymi]

Now sitting it was mentioned that Yasmin could lean on Fudo, she did so while thinking over what her apparent cousin had to say about her parents and their dreams for the country they ran together. She'd have to remember to thank Fudo for his kindness when she was finished talking, but she didn't want to forget anything pertinent to this conversation. Her cousin building a country of good, was something she could get behind, even though she felt least connected to this sort of rebellion. "Well, I suppose if you feel so strongly about it I won't try and talk you out it. What were my parents trying to do, and how do you plan to do it?" asked Yasmin who seemed to really be all for helping her cousin out as he planned fix the wrongs of the country they were presently in. Meanwhile, the girl whose name was Shadiya had gone quiet, and had been that way for a long time. Right at this moment she was digging through her pack because the name of the Vizier mentioned by Malik was one she'd seen somewhere before and now that she knew the truth of Yasmin she could only think of one place it probably was. She pulled out a book which held the records of her elder brother. In said book was a record of the transaction which had made Yasmin a slave and the name assigned to it, was Sorio and it was signed in the Vizier's handwriting, probably as insurance against him being able to claim directly that her brother had done anything wrong. Technically speaking this was probably the most legitimate evidence of wrongdoing by this individual and Shadiya felt obligated to give it to the people it most affected.

Shula who'd been utterly quiet since she'd found the interesting parts about the interactions between the Rukh belonging to Fudo and Yasmin peeked over the girl's shoulder taking in the information on those pages and sighing. "Hm, well... that is interesting fuel to a fire. I wonder what they'll do with it." she said not even entertaining the idea that the purple haired girl wouldn't hand over the information if and when it was needed.

[Bloodedge]

"They were on the verge of creating a treaty with Artemyra to prevent a war that has been on the horizon for decades. Sorio has been pushing for that war since he became Emperor. Artemyra isn't open to trade with other countries, and they are a great war potential. Sorio has created a special army he calls the Fanalis Corps to wipe them out and open a path that would let him rule over the Seven Seas using slave warriors he takes from other nations, in addition to his own great forces."

Fudo, always one to pick up on key bits of information, seemed astounded by the words spoken by Malik in these moments. "Did you say... Fanalis Corps?" he asked. Malik nodded in response, lowering his head thereafter. "Yes, and it is exactly what you think. He's been recruiting Fanalis, the world's greatest warrior tribe, to create a military force of raw power that could trample over anyone. Apparently, his ultimate goal is to strike out against Magnostadt with a power they couldn't possibly overcome."

[Apollymi]

Nasira and Yasmin both listened picking up the information they both were missing about the current state of affairs in this country. Of course, there was an expectedly jumpy reaction from Nasira when the Fanalis were mentioned, but Yasmin seemed to be a bit outside of why that would be important. "Artemyra? Fanalis? Magnostadt?" questioned the pink haired girl who felt surprisingly like she imagined her friend Bakura often felt when something was mentioned that she couldn't pick up simply based on context clues. Though she understood the gist of the problems mentioned by her cousin. Shadiya reached out from the back of the carriage and passed the pink haired girl a book following with a statement. "This should answer all of those questions... my fingers are marking the important places. It covers the history of all those places up to the last decade..." she mentioned. This made the pink haired girl take the book careful to leave the pages opened as they were so that she might read up on the things that were being said that she didn't quite get. "Oh, thanks... never mind then continue." she said knowing that she could both read and contribute to the ongoing conversation.

Nasira watched as this girl began to read and brought a hand up under her chin. "I get the rest of it with the neighboring countries being what they are, but what on earth does anything have to do with Magnostadt?" the black haired girl questioned. It wasn't very obvious why anyone would try and bother with such a country considering it was filled with Mages and a society built around them and had been for years.

[Bloodedge]

"Right," Malik said with a nod when Yasmin gave him the clear to carry on. "Sorio lived in Magnostadt during the civil war they had several years ago. He had always come here to visit the family, but after that war ended, he took up permanent residence in Reim. He was... very different then, but your dad still thought to make him an important person in the palace."

"What do you mean he was different?" Fudo asked. "It was just... the way he carried himself, you know? Being around him felt weird. Sorio was a magician, and though they won in Magnostadt, it almost seemed to him as if they'd lost."

After such a long time being in one place, Ali stretched and yawned, wondering how much longer it would take for them to move on. "We could be in Reim right now. Hey, Shadiya. You have Dantalion; maybe you could give me a hand in moving us there."

[Apollymi]

As Yasmin read up on the history of the areas and people mentioned by Malik, she also took in his speech about the man apparently known as Sorio who was currently acting ruler here. She couldn't help but wonder what about being involved in a war would change a man so much, but given her own life experience with her radically changing circumstances she could understand how it could go awry without any real intention on the parts of the people involved. "According to this that wasn't a winnable situation. The Mages who rose up in what used to be the Kingdom of Musta'sim slaughtered the entire royal family and all of their personal mages as part of their uprising. The Royal family because they were a symbol of the previous oppression and their personal mages because many refused to turn against people they saw as doing no wrong against them. After it was renamed Magnostadt and run under the leadership of the former leader of the Mages school there. But apparently there was a bit of unrest because of the way the previous leadership was dealt with, the man currently leading that country has become extremely paranoid which has led to an extreme bit of inaction in the country. Literally it seems to have completely stagnated following those events." Yasmin added, not knowing if this would be important or not but it could explain the mindset of the change Vizier.

Meanwhile, Shadiya was called upon by Ali who seemed to want to get this group properly settled in Reim sooner rather than later. She looked out at the horizon and hopped on top of the carriage as well. "I can help with that... if you the heavy lifting so to speak. I am not quite strong enough on my own to move all of us... it'd likely render me unconscious for weeks if I tried. I can however, show you where we're going." she said. Shadiya had in this place a villa previously owned by one of her brothers which had been set up for her extended stay here. Of course, she was more than willing to open this place up to her new friends since they'd all likely be here for a while, and it happened to be placed in a very lively part of the empire. With this in mind the girl touched her locket. The Rukh around the girl began to bend as her locket melted into her hands creating a partial equip which would make two eight sided starts on the backs of each of her hands. These were glowing with a bluish light "Dante Al-Thais." she mentioned and she began to draw with this the constellation of the Big Dipper over this group. In so doing another would appear over the open courtyard in front of the Villa. Waiting only to to pushed up and through the transportation circle as the conversation continued between the others below.

[Bloodedge]

"So, there are problems in Magnostadt, as well as Reim, which go beyond our current understanding. Regardless of the situation between the countries, it's only right that we do something about this Sorio." These were the last words spoken by Fudo before Ali and Shadiya went about their use of Space-Time Magic.

Shadiya's partial Djinn Equip opened up the pathway to their next destination, and now that he was able to see it, Ali began to utilize his own Magoi to physically transport the group and all their belongings through the rift, virtually teleporting them through Shadiya's path and having them reappear within the villa. "There we are. Thank you, Shadiya. Now... I'll be back soon-ish," he said with a wave as he walked away.

Fudo took a moment to look around the area from his place on the carriage, taking note that this place seemed to have reasonable living conditions, yet no residents. "This place doesn't look inhabited, but it looks ready to be. Where are we?"

[Apollymi]

During the use of the space time magic, after Fudo had spoken all was quiet with the young women currently occupying this place. Once they had moved though, Yasmin nodded her agreement to the clause that something had to be done about the Vizier known as Sorio. "I agree." she said there were plenty of problems in the world, and she had nothing better to do than help conquer them one by one.

Shadiya gave a quick bow and cancelled the use of her partial Djinn equip as it was more than a little draining for the young woman. Once it was gone and her locket was back secure on her neck she nodded. "Alright... this place is ready for everyone and there is more than enough room for all of you to stay here if you wish." she said of this place. Upon reaching their destination she jumped down from the roof of the carriage in time to hear and answer the question posed by Fudo about the place they were currently in. "This is my villa. Hmm, rather a place that was acquired for me when I said I'd be coming here. It was abandoned in the past and while I was on my way here it was refurbished and fully stocked. I figured... if we were all going to be here, we'd need a place to stay. So... " Shadiya seemed to be suffering a moment of minor embarrassment at the offer she was trying to make to her newfound companions. "I mean... if you want to stay, there's more than enough room..." she said trying to downplay her feelings in this matter. It only made Nasira chuckle and Yasmin smile. She really was a nice girl.

Meanwhile the landing of these people and all of their things caused someone from inside the villa to exit. Upon doing so, one would see a slim yet curvy young woman with fearsome scarlet hair pulled up into a ponytail that still hung down to her waist. Her bangs parted to cover her right eye only a grim look to her face. She was dressed in partial armor pieces black with silver filigree and a linen loincloth. Her outfit completed by a black scarf draped around her neck which blew into the breeze. "Hm. This is way more people than I expected."

[Bloodedge]

Fudo's mouth curled into a grin when Shadiya explained the existence of this place. Knowing that it was hers, he immediately felt more comfortable being in the area. "I'm sure we'd all be glad to stay. Thank you, Shadiya."

Malik wasted no time literally leaping from the carriage, finding this area dangerously familiar to him. "Ah! We're right next to-" he began to speak, only to abruptly stop his sentence upon seeing the trademark scarlet hair of one particular gladiator. "Oh! Erza! I brought some guys!"

[Apollymi]

Both Nasira and Yasmin nodded that they'd enjoy staying here as well. This gave a great deal of relief to Shadiya who smiled. "Alright then, I'll enjoy having everyone around." she said swiftly only to turn towards the house and see the scarlet haired woman while the other two young women went to begin retrieving things from the cart which everyone could or would use within the house. In the meantime when they came out it was obvious that there was a new person among them, a scarlet haired warrior type who seemed to be familiar with Malik. "Oh, did you? That's great and all but I am not here for that. I am here because I set up this Villa for... she said looking at the girl who stepped up with her purple hair. "You." she said. Looking to the girl who nodded. "Yes, I'm Shadiya, thank you very much." she said knowing this woman had been the one in charge of the restoration of her house. She scoffed just a little and shook her head from left to right. "You're late." she mentioned. Though taking a look at the rest of the people she figured them to be reasonably capable so she just shrugged in reply to Malik she had but one thing to say.

"You know the old man has to look into all the rest." she mentioned of the Gladiators, of the villa she explained a bit more. "Basically this is a prime spot, right next to the Coloseum and within walking distance of a very good market. The place is fully stocked and the nearest public bath is only about a block away. "

[Bloodedge]

"Ugh, really? Gramps is such a stiff, though. I don't think he'd be open to just letting a bunch of new people be around while we're training," Malik said. This old man of whom they spoke was apparently not the friendliest of people. Of course, the same could be assumed of the red-haired woman who'd so recently appeared to the group. "Perhaps this man you speak of would be interested in letting us train as well," Fudo interjected. The teal-haired prince approached the woman called Erza, extending his right hand to her with a smile upon his face to begin his greeting. "You're with the Yambala Gladiators, right? Fudo Shakir. My friends and I came from Parthevia to seek guidance in improving our Magoi Manipulation."

[Apollymi]

Erza looked at the pink haired boy and rolled her eyes. While it was true the leader of the Gladiators was a seemingly stern individual, that didn't mean he'd be totally opposed to new people. After all, he'd taken on the pink haired boy at some point. Before she could point this out though the teal haired young man was walking up, and extending his hand in greeting the scarlet haired young woman could do nothing but accept his outstretched hand and firmly shake. "I'm Erza Nicolaides." she mentioned the young woman who was obviously not from this place but still here. "And yes, I am one of the Yambala Gladiators." she said acknowledging what this young man had to say she could only shrug. "I am not one to say whether that would be permitted or not. But talking to the old man is your best bet. I'll take you to him if you'd like. He's supposed to be meeting this one anyways." she stated finally gesturing to Shadiya. She was apparently not a mean person, just a bit withdrawn as far as her interactions with people.

After these words were spoken, Yasmin and Nasira returned from settling a few of the things out of the cart and into the villa. "What'd we miss?" questioned the female dungeon capturer.

[Bloodedge]

"There's no need for that," spoke an elderly voice teeming with masculinity. From the rear of Erza, a very short male who seemed to be bordering a hundred years old, approached. He wore a cloak lined with white fur matching his mustache and what remained of his hair. This midget of a man was all but imposing to the naked eye, but there was something about his presence that made Fudo's brow quiver momentarily. "Pleasure to meet you, Erza. No worries; I understand you wouldn't have the final say. I take it this is the man you're talking about," he said while looking toward the elderly male to hear his next words. The old man had his eyes fixed not on Erza, not on Malik, but on Shadiya alone, even as he spoke to the general public of the area. These words would come just as Yasmin and Nasira revealed themselves. "I don't care why any of you have come here. I agreed to take on one final pupil, and no more than one. Who I take is my chosen successor in the art of Magoi, and so help me I'll not show another soul so long as I draw breath."

[Apollymi]

"Master." Erza said as the old man spoke up apparently he'd been nearby this place. It was kind of funny to see such a small old man approach with such authority. His appearance made Nasira and Yasmin glance at each other. His words to the girl Shadiya made her look at her new friends. She could appreciate someone wanting to only teach their technique to one person, but she also couldn't really abandon them to fate either. "Well, I get that, but I can't really abandon them in this either. So, if that's the case, teach either Fudo or Yasmin... " whatever this girl was about to say was completely lost.

Shula had been talking with Samiya on top of the cart, but now that she was finished she'd approached the group only to see the tiniest most adorable old man she'd ever seen in her life. "OH! HE'S THE MOST ADORABLE THING EVER!~" the young magi interrupted her immediate actions involved her aiming to capture the small old man and pull him into her bosom and smother him with her doting affections. Such a thing was so random it completely broke the concentration of all the females present. Even Erza was frozen and had to quickly cover a grin which spread across her normally stoic face.

[Bloodedge]

Though Malik did not know how to sway the old man from his decision, he came to the realization that he had never been able to bring Shula along with him to the Yambala Gladiators, so she had yet to meet the old master. With this in mind, he knew mostly what to expect from the moment she laid eyes on the man, and the confirmation of this came swiftly within a few moments of the Magi's outburst. "WATCH OUT WATCH OUT WATCH OUT!" he shouted. He was, however, too late. The next thing Malik saw was the grabbing of the master, and the subsequent smothering of him betwixt the Magi's bosom. 'Aaand Shula out of nowhere. I'm actually kinda jealous...' he thought.

"Insolent child!" said the elderly male as he pulled himself away from Shula's grasp. "Who do you think you are to approach me like that!? I am the greatest gladiator to ever grace the Reim Empire! Now, you," he went on, looking toward Shadiya once more. "Come again, child?"

[Apollymi]

And just like that the most comical moment that Nasira, Yasmin and Erza had ever witness happened before them. All while Malik tried to warn the old man of the presence of the coming Magi. His foreknowledge of the kind of behaviors this young woman had made, Yasmin wonder just how often the young Magi had done something like this prior to this moment. Still it made her chuckle as she tried for a serious face but couldn't manage right up until the old man managed to pull the young girl off himself. When he went on to say that he was oldest and most decorated Gladiator made a spark fly in the pink haired girl's mind. "Oh?! That means you're... Makarov Dreyar!" this moment of recognition made Nasira look to the pink haired girl in a questioning manner. "What, it was in the book Shadi handed me when I asked about the stuff earlier." she clarified. Still he seemed like an exciting man, if not a lot more tiny than his biographical information made him out to be.

Meanwhile, Shula took her scolding with all the care of an impetuous child. "My name's Shula, and I'm a Magi. I picked him and her." she said pointing to Malik and Shadiya. In this moment of craziness it took a moment for the attention to return to Shadiya bu when it did she seemed to be even more resolved than she had been before. "I said if it's the case that you would only teach one, then you should choose either Fudo or Yasmin. Both of them are more suited for it than I would be... besides they'd be able to put it to better use. I don't really want to be the one to learn it if only one of us can. Especially not when they didn't abandon me when they could have." she finished rather firm in her decision about this. Yasmin seemed a bit shocked. "Wait, Shadi, that isn't even necessary, you were the one coming here to learn this... there's no need to give that up for us." Yasmin was always very surprised by the kindness she was shown by people, and though she understood all aspects of this, she also didn't want to be the sole person learning any skill when more deserving or better suited people stood among them.

All the while this conversation happen Shula was grinning widely. She always liked the spine the purple haired girl showed in the face of adverse situations. And this was one such moment. It made her happy she'd been the one to choose her. "Aww, and I was all jealous 'cause I didn't choose the future legends. I forgot you were your own kind of legend." said the Magi as she sprang from her current position to spread her doting attention to Shadiya.

[Bloodedge]

"Yes, that would be me," the man replied. "I will allow a Magi's presence. Magi are far beyond the simplistic teachings I have to offer. However!" Shadiya's clause was noble indeed, but Makarov seemed disinterested in the others in the vicinity, bar Shadiya and Malik. When the purple-haired girl offered her training up to the other two, he looked at them individually for a few moments each, then shook his head. "They do seem stronger than you by a large margin. And that is exactly why I won't train them! Malik is stronger than the two of them after a year of training, but the Tao boy I took in was another strong one when he arrived, and I don't like how he turned out. I am willing to grant strength, but I will not add to it!"

[Apollymi]

Shadiya looked at this old man as if she was confused. "Tao?" she could only think of one person with that name and had been in meeting with her brother on behalf of the Ko Empire before they had arrived here. Even so, she couldn't go along with such mediocre reasoning. "Sounds to me like you're simply afraid of what they will do with what you give them. But not wanting to help them because they could go on to do great or horrible things without knowing their intentions is demeaning to them and me. It makes it sound like you'd help me because I am too weak to help myself, but discount them because they were strong enough to help me. You are making it sound like people who are strong are innately off to do something wrong simply because you've had one bad experience. One would think that one as old and wise as yourself would be beyond that."

Watching this girl argue made Yasmin kind of proud. She found it interesting that this girl was willing to go so far. She had to admit in this moment she had a great deal of respect for the girl who was a few years younger than herself. 'I'm glad she's on our side... I am not sure I could win an argument against her.' the pink haired girl thought. Given how passionate the other girl seemed, Yasmin didn't even want to make her stop until she was satisfied with the whatever answer she was going to receive from the old man.

[Bloodedge]

"Oh, the ignorance of youth," Makarov said with a sigh. With that, he began to pace in a circle around the group, holding his head up and looking into the open sky above. "Power is corruption itself. No one with power seeks discipline; only more power. Those without power can be taught discipline and restraint as they grow. I do not teach for the simple sake of making others strong. I teach to keep the knowledge and understanding of Magoi alive, and nothing more. To abuse this by instigating war and the like is not what I want from my pupils, so I will take no more chances!"

Though Fudo sided with Shadiya in this matter, he could see Makarov's resolve from this interaction. So, he approached the purple-haired Dungeon Capturer, placed a hand atop her shoulder, and leaned toward her ear. "It's fine, Shadi. He's not going to budge, no matter how hard you try. You deserve the training from the master," he said. And with that, he looked toward the master and spoke openly. "Besides... Though he won't teach us, there's no saying he doesn't want any of the other Yambala Gladiators to show us what they know. He's just hiding the secret he hasn't even shown them. Right, Master Makarov?" When Fudo spoke, the old man's eyes widened, then immediately narrowed. He had nothing to say about this, but the fact that he said nothing brought a smile to Fudo's face. In this very moment, Makarov's intentions became blatantly obvious. "My gratitude goes to you, Master."

[Apollymi]

Shadiya found this old man's arguments interesting. He didn't want people learning his special skills instigating war, to be fair, by that logic alone he should probably be giving said information to the two people most likely to try and avoid it at all cost. But before she could open her mouth to speak this point, Fudo interjected. His words in this moment were similar in tone and cadence to how he'd spoken to her the first time they'd met and since both he and Yasmin had already expressed that they weren't pushing this issue she let it go. Her hands raised up to him as he said his peace. "Fine, fine. If you're sure I won't argue about it." and just like she was done. "I guess, I'm the student of choice then. I'll try my best." she said bowing to the old master.

Yasmin was now standing apparently alone only to look over to her right and see Nasira standing beside her with a smirk on her face "You know he's always been like that. Even when we were kids... I suppose we should settle in for the long haul, we are going to be busy I assume." Nasira finished speaking and bounced on her toes. It would be Yasmin who spoke a second later, only after giving an encouraging thumbs up to Shadiya. "So, I see. This kind of makes me happy. If both of them were against me I'm pretty sure I'd collapse... I am not really made to argue like that." mentioned the pink haired girl as she stretched happy to be moving past the roughness of this initial meeting.

[Bloodedge]

"Of course I'm sure. You trust me, right?" he asked of Shadiya. If there was one thing Fudo always was, it was a man with a plan, so to speak. And of course, he had a plan. What Makarov said was true; Shadiya did seem a bit physically inept for a Dungeon Capturer. He and the others were looking for increased skill with their Metal and Household Vessels, but if Shadiya could learn even more, it would only make her a much better asset for the group as a whole. No matter which way he thought about it, this would be a win-win situation for everyone.

"So, we've got some new young'uns?" spoke a white-haired male with tan skin, seeming to be near middle-aged. His approach was made with folded arms and a stern expression, his steps firm and purposeful as a sword on either side of his body swayed to and fro with his movement. "Dibs on the one with the rack," he said as he took a side to Erza.

[Apollymi]

"Of course I do. Do what you feel is best." Shadiya said. She could trust in this man's plans because he was so good at making them sound good and beyond that she believed in his goodness as a person. If he was fine with this she was as well. It would seem that more and more of these Gladiator type people were emerging to going the group as a whole. And while Yasmin and Nasira talked over the less important bits, a man appeared beside Erza. "Obviously." she said when he stated his intentions to train the one with the rack. This would make the scarlet haired woman aim to nudge the man in the ribs with her elbow. "You're disgusting. But... I think I will be taking this one." she said inclining her head to Fudo.

[Bloodedge]

"Thank you. I'll do my best not to disappoint," Fudo said with a smile. Now, things were all set to begin moving forward at a reasonable pace. The only thing to address, was the training itself. This new arrival somehow managed to rub Fudo the wrong way from his introduction, but the teal-haired man thought it to simply be an off hunch.

This white-haired man received a swift elbow to the rib-cage. The following statement from Erza, though, caused him to shift himself directly into the woman's line of sight. "Ohh, but I'm the disgusting one. Got a thing for the freaky eyes, huh?"

[Apollymi]

A bright smile beamed from the younger of their group. Shadiya wasn't at all good at hiding herself properly and as such when she said she had faith in Fudo she meant it. With it already worked out who she would be learning from she was interested to see who the others were picked by. It would be the conversation between the scarlet haired woman and the white haired man she'd just nudged which would continue and determine who would be training whom. "Ew, of course not. Unlike you, I am thinking with the head on my shoulders. He's the only one visibly armed; I want a challenge." Erza mentioned, intending apparently to get some sort of stretch out of teaching Magoi Manipulation to Fudo.

Yasmin seemed to be astutely aware she was being talked about. But she was always aware of that anyways. She felt no particular way about anything and with that in mind she simply waited for whomever decided she was worthy to be trained. 'And talking about me... again. This is kind of maddening.' she thought as she pushed pink locks out of her face. Nasira watched this entire group of people ready to move if she needed to but stuck between the pairing of Fudo and Yasmin about equally distant from each of them, as if she intended to be within arms reach of either at a moment's notice.

[Bloodedge]

"Yeah, say what you want. Have fun with the pretty boy, Erza~" he said as he walked away from the red-haired gladiator. "Hey, pink one! You're comin' with me."

In the meantime, Fudo was also honing in on the interaction between gladiators, gathering from Erza's body language that she'd be taking him on. Judging by her general demeanor, and a few key bits of knowledge, he could at least assume why this was the case, but that hardly mattered anyway. "I take it neither of you was ever opposed to doing this, then. This seems promising."

Makarov, on the other hand, had been silently moving away from the group. He eventually reached a far enough distance that his voice would only be heard if he yelled. So, he did exactly that. "Shadiya! Come along!"

[Apollymi]

Erza scoffed, but it seemed her choice of person was already headed her way. With that in mind she simply shrugged. "I will." and there after she was addressed directly by Fudo which made her look at the young man oddly. He was at least perceptive which was a good place to start, as for how they all felt about it she could only imagine. "I can't speak for him, but I was never opposed. I am always looking for a new challenge and nothing makes a reasonable one more than making sure your opponent is ready."

Yasmin was soon approached by another and when she was, she looked at the man as if confused. "Well, fine. I'm Yasmin, nice to meet you." she said giving a small bow. In this interaction she was called pink one, but she supposed she'd been called worse before so this didn't bother her in the slightest which is why she'd introduced herself anyways.

Shadiya was urged to come along and so she did since the voice carried far off. It didn't take her very long to catch up with the older gentleman and once she was right behind him she took on his pace. "Ready!" the purple haired girl mentioned utterly excited by the prospect of learning something different.

Nasira watched as the rest drifted off, and given this she was more than content to finish what she had been doing previously which included getting them all settled into this new place and checking on Bakura who had been unconscious an awful long time.

[Bloodedge]

"Fair enough," Fudo replied as he followed the red-haired woman. "I'll do my best not to disappoint."

The white-haired man whom Yasmin followed looked over his shoulder with narrow eyes as she introduced herself. He didn't care much for introductions, but he supposed if he was going to be taking care of this one's development, he may as well be acquainted. "Caelus. Caelus Aratus," he said. He continued moving forward until he reached the inside of an old building with nothing short of open space betwixt its four walls. "Alright, kid. Show me what ya' got."

Meanwhile, Malik took a side to Nasira as she checked in on the sleeping lad in the carriage. It seemed the ashen-haired boy was beginning to stir. When he opened his eyes, Nasira was his first sight, which brought comfort to the fact that he had nary a clue where he was at the time being. "Ugh... What happened to me?"

[Apollymi]

"Good." said Erza as she stepped into another large space just off the Colosseum which she'd use to train this young man. She looked to the sword at this young man's side and though the large space was basically empty she walked to the side and retrieved something which looked like a large polearm with a spear head attached to one end only it was much shorter than one would think a polearm should be. "Assuming you know what to do with that sword at your side. Let's see it." she said twirling the spear around in her hand motioning for the young man to come.

Yasmin soon found herself in a large room with a vast space with this lone white haired man who introduced himself shortly before asking her to show him what she had. "Alright then." Yasmin held the assumption that Gladiators would always be ready for a coming battle and with that in mind she didn't stop herself in the slightest. She removed her flabellum from its place at her side and channelled her Magoi into it. This would create a weapon in the form of a long spear which the girl would immediately use. Her body falling into the practiced movements she always seemed to possess when using a long weapon. A few steps would be taken forward as she changed the positioning of her hands on the weapon so that she could create quick sweeping motion from left to right aimed into the center of this man's being.

As the battles and trainings ensued, Nasira found the missing male household member of theirs finally stirring from his extending slumber. A grin came to her face as he seemed to be alright and she was also distinctly aware that Malik was still at her side and as such she would begin to answer Bakura's question while offering him a hand up. "Well, you tried to sacrifice yourself to save Yasmin and got stabbed facing that guy in Parthevia. But Samiya fixed you up before you could bleed out completely. You gave us all a serious scare, especially Yasmin." she said calmly. "But we're happy you're alright, and you've missed a lot, so I'll help you get caught up." she said.

[Bloodedge]

"As you wish," Fudo said while drawing his sword. Foregoing the use of his Djinn Weapon Equip once again, he held his sword in his right hand, and pressed his left forearm against his lower back while making a fast approach. He could already see one benefit to this battle; he'd be able to better himself against long weapons. When he was in range, he aimed a simple, swift jab of his blade at Erza's face. It was a strike which, whether it hit or miss, would immediately be withdrawn to allow a potential evasive maneuver... one Fudo figured he would be needing very soon.

At about the same time, Caelus was being charged by Yasmin, who thought it a good idea to utilize her Djinn Weapon Equip against him. Sighing, the man held out his right arm against the weapon she bore, stopping it in its path toward his center. "No," he said, using his own Magoi through his hand to counteract the Magoi in Yasmin's weapon. In doing so, he intended to negate the magic which allowed this weapon to maintain its form. "Magoi against Magoi. The more focused one always wins. You might be an early Dungeon Capturer, but at this level, it's nothing to shut down that Metal Vessel of yours."

[Apollymi]

Erza found herself facing a boy who obviously had more than a little training in the use of his weapon. Even so, it would only impress the woman a tiny bit as he'd chosen not to use the Djinn Equip he more than likely possessed. As the strike came towards her face the blunt end of the woman's weapon met the sword only to have, Fudo immediately move towards an evasive stance. The smirk on this woman's face didn't change as she moved forward not with her body but with her weapon, more specifically with the Ki her Magoi created channelled through her weapon which gave more reach than her shortened version of the long weapon would normally have. Such a movement would make it appear as if she intended to stab the young man in the face with the added length and efficiency of her weapon, only for it to be spun and the blunt end to be brought into the young man's torso instead. "You're always going to be at a disadvantage against more ranged weapons if you carry on like that. You should be using your Magoi and your Djinn to remove your weaknesses... not allowing them to add new ones." she mentioned of the boy's form and fighting style.

Yasmin soon found herself stopped in the middle of what would have been an attack. Her weapon equip simply disappearing in contact with the older man's Magoi. That was kind of an amazing feat and left the pink haired girl wide eyed as she stared at her flabellum in its original form in her hand. By what he said it was obvious that he was the more focused of the two of them, but she wasn't sure what to do with that information. "What do you suggest?" she asked of him, if this was all about controlling her Magoi then she needed to understand how he made it work to so easily disrupt what she'd done, that way she could keep it from happening at every turn. And just like that the former slave girl was becoming an avid learner.

[Bloodedge]

From the stance he'd taken, Fudo had what he thought to be a reasonable view toward any incoming attack. In fact, he had exactly that. He was able to react to the incoming stab to his face by ducking, but in not anticipating high maneuverability with this polearm, he only left his face susceptible to the true strike of Erza's weapon meant for his torso. The blunt end of her halberd slammed into the front of the prince's face, knocking him back on impact. When he recovered, blood was dripping from his nose, which seemed to have broken. "I didn't intend to use my Djinn at all, to be honest. I'd hoped I could overcome that weakness completely with skill alone..." Without another word spoken, Fudo returned to his previous stance and charged Erza again. He seemed to be going for the same move again, but this strike came with a sudden alteration. 'Amon!' Calling on the power of his Djinn, Fudo quickly transformed his Metal Vessel into the large, black sword of Amon. This occurred before his normal blade would have been considered within striking distance. Fudo's aim was simply to have the sword elongate when changing forms, enough to cut across Erza's left cheek as it did so. "Amol Saiqa!"

Meanwhile, Caelus finally drew his twin swords in the face of Yasmin. This training session seemed to oppose that of Erza and Fudo, as he was requiring his trainee to go without her Djinn Weapon Equip. However, this was not the case. He only wished for her to make it better. "The first use of Magoi Manipulation is countering someone else's Magoi by using your own. This works by touch. Fire beats fire. You use your Magoi to make a weapon, so I use mine to shut yours out. If you did the same thing at the right time, you could stop me from killing that weapon of yours."

[Apollymi]

Erza seemed content to continue on in the way she was. And though she'd caused this young man a greater injury than she'd intended, he seemed content to continue without treating it so she'd do just that as she watched him put her advice into practice. As he attempted his next strike it seemed unreasonably similar to his previous one. The main change would come with the summoning of the Djinn's weapon which would happen in a shorter space than his previous type of strike. This would end of course, with a cut appearing on Erza's left cheek. But unlike most who would have been stunned by this when she moved to retaliate she had more to say. "Yeah, that's better. Using Magoi in this way, trusting the Ki to your weapon is one way to use it. It modifies your fighting style and allows you to reach that which wouldn't normally be capable of." she said, moving the large halberd in her hand to aim a series of strikes at this young man's sword, totaling three in downward powerful strokes. If she succeeded in this it would make the larger sword harder for the young man to pick up creating another opening for her to strike at the center of his being with the blunted end of her weapon providing him an image of the weakness caused by the use of such a large weapon when he wasn't properly used to it.

Meanwhile, Yasmin was told by Caelus what he'd meant by his earlier statement. His words seemed to click together in the pink haired girl's mind and as he drew his weapons she created hers spinning the staff around in her hand and trying to think of how best to time her manipulation of Magoi through the weapon to keep it whole as she attacked and dealt with counterattacks. With this in mind, she attacked again not bothering to clarify her understanding or interpretation of what this man had to say. This time her staff travelled in a quick downward strike coming from above this man's left shoulder and aiming to travel straight and hard towards the man's feet. The entire time she as using a minimal amount of her Magoi to keep her weapon in its form, waiting for a coming counter to test her timing.

[Bloodedge]

"But?" Fudo questioned. It was then that his sword received a trio of strikes atop it, forcing its weight down to open him up for a counterattack. As she transitioned into this attack, Fudo reacted by altering the size of his sword. It became a small, blackened and somewhat jagged version of his original weapon. His attack range became a bit longer than the sword itself due to the heat emitted directly from the blade. With this smaller, lighter form though, he became able to parry the next strike Erza had in store for him, then perform two jabs at her upper left arm with his burning sword. "Amon's Royal Sword."

"Alright, let's see it," Caelus said in preparation for Yasmin's developed ability. Her strike warranted an evasion to Caelus' right, followed by the dropping of his right sword. With a free right hand, he reached out to thrust his palm into Yasmin's abdomen, once again performing the Magoi counteraction.

[Apollymi]

Fudo's question would go unanswered for a few seconds. As the attack she'd planned didn't turn out the way that Erza had intended. In fact, she was more than a bit surprised at the ease with which this young man switched between the two different forms of his sword. Once he was able to fully utilize his Djinn Equip he'd be quite scary to face in combat. But right at the moment there was still experience separating the two and so the duo of jabs aimed at her left were instead absorbed into her magoi wrapped around her weapon. "That's, surprising." she said spinning the weapon around in her hands and once the blunt end was pointed towards Fudo once more she explained. "It's better but where's the rest of it?" she questioned the magoi which was manifested around her halberd spreading up her arms and across her shoulders, spreading even down to her legs as she used her magoi to enforce her body and though she could strike this way it receded. "Weapons and skill with those weapons are nice, but until your magoi stretches the power of your Djinn to its full limits... you're going to find yourself outmatched." she finished gesturing towards herself to encourage another attack.

The man's movements to avoid her strike didn't really surprise Yasmin. In fact, she was prepared for this her body flowing and her staff moving from one hand to another so that she could aim another strike. And though this man's hand did make contact with her torso, she was more than capable of pushing her magoi back against his nullification. Holding on to her Djinn's Weapon Equip the strike that was coming was swift and from her left straight into this man's right hand side aiming a quick jab into his person with the end of her weapon.

[Bloodedge]

"The rest, huh?" At this point, the Magoi of his trainer was clearly visible to Fudo. The fact that she invited him to make the next assault was a bit of a relief, as he now had a moment to think over the next move. As he thought it over, he came to realize that he had yet to attempt more of a Djinn Equip than this. Actually, he sought to use his Djinn sparingly, as he knew it to be one of a very dangerous element. On the other hand, though, he was better off working on the full equip now, rather than later. Until now, he had been focusing Amon's flames into the sword and his hands for Djinn Weapon Equip. Logical progression dictated that he burn his entire body with the flames, focusing them throughout his core to progress the transformation. And so, he did exactly that, engulfing himself in Amon's flames and aiming to focus his form on his entire body. There was a bit of progression in the form of his arms gaining armor, instead of the usual smoldering appearance they took. However, this seemed to stagnate there. "Tell me something. Your master seems opposed to using these abilities for power, but you seem very combat oriented for a person trained by such a man. Why is this?"

Caelus could see the progression of ability within Yasmin, but he knew there was still much to be done here. As such, when the young woman aimed to lash out at him again, he raised his right arm against her weapon to parry. "Your Djinn Equip is missing something. Your Magoi is being held back more than it should be. I don't know what's missing, but you're not getting everything that weapon form has to offer."

[Apollymi]

Erza seemed to come under question from her chosen pupil about her choices as far as combat was concerned. When one thought about it from the outside perspective she supposed she could see how one might take her randomly aggressive use of fighting and her outwardly cold nature, but it was more complicated than that. As she watched this young man start on his full Djinn Equip she noted that it progressed if only to move his Magoi up his lower arms. "Well, I'm from the Sasan Kingdom. I was sent here as part of my training to become a Sasan Knight. Strength and conviction are simply part of who I am... it isn't me wanting to be powerful. I was here to learn patience and discipline to go along with my physical prowess." she said not knowing if this would be fully understood. She explained of herself. After this she moved right along staring at his arms she could tell he was still holding back by a great deal considering the stopping point of his transformation. But she wasn't sure just yet whether this was his intention or if it was that he was mentally stuck there. 'Two options, it's mental... and he has some sort of hangup which stops him from fully committing to the Djinn Equip. Or it's physical and he doesn't have enough.' Erza found it a bit complicated to deal with and until she figured out which thing it was she couldn't well move on from this point of his training. "You know you have an entire body right?" she asked somewhat rhetorically waiting to see if he would come up with more or see if he would need motivation.

Meanwhile Yasmin was having a similar conversation with her trainer about not getting enough out of her weapon equip, which was more than obvious considering that he was still able to parry what would have otherwise been a fairly good blow. With this new information she backed away... taking a deep breath. "I know. I saw it fully when Fudo and I were looking into our likeness, he used it so I know what it is. Besides the weapon it comes with armor..." she said her face gaining a slightly pink tint. Yasmin didn't purposefully hold back, it was simply built into her personality to withhold a bit of herself, which was likely due to the time she spent enslaved. It was rather difficult to truly lend that much of herself to any given form when doing anything that fully rash before this point had always lead to full disaster. It seemed a great deal of caution was built into the girl's persona and it had made its way into her Magoi Manipulation for whatever reason.

[Bloodedge]

"I see... So you are from Sasan. I knew you weren't from here," Fudo said as he contemplated the redhead's words. Still, he had made no progress on furthering his Djinn Equip. Though he had Magoi in excess, he could not bring himself to finish the evolution. From what he already understood of this Metal Vessel, he could only assume that its ultimate form was a force to be reckoned with, and he felt as if its power was very dangerous to those around him. "Yeah, I know. It doesn't seem like it's working for me, though. Maybe I should try something else instead."

"Eh? Wait, wait, wait..." Caelus was astounded by what he was hearing from this girl. So astounded, in fact, that he dropped his other sword and looked at her as if she'd gone mad right in front of his eyes. "You mean to tell me... that you've known this entire time what that thing could do... and you haven't been doing it? What the hell are we doing here if you're not giving it all you've got?"

[Apollymi]

Erza looked at this young man and was a bit confused by what she was seeing. Because it became obvious to her that he had the excess Magoi to complete the transformation yet he claimed he couldn't do it. 'Ah, in his head then.' she said thinking about it she didn't know enough about this boy to figure out what was keeping him from his transformation. "And now you know where I am from... what about you?" she asked of the young man seeming to have relaxed completely and was now leaning against her halberd which she planted into the ground. Afterall, there was no point in continuing to fight the young man as he was, if he couldn't push past whatever was keeping him from a transformation he could obviously activate.

Yasmin was in her own training receiving a much more direct bit of disbelief at her present state of inaction. She had the grace to look a bit embarrassed and tried to think of how to explain it. "I didn't mean to hold back. It's just kind of hard to unlearn the habit... it's all still really new to me." Yasmin mentioned. It was true that she had a more than reasonable amount of power, but until very recently she never considered herself to be very powerful at all. Given that and the known negatives she had for throwing herself into things, she was always very cautious.

[Bloodedge]

Seeing Erza's relaxed state, Fudo dropped his fighting stance as well, and did away with Amon's flames and his Djinn Equip. "I'm from Sindria. I won't lie and say I'm not here for power. What I want is to be able to deal with any challenge thrown my way as I go on to realize my ultimate goal: creating a world without poverty or suffering, as a king that treats all of his subjects as members of the royal palace."

Caelus remained surprised by what he was hearing. He knew there was something he disliked about this group of people that had come to the Yambala Gladiators, and now he knew exactly what it was. "Ah... You're a peaceful bunch, huh? A bunch of Dungeon Capturers who don't like killing people. You're gonna have a hard time in this world if you don't learn when to put some killer instinct behind that soft ass weapon of yours."

[Apollymi]

Erza heard what this young man was about to say. His goals were lofty and given the size of the group he arrived with he obviously had a number of people willing to follow him to get this done. But... "Surely you realize, that doing something like that will eventually require some form of violence, even if it's just to quell those..." she was going to keep talking but an old woman with a hat on her head dressed in robes appeared in the room. Her hair was a grey faded pink and her eyes were large and brown in color. When she entered she spoke harshly her voice raspy, likely from the pipe she smoked on but this was not really the point. "Save your breath, these brats don't get it. I'll fix it; both of you may as well follow me. The Princess also requires this lesson and I'm only going to say this once." she said casually as she walked through with a commanding presence that dictated she expected to be followed at this very moment. Erza surprisingly enough simply followed without question assuming that Fudo would do the same. She was walking towards the room occupied by Caelus and Yasmin and would arrive there surprisingly fast for a woman of her age.

Caelus words reached Yasmin and she supposed she understood them. But she didn't really like the idea of killing people. For her, bloodshed and violence didn't do anything but breed more of the same. That as an aside she wasn't the type to be violent unnecessarily, which was more than obvious given she was well trained with a weapon but never really used one to the full extent of her abilities. But before she could open her mouth to reply to her trainer an old woman entered the room and said but one thing. "Sit."

[Bloodedge]

Fudo's ears were open to whatever Erza had to say, but an interruption came in the form of an elderly woman. Though he did not know who this woman was, Erza chose to follow her, so he did the same. This eventually brought him to the location where Yasmin was being trained by the male gladiator. With the old woman's command to sit, which he assumed to be for him as well, he did so next to the pink-haired girl. In the meantime, Caelus cut his eyes toward the old woman while picking up his weapons. "Uzma. Isn't it past your nap time?"

[Apollymi]

Upon being told to sit Yasmin did, obviously she was used to doing what was said by people in charge. She was rather surprised to find Fudo now in the room with her as well. Since they were now sitting side by side she could see the injury to his face and her eyes widened as she saw the woman known as Erza enter as well taking a seat off to the side with her back against a wall and her large weapon situated in her lap. Yasmin sighed. "Fudo your nose is broken." she mentioned reaching over she'd attempt to realign his nose leaving it straight with only a momentary bit of pain for her companion apparently something the pink haired girl was used to doing. As this happened the small old woman spoke to Caelus apparently none too happy. "Yes it is. But, I can't sleep with the Rukh around these two being so annoying. And you two aren't going to be able to change this about them..." she mentioned to only to pause in front of the pair staring at them both for just moment before she began pacing.

"Both of you are incapable of using your Djinn Equips fully... but this is probably because you don't understand what's at stake here. It's fine to have ideals and values. Your kindness will get your far, but... it also hinders you and will get you killed if you allow it to cloud your judgement." she said. "I hear the Rukh, I see and understand them. I know this... and I'd rather not see two more brats be killed by someone who has fallen into depravity." mentioned the old woman. But this only brought confusion to Yasmin. "Fallen to depravity?" she questioned her eyes darting to Fudo wondering if she was the only one left out of this.

[Bloodedge]

"Hm?" Fudo questioned. In the midst of his training, he had either failed to realize, or simply forgotten the break in his nose. When Yasmin reached out to him, he braced himself for what he knew to be the encroaching reset of his nose. A bit of a cringe followed the act itself, but after a moment, he was back to normal and rubbing his nose.

"Keh!" was all Caelus gave as a response to the old woman. He then sheathed his swords, and stood with his arms crossed while she spoke to this pair of Dungeon Capturers, and alleged King Vessels who simply did not have what it took to properly become kings. 'Fallen?' Fudo mentally questioned as the woman spoke. He had once heard of such a state of being, but never had he received any detail on the matter. As such, when Yasmin asked, he was for once unable to clarify at all.

[Apollymi]

Having properly set Fudo's nose, Yasmin was left to pay the utmost attention to the short old woman talking to them. But she was more than a bit surprised to have Fudo not be able to answer one of her questions. The fact that Yasmin even asked this question made the old woman pause right in front of the girl staring into her face. Yasmin was rather attentive but she didn't understand what she'd said to cause the look on the woman's face, it made her a bit uncomfortable to be under such scrutiny. "Sorry, did I say something wrong?" she asked only to have the old woman reach out and flick her nose. "I've definitely told you this before. But since there is someone new around I'll repeat myself." she said only to have Yasmin rub the tip of her nose. "Ow." she mumbled only to go back to listening as the old woman began pacing and explaining.

"When a life is born, it moves within the flow. To move forward you have to accept the Rukh's Guidance. It points you in the way you should go, and you are responsible for overcoming that which it places before you... within that flow. This is what people call 'fate' and it is the responsibility of all to overcome it in their own way." she explained. "But there are some, who cannot accept the guidance the Rukh provide. Some curse their lives and aim to go against fate and change their destinies. It poisons their Rukh and stops them from being able to move forward. Existence becomes negative and they become fueled by hatred and malice. This is what it means to fall to depravity."

[Bloodedge]

'She's told her before?' Fudo thought. 'Interesting...' A long train of thought passed through the young man's mind, but he decided to store it away for later. For now, he listened to this Uzma's explanation of 'falling into depravity,' as she called it. At the end, he became able to understand things much more clearly. "There is no saving the Fallen," he said aloud, quoting the moment from his past in which he'd heard the term 'Fallen.' "Are you implying that we'll need to kill someone who's Fallen?"

[Apollymi]

The explanation the small old woman gave did seem kind of familiar to the pink haired girl. When she thought about it hard, this old woman kind of seemed familiar, but she couldn't quite place it, but this was a feeling that Yasmin often experienced and as such didn't really know what to say about it. So, she pushed it away in her head for later exploration. When Fudo stated what he apparently knew on the subject and asked a question, the woman nodded her head. "There are many who fall, who aren't strong enough to accept the things they cannot change and move forward. You are here, and have no doubt agreed to help Malik in his quest... the one he aims to displace, Sorio the Wizard, is one such person. His tainted Rukh call for malice and vengeance. There is no salvation for one such as him." the old woman stated.

"Just because you need to do things like this, doesn't change your outlook nor the fact that you tried. But if you spare people that go on to kill you anyways. Which is what the fallen will do, you brats will die martyrs for your causes. And then you won't be able to do any good for anyone that you leave behind." The woman said rather shrewdly. Though she did have a point, the dead do nothing to affect the world physically. Their deaths only haunt those who survive thereafter one such example of this were the former Emperor and Empress.

[Bloodedge]

The more he thought about it, the more this woman's words made sense to Fudo. If what she said was true, the Fallen were a danger to the state of the world itself, as well as themselves. If, once one fell, they were in such a state forever, it would be a kindness unto them. Of course, Fudo would still be trying his best to do otherwise, but if it came down to the cut and dry of kill or lose others, Fudo could potentially be resolved to do what was necessary. Rising from the floor, Fudo chose to step outside for a moment. In doing so, he looked at his Metal Vessel and called upon Amon's flames once more. 'Politeness and Austerity, hm?' he thought before using the flames to burn up his own body again.

"Spirit of Politeness and Austerity. In the name of my Magoi, and my will to grant me a greater power, I order you and your members! Come Forth, Amon!" In a massive burst of flames, Fudo underwent the changes of his full Djinn Equip. The flames receded to be merely a small inferno after a few moments, revealing the prince of Sindria wearing Amon's white robes with longer, blonde hair tied off in two ponytails, flame-like protruding armor on his arms and legs, a naval piercing much like Amon's own, and the trademark third eye of a Djinn on his forehead. There also seemed to be a permanent ring of fire at his backside, and flames spewing from the armor on his legs. His weapon, of course, became the Amol Saiqa broadsword, which he suddenly felt more comfortable with for one reason or another. 'Hmm...'

[Apollymi]

Soon enough Fudo seemed to accept that which he had been told and excused himself. As this happened, Uzma seemed to smirk as she knew exactly what one such as this young man would go and do, and soon enough she had the confirmation of the Rukh and the raging flames outside as proof that this young man had at least managed his Djinn transformation. "There's one. Now then, what about you?" she asked of Yasmin who had been quiet for a great deal of time.

The pink haired girl thought about it for a few more moments and decided that she'd rather do what was necessary than to lose another friend to her inaction. Of course, she'd probably been leaning towards such a decision for quite a while and decided about it based on the events surrounding Bakura in Parthevia. As she walked a bit off from the rest of the group she put in a great deal of thought into what she'd say. "The Spirit of Maniacal Love and Chaos, I order thine ancestors, To use my Magoi to give me power, Come Out, Paimon!" she mentioned while holding her flabellum and channelling her magoi this would lead to a small tornado surrounding the girl which would close in on her person before dissipating to reveal a change in her form. White robes with gold extensions and accessories much in the style of Paimon's piercings and chains. Her appendages slightly feathered including the bits right around her face which was crowned by another gold piece which centered around a third eye in the middle of her forehead. Her hair also seemed to have lightened a great deal and such would complete the girl's ability to use her Djinn transformation.

This sight was a new one for the old woman who seemed satisfied at least that the girl was capable of it. And for Erza who was still posted against a wall but capable of seeing the transformations of both individuals who seemed to be having problems with it. Now that it had been handled in such a way, Uzma scoffed and headed off. "Now I can sleep in peace." she mentioned as her parting words heading for the same door which Fudo had left.

[Bloodedge]

As his transformation stabilized, Fudo was passed by the very same elderly woman who'd given Yasmin and himself the advice that allowed their development. As she passed, he called out to her. "Did you leave the palace of your own accord, or did Sorio drive you out?" he asked, having come to the conclusion that this woman had to be of high standing in the palace prior to her stay with the Yambala Gladiators.

Meanwhile, Caelus decided to take his leave of this building, finding in seeing these two that their training for the day had come to its end. "We're done here. I'm going to do some real training."

[Apollymi]

As Uzma was leaving she was called out to by Fudo. The young man's question gave her a bit of pause, one because she didn't expect anyone to be insightful enough to have realized such a thing based upon what she'd said today and two because it'd been quite a while since she'd discussed her life as part of the palace. "I told the Emperor and Empress that Sorio was tainted. They believed me but thought he could be changed. That it was simply the war and that with time he'd become his normal self again. Then the princess went missing, and though I was able to tell them that she lived I could provide them no other comforts. I tried to save them but Sorio had them assassinated, and so I sought refuge here, until such a time as the flow of the Rukh could be returned to normal. I am glad she's alright and that's she found friends."

Meanwhile, Caelus mentioned to Yasmin that their training for the day was finished and this caused the girl to smile and bow. "Thank you." she said as her Djinn Equip fell away and she returned her flabellum to the place it'd previously been connected to her outfit. Such a thing made Erza smile just a little but soon her face was as stoic as ever as she stood from her spot on the wall and headed out the same was as Caelus. "Oi, wait up. I'm coming, too." she said as she aimed to leave with him to do whatever extra training they wanted to do for the day. All alone Yasmin decided to join Fudo to see what had come of his transformation and stood in the doorway having a look at the young man's changed appearance a bit out of earshot from his conversation with the old woman.

[Bloodedge]

Uzma's story confirmed his suspicions that she had been within the palace prior to Sorio's takeover. This also further resolved him to do something about the problem with the aforementioned man, as Fudo now had more insight on the kind of person he'd become. "Don't worry. We'll make things right while we're here," he said with a respectful bow to the departing woman of age. Once this brief interaction had given Fudo the information he sought, he turned around with the intention of locating Yasmin. A few steps ahead, and he encountered her at the entrance to the building they had previously been inside. When he saw the young woman, his eyes widened and one brow rose. He obviously never saw the outfit that came with either form of Paimon's Djinn Equip when he used it earlier, but now that he could see it, he found it... interesting, to say the least. With a grin, he chose to comment on the garb. "Hmph. I was right. It definitely suits you more than it would me."

[Apollymi]

The aged woman, seemed to look at this boy as he bowed, and after his statement her eyes widened but she soon continued on her path. As she walked away a small smile appeared on her face, as she was quite certain this boy and the Princess were more than capable of doing exactly that. If only for a bit of time.

After this Yasmin was soon confronted by Fudo who chose to comment on the look of her Djinn Equip which she supposed she hadn't seen herself except on him. A small blush appeared on the girl's face as she thought about what this particular form of armor had to look like on her compared to him. "Hm? You think so?" she asked a smile appearing on her slightly blushed face. "I always wondered what yours would be like too... definitely more you than me." the girl finished up finally cancelling her transformation and allowing her item to fall back into place her clothing returning to normal. "Also our teachers seemed to run off saying we were done for the day. So, I guess we are free to do what we want for a while."

[Bloodedge]

"Of course I do. I dare say it accents your features very well. I'd definitely recommend it over the rags," he replied nonchalantly before hazarding a glance at his own getup, finding it refreshingly less feminine than what he'd gotten out of Paimon's Djinn Equip. When Yasmin commented on it, he took hold of his top, which consisted solely of a strip of cloth from his right hip, which stretched around him and draped over his left shoulder. "Heh! Are you sure? Surely you'd have your own appeal in something like this. Feel free to try it on for yourself whenever you like." With that said, Fudo did away with his own Djinn Equip as well, stashing away his sword thereafter. It seemed they were free to do as they pleased now, as per the words of their mentors. However, Fudo had no clue what options this opened for the group.

[Apollymi]

"Ah, well if you really think so, then I'll just have to keep it." said the still blushing girl. As she commented on his own equip he went on to say that basically she would probably look nice in it as well. This caused the girl to scoff, playfully and shrug. "Probably will try it on some time, looks amazing." she finished thinking about their apparent free time and activities they could do together as a group. She was immediately brought back to her present state of attire and her general hopes that she would eventually change clothes. In fact, she'd gathered clothing from her dungeon to change into, though now that she'd properly seen Paimon's idea of clothing she was a bit wary, but at the very least a nice bath sounded like something they could all do together and relax. "I think... I am going to ask the rest of the girls if they want to go to the bath with me." Yasmin said with a nod. "It's one of the activities this place is known for and most likely to appeal to all of us." she said having read that bit in a book previously provided by Shadiya.

[Bloodedge]

"Be my guest. I'm sure Paimon would approve as well." When Yasmin mentioned the bath, Fudo remembered an earlier mention of nearby public baths, one of Reim's greatest tourist attractions. Now that he thought about it, he could use a bit of cleansing and relaxing as well; especially after this recent bout of training. "You know, that actually sounds like a great idea. We should tell everyone," he said, gesturing toward the area which presumably still housed the others. "After you."

[Apollymi]

"I bet she would." Yasmin said of Paimon's approval. That Djinn was likely one of the oddest people that Yasmin had ever encountered in her life. Even so, it seemed that Fudo agreed with the idea of a bath and thus she'd lead the charge to their other friends. With that she headed off in the direction of the group and upon arriving she'd find, Nasira and surprisingly Shula and anyone else still with them and announce her intentions. "The Gladiators said we were done for the day so I was thinking of catching a bath, anyone else want to come with?" she asked. Nasira looked up and nodded.

"Sounds like a great idea." she mentioned getting up to begin gathering her things. Shula looked at the group pouting. "Can I go?"

[Bloodedge]

Bakura had been recently caught up on events that occurred during his sleep. Soon after receiving this mass of information, he saw the approach of Yasmin, followed by Fudo, only to immediately hear the former offer a trip to the public bath of Reim. A simple nod came from the white-haired boy, who was then bumped into by Malik as the pink-haired male threw an arm around him. "Hell yeah! The baths here are awesome! You guys would love it!"

It was Fudo to first address the apparently pouting Magi in red, finding it strange that she didn't immediately feel included in Yasmin's offer. "Of course. We'll all go; it'll be fun."

[Apollymi]

Yasmin was very happy to find the females of their group agreeing to this bath she'd offered. Moreover she was quite surprised to find that in her absence Bakura had woken up and was more than a bit excited to see him. In fact she lunged at him in a very excited manner wrapping her arms around the young boy. "Baki!~ You're awake~ I'm so happy." she said this statement seemingly true. Such a manuever caused Nasira to smile as she knew the pink haired girl was quite fond of her companion and she didn't even question whether or not Malik was coming along or not.

The only thing slightly odd was Shula didn't immediately feel included. Fudo addressed this and the Magi dressed in red seemed to light up. "Really? No one ever lets me do stuff. Yay~ bathtime! Bath-tiiiime!~" she chimed excitedly which while it was odd, one could only suspect that the younger of the Magi they'd come across didn't often get to do whatever she pleased, though this group on the whole would more than welcome her. "Sure, of course the offer included you as well." Yasmin chimed as she hugged Bakura. "Well, I couldn't be sure, Sami took off after Ali and said I couldn't come." she said puffing her cheeks out a bit which led several in the group to believe that she simply felt left out of whatever her Magi counterparts were doing right now. Nasira returned with her own times and ones for the rest of the group including the little bundle of cloth and jewelry that Yasmin had collected from her own dungeon. "I'm sure we will enjoy it." Nasira said to Malik handing out fresh clothes and the like to the group so they could journey to this bath house and experience what they were like first hand.

[Bloodedge]

"Mornin' Yas!" Bakura exclaimed with a smile as Yasmin approached him. His arms were open in preparation for the charging hug he anticipated, and of course, it came just as expected. "Sorry; didn't mean to worry ya'." When it was agreed that all parties would be participating in the journey to the bathhouse, he released his hold on the pink-haired young woman.

Malik hopped off his place on the carriage, where he'd been waiting for the return of Yasmin and Fudo. As the others were all guests, he figured it would be easiest if he gave a bit of guidance. "I'll lead you guys to the nearest spot. Follow me!" he said as he wandered off in the direction to the nearby bathhouse. The group, should they follow, would arrive at the desired location in a matter of mere minutes.

[Apollymi]

Bakura's greeting and general well-being made Yasmin a lot happier than she'd been previously. His apology came with an odd look from Yasmin as she pulled her face away from him to look at the boy strangely only to hug him again and speak to him. "Well, I was really worried, but... I also appreciate what you did." she said pausing only for a moment. "Though, I'd rather you not sacrifice yourself." she said with a nod. Only to squeeze the boy once more before letting go of them as everyone had agreed upon their afternoon activity and Malik had even offered to lead. "Will do." Yasmin said as she finally released the boy who was her companion for so long. And followed Malik as he began to walk towards the nearest bathhouse.

Nasira and Shula also followed the latter flying a bit off the ground seemingly happy and buzzing about the group seeming to have a good look at the Rukh around it and finding them to be amazing. She was having a rather good time following to the bath and enjoying the chance to be properly social with a group of girls, which is something she'd been missing while being solely in Malik's company.

[Bloodedge]

Soon enough, Malik would stop at the head of the group, opening his arms to gesture toward the facility in front of them. "Here we are! Welcome to one of many bathhouses Reim has to offer! This one's a bit out of the way from everything else, so it's usually pretty empty. We'll probably have the place to ourselves. So, have at it guys!" With the conclusion of his announcement, Malik himself entered the bathhouse and proceeded to one of numerous closet-like spaces filled with towels and the like.

[Apollymi]

The bath house was rather elaborate. The closet like spaces lined the entry wall but were rather obviously denoted male and female. The girls of this group having figured this out, moved to the right side and slipped into the spaces in which the stripped and wrapped themselves in towels. Once they were properly attired they moved straight through this area and into the next one where there would be small spaces for them to put their things within eye sight but it would also be separated men from when by a large wall after which there was a general pool and the like in the center of a wide atrium. "Wow... this place is kind of huge." Yasmin said as she stepped out naked and wrapped in a towel eyeing the water her things including her metal vessel in the bundle balanced on her head. A habit and skill she'd picked up from her time transporting things across Parthevia. Nasira also stepped out wrapped in a towel, her things wrapped up tightly and held to her side. "Indeed. Though I didn't expect it to be separated by gender. Oh well. At least we can still have fun." she managed as Shula stepped out stark naked just holding her towel and things which she would immediately drop before just hopping into the warm waters of the women's bath. "BATH TIME~" she chirped as she hopped in submerging herself only to come back up a few seconds after. "Come on, the water is fine." she said which caused both the girls to laugh as they headed over to the side to actually get clean before they returned to dip themselves in the waters of the bath.

Meanwhile bubbles would appear from the bottom of the pool and then out of it would pop a certain familiar purple haired girl. Her eyes widening as she looked at the group. "Oh hi, I didn't know you were done yet." said the girl known as Shadiya.

[Bloodedge]

As the group entered the bathhouse, Bakura followed Malik, keeping in mind that the pink-haired male would know his way around. Fudo, upon stepping inside, was bumped into by a blue-haired man whose face he did not get a chance to see. When Fudo looked back, the man was still walking out of the bathhouse, with only one thing to say in passing. "Sorry," he said. "It's fine. I wasn't paying attention," Fudo replied. By the time he turned around to continue toward the baths, everyone else was gone from sight. But, feeling as if he could find his own way around, he continued onward regardless. The prince of Sindria succeeded in finding a single towel, and a place to rinse his hair before he would actually enter the baths.

Meanwhile, Malik and Bakura were entering the men's bath after donning their towels. The first thing Malik did, instead of relaxing, was check the wall which separated the men's and women's baths. "What are you doing?" Bakura asked of the older male as he, himself, descended into the water. "I know a guy who's been going to all the bathhouses and stabbing peep holes in the separators. Maybe we can get an eyeful of something~"

[Apollymi]

Nasira and Yasmin both got clean and then descended into the warm pools greeting Shadiya and Shula. "Shadi, I didn't know you were done. I definitely invited everyone." said Yasmin. Which caused the purple haired girl to laugh. "I finished awhile back but I was sore, so I came here. It's nice seeing everyone." she said. "I've been in here all alone for a while." she said with a nod. It was quite fortuitous for them to be pretty much alone in the Bath House. It almost made it much more personal. As Yasmin discarded her towel she'd sink into the water covering her chest and feel utterly relaxed within the warmness of the bath. "Ah, I see. Well everything is good now, even Baki is awake~" mentioned Yasmin as Nasira scooted into the water beside her. "Indeed. I wonder what the boys are doing." mentioned the black haired girl which caused Yasmin to shrug. "Bakura is awake now. That's good. I haven't gotten the chance to properly meet him." Shadiya said. Since she joined the group the ashen haired lad had been near death and then unconscious. Shula had all but disappeared but soon enough reappeared emerging from the water directly in front of Yasmin, squeezing the pink haired girl's chest much to her surprise while affectionately hugging her. "Wow! Your boobs are huge. I'm almost jealous. You have such a great figure." mentioned the rather handsy Magi. Yasmin found herself giggling while trying to push the girl off. "Shula~ Cut it out~" she said apparently extremely ticklish, not that she was generally given such an easy reason to laugh. While Nasira moved to Shadiya and frowned apparently taking a moment to figure out how she measured up to the pink haired girl and the Magi and finding herself lacking in the chest department. Shadiya was doing the same and they were having a shared moment of brooding while the pink haired girl tried to flee her molester.

[Bloodedge]

"Are you sure that's a good idea? I've done a lot of shady things, but that's kind of..." Bakura said, only to be shushed mid-sentence by Malik. "Hear that? Girls go crazy when they're in baths together, and the good stuff's already happening!"

As the girls were at play, and the boys were apparently trying to find a peephole, Fudo squeezed water out of his hair and draped his singular towel over his head to ready himself for entry. His eyes were closed as he walked into the bath, clad only in his birthday suit and the towel on his head. Little did Fudo know, he'd gone in the wrong direction when entering, and he'd stepped out into the women's bath. "This place seems alright, but I don't think it compares to what I'm adjusted to," he said ever so nonchalantly.

[Apollymi]

The girls were pretty much still happily playing in the water, with Shula finally diverting her attention from Yasmin to Shadiya and have a grope of her as well. "Oh, don't look so down Shadi and Nasira, we're all young... they'll get bigger eventually." she said taking a moment to compare. "Shadi's already bigger than the last time I saw her." she said much to the girl's surprise it was now her turn to try and escape the young magi's molestation. While this happened, Nasira seemed to brood even more than she had been before. 'I'm 20, mine aren't going to get any bigger.' the girl thought as she sank even further into the water. Still this was all fun and games and she did enjoy the company of the other girls and it was something she was quite unused to, given her companion of her lifetime was Fudo.

Speaking of that particular young man he soon spoke into the bath which caused all the odd merrymaking to stop as everyone who recognized this man's voice. Shula stared for a few seconds blinking about three times and having a look at the boy from head to toe. "He's naked." she mentioned seemingly stunned by his presence. Shadiya who had been fleeing was also paused and now she saw Fudo completely naked and blushed intensely disappearing into the water. Yasmin who had just settled back on the side of the heated bath got a full bottom to top view of Fudo and soon found herself forcing her gaze upwards. "Of course he's naked, it's a bath... though I really didn't expect to see this, now." she said her gaze shifting around the room and trying not to focus on this very naked man. Meanwhile Nasira smirked. Knowing that if anyone could or would accidentally find themselves in the wrong bath and not immediately realize something was wrong it would be Fudo. Though she was apparently unbothered by Fudo's nudity, given this wouldn't have been the first bath they had together. "We'll, of course it doesn't compare, but more than that...." she paused chuckling at all the varied reactions of their other female companions. "You're in the wrong bath. These are separated men and women's baths right now you should be enjoying your bath with Bakura and Malik." she finished in a matter of fact way while the other women bar Yasmin covered their eyes visibly.

[Bloodedge]

"... Eh?" Upon hearing the voices of women in the immediate vicinity, Fudo opened those dual-colored eyes of his to witness every lass he'd come to know over the past couple of weeks in the bath, with none of the males present. All of them, bar Nasira for obvious reasons, seemed surprised by his presence and/or state of undress. "Wrong bath?" he asked of Nasira. "What's the point of us being separated in a group activity?" Fudo asked this of all the women present, as he rubbed the towel across his head to deal with the dripping from his hair. Afterwards, he wrapped the towel around his waist, since some seemed to take issue with his present nudity.

[Apollymi]

"Yep, wrong bath." she said knowing that an argument of some sort was likely coming. Still Fudo asked a very valid question and all the young women seemed to pause and think about their answers to it. This was supposed to be a group activity, and bath houses were among the best of them. Maybe this simply implied that the Empire didn't believe women and men to be friends. "Well, I guess there isn't much point in a split group activity." Shadiya said finally emerging from the water since Fudo was no longer visibly naked. With towel now in place, Shula took a moment to look at the young man floating up and out of the water and flying around him. "Actually without knowing he's not a girl, he's got a girly kind of face. " she said looking at his dual colored eyes and nodding. If the other girls agreed they didn't say anything. Yasmin on the other hand simply shrugged. "I can't say I care. Group activities are supposed to be for the group and all, join us. The more the merrier." Yasmin mentioned motioning for Fudo to join them in the bath. Shadiya looked surprised but also agreed and Shula had already started playing in Fudo's hair. "Your hair is so soft. Not boobs but not bad." And just like that bath time would continue.

[Bloodedge]

Though Fudo had accidentally stumbled into the wrong bath without even knowing there was segregation among the genders in such places, he had apparently been given the go-ahead, as it were, to remain on this side of the bathhouse. As such, he aimed to take a step forward to enter the bath, though he stopped in his tracks as Shula began fiddling with his hair. "Is it?" he asked in response to the statement about his hair, reaching up to grab a few locks for himself. "I guess I've never compared it to any other. Must be the shampoos," he said.

Meanwhile, Malik had finally found the peep hole he'd been looking for. He tucked away the thought that he'd have to get in touch with his accomplice about the placement of these holes, but looked through it nonetheless. When he did so, his eyes widened immediately. He could see a couple of the girls through the steam, including the forever free Magi, Shula, but he also saw a male physique in the mist... one obviously belonging to Fudo, judging by the hair. "The hell... How did that guy get over there!?"

[Apollymi]

Shula nodded. "Shampoo huh?" she thought about it for a while, and would make a note to ask about this again later, but just like all the free Magi's interests she within a few moments completely lost his and headed back to the water to further harass the other females present. And in doing so freed Fudo to join all of them in the water. Yasmin simply giggled as she watched Shula's behavior. She supposed the young Magi simply didn't possess normal boundaries. But her cheerful disposition and explorative nature were kind of fun to have around. A smile would appear on the pink haired girl's face she was rather content in this moment realizing what it was actually like to have multiple and different friends.

[Bloodedge]

"Who's over there?" Bakura asked of the other lad. "Fudo. He's over there, and they all seem completely fine with it. Damn... playboy womanizer sex machine!" Malik ranted in response. This minor bout of fury prompted laughter from Bakura, who figured he understood how such a thing came about, but had no interest in making the journey himself.

Once freed, Fudo went about his business, stepping forward until he was able to sink into the waters of the bath. He supported himself at the edge by draping his arms over the end of the pool-like tub, and simply allowed his muscles to relax from there.

[Apollymi]

While the other boys were bonding over their separate but equal bath. Shula had changed her focus of interest to Nasira. Presently speaking the younger girl was poking at the dark haired girl and flicking her hands about the Rukh around her. "Ooh, you're interesting too." she said giving the other girl a hug, which while generally unexpected didn't seem to upset Nasira in the slightest. A second thereafter she had moved on telling all the girls a pivotal bit of information. "Someone else besides me has to touch his hair and agree that it's super soft." the Magi said which made the brows of the other young women shift a bit Nasira shrugged. "If it will make you happy and keep you from molesting people." she mentioned. Moving over to touch Fudo's hair which surprisingly she didn't ever remember doing. At the mention of molestation Yasmin also moved. "I second that... as I am apparently the second most likely target." she said giggling just a bit. Shadiya also moved a bit closer and soon enough all four of these young women were touching Fudo's hair and surprisingly conversing about the goodness of its texture.

"You're right, Shula, it really is soft." said Shadiya. "I think now might be the time that I am jealous." Yasmin mentioned playing with Shula's earlier speech. Nasira also agreed. "Yep, definitely soft, definitely jealous. One more thing to add to the list." she said having already taken up jealousy about the figures of the other young women. "Told ya' so~" sang Shula apparently happy at her discovery.

[Bloodedge]

Within a matter of moments, Fudo found himself surrounded by a trio of women who were content to reach into his dampened hair. He didn't exactly know what to say in this situation, but when he looked around him, he couldn't quite complain either. "What the hell? They're all over him now! I can't even find some good eye candy for my Household..." Malik griped while observing this. Fudo, on the other hand, maintained a gentle grin on his face. "So is this what people do in public baths? Fool around with one another?"

[Apollymi]

Upon hearing Fudo's question two young women stopped to look at him and finished molesting what was obviously really soft hair. "Hm, I suppose this is kind of always what it's like. Groups of girls are usually really nice to each other in situations like this, everything's much less tense." mentioned Shadiya who was by far the most used to these kind of random social interactions. Shula nodded her agreement. "Whenever I come here, people are always doing such things. It's all in good fun..." the young Magi said. Still she was looking at this group with all her senses active and knew of the progress made by both Fudo and Yasmin this day. She was rather proud of them in this moment even though she hadn't been the one to choose them herself. Yasmin gave a final pet to Fudo's locks, her slim fingers entwining in teal strands, before returning herself to leaning against one end of the bath immediately to Fudo's left. "Groups of people are always like this when they let their guards down. Probably something about being exposed that lets people be themselves..." Yasmin said her own eyes closing as she relaxed in this water. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had a calm and warm bath, but this immediately jumped really high up her list in activities.

[Bloodedge]

"Ah... I see," Fudo said upon gaining understanding that this was a regular occurrence. It was strange how people decided to bond with one another, but there would be no complaints whatsoever from Fudo. As his eyes traveled from one of these girls to another, he could indeed see the individual, and personal values of each one, and then a great deal extra when Shula was concerned. "Wait... did anyone question her being naked as well?" he muttered under his breath, only to then discard the thought and shake his head lightly.

[Apollymi]

Yasmin nodded her head leaned back and her eyes still closed. Though since she maintained close proximity to Fudo she heard the statement he muttered after realizing how the women were currently attired and she chuckled just a little. She took a moment to speak to him directly while the rest of the girls floated around the pool in their varied states of toweledness or nudity. "No one questioned it, because we all knew. That if anyone else was going to be naked it was going to be her." she whispered of Shula. Though Yasmin herself also didn't realize that Fudo didn't know she was also naked in the water. After enough time for a long soak had passed, Shadiya extricated herself from the pool extending her hand to Nasira apparently an agreement they'd already come to. "Getting too hot, headed to the cool room." she said as she pulled Nasira out of the water both of them still clad in soaking wet towels as they grabbed their things and headed for the room with a colder pool within to finish up their bathing process.

Shula also left though a bit disappointed. "Aww, the cold room is my least favorite." she said apparently the Magi was fond of the warmer climates but that was about expected considering her personality. Yasmin finally opened her eyes and though she was comfortable in the warm waters, she wouldn't deny herself a full bathing process. "Oh, we're moving. Alright I'll come too." Yasmin said as she moved across the pool, but when she extricated herself from the neck depth she'd been at the entire time one would get a full view of the very naked pink haired girl as she picked up her towel and belongings. Apparently she was about as open as their new Magi friend when it came to bathing practices and once she had what she needed she'd follow the other girls to the cold room. "Hey, you coming too?" she asked of Fudo, if he was she'd wait for him. All this occurred while the other girls were dipping themselves into the frigid waters of the next pool room.

[Bloodedge]

"You know... that makes perfect sense," Fudo replied while relaxing further. Mere moments later, the others were sauntering off to the 'cold room' as it were, and Yasmin was content to follow suit. When asked if he would be coming along as well, Fudo sighed to get one last bit of relaxation out of the hot water, before ultimately opening his eyes to see that which he'd not expected. When his gaze fell upon the pink-haired lass, there was an immediate widening of his eyes. 'Her too!?' was his first thought. Fudo's next immediate thoughts were none too savory, but he was able to quickly shut them out and lift his gaze. "Uh... yeah." With that, Fudo also removed himself from the hot bath, content to follow suit into the next room.

[Apollymi]

The cool room, also had an elaborate deep pool. Only unlike the previous room it wasn't heated. Instead it had crystal clear waters pumped in from an underground spring and thus was rather cool in temperature. Upon entering one could see both Nasira and Shadiya standing near the edge of the pool and then a rather mischievous looking Shula prepared to push them in. "THE HARDEST PART IS LETTING GO!" mentioned the girl as she ran forward aiming to take both girls with her into the cold water. Of course, Nasira seemed to see this coming and shifted just a tad so she could wave at the Magi as she and Shadiya went falling into the cold waters alone. "I have my own pace." mentioned Nasira with a cheeky smile. A bit of splashing and the like would ensue and this would be as Yasmin and Fudo entered this new place. Yasmin put this together rather quickly, and seemed to have missed Fudo's shock at her apparent nudity. And this was not really brought into question by any of the other girls either. Now Shadiya and Shula were splashing around in the water and Nasira was preparing to sit at the edge with just her legs in while her body adjusted to the temperature. Yasmin after sitting her things near the side of the pool simply stepped off the edge taking the big plunge that no one else had tried to make on their own. She was submerged for a few seconds but soon came up with a light shiver. "Oh, that's brisk." she said but soon enough was content with her own temperature and that of the water.

[Bloodedge]

Fudo managed to regain full composure en route to the cold room, and upon entry, he simply walked into the pool. Just before his towel was to hit the water, he casually discarded it to the edge and continued to submerge himself. His thought was that he'd like to maintain the warmth of his towel when exiting the chilly waters of this room, and that he'd appreciate his own foreknowledge to do so later down the line.

Meanwhile, Malik had completely given up. He and Bakura were on their way out of the cold room of the men's bath, and in the process of retrieving their things.

[Apollymi]

The other girls seemed to not care too much either way about Fudo's presence here. Soon as they were all adjusted to the coolness of the water they were pulling each other out to finally get dressed and end the bathing process. Shadiya and Shula were the first completely in and thus the first to get out. Grabbing up their clothes they headed towards the opposite entrance of the dressing rooms they'd been in earlier. "Woo~ Baths are the best. We should totally do this together again." the magi mentioned. As Shadiya also grabbed up her clothes. "Yes. You guys are the best." she said as she headed to dress herself. Nasira had finally dipped her entire body in the water, and though the cold was rather shocking she could see the use of it. After a few seconds of this she was also pulling herself out feeling that she'd done enough. "Yeah, cold rooms aren't really my thing." she said. Heading off to get dressed too.

"Aww, everyone's always done before me." Yasmin mentioned as she got up finally as well. She'd been naked the entire time and thus her towel was dry which she'd definitely appreciate now as she wrapped herself up in it and grabbed her bundle of new clothes. "It was fun while it lasted though~" she commented also heading off to dress assuming Fudo would do the same in his own time. After all, there was still Malik and Bakura to consider and no one had any idea how long the two of them would hang out in the baths. As Yasmin tucked herself into a changing stall she picked through the strips of cloth which were found as part of Paimon's Dungeon Capture and sighed mentally. 'Please just don't leave me naked.' she thought as she began to pick through the pieces and dress herself. Soon enough she'd emerge dressed on the other side. A small linen top and bottoms which connected to it directly and covered her navel. This gave her an appearance similar to the Djinn herself, minus all the piercings and jewels, not that Yasmin cared to have those things anyways. Other than that she simply attached her flabellum to her person at her hip and continued about her day. The pink haired girl still didn't wear shoes for whatever reason, but she seemed at least comfortable and very clean now.

[Bloodedge]

"Everyone but me, you mean," Fudo replied to Yasmin. It wasn't until after she was leaving the pool that he did the same, stretching once he'd exited the water. With that out of the way, he remembered his towel, which he then grabbed from the floor and slipped around his waist. Moving onward, he went about drying off and retrieving clothes of his own. His new attire consisted of floor-length gold and white robes, and pointed golden shoes. He also donned jewelry in the form of earrings and a necklace, completing his princely ensemble with these items and his Metal Vessel in a proper sheath, before ultimately heading out to meet the others again.

[Apollymi]

Yasmin now dressed like a baby Djinn exited in her clean white outfit. It had a teardrop shaped opening in the front showing the entirety of her torso and scoops around each of her hips also revealing the skin on the side of her body as well. The shorts attached to it were rather short and the single piece of cloth it was connected to across her chest seemed to fit her snuggly as if it was intended for her specifically to wear. Outside she found that the other girls were all already dressed and waiting in a common area in front of the place. Shula had gone back to her red robes which were wrapped strategically around her person but gave way to lots of tanned skin. She wore one very elegant piece holding what would have been considered the 'skirt' part of her outfit together as well as a single piece around her neck. "Oh, you changed Yasmin~" she said of the girls' attire. "Aww, I like it. I want some like that." she pouted in her casual way.

Nasira, was wearing an outfit very similar to the one she'd been wearing before. Only this time her outfit was lined in gold including her vest and the undershirt she wore beneath it. Her baggy pants held up by a golden belt which matched a golden head piece which kept her still wet black tresses in place. Her outfit was completed by her household vessel on her right arm, a double ringed gold choker around her neck, and some tiny flat black shoes. "I agree." she said of the girl's new attire. Shadiya had returned wearing her similar white linen pieces that covered her bottom pinned together by something which looked like a palm tree. Over her chest a deep purple hard covering with an odd piece down its center and her attire completed by the golden locket around her neck which was her metal vessel. She was relieved the other girl had changed as it was much more suited to her current personage. She also found the outfit itself a bit daring with all the skin it was showing. Yasmin's outfit seemed to simply cover what was important while showing the skin on the rest of her body, much like the outfit chosen by the Magi now that she thought about it. The main difference between the two was the very visible permanent brusing around Yasmin's wrist and ankles, though the pink haired girl didn't carry herself at all like she cared about that. "Aww, stop it you guys." she said seeming to blush and wave off the girl's attention as she found comfort in her new attire. Of course this level of comfort was soon ended as Fudo joined the group outside and all the girl's attention immediately diverted to him. "Nevermind~ Best outfit of the day goes to Fudo." Yasmin said a bit shocked to find him dressed in such a regal manner. Nasira was quite used to this and sighed. "Yeah, he always takes fashion way over the top." she said. The spritely Shula only circled the man and had a look at him. "Aww, guys we have to go back. We're all under dressed." she said pouting and crossing her arms over her chest.

[Bloodedge]

When Fudo approached the group, it seemed he was stepping into a discussion of attire among them. This was soon redirected to him and what he chose to wear, which he had only avoided wearing as to not draw attention to himself in Qishan. One particular comment made by Nasira warranted a mock scoff from Sindria's prince, as he considered her to be quite the hypocrite in this moment. "Me over the top? You dress no differently, Nasira. More importantly," he said, shifting his gaze toward Yasmin with a hand against his chin. "I disagree. This has a very interesting level of appeal to it."

[Apollymi]

Next came Nasira's turn to scoff. She had chosen her previous outfit based on their need to blend in. Changing it only required minor alterations and leaving the jewelry behind. She could also clearly state she only had such things because of Fudo in the first place. "Yes you. I am merely accenting... you are making a statement." she said sticking her tongue out at the princely lad. This exchange caused Yasmin to laugh a bit, but as she noticed attention was once again turned to her she simply shrugged not really knowing what to say about it. "If you say so." she said a bit of a grin coming to her face as she accepted the compliment with only a slight blush. "To be honest, I am just happy it includes all major pieces. After meeting Paimon I was a bit worried about how she'd choose to dress me~" she said of the clothing pilfered from her Dungeon. "Where's Baki and Malik?" she questioned wondering why those two hadn't been seen yet.

[Bloodedge]

"This isn't a statement. You know very well that I wasn't given much option in the matter. I just grew to like it," Fudo said to his long-time friend and companion, who thought to make the others believe he aimed to be flashy on purpose. While Yasmin wondered where the other males of their group were, Fudo looked around. He had also not seen either of them since getting separated in the bathhouse, but they soon emerged from the building as well. "Yo!" Bakura said with a wave to the others. He was once again clad in a simple piece of cloth around his waist, and jewelry taken from the dungeon of Paimon. Now, however, he wore a golden pair of shoes he had nonchalantly taken from one of Fudo's bags. Malik followed, dressed in his usual attire and seeming to have gotten over his earlier upset state. "There they are. So, what do we all do now?"

[Apollymi]

"Neither was I. But... I've always liked the clothes." Nasira said. She'd been forced to dress like this a long time ago, and though she didn't always agree with the decisions made on her behalf she did enjoy the clothes. With the arrival of the two missing males, Yasmin seemed to be quite happy. "Baki..." she said looking down at the boy's shoes, she didn't actually say anything about them she simply chuckled. "Malik~ nice to see you both." she said before it was brought up that they should be moving right along to another activity. Yasmin waved off any decision making and pushed it off on someone else. "I decided this... that was all I had." she said with a shrug. Shadiya also didn't have anything to offer, mostly because she didn't know of many group activities. Nasira looked at the group and shrugged. "I don't care..." she said because people had looked in her direction. Shula was also ready to simply go with whatever. With this in mind all eyes shifted to the boys in the group as they waited for any activity to be offered up by someone else.

While happy things were being discussed between this group an unassuming red headed male was watching all from a slightly closed off spot. Particularly the black haired girl, as she laughed and chatted with her group of friends.

[Bloodedge]

"Well, gramps gave me a task for when Shadiya was done relaxing," Malik began during the silence of the group. "Time for lesson two. We can get that out of the way here." With that, he began moving back into the bathhouse, planning to use the courtyard within for this alleged lesson. "Don't worry; it's not physically tiring or anything."

Since there would apparently be the removal of two group members, and no one knew what to do, Bakura took it upon himself to enact a plan he'd been holding on to. But, he needed one person for this. Nasira was his choice. Taking off on a run, Bakura grabbed the black-haired girl by the wrist. "We're gonna run off too. C'mon."

[Apollymi]

Shadiya looked a bit shocked when it was mentioned that her present teacher had given Malik a task that concerned her when she was finished relaxing. She seemed a bit down about it and this prompted Shula to tag along draping herself over the other girl's shoulders. "Aww, don't look so sad, I'll come too. I've always wondered how you two would get along properly." she said offering the girl a smile. Shadiya would subsequently trail off after the boy. "Sorry guys, I'll catch you next time." she said knowing her training as complex as it was should be covered as completely as possible.

With that pairing and the Magi missing they were back to their original group, which Yasmin almost stated until Bakura mentioned he had something he wanted to do. When he grabbed Nasira by the wrist she was so surprised she simply started running along with him. After all, she said she didn't care what she was doing next and as such seemed fine. "Drafted, running, bye." she managed three words, but she had already disappeared with Bakura. After watching the rest of the group disperse, Yasmin turned to Fudo with a smile. "Wow." she said with a quick nod. "And then there were two. So, what do you want to do?" she asked him, asking only in case he was considering running off alone as well, in which case Yasmin had a backup plan. Unbeknownst to her though, that unassuming red haired boy, and taken off after Bakura and Nasira for reasons that no one could possibly know. Disappearing into the crowd in a manner akin to a phantom.

[Bloodedge]

Though he thought things would progress into everyone figuring out what activity to take part in next, the people began disappearing one after another. Yasmin then spoke, asking what he wanted to do. Prodding his own brain, Fudo eventually came to a conclusion. "Well, I had an idea related to something I intended to do by myself at some point. And, at the risk of being too forward..." As he spoke, Fudo cracked a smile and extended his right hand toward the pink-haired young woman. "Come home with me."

[Apollymi]

Yasmin heard out what this young man had to say as far as his idea was concerned. Upon hearing the first part of his statement she seemed to look at him oddly, wondering what he could possibly say that would sound too forward. Beyond that his hand was extended towards her which she reached out to take only pausing because what he had to say wasn't all all what she expected. Her face blushed intensely given the statement but when she thought about it, the statement had already been prefaced in such a way as to make her look past the initial meaning. Beyond that, Fudo had done nothing to make her distrust him, and given this she'd take his hand. "You know, you shocked me a little. But..." she said smiling at the young man. "I have no problem accompanying you, wherever you'd like to go." she said though after a second she thought about it. "But.. aren't you from Sindria isn't that, an island, that is a lot of travel for an afternoon activity." the girl stated, obviously unopposed to the idea of visiting somewhere new.

[Bloodedge]

"Agreed then," was Fudo's reply. "Yes, Sindria is an island, and it is very far away. But, as long as Nasira is around, we can go there and come back in no time." As he spoke, Fudo revealed a talisman that had been tucked away in his robes. On it was a magic circle which allowed it to be used for teleportation to another of such circles, which would be found in Sindria. With a bit of Magoi channeled into the talisman, he accessed the Space-Time Magic sealed within it to transport himself and Yasmin directly to a seal placed on the wall within his bedroom in Sindria's royal palace.

[Apollymi]

While Yasmin and Fudo were off doing whatever it was they were going to be doing in Sindria, Nasira was being pulled through the streets at a running pace by one Bakura. As this happened eventually the girl would gather her wits enough to begin running mostly on her own while asking a rather simple question. "Uh, sorry hate to be a bother but... why are we running exactly?" she asked. Not that she had any problem with physical activity she just usually was aware of when it would be taking place. Still, she trusted this young ashen haired boy, and if he wanted to do something and he wanted her along, she'd accompany him the same as she would with Fudo or Yasmin.

[Bloodedge]

Bakura continued to run, not realizing that he'd failed to inform Nasira of his plan upon grabbing her. Of course, he was reminded by the girl herself when she asked why they were running. "Oh... sorry. I get carried away sometimes. Anyway, we're gonna sneak into the palace and find out what's up with this new king. Nobody else is enough like me to do it, so I picked you. It'll be fun!"

[Apollymi]

Nasira kept running along, as the boy apologized for getting to carried away she scoffed momentarily only to hear what he said he wanted to do with this time. Her eyes widened slightly, at all of the things mentioned by this boy in his final sentences. "We're going to break into the palace. You chose me for this because I am most like you. This will be fun?" she said this aloud as if categorizing things to move them through all the information. And when she thought about this she had no real problem with any of this... "Of all the things I should worry about, I wonder why... you feel confident enough to find the idea of breaking into a palace fun."

And while they ran along they were being followed by another. It was odd, this red haired boy was small and seemingly unnoticed by all, but here he was, following behind the running pair so close that he could catch their conversation. His eyes didn't shift, he was utterly calm as he heard all of this information. Whatever he'd been tasked with doing now, he'd obviously done worse, and as such he didn't seem at all phased by the afternoon activity of these two people.

[Bloodedge]

"Of course I do!" the boy replied. "It's always fun breaking into a palace. I used to hop into the king's place in Parthevia all the time. It's always so nice in places like that." This was truly the epitome of simplistic desires for the street urchin Bakura. Indeed, he found great pleasure in being inside palaces, as they were always appealing to the eye. Even more, being able to do so gave him an amount of pride he could not compare to anything else in his life. "We can find out some stuff for the others while we're there. Y'know, help out a bit. I feel kinda weird, though... Like I should keep an extra sharp eye out for things..."

[Apollymi]

Nasira had never considered what palaces and the like must be like for someone who hadn't been raised in one. She found them to be physically appealing as much as any person could, but she also had exceedingly high standards for such things. "I see. Well, I won't argue with this, and I feel obligated to come along simply to see what you get up to when doing such things." she said. When it was commented upon that he did this probably to help out, she remembered that he'd mentioned before that he used to steal to eat and feed Yasmin whenever he could. It came to her then how he was likely coming by that food, and it made her chuckle. Even so, there was the matter of him feeling that he needed to keep a better eye on things. "Well, I tend to trust my gut instincts. If you feel uneasy, trust that and be careful." said Nasira who though she'd never participated in this particular activity spoke like she'd done things that required gut reactions at one point or another.

But at the boy stated this, the red haired young man who was following behind them scoffed. He knew he was unseen this was always the case, but... something about this ashen haired lad made the red haired boy equally uneasy. 'Does he... know I'm here?' he mentally questioned while continuing to follow. Of course, this made the young man withdraw he was ever cautious and this was the best tactical move he could make. Though his face afforded no emotion, if he was capable of such a thing he might have been pleased. Still, he was keeping this pairing of young people within his eyesight, lest he lose track of his target.

[Bloodedge]

"I wouldn't say uneasy. I mean... it's not a bad feeling or nothin' like that. I just feel like I'm missing somethin', y'know?" Bakura asked of Nasira as they continued moving forward. Bakura had a habit of knowing when danger was upon him; a habit that had saved his hide time and time again over the years. And, though this was a very similar sensation, it felt just off enough that his mind did not register it as danger. One could say he simply felt more like something of importance was happening, but he couldn't quite grasp it. Soon enough, Bakura suddenly looked over his shoulder to view the area behind himself and Nasira, feeling as if something may have been there. However, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. "Whatever it is, I've been getting the feeling since I woke up. Only around you, though..."

[Apollymi]

Nasira tried to think of something similar to the missing feeling that was being described by Bakura. She felt that she was always missing something. In fact, before they met Bakura, she was the one constantly asking questions, though hers were a bit different from his, she could at least related to knowing or feeling something and having it not be quite what she thought it would be. "Yes, I understand that feeling." she said and when Bakura looked behind them she also had a quick glance to the back but she saw nothing behind her that should have made her worry about anything. But what the white haired lad said did make her feel weird. "Only around me, huh?" this question was mostly rhetorical, she couldn't think of anything she could of done, nor anything connected to her, which should be giving the boy such a feeling. It was slightly perplexing.

Meanwhile the red haired boy slipped back into the crowd behind the pair of moving youngsters. As he did this, he heard the suspicions of the ashen haired boy, and it was quite obvious that he had at least a decent amount of instinct when it came to the kind of person that this young man was. 'If he'd been awake this entire trip... I probably would have been found before they left Parthevia.' thought the young man, but he still seemed unconcerned and unassuming. He was simply what he was, moving along beside this pairing of youngsters as they made their way to the palace in Reim.

[Bloodedge]

In due time, Bakura and Nasira would arrive to the eastern wall of the palace, which Bakura quickly drew as close as possible to. "Perfect! Right about sunset, this is the place to be. Their sight ain't so good on this side anymore. All we gotta do is find a way in." With that said, and making sure he kept as close to the wall as possible to avoid potential guard detection from above, Bakura began to wander the length of the palace in search of potential weak points in the wall, or even the ground nearby; anything to gain potential entry through unconventional means.

[Apollymi]

Nasira nodded her head swiftly, taking to the eastern wall of this palace in a manner which mimicked what she just saw Bakura doing. She wasn't really very sneaky herself, but the ease with which she could move her body, made her a fair bit better at transitioning into such positions than most people would be. Still as she watched him move along the wall apparently looking for a weak point, so that they could enter, she soon enough found herself tripping over a hidden string and almost bumping into the young lad before her. As she caught herself though she did a flip which brought her to the other side of the object and pointed down to it while remaining as close to the wall as possible. This would cause a large stone at the bottom of the wall to shift into an opening just big enough for a couple of small people to fit through and seemed to lead within the outer wall of the palace itself. She looked to Bakura and whispered. "You mean like this?"

While this happened their silent follower seemed to be walking in the crowd along the main street watching all. Soon enough though the lad jumped landing silently on top of a covered roof a ways out of sight of everyone. His unassuming nature and face drawing no attention with the action he saw the potential entry method and sighed. this was becoming a rather tedious job after all.

[Bloodedge]

Bakura's search yielded no results. He nearly resigned to suggesting a search for entry at one of the riskier walls, but before he could speak on the matter, Nasira pointed out an opening in the wall behind them. When he looked at said opening, Bakura thought that it had the appearance of a path made on purpose, but it was far too small for any proper adult. As long as this was the case, it was safe to enter. Bakura chose to lead the way, looking back as he crawled inside. "Shut it behind us. Don't want anybody thinkin' something's up. We gotta move fast."

[Apollymi]

Nasira was quite proud of herself in this moment, having stumbled upon an entry that would make sense for the pair of them to use. Since Bakura chose to lead she slipped into the path behind him, turning around backwards and pulling a string on the opposite end of the stone to force it back into place silently as they began to move within the walls of the palace. She had no idea where this path would lead to, but assumed somewhere within given its placement. "Who do you think made that?" she asked, knowing that it was far too small for what could be considered a normal size adult to move in and out of with any kind of comfort. Unbeknownst to them, the pathway from the wall would lead around and into a particular room behind a painting on the lower floor. This room, would appear abandoned and have the look of an old toy room.

While this happened their redheaded shadow waited a fair bit. Allowing the pair enough movement to clear his entry way, after all, he wouldn't want them turning around to notice that he'd slipped in behind them. After he was sure that they were far enough away to not see him enter, he followed the path they'd laid out, complete with entering the small hole and closing it up behind him all without being seen, by the general public or any guards along the wall.

[Bloodedge]

Though Nasira asked who he thought made the tunnel they traversed, Bakura remained silent. Soon, he was carefully stepping out into this strange room filled with old toys and the like. After inspecting his surroundings, he was able to draw a conclusion or two about the nature of this path. "... Yas," he said in a hushed tone as he picked a single doll off the floor. It looked to be in better condition than all the other items he'd noticed, yet its limbs were more easily moved than anything else he touched here. When he thought about it, a wicked grin crossed his face, and he pocketed the doll. "I didn't know she had this kinda side. She must've been as much of a hood rat as me."

[Apollymi]

Nasira hopped around this apparently abandoned playroom and heard what the male with her had to say about it. She found it odd that Yasmin would have created such a thing, but given she hadn't known the girl very long, perhaps it was simply her trying to imagine what the girl was like when she was much much younger which was the problem with this. "It's a bit shocking, but I suppose I could see her being a bit mischievous in the right circumstances." she mentioned as she moved forward, after all, she'd seen Yasmin's public bath choices, and as Yasmin had mentioned herself you could tell a lot about people by their bathing choices. She noted the item the boy had picked up, but like most simply assumed he was going to give it to Yasmin for whatever reason. Still the girl walked up to the closed door and pressed her ear against it, listening outside to try and figure out if they'd have the freedom to move about from here.

Meanwhile, the small redhead boy also made his way up this path stopping just shy of this apparent playroom and listening to the conversation of the pair inside. Of course, it would be necessary for him to remain until they cleared this room and then he'd be able to follow behind them. Of course, he peeked around the corner to keep an eye on the pair of them in the room. 'Hm... these are some strange people.'

[Bloodedge]

Bakura followed Nasira to the door she listened through, keeping an ear open for any outside noises as well. "We'll wanna keep going in this direction. The good info should be this way," he whispered. Afterwards, he fell silent, as there were passing footsteps in the hall. Voices accompanied these footsteps.

"King Sorio says the representative should be coming some time tomorrow. We have to make sure everything is in order for when he shows. I'm not really a fan of doing all that, but I guess I'll go with it. You take the bathrooms; I'll clear out this old shit hole for his stay." It seemed this male voice was encroaching upon the toy room Bakura and Nasira inhabited. "Shit! We gotta move!" Without a moment of hesitation, Bakura darted for the path they had entered through, but the moment he moved toward it, he saw the face of another individual. "Wha-... Who..."

[Apollymi]

"Alright." Nasira said, only to be stunned when apparently people began moving this way. She was also on the same train of thought as the boy and ran for the way they came in only to be confronted by the face of another individual. But rather than think too much about it the boy moved away and began what would have been a rather swift exit. "You'll get caught if you don't just get in here." he said rather calmly. It seemed that he wasn't at all pressed by this situation. But Nasira was somewhat stunned by this other boy's appearance. Still she'd be more than ready to slip into the space with the boy and hide along with Bakura if both of them were ready to do so. After all, she'd rather not get caught here, and there would be plenty of time to question their apparent follower.

[Bloodedge]

The door began to open, leaving very little time to react. However, this mysterious boy's words rang in his head. With this warning in mind, and with so little time to spare, he dashed behind Nasira and aimed to shove her into the opening. He would then stand directly in front of it, only to be seen by a very muscular blonde male in the garbs of a royal guard. 'Shit!' Bakura thought as the man became immediately alert, charging at the boy with a spear. Said weapon was held against his throat to keep him against the wall while the man spoke. "The hell is this!? How did a kid get in here?"

[Apollymi]

Nasira found herself being pushed and this led to her tumble into the corridor she'd so recently climbed out of. Still, the young boy within caught the girl and pressed a single finger to his mouth to keep her from making any unnecessary noise. While this happened, Bakura was apparently held up outside and this was something to Nasira. She moved... towards the opening but knew when she got there that, Bakura was standing in front of it. 'Damn... this is bad.' she thought, immediately moving as if she wanted to go back out. It seemed that the boy with her understood her feelings in this and slipped up behind her quietly speaking. "If you do what you're thinking, you'll get caught too, and his capture will be for nothing." he said directly into the girl's ear. Besides this he was still rather calm and calculating waiting to see how this would play out.

[Bloodedge]

"Don't give me that silence, kid! Where does an intruder like you come from?" the man persisted. Of course, Bakura had been caught numerous times in his younger years, so this exact moment gave him a fair bit of nostalgia. As such, he smiled at the large male. "How else? In tru-da window." For obvious reasons, the guard did not take kindly to this. He withdrew his spear, but used this moment to grab Bakura by the throat, pick him up, and slam him against the wall at eye level. "Didn't think you'd explain. Whatever. We'll get that out of you," he said while the white-haired boy grasped at the arm holding him. Wasting no more time, the guard decided to drag the boy along with him, likely to have him dealt with right away.

[Apollymi]

As the man slammed Bakura into the wall, Nasira grew visibly agitated. "I can't abandon him like this, and if I go back alone, what sort of friend am I?" she whispered. This lead the young man with her to know it wouldn't be long before she did something completely irrational. To stop her from doing anything to brash, he was willing to risk himself instead, but as he went to grab the girl's arm she'd already popped out. As soon as the man now carrying the young boy turned himself around so as to preserve the location of their secret entrance. "Wait." he whispered as the girl popped out and aimed to jump the guard where he stood. She too had on occasion been in tussles with guards and aimed to hit the man in his ankles to get him to release the young man he was now holding. Meanwhile the red haired boy remained where he was ever calm. He knew this man would turn, so he couldn't move from where he was. With these two being caught here, he would likely be forced into a situation which required him to defend them all, which he wouldn't be able to do. 'They are going to require rescue.' he thought calculating how this would end and figuring he had at least a small window to work with.

[Bloodedge]

As the man walked toward the room's exit, Nasira came his way with a strike aimed at his ankle. This resulted in him stopping his forward movement, but nothing more. "Another one?" he asked in rhetoric as he turned to see Nasira. He quickly swung outward with a sweeping movement of his spear. Whether it struck the girl's head or was avoided, he would release his hold of it and reach out to grab her as well. In the meantime, he would look toward where she came from. "So you entered through this room... Got another munchkin here?"

[Apollymi]

Nasira soon found herself ducking a spear, but in the action that did it, she found herself directly in this man's line of capture. Grabbed up she also seemed a bit closer to unphased, but she was also a sort of classically abused child, this wouldn't be the first time she had been captured in such a way either. "Munchkin?" she questioned this guards word but said nothing else. There was a blankness to this girl's eyes not normally present there she'd even stopped struggling against her capture as it wouldn't aid her.

The red headed boy waited, slowing descending down his sleeves were the end of a rope dart. If it was just this one, so long as it was only one, he could probably kill the man and get all of them out before it was a problem. He just needed to wait for the opportune moment, he hoped it would present itself soon, lest he have to do something he should find objectionable to complete his mission here.

[Bloodedge]

"That's right... Munchkin." As he spoke, the guard moved closer and closer to the entrance these two had used to breach the threshold of this room. When he was close, he crouched toward the hole, holding Bakura and Nasira out in front of him while inspecting it. In the meantime, the man he had been speaking to outside came into the room, along with another pairing of guards. "Dio, what's all the yelling abou-... huh? Kids? Who let kids in here?" one of the men said. "Nothing to worry about. I've got 'em. We'll take both down to interrogation, but first, close this thing up and seal it."

[Apollymi]

If this moment had been less serious Nasira would have protested. After all, she was an adult of 20 years old, to be called a child by this overgrown brute would normally cause her to fuss or at least pout, as her earlier realization that she'd never have a proper chest did. BBut this moment would be left as she gave a quick glance in Bakura's direction, at the very least they'd been captured together and this way she could help keep an eye on this young lad until such a time as they either figured out how to get out of this, or were rescued whichever happened first. She supposed it for the best they believed them to be children, after all, most people weren't so horrible as to do anything to grotesque to children who found themselves in compromising situations. Though considering where this country's princess had ended up she had little hope for a good ending to this moment.

As this man approached the kill was being prepared in the mind of this boy. It would be seamless... allowing him to penetrate this man's eye with the tip of his weapon straight into his brain, forcing him to let go of the two he'd captured and then they'd slip back out the way they came. But soon his killing intent and concentration were broken, by the entrance of yet another, and then a pairing. 'This room is too small, and there are too many of them.' thought this boy and he retracted his weapons and disappeared back down the tunnel. He was obviously about to go introduce himself to the pair of dungeon capturers who had arrived earlier, and their point of entry was going to be sealed up so they'd have to think of a better way to get inside. 'This conflict is only going to be worse.' the young man thought as he rather quickly made his way out and began moving effortlessly through the crowd to get back to the place they'd come from.

[Bloodedge]

When the man apparently called Dio looked into the tunnel, he saw nothing but emptiness. This path was obviously aged, leaving him to deduce that it had been around since this room was in use. Perhaps this was connected to the princess' alleged kidnapping all those years ago. Nevertheless, with nothing more to worry about, he rose and moved toward the room's exit again. "Deal with this. I'll bring these two to the king," he said.

Meanwhile, Fudo and Yasmin would be returning to the villa in which this group was meant to stay. The magic circle which guided them was attached to luggage which had been brought into a small building's bedroom. Having a look around, Fudo gathered that they had returned to the right location. "Missing a touch of home, but still good. I wonder if the others are back yet."

[Apollymi]

Nasira didn't at all like the idea of meeting this supposed King. But there were worse things to deal with in life and they were likely to be alive for a while if a forced meeting with a king was a thing that was going to happen. As such she resigned herself to this fate while trying to think of a way to escape.

It seemed that Yasmin and Fudo had arrived back. Now standing in one of the small bedrooms Yasmin was carrying a large bundle of clothing and jewelry taken from Sindria and sitting it on a bed not that she knew this room to be hers but simply to put it down after carrying it for so long. "Yeah, I can definitely see you saying something like that considering..." she mentioned of his homely comment. Moving right along she stuck her head out of the bedroom door and called out to anyone who could be present. "Baki! Nasira! Shadi! Malik!" she shouted wondering if any of them would pop their heads in, but on the part of the females of this group at least there was nothing.

Meanwhile, a young man with red hair dressed in all black clothing was approaching the residence. He would soon be found within the very same bedroom that both the present individuals were standing in, though in a corner. It would be very easy to miss him, what with Fudo and Yasmin both in the room. But he'd make it a point to clear his throat after a few seconds and hope he wouldn't scare both of these people today. He also had reasonably high expectations for them taking the news he was about to present them. "Ahem..."

[Bloodedge]

It would seem the friends of these two were nowhere in sight or earshot as Yasmin called out to them, to no avail. However, there was one particular lad in range, and he made his presence known with a simple clearing of his throat. This put Fudo on high alert, as it were, prompting him to drop all but his Metal Vessel, which he pointed in the red-haired lad's direction. Never before had he seen this individual. "Are you Yambala?" he asked, thinking that the first action to come to mind could be a simple misunderstanding of this boy's identity. However, he had to be absolutely certain either way.

[Apollymi]

Yasmin looked startled at this young boy's presence and immediately backed away from him also on very high alert. She was also just stunned that someone was in the same room with them, but she hadn't noticed the boy's presence since they arrived until he cleared his throat. "Apologies. I didn't mean to scare you both, in fact I was trying very hard not to." he said only to go on with what he had to say lest he be put in a very awkward situation very soon after this. "I am not with the Yambala, I am a traveller here as well. Your friends, the white haired boy Bakura and the dark haired girl Nasira... they were captured a little while ago. And I will take you to them and help you retrieve them. Though you should know this will probably spark a war in this area if you storm in and get them out." he mentioned. All very cut and dry the entire time his pulse didn't shift and he didn't even seem wary of the weapon pointed his way.

"Baki and Nasira were captured?" Yasmin questioned. This was all very suspicious and could likely be a trap of some sort, not that she had any idea why anyone would want to try and trap them.

[Bloodedge]

In spite of the initial shock, Fudo felt no ill-will from the lad before him. More importantly, he introduced himself as a traveler, and confirmed that he had no attachment to the Yambala Gladiators in a most straightforward and honest fashion. "Right... sorry," Fudo said while sheathing his sword. He then went on to listen to what this boy had to say, which was a rather disturbing bit of information. Though the boy never said who captured their friends, he did speak of a possible war as a result of their rescue. This left only two options for their captors. Process of elimination narrowed this to a singular choice. "No..." he said upon realizing this. "They couldn't have gone there when they left."

[Apollymi]

Yasmin heard what this boy had to say and didn't even need the process of elimination to know where they'd been captured. In fact, she was more than willing to bet that they'd gone to the palace. This boy watched the movements of both of these people's faces and was apparently neutral about the information that he'd just given. "If by there you mean the palace. Then the answer is yes... that is exactly where they are right now." he said looking to the girl this young boy studied her face and in a second he knew that she was not surprised by this information. "You're not surprised by this..." he commented at her face which just caused Yasmin to shrug. She wasn't told anything in advance but she had a feeling that if they could get captured anywhere it would be there.

"The method they used to sneak in, was a small tunnel through the eastern wall into a playroom. It is without a doubt being sealed as we speak... not that it would matter, I doubt the pair of you would properly fit in there." he said looking at them. "So... how would you like to do this?" he asked of them needing to know what the preferences were for his apparent partners in this particular situation. And making the assumption that they would go along without too much fuss.

[Bloodedge]

Yasmin was not surprised to learn where their friends had been incarcerated. Of course, Bakura was the one leading this journey, and Fudo understood that she knew him better than anyone else would. It seemed she accepted this as something he would simply do. That being the case, Fudo could think of only one way to respond to the boy's final query. "What kind of question is that? We're going right through the front door, and we're taking our friends back," he said. Ever the rational individual, Fudo abandoned his 'think it through' persona for few reasons. The endangerment of his singular companion since early childhood was, without a shadow of a doubt, one such reason, and the dark haze over his eyes went to show that he was fully resolute in this plan.

[Apollymi]

This boy looked at the resolution on the face of Fudo. He was sort of surprised by it, as he expected this one to be a bit more rational than his friend had shown herself to be. As he turned to Yasmin who'd been the most reasonable person he'd met so far she also seemed very resolute about storming in the front door with him. "I'm with you." she'd said to Fudo as she was also not really pleased about her friend from childhood being captured. After a few seconds of staring at this group of people this completely composed boy sighed. "All of you are like this. Bakura pushes Nasira into the hiding space... Nasira jumps out of said hiding place to try and save him... they both get captured... and both of you... want to storm the palace regardless of the potential outcomes to get them back. Is this what friendship is?" he asked, seeming to be genuinely curious about it on the whole. Of course, he had his own reasons for helping out this little group, none of which he really intended to share at this moment.

[Bloodedge]

"Of course," Fudo replied immediately. Without further ado, he turned and began to walk out of the building, looking back only to continue sharing words with the red-haired lad. "I wouldn't expect an assassin to understand. I also don't know why you're here, why you were with them, or why you chose to tell us these things. But, if you're helping us do this... you're an ally for now. Allow me to extend my thanks while I retain the decency to do so." There was no more to be said by the prince of Sindria. He appreciated the information shared by this individual, but after working out what kind of person this one was, he found a certain level of distrust attached to his being. But, that was cast aside for the moment. Onward he went to the royal palace of the Reim Empire.

[Apollymi]

The apathetic teen returned his gaze to Fudo as the boy spoke fingering him as an assassin and beyond this extending his thanks for the information provided to him. If the teen was capable of feeling normal emotions he might have been shocked, but nothing even remotely resembling normal emotion came across the boy's face instead he blinked only once. "There is no need to thank me. And I mean no harm to your nor any of your friends. If there had been fewer guards... I wouldn't have come here to tell you this." the boy said, as if to state if there had only been the one guard within the room, their friends would have returned here this day instead of himself. With this in mind he took off with them.

Yasmin was also off, running through the streets with the pair of young men, apparently not attracting much attention while taking a fairly easy course through the streets. "I know you said you meant us no harm... but why were you with them? Baki wouldn't have welcomed you along for something like this." mentioned Yasmin as she ran through these streets as if she knew them. This was a bit odd to the red haired lad, who'd intended to lead under the assumption that none of them would know where to go. When Yasmin ended up in front of him however and leading them through less crowded streets and alley ways he remembered the conversation he'd been privy to earlier. 'It seems she has some memory of this place. If one had to question that she was the Princess none would know it given how well she navigates the streets.' the boy thought. As a word of caution he spoke to the pair of them in the same toneless way he'd been speaking the entire time. "I can't answer your question. I don't know how you plan to get in, but you will lose sight of me. " he said, he knew that people in the street weren't seeing him now as these two had a presence much greater than his own... he was practically invisible as the crowds moved to let this pair of dungeon capturers through. And soon enough they'd be back before the eastern wall, staring up at it, and having been lead here by Yasmin as the red haired boy had taken to running alongside Fudo as he seemed to be the most wary of his presence and thus the one the boy didn't want to accidentally lose sight of him.

[Bloodedge]

Fudo was no longer concerned with why this boy was with Bakura and Nasira. In fact, his only concern was their whereabouts and well being at this point. As they drew closer to the palace, Fudo set his eyes upon it, and the red-haired boy gave a warning that he would be lost to their sight after entering the palace. "That's funny," he said in response while continuing past the eastern wall, truly taking a path to the front gates. "I lost sight of you a long time ago." True enough, Fudo had developed a one-track mind over the course of their journey to the palace. In approaching the gates, he was held up by the front guards, who were now disallowing the entry of anyone bar the previously discussed 'representative' after receiving word of an intrusion. "Spirit of Politeness and Austerity, come forth. Amon!" In drawing his sword, Fudo called forth Amon's flames, as well as his Djinn Weapon Equip. The fires produced by this act were enough to clear a path between the guards, and give him room to cut his way through the entrance with Amon's sword. This, of course, alerted other guards from within the palace of another intrusion, prompting many to swarm the front gate.

[Apollymi]

It seemed that straight through the front door had been literal, as Fudo headed around front and cleared the entrance with the awaking of Amon and his own Weapon Equip. Yasmin followed suit, though she hadn't gotten an answer to her question, she could accept that assassin's weren't meant to be seen, and take the young man at his word that no harm would come to them from him. After Fudo cleared the first wave with fire Yasmin's own weapon equip was produced in the form of a long pole arm with a spiked feathered tip. As she approached a swift swing of her weapon produced a myriad of minor tornados which moved through flames and spread them about the front court yard much to the dismay of the guards in the area. All of this chaos was caused as Yasmin continued on her way forward intending simply to enter the palace without much thought of what she would do within.

While this happened... the red haired young man moved through the guards, unnoticed due to the grand entrance created at the front by the two dungeon capturers. The few he came across who were in reach but not interested in him, were killed swiftly with the rope darts attached to his hands. As he slipped into the castle he seemed content to follow the path Yasmin was creating. 'I intended to use these two as a distraction. But it seems they are capable enough on their own... I'll just figure out where the other two are.' he thought as he moved about. Inside the palace a dark haired woman with red eyes and draped in a large cloak stirred in the room she was in. She looked towards the door at things normally unseen by people. "Oh?"

[Bloodedge]

The encroaching guards were no concern of Fudo's. At this point, they were nothing more than a nuisance. He continued producing flames in large quantities to fend them off, with said flames spreading in all directions from his person. "You have two people captive here!" he called out to the inhabitants of the palace. "Bring them to us now!"

Meanwhile, in one of the palace's dungeon quarters, Bakura was chained to a wall. An interrogation took place where his inquirer sought information about some place called Artemyra, refusing to believe that these two had not come from such a location. "Dick... I keep tellin' ya, I don't know what that place is!" Bakura said while blood dripped from his mouth. This prompted the interrogator to move on to the next torture item: A wooden bat with barbed wire wrapped around it. The man performed a few test swings with this item, before ultimately approaching Bakura to repeat his question one final time.

[Apollymi]

Yasmin stopped at the front waiting in fact. Since Fudo had called out she wanted to see if his demands would be met. Instead of guards or someone else coming out to negotiate the trade of their friends. She was still simply brushing aside any unnecessary people on her way in.

Meanwhile the woman dressed in black headed towards the outside speaking to a man as she did. "Sorio, it seems you haven't done your job properly... I hate to get involved with such things, but I can't let someone like this slip away~" the woman mentioned her voice chiming as she began to move towards the entrance of the palace. She'd walk down the hall towards the commotion and as she did a little redhead boy slipped past her. He was completely outside of her line of vision as he headed towards what he assumed to be a dungeon which is where he figured the pair of youngsters was being kept and he arrived inside of the torture chamber in time to see Bakura and Nasira both chained to a wall and the boy looking particularly beat up. Nasira had blank eyes as she moved against the wall. The small boy walked behind the torturer his footsteps light as he waited for what would be the proper moment to kill this individual. And he'd be unnoticed by most present, though if one looked around the man swinging the baseball bat, they'd see this unassuming young man, with a blank fierceness in his eyes as he decided the proper moment to kill the man and free the pair.

[Bloodedge]

"Haven't I? This is exactly what we need, my dear Magi," said the man atop the throne. He chose to simply stay behind as this woman went to meet this new set of intruders. Fudo was receiving no responses to his demand, yet the guards were all backing away from the pair of Dungeon Capturers.

Meanwhile, the interrogator reached Bakura, bat in hand. "Last chance, kid. No... I don't expect you to tell me shit. But you," he said, looking toward Nasira. "I heard you jumped in to save this brat. Tell me who sent you, and I won't bash your face in like this." With that said, he thought to use the white-haired lad as a threat. Looking the boy's way again, he pulled back the bat. 'I've got that weird feeling again...' Bakura thought. Remembering what happened the last time he had this feeling, a grin crossed his face. Before the man could swing his bat, Bakura spat blood in his face, making the man take pause. "Do it."

[Apollymi]

A laugh escaped this woman as she began to descend the steps. Each step brought black Rukh from the woman as she finally made her way outside. The guards had already backed away, it was after all very obvious that they couldn't handle what was before them. "Oh what's this? Two Dungeon Capturers with fates entwined and convictions so strong~" she said her red eyes darting across them and their Rukh as she pulled from her side. "Why don't you be a good little pair and come to me. If you join us, I'll give you back your friends." she said but everything about this gave Yasmin a ominous feeling. The pink haired girl stood to the right of this woman a great distance off but equally far away from Fudo which was a bit perplexing.

Meanwhile Nasira's eyes darted across this torturer as he mentioned a threat which included Bakura. Nasira was a lot of things, but she wasn't a coward, and she had no such odd feelings. "You'd have better luck trying to beat it out of me... and it wouldn't change the answer." she mentioned with a lack of emotion. Of course right after she said this, Bakura spit blood in the face of their captor for some unknown reason. And when this happened the man who was standing suddenly in their face, would rather oddly have a rope dart pierce through his eye and then disappear. Assuming he could do nothing to dodge the speedy attack he would be dead instantaneously and the small red haired boy they'd found in their tunnel would be right behind him. "Hm, I didn't know you could see me. That's odd." the boy said of Bakura. Casually stepping over the body to retrieve the keys which would free the pair from the wall. "Your friends are making a lot of commotion up front. We should be wanting to exit this place as quickly as possible." he said as he unlocked both of their shackles.

[Bloodedge]

Though Fudo cared not for the guards that were backing away. However, he was quite wary of this woman who approached, and he looked unto her with narrowed eyes. The offer this woman made was one that Fudo could only consider ridiculous. "Join you to get our friends back? Surely you jest. It's good to know they're still alive, though. Good for you." With that said, Fudo began walking forward, intending to pass this woman just as he'd passed the initial guards, keeping up his torrent of flames. "Out of the way. I'll get them myself."

Bakura's hunch was correct. Before the interrogator was able to hit him, he stopped in his tracks and fell to the floor, forming a puddle of his own blood where he landed. This brought the red-haired boy into view, and resulted in a mighty sigh of relief from Bakura. "Whew! I'm glad I was right about you being around somewhere. I thought I was a goner!" When he was finally released from the chains, Bakura rubbed his wrists to ward away the remaining feeling from the cuffs. Knowing that his group of companions was around brought another grin to the lad's face. "They're here, but you wanna get out? We could go wild, y'know. Deal with all our problems right now."

[Apollymi]

"Oh, stop it now. You can't do anything I don't allow." said the woman. As she pointed towards the young man and his pink haired female companion. She made use of Gravity Magic which would cause the pair of them to be pulled towards each other and stop their movements a distance off from herself, it would also extinguish the flames through the force of her will, or rather simply by her giving the Rukh a command which would make them stop. If successful in this she'd create a ball of Light Magic in her hand, causing multiples of herself to appear around them. "Temper, temper. Future Kings are supposed to be more reserved than that." mentioned the woman who seemed nothing but amused by this entire situation. Still, it was going to be a bit of a pain to deal with her and Yasmin didn't like what was going on here.

"Oh, so you can't see me then. Hm... still." the boy said seemingly fine with this but finding the boy to be strange all together. "You'd make an interesting assassin." he said finally moving right along, with Nasira freed and now on the ground the girl was hopping in place and rotating her shoulders getting read to move right along. She also agreed with Bakura and this made the red haired boy sigh. "All of you are way too brash. There is a Magi here, and not one of the ones who travels with you. If you all don't escape here... you will likely just be recaptured. And I really don't want that." said the boy who for some unknown reason was rather invested in this group's well being. Nasira thought about it and began moving towards the front. "We should at least check on Fudo and Yasmin. Magi shouldn't be fought against."

[Bloodedge]

"Beg pardon?" Fudo said in response to the woman's claim. Immediately thereafter, he felt himself being pulled toward the rear. As he worked to resist this, he looked behind him to see where he would be headed. It seemed this spell was aimed to pull Yasmin and himself together. Realizing this, he disabled his Djinn Weapon Equip and allowed himself to move freely by the Gravity Magic's will, turning toward Yasmin as he did. His own weapon was sheathed in the process, but Fudo had a plan in mind. "Reserved Kings are fools. A true King should put everything he has on the table. The good... the bad... chaos." It was Fudo's intention in this moment to crash into Yasmin, but with a hand open to grab hold of her Metal Vessel without necessarily taking it from her. Once his hand was upon it, he began speaking directly into Yasmin's face, keeping as silent as possible as to avoid the ear of the enemy. "Spirit of Maniacal Love and Chaos, we order thine ancestors..."

Bakura had taken to inspecting the other young man closely, poking at his torso. He found this lad strange due to the fact that he could avoid sight and sense while being in the same room as someone. 'Assassin?' he thought. Standing upright, he looked the redhead in the eye, his own eyes blinking in constant confusion. "Who are you?"

[Apollymi]

"Oh?" this woman seemed confused by what this young man said, but obviously Yasmin wasn't. Smart enough that she caught up to the apparent idea that Fudo had without any hesitation once they were occupying the same space with his hand on her weapon she finished the invocation of the power of her chosen Djinn. "To use our Magoi and give us power. Come out, Paimon." this was said outside the earshot of the woman who was now cloned around them. Of course, what would happen next would be very odd. The combination of Yasmin and Fudo's Magoi would cause a great disruption across the country of Reim the likes of which hadn't been sensed before. Doing what they had would cause both individuals to wear the Djinn Equip of Paimon the white robes and armor and slightly feathered bodies. "What on earth is this?"

Meanwhile within the castle, the red haired boy found himself being inspected by Bakura. "I'm Tetsuya." he said with no further explanation necessary. He knew this was a girl who couldn't really figure out what this boy was doing here. "So... an Assassin has been trailing us, and the only question you have is who he is..." this was Nasira as she poked her head out of the door to see if there was anything she should be worried about.

In a completely different space, Shula was with Shadiya and Malik and became immediately distracted by the change in the Magoi. In fact her eyes widened completely as she stared off into the distance and tried to figure out what it could have been. Samiya who was also in Reim somewhere with Ali also looked in the direction this shifted Magoi was coming from her brows drawn together in confusion.

[Bloodedge]

"Paimon!" As this joint invocation finished, Fudo gained the robes of Paimon which differed slightly from those he received from Djinn Weapon Equip earlier this day. What's more, the Metal Vessel which held the Fire Djinn, Amon, became a soft copy of Paimon's spear. Fudo made immediate use of the Djinn's abilities by creating a wall of wind betwixt Yasmin and himself, allowing their bodies to be separated in spite of this woman's Gravity Magic. "Good thing you come with free cushioning," he said to Yasmin while turning toward the enemy. "I hope that wasn't too rough on you. Now then... where were we?"

"Tetsuya..." Now that he knew this boy's name, Bakura had all the information he cared about. As such, he joined Nasira at the door, chuckling as retort to her observation. "Yep! He's not a bad guy; I can tell." And with that, he was prepared to take the path toward the others in the palace hall.

Ali's eyes were already toward the sky as this strange phenomenon occurred. The Rukh seemed to be vibrating at a frequency which was otherwise unheard of, and there was only one thing he could think to blame. Everything nearby was being affected by this act between Dungeon Capturers, and Ali's eyes were also shifted in the direction of this disturbance's source. "Sami... don't you think it's strange for those two to be how they are, considering they are the candidates of different Magi?"

[Apollymi]

It seemed both of them were capable of invoking Paimon's power simultaneously. It was then used by Fudo to help cushion the space between them, not that their almost complete collision was even slightly unpleasant. A smile came to the girl's face as she took note of the carbon copy of her own weapon in this man's hand. "That wasn't bad at all." she saw flipping the weapon around in her hand. Meanwhile the Magi they were not fighting against looked all but amazed. There was literally no precedent for what she was seeing here. "No, we don't get to just brush past this. What on earth are you?" she questioned this pair of dungeon capturers. They were unrelated and sharing the power of a Djinn. Not as Capturer and Household member but simply on equal terms and this was something she couldn't have possibly understood. Still her magic wasn't without multiple uses, and the use of Gravity Magic would only continue if not to pull the pair of them together than to force the earth up beneath the feet of these young dungeon capturers as the full set of illusionary people around them began charging light magic in balls.

"I suppose that is fine and all. Considering that if he wanted either of us dead, we'd already be such." she mentioned. Something about her as a person didn't really like the idea of someone slipping in and out of her line of vision and being completely knowable. The boy known as Tetsuya slipped up behind the pair as they discussed him and he simply spoke knowing that they probably had already lost track of him again. "To be fair... I don't believe myself to be a good or a bad person. And I am not under orders to kill any of you. If that makes you feel better." he mentioned in the casual way that someone who has killed more people than they should have discusses killing people. Moving right along he slipped out of the door heading back towards the front of the building. "We should get moving."

To Ali's words the Magi known as Samiya turned and shrugged. "Everything about them has been strange. Since I met them, I've not known what to think about them. You and I aren't so different that we'd choose completely different people, but..." Samiya paused feeling the Rukh. "I have no idea how we managed to separately choose two people so alike. Unless, it wasn't really our choice at all." mentioned the redhaired young woman as she got the tingling feeling about the magic being used by the pair of like, but unrelated dungeon capturers.

[Bloodedge]

"Oh, you know..." Fudo replied to the Magi when asked what Yasmin and himself were. At this point, he figured he could afford to be a bit cheeky. "The stuff of legend." Without further ado, Fudo aimed his spear toward the ceiling, conjuring a powerful tornado around Yasmin and himself, the likes of which he should not have been able to muster even with all of his might. Its purpose was to force the enemy woman and all of her clones away from them, though it easily carried the power to continue blasting through wall after wall within the palace from there. All the while, this wind caused the torn-up bits of the floor to be swept away instantly, allowing potential concussive damage to any and everything found at the rim of this gale.

The more Ali thought about the situation Samiya and himself had been witnessing unfold for some time now, the more he realized how strange it was. He had to credit Samiya's point, though. It likely had nothing to do with their involvement, no matter how alike their candidates were. This was something that began long, long ago. "Fate is strange. I never thought I'd see a stranger case than Yusef..."

[Apollymi]

At Fudo's words the two women around him had two very different reactions. Yasmin, giggled just a bit finding the whole situation utterly humorous while the black haired Magi seemed to be disgusted in the most complete way. "Brat." the woman said but as she spoke around this pair of dungeon capturers a vortex was created which immediately blew apart and dispersed her clones and the magic they'd been about to cast. Beyond that it spread the damage out and around this place, and began tearing at walls and practically demolishing the palace around them. "Don't get ahead of yourself." the woman said, as a borg was created around herself the likes of which none of them would have seen before. Because hers, instead of being made of the light Rukh like all others was formed of black ones which condensed before her as she walked rather calmly into the vortex to find herself within it. Once inside she didn't lower the Borg no, instead she cast her magic from within, a tendril escaped off of it and turned into two which would aim to blow apart the pair of dungeon capturers with gravity magic for no other reason than to show them the kind of power they were messing with. This would succeed in tossing Yasmin at least, as she was utterly shocked by the color of this woman's borg. "You two are impressive, I'll grant you that. But you could be so much more... join me." she said quite firmly this time.

Samiya on the other hand, was quite fond of the little twists and turns fate seemed to give them. After all, if everything always worked out the exact same way, life would get rather stale. At the mention of Yusef though the redhead's brow rose. "Yusef, he was just a really strong child. Odd, but by no means the oddest thing I've ever expected to see." she said at the mention of this young man. "This pairing makes me curious though, I wonder how it will turn out and just what those two will be able to accomplish together. " said Samiya and while she did back at the palace a certain red haired boy was presently stopping the movements of a black haired girl and hopefully a white haired boy. "Uh, we can't go this way." he said as a wall was ripped to shreds before them. They would need to go around to flee the palace and more so than that, there were now other people fleeing as well. "Anyway to let them know you two are safe so that we might all have a chance to get out of here?" he asked of the pair of them.

[Bloodedge]

The Magi's insult only brought a jovial chuckle from Sindria's prince. As far as he was concerned, they now had the upper hand against her. That is, until her Borg was revealed, showcasing a color which Fudo had never seen, and being more powerful than the norm to boot. Fudo had seen a few different mages in his lifetime, but never had he seen one with a barrier that was black. That was not, however, his only problem. It seemed this woman was capable of using this barrier of hers to attack, and immediately did so with her Gravity Magic cast seemingly by the Borg itself. This resulted in the separation of Fudo from Yasmin, and to his surprise, the loss of his Djinn Equip as well. 'It's gone? Hmm... Maybe we have to stay close to each other to keep that power. That would make sense,' he thought. Luckily, the Magi's onslaught did not continue there. She instead insisted once more that they join her for whatever reason, but Fudo held no interest for this offer. So, he pointed his sword in the woman's direction, eyeing Yasmin briefly enough to relay an unspoken message to prepare for the next maneuver. "And how exactly, sorceress, could you make more out of us?"

Bakura, after being stopped by Tetsuya, bore witness to the sudden destruction of the wall in front of himself and the others in his company. He could only assume this was the work of Yasmin, considering Tetsuya's testimony spoke of their friends being in the palace. He could not confirm this absolutely, but he had a very strong hunch. "Wait..." he said, continuing to watch as the tornado died down. Since Fudo no longer had Paimon's Djinn Equip active, the winds produced by him were being removed from the vicinity over the course of a mere few seconds. This allowed Fudo, Yasmin, and the Magi they faced, to be viewed by the others. "There they are. But..."

[Apollymi]

After finding herself separated from Fudo, Yasmin noted that their shared Djinn Equip had been cancelled for Fudo but she was left with her own still in tact. Though this didn't bother her, it did put into perspective a bit of understanding of their apparent shared ability. 'Distance matters, for the person who wasn't the one to capture the original dungeon. Okay.' she thought as she glanced towards Fudo who was now holding his sword in this woman's direction and his glance towards the pink haired girl let her know that she should prepare for what was next and so she did, foregoing her djinn equip for whatever reason, and moving steadily closer to Fudo, while the woman before them laughed at the assumptions being made by the male child before her. "Well, obviously I'll make you two, King and Queen like no other. I am a Magi after all." mentioned the woman. Such a statement would have been shocking but her next use of magic would more than prove this point. As she held a hand up in the air, the black Rukh began to descend upon her like none would have ever seen before. Beyond this they began to change and mutate in the air around them turning into demon like beasts which the woman grew to sizes larger than she was herself to set upon this pair, hoping to subdue them, or at the very least wear them out so they could be properly talked into joining her.

Among the group now on the outer fringes, Nasira found herself staring at Fudo and Yasmin the same as everyone else. Though she had been stopped from moving before the wall had crumbled she could swear she saw, both of the Dungeon Capturers using the same Djinn Equip at the same time. Such a thing was obviously not possible so she brushed it aside. "It seems like a bad time to interrupt them... I don't know about everyone else, but I don't belong in that sort of fight." she said. Tetsuya could only agree as he stared at the group before him. 'A magi and two dungeon capturers. I would say that the former should have already won. I do wonder what on earth they could be doing right now to hold up against her.' and though he didn't ask this aloud he would soon get an answer to his question. Yasmin began speaking as the monsters began to form above them swarming greatly enough to darken the sky. "Spirit of Politeness and Austerity, in the name of our magoi..." she started the invocation of not the Djinn she'd personally captured but the one previously captured by Fudo, while taking hold of his metal vessel from the hand he held it in pointed at this apparent Magi. She did this while leaving it in his hand, the same thing as he'd done with her.

[Bloodedge]

'Magi?' Hearing this caused Fudo quite a bit of confusion, as he'd never imagined it being the case that this woman was yet another Magi in this world. In spite of this new information, though, he intended to defeat this woman here and now. As her beasts came to life, Yasmin took hold of Amon's Metal Vessel. This would allow the repeat of their earlier synchronized Djinn Equip, but with Fudo's Djinn instead. "... and our will to grant us a greater power, we order you and your members," he continued from Yasmin's part of the incantation. With this, Amon's flames were emitted from the Djinn insignia on the sword. "Come forth, Amon!" The place in which they stood would quickly become engulfed in flames as both parties' attires gained the flame-like greaves and gauntlets, in addition to the loose-fitting white robes, and gold jewelry of Amon. The first to emerge from the fire was Fudo, who seemed to have undergone a change in hair color, becoming blonde with his hair tied in two long ponytails. He carried the large, black sword of Amon with him on a path directly toward the enemy herself, seeming to think nothing of what she had called forth for them to deal with. "Is that all you can offer? I can give us that myself," he said while stopping just shy of the range he remembered as being their limit for this ability. Still using the momentum he had, Fudo slashed downward with Amon's sword, sending a straightforward torrent of flames toward the opposing Magi.

Bakura kept his eyes peeled, believing there to be some way he could step out onto this scene without risking too much. As he watched, though, he saw something very strange, and a bit frightening. From his current perspective, Yasmin stood right beside Fudo as the latter's Metal Vessel summoned its power. So, without knowing any better, he was left to assume the pink-haired girl was being burned alive by the effect of the male's Djinn Equip, which caused his eyes to widened. "Yas! What are you doing!?"

[Apollymi]

"Amon!" Yasmin finished the invocation in unison with Fudo and once again the pair was enveloped together in the Djinn Equip of one of their apparently shared Djinn. Her outfit now changed to the one that belonged to Amon, she also would move out after Fudo her own weapon turned into a soft copy of Amon's sword. Which she held in her hand turning about just a bit to get used to its weight. Before she'd emerge she'd also have a look at her attire which was pretty nice and not entirely different from what she'd gotten used to using Paimon's Equip. The weapon though, wasn't her general preference but soon she'd emerge from the flames making a statement to no one in particular. "Hm... Using a weapon this big... will take some getting used to." she chimed but to get right into it. She swung the blade upwards to the descending creatures as Fudo went to handle the woman who had caused them this particular annoyance. The flames that spread from the girl's blade were much stronger than she'd anticipated burning up those creatures which filled the sky as Fudo made his way forward. The Magi had up a borg to deflect the attack coming her way, still, she didn't expect the sort of power these two seemed to possess when they were using one of their given Djinn in unison. "I'm not talking giving you some paltry country. You two could rule the world with my guidance." she mentioned the young man her borg withstanding the onslaught but soon enough Yasmin was joining and jumping into the air sinking her phantom copy of Amon's sword into the borg directly searing flames melting it where it made contact much to the dismay of the Magi inside. "Sorry, but if we wanted all that, I'm sure we'd find a way to do it without you." she said as she jumped back off the place she was leaving a sizeable melted hole in the borg, assuming of course, that the final blow to this woman would be dealt by Fudo.

Meanwhile, Nasira noticed Bakura getting a bit distressed by the situation Yasmin appeared to be in, she felt the need to comfort him then. "Don't worry, if she was in any danger from that, Fudo wouldn't have allowed it to happen." she said though she was also curious as to why the other girl would stand so close to the coming flames. Only to remember her earlier thought that both of them had been using the same Djinn Equip when they'd arrived. 'No...' she thought only to have her own eyes widen after Yasmin finally emerged from the flames also cloaked in the Djinn Equip of Amon. Nasira at that moment ran out of things to say, but even the stalwart assassin was shocked by this turn of events. "That... isn't... possible."

[Bloodedge]

"The guidance of a Fallen Magi... As absolutely tempting as that sounds, I can't say I'm interested." As Fudo resolved himself to being fully against this woman and her ideals, Yasmin pressed onward with an attack great enough to break the Magi's Borg. This left a hole in the barrier, which was all Fudo needed to have his flames enter. "And it sounds like the lady agrees. Amol Dherrsaiqa!" With the compression of his Magoi and Amon's flames, Fudo shrank his sword into a form sharing the size of his unused Metal Vessel. With it in this form, he produced a vortex of flames around the blade, taking the stance belonging to his form of Royal Swordplay while dashing toward the Magi. A spin preceded a forward lunge with the sword, which sent the flame torrent directly toward the Magi and her Borg. Fudo intended to let his fire leak into the hole Yasmin created, filling the Magi's defensive barrier with flames.

Meanwhile, Bakura stood dumbfounded that nothing had befallen Yasmin. In fact, she seemed to have undergone the same transformation as Fudo, which was more than a bit strange, considering what they all knew about Djinn Metal Vessels. Still ever the confused individual, he didn't seem to grasp what Tetsuya was referring to when he spoke. "Huh?"

[Apollymi]

The Magi who was standing here was utterly confused. Most had no idea what a fallen person was, for someone to be able to identify her as such was completely astounding. Beyond this, their combined usage of two different Djinn Equips and the power that came with it was for a second more than she knew how to deal with. Their apparent denial of her offer to join them, came with a torrent of fire leaking through the barrier which was her borg. Her eyes would widen as the flames seemed to engulf her person and when they cleared, there would appear to be nothing left of her. Of course this would be a trick. Still, she didn't think it prudent to continue fighting with this duo as a mistake on her part could end in her untimely demise. She instead used her light magic to create a stand in of herself to burn away while she escaped through use of her isolation barrier which cancels magic usage directly around her and was bent to her precise form as she escaped behind the flames. Such a tactic needed absolute control over her magoi which she had enough to make it seem as if she disappeared in the fires of this pairs final attack. "That seemed too easy." Yasmin said but now wasn't really the time to think about that, she seemed to relax still wearing the Djinn Equip normally owned exclusively by Fudo. They needed to fetch Nasira and Bakura and likely run from this palace as quickly as possible. "But we should find Baki and Nasira and get out of here before worrying too much about it."

The trio of others who were waiting out the battle seemed to be awestruck by all that they had witnessed. It would be Bakura to question it directly, though Tetsuya could have said more about it, he'd already disappeared from behind them as the final blow was struck. After all, there was no need for him to stay given that these people had gotten back to their friends. Instead, it would be Nasira to speak. "I... think... they can use their Djinn Equips together... which... is a thing that shouldn't be possible, right Tetsu..." she turned to find the boy gone completely from their midst. "Yeah, cause that isn't unnerving or anything." she mumbled thinking that the assassin had made himself a friend of theirs for whatever reason. Still, it seemed the battle was over and as such she stood up more clearly extending a hand to Bakura. "Why don't we just go ask them?"

[Bloodedge]

The combined efforts of this double Djinn Equip seemed to cause the end of the black-haired Magi. However, the ease at which this attack could defeat an alleged Magi was far too unbelievable for Fudo. Nevertheless, they were free of her now, and they could move on to retrieving their friends. "I agree. Once we find them, we can just leave," he said. Little did Fudo know, the friends they sought were very near to them.

"He's gone. That feeling went away just now," Bakura said regarding Tetsuya's presence. Moving right along, Bakura chose to lead the walk toward the others, waving his right arm in the air as he did so. "Hey guys, over here!"

[Apollymi]

Yasmin also thought it was far too easy of a dispatch for a supposed Magi, especially after being in the company of a couple of them for the duration of their journey. Even so, she simply nodded that they should find their friends and no sooner than she'd decided this that the voice of a certain ashen haired boy would be heard and he'd soon enough be seen waving an arm in their direction. "Baki, Nasira!~" Yasmin responded moving on to greet the pair of people they'd been looking for in the first place. "They're alright!" she exclaimed looking back rather happily at Fudo for just this moment, she figured he'd be just as happy about this as she was.

Nasira simply accepted this boy's apparent feeling as reason enough to assume the assassin boy had left for whatever reason. No matter how odd it was, it was very important that they all escape this place soon and now that their friends seemed to have dispatched a magi it would appear that they were in the clear to do exactly that. "Hi~" she managed as she also moved to greet the pair of dungeon capturers, and with their combined movements towards each other they'd meet in the space in the middle of the area that had previously separated them.

[Bloodedge]

"Alright being the relative term," Fudo replied. Still, he approached the others, glancing over Bakura's battered form before stopping in front of Nasira. Disabling his Djinn Equip, and Yasmin's as a result, he reached out to the black-haired girl's face to check her status. "An interrogator did this. How far did they go?" he asked.

In the meantime, Bakura lowered his arm and rotated his shoulders. "Sorry we got caught. I thought we could do something useful while we had some downtime, but some big guy came in and found us."

[Apollymi]

Djinn Equips now cancelled, Yasmin was also looking over Bakura's face while Fudo looked over Nasira. She heard out what the boy had to say about their reason for coming here, and though she could somewhat understand wanting to help it was still a tiny bit reckless. Nasira on the other hand let Fudo look over her face, and though she'd taken a bit of a beating... she'd seen far worse. So she wasn't at all upset with the overall outcome of her day. In fact, she simply shook her head at the man. "This is it. Apparently they were under the impression that we were child spies from Artemyra. Anyways before any real damage could be done, that red headed assassin boy killed the interrogator so there is nothing to worry about." mentioned the black haired girl, who figured that Fudo was much more upset than he was letting on. She reached out for the man patting his shoulder. "Really. It isn't bad." she said.

Meanwhile Yasmin was looking over the face of her young friend as well, and his explanation which deserved some sort of retort. "Baki... I was really worried about the two of you." Yasmin mentioned. She seemed to relieved to find the pair of them not dead or in some kind of mangled bloody heap. With this in mind she was quite relieved that for the most part they were unharmed and the person who had wronged them in such a way had been rightly dealt with.

[Bloodedge]

"Hmm. If you say so. I'll have to thank that assassin. Where is he now?" the teal-haired man asked, figuring the boy would still be around somewhere. Pulling his hand away from Nasira, he scanned the immediate area, hoping to locate the lad. But, his search was interrupted by Bakura.

"He's gone," the boy said. More importantly, he had remembered his and Nasira's arrival to this place, and was thereby brought back to an earlier train of thought. "But forget that. Did we just see you guys share powers?"

[Apollymi]

Nasira nodded her agreement to this boy's assumption that the red haired lad was gone. "He disappeared right after we found the pair of you. Actually, I was mid-sentence when he vanished." she said. Apparently more perturbed by this lad's disappearing act than she'd been by the beating she received at the hands of the dead interrogator. Beyond this point, it was apparently now a topic of discussion that they breach the issue of the shared Djinn Equips between Yasmin and Fudo. Yasmin thought about it for a second and shrugged, she had no proper explanation for what had happened but their sharing of the Djinn and simultaneous Djinn Equip was a thing even if she couldn't properly explain why it happened.

"Um, yes. I suppose, that would be a decent summary. Though, I am not quite sure about it myself... it kind of just happened that way." she said looking to Fudo who had been the one to initiate it the first time, then as her eyes darted around this place she remembered that it likely wasn't good that they all just stand around discussing the powers that they'd apparently developed, and beyond that felt that it would be more useful if they at least had one of the three Magi handy to try and better explain what was happening when such a thing was done. "But even more important than that, how about we get out of here, before reinforcements arrive or anything else happens." she said as she began moving towards the nearest wall and heading for the area outside the palace as she was quite familiar with the layout of this city and would apparently have no problem getting them back to the place they'd come from rather quickly.

[Bloodedge]

Fudo hardly had a way to explain how their shared Djinn Equip functioned. In fact, he had initiated it on a gamble, not knowing if it would even work initially. Regardless of his intention to explain this, it was brought to his attention by Yasmin that they were best off leaving the palace now. So, with a nod, he followed suit. Bakura did so as well, though he did not intend to let this matter sit for long. He now wondered if such a thing were possible with Household Vessels as well...

Meanwhile, it seemed the throne room remained intact. Upon the throne sat the present king of Reim, Sorio himself. The elderly man sat in wait for the return of his resident Magi with a grin on his face. "I never thought I would live to see the day a Magi ran away from some young'uns. Either way, this settles things. Dio!" The king's call brought forth the very same blonde man that had captured Bakura and Nasira. When he approached, he took a knee before the old man, awaiting his order. "Inform the troops! On this day, that wench from Artemyra committed an unforgivable atrocity by sending spies to infiltrate my palace! I hereby declare war against Artemyra!"

[Apollymi]

Soon enough the foursome would find themselves back inside the dwelling they'd so recently made their own. Now back out of sight and with all of their friends mostly intact they could continue their conversation without there being much strain on anyone.

Meanwhile the black haired female Magi stepped out from behind the throne currently occupied by Reim's current King. She couldn't help but scoff at his words as she waited beside him for his order to be delivered to the rather large blonde man now kneeling at his feet. Once it had been she spoke with her red eyes trained on this individual as the order was given. "I didn't run, I was simply shocked by the amount of power they seem to possess. I dare say they'd give any run of the mill sorcerer a swift death with power like that. And I felt it prudent not to reveal my entire hand at once." she said as if this was a fitting explanation. Her eyes would narrow just a bit as the looked at the old man to her side, as if she was thinking something less than charitable about him, but just as soon as this look would appear on her face, it would disappear. "They are a delightful pair, I'll have them in my own time." she finished this statement as if the the pair of dungeon capturers were less to her than the man sitting beside her, but this apparently wasn't really the case. 'It isn't as if I need to worry, what with you doing my bidding, I'll simply install them here after you've lived out your usefulness.' as she finished this thought a smile most wicked spread across her face and the shadow of a greater evil seemed to lurk behind her.

[Bloodedge]

"Right away, Your Majesty," the man replied before making his exit of the throne room. He would indeed inform the royal army of this impending war, but after doing so, he vacated the palace.

Some time later, Malik and the others were dismissed from Makarov's training session. Malik returned to the villa with his sword slung over his left shoulder, looking like he had received quite a bit of exercise over the course of the day. "Yeesh! Gramps isn't playing any games lately. He's really bent on building you up. Think you'll be alright?" he asked while looking over his shoulder, where he thought Shadiya to be.

[Apollymi]

At the villa, Shadiya was following behind Malik the boy she'd been training with, and she seemed to be completely out of it. In fact, if someone looked at her right now they would see the apparent anguish the day's training had caused her, she looked to be dead on her feet. "I'll be fine." she managed. She was determined enough that she could appreciate her training, even if her body didn't fully agree with all that she was doing in so short a time period. "Is it normal to feel like you're dying? I need to feel like this is normal..." she said as she staggered inside practically leaning against the wall for the support she didn't think her small body would be able to afford itself. This entire thing was kind of funny when she thought about it, and after her statement she laughed just a bit, seeming to retain her sense of humor even though her body was tired.

[Bloodedge]

"Atta girl! Gramps might seem really tough at first, but he'll build you up. Promise!" As they entered the building, Malik took note of how Shadiya supported herself. With a light chuckle, he slid himself under the girl's arm to lift it over his shoulders. "It's as normal as you want it to be, I guess. C'mon. Job's done for today." Malik would aim to escort the purple-haired girl to a more suitable location, his target being a chair which he was considering having a seat on as well. This secret training was gruesome indeed, but even he couldn't imagine the specifics being pushed on Shadiya. "Need some water or anything?"

Meanwhile, the man known as Dio stood in conference with the Yambala Gladiators, just outside the group's current place of residency. "That's right. He thinks these kids of yours are Artemyran spies. He's already declaring war on them, and the representative has yet to come."

[Apollymi]

"Thanks." Shadiya managed as Malik lent her a hand in finding a chair or something. Since her apparent death feeling was normal, she'd just take it as part of the training and move right along. When asked if she'd like a drink or anything of the sort she shook her head. "No, really, I'm fine. I'm just not used to doing so much... I feel exhausted. Plus I am not sure I could manage to eat or drink anything if I tried right now." she said with a giggle. She never would have seen herself doing any of the sorts of things she had been doing in the last few hours. Then again, she kind of enjoyed it, the exercise, the work, her new friends. All of it was well worth it to the girl and as such a smile would be seen on her face.

Meanwhile the Gladiators were having a conversation about this supposed war, and it would be the redhaired young woman known as Erza who would chime in. "It's pretense... you can look at them and tell they aren't from Artemyra. He likely would have tried to do something to that representative when they arrived, to spark his war, perhaps it's better this way." she said. Chalking this up to something which was unavoidable in the first place. A yawning old pink haired woman seemed to agree. "He would have found some excuse..."

[Bloodedge]

"Gotcha." Since he would not be retrieving any water for Shadiya, nor for himself, Malik allowed himself to fall onto the chair as well. Though he had grown accustomed to Makarov's training, he remained winded as well. "I'm surprised, y'know? I thought you were gonna be too soft for training. No offense. You just don't seem like the type."

Against the wall, at the rear of this gladiator group, a blue-haired man interjected. "I doubt this is an excuse to start a war. Sorio is past the point of excuses. I'd call it... justification." This man seemed quite calm and calculating for one who had just received news of a war that would impact the country in which he lived. As he stood with his arms crossed, he gave his views to the others, causing the man known as Caelus to look at him with a raised brow. "Excuse, justification, same shit," he said. To this, the blue-haired male shook his head. "Quite the opposite, I'm afraid. Sorio's reason is his own, but a king must not risk his throne. There is nothing the citizens of Reim could do about a war sparked for any reason. But, to have a king who has initiated numerous wars for reasons other than the country's benefit... even the Fanalis Corps would turn against him eventually. We should inform our guests. If nothing else, I imagine Sorio will have them targeted to be made into trophy heads."

[Apollymi]

As Malik also took a seat it would seem that everything was in order. He at least seemed to be a bit winded even after all the time he'd spent training here, and with this in mind, she didn't feel so bad about her sorry physical state. The pink haired lad, then went on to exclaim disbelief at her apparent ability physically. This caused her to laugh mostly because she was totally feeling at the moment like she shouldn't have been doing anything. "No need to apologize, I'm not much for it. But I'm willing to try my hardest. To be honest, I would have preferred to be curled up all afternoon with a good book, but... I want everyone to be able to do that if they want to, and as such... I need to be able to take care of myself." the girl said with a firmness she didn't seem to possess about anything else. Apparently reading was a trigger of some sort for her.

"Well look at you being all politically minded." said Uzma as she moved around the room towards the blue haired young man who had so recently spoken. His words made a great deal of sense indeed, and though Uzma would have liked to have argued about it, she couldn't well deny that the newcomers should at least be notified. Especially given the history some of them had with the sorcerer known as Sorio. "Yes, tell them all. Though I can't say I've seen either of the other two since you two freed them up this afternoon." she said of the missing people who should be notified of their apparent danger.

[Bloodedge]

"Ah... I get it," Malik said as he relaxed into the chair, leaning back until he was able to hold his hands between his head and the chair's back. With this posture taken, he closed his eyes and smiled. "So that's what makes you a candidate. Good to know you're not just one of those people who got lucky."

"They came back just a few minutes before Dio did," said the blue-haired man regarding the whereabouts of the Yambala Gladiators' trainees. "They're all in that building right over there. The same one the master's pupils went into just now."

[Apollymi]

"Huh? What do you mean?" these were the words of Shadiya who didn't understand what he was getting at. She still didn't think herself much when compared to people like Fudo, Yasmin or Malik but she did at least have in mind a thing she wanted to do. Though she didn't know how much her idea would sit with the others she was now friends with, she figured since it wasn't bad, they wouldn't shun her for it at least.

Meanwhile, Yasmin was sitting beside Nasira applying bandages to the girl's cuts and bruises with apparent knowledge of more than a little first aid. Just like she'd realigned the nose of Fudo earlier she did so kindly and swiftly. "Hm, seem like you're about done. Baki, you're up next." she said as she let Nasira go. "You know I didn't need this..." mentioned the black haired girl who didn't even want treatment in the first place. But such a thing just made Yasmin stick out her tongue at the girl. "I don't remember making it an option~" the pink haired girl chimed in apparently only very serious about her overarching goals and taking care of her friends. The girl's reaction made Nasira smile. "Thank you." she said to the girl who simply brushed it aside because she would have done it regardless. But she heard laughter coming from the other room and smiled. "I guess, Shadi and Malik are back too~" she mentioned.

And now it was only left to decide who would be informing the group of trainees that they were now targets of the empire. Erza stood knowing that no one else would really want to go and offered to tell them herself. "I have no problem relaying this message." she mentioned to the group as she turned and stood getting ready to go tell the newest group of kids some interesting and apparently bad news.

[Bloodedge]

"I mean there are two kinds of Dungeon Capturers. The first is the guy who gets lucky, who just has the skill to make it through and reap the benefits. The second kind comes with or without the skill, but is someone I think is fit to be King... Someone with resolve. Knowing Shula, it's always been hard to tell what makes her choose a candidate, but now I'm glad to say we were chosen by the same Magi."

As Bakura stepped forward to receive the unavoidable treatment of Yasmin, Fudo sat in an open window, looking out at the night sky. He could also hear noises from outside the room, and indeed, he also attributed the voices to the two missing individuals from their group. "Mm. I wonder how Shadiya's training went."

[Apollymi]

"Oh... I hadn't thought of that." said Shadiya. She didn't know that her goals would be the reason that she'd been chosen by Shula to become a leader. She found it odd that anyone would even appreciate the sort of thing she wanted for herself and anyone else who chose in their lives. Still, she was happy this young man appreciated the sentiment. "Thanks, me too." mentioned the purple haired girl. She was quite relaxed at this point.

Nasira hopped off the place she'd been sitting and freed it for Bakura to take her place. She found it strange that Yasmin chose to take care of her friends in such a way, but attributed this to the girl's very caring attitude and the kind of life she'd led up to this point. If Bakura got to Yasmin, she would begin the same process with the young man, cleaning and bandaging his wounds from his days mischief. "I am also kind of curious, we should check on them." she said of the pairing of people right outside. But as she spoke she also worked on fixing up her Household Member and soon enough he'd be ready to go as well. Nasira stood by the window next to Fudo a small smile on her face, apparently appreciating the kindness shown to her by Yasmin. "You're all finished now too, Baki." the girl said after double checking her bandage job she seemed satisfied that he was alright and stood opening the door to the room all of them had been occupying. "Come on then~" said Yasmin as she headed out and into the open space occupied by Malik and Shadiya.

Meanwhile, Erza was making her way over to the villa which housed the group of trainees. She'd make it there a bit after they all gathered in one place, mostly because, she was trying to figure out the best wording for the things she had to say.

[Bloodedge]

Bakura stretched away the feeling of tightness in his body when he was fully bandaged up. "That's better. Thanks Yas," he said. With this done, he began making his way toward the next room. Fudo, though hesitant to move from his place of comfort, was curious enough to look for the others as well. When they entered the room Malik and Shadiya inhabited, Fudo was even the first to speak. "You two look like hell. Must have been rough."

[Apollymi]

"No problem, Baki~" Yasmin said as she disappeared into the other room. Once there, she and Nasira both heard Fudo's assessment of the status of their two newer companions and this caused the pink haired girl to chuckle. Nasira could only nod her agreement, but as they entered Shadiya looked up at the group of four and her eyes widened. As at least two of their number looked to be a bit worse for wear than they had been the last time they'd seen each other. Fudo's words didn't escape the girl and she simply waved him off, though she didn't make any quick movements either. "Yeah, I feel like I'm dying but apparently that's normal." she said as she tilted her head up. "What about you guys?" she said looking back and forth between them and trying to figure out how they'd come to be in such a state.

It would be then that Erza would arrive within the house and having heard the statement made by Shadiya she found the proper opening to broach the subject she'd been sent to talk about. "Your friends here, didn't experience rough training." said the red haired young woman before she turned her gaze to the group at large. "Uzma thought it'd be prudent for you all to know that Sorio likely considers you four prime targets. And that he's declared war on Artemyra so... staying away from the palace in general is recommended." stated the young woman, but she was no one's baby-sitter she wouldn't tell a bunch of people what to do, and she instead waited for any questions that would come from the group at large.

[Bloodedge]

"Well, we-" Fudo was prepared to explain their situation, but he had not anticipated the interjection of one Erza Nicolaides. The woman spoke of the consequences stemming from their invasion of the royal palace. What they had to do with a war against Artemyra, he did not know, but he would soon enough think it through. "He sure has a hunger for power if he's deciding to use us as an out to starting a war. If you ask me, though, it's just more reason for us to return to the palace. Sorio has something that I didn't anticipate. Yasmin and I had a very interesting run-in with a Fallen Magi today."

In the meantime, Malik loomed over Bakura with his right arm raised at the elbow, his left hand lifting the other arm's sleeves. He lowered his fist onto the white-haired boy's head, and Bakura felt the shock throughout his entire body. "Just gonna rampage the palace without me, huh!? The nerve!"

[Apollymi]

"A fallen what now?" these words were spoken by the Magi known as Shula. While Erza simply managed to look stunned. If the pair of them survived such an encounter they had far more going for them than expected, or such a person was up to something. Either way, it was way more than the group of them should ever have encountered on their first day out. As such she simply hear out this conversation for the sake of having something to tell the others, she posted herself up at the door and waited for the speech to end. She said only something in passing to Malik. "You're already on the prime target list, if they didn't go to get caught, you would have made it so." Erza mentioned.

It would be Yasmin to consider the conversation at hand much to the dismay of the Magi currently in their presence. "A Magi, using black Rukh not one of you three. I was shocked... 'cause... in all the books Shadiya has... it says there are supposed to be three Magi."

[Bloodedge]

"Wouldn't matter. I would have been able to get us out of there, no problem. Could have taken down Sorio too." Since he'd gotten his minor frustration out by punching Bakura, Malik pulled his sleeve back down and took a seat once more. Regardless of the advice given to the others, he intended to return to the palace for reasons of his own. But, that would come at a later time.

"We've known for a while now that there was a fourth Magi," Ali said as he entered, having returned from his outing with Samiya due to the curiosity surrounding the two Dungeon Capturers. "There are Dungeons that were opened by none of us. The extra Magi being Fallen is a surprise, but even a Magi can Fall."

[Apollymi]

Shula had been about to speak but her words would be lost to the ones spoken by Ali. When he finished speaking of this fourth Magi Shula spoke up. Though she supposed it was possible for a Magi to fall, there had to be more than four. "Umm, actually... I have a brother who is also a Magi so that would be five. But I doubt he opened the dungeon you mentioned earlier." said Shula who was apparently now counting the number of magi there were.

The next one to speak would be Samiya who had also returned to have a look at whatever had caused the commotion of the Rukh between the two chosen Dungeon capturers. "Wait a minute... Shula you have a brother?" she said seeming to be new to that particular information. Of course this would soon be lost as Yasmin mentioned a bit of information she'd previously forgotten but had been meaning to bring up, now that she had encountered another Magi she remembered. "Hmm, actually it might be more than that... Kaarim mentioned a white haired Magi in our fight and the woman we faced had black hair." the pink haired girl mentioned.

[Bloodedge]

"Well, a brother, I can understand being a Magi. That would make sense of the fourth. The other two..." Fudo was having a hard time believing the existence of six Magi at once, but he believed there to be some way to rationalize this. "Could it be possible that Kaarim was wrong, and the woman we dealt with today was no more than a liar?"

"No such luck," chimed Dio, who entered behind Erza, and alongside Jellal. "Minerva's the real deal. I've seen her raise Dungeons, and that's something only a Magi can do." To clarify what went on at this precise moment, Jellal stepped forward. He knew Dio to be the man responsible for Bakura and Nasira's capture, so he knew what bits of information needed to be addressed, at least for those two. "Don't be a moron, Dio. To all of you... this man is one of ours. I apologize on his part for any roughness he may have used when he apprehended you two in the palace, but you should know he did so to keep his cover."

[Apollymi]

Speaking up for the first time in a while, the purple haired girl yawned but contributed a bit since this conversation was getting rather interesting. "Kaarim could have lied, but... the guy from the Ko Empire also mentioned the white haired Magi." she chimed in seeming to be a bit indifferent. She did a lot of reading on this sort of thing and had no idea what difference having so many Magi would make unless they all decided to go after a single goal together.

After her statement would come the explanation from Dio about the apparent Magi woman who'd been faced by Yasmin and Fudo earlier. It was a bit disheartening, but given that information it would seem that there were quite possibly six Magi in the world today which was a bit much by anyone standards. The apology and explanation which came from the blue haired man about this giant golden guy took Nasira's gaze away from this man as it was explained what he'd been doing in the palace to begin with. And though they'd not met under the most amicable of circumstances, she wasn't really upset as this man had done nothing to her. "No need to apologize he didn't do anything. Also, sorry I kicked you." said Nasira who turned to be receiving a look of confusion from Yasmin. She'd explain but a bit later if she was asked. All this while Erza looked confused, she hadn't expected these two to join here here. "Jellal and Dio... hmm, if I'd known you wanted to chat too, I would have waited for you." the girl mentioned only to continue to stand where she was and sort through the unnecessary information until she got to the meet of the problem.

[Bloodedge]

"Dio!" Malik exclaimed after the burly male spoke. He launched himself at the blonde in a blazing fury, only to be grabbed by the crown of his head and swung around wildly. "Give it up, kid. You're still not ready for one of us," the man said as he aimed to throw Malik. He stopped mid movement, though, as he would have launched the younger male directly toward Shadiya. This change of heart resulted in him tossing Malik over his shoulder instead.

"... More importantly, you should all be mindful of what you do while you're in Reim. The messenger from Artemyra should be on his way to the palace now, and that's likely to cause an uproar."

[Apollymi]

The shout of Malik and his subsequent handling by Dio made Yasmin's eyes widen. It was quite a sight to see a man so physically imposing simply man-handle another adult male without much problem. Beyond that the swift change in direction from towards Shadiya to over the man's shoulder was a bit surprising. Erza would simply duck her head to allow the young boy the free space to fly out of it before returning to leaning against the door frame, as she had been for the last few moments. "And you kicked this guy? Good for you." she mentioned to Nasira who chuckled. "Yes, well obviously it didn't accomplish much of anything." the black haired girl stated. Only to have the conversation soon enough be diverted back to an apparent messenger from Artemyra who was due to arrive the following day. This information caused Yasmin to look to Fudo mostly because she assumed he'd jumped to the same conclusion she had. That given the treatment of supposed child spies, she didn't really want to know what would happen to a supposed messenger when they arrived. They had to at least warn this other individual of the potential dangers.

[Bloodedge]

Perhaps this group would one day have time to relax, but Fudo acknowledged that this day would come no time soon, considering all that unfurled before them. Considering the information they received from Malik on the day of their arrival, it was the most tactically sound idea to side with Artemyra in the coming war. This left the decision of helping Artemyra's representative both tactically and morally right. "It's settled, then. We'll intercept the messenger before he reaches the palace."

[Apollymi]

Yasmin could only be relieved though not entirely surprised that Fudo had come to the same conclusion she had. Afterall, they were quite a bit alike and it wouldn't make much of a difference. One Magi who'd been very quiet spoke for the first time in a while, and surprisingly enough it was Samiya who spoke. "Artemyra? My first King Vessel is from there." she muttered while thinking about this supposed fallen Magi. Given this information, Yasmin was a bit less worried about the country as a whole, since Samiya, Ali and Shula all chose reasonable people, she could count on that person being much easier to negotiate with than Sorio would be. As such, Yasmin nodded her consent to the plan of making sure the messenger from Artemyra found safety before approaching the Reim Palace.

Surprisingly enough it would be Nasira who spoke of the plan in a more concrete way. "So, I get that we are going to save the messenger whoever they are, but... how... 'cause wasn't the first part of this conversation about how us four..." she then remembered what Erza said about Malik and exchanged numbers. "I mean five aren't supposed to go near that palace." she mentioned. Not that she had any problem going there but... it seemed like a bad idea for any of them to be put in such close proximity to people who quite obviously wanted them dead. "I'll go." these were words spoken by Shadiya who seemed to be half asleep in the chair she occupied.

[Bloodedge]

And so, there was an idea put forth that a few individuals present could not argue with. Shadiya was the only present individual who would not raise any eyebrows by approaching the palace, and as she bore the obvious physical traits of a born Parthevian, there was no mistaking her lack of association with Artemyra or this group. There was, however, one voice to stand out. This was not a voice of opposition, but rather, one of warning, and it came from none other than Jellal. "The master won't be happy with you involving yourself in this. You would risk not being allowed to complete his training?" he asked. This prompted Dio, whose eyes were focused on the purple-haired girl, to speak up as well. "I'll be at the palace anyway. I'll keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't get into anything the old man would be against."

[Apollymi]

Shadiya heard what Jellal had to say and opened her golden eyes. She was passionate about very few things, but her new group of friends made it rather high on her list. And the things they cared about it, she also cared about. Besides that, she wasn't a heartless individual, and she couldn't well find it in herself to let another person walk into their death. "I understand the risks, but my conscience wouldn't allow me to sleep at night if I knew I let someone else walk into their death just because I was afraid I wouldn't get to study. And thank you, for offering to look out for me." said Shadiya and that was all she had to say about it with the later thanks aimed at Dio as well as a glance in the large man's direction. With her words Nasira and Yasmin looked at each other then back at the girl apparently understanding what she was getting at, Yasmin held up her hands in surrender, she'd already decided that she wouldn't argue with this girl and that bit of hidden fierceness was why. It would be Shula to interrupt the seriousness of this moment by jumping into the purple haired dungeon Capturer's body much to her initial dismay. "Aww, they grow up so fast, Shadi's the best. I'm so happy!" said the red cloaked Magi. This would cause the purple haired girl's eyes to widen and her soul would seem to leave her body. "Shula... you're killing me." she said as she felt every bit of soreness in her body as the light seemed to disappear from her eyes. "NOO! COME BACK!!~" Shula said shaking the girl.

[Bloodedge]

"Yeah, worry about her," Malik said as he climbed back into the building via a window. "I'm fine, by the way."

"Alright. For now, we should rest," Fudo chimed as he sat in the very same window Malik had recently entered through. From what he gathered, Shadiya would be at no risk whatsoever when approaching Artemyra's representative. However, he still considered it a dangerous journey to some extent. Once he was relaxed, he yawned and spoke directly to the purple-haired girl. "Let us know if you need anything before you head out."

[Apollymi]

Shula looked towards Malik and finally let go of Shadiya when she was sure the girl would be able to function as a person. She stopped right between this man and Dio and gestured to the large man extravagantly. "Do you see this man?! He's a beast!" she said. "No one told you to jump at him like that... you totally did it to yourself." she said with a curt nod. Of course, it would go without saying that Shula worried less in general about Malik because she was fairly certain he could take care of himself.

After all of this was stated a chuckle escaped Yasmin she also agreed with Fudo's sentiment towards Shadiya but the girl simply nodded. "Yeah, I'll let you know if I do." she managed as she settled in once more. After his Samiya who had been utterly quiet for a long time remembered the real reason she'd come in to speak with this group and it had nothing to do with this problem between Reim and Artemyra. "Oh, I forgot to ask, did you guys do something strange while rampaging in the palace?" she said for Shula to chime in as if she'd forgotten completely as well. "Oh yeah, I felt something weird too..."

[Bloodedge]

"Beast or not, I'll take him or one of the others down one day," Malik said as he continued moving toward his previous sitting place. Once he was at rest, he kept an ear open for the discussion being started by the Magi Samiya.

"Something strange?" Fudo questioned, being unsure initially of what she could have been referencing. "Yeah. The Rukh were going crazy a while ago, and they were all converging on you two. It was almost as if a Magi was being born, but it couldn't have been coming from the Fallen one you guys mentioned." The words of the otherwise silent Ali triggered Fudo's memory. He had actually forgotten about the shenanigans he and Yasmin had started in the palace, but now he was able to mention the strange discovery they had made. "Oh! You must be talking about the Djinn Equip."

[Apollymi]

"I believe in you." Shula said only to avert her attention. Erza was also still listening if only because the Djinn Equips of the newcomers were worth discussing. As it progressed through confusion spread across the Gladiators face.

"Djinn Equip? Such a thing shouldn't have caused that much convergence." Samiya said, not understanding how such a thing could have happened. These ones weren't her first Dungeon Capturers but they were turning out to be the oddest of any of the group involved. It would be then that Yasmin spoke up, since she figured it would need more explaining than what they were getting at. "Well, if it is the Djinn Equips that were causing it, it might have been because we were using the same one... at the same time." she said realizing it sounded odd she tried to clarify. "Like, we were both using Paimon's Djinn Equip, then we both used Amon's." she said. Samiya looked completely astounded then she looked to Ali as if she wanted an explanation for what was just said that didn't sound utterly impossible. Shula seemed most entertained by the idea, but she was all about skipping the middle part, mostly because it seemed to confusing. "I don't get it... sounds too confusing. Show us." Shula's impatience and lack of understanding was about expected at least from Samiya who could only agree because of how outlandish it seemed.

[Bloodedge]

"Impossible!" Ali said immediately with widened eyes. What they spoke of was unheard of, even among legendary Dungeon Capturers. Surely this had to be some sort of fluke or misunderstanding. Taking Shula's request, Fudo held out his sword while encroaching upon Yasmin to be within arm's reach. "Spirit of Politeness and Austerity, dwell in us..."

[Apollymi]

"And use our magoi to grant us power. Come forth, Amon!" Yasmin finished the invocation of Amon's power after reaching over for the males vessel much as they had earlier this afternoon. If all went to plan, what would happen next would be the pair of them being surrounded in the flames created by the Heat Type Djinn and the subsequent robing in his power by both individuals. This shared equip would come complete with the transformation of Yasmin's original metal vessel into a carbon copy of Amon's and her attire matching Fudo's including the chest piece in gold which covered only the left side of her being. This repeat in power would be sure to cause some kind of interesting reaction from the Magi.

[Bloodedge]

"Amon!" The moment Yasmin's hand made contact with Fudo's Metal Vessel, the Rukh once again accumulated in a manner akin to a Magi calling on the Rukh's power. This caused Ali's eyes to widen as he watched the pair of Dungeon Capturers transform, and indeed, the very same girl he led into Paimon was now clad in the robes of the 7th Djinn, Amon. The same could be said of that Djinn's own capturer, Fudo. "W-... What am I seeing? Two vessels... one Djinn... I thought the ability to share was unreasonable, but this should definitely not be possible. It's like yet another Magi is standing right in front of us."

Dio seemed indifferent to this type of power, and made his exit upon seeing it. Jellal, however, had taken a side to Erza while watching these events take place. "So this is what they're capable of. I might be interested after all."

[Apollymi]

Samiya watched this change and opened her mouth to speak but closed it again. Ali said precisely what she was thinking, what she was seeing right now shouldn't be possible at all. Their ability to share was at least something which had been seen before but this was entirely different and kind of frightening. When she'd taken the young Sindrian Prince and his friend into the Dungeon she didn't imagine that such a thing was possible after he met someone entirely unrelated and new. "I... can't even begin to make sense of this. It's so much more powerful than what they are separately capable of... from what we've seen of them. And it just shouldn't be possible." Samiya said. Yasmin flicked her eyes over to Fudo at her side. "I wonder if we should apologize for causing our Magi so much stress. Every time we do something together they have fits."

Shula on the the other hand was completely floored and somewhat enamored with this change of attire. "OH?! THAT'S AMAZING! AND YOU LOOK ADORABLE!~" she stated plainly as she approached the pair flying in a circle around the two of them she paused in front of Yasmin seemingly confused by what she was seeing. "Their Rukh are all together when they're like this. Most times it just looks like a little give and a little take on either of their parts. Right now... it's like all of they have got piled into one." said Shula who reached out for Yasmin but instead of doing something interesting like examining her metal vessel or anything like that, she simply lifted up on the gold piece which was covering her chest which made Yasmin blush intensely. "Again with this Shula?" she asked as the girl got a peek underneath the plate piece. "What? I wondered if you were naked under there." said the Magi as if this was the most reasonable thing in the world while she absently squeezed the girl's chest one last time.

Erza on the other hand watched this situation her eyes widening. She'd seen what this young man was capable of, and while he wasn't bad and she expected the girl wasn't either. She'd simply not expect at all what she was seeing before her. To the words of Jellal she had but one almost snide thing to say. "Oh, jumping on the bandwagon are we? Caelus is going to be sad if you step in, she's his favorite after all." she said nodding her head toward the busty pink haired girl currently fending off molestation by a young magi, and chuckling at the expense of the other Gladiator.

[Bloodedge]

"Nah," Fudo said to the pink-haired girl with a chuckle. "Let's just consider it payback for all the secret conversations they've been having at our expense." It seemed Sindria's prince had a bit of a devious streak about him. He was fully content to cause these Magi as much confusion as possible, so long as they were content to leave him wondering what went on in their minds when they spoke to one another. He looked toward Yasmin, intending to check her views on the matter after what he said, but when he did so, his first sight was none other than the antics of the brown-haired Magi, Shula, and the public reveal of his fellow Dungeon Capturers bosom. "Ahem." Fudo coughed into his hand while casually averting his gaze.

When told how upset the white-haired gladiator would be if he inserted himself into this group's training regimen, Jellal scoffed and waved off the thought. "I wonder why she's his favorite," he said while sparing a glance at the bare-chested girl. "Whatever the case, I'm starting to think one of these guys would put up a better fight than Caelus' sorry skills. Hell, they've even gotten me interested in these Metal Vessels."

[Apollymi]

A few more seconds would pass, and Yasmin would have herself back together and Shula held off with her unoccupied hand. The streak of deviousness that the Prince of Sindria seemed to have was kind of interesting to the pink haired girl but she was a bit devious herself so she understood completely. "Sounds like a plan to me." she said wondering what exactly the pair of Magi who never said a word to them about anything could possibly be talking about this time. Shula having been properly rejected once more floated over to Ali and Samiya. "I'm totally jealous... that's like the coolest thing I've ever seen. How'd this even happen though, cause I thought the legendary ones who could do stuff like this were twins..." questioned the teen Magi.

While that conversation happened a bit of a smirk came to Erza's face. It would seem Jellal fully intended to insert himself into the training of the two young ones before them. And she also couldn't argue the point that Caelus didn't have better intentions than it appeared. "I am interested in how they will turn out as well... Honestly I didn't expect this, and I don't think anyone did." she said gesturing with a hand towards the apparently shared Djinn Equip, which she'd seen at least partially earlier this day. "I take one short nap and these brats go doing something crazy." these were the words of the short pink haired woman Uzma from the window sill she was sitting in watching the apparent shared Djinn Equip. She'd been around the palace throughout the early years of Yasmin's life, and much like the Queen of Sindria she'd seen the Rukh and noticed their oddness a long time ago.

[Bloodedge]

Since this newfound ability had been properly demonstrated to all present, Fudo cancelled the Djinn Equip and returned his sword to its sheath. "There you have it," he said. Ali remained astounded even when the transformation was no more. "I don't think even the Sacred Jewels could accomplish such a thing. This... Dual Djinn Equip is something I'm sure all of us would have noticed if it happened anywhere before today." This was truly a perplexing scenario, but Ali considered it to be a blessing of sorts that these two were on the side of good. Otherwise, the Magi themselves would likely have to intervene. "Well, if that's all for now, I think I'll call it a night." With that said, Fudo waved to mark his leave, and was on his way toward whatever bedroom he'd left his things in.

"That just makes it even better. Right, Uzma?" Jellal said in a most nonchalant fashion to greet the elderly woman while responding to Erza. "Tell the truth, Uzma. You're just as excited as everyone else here."

[Apollymi]

"I would have noticed. But then again, I've never seen two people together who are quite like them... And I thought they were weird when they met each other." Samiya said. She was also quite glad this pair of Dungeon Capturers were chosen by herself and Ali. As it stood, if they were on the wrong side, they'd be hell to subdue, even with limitless magoi on their side. Samiya spoke and Shula found herself looking back at the pair now back to normal since Fudo had cancelled the Djinn Equip. This done he was apparently calling it a night and Yasmin looked over to find Shadiya completely unconscious apparently having fallen asleep almost immediately after agreeing to go and fetch the messenger of Artemyra. "Shadi tired herself out... I'll tuck her in. Goodnight Fudo~" said Yasmin as she went and extracted the girl from her chair without waking her. Walking her to the bedroom she'd found earlier covered in books assuming of course it was hers.

As this all happened Uzma had to consider how she felt about the developments of these young people. And truly it was rather exciting even if she didn't have previous knowledge of at least one of these people. "I'm too old for excitement. But..." she paused looking at the girl she thought lost as she cared for another person being filled with a touch of nostalgia. "I suppose, there is hope for them." the woman said which was about as close to a ringing endorsement as someone so old got. This got a rise out of Erza who seemed to come off the wall wide eyed examining the old woman as if she'd grown another head. "Are you feeling alright?"

Outside of this place, far enough off that the naked eye wouldn't spot him, a young man sat on top of a roof observing these people. 'Lively bunch...' he thought his red hair blowing in the breeze as he consumed a small piece of bread. He'd gone back to the fringes of this group after assuring their safety what they did from now on though, he would try not to directly interfere in.

[Bloodedge]

It seemed as if this group was content to separate here, losing three of its members nigh simultaneously. Malik had also managed to pass out where he sat, but as he had gotten obviously comfortable in doing so, it could be assumed that this was simply how he slept often. "Hope, huh? I guess you could say that..." The show was over, and Jellal wasted little time leaving the building. This left Bakura as the only remaining male inside, and he aimed to vacate the room as well. "Guess that's it for today. G'night Nira!" he said as he made his way out. Once he was out of the room, though, Bakura slipped outside via window, and began wandering around. His eyes scanned every nook and cranny of the area around him, as if he sought something very, very specific nearby. When he was out of eyesight and earshot, he called out. "You're here again, aren't you?" he asked. Before his window exit, Bakura had managed to grab a carry sack from his chosen room, and he now had it slung over his shoulder. One could only wonder what he was preparing for.

[Apollymi]

It would seem their group was losing numbers rather rapidly but this didn't seem to worry Nasira who was still standing and watching the two groups of people. As she was bid farewell by a particular male though she grinned in his direction, appreciating her apparently new nickname. "Goodnight, stay outta trouble." she said as if it was the clearest thing in the world. She would subsequently disappear to a room she'd chosen for herself but whether or not she'd actually stay there remained to be seen. Uzma remained in the window sill a while longer content to see any further happenings. While Erza excused herself but instead of walking out, walked further into the house, apparently taking her role as den-mother to the newcomers very seriously.

Meanwhile outside this residence the redhaired boy who was watching was called to. Or rather he assumed it was him being called to, because he'd seen no one else following this particular group of people. It wasn't very surprising to him, that the one who was seeking him was the ashen haired boy who'd been able to sense his presence earlier. But doing what he was, he'd never actually find him. Instead of saying anything to this effect the boy simply dropped a small pebble from above and waited to be joined, it wasn't as if he had anything to fear from this moment. In fact, given the boy's proximity to him, he was quite impressed by his ability to find him.

[Bloodedge]

There was no sign of Bakura's target, no matter how hard he looked, yet the strange feeling he always had around the red-haired boy continued to grow stronger as he moved. With his senses on high alert, Bakura heard the landing of a pebble dropped by Tetsuya, and traced it to its location. From there, he looked up until he saw the lad he'd been looking for all along. A grin passed his face as his eyes fell upon Tetsuya. To make his way up, Bakura slipped into the house Tetsuya stood upon. Less than a minute later, he climbed onto the roof from behind Tetsuya, approaching the boy slowly. "You're still watching us. Why?"

[Apollymi]

About a minute would pass between the time that the pebble was dropped and the time period in which the boy known as Tetsuya heard the small boy behind him. His words made Tetsuya's brows draw together and the red haired boy took a deep breath while trying to figure out how honest to be about his current activity. "Because I am supposed to. Does it matter?" asked the boy curious as to the reason why anyone would care. Beyond this, he couldn't well fully explain his mission to this boy, since he'd already stated that he was under no orders to assassinate any of them, he figured it would be enough for them to keep up their amiable interactions.

[Bloodedge]

"Supposed to?" Bakura questioned. He soon remembered an earlier mention in which Tetsuya implied that he took orders from another. In spite of this, the red-haired boy seemed to pose no threat to them, so he would not press the matter further. What he did press on, though, was something that had been on his mind throughout the interrogation he and Nasira were subjected to. "Nah... it doesn't matter. So... how does a guy learn how to be an assassin?"

[Apollymi]

A nod would follow the boy's question. There would be no real details given about his mission here. After all, the more people knew about his mission the more complicated it would be to keep unnecessary information from leaking where it ought not. But as it stood the boy Bakura seemed content to let this information pass by and asked an interesting question. Tetsuya was not prone to changes in facial expression and even now he was absolutely expressionless as he looked up from his seated position at the boy who had come to discuss being an assassin. If he had been normal this likely would have brought a smile to his face, but he wasn't so the coolness of his demeanor remained. "Under normal circumstances, one would be born or..." there was a pause as the boy tried to decide the best word to use he settled on one but something about the way it was said would seem a bit off. "Adopted into the Sham Lam which was a special tactical and secret unit of the Parthevian Army." he said. It wasn't uncommon in earlier times for orphans or the children of already established assassins to be made into more assassins. Mostly because the government needed a way to handle its more discreet affairs.

[Bloodedge]

The word adopted, as spoken by Tetsuya, stood out in Bakura's mind. It somehow didn't seem to fit into the idea of becoming an assassin, but with the less-than-reputable activities assassins took part in, it didn't take long for the boy to figure out what was meant. "Oh..." he said. If his train of thought didn't steer him wrong, it meant this was not an organization one would simply want to be part of. However, he still wanted the skills assassins had to offer. He looked toward the red-haired boy with utmost determination as he replied. "I've got no parents. Adopt me."

[Apollymi]

The red haired boy looked over his shoulder at the young man. True enough it had been him who said this boy would make an interesting assassin, and he was right about that... but it was still rather odd, for a boy who surrounded himself with people who were as nice as his group were to want something like this. "Why?" the boy asked, at this point genuinely curious. "It isn't that I mean to pry, though it is rather odd for someone who is older than me to ask me such a thing, but..." he paused, thinking about the actions he'd seen from the group of people the ashen haired boy travelled with and decided that they were very different from the kind of person who could be an assassin. "It would make you very different from your friends... in fact it would make you the direct opposite of them. A shadow trailing behind their light..." he said with a flick of his wrist which would bring into his hand the triangular blade attached to the end of the rope dart. "Though admittedly with friends like those your skills would be most useful, the brighter they shine the darker your shadow could be. But... would you really accept having skills that would tie you to them in such a way?" As an assassin Tetsuya was a special case, the kind of skills he could teach this boy, would require him to always be in the presence of someone considered greater than himself, and not many people would be capable of that.

[Bloodedge]

Part of Bakura expected a rejection to his plea for training, but instead, he was merely asked why. This came with an explanation of why this may not be the option one would want to choose for their future in a situation like his. Visually, he seemed to be deterred by this, but his next words would be quite to the contrary. "That doesn't seem like a bad thing. You saw what happened today. Light never gets caught up in shadows, but shadows are always around where there's light. Those guys down there... they don't need me to be like them. I dunno why you're here now, but I don't think you always will be. But... we only made it today 'cause you were there, so if I can be like you, I can keep helping everybody out in ways they can't help themselves and each other."

[Apollymi]

Tetsuya found himself looking at the lad, and this ashen haired boy's expression didn't match up with the words that came from him. After a moment Tetsuya pondered the boy's words and found his understanding of this situation to be correct. Tetsuya himself had no idea how long this present stationing would last, and having someone else capable of pulling off the sort of things that he was capable of while he wouldn't be around would be reassuring for his employer. Knowing this and hearing that the young man intended to use the techniques he taught him simply to continue being useful to his friends, the assassin boy could more than rationalize giving him the same kind of skills he had. "Hm, you're surprisingly understanding of this situation." he said getting up and then stepping towards the window which would lead from the rooftop. "Come on... let's get you hiding in plain sight."

[Bloodedge]

Bakura made a complete gamble in searching for this boy and seeking his guidance in the art of assassination, but it seemed to have been well worth the attempt. Tetsuya, in the end, agreed to show him the ways. Bakura nodded, tugging on his bag as he followed behind this red-haired lad. "Right."

[Bloodedge]

The next afternoon, the villa inhabited by the group of training Dungeon Capturers was temporarily overcast by the shadow of what appeared to be an incredibly massive bird. Whatever this was, it was on its way toward the palace of Reim. Fudo, in his usual window seat, saw this creature overhead. Though he thought nothing of it, he wondered if it could somehow be part of what they spoke about the previous day.

Meanwhile, Makarov in the area he used to train his chosen successor, Shadiya, looked toward the flying creature as well. It was he who knew exactly what this was, and while standing atop a rock to oversee the apparently gruesome training of the lass, he spoke to her. "Artemyra's representative is here. Are you sure you want to be the one to meet with her?"

[Apollymi]

Yasmin was tucked away in the open courtyard of the villa, and from here she also saw a bird flying overhead. She found this interesting and wondered if it related to the information she'd read in a book the previous day about Artemyra. Still, she couldn't help but wonder what a person from that place would be like, and immediately became giddy at the thought of meeting yet another person, regardless of the fact, that she always seemed to meet people under strained or strange circumstances.

Meanwhile Shadiya was in her training with Makarov and also looked up to see a giant bird's shadow passing overhead. She couldn't help but smile at the potential for what she knew to be related to her next meeting. Just as she was feeling this, her master asked her if she was really going to go through with being the one to meet with this new person. "There isn't much choice it has to be me." the purple haired girl said turning back to give a bow to her master, her golden eyes glowing with determination. "Besides, I enjoy when there are things only I can do and that my friends trust me to do this." she said, still finding it hard to believe that she'd been accepted by the pair of dungeon capturers who were obviously very different from the run of the mill people she came across in her day to day life, including her brothers. "Besides, Dio said he'd look out for me... so there is nothing to worry about." mentioned the girl with a huge grin on her face she'd subsequently bow, but then she thought of a question which required her to ask something important of her master. "Why do you assume it's a girl?" she was presently just curious. She hadn't done as much research on Artemyra and couldn't remember any facts that would lead to such an assumption, unless her Master had special knowledge of this situation that she couldn't possibly possess.

[Bloodedge]

"Ah, the spirit of youth," the old master said with a mighty guffaw to spite his small stature. "I admire your resolve. You remind me of an old friend from ages ago." Hopping off the rock, he kept his arms behind his back to walk around without wasting his energy swinging them about. When asked why he assumed Artemyra's representative to be a girl, he looked to the sky again while reminiscing on old times. "I found Artemyra once. There no men in the hierarchy. Men of Artemyra exist for nothing more than housework and the production of children. All important things in the country are done by women, and it is women who are able to control the animals. Their customs haven't changed to this day."

[Apollymi]

A small blush came over the girl's face as her master mentioned that she reminded him of someone else. She was almost tempted to ask who, but it seemed like he was enjoying his thoughts and she didn't want to interrupt. Even so, as the conversation shifted to one directly about the country of Artemyra she was a bit shocked to find that the higher rungs of the society built there were fully occupied by women. This way of doing things was pretty much directly contradictory to the rest of the world, but she imagined it had some merits since the country existed pretty much on its own for a long time. "I see... well, that is interesting information." she said a smile spreading across her face as she wondered if she could get some first hand information from the old master about his adventures in Artemyra one day. She sighed then, though she was hungry for information she had something she needed to do.

"I have questions... lots of them, but I suppose they'll have to wait. If you'll excuse me Master." she said bowing once more she excused herself to go off to the palace on an adventure unlike any she'd been on before. She was going to find the representative from Artemyra and convince them to come and talk with the rest of them, in order to avoid having anything bad happen to this person, after the incidents which took place the day before.

[Bloodedge]

In due time, the large white bird landed near the palace. The blonde figure who rode atop it hopped off and began petting the creature. The time for the representative's meeting with Sorio had come. On this day, Artemyra hoped to at last come to terms with Reim, the land which they had been at odds with since Sorio's ascension to the throne.

[Apollymi]

A good few moments after leaving the presence of her Master, Shadiya found herself wandering around outside the palace. She took note of where the large bird had landed and soon approached. She didn't have to hide her presence as the palace guards weren't looking for her for any reason, and instead she found herself only a tiny bit nervous not knowing how to explain this situation to whoever she was about to find. As she walked upon the large bird her eyes widened immensely and she saw petting it a blonde person whom she greeted. "Hi there. I suppose you're the representative from Artemyra?" she questioned this, only for confirmation while her very appearance made her out to be rather harmless which was a good thing in this case. She didn't know how people would react to her on a normal basis so it was her goal to make sure this person didn't make their meeting with Sorio.

[Bloodedge]

This figure with shoulder-length, wavy golden locks wore a black and green uniform reminiscent of military personnel. When spoken to, the representative turned to face the person addressing him. Violet eyes fell upon Shadiya, but these were not the eyes of a woman, as expected. No, this was a male in his late teens. He looked on in wonder toward the purple-haired girl, one hand still atop the head of his companion bird. "Why yes, I am. My name is Aiolia Angelis. Are you here to lead me to the conference?"

[Apollymi]

Shadiya stared on as this person in their uniform finally turned to address her directly. And when they did she was stunned. Given the information she'd previously been given, she'd expected a young woman like herself, but this, was a young man. "Oh, wow. I wasn't expecting you to be a male." she said a bit astounded only to shake her head and move right along. "Actually..." she moved a little bit closer and spoke in hushed tones. "My name is Shadiya Harron and I have no connection to the palace at all." she aimed to tell this young man the absolute truth, because she didn't want him to risk his life for nothing. "I don't want to alarm you, but I don't intend to lead you to a conference with Sorio. Quite the opposite in fact." she said aiming to make eye contact with those big golden eyes of hers which showed nothing but truth. "If you come with me, my friends and I can explain everything, but to put it simply, if you enter the palace you will forfeit your life." she said looking up at this young male with fierceness.

"We really didn't want you to walk in there blind, so please just hear us out."

[Bloodedge]

The boy named Aiolia stared with eyes of wonder at this purple-haired individual as she spoke. Of course, it was odd that some random person from outside the palace would be coming to keep him from his meeting, but instead of being wary of this girl, he instead looked to be relieved, even going so far as to exhale his content at the information given to him. "Whew! That's a relief. I think I would have been more worried about your impression of me than Lord Sorio's. I can't say that isn't still the case," he said with one hand against the center of his chest. For some reason, he seemed inclined to listen to this girl without so much as a second thought. "Friends? No need. What's the issue?"

[Apollymi]

Shadiya also breathed a sigh of relief. Actually, she had been quite worried that no one would believe the kind of story she had to tell, and as such she was going to leave the better part of the convincing to her peers. Beyond this this boy seemed interested in her first impression of him, which made her smile in a way that most people did not, a small blush appearing on her face as she addressed his first statement. "I don't think my impression of you is anything to worry about... you've already gotten my attention." she said only to think about it more and try and clarify in her odd way. "I mean, actually I was worried about your impression of me, it isn't often that I meet new people like you." the girl mentioned those golden eyes of hers resting on this young man with contented gentleness. That being said she understood this problem a bit better given the information she'd received from the other two Dungeon Capturers and their Household Members. And as such she decided it was best to summarize the situation. "Oh, I didn't actually expect anyone to care what I had to say. That's relieving, and I thank you in advance for hearing me out." she said seeming to relax just a bit.

"To be clear, yesterday Sorio captured a couple of friends of mine and had them tortured for information, claiming that they were spies from Artemyra. Obviously, this isn't the case, but it was kind of problem. Apparently it is his only aim in life to start a war with Artemyra and he plans to use that incident as an excuse to do so. So, basically, if you walked in there today... he was going to either have you killed a prisoner of war, or use you as leverage against your people. My other two friends came here yesterday and got our other friends back, but in doing so... made their presence known here, so they couldn't come tell you this themselves. They are very helpful people and they didn't want anyone walking into a death trap. This is how we come to be standing here right now. Also in case you are worried, I volunteered to do this, they didn't ask me." Shadiya explained the situation to the best of her abilities. Taking a deep breath afterwards and adding on a bit. "My friends... they would like to meet you and make sure you're alright... and I am very happy to have stopped you from walking in there. Does all of that make sense?" she finished up with a smile on her face. Shadiya was just as kind and caring as the rest of her friends, and she was glad to be able to put a stop to the potential death of this individual even without knowing him.

[Bloodedge]

The boy's eyes widened more yet when Shadiya reacted to his initial clause, as if he didn't quite know how to react immediately. "Really? Well... that's refreshing. I might be able to relax after all..." he said, albeit hesitantly. It was then that he heard the story regarding Reim and its plans for Artemyra and his arrival. Truthfully, he had been warned about entering Reim; told to be wary of the one called Sorio. The man did not have the greatest reputation going for himself as far as his impressions on others went, but this was the reason Aiolia was sent over in place of his sisters. "Mm. It all makes sense. I came here expecting shady behavior leaning toward a war with Reim, but I didn't expect anything like my attempted capture or execution. Of course, I also didn't expect to be warned off from the palace by a total stranger... nor did I expect to meet someone like you at all," he continued while rubbing the back of his head bashfully.

[Apollymi]

Shadiya found herself watching this boy's reaction to her, and she found it flattering and a bit refreshing. "Well, you should relax, if you do, then I can too.~" she said a smile on her face. She found talking to this individual, as easy as she did her already established friend group. Her level of comfort with this young man was natural to her person, usually only after she was familiar with people. As the boy went on to say that Artemyra expected some form of aggression from the man and that was why he was sent instead of his sisters, she went a bit wide eyed. She'd heard only bad things about the way males were treated and hoped his siblings hadn't sent him in to be sacrificed. But his attitude about it seemed to lean towards something else entirely. His bashful final sentence made the girl smile as she extended her hand towards him to seal their initial meeting in a more official way. "I didn't expect to meet anyone like you either. I've enjoyed meeting you, even if the circumstances are less than stellar." she said a huge grin on her face. "Actually... since you won't be staying at the palace, if you'd like... you could..." she paused she was always really bad at inviting people along, she seemed to have some innate fear of rejection and this person was completely new to her. She was happy enough that he'd listened to her, she didn't necessarily want to push any more boundaries.

[Bloodedge]

Aiolia heaved a sigh to mellow himself out a bit, managing to find a more lax posture thereafter. In spite of the fact that he had nearly walked into a trap from the Reim Empire today, he felt all was right at the time being. As the girl in his company continued to speak, he found that she was extending an arm to him. Reaching out, he took said hand in his own. Shadiya then proceeded with an offer she didn't seem keen to complete, and though Aiolia could assume what she meant to end it with, he didn't quite want to be wrong about it aloud. "Would there uhh... maybe be another place in the area I could rest?"

[Apollymi]

Shadiya found herself shaking the hand of this young man and seeming to be quite pleased with the action. The sentence she was finding herself unable to complete, was soon completed by the young man, and that minor blush returned to her face. "I was just about to say that. You could come hang out with us if you wanted..." she said as always she felt the need to over explain this situation, as she was always prepared for a rejection which of late didn't seem to come. "I mean... I have a villa here for other reasons, and my group of friends and I have been staying there, and we love having lots of people around." she said with a nod. It was an offer she'd let stand to any kind person she came across, assuming of course she could get it out of her face properly during an encounter.

[Bloodedge]

When Shadiya confirmed his thoughts, there was a slight reddening to the blonde male's visage. "You have a villa?" he repeated in question form. Sure, there was the matter that there were others nearby as well, but the cut and dry of the situation for Aiolia was that this girl had invited him to her place of residence after knowing him for no more than a minute. "I... well, I uhh... I wouldn't mind that at all."