chal???????

Ludger isn’t sure what to make of Kratos’ initial reaction to the explanation. He doesn’t look very pleased, even as he shows so much care with the chick, but maybe that’s how he always looks..? Julius used to look really intimidating when they were younger, too.

Even if Kratos doesn’t approve, maybe Ludger could still convince him to tell him the monster’s habitat. Sure he doesn’t know what their nests look like, but aren’t mothers usually protective of their young? Maybe she’d see him and attack him and he could just.. give her her child and get the hell out of there?? Okay, it’s not the greatest plan, but he’ll figure something out.

It’s only when Kratos’ next words pull him from his thoughts does he realize that he was getting ahead of himself. If he heard right, that means..

“Thank you,” he tells him, accompanied by a genuine smile that becomes a bit sheepish as he takes the offered clothing. He.. didn’t realize until now that he was running around in soaked clothes, despite that being exactly what happens when you climb down to rushing water. “Right, I’ll be quick.”

He spares a quick glance at Presea. Unsurprisingly, she hadn’t moved or spoken since they entered the campsite. “Wait here with Kratos and Noishe, okay?”

Even as he leaves to change somewhere more privately, the girl doesn’t respond. She simply walks closer to the older man and the dog, stops, and waits as directed.

Kratos has experience with the soulless. He has seen them wandering the halls of Welgaia. It is not a time he wishes to share, but he has wandered the alongside them, his own soul bound to a command that was not his. He has experienced the process, and the cultivation of that which kickstarted the process.

Still, he is surprised when the girl steps into the firelight.

“Please,” he says, voice soft, yet firm, “take a seat.”

The soulless are people and should be treated as such. But lacking autonomy, they would not act in their best, most comfortable interests.

The girl needs a key crest. She needs a key crest quickly. A key crest and time.

Observing her taking a position beside Noishe, he takes a chance. “You may pet him if you wish.”

The following offer is different. While her crystal is imperfect and faint parts of her former self tend to guide her actions, she does not have true desires to act on. The girl she used to be loved animals, that is a fact. The soulless girl is aware of this.

She is also aware that it does not matter now. The creature beside her is a monster, one that has already been tamed, and any attempt of appealing to it would be pointless.

"Understood," she says in a quiet and monotone voice, but she does not move.

Presea stays there in silence until Ludger returns. She continues to sit eerily still as he kneels before her and Noishe, perfectly aware of the look he gives her and the way he forcibly adjusts it before he gathers the cloak wrapped chick in to his arms.

There had been pain in his expression when he looked at her. She does not understand why. It does not matter.

That’s what it’s called? He doesn’t recall ever facing a monster with an axe for a beak. Unless the name isn’t literal?

He’s not sure why the way Kratos asks makes him feel vaguely like he’s in trouble, but that doesn’t matter when he’s honestly just relieved the other recognizes the creature. Maybe he’ll know where they usually keep their nests?

“I pulled him out of the nearby stream,” he answers. “I think he was carried away from his family, so I wanted to help him get home. And then, uhm..”

He pauses, not quite sure how to go about explaining he had lost the chick to Noishe mere minutes in to his mission.

“.. Noishe happened,” he adds a bit helplessly, gesturing to the dog in question.

Kratos sighed. It seemed plausible. It seemed truthful. It seemed like the exact course of action that a kid might make - spawned of good intentions but poorly thought through.

Realistically speaking, their chances of finding the axe-beak’s mother was quite low. And if they did, it was possible that the mother would reject it on account of its now smelling like them - and Noishe, whom monsters tended to like the smell of the least. They, of course, did not know that he feared them more than they feared him. All they smelt was a legendary creature.

Realistically speaking, they couldn’t raise an axe-beak. They were not the kind of monster that one could domesticate. Which meant that, realistically speaking, their courses of action were to seek out the mother or put the thing out of its misery.

Many people would argue that the latter was best. Axe-beaks were monsters. They attacked people on sight. The world would be all the better for one less.

However, it was a juvenile. It was the equivalent of a baby. And Ludger had saved it from drowning in the river, wrapped in a scarf and chased after it so desperately.

Kratos was soft. He’d say it came from old age but that would be a lie and that was one thing he did not do.

“I see,” he said. He sat back down by the fire, petting the ground beside him to entice Noishe to lay there.

As usual, the protozoan caught his eye, understood and opted to follow the unspoken instruction. Once he had, Kratos nestled the swaddled creature into the soft fur of Noishe’s side, petting him predominantly to reassure him. Then he turned to his pack and fished out a dry turtleneck and pair of simple black trousers.

Even if Kratos doesn't approve, maybe Ludger could still convince him to tell him the monster's habitat. Sure he doesn't know what their nests look like, but aren't mothers usually protective of their young? Maybe she'd see him and attack him and he could just.. give her her child and get the hell out of there?? Okay, it's not the greatest plan, but he'll figure something out.

It's only when Kratos' next words pull him from his thoughts does he realize that he was getting ahead of himself. If he heard right, that means..

"Thank you," he tells him, accompanied by a genuine smile that becomes a bit sheepish as he takes the offered clothing. He.. didn't realize until now that he was running around in soaked clothes, despite that being exactly what happens when you climb down to rushing water. "Right, I'll be quick."

He spares a quick glance at Presea. Unsurprisingly, she hadn't moved or spoken since they entered the campsite. "Wait here with Kratos and Noishe, okay?"

Ludger had almost been afraid he had lost track of the dog in the woods. As much as he ran, he had to make sure Presea was following, hadn’t hurt herself- it’s an instinct he can’t drop even if she’s proven by now to be better at taking care of herself than anyone. (And he means that. While the soulless girl lacks most basic human traits, her sense of self-preservation is beyond any living creature.)

Fortunately, where the dog had disappeared to there shone a light, likely a campfire. If Noishe had gone that way, then maybe.. could it be Lloyd or Anna?

When he arrives to the camp, it’s the one person he hadn’t expected to see.

“You’re-”

He stops, suddenly needing to catch his breath after the chase. Right. He’s built back up most of his strength since his escape from the ranch, but he’s still falling behind in stamina from the looks of it. He needs to work on that, later.

“Kratos,” he tries again, and then brightens when he sees the bird monster he had been searching for. “Oh, thank goodness..”

Aside from his misfortunes in trying to prepare meals for Anna’s family, he really doesn’t know much of Kratos outside of that, but-

The creature is safe, and honestly looks better off here than before. He feels a newfound appreciation for Noishe- he must have purposefully brought it here to Kratos.

Whoever Kratos had anticipated, it hadn’t been the ranch escapees Anna had insisted they take in. Still, at the sight of a breathless Ludger bursting into the clearing, Kratos stands. His first thought is that the duo are being chased, that he’ll need to defend them.

But Ludger’s words dismiss this concern. He casts an eye over the boy, checking him for any injuries just in case.

He's not sure why the way Kratos asks makes him feel vaguely like he's in trouble, but that doesn't matter when he's honestly just relieved the other recognizes the creature. Maybe he'll know where they usually keep their nests?

"I pulled him out of the nearby stream," he answers. "I think he was carried away from his family, so I wanted to help him get home. And then, uhm.."

He pauses, not quite sure how to go about explaining he had lost the chick to Noishe mere minutes in to his mission.

“Can you reach this, Presea? Here, be careful with him.”

Ludger hands the bundle up to the soulless girl, slowly as not to lose his balance on the rocks. Water flows in between them and to the stream below, and with how wet and loose they were, he couldn’t risk falling with a passenger. At least now with both of his hands freed up climbing becomes much easier, and it isn’t long before he reaches the top of the stones and then finally the slope above them.

.. Admittedly, he’s not sure what it is he just rescued, he thinks as he retrieves it back from Presea. It’s some type of monster for sure, avian from the looks of it, but.. he’s not really familiar with a lot of monster types.

All he can really say for sure is that it’s damp with water, obviously cold from the way it’s shivering and huddling in to the scarf he wrapped it in, and far too young to be away from its mother.

He spends the next minutes carefully drying the bird, checking for wounds, and it’s only once he’s satisfied does he stand, turn around, and-

-immediately jump back with a yelp he’s really hoping nobody heard but also how long has that giant green dog been standing behind him.

The dog responds by whining, and he wonders if he made him feel bad, and if this would get him in trouble with Anna and Lloyd later. Maybe he scared him? They did say Noishe is timid, but isn’t that usually with.. monsters..?

…

Oh.

“Wait, he’s harmless!” He raises his free hand placatingly, suddenly finding himself explaining himself to a dog. One who he’s still not even sure what he’s doing here. “He was in trouble, and I’ll only have him until I..”

Until he what? The best case scenario would be getting it back to its nest, but he has no idea where to even begin looking, or where this type of monster would live for that matter. He can’t really ask Presea, and the only other one here is Noishe, who.. he supposes is very old, if Lloyd’s to be believed.

“Hey, Noishe..” He tentatively holds the scarf wrapped bird out, just a little. “You wouldn’t happen to know where I could look for his mother or their nest, would you?”

Noishe, being a dog, doesn’t answer. He’s just watching Ludger in a way that makes him kind of nervous, actually.

“Please? He’s just a child, and I don’t know if he-”

What he was absolutely not expecting was for Noishe to lean his muzzle forward and snatch the bundle out of his hands, immediately taking off in the other direction.

“Wait!” Ludger calls after him, which. Doesn’t work at all. “Presea, we have to follow him!”

Dinner? That was his first thought when Noishe dropped into his lap a small bird. Noishe does have a habit of assuming he is not capable of looking after himself effectively. Honestly, he had forgotten he had unequipped his hi-exsphere one time and…

Well perhaps it had been more than one event. Still, Kratos is beyond an adult man and more than capable of providing his own meals. Frankly, Noishe’s repeated insistance that isn’t is borderline offensive.

Except that this creature is not a meal. It appears to be a juvenile axe-beak, so small that it is not worth eating and so young that the beak for which it earned its name still seems to be soft and malleable. That and, somebody seems to have wrapped the creature in a sodden scarf. That somebody cannot have been Noishe.

Is somebody keeping an axe-beak chick as a pet? It doesn’t seem the most intelligent course of action. Perhaps he ought to investigate. It won’t do at all for a person to be raising monsters so close to where people make their homes.

“Noishe,” he says, slipping his swallowtail cape off his shoulders, “from whom did you steal this?”

Death by hypothermia is not preferred and Kratos isn’t heartless so he dries the creature as well as he reasonably can and wraps it in his cape. Too young to be separated from its mother, it is likely that creature is unable to regulate its own bopdy temperature effectively, so he tucks it into his chest.

Noishe yips, turning behind him to where a disturbance seems to be making its way through the undergrowth.

Fortunately, where the dog had disappeared to there shone a light, likely a campfire. If Noishe had gone that way, then maybe.. could it be Lloyd or Anna?

When he arrives to the camp, it's the one person he hadn't expected to see.

"You're-"

He stops, suddenly needing to catch his breath after the chase. Right. He's built back up most of his strength since his escape from the ranch, but he's still falling behind in stamina from the looks of it. He needs to work on that, later.

"Kratos," he tries again, and then brightens when he sees the bird monster he had been searching for. "Oh, thank goodness.."

Aside from his misfortunes in trying to prepare meals for Anna's family, he really doesn't know much of Kratos outside of that, but-

Yuan's first thought was a resounding, 'Does it matter?'

But he supposed that to the sighted people in the house, it probably did.

"So? Take him some soup then. It's on the stove."

He rolls his eyes, but does as he is told nonetheless, bringing the soup with him outside.

Well.

The contents of the bowl don't look cooked at all, but that isn't his problem.

However, sometimes, Kratos doubted the stories. It wasn’t that he doubted what Noishe was or that he would one day take a form similar to his own. It was the hero part. Because, well, simply put, Noishe was a thief.

Unfortunately for the general public, he had gotten it into his mind that Kratos required semi-regular gifts of food (or what he thought passed for food) or interesting items spotted on his travels. Mostly this took the form of things found along the path, which fortunately tended not to belong to others. But when they neared towns or other travellers…

Kratos was quite certain that Noishe understood the concept of ownership and yet…

Here he was, seated in front of his campfire, about to roast some chestnuts he had picked up earlier when suddenly, a green fluffy head appeared over his shoulder and dropped directly into his lap an item that most certainly did not belong to him.

Ludger hands the bundle up to the soulless girl, slowly as not to lose his balance on the rocks. Water flows in between them and to the stream below, and with how wet and loose they were, he couldn't risk falling with a passenger. At least now with both of his hands freed up climbing becomes much easier, and it isn't long before he reaches the top of the stones and then finally the slope above them.

.. Admittedly, he's not sure what it is he just rescued, he thinks as he retrieves it back from Presea. It's some type of monster for sure, avian from the looks of it, but.. he's not really familiar with a lot of monster types.

All he can really say for sure is that it's damp with water, obviously cold from the way it's shivering and huddling in to the scarf he wrapped it in, and far too young to be away from its mother.

He spends the next minutes carefully drying the bird, checking for wounds, and it's only once he's satisfied does he stand, turn around, and-

-immediately jump back with a yelp he's really hoping nobody heard but also how long has that giant green dog been standing behind him.

The dog responds by whining, and he wonders if he made him feel bad, and if this would get him in trouble with Anna and Lloyd later. Maybe he scared him? They did say Noishe is timid, but isn't that usually with.. monsters..?

…

Oh.

"Wait, he's harmless!" He raises his free hand placatingly, suddenly finding himself explaining himself to a dog. One who he's still not even sure what he's doing here. "He was in trouble, and I'll only have him until I.."

Until he what? The best case scenario would be getting it back to its nest, but he has no idea where to even begin looking, or where this type of monster would live for that matter. He can't really ask Presea, and the only other one here is Noishe, who.. he supposes is very old, if Lloyd's to be believed.

"Hey, Noishe.." He tentatively holds the scarf wrapped bird out, just a little. "You wouldn't happen to know where I could look for his mother or their nest, would you?"

Noishe, being a dog, doesn't answer. He's just watching Ludger in a way that makes him kind of nervous, actually.

"Please? He's just a child, and I don't know if he-"

What he was absolutely not expecting was for Noishe to lean his muzzle forward and snatch the bundle out of his hands, immediately taking off in the other direction.

[ @pikohan | emotionally intense prompts | accepting ]

The statement is unexpected. Kratos had not even been looking at her. It had been one of those moments when he hadn't been looking at anybody, lost of thoughts of a similar nature.

Truthfully, he agrees. In fact, he recalls a similar conversation with Yuan, close to the beginning of all of this business, looking out at a world that was determined to tear itself apart. But he and Yuan were both former soldiers, born in wartime, born of it. They had not known peace. They hadn't sought it for themselves either.

And they'd been old, even when they weren't. Kratos, at the age of 28, had been old already, had worn the weight of thousands of lives lost through his actions. He had already chased his so-called dreams and seen where they would take him.

He'd already lived longer than many in his position, and even made peace with death.

There had been an agreement between them then, that they lived for the sake of preserving Aselia. That their lives, once property of their individual countries, were still not their own.

Sometimes, staring into the inky expanse of the void beyond Derris-Kharlan, Kratos has wondered whether that was why his family was taken from him. That brief moment of normality he had enjoyed, something forbidden to one who had failed in their original purpose. And in allowing himself to shirk that duty to enjoy it, he had damned them.

But Anise is so incredibly young. She is but a child herself. He feels she cannot have even lived long enough to decide what her dreams are, let alone seek to fulfill them.

That is the very reason that normalcy should be protected.

Turning his head to look at her, he does not nod. Truthfully, he agrees, but not for her.

Yet with every day she stays here, watches him act as the head of a society that is nothing short of an unfunctional disaster, she thinks she understands why he stays. His duty here is too similar to her own goals for her not to.

She's long decided that her path is to be the next Fon Master. Once word of Ion's death spreads, many will see the opportunity to take control of the world in his place. The Oracle Knights will still be full of corruption even without the Commandant's influence, and they haven't addressed the Grand Maestro Mohs' followers since killing him. And then Sync had proven firsthand that as long as the people are offered the promise of the score, they will follow anyone.

They will look to the church for guidance. Not to a colonel in the Malkuth military. Not to the princess of Kimlasca, at least not for this.

It has to be her. It's not so much a goal as something that she knows will happen. Not because of the score, but because she will tear apart anyone who gets in her way, just as she always has. If everyone is lost and malleable, she will take the position and lead them, personally seeing to it that everyone learns to live without the score.

Everything they believe about replicas she will destroy and reshape until it's right, until none of them ever have to suffer the same fate as Luke, Sync, Florian, Ion.

When she sees Kratos who seems to devote himself wholly to a similar goal, for these beings that she can't help but look at the way she imagines the people of her world see replicas, she's constantly reminded of what she's meant to be doing.

And standing here beside him now, that's probably what possessed her to say such a thing to him.

She does not look back at him. Maybe she would have if his response had satisfied her, but instead hearing the words gives her a feeling of emptiness hardly different from the dark abyss around them. That could be a sign of staring at it too long, but it's a habit she's quickly formed as she watches and waits for the home that will never come in sight.

She was right, she can't pretend to understand Kratos. If he still believes his own words despite the life he's chosen, then there is still a world of difference between them that has nothing to do with where they come from.

It's possible she had been wrong to assume that he had spilled as much blood and ruined as many lives as she has. With a position like his she just can't imagine any other way to get there, and that probably says a lot about her if not.

In hindsight, it may not have been the greatest of ideas to suddenly step off the edge of a walkway in front of her. Of course, he imagines that his having the ability to fly whilst living in a place like Welgaia, surrounded by people whose wings take the form of flesh, blood and feather, might not be such a shocking revelation. But he hasn't actually... exposed them yet.

Neither did he deign to use them before stepping into what may as well have been an abyss. Time was of the essence. He'd received the report that another intruder had been spotted. He had needed to get down there as soon as possible.

Falling was fast. He could draw upon his wings towards the end of his descent to make a controlled landing - and did. Not that it would have been visible from the top.

"I merely took the fastest route to the required location - a route I'd not recommend you take, mind, since you do not as far as I know possess wings. The report was false, unfortunately, a simple case of mistaken identity."

Anise lets out a surprised gasp as he disappears over the edge, but she's only stunned for a second before leaping in to action- literally. She runs for the edge, rips Tokunaga off of her back, and all but throws herself off after him, hoping with all of her heart that by some miracle she's fast enough.

(Of course she knows he'll land first. He had too long of a head start, is heavier than her, she knows he won't survive this fall, but she has to try-)

(Months ago when she had been tossed from the Tartarus, the ship had been moving at such high speeds that she couldn't control her landing and had instead opted for using Artes to slow her momentum, anything to take the force from her landing even if she had destroyed the ground below her. It had worked, although not without injury.)

She couldn't do that here without risking hurting the one who will no doubt be at the bottom, but she has the benefit of a still fall, and a long one at that. She knows exactly what position she'll land, and she has time.

So she opts for Fonic Artes instead.

She calls the incantation to herself, Tokunaga expanding as she focuses her sights to the abyss below where the first fonon is already gathering at her call. It's a Field of Fonons, the density so great that she can feel it from far above. It's exactly what she needs in order to call her spell, one that is mostly water and will break her fall while hopefully not hurting her friend.

Yet as she nears, what comes in to sight isn't the dark purple indicative of the first fonon, but a shining blue instead. There's no time to question it, she has to cast her spell now, or-

Anise throws her hand out.

who will win, a 28-year-old agent capable of destroying entire worlds

or

one 13 year-old hurtling straight for him out of the blue

vote now on your phones.

"Final.. Fury.. gone wrong.. gone so wrong..."

"No!" That's not what he meant at all!! He was just copying the one nickname... and.. cats..

Ugh, what the hell hit her?

Oh, yeah, Luke hit her.

The dizziness fades and Anise opens her eyes, and she tries to recall what led her here. They were in the middle of a particularly tough battle with a monster(no seriously, what was that thing), and things got bad. Guy and Natalia had already gone down, and then Luke started fucking with the seventh fonon.

Nothing good ever happens when Luke starts fucking with the seventh fonon.

She picks herself up off of the floor, taking a quick look at her surroundings, and kind of wishes she'd stayed on the floor. Not only is this place completely unfamiliar, she's surrounded by transparent pathways and platforms that if she falls off of it will probably be to her death. Knowing that, she really hopes those flying people she sees don't want to fight her. Are they people or monsters, anyway? She doesn't really wanna find out.

As if it couldn't get any worse, all she sees when she looks around at the windows of the place is the night sky, and what the hell? She can't even see a horizon? Just where did Luke send her??

The only tentative link he can find would be summon spirits and mana links, a subject that nobody alive could rightly be considered an expert on.

"Is it elemental, these numbered fonons?"

"Vinheim is the name of this structure. It is not widely known. The city is Welgaia. As for the horizon... That rather depends on how you are looking at it. We, the city, are not so high up, compared to the Derris-Kharlan's surface."

He pauses, looking up past Mithos' throne and into the purple expanse beyond. It wasn't the true atmosphere of the planet. To maintain those tones, there was some trickery involved as there had been on the sky for a number of years.

Often, Kratos had entertained the idea of dismissing it. However, like many... alterations to Vinheim, he had never quite brought himself to execute that particular plan.

Her words trail off.

"Wait, visitors such as.."

Her eyes widen in shock as the realization hits her, and she immediately stands up, her hands loudly slamming on to the table.

"We're on a what?!" Anise shouts with no small amount of disbelief.

Quick to abandon their meeting table, she makes her way to the edge of the room's platform instead. Yet no matter how far she looked, these was no sign of an end to the deep, dark abyss before them.

It all made too much sense- the endless night sky, the inhabitants all being so alien in nature. This guy being clueless about their world! Yet..

"That's.. that's not possible!" Even with the Albiore, no amount of fon tech could bring a person this far in to the sky! And it's not for lack of trying! And this guy means to say they're just. Up here? With tables and chairs and ominous thrones that are relics from the past?!

Ugh, what the hell hit her?

Oh, yeah, Luke hit her.

The dizziness fades and Anise opens her eyes, and she tries to recall what led her here. They were in the middle of a particularly tough battle with a monster(no seriously, what was that thing), and things got bad. Guy and Natalia had already gone down, and then Luke started fucking with the seventh fonon.

Nothing good ever happens when Luke starts fucking with the seventh fonon.

She picks herself up off of the floor, taking a quick look at her surroundings, and kind of wishes she'd stayed on the floor. Not only is this place completely unfamiliar, she's surrounded by transparent pathways and platforms that if she falls off of it will probably be to her death. Knowing that, she really hopes those flying people she sees don't want to fight her. Are they people or monsters, anyway? She doesn't really wanna find out.

As if it couldn't get any worse, all she sees when she looks around at the windows of the place is the night sky, and what the hell? She can't even see a horizon? Just where did Luke send her??

He does not speak until she has completed her tale.

“Seventh fonists? Is this a certain group... of magic users?” The frown returns. “I’m not familiar with the term, nor of this ‘hyperresonance.”

For a guy in charge of so many people, so powerful and capable looking, he sure keeps catching her off guard with his lack of knowledge. Doesn't know what Daath is, doesn't know what seventh fonists are. Even Luke picked this stuff up at the solid age of 7!

"They're kind of a big deal..??" She adds helplessly, as if that will make him recognize the term.

How is she even supposed to explain a hyperresonance if he doesn't know this much? They'll be here forever, and she can't stay here that long. Her turn for a question, then.

"Never mind that, then. You said this place is Vinheim? And the other was.. Welgaia, right?"

Well, the names aren't that important, she just wants to know the location.

The fall did hurt. Quite a lot, in fact. Upon landing his sword is impaled not only through the hornet, but also in to the ground, and he wastes no time in pulling it out of both before inspecting his own injury. He’s not sure if any bones were fractured, and it’s hard to think with the pain ringing in his ears, and- Wait. No. It’s not only pain, there’s a voice shouting at him.

A civilian? He’ll find out soon, he supposes.

“Quiet, you,” he grits his teeth against the pain as he channels the magic in his sword and presses a hand to his injury. “Unless you want to draw the rest to our location as well.”

The healing magic flows weaker than normal, as has all of Chaltier’s magic since going dormant. It only means that he needs longer than normal to properly mend the injury, and the last thing he needs is more monsters interrupting that.

She blinks incredulously at him, at a loss for words as he works on himself. The telltale sign of magic being used puts her on edge, but it’s the last thing on her mind as she’s worried about something more important –

"Yes, lest I lose my focus as I attempt to mend my bones back together and-" a sharp intake of breath interrupts his words at a sudden jolt of pain, but not for long. "-re-attach them incorrectly. If you're injured, then wait."