#mjolnrr

Jane Foster had come a long way!

   Looming in the shadows of her room, he thought of how troublesome it was to be imbued with thought yet unable to speak. His thoughts were all he seemed to be left with these days with sleep unreachable to him now. Frustrating as it was, cursing the situation he was in wouldn’t make it go away. Instead, he returned his focus to his ward who stared blankly at the ceiling from her bed. He wanted to ask her ‘ what troubles you so late at night ‘, but he knew nothing would come out. Perhaps she did not feel with with a corpse looming in the shadows. He thought that if he were still alive, he might have felt something similar to her discomfort too.

   A strained grunt leaves his lips, unceremonious and sharp in the silence of the night. Though the pain it left him with was strong, it was his only way of catching her attention. Usually, her eyes would fall on him instantly, a questioning gaze soon to follow. However, she says focused on the ceiling as though she were inspecting every inch of it’s area. He might have begun to worry she were dead if he could not hear her heartbeat like it was his own. Scathach steps closer, the thuds of his armored step echoing in the room. Still he is not given her attention, and so he leans down close to the side of his wards bed. Observing her closer, he could not tell if she was trying to ignore him, or if she was simply too deep in thought. Internally apologizing to his ward, he pokes her forearm lightly over the fabric of her nightgown. When Ishtar jolts to life, he can only find himself staring at her curiously for a moment. 

   Finally, he points at his face and then at the door that lead outside her chambers. ‘ Should I go watch outside ? ’  He hopes she understands...

          fate has pulled the strings of their investigation   —   mercury is not brought down by their hand for it is lidiya that takes him and their combined image fades from sight.  the arrest is halted simply by the lack of a culprit.  while her knowledge on magic isn’t as grand as some of her companions, what ophelia does know is that teleportation magic can only take you so far.  especially if utilized on a whim of surprise rather than thought out and processed terms.  in the chaos of flickering lights and overwhelming sounds, the original team sent to enbarr has been separated.  cut down into smaller, not as coordinated groups.

          (   through the rush to set chase, ophelia isn’t able to see if the cast and workers had been evacuated.  so it’s only to the dragons above that she prays for their safety.  it had been quite the delight to meet everyone she’s seen so far, but the mission called for priority   —   that is why she was brought alongside the team.   )

          the villa is a grand area of halls that shift and floors that constantly change.  this chase will not be easy, but it’s difficult to wish for such a condition when trailing after fake identities and agarthans.  a simple and quick glance at her surroundings show that whichever part of the villa that she’s in is by an average and quite rough shaped building.  her gaze sets upon her two companions   —   ishtar and ethlyn.

          “   i’d advise for us to remain together and attempt, our very best, not to separate,   ”   ophelia turns to the two ladies and smiles,   “   lessening the group anymore may prove fatal to any one of us.   ”   while it’s unclear if lidiya will continue utilizing teleportation magic, it’d be best to follow any traces of her spells.  that retrieval incantation used prior had been the first of what she’s seen   —   her magic had been mentioned in the review given to everyone on each team’s own investigation.

          ophelia pulls at her gloves and before she has the chance to guide their direction further, there’s a tremor but the source is far.  too far to push the team off their feet.  she frowns, gaze moving between the ground and the pathways before them.

          “   come forth, comrades!   ”   the heroine beckons them forward and steps into the left corridor, a brisk jog to measure just how far they need to be to hear lidiya and mercury’s next move.

The comment has a touch of melancholy to it; Ishtar will not deny the security she had felt with Arvis by her side in the forest. They did not know each other in life before Fódlan, but his presence is oddly ... comforting.

"Please, take care. Safe travels, Emperor Arvis. I ... hope to see you again, safe and sound, once the moon's missions have completed."

The dismay is apparent in her tone, and he can not hide how the feeling drifts to him in kind. "Ishtar..."

The Sealed Forest was something not easily forgotten, but amongst all the traumas experienced there, his time with Ishtar lies distinct. Never before in his life, and perhaps never again after, he had risked his life for something. While the walls all around them caved in, he ran back towards death to pull her from the wreckage.

Some animal instinct deep within him, rising above even the need to survive. But he would not be there this time. Not be there to rip her from death's maw; and, if he were honest with himself, he is not sure he would be courageous enough to do again.

And then just as quickly, an ugly feeling had darkened his heart against her. She had betrayed him — turned his faith in House Friege into shackles as his every secret he had uttered to Ishtar had now been turned into the blade at his throat to keep him compliant.

Here in Fódlan, they were given another chance. Memories of them dancing, dressed to the nines in a foreign ballroom, flood his mind and he can only think to laugh.

What an utter farce...!

The call to arms sounds and everyone is assigned to their groups. Febail's not being officially deployed, and Ishtar's group is to be the first to leave. It's the best fate can do to try and give him time to cool off his head, to separate them as soon as possible, but Febail runs to Ishtar before she can head back to her room and pack, stopping her with a hand clamped down on her shoulder.

They’re overrun, monsters surrounding them on all sides. Zombies were one thing and they’d been difficult to fend off but now they’re set up on by metallic arachnids. Their veins glow an eerie, sickly shade of cyan and they move far too fast to be organic.

Ares wants to stand his ground - the Mystletainn’s blood thirst has yet to be slaked. It thrums and resonates in the palm of his hand. The others have fled, taking most of the cavalry with them. Only he and Lady Ishtar of Friege remain with a single horse. He knows the skill and power the Goddess of Thunder wields, so he tightens his grip upon the Demon Sword and prepares to strike their enemies where it hurts.

It’ll give the others chance to run because surely if they were to attempt an escape these strange beasts would give chase. Besides, could they really afford to leave these bizarre foes alive?

His sword hand guides him as he stabs and slashes at the legs of one of the arachnids, They begin to buckle under the weight of his strikes but he quickly realises that several are rushing towards him. The night sky is dark but he can hear them first, the sound like nails down a chalkboard. Then that morbid glow catches his eyes and he knows he’s in danger. Strong as he is, he’s just one man. They need a better plan.

“Ishtar?” he calls out to her, jaw clenched. Admitting weakness was painful, someting to be avoided at all costs. It was better than an unnecessary death though.  “A little help would be appreciated.”

"Tine?" Gold bangles chime and clink against each other in her haste to approach her cousin. Then she freezes, wondering if it had been such a brazen manner. Their parting had not been a happy one, by any accounts. "I – you – you've come to Fódlan, then..."

"Ishtar?" Tine could do nothing more than stare, thoughts running wild through her head. Her cousin was standing less than a meter away from her now... the cousin that was supposed to be dead.