Digging Through Debris [Genesis, Open]

Luckily for Blaise, his antics has gone relatively unnoticed by the ex-SOLDIER as he maintained his focus upon the Gria before him. It was clear he woman had been through much, Genesis noting her lack of surprise at his wing. Either she had traveled through many worlds and seen countless oddities like himself, or maybe… Just maybe, she’d already had a run in with Sephiroth. While the theory was a curious one to indulge himself upon, he knew it better to focus on the situation at hand. She also had suddenly stopped her movements as a child did when it was caught in the act of misbehaving, before flying upwards to a safer vantage point nearby thereby proving his theory of the wings behind real. Was she preparing to defend herself or flee?

Though she continued to be cautious, at least for the moment she wasn’t engaging him or trying to escape. She was likely ready to do either, though her skittishness made Genesis wonder if he even had much to worry about. If she was strong why would she act like this? Perhaps he was wrong about her lack of surprise over his wing and she was afraid of it? All his questions would have to wait for now, as she finally spoke after looking around for any signs of his nonexistent reinforcements. Though her apology wasn’t unexpected from her mannerisms, her mentioning of a contract narrowed the angel’s eyes as he listened to her own questions. As much as he just wanted to pressure on with more of his own, answering in kind might make him privier to the true intentions of this creature.

“I am Minerva’s chosen hero of The Planet, Genesis Rhapsados, meant to keep it safe from threats foreign and domestic,” he began, the wind picking up through his hair and leaving his coat gently flapping behind him. “As such, and due to my unfortunate lineage, I am immune to the toxic effects of Mako energy. I was after all connected to the Lifestream for years, watching this planet while its past heroes kept it safe from enemies such as Sephiroth and Omega WEAPON. Now that those threats are gone, and those same heroes have abandoned their home to battle elsewhere in the universe, I stand here making sure none of ill will remain here for very long.”

Pausing for a moment, he ran his hand through his hair to ensure it kept free of his face before letting it fall back to his side while he continued once more. His position couldn't be more clear, and his mentioning of Sephiroth could answer whether she had dealings with the One Winged Angel or not, not to mention her allegiance with him. Still, there was much he needed to know.

“Now, as I’ve introduced myself and answered your question, would you be so polite and answer those same questions in kind?”

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@amal  Ysera

The monochromatic fellow explained that the goddess of victory had chosen him to protect this world after all the previous heroes buggered off. Apparently he’d been sleeping with this worlds mana currents for a while as some sort of guardian angel as well. While all this was fascinating in an academic sense, it hardly seemed relevant until he got to the “none of ill will remain here” part. As Blaise had been accused of exceptional illness of the will on numerous occasions, this might just prove a problem. 

It turned out the gria in yellow (wait wait …were all three primary colors present? How inconsequentially serendipitous!) turned out to indeed be Ysera. Well like, it could be another Ysera from Ivalice, who was a Gria, a hunter, and also involved in the adventuring profession? Oh nope nevermind, she just said leader of Helios’ ambition. Well there you go. The coincidence began a tad more ominous when Ysera confirmed she that needed ‘something’ from this place. From what Blaise had gathered on the his objective’s nature and his employer’s rather…bloodcurdling… plans for its use, this wasn’t the kind of thing that could split two ways, much less deal Scarlet Seraph here in for a share.

Blaise bit his bottom lip and tried to make a circuitous rout around where Ysera and Genesis were positioned. He didn’t know whether they caught sight of him, but stopping to find out certainly wouldn’t help. After reaching what he guessed was the shallowest point in the rubble, Blaise began to hum softly, mouthing words in the Mountain Gigas tongue. He stomped on the tangled meshed of concrete, steel, and rebar beneath his feat, willing the vibrations into a rending Quake. Unfortunately geomancy and stealth didn’t tend to mix, so Blaise scurried into the newly made tunnel before the others converged on his position. Shattered SHINRA logos and corporate jargon adorned the jagged walls like hieroglyphs, only adding to the tomb-like impression as Blaise scooted, crammed, scrabbled through the maze of rubble. Downward he climbed, the pale light of the auracite shard cupped in his palm acting as heatless torch in the detritus of urbanity. This spelunking was brought to a sudden halt when Blaise came face to face with a Sylph.

Wind spirit and magus stared at each for a long moment in that cramped tunnel through the rubble, azure and currant colored eyes looking into other in a silent gauging of intention. Blaise was a not large man by any stretch of the imagination. Watching Blaise practically vanish into any suit of armor he tried on had been an endless source of amusement for the older knighted Beaulieu brothers. However there was nevertheless no room to pass. “Greetings Lady Sylph if I could beseech you for passage and…”

A small shake of the head and narrowing of eyes silenced flowery accolades.

“Well then…” Blaise tapped his chin with a gloved finger, grimacing from the strain of squeezing between fallen concrete slab “Y’see madam, I reaaaaly must insist, see my employer is a real piece of work and desires what’s beneath..”

The fey’s blank expression did not empathize with Blaise’s workplace woes.

“Even if I’m faster on the draw and dispatch you back to the World of Illusion,” Blaise sighed, stating unprovoked violence as if it were just regrettable chore, something Ysera’s summon had so rudely forced him into, “your mistress’ll no doubt notice your convenent auracite go dark on her Pact Ring. Meaning I have a aegyl paladinish fellow and a clan leader dead-set on smoking me out of this gopher hole.” Smoothed features scrunched in displeasure. “Joy.”

A raise of verdant eyebrows affirmed that was about the size of it.

“Going back up is the smart move.”

The Sylph did not deign to give such an obvious statement an answer.

“Problem is,” Blaise explained unnecessarily, “I’m even more terrified of my employer then your Mistress and the bloke in red up there. I mean like,” thus came the rueful chuckle. “I’m afraid of everyone really but this …” Blaise swallowed and shook his head  in disgusted awe, “they’re a monster.”

The Sylph clearly wondered how gravely she must’ve displeased Great Ramuh to be punished by such wimpish overshare.

“I apologize Lady Sylph, you’ve done me no wrong but… “ Flames danced within Blaise’s pupils before swallowing his skin. “I...I  don’t want to become No one.”

The rubble above was rocked by an crackling explosion.

1) Blaise cast Quake to create a crude tunnel in the rubble
2) Blaise is unable to convince Ysera's Sylph to move
3) Blaise casts Blow Up, attacking to deal heavy damage to both himself the summon

Ysera @genesis

It was the damned device! It always was! She had gotten pulled through this thing AGAIN when she least expected it! But this time instead of lying peacefully, she got tossed rather violently out of the inky darkness this thing made, she rolled down the side of a collapsed wall, landing on her feet, though only barely as she teetered on the edge of a platform situated uncomfortably high up. She swung her arms wildly, trying to balance herself before she fell, finally forcing herself to fall backwards safely onto the ruinous platform with a thud. She figuratively jumped as an explosion rocked the area shortly after her crash landing.

"Whoa! So much for the warm welcome, I've only just arrived and someone's already trying to bomb this place to shreds! - if I didn't know better..."

She scanned the area quickly, trying to figure out who, what, where, and why before something blind sided her. And there was only one thing to say in response to that.

"...I'd think they already succeeded! Sheesh...What a rough arrival that was."

She'd rub her head, looking around a bit more before she spotted two winged people nearby... ... Come to think of it, one of them looked familiar...She shrugged it off, getting up onto her feet. She assumed they'd probably know what was going on here. Though more importantly, the barrier device on her belt was going wild and shielding her from something unknown. Was there some kind of dangerous contaminant in the air? Of all the worlds she could have ended up on, so far THIS one wasn't turning out so nice...She waved at the pair, hoping they could explain to the outsider just what the hell was going on here.

"Yo! I hope I'm not intruding but...Your place is kind of a mess!"

She commented teasingly, smiling at the pair. Though looking at the debris here...It definitely looked as though whatever WAS intact in this place was probably pretty impressive when it was still standing. Symbols adorned some of the walls, but the rubble blocked off the full writing...At best, she could make out something that seemed to read "Shin-" but no more than that. Was this place named "Shin"? It would be an odd name for sure, but the last place had the self-explanatory name of "Radiant Garden".

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Ysera @genesis

Thankfully, the thinly veiled threat from Genesis wasn’t unnoticed by the alien before him. It was peculiar though how her expression changed at the viewing of her ring, wasn’t it glowing before? Was there something about it that was a communicator of sorts? A ring of all things, surely it wouldn’t be that complicated of a message. Still, even something so mundane could deliver a message of importance so there was no reason to lessen his suspicion on its timing. She even looked around as if she was expecting something, lo and behold as if on cue a teenager in some ill designed armor he’d never seen before. Another off worlder? Perhaps, given the swirls in her eyes being unlike anything Genesis had witnessed. Even his glowing Mako eyes seemed normal in comparison.

From here, the situation moved quickly. A quip from Ysera and she summoned some snake woman creature, but instead of attacking him she fled into a nearby hole likely after whatever treasure she was after. While the new girl seemed innocent enough, there was enough going on to suspect her arrival was some sort of distraction tactic to let Ysera get away. Sighing, Genesis pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I really don’t have time for this,” he muttered, and with a flap of his wing he was overhead to place himself between the girl and the blinding sun above. Even if she was just an innocent bystander he couldn’t afford to leave her unattended until he knew more, and he certainly couldn’t do that for the winged one either. Instead he opted to quickly float down and behind the newcomer, wrapping an arm around her middle and then with another flap take off across the short distance to the crack in the ground. Tucking his wing he purposely dropped nearly to the floor beneath them, keeping his Mako eyes forward as he planned ahead.

“Of course it is my dear, it’s a ruin. We can explain more to each other once we catch up with our guest,” Genesis said politely, quickly fluttering after his quarry. She couldn't have gotten too far ahead of him, and even though he'd quickly need to resort to on foot due to the crampedness of the tunnel every second in the air might help them catch up. Assuming she hadn't use the same tactic of course, then he'd need to hope he was as fast as her while carrying the girl.

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Thread Theme: The Organization That Controls Mako; Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core

Ysera Ayami