zenderael_rl | [EVENT]

She turned her head to Mal, her expression strangely calm and untroubled by what was going on. She didn't have an answer to his question, so she didn't give one.

But when he took her hand and dragged her along, Gabe might have noticed the sudden flinch of her features. Mal would have felt the sudden tug she gave, as though trying to get free, but he already had momentum going and she didn't have much choice except to follow with them, trying not to slip on the floor as she did so.

Rhys winced with Ezra's reaction, but took it without looking away. He did understand the conflict. There was a lot to stay for, but Rhys couldn't act like he hadn't made this choice now that the consequences were staring him in the face.

There were other factors. If they did this, they might figure out more about the truth of what was happening, and that was something Rhys' friends could use. They wouldn't like it. Ezra didn't like it.

So when he returned with his question, Rhys straightened in surprise, looking back at Roman for the answer.

Edited 2012-07-14 05:27 (UTC)

Roman waited, arms folding again, tapping his foot. He watched Ezra talk to the spellsword and come back. Checked his watch, realized it had been broken in the fight, tried his phone instead, found that broken too.

When Ezra returned, he answered, "Probably not very long. There's a disturbance at ten that'll take you over if we can get there in time. Come on." He walked toward the front doors, still frozen over for now

No, Ezra didn't like it. He didn't. Nevermind that his stomach was already sore from being sick, it felt like it'd drop right out. He knew it when it'd happened but this, becoming the Spenta, it changed everything. He wished he could have had a little more time, at least. It was too soon, too soon...

"What about coming back?" he asked abruptly, looking around, avoiding Rhys' face. There wasn't anything else here for him. He paused and took out his phone to check the time, already moving, walking behind Roman without looking back to see Nadir opening the door with Duncan and Jordan stuck behind it, Gabe and Mal and Theresa crawling from the wreckage. He tried to control his hand from shaking while he looked at the phone. He sent off a message to Rebekah, his sister that he knew would check her phone the second she got the message and tell his mom, and he suddenly turned the screen off and turned.

"Kahil!"

Nadir turned from peeling back the door, then suddenly reached out to catch the phone Ezra tossed him.

"Field my calls!" he said, giving him a double thumbs up, before he turned back around. They would come back. Maybe- no, it was too easy, to say they'd be back soon, but he had to believe they'd come back eventually.

And hey. Maybe some of the others would follow. He'd just have to suppress the guilt at abandoning Nadir and his family a second time, but he could convince himself that it was for a good cause. A better cause.

A disturbance. Rhys followed, but his mind latched onto those words. It seemed likely Roman was going against X-DAV's wishes, but there may have been something valuable there. There wasn't time to debate it now. He reached into his pocket for his phone and checked for the time. The screen was cracked, but it still turned on.

Not much time at all. He had hoped for a little more.

Nothing for it. Rhys pocketed his phone and stepped ahead of Roman. He drew back his fist and launched a punch into the ice, sending webs of cracks along the surface. Without Kharveryos' influence, the temperature was beginning to return to normal, and there was no ice breath to replace the shattered chunks that Rhys broke away with his subsequent punches.

Roman didn't answer Ezra at first, waiting for him to run through his thoughts and final wrap-up instead.

The Ahura's initiative didn't surprise him. He expected it. He deferred to his leader's expertise and let him finish breaking the ice from the doors, and once they were clear, he shoved one open and led them out.

Once they were outside the doors, he finally looked to Ezra as he kept walking, leading them out of the culture center into the night outside. He answered, "It'll stop mattering eventually."

It took Jordan a moment to realize that it was quiet, suddenly, comparatively. She lifted her head, then stood, hands on the door.

Was the dragon truly dead or had it simply moved on?

Ezra waited, knowing this was something he'd just get in the way trying to help with. He kept pace. He didn't ask any other questions, made no complaints. Just went. He didn't trust Roman, he was angry with Rhys, but if this was true, then he knew it was the right decision. Earth was not the place he and Rhys could make the best use of themselves.

He sideglanced at Roman. There was a long pause before he let his breath out slowly, almost audibly. Everything was quiet now- or maybe he'd been deafened inside. Somehow being outside at night didn't bother him as much. Being outside didn't bother him as much. But Roman's words deflated any sense of peace he was starting to garner from that.

"That's what I like to hear," he muttered. He looked down- he still had the longsword in his other hand. He kept forgetting it. He swallowed, then glanced to Rhys, then behind, half-expecting Jordan to come running after them.

"Any friendly advice?"

Duncan looked up as she moved, wondering what had caught her interest. It took him a second to realize he couldn't hear anything on the other side of the door anymore.

The silence was interrupted by his phone going off again. He scrambled to answer it and was elated to find it was Nadir getting back to him. They traded a few messages, him waiting impatiently with bated breath while Nadir typed out his woefully slow texts.

"Hey," he said suddenly, rising to his feet, letting the tablecloths fall to the floor around him. "Start kicking the door again."

Rhys kept his eyes ahead, walking with purpose and only slowing to allow Roman in front to lead the way. If he felt conflicted about this decision, he wasn't letting it show now.

There was the urge to grab his phone and start texting those he would be leaving behind. Rhys wanted to trust Roman the berserker, but still was unsure about Roman the X-DAV employee. No texts. Not yet. His senses still needed to be alert for a possible ambush.

And he didn't know what it was he could even say to them.

Roman knew where they needed to be, but getting there in time might take some doing. As soon as he hit the street he set off at an easy run, glancing back to make sure the others followed. Two streets down, by the fountain with the beaver statues. He knew the way.

"Yeah," he said, between breaths. "Don't listen to a goddamn thing Queen Omid or King Aerveas tells you."

Time, time... ten o'clock was coming faster than it should. Part of him wanted to miss it. The other part smacked the first part aside. When Roman began to run, Ezra was almost ready for it, still managing to keep pace though he had no idea where they could be possibly going, not even needing any kind of help from his new powers. Years of biking everywhere had given him a shitton of stamina.

Still, even though it was night and the destination wasn't clear, he was recognizing the streets. Thrift shop down there, Darth Violinist busker over there, turn right and pass the pub with the tuesday night after 9 pm half off burger special (which he was actually kind of glad he wouldn't be indulging in anytime soon), and ahead he could see the familiar fountain in Lecourt park.

He shot Roman another look while they ran. The King and Queen?... "Why wouldn't I?" He'd have to deal with Omid, at least, going into Bastan.

That was another good question. "Where are we gonna come out?"

Rhys broke into a run after Roman. How far was this? It was no use asking. Was this a one time thing? He wasn't as familiar with Fall City as he should have been, glancing occasionally for landmarks. Would they matter, later?

Focus on running, he decided, and whether or not anything attacks on the way. He needed to get there with enough time.

"Fuck if I know," he answered. All he knew was when disturbances would happen and where they'd be on this side. Where that matched on the other side was a mystery; it seemed random.

He directed them to stand beside the statues of the beavers climbing in the fountain and he backed away to stand across the street. But he did answer the other question before he got too far. "They don't know shit about what's going on."

He stepped up onto the opposite sidewalk and went to check his watch again, sighing at the reminder that it was broken. Well, it was any second now, probably.

That's... not useful at all, Ezra thought to himself, suddenly feeling too tired to bother the other berserker with more inane comments like that. He took his place by one of the statues, found himself giving it a pat on the head as though it might make him feel better. It didn't.

They don't know shit... Ezra frowned again at Roman. He wasn't surprised by that, but... then, what did that mean? They'd try to manipulate him and Rhys? Or ... were they being manipulated? He didn't like either implication.

"Just so you know," he said to Rhys, "I threw up. A lot. I avenged you. Like, three times. Fuck your stomach."

Ezra had the right to be angry. Rhys took his place by the statue and gave the new Spenta a nervous grin. It was still surreal. They were doing this. They were going. At least he had Ezra with him.

He whipped out his phone. 9:59pm. He began texting furiously, heart quick and breath held. Jordan first, then Gabe, then--

He was in the middle of writing to Gabe when the world went out of focus. It wasn't unlike fainting. He felt heavy and weightless all at once, and then abruptly somewhere he didn't remember being once his senses returned to him. Except instead of that place being the floor, it was a different world entirely.

Roman watched them vanish. It came suddenly, like a ripple in reality, and took the two new guild leaders with it.

He stood there a moment, watching the space they'd occupied.

"Good luck," he muttered to the empty air as he turned away, one hand lifted in farewell.

He headed back for the Culture Center. He had shit to do, and Zale was going to get himself in trouble, somehow...

"Pfft, shoulda just used a cell." They took decent enough pictures for such things. He only really used his good camera for... well, all those photos he took of the monsters. Not much else lately, since dropping his photography class. "You'd probably just pout a lot til I came back, though," he said, grinning.

If Mal noticed, he ignored it, intent on getting the two of them somewhere to hide out until things settled (if they did). He kept moving, skirting around upturned tables, stalls, or clutter that forced them away from the wall, trying to spot the place he'd seen in his search for Gabriel while keeping in mind the dragon's presence and its ability to freeze them all solid with a single breath.

That didn't seem like it'd be very comfortable.

He stopped, and released the two, pointing. "There," he said, trying to usher them both into the small area once he'd finally found it, behind a counter that looked like it was intended for selling tickets or handing out pamphlets. Some pamphlets highlighting the center's other activities were scattered about, but no one was around to hand them out any longer.

Somehow, the hiding place Mal had discovered didn't seem like it was much safer than his table had been. However, considering his options seemed to be standing out in the open or getting behind the counter, the counter certainly seemed infinitely safer than letting the dragon of doom turn around and hit him directly. So, shrugging, Gabe quickly ducked behind it, trying to ensure that he took up as little room as possible so the three of them could stay safe in the little protection it allowed.

"I think he would have, but if I'm remembering correctly, I think Sarah took it from him and hid it with his keys." He shrugged. His friends were just weird. The key hiding had made sense, though. Everyone else had been drinking and they had driven over (Gabe hadn't, simply because public transportation was infinitely easier than driving around in a city) and the keys had been dumped into a bowl of water and promptly stuffed in the freezer (at Gabe's own insistence). Though why his friend had taken the cell phone, he honestly couldn't remember. Something about not wanting him to drunk text his girlfriend, maybe? He shook his head. "Oh, honey, you know I would, but only because if you got up, I'd lose my pillow, and you're comfortable."

"People will ignore a lot of things if it doesn't match up with how they believe things should be," he said without malice. At the last comment he gave her a strange look, not quite understanding what she meant by contacts.

With the sword out, he tilted it slightly. It wasn't entirely out of the scabbard, but one could guess the detailing went all the way down to the tip. He looked satisfied at her appraisal, looking up as she reached out to touch it.

"Go ahead," he said. In fact, he did hold it out to her. "The hilt isn't as heavy as it looks," he continued, shifting his grip so she could grasp it. "It's meant to be light." Whatever materials it was made from, it proved to be as he said, weighing maybe even less than the wooden swords she'd gotten made for Ezra and Rhys.

"Baklava?" Ezra asked beside them as they spoke, still standing at the table, attending to passers-by. "Crispy honey goodness, pistachios over here, walnuts over here. Dolmades if y'aren't up for anything sweet."

Nadir glanced up, amused, but returned to watching Eileen with the sword.

He was letting her touch it. He was going to let her touch this absolutely beautiful piece of metalwork. She almost wanted to scream with excitement, to jump up and down like a child finally getting the toy they've been wanting for years. How she managed to restrain herself to a barely audible, yet excited squeak, she wasn't sure, but she almost didn't care.

She was going to get to touch the sword.

Smiling, she finally wrapped her hand around the hilt as best she could. The grip was clearly not made for her smaller hands, but she didn't particularly care as she drew it out of the scabbard a bit further. Not all the way, of course. She didn't want to risk hurting herself with it while she wasn't wearing anything remotely resembling armor. Still.

"It's more beautiful than I imagined it would be," she said after a minute, smiling at Nadir. "I've always loved the model, but Anais..." She paused, realizing he'd probably have no idea who that even was before continuing. "Um... that's my paladin. Anyway, she uses two-handed swords. It would just collect dust in her bank if I got it for her, and something like this deserves to be used." Besides, now that she could see it and get a better look at the man who wielded it, she almost felt like the sword suited him far better than it might have suited her own paladin. "I'm glad you were able to hold on to it."

She threw a puzzled glance at him, but took a step back and kicked the door three times. Someone was coming?

Everything was moving too quickly for her to process properly, and she found herself obeying the command before she could stop herself.

It wasn't that she was claustrophobic, not exactly. It was the fact that the building was shaking with every step the dragon took, and debris and icicles were falling intermittently combined with the enclosed space that had her shaking from more than just the cold. She tucked herself into the space she had as tightly as possible, eyes wide but gaze stuck to the floor.

[EVENT] - Kharveryos

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