Artemis 2011/05/05(Thu)23:13 No. 301794 ID: aca5e6
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Artemis flexes his arms a bit.

Man that was weird.. I feel so bad for Ombra, having to stay in that place..
Now, I saved the world but now I need to save some other things.
First gotta go to my room and get Mimi. Need to figure out where to put her..

Artemis 2011/05/05(Thu)23:15 No. 301795 ID: aca5e6
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And then I need to talk to Saisai. Hopefully the king just kicks her out and doesn't reveal her secret, I don't think many people will take to kindly to her.
Then I need to find a place to stay.. Should I stay in the kingdom?

OHHHHSNAPPIZZLE

hmmm... think morgan's would be good for now. but talk to Saisai before exiting the castle. then we need to find all the captains that were dismissed and anyone with a Water symbol. Kain fits both categories and he was kinda your friend, so him first.

and it's okay artemis, you can cry, this is pretty damn upsetting. maybe find saisai first and let it our with her?

You lost the title knight, and gained the title hero. Your dad would be proud. Now we just have to make sure everyone else damn well knows it.

Head to your room, I half expect Saisai to show up soon or already be there. And yeah stick around the kingdom. See Morgan you can probably crash with her, and we'll figure it out from there.

First: Talk to Saisai. Explain the full situation. Make certain she is safe, first - then find your own safety. Explain to Morgan what happened. Crash with her, if possible.

Our next priority? Politically ruin the shit out of Regulus.

Artemis 2011/05/06(Fri)00:44 No. 301805 ID: aca5e6
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I -should- see Kain. I kinda feel bad for not seeing him in the first place.

Artemis wipes his eyes

I'm fine though. I'll be fine. I'm sure my father would have done the same thing I did, though maybe for a different reason. And I don't think I could have lived with myself if I didn't do it.

Artemis goes to his room and is about to open the door when he hears someone call out to him. He turns to see Saisai jogging up to him.

"Man, I've been looking all over for you. The mission is over huh? The General isn't back yet though.. Anyway we were supposed to practice remember? I got a new practice staff and everything. Well you just got back so you're probably tired anyway."

..... I can't say it.

you want to switch to girl form? [if he says yes then do so]
'i would love to, but... i can't, i'm out of the knights, disobeying a superior. we should talk, come to my room'

>>301805
Well... give her a hug. Tell her you're sorry and if you are feeling like having a break down just go right ahead. Talk about the mission, tell her you saved central from the fire dragon and just keep talking...

>>301805
Walk up, hug her, and just let the tears flow. Let her ask what's wrong.

"Something horrible happened, and I... have to pack up and leave. I don't know if you do too but it might be a good idea. We need to figure out a place to meet up at so I can give you the full story."

"The mission forced the hands of several players, and I disobeyed direct orders to prevent open war. The dragons are incensed, but I took a vow to make things right.

"I'm no longer a part of the knights, officially for disobeying orders. Unofficially, there's a lot more to it. No one's officially said anything about you, but I'd bet everything that the plotter that brought things to a head views you with deep suspicion because you're my friend. Sorry. You deserve to know the details, so that you can make up your own mind about how you'll side in all this.

"Let me fetch my things, and then let's meet up somewhere neutral. I'm being paranoid, but I don't trust that my room isn't being spied on somehow. Or yours, for that matter, given that you're my friend."

Hug her, have a breakdown if you need to (with all the things like crying and what not). Tell her you saved the central from the fire dragon. Tell her you saved the balance of the world, that you tried to be a hero like your dad.

And then tell her what the consequences are (her getting thrown out). Let her push you away and take the beating if she does want to do it. You deserve it for deciding her fate for her.

If she still asks (if she doesn't chase her to tell her this) why you did tell her that you wouldn't be able to stay in an order that has been corrupted for centuries. That you couldn't look at the world destroyed by your lack of action. That choosing between her and Morgan and pretty much everyone you know dying/getting wounded in the dragon attack and her getting thrown was a choice of lesser evil.

And if she wants she could always join the ragtag bunch of misfits that you are planning to gather to keep the balance of the world and protect the dragons from the people and vice versa... Because you are planning to find people like Kain (or that thief... gah what was her name) and try to make them join you right?

>>301917
>>301877
There's a time for rational discourse and there's a time for collapsing into an emotional mush.
This is mush time.

>>301920

He's had a little time to get used to all this though, when he was in the backseat and letting Ombra do the driving. Right now they need to pack up their shit, and put themselves out of harm's way. In Artemis' case this means collecting Mimi and then taking steps to dodge spies.

Saisai may still be able to keep what she has here, if she sacrifices her friendship with Artemis. Otherwise she'll be in danger of being assigned impossible missions that will get her killed or discredited. But that's her choice, isn't it?

Artemis 2011/05/06(Fri)22:20 No. 302123 ID: 6c068e
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Artemis hugs Saisai.

"Uhm, Artemis..? Why are you..?"


"I've been kicked out of the knights.. For disobeying orders.."

"What!?"

Artemis explains what happened in the mission, even Regulus's blackmailing. He doesn't mention that he might kick her out too.

"That's terrible! We need to do something about this! I'm sure the king won't stand for this!"

"He's the one who kicked me out... He said it was out of his hands.."

"That's bullshit! We'll go together and complain! He can't just not listen to me! To us!"

Artemis 2011/05/06(Fri)22:23 No. 302130 ID: 6c068e
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"They're gonna kick you out to. He warned me he would if I went against him."

Saisai's eyes go wide in shock. She pushes Artemis away

"Saisai, I'm sorry. I had to. If I didn't go with him.. Everything would've been destroyed."

Artemis 2011/05/06(Fri)22:26 No. 302133 ID: 6c068e
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Artemis feels Saisai's staff slam into his face. The force knocks him into a wall.
He crumples onto his knees and stares at the ground.

Artemis 2011/05/06(Fri)22:42 No. 302141 ID: ff053c
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"You got me kicked out...?"

"I had to help the dragons Saisai. They would've attacked Central."

"YOU DIDN'T KNOW THAT! You didn't know any of that UNTIL you left! Until you disobeyed him! At the moment all you cared about was some stupid dragons fighting!"

"Saisai the balance would've been.."

"This is all I wanted! This is all I worked for! All I had! I've been here less then a month and already it's been taken from me!"

"Saisai.. I.."

"Shut up you stupid human! Don't ever talk to me again, or I swear I will kill you!"

She runs off but not before giving Artemis one more hateful glare.

>>302133

You totally could have delivered that better, but yeah, see, that's why I wanted to talk to her in private, in a place where she didn't have her weapons.

She and you still have some mutual friends, so arrange with them to let her know the door's always open if she can forgive you for letting a manipulative sonnovabitch use her career as a bargaining chip against you. That's for later though.

For now, collect Mimi and your things, and leave. You've got some funds, you've got friends and contacts, and you've got a goal you took a vow to accomplish.

she is just angry and shocked. if she suddenly decides that everything else you did was worthless then that is incredibly shallow. go to your room and let her cool off.

You're a true knight, Artemis. You made the choice to sacrifice whatever you had to in order to protect people. Not just your health and life, like any soldier; you risked and perhaps lost friendships and dreams in the name of the right thing.

I know that knowledge of your own virtue is small comfort at a moment like this, but it's something to steady yourself with. We're proud of you.

...

Now you should really get Mimi the hell out of there before Regulus gets back and kills her for spite.

We still owe her one, no matter if she wants it or not. Hopefully Maggie can manage to talk to her at some point... anyways, we need to do what we can for our Mimic, so get over there.

GP:50 Artemis 2011/05/07(Sat)00:05 No. 302172 ID: ff053c
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Thanks guys..

Artemis grabs Mimi and his few belongings and leaves the castle.
He takes one last look at it and sighs.
On his way to Morgan's he takes glances over his shoulder, constantly expecting to see Regulus or someone following him. Through the whole way no one seems to be.

When he arrives at Morgan's he sees the sign say Open but the door is locked. He knocks on it.

???
"Who is it?"

"? Uhm.. Artemis."

The door opens and he is pulled inside. A girl with horns and a odd tooth grins at him. She runs behind the counter.

"Welcome friend! I'm standing in for Morgan while she's out hunting Phoenix Feathers with her dad! What can I do for ya?"

... I'm not sure if I should leave Mimi here. Or if I should stay here.

this is perfect for mimi they are obviously used to demons, i mean look. explain that you need to talk to morgan, but also need to do stuff, mimi can hang out here with this other demon while you do the other errands. when morgan comes back mimi is to let you know with a note through the bag.

Hah, a part demon? Neat. Hang out for a bit, talk. She's friend or family of Morgan and you should get to know her. Tell her you're just a friend of her's and wanted to talk to her. Don't quite say you're moving in but you can mention being displaced and carrying around your... stuff.

>>302172
"Ah, that's awkward.
I was going to ask Morgan if I could stay here for awhile, but if she's not here...

So, what's your name?"

Lets see if we can crash at the twins' place.

>>302179
Oh, and head over to the Shop to see if you can buy an item that records everything you hear so you can play it back for other people later.

Have you thought about getting Saisai a transformation potion or spell that can turn her into 100% human? That way Regulus won't be able to kick her out of the knights.

And there's always Masil the Light Dragon, if she could transform Myli into a human, maybe she can do the same to Saisai.

Artemis 2011/05/07(Sat)04:41 No. 302192 ID: ff053c
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"Ah, darn. See I'm kinda... Without a home right now and I was hoping Morgan would let me stay here."

"Is that so? Well she's told me all about you. You're more then welcome to take the upstairs room. It's not like I'll ever use it."

"Really? Well thank you miss.."

"Call me Shopkeep."

"Okay, Miss Shopkeep. Uhm.. Can I leave my chest here?"

"The mimic? Sure. She and I will have lots of fun together."

"Okay.."

He whispers to the chest.

"I'll be back for you Mimi."

He leaves the chest there, thanks Shopkeep, and heads back out. He goes out to the streets and asks people if they've seen a man named Kain who was once a knight.
After a bit of searching he finds his house. Artemis knocks on the door.

??
"Honestly who would be.."

Someone opens the door and stares wide eyed at Artemis.

"Artemis..?"

>>302192
"Could you put some tea on? I've got a story to tell..."

ask to come in, then tell him what happened. then ask what happened with him. the official reason him and the others were kicked out was they were spies, but you want to know what he thinks is the reason.

Last time we saw apple was when Regulus took her with him... I hope he didn't hurt her.

Could regulus be the son of the earth dragon and a human?

Saisai need to know that regulus probably works with or is the earth dragon. She also needs to know that she now has the light dragon in her. As such she is a prime target for him, and also we should inform her that the king pretty much told us he MUST obey regulus, which means her life is danger if she remains, also paint it in a positive light... She might be technically kicked out of the knights, but since they have been corrupted and the king is so enthralled we might very well end up saving them and the kingdom... when that happens she will be forever remembered as one of the greatest knights ever.

Saisai is especially not safe because its almost certain that regulus has been faking stuff (reports of catfolk aggression that he got mysteriously and our spy got assassinated?) to annihilate the catfolk.

I am worried that mimi will not be safe if left in this city as well. Regulus KNOWS her and her relationship with us, most likely. He is actually powerful enough to forcibly open her chest.
We need to get a new contract with mimi ASAP. For that matter, I am concerned about our girlfriend shopkeeper and the twin mages, pretty much anyone close to us...
ugh this is terrible.

We need to all vamoose to dark elf territory and establish ourself as the reincarnation of the shadow dragon... with saisai as reincarnation of light dragon we will be able to ally with the light elves as well.
Although it could be assumed that anyone you DO leave behind is not important enough to you to warrant harming, I do not wish to trust Regulus to not be that petty... I suggest rounding up anyone you consider taking with, telling them pretty much the following:

I harbor the spirit of the shadow dragon until her rebirth, saisai the dragon of light whom I had to slay. High captain of the knights Regulus has been manipulating events to kill off dragons, and is most likely working for or is the earth dragon. I stopped the outbreak of a new dragon war via diplomacy, against Regulus's orders. I got here before him to brief the king first and the king made it clear that he is powerless against Regulus. Regulus made it clear he will seek vengeance not only against me but those close to me. With the king in his thrall and the powers he commands you are all in grave danger. We must leave, today.
I suggest we go to the land of the dark elves. If you choose to stay, be careful... and keep your knowledge to yourself.

sorry for the double post but.

Go find saisai first before doing anything else.
Speak over whatever she says to say "you are possessed by the dragon of light"

When she says "what" say "I must explain things, in private, please just let me explain before deciding what to do with me".

It is absolutely imperative to present it correctly. You offered yourself to the dragon of light and instead it possessed her... and we now know why. It is expected that the dragon will grow and eventually she will transform into the it... but it will be back in control, not her. Its important to clarify that you did not offer her to the dragon, as that would be a violation of her body, which is especially bad considering what happened before and how you were there for her last time.

You should start off with other information, get her to know everything she needs to before explaining the dragon thing:
Before getting to the dragon of light I should explain a few things. And please let me say all of it before responding. It is important before we get to the part about you being possessed by the dragon of light and possibly losing your body.

First, you should know that I contain the dragon of shadow whom my father slew. He did so at the orders of regulus; as absurd as it sounds considering the time periods involved.

Regulus knew about your heritage from the moment you walked in, and for some reason chose to blackmail me with it rather then you, or did he blackmail both of us?
At the time I didn't understand it but I do now; it was the dragon slayer sword.

You see, Regulus intercepted the informer in the catfolk lands with no explanation, whom my team was supposed to get the report from... The informant was assassinated right afterwards before being able to deliver her report to anyone else. This left Regulus as the only source of information, and that information is building up to war with them, and allowed him to personally name those knights who were still uncorrupted as traitors collaborating with the catfolk. Knights we know to have been innocent of treason have been ruined on his word.

Your ancestry is more then enough for him to want to ruin you, beyond my disobedience.

Regulus manipulated me into fighting and slaying the dragon of light; he personally ordered me on that mission, saying it came from the king. But his orders conflicted with his report in our debriefing with the king and were made in such a way as to force a lethal confrontation.

And in the last mission actively opposed the ending of hostilities between the dragons. I managed to get here first and report to the king, the king warned me that he must obey regulus; that he has no choice. With all the non corrupt knights removed on regulus's orders and the king in such a state things are very grim.

I am certain he is either the dragon of earth or works for him and is using the knights and the king to eliminate the competition.

I learned in my last missions that if a dragon's soul possess a mortal that mortal will eventually be transformed into said dragon. But it will be the dragon, not the mortal with a dragon's body. That is, if not somehow removed we will be subsumed by them.

In regards to how you got the dragon of light. When my father slew the dragon of shadow he let her soul possess his charm, and through it me. I believe it was possible for him to prevent that and destroy her completely but as they both lay dying they talked... As I was slew the dragon of light I suggested it live on as well, I was offering myself but instead it possessed you. It was he who then reversed the youth spell on you.

I have not and would not have offered your body to him and fully expected him to reside in me. I did not know about the eventual transformation, which would suggest it would not be a good idea for it to share with another dragon. I am certain it can move instead to a willing host and that one can be found within the light elves. And it might not be that bad to be the host, great power and longer life... might even have longer to live then without the dragon. I will ask her as soon as I can.

As it stands I believe we should escape the city with our friends to save them from petty revenge. Reveal our condition to the light and dark elves to gain their support, contact the 3 dragons I have befriended, and find the uncorrupted knights who were sacked at Regulus' false word. You are only going to lose your knighthood temporarily before regaining it and accolades for saving the knighthood from its greatest threat ever.
We must unite the knight captains who were falsely accused of treason and we must save the knighthood, this kingdom, and the whole world.

>>302199
>>302204
[woah woah woah, dude, you wrote so much but you got a lot of facts wrong. for one it was the dragon of WIND not light. for two it's the TIGERfolk, not the catfolk. for three, put that somewhere else until saisai is actually somewhat nearby instead of in the castle and we are talking to someone else, it's like you regard them as irrelevant.]

Suddenly worry that Morgan is in danger as well.

Realize how poorly-equipped you are to handle political tyranny.

>>302221
Two minor naming mistakes are not "a lot of facts wrong". thanks for those two corrections though. Wind dragon (who is the dragon of the light elves and made out of hard light) and tigerfolk (tiger is a type of cat :P according to >>253838 cat and tigerfolk are two different races). So please make those adjustment when talking to saisai and others.

As for talking to someone else right now... neither has spoken yet, you just met him... and I was just saying what we do after that. That person we just met hasn't actually said anything yet so I can make no suggestions on how to deal with him.

It is possible but improbable that regulus is just a very powerful human mage staging a power grab who has a personal vendetta against dragons... still nothing we can handle. I didn't even commit to saying he is the dragon of earth, just probably is or works with him. It is entirely possible (but not probably) that he isn't related to the earth dragon.

>>302226
Yea, doesn't that just suck.

Artemis 2011/05/08(Sun)13:51 No. 302513 ID: 529eff
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>>302226
:(

>>302199
I really don't want to live in the dark elf forest though... All my friends are here, Morgan is here...

>>302204
Remind me to say that when we see Saisai. Also not sure if I WANT to see her, she almost broke my jaw.

"Could you put some tea on? I've got a story to tell..."

"Uhm sure.."

He shouts into the house.

"Honey can you get some tea, an old friend of mine is here."

He leads Artemis inside and listens as he tells what has happened the past week.
Kain shakes his head.

"That is terrible... To think the Knights would be this corrupt. We must do something about this."

"I was thinking the same thing sir. But if you don't mind my asking, why did you get kicked out? Were you blackmailed?"

Kain smiles a bit.

"No Artemis I was kicked out for a decent enough reason. The king could have done much worse. They believe I sympathized with some of the other races and that I would be a liability if war erupted."

"What made them think that?"

As if to answer his question a catfolk wearing an apron steps into the living room holding a tea tray.

>"There's cookies too."

Kain smiles and motions at her.

"That's why. Artemis meet Kayla. The king had found out about her one night and had me leave the knights. At first I was furious but he said he'd done the best he could. Laws state he should have had her kicked out of the kingdom and me branded as a traitor for letting a catfolk inside our borders. I'm grateful for that much at least."

>>302513
"Pleasure to meet you, Kayla.

The laws need to be changed, but the way things are now I don't see how we can improve things.
Actually... It's strange that you were thrown out at the same time as so many other knights. The king decides on these things quickly, so the only reason I can think of for so many to be expelled at once is for their secrets to be revealed at once... Did you ever do anything that displeased Regulus? He makes it his business to know the secrets of every knights, and I honestly can't think of any other person who could sully so many names at once.

Blah, I think I'm going paranoid. Do you have a list of other people who were kicked out? We need to figure out something we can do to help. Maybe build a town somewhere with no race laws, or something."

does he know that a lot of other captains were kicked, possibly for a similar reason, at the same time? Regulus probably knew the whole time she was here, but only just recently decided to kick them all out. think kain talking to saisai would do her a world of good, help her understand that some things are more important then a title.

- When and how did Regulus rise into his position?

- As a Knight, what are his specialties?

- What sort of missions does he excel at?

- How many has he 'found out'?

- Why would he thin the ranks of the knights like this?
((Theory: He is reducing the number of knights and replacing them with people who work 'well' with him - corrupt individuals.))

- Why can't the king overturn this shit? What is preventing him?
((Theory: He's been blackmailed or Geassed somehow.))

- Lastly, a list of all the people who got hit with this crazy overturning.

Artemis 2011/05/08(Sun)15:24 No. 302545 ID: 529eff
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Artemis greets Kayla and asks Kain a bunch of questions >>302526

Kain thinks for a moment.

"I don't remember when it was exactly but it was before I even became captain. Regulus was quite young but his sheer strength and intelligence allowed him to easily defeat the previous captain general and gain his title. He's always been great in every field whether it be combat or espionage. I have no idea how many people he's kicked out or even who most of them are. All of them though have had solid evidence put against them so the king had no choice but to let them go. The only logical reason behind this mass firing is that he caught a lot of people breaking the rules."

Artemis nods and listens. As he sips on his tea the door slams open.

Maggie.

"There you are Artemis! Oh, a catfolk, hi. ANYWAY Saisai challenged Regulus to a Royal Battle! Everyone's watching it!"

>>302545
Swear as heavily as you dare.

We need to get in there and join her!

Welp, seems she is going to get burned/electrocuted/something else with Regulus magic. Man, I knew she'd fight either you or him.

You could dash with the hope of reviving her after the fight. Because she probably will die.

Go there, tell her to GTFO before she's burned to cinders. That is all.

get in there and gravity her hat lighter, then switch it up and make it heavy. hopefully it knocks it off and we can get her kicked out for being a spy before regulus kills her. morgan is hunting phoenixes cause she has no more feathers.

>>302550
Why would we need feathers?

Also: Be prepared to fight some guards and run the hell away after you help her. Because you might have some problems getting in with all the "thrown out" thing. And after you help her things will go even worse.

So just remember, try not to kill anyone.

>>302551
phoenix feathers are the primary component in those resurrection feathers. use one on a body and it comes back to life.

>>302545
[Change Gender]
Drop everything and RUN there! Shout out a "THANKSGOTTAGOBYE!" as you run off. Girl-you can run faster.

>>302552
So what? We just need to stock up on power to try and ressurect her. No feathers involved.

>>302553
An excellent idea. Change your gender, as this will probably help with a lot of things.

>>302558
our rez spell only makes the body breath again. it has no soul. the feathers get the soul back.

FUCK! You need to get there NOW! The king said always keep that blade on you around Regulus, Saisai needs the same protection... That won't be easy or possible if the battle has already started.

Ask Maggie if she can create illusions or make things disappear with her powers.

>>302572
>Be invisible >Hang out in the battlefield and disrupt Regulus's hurdurpower

Flash Step x 5 GP:29 Artemis 2011/05/08(Sun)16:24 No. 302577 ID: 529eff
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"What!? I gotta go!"

Artemis changes form and flash steps to the castle. He runs into the Arena and see the fight already in progress.

"Saisai, we can end this now, I've already drawn blood."

>"I won't stop until you're dead!"

".... Very well."

There are stone spikes floating around Regulus's hand and several more embedded into Saisai's body.

do you think you could discreetly cast gravity on one side of her hat? make it fall off.

>>302577
Get as close as you can, draw your blade and... lean on it. You know, don't do anything that would interfere with any human, but if a dragon were close to you for some reason it would have it's powers lessened. But no knight would be a dragon, of course. Be sure Saisai gets a glimpse of you and the sword, so she can bait him over. If Regulus sees you first then you may as well call to her.

also call out "saisai, stop this, you can't win. a selfless sacrifice only matters if you win!"

>>302579
We are in agreement.
Motion Saisai over to you if it won't get you in trouble.
If Regulus looks at you, then do this:
Glare back, point your index and middle finger at your eyes, then turn the hand to point directly at him.

Oh, also, what happens when you pour mana into the blade? Can you make the suppression effect stronger?
Remember: Your blade suppresses dragons, all knights must be humans, dragons are not humans, ergo it couldn't possibly interfere with two knights fighting.

[Pour GP into the blade to boost its dragon-suppressing power]

Remember, the dragons lose power just by you being close to them with the sword. Would it be legal to enter the arena as a spectator?

>>302590
that is a good question, remember that you are not longer a knight

Suspected dragon. Stone Spikes. Friend in mortal danger. You know what to do.
Even the odds.

Whatever you do, do NOT remove her hat to reveal her... you think she is angry and distrustful of you now? if you betray her like that she will never forgive you. Even if you think its "for her own good".

Artemis 2011/05/10(Tue)20:21 No. 303227 ID: 9f0b5c
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Artemis tries to get Saisai's attention but she seems to be too focused in the battle.
She pulls out the dragon slayer blade and goes as close as he can to the edge.
Saisai tries get close to Regulus but he keeps throwing spikes at the ground in front of her.
He fires another one at her head, she dodges it but the spike catches one of her straps.
Another spike flies at her head. She ducks under it causing the spike to hit her helmet, knocking it off.

The crowd gasps.

>>303230
We're damned low on GP. I would be reluctant to fight in this condition unless we absolutely have to.

Pity we aren't in mage form; we could have gravity-pinned her hat to her head.

>>303231
What for? she cannot defeat regulus, she is already injured, she is trying to make it a fight to the death (which is almost certain to be her death) in order to keep her secret. Now that her secret is out she will live. This was a stroke of luck, you didn't have to blow her cover yourself to save her life... and charging into the arena would have made things worse for all involved.

>>303232
>Now that her secret is out she will live.

What the flying fuck makes you think this is even a slightly reasonable conclusion!?

Well... shit. That's that then. At this point her being kicked out is the least bad result. Get down there between them with Flash Step as the odds of him suddenly trying to execute her as a spy and traitor are pretty high. You won't get in trouble for interfering if she isn't a knight, the battle is off.

And be prepared to speak, because we have some parting words and nothing left to lose by saying them.

>>303233
because it was a battle to the death that she could not win and which she was not willing to retreat from. The only possible result would have been her death.

Now that she has been exposed she knows her knighthood has been lost, and will likely be amiable to escaping, with your assistance.

I would get READY to interfere but don't jump in just yet, the king might just declare the fight over and her expelled. If we immediately jump in it could potentially make things worse. If the king doesn't end it that way, or even sends other knights to help Regulus, then jump in of course and save your friend.

>>303240
Again. What the fuck keeps Regulus from putting a fucking stone in her face?

Artemis 2011/05/10(Tue)21:12 No. 303244 ID: 9f0b5c
File 130508715877.png - (116.59KB , 493x816 , 574.png )

The spikes vanish from Regulus's hand.

>"Sire! This fight is over!"

King
"I agree. The Knights of Central is a human only organization. Saisai is not human.. Therefore she is no longer part of the knights."

"Must we continue then?"

"No. Saisai is not allowed to fight in this arena."

Regulus walks over to Saisai but still keeps his distance.

"This is terrible... A spy infiltrating our ranks."

The crowd gasps again.

>"What!? I'm not a traitor!"

Her voice is almost drowned out by the crowd talking.

"Were you honestly trying to execute me? Trying to take my position as General?"

>"What!? I only did that because you were trying to blackmail me!"

"Blackmail you? With what?"

>"What..?"

"I'm just as surprised as the others.. If I'd known about this sooner trust me you would have been kicked out. I wouldn't allow for such a thing."

>"But..."

King
"Saisai, please pack your things and leave. A knight will accompany of course."

Regulus begins walking away.

>"So you didn't know..?"

"Nope."

He leaves.
Saisai turns to leave, a knight by her side. She catches a glimpse of Artemis.

Oh how I would love to just scream our side of things to everyone... but we won't be heard. Shake your head and mouth the words "He's lying" to her. And "I'm sorry" if she doesn't turn right away.

Go catch up with her, homicidal tendencies be damned. The knights aren't going to heal those wounds for her.

Ok, this was the best possible outcome, seems like regulus is more of a manipulator... he lied to her and the crowd to make himself look good... he lied to her about not knowing to make you look bad. Doesn't matter, follow her, she will take her things, get kicked out and then approach and explain.

>>303243
Her dodging. He knocked her hat off while trying to put a spike in her head.

also, aside from the king, it is very difficult to tell who is saying what in the last post.

>>303258
no we didn't. We barely told her anything. She has no idea she is the host of the dragon of wind, she has no idea it will transform her into its new body (which essentially kills her) in some many years. She doesn't know that we were offering ourselves to the dragon of wind as a host, but it went for her because of said transformation (which we didn't know about back then). She has no idea regulus was the one who named all the "traitors". We need to assure her he did know and that him pretending it was a "surprise" was just a lie. We need her to know many things:
>>302199
>>302204

Also, she isn't the only one we need to get.

BTW, regulus fought by controlling the earth (dragon of earth suspicions)

I keep on worrying that Regulus is somewhat of a red herring, that he is really just a very very powerful human and that he really believes he is doing his best to protect the kingdom by removing "traitors" (the racially impure & sympathizers), but then again... that would still make him a bad guy, and he still had a lot to do with the various hurts we and our friends went through.

>>303253
Explain? We already told the whole sordid tale to her. What we need to do is apologize and... do something. Somehow swear to make it up to her. She still has her dad coming down, she needs help with that still.

We should try to get her to come down and talk with Kain.

>>303257
King has the first and third lines, all the greentext is Saisai and the rest is Regulus. Not impossible to figure out but it is kinda barebones formatting, yeah.

"he is lying, he knew this whole time, perhaps ever since you got here. everyone trusts him to the point that they cling to his every word. i KNOW he knows cause he mentioned your ears at the lakes. his blackmail was to kick you out of the knights, using your ears as evidence. he was going to do it sooner or later, whether i did anything or not. think meeting kain will explain everything."

>>303244
This is completely horrible. He would say the same thing either way, but Saisai is a rash person and isn't thinking clearly so she'll think Artemis betrayed her.

All I can think of is meeting her at the gate and telling her you wanted her to distance herself from you, or talk things out with the king, or buy a potion to hide her ears, or cut them off, or anything but fighting him because of this.
Then let her beat the crap out of you, but flee if she tries to land a killing blow.

Weeeeeellll... There IS one way to save her from this...

[Change Gender]
Shout something like "ENJOYING THOSE EARS I GAVE YOU? I WARNED YOU THAT NOBODY REJECTS THE GREAT AND POWERFUL ARTEMIS DISPO, AND NOW MY CURSE HAS LEFT YOU A FREAK FOR ALL THE WORLD TO SEE!"

Since her natural form is a child and she's possessed by the wind dragon she'll detect as being affected by some sort of body modification magic, and with both her parents being obviously human nobles she'll be able to point to them to prove her lineage. Regulus wouldn't be able to prove those are her real ears.

Her life gets easier, your life gets harder.

>>303293
While creative, its a bad idea. It leaves her in the corrupt knights with several people burning for revenge (regulus, the allies of her ex fiance whose balls she cut off, the allies of the first guy whom she defeated who murdered female knights out of mysoginy)... plus she is going to transform into the dragon of wind and lose her body unless she finds an alternative with you (say, finding a willing light elf to pass it on to)

Also, her natural form is NOT that of a child. She was magically youthened into one via time magic, then magically aged via time magic... both instances should not make her read as under an enchantment, just as a pile of ashes that used to be a house until set on fire with magic will not read as being magical ash. The spell caused its effects and is afterwards gone.

>>303297
This universe's rules of magic. Altering somebody's natural form is nigh-impossible, so magic that alters somebody's body persists as long as the alteration is in effect.
Time magic can skirt this limitation by rewinding or fast-forwarding the target to an earlier or later state.
This sort of possession counts as an altered form, though, because it's a physical change resulting from a possessing being manifesting itself.

>>303307

1. Her original form was that of an adult, so bringing her back up to adult form was the cancellation of previous magic.
2. Shape changing, yes... but time magic is crazy, it might not work the way you describe.
3. The dragon within her isn't going to alter her form for decades. You had it for 17 years, since birth, and all you can do is switch between two forms at your own discretion using magic power. And on a rare occasion call up the dragon to possess you

Artemis 2011/05/11(Wed)14:50 No. 303399 ID: ab117e
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Artemis mouths out 'He's lying' to Saisai.
She stares at him then walks away. Artemis tries to follow her to her room but the knights won't let him into the castle any further.
He waits outside for her. After a few minutes he sees a tiny Saisai walking to the gates trying, and failing, to hold back her tears and dragging her broken spear behind her.

She looks so sad... Maybe even sadder then last time.

>>303399
Mmmf, not a great time to hug her. Maybe wave?

just hold open your arms, if she wants a hug she will hug you. then after she finishes with the hugging and crying tell her "think there is someone you should meet" talking about kain.

>>303399
Stand there looking completely miserable and tearing up, which is basically what you're doing already anyway. Let her decide how this will go.

>>303406
Correction: Look completely miserable and tear up while you go hug her.

>>303406
Agreed. For once, being socially awkward and uncertain is the right response. Be the boy you always were.

Artemis 2011/05/11(Wed)15:18 No. 303424 ID: ab117e
File 130515231572.png - (95.67KB , 1000x1000 , 576.png )

Artemis stands there looking just as miserable.
He starts holding out his arms but pulls them back.
His mouth opens to talk but nothing comes out.
Saisai walks past him.

"Don't talk to me. I hate you.."

Her voice cracks a bit.

"I'm going home."

She walks past the gates and away from him.

don't talk, just pick her up and start to carry her.

>>303424
Catch up to her.
Walk next to her.
Say nothing.

She is hurt, she is angry, she is sad.

GO BE A CHEW TOY!
No seriously, let her beat the stuffing out of you if it helps her.

But you must explain what is going on!

That or flee like a wuss and get Kain to talk to her.

As things stand EVERYTHING is in danger, Also try to get it into her thick skull that she doesn't want to be part of a group of increasingly corrupt/suspect knights.

>>303424
"There isn't anything I can say now that will help... but I think if you talk to Kain and his wife it will be good for you. I'll take you there, and after that I won't bother you ever again if you don't want me to. I promise. Well, until one day I'll need to remove the wind dragon from you. Don't argue that point."

If she doesn't want to go... pick her up and carry her there.

>>303424
That was a pretty obvious response to the "offer, but don't initiate a hug" plan.

>>303434
>>303440
These two... doing the one will naturally follow into the other.

Besides which, it wasn't your fault. The only reason she wasn't sacked with the other "race traitors" when they had the ethnic cleansing last chapter is because Regulus was trying to user her to blackmail you.

While she is being illogical and unreasonable, she has been getting one serious blow after another and just had her life dream snatched away from her unfairly... so be a good friend and put up with her.

End of Chapter 8 Artemis 2011/05/12(Thu)19:41 No. 303777 ID: 9f0b5c
File 130525451064.png - (150.14KB , 539x830 , 577.png )

Artemis catches up to Saisai and walks beside her.
She keeps walking straight, going right past her house.

"Saisai, you-"

"I know. I don't really want to go home."

She looks up at Artemis.

"You're just gonna stay silent?"

"I... Well... I..."

"Stop mumbling.. It's annoying."

she stumbles.

"Stupid body..."

She takes off her bag and stares at it. Artemis opens his mouth to speak when she begins stabbing her bag with the spear. He can hear metal being cut and fabric torn. After a minute of stabbing she stops.
She kicks the bag away and Artemis can see her Knight Armor inside it.

"....... Carry me. I can't walk like this."

"Where do you want to go..?"

"It doesn't matter."

Artemis picks her up.

"I really don't care anymore."

>>303777
Go rent a room at an inn.
Hold her in your arms all night.

kain may be a good idea. seeing another cat person may help.

>>303777
It would be awkward to take her to Morgans, for a few reasons. Might not be much room, and there'd be Mimi too. The bit about Morgan being your sorta girlfriend might be better left out for now. It would be good to remind her that you aren't the only person she can trust, that you met Kain and his wife and you think they'd be all to happy to let her rest there tonight.

>>303793
>>303779
or combine the two, get an inn room... have some private time. you can then later introduce her to the morgans.

I'm gonna have to suggest setting her up with Kain if he's got the hospitality to spare. If we're living with Morgan we shouldn't be sleeping around on her.
Also, you need to take care of that contract business soon.

:,(

Artemis I am sorry for what happened to you. We couldn't forsee this happening to you but I can suggest something. Please take her to your home whereever that is and make sure it is outside of the city.

Take her up to the bedroom and tell her that she needs to rest, if need be sleep next to her and hold her. Right now you need to be there for her and she is broken. Her defences are down and wshe is very weak right now. Just be there but also you will need to start planning for the long term.

You see you will need to start making decisions for her after she rests tonight. When she is more better you will need to explian to her what your plan is and explian to ehr why all this is happening. Be assertive with her but not domernearing, ask ehr what her take is on this whole thing. Once you have a plan formulated then to gather support from where you need and if need be from the dragons.

This king is tyranical and sick in the end, there will come a point where you may need to take him down but for now keep your friends close and make sure she is entact. Also after you get up get her a meal at the inn.

Acutally a very good piece of advice, I kbow of an inn from yourf father's travels.. it still exists and it will serve your needs. If you take the path out of central and follow the path neear the river for an hour... finally you will reach the inn.

One thing though when you meet the innkeeper tell him "You have a fragile situation" and he will get you the best room for both of you.

>>304175
>you will need to start making decisions for her after she rests tonight
What? no, you don't. First of all, we, the voices are the ones who come up with plans most of the time. And Artemis needs to suggest and convince not force his ideas (or our ideas) on his friends or he will soon have no friends.

>If we're living with Morgan we shouldn't be sleeping around on her.
Who said anything about sex?

Also, this thread is finished already.
Next thread can be found here: >>303814