The Path to Sin (Ikken Isshu + Griselda Banks)

[Griselda Banks]

((Wow, cool! That's a really awesome design for a statue. I can just see it in my mind's eye.))

Eddora staggered as she came back to herself, swaying to one side and barely remembering to catch herself in time. She grabbed Aer's shoulder briefly to steady herself while she blinked several times in quick succession, shaking her head to clear it. For a moment, she almost thought she could feel the pain of Ifrit's claws slicing through her chest, but when she pressed her fingers there experimentally, the after-image of the pain receded. Then Ed's eyes were drawn to Ifrit's corpse, which began to dissolve into pyreflies. Those pyreflies swiftly shot into her chest, as Valefor's had done back in Besaid Temple.

She was Ifrit. Her blood ran, boiling and bubbling, through her veins from the blazing core that was her heart. The raging inferno, the fire that dwelt deep beneath the temple...that was her. She dwelt in the flames, basking in the fierce glow of the blaze. And that fire mirrored her undying passion, her hatred of Sin and its kind. She could see it through the flames, its many eyes bulging and swivelling as it approached yet another village. She roared with fury, a roar that seemed to shake the very roots of the island, and charged forward through the flames. She would protect her island, her people. She was Ifrit.

And then, she blinked and she was Eddora. Just Eddora. A summoner with sweat-drenched clothes, staring at the place where Ifrit had disappeared. Her hand was still pressed against her heart, expecting it to be riven in two, and she could feel Ifrit's warm presence inside her, a comforting blaze in her soul. Ed drew a deep breath, realized she was clutching Aer's shoulder in a death grip, and quickly let go, straightening up and trying to pull herself together. Come on, Ed, you're a summoner, she chided herself. You're supposed to get used to this.  

[Ikken Isshu]

"Eddora," Aer was saying as she came back to herself. "Can you hear me? You should drink this. Even if you're not injured, it should help you get your bearings. Ed, talk to me..."

Calaman, meanwhile, rolled over onto his stomach and coughed noisily, a result of the smoke that was rising from the spot where Ifrit had been. He waved it away as best he could and staggered out of the plume, blinking rapidly to try and clear his vision. After his wild ride atop the fiery beast, most of his visible skin was almost blackened, except for his starkly white eyes, still blinking.

"Well," he muttered as he approached the other two, "that was... interesting."

 

[Griselda Banks]

"Wha...? Oh." Ed felt dull and stupid as she accepted the potion. She gulped it down, and as its invigorating magic began to do its work, she felt life come back into her body. "Well, that was something else," she said with a sigh, wiping a few sweaty tendrils of hair off her forehead. "At least we got Ifrit."

But she didn't understand. Last time, she had heard that voice, and when she had responded to it, Valefor had attacked. This time, she hadn't done anything. Ifrit had simply blasted out of the wall at them. Out of the wall.... "Wait a minute," she said a little more sharply, looking over at the hole in the wall where Ifrit and Aer had come crashing through. "How did you get behind that wall, Aer?"  

[Ikken Isshu]

((Short post. But a good one nonetheless. razz ))

Aer blinked. "I don't rightly know. It seemed to slide open, like a door panel or something like that. I went in and..." He trailed off. "And, er, I must have... done something to anger Ifrit." He suddenly couldn't meet her eyes. Calaman slapped his own forehead and turned away, shaking his head.

 

[Griselda Banks]

Eddora narrowed her eyes as she observed the way he seemed unwilling to meet her eyes. "Yeah, you must have." She paused for a moment, then said, "Fine, if you don't wanna own up, let's go. At least nobody fainted this time," she muttered under her breath as she pushed open the doors leading back to the main temple area.

As they descended the stairs, the main temple doors swung open and two figures stepped in. When they passed one of the torches on the wall, Ed recognized them as Yalan and Kenan. "How was the Cloister?" Yalan asked her brightly.

"Oh, same as usual," Ed replied airily, waving her hand as if the three of them didn't look extremely dishevelled, as if Aer's hair wasn't messy, as if Calaman's face wasn't black, as if her own face wasn't shiny with sweat. Kenan's lips twitched almost imperceptibly.  

[Ikken Isshu]

"Have we been to enough Cloisters to know what they're 'usually' like?" Aer asked, but Calaman nudged his shin with a boot and shook his head. A moment later, a blue-furred warrior appeared beside the stairs, looking from one party to the other.

"Does the summoner Yalan wish to enter the Cloister?" the Ronso asked, oblivious to the conversation.

"It's not a problem," came Luseik's voice from the chamber beside the stairs. "If the summoner wishes to go in, let him, Satiyen. We're in no hurry."

Satiyen bowed, and without another word, returned to the chamber.

((I have an idea for the next one's test, unless you'd like to take it. It would have something to do with why Calaman lived alone in Bevelle. It only just occurred to me that that's kind of odd, especially how the only adult he ever really referenced was his 'master' Althemen, who taught him how to use a sword.))

 

[Griselda Banks]

((No, no, go ahead! I'm mighty curious about Calaman's past; he's not necessarily secretive about it, but he hasn't really talked about it much. ...Though, to be completely fair, neither of the others have, either xd ))

Eddora pointedly ignored Aer's words as she stepped off the last step. She gave an absent sort of bow to Yalan, then continued on her way outside.

Yalan tried to bow to both Satiyen and Ed at the same time; as they were both leaving in opposite directions, this resulted in him nearly falling over. Kenan grabbed the back of his robes before he could fall onto his face, then said in long-suffering tones, "Come, My Lord. We'd best get going."

The three groups went their various ways, and Ed led her guardians back out into the sunny courtyard. She strode unhurriedly to the top of the stairs that led down the hill the temple sat on. Shading her eyes with her hand, she gazed around at the lush island. "Nice place, I suppose, but it's too hot. And I bet the boat won't be leaving for a long time, either," she grumbled.

Suddenly something caught her eye. She turned to face out to sea, squinting into the glare of sunlight. Is that a ship? she wondered, trying to make out the indistinct hump on the horizon, which rapidly grew as it came closer. No, it's much too big. There's not a ship in all of Spira that would be that...big.... It was advancing with alarming speed. It was colossal. A huge, greyish lump.... Something leapt in her chest. Two somethings. And then for a moment her heart seemed to stop. "Sin!"  

[Ikken Isshu]

((Ahh, bloody short post. I actually went back and looked for that line about the Farplane, and while I was rooting around back there, I also realized that I need to make sure I don't forget about Calaman's Spellsword incident and the mysterious subsequent effects.

Once again, though, best of luck with whatever is going on, and I hope everything turns out all right for you. smile ))

Aer and Calaman both dropped their jaws at the same moment, but that was where the similarities between their reactions ended. Aer took a few stunned steps back toward the temple, but then lunged forward, running at full tilt toward the beach.

"Aer!" Calaman bellowed, taking off after him and yanking him back. "Stop - get back here!"

"We've - we've got to - Sin - "

"We can't do anything yet!" Calaman snapped. "History ought to teach you that. There's nothing we can do but try and get the people out of its way, including ourselves." He glanced back at Ed meaningfully, but offered the words to both of them. "We can't help anyone from the Farplane."

Aer stopped trying to pull toward the beach, but his eyes remained straining for Sin.

 

[Griselda Banks]

((It's not that short. Well, I managed to squeeze in a bit of time today, so here we go!))

Eddora stared blankly at the oncoming leviathan, oblivious to her guardians - indeed, to everything in all of Spira except for the harbinger of death. Despair, hatred, and fear coiled upwards in her heart, tightening and spiralling till they threatened to suffocate her. Her chest felt constricted, and it was hard to breathe. She had only seen Sin once before, fifteen years ago, but once was quite enough for one lifetime. She remembered the fear that preceded that attack, the running, the screaming...the death, so thick on the air it nearly made her choke. She remembered screaming, crying, running as fast as her legs would take her.... She remembered how the fear had seemed to take over her body, till it moved of its own will, and she could not have stopped running even if she had wanted to. She remembered her lungs burning as she gasped for air, her whole body screaming at her to stop....

"...from the Farplane." At that word, Ed sucked in her breath, feeling rather as if she had just come from the summoning trance. A different fear entered her heart now, but this fear was one that called for action, rather than making her immobile.

Ed swore loudly, then barreled down the stairs at an alarming pace, grabbing a guardian with each hand as she passed. "Come on! We have to protect the villagers!"  

[Ikken Isshu]

((Sorry for the absence! I knew I was forgetting a roleplay, but I couldn't remember what or where. gonk Anyway... Hah! We're still on the first page. xd ))

Calaman allowed Eddora to drag him forward (Aer wasn't paying much attention at all, and stumbled along behind her), but spoke heatedly as they moved. Around them, a number of people were rushing down out of the temple, no doubt to help the villagers as well.

"Eddora," Calaman said urgently. "Eddora. I hope you don't intend to try to fight that thing! When we get to the village, there's sure to be some sort of evacuation. We should help facilitate that. And if there isn't an evacuation in progress, then we need to organize one, to make sure everyone gets away. It's very important that we don't endanger - "

"Help! Help! Is there someone there? Please, he needs help!"

Aer pulled away from Eddora's grasp, recognizing the voice of Mulogo, the young mage from before. He went into the trees, paying no heed to whether Calaman and Eddora were following. He emerged from the brush to see the girl, Marceil, and the young mage kneeling over the hotheaded young fighter, Jalisat. Jalisat's face was twisted in rage and pain, and his left leg... was easier not to think about. Mulogo was shirtless, because he had removed his tunic and Marceil had torn it into strips, trying - in vain - to staunch the blood flowing from Jalisat's mangled leg.

"What happened here?" Aer demanded. "How did... that happen?"

"A fiend," Mulogo said, while Marceil struggled to wrap Jalisat's injured leg. "Not long after you left, we were attacked by another fiend. We held our own for a while, but then it..."

Aer nodded, knelt by the young fighter, gently nudged Marceil aside, and removed his own robe, balling it up into a large bundle. He placed it under the bloody leg, lifting it up two feet or so. He checked the bonds Marceil had made, decided they were good even if they weren't helping much, and didn't interfere with them. Afterward, he wiped his bloody hands down the front of his blue tunic, staining the fabric brownish-black.

"Do you know any healing magic?" Aer said to Mulogo before the boy could explain any further. The boy shook his head.

"I'm - I'm a black mage," Mulogo stammered, eyes wide and bright with tears.

"Can you cast Toad?" Aer pressed. Mulogo nodded, furrowing his brow in confusion. "How about Break?" The boy nodded again. "Right. Cast both of them on him. Toad first."

Mulogo frowned, but then his eyebrows went up. "That's brilliant," he murmured.

"Brilliant or not, your friend is in a lot of pain right now. I don't have a lot of magic power left, so if you know those spells, cast them."

Nodding, Mulogo raised his hands in simple gestures, and murmured a simple incantation. With a small swirling of fog and light, Jalisat was reduced to a toad. In another second, he had become stone. Aer plucked him up off the ground and dropped him into a pocket.

"Now we'll get him to the village, and once all of the confusion with..." He trailed off. "Once Sin is gone, we can see about having him healed. Come, it's not safe here." With the two children in tow, Aer started to navigate his way back to the path.

 

[Griselda Banks]

((No prob! After harrassing you about it, now I feel kinda bad for not replying right away. Eh. I'll blame my dad and his scanner *throws scanner off computer table*

Ah, I see you remembered about my mysterious plan, muahaha xd That really is brilliant, by the way. Turning him into a toad-statue and putting him in his pocket.... Hmm, this might actually be a better way to get Jalisat into the party. Yeah, this could really work. You're brilliant, Ikken! biggrin ))

Eddora was only half-listening to what was happening around her, but after a few distracted moments Calaman's words seeped into her mind. "Yes...evacuate...." Suddenly she realized Aer was no longer by her side. Cursing herself for her inattentiveness, she turned towards Aer's voice through the trees. She had just started to hurry in that direction when Aer came into sight, dropping something into his pocket.

"Come on, hurry!" Ed urged. There was no time to waste. Sin could be upon them at any moment.... Then Ed's eyes locked on the two children following closely on Aer's heels. "You two," she ordered briskly. "Go up to the temple; you're-" She had been about to say you're only going to get underfoot, but then she got a better idea. "Your help with the wounded will be vital once all this trouble is taken care of. The priests can use all the help they can get." She looked at them steadily. She didn't care if they had irritated her before; there was no way she would stand by and let children be decimated!  

[Ikken Isshu]

Mulogo didn't look like he was particularly inclined to argue, but Marceil narrowed her eyes. It was anyone's guess where all of her respect for the summoner had gone, but it wasn't near the surface at the moment.

"No," she said. "We're not leaving our friend."

Aer glanced back. "It's a long story," he muttered, "but their friend is in my pocket."

Calaman blinked. "What?"

"Come on," Marceil interrupted, "there isn't enough time for this! Mulogo, you go to the temple. I can't do anything for wounded people anyway, and you might be able to help with your magic."

Nodding, Mulogo turned and ran off through the trees.

((Kind of an anticlimactic post, but...

Yes, I did think the toad-statue combination was a pretty decent idea. Original, at least. xd ))

 

[Griselda Banks]

((Gack! *chokes and dies* I'm REALLY sorry for the delay in posting! Hopefully, there won't be another delay like this for a long time. But I've been wondering: If Marceil and Mulogo are Jalisat's friends and refuse to leave him, how are we going to leave them behind? They'll want to come, I'd wager, if they got wind of Jalisat joining the party.))

Eddora opened her mouth, intending to ask what in Spira Aer was talking about, kept it open to order Marceil to the temple as well, then realized they had no time for any of this. "Well, if you're coming, then hurry up!" she snapped to all of them, and raced along the path at top speed.

It was a good thing they didn't meet any fiends in the forest, for Ed would probably have simply ran right over them. Finally she skidded to a halt at the edge of the forest, and stared in horror. Sin was so close! Already it drew a tearing wind around itself, kicking up waves that grew and grew to monstrous size as they rolled towards the little island. Villagers were running for their lives in a teeming chaos. Screams of fear ripped through the air.

For a moment, Ed could only stand paralyzed; the image was all too familiar. Then she snapped into action. "Come on, people, over here!" she called, not really sure how much use she was going to be. "Onto the path, and up to the temple! Let's go!" She began herding the villagers towards the path; she was worried about what would happen if some of them stumbled upon fiends in the forest, but she wagered they would be relatively safe on the path. Safer than anywhere else on the island, anyway.

Ed had just hauled a small girl to her feet from where she had tripped and fallen, nearly getting trampled underfoot, when she heard a keening shriek that could not be human. Whipping around immediately, she saw scaled creatures clambering onto the wooden planks, crawling up the beach, their tails curled up above their bodies and sporting foot-long stingers.

"Sinspawn!" Ed called, for the purpose of alerting her guardians, but her cry also had an averse effect. The crowd of villagers began to panic and scattered immediately, fleeing in all directions with loud screams. Cursing under her breath, Ed lifted her arms and began to summon.  

[Griselda Banks]

((Um...bump?))  

[Ikken Isshu]

((*Has been neglecting this RP*

ninja ))

"They're all fiends to me," Calaman growled, "and I'm sure my sword will agree."

Aer glanced down at his pocket, winced, and nodded as if to himself. "I'm still drained," he said. "But everyone's on the way up to the temple. I'll continue guiding people up, and then I'll try to find a healer for the boy up at the temple. If I can, I'll also try to find some ether or something. I'll try to get back quickly and help." With those words, he absented himself and started bellowing for people to stop running straight at the danger and get their asses up to the temple.

Calaman had already attacked the nearest Gui, jabbing nimbly at its body, but the hideous Sinspawn was deflecting his thrusts without difficulty. With a furious warcry, Calaman threw himself onto the claws with renewed vigor. He'd managed to mutilate one of the beast's claws beyond use when he saw that two more had come around and were approaching the summoner, who, for some reason, wasn't movi -

"She's summoning," he realized, and pushed himself off of the Gui. Now, of all times, he needed to be near her. He had crossed have the distance when a shadow darkened the sky above. He looked up, terrified of seeing Sin looming over them, but it wasn't Sin - he didn't see what it was, though, because as soon as he looked up, it passed over him, and the sun returned as bright as ever. Then the massive beast landed atop one of the Gui, and Ifrit roared with inhuman might as it roasted the Sinspawn in its shell.

"Keep fighting!" Satiyen shouted from the edge of the woods. "There are more than just the one!"

Grinning, Calaman saluted the summoner's party with his sword, and ran for the one with the mutilated claw, to finish the job. Satiyen took the one nearest Eddora after Keskes warmed it up with a few Fire spells, and Luseik remained back by the trees, commanding Ifrit.