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buildugsroamin · 2 years

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Last Redoubt, pt. 2

Vera was having the time of their life. At first, they’d been nervous about going to Batavia: their Dad had always made it seem like everyone on the island was a fun hating stick in the mud caught up in the old ways, but now that they were there…

It all started when their dad had started making googly eyes at the smelly lady in robes. They wanted to explore the garden on the komodo’s back, but they knew he would have a hissy fit if they tried. So seeing him distracted, they tried to sneak off, only to catch a glance from robe lady! But not only did she not say anything, she also gave them a very brief thumbs up!

Maybe these Batavians weren’t so bad after all!

Especially not if they made gardens pretty as this one. Vera found themself awash in a forest of violets, reds, and blacks glowing softly in the dark. The screeching of bats mingled with the chittering and buzzing of insects in the night air, which was so thick they could practically feel themselves wading through it. At their feet, rotund, flightless flies the size of small rodents scurried about, while above, only the faintest breaks in the canopy exposed the starry night sky. Of course, no garden would be complete without flowers, and what the ones in this garden lacked in aesthetic beauty, they more than made up for in size and smell. Several orchids sprouted at the foot of trees, their centers resembling queer, colorful beetles and bees so closely Vera was sure they would fly away if they stepped too close. In the canopy, pitcher plants hung low on branches, swaying in the nighttime breeze. A curious bat approached one, only to think better of it, and flew away. The plant, growing impatient, took a more proactive approach and began pursuing their quarry across the branches! Branches occupied by round, pale flowers Vera was sure they could fit their whole arm into, a parade of full moons glowing in the darkness.

And everywhere, there was rotting meat. Cadavers great and small lay strewn about the forest floor, as though some terrible monster had just rampaged through. Something Vera thought entirely possible, given the creatures they and their Father had encountered in the forests near Batavia’s shores. Not that they were afraid of course! From their knapsack they pulled out a pair of particularly large whelk shells, which they slipped their hands into the way a boxer might slip on gloves. If any monster wanted a bite, they’d have to taste their own blood first!

On closer inspection, though, something was off. Although the body resembled flesh, although it gave off warmth and stank horribly as sun-baked meat should, the general shape was loose; blobbish. Like clay roughly shaped into the form of a body. Furthermore, the corpse, though mammalian in form, lacked bones of any kind, instead having several small white spots strewn about the flesh. But most dam*ing of all was the great hole in the beasts middle, to which flies flitted in and out, disappointed by the lack of actual flesh in which to lay their eggs but leaveing coated in crimson pollen.

It was no corpse- but a flower! The largest, stinkiest flower Vera had ever seen! But despite this, they could not make heads or tails of any leaves or roots. Where they invisible at certain times of day, like the parallel plants of Lemuria? They would have to find out later.

For now, they’d follow the stench deeper into the enchanted grove, soaking up as many sights (and smells) as they could before their father inevitably dragged them back for the scolding. After pulling their dress collar up over her nose, of course. They were starting to understand the yellow-eyed lady’s use of a face mask.

. . .

Elsewhere, a pair of adults took advantage of the footholds molded into the sides of the monastery to climb onto the rooftop (or would the better term be dragonback?) garden.

“I can’t believe you.” Whispered Malagasy. Even with all the chittering and squeaking, it was best not to take any chances lest a stray nun catch them in the wrong place. “Letting a kid wander about THIS place! At night! Unattended!” He gestured to the centipede crawling across his foot for emphasis.

“Perhaps you might find me imprudent for this, but speaking as someone who has dwelt in the garden of Earthly Delight for years now, and has tended it specifically with the purpose of keeping devoid of especially hostile fauna, I assure you the worst Vera might encounter is the occasional mosquito.”

It took all of Malagasy’s willpower not to scream. “Oh yes, the mosquitos with lances the LENGTH OF YOUR ARM!”

“Culex pipetta only makes attempts on large prey when no other option is available.”

“YOU. ARE. NOT. HELPING!” Malagasy hissed.

. . .

For the sixteenth time in under ten minutes, Vera was transfixed by a plant unlike any they had ever seen. A grove of them, in fact, which in their rare moments of mental clarity thought would best be observed from behind a tree, where the plants couldn’t see them. If they had eyes. Hypothetically.

Like the fantastic corpse flowers, these plants were wholly lacking in green foliage. Instead, they consisted of a bulbous, burred pistil surrounded by gossamer petals followed by long, thin, barbed leaves. Narrow stalks planted them in the ground, uncannily straight in a way that made the odd flowers appear artificial. But what stood out to Vera most, though, was their scent. In a garden that reeked of decay and death, these flower had the relaxing smell of sea foam, with faint hints of cinnamon, alluring in a way the corpse flowers were not. And it seemed a small moth, no bigger than Vera’s hand, agreed with them. It landed on the burry pistil, probing with its’ proboscis the way an elderly person might use a cane, then finding no nectar, it flew off-

Only for the petals to snap up, trapping it!

. . .

“I find it curious, though.” Whispered Creosote, swatting away a cloud of hummingbirds, “You’ve criticized the Monastery for its’ rigid, controlling, and I daresay, oppressive atmosphere in times past. As reasonable an argument as any. Yet the moment I grant Vera a modicum of liberty, you object harshly.”

Malagasy sighed. “Vera’s different. They’re freewheeling. Careless. And don’t have the sense to leave danger well enough alone.”

Then, thinking about what he said, added. “Got a good heart and a curious mind, though. Love them to death. Its’ just… they can be a bit hard to handle sometimes. Definitely their Mother’s child!”

For once, Creosote was silent. A loathsome melancholy shivered through her as she stared at tall, noble Malagasy, seeing in his crimson eyes and deep laugh traces of the woman she once loved. Traces that grew fainter with each returning visit, replaced by this person who was at once her lover yet someone wholly different. But Malagasy had made her (his!, Creosote reminded herself) decisions and she had made hers. The flame had gone out long ago. Nothing to do but move forward.

. . .

The next few moments were a blur.

Barbed, black leaves snapped around the moth, binding tighter and together until the poor insect was little more than pulp. The black leaves then swiveled groundward, pushing against the muddy earth until the stem popped free. The flower used these same leaves to scrape the moth carcass from its’ pistil, and turning around, jabbed its’ stem into the gelatinous mess and slurped the whole thing up!

It wasn’t a flower at all, Vera realized, but a mosquito! What they’d thought was a pistil was really the abdomen, the petals were wings, the barbed leaves legs, and the long thin stem was the lance!

They gazed, mouth agape. What an island Batavia was, where the plants acted like animals and the animals like plants! Sure, other islands had things like that too, but plant-animals and animal-plants were different island to island and these were still pretty neat, as far as Vera was concerned. Of course, they paled next to-!

A sharp itch at the back of their neck bought them out of their thoughts.

. . .

It was awhile before Malagasy spoke again. Or maybe only a few moments. Bugged though he was, it had been a long time since he was accompanied by someone who wasn’t filling the air with conversation, and the awkward silence (on their end, at least- the garden was lively as ever.) was eating at his nerves like acid. Somebody had to say something. Anything. Might as well be him.

“So… are you gonna get in trouble for this?” He instigated, brushing aside hopefully non-carnivorous foliage.

Creosote kept ahead, saying nothing.

“I said, are you gonna get in trouble for this?”

The yellow-eyed goddess-on-earth shrugged. “Vera is a child of Kib, and it is natural a one so young would want to explore. And I, a frail, aged woman, can only do so much to keep pace. So long as she is unharmed, no grievous injury will come to me. “

“And what do you mean by grievous injury?”

“It is nothing I cannot recover from.”

Malagasy stared daggers at her.

“…In the worst case scenario, they’ll lop off my hand.”

“Creo! That’s a big stinking-!”

“It’ll grow back! Do you not recall when I lost my whole arm at that tidepool in-?”

“Yes I do!” Malagasy hissed through gritted teeth “But that doesn’t change the fact they’re disfiguring you to prove a point!”

“Basic discipline, Malagasy. And considering Kib has deemed me worthy of life in spite of my inherited sin…”

Creo’s flimsy justification for the Monastery’s penalties was droned out by the chirping of crickets and shrieking of bats. A blessing, in Malagasy’s eyes. Far better than hearing the same old lecture for the fiftieth time. Sometimes he wondered if it wasn’t even Creo speaking so much as that blasted komodo corpse using her as a vessel to preach inanities.

Creo, for her part, felt steady as the nighttime breeze whistling through the foliage. True, the garden was somewhat hazardous, occupied as it was with carnivorous, motile plants, great bats, and creatures that didn’t quite fit neatly into the taxonomic slots of ‘plant’, ‘animal’ or ‘fungi’, but if Vera was Malagasy’s kid, then it was nothing they couldn’t handle.

“…And if it is any assurance, the garden should be relatively devoid of nuns.” She looked at the moons, or as much moon as could be seen from below the dense canopy. “Those not occupied with the preserving of manuscripts are occupied with processing tequila, and those that would otherwise be up here now have their hands full tending the children.”

“Are you certain?” Worried dripped from Malagasy’s voice, though not necessarily for himself.

“There is but one individual Vera might encounter.” She said, looking skyward.

A person who would be present at the particular time of night she had given Vera permission to leave, in the particular area they would have wandered off to..

Someone who, Creo omitted, she very much wanted Vera to meet.

“The prodigy.”

. . .

Vera took off their shell-gloves and swatted the small of their neck. To their delight, there was a soft crunch, followed by the sensation of something cold and sticky in their hand. Whoever the culprit was, they were crushed like a berry.

And what a culprit it was! Gazing at their hand, Vera saw no insect, as one might expect from this garden, but a bird! A tiny, tiny bird whose gossamer black feathers shone bright under their exposed bloody entrails, and whose head, possessing a lance to rival any mosquito’s, was totally bald!

Unfortunately, they barely had time to appreciate the exquisite beauty of this creature before their ears picked up a rustling in the undergrowth, drawing ever closer to the grove of mosquito flowers.

Vera, not knowing whether this new presence might be friend or foe, wiped the blood-sucking bird off on their dress and scurried up the nearest tree. True, the canopy might hold dangers all its’ own, but experience taught them the more dangerous beasts tended to stay earthbound.

However, what emerged into the grove was no wondrous beast. Well, there were wondrous beasts, several in fact, but among them was a small figure in greying robes. Said figure’s head was hooded; hands gloved. The only thing they exposed to the world were their eyes, which glowed a lonely, soft yellow in the twilight. Under one arm, they carried a wicker basket.

With a hand, the figure shooed away their odd companions, which scampered off into the bush or flew into the trees. Vera let out a gasp. They’d heard legends of girls so in tune with the natural world they could command beasts with a gesture. Though they’d always believed the legends, it never occurred to them it might me here, at this isolated island the world forgot, they would finally meet the enigmatic figure of legend. From their basket the figure drew a notebook and pen. Observing the mosquito flowers, they scribbled something down Vera could not see, then went back to observing before scribbling again. So enraptured the figure was with their task they did not seem to notice the tiny birds that swarmed around them in a dark cloud, hungry lances easily long enough to pierce their robes and into tender flesh

But Vera did. Brushing the back of their neck, they felt the swollen, itchy reminder of their earlier encounter with such birds, and felt no desire to see the beastcaller suffer a similar fate. Revealing themself wasn’t an option: sure, the smelly lady from earlier was nice, but that didn’t guarantee the beastcaller would be. And as their dad so often reminded them, they had a bad habit of getting too close to people. They’d have to be clever. Eyeing some red berries hanging from a nearby branch, Vera snatched them up, snakeing their way along the treetop, trying to find the best vantage point to launch their newly acquired ammunition. Several times their arms and feet came dangerously close to slipping, but at last, they’d angled themselves at the perfect location. A single berry held between their fingers, they focused- steady, steady- then with a great flick launched it directly on target!

Only for the berry to succumb to gravity, missing the mark and instead hitting the beastcaller square in the forehead. Vera’s heart froze as two glowing orbs locked gazes with them. They tried to shimmy down the tree, but in their panic they planted the whole weight of their body on a foothold that was not there, sending them to the forest floor with an undignified thud!

The Beastcaller, thankfully, made no aggressive action, but clutched their belongings close to their chest, not moving a muscle. Small, white spines began sprouting out from beneath their robes.

“Uhhh…hi.” Chuckled Vera, waving. It was as good an introduction as any.

#my writing #Dispatch to Venus #speculative biology #science fiction #bats

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jamaalw · 4 years

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Sound Bath Frequencies, Vibrations, and Energies Exposed

This is a photo of a Sound Bath studio. Sound Baths are grounded on New Age concepts of healing with sound and vibration.

Creepy visuals!

They claim because of the sounds one is able to melt into a meditative state with little to no effort. These sounds supposedly allow one’s higher self to remember and connect with source energy, past lives (on earth and in the cosmos), and be at peace. Don’t…

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#soundbathworld soundhealing soundmeditation soundbath soundbaths soundtherapy meditation musictherapy vibrationalhealing soundther #Bemer machines #Electromagnetic Pulse machines #healing concerts #Lemuria exposed #Lithotripsy #New Age frequencies #New Age vibrations #Radionics exposed #Rife machines exposed #Sacred sounds demonic #Sound Baths Christianity #Sound Baths Frequencies is demonic #sound healing exposed #Sound therapy #vibrational healing exposed #Zyto scanners

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harrelltut · 1 year

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Antediluvian MU America = Original Ægipt = ATLANTIS

EVERYTHING YOU THINK YOU KNOW ABOUT AMERICA... IS A BOLD FACE LIE

JEHOVAH OKCULT BUSINESS [JOB] WITNESS [JW] Us 144,000... Biblically Ancient [BABYLONIAN] FUTURISTIC 9 Ether Subterranean GIANT PYRAMID BUILDERS of Prehistoric 9 Ether Amurika = Original Ægipt = Antediluvian MU [LEMURIA] = Subterranean Earth of ATLANTEAN [SEA] MYSTICS from America’s [MA’s] Mysteriously UNSEEN [MU] BLACK SUN STATE of Pacific Subterranean Coast Queen CALAFIA [CA]

Ægiptian QHT IBM [Qi] APPLE EXPOSING FAKE AMERICA

Ancient Ægiptian GIANTS of Antediluvian MU Amurika [MA = ATLANTIS]

#quantumharrelltech #harrelltut #kingtutdna #enqiback #MU:13 Occult Tech Illuminati

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knightdawn · 5 years

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Weyard: Then and Now

Happy Golden Sunday!

Tomorrow marks the 10th anniversary of Golden Sun: Dark Dawn!

Something I’ve been thinking about often in regards to this series has to do with the geography of Weyard. Namely, how the cities and locations from ALL the games line up with each other, especially the ancient civilizations in Dark Dawn that didn’t make an appearance in previous games and certain locations from the first two games that are suspiciously absent in Dark Dawn.

Well, I finally decided to make an attempt at figuring this out. Here we have the official Dark Dawn map.

And here is a composite image I created from the maps for The Broken Seal and The Lost Age since TLA’s map has labels covering the middle part of Angara and lacked several locations present in the first game.

Here is Dark Dawn’s map with some overlays that will help when talking about how the land shifted - of note are the areas circled in white, which are places in Angara that have evidence of being the same exact location (the Mt. Aleph crater, Kolima Forest, and Champa) and the area circled in yellow is Apollo Sanctum: located on the highest mountain in Angara.

Here, I created the same overlay on the Old Angara.

Here are what the overlay colors represent:

pale cyan: Imil, Bilibin, and other northern regions pale orange: Goma Plateau greyish green: Kalay region, plus Gondowan and Idejima pale green: Kolima Forest pinkish orange: Saha Area/Displaced Marshlands pink and magenta: Morgal region (split up to make the shapes more clear) dark blue: Khiren Mountains blue: Altin region yellow: Lamakan Desert region orange: Harapa region red: Champa region bright green: Mogall Forest

---

The two biggest changes appear to be that the Lamakan Desert region stretched and moved a LOT and Kolima Forest became a peninsula. In Dark Dawn’s time the Goma Range has suddenly formed a gap that wasn’t there before - more evidence of the continent stretching.

Based on the shape of the coastline and how the mountains fall, it’s highly likely that the entire Mogall Forest area is gone in Dark Dawn’s map, and I also think it’s very likely that Xian and Tonfon are in the same general location and may even be the same city - just rebuilt and renamed when it suddenly became a seaside location or in the subsequent wars that happened in this area.

One theory of mine is that the tidal wave that destroyed Izumo was caused by Mogall Forest sinking, as this would be a logical repercussion of such a large displacement of land and water. It could also be connected to the shifts that caused Indra and Osenia to be on a different “shelf.”

Somehow, until doing wiki reading while researching individual towns, I didn’t remember that the Kolima Forest supposedly “migrated” but I wonder if that’s just how the people of Weyard explain plate tectonics they don’t understand. The earthquakes and such still could’ve injured Tret and Laurel - and the marshlands that were once here could still have been displaced by the shifting. Similarly, the Harapa region and Khiren Mountains are said to have "risen up" but this could also mean the mountains simply grew taller and revealed long-buried ruins in the process.

Anyway, more specifics for individual locations follow!

LOCATIONS FROM THE OLD GAMES:

Vale and Mt. Aleph: destroyed, but the people survived and relocated. Vault: likely destroyed and rebuilt as Carver’s Camp and Lumberyard. Bilibin: a major power in Dark Dawn’s time, possibly suffered less damage than nearby areas if the Goma Range protected it. Kolima: probably suffered earthquakes during the continental shifting on top of the weird fallout that caused people to turn into beastmen. Imil: survived and is doing fine. Xian: possibly destroyed and rebuilt or otherwise absorbed into Tonfon. The name change could also have to do with the power shifts caused by the various wars and conflicts that have happened in this area. It’s also possible that Xian was destroyed or conquered during one of these conflicts even if it survived the Golden Sun event and fallout. Altin: the mines probably collapsed due to all the seismic activity; the presence of a lake in what I believe is the general vicinity of Altin also makes me think it may have flooded again as well (survivors could’ve moved to nearby Kaocho or other towns.) Kalay: survived and is prospering - probably the capitol of the country of Kalay in Dark Dawn’s time. However, the region around it seems to have become more of a desert than it was in the past and there is a new lake where there was previously a mass of land. Tolbi: unknown, probably survived but also likely had a lot of political unrest and turmoil after Babi’s death. Lunpa: suspiciously absent from Dark Dawn; probably destroyed by either the Golden Sun event or fallout from it. The survivors probably moved to other nearby settlements. Suhalla: unknown, but the region it was located appears intact so it’s probably still there. Lalivero: unknown, but there’s a new forest visible in the region between Babi’s Lighthouse and Venus Lighthouse - if these areas survived, the lands around them have changed considerably. (I’d assume the forest’s growth can be attributed to the influx of Venus power from the lighthouse.) Loho: unknown, probably survived or was at least rebuilt. Champa: survived and still a pirate nation as of Dark Dawn’s time. Lemuria: survived but has definitely shifted location - an interesting possibility @unluckyadept suggested is that it sank much like Atlantis, which is somewhat supported by NPC dialogue in-game mentioning “an advanced civilization” that sank during the GS event. Either way, other dialogue seems to indicate that the people of Lemuria opened up trade with the outside world after TLA, so their civilization must also still exist. Maybe they’re just underwater now? Izumo: destroyed by a tidal wave, citizens relocated to Yamata. Everyone survived because of Lady Uzume’s foresight ability.

Other settlements from The Lost Age: since they aren’t visited or even mentioned in Dark Dawn, we don’t know much. Gondowan and Idejima can be seen on the map, but there are no visible cities or named areas. The seas and islands seem to have shifted around quite a lot, though. (With Crossbone Isle appearing in an entirely new location for some reason.) I also assume that with psynergy restored, regions near other areas of influence (such as the four elemental rocks) also are receiving more energy than they were prior to the Golden Sun.

I could do a separate meta on beastmen in general but one headcanon I have is that what happened to everyone in the Morgal region is directly related to the transformations that happen to the people of Garoh, whether through genetics or lunar influence or both!

Since the transformations of Garoh’s elders become permanent after they’re exposed to the high levels of psynergy present at Air’s Rock, I have a feeling this is the same thing happened to all the people in this part of Angara. And if this is the case, it’s possible everyone in Garoh became permanently transformed due to the Golden Sun event as well!

LOCATIONS FROM DARK DAWN:

Patcher’s Place & Carver’s Camp: new settlements created by survivors of the Goma Region - Vale, Vault, and possibly Lunpa. Harapa: new settlement, but the ruins it was built on are ancient. Passaj: this is an ancient city, but Isaac’s party never ventured into these mountains farther than Lama Temple. However, these do appear to be in the same general area. Like Ayuthay and Lemuria, they probably didn’t trust outsiders back then. Ayuthay: ancient city that was even more reclusive before the Alchemy Well was activated. I assume that if Isaac or Felix’s parties traveled by it, they didn’t consider the location worth a visit. They probably skipped right by a LOT of seemingly uninhabited ruins. Kaocho: founded by King Wo within the past couple decades. It’s unclear if the settlement existed before the split-off from Sana. The ruins it was built over are definitely older than the city. Te Rya Villiage: the people here are nomadic, their culture could be new or go way, way back. Presumably, the people weren’t in the area during the shifts and changes that happened here either way. The Khiren Mountains are said to have “risen up” which I take as means this whole area is at a much higher altitude than it was previously. Belinsk: Like Harapa, the settlement is new but the ruins it is built over are ancient. My guess here is that the continental shift unearthed the structure the capital of Morgal would be built over. Border Town: I assume it was created when Morgal became it’s own country, but it’s possible the border started being enforced as soon as the people of the Morgal region started turning into beastmen. Port Rago: probably a new settlement, at least in it’s current form. I like the idea that it could’ve been an insignificant fishing village that gained a lot from the trade boom post-TLA but that is just my theory. Saha Town: new settlement. As stated in-game, it sprang up because of the newly-fertile area and the trade centered around the “dream leaves” found here. Harun Villiage: unknown. If it’s not a new settlement, it was probably considered an insignificant location in the past. Yamata City: new settlement inhabited by the people from Izumo.

---

Please, feel free to use these maps and musings as a reference and springboard for other works. I made them with the hope that having a solid idea of how the geography works would spark some new ideas.

I'd love to see people take this and make new things with it!

This whole project actually started because I started wondering “what happened to Xian?” because it was one of my favorite locations in the first game, and then also wanting to know “where was Ayuthay during the first two games?” because it’s one of my favorite locations in Dark Dawn.

I have a better idea of both of those things now, myself. I hope this meta proves useful to others, too!

Finally, I'd also love to give a shout-out to this Golden Sun Discord Server! Finding them and learning this event was happening gave me the little push I needed to finish up my meta.

You can also find this essay cross-posted on Ao3!

#golden sun #golden sunday #golden sun dark dawn #golden sun the lost age #weyard #;knight writes #;meta essay

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sparklyjojos · 4 years

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CARNIVAL recaps [12/13]

Today’s recap: Seiryoin as a blunt weapon, Kirika trying to be relevant to the plot again, and Nemu meeting a ghost.

TWENTY-THREE

28 Dec 1996 — 03 Jan 1997

TOWER OF PISA

[There’s a short moment of first person narration here; a random man from Pisa who lost his wife is so done with life that when he’s contacted by the men in black, he agrees to work with RISE during the next Billion Killer case.]

[Third person narration.]

Amagoi and Meiru have just finished enjoying a few days of the famous Carnival in Venice when Dokuson has them move to Pisa.

As they’re standing near the famous Leaning Tower waiting for 1 PM, Amagoi says that they still need to go back to Japan and figure out where Ryuuguu Otohime went. All they know is that she was spotted by the seashore, witnesses claiming that she rode what looked like a giant turtle into the ocean, which brings to mind Urashima Taro’s way of transportation to the legendary Dragon Palace. It sounds unbelievable, but the Crime Olympics are already so chaotic that maybe fairytales are going to start to come true as well.

During their previous stay in Italy, Meiru and Amagoi have solved a case that involved dead bodies wrapped in pasta, apparently the result of a long conflict between restaurants that involved the mafia. Now they’re pursuing another serial case happening in many Italian cities, the killer always standing on a roof and throwing pizza with a heavy metal ball as a “topping” on people’s heads.

Their conversation is interrupted when a crowd of agitated onlookers gathers nearby. A man looking like a cook is standing on top of the Leaning Tower, holding a pizza in one hand and a metal ball in the other. Meiru recognizes him as Galigali Galilei, a pizzeria owner they met in the pasta case. His name seems fitting, as he then performs a variation of the famous Galileo experiment by dropping the pizza and the ball at the same time, as if to demonstrate they will fall at equal speed. But the moment the ball hits the ground, there’s a much louder noise that can’t mean anything good.

Meiru and Amagoi manage to run away before the tower—which had been magically cut through near the base—falls down with a deafening rumble, rolling through the Square of Miracles until it hits the nearby cathedral. Almost three hundred people die in the event. A Billion Killer skull is found where the Tower once stood.

[Second person narration from Dokuson.]

Before Meiru and Amagoi left for Italy, you asked them to investigate Venice and Pisa, where a serial killer case had been going on, and told them they’re free to enjoy the famous Carnival as long as they made absolutely sure to go back to Pisa just in case the next Billion Killer attacks it on 28th. Amagoi perked up when you said that even if nothing would happen there, the trip would mean she could eat as much of her favorite gelato as she wanted at DOLL’s expense.

The cases on December 21st and 28th happened in Egypt and Italy, just like predicted. Everyone is trying to reason out the Billion Killer’s next target—and that S-detective is likely trying to figure out your person, which you wordlessly encourage. You wonder just how much of your mystery they’ll be able to uncover.

TWENTY-FOUR

04 Jan 1997 — 10 Jan 1997

GRAND CANYON

[Third person narration.]

Still hospitalized BOKU gets a visit from Kirika Mai. This is their first meeting, since she has spent the last few months in hospital.

Kirika says that Dokuson is recently extremely busy organizing "the First JDC Red and White Reasoning Contest" [this name referring to kouhaku, the annual New Year's Eve singing contest]. It’s going to be a televised event in which a bunch of JDC detectives will participate in two teams (male and female) and try solving many smaller cases of the Crime Olympics. The contest judge will naturally be Dokuson. Aside from showing the criminal world their power, Dokuson also hopes that getting rid of as many cases as possible in one go will lessen the overwhelming barrage of things they have to concern themselves with.

Participants won't be hard to find, as JDC has experienced a flood of new detectives ever since doing away with the entry exam. It seems many people have awakened their detective skills lately; as Dokuson puts it, people by their very nature are detectives battling with the mysteries of life. Ajiro Souji used to say something similar, about how in times like these people continue to live to solve mysteries.

[We get a list of strange new detectives. It's long, but some of my favorites are Paper Plane Detective, Irresponsible Advisor Detective, Hunger Strike Detective, and Going Feral Detective.]

...whether or not these strange reasoning methods are useful in fighting crime, they certainly help shed some light on the mystery known as humanity. BOKU muses that perhaps all the genius thinkers and philosophers of history could be considered great detectives, in a way.

Kirika mentions that some of the new JDC detectives were exposed as secret criminals—Murder Detective, Accident Detective, Thief Detective and so forth—basically "Crime Detectives", who did solve mysteries, but using less than legal methods.

But going back to the reasoning contest, they're still searching for a suitable host (Dokuson wanted to give this role to BOKU, but that's not very possible now). Also, the JDC Band announced they're going to take part in the event as “the Band Detective”.

Putting aside those topics, Kirika finally gets to the point and shares her suspicion: she thinks "the youngest detective in the world", Hanto Kuraimu, is not at all some tiny genius of predictions, and everything has been set up by Dokuson.

Even when Kirika had been hospitalized, she used all her authority to get other detectives to investigate the situation for her, and recently got Dokuson to let her meet with Maimu and Kuraimu. Apparently little Kuraimu is now a “baby detective”, which only Dokuson knows about except them. Maimu insists that when she locks eyes with her daughter, she feels a stream of consciousness not unlike that which she felt making her pregnant predictions. The two are even able to communicate by Maimu asking questions and Kuraimu moving her head to answer “yes” or “no”. Maimu claims they already solved a few cases that way. Kirika wanted to try asking the baby questions herself, but was told Kuraimu wouldn’t show her abilities in front of anyone except her mother.

Dokuson insists that the “baby detective” is real, and that the simplest way to prove it would be to wait and see if the predictions she makes about the Billion Killer cases are correct. At the time Kirika and Dokuson talked about it, the latest two predictions already came true—the Great Pyramid and the Tower of Pisa—with the next going to concern the Grand Canyon.

Kirika still thinks that it’s Dokuson who somehow predicts the cases and uses an ordinary child as a smokescreen, maybe even making exhausted Maimu believe in her baby’s powers.

Kirika is trying to investigate Dokuson, who seems more and more suspicious to her—from the unfavorable impression Hyouma has about him, through the very timely appearance after the JDC explosion, to the insistence that Tsukumo Juku be kept away from the organization based on a fax from “Tsukumo Jaki”, who might not even be real. Kirika suspects that Dokuson is secretly a member of RISE and doesn’t as much predict the Billion Killer cases, as simply knows their schedule.

[Second person narration from a random person.]

Let’s think about reading. Whenever someone loses themselves in a book, all the personal details of their life cease to exist; there is only you, “the reader”, a part of the collective also lost in the same book; and right now, the two popular books that connect you and others—be they detectives, criminals, random passersby—are Cosmic and Joker.

Ever since Joker was released, there have been constant incidents of someone tying the two books together with string and using the cumulative weight of about a thousand five hundred pages as a murder weapon, later discarding the bloody books near the body. The group responsible for these nationwide murders has been dubbed Cosmic Jokers, CJ for short. The only link found between the victims is that they all had their own copies of Cosmic and Joker in their rooms. To prevent further tragedy, both titles were quickly pulled from stores.

You, who happen to have them both on your shelf, can’t help but want to solve the mystery. According to experts on TV, CJ might be connected to RISE—is there something in the books they don’t want people to learn?

You continue to read and reason, and each night another yous are murdered, and other innocent yous continue to read…

[We then have a brief first person narration from a random person visiting the Grand Canyon, who witnesses the most extraordinary event from a plane. The Thunderbird Lodge, a hotel built on the Canyon’s edge, suddenly raises like a rocket, flies through the air in an arc, and plummets roof-first into the abyss, taking eight hundred people with it. A Billion Killer skull is later found where the hotel stood.]

TWENTY-FIVE

11 Jan 1997 — 17 Jan 1997

NEUSCHWANSTEIN

[First person narration from Nemu.]

It’s been five months since the beginning of the Crime Olympics The estimated death toll so far is six hundred million. The location of would-be Denver G8 Summit was moved to Athens, scheduled to take place on January 17th. Whether a simple meeting will actually help curb the overwhelming crime is doubtful, but the eyes of the world will be on them.

I arrive in Greece around the time of the Summit. One reason for my journey is that Dokuson asked me to investigate the whereabouts of the missing S-detective Lemuria Sullivan; another reason is that I want to visit a place connected to my brother Juku.

I haven’t had contact with Juku ever since our visit to Ryuuguujou in November. No one besides Dokuson is allowed to call him, for everyone’s safety. Even I don’t know what Juku is doing right now.

A lot of things have happened in those two months. Jounosuke died, Otohime disappeared, Jouka was murdered. Not a day passed without deep sadness and darkness. The good old times of having fun with friends were lost. If I were to lose my brother too…

It was painful to look at his smile when we separated back then, when he assured me that “I’ll be fine, Miss Nemu”, even though he’s being targeted by this mysterious Tsukumo Jaki. I know that he’s a strong person… but the thought of him facing all that darkness feels so tragic and miserable.

Since I grew up next to someone like him who always treated all others with love, some of his kindness was naturally passed to me, but I will never be quite like him and Yomiko, who would always love everyone and be ready to forgive the worst criminal. I know how tremendous human kindness can be—and that’s exactly why I always wish deep in my heart that no foolish hurting of others could occur ever again.

Back in Ryuuguujou, Juku told me that if I ever happened to lose my way, I should head to Delphi in Greece, the place where his unique reasoning method Jintsuuriki had been perfected. Jintsuuriki had already awakened in him at the time of the Saimon Family Murder Case, but the true understanding of it came later, thanks to “the oracle of Delphi”. I doubt that I could attain similar enlightenment, but seeing as I’m already in Greece, it won’t hurt to check. Juku must have had a reason to tell me to go there... and I have a vague feeling that it’s inevitable.

The S-detective who was expelled from DOLL, Lemuria Sullivan, was last seen in Meteora three years ago. The name Meteora just like meteor comes from the Greek word for something “in the air”, a fitting name for a formation of towering rock columns. Lemuria Sullivan spent a week in one of the temples built there, the Monastery of the Holy Trinity, and disappeared afterwards.

After a short stay in Meteora, I move to Delphi, the place considered by ancient Greeks to be the center of the world. I tour around the place, but it doesn’t feel any different than normal sightseeing. Unexpectedly, a person working in a hotel in Delphi recognizes Lemuria Sullivan from a picture I show them and gives me more information.

Rumor has it that the ghost of Pythia the oracle has been appearing at night in the ruined Temple of Apollo. Three years ago, Lemuria Sullivan went there to verify the tale and never returned.

So Lemuria Sullivan was actually last seen in Delphi... Faced with that suspiciously useful coincidence, I get a strange thought: did Dokuson and Juku already know everything and purposefully manipulate me into going here? I get a vague feeling that there has to be a connection between both of them and Lemuria Sullivan. Whatever it is, I will need to investigate Sullivan’s disappearance first.

I go to the Temple of Apollo in the middle of the night. The darkness makes me remember the title Lemuria Sullivan had in DOLL, Knight in Night, quite a contrast with the temple of the god of the Sun. His less pompous nickname was Herr Omega. The Greek letter in his nickname seems fitting, considering where he went missing.

Strolling through the dark ruins, I can almost imagine my old coworker Ajiro Souya walking around to boost his reasoning skills. It’s been a few years since his death. Back then, I was too immature to realize just what my feelings for him were, but losing him still had a significant impact on me, made me realize my responsibility as a detective, and strengthened the will to keep moving forward. I know it had a similar effect on Joya [Christmas]—speaking of whom, he recently walked into a Billion Killer case in Egypt, in what looks like a coincidence, but feels like an inevitability. The same can be said about Amagoi just happening to be in Pisa. Maybe it was inevitable that when I went to Machu Picchu a few months ago, I would tell the local president about Jounosuke, and the president would later call him there to investigate, which would lead to Jounosuke’s death…

The sheer thought that a world of incidental events could actually be an organized set of inevitabilities is frightening.

My meeting with the ghost of Pythia is probably inevitable too.

[Second person narration from ???]

From the moment you became Pythia, you were always Pythia and no one else, all throughout the past, the present, the future. Many women have been chosen to be you, but they all lost their individuality in the process, becoming the single being of you; not a group of people, but the undying Pythia. If you die, another you takes your place. Those who don’t know everything like you do wouldn’t understand how you existed before the Temple was built and after its destruction. They might see you as a ghost.

Wearing a hooded coat over your current body of an old woman, you wait in the stormy night until the guest approaches: a young woman with an umbrella, her expression bearing no surprise, just certainty.

“You came… Tsukumo, Nemu,” you speak in raspy, breaking voice, and Nemu does show surprise this time. Not because you know her name, but because she can understand what you’re saying. “That is because, my words, are transmitted, directly to your head.”

“But it looks like you’re speaking.”

“All senses, are illusions.”

“Who are you?”

“A priestess, receiving prophecies, from Apollo.”

“Is this how you knew my name?”

“I know your past, your future, everything. You came here, to find Lemuria Sullivan.”

“If you know my past, then you must know about my brother as well?”

“I met, Tsukumo, Juku, years ago.”

“Do you know where Juku or Lemuria Sullivan are now?”

“I know. I will not tell you, but there is, a way for you to learn. In two weeks, be in Germany, when the Billion Killer strikes.”

“Germany is a huge country. I’m not an oracle like you, I can’t predict where exactly the case will happen.”

“There are, three kinds, of those, who can guess the future. Do you, understand?”

“Three kinds… one are people whose predictions come true by pure chance, two are those who secretly make the predicted event happen… and…?”

“Real oracles. Those with, real powers. I am blessed with, the prophecies, of the true oracle.” As Nemu gives you a doubtful look, you add, “If you, don’t understand, I will tell you. The Billion Killer case, will happen at, Neuschwanstein Castle.”

“...if I go there, will I learn about Lemuria Sullivan and my brother?”

You nod, then point to the sky. Tsukumo Nemu looks there, and once her sight returns to the ground, she finds you already gone.

[Third person narration.]

King Ludwig II of Bavaria was known for many things, among them the amount of money he spent on castles, his love for Wagner, and being considered mad. Perhaps his most famous commission was the castle Neuschwanstein. This name literally means “New Swan Stone” and refers to the legendary Knight of the Swan, the titular hero of Wagner’s opera Lohengrin.

Nemu remembers that a few years ago, during the Geneijo Murder Case, she talked with one of the writers involved—Nijikawa Ryou—about his stay in Germany, and he said that she should definitely visit Neuschwanstein if she’s ever around. Looking through Joker, Nemu finds a description of Geneijo that compares it to the Nymphenburg Palace, where Ludwig II was born. However, Nemu knows well that the real Geneijo doesn’t look all that similar to Nymphenburg. It’s like whoever wrote Joker deliberately got the description wrong just so they could put the name of Ludwig II in there as a hint.

Looking at the splendid Neuschwanstein, Nemu thinks that maybe the king’s obsession with castles made him not a madman, but a misunderstood artist who dedicated his entire life to ideals. Perhaps the Billion Killer was also someone who could be defined that way (though of course Nemu wasn’t able to sympathize with the way he created his masterpieces).

When Nemu called Dokuson about her trip to Germany, he sounded almost like he had been expecting this turn of events, which made her even more suspicious. This suspicion also means she’s starting to get mixed feelings about her own brother—not quite distrust, but the impression that Juku knows something important he’s not telling her.

On 1 PM local time, a man wearing a suit of armor with white wings—the Swan Knight of legends—appears from the upper levels of Neuschwanstein and flies down to the ground as if suspended from the sky on invisible wires, his arms outstretched to the sides so his body makes the shape of a cross. The knight lands in the middle of a curious crowd of tourists, retrieves the sword at his side and starts massacring everyone around. Finally a large group of security guards and stronger tourists piles on him and pins him to the ground, but the knight magically disappears from underneath them leaving behind a skull of the Billion Killer.

Nemu observes the entire scene from afar. She gets a glimpse of the knight’s eyes once, and has a weird feeling that they’re the same as the eyes of Ludwig II in his portraits.

A witness tells her that about an hour before the bloody incident, they saw an old woman carrying the Billion Killer skull through the nearby Queen Mary’s Bridge.

And when Nemu heads there and looks down at the flowing water under the bridge, a tumbling huge peach comes floating...

[>>>NEXT PART>>>]

#sparkly reads carnival #maijo and jdc stuff

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burntchakra · 5 years

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Starbrary Quartz Crystals

Starbrary crystals are a rare and completely natural type of Quartz formation, which have been encoded and programmed with ancient and detailed information by people from distant star systems. This is the main difference between a Starbrary and a Lemurian Seed Crystal; Starbrarys having been encoded remotely by civilizations that existed outside of our own solar system, whilst Lemurian crystals were embedded with information by people who inhabited our planet; ‘seeding’ or planting them in a sand bed in Brazil for us to discover some 10,000 years after they left.

The Starbrary Mission

The language of the Starbrary is similar to that of Lemurian Seed Crystals, but more complex due to the incredible amount of information each one contains. This information is considered crucial to the growth and survival of the human race and the evolution of the planet as a whole. They are also thought to contain information required to help the Earth at a time of extreme global need or crisis. It follows, therefore, that these amazing and significant crystals are beginning to become available in various parts of the world, so that their reach to Lightworkers will be on a global scale.

Identifying a Starbrary

Starbrary crystals can be identified by the presence of glyph like markings, etchings, geometric symbols and patterns along their shafts and occasionally on the actual main face of the crystal. Some also carry doorways (portals) or keys. Whilst other natural, unpolished Quartz crystals may carry similar markings, the energy and detail of a Starbrary is undeniably completely different.

Lightning Strike Starbrary Crystals

Some Starbrarys may also be Lightning Strike crystals; a very rare formation in itself (not to be confused with Fulgarite*). ‘Lightning Strike Starbrary’ crystals have had their information ‘downloaded’ into them using lightning as a conduit, and, therefore, they benefit from having the additional properties of a Lightning Strike specimen. These crystals bear a jagged scar – usually on their shaft - caused by the strike. The intensity of the bolt often blew the tip off of these crystals in the process, but this does not detract from the energies or purpose. It is said that the travellers who imparted their knowledge into these crystals did so during electrical storms over Brazil many, many thousands of years ago; choosing crystals that were lying exposed (or perhaps placed) on the surface. Lightning Strike Starbrarys are not reserved to any one particular, named group of Starbrary (see names below), they may be found on any of them. Furthermore, Lightning Strike crystals are not always Starbrarys.

*Fulgarite is often sold as Lightning Quartz or Lightning Glass. Fulgarite is a variety of Lechatelierite and is a fragile formation of silica-rich glass, created when sand or base rock is hit by lightning, fusing it into unusual shapes. It is usually of rough, tubular appearance. The hollow tubular part is the point where the lightning struck, fusing the sand around it.

Starbrary Names and Groups

Most Starbrarys are labeled simply as ‘Starbrary Quartz’ or ‘Lightning Strike Starbrary Quartz’ and not named after their particular star system. Very occasionally, however, they will be specifically named if they are a readily identifiable formation; as with an Andromeda DT,ET (Double Terminated, Extraterrestrial). There are six different groups of people who have are believed to have left such information embedded in these crystals.

- Cassiopeia

Some of the most sought after are those containing the maps, legends and history of the people of the Cassiopeia star system. These particular crystals can be recognized by their flowing lines and symbols along their shaft. They often (but not always) have key markings. These may be either portals or doorways to other dimensions or can be information gateways; the means by which we can access their data. Each crystal has various ways of being held which facilitates the release of information contained within; each position (and ‘key’ if one is present) revealing a different layer of information.

- Pleiades

The next type, from the Pleidean System, are recognized by the geometric symbols along their sides - circles, squares, triangles (not to be confused with Record Keepers) and so on and they often have very pronounced keys. Together with the Cassiopeian type described above, these two have the strongest energetic links with the people of both Atlantis and Lemuria.

- Ursa Minor

Then we have a type linked to a system within Ursa Minor. They bear a series of triangles, dots and dashes – a sort of intergalactic Morse code – along their sides. They are often called Cosmic Crystals due to the markings which sometimes resemble meteor showers. To access the information contained within this particular type of crystal you have to ‘read’ the dots and dashes. The code contained within these crystals was one generally used throughout the Atlantean civilization.

- Leo

Next we have an encoded crystal from the people of the Leo star system. It is a more linear pattern but does share some similarities with the first two – from Cassiopeia and Pleiades. The information contained within this type is more factual then philosophical or spiritual, giving names, dates, historical events and other more routine details like weather information.

- Orion

Then come the Titanium included Quartz Starbrarys, with their deep ridges and furrows which create very definite glyphs on the faces of the crystal, rather than along the sides or shaft. This is the only Starbrary which bears markings on the face. This wondrous crystal is connected with the people of the Orion system. Of all the Starbrarys, this one needs a ‘companion crystal’. This ‘companion’ may be a crystal of any type (not necessarily Quartz) and is more often than not, quite an unremarkable stone. The companion crystals sit in wait for a Starbrary to come into their energy field, which activates their abilities. The information contained within an Orion Starbrary is so detailed that the companion crystal is needed to help us to first access this data, assimilating it in to a comprehensible manner. The Orion Starbrarys were of the utmost importance and spiritual value to the Native American Indian people.

- Andromeda

Then we have a crystal containing knowledge from the people of the Andromeda star system. These differ from all the others in that they are (nearly) always double terminated (DT) and more often than not extraterrestrial (ET) formation crystals. They too often have keys, but these are usually tiny. The crucial distinguishing thing which identifies this type from the others is that the sides appear to be layered, and they have no central face termination. It is as though the main termination has been covered by the ET formation or growth. Extraterrestrial crystals can be identified as being similar to self-healed formations, but with far larger and better defined crystals, which vaguely resemble the flames coming out of the tail of a space shuttle! The Andromeda crystals have a strong energetic connection with both those from the Cassiopeian and Pleiadian people, giving rise to speculative belief that there may well have been contact and communication between people from the different star systems.

Master Starbrarys

Finally, there are those referred to as Master Starbrarys; crystals which contain a selection if not all of the above features. The information in these exceptional crystals can be accessed either with or without a companion stone. These are the rarest and most powerful of all the Starbrarys.

The Future

These magnificent and wondrous crystals are now working their way to locations across the planet to be with the guardians who will need to work with them in the future. All of the Starbrarys are thought to contain a direct means of communicating with our elders from these far off galaxies, just lying dormant waiting for us to unlock their code. Furthermore, it is believed that when the time is right (as with Lemurian Seed Crystals also), the Starbrarys will experience a simultaneous ‘awakening’, creating a huge web or grid of celestial light which will surround and encompass the whole planet.

Embedded with their ancient and potent knowledge the Starbrarys lie patiently waiting for us to discover and work with them. Only time will tell, but when the people from these star systems feel that we are ready for open contact and have evolved sufficiently from the third dimension of fear, hatred, anger, jealousy and greed, many pieces of the puzzle will start to fall into place and we will receive the answers many spiritual people across the planet have long been searching for. If you find yourself guardian of one of these extraordinary and precious crystals, work with it often, treat it with the utmost respect and learn as much as you can of its secrets and mysteries.

#starbrary #quartz

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theshatteredrose · 5 years

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A Gathering of Guardians - Prologue (Chapter 8) - Etrian Odyssey Nexus Fanfiction

AN: Another chapter that is longer than I had planned and took longer to write than I had wanted Q^Q But it’s done now. Just a little under 6k words here. Hope you’ll enjoy reading nevertheless~!

Ao3 | Wattpad | FFNet

Chapter 8:

As they turned away from Oracle and his guildmates, Lynus’ polite smile fell into a worried frown as his mind immediately drifted back to the state of two of his guildmates. The few members that they had met of the guild that Villard wished to gain assistance from, all of them so far possessed heavy auras.

Heavy with guilt and doubt, or frustration. Seyfried’s aura in particular. He truly felt foreign in his own body. Razak’s aura centred around Seyfried’s wishing to ease his pains. Kujura, too. Though there was more guilt in his presence than in those of the others. Kyan worried greatly for his brother, while Oracle seemed to constantly worry for them all. And Kardos worried for Oracle’s well-being.

This guild had obviously been through some traumatic experiences and they were still in the recovery stages.

“He’s in that bad of state?” Axel asked as his arm tightened around Lynus’ shoulders.

Lynus nodded his head and idly curled his hair behind his ear. “He is, unfortunately.”

Zydon truly was in a precarious state. A simple wayward refresh, positioned just right, could cause full paralysis. It was understandable that his guild and his twin brother would do what they could to bring him back to full health. That was what close-knit guilds did for one another. It was devastating for them to learn that they could have potentially caused Zydon more harm.

Lynus would need to keep a close eye on him in Maginia. He’d speak to Derek and Darrell about it, but he would need to make sure that he was Zydon’s primary carer.

“Don’t carry too much on your own,” Axel said as he tugged Lynus closer and kissed the top of his head. “Like you always do.”

Honestly. And Axel claimed that he couldn’t read his mind. Ah, it just meant that he knew him better than Lynus likely knew of himself.

“Hm, I’m grateful that Derek and Darrell are with us,” Lynus said as he curled toward Axel, resting his hand on his chest. “They’ll be able to help.”

That answer seemed to satisfy Axel enough. “Come on; let’s go find Flavio, Fafnir, and Bertrand.”

Lynus nodded his head, filing his new concerns to the back of his mind for now. He was looking forward to meeting up with Flavio again. He knew that he had been reunited with Fafnir, which he was grateful for. And relieved.

“Yeah. It’s been a year, but I’m certain I can sense Flavio’s aura,” Lynus said as they approached the city.

There were plenty of new and interesting auras around him, but he Lynus was certain he would be able to hone in on either Flavio’s, Fafnir’s, or Bertrand’s auras easily enough. He was more familiar with Flavio’s, but both Fafnir and Bertrand possessed strong and unique presences. They were both heavily cursed, after all.

Axel kept his arm around Lynus’ shoulders as they wade through the inhabitants of Armoroad. The sea breeze was relieving under the near oppressing heat of the morning sun. From the cool city of Lagaard to the sunny, sea-side city of Armoroad, it was quite the change.

A soft and familiar sensation touched Lynus’ aura. It pulled him to a stop and he closed his eyes to concentrate on it. He soon opened his eyes when he recognised the presence and a smile appeared on his lips.

“Ah, I can sense Flavio,” Lynus announced as he grabbed onto Axel’s arm and pulled him in the through the crowds. “Fafnir and Bertrand are there, too.”

As they weaved their way through the city, Lynus could sense Flavio’s aura clearer. And soon enough, he was able to physically lay his eyes on them. Flavio, Fafnir, and Bertrand stood together in the square of the city. No doubt gazing upon Maginia in awe and interest. Though they looked slightly different in appearance, Lynus recognised their auras immediately. And as soon as they were close enough, Lynus called out to them.

“Flavio!”

Flavio immediately snapped his head up and turned in his direction. Realisation and recognition peeked in his aura as he hastily looked through the throngs of locals and explorers. His gaze soon landed on Lynus, as he and Axel pushed their way through. And the smile that appeared on his lips was genuine in both surprise and happiness.

“Lynus?!”

Lynus had to laugh as Flavio ran over to him and enveloped him in a warm and tight hug. He, of course, returned the embrace. He heard Axel and Fafnir greet each other equally enthusiastically. They were talking over the top of each other, practically. Asking questions like “how are you?”, “what are you doing here?” and “how did you get here?”, in-between comments of about how good it was to see each other again.

Everyone was genuinely excited to be reunited in such an unexpected way.

It truly was nice seeing Flavio again. He hadn’t changed much in the year he had been gone. His hair was a little longer, but still wavy and soft. Bertrand hadn’t change in appearance at all. While Fafnir appeared a little more…ragged, for a lack of a better word. His hair was shaggier and his arm, his cursed arm, exposed and completely black. He no longer tried to hide it, giving an indication that he stopped caring about its appearance or whoever saw it.

Otherwise, they all appeared well and healthy. Despite the darkness of his arm, even Fafnir’s aura seemed relatively unblemished. Flavio’s was the brightest of them all, while Bertrand’s seemed to have changed very little. But there were indeed a few subtle changes.

His curse had been…altered, much like Fafnir’s.

Perhaps they had found a way to turn the curse into something that would benefit them, rather than cause them untold damage. If anyone could turn the Fafnir Knight Curse into a benefit, it would be Fafnir.

“Wow, it’s really good to see you guys again,” Flavio said in earnest as some of the excitement finally calmed down. “How did you get here?”

Axel motioned toward the flying city in the distance. “A surprisingly luxurious ride. Windy as shit, though.”

Flavio looked over at Maginia with surprise on his face. “Maginia? How did you get on there?” he asked.

“An associate of Hamza’s had requested that we join him for an expedition to the island of Lemuria,” Lynus explained as he idly folded his arms over his torso. “It was a surprise request, but everyone unanimously agreed.”

Fafnir arched an eyebrow. “Everyone?”

“Yes, everyone is here,” Axel said with a grin. “Cannan and Skylark, Hrothgar and Gage. Even Cass.”

“Cass?” Flavio repeated incredulously.

Lynus laughed. “He has a new bar there, practically given to him. He’s quite the expert at dealing with both explorers and requests, so it makes sense to have someone like him along.”

“And he gets to make more money,” Fafnir was the one to add sarcastically, which earned him a light jab to the ribs from Flavio’s elbow.

“Well, he’s very open about that fact, too,” Lynus chuckled once more.

“Anyway, what’s this expedition?” Flavio asked, his interest obviously piqued. “I’ve vaguely heard of Lemuria. That’s the island that is said to be supposedly at World’s End, or something.”

Lynus nodded his head as he subconsciously pushed back his hair, idly wishing he had worn it up. “We don’t know much of what the royalty of Maginia wish to find on Lemuria; we’re there basically to act as Search and Rescue specialists. And to help Villard, the man who had requested our presences on the behave of the Maginian government, with whatever endeavours he’s involved with.”

Axel folded his arms across his chest. “We’re basically there to have fun and ensure that shit doesn’t go down.”

Fafnir smirked at the comment while Flavio nodded his head idly. “Hmm, that sounds really interesting,” Flavio muttered, almost forlornly, as his gaze drifted over to Maginia once more.

A contemplative expression soon fell across Axel’s face and he turned to look over at Lynus, mildly wondering if he was thinking the same thing as he was. And, of course, Lynus was. After all, it would be a shame for them to separate after being reunited like this.

So Lynus turned back to Flavio and smiled. “You know, you’re welcome to join us.”

Flavio immediately turned back to him, a light expression of surprise on his face. “We can do that?”

“Oh, don’t be surprised,” Lynus replied, still smiling. “If Cass can make his way on board, you three definitely can.”

“Just say that you’re part of the Guardians, and everything will be fine,” Axel added confidently.

Flavio immediately turned to look at Fafnir. It was clear in Flavio’s aura that he was quite interested in joining. His interest in learning more, seeing more, and exploring new locations most certainly piqued. Even so, he turned to Fafnir for his consent. If, for whatever reason, Fafnir did not or could not go, Flavio was loyal and dedicated to stay with Fafnir no matter what.

Of course, Fafnir was as devoted to Flavio in return. Even rolling his eyes slightly in fondness, silently indicating that there was no way he could ever say no to him. “Sure. There’s nothing else keeping us here. Not anymore.”

“Hm,” Bertrand murmured as he folded his arms loosely over his chest, his shoulders sagging in relaxation. “Yeah, I guess it’ll be nice to visit new places because we want to rather than out of duty.”

Flavio smiled, clearly relieved. “That’s true.”

Lynus was also relieved that they would be joining them. It was going to be amazing to be working together again. “Everyone will be happy to see you all again.”

“It’ll be nice to be part of a large guild again,” Flavio agreed, his eagerness to get to Maginia and be reunited with the rest of the Guardians prevalent in his both his expression and aura.

“Hm, there are new people for you to meet, too,” Lynus added before realisation touched him and he clapped his hands together in front of him. “Oh, that’s right; you haven’t met Azure yet.”

Flavio tilted his head to the side questioningly. “Azure?”

“He’s my apprentice,” Lynus explained. “Actually, maybe adopted brother would be more accurate. I found him lost with amnesia on the first floor of Yggdrasil about a year ago. No one claimed him, so we took him in. He’s very skittish and easily frightened, but a very hard worker. I’m sure you’ll just adore him.”

“An apprentice? Wow, I bet there’s a lot of jealous medics out there,” Flavio joked.

Axel laughed while Lynus gave a small pout. In all honesty, though, there were a few medics in Lagaard that were slightly put-off that Lynus chose to mentor a complete unknown, in their words. But he was lost and alone, and Lynus was drawn to him. He reminded him of him when he was younger.

It only made sense that Lynus would take Azure under his wing. He never had a mentor when he was at that age. He couldn’t leave him alone, literally alone. Someone else, with less morals, could have gotten their hands on him.

There was no way Lynus would let that happen. Not to another medic. Not to anyone.

Speaking of medics.

“Oh, do you happen to know someone called Simon?” Lynus asked, his question directed to Flavio.

A flicker of realisation appeared in Flavio’s eyes before his brow furrowed slightly in confusion. “Only from the Midgard Library.”

“Well, he’s on board, too. On behalf of Midgard Library, it seems,” Lynus answered, earning yet another surprised expression from Flavio. “Oh yes, Derek is also here; he’s working on and managing the Maginian hospital. And from what I am aware of, Villard’s associate, Holt, is to be working with the Maginian Museum.”

“Not to mention that the guildmaster and Subaltern from Etria are helping,” Axel added with a grin, finding amusement in the shocked expressions from those in front of them.

“Wow…” Flavio murmured, clearly impressed. “It’s quite a big deal, isn’t it?”

Almost ridiculously so, but it was proof that Villard, and the royalty of Maginia, were truly dedicated to the expedition. They were taking no risks. Which would be for the best. Once they reach Lemuria, they had only the labyrinths to rely on.

“We have our own community,” Lynus continued. “So, yes, he’s very serious about this expedition.”

Fafnir shook his head, finding it difficult to comprehend the amount of effort Villard was putting into the voyage. “Is this Villard person asking a guild from each city for assistance?”

“It seems that way. Entire guilds with added extras,” Axel replied.

“Do you know which guild from here?”

“Aurora. Do you know of them?”

Flavio perked up slightly. “Oh, Guild Aurora? Yeah, we know of them. Have they agreed to help?”

Lynus quickly grew tired of his long hair against his neck, so he pulled the hair tie from his pocket and pulled his hand into a ponytail. “For the most part. There are some members that may be finding the decision difficult.”

Flavio nodded his head in understanding. “Ah, I see.”

“Lynus has a couple of new patients, already,” Axel just had to add, his concern for Lynus’ workload, as it were, obvious in his frown.

“Oh?” Flavio once again tilted his head to the side questioningly. But he soon righted himself in realisation. “Oh, Zydon and Seyfried?”

“That’s right,” Lynus responded as he finally pulled his long hair into a ponytail. “You know of them?”

“I know that they’re in rather…fragile states,” Flavio answered delicately. “But not everything, obviously.”

Lynus nodded his head. “Seyfried needs some physical therapy and a heathy diet. Zydon, however, is going to be under my sole care for a while.”

Flavio knew what that meant, and he appeared genuinely surprised by that. That soon turned into concern, however. He knew that Lynus had his own clinic in Lagaard. And that he dealt with cases that were difficult or life-threatening. For Lynus to take on the role as primary care-taker indicated how frail of health they truly were.

“I’m sure I can find a way to help them,” Lynus said in a reassuring manner.

“Ah, good, you’re still here.”

The now familiar voice with a presence that Lynus had quickly become accustomed to called out to them. They all fell quiet and turned in the direction of the voice. Two zodiacs, one with brown hair and piercing golden eyes, the other with purple hair and mischievous grin.

Oracle had quite the intense aura. Despite his rather stoic expression, and often deadpanned voice, his affection for his guildmates was strong in his aura. It wasn’t overwhelming, but he possessed quite a bit of determination, though he also possessed a leader’s guilt.

Sigil’s aura was a little different. Mischievousness was potent. Playful in a way, but he seemed to hold a genuine disregard for criticism aimed at him from others. Lynus had encountered many an individual who claimed not to care what others thought of him. But Sigil seemed to be the first who genuinely meant that.

“Hey, Oracle,” Flavio greeted as the two zodiacs reached them.

Oracle tilted his head to the side. “Hm? You know each other?”

“We’re friends from our days back in High Lagaard,” Flavio explained simply.

“I see,” Oracle commented idly. “That’s fortunate.”

“I get to say hello this time,” Sigil practically sung as he turned his attention directly to Lynus. “Oracle stole you away before I could say hi~”

Lynus smiled and nodded his head. “Ah, I do remember your name. It’s nice to meet you.”

Sigil hummed lightly, playfully, his smile still quite mischievous. “You have quite the interesting aura~”

“Oh?” Lynus perked up a little as he gave Sigil his full attention. “Can you sense auras, too?”

“I can get a feel of them, but can’t see them,” Sigil answered with no hesitation. “But it seems that you can~”

Oh, he couldn’t see them? That was quite a shame. Lynus had actually wanted to meet someone else who could see auras like he could. Still, it was intriguing to meet someone who could feel the auras of others, nevertheless.

“Ah, yes, I can,” Lynus responded with a smile.

“We’ve already reached our decision,” Oracle stated unexpectedly.

That was rather surprising, honestly. It took Lynus and his family about a day to come to their own decisions. Were they that eager for a new adventure? There was nothing negative about their eagerness. Just interesting.

“Hm? That was quick,” Axel commented, arching a questioning eyebrow.

Oracle, however, just shrugged. “We’re never the one to say no to potential trouble.”

The corner of Axel’s mouth twitched into a half smirk at Oracle’s response, while Lynus just nodded his head. Though, he was a bit little concerned at the honesty in Oracle’s reply. “Every one of your guild agreed?”

“Yes,” Oracle said quickly, firmly. “All of us. I still need to speak to a few added extras, as it were, but as of the guild; yes, all of us will be joining.”

“That’s wonderful,” Lynus said in earnest. “I can’t wait for our two guilds to meet. I’m sure we’ll get along just fine.”

A small, soft smile appeared on Oracle’s lips and he nodded his head. “Hm. I think so, too. I’ll be sure to introduce everyone to you when we are ready. Until then, I hope I can request that you make accommodations for someone in a wheelchair and using a walking stick?”

“Oh, don’t worry, I’ll arrange everything as soon as I get back,” Lynus quickly reassured.

Axel rested his hand on the small of Lynus’ back. “We better get our butts back to Maginia, then.”

Lynus tilted his head back to look up at him. “You’re right.”

Fafnir also made a noise of agreement. “I guess we should get ourselves on board, too. No point in lingering.”

“Right,” Flavio smiled before he turned to give Lynus and Axel a questioning look. “Oh, could you two wait for us? It’ll be easier for us if we board with you.”

“Sounds reasonable,” Axel said. “Need to gather your things?”

Flavio nodded before he jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. “We’ve been staying at the inn. It’s just down the street.”

“Ah, we’re heading to the inn, too,” Oracle pipped up as he turned in the direction Flavio indicated in and started walking. “Why don’t we all go?”

Wordlessly, everyone agreed and turned to follow the purple-robed zodiac. Sigil happily walked a step or so behind Oracle, while Flavio, Fafnir, and Bertrand followed together after them. Lynus and Axel took up the rear, remaining silent as the three before them quietly chat to each other, Flavio instructing both Fafnir and Bertrand not to forget anything.

After a mere minute or so, they reached a building with a sign out front saying “Aman’s Inn”. The structure was made out of wood and stone, fitting well within the tropical theme of the city. Opened windows with balconies, allowing patrons to view the beautiful crystal blue seas.

The whole city was quite beautiful. It would be an ideal vacation spot.

“Welcome!” a young man, no older than fifteen, greeted cheerfully as the group walked into the foyer of the inn. His smile grew brighter when he recognised the faces before him. “Ah, Oracle!”

“Hello, Cress,” Oracle replied, his tone rather soft, as was the fondness in his aura.

Apparently forgetting that there were others there, Cress eagerly stood before Oracle and began chatting brightly. “Did you see that giant thing that flew over the city? Everyone’s calling it Maginia, the flying city. Isn’t that amazing?”

A surprising sense of guilt appeared in Oracle’s aura as his gaze softened. “About that…”

“Huh?” Cress utter, becoming clearly worried. “What’s wrong?”

Oracle sighed. “Cress, listen; everyone from guild Aurora has been requested to join Maginia on an expedition. And we agreed.”

Cress simply stared at Oracle, his cheerful smile disappearing abruptly. Soon, his face crumbled, and Lynus had to grab onto Axel’s hand for comfort when he felt and saw the devastation in Cress’ aura.

“Y-you’re all going?” he stuttered out, seemingly on the verge of crying.

Oracle nodded his head slowly. “Yeah. We’re…leaving in the morning.”

Lynus squeezed Axel’s hand tighter. The poor kid was shocked, devastated by the news. He was very fond of Oracle and his guild. Having grown used to their presence. Having grown used to them being around. To suddenly leave…

Flavio must have seen the discomfort on Lynus’ face as he had placed his hand on his shoulder. “We’ll be about five minutes, ok?”

Lynus smiled softly and nodded. Flavio returned the smile before he turned, hurrying up the stairs with Fafnir and Bertrand. Lynus focused his attention on the three before a sudden spike of sheer desperation appeared in Cress’ aura, causing him to turn back to him. Lynus braced himself for more sadden emotions.

However, he was surprised to feel a sense of determination as well.

“I…I’m going too!” Cress suddenly yelled.

Oracle blinked. Outwardly stoic, but inwardly surprised by the outburst. “Hm?”

“I-I want to go, too!” Cress reiterated with a determined pout. “I want to join you. I know I’m not an explorer and stuff, but I have some medic knowledge. I can be helpful! M-maybe I can be a caretaker or something.”

His sadness quickly returned and he looked down at the floor. “I don’t want to be left behind…”

Oh? Medic knowledge?

Oracle just stared at Cress for a long moment. He then shrugged. “…I don’t have a problem with it,” he said simply, earning a loud squeak of surprise from Cress. But he ignored that and glanced over at Axel and Lynus. “You?”

Lynus felt a sense of relief and patted at his chest as Axel shook his head in response. “Not at all. It’ll be nice to have a guild caretaker around. Lest it prevents Lynus from running himself ragged by looking after everyone.”

With a slight pout, Lynus lightly elbowed him in the ribs. Though, he couldn’t exactly dispute that. And, in all honesty, even with someone like Cress there, someone who was used to looking after explorers, Lynus would still feel the need to check in on everyone.

Still, with Cress and Flavio there, it was reassuring nevertheless.

“With such a large guild house, we’d appreciate any help you may offer,” Lynus said comfortingly.

“Well, there you have it,” Oracle said as he turned back to a gaping Cress. “We’re boarding tomorrow morning, so you better start packing. Chop chop now.”

“Ah! Y-yes!”

The happiness in Cress’ aura was abundant. And genuine. He was also excited to finally go on an adventure of his own, with his favourite guild. He seemed like a sweet young man. Very eager and a hard worker.

He was sure to get along with everyone.

… … … … …

Lynus pulled two new, blank files from one of the many boxes he has yet to unpack for his clinic. His new workplace was as spacious and generous as the rest of the Sanctuary. From the large swinging doors that were the entrance, the clinic was portioned into three spaces.

One was essentially the foyer. A desk with several book cases was the very first thing that greeted anyone who walked inside.

To the right of the foyer was the medical bays. Each with medical supplies. Six bays in total. Three beds lined the wall on one side, while another three rested against the other. Parton curtains allowed for privacy, should there ever be a time where all the beds were taken.

To the left of the entrance, was another room. A large glass window looked out over the rest of the clinic. That room was to be Lynus’ office. It allowed for him to watch over the medical bays while he worked at his desk. It also allowed privacy should anyone seek treatment from him. Or simply wanted someone to talk to.

Sorting through another box, Lynus picked through a wade of papers. They were used as templates for whenever he created a new patient file.

And he needed to create two new records. One for Zydon. And one for Seyfried.

It was almost funny, in a way. He hadn’t reached the shores of Lemuria and he already had new patients to add his achieves. However, it couldn’t be helped. Injuries and illnesses don’t just happen around labyrinths, after all.

“Diving into your books already?” Axel said as a statement rather than a question when Lynus dropped the files upon the reception desk (as they were calling the first desk seen in the room) and walked over to one of the bookcases.

“I have a couple of theories, but I can’t be too sure,” Lynus said as he began to browse the books. “He’s the first case I’ve encountered. I want to make sure I have everything I need before I can even think about healing him.”

Axel sat on the edge of the reception desk, arms folded across his chest. He was understanding, supportive. As he always was. Yet there was a subtle sense of concern nevertheless. “That doesn’t mean you can overwork yourself again.”

Lynus smiled and shook his head. “You’ve more than perfected the method of getting me away from work,” he said as he turned his head and looked over at his husband.

The grin on Axel’s lips indicated that he knew exactly what Lynus had insinuated. And that same grin told Lynus that he wouldn’t hesitate to pull such stunts on him in the near future.

Axel had gotten so strong that he could easily carry Lynus around with one arm without any effort. Carrying him around, refusing to set him back on his feet until he gave into his demands to get some rest.

In all honesty, it was fortunate that Axel was so attentive. Despite Lynus’ own advances in his skills, he was still quite…incompetent when it came to his own health. Quite pitiful, really.

Lynus shook his head to clear it and to focus on his current project. He turned away from the bookcase and looked toward the medical bays, where Azure could be found taking inventory of their supplies and equipment. Zadkiel was there, too. Following Azure from bay to bay with a box of supplies in his hands.

“Azure, do you know where my Crystal Codex is?” Lynus called out to him.

Azure immediately lifted his head to look over to him. “U-m, th-there’s still some boxes in the storage room. Maybe it’s there?”

More boxes? Goodness, how much did he pack?

“It must be in there, then. I know I packed it.”

“I-I’ll go get it,” Azure said as he carefully placed down the clipboard that held notes of their inventory onto an empty bed.

“I’ll help,” Zadkiel immediately volunteered, setting his own parcels aside.

“O-ok.” Azure gave a shy smile of gratitude before the two of them hurried out of the clinic, Azure taking the lead with Zadkiel a step or so behind.

Both Lynus and Axel watched them until they disappeared before turning their attention back to each other. “They’re getting along well,” Axel commented.

Lynus nodded his head, feeling a sense of pride swell in his chest. “Hm. Good to see. They both want to be helpful.”

“Yeah. Everyone is honestly getting a bit restless,” Axel suddenly stated as he pushed away from the desk to idly stretch his arms over his head. “We’re not used to spending our days practically doing nothing.”

That was true. Without a labyrinth to at least gather items from, they were getting a little agitated. Thankfully, the return of Flavio, Fafnir, and Bertrand gave them some distraction. Not to mention, a whole guild of new people to interact with.

Hopefully, they would head straight to Tharsis and then Iorys in the next couple of days.

Two approaching auras drew Lynus’ attention back toward the entrance, and a few seconds later both Azure and Zadkiel appeared. In Azure’s hands were a few books, while Zadkiel carried with him a couple of packing boxes.

“H-here it is,” Azure said as he raced over to Lynus and presented to him the codex.

“Ah, good, thank you,” Lynus said with a smile as he retrieved the book, immediately flipping it open to the middle.

“Axel? Hamza wants to speak with you about something,” Zadkiel relayed as he set the boxes down.

Axel sighed and scratched the back of his neck. “Probably about this new guild. Better not keep him waiting. And you; I’ll be back for you,” he playfully threatened as he walked out the door.

Lynus just rolled his eyes fondly, choosing not to reply. He was about to turn his attention back to the book in his hands when he sensed another aura. A moment later, he heard the faint voice of Axel greeting someone, and getting a reply in return.

A mere moment later, a certain red-haired medic stepped into the clinic, his hands shoved into the pockets of his coat. “I figured you would be here,” Darrell said as he approached. “I hear you've got yourself a new patient already.”

Lynus briefly wondered where he had heard such gossip, but figured he likely picked up on himself when Lynus had returned from a few hours visiting Armoroad to make a request about wheelchair access. Not hard to put two to two together after that.

“Hm? Yes, that's right,” Lynus answered as he tilted his head to motion toward his office before he turned and began walking himself. “He's going to be under my sole care for a while.”

Darrell followed him into his new office, idly shutting the door behind him to allow for privacy. The blinds on the window leading out to the clinic were still open, however. “How bad is he really?”

Lynus sighed and closed the codex in his hands before placing it upon his desk. “I'll be honest with you. He's cursed. And it's one of the most vicious I've encountered.”

“There's repercussions?” Darrell asked, his brow furrowing.

“Yes. It's located on his spinal cord. It's preventing him from bearing any weight on his legs. He can feel them, move them; but not stand or walk. But if the curse is removed in the traditional manner, it will lash out by severing his spinal cord, resulting in true paralysis.”

Darrell was silent as he allowed the brief, but telling explanation to sink in. “Jesus Christ...”

A sad smile graced Lynus’ lips and he nodded his head. “Yeah. He's in a precarious state. Only his brother and guild leader truly knows of his condition. I haven't told anyone else from his guild. But I need to ensure that he stays under my supervision. I know exactly where that curse is.”

“And you're more equip with dealing with them,” Darrell added before he paused for a moment to contemplate something. “I’ll be sure to tell Derek once they’re settled in. What of the other medics?”

“Simon and Remedy? I don’t know. I suppose I’ll need to speak with them about it later.” Lynus briefly glanced over Darrell’s shoulder and through the window. “Azure will understand.”

Darrell nodded his head before he shuffled on his feet. “Typical. And we haven’t even landed at Lemuria yet.”

“Healing waits for no one, I suppose,” Lynus added as he sat down at his desk.

“Well, looks like you’re already throwing yourself into research,” Darrell said rather idly as he turned toward the door. “I’ll leave you to it. I’ll have a chat with Derek, though. He’d probably want to keep an eye on the guy, too.”

“That’s fair. Could you also reassure the others that I will be there for dinner? I don’t need a hoard of concerned explorers looking for me,” Lynus requested with a smile.

Darrell just laughed as he opened the door and stepped out. With a short wave as a farewell, he walked out of sight and out of the clinic. Lynus was about to turn his attention to his work when another aura made its presence known to him. This one, however, was somewhat unexpected.

While he couldn’t sense anything untoward within the approaching aura, Lynus still pushed himself up from his desk, his brow furrowed in concern. “Hm? Bertrand?” he called out as the aura stopped just outside the door of the clinic.

There was a moment of hesitation, confusion, before said blond-haired protector stepped into the foyer of the clinic. He looked around, and soon found Lynus in his office.

With his arms folded across his chest casually, Bertrand stood in the doorway of the office. “Hey. I kept forgetting that you can sense auras. Sensed me coming, huh?”

“I did,” Lynus replied with a smile as he sat back down at his desk, folding his arms atop of it as he leaned forward in his seat. “It’s been a year, but I still know your presence rather well. We didn’t get to talk much in Armoroad. Flavio is still a chatter-box, it seems. How have you been?”

Bertrand gave him that half smile of his and nodded his head. “Yeah, not bad. The usual aches and pain. Just looking around right now. Getting a feel of the place. Flavio has found the kitchen if you’re looking for him. He’ll have that under control in no time.”

Lynus chuckled. “Good to see that he settled in so quickly.”

“Fafnir, too,” Bertrand added, his voice taking on an air of amusement. “He has already gotten into a fight with Zeryn.”

Lynus just had to laugh. He was more than certain that Zeryn had picked Flavio up to greet him, which immediately piqued Fafnir’s protective instincts. And he was beyond certain Zeryn did that on purpose. “Just like old times.”

Bertrand nodded his head as he glanced around at the office and attached clinic. He felt and looked impressed. “You’ve already made yourself at home, I see.”

“Well, yes. A healer’s job is never done, I suppose,” Lynus said as he glanced out the window again, watching as Azure and Zadkiel unpack another storage container together. “Thankfully, my office is attached to the clinic.”

“That Villard certainly went all out, didn’t he?”

“He certainly did,” Lynus agreed. “Other than some dust and cobwebs, everything is in good condition.”

A strange form of amusement mixed with relief suddenly spiked in Bertrand’s aura. “You’ve got a couch in your office? I have a feeling that it’s going to get a lot of use.”

Lynus smiled wryly as he looked over at the couch himself. It sat beneath the window, made of leather, and large enough to fit three people. Or one person lying down. “I don’t think I’ll be allowed to sleep in my office with everyone around.”

“I wasn’t referring to you using it.”

Lynus blinked. But before he could ask, Bertrand turned around and waved a hand over his shoulder.

“See ya later, kid.”

With that, he walked out of the room. Lynus’s gaze drifted back over to the couch and he stared at if for a moment. He soon realised the truth in Bertrand’s word. The couch was ideal for someone to lie down upon, if they wished. Someone who was tired. Or needed a place to relax.

And maybe talk.

Before Lynus turned his attention back to his codex, he made a quick note to bring some tea brewing equipment into his office as well.

Never know when someone would be in need of a nice hot, comforting cup of tea.

#Etrian Odyssey #Etrian Odyssey 3 #etrian odyssey untold 2 #fanfiction #flavio #fafnir #Bertrand #gathering of guardians #CTS Crew #aurora guild

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michaelgrasso · 5 years

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Operation URIEL: A GURPS Madness Dossier campaign frame

The year is 1973. CIA Director Richard Helms has just destroyed the files of Project MK-ULTRA as the Nixon White House convulses under each new Watergate revelation. Within the shadows of the American and British intelligence communities, Project SANDMAN retreats into a shell of its former self, riddled with moles seduced by the power promised by the other side. SANDMAN's operations have nearly been fully exposed by the disinfecting sunlight unleashed by American fellow travelers of Soviet intelligence. But all these forces, domestic and foreign, are ultimately the dupes of hidden kulullû masters who seek to restore their own lords and masters (the Anunnakku) and shift their reality (History B) into ours, superseding and cancelling out our world and our history.

It's not just crusading journalists, burglarizing peace activists, and erstwhile domestic terrorists that are Soviet-aligned dupes of the Irruptors in the West. The kulullû also have their flippers into the various new religious and human potential movements that arose as a result of the cultural revolutions of the late 1960s. Project SANDMAN had been interested in developing these assets—organizations varying in size and scope from tiny hippie commune-cults to huge multinational research institutes showing a sudden interest in Weird phenomena—for themselves. But now, weakened by politics and roiled by internal treachery, SANDMAN is losing its grip on these exploitable assets. Only a dedicated corps of veteran SANDMAN agents has the knowledge and wherewithal to fight off Irruptor influence and harvest what's worthwhile from the cults, new religions, and neo-esotericists multiplying across the landscape of the American Lemuria: California.

You are members of a special Project SANDMAN team based out of the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, conveniently located near both San Francisco and Silicon Valley. Your team's remit? Surveilling, studying, infiltrating, and, when necessary, neutralizing esoteric groups and individuals involved in the growing human potential movement who might become compromised by the Red Kings from History B. You are:

fringe historians looking for correlations between 1970s new religions, the nascent ancient astronaut overmyth, and Sumerian cults

engineers combining cutting-edge research in silicon transistors, cybernetics, and neurobiology, protecting humanity by dreaming of a new world-system of neuro-bio-social control

veterans of Madison Avenue's wild and woolly 1960s subliminal ad wars, now using your powers to sway the minds of the younger generation for SANDMAN

British MI6-aligned cunning folk, recruited in the aftermath of the subversion of the UK's SANDMAN by tighearnamach traitors and their kulullû masters

structuralist anthropologists specializing in infiltrating the UFO religions, political cults, and affinity groups multiplying like cockroaches in the libertine '70s

ESP investigators (or debunkers) looking to seduce all the publicity-hungry spoonbenders infesting the halls of both the academy and defense research institutes

deprogrammers seeking to return the lost lambs of the peace-and-love generation to their families (and, in the process, learn all they can about the methods and practices of the cults who enslaved them)

veterans of the Indochina War who chanced upon ancient mind-shattering shards of History B during their tour of duty; "enlightened" by the experience, they retreated to the hot tubs of the Bay Area human potential movement

grifters with a talent for neurolinguistic programming, using their powers to run "training seminars" drawing from the rich American tradition of self-help gurus promoting "positive thinking"

visionary authors (or disgraced scientists) receiving mysterious mental signals with religious and messianic overtones from vast, alien, gnostic artificial intelligences

preternaturally precocious Aquarian children born in the final three years of the 1960s, gifted with strangely-tinted auras and prophetic powers; members of an "X generation," to coin a phrase

Collectively, you are specialists seeking to sow—and to reap—in the fecund gardens of the Age of Aquarius. Within Project SANDMAN, you are... Operation URIEL.

---

Set in the early 1970s in Northern California (with occasional side-treks to the UK and wherever the esoteric might be on the rise across the globe), this game would use the GURPS Madness Dossier campaign setting and frame but focus on a specific team with a narrower scope: dedicated solely to investigating cults, religious movements, Weird research institutes, psychonauts, cryptids, UFOs, and other elements of the classically Weird 1970s. The characters would mostly be drawn from civilian backgrounds that make them especially knowledgeable about the Irruptors, History B, and Anunnaki infiltration of said esoteric movements.

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inhumansforever · 6 years

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Inhuman of the Day

July 20th - Maelstrom

An energy-manipulating Inhuman who is the son of Phaeder and Morga. Phaeder had been a renown scientist on Attilan as well as a high ranking member of The Genetic Council. Phaeder had chosen to defy the council’s decree forbidding the process of cloning. Phaeder illegal experiments were discovered by Black Bolt’s father, Agon, which led to Phaeder’s being imprisoned. Phaeder managed an escape, using a cloned body to fake his own death. He fled Attilan and found refuge among the Deviant race of Lemuria. There he met the Deviant woman, Morga, and the two had a son whom they named Maelstrom. It was against the laws of Lemuria for a Deviant to mate with an outsider and the two had to keep Maelstrom’s paternity a closely guarded secret.

Phaeder raised Maelstrom on Lemuria, teaching him all he knew about genetics and cloning. Maelstrom was a gifted student and soon surpassed his father, both in terms of acumen for genetic manipulation as well as disregard for ethics and morality. At some point during his young adulthood on Lemuria, Maelstrom had a relationship with a thus far unnamed Deviant woman. Their brief affair resulted in the young woman becoming pregnant and she went on to have a son whom she named Ransak. Maelstrom did not know at the time that he had a son.

Ransak’s having an Inhuman father caused him to look much more human compared to his fellow Deviants; although he was quite handsome by human and Inhuman standards, he was considered freakish and ugly by Deviant standards. This led him to have a very tough upbringing and Ransack went on to become a fierce gladiator in the Deviant fighting pits (and, later, a trusted ally of Thena of The Eternals).

Maelstrom’s being the progeny of Phaeder and Morga was ultimately discovered by the Deviant rulers and Morga was put to death for her crime. Phaeder and Maelstrom managed to escape Lemuria. They eventually relocating to the ruins off of the Icelandic coast where Attilan had once resided (prior to it moving to the secluded mountaintop in Tibet). Within these ruins the two discovered a lost cache of Terrigen Crystals that had been left behind when Attilan relocated.

Utilizing these crystals, Maelstrom was able to go through Terrigenesis and he was endowed with the ability to absorb and manipulate kinetic energy. This gift enabled Maelstrom to take in such energies and retool it for his own purposes, including energy blasts, the creation of forced fields, strength and durability enhancement, as well as size shifting. Maelstrom was imbued with such tremendous powers that it is likely that Phaeder had somehow manipulated his son’s DNA so that Terrigeesis would bestow him such awesome powers.

At some point thereafter, Phaeder was critically injured in a lab accident. Phaeder had previously used cloned duplicates of himself to maintain his youth and vigor, yet he lost the ability to do so following the accident. With his father slowly dying, Maelstrom became enraged and swore vengeance on the Inhumans for having forced his father to live the life of a renegade.

Maelstrom devised an intricate stratagem for extracting his vengeance on the Inhumans. First he created a group of minions by developing human clones who he exposed to the Terrigen Mists (the DNA of these clones were altered so that they could successfully transform via Terrigenesis). These minions (which included Phobius, Helio, and Gronk (as well as the cosmic entity known as Daethirge)) were then sent to the laboratories on Hydro-base where they stole a specialized chemical compound that could undo the mutagenic properties of Terrigenesis. Maelstrom then loaded the chemical compound into the warhead of a missile that he fired at Attilan. The compound would be dispersed upon detonation, creating a massive cloud that would undo Terrigenesis for the entire population of Attilan.

Fortunately, Black Bolt was able to intercept this missile after it was fired and it was redirected harmlessly into the ocean. Black Bolt tracked the missile back to Maelstrom’s liar where a great battle ensued. During the fight, Maelstrom was exposed to the same chemical he had hoped to subject the populace of Attilan and his Inhuman gifts were undone. Utterly dismayed over his failure and the loss of his powers, Maelstrom fled to his father’s deathbed and requested that his minion, Deathurge, kill them both.

Maelstrom’s death caused the creation of new clone of his body in another secret lair. Resurrected, Maelstrom devised a new plan to absorb the energies of The Eternals. With the assistance of The Avengers, The Eternals were able to defeat Maelstrom and his Minions and once more Maelstrom ordered Deathurge to take his life. His death once again caused his consciousness to be reawaken in another cloned body. This led to yet another scheme where Maelstrom attempted to halt the rotation of the Earth so to take in the massive amount of kinetic energy such a thing would create. The Avengers intervened and Maelstrom was defeated. This time, however, The Vision caused Maelstrom’s body to become intangible at the moment that he tried to project his consciousness to a new body. This resulted in Maelstrom’s sentience becoming discorporate and it floated off into the void of outer space.

Eventually, Maelstrom’s incorporeal consciousness came into contact with the Titan known as Kronos. From Kronos, Maelstrom learned of the Spirit of Oblivion and somehow he managed to become Oblivion’s avatar, thus regaining his physical form. As Oblivion’s avatar, Maelstrom attempted to bring about the end of existence, a plight that brought him into conflict with the Avenger, Quasar. Quasar was ultimately able to defeat Maelstrom, absorbing his being into his quantum wristbands.

Sometime thereafter, Maelstrom escaped and fought against The Great Lakes Avengers, who thwarted his plan to create a devise called ‘the cosmic crunch’ which would do something terrible (presumedly something to do with cosmic and crunching, but who knows?). It was around this time that Maelstrom learned of the existence of his son, Ransak. Discovering that he had a son appeared to quell Maelstrom’s desire to destroy the universe and he caused himself to seemingly shrink out of existence.

Later, Maelstrom was encountered by Drax and the new Quasar (Phyla Vell) after they had been transported to the realm of oblivion. By offering Phyla Vell the resurrection of her love, Moon Dragon, Maelstrom was able to trick Quasar into becoming the avatar of death.

This was the last Maelstrom has been seen from in quite some time. It appears that he continues on as the avatar of oblivion and it is likely only a matter of time before he shows up once again in one of Marvel’s cosmic titles.

#Inhumans #Inhuman of The Day #Maelstrom

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ayearofpike · 6 years

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Spooksville #5: The Cold People

Pocket Books, 1996 118 pages, 12 chapters + epilogue ISBN 0-671-55064-0 LOC: CPB Box no. 308 vol. 6 OCLC: 34048131 Released February 1, 1996 (per B&N)

Not long after the freak heat wave, it is weirdly below freezing in July. The Spook Squad isn’t gonna let a chilly day deter them from exploring, though, and neither is finding ice coffins in the woods. But when they thaw out, it turns out the corpses inside aren’t actually dead, and they start turning everyone in Spooksville into ice zombies. There’s only one way to stop them: fire. But how will the kids ever produce enough?

Spoilers: He fuckin’ wrote Monster again. (You thought I was gonna say The Cold One II again, didn’t you?) I mean, the reason for the ice coffins is left unresolved, and the kids acknowledge it, but ... you know what, we’ll get to the rest of it.

One more quick side note: this is the first Spooksville cover that has nothing to do with direct events in the book. We see Cold People dragging humans out of their houses, but from outside and not the perspective of being there when they come ringing. I’m not even sure who this little twerp is supposed to be, because Adam has dark hair and Watch has glasses. So at least they got that right, that neither of them would have been in such a position.

Our intrepid heroes find these mysterious blue ice blocks in the thickest part of the woods, on a day that for some reason is below freezing at I assume 10 am. Now I don’t know about you, but I’m staying inside when it’s cold, because ... well, it’s cold, goddammit. But these kids go out, even Sally, who is a native and probably doesn’t even OWN a jacket. Like, the thing about coastal California is it stays pretty much the same temperature all year, so the locals don’t expect much fluctuation. I have a really hard time imagining a local wanting to brave the cold, but then again, if we’ve learned anything about Sally it’s that she’s not cowed by anything.

But the ice blocks. Watch wants to thaw one out, because science. So they start a campfire, and pretty soon there’s a blue hand and arm exposed. Obviously it couldn’t belong to a live person, right? Except it suddenly grabs Watch, and then the rest of the ice block explodes to reveal a cold blue man with cold blue eyes. Watch is already shivering just from being held, and he yells to his friends to try to attack with fire. But before they can retrieve Watch, the cold blue man carries him off into the forest, faster than they can follow, faster than they thought a person could move.

So now what? If there’s weird shit happening and no way to track down the source, who do you talk to? Yep, the friends go find Bum. He tells them a story of the lost continents of Atlantis and Lemuria, populated by ancient aliens and devastated by war with each other. But as it turns out, one sect of the aliens wanted the Atlanteans wiped out, and persuaded the Lemurians to use extreme prejudice in exchange for eternal life. So the Lemurians put rockets on an asteroid and aimed it at Atlantis, and in return the aliens took some of the leaders and replaced their blood with Cryo, a freezing material that preserves the body and even boosts speed and strength — but at the expense of the soul. You spend the rest of your non-life in your mobile body resenting warm people and preparing to kill them, or at least make them like you. They went to the North Pole to wait out the asteroid fallout, but now it seems these Cryo Creatures have returned.

You can beat them with fire, Bum knows, and there’s no better fire weapon than a flamethrower. Fortunately, the freaky militia man who runs the army surplus store has a couple. While they’re buying them, the Cold People show up and surround the place. Freaky Militia Man goes outside with his guns, and, well, you can’t shoot ice and expect it to do anything. So the good guys barricade themselves inside the store and have to figure out what to do next.

As it happens, there are two hot-air balloons in the back of the store, so three twelve-year-olds and a homeless man haul them up the stairs onto the roof. And right here is where I disconnect from this story. I have spent a LOT of time around hot-air balloons. In fact, I was at the world’s largest balloon rally this weekend. And there’s no way these people can safely and accurately fly balloons around Spooksville the way it’s described. Hell, I don’t think Pike actually did much research into it. Like, it was necessary to the story, so sure, they fly balloons. Please watch for my all-caps incredulity at untrained super pilots.

Sally and Bum set up the two balloons — ONE EACH, BY THEMSELVES — while Adam and Cindy guard the store. Adam happens to see a box of dynamite and carries it upstairs, to load on board just in case it’s useful. While he’s up there, though, four Cold People have pried open the barred door and are getting in. Cindy can’t bring herself to set a human-looking being on fire, so Adam has to ward them off as they race inside. Cindy gets up the stairs, and Adam has a little grappling match with a hand on his ankle, which grips tightly enough to break the skin, before he shoots the fire just right and literally melts the Cold Person’s head. Of course, this little blast of fire catches more in the shop, and remember this is an ammunition warehouse. The four friends are just clear of the roof when the whole thing blows up.

Of course they didn’t get all the Cold People with one shot. Most of them are rampaging around town, going after all those warm assholes. But what else is to be done? Even the witch, Ann Templeton, is stuck inside her castle, with the drawbridge up, shooting flames out the tower window, so she can’t help. And Adam’s ankle is starting to go numb. But they spot Watch in the cemetery, looking lost, and they decide to take the risk and try to save him, even if he’s already been turned. Of course he has, but Bum manages to pin him down with the flamethrower long enough for Sally to whack him over the head with a stick and knock him out. They make it back to the balloon ahead of the other Cold People, despite Adam’s rapidly freezing leg —

but now what? They can’t just float around forever; eventually they’re GONNA RUN OUT OF PROPANE even though Pike never says this. And anyway, the Cold People are going to realize that there’s a whole world of warm humans to turn sooner or later. If only the witch could have helped them! And suddenly Adam remembers one of Sally’s grousing points about Ann Templeton: her lack of care for the environment. Apparently she’s drilled several oil wells on the hill above the reservoir. Adam remembers the underground streams, and realizes that if he can get enough oil flowing through the water that runs under the town, maybe he’ll be able to warm the temperature of all of Spooksville. What good will that do? Well, he expects that the Cold People need cold temperatures to be able to maintain their bodies. After all, they supposedly went to the North Pole during the war, and it was this sudden cold snap that presaged their appearance. If it warms up, hopefully they’ll all melt.

So that’s the plan, officially: crack the lines from the oil wells so crude flows into the town’s water supply, and then set the whole thing on fire. And the hero of the story is slowly turning into one of the bad guys while he plans this. Do you see Monster yet?

The kids land their balloon SQUARE ON THE TOP OF A TRUCK and LIGHT THE BASKET ON FIRE BUT SLOWLY CLIMB OUT BEFORE IT FLIES AWAY. Of course Sally knows how to hotwire a truck, and they drive it up to the reservoir and prepare to flood it with Texas tea. Adam’s leg is totally numb now — and his whole body is slowly getting colder, and he’s slowly starting to resent Sally more and more, and he knows they don’t have much time before he turns on her. But the cold in his veins gives him enough intellect to advise on the best way to blow up the oil tanks without making them explode, just enough to open a hole. Unfortunately, as she’s setting it up, Watch wakes up and goes after her. She doesn’t have enough gas in her flamethrower to get him and the dynamite both, so she blows the lines and runs for it, leaping into the reservoir itself to keep some distance from a newly-turned Cold Person who for some reason doesn’t want to get wet. And this is the moment Adam’s been waiting for, as the oil sinks down and starts flowing through the town ... but Sally’s in the water, and if he lights the oil, she’ll fry.

Cindy and Bum to the rescue! While the other kids stole the truck, they LANDED ON A HARDWARE STORE ROOF and busted in to swipe a fan and a generator. Cindy had to overcome her flamethrower-averseness to save Bum from a random Chilly in the store, but once they were back to the balloon they RIGGED THE FAN SO THEY COULD FLY IN ANY DIRECTION THEY WANTED, NEVER MIND THAT THE WIND IS PUSHING ON THE WHOLE ENVELOPE OF THE BALLOON AND THEY’RE USING A FUCKING HOUSEHOLD FAN. Then they STEERED THE BALLOON TO THE RESERVOIR and SWOOPED DOWN TO THE SURFACE to grab Sally somehow, even though there’s NO WAY Cindy has an arm long enough to REACH DOWN FROM THE TOP OF THE GONDOLA TO GRAB ANOTHER ARM STICKING OUT OF THE WATER.

But now Adam can light a stick of dynamite that catches all of the oil and heats up the town. And all the original Cold People melt, and all the new Cold People warm up enough to go back to normal, I guess because the cold wasn’t too invasive yet. But we still have our question: how did they get here? I guess that’s got to be answered another time, because Pike is out of pages.

I can’t get too mad at the Monster rehash here. Like, this is four years later and aimed at a different audience, and the rationale for filling the reservoir with oil is just different enough that I’m willing to let it slide. I’m not mad at the cover, really, either, because there’s not quite a bookstore-safe way to represent kidnapping and zombification and blowing shit up. I’m not even mad that we don’t get to learn what the hell Kalika is going to do when she gets big and realizes her undead dad gave her death powers. I am mad at the impossible hot-air balloon acrobatics, but again, I’ll admit that I’m closer to that than a lot of people. But overall, The Cold People is the first Spooksville that I’ve been ... er ... less than warm on.

#spookstober #spooksville

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