Standard Mission: Terror from the Skies

Amira

Oh god, that was quick. The worst happen sooner than expected, a group of imps flew in her direction. As she gathered her thoughts on the approach for the situation, from the corner of her eye, she saw another imp.

What is he implying? That he was helping? Was a vanguard controlling him? She panicked a bit as the imps grabbed on to her. However Haita quickly calmed her down, they were at least not hostile.

Of course, she only accepted this because she expected them to bring her to the others. And by other, she thought her teammates, NOT the other imps!

Even worse they simply dropped her on the large imp! Crap! Quick thinking! Amira quickly draws her sword and tries to stab the large imp from above. But her force was weak and even if it hit it would only barely pierce the imp.

Haita's body glooming behind Amira as he raises his staff and smacks the hilt of the sword to send it down onto the imp with even more destructive force.

Scarlet - Slane Ruins

Scarlet dove left off Warg's back as it jumped right, falling prone as the arrow whistled through the space where she was.

Looking back at the slime demon as she got back up, she saw Shoggoth attacking the bandits. Scarlet took a nervous step back at the sight.

"We need to get those bags away from the imps and returned to the Merchants before they can waste all the stuff inside."

"Just re-group and get over here. It doesn’t sound like the Imps are our main problem. Apparently, reinforcements are on the way.”

Scarlet glanced at her Gauntlet, listening to the conflicting suggestions. Vayu did have a good point. But Shoggoth did mention the imps carrying stolen goods...

"I can start making my way over to you, but our demon friend says these imps are carrying stolen goods from the convoy," she reported, glancing up at the imps. "They've been throwing stuff down at us."

She needed another way of attacking the flying demons. Scarlet raised her gauntlet, channelling Maga through it. Warg dissolved into motes of light as Neko materialised.

"Neko! I need you to distract those imps so I can take a shot. Try not to hit that big one with your flames though, we need that satchel!"

"Mmnn, I have a better idea, Scar," Neko purred, stepping forward. "Hey little guy, why don't you come down here. I promise I won't bite," she said, casting her Wicked Wiles on the larger imp.

Slane Ruins

- Vayu -

Vayu's brows furrowed when he heard Scarlet's response. He could hear the conflict.

"Fine," he agreed. "Do what you can, but take care of yourself."

It wasn't exactly his to team, so he wasn't about to give anyone orders. They all knew the objective. And they all could make the judgement call on how to achieve it.

Carefully he continued out front of the caravan train, one hand tightly gripped around his ninjato.

Slane Ruins - Versus the large imp

"You think that will work on me?!  Stupid!"  The imp yelled at neko, as he began reaching into his bag scrambling to pull out another vial, his aggravated eyes fixated on neko. when he heard the sound of something above him?  He glanced up to see a crazed vanguard spiraling down towards him, as he let out a yell and began scrambling out of the way.

Amira with the help of Haita barreled down towards the imp as the blade lunged into its shoulder, the imp crying out in pain as it pointlessly struggled with all its might to stop itself from falling, its wings twitching in a crazed manner.  As a last ditch effort, it reached out with the other claw and slashed the bag on its back that contained the merchandise.

The sound of the bag tearing and glass breaking could be heard as various powders, liquids, and vials scattered in various directions, as the imp pulled his claw out to reveal that a red powder that began to glow brightly.  With a sadistic satisfied smile he slammed into the ground, as a loud crunch could be heard the limp's body going lifeless.

The other imps squealed in terror, flying off in various sporadic directions besides the group that dropped Amira who quickly swooped down and began grabbing vial after vial, before the one that dropped Amira eyed her with a look of terror.

"That's the same vial that blew up the building!  Get rid of it!"  The imp yelled, as all the imps bolted towards the caravan each having a couple vials in hand, leaving a few still falling towards the ground.

At the same time, The 'bandits' who were trapped in Shoggorth, suddenly began panicking and screaming as a strange haze lifted from their eyes.

"MONSTER!  Save me!"  one of the men yelled in absolute terror, as he began trying to pull his one arm out with his free hand.

------

Caravan

"Right, pick up the speed, and stick to the shadows" Aesop yelled in response to Vayu, as he gave a wide signal.  The horses picked up speed as the caravans now passed a building that obscured the fight between the imps that seemed to be winding down.

"Hm?"  Aesop muttered now growing more visibly tense as he glanced up at the imps heading in their direction carrying the various vial.  he quickly called Vayu and Nihility over to him, and pointed at the imps with a sense of urgency in his eyes.

"That's the same imp that was here earlier...  I doubt he'll do anything after seeing what our vanguard could do."  Allison waved her hands while walking in the caravan, as she began to glance around for a second with a look of confusion crossing her face.

She gave strange signal of hitting her chest to the rest of the merchants, as they began to search their Caravans before giving the same signal back as the woman rolled her eyes in response.

"Hey Nihility, can you go find Fane, you know my daughter?  She apperently wandered off somewhere."  The merchant stated, as if on cue a voice could be heard in the distance.

"Yes child, can you show me to the caravan?"  unnaturally calming voice stated from around the building, as the owls from earlier could be seen now perched on top of the caravan closest to Vayu, gazing at him curiously.

- Cleo -

As Amira and the big imp crashed to the ground, the red light of the exploding powder consumed them, only to be snuffed out a moment later. The now harmless red dust hit the ground and splashed upwards in a puff that briefly covered Amira before settling to the ground once more.

The flash of a tail could be seen through the dust as Nekomata darted into the cloud, snatching the remaining falling vials from the air with her catlike reflexes. A soft clatter could be heard as she batted the last vial with her tail, sending it flying towards Cleo, who caught it with his outstretched hand.

“Sweet Amira, you most certainly know how to put on a show.” Cleo smiled as he pocketed the vial. “But perhaps we should regroup with the others now.”

Coming to a stop next to her, Cleo offered Amira his hand to help her back onto her feet.

“And I don’t get any compliments for catching all of these?” Nekomata huffed, rattling the vials between her clawed fingers.

“Rest assured, Kitten. I am highly appreciative of all the things you can do with those claws of yours.” Cleo responded with a grin before turning his attention back to Amira.

Scarlet - Slane Ruins

Scarlet eyes widened at the sight of Amira falling from the sky. How had she gotten up there?!

She gasped as Amira crashed to the ground. The cascade of vials was largely intercepted by the imps before they scattered, leaving several still falling. Scarlet began to move, but luckily Cleo and his Nekomata arrived to catch the vials before the smashed on the ground and released whatever powders they contained.

"Most of the imps have scattered, they've got most of the merchandise. Cleo managed to get some of it back though, but Amira might be hurt!" she reported to Vayu through her gauntlet, jogging over to Cleo and Amira.

"Are you okay, Amira? How'd you even get that high up?!"

[quote="Shadow-Heart"]

Nihility|Shoggoth


At the mention of the lost child and the voice that followed, Nihility stepped away from the caravan to get a better view of the procession. Nodding her head, she moved away and headed towards the location where she thought the sound emitted from, apparently as a marker, there seemed to be a flock of Owl-looking demons perched near one of the entrances of an abandoned building closed to Vayu. With much haste, Nihility briskly walked closer to meet up with the other Vanguards, her hand at her waist, firmly held onto her shiny belt, ready to pull it out at a moments notice of hostility.


~~~~
~~~~~~~


With the Large imp with the bag taken care off, Shoggoth focussed more on her feeding and in turn acquired the memories of the two men who had attacked her, apparently under the influence of a spell. Now that the spells effect were diminished, the men fell into their senses and say the Slime Monster for the first time with fresh mind and that terrified them. Normally a blend of fear and paranoia gives off a delicious taste in the feeding process but unfortunately Shoggoth was surrounded by Vanguards and the two men were seemingly innocent, on top of that, if she consumed them whole, she'll miss out feeding on the extra scrumptious Star desert called Nihility.

"Urrgh, It seems like it is your lucky day." The monster grumbled as she let her captives free. "If it wasn't for the deal with my Vanguard Partner, I could have enjoyed sucking you dry, Off you go, you are free But if you attack me again, then I won't hold back."


The purple demon turned away from them to face the direction where she sensed Nihility.

"You have the new co-ordinates sent to you by your fellow Vanguard at the Caravan. We should all move with haste." Shoggoth stated to the others before turning into a spherical form riddled with Yellow luminescent eyes and began rolling off towards Nihility's general location which she assumed would be close enough to the Caravans.

Slane Ruins

- Vayu -

Just as he acknowledged Scarlets reply, Vayu was suddenly alerted by Aesop. His eyes drifted up to the sky towards the incoming imps.

Well even if Allison didn't think they would attack the caravan train again, he wasn't taking that chance.

The snap of his fingers brought the Zhen demon back out.

"Sweep back and forth along the train. But stay low," he instructed the demon. "If one of those flying monkeys even thinks about attacking, take it down first."

A moment later the Zhen took flight, circling slowly along the caravans, but keeping a low height to not alert anyone else of their location.

"Tell your people that the Zhen is not to be attacked," he told Aesop.

Immediately another problem surfaced. Fane, Allison's daughter was missing.

Disapproval coloured Vayu's expression. "You let your daughter roam around free while you're under demon attack?" he asked unable and unwilling to keep the disapproval and annoyance out of his voice.

Shaking his head, he moved up the caravan train again, trying to locate the little girl in between the buildings. It would be a massive loss of time if they had to circle back to search for her.

From around the corner of a building he suddenly heard a calm voice, seemingly adressing a child. It was enough to grasp his attention. A gaze around the area revealed some Toufei perched up on the caravan next to him. Right. Scarlet had reported seeing some of them around. It didn't seem like anyone else had seen the arrival of the owls.

Nihility had noticed the voice as well. Since he was a little closer, Vayu signalled Nihility an 'I'll go check it out' with a wave of his hand and then stepped away from the caravan and between the buildings.

Keeping his hand on the hilt of his weapon, he strolled around the corner. From the outside he looked far more relaxed and calm than he actually felt.

"What's going on here?" he asked in a low, but determined voice.

Amira

The blade connected with its shoulder and sent it crashing on to the ground below. Success, the rest was all a flash as Amira could only recall her body impacting on the ground alongside the imp. Sure the imp softens the landing, but she could still feel her body slightly sore from it.

The red dust didn't help either. It enveloped her causing her to cough and swing her hand around to clear the cloud. Eventually, the dust setting down.

She then heard a familiar voice, it was Cleo. She looked down, her sword impaling the imp's shoulder as she kneeled over the crushed imp's body.

"Not exactly planned." She extends her hands and allows Cleo to help her to her feet again.

Then came Scarlet, her voice worried. "I'm fine, the bruises already healed. As for how I got up there... Well, some imps helped with that."

Suddenly Amira felt something behind her. A strange feeling, it was Haita. He was standing there turned towards the purple demon. She couldn't figure out what this feeling was, but it was the first time she felt it. Something was causing a reaction from Haita.

"An-anyway, let's go a meet with the others." She said nervously trying to calm herself. Once the purple demon was gone, Haita turned to Amira as if nothing had happen.

Caravan

"My daughter can take care of herself, she may not have your vanguard magic but she can hold her own." Allison quickly retorted to Vayu with a glare, as her face turned slightly pale at the sound of the new voice in the distance.  She and Aesop quickly ran over to voice to see what appeared to be an angel-human hybrid pleasantly conversing with the girl his arms in the air like he was talking about something grand with a potion from the caravan in the other.

Spoiler:

"Ah, you're here!  A pleasure, my name is Icarus and I've come on behalf of the lord to help you reach Chaldea safely!" Icarus said with a very wide charismatic smile that came off as unsettling with him extended the hand with the potion towards the group.  His voice was oddly soothing as well despite the situation, as everyone who heard it felt inclined to tell him everything.

"Stop!"  Aesop yelled in aggravation, as the angel's face began to twitch in what appeared to be in rage while still maintaining his smile.  Aesop quickly ran over and grabbed his daughter, and forcefully pulled her away as he turned to the rest of the group.

"Angel's are just as bad as the demons that attack us, they're bastards that hide their atrocities behind their 'sweet' words."  Aesop quickly lashed out, as he walked back towards the caravan with him making a gesture and the caravan quickly began to pick up pace.  Allison however stood firm, her hang reaching out as she took the potion from the angel's hand.

"Decide for yourself vanguards... and if you want to help angel then it's most appreciated, what's the catch though?"  Allison stated looking into the angel's eyes, not breaking contact.

"Simply listen to our lord's proposal, that should be simple enough, no?  You need not accept, we'll still help regardless" The angel said with a sweet smile, as the rest of the vanguards arrived... him nodding to the rest.  His gaze stopped on Cleo though, as he frowned with sadness shaking his head at the sight of the vanguard.

In the meantime, the imps stopped dead in their tracks as they began to shake.  one imp slowly flew towards the Zhen and handed it the vial slowly like he excepted something to kill him at any moment.

"Icarus is here isn't he?"  The imp said his voice shaking.

Nihility|Shoggoth


Nihility simply frowned as Fane appeared out of the building, leading the half-breed to their location. With Aesop quickly freeing his daughter from this new creature's side, the vanguard relaxed her hand, letting go of the metallic belt coiled around her waist. Nihility stared at the wing growing out from the Icarus fellow's head in silent contemplation, wondering what would happen if someone took a sharp blade and chopped off that part.

~~~~
~~~~~~~


"Oh, what do we have here now." Shoggoth asked as she rolled over and took her humanoid form, compressing all her excess lower goo into a pair of limbs and walked over to stand beside her partner. "Is this feathery fellow bothering you Nihility?"

The purple skinned demon slid her vanguard partner's long silky greyish-white hair to the side, revealing the pale slender neck. Licking her lips, she brought her face close to Nihility's skin, opened her mouth and let a few tendrils snake out which latched onto the revealed flesh. Shoggoth closed the gap by pressing her lips onto the area as if giving the girl a kiss and proceeded to suck in the Maga from her partner.


Nihility, mainly unaffected by the process tilted her neck sideways, allowing her partner easy access as she fed on her.

"No, apparently it wants us to listen to its pitch and offer us it's assistance as it accompanies us to Chaldea, but we don't know it and it's Lord, so, I personally do not trust anything it says." Nihility continued to stare at Icarus for a few more seconds before averting her eyes away and began calmly walking with the moving caravan led by Aesop. "If Allison wants it to join the caravan procession then that is on her and I do not have any reason to protest." Nihility gazed at Aesop's back as she continued to move ahead. "I was hired by Aesop and so were the other Vanguards, We have a duty to protect him and his caravan followers." The ghastly pale human craned her neck to once again stare at the Half-Breed with her large sunken eyes, "Like it said, we don't need to agree with it, as long as it doesn't show hostility, we have no reason to engage with it." The Vanguard tapped the cheek of the demon feeding on her to which it responded by detaching itself from her neck, leaving a small mark or bruise akin to a Hickey at the point where Shoggoth was feeding from. "It can speak out the proposal into the wind anytime, our main concern is to reach Chaldea with haste so let's not waste anytime dawdling and instead keep moving forward."


Shoggoth wiped her mouth with the side of her arm, content of the Maga intake for the time being. She kept close to Nihility, keeping a watchful eye on her but at the same time, her yellow demonic eyes blinked and stared at everyone from the back of her head.

- Cleo -

As they made their way towards the coordinates that Scarlet had been given for the caravan, Cleo collected the vials from Nekomata, stashing them in his pockets, save for the one that she kept twirling between her claws in what was clearly a dexterous exercise that kept her mildly amused.

When they regrouped with the caravan, there appeared to be an unexpected visitor amidst their ranks. Cleo regarded the winged demon with a sense of detachment. Aesop was right. It spoke sweet words, and that probably meant it was hiding an ulterior motive. At the end of the day, it wasn’t his decision though. His job was just to protect the caravan until it arrived in the city.

Cleo had convinced himself that his opinion didn’t matter until the creature shot him a look, something between pity and disgust. Any misguided trust he might have felt for the demon was immediately wiped away. The “lord” of anyone that could look at another person in such a way wasn’t someone that Cleo wanted to meet or have dealings with.

“I think five Vanguards should be enough to handle the job.” Cleo said, turning back towards the caravan and leaving the angel behind. Nekomata chuckled as she followed him. “Someone rub you the wrong way?” Her tail wound around his arm as they walked. “Should I give him a demonstration in the right way to do it?”

Slane Ruins

- Vayu -

Vayu watched Nihility walk away after allowing her demon to feed on her. He shuddered. It was very unsettling to watch. Her words, however, he didn’t entirely agree with. Cleo also chose to walk away. Yes, five Vanguards should be enough to protect the caravan train.

Still, his intuition told him that it was too dangerous to just walk away from Icarus, so he opted to take a different route.

“Your opinion in this matter is irrelevant. Go back to your caravan and take care of your daughter. Leave the protection of the caravan train to us,” Vayu said to Allison. “That’s why we’re here after all.”

Then he turned dismissively away from her. He didn’t need humans meddling in this.

He signaled the Zhen to resume its patrolling after it brought the vial to him. With a disdainful snort, it took flight again, ignoring the imp’s question.

Vayu then turned to Icarus.

“I don’t trust you,” he said. “You may state your proposal, but if you start interfering with our job, even if you perceive it as so called “help”, your existence may not see the end of today.”

The angel’s demeanor gave him chills and he hadn’t loosened the grip on his ninjato.

Scarlet - Slane Ruins

Scarlet looked back and forth between the caravan and the angel. It seemed like there was some history behind the two groups... perhaps it wouldn't be a good idea to accept their help?

"Help would make things easier... but it looks like the caravan doesn't want their help. Are we expecting trouble that 5 Vanguards and the caravan guards can't handle?" she addressed the other Vanguards. Meanwhile, Neko stood behind her, resting her head on Scarlet's shoulder.

Caravan (Talking to Icarus)

"Is that how you repay a favor?"  One of the owls condescendingly scoffed at Cleo, as he passed by it with mutter "though, it's to be excepted from filth"

Cleo, Amira, Nihility walked off and with each passing comment Icarus' face turned more and more red as his fists began to clench.  His mouth opened like he was about to yell with him raising open of his fingers in the air.

"Excuse me?! Aseop and I run this group together, and he can't be trusted to handle these choices "  Allison stated in a firm voice to Vayu as she quickly turned towards Icarus, raising one of her eyebrows at the way his mouth was open.

"I assume you can address their points?"  Allison stated, gesturing the angel to start his proposition, as she held out her hand and waved it in front of him gesturing for the angel to continue.

"Right....  I assure you you'll need our protection, the demon coming here is quite proficient at commanding those imps.  You may be able to win, but at the cost of merchant lives...  And you humans losing Caravans hurts us both."  Icarus stated in a voice that sounded sweet and alluring like honey but sad in a mournful way, as he shed a single tear and wiped it off his face with one of his fingers.

"Now for my proposal." Icarus stated quickly before anyone could respond, as he pulled out what appeared to be holy water with him pouring it over the same hand that had come into contact with the vial from earlier as he washed the water across it and his arm.

"I'm sure you know this place is cesspool of filth outside of Chaldea, forsaken villages constantly under attack and the whims of corrupt demons..." The angel stated shaking his head with his eyes closed, as he smiled warmly a the two vanguards like he 'knew' they experienced it.

"We seek to restore order, to push those demons out of this region and protect the residents inside creating a larger and stronger kingdom of peace." The angel stated with emotional conviction, as three owls that landed next to Icarus now nodded their heads in agreement.

"To do we need human aid, as you have the power to turn the tides to slay the corrupt forces of chaos... and that ring that's been growing..."  The angel stated pointing to each of the vanguards with a nod, as he continued to say "For now... don't kill the demon general attacking the caravan and let us take him, we need the information he holds."

A) Say you should capture the demon
B) Say you shouldn't help capture the demon
C) Press you don't need the angel's help

---

At the Caravan

"Oh shut it you stupid owl! He aint owe you nothing"  A caravan worker called out as a rock flew towards the owl, as quickly flew away back towards the angel.  He was covered in dirty weak rags that seemed like a stark contrast to Allison, Aesop, and Fane's clothes that seemed over garnished.  Some were playing a game of cards on top of one of the caravan, while others kept watch.  Various imps also fluttered around them, eyeing the game with curiosity.

Aseop and Fane were over to the side arguing about something as they walked besides, the two seemingly in an argument, as Aseop marched off to the front of the caravan seemingly still irritated as he glanced back for a second to see the three standing there.

"Feel free to look around, dad is waiting for everyone to get back before we start doing the briefing... The imps told us the commander shouldn't be here for a while." Fane called out with a pleasant smile, an imp perched on her shoulder eating some sort of meat as it eyed the vanguards suspiciously before continuing to munch on the food.

The Zhen that was scouting didn't notice any sign of Dantes forces nearby, the town was silent and the void of any demons or activity alike.

A) Talk to Fane
B) Talk to the Caravan workers
C) Talk to Aesop

Amira

After Amira arrived with the others to the train, she stood still as she watched things unfold. To be completely honest, angel or not was indifferent, they were still a demon, right? What mattered was not what they were, but rather how much are they trustworthy. To which Haita was telling her to take everything said with a grain of salt.

In all likeliness, what the angel was saying was true, but not the complete truth. Although the angel's words seemed to be enticing, It seems that there was a unanimous vote to ignore the angel. Rather than think for herself, she accepts the group's decision and goes with it. Also ignoring the angel in the process.

However, something about the angel's words made Haita stir. Capture the demon, FEED. Amira turned her attention to Icarus.

"I'll capture this demon if you want, but only on one condition... I get to keep it."

Slane Ruins - Vayu -

Choice: possibly B - kill the demon, if necessary.


Vayu shrugged at Allison’s response. He’d warned her. He’d told her to go. If she chose to stay, that was on her.

“You could be the Caliph of Cordoba for all I care,” Vayu said to Allison. “I warned you, but if you choose to keep interfering with my job by making stupid ass decisions, there is nothing I can do.” He regarded her for a few seconds with a neutral to negative expression. He’d always had trouble respecting people just because someone had made them the boss.

Icarus seemed to be getting upset and maybe a little impatient, that his words weren’t as seductive as he hoped, but regained his countenance.

Vayu’s brow furrowed. He was torn. Icarus seemed to know more about the demon than he was letting on and he wanted to know more about it. A glance over his shoulder, however, told him that the caravan train was moving out of sight. It would foolish to let them go too far.

“Look,” he said to Icarus, “We’re not here to provide humanitarian aid for villages so you can create your own little bubble of peace. And I will not let you use the caravan train as bait. Anything you do beyond that, that doesn’t interfere with our job, I don’t care about.”

Vayu looked at Scarlet, waiting to see what her opinion was.

Obviously, Amira disagreed, voicing that she would help capture the demon if she got to keep it. But what about their mission?

“Amira…,” he murmured, feeling surprised and a little upset. He wasn't sure  what to say.

Vayu then turned around to leave. There was a slight chance that Icarus would follow along since he announced they would help after their proposal was heard. Maybe that would be his chance to press for more information about the demon.

“But be warned, some of us will do whatever it takes to protect that caravan train. That includes killing that demon if necessary,” he added over his shoulder.

Nihility|Shoggoth


With all she had said, Nihility still hoped that the half-breed angel would have spoken earlier, but alas she was out of earshot of the group that stayed behind. Nonetheless, it appeared that the caravan group were having their own problems. She didn't know what was the deal with the owls getting all haughty about. Were they looking for some mice to be fed to them in return for not attacking us?

Nihility reached Fane and eyed the imp for a second, maybe they could feed the owls the same meat as well.

"Hey, your parents were worried when you got away from the caravan earlier. Is your Father still angry over you for trying to be independent? You know, it does get a little safer to walk in thick bushes and the wild if you got your own demon with you. Those imps can be quite helpful to have along when adventuring."

Nihility walked closer and placed her hand onto the imps head and then caressed it from the back of it head to its ear.

"You take good care of Fane from now on. Don't let her get into any harm, no matter what happens, Okay." She spoke with a motherly tone while staring deep into the little demons eyes with her own dark sunken ones.


~~~~
~~~~~~~


Shoggoth peeked her head from over Nihility's shoulder and gazed at the little imp, her yellow fiendish eyes blinking and swirling around.

"Yes, do that, or else you'll be like that piece of meat you are holding, but in my tummy."

The purple demon smiled and licked at her protruding fang before turning away to the side and stand guard a few feet away.

~~~~~~~
~~~~


The Vanguard waved her hand to dismiss her demon.

"Don't worry about her, if you are in my good books, then you are safe from her. As for me, I am more interested to hear about this commander of all you Imps. I would like to know everything there is to know about it."

C) Talk to Aesop

- Cleo -

Filth...

The word echoed in Cleo's mind as he made his way towards the front of the caravan, but his eyes constantly scanned the horizon, unable or perhaps unwilling to be distracted from his current task. He'd been called worse, but the judgement behind the word was what he'd spent his whole life trying to overcome.

"If you squeeze that sword any tighter, you might break your fingers." Nekomata purred in his ear.

Focusing on his muscles, Cleo relaxed his grip, at least enough that his knuckles resumed their normal color. "Thanks. I went somewhere else for a minute."

"That's a dangerous thing to do in your line of work. How about you focus on the task at hand now, and I'll take you somewhere else later? Hmm?"

"Promises, promises." Cleo chimed in response, causing Nekomata to giggle. "I'll take you up on that. Keep an eye on the angel. I want to have a word with our employer."

As Nekomata moved away with a nod, Cleo approached Aesop, who still looked more than a little angry. "A penny for your thoughts? Is this Icarus guy gonna be trouble?"

Scarlet - Slane Ruins

B) Say you shouldn't help capture the demon

Scarlet listened to the Angel as he explained what he wanted from the Vanguards. Surely it would be more dangerous if they tried to capture the demon, instead of simply killing it or driving it off? After all, their objective was to get the convoy to Chaldea...

She blinked as she realised Vayu was looking at her. "Um... Our mission was to escort the convoy, right? So I don't see how capturing the demon helps us... It might even be more dangerous for the civilians - wouldn't trying to capture the demon be risky, because we're not hitting it with our strongest attacks in case we kill it?"

"Sorry, I want to help, but our priority is the convoy... you understand, right?" she addressed the Angel.

Talking to Icarus (Vayu, Scarlet, Amira)

Amira, Scarlet, and Vayu felt a strange stinging sensation in their throats when they talked, as Icarus gave a focused and intense stare, as the angel didn’t even blink once.  Amira response didn’t cause any shift his expression didn’t shift in his expression.  Though, He grew increasingly tense when Vayu started talking, as Icarus’ body began to shake that only grew more when Scarlet voiced her opinion.

“Of all the… nerve!” Icarus stated in a frustrated tone before one of the owls swooped by and landed on his shoulder.  The owl calmly whispered in his ear, as the angel’s shaking body stopped almost instantly.  He slowly turned his head in Amira’s direction, as he let out a deep exhausted sigh.

“I’m willing to hand over the demon… AFTER we’re done with him; I’m trying to establish good relations with you vanguards, so consider it a gift.”  Icarus stated with a satisfied nod, as shifted his piercing gaze towards Vayu next; his mouth shifting into a visible aggravated scowl.

“I’m not seeking to create that ‘bubble of peace’ now.  That’s our long term goal.”  Icarus stated in a mocking tone, as he shook his head like he was talking to a child, “As I said, the shipment being lost to those demons hurts us both.  While capturing the demon would be nice, my prime objective is to defend you… Though, we should still plan for the future, and the information that demon holds will benefit Chaldea as well.”

The demon finally turned his gaze towards Scarlet, as face filled with regret.  He simply walked towards the vanguard and placed his hand on her shoulder.

“Do not worry, I understand.” Icarus said in a comforting tone, as he quickly removed his hand a moment later in a bizarre squeamish fashion, and continued to say now with more elegance in his tone with a smile turning his back towards the group as he rose in the air with the flap of his wings “Now, let’s be off.  We should devise a plan together before the filth arrives.”

“Right…” Allison stated, rolling her eyes as she walked over to Vayu with her arms crossed.

“Look, I don’t trust that condescending prick as much as the next guy, but openly rejecting him will just create more problems…” Allison whispered as she glanced up at the angel and the owls, “Keep an eye on them if you want, for now we should try to use them to our advantage.”

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Talking to Fane (Nihility)

“Well, I do want to become a vanguard.  So, this is a good first step, mom and dad seem to have this whole caravan business on lock anyways.  I may not look it but I am 16… that’s old enough right?” Fane said with pride, as she glanced over at the imp scratching its wings for a few seconds with a carefree smile on her face, as she turned back towards Nihility with a ponderous expression, “I don’t feel like Icarus is a bad anyways, so I’m not sure why dad freaked out.  Icarus is pretty easy to talk to for some reason.”

Nihility laughed at Shoggoth’s comments like it was some kind of joke, as the imp showed a stark contrast its face growing pale as it began to almost fly away before changing its mind when Nihility assured the imp it would be okay.

“Sure… You avoided that angel so…” The imp said in a more delighted tone, as Fane began scratching behind him wings, as the imp opened its wings to stretch in delight that made it appear three times larger.

“I’ve never seen him, but all the imps know that working in his direct army is basically a death sentence.  Big bro would send insubordinate ones there to… fix.” The imp said in a scared whimper, as he continued growing more terrified by the second “He apparently grows stronger the more pain he causes, and since there’s so much of our kind… you know…”

When the imp was done talking he curled up into a snowball like position, as fane continued to scratch the back of his wings with a now more concerned look.

“Come on, my Dad will want to start the briefing now.” Fane said quickly, as she ran off towards the front of the caravan.

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Talking to Aesop (Cleo)

Aesop jumped a bit when he heard Cleo’s voice as he quickly turned around to see the vanguard looking at him with a surprised expression crossing his face.

“It’s not ‘if’ he’s going to be trouble, it’s ‘when’ he’s going to be trouble.” Aesop stated with a an annoyed scoff as he turned to look in front of him with the outskirts of the city becoming more visible in the distance with him looking down at his feet for a bit before pulling out a vial of black dust.

“I’ve never trusted them, they say they want to help but it’s only for those that are ‘pure’.” Aesop stated, as he turned to the vanguard as he sized him up for a few seconds before continuing on, “They cooperate now, but they’ll kill us in the end, just for ‘interacting’ with those imps, just like…”

The man shook his head, as he turned his head away from Cleo for a few seconds before turning back towards the vanguard, and held out the black vial for him to take a hold of.

“Take this, should help with the ‘demons’.  You'd be better at using it anyways” The man said his voice strained as he turned his head up to see one of the owls eyeing the two of them with suspicion.  The man simply nodded to the owl as he gestured Cleo to the inside of the front caravan

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Planning Phase (Everyone)

The vanguards, Fane, Allison, and Aesop piled up into the caravan one after another as Aesop laid out a map for the group that contained a hand drawn map of the city around them that the group could see, detailed some points of interest.

“So, as far as I’m concerned we have two options.  We either fight the commander or try and get to Chaldea before they show up…” Aesop stated with him scanning that map intently, as the imp on Fane’s shoulder jumped down on the map and looked up at Aesop as he jolted back in shock.

“Imps fast, efficient. You won’t be able to run or be forced to hide again….” The imp stated, as he glanced around at the rest of the group to see if they agreed with him, as Allison slammed her hands in her fist.

“Then what?  Even with all this help we don’t know how large or powerful of a force they have, we could just be killing ourselves!” She stated in an agitated voice.

“How about we sacrifice a caravan.  We can get information about their size and if it’s too big we can hide out and call for more backup.” Fane interrupted, as she pushed herself in front of Allison placing her hands on the table as she glanced around at each of the vanguards with big hopeful eyes.

“Well for the time being…  You vanguards should know we both know some magic… Allison can duplicate items that degrade in days’ time while I can turn spells into that dust.” Aesop stated with a solemn nod, as the imp on Fane’s shoulder pulled out the vial Allison gave him from earlier and eyed it with suspicion and began to shake it violently as the liquid bounced up in down inside of it.

“Thoughts?” Aesop asked in a hopeful tone, as he cautiously watched the imp from the corner of his eye.

Slane Ruins

- Vayu -

“If you want the help of Vanguards for your project, go make an official request with the Vanguard Council,” Vayu simply said to Icarus. “I’m not changing mission directive for some perfect stranger.”

That angel kept giving off a very mixed behavior towards each of them and it was irritating Vayu immensely. Then he flew off.

He nodded to Scarlet, glad that someone else had a similar view on the goal of this mission.

They had just started to walk back to the caravan train, when Allison came up to him, whispering. Vayu shrugged. While it was good to know that she didn’t fully trust Icarus, playing Icarus for a fool was probably just as dangerous.

“You’re playing a dangerous game,” he said. It looked like he wanted to add something, but they had arrived where Aesop waited with the map.

Quietly Vayu told Nihility and Cleo what Icarus had said and what had taken place before turning to look at the map. He listened to the discussion between Fane and Allision until Aesop revealed their knowledge of magic.

“Any spell?” he asked the man. “And how long does it take?"

- Cleo -

Cleo took the offered vial and rolled it between his fingers, regarding its dark contents with curiosity. "What does it do?" He asked Aesop as they made their way into the center of the caravan to meet with the others.

As they gathered around to share information, it became clear that no one seemed to be working with a full picture of the situation. This entire job had been lacking in terms of information. Only just now were they made aware of the fact that some of the caravan members could perform spells, albeit not combat oriented ones.

"I'd rather not sacrifice any of the caravans if we can help it." Cleo responded to Fane's suggestion. "Not that it isn't a good plan, but the less destruction of property, the better." He pulled the vials that Nekomata had managed to save from his coat and laid them out on the table in front of Aesop. "It could be argued that by using these, we'd be eating into the convoy's stock of supplies as well."

"So, we should probably go into this knowing what kind of losses we might potentially suffer, monetary or otherwise."

Planning Phase (Everyone)

"I can and every spell and instantly I just need to make contact with the caster, but it does take maga to convert it." Aesop said as he pulled out an empty vial and vial with a white dust, and placed it on the table in front him.

"You can tell what type a spell is in the vial by the color, white tends to be holy that is effective against chaotic demons, black is dark... etc." Aesop said looking at Cleo in particular as he pointed to the vial full of dust, as he spun his hand around with his risk.

The two suddenly had a look of surprise across their face when Fane made the suggestion, as the two glanced at each other for a second.  Aesop stayed quiet, seemingly okay with the idea.

"No, we can't afford to lose a caravan, I can duplicate something small like vials but a whole caravan will throw us way too far into the red." Allison stated in an elevated tone, as she stood up on her two feet look Fane in a deeming manner.

"I taught you better than that.  Cleo has the right frame of mind though, we can bait them without a whole caravan" Allison stated again, sitting back down in her chair looking at the now more timid girl.

"Did you?  But, you're right, we could bait them in other ways, the imps will know our faces so if they spot us they'll come, but it's a risk to us" Aesop stated with a stern expression.

Scarlet - Talking to Icarus

Scarlet felt a shiver of unease as the Angel cast his gaze over the assembled Vanguards, though she couldn't tell why. After Icarus addressed her comrades, he turned his attention to Scarlet, resting a hand on her shoulder.

Scarlet started at the unexpected contact, with Nekomata behind her tensing up. Icarus quickly ended the contact, though the pair remained cautious.

As Icarus left the group, Scarlet caught a nod of appreciation from Vayu, to which she smiled at him.

Planning Phase

Having gathered with the rest of the party and the convoy leaders, the group began planning. Scarlet listened to the conversation intently.

"I think we should try to get to Chaldea as quickly as possible," she suggested, raising her hand slightly. "We can plan our route, then some of us Vanguards could act as forward scouts? Or maybe we could use some flying Demons..."