Critical Mission I: The Demonic Bodhisattva

Scarlet- Village

As Scarlet broke through the mist, she quickly took in the scene of the woman, a nun by the looks of it, surrounded by demons. She pulled on the reins of her horse to make it stop before the woman, before dismounting.

"We're here to help! Stay behind us!"

Scarlet raised her Gauntlet, channeling Maga into it, and Warg materialised next to her.

"Warg! Keep them at bay!"

With a roar of assent, Warg jumped in between the humans and demons, unleashing its Frosty Breath at the closest demon.

Meanwhile, Scarlet readied her bow, but before she could fire any arrows, an odd sensation took hold of her for a moment, before the scene abruptly changed. She was no longer standing next to Amira and the woman, but instead a wounded Naga was positioned in front of her, with Zephyr on the other side. A quick glance around her revealed that Cleo was stood where she had been a moment ago. Does he have some sort of teleport spell?

Scarlet ran to one side, to put Zephyr out of her line of fire, before nocking and releasing an arrow at the Naga.

- Cleo's Group -

The woman met Amira's eyes. She didn't look full of fear, despite her earlier scream. Instead, she appeared relieved, even at peace.

"Thank you," she said softly, looking at Amira and Scarlet in turn. "I knew you'd come."

Scarlet summoned forth Warg, who unleashed a torrent of Frosty Breath at the Nagas creeping up on the one side. They slithered away from the spell, with the nearest one getting coated in ice. Before it could break loose, a giant crossbow bolt from Zephyr slammed into the demon, sending it skittering across the ground in death throes.

Cleo and Zephyr made their way in, with Cleo successfully switching places with Scarlet and leaving her and Zephyr to kill off the closest Naga and backpedal.

Meanwhile, Cleo stood with Amira and the nun, katana in hand. "Ladies, I'll be covering your rear for the next few minutes. If you'd like an extension, we can talk about it later."

The nun blinked in surprise, then put her hand to her mouth as her pale cheeks colored.

"Sweet Amira, if you would be so kind as to cut us a opening in the direction of the group, I've got this."

Amira and Cleo broke through the crowd and bounded off down a side street with the woman in tow, clutching her robes as she hurried to keep up.

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- Bastion's Group -

Unsurprisingly, everyone immediately started to do whatever came to mind without consulting as a group. Bastion sighed, but shook his head. It couldn't be helped, and for all intents and purposes, Cleo's plan had worked.

For now.

With the civilian safely evacuated from the group, they no longer had to worry about her getting caught in the crossfire. Not that their position was any more advantageous. If anything, more demons seemed to have arrived than before, drawn by the sounds of battle.

Several Lamias slithered forward, rearing up on their snake-like tails as Nihility and her imp unleashed a Lullaby spell on the demons.

"Lalala~"

The Nagas nearby began to pause, their movements becoming sluggish, but the Lamias opened up their mouths and began to sing their own Lullaby. The noise seemed to drown out Nihility and her demon, moving toward the Vanguards. Bastion could feel his senses beginning to dull and drowsiness rapidly setting on.

Then, the music stopped.

Vayu's Zhen knocked back the Lamias with his Wing Buffet, cutting off their song.

“We’re way too exposed here,” Vayu said to the others, gesturing at the open space of the plaza.

"Agreed." Bastion looked around, scanning the environment. This battlefield was disadvantageous in both terrain and visibility. They needed to get to higher altitude, and somewhere they could negate the demons' numbers.

A large house, at least three stories, sat around the corner. That should work.

"Retreat to that house," Bastion pointed out. "We'll regroup from there."

Hopefully, Cleo would have the sense to come to the same conclusion and find them there. If not... they'd deal with that at the time.

Bastion blocked a thrust from a Naga's spear with his own, then twisted it around and pointed the tip at the Naga's heart. "Holy Horn!"

A burst of light fired from the tip, skewering the Naga and sending it hurtling back. Coming in without a demon might not have been the wisest decision, but at least his Xiezhai's teachings were coming in handy.

"Samael, break through there!" he called.

Samael sent Goki ahead, the oni seeming to enjoy himself as he bashed Nagas on the head before making a hasty retreat to open the way for them.

"Let's go!" he called to the rest.

Fortunately, the mist appeared to obscure the vision for the demons as well. As they pulled farther back, fewer demons seemed to pursue them. As they backpedaled toward the door, a few demons pursued them into the street. A Lamia reared up, preparing her Lullaby once more.

Not likely. Bastion brought two fingers together and slashed toward its neck. "Precision."

A thin slash of maga scored across the Lamia's throat, cutting off its song prematurely. It screeched and writhed back, giving Bastion an opening to strike it down with his spear.

"Inside, everyone!" he ordered. When the last of them filed inside, he slammed the wooden doors shut.

The first instinct was to barricade the doors, but if Cleo's group did manage to come here, they wouldn't be able to get in. So be it. They'd have to risk it.

Bastion paused, listening for any noise. Everything appeared to be silent - inside and out.

"Let's get to the highest point," he said, heading for the stairs. "The top floor."

Everyone filed up to the top floor, which was only a barren storage room with a window overlooking the plaza. Bastion leaned against the wall, then took count of everyone in the room, making sure everyone else was present.

Village in distress
- Vayu -

Their interference was enough for Cleo, Amira and the nun to get away. With the civilian out of the way and the Lamia and Naga pushed back, Vayu turned back in time to see Bastion motion for them to retreat as well.

“****,” he said. Splitting up was bad, but followed Bastion and the rest of the group nonetheless. He activated his Vanguard glove while running towards the building.

“Cleo!” he called. “Are you guys okay? We’re in a high three-story building to regroup. I’ll keep sending you my location. Make your way over if you can!”

Just before going through the door another Lamia came up behind him, trying to strike him with its tail.

“I don’t think so,” Vayu murmured and jumped back. Quickly he activated a spell. “Synchro Gift.” Using his boosted speed, he struck the Lamia repeatedly with his ninjato and then slipped through the door.

His demon slipped in behind him and Vayu de-summoned it. A flying type would only be a hindrance in closed quarters.

At the roof, he walked up to Bastion.

“What was that?” he asked. “We just left them. How is that okay?” he asked, sounding almost accusatory. “And now we’re sitting ducks up here.” It was clear, Vayu didn’t agree with Bastion’s decision.

- Bastion -

Bastion leaned against the wall of the attic and gazed out the window as Vayu approached him, immediately venting complaints against his decision. Not entirely unexpected from the group, but he did think Vayu would be sensible enough to realize.

“We have to trust Cleo to find his own way,” he said. “With a smaller group, he should be able to sneak away easily enough.”

He turned away from the window to glance at Vayu.

“Staying on the street wasn’t an option. An open environment is far more beneficial to the ones with higher numbers - in this case, the demons. And trying to fight in an unknown environment with drastically reduced visibility is going to get us all killed. Besides, there’s no sense in fighting when we don’t know what we’re doing here. We need to know the problem before we can find a solution. And without a solution, we’re just stumbling about blindly - figuratively and literally. I had another reason for choosing this spot, though.”

Bastion turned back toward the window and pointed out toward the mist-covered city.

“Can you see? The mist is moving. I noticed back at the gate - it’s slow and subtle, but if you watch carefully, you can see. That means it must be originating from somewhere. From the ground, it was impossible to verify the source. Up high enough, however...”

Keeping his eyes fixed on the blanket of mist, it slowly became apparent that it was moving outward from somewhere on the north end of the village. It was difficult to pinpoint the exact source from this distance, but at least, they now had a direction.

“The question is, is the mist the problem, or is it merely a symptom?” Bastion folded his arms and frowned. “Maybe that woman can tell us.”

Village in distress
- Vayu -

Vayu had his arms crossed while he awaited Bastion’s explanation. He still wasn’t quite sure that a smaller group would have any advantages, especially in a hostile environment with an overwhelming number of enemies, as Bastion had pointed out.

However, he did agree that staying on the street wasn’t an option.

Bastion’s observation about the mist piqued his interest and he loosened his tense posture and relaxed. Vayu stepped up to the window to see for himself.

With a serious expression he nodded. “Damn, you’re right,” he admitted. “I hadn’t seen that. Good eye for detail.”

Vayu scratched his head and shrugged. “Now we still have to find Cleo, Amira and that nun.”

Scarlet

Having dispatched the demon in between her and the rest of the Vanguards, Scarlet fell back into the building which they now occupied, dismissing Warg as the group holed up.

Watching the demons through a window, Scarlet noted Bastion's observation, but was preoccupied with worrying about Cleo, Amira and the mystery woman.

"I hope they're alright..." she muttered, before turning towards Vayu as he spoke his piece.

"Yes! We have to find them... Oh, I know, we can use our demons to help!" She raised her Gauntlet, but hesitated a moment before summoning her Imp, which appeared with a small cackle.

"Did anyone see which way they went? I'll send Imp to scout out."

Zephyr Arc

Zephyr got dragged off by Cleo before he could have everyone agree on a plan, and their merry little band ended up retreating with the civilian. He could see from the increasing influx of demons, though, this wasn't going to get any better for them. Maybe some high ground...?

It was then that they received Vayu's message. The building they were in was a little ways away... but it was just close enough. "All of you grab on to me, quick!" He called, making sure they were holding tight enough as he cast Boost and Overdrive, and rammed the butt of his spear into the ground with force. Upon hitting the ground, the spear shaft lengthened like a spring extending, sending all of them hurtling through the air toward the window of the house.

His spear shrunk back as they were safely in the air, and he then swung it at the open window, lengthening it again to spear it into the ground inside, allowing them to fly more accurately through. He bore the brunt of the landing himself to make sure no one else hurt themselves, then released his buffs and collapsed in a heap. "Sorry about that little excursion. Least we got the civilian out of harms way."

Samael

Samael approached one of the windows slowly, as he wanted to check out the situation for himself without alerting any of the demons that might be able to see. He took a quick glance, as his eyes widened when noticing the moving mist.

If it was originating somewhere though, then they should be able to get fairly close to it without too much combat.... They just had to be subtle about it.

Suddenly, Zeyphr and the rest of the group started flying towards Samael who was looking out the window, as he sharply jumped to the side with the group flying right past his head as they slammed into the rest of the room.

"WHAT! What are you doing?!" Samael gasped in surprise, as he quickly held his hand on in front of his mouth as Goki appeared next to Samael now standing by himself panting after outrunning the naga for a while while muttering a comment under his breath, "He really is the crazy one."

"Whatever, I guess the woman is here now. I can provide a disguise for some of us to scout ahead for other survivors and the source." Samael stated, as he continued to say now gently helping the woman back up onto her feet, "Can you tell us anything about the mist or other villagers?"

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Nihility|Shoggoth|Tyrian|Minke
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The varying Lullaby spells collided with each other but were soon overpowered by the Lamia's song. Though that gave the vanguards enough of a window to retaliate with their own attacks and make a tactical retreat.


Nihility didn't like losing like that, especially when some delicious snakes slithered after them. She wanted to skewer them and stick them over a barbecue grill. Skipping breakfast was turning out to be a bad decision.

Wiping the drool off her mouth with the back of her sleeve, Nihility ran behind the other Vanguards. She had almost made it to the door when a cold long spear impaled her from behind.

"Kyaa!!" A small sound of surprise escaped her lips as her body began melting around the Naga's smooth but hard pole.


Bastion had no choice but to shut the door and barricade it, lest more enemy units stormed their way in. Thankfully though, a portal ripped open inside the room and Nihility walked out from within it. Clamping her hands onto her chest, she snickered at the thought of escaping death, but that soon turned into anger at having to go through the process of revealing and utilizing her limited, special skill.


"Minke! Roll me some Snake Eyes!" The furious Vanguard shouted out the command to her demon partner who was still outside the building, hovering near the poison sludge.


Nodding at the order given to it, the imp arched up and swooped down at the unguarded Naga who was stuck wondering how his ice spear turned its prey into the pile of goo he was now cautiously slithering towards. With a clear and precise swipe, Minke, pick-pocketed two juicy eye balls and quickly flew away leaving the curious Naga blind and snarling in anguish.

Admiring her catch, Minke rolled the two snake eyes in her hand like dice. In the meantime, Zephyr, carrying with him the remaining Vanguards and the civilian from earlier, crashed through the upper window of the building her Master was in. Following them inside, Minke made her way to Nihility and presented the two Snake Eyes like an offering.


"Ah, splendid work, Minke. I'm proud of you."

Nihility took the eyeballs from the imp while rubbing its head. Minke responded with shutting its eyes and snuggling its cheek in her master's palm. As Bastion spoke about the mist outside, Nihility eyed the delicacy she held in her hand.

- Cleo -

They had only just broken away from a group of demons when Zephyr yelled for everyone to grab onto him. Without thinking about it too much, Cleo wrapped one arm around the civilian and grabbed onto Zephyr with the other. A moment later, he realized what the other man had planned, but it was too late to argue about it now.

As the window loomed, Cleo tightened his grip on the woman. "Hold onto me. I'll try to soften the blow."

No way was he going to land on his feet in this scenario. So, Cleo did the only thing he could. Letting go of Zephyr, he twisted, allowing his shoulder to impact first. He and the woman clinging to him rolled twice before coming to a stop with her lying on his chest. She seemed to hesitate for a moment before tentatively sitting up, straddling him with her legs in the process.

"Now that's a good look on you." Cleo smirked up at her from his position on the floor. "I like a woman who can handle being on top."

- Bastion -

Bastion watched with disgust as Nihility had her imp procure a set of eyeballs from... well, he didn’t really want to know. He knew he’d gotten an uncomfortable feeling from her before, but this was worse than anything he’d imagined. How did someone like her become a Vanguard?

He turned to Vayu, intending to inquire about what she’d been like on their mission, when Scarlet announced that she was going to scout for the missing members. That probably wasn’t a bad idea. They had been waiting for some time now.

“All right-“ he began when something came hurtling at the window. Everyone jumped back, half-startled and half-ready for a fight, when they realized it was only Zephyr and the rest.

“No need,” he sighed to Scarlet before approaching the group jumbled on the floor. “I’m sure that won’t attract any attention...”

Bastion glanced over at their mystery guest, who sat up in a daze from where she’d landed on Cleo. Her pale face flushed a rosy pink as she stared at Cleo, who never missed an opportunity to make an inappropriate comment.

“For Heaven’s sake...” he muttered, offering the nun a hand.

She took it and climbed up from the floor, straightening out her robes. When she seemed satisfied that she was put together once more, she glanced around at all of them and bowed her head.

“Thank you for rescuing me,” she said, her voice light and breathy. “I’m Sister Charlotte.”

Bastion studied her. “You’re from the Order of Messians, correct?”

She nodded. “We came to the village seeking to minister to its people. But then a terrible mist came down over the town and separated me from the others. That’s when the demons came forth from the mist, and I had to run to escape them. I don’t know what’s become of the others.” Her expression fell.

“Do you know where the mist came from?” Bastion asked.

Sister Charlotte pointed through the window toward the north side of town, confirming Bastion’s suspicions. “From that way. I believe the townspeople have a pagan shrine up that way. I think it came from there.”

That was something, at least. Bastion looked around at the others, taking note of their options and resources.

“We need to stop the mist,” he said. “But we can’t leave the villagers to get attacked by demons in the meantime. We’ll need to split into two groups - one to find and gather together as many villagers as they can find, and the other two deal with the mist. Zephyr, Scarlet, Amira, and Nihility - you four scope out the village and rescue as many as you can. Vayu, Samael, Cleo, and I will head to the shrine to deal with the mist. Use stealth whenever you can - it will be our greatest asset here.”

The two groups moved to opposite sides and nodded. Bastion faced the nun and frowned.

“Leaving the village doesn’t seem to be an option. You might be safe hiding up here, or you might want to join the rest of the villagers if we can find them.”

“No.” Sister Charlotte clasped her hands together. “Let me go with you to the shrine. I won’t weigh you down. I need to know what happened to the others.”

Bastion bit his lip. He didn’t much like the idea, but she might be able to provide some more information along the way that could prove useful. “All right. Make sure to stay behind us.”

She nodded, then pulled a series of talismans from her robe, ones like the talisman she’d been clasping in her hands. “Please, take these. They should protect you against the mist. I don’t think I’d have made it this long without them.”

[A: Accept the talisman.
B: Refuse the gift.]

- Vayu -

[Choice: B – Refuse the gift.]

Vayu jumped back when Zephyr and the others came flying through the window. They landed to their feet. Vayu eyed them and couldn’t hide a slight smile.

“Well, that was faster than expected.”

Bastion began to question Sister Charlotte, but Vayu’s attention remained on Nihility as she held a pair of demon snake eyes.

“You know…if you really want to eat those, there’s probably a million better ways to prepare them apart from eating them raw,” he suggested. “I could give you a recipe if you want…” The cook inside him cringed at the thought of Nihility eating those eyes raw, even though they probably were a good source of protein.

Bastion split them into two groups, probably the best use of their resources. However, he didn’t agree with Sister Charlotte coming along. After his recent experience during their last mission with Icarus as a sudden ally, he found himself wary of her and her intentions.

Nevertheless, he moved to take the offered talisman.

”What are you doing?” Catequil’s voice sounded through his thoughts. Vayu froze, looking at his gauntlet.

“That’s none of your business,” he murmured, not accustomed to talking to his demon telepathically. Usually Catequil kept quiet.

”You’re accepting the protection of some other deity above mine? Catequil sounded something between disappointed and insulted.

Vayu shrugged. “It’s just a talisman. What’s your problem?” He asked quietly, his voice tense.

”Fine, if you think that’s the way to go,” Catequil was definitely mad now. ”I hope it’s worth it.”

“You wanna talk about it?” Vayu asked, completely forgetting that he should be talking in his mind.

”Whatever. There’s nothing to talk about,” Catequil’s voice thundered through Vayu’s head. He sighed and rolled his eyes.

“Fine! I’m not taking the talisman!” Vayu said exasperated. “Are you happy now?” There was only silence in his head as well as in the room.

Vayu’s eyes focused on Sister Charlotte again, who was looking at him like he was a madman.

“I don’t think you should come along,” he told her bluntly. He then quickly turned on his heels and proceeded to walk to the door, opening it carefully to see if any demons had crept in.

Zephyr Arc - B: Refuse the gift

Zephyr sat up, giving a glance at Cleo who made the landing that much worse for himself and the nun by jumping off, and actually managed to top it off with an exceptionally trashy pickup line. He shook his head, then got back on his feet.

He listened quietly by the side as Bastion questioned her, and mentally noted all the important points. Next they were split into groups. He actually thought to question putting all the loose cannons on rescue of all things, but figured it was likely to avoid a second Gad situation.

Then the nun insisted on accompanying the attack team to find the source, and offered them strange talismans 'for protection'. Zephyr refused quite plainly, and while externally giving Vayu a strange look for seemingly talking to himself, he sent a quiet transmission to Bastion's gauntlet. "I don't trust her. She's far too calm, among other things."

Indeed, they'd found her after hearing a scream, but she completely lacked the bearing of a terrified damsel. She'd been utterly calm even when they first saw her, so he could safely rule out this being due to Vanguard presence, and she's somehow been in the middle of a large plaza even though she claims to have been running for her life, and an open place should have been the last thing she'd look for. More importantly, though, his guts just didn't like her.

That done, he turned to face his half of the, uh, 'team', if it could be called that. "Alright, since we're apparently stuck with search and rescue... the demons here are pretty strong, so let's pair up, for starters. No one should act alone." ...he couldn't also just say he just didn't trust Nihility not to eat any survivors she found, considering she had what looked like fresh eyeballs in her hands. "I vote we split up in pairs and go make a sweep. First to find anyone notify the rest via gauntlet transmission?" He asked. The master always said being pushy with this kind of thing wouldn't fly, so he made it sound as open as possible, rather than making it sound like a command or order.

Scarlet

Scarlet's question was abruptly answered by the members of the wayward group crashing through the window. She yelped, jumping back in fright, before peering over their prone forms.

"Are... you okay?" she tentatively asked, before blushing at Cleo's remarks to the civilian. "C-Cleo! Show some restraint!"

Bastion took over the conversation before more could be said, outlining a plan based on the nun's account. Yes, it sounded like a good idea - there might be other survivors, in which case they had to rescue them if possible. She dismissed the Imp, which gave her a sullen look as he dissipated. In his place appeared Neko. If stealth was a priority for her group, then Scarlet felt best working with her long time partner.

Scarlet paused at the Sister's offer. She wondered about its effects... particularly on Scarlet. Her mind recalled the incident that befell her after the last mission. Would the talisman help with that? She decided to accept, pocketing the talisman while giving Charlotte a smile.

"But if she stays here, what if the demons find her? She won't have any of us protecting her..." Scarlet wondered aloud after Vayu stated his opinion on Charlotte's participation in the plan.

Scarlet nodded at Zephyr's suggestion. "That's a good idea. Though if I may..." Neko sauntered up to the group, resting her head on Scarlet's shoulder. "Neko and I have worked together in the past when we went hunting. It's not quite the same as the situation now, but we have experience with keeping a low profile."

[A: Accept the talisman]

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Nihility|Shoggoth|Tyrian|Minke
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Vayu offered to give her some recipes on how to make the Snake Eyes even tastier. Sure she didn't mind eating some meat slightly raw but now was not the time for preparing Snake Soup or any dish. After all, she would require more meat for the stew and right now, they were already deciding on splitting up to seek survivors.

"Ah, thanks. I'd love that. Mostly when I used to be travelling, I just boiled the meat I caught for some simple stew. But I don't have the time and utensils for that and I skipped breakfast and last night's dinner. Plus in the morning, Shoggoth... never mind." Nihility stopped herself as she recalled the feeling of being drained countless times in the past. She then smiled at Vayu and thanked him. "Thanks again for the offer, I'll take you up on it sometime, when we're back in the city."


When the Nun started handing out talismans, Nihility got one for herself and then stopped Vayu from handing back his. "Oh, if you are not going to use it, I'll gladly take it. It's not that I believe in them or anything, but if we find survivors out there, they might be less suspicious and more willing to join us if we present them with these items and inform them that it's from the nun and can help them against the mist."

Nihility held out her free left hand in front of Vayu while plopping the two snake eyes into her mouth like candy.

Amira

Amira cleaned the dust off her clothes after she landed. That was a neat trick from Zypher.

She stared at the others as they discussed with one another. They were deciding how they should act next.

While she agreed to having two groups, she wasn't exactly keen on being in the rescue group. Then again, she could always just kill the demons as they approached...

She bowed to the nun and took the talisman and immediately wore it.

[A: Accept the talisman]

Samael  [B: Refuse]

Samael's eyes quickly shifted to a look of irritation, as his questions were devoured in the loud torrent of everyone's bickering and comments.  Samael opening his mouth to shout out his answer again before before Bastion asked the same thing before him, which she responded to.....

"Guess, I'm not important enough."  Samael muttered under his breathe with his arms crossed.

His face began to flush from the embarrassment before Goki walked in front Samael and waved his hand in Samael's face, as he peeked out from under his demon mask with a joyous smile.

"Oni always yell when we want to be heard!"  Goki gleefully called out, as his smile grew even larger that it was boarding on creepy.  The oni also waved his club in the air like the little guy was somehow enjoying Samael's frustration.

Samael let out a deep and defeated sigh, as he listened to everyone's comments taking in all the suggestions.  He agreed with Vayu in that he didn't want to bring the nun along.... the extra maga to disguise her could make a big difference but there was one benefit to bringing her.

"Sticking together is a good idea for our team.... I doubt she'll be much safer locked up here since the demons will be looking for survivors. I can also transform us into the naga, which will make the other demons less likely to approach us since larger groups are more intimidating....  "  Samael stated now borderline shouting over the rest, as he turned to the woman and eyed the talisman for a few moments.

"Don't take it!"  Goki called out lightly bonking Samael on the head, as Samael began to rub his head for a few seconds before quickly spinning around to face Goki with a confused look on his face.

"The harder the challenge the stronger we get right?!  Goki and Samael!  Dangerous duo!"  Goki stated, his chest now overly puffed out, as Samael spun back around towards the nun with a now blank expression on his face.

"There you have it."

A) Accept the Talisman.

- Cleo -

"Restraint?" Cleo asked Scarlet, as he pushed himself to his feet. "I didn't realize you were into that sort of thing, Spitfire. Maybe we should have a talk about that..." He trailed off as Bastion gave them their marching orders, giving Scarlet an innocent shrug. "Perhaps another time?"

It definitely wasn't lost on him that all of the women in the group would be making up the other team, but at least the sexy, new addition to their group seemed willing to accompany them. "It would be my honor to escort you through the trails and tribulations that this town has to offer us." Cleo spoke to the woman, accepting the offered talisman with a flourish. "I don't usually accept gifts on the first date, but considering the extenuating circumstances, I'll make an exception."

He stuffed the talisman into his pocket and extended his elbow towards the woman, clearly offering it for her to hold onto. "Shall we be on our way then?"

Alignment Check:

Spoiler:

- Bastion -

Bastion nodded at Sister Charlotte's offer. If they could do what she said, they would prove valuable indeed. Before he could take one, however, Vayu began to argue with himself, which only grew worse when the rest of the room fell silent. Of course, Bastion realized after a moment that he must be talking to his demon in the gauntlet, but Sister Charlotte probably wouldn't know that. She stared at him, quite bemused, as the half-silent argument grew to a crescendo.

“Fine! I’m not taking the talisman!” Vayu said exasperated. “Are you happy now?”

Sister Charlotte stared at him, then glanced at Bastion as if silently wondering if she was being addressed. Bastion, sighing, shook his head slightly. Well, that was interesting. He'd like to know exactly what prompted that argument, but Vayu abruptly changed tone.

“I don’t think you should come along,” he told Sister Charlotte bluntly, then strode off.

Sister Charlotte, crestfallen, glanced around at the others. Zephyr also declined, though Bastion didn't have to wonder why. During Vayu's one-man show, he sent an odd transmission saying he didn't trust her. Bastion wasn't sure he agreed with Zephyr's assessment, but he logged away the idea regardless.

Samael was the third to decline, seemingly on the absurd advice of his oni, and Sister Charlotte appeared close to tears by this point. What was the matter with this group?

Then Nihility ate the eyeballs in her hands like candy, and Bastion began to seriously reconsider his career prospects.

Surprisingly, Nihility accepted the talisman, though, as did Scarlet and Amira. Sister Charlotte brightened at this, though Cleo's acceptance brought a shot of color to her cheeks.

"Oh, that's..." she murmured.

"You don't have to say anything," Bastion cut across, shooting Cleo a scathing glare as he took his own talisman. "Let's get going then."

Bastion headed to the door, and Sister Charlotte followed, holding onto Cleo's arm with a delicate grip, as though afraid to get too close. When they reached the outside, the two groups split apart.

"Take care, and stay in touch," Bastion said, nodding.

As Amira, Scarlet, and Nihility started to walk away, Bastion caught hold of Zephyr's elbow and pulled him close.

"I don't trust Nihility. Keep an eye on her," he whispered, then thinking of Zephyr's message added. "I'll do the same on my end."

The other group disappeared into the mist, and Bastion joined Sister Charlotte, Cleo, Vayu, and Samael as they headed off north toward the shrine.

"Your transformation could be very useful," Bastion told Samael. "But be careful not to overexert yourself like last time. Let's keep it in reserve for now."

They stole down the street, Bastion and Vayu taking the lead, Samael just behind, and Cleo and Sister Charlotte at the back.

"What was that all about back there?" Bastion muttered to Vayu, keeping the two in the back out of earshot.

Meanwhile, Sister Charlotte, despite the danger of the situation, maintained a steadfast expression.

"I knew you'd all come," she said to Cleo. "I received a vision from Heaven of great warriors coming to save us all. And here you are."

- Vayu -

„Help yourself,“ he said to Nihility and gestured towards Sister Charlotte when the other Vanguard asked to keep his talisman. He still stood at the door, looking into the hallway. So far it was still quiet.

Samael suddenly raised his voice after being previously drowned out. Disguise them as Naga? That sounded like an enormous feat of strength with a low return rate. He would burn through a lot of maga, wouldn’t he?

Well, they could talk about it once they knew what awaited them back on the street. Once outside, they split up in their respective groups and Vayu re-summoned his Zhen demon. It glided silently above their heads.

Taking the lead, he was joined by Bastion. Vayu shrugged at his question.

“Apparently one of my demons isn’t quite as thick-skinned as I thought,” he replied. “Catequil felt offended at the idea that I would accept the protection of some other deity above his and he was being really passive-aggressive about it,” Vayu continued in a low voice to keep the conversation from reaching Cleo and Sister Charlotte.

“It took me by surprise. Normally they keep quiet, so I’m not used to talking in my head,” Vayu admitted and grimaced uncomfortably. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to make a scene.”

OOC: @danny – feel free to join the conversation, I want Vayu to ask about your transform spell at some point, but didn’t want to add too much text in one post and jump ahead of Bastion’s response :/

Zephyr Arc

After thoroughly enjoying watching Goki and Samael's comedy skit following Vayu's one-man show, even Zephyr had his mood spoiled by the last act; Nihility's eyeball eating. He was definitely going to have his hands full...

With all the interrogation and gifting done and over with, Zephyr blatantly ignored Cleo as the group headed out and split up. To no surprise, Bastion agreed with not trusting Nihility, and assured him he'd watch his back with the nun before leaving with his half of the group.

He turned to his own rag-tag half of the group. Nihility didn't look like she could be trusted, and Amira was clearly a loose cannon. He didn't trust that strange demon of her's either... Scarlet seemed like the only 'normal' one. He sighed internally, then spoke up.

"Alright, like we were discussing before, let's pair up. Nihility can come with me to the east. Scarlet, can you and Amira handle the west?"

Putting Nihility and himself in the same group skewed the power balance a bit since it seemed she was the only one here other than him that could go toe to toe with a higher tier opponent, but he couldn't very well let a powerful potential disaster go off alone either. As for Amira's demon, it didn't seem like it planned to harm anyone directly quite yet, so he didn't have to worry about it turning on them. Yet.

"If we're in agreement, let's contact each other in 10 minute intervals while we're still split up. We'll meet back in that building there..." He pointed at a rather large building about a storey higher than the rest. "In two hours if we dont find anyone. If you find people though, let everyone know and we'll reconvene for the rescue effort. How's that sound?"

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Nihility|Shoggoth|Tyrian|Minke
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Nodding at Vayu as a thanks, Nihility held the two talismans in each hand, inspecting them for any variation between the two. She later continued to follow her team out the building and then squinted at Zephyr when he suggested that they further split up, but that didn't really matter much as she agreed to the fact that the village was huge and it would be quicker to spread out for finding survivors. After all, they had their gauntlets to stay in communication.

Nihility shrugged and let Zephyr take the lead. After failing to gain anything from biting and chewing on the top and bottom portions of the talismans, Nihility pocketed them and focussed on her surroundings. Minke kept her distance as well and stayed alert, and ready to inform them of anything that would catch her eye.

Samael

Samael crossed his arms his arms and gave an uneasy looked at Bastion and woman.  He turned to Goki with the same look who simply shrugged at him, before the demon disappeared back into Samael's gauntlet to rest.

"I suppose, but with our visibility so low and the number of enemies uncertain... it's just..."  Samael quietly responded to Bastion in frustration cutting himself off near the end of his thought.

He began spinning his finger around in midair like he was twirling some hair in it, though it was a fair distance away from his head, as his eyes seemed to be focused on the mist.  He turned to Vayu for a moment, after the vanguard mentioned talking in their head, before his eyes seemed to refocus on the world around him.

"I suppose you don't know the details.  Transform is basically a illusion spell, to make someone look different.  I used it to disguise myself as a greater oni in our last mission.  I can also alter noise around someone or an area to further the illusion."  Samael stated to Vayu and the rest of the group hoping that they might be able to come up with some ideas, as he continued to say "I was thinking about disguising your Zhen to scout ahead and which reduce the maga cost, but I haven't noticed any flying enemy demons to mimic."

"I have received a vision from heaven..."

Samael's expression immediately turned into a dark scowl, as he turned to the woman giving her swift but fierce and piercing glare, before quickly shifting and softening his gaze and looking back at the others to see if they had an idea.

Scarlet - Search and Rescue

The group of Vanguards split into their respective groups, Scarlet following Zephyr, Amira and Nihility. Zephyr took the lead in planning their approach, which she had no issues with. Splitting up would allow them to cover more ground more quickly. She nodded at Zephyr's suggestions.

"Alright, we'll head off then. Stay safe," Scarlet replied, nocking an arrow in preparation for any confrontation, and began moving west. She shared a glance with Neko, before the demon deftly scaled a nearby building to gain a better line of sight. Meanwhile, Scarlet turned to Amira.

"Neko will shadow us as we head west, she'll let us know if she sees anything."

- Cleo -

As the others shifted around them, Cleo placed his palm over Charlotte's hand, where it rested in the crook of his elbow. He'd heard enough about "heaven" during his previous mission for it to leave a bad taste in his mouth, but that didn't change the fact that this woman was a devout believer in her faith. Judging from the glare that Samael shot her when she spoke, Cleo suspected that the other man had a similar story to tell regarding "heaven". Maybe it would be best to get her off the subject.

"A vision? So, you dreamed about me then?" Cleo asked her with a wolfish grin. Obviously, she hadn't dreamed of him specifically. He'd have known if that were the case. "I'm flattered, but I would think that a woman of your standing should be more cognizant of her fantasies."

"If you'd like to tell me more about these dreams of yours," Cleo wiggled his eyebrows, "I'm willing to listen to your confession."