Standard Mission: Tainted Oasis of Rostol

Zephyr Arc - Lab

Cherry realised something was off when Zephyr suddenly threw her. No more buffs had been applied to Zephyr, and it seemed to come on slowly. She was fully convinced when she saw his sluggish movements and flinging himself out a window. It was like he was fighting himself.

Vayu caught her and asked whether something had gone wrong with Overdrive before leaping into action. Perhaps for the first time, Cherry spoke to a human besides Zephyr and their master. "....H-hold him dow-n. W-e'll find ou..t!" She stuttered as she hitched a ride on Vayu's shoulder.

They made it outside quickly, and Vayu attempted to hold Zephyr down, but the vast difference in strength between the two was clear to see. With their combined efforts, however, Vayu and Zephyr himself managed to tenporarily stop him from moving. Cherry leapt off of Vayu's shoulder without a second thought and clobbered Zaphyr right inder the jaw with a fist clad in Mercy Wind, knocking the berserk ailment off Zephyr, and Zephyr right off his feet. There was enough force in that tiny fist to leave an on-looker slack-jawed. "T-thanks for the lift!" She called back to Vayu.

Zephyr fell on his butt, much exhausted now that the extreme tension from trying to resist the alien berserk ailment was gone. Had it been someone with less experience with Berserk, things might have gone worse. "Yea." He managed to get our between breaths. "If we see that god damn demon again, make sure no one touches her blood. Seems to be some nasty corruptive force in there."

Oasis – At Scientist Lab
- Vayu -

“What a scare,” Vayu said and shook his head. Nevertheless, he extended his hand to help Zephyr up. “You good?”

“Thanks for the warning,” he added. “We definitely have to keep that in mind.”

With his hand, he gestured for them to go back inside.

“Sorry about your window,” he murmured towards Ludo. Certainly a broken window wasn’t the worst thing that happened in this laboratory today. “We’ll see about getting you fixed up,” he added, referring to the bloody gash on Ludo’s chest.

Oasis - Near/in Scientist's lab

"It's..... Fine.." Ludo weakly uttered with the sound of clear irritation and fear emanating in his voice.
He held onto his wound with him stumbling outside his lab the blood from the gash in his leg beginning to stain the pants he was wearing with a dark red color.  His expression was one out of a horror film, as he didn't seem to trust anything around him.

Though, he managed to slowly drag himself over towards the two vanguards, as he gently tapped his healthy foot on the ground like he was testing some shark infested waters and then proceeded to slowly collapse on that very location clearly exhausted.

"Please do fix me up, as I recall pixie's can heal these wounds..."  The man stated loudly, as he stared intently at Cherry.  Though, he repeatedly glanced back at Scarlet, subconsciously ushering her to hurry up as he appeared now anxious around Vayu and Zeyphr.    

Besides the bleeding scientist, Scarlet would notice as she glanced out the window a large amount of villagers began to gather around the scene, eyeing the exhausted vanguards.  Whispers filled the crowd, but none of them dared approach these vanguards.

"I'd like to come with you, I don't exactly feel safe until we get to the bottom of this issue... with that thing phasing through solid objects."  Ludo stated still in pain, as he began to grow more and more uneasy as more villagers began to be drawn to the attention.  And their eyes grew more judgmental towards the scientist with each passing second.

Scarlet

"Ah, sorry about the commotion," Scarlet addressed the gathering crowd, attempting to calm them with a small smile. "We had a bit of a problem to resolve. Nothing to worry about!" She held back the details of what had transpired, unsure of how they would react, especially given the news that they had withheld information from their group.

Quickly retreating to the others, she knelt down in front of Ludo to inspect his wound. "We need to get him to a healer... unless we have healing spells?" She wasn't certain about the capabilities of the other Vanguards or their demons... maybe she should have found out before the mission?

"Anyway, we need to work out what to do now... Do you think the town leader would know who that demon was?"

Oasis – At Scientist Lab
- Vayu -

What he hadn’t counted on, was the curiosity of the villagers and the place around Ludo’s lab began to fill up with people. And they didn’t exactly look very friendly or helpful.

Vayu glanced at Ludo when he asked to come with them. If it were up to him, he would leave the scientist right here. Even though there were clear advantages, like his knowledge, he obviously wasn’t liked very well by the villagers and that could hinder their information-gathering.

Well, they could decide together, after the situation had dispersed. Scarlet was already addressing the villagers in the hope of getting them to leave.

Vayu stepped forward to support her, approaching the gathered villagers.

“Alright. Show is over,” he said loudly and gestured back towards town. A clear sign, that he wanted the villagers to leave. “Nothing more to see here.”

Without waiting for their reaction, he returned to Scarlet and Ludo.

“The Pixie has a healing spell,” he answered Scarlet’s question, leaving it up to Cherry and Zephyr to decide if they wanted to use it.

“Also, I don’t think the town leader knows squat,” Vayu replied, his voice dismissive. “She didn’t even come down to greet us.” Clearly, he was in a sour mood. He wrung out his wet hair and tied it in a ponytail. With a sigh, he glanced at his wet clothes. After the struggle with Zephyr they weren't just wet, but also muddy. Unfortunately, not a mess he could clean up right away.

“I say we stick to our original plan. I wanna talk to some dock workers and then I want to talk to the Seer and inspect that damn island. We need to see things for ourselves. Talking to people can only get us so far and I’m tired of finding things out after the fact.”

Zephyr Arc - Lab

Zephyr sat outside for a while as the others went inside in order to collect himself, Cherry hovering over him in worry chattering all the while. After taking a moment to shake off the fuzzy feeling from the hostile control attempt, he patted her head and calmed her down.

"I'm fine now. Let's go see what's going on inside." He told her as the villagers started gathering.

Strolling inside to find Ludo practically frothing at the mouth demanding escort and healing, he let the other two deal with the crowd and the scientist before walking over. "Alright, sure." He told the other man as he put two fingers on his forehead. "Just don't resist the spell and you'll be fine." He smiled the most gentle smile as he cast Shift. Shouldn't be too hard to find a nice quiet bottle to stow him in, since he wanted an escort so bad...

Oasis – At Scientist Lab
- Vayu -

“Whoa, whoa,” Vayu quickly moved over to Zephyr. He grabbed his wrist and pulled Zephyr’s hand away, disrupting the spell.

“Hey, we don’t just shrink people,” he said sternly. “Especially not when they’re wounded.” Vayu exhaled and shook his head. “Just…just have Cherry heal him. We’ll figure out what to do with him when we get back to the guest house.” His voice sounded resigned.

Oasis - Near Ludo's Lab

"Seems like your problem is still there!"  A random villager in the crowd yelled out in response to Scarlet, as a finger rose out at the crowd and pointed towards Ludo.  The rest of the villagers seeming to resonate in agreement with mocking nods.

Ludo seemed to twitch a bit out of some kind of reaction, as his eyes shifted towards Zeyphr with a thankful smile appearing on his face at the mention of 'you'll be fine'.  He shifted his gaze towards Vayu for a second and gave a nod of approval when telling them to disperse before his eyes shifted to horror when he felt the shift spell hit him.

Ludo quickly shrunk partway as he began to shrink to the size of an ant before phasing back up to the size of a normal person when Vayu intervened, as he covered his mouth about to throw up with a loud heaving.  His lungs looked like they were about to cave in from the the pressure spontaneously changing sizes put on him.

"Aren't you vanguards?!  I'm from Chaldea as well... higher ranked than you! Yet you've been treating me horribly since I was attacked, not to mention you're all so dysfunctional!" The man stated in a pained yelled, as he let out a gasp putting pressure back onto his wound, as he turned to Vayu with a pained grimace.

"Forget it!  I don't want you help... I'm NOT a burden, and I'll be sure to tell your superior about the pixie vanguard's treatment"  Ludo yelled out, specifically at Zeyphr, as he held his finger up to his wound as him muttered under his breath, "Epiphany Spark"

flames emitted from his hand as it began cauterizing the wound, Ludo visibly in an extreme amount of pain as the flame  quickly stopped the bleeding.  After what seemed like a few seconds of recovering on the ground, he slowly stood up and began hobbling in the direction of the lake.

Zephyr Arc - Lab

Zephyr was about to explain that he would be having the guy healed and it would solve their villager problem at the same time... but then shrugged as Ludo had a fit and ran off after burning the wound closed, seeing as the problem solved itself.

Cherry smacked her forehead, then flew over to Vayu and explained since Zephyr clearly wasn't going to. She'd already talked to him once so she managed to do so again with some difficulty, still stuttering throughout. She also looked like she'd probably like to clobber Zephyr a couple more times... weren't pixies supposed to be against violence?

Scarlet

"What was that!?" Scarlet hissed at Zephyr as Ludo ranted. As the wounded scientist hobbled away, Scarlet ran after him.

"Hey! It's not safe," she muttered to him, keeping her voice down to avoid the villagers hearing too much. "I'm really sorry about that, but you're still hurt. It would be best if you got healed by our Pixie," she said, levelling a glance at Zephyr. "If you're going to the lake, we should go as a group. Whatever grievances you have with us, I don't think it's safe for you... or any of us to be alone right now. I don't think the villagers want you here, they might do something to you if you're alone..."

Oasis – Near Scientist Lab
- Vayu -

Vayu simply raised an eyebrow when Ludo flipped out. He watched as the scientist cauterized his wound and then began limping towards the city and the lake.

The Pixie flew towards him and began to explain, nervousness and stuttering coloring her voice.

Vayu gently caught Cherry in the air and sat her down on his forearm so wouldn’t keep fluttering about. It was hard enough to understand her between all the stuttering.

“First. Deep breath,” he said with a smile “Second. I don’t bite. We’re all on a team here. So maybe you could still tend to Ludo’s wound, so he doesn’t die of sepsis?” he suggested.

“Let's follow them. We don’t want the angry villagers to attack him.” And with those words he followed Ludo and Scarlet away from his lab. If anyone had a chance of appeasing that scientist, it was Scarlet.

Oasis - On the way to the lake

Ludo quickly released prideful huff like some high end bureaucrat when Scarlet hastily explained the 'strange' actions of his companions. He waited a moment looking down at his condition when he shifted his prideful fierce eyes towards the woman him eyeing her up and down for a few moments, as his legs trembled from the cauterized wound.

"They won't do anything, they're all afraid because it might upset the 'lake spirit'. I'm more afraid of that demonic elf.... my house doesn't even have a basement, yet she phased through the floor." Ludo retorted with a condensing roll of his eyes not so much directed at Scarlet but more towards the villagers around them. However, Ludo's eyes widened with surprise, as painfully collapsed to the ground, his will that kept him moving seemingly cracking under weight of Scarlet's considerate demeanor.

"I swear if that vanguard fellow tries to pull another trick though...." Ludo muttered with a spiteful tone, as he was interrupted by the sound of the town clock ringing out again, its hour hand now set to 6:00 PM with the scientists head slowly raising to look at the old refurbished relic from the old days that somehow had been preserved all this time.

"Let's go" A mother uttered in a hushed tone to their daughter, as they pushed them firmly back into their house as the door slammed and locked behind them. A few other villagers seemed to follow suite, but the more hardened and stern residents still seemed to be walking about, if a bit nervous.

"I see you've stirred up a bit more trouble then you can handle, Ludo." A guard called out, as he approached the group a letter in his hands, "The mayor wanted a progress update, and invited you for a 7:00 dinner. We can handle Ludo's wounds if you'll come with us."

"We don't have enough time for that. We don't have enough time for anything, those elves are acting up and we need to go to the lake now, no stops! I need to get there before Hector turns in for the night!" Ludo yelled back at the guard, who's face shifted into a grim scowl as his hand seemed to itch towards his holstered weapon.

Spoiler:

Scarlet

Scarlet glanced around as the clock tower chimed and the villagers dispersed. Was there a curfew in place?

The group was approached by a guard, informing them of a meeting with the mayor. It would probably be best to actually meet with them, seeing as they hadn't yet met their client. However...

Scarlet's gaze landed on Ludo as the scientist shouted back at the guard. It seemed like he wasn't going to wait. And with his injury and the potential danger he would be in, it wouldn't be a good idea for him to go alone...

"Meeting the mayor would be good, but I don't want to let Ludo go by himself, considering what just happened..." Scarlet said in a quiet voice to the other Vanguards. "I think we should stick with him for now. There's no telling what might happen at the lake."

Turning towards Cherry, she addressed the Demon directly. "Could you heal Ludo's wounds? In his current state, he's not going to last long if trouble comes," she said in a gentle voice in order to not startle the small Demon.

[B - Go to the lake with Ludo]

B - Go to the lake with Ludo

Oasis – On the way to the lake
- Vayu -

Vayu watched as the demeanor of the villagers shifted when the clock suddenly rang 6 pm. They seemed spooked and it didn’t have anything to do with Ludo.

His eyes wandered back to the scientist who kept talking about demonic elves, the lake spirit and someone called Hector. Vayu’s expression darkened and his jaw tightened. His patience with Ludo’s information management was wearing thin.

Take a breath.

Vayu froze when he heard Catequil’s voice in his head. “What do you want?” he muttered under his breath.

What were you gonna do? Attack the scientist in front of everybody because he kept information from you? Catequil sounded amused.

Vayu ground his teeth. No, of course not. Even though it had been a thought for a fleeting moment, he knew it was a ridiculous idea. “I’ll be fine. Now get out of my head.”

Catequil laughed. Maybe if you hadn't been so damn angry, I wouldn't have bothered. And with that, his presence faded.

Only a few moments had passed, but when his mind focused back in the present, guards had appeared to invite them to a meeting with the mayor.

Determined Vayu stepped forward.

“I agree with Scarlet. Tell the mayor, we’ll meet her when we actually have some progress to report,” he said coldly, ignoring the threatening stance of the guard. “If she can’t come and greet us upon our arrival, she has no right to summon us. If she wants a progress update…. she knows where we’re staying.”

He glared at Ludo and sighed.

“Alright. Let’s go to the lake.” He hoisted the man up by his belt and pulled Ludo’s arm around his shoulders to support his weight.

“Cherry, get over here,” he called back. “I’m not carrying him all the way.”

Zephyr Arc - Lab

Zephyr watched as the drama unfolded, having a slight craving for certain corn snacks at the moment. Cherry, on the other hand, finished explaining to Vayu and had already moved back to Zephyr's shoulder, having calmed down by now.

It seemed his cohorts had decided to accompany Ludo as Vayu slung the man over his shoulder and demanded healing. At this point Zephyr got off the spectator seats and walked over. "You can't, but I can." He replied as he grabbed Ludo from Vayu without much trouble. He was much stronger so it didn't take much to carry a man. "It's easier on both us and him, so don't be too mad about the manhandling, Scarlet." He called to his other teammate, being a little bit more tactful as he didn't want another earful from his babysitter.

"You can heal him on the way, Cherry." He told his Pixie, who began to hover over Ludo as he was manhandled. "Best you stay still, professor. Opening your wounds again just makes for more work. I'll let you down when you're healed and settle down those raging emotions."

He signaled to Vayu that he could also grill the man for more info on his ramblings on the way as he began to walk.

[B - Go with Ludo]

On the way to the lake

The guard's face began to scrunch up in annoyance, his eyes narrowing, as he stared at the group of vanguards and Ludo.  His hand began to slowly move any from his sword, as he let out a nervous twitch before beginning to shift his armor nervously.

"Very well, just with the chaos that happened the mayor was worried...."  The man stated, his voice raising a bit in confidence the longer he talked with his gaze shifting towards Vayu, "That's because the mayor expected you to do your job, but it's obvious you're starting to lose control, so I recommend you keep that in mind when you go to the lake."

The guard then watched the group walk off, as he started at their backs for what appeared to be an unsettling amount of time.  A stern stare that someone would give an enemy who they couldn't do anything about until his gaze was cut off from a building they crossed.

Ludo appeared very unsettled when Zeyphr took over, as he began to move his arms to break free before stopping when he felt the healing magic on his painful wound.  His body still seemed extremely tense, but he wasn't making any more movements.

"Well that was freaky...." Ludo breathed in a bit of panic, as his head shifted back towards the guard like he half expected the guard was about to sprint at them like out of some horror movie.

"Thankfully, Hector is different, he's more of that gruff and tough fisherman that doesn't judge people... only villager I trust to take us through the lake." Ludo muttered to the group.

Oasis – On the way to the lake
- Vayu -

Vayu allowed Zephyr to take Ludo from him and watched when Cherry began to work her healing magic. One less problem.

As they walked away, he could feel the cold stare of the guards in his back. The guard’s reply made it clear, that he wasn’t happy about their refusal to meet with the mayor. That could have unexpected consequences.

He took a deep breath.

“So, Ludo…” Vayu began, trying to keep the annoyed and accusing undertone out of his voice, “Why don’t you tell us what’s going on? With every word you say, I get the feeling you know more than you tell us.”

“What do you know about the lake spirit? And what role do the elves play? Also… who is Hector?” He looked serious and despite his calm voice, it was clear, that he wouldn’t take any half-hearted answers.

“Believe it or not, we’re really here to help, so if you want us to go out on to the lake in the middle of the god damn night, you better have a very good reason for it!”

He'd seen how the villagers began to act the closer the night seemed to come. He could see it on their faces. They were scared. Scared of something and he was pretty sure it had something to do with the lake. Vayu's eyes drifted towards the lake and island, wondering how it all tied togehter. And just what role did the Seer play in this?

Zephyr Arc - Road

Zephyr glared right back at the guard. "That's not how you ask for help." He said to the man in a meaningful tone before trotting off with the others. If they ended up having to bash his head in later, he'd relish the chance. Cherry quickly finished the healing and sat down on his head as they walked. Zephyr himself mostly kept quiet and let Vayu handle the interrogation, since Ludo didn't seem like he'd respond very well to him. He could always play bad cop if needed... or worse cop in this case, he supposed.

Scarlet

Scarlet sighed in relief as Cherry healed Ludo's wounds. That's one less thing to worry about.

She frowned slightly at the guard's remarks. He seemed to have a preconception about their ability to handle the town's issues. Was it because of their youth? To be fair to the guard, it wasn't out of place for smaller settlements to show distrust to strangers - Scarlet had seen that on occasion back home. Regardless, it seemed the folks here were more stand-offish than what could be considered normal...

As she followed the others towards the lake, she thought about the villagers. Evidently, there was some information that the Vanguards were missing. The weird business with their Demons entering the town, hostility from the villagers, and the events at Ludo's lab were evidence of that. But until they could find someone who could tell them exactly what was going on, they would struggle to piece together the full picture.

"Please, we want to help, but no-one has given us a clear picture of what's going on here," Scarlet added after Vayu had said his piece.

On the way to the lake

Ludo's face warped into a grimace, his body growing more tense, his expression looking like an annoyed employee who didn't want to do his job.  He paused for a few moments staring at the ground and let out a heavy deep sigh before slowly turning his head towards Scarlet.

"I spent my life studying elementals, the island I grew up on was full of them.  Their cores are the building block of the world! They aren't something that can be twisted that easily!!" Ludo stated sounding like a mixture of disturbed and furious, as he shifted his gaze towards Vayu now his eyes more actively avoiding contact with the vanguard, "It's like spitting in the face of god, saying you could do a better job."

The man examined the vanguard's expressions for a few moments, as he examined them.  His face becoming more scrunched up for a few moments.  The group appeared to see the lake growing closer in the distance.  As there appeared to be a large number of boats on the lake for this hour with the fisherman seemingly extra alert like they were looking for something very critical.

"I have a theory, the barrier is what keeps those massive desert demons out and protects the oasis" Ludo stated, his eyes glancing between the vanguards, "In other words if the barrier falls, then the elementals die out...."

Ludo waited for a few moments looking at the vanguards in what normally would be an ominous silence instead drowned out by the furious yells of the fisherman in the distance. they seemed to be growing more and more angry about something, and Ludo grew more and more nervous by the second.

"And remember how I said they grew hostile when I got too deep in the lake?  It makes me think the source of the barrier is down there... and if something is in town now strong enough to corrupt them what do you think that means for the barrier?"

Oasis – At the docks
- Vayu -

Vayu sighed exasperated when he heard Ludo’s words.

“Fine,” he snapped. “Don’t answer me. Keep your secrets and your knowledge. I don’t care anymore.”

Despite his frustration, he didn’t raise his voice.

“Just know, the next time we get attacked or into trouble because you kept something important from us, you can save your own high ranked ass with your own higher-than-us ranked abilities.”

He could see Scarlet was likely to protest.

“No, forget it,” he said before anyone could interject. “Our job is to save this entire town, not just one person.”

His eyes blitzed at Ludo. “I’m beginning to see why the townspeople hate you so much.”

Vayu quickened his steps and walked ahead of the others and towards the noise from the docks, leaving it to them to appease Ludo.

He stopped at the pier and looked out towards the boats on the lake. The sun was already making its way towards the horizon, finally casting some shade between the buildings behind him. A light breeze had arrived. The waves of the lake softly hit the wood of the landing stage, creating ripples of reflected sunlight over the water. Despite the urgent situation, the beauty of the landscape wasn't lost on him.

“What are they doing out there?” he murmured.

Zephyr Arc - Docks

Zephyr listened quietly as Ludo spilled his guts, followed by Vayu losing his temper and rushing off before them. "You know, if you're out of ideas, you can avoid a lot of conflict by just swallowing your pride and saying so." He told Ludo as he set him down now that he was healed. It was obvious enough that the other man was just grasping at straws by the end of his explanations. He then followed Vayu into the docks. "Now which fisherman are we here to see?"

At the docks

Ludo's face turned a light red, as he seemed to tremble a bit after the two vanguards chastised him.  He slowly stabilized himself back onto his feet, turning to both of the vanguards and opening his mouth before a booming voice called out in the background interrupting them.

"Of course you're here Ludo, you could always sniff out trouble at the lake...." A fisherman called out from the background, the same fisherman that they had saw nod to the group when they first arrived.  Now that they vanguards could get a closer look he was a towering giant of a man and massively built that would cause any lesser demon to fear for their life just by looking at him.

He wasn't carrying his harpoon though, it was set to the side back near the cabin.  His arms were instead down at his side as his gaze seemed to be a mixture between annoyance and confusion, but there was no animosity in his eyes towards Ludo.  He gave off the impression he was dealing with some child who broke curfew.

"Oh Hector, perfect timing, can you take us out to the lake?  We have important business there!"  Ludo quickly chimed in with one of his finger raised and pointing out over the horizon turning away from the conversation with Vayu and Zeyphr so fast that Hector rose an eyebrow of confusion in response.  He glanced between the two vanguards rather confused before turning back to Ludo with an annoyed expression on his face.

"I was planning on going anyways, to the island specifically, apparently Colm isn't in his room anymore.... Reina has been bawling her eyes out." Hector stated rather concerned, as he scratched his head turning towards the two vanguards "Then apparently one of my men told me they saw him swimming through the ****** lake after 6 so here we are!"

Hector then slowly gestured to a multi-floor cabin over by the side of the docks that fishermen were walking in and out of grabbing various supplies from it.

"You'll stay there, I'm not taking you. the vanguards are fine since I know they can defend themselves and they'd be a huge help with the search effort... but you should know going on the lake at night is extremely dangerous." Hector firmly stated, as he turned back to the vanguards again "It's because thieves sometimes take advantage of the reduced visibility to try and get to the island, and you might accidentally slam into an elemental if you're not careful.... those bastards can scare away fish for days if they get mad."

Zephyr Arc

Ludo had his umpteenth fit once they got to the docks, demanding he be taken along. The fisherman, Hector, however, quickly shot him down. It seemed like he was used to dealing with the Ludo's shenanigans. "Huh, I like this guy." He commented off-hand as he walked up to him.

"I'm Zephyr Arc, the mayor called us here as you've no doubt heard. No one's really given us any idea what's happening here, could you fill us in on what you know while we make our way to the lake?" He looked back to his cohorts for approval, but otherwise held eye-contact with Hector, ignoring Ludo.

Scarlet

Scarlet shot Ludo an apologetic look but did nothing else as her companions chastised him.

Reaching the docks, they were introduced to Hector, who told them about the missing person. He suggested Ludo remain on the shore while he took the Vanguards across. She could see the logic behind that - there was something going on with the elementals and they may lash out at them, putting anyone with them in danger. On the other hand, Ludo was probably the best informed about the elementals out of the group.

"We were heading towards the lake because of something that happened earlier... Ludo would be a big help in getting to the bottom of that. I know you don't want to, but could you take him too?" she explained to Hector after he said his piece. Continuing, she enquired about Colm.

"What does Colm look like? Does he do this sort of thing often? We could help search for him too..." she said before trailing off, realising that her companions might disagree with the change of plans. She turned towards them with a questioning look on her face. "I don't like the idea of a civilian being missing right now..."