[Celestial Arm Quest II] Return to the Sages [Closed/Party]

[Deleted]

	The battle with Brachyura exhausted Sayha. Despite the odds of her actually winning, she was able to defeat the crab man with just under half health. What puzzled her though, was the fact that she had been brought to level 90 during that fight. Now that she was just lying there, she watched as her status screen go back to her proper level. It had to have been the <Pebble of Philosophy>. Though, she had a sinking feeling, thinking back. What were the visions she had seen? Where did they come from? She sighed. There was time to figure that out later. However, now was not the time to stop and celebrate or rest. She was still in the middle of the Isle of Thune, and she had said to the other adventurers that she would help them. Remembering that she used the, net she cautiously made her way back to the center of Ultima Thune where the net had been left behind. After grabbing it, she made her way back to where she docked the small row boat along the shore. She set the net at the bottom of the boat and made her way back to where the main boat was. She tied off the boat to the ropes that were still there dangling, but she didn’t ask to be pulled back up. Using <Call to Home>, she made her way back to Londinium. When she arrived, there weren’t that many people in the entrance so she was able to make her way through the city to the square where the Messier Sages were camped. When she arrived in the square, she saw someone she hadn’t expected. It was Hiro, another adventurer she had partied with before. “Hey, Hiro!” she called, walking over to him, “Are you here to help out the Sages as well?” Out of the corner of her eye, though, she saw the Sage she had previously talked to come out of the main tent and look at her expectantly.
Coding by Sayha of ET	Word Count: 335 | Total Count: 335 | Hirosame

[Hirosame]

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Now that Hiro had recovered the Pebble of Philosophy, like that Sage had asked of him, he had begun to make his way back to the alleyway where he first saw the androgynous being. When Hiro had returned to the city, along with Gauze, they had parted on their own ways, while Hiro went to return the Pebble to the Sage, which Gauze didn't seem to know much of anything about. That being said, though, he made sure that he wasn't followed. It would look weird, if someone saw this level 90 Monk walk into an alleyway, most of all someone he knew. Upon entering the alley where he and a few others had found the being, he looked around to see that they weren't there. Confused, Hiro began to look around, but not long before he felt a strange presence just behind him. He bolted around quickly, to see one of the Sages reaching their hand out toward him. The muttered something that he couldn't hear at all, but he somehow understood. The figure and hand had disappeared from there, and he saw neither hide nor hair of the Sage whom he had first run into there.

He decided to go along with the knowledge that he had somehow been given, and head into one of the nearby squares. On his way there, he kept looking down in these alleyways, wondering if he would see the Sage whom he had first run into. The genderless one had begun to act a bit strange, when he had brought with him the artifact, fully restored by this point. He didn't know what was wrong with the Sage, but all he knew was that their demeanor and speech patterns had been skewed slightly, to something that he didn't necessarily remember there being. Hiro brought his hand to his chin, thinking more deeply on the subject. Since the Sage had had such a dramatic turn in attitude, he wondered what exactly had caused such a thing to happen. Then, he began to think about everything. These Messier Sages seemed to be the talk of the town, yet he had never heard of them before. The more he thought about this, the more suspicious he became. While he wanted to be fully skeptical about it all, he still didn't have enough information to do so. For now, he would need to remain rather vigilant in observing these people. He knew not their intentions, which bothered him even more so.

Hiro squinted a bit, thinking more on the subject, when suddenly he had heard a voice call out his name. Turning to face the source, he saw none other than Sayha, the Assassin whom he had just recently met. A nice person, someone whom he actually quite enjoyed talking to and hanging around with, and quite frankly, a much needed distraction. It was at this point that he had realized that he had stumbled upon a rather underpopulated portion of the square. Not many people were even there in the city, as most were probably still floundering around in the Thames Coastline, looking for the piece of the artifact that Hiro had already brought back. He greeted Sayha with a smile, though, and a slight wave. While his mind was so fervently questioning the methods of the Order of Messier Sages, he didn't even realize where he was going. What he thought to be a Sage, telling him where to go from the alleyway, must have been trying to get him to go over here in this square. Though, meeting up with Sayha was quite a pleasant surprise, until she continued to speak to him.

Internally, his mood dropped immediately. She was also looking for the Sages? This could only mean the web goes deeper than he had imagined. He retained the smile on his face, though, as he responded. "Hey, Sayha. Yeah, I'm here for the Sages." Hiro spoke as calmly as he could. He turned a bit to look at the place where it seemed a bunch of the Sages were gathering, waiting for someone to bring them the Pebble of Philosophy. "I'm assuming you went on the adventure they asked of you to, as well?" Hiro questioned, looking to the female once more. This meant that she also knew of Brachyura, the Pebble of Philosophy, and the completed tablet. She may be one of the only people whom he could divulge his trust into, given that she is just as unaware of the Order's plot. That, or she is fully aware, but she's still going along with whatever they wanted anyways. He mentally shook his head, trying to remove the thought from his mind. Sayha was a good person, and he could tell she knew the difference between right and wrong. He wouldn't try and doubt her, especially since he didn't know her full story. He waited for Sayha's response, before he would even move anywhere toward the Sages for now, though they would likely have known that the two were nearing.

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∝: 840
♫: Eclipse
✏: I have my suspicions...
@: @shadowsaiph

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[Deleted]

	Sayha liked Hiro as she found him entertaining since he was so lighthearted. Hiro greeted Sayha with a smile, but she could hear in his voice that something might be slightly off. He also asked if she had gone on the adventure they asked her to. “I’m not sure if I’d classify it as an adventure per se,” Sayha started, “but yes, I am assisting with their quest to uncover some lost civilization. If you’re asking, I’m assuming you’re helping as well and had to deal with the weird crab-man Genius thing too. Before I left, they told me that there was a guardian for Ultima Thune and it had gone berserk. I’m assuming that the guardian was the crab thing.” Sayha paused, seeing the Sage she had previously talked to before walk over to her. Behind him was another Sage, but it was not one she had previously talked to. “What were you able to find on the Isle of Thune?” the Sage asked. Sayha pulled out the <Pebble of Philosophy> and showed it to him, “I found this inside the fountain that was depicted on the tablet. I ran into the guardian I think you were talking about, Brachyura, though it didn’t seem like a Guardian to me.” At the mention of the name, the Sage seemed to stiffen, in either surprise or fear Sayha didn’t know. “Brachyura was not the guardian I mentioned before, though that might possibly be what it originally was. Brachyura is a type of monster known as the Geniuses. Geniuses are a name they chose for themselves. Many years ago, they were just simple monsters, creatures that lurked around. Brachyura, specifically, was always around the Thames Coastline. However, something in them changed. They seemed to become more alive much like you and I. It is possible that it was searching for the Pebble this entire time but was unable to retrieve it.” “That is slightly disturbing to say the least,” Sayha thought out loud, “If it is a type of monster, then it means we’re probably going to encounter more of them as time goes on. Not sure if I should be thrilled or not.”
Coding by Sayha of ET	Word Count: 362 | Total Count: 697 | Hirosame

[Hirosame]

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Just as Hiro had thought, Sayha had also been brought into this mess. His skepticism of it all was still quite high, but so long as nothing bad happened to either of them, everything would be fine, for the time being. He listened to Sayha's response to his questions, nodding every so often. "Yeah, I'm helping out, too." This was the best way he could put it. So, she was told something different than what he was asked to do. It seems whatever this Brachyura thing was, it had different ways of producing itself, whether they were aware of it or not. Though, his thoughts were cut off when he had noticed two Sages walking over to them. One in front, whom Hiro hadn't seen before, addressed Sayha. The other, slightly behind the other, was the one that was slowly turning more and more frantic with each visit. This was the one that Hiro had confronted beforehand. He squinted at the being for just a moment, before turning to Sayha and the other Sage. He was still confused about their methods, as well as their motives, though he wouldn't ask about them for the time being. When the time came, though, he would unleash every question.

Sayha pulled out the Pebble of Philosophy, much to his surprise. Wasn't there only supposed to be one? He reached into his pocket, without turning to face a different way, feeling the Pebble within the confines of his own clothing. The one that had held Hope's memories and feelings. His expression returned to normal after a few more seconds, though he became slightly more curious, once the Sages had both jumped a bit at the reference of Brachyura's name. It was then explained that the self-proclaimed Genius was just a normal monster of sorts, that had evolved in some way, shape, or form. Curious that such a thing would happen, but it didn't make much sense to him to begin with. He wanted to know more about it, as the Sage finished explaining, and Sayha had made her own remark afterwards. It was soon after that that Hiro felt the gaze of the other Sage upon him. Turning to face the slightly cowering one, Hiro was addressed.

"Have you, too, brought forth the Pebble?" The sage asked, in a lowered tone. Fishing around in his pocket for a moment, Hiro drew the Pebble. Immediately, the Sage went to grab at it, but Hiro clenched his hand around it quickly.

"Just a minute." Hiro began. "This thing contained the memories of those who had fought a monster much like Brachyura a long time in the past. Those memories were dumped into my mind, and since then, the Pebble has stopped glowing. So..." Hiro leaned in a bit toward the cowardly Sage, opening his palm up with the Pebble. "How's about you explain a bit more about the Pebble?" His tone was far more serious than normal. The Sage very quickly snatched the Pebble from his hand, inspected it, and then slowly returned it.

The cowardly Sage grunted. "So there were more..." They began, silently to themselves. "The Pebble of Philosophy is a condensed shard of anima, wherein the memories and feelings of people in a civilization long past have been stored and recorded, due to circumstances that required their knowledge." The Sage hobbled backward a bit, but continued. "During a time when their civilization was thriving, the city-states engaged in a war, that ultimately obliterated them from history. These Pebbles are the only remaining sources of their knowledge, through their memories." They continued to hobble, this time their voice sounding more raspy. "No tomes, no books, no records. Just those lousy one-time-use Pebbles that contain fragments..." They continued to mumble to themselves, as they walked back, and grabbed the tablet that Hiro had brought to him. The other sage had done the same for Sayha, and both were given the tablets. "There, on the tablet."

The Sage only pointed at a small indentation where it looked like a tiny rock of some sort would be placed. Hiro looked to Sayha for a moment, then back to the tablet. He assumed that the Pebbles were used in this place, since there was likely no other object that would fit there. He looked at the Sages, who were waiting expectantly for the two of them to do what it was that the tablets wanted. Assuming that there wasn't much of anything else to do with the tablets, Hiro held up the Pebble, and started to place it into the tablet. Perhaps this would give them some more answers? As the Pebble was put in place, it seemed to click, and then nothing. Looking up at the Sages, Hiro was about to question what exactly was supposed to happen. Just as he did this, though, he began to feel a sudden conquering feeling in his body. He suddenly felt very dizzy, and his body began to feel weak. Letting out a groan, Hiro struggled to keep himself up, eventually succumbing to whatever was happening to him. All he saw was a bright light, though he wasn't sure if he had hit the ground or anything. The last thing he thought was if Sayha was also feeling this sensation, and prayed that it would only be him. Whatever was happening, it was happening, nonetheless. And then, everything went dark...

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∝: 900
♫: Ruined Hometown
✏: Part 2 time!
@: @shadowsaiph

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	The Second Sage, the one that Hiro talked to, made Sayha feel very uneasy. He wasn’t nearly as… polite as the one that she had talked to, and he seemed to be more… eccentric? Maybe that was the word she was thinking of. What confused Sayha most of all, though, was that there was more than one Pebble. Something wasn’t right. This thought was further constructed when the Second Sage explained where the Pebbles came from. “So that explains it,” she whispered to herself, thinking about the vision that she had seen. The Second Sage then gave her a piece of the Tablet, the part that she had to have restored. She hadn’t noticed it before, but there was an indentation that the Pebble fit in. Hiro put his in, and Sayha followed suit. Immediately, Sayha’s vision clouded then suddenly brighten up. She closed her eyes, trying to not blind herself. When she opened them, though, she was no longer at the Sage’s camp. She was laying on the cold floor of some sort of room. She forced herself to sit upright, which made her initially dizzy. Once the dizziness faded, she stood up. Hiro had been next to her at the start, and he was still next to her, though she wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. However, he didn’t look… solid. It was like he was a ghost. When Sayha looked at herself, she looked the same way. “What the hell is going on?” she asked herself, looking around. The room they were in looked like it would be classified as a war room as there was a large table with some sort of map laid out on it. Around the room were people who were dressed in some sort of military outfit. They were talking among themselves, but Sayha couldn’t quite make out what they were saying. Sayha took a deep breath, trying to steady her thoughts. She knelt down next to Hiro and tried to wake him up from his trance.
Coding by Sayha of ET	Word Count: 337 | Total Count: 1034 [337] | Hirosame

[Hirosame]

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Hiro felt... Ethereal. As though he weren't of the human plane any longer. He found himself on his back in a room. It felt cold. Nothing felt right in here. Looking over to his side, he say Sayha there next to him, obviously just as confused as he was, but she tried to wake him up. Sitting up a little bit, Hiro began to shake his head slowly, trying to make sense of everything that was going on. "Thanks." He said to the Assassin. One more look at Sayha revealed to him that she was something like a ghost. Looking down at himself, he understood why he felt ethereal now. They were translucent, in that they could be partially seen through. He wasn't about to question anything, since this could very well just be an illusion caused by that sudden flash from earlier, with the tablets. He slowly began to stand up, looking around the room. It looked to be some kind of a conference room. An old one, at that. Old, old. Stone walls, carved out into certain patterns and such. He continued to look around, until he saw Sayha again. "You alright?" He asked. Obviously not, since they were only half visible by this point, but it was still a kind gesture to ask.

He began to hear a few voices nearby, and his vision was directed to the center of the room. It looked to be something like a war meeting, or some kind of a conference. People in different colored outfits, and- Hiro's heart sank. His eyes widened, as he noticed a familiar spear, leaning up against a wall. He began to look around frantically, until his eyes laid upon a female near the center of the room, looming over the table. "Hope..." The Monk said silently at first, almost inaudible thanks to the arguing over the table. "Hope!" Hiro said again, this time louder. He was trying to get her attention. He started to walk over to the girl, a very confused, but happy expression on his face. Just as he was about to reach her, a man started to walk in front of him. "Hey!" Hiro shouted, but to no avail. The man didn't move. Strangely enough, though, the man seemed to walk right through Hiro. Shocked and surprised, Hiro turned around to Sayha, as if to share his surprise even more so. Instead, he just sighed, and turned back around to face the raven-haired woman, arguing over the table with other military-looking individuals. He couldn't understand what they were all saying, but that wasn't the point.

Hiro inhaled a bit, taking in a deep breath. This must have something to do with the tablet and Pebbles, which caused them to come back in time, so to speak, in order to see a pivotal point in the history of these people. It was at this moment that he had noticed the map on the table, which had a striking resemblance to the map of the Unfounded Kingdom, as outlined in the patch notes back when they could still control their physical bodies. Hiro raised his hand, motioning for Sayha to come over. "Sayha, over here!" Hiro called out, hoping she'd come right over. Waiting a few more seconds, he looked all over the map. He pointed to the map. "This is the current server... Our current world." He began, unable to find any other words for the time being. His eyes moved up to the north half of the map. "Lonsdale...?" He questioned. Looking over at the Assassin near him, he gave her a confused expression. "I've never heard of a place like that. Have you?" Hiro wasn't sure if Lonsdale was a place at all, but there it was, written on a piece of the map just north of where the Avon Valley would be. Maybe she knew something? His eyes drifted over to Hope for just a moment, as a pained expression filled her face. He immediately looked away, to avoid feeling the same pain she felt. This must have been a memory of hers... A very important one, that it's shared among all of the ancient civilization's memories.

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∝: 697
♫: Factory
✏: You can have the circles. o7
@: @shadowsaiph

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	Sayha was relieved when Hiro woke up. At least now she wasn’t stuck in this bizarre dream thing alone. As Hiro stood, she stood as well. When Hiro asked if she was alright, Sayha shrugged, “I’m about as alright as you can be, I think.” As Hiro absorbed the surroundings, he slightly disturbed her. He called out “Hope.” It took her a while to figure out he was referring to a girl that was in the center of the room. She had a very solemn look on her face, and she didn’t seem to hear Hiro’s calls at all. Then, some guy walked through Hiro. This shouldn’t have surprised Sayha given their state, but it did. When Hiro made it to the table where the map was, he called her over, and she followed suit, trying to not ghost through anyone. She studied the map with him. Just as he said, it was a map of the world that they were currently stuck in. However, something didn’t seem quite right about the map. She had studied the map before. As a scribe, she should have had a copy of it, but she didn’t at that moment in time since she had focused more on leveling on her main class and Tracking. However, she did see that some of the landmarks on the map were different like they were fully there instead of ruins. Then, there was a city labeled Lonsdale which was north of the Avon Valley. When Hiro asked her if she knew the city, she shook her head, “I don’t recognize it from any maps.” Also, that was when she noticed a place on the map circled, but she didn’t know where that was. “Hiro, do you know where the place circled is?” she asked. Just then, she began to understand the voices of the people around her. “We’ve been betrayed!” one of them exclaimed, “You can’t expect everything to go according to plan now!” “We must remain calm,” another one said, “We can still win this; I know we can.” “How can we after the last attack?” a third one pipped in, “They had the power to attack the Fairy Gate. Do we have any hope of winning if they can get that far?”
Coding by Sayha of ET	Word Count: 377 | Total Count: 1411 [714] | Hirosame

[Hirosame]

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Hope grunted a bit, looking around at the rest of the war ministers. "You're all acting like a bunch of frantic girls." She spoke, her voice strong and commanding. Hope walked over and circled an area on the map, an area that was in question for a little while now. Stepping back, she addressed the group. "Having one gate attacked isn't the end of the world. It just means that we need to bolster defenses in that area, and be ready to launch a counterattack whenever possible. So I recommend that you all pick up your skirts and get moving." Hope turned to one of the guards. "Send a report to my father in the capital. He and the rest of our people need to be informed." The guards saluted to her, and ran off. She turned back to the men around her. "This is not our way. We do not shrink from a fight, just because of a separation in power. What we need now is a strategy, in order to win." Just as she had finished saying this, the sounds of battle began to ring outside, causing her to turn her head quickly. A soldier ran inside, frantically trying to speak.

"The enemy is attacking!" He shouted.

"What!?" Hope responded, as did all the other generals in the room. The group of them started to flock toward the door, while Hope ran over to the spear that she had over at the wall. Letting out a grunt, she started to bark orders to the other men. "Form up, and don't let them through! Every last one of you will either fight... die... Kingdom!!!" Her voice started to fade into the distance.

---

Hiro looked at the map again, where Hope had circled the map prior. Sayha had asked him about it, though he wasn't entirely sure of what it was, either. At that moment, though, an old story that he had heard from sometime last year, pertaining to a certain type of mansion, came to mind. "I think I do..." He said, his voice trailing off. "But why is this place important?" Just as he said this, he felt a sinking feeling all around him, and the same dizziness that he had felt beforehand seemed to force itself back. Without realizing it, he fainted back into reality.

Hiro looked around himself once again, realizing that the tablet was in his hand once more. He looked to his side, seeing Sayha right there, and both of them seemed to be in physical forms, and not half-ghost forms. Facing ahead of himself, he saw the two Sages standing there, wondering what exactly was going on. The Sage that he had spoken to before looked at him with a less concerned face, but more intrigued. "Care to explain what happened?" They asked. "You seemed to be awfully dizzy for a moment." Hiro squinted a bit, as his vision recovered, and opted out of telling them what had happened.

"It's nothing. Must have been some leftover anima in the Pebble after all." He looked over to Sayha. "If anything, it might have reacted as such to there having been 2 Pebbles of Philosophy." Hiro did not trust these Sages, and he hoped that the Assassin next to him picked up on that thought. Turning back to the Sage, Hiro continued. "There's a place in the memories of those who had perished, and I need to investigate it." Trying to make it look convincing, Hiro turned to Sayha. "I'd like to ask if you'd come with me, Sayha. Maybe it has something to do with there being more Pebbles." Hiro knew that he likely didn't even need to ask the female, but wanted to make it seem as convincing as possible. The Sages eyes them both, the cowardly one growing slightly suspicious, but they still spoke.

"Fine, do as you will." The Sages reached out for the tablets, taking the Pebbles out. "Do keep this with you. Keep it for..." The Sage stopped for a second, thinking. "Safe keeping."

Hiro looked up at the Sage again, a neutral look on his face. "I was planning on it." He said, as he quickly turned around. "Let's get a move on, Sayha." He assumed that she was going to be right behind him as he turned to leave, still looking over his shoulder at the Sages. The cowardly Sage stared at him, and he felt the daggers that they glared. "We've got a long walk ahead of us." Turning to face ahead, he continued on in silence for a little while, until they were far out of sight from the Sages. "I don't think I need to explain," Hiro began, talking to Sayha. "But I don't trust those guys." The Level 90 Monk squinted in suspicion. "Something about all this doesn't sit right with me. Those guys don't strike me as innocent quest givers. Something's going on around here, and where we're heading might provide a few answers." Clenching the Pebble of Philosophy in his hand for a moment, before placing it back in his pocket, he marched forward. "We're going to the Purple Mirror Mansion, an instance of sorts that appeared sometime last Halloween, which is near where the circle was put on that map. I'd only ever heard of it before now, but we may be able to find something there." He turned to her, dropping the suspecting look he had on his face, in order to give her a warm smile. "I'm kinda glad you're along. Thank you." He concluded with a brighter smile, before turning ahead again. On to their next destination, the Purple Mirror Mansion.

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∝: 944
♫: The Mission
✏: Half Hope, half Hiro.
@: @shadowsaiph

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