[Celestia Arms 2 | Solo] Demanding Answers - Part 1

[Saber]

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[attr="class","nameBox"]Saber
Level 90 -- Assassin

[attr="class","statBox"]Words: [756]

Tags: [Solo]

Skills Used: [Domesticize]

Notes: [Returning to Londinium]

[attr="class","titleBox"]This broken glass is all I've got left!

[attr="class","textBox"] The wind whipped at Saber’s face and his clothes, forcing him to squint as he held onto the tough fur of his new companion to keep himself from being flung off as the creature carried him. His armor and weapons clattered loudly against his body, and he could hear a similar sound coming from the woman strapped to his back as she clung to him. Both of them held on tight to the oversized Squirrel/Chipmunk thing they were riding on, their bodies tilted aerodynamically forward as the animal raced through the forest with extreme speed. It breathed heavily, its mouth taking in fresh heaps of air at a regular and finely tuned pace. The speed they were moving at rivaled that of a well-bred horse and the massive Squirrel kicked up a thin dust cloud behind it as it moved.

“Almost there, Elfboi!” The squirrel beckoned and Saber rumbled in his throat. The least it could do was call him by his name by now, but no that was too difficult wasn’t it? Well, that didn’t matter. The squirrel could call him any name it wanted as Saber appreciated its help so far. Back at the Island of Thule the squirrel had called upon a friendly whale to carry Saber and Lotus back to the mainland, in exchange for him being able to come along. Saber agreed under the condition that he made himself useful, to which the Squirrel answered with a grin. After seeing that the squirrel could transform into a far more massive and fearsome shape, Saber would take full advantage of the creature. It wasn’t amazingly strong but its abilities easily outmatched other monsters of its level; fire breath, extreme speed, rapid regeneration, an extremely high attack speed stat, and a set of perception and tracking skills. In its transformed stat, the squirrel gained additional strength, speed, its senses became a lot more sensitive, and it could light its own body on fire for elementally based physical attacks. And to think, Saber had first thought the animal to be a puny little thing. Oh how wrong he was.

“Remember the directions?!” Saber called out towards his fiery steed as the squirrel darted out of the tree line and onto the main road. Upon bursting forth, several Adventurers that were nearby turned to face the oversized creature and many of them drew their weapons, however the sight of the high leveled Assassin on its back along with the cleric clinging to him reminded all of them of their place. The squirrel raced forward, forcing others out of his path as he bolted for the city. As they approached, Saber cast Domesticize on the squirrel. He huffed and grinned the instant the spell took effect; there was no hesitation and the animal joined the Assassin’s ranks. Just as the pact was made, the Squirrel burst through the main gates and then lunged up to the rooftops in a single bound. Its front legs nimbly clutched the edge of the rooftops and then its feet hooked down before casting the trio into the air again.

“Saber! This is nothing like a horse!” Lotus shouted, her body trembling in fear as she held on tightly to the Assassin’s back. Saber grinned beneath his scarf and glanced back to see her frightened face. That face he had seen only once before, and that was when Saber found her at the beginning of the Catastrophe. She was on the brink of death when Saber stumbled upon her, rescuing her like some kind of hero. Ever since, she was one of the few people Saber could call on at any point and get a favorable response.

“I said it would be like riding a horse! I never said how close it would be!” Saber reached back and patted on Lotus’s hip before the squirrel shouted out that he could see their destination. The Assassin turned his eyes forward and then narrowed them. He glanced to his pocket where the pebble of philosophy was comfortably nestled into and then back to the front; there, just a few hundred meters off, was the garden that the Messier Sage had been. Saber had a lot of questions for that man and the Sage wouldn’t get out of any missed answers. He was going to give up everything that the Sages were after, what they knew, and what Saber was doing going through all of these steps. And if he didn’t like the answers he got…

Well I’ll leave that to your imagination.

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[Saber]

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[attr="class","nameBox"]Saber
Level 90 -- Assassin

[attr="class","statBox"]Words: [2510]

Tags: [Solo]

Skills Used: [N/A]

Notes: [Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained]

[attr="class","titleBox"]This broken glass is all I've got left!

[attr="class","textBox"] In a powerful leap, the Squirrel Saber was riding on lunged off the rooftops and slammed down onto the cobblestone street below, kicking up dust and pebbles all around him. The sudden appearance of the oversized creature caused several Adventurers to jump back, encouraged a few Landers to scream, and caught the attention of the people Saber had arrived for; the Sages. The hooded Assassin sat up on the Squirrel’s back and glared towards the three men as they attempted to recruit more Adventurers into their small party of suckered players. He knew why they were doing such a thing now that he had the Pebble and had felt its power. The sheer whisper of an ancient power source appearing would attract scholars of all sorts but Saber had not expected someone to find it so quickly, nor did he expect to be sent out to retrieve it himself. However, what Saber did expect was respect. These Sages knew nothing of that word.

As Saber dismounted the squirrel and helped Lotus off the creature’s back, he was reminded by how he had been lured into the treasure hunt by the depressed Sage. At first he simply wished to help a fellow scholar while also learning a little more about the world at the same time. However instead Saber found himself in a win-to-life situation with a bunch of ancient knights over a cube and was forced to fight a massive crab boss. If these Sages knew about where they were sending Saber and dared not tell him, he would have their heads. If he knew of what he was getting into than he could have been more prepared and could have completed his objectives with a lot more ease. He would have had no trouble eliminating that Crab Boss, would have had no issues getting to the cave and he wouldn’t have had to deal with those nightmarish beasts he had come in contact with. Though, he did doubt that the Necromancer had anything to do with the Sages. But he would never know unless he asked.

“Shall I stay here, Elfboi?” The Squirrel asked, whisking his tails steadily side to side. Saber shook his head and waved for the large creature to follow. Out of respect for the zone, the squirrel shrunk its body down to its normal size and then climbed up onto Lotus’ shoulder. The woman patted the animal on the head and then followed behind Saber as he walked into the garden. The small ocean of players parted, giving Saber a straight path to the Sages. The three men stood up straight, looked at each other, and then looked towards Saber as he marched up to their feet.

“You’ve returned.” The Sage who stood on top of a crate spoke normally to the Assassin, his voice low and calm. Saber wiggled his nose beneath his scarf and then reached into his back pouch. From within, he pulled free the Pebble of Philosophy. Its glow was dim now and to the normal eye, it looked like any other pebble except for the few tribal-looking designs on it. The sight caused the Sages to stiffen; yes you fools, Saber got it.

“You are going to explain everything to me and if you do not, I will use this Pebble to stop your hearts.” Saber spoke in his own calm and collected tone, placing the threat firmly on the figurative table. The Sages looked to one another again, almost as if they all considered not talking at all. However, Saber would have none of that. If he didn’t get his answers than he would hold up his end of the bargain without fail, and he was content with that. He was more than willing to drag someone out of the city and rip out their heart if they pissed him off, and these Sages were getting really close to that point. An angry Saber was not a nice Saber and being the man he was, he couldn’t care less what people thought about him. As long as the job was done, that was all that mattered.

“Start talking.” Saber pocketed the Pebble and locked it into his back pouch with a satisfying click. The Sage on the crate sighed and stepped down from his raised position, defeated. He looked to his two allies and mentioned for them to continue to recruit others, stating that there was no other option. After they agreed, Saber and Lotus were led off to the side and into the garden’s marble sun house. There was tea waiting within at the table, but Saber didn’t even bother sitting down. He stood off to the side of the table and got comfortable. Lotus elected to enjoy the treats at the table without even blinking.

“You seem quite bothered, Adventurer. May I ask why?” The Sage took his seat, not daring acknowledge why Saber chose to stand. The man seemed relaxed, but Saber’s eyes could see it; the Sage was shaking. The man’s hands shook ever so slightly and caused the tea within the cub to sway. Saber tucked his nose against his scarf and rumbled.

“I care little for my own life as I have already given it to the world I live in and I have no qualms with fighting to the death to complete an objective, however that cannot be said for the others. You knew of the crab, didn’t you, Sage? You knew that it would spawn in at the fountain and attack whoever tried to take the pebble.” At Saber’s question, the Sage froze. His eyes opened wide and the man seemed quite visibly uncomfortable, more so than when Saber pulled out the Pebble. Saber glanced to Lotus, who shrugged lightly. The Sage sat his teacup back down.

“So, you met him. That is why you are angry.” The Sage leaned back in his chair and then motioned for Saber to sit. There was much to discuss, it seemed. Saber finally loosened up a little and elected to relax his weary muscles. The Squirrel on his shoulder hopped over into Lotus’s lap and made himself comfortable. The woman, almost instinctively, began to feed the little critter some of the cookies that were available.

“The crab you met I assume was Brachyura, correct?” Saber nodded at the question, and then the Sage held up a finger. From within his cloak, the man produced a scroll. He unraveled it and placed it down on the table vertically, showing Saber and Lotus a list of various beings, names, locations, images of the beings, as well as small tidbits of information.

“What you encountered, if our research is correct, was a being called a ‘Genius’. Geniuses are monsters which somewhere along the line gained some sort of sentience. We don’t know how or why, but we think it is related to the various temples we have begun to uncover across the landscape. We also think their increased intelligence is linked to the Pebble and its power. We have found a few of these beings already but we have not found them all, Brachyura was one of them. They are also thought to be Travelers of time. They exist on a different plane than our own, but one very close to us that allows them to fade in and out of our reality.” As the Sage spoke and provided Saber with his information, the Assassin glazed his eyes over the various different creatures on the scroll. Many of them were large and powerful, but not all of them. Some were smaller creatures and it seemed as though the Sages may have become friendly with a few; Brachyura not being one of them. There was one name Saber recognized, however; The Red.

“I apologize that you had to learn about this in such a manner, but it was our only way to confirm our suspicions.” The Assassin perked up in his chair and looked up towards the Sage.

“Suspicions?” The inquiry made the Sage nod and he pulled out another scroll, this one much smaller. The Sage unrolled it to reveal the contents, which were focused on the Pebble of Philosophy.

“In many of our diggings we found information about the Pebble of Philosophy. Its location was unknown to us until we found the most recent temple, the one you dove down into a day or so ago to find the tablet. The Pebble is thought to contain memories of an ancient civilization that has long since gone and its power is thought to have given birth to the Geniuses. Though, the pebble was ghost item that we could never find until now. After coming in contact with a few Geniuses, we found that they too were in search of the Pebble. If you came in contact with Brachyura, then that means the Geniuses are onto its location. I would not be surprised if we start to see more of them appear and come for it.” The Sage relaxed in his chair and let out a heavy sigh, slouching slightly as if a huge amount of tension had just been snapped from his shoulders. Saber sat up in his seat and stared down at the scrolls in front of him. This was getting complicated, and it was also getting a lot bigger than he initially thought.

At first Saber thought that this would be a simple snatch and grab sort of deal, but instead this was turning into some sort of witch hunt. The Pebble of Philosophy was an item of power beyond recognition that contained the memories of some ancient civilization. Its power gave birth to beings called Geniuses who were regular monsters at first which gained sentience. However over the course of time, the Pebble was lost and the Geniuses went in search of it. When Saber came in contact with the Pebble, he must have started the gears of time and the Genius Brachyura must have caught on. Upon coming into the realm, the crab sighted the Pebble and attacked Saber thinking Saber was a threat or some kind of thief, when in all actuality Saber was there only to grab some simple item. If things had been explained to him, the situation may have changed. However, it was too late for that now. Brachyura was either dead or returned back to that other plane of existence the Sage spoke of and Saber still had the pebble. If that was the case then the Sage was right; this was just the beginning. The Pebble had been found by the Genuises and more would come in search of it. Saber would have to be ready. Thankfully, he always was.

“So what now?” Saber asked, and the Sage tilted his head. He seemed confused by Saber’s question, and for good reason. Initially Saber had come thinking that he had been tricked and was going to cut off the heads of all the Sages for their treachery. Now, things were different. Based on the Sage’s explanation, even he did not know that Brachyura would appear. Sure he knew about the Pebble but he did not know that it was the item Saber would find at the fountain, thus he could not be blamed for the fight that ensued. The deed was done and now that the situation was explained, Saber had readied himself to see it through to the end. It took a few moments for the Sage to register this, but the unwavering look in Saber’s eyes was enough. The Assassin had seen much worse than a bunch of oversized monsters, and the Sage could see it in Saber’s expression. This was nothing but another bump in the road.

“Well, I’m not exactly sure to be honest. I did not truly think that you would come back with anything to be noted of let alone the actual Pebble. The best thing I can say is wait until something else happens.” The Sage scratched his head as he talked and looked down at the scrolls in front of him. Saber wiggled his nose and looked down as well; so, they would just sit on their hands and wait to be attacked again? What kind of a strategy was that? Saber rumbled again in his throat and pulled open his menu. It was a long shot, but Saber decided to check something. He dug through it to retrieve the tablet he had initially recovered from the underground temple and summoned it back into the world. It appeared in front of him and then landed down on the table with a loud thud. Immediately, Saber and the Sage noticed something different on it.

“What?”
“Well that’s nice.”

The fountain image on the tablet had vanished and was replaced with a small slot in the middle. Saber glanced up at the Sage and the man grimaced. The slot was the perfect size for the pebble. Indeed, that was a lot different than what Saber was expecting. Like the first time with the fountain, Saber thought some kind of image would have been carved into the tablet that would lead him elsewhere. Instead he got something so blunt and boring that he felt cheated. He wanted a mystery dammit, not a hand saying ‘INSERT PEBBLE HERE’. Jesus Christ, what’s a guy gotta do to have something explode in his face?

“Might as wel—“ Saber reached back towards his pouch but the Sage intervened right away, standing up and shouting.

“Wait! You can’t be serious!” Saber stared at the man for a moment, and then looked down at the tablet.

“Well what the hell else am I going to do? It obviously is telling me to put in the Pebble.” No shit. It couldn’t get any more obvious.

“What if it summons a Genius right here in the middle of the town?!” That was a legitimate concern, but it wasn’t one Saber was worried about. He had battled Gods, Demi-Gods, and Brachyura. This kind of thing was so normal to him that it was abnormal.

“Then I’ll, I don’t know, kill it?” Lotus giggled at Saber’s answer and she flicked a cookie at the Sage’s face. The man swatted the object out of the air and snarled.

“We need to research the finding before we proceed! At least let me referenc—WAIT!” Saber didn’t wait, not a second more. He pulled out the Pebble and quickly inserted it into the tablet. The moment the objects connected, the Pebble let off a faint glow. That glow spread to the entire tablet a second later, illuminating the entire sun house for a brief moment. After blinding the four beings around the table, the light vanished and left Saber feeling quite woozy. He clenched his teeth as the world began to swirl around him and gripped onto the table to try and steady himself. It didn’t help as his entire body felt like it was being twirled and spun around. He felt like throwing up but before he could even consider doing so, he passed out.

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[Saber]

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[attr="class","nameBox"]Saber
Level 90 -- Assassin

[attr="class","statBox"]Words: [750]

Tags: [Solo]

Skills Used: [N/A]

Notes: [The Meeting]

[attr="class","titleBox"]This broken glass is all I've got left!

[attr="class","textBox"]The sickening feeling that kept Saber locked down lasted for only a few more seconds after he felt his body collapse, but when he opened his eyes he found himself no longer in Londinium. Oh no, he wasn’t anywhere close to that marble sun room he had been ever so joyfully sitting inside of. No, Saber now found himself lying on the floor of some oversized meeting hall. His body still felt a little heavy and the Assassin kept his teeth clenched as he strained to move his body, forcing himself to rise up to his hands and knees, but that feeling was slowly fading away. Saber instinctively began to read his surroundings and quickly decided that he wasn’t in any kind of danger. But he was still a bit concerned. Was his teleportation the Pebble’s doing…?

“You are a fool! There is no way that such an attack will work! We must hold our position and await the King’s orders.” Saber’s attention was snagged by a very powerful, deep voice that came from his left. Saber found himself kneeling in the corner of a large room. In the center was a large circular table with several chairs positioned around it. However, only a handful of men filled the large number of seats. At the helm, one man stood and leaned over the table itself as he stared down towards some kind of map. Saber groaned and pushed himself to his feet, the heavy feeling dissipating further. The men seemed gridlocked in some form of argument.

“By attacking the Fairy Gate, you could cause more of those things to come out. We were barely able to hold them off before. What makes you think we can do it again?” Saber squeezed his hands into fists as he stood and tried to keep himself steady.

“I agree with the General. Noble Articus, an attack on the Fairy Gate will be suicide for our forces. We must wait for the King.”

“And what if they come through on their own? What then? The Fairy Gate needs to be taken as soon as possible. If we wait, those things may come whether we attack or not. They will not wait for the King and his men.” Saber made his way over to the table quietly, keeping his lips closed as he walked around the small table. The men didn’t seem to notice him and upon further investigation, Saber learned that he didn’t even technically exist in their time; his right hand passed through one of the large men and his chair in a ghastly fashion. Right now, Saber was a Traveler.

“You speak much like that bastard who lied to us. Where is he anyways? Hiding in his pathetic mansion?” One of the nobles rumbled and stabbed a knife into the map. Saber narrowed his eyes at the sight; that was the location for the Purple Mansion.

“He and his dark magic. I told you that we should not have trusted him but you seem to be stuck in your own world, Articus. Now look at us. Our forces are weakened and the Gate is still open. You know it as well as the rest of us. If we perform any sort of assault on it, our men will be wiped out by those things. We have to wait for the King. There is no other way.” Saber continued to circle around the table until he was finally at the side of the supposed leader of the group; Noble Articus. As he stood there, Saber could see the man’s frustration, as well as his fear.

“What will you do…?” Saber muttered, his voice a quiet whisper. At the noise, however, the man glanced to his right. He stared directly at where Saber was standing, but Saber simply stared back at him. Had he been heard? The man stared at Saber for only a few moments before tearing his eyes away. He grabbed his feather and ink and then proceeded to circle a location on the map.

“We will send a scouting party to observe the Gate and maintain the area around it until we can come up with a better plan.” Articus said finally, defiant in his words. He gave one more glance back towards Saber and then planted his hand firmly in the center of the circle. He looked back out to the others and nodded.

“We will protect our city. Put your faith in me, Generals. That is all I ask.”

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[Saber]

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[attr="class","nameBox"]Saber
Level 90 -- Assassin

[attr="class","statBox"]Words: [875]

Tags: [Solo]

Skills Used: [N/A]

Notes: [Off to see the Trickster]

[attr="class","titleBox"]This broken glass is all I've got left!

[attr="class","textBox"] Saber’s vision faded rapidly and the Assassin found his body locking up once more after Articus spoke. He clenched his teeth tightly and slammed his fists into the wooden floor as he collapsed, trying to fight the terrible feeling as the men continued to speak. He tried to pick up as much as he could, but it was difficult. Too difficult. Within seconds, Saber’s eyes slammed shut and the room darkened. A bright light filled his vision, blinding him and forcing the Elf to shut his eyes. At that moment, a feeling of vertigo covered his body. He felt sick again and his stomach clenched up tight, swirling violently like a storm. He gagged and coughed, forcing his internal fluids to stay down until he was released from his black prison. The Assassin’s eyes shot open and he shot upright, sitting up in an instant.

Lotus jerked back from his side and the squirrel moved as well. The Sage at his feet stared towards the Assassin, but he got nothing. Saber breathed heavily for a few moments as if he had awoke from a nightmare and glanced around himself, checking to ensure that he was back where he needed to be. After confirming that he was in Londinium again, the Assassin let out a comforted breath. He closed his eyes for a moment and let his mind sort through what he had just seen. He had been transported to an unknown meeting place and overheard what seemed to be military leaders discussing a plan to assault a fairy gate. Most were against it, while one was defiant in at least keeping tabs on it. Many men shouted at the one who stood alone and discounted his efforts, also blaming his errors on the owner of the Mansion or at least someone who was located at the Mansion’s position. The Noble, Articus, ignored that fact and instead offered a compromise; send a scouting party forward to monitor the gate. Based on the words used, the gate was most likely producing some sort of enemy to their lands. What that enemy was, Saber did not know. What he did know was that he now had a step forward; he had a clue.

“What happened? Are you okay?” The Sage seemed legitimately concerned but Saber kept his answer to a nod. If he informed the Sage of what he had seen, there was no telling what the man would do. He might even be dumb enough to touch the pebble. With that in mind, Saber quickly lifted himself to his feet and then retrieved the pebble from the tablet, separating the two. The motion caught the attention of the Sage. The man’s eyes opened; he noticed.

“You saw something, didn’t you?” The Sage said aloud, and Saber sucked his teeth. The man went to grab Saber, most likely to try and shake the answers from the Assassin but Saber reached out first. A knife was produced from the Elf’s sleeve and hovered a few inches from the Sage’s neck. The Sage got the message and took a step back.

“Do you know of a man named Articus? A Noble?” Saber asked, but the Sage only shook his head. Well, there went that but Saber wasn’t empty handed. That question would have simply been a director and would have molded his path a little better. Not getting an answer wouldn’t stonewall him.

“The Purple Mansion, was there a prior building there in the past?” Again, the Sage shook his head. Saber wiggled his nose and retracted his knife, tucking it back into his sleeve. He nodded down at Lotus and motioned for her to stand. They were leaving.

“Please, you have to tell me what you saw!” The Sage pleaded, but Saber did not answer. After Lotus was ready and he confirmed it with her, the two of them stepped out of the little marble area and headed towards the exit of the garden. The Sage continued to shout, and asked if Saber would at least give him some kind of clue, but the Assassin kept silent. He ignored the Sage and put his back to the man. Saber had been left in the dark in the beginning, now it was time for the Sage to be.

Once they were free of the Garden, the squirrel hopped off Saber’s shoulder and quickly shifted into his larger form. The flaming critter lowered its body and allowed Saber and Lotus to climb onto its back. When they were set, the Squirrel dashed to the rooftops and headed towards the edge of the city as Saber instructed him to do so. Lotus leaned into Saber’s back and kept silent for a moment as the Assassin’s face grew hard. He didn’t want to do this next part, but it seemed like he was going to be forced to. If he wanted to find out the story behind it all, he would have no choice.

“So, Saber. Where are we going?” Lotus finally asked, mustering up as much courage as she could. She knew full well that Saber didn’t want to speak at the moment, but he would have to anyways to instruct the squirrel on where to go. Saber obliged.

“The Purple Mansion.”

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