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[IamanElfCollaborator]

Chapter 5: Starlight Legend
(3:30 AM)

In Ishim City, there are three adventuring guilds considered the strongest.

The first were the Heavenly Emperors, the most powerful fighters in all of Generia. Nobody held a candle to their strength, given their meteoric rise in the ranks. However, given their immense strength and power, they were usually never in town, fighting up at the front lines to break into Ultima Fortress. As such, they were rarely in Ishim City proper, leading to no shortage of imposters attempting to pretend to be them to those uninformed about the reality of the situation.

The second were the Wharf Street Warriors. Of them, little has to be said to explain their strength.

The third were the Starlight Soldiers. Consisting of only nine Revivians, the Soldiers were nonetheless possessed of great power. However, given that they were Revivians said to be following the traditions of some body called the "Sailor Soldiers", nobody really took them quite as seriously as they should. Regardless, the Starlight Soldiers, by those in the know, are considered strong enough to possibly face the Boss, or even, with all the luck, one of the Heavenly Emperors.

"Next station, Roux Street. This will be the final stop. Please make sure all your belongings are with you when you leave the tram."

The announcement breaks the silence that had set in over the tram over the last hour. A few delays had hit the tram, of course. The power had gone out across the lines earlier, locking you on the tram for about twenty minutes until the tram made its way again. This time, no Runners showed up to beset you.

It had been a long ride. About twenty minutes ago, the city walls had risen beside you, informing you that you'd left the outer districts and entered the city proper, putting you but one step closer to your home. The mysterious lady who'd saved you earlier had long since fallen asleep, her head resting gently on her companion's shoulder. Bel and Molly, as they'd made themselves known to you, seemed to have been returning home from a meeting of some sort, before they encountered you.

"Hey guys. I think we're here. You guys ready to get moving?"

//Everyone may post!

[SeriousConcentrate]

"Yeah. All this sitting around quietly is making me nervous; I wanna get going again."

Lucy put her tablet away somewhere and stood up.

[SirAston]

As the announcer messages that it will be the final stop, Largo slowly but surely opens his eyes and rises up, moving his head in circles and letting various parts of his body crack.

"Nothing like a good power nap. I think I even had something like a micro-dream there."

He then pumps his fist.

"Commitment to protect Nico has risen from 100% to 110% again!"

[IamanElfCollaborator]

Owyn stands up, closing the notebook he'd been scribbling in for a while.
"Alright. I think that's tomorrow's lesson plan finished. Assuming I even make it to class tomorrow. Goddesses, I hope my boss doesn't find out about this. The kids'll riot if I get fired...."

Nico frowns as she checks her tablet.
"....well, the storm's finished, so service's back up, but....I haven't gotten any calls from Hare or the others. Also....the gate to Ishim District's closed right now. Apparently the plumbing malfunctioned and there's been a minor flood, so..."
"Damn it. We're going to have to go through Harel, aren't we? Only other gate into the inner city."

[Lucus Casius]

In her seat, the curled-up catgirl stirred, one of her ears flicking up to listen to Nico's announcement.  A few moments later, she began to sit up, rubbing at her eyes.

"...Gotta be.  Unless you wanna try blowing down the gate ourselves?"

Lagata sounded like she wouldn't necessarily be opposed to that idea.  Albeit with less anger-powered enthusiasm than she might have managed earlier.  It was possible the brief cat-nap helped her... slightly.  Slightly.  The threat of the exam was still hanging over her head, but at least now she seemed to be entering into the 'bitter resignation' stage of test-prep instead of the 'seething rage' stage.

Shaking her head, she gave the dozing-off Anna in the next seat over a poke in the side.

"Hoi, you staminan-sipping excuse for a capitalist.  Get up."

[IamanElfCollaborator]

"....one client.....two clients....."
Anna seems to be dead asleep.

[Lucus Casius]

Lagata gave her a bleary stare for a moment, followed by an exasperated sigh.

"If you don't wake up in three seconds I'm gonna set your wallet on fire."

"One..."

"Two..."

The fire drifted nearer to Anna's purse.

[IamanElfCollaborator]

Anna is awake faster than Lagata can blink, hugging her purse tightly and closely to her.
"Pleasedon'tburnmypursetakemyfamilyinstead!"

[Lucus Casius]

"I'll pass on that for now."

Lagata extinguished the flame, tail flicking smugly behind her.  With her immediate goal accomplished, the tiny girl stood, stretching as well as she could and giving herself a good shake to wake herself up properly.  Insofar as she could, anyway.

[IamanElfCollaborator]

As the party disembarks from the tram, they notice nobody on the platform. Dead silence. The board marking the tram times is now empty save for the the current time, the vending machines briefly flicker and with the exception of the occasional canned voice telling people to "mind their belongings and mind the gap before and after boarding the tram", not a single soul is present.

This is expected.

What isn't is, after the party manages to get onto street level, not a soul is present. In the suburbs of Ishim, this makes perfect sense. In the inner city, where people are working 24-7 and the city has grown a reputation for being a city teeming with life at all hours of the day, not so much. Nobody seems to be around; not one street sanitation worker, nobody heading to the night shift, no adventurers limping home from quests, not even drunks returning from the game tonight and having lost their way.

It's far, far too quiet.

[SirAston]

"... Huh... This is the most obvious ambush setup I've ever seen."
"Which means the enemy is either that confident, or it'll be a multi-layered trap. Keep your senses sharp."

[IamanElfCollaborator]

"Well, well. The Wharf Street Warriors. What a pleasant surprise."

Suddenly, a man approaches you, his face painted in white and black, his body clad in black and gray. His voice has a slightly mocking undertone.

"Welcome to Harel District. I, as the leader of the Gramercy Messiahs, would like to give you a warm welcome to our home territory."

[Powder Miner]

Aoibheann Ó Deoráin was in a pretty good mood. Although some moments had been a little uncomfortable, frankly this whole little journey had been an EXCELLENT excuse to nail a LOT of people with nasty ailments - and that always made her feel great. Plus, she'd been one of the more successful Warriors in getting sleep, staying knocked out for most of the train ride after the battle. Sleeping in odd situations and places was a skill she'd mastered during her post-exile vagrant days, after all, even if life after entering Ishim had been a lot steadier. The result then had been a sleeping mostly-fake-maid fairy, curled up in a little ball on her seat, sleeping soundly and occasionally dreamily muttering something about "Oh, Guillaume~"

And the result now was a slightly bleary and very much giggly mostly-fake-maid fairy, leaping immediately into her usual sort of response to arrogant, mysterious people.
:"My, oh my~ The leader of the Gramercy Messiahs himself has chosen to show up to give our humble little group his hospitality! I don't suppose you're offering some tea - I certainly have developed a taste for it. Maybe some nice biscuits or little cakes? Maybe a dash of, oh, brutal and chaotic combat? I know it's a regional delicacy here, even if it's pretty popular back in my old home of Bastapa, too. But, well, you know how it is, these things are never quite the same outside of their home region~"

[IamanElfCollaborator]

"My, my. A feisty one, isn't she? Feisty....for just eight of you."
"Enough of this, Oswald. We're not here for you. Get out of our way, Messiahs. You don't want this fight."

Oswald, presumably, simply shakes his head.

"My, my. Junius, the wolfhound without a master. Oh, that's right, these Warriors here....they killed him, right?"
"For the last time, we didn't kill this Cassius dude! We've never even met him before!"
"My, the condemned protesting their innocence even as they're driven to slaughter. Of course....you're not honestly thinking we'll let you through, even if you're innocent. After all, the reputation of having beaten the best of the Warriors AND the Chiefs....that would be a real feather in our cap."

Oswald rubs his chin.

"Of course, the 10,000 rhea reward for beating you is enough."
"We didn't post a reward. This is our business, Oswald. Cassius was our boss and pursuing it is a dent to our honor, not yours. Step aside or we'll push our way through you."
"Of course you didn't. You Chiefs....you make the mistake that we're as concerned about honor. In our world, there's only power. And right now, without your boss around, you don't have any."

Oswald then looks back towards Evie.
"Don't fret, love. We're not unaccustomed to chaos. After all, just who, exactly, do you think we patterned ourselves after?"
He grins.
"Only the great Vlad could possibly make us flinch."

[Dwarmin]

The warrior viewed the proceedings with his usual dispassionate air, but his body was full of coiled tension. He and this man were much alike-too much alike.

They both craved war. They felt the call in their blood. He did not want his new friends to know such a thing about him. Men could crave victory or fight for a cause, yes, but battle itself? It made a man worse than a beast. To shed blood, to win, to die...to test your power against others, to grow stronger or perish in the attempt-for no greater purpose than satiation, and if one lived, the next fight. Xerxe had developed an iron will to bury his own bloodlust-a lifetime of discipline and self denial, channeling his bottled anger toward those his order had deemed Heretics. To be faced with those who had cast away all such restraints...

It was a time of choosing and of truth.

"...The Gods call us all to do battle and he heeds the sound of the horns, for no better reason than to hear the screams of the dying upon the wind. An honorless painted knave, to be sure, but an honest one. Refreshing. Were all my foes delivered to me in such a fashion, I would be blessed many times over."