RE: Rebuilding the Troys [MiMo FC and Associates Only] - E'jusana - 02-16-2015
((Excuse our dust. Ana in undergoing personality reconstruction. Thank you for your patience. -She's going from happy bubbly do-nothing, one dimensional Ana to, dun dun dun! Ana the huntress, cool girl that doesn't need no man and more info to come =D. We will be retconning some stuff but for now just use the fact that no one really knows her much as she was still calling everyone miss or mr and was very curt.))
Ana had told Brio almost a week ago that she was leaving and needed some time off for an errand she had to run. She promised she would be back as soon as she was finished and would try to hurry along knowing the Moogle would need its head waitress.
She had been riding all night and was tired, dirty and covered in a foul smelling paste that she had smeared over her clothes and skin. At least they paid well for this one she thought to herself as they approached the Mist. Terra, her trusty blue-feathered friend, was clad in iron and was also covered in the same foul ooze. The bird went straight to the ocean. "Come on, Terra. I'm tired. Let's just go home," Ana whined as the bird shook its head and went straight into the crashing waves.
They had gotten most of the disgusting smell off of them before heading up the steps to their home at the Midnight Moogle. It was mid-day by the time they reached the archway to the yard. Ana stabled Terra, removed the armor, gave her friend a treat, and lovingly patted the chocobo before she nestled in to fall asleep.
Ana fiddled with the hard leather armor on her chest and legs as she walked up to the door. Ah, I wish she'd let me just take a bath when we got home, I hate when the sand gets under my armor she thought with a sigh. I didn't even get all of it out of my fur. Hmm, what's this? I wonder who got mail. Ana spied a bulging letter in the mailbox and grabbed it to bring inside.
She set the letter on Melody's welcoming counter since it wasn't addressed to her and started across the quiet bar hoping not to disturb anyone who might still be sleeping. She didn't notice the lalafells on the couch until she almost reached the door to the private quarters, even then she just only caught sight of them out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head with a smile, knowing whose white and sandy heads she briefly saw but when she looked upon the scene of the wounded and weary lala's Ana couldn't believe her eyes and was instantly struck with worry.
In a just a few steps Ana was right at their side. "Melody, Melody!" she said with quiet urgency. "What the hell happened? Melody, please wake up, please be ok." she looked at Jig with worried eyes as she gently shook Mel's shoulders to wake her. Jig seemed like he was just barely hanging on. By the Twelve, please be ok.
RE: Rebuilding the Troys [MiMo FC and Associates Only] - Martsia - 02-16-2015
Martsia woke up tied to the same chair she'd been in earlier, her face was bleeding from her brow and her cheekbone where Kershaw had kicked her. She was in trouble now...she had no more weapons, she was injured, and she'd lost track of how long she'd actually been here. Was it two days? Or three? She sighed, realizing it was up to her to escape. There was no way anyone would have known she was here, and after all...she didn't want any of her friends getting hurt.Â
Wincing from the pain and constant headache, she leaned forward until her feet were on the ground, and the chair was in the air. It took a lot of focus, but she jumped, doing a very poorly executed front flip and crashed into the floor of the cellar, breaking the chair in the process. Luckily for her, they had tied her up to the chair that needed to be repaired all the time. Probably because they didn't want to ruin any of their good chairs. She writhed and wriggled free from the ropes and began using all wooden bits and ropes to make herself a kind of club. She would escape, and all of Gridania would know it.
RE: Rebuilding the Troys [MiMo FC and Associates Only] - Mortine - 02-16-2015
Mortine had to be the dumb one that day. He'd been sending letters to the moogle as clues so they would come and get Martsia before it was too late. He could only stall Kershaw for so long, and Martsia herself was doing a fine job in distracting him and stalling any horrid events to come. But Mortine wanted nothing more than to run away and hide...to be free from all of this. In that way he and Martsia were very much alike. He was walking outside near the cellars when he smelled smoke. Dashing around the corner he saw it seeping through the cracks of the cellar his sister was contained in. Without thinking of calling for help he lunged forward and unlocked the chains.
He should have known. Mar was always crafty, always clever...and at times, very very angry. The moment the chains were freed he heard a muffled yell. Reaching for the handles, he didn't realize that he was in for a surprise. Within seconds the doors broke off of their hinges as Mar, weilding a strange, mangled weapon of chair parts, smashed into it with her shoulder. She had torn a sleeve of the dress she'd been so 'kindly' given and tied it around her mouth so she wouldn't breathe the smoke. She'd started the fire to get him to do exactly what he'd just done. And now she turned on him. He didn't have time to react as she slammed her makeshift weapon into his side, feeling splinters digging into his flesh as he was propelled into the nearby brush. He heard her take off running into the woods, muttering curses under her breath. Moments later Kershaw was outside with Bortun, and just happened to see her sprinting through the forest.
RE: Rebuilding the Troys [MiMo FC and Associates Only] - Desu Nee - 02-16-2015
There was little she could do there. Jigumundo was already cooling down and recovering, she had no clue where one of her cru-friend was, and ultimately, she really was out of her depth to this situation. What else could she do than just wait and hope for a lead...something?! She barely noticed Ana noticing her, just dwelving on her own thoughts, holding Jigumundo's staff. It always brought her a smile on her face, seeing the small planet-esque system on the staff...
Black Magic. She wouldn't be lying if she said it always interested her, on the little she actually readed about. What she knew was what most knew already, Black Magic gave one limitless power and it caused the War of Magi...did that mean Jigumundo was a Black Mage?!
She glanced at her uncoscious professor, and sighed again, turning away to the fireplace and laying her forehead on the side of it, mentally cursing everything...she couldn't have done nothing, maybe if she came sooner she could have stopped this, stopped Marty running away, sto-
...
Was she really going over what ifs and could haves again? It didn't really change nothing, the present was here, her "father" was once again, laying on the ground, hurt...
This time he wasn't withering to death, like her own true father. She could take something positive out of that.
RE: Rebuilding the Troys [MiMo FC and Associates Only] - Melody - 02-17-2015
Melody's hand felt warm. Her eyes fluttered open slightly when she felt something go bump on the floor next to her. When she felt a nudge against her head, she turned a little to see Jigumundo. A soft sigh escaped her as she felt his forehead's temperature had gone down considerably. She gripped the hand in hers and let her eyes close once more, feeling relieved but her thoughts drifted back to Mar...
Next she was being shaken.
"Huuhwa-whatsgoing-on?" she turned to see Ana and grimaced slightly at a hint of foul odor hitting her nose. "Ana! Thank twelve you're back!" she woke up immediately and told Ana everything that had happened while wiping some wetness away from her eyes.
She looked around to look for Quki and spotted her by the fireplace. "Thanks for your help last night, Quki." she couldn't have taken care of things so quickly if the girl hadn't been there.
Feeling Jig stir next to her, she got up off the floor and stretched, heading to the bar. Her joints ached from sitting on the hard floor all night. "I'm going to make some tea and check his arm. Then we need to figure out how to get Mar back."
As she was working behind the counter she looked up and noticed an envelope on her desk. She felt her heart drop.
"When did that get there?"
RE: Rebuilding the Troys [MiMo FC and Associates Only] - Jig - 02-17-2015
"I'm... Fine..."
Jig tried to stand up on trembling legs, supporting himself by the couch. His right arm was still hanging motionless. He still had no sensation in it. He noticed Ququki.
"Ququki... are you all right?"
Jig asked through his teeth still feeling pain, however she could hear concern in Professor's voice. Then he saw Cookie holding his staff, showing even bigger concern on his face, yet trying to act cool.Â
"Mind... giving it back to me?"
He tries to move towards his student, supporting himself on every object he came across, almost tripping at one moment.
"It's not... safe..."
RE: Rebuilding the Troys [MiMo FC and Associates Only] - E'jusana - 02-17-2015
((Sorry, I missed that you were there Quqi >.< Sorry!!))
Ana sat listening to Melody with intense eyes. She was a bit shocked at the turn of events but now wasn't the time to act shocked, it was time to bring back her friend.
As Melody crossed to the counter Ana sat and mulled everything over in her head analyzing everything she had heard. Her old home was in the Black Shroud, she went to Coerthas to escape, Jig and Mel fought with Mortine, Martsia has been lala-napped. Where could she be? as she thought she heard Melody ask a question.
Quote:"When did that get there?
Ana turned to look at what Melody was speaking of. "I just brought it in, it was in the box when I arrived home." She paused for a split second. "Do you think it's another note about Martsia?" Ana flew across the room, snatched the envelope, and tore it open. With a puzzled look she said "There are white berries on a small branch with green leaves, that's it." Ana turned the small fruited branch in her hand examining it closely just to be sure."I know this plant! This is tinolqa mistletoe, there's no doubt about it," she said confidently. "It's only found in Central Black Shroud. Hunters use it in traps to catch anole in that area. What do you think?" she crossed the room and handed off the envelope and the small branch to Melody.
She hoped that it was a clue to where Martsia is being held, but who is sending letters and why? It smelled like a trap but she hoped that they could stay one step ahead of the Troy's since Ana learned to hunt in that area and knew it very well.
RE: Rebuilding the Troys [MiMo FC and Associates Only] - Martsia - 02-17-2015
Martsia ran as quickly as she could, darting between trees, branches catching onto her dress and tearing bits off. She didn't care at this point...all she was focused on was escaping. The plan had worked so far, and  if she could just make it around the bend and past the small creek, she would find a small village. She didn't realize that her father was in pursuit of her, with Bortun in hot pursuit. She could hear the creek water up ahead, if she could just...
The pain was so sudden, and then it dulled into nothingness. When she fell to the ground it felt like her limbs were melting away, and then she could feel no more. An enchanted arrow, or in this case, a cursed one...most likely produced by Kershaw. He was always using them against creatures in the woods...testing them. Apparently she had been reduced to wild game then...because the look on his face when he loomed over her was one of immense satisfaction.
RE: Rebuilding the Troys [MiMo FC and Associates Only] - Mortine - 02-17-2015
It took him a few minutes to regain his composure and climb out of the  brambles he'd been knocked into. He should have known it was a trap...he had underestimated his sister. He saw her running, and felt like it might be his only chance to escape as well. Then he  saw the bow being drawn and the arrow was loosed. He reached out a hand, as futile as it was, to warn her. He saw it hit it's mark, and saw her fall. What he didn't see was Bortun loading another arrow into his bow, aiming at him and then he felt the pain. He instantly began feeling tired, and soon fell into a deep sleep.
He was woken only a few hours later when a bucket of water was splashed on him. He found himself tied to a chair, in the same situation he'd put Martsia in.
"Welcome back, son." Kershaw said, stepping forward. They were in another one of their cellars, Martsia was nowhere to be seen. He worried for her, but he also knew why he was here. "Ye have been sendin a lot of letters lately, Mortine...who have ye been sendin them to?" Kershaw asked, picking up a fire poker as he approached the younger lalafell. Mortine went pale, keeping his mouth closed. He was going to stall Kershaw as long as he could...hoping Mar would find a way out of any predicament she was in.
RE: Rebuilding the Troys [MiMo FC and Associates Only] - Desu Nee - 02-19-2015
[ Really don't have much to do for now heh ]
She nodded, absently minded to Melody...she needed some time. She took off to the door, looking at Melody.
" I'm gonna go wind up at the beach. Call me when you have a plan or something "
She turns to the Professor and grimaces a bit...she leaves the staff at the door and walks away
RE: Rebuilding the Troys [MiMo FC and Associates Only] - Melody - 02-23-2015
Though feeling somewhat relieved when Ana identified the contents of the mysterious envelope, Melody frowned as she held the branch and wondered if it was actually Mortine who sent it. After what guy did to her two special people, she found it highly difficult to believe he'd be feeling any semblance of guilt. Her look turned dark as she finished making a cup of lemon balm tea.
Quki Wrote:" I'm gonna go wind up at the beach. Call me when you have a plan or something "
"Alright, I'll check on you in a little bit." She nodded understandingly as the girl left. She thought it odd that Quki didn't just hand Jigumundo's staff back to him since he'd been about to reach for it. Then she remembered this was Quki she was thinking about, and Quki didn't make a lot of sense to her sometimes...
But then again, the events from yesterday seemed to hit the girl fairly hard. It would probably be good for her to get her thoughts and feelings together sooner rather than later.
"Mar talked a few times about growing up in the Shroud. If that is in fact another clue sent to us by...Mortine...why would he do that? Actually, why would he even have sent the other note that blatantly proclaimed he already took her. Wouldn't he want us to be distracted and go to Coerthas so her family could have all the time in the world to do what they're planning on doing?" she felt her jumbled thoughts start pouring out her mouth and quickly stopped herself from rambling too much. She took a deep breath and let it out, "Aside from that, we obviously need to go there and start looking for her."
Making her way back to the living room with the tea, Melody picked up the staff on her way and set it against the chair Jig was leaning on. "Sit down, please, before you hurt yourself even more." The look she had was strained and her tone was warning. She stood next to Jig with the tea and waited for him to do so, noticing he wasn't using his injured arm at all. It just hung limp at his side. Her look turned to strained worry. This was all starting to be too much.
Show Content
OOC
Martsia and Mortine's next posts will be delayed so these guys can have time to discuss and plan the next moves.
RE: Rebuilding the Troys [MiMo FC and Associates Only] - Jig - 02-23-2015
Jig sat on a couch, surprised of Melody's tone, as he walked Ququki outside with his gaze. Then he'd turn to Melody with expression of concern. Jig finally opened his mouth as he took the tea from Miss Adagio.
"Why would he leave a trace after he got what he wanted? That makes no sense..."
Jig tried to deduce what is happening, regretting that his arm laid limp, since it could be useful to comfort his girl.
"Even if it's a trap, it's worth checking. At least it's a good start. Don't worry... we WILL find her. And those bastards WILL pay! I'm sure Mortine wasn't working alone or for his own benefit. It's obvious. Our next move should be checking the shroud."
Professor spoke with faint voice. He was still weak, yet he regained his ability to speak. Melody's treatment worked... yet his right arm still leaves much to be desired.
"Sit by me..." - Professor turned his voice down to soothing whisper. "You need to rest as well... I..."
Words that he wanted to tell her as usual were hard for him to spit out.
"I'm here for you, and your family."
RE: Rebuilding the Troys [MiMo FC and Associates Only] - E'jusana - 02-23-2015
Ana suddenly ran back to her room and disappeared for several minutes. When she reappeared in the main area of the Moogle she was no longer wearing her leather armor but lighter weight clothing in shades brown and green. She was also carrying a quiver full of arrows, a light pack on her back, and a beautiful, hand-carved bow in her hand.
"If this is a clue as to where Martsia is we can't let the trail go cold we have to act quickly," she spoke with authority in her voice as she crossed the room to where Melody and Jig were sitting and looked at them with a stern face "I'm going to the Shroud to gather a few of my tracking friends. We will scour the Black Shroud to find Martsia's location, you all will stay here." She held up a hand when she saw them about to say something "Tracking and finding things is what we do. A small group of hunters can move through the forest quickly and quietly. We do not want to tip our hand so please, let me do what I do best. We will find their location and as soon as I know where they're keeping Martsia I will send for you."
Ana shoved her hand into a small pocket on the side of her pack, pulled out a small, cream-colored linkpearl, and handed it to Melody "This way we can keep in contact with each other." She looked at the two weary Lalafells on the couch "Regain your strength quickly, this shouldn't take long" she said with a confident smirk and a spark in her eye then turned towards the door to leave with the letter and gear in hand.
RE: Rebuilding the Troys [MiMo FC and Associates Only] - Melody - 03-02-2015
Show Content
Combined Post!
Ana had left, and no one else remained in the Moogle but Melody and Jigumundo.
Jig wakes up after another unintentional nap.
Melody sat next to Jig on the couch after she picked up her med kit off the floor. "I need to change your bandages." she said, sounding a bit weary.
Jigumundo tries to move his right hand to rub his forehead. Immidiately regrets that decision. "AAARRGHH..." Clenches his teeth in pain. He grabs his right hand trying to withstand the pain. Professor hisses through his teeth.
Melody opens up her supplies and attempts to grab his arm so he stops hurting himself.
â€That.... bastard... Why can't I move my ARM-AGH!†Jig takes it away. "No!"
"If you let me check it again, we can try to figure out what more is wrong." she says sternly.
Jig groans and ultimately lets her do the job. "I swear... If I get this bastard I'm going to tear him apart piece by piece....†He looks very angry.
Melody gets to work unwrapping last night’s bandages. "I know...I want you to." she checks on how the stitches are holding up and sees she needs to apply more cream to the burned areas.
Jig speaks furiously. With every word of his angry rant the flame in the fireplace gets bigger and bigger. He clenches his teeth again trying to go through her treatment.
Melody notices it start getting hotter and quickly looks up at him with a dark look. "Keep that up and you'll only make everything worse."
“Like it could be worse....â€
Melody steels her gaze. "It could."
Jig keeps ranting. "That wimp got lucky... he barely survived my blow... ran away like a coward!" The flame in chimney went up a bit. "How dare he threaten you like that?!"Another blast up."If he did anything to Martsia...~!" The fire burns furiously like Jig's growing anger.
Melody feels a quickly growing need to calm him down. "I understand you're upset. We all are. But please, right now, be still." she is getting more stern and warning.
Jigumundo shuts up with grim expression. Looks down. His lower lip would twitch. Fire keeps burning.
Melody feels safe enough to look back down at the mess of his arm. "You yelled out in pain when you tried to move. How much feeling do you have in it right now?" she starts poking and prodding.
â€Not at all... pain when I'm trying to move it.â€
"Then what hurt?" she tosses the dirty bandages on the floor.
â€I don't know. It hurts like hell. I can't move it.â€
Melody frowns and thinks a moment. Her poking and prodding made her notice the muscles in his arm felt...odd."Hm...." she hops off the couch and stands in front of him."Let me see something...." she mutters almost to herself and moves to pull his wrists towards herself.
“ACK! What the heck are you doing?!â€
"I need to take your gloves off so I can see if I'm right." she looks up at him, seeming asking permission.
â€If you have to....â€
Melody carefully un-gloves his hands, trying to be as gentle as she could. Putting them aside on the couch, she held his forearms one in each hand and started feeling around with her thumbs, as if comparing.
Jigumundo clenches his teeth in another painful expression.
"Something's not right with the muscles in this arm." she concludes, holding the damaged one up a little bit. "They seem torn up..."
Jigumundo looks down in silence. Clearly he's not very happy about that conclusion.
Melody sighs deeply and wipes her brow. "This might be outside of my current abilities. But I do have extra serum from when I helped Mar with her ankle...." is she talking to him or herself?...
Jigumundo was awfuly silent. His face however shown some wide variety of emotions: from anger to guilt and even despair. Melody's rambling wasn't helping either.
Melody went back to her kit and pulled out what looked to be a vial of....something, and a small hard case with a hinge. She put down the case for a moment and started shaking the vial vigorously. "If it works it works and if not, then at least there won't be any more harm done..." she mutters, lost in her own thoughts.
Jigumundo looks away, probably feeling ashamed now for some reason.
Melody finally looks over to him while still shaking the tiny container, not sure if she wants to talk to him right now or not. She seems like she might be a little upset at him, but doesn't want to provoke any further. "We'll figure it out..." she says quietly.
†What...?â€
"I said we'll figure it out." she says loud enough for him to clearly hear her.
“Figure what out?†Jigumundo almost yelled but held his emotions at last moment.
Melody looks back down, done shaking the vial. She opens up the case with her other hand and pulled out what looks like a hypodermic needle. "This mess we find ourselves in." she feels like she should've just kept her mouth shut.
â€Mess... Enough said...â€
Melody snaps her finger and a small flame ignites above her fingertip. She sterilized the needle while she bites her bottom lip, looking very frustrated.She takes another deep breath as she snaps her finger again, putting out the flame. She fills the needle up with whatever is in the vial and walks back over to his injured side. She peeks up at him, frowning.
"This might hurt, but it might not. Since you're both feeling pain and not feeling anything at the same time it's hard for me to know what to warn you about." she uses her free hand to position his arm. She looks back down and searches for a good entry point.
Jig looks away. "Do what you have to..."
Melody nods and sticks him with absolutely no hesitation whatsoever.
Jigumundo hisses a bit, showing his teeth and frowning.
Melody hears him hiss and peeks back up at him. Is that curiosity in her eyes? She can't stop the questions from bubbling out. "What do you feel? Does it hurt? Anything tingling?--!" she bites her lip to shut up and looks back down.
Jig stays silent. No comment at all. Not even a swear.
Melody tries to bite back her curiousity but it's so very difficult
Jigumundo answers quietly, almost whispering. "It hurts..that's all." He doesn't even looked at her.
Melody peeks up at him once more to see no reaction on his face. Her face turns into one of utter frustration, and also a little red as well. "You know this could be good research for me. This is only the second time I've used it, so I don't know much about its effects yet." she tries to bait for more info. She realizes the needle is still in his arm and draws it out.
â€Research, huh....?â€
"Mhm." she hums affirmitively and goes back to clean everything up.
“Your dearest friend is in danger... and you care for research now...?†He furrows his eyebrows and glowers at her starting with really angry voice. "Research is now the most important part?! If you really want to know, YES IT HURTS LIKE HELL! I'm just curious though... How does YOUR DEAREST FRIEND feel right now?! Research... Haha.... Hahaha..."
Melody Adagio twitches.
Jigumundo laughs hysterically. He covers his face with the healthier hand laughing."Research..."
Melody Adagio just stands there, dead-faced.
Jigumundo stops laughing and glowers at her once again with blaming tone. "How does it make you better now than those BASTARDS who destroyed half of your country?!THE ONLY THING THEY CARED WAS RESEARCH! I CARED ONLY FOR THAT! And you see what happened?! All those who was dear for me DIED! How. Does. It. Make. You. Better?!†he breathes heavilly. “ANSWER ME!â€
Melody flashed him a horrible, hurt-looking glare. "What more can I do right now?!" she seethes. "My best friend is somewhere going through gods know what, and you almost died last night!"
"I was doing my best to save her!"
"I'm trying to do whatever it takes to stay SANE right now!"
"Your mad-scientist muttering CERTAINLY helps! What are you going to do? Take notes?!â€
Melody stomps over to him. "Like you are ANYONE to talk right now." she clenches her teeth.
Jigumundo opens his eyes wider. "What did you just SAY?!" glowers mad at her. The fire in fireplace bursted out again.
"You heard me." she steels her eyes and places her hands on her hips, not giving any shits about the damned fire behind her."In case you haven't figured it out already, neither one of us is currently capable of doing ANYTHING USEFUL RIGHT NOW."
"All we can do is wait for Ana."
“Waiting does not HELP! This is a waste of time!â€
"Neither does using black magic AND NEARLY KILLING YOURSELF!!"
“I WAS TRYING TO STOP HIM! Not like you could do anything about that!What should I do?! LET HIM HURT YOU AND YOUR FAMILY MAYBE?!â€
Melody takes a deep breath while pinching the bridge of her nose under her glasses.
â€I HAD to do something! What were you expecting me to do?!â€
Melody is still shaking with frustration and hurt, but tries to calm down. "I know! It was never a good position for any of us! But I don't need to lose two people at the same time, and I DEFINITELY don't need to now be arguing with you over impossible circmstances! This is not helping anything right now!"
Jig tries to stand up. "Nothing is... uh..."
Melody Adagio flashes him another glare. "What now?!"
He slowly goes towards his coat.
Melody Adagio closes her eyes, biting her lip. She grips the couch and starts putting away her things. "I need to bandage your arm again. You don't want your stitches coming out, do you?" she sounds subdued.
Jigumundo clumsily wear his coat over his shoulders. "No time for this now. I'm going to find her... hng... Myself..."
Melody has had it. She walks over to stand in front of him, making sure he can't get away. He had to still be weakened enough for her to be able to do at least that. "Are you even thinking right now?" she looks him in the eye.
"Get off my way, Melody..." He says through his teeth.
"No.Ana said she would send for us.There is no point or use in you going anywhere right now."
â€This could take weeks!â€
"She said it wouldn't take long.She knows the area that clue came from.â€
â€She thinks so... But that doesn't mean she's right.â€
"You're not right all the time either, Professor." she hisses.
â€She might be falling into a trap right now and not comin back...â€
"And what are you going to do? Hm? Stumble around blindly until you just walk into Mortine by chance and pure luck?"
â€I have my ways....â€
"Your ways can wait." she plants herself firmly in his way.
Jigumundo said that with sinister tone like he's going to do that over corpses.â€No.They. Can't... Get off my way.â€
"No."
“I said GET OFF MY WAY!†Jigumundo's eyes glew purple for a second.
Melody doesn't budge. "It's alright to rely on others sometimes, you know..."
“We don't have time for such luxury... NOW MOVE!â€
Melody thought she saw his eyes change color for a second and seemed confused briefly, but went right back to being stubborn.
Jigumundo grows mad with every passing second. Melody could feel Aether around getting dense. The purple spark in his eyes appeared again.
"Instead of triapsing around the forest when we already have someone there actively hunting for them, why can't we just strategiz--!" she saw it again, and something made her skin crawl.
Jigumundo grabs her arm with his healthy hand and pulls her closer. His eyes glow faintly. "What good will it make now?!" Is the furniture began to shake along with small objects or she's crazy...?
"Jig...?" she winced at his grip and looked at him, feeling ill for some reason.
Jigumundo breathes heavily and glowers at her madly. The fire extinguished and nearby plants began to wither slowly.
"ANSWER ME!"
Melody moved out of sheer instinct and terror. Her hand flashed lightning fast and would strike him across the face, very very hard.
Jigumundo was taken by surprise. The slap was so hard it sent his glasses flying on the floor, cracking one of the spectacles. The force turned his face to the side with surprised expression. He instantly releases his grasp.
Melody stumbled away and landed on her rump in front of him. Her hand was numb from how hard she'd slapped him, and she was breathing heavily while watching him. She started to shiver.
JigumundoDarkbore falls to his knees, covering his face with healthy hand. His eyes were widely opened.
Melody could barely speak. Her heart felt like it was thumping right inside her throat. "I....I-I'm..."
Jigumundo sits like that paralyzed with the shock he just experienced. Things around them settled down as well as the aether density.
Melody gulps and feels the change in the air to her relief, but she can't seem to stop shaking. "I'm-" *gulp* "n-not sorry." she chokes out.
Jigumundo starts to shiver and hunches a bit almost reaching floor with his forehead. He grabs his hair. Melody could hear unstable breathing and... sobbing?
Melody watches him intently with wide eyes. She tentatively starts reaching out her numb hand, but hesitates to touch him. She slowly scooted closer to Jig's hunched figure and gently laid her offending hand on his shoulder. She was nervous to say anything, not trusting his stability right now.
Jigumundo pushed her hand away with shaking hand. "Don't touch me!" His voice cracked. Was he crying...?
Melody pulled back for a moment, but then scooted closer to sit next to him. She stayed silent and kept watching.
Jigumundo sobs silently. "Stay away from me..."
Melody doesn't budge. "I'm not going to run and hide from you if that's what you want..."She thinks to herself that that probably should seem like the logical thing to do, but chooses to ignore herself.
â€I'm going to hurt you...â€
Melody takes a huge gamble. "Willfully?"
"I don't know...."
Melody Adagio thinks about it for a moment longer and decides to take a seat on the chair. She waits for him to get himself together. They were going to finish this and she would wait as long as it needed.
Jigumundo straightened after some time. It took him a while... He just sits on the floor staring with tired eyes at extinguished fireplace.
"Whenever you're ready..." she was getting tired of waiting.
“What are you expecting...?â€
"Not sure..." she tested the waters. "I don't really know what to expect from you right now and it terrifies me."
Jig stands up, showing some pain on his face. "I... don't know either..."
Melody eyes him him warily. "That's even more terrifying."
Jigumundo hobbles towards the door looking down.
Melody hops up and stops him.
â€No...â€
"Jig…I'm not letting you run away from this.Also, your stitches need re-doing..." she notices blood and torn threads.
"I'm not going to..."
She doesn't care to argue anymore and starts pushing him back to the living area. "I'm not going to keep doing this. Go sit back down." she says darkly
Jigumundo's voice crumbles. "Melody.... stop..."
She shakes her head and grabs him in a tight embrace, not wanting him to go anywhere. "How do you think you can just walk out of here after that?"
Jigumundo speaks no more.
Melody grips him tighter. "Can't you say anything?" her chest feels like its tightening and tightening. What does she have to do to make this man stay put?!
Jigumundo, feeling Melody's embrace starts to shake. She could feel his heart pounding like crazy. He sobs quietly, shivering. His head fell on her shoulder, losing all strength.
She keeps her grip on him and feels her face crack into a cringe. "All I wanted to do was take care of you."
His healthy hand clinches on her back as he's embracing her tight, sobbing at her shoulder. "I'm so sorry......"
Melody violently lets out the breath she was holding when she feels him finally responding. She rubs his back soothingly through his sobs. "I'm fine...you didn't hurt me..." she's not sure if he is listening, but tries to comfort him anyway.
“But I would... and was close to..."
"But you didn't."
He shakes burying his face in her neck. "F-Forgive... m-me..."
Melody holds the back of his head and lets him get it all out. "I do. I forgive you." she nestles her face against his head. She tries to keep it together. This hurt worse than his angry words earlier...
"I-I should leave..."
She grumbles and keeps him right where he is. "For the last time, no."
"You don't understand..."
"I don't care."
"I'm dangerous... I could hurt you and everyone here... You can't do this, Melody!"
"Please don't leave me alone right now..." she squeaks.
"You want me to stay... even if I could snap at every moment and hurt you...?"
Melody grips him even tighter if that was even possible and starts quivering.
"By the twelve, what have I done..."Jigumundo hugs her with all strength he had left. Embraces her like there's no tomorrow. He gently pats her head while hugging her, trying to comfort the girl. "It's okay... it's okay... I'm here with you…. I'm so sorry!"
She is trying to hold in her own sobs by keeping her lungs full of air, but that wasn't helping too much.
Jigumundo let's her feel his touch on her cheek. "I'm here! I'm not going to leave you... Never. I promise." he looks like he's kinda freaking out right now...he starts kissing her forehead and cheeks.
Melody Adagio lets out the air in her lungs and tries to get fit over with quickly. "D-don't - gasp - do this - gasp - to me - gasp - again!" she says looking very upset with the waterworks pouring down her face.
Jigumundo just hugs her very tight, as strong as it's possible with one hand. "I won't..."
Melody is calming down now. "G-good!" she starts taking deep breaths to calm down.
"You are my precious, little treasure... I don't know what would I do if something happens to you... especially if I would hurt you..."
Melody's sobs have now turned into sniffles.
“ Please, say something...â€
She looks back at him when she was done. "I'm okay." she’s breathing almost normally and has calmed down.
Jigumundo lets her go and rubs his forehead. He tries to grab her hand, but he’s not very sure about it.
Melody lets him take her hand."I'm sorry…I could only handle so much after everything that's happened."
“ You don't have to handle anything... You've been strong. Stronger than I would ever be. Everything that happened today reminded me of something I wanted to push out of my memory for a long time...â€
Melody Adagio runs her thumb up and down his bare hand and moves to guide him back to the living area. "Talk while I fix you back up. You're bleeding all over the floor...â€
â€Right... forgive me. Did... Martsia ever mentioned any details about her family?â€
She opens her supply kit for the umpteenth time now and fishes out things to clean his arm with. "Some. Why do you ask?"
“It may be important...â€
Melody pursed her lips together. "She sure didn't tell us EVERYTHING, but ask what you need and I'll try to remember." she cleaned up the bloody areas and started pulling out the torn stitches.
“Is Mortine the only member capable of using magic?â€
"That, I don't know. She never even mentioned he was a magic user, from what I recall...Sorry, I don't have anything to numb this with…" she keeps pulling torn threads out of his skin.
“Well if there's one there may be more...I need to know... to get prepared for the worst.â€
Melody continues working while speaking, "From what she told us before, all that was left of her family was her father and brother-in-law. We were all under the impression Mortine was killed by her father."
“Who are they?"
Melody Adagio cocks her head..."Hm...I think her father's name started with a K...Kertaw...Kershaw maybe?"
"Kershaw... Kershaw Troy? I need to check that..."
"Don't quote me on that...I could still be wrong."
"Fine. But it's still some lead…The more we know, the better."
Melody finishes cleaning up the mess that is his arm and starts threading a needle.
"I have a feeling I heard this name before..."
Melody gets ready to start stitching the wounds again. "Huh? How is that possible?"
"I don't know. I might have heard of him. I can't remember now..."
She begins sewing his flesh closed, no hesitation. "I'll try to get this over quick."
He clenches his teeth answering with sarcasm. "Tch... Take your time..."
The smirk that appeared on her face felt nice in the middle of all this chaos. "Once we find them, are you really going to be able to fight?" She sounds concerned.
"I better be... I have some score to settle..."
"I can put this arm in a sling so you don't re-open these again." She works fairly fast, seems pretty practiced. "I have some things to help out a little bit too."
"I still have my other arm. Mortine knew how to counter and react to thaumaturgy... Someone must've taught him this..."
She nods, finishing up the dirty work and applying a thick paste to the stitch work. "Do you suppose we can assume there will be another magic user there than just Mortine?"
"Too late for assumptions. This is sure like death and taxes..."
"Alright. So let's say there are two highly competent mages, and likely her father and brother-in-law. So at least four enemies."
"We are going to need help..."Someone who might give us proper distraction or snatch Martsia while we provide one...but we will see about that when Ana's back...Listen, Melody..."
She's re-applied the burn ointment that got wiped off during their argument and is now bandaging his arm again.
"I'm sorry about what happened before..."
She stays silent as she finishes her work, not looking at him yet.
"If you want me to leave after all of this.. I will."
Her eye twitched. She put his arm back in his lap and finally looked at him. The hurt was plastered on her face. "I don't want that. But...you can't let it happen again."
He couldn't even dare to look at her.
She gets up and goes to pick up his broken glasses, feeling like that was warning enough. "These are no good anymore."Turning back around, she goes back to him and kisses his forehead gently. "Do you have any spares?"
He'd only shake his head. He looks like a mess.
She brushes the hair out of his face to get a better look at his green eyes. "Are you able to see well enough?"
"Could be worse"
His eyes look tired. The dark circles underneath were even darker and bigger than usual.
She gives his cheek a timid caress. "I need to get some more things from my room. You better still be here when I come back."
"I will..."
"I'll be right back." She goes down the hall for a few minutes.
Jig layed on the couch on his left side and closed his eyes for a moment.
Melody comes back into the room lugging a heavy-ish looking chest nearly the size of her torso, and a small blanket over one shoulder. She drops it down on the floor with a small thud, and sees Jig laying down already. With a small smile, she'd drape the small blanket over him.
He opens his eyes slightly and smiles faintly at her. "What's this...?" he mumbled half-concious already.
"Just working on a little invention."She says softly, giving his cheek a quiet kiss as she tucks him in.
"Should I be scared...?
She chuckles as she sits on the floor and opens up the chest. She looks at him real quick and adjusts her glasses with one finger. "Only if you’re at the receiving end." She pulls out a small cheap looking vial and shows it to him. It's packed full of red and black granular powder.
"What is this?"
She puts on a glove from inside the case and grips the vial in her fist. Her fist produces a fireball and she tosses it in the fireplace. A small explosion goes off.
"Firepowder...?"
Melody nods, "Black powder and fire sands."
"Where did you get that idea from...?"
She shrugs and pulls out a bunch of empty vials of the same variety as well as two sacks of the aforementioned ingredients. "I've just been thinking of different ways to play to my strengths. I even got to test them recently, so I know they're effective." She manages a grin.
"Clever girl..." he muttered.
"A... plus..."he's passing out again.
She watches him falling asleep and starts making as many explosives as possible. "Get some rest while you can. I'll wake you when I hear from Ana."
Finally the Professor drifted off to sleep and Melody continued making quick work of the reagents for her mini-bombs. After working on them for a few bells, she ran out of fire sands. Wanting to be fully prepared, she decided Jigumundo was deep enough asleep and she herself was mentally stable enough to make a quick run into town to make a quick purchase. She left a small note on Jig saying what she was doing in case he woke up. It didn't take very long for Clef to take her to the gate to Limsa. Once Melody was in the city, she made her purchases as quick as she could and headed back right away. She and Clef were just heading up the last few stairs when Ana's linkpearl went active.
RE: Rebuilding the Troys [MiMo FC and Associates Only] - E'jusana - 03-04-2015
Ana strode determinedly out the door, not waiting for Melody or Jig to put up a fight about her going without them. She crossed the yard, the sun beating down on her in the hot Limsan day, to the chocobo stables where her icy-blue feathered friend was sleeping in the cool of the shade.
“Come on Terra, we’ve got to go†she said to the bird urgently. She started gathering the reins and saddle as she spoke “We’re going home to find Martsia. Get up, we have work to do.†Terra looked up at Ana with groggy disbelief, snorted, and laid her head back down. Ana looked down at the stubborn bird and nudged her with her foot. “I know you just laid down but get your feathered arse up, we need to go, now!†as she finished Ana gave the ornery bird a good push and managed to get her on her feet.
The red-headed Moqo’te placed the gear on Terra without much resistance from her old friend and mounted her. “Alright, let's go!†she gave the bird a quick pat and they headed off towards the nearest aetheryte.
Dressed in her green and brown garb, Ana waited at the Carline Canopy in a darkened corner table for her meeting. Only a few moments passed before she saw three familiar faces, Ana smiled and stood to welcome them. She gave each of them a hug as they greeted each other.
The first to speak was a weathered yet handsome looking Miqo’te with jet black hair, a thin tail, and slightly sun-kissed skin. “It’s great to see you E’jusana, but what is your urgency?†he said with concern as he sat down and rested his chin on his hand. A younger Miqo’te with strawberry blonde hair and fair skin chimed in with a soprano voice “Yeah, sis', what’s goin’ on? We don’t see you for six months and then you show up out of the blue with all this swift secrecy.†The third was a tall, fair-skinned Elezen. His chocolate brown eyes matched his hair and as he spoke he laid a gentle hand on Ana’s arm, almost intimately. “Are you alright, Ana?â€
Ana examined the three old friends sitting in front of her matter-of-factedly. “It is very nice to see you all again. We can catch up later but right now a friend of mine needs us and I need you to help me find her.†Ana caught them all up on what all had transpired at the Midnight Moogle and showed them the envelope containing the berry branch. They all agreed to help and started dividing up the area into search patterns. Ana wrapped a shawl around her crimson locks and all four of them headed out.
Ana and the Elezen had been scouring their appointed areas on the map when her linkpearl went off. The soprano's voice spoke softly through the creamy pearl, "We think we've found something of interest. You said your friend's brother was a black mage, correct? This area of forest is all withered and has signs of thaumaturgy everywhere, you'll want to see this." Ana collected the coordinates then she and the Elezen rushed to meet the others. When they drew nearer the location indicated Ana noticed the unusual dead plant matter and signs of burns on tree trunks and surrounding vegetation.
As they approached Ana dismounted and spoke softly to the others. "Good job," she nodded to the two Miqo'te. "There is a house several yalms away. We haven't seen any signs of life but the area seems to indicate at minimum of four Lalafells have been here recently," the male Miqo'te reported in a whisper. "Thank you. You all have been very helpful," Ana looked at her surroundings and to her friends deep in thought. "It's almost like the life has been sucked out of this area of the Shroud," her eyes furrowed and then she said adamantly, "I'm going to call for the others, things might get bad very quickly and I do not want any of you here when it does. You all have done me a great favor, do me one more. Please, leave this place. I cannot have any of you here if things go sour. I love you all and will contact you when it is safe to do so."
She gave each of them a hug farewell and sent them away. The three left trusting Ana knew what she was doing and that her Midnight Moogle family would be strong enough to support and protect her. They swore if she died that they would seek revenge on not just this friend's family but on Ana's new family for not keeping her safe.
Ana safely hid Terra nearby then went closer to find the house. She silently moved through the forest to a tall, leafy tree where she could keep watch on the house in question yet not be seen. With little effort Ana climbed the tree. Once situated she pulled out her linkshell and activated it. "Melody, I think we've found where the Troy's are keeping Martsia" she whispered into the pearl. She gave the details of the area to Melody then heard her familiar voice say with excited panic, "Send me your coordinates and wait there for us."
|