paixaorpg | Found You [active]

Entry tags:

Found You [active]

Character(s): Balthier, Fran, Setzer, Reapers, maybe?
Content: Balthier comes to collect his partner
Setting: Um.... Fran. At Fran. That can count as a setting, right?
Time: Late in the evening but not too late
Warnings: definitely some potential for violence

He had a location. Not a specific one by any means, but it was enough. Balthier really wasn't sure what to think of what had become of his partner. He'd seen her in similar possessed states before, true, but this... This was different somehow. He couldn't remember her ever mentioning anything about voices when the Mist had struck her previously, which made the sky pirate wonder whether or not the city's present inhabitants had anything at all to do with it. How they would he hadn't the slightest, but he had no other leads. It didn't matter in the end, really, just as long as he fixed whatever it was that was wrong (though he was certain the good doctor would be amused by all of this, not that he wasn't already).

Quite a bit of damage, wasn't there? From the fuss on the journals, he would have expected there to be more bodies in its wake. That there weren't provided him with a strange mix of relief and unsettlement. He was surprised that Setzer had accompanied him. They had only just met--brief chats on the journals aside. Balthier wasn't sure what his interest in these happenings were, but he had given the invitation to follow, and it was the gambler's decision to do so.

He heard the sound of what seemed to be a scuffle in the distance and began to head in that direction, wondering just what the viera's demeanor was going to be. Considering how she had acted over the journals, he doubted it would be anything pleasant.

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Most of the reason that Setzer'd come along was because things looked interested. Admittedly, he also had a feeling that it was going to involve the woman that Balthier'd been looking for, but at that moment that was taking a backseat to the thrill of having something to do.

And besides, having a spare pair of hands might turn out to be useful in the end.

((continued straight on from here (http://community.livejournal.com/paixaorpg/352004.html)))

Now, Kariya had a pretty high threshold of acceptable risk. For example: playing tag with a zombified bunny girl was perfectly acceptable for the simple reason that he could fly, and she, as far as he could tell, couldn't.

So he dodged her attack again, this time by kicking off into the air and perching on a horizontal flagpole sticking out of the wall a few meters up. Or - perching above it might have been more accurate. It was only barely still attached, and probably couldn't have supported him if he'd actually put any weight on it.

... Could've picked a streetlamp or something, but that seemed kind of unsportsmanlike. At least here she had wall to climb.

Judging himself safe for the moment, though, he hazarded a glance at Uzuki - and instead caught sight of something a ways behind her. Two somethings, actually, and approaching. "Well, that was fast," he commented.

Uzuki liked it when people hurried when she told them to. It was a refreshing change. Maybe she had been hanging around Kariya too long. Either way, figuring she was safe on her perch, she turned to see the approaching men. One of them looked like the one she had been talking to on her journal. Perfect; he could pick up the zombie and then that would be over with.

And then she could figure out what to do about the serious ramen shortage here. Maybe over a milkshake or something.

"Did you hear that? Your friend's here," she chirped to the bunny girl.

Given her ears, it would have been hard not to hear it. But hearing and recognizing were far different things at the moment - although she spent a moment to glance over at the newest arrivals.

Familiar clothes on one of them. The other, a stranger. And for just a moment the clamoring insistences to fight, kill, destroy of the voices paused as they murmured back and forth to each other about how to deal as she simply waited and watched, with a slight tilt to her head ready to run or fight as necessary.

It seemed he followed his ears well, if the scene in front of him was any indication. And, from the look of things, the situation had taken a turn for the violent. What had set the viera off, only she knew, but he could be sure her strange behavior had something to do with it.

It didn't take long for Balthier to spot the head of pink hair that belonged to the woman he'd spoken to over the journals. It seemed she had a companion, as well; one currently busy with keeping himself out of harm's way. Fran herself seemed to have paused, which was just fine with him, and he slowly approached, keeping his arms to his side.

"Looks like that away-time has passed," he commented, cocking his head to the side slightly.

Fights - both potential and otherwise - were something that Setzer had learned to recognize with a fair amount of accuracy during the years he'd spent running a flying casino. This one, or what he could see of it, had potential in spades. He'd seen tenser situations, but he couldn't shake the feeling that there was much to this then he could see. And he hadn't gotten where he had by doubting his feelings.

Not when all he had was the brief snippets of conversation that had been offered him. Hopefully his cards would be enough to see him through this regardless of what happened. In the meantime, he'd simply wait, although his hand slipped into the pocket he kept his cards in just to be on the safe side.

Yep, it was the same guy who'd been looking for her. And he'd brought a friend, too. Well, the more the merrier, right? Kariya squatted down where he was, as if tired of standing, but still without putting weight on the flagpole.

Still, now that they were all together, what exactly did Fran's buddy plan on doing? - that was what he wondered. It wasn't like they knew what was wrong with her. Unless they did.

Curious, he popped his lollipop into his mouth and waited, relegating himself to observer status for now. Kind of a bummer about the game, though. He'd been having fun with that.

Well, now that her keepers were here, it was time to observe. She didn't want to fight the zombie rabbit if she didn't have to, and it was looking like she didn't have to. Moving into a--floating--sitting position on her perch, legs folded one over the other, she waited to see what would happen.

Familiar clothes, familiar voice. No doubt who this was now. Not that there'd ever been any doubt in her mind at least. Not about who he was, anyway. Doubts about what the voices would force her to do, yes; but not about the things she just knew.

Not that it really made all that much difference. The voices were clamoring for blood, for death and there was no way to run from them. They were her, almost. Or maybe she was them. It made no difference really, not in the long run.

"Leave." A simple word, almost more snarl than word, and most likely directed at Balthier. If she could, she would see to it that he came to no harm - something she couldn't guarantee if he stayed.

Well then, it seemed as though the finders weren't going to be much help. Hopefully he wouldn't need too much, though with the look in Fran's eyes, the question of that was up in the air. At least it seemed as though the gambler was on his toes. A smart man.

Balthier began to wonder whether or not it would be best to take out a weapon or otherwise cast something now and be done with it. He would rather end this without violence, but that nagging feeling was beginning to grow--this wasn't going to be easy.

"Afraid I'm going to have to go over your head on this one," he replied. "Just come along with me and we'll see what we can do about this problem of yours.

If you asked Setzer, it seemed that 'come along' wasn't precisely going to be one of the things in the lovely ladies repertoire. Not with her looking almost berserked as she did. Which should have a fairly easy fix.

Provided someone's hand included Esuna, of course.

"Besides," he added, "it wouldn't do to leave this hand unfinished."

Even if it did have the potential for danger.

And finally, Kariya spoke up. "You two good to take her, then?" he asked, gesturing down at Fran with the lollipop. If they were, then he and Uzuki would be good to clear out, but it didn't hurt to check.

Uzuki's eyes didn't leave Fran. She would leave the talking to Kariya and the fighting to Fran's partner and his friend if at all possible; she just wanted to be rid of the rabbit zombie girl as soon as possible.

It left a bad taste in her mouth.

Problem? It was and it wasn't a problem. There were too too many voices in her head, too many dead voices. None of them should be there.

But they were there and they wouldn't leave. Wouldn't leave her alone, filling her ears with their demands, their cries of rage, their half-fragmented stories that made no sense. The only coherent message was the one that called for death.

"Too loud."

Balthier gestured to the gambler behind him. "See? Can't argue with that, can I?" he offered conversationally.

He turned toward the orange-haired man when he spoke up? "That depends," Balthier began, glancing over at Fran as he heard her speak next.

His next sentence was muttered. "But somehow I doubt she's going to come quietly."

Nor did Setzer, truth be told. And even more so after that latest statement from the lady in question. It was hardly any louder than you'd expect from a conversation, and even with those ears he'd expect that she'd have gotten used to the volume of your average conversation.

"What's life without a bit of excitement?"

So they could do the easy thing and go, or they could do the altruistic thing and stick around to help.

... Really, when he thought about it like that, it was no choice at all.

"'K, have fun," he said, straightening up (so to speak). Then he gestured to Uzuki with a quick upward nod of his head. "Uzuki. Let's bounce."

And with that, he disappeared. Well, it was actually a flash-step to the roof, but Uzuki was the only one who needed to know that.

Well, that response worked for her (for once). She giggled, having brightened considerably, and waved to the rabbit girl and her friends.

"Have fun," she chirped, following Kariya without so much as a backward glance.

Though in the back of her mind Fran's condition still worried her.

Even with the two gone, there were still far too many voices clamoring for Fran's attention. Not that she'd ever really cared about either of them, in the long run. They, like everyone else, would die eventually, either by her hands or by the hands of one of the others.

Besides, even with two gone there were yet two targets. And unlike the others, these two were close enough for a single blast of magic to hit them both.

"Leave," she reiterated, turning her gaze on the two left behind, even as a blast of Dark headed their way. They had been warned and they had not left. so they would feel the consequences.

"A fine time to take flight," Balthier muttered under his breath as the two strangers disappeared. He never said he wouldn't need the help, after all.

Though... truth be told, it was likely he would have done the same, were he in their place. An odd sort of irony, that.

Fran's voice immediately snapped Balthier back to attention, and he quickly moved to the side and watched the spell barely miss. The sky pirate whipped his head back in the direction of his partner and he sighed, "Well then... Hard way it is."

He immediately cast Immobilize, hoping to at least keep the viera's agility to a minimum. He couldn't say he was looking forward to being kicked in the head.

"Seems they've folded," Setzer remarked, pulling his cards out of his pockets. "We'll have to hope our hands prove satisfactory."

Of course, none of the spells he'd picked up over the course of his travels would be useful (they were mostly things like Sleep and Rasp, and a few of the earlier level healing spells) but the rules hadn't said anything about sticking to magic.

Play to your strengths, and hope the guy on the other end of the table doesn't see past your bluffs. Or has a better hand, but it was two on one and those were tolerable odds.

A flick of the wrist, and his cards were sailing through the air at their intended target. Not the sort that exploded, of course, although they were remarkable sharp for what were supposed to be simple rectangles of cardboard.

Not surprisingly, the Immobilize hit its intended target, the cards hitting only moment thereafter. After all, being effectively bound to a very limited area made it hard to dodge.

But even bound as she was, she wasn't about to go down easily, another round of Dark following in much the same vein as the first. Sooner or later it would hit. Sooner or later they'd die. Hopefully sooner.

Now that the Immobilize had hit, all there was left to do was to come up with a plan. He couldn't exactly use his gun, after all. He preferred to keep his partner alive.

Setzer seemed to have the right idea at the moment with the cards he was using. They weren't a weapon the sky pirate would choose, but they were obviously doing their job without doing too much damage, and that worked just fine.

His mind raced through every possibility he could think of, but, in the end, he came up with nothing. At least, nothing intelligent.

In a move he knew he'd be chastising himself for later, Balthier charged forward, going through the Dark spell and heading straight for Fran. He grit his teeth against the pain that went through him, stopping him in his tracks and pushing him back a few inches before he broke through and continued on ahead, diving for the viera.

He couldn't take her in hand-to-hand, but if he managed to be quick enough and keep her down, he wouldn't have to.

Well, that was certainly something that Setzer would never have thought to try. A desperate gamble, that, to say nothing of the fact that he had no real idea of what the spell that had pinned the lady to where she stood was. And given that, that wasn't going to be a gamble that Setzer intended to take.

Of course, with Balthier running in, he couldn't count on his cards hitting their intended target. But no matter, he'd simply hold his attack for the time being. He was mostly present as a sort of back-up after all and he'd be ready should his help be necessary.

While Fran might have been effective pinned in place as far as her feet went she wasn't entirely immobile, snarling her anger for all to see even as Balthier charged at her. She couldn't kick, but she still had her nails and her arms were hardly pinned.

Of course, she had to wait until Balthier was in range to strike, but that was easy enough. It wasn't like she had anywhere she could go to, after all.

You're a fool, you know.

It was the first thought that came to his mind before he began to work off of impulse. All he knew now was that he needed to find some way to calm her down, or at least keep her from ripping him apart.

He closed the distance between himself and his partner, intending to make an attempt to pin her arms once he made contact.

Hopefully that would give Setzer opening enough.

It might not have been an opening of the sort that he preferred. After all, he generally preferred his openings to either fewer people in the line of fire. Not that he didn't have enough control over his cards to ensure that accidents happened relatively infrequently, of course. But this was no time to think about accuracy. Balthier had done what he could and now it was his turn.

Sadly, his cards were not likely to be the best option here. They were made mostly to inflict pain, not knock someone out. Esuna was out too; if she'd actually been Berserked she wouldn't have been casting that spell she'd been using. But there were other perfectly valid options.

Sleep, for example; the spell leaving his lips only moments after he came to the conclusion. Hopefully it would work to its intended purpose.

If she had been displeased with finding herself Immobilized, Fran was furious to find herself pinned. She couldn't strike out with any suitable force, but she wasn't going to submit tamely to being pinned, claws lashing out at anything she could still reach as she desperately tried to win her freedom.

Sadly, she was doomed to failure as Setzer's spell hit... and held. Interestingly, while it worked as perfectly as anyone could possibly have hoped, it also revealed something not only interesting but also possibly distressing. As the spell hit, a small handful of nearly fist-sized points of light flickered into existence, spending a brief moment circling her ears before vanishing from sight once again.

Balthier grit his teeth, attempting to keep the viera in place. He glanced over at Setzer from time to time, silently bidding the gambler to make his move. He could only do so much for Fran right now.

The sky pirate felt his partner go limp in his grasp and could only stare at the strange lights that had appeared and disappeared so suddenly. Something told him that was the problem right there, though exactly what that problem was, he hadn't a clue.

"Right then. Let's get her inside, shall we?"

Well, Sleep certainly hadn't had that effect on a regular basis at home. It was one of the least flashy of the spells he'd seen. Whether or not that was a usual phenomenon with Balthier's partner he couldn't say for sure, but it was most definitely an point of not-quite-right in an otherwise familiar hand.

"I doubt we'll be able to come up with an answer out here." And even if they could it would likely be better discussed somewhere more private. "Will you need help carrying the lady?"

Edited 2008-11-28 20:44 (UTC)

Balthier had had similar thoughts, and he'd glanced over at Setzer to see whether or not the light show was commonplace.

Obviously, it wasn't.

Yet another mystery in this place... he mused to himself.

"If you would be so kind," Balthier replied, shifting so he had a better grip on Fran. "And if you happen to know the location of the nearest hotel..."

Of course he'd be so kind. He hardly would have offered his help if he hadn't meant to make good on his offer. For good or for ill, he'd dealt into this hand; he wasn't going to bow out while his hand still held.

"It should be that way," he answered with a nod in the appropriate direction, as he moved to hep support Fran's weight. "We just have to hope our luck holds true."

Sleep would only hold for so long, and there was no saying what effect what those balls of light would have on the spell. And that meant there was nothing for it but to trust to his green-eyed Lady. He liked it better that way.

Balthier's gaze slid to his partner. Still sound asleep--good. He didn't need her waking up and causing trouble again. "I only hope the gods are in a particularly good mood."

"So, any particular reason you decided to come along? Was it curiosity or the need to be a good Samaritan?" the sky pirate asked, deciding small talk was better than silence.

Mostly it had been boredom, initially. At least as far as why he'd decided to strike up a conversation with a perfect stranger. But that wasn't the reason he'd actually jumped at the chance to help out.

"Let's just say that I'm no stranger to being concerned about a friend."

"Makes sense enough," the sky pirate replied, though it hadn't quite been the response he'd been expecting. Indeed, he really had half-expected boredom to be the response.

The fact that part of it had been boredom wasn't a card that Setzer was going to show just yet. He had no real idea what would come of it, and there was a perfectly good alternate explanation - the one he'd offered in its stead. Other options he'd had were for the thrill of something new(ish) and curiosity, but no matter. An answer was an answer.

"I take it the lady isn't usually like this?"

Balthier shook his head. "Not unless there's a particularly nasty cloud of Mist about, but somehow I doubt that was the case," he replied. Even if it was, the only thing he'd seen that was similar to what had occurred was in Mjrn's case, and she had been possessed.

Possession... That might be the answer. "I imagine whatever it was that happened had something to do with those lights that appeared."

Mist was it? Somehow Setzer had a feeling that Balthier wasn't talking about the kind of mist he was used to. What exactly this other sort of mist was wasn't horribly important though. He could pick up a few things from what Balthier had said, and that would do for now.

"I don't suppose you have any idea about what they were?" They certainly weren't anything he was familiar with, after all.

He shook his head again. "Not in the least. Something either native to this place or to another, likely." He paused, an idea coming to him, before he continued. "Or something to do with the thing that decided to wreck this place..."

Well, that was unfortunate. He'd half-hoped that at least one of them would have an answer to that problem. But no matter. It had to have an answer, all they needed to do was find it. Which could, of course, be a problem in its own right but no matter. Not every hand dealt was an easy one to deal with.

"That monster people were talking about, you mean?"

"The very same," he replied. "Only know so much about that, too." He paused briefly in mid-step. There had been something about the souls of the dead in the explanation for the creature, hadn't there? But it was best to get a second opinion.

"Have any theories?"

Theories weren't generally Setzer's strong point, much less ones that involved things that he wasn't particularly familiar with. And so far, he hadn't seen anything that resembled to lights either here or back at home.

"If it's something that belonged here it probably would have shown up sooner. Given the timing I'd almost be inclined to blame that monster as being the most likely cause."

Balthier nodded. So they had the same thoughts. Though it was hard to imagine that those lights could possibly be the souls of the dead. Perhaps he was too much the skeptic.

It wasn't too long before they arrived at their destination. "Here we are."

Whether or not they were the souls of the dead wasn't particular high on Setzer's list of things to worry about. At the moment he was more interesting in making sure the sleep spell held probably. After all, he wasn't looking forward to having to dodge attacks from this range.

"Will you be able to manage from here?"

"I think so. Just a quick trip up to the room and everything should be taken care of," he replied, adjusting his grip on Fran. "I take it this is your exit?"

"For now," Setzer answered. No doubt there were other things to find in the city, and he hardly wanted to interfere in someone's personal life. "Time to see what other hands the city has to offer."

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Found You [active]

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