summonerd | i just wanna know: who broke it?

Ah... some, [she says, with a humorless half-laugh.] I know the basics, I think?

[She swears under her breath at his warning. (How is he even hearing them coming before she does, anyway? Maybe it's like Colette's angelic hearing.)

Sheena grips the knife tightly in her hand, half-hidden by her sleeve, even as she mentally runs through her options. It'd make for a cleaner escape to leave no one alive, but it's not like she's fast enough to kill more than one person before they can even call out, and it's not like most of the people they're likely to run into were responsible for what Tethe'alla has done to Zelos, probably. The hallway widens into a crossroads ahead of them, with no chance to avoid being seen by the small group of servants heading their way, laughing and gossiping. That laughter dies abruptly, the group freezing in place as they notice the blood all over the Aegis and his driver. Sheena rocks back on her heels, gauges the situation. This is going to suck.

One of the servants opens his mouth to say something, maybe to shout, and she pulls out one of her smoke bombs, tossing it to the ground. (Suddenly she's very grateful to Colette for asking if she'd wanted to stop in at Mizuho before they set off looking for Exspheres properly.) His yell breaks off into a cough as the smoke fills the hall, and Sheena turns, her hand closing over Zelos's wrist as she pulls him to the opposite direction that the servants had come from.]

That won't last long. This way!

[With their cover blown, they should just climb out a window and be done with it. It'll be easier to hide until dark in the city. She breaks into a run, wanting to be well out of sight by the time the smoke fades. It won't take much time, in a hall this big.]

[Alright! We've been spotted! This is officially going to hell!

Sheena grabs him by the wrist and pulls him along, and Zelos actually has half the mind to get out of his passive state of 'oh my god this is happening' and starts thinking of what the fuck they should do. He quickly queries his own database for the plans of Tethe'alla's castle and starts mapping out an escape route, hoping and praying that they won't be running into too much resistance on the way. He marks a promising route, checks it, makes a choice. It should be good enough for now if everything goes according to plan, but he keeps the floor plans in mind just in case he has to change the heuristics later on the fly if something blocks their path.]

"Best chances we got are we find the staff wing and follow a route down to the ground level, then make our way outside into the gardens. There's a maze, but I can guide you through it. After that, though," [he huffs,] "you're on your own, 'cause I sure as hell don't have a map of the fucking wilds."

[With a swift move as they round another corner, away from the smoke-filled hallway, Zelos manages to maneuver his hand so that he's gripping at Sheena, too, then sends a spark of ether down to her where the two of them touch. It should feel like a small jolt for her, so he sends a quick apology her way as Sheena glows for a moment. It's nothing too fancy or complicated, just a quick speed-enhancing ability of his he never got to use. It's the only thing he can offer right now that isn't offense-based.

Then he hears shouting, followed by footsteps, and curses. Well, shit; that took him by surprise. He didn't even feel it. Zelos clicks his tongue.] "Don't think I'm gonna be able to predict who's after us anymore, either," [he warns as they run into another hallway.] "The ether in the air is too chaotic. Pretty sure the entire castle's on high alert now!"

Edited 2019-03-11 04:22 (UTC)

Wait, you have a map?

[That would have been helpful to know earlier!! The jolt startles her, and Sheena glances down at their joined hands then back up at him as she realizes what it did. She's definitely going to have to ask him about that one when they're not running for their lives. She'll keep holding onto his hand for the moment, just in case the spell needs them to stay in contact.]

We'll have to go the long way to get to the staff wing, I think. [She's pretty sure that's where the group they ran into had been coming from, at least. Circling around shouldn't be too bad, so long as they're not caught... They hit another fork, and she hesitates, the shouting seeming like it's coming from the direction they need to keep heading in. The door to one of the rooms just down the hall is ajar, though, a suite with a just-visible connecting door to the room next to it, and she pulls him towards it, ducking inside and closing it before anyone sees.]

Just until they pass by.

[Maybe she shouldn't have jumped straight to murder! She takes the moment to catch her breath, as quietly as she can.]

"Duh? Course I do? It's the one bit of classified info I can access freely?"

[They take refuge inside a fancy room that Zelos quickly recognizes and decides not to think too hard on. Architect, he hates this place. Suddenly the idea of getting the fuck away from here seems more and more appealing, the chant of freedom mixed with the tick tick tick of his anxieties in his veins intoxicating and perhaps a little dizzying.

Alright, okay, fucking hell, now that they're not on the move he has too much time to think. Zelos needs a distraction. Okay. He lets go of Sheena and huffs loudly, shaking his hands about in the air to his sides, getting ether to coalesce at his fingertips. There's something he wants to try, now that they can actually do it, if he wants to make himself useful at all in this great escape. He keeps his eyes on the ground and focuses, pacing for a few minutes, and then raises his open right hand in front of himself. Waits a few seconds as ether snaps in his hands. Come on, it shouldn't be too hard. It should be fine. Come on, come on, come on--it's not like he doesn't know how to do this, it's ingrained into his brain--

There's a flash of orange at his outstretched hand, ether finally gathering and pooling until it starts to take shape, something sharp and powerful and and ready for use. It falls into Zelos' hand and he immediately takes it, adjusting the weight so he can hold it without problem. It's light. It's familiar. It sets off something in his brain, tactics and ideas and something pre-set in his systems slowly coming back online like revitalized yet atrophied synapses.

It's so overwhelming that Zelos ends up laughing, a little manic, still high off the emotional rush.] "Oh. Good." [Then he grins, dismissing the sword with a sigh.] "Thank the fucking Architect I can still do that."

It would have been helpful to know, is all! [Sheena starts, but falls silent when he does, leaning against the wall. The footsteps approach, but they don't slow as they pass the room; she holds her breath as they go, anyway. As they recede she turns her attention back to him, watching as he paces. It's weird seeing Zelos this unsettled, in a way that she's still not sure how feel about, but they can take a couple minutes for him to get it out if he needs. From the look of the room, it's not in use, just clean and ready for the next dignitary to need it.

She fidgets a little, takes the time to make sure she knows where everything is stashed away in her pockets for when she needs them. Just as she's starting to get impatient, about to open her mouth to ask if he's ready to go, he stretches out his hand, and--

Oh.

It's much bigger than the swords she's used to seeing Zelos use, almost comically so to her, but he lifts it like it's nothing.]

Since when could you-- [... Right, not the same Zelos.] That's a neat trick.

[The sharp surprise pops in their ether link and Zelos is filled with something that's kind of half pride, kind of half mischief, absolutely, a hundred percent smugness. He turns around after dismissing the sword, hands on his hips, and smirks. It's the kind of smirk that's usually telling that the person wearing it is laughing on the inside. It's the kind of smirk that falls into place perfectly when one is trying not to think about how everything sucks because something funny just happened and by god, you're going to take that distraction.]

"Why, thank you so much, honey. I am pretty neat," [Zelos laughs, bowing, knowing full well that he's full of shit but riding the waves of this ridiculousness for as long as he can. He straightens back up and speaks again before Sheena can get anything in.] "Now, before you get us killed because you don't know how to drive a blade," [he gestures towards Sheena with one hand,] "why don't you try it while we wait this out?"

[Ah. There we go, that's the Zelos she knows. Whatever she was expecting him to say, it definitely wasn't that! Sheena lets out a little laugh, blinking at him in surprise.]

What am I gonna do with a sword? You're the one who knows how to use them, right?

[Oh my god she did not read up on the blade system.] "I mean," [he begins after a laugh, gesturing between them both with both hands now as if to drive (ha!) the point home.] "You are my driver, and I am your blade. You're supposed to wield my sword while I stand around looking pretty and powering you up. That's kind of the point."

[Given Sheena's been using a knife and has mentioned having cards in her arsenal, Zelos... might be better at this than her, actually. But. The point still stands; drivers wield their blades' weapons. Sheena has to take responsibility for awakening him, because considering the fact that he hasn't ever been in a fight before, the thought of Zelos wielding his own sword is actually kinda terrifying.]

Edited 2019-03-11 06:04 (UTC)

I'm not your anything, [she says, automatically, a frown growing onto her face. It's not a strong reaction, though, without any spike of emotion to accompany it, and her expression shifts into something more thoughtful as she listens. She'd rather have him to back her up, now that they're both armed, but...]

I can... try if you want, I guess? Not sure I'll be much use with it, though.

[Wow! That was rude! Zelos kind of mentally recoils a little when she says that, but settles back up just in time to smile smugly at her next words. Well, the anxiety's back, that's for sure. He just wants to know he can at least count on his driver doing the most basic of driver responsibilities so he doesn't have to think about fighting the people who fucking created him.

Maybe if he annoys her into it she'll do it. Hm. Weird train of thought, but okay. Zelos clasps his hands together and grins.] "Pretty pretty please, Sheena, my sweet and wonderful driver, try summoning my sword!" [he says in a sing-song voice.

Someone put him out of his misery.]

[Oh, that anxiety catches her in the gut, hard enough to make her wince, and she pauses, eyeing him uncertainly. She hasn't even been reunited with Zelos for an hour, and she's already messing things up, isn't she? But then his words have her hackles back up, getting under her skin just enough to make her want to do it. Just like old times, really.]

Alright, alright! [She feels kind of dumb stretching her hand out like this, copying what he'd just done, but it's not like it can hurt anything. Their connection is so loud and immediate that it's easy to find and reach for, though she's not entirely sure what to do. Maybe if she just treats it like a summoning? It's not the worst idea she's had today, at least.]

Aegis of Tethe'alla, I summon thee!

[Holy shit. Holy fucking shit, Sheena, what the fuck was that. Holy shit. Oh my fucking god. Zelos was going to push his ether at her so that Sheena summoning his sword would go smoothly, because she's a rookie that needs help to do things apparently, he really was, but then she pulls this? He stares at her outstretched hand for a second, then snaps his gaze to meet her eyes, and then just barely manages to catch the roar of laughter that pushes its way up his lungs and out of his mouth.

Zelos turns around and away from Sheena to laugh at her in peace. He sets a hand over his mouth to muffle his laughter while the other curls around his stomach and just. Laughs. Holy fucking shit. He's going to cry. Suddenly Sheena's the best driver ever. He wants to see her do that again soon so bad.]

Wh-- Hey!

[Ohhhh, she's turning red now. That outstretched hand comes up to cover her face, though it does nothing for the wave of mortification that washes through her.]

Don't laugh!

[Holy fuck, okay, shit. Zelos takes a few more moments to calm the hell down, slowly turning around to face Sheena again. He lowers the hand from his mouth and gives her an incredulous yet shit-eating grin, the 'what the fuck was that' question already on his tongue, when he hears shouting. He draws in a sharp breath and freezes, wide violet eyes falling on the door a second too late.

With no more warning the door they came from bursts open with a loud bang. Zelos, startled, feels all of his ether snap in his veins, then start boiling with unrestrained panic when he sees a couple of soldiers rush in and try to surround them, feeling the ether wavelengths from their weapons as clear as day--their blades' weapons, then. Something fiery and something electric. High class. Shit, shit, shit--they're dealing with government drivers. This is bad.

It's like time slows down exactly at that moment, as Zelos' mind quickly analyzes both drivers and their weapons, trying to find weaknesses and opportunity points, calculating, mapping out courses of action, hoping they won't die. A nasty realization comes to mind together with that thought; he has to protect Sheena. At least until they get the hell out of here, because if she dies, they both die, and then Zelos will have to deal with the repercussions of this mess, and who knows what kind of measures Tethe'alla will be willing to take to get rid of Sheena's influence on him--

One of the drivers rushes forward. Hot ether gathers at their sword, and without thinking through his ingrained instincts Zelos rushes forth to meet them halfway, sword coalescing in his hands in a blast of orange light, ether sparks flying about as he successfully blocks a hit definitely meant for Sheena. Smart move; kill the driver, take the blade. He grunts with the effort and the wisps rage in his gut, unused to this, but presses with all his might until he's shoved the attacker out of the way.

He twists to look at Sheena over his shoulder, panicked and breathless, and shouts,] "Sheena! We gotta go!"

[Sheena jolts as the door bursts open, whirling around where she stands, much too close to the soldiers bursting through it. (Now who's getting sloppy, Sheena?) She shouldn't have gotten distracted, but here she is, in a very bad position. Zelos's panic in her veins mingles with her own spike of anxiety, offputting and foreign enough to freeze her in place for just a moment. Oh, this isn't good. Why the fuck did she put her knife away to try and summon his sword?

But then Zelos gets between them, sword taking shape, and she breathes a sigh of relief, bearings caught.]

Right!

[The first attacker being pushed back means that they're blocking the doorway for the other one - good. Sheena pulls out a card with a quick movement, throwing it over Zelos's shoulder at the stumbling attacker. It doesn't have as much of an effect as she'd hoped, something about the mana in this place harder for her to shape, but it's enough to hurt them a little, it seems. She whirls on her heel, glancing at the windows on the opposite wall. They're tall and opened to air out the room, the sheer curtains waving gently in the breeze - perfect. She gropes for her knife as she darts to it to cut the screen, gauging the distance to the lower roof below. Even if Zelos messes up the landing it won't be too bad, she thinks.]

Out here!

[Sheena looks back, one boot on the windowsill. The soldier she'd hit is shaking off the effect of her card already, but there should be time for Zelos to follow her out. She jumps.]

[Well Zelos certainly wasn't expecting for Sheena's cards to actually hurt when she mentioned she had them, if he's being honest. He kind of just pictured she was going to give people deadly papercuts or something. But, okay, they're not dead. Holy shit, they're not dead yet! They might actually have a shot at this!

Zelos dutifully keeps his eyes on the two drivers as Sheena makes her way to the window, sword at the ready, ether pooling around him. He's so on edge that if anyone moves even just a centimeter he's going to fucking fry them with pure, concentrated ether. Or, at least, that's his threat until the other driver--the one with the electric blade--rushes at him, and Zelos quickly, barely dodges, twirling on his heel and crashing his sword against theirs, then pivoting their sword off their grip with a quick move. The other curses and Zelos steps back. Fucking shit, he has no fucking idea how he did that. Then he spots something odd that gives him pause: where the hell are their blades?

He has no time to dwell on that when Sheena calls out for him, and he barely manages to make eye contact for a second before she's already jumped out the window, leaving Zelos spluttering. He stares at the spot where she'd been slack-jawed for a second, then remembers his attackers and sends off an ether blast their way to keep them back as he turns tail and jumps out as well.]

"Well now what!" [he shouts after he lands, because fuck being discreet now that they're officially breaking out of his gilded cage. The gardens are in full-view from up here, at least.] "We're doing rooftop runs? Really?!"

[She lands neatly, only stepping out of the way to wait for him to follow so they can't get separated. As if she didn't just jump out a window without him. It's fine.]

Better than getting cornered inside!

[With that, she turns to start moving again, but those blades that Zelos had noticed were absent? Here they are, one humanoid and one animal-shaped, having just climbed out a different window to block their path. The animal-shaped one - something large and catlike and crackling with the same electricity their driver had been wielding, roars, the force of the sound ringing in Sheena's ears like Volt's words and forcing her to take a step back towards Zelos. Great! She hates this. It's not so bad that she can't handle it now, but the momentary fear that rips through her leaves an awful taste in her mouth anyway, and she lets out a quiet "fuck." She grits her teeth, forcing it aside, and lunges, her unarmed strike aiming to knock the cat off-balance.]

I got this one! Can you handle the other one?

[Unfortunately for you, Sheena, Zelos felt that hiccup of fear in the emotional link. He staggers back a second and doesn't get to stop Sheena from rushing on ahead, leaving him reaching for her with half a protest in his mouth which he then drowns with a curse. Shit--his driver is scared of lightning. And she just went to take on the lightning-based blade on her own. Well, this is fucking great. Great! Fucking great.]

"Of course I can! Just don't get yourself killed!"

[Zelos still has his sword summoned in his hand, so when the humanoid, fire-wielding blade lunges at him with her summoned sword taken from her driver, he manages to parry the first hit. But he's off-balance. He's pushed back a little and the next hit manages to slash him on the shoulder; he cries out in pain for a second before he bites that back down, and then his instincts kick in and he blocks the next hit, holding the blade right there. Swords now locked, Zelos shoves as much of his own ether into his sword as he can until it's pooled in dangerous, harmful amounts, and then sends a blast out in the radius, mindful of Sheena's signature so that this spell does not get her.

It's a debuffing ability that should exhaust the blades in the vicinity and feel like a slow-creeping poison to any human. It should've hit the cat-like blade Sheena's dealing with. Hopefully. It's the least Zelos can do for her right now.

He watches the blade in front of him gasp and stagger, and when her weight is off his blade, he shoves her back.] "What do you think you're doing, huh?!" [he calls out, glowing, orange ether particles leaving his body where she cut him. He gestures at the injury, sneering.] "You're in deep shit now, you know that?! You just hurt government property!"

I won't if you won't!

[Sheena Fujibayashi is nothing if not an idiot who doesn't know when to quit! The feline blade dodges her strike, but it's left off-balance, and her second strike lands solidly. She circles to the side of it, looking for a better angle, but Zelos's yelp of pain breaks her concentration, and her gaze is wrenched from her adversary to him, concerned. For a second she forgets that the blood on his outfit is from the official she'd murdered earlier, hesitates; the blade takes the opportunity to pounce, summoning its blade to its mouth, and now she's the one off-balance. She recovers quickly, though, springing backwards to give herself more room. Shit.]

You okay?

[The cat doesn't follow through after that, the blast from Zelos slowing it down. It shakes its head in a fruitless attempt to clear it, and Sheena takes the opportunity to kick out, sweeping its legs from under it and sending it towards the edge of the roof, where it scrabbles desperately not to fall.]

[The fire blade collapses on her knee, heaving and trying to blink away the sudden exhaustion. Out of the corner of his eye Zelos can see the lightning blade slow down as well, shaking and fighting off this strong a concentration of pure ether. As if it could, Zelos thinks smugly. He is the fucking Aegis. The blades should be out of commission for a while until their drivers get here--if they weren't in the radius of the blast, that is. And Zelos kind of doubts that they weren't. He's starting to feel a little more confident about his own abilities like that.

But, okay. There's no way his attacks haven't alerted everyone to their position, so. Whatever. They need to leave. Zelos dismisses his sword and casts that speed spell again over himself and Sheena, then rushes over to her side and grabs her hand, pulling her along without even sparing a glance.] "I'll heal," [is all Zelos says to acknowledge her,] "But that thing won't last. Let's go!"

[He leads her to the side of the roof, over to where they can see the gardens, and jumps off while still holding onto her hand.]

[Out of the corner of her eye, Sheena catches one of the drivers at the window they'd come out of, starting to climb down. Definitely time to go, then, and she just nods when he speaks, turning her attention to the garden stretching out below them.

...Hm. The walls of the maze are close, and they look sturdy - a thick trellis with creeping vines rather than dense hedges that could never take anyone's weight.]

What do you say we go over? Going through would take too long. They'd just catch up.

[That's all the warning Zelos gets, as she launches herself off the roof with extra force, holding onto his hand tightly. She lands on the top of the closest trellis, tests to make sure it doesn't wobble too badly under their weight. So far, so good.]

[Okay, Sheena angles them onto the trellis, and when it doesn't give Zelos lets go of her and runs off with her to where the castle grounds end and where freedom begins. He can feel it in his body, taste it in the air, the tick tick tick tick tick incessant against his forehead the further he gets from the castle at odds with the pumping of ether in his veins, his ether lines, behind his eyes, the taste of agitated atmospheric ether on his tongue. It's dizzying. It's intoxicating. They are so close. Sheena will truly, really have broke him out if they manage to get to the other side. They're going to get out of here.

Holy shit.

Off in the distance, over the roaring of ether and adrenaline in his body, Zelos can hear a bunch of people already rushing out of the castle, some alarms, spells exploding everywhere he can feel. The hunt is on, it seems. But they can't stop him anymore. Grinning, high off the energy and the promise of freedom, Zelos slows his own pace a little so he lags behind Sheena a few steps, and then concentrates most of his ether to his feet, leaving behind a trail of burning greenery that soon catches fire behind them. The smell of fire quickly rises in the air, and in its wake Zelos starts laughing. Free, unrestrained laughter, something that's born from deep within his core and rises out the air not as smoke, but as clear, pure delight. He throws his head back. Dear Architect above, who knew that today was gonna turn out like this?

Fire growing behind them like a protective wall, the wake of their destruction a protection against pursuers at least for a little bit, Zelos follows Sheena on the trellis until they make it to the outer wall, then climbs over it, and

just like that

he's free.]

Holy shit! [she calls back to him with a laugh, glancing back to see the fire catch across the trellises.] They're never gonna catch up with that in the way!

[She lets herself drop from the wall when they reach the end of the maze, admiring the way the smoke rises behind it. They should keep going - they're not really safe until they can disappear into the city, and maybe find new clothes for the both of them - but their shared triumph is a hell of a drug. They can have a minute to bask in it, surely.]

[Once they're on the other side of the wall, taking a moment to catch their breath, Zelos turns back to watch the smoke rise with Sheena, breathing heavily. Oh my god, he did that. The chaos on the other side must be spectacular. Holy shit.

Now that he's stopped, every overwhelming sensation Zelos has been holding back crashes onto him suddenly. That dizzying feeling of freedom and regret and hope and fear and pride and gratefulness and everything all at once, conflicting emotions and thoughts, all of them pushing at him until he breaks under their weight. The air in Zelos' lungs leaves him in a wheezing laugh and right at that second his knees give out under him. He barely catches himself as he falls forward, head bowed and eyes lost on the dirt below as he fights the sensation, breathing heavily through a grin.]

"Ahaaaaaaaa, hooooly shit," [he manages to get out. He's shaking. His throat feels dry, and he swallows hard to no avail. Maybe that's just the dry hot air around the fire.] "Oh, Architect. Oh man. I'm--I'm outside?" [He starts to laugh.] "What the hell is my life?"

That was...

[Holy shit. That was a mess, but it worked. They're free.

She's not quite as out of breath as him, but with his emotional cocktail hitting her, it barely makes a difference. She lets herself slide down the wall til she's sitting next to him, placing a cautious, gentle hand on his shoulder.]

You've really never been out of there before?

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WE'RE ON THE RUN! LET'S HAVE A TUTORIAL

let sheena become a sword lesbian

I showed you my sword please respond

absolutely not

PWEASE

no dick jokes in my lobby

You're CENSORING HIM

I'M CENSORING NOTHING

GOOD MORNING I HAVE RUINED THIS MOMENT

IS NOTHING EASY

NOT WHEN YOU'RE STEALING GOVERNMENT PROPERTY

SHE'S GONNA PUNCH GOD IF ANYONE ELSE CALLS HIM THAT IN FRONT OF HER

Birth of a Wish plays in the distance

this thread is just "how many times can sheena have a stress reaction in one day"

I mean no one here is doing okay so she's valid

everything is fucked!!!

COMING OUT OF MY CAGE AND I'VE BEEN DOIN' JUST FINE

OUT OF THE CAGE AND INTO THE ARENA OF FUCKOR

YOU'RE GONNA DROP THEM LIKE IT'S HOT /NOW?/

NO BUT IT'S COMING