Adustio sat by the steps of the temple, waving a slow goodbye as yet another of his fellow Watchers slowly ran out of power, dissipating into nothing. Adustio let out a long, pained sigh. "Only five of us left now..." He muttered, gazing over to the remaining Watchers. "How did it come to this...?" He muttered again, the same sentence he had been repeating to himself several times ever since they were sealed in that necklace. Suddenly, a tremor started on the temple, Adustio held on to the steps and waited for them to settle down before he stood up. "What was that...?" He asked out loud.

In truth, that tremor was actually an earthquake in the outside world, an earthquake that had happened right where a small village resided. This small village had, unknowingly, been built right above the necklace's resting place. The tremor had, as well, set loose a few roots and stones, opening a small crater on the outskirts of the village. Fell pray to this crater two kids, twins, Cain and Alaine.



Adustio looked around, a bit desperate. "Can everyone hear that? Please tell me you also hear that and i'm not going mad." Adustio smiled weakly. "I think someone found this necklace...Finally..." He let out a short sigh of relief.

Aldous looked up, the grave lines of his face showing optimism.
"Should the necklace be received, we can ensure our own survival... and perhaps, in time, the resurrection of our brothers." He strolled methodically over to Adustio, the way an advisor might approach and emperor. "The future of our kind is unclear at this point, but one thing is certain, should we be given the opportunity to use our powers then it would be our duty to the entire world to ensure we exercise that opportunity... Whatever the cost." He sat down beside the Sun Watcher, staring out into the abyss that suffocated their prison.

With an abrupt interuption Mu's eyes snapped open. Well, not really. Mu had developed a habit of sleeping standing upright and his eyes open. Then again, he wasn't really sleeping. Gods did not need rest, but their powers did have a limit. When the first watcher disappeared, Mu had taken action to preseve himself for as long as possible. By putting himself in a near-state of stasis, Mu prevented himself from wasting away. Untouched by time itself. And now, he would be rewarded for it.
Uncrossing his arms, he approached Aduisto his voice booming "Fear not brother, for I also feel it."
Mu did a quick head count as he walked. One, two, three... four.

With a creak and a snap, Garnyti started to walk over to his brothern. "Must be the truth, unless we all be mad," the tree like figuire spoke in a low scratchy voice, "But its probably just some lost creaton. Don't get your hopes up just yet." he stared up into the abyss, "Even if we do get out, who knows how twisted our beloved Primor has become due to our younger brother..."

"There's pessimism and then there's just plain dispairing Garnyti," Mu replied to his ligneous brother. "It may be as you say, but we will accomplish nothing by merely waiting." Mu turned to the rest of his watcher companions and spoke, "For many long years I slept, waiting for the day the hands of fate send something our way. My patience grows thin, and I do not wish chance to be the judge of our fates. We must proactively approach these events so that this creaton will release us from this prison."

"Mu is correct" Aldous stated, refusing to separate his eyes from the encapsulating darkness. "though our powers are no doubt too weak to do anything substantial, in due time we can craft this lost soul into a mechanism of escape." The wrinkles of his face outstretched into smile "Optimism, brothers, is all we can possibly have right now. For I doubt we'll live for another chance."

Adustio remained quiet, his eyes closed but he nodded with each thing his brothers said. "It must've been at least a few thousands of years since our imprisonement. Primor has undoubtedly changed, as soon as we get the chance we should ask our host for information..." Adustio looked over to the big white sphere at the center of the temple. "Speaking of our possible host..."



As soon as Alaine started falling, the first thing she noticed was that, for some reason, it felt colder. When her back touched the ground was that she realized, weren't there steps behind her on the altar? Then why did just simply reach the ground now...?

More importantly...Why did the ground feel so plain even though she was in a cave, what happened to the dirt? As Alaine slowly opened her eyes, the first thing that came into view was the sight of a tall man with long blond hair and with small feathery wings popping out of where his ears were supposed to be. Alaine looked at him for a moment before screaming and desperatly trying to run off. She stopped suddenly when she realized that, wherever they were in, the place seemed to be...floating? She was shaking, she looked again over at Adustio and this time also noticed the other three men that were in there. She quickly tried to cover herself by hiding behind the closest tree she spotted.

Adustio put his hand on his chin, thinking. "A young human female..." He said before snapping out of thought and saying. "I apologize, no doubt you're confused about what's going. First off, my name's Adus-"

He was cut off. "PEDOPHILE! SOMEONE! HELP! PEDOPHILE!" Adustio dropped his head and sighed. "This is going to be harder than i imagined..."

[OOC: I hope the comic's quality is being satisfactory? I'm going for quantity > quality so...]

"Even if the one who found the necklace wants to help us,", Aphdeagos said, in a calm voice, seemingly unconcerned with the sudden change of situation, "we have to go against the full might of Livor and Angarius. He could not destroy us before, but who can tell if he's capable of it now. People believe in him and Angarius, and would gladly kill anyone who stands against them. I'd estimate the life expectancy of anyone carrying our necklace... at around five minutes. Our chance is less than one to a million. I say, why not try? Even if they kill us, we can still say we tried. Well, can't exactly 'say', but... you know what I mean".

OOC: Consider it satisfactory. For this type of role-play, I agree that the quantity is more important than quality. Though we can slow things down the instant we see a rather large drop in quality.

IC:
Mu was overjoyed. Fate had dealt the five of them the cards they needed to set this game into motion. Though the child before them appeared to be less than willing to cooperate.
"Miss," he began addressing the human. "No one has any intention to harm you. We only wish to know. I'm sure deep down you must have questions of your own such as, how you got here perhaps?" Mu paused to let the girl speak, but when no response came he gave a little chuckle. "Well, if you are so keen on not associating with us, than may I suggest you step away from what you think is a tree."

Adustio nodded towards Aphdeagos. "You rise a fair point, we should try to maximize this girl's power before we put her against Livor..." Adustio turned back to Alaine. "...We need to actually get through to her first..."

Alaine had been pretty much ignoring what they all were saying, trying to force her eyes open as if trying to wake up from a bad dream. She then heard Mu's comments towards 'what she thought was a tree'. As head that, she slowly looked up to realize that the 'tree' she had been holding to had an humanoid form, most notably, it had the shapes for eyes and mouth, which glowed. Alaine's skin went totally white as she slowly stepped away from the tree, her legs shaking as she fell kneeled on the floor, tears streaming down her face. "I want to go home!"

Adustio sighed, he then slowly walked over to Alaine and gently tapped her head. "Like Mu said, none of us want to hurt you. Just answer our questions and then you'll be home soon, good enough? What's your name?" Alaine sobbed one more time, before cleaning her eyes with her hands. "M-My name is Alaine Heros..." Adustio nodded in approval. "Very well then, Alaine we have some questions for you, think you can answer then?" Alaine's cheeks were still slightly red from the crying, but she sighed and then shook her head. "Yeah okay..."

Adustio smiled. "Very well then...First..." He thought for a moment. "I take it you know about a man named Livor...Or maybe Angarius?" Alaine nodded. "Lord Livor...He's the immortal ruler of the world..." She said with a bit of a frown and not really seeing the point of that question. Adustio continued. "Do you know how old he is?" Alaine blinked a few times, suprised by the question, she scratched the back of her head and then started. "Well...No one really know his age for sure since he himself stopped counting it but...From what i hear he's over six-thousand years old." Adustio put his hand on his chin. "Six thousand, we've been stuck in here for that long...? Most importantly...How did Livor manage to keep Angarius preserved during all this time, even if they're both immortal wouldn't his body have alredy decayed by now...?"

While Adustio thought, Alaine rose her hand, as a student would ask a question from a teacher. "I have a question..." Adustio snapped out of thought and nodded. "Of course...Let's do it like this, an answer for an answer." Alaine nodded, happily, seeing it as a bit of a game. "Uhm...Where are we?" Adustio casually responded. "We're in a magically created fourth dimension which has that necklace you touched and big white sphere over there as gateways between one another." Alaine blinked. "What...?" Adustio sighed and then pondered for a moment. "We're in a magical place inside the necklace..."

Alaine responded with a simple short 'oh'. She then looked down and noticed she was still kneeling, she got up and casually dusted her pants. "All right, your turn to ask!" She stated cheerfully. Adustio frowned. "She's seeing this as a game..."

[OoC: I think so long as the panels can convey the scenario then the quality isn't an issue. I personally think you have an eye for picking just the right shots. The whole thing flows quite nicely, and that's all that matters.]

Aldous at first stood in disbelief, optimism had turned into luck, they had a mechanism for the freedom of themselves and of the world. He decided not to waste a moment longer, he needed to know if she would cooperate. Approaching Alaine with certainty, he knelt down slightly and looked her in the eye, "Child, if you had the power to stop Livor, and free the world from his reign, would you?"

Alaine blinked in disbelief once more, she was about to open her mouth but then said nothing. "Well I..." The words were frozen inside her mouth, she took one deep breath and said. "I...I don't know..." She then frowned, realizing that really wasn't too much of an answer. "I mean...Admittedly i did hear of him doing some pretty rough things but...If Livor didn't rule Primor...Then who would...? I mean, after all, he IS God and who would reign if he wasn't here?" Alaine frowned, wrapping her arms around herself defensively. She then turned back to then. "My turn...Why would you want to take Livor down?"

Adustio had his hand on his chin again as he wandered around and thought. "No wonder some explanations are in order...Very well, Alaine, i'll give you the short version." Adustio turned to Alaine and started. "Livor isn't really THE God, more like A God. He is one of us, a Watcher, the younger of us, actually. Long ago he sealed us in this necklace and has been reigning the world himself ever since he put us in here. The seal also has been slowly weakening and killing us, so you can have an idea, there were over a hundred of us when we were sealed...We might be able to ressurect them though, through you." Adustio sighed as he looked around the temple, pratically deserted.

Alaine frowned, she was awfully confused by all that was happening, but considering that she was on a floating temple and had just recently tried to hide behind a living tree...Trying to understand everything around here was pretty much out of question, for the time being, at least. "I'm sorry..." She muttered, looking down. She gently brushed her light brown hair out of her face and then continued. "I...I can try to do what you ask me to in order to bring your brothers back but...I could be putting the whole human race in danger by taking down Livor."

Alaine stopped for a moment and sighed, there was too much being dropped on her at once, one moment she and her brother had tripped into a hole, the next she's talking to a group of Gods about taking down their youngest brother who apparently has been ruling the human race since...Well, since pretty much forever. That's when it occured to her. "One more question. My brother, why isn't here with us?" Adustio smiled weakly. "He wasn't the one to touch the necklace, him and...Well...Your body are still in the vault, you're probably just unconscious." Alaine dropped her head. "He must be worried sick about me...Uhm...Do you guys have any more questions...?"

Garnyti let out a low growl, "Foolish Child, This is no game!" His glow slowly shifted to a red, "When you witness your kin die due to the actions of one who you took under your branch, then will you understand!" The wooden figuire staggered towards the girl and stood over her, "I understand your worry for your sibling, but our cause is greater, will you aid us? or not?" His color changed back to its normal green.

"Now, now Garnyti," said Mu as he lightly pushed him away from the girl. "You've endured 6000 years of imprisonment. There's no need to rush things now."
Mu turned to Alaine kneeling down so that they could see eye to eye. "I'm sure your brother won't mind if we borrowed you for a little longer." He took a deep breath before continuing. "How about you answer a more personal question instead Miss Heros? Are you happy with the world you live in?"

Alaine slowly stepped back away from Garnyti, her eyes widened as the tree towered her. "I..." She stuttered and gulped thin air, but then Mu intervened. Alaine looked at Mu, letting out a short 'hmm' to show that she was thinking. "Well...When you put it that way..." She pondered on it for a while longer and sighed. "I still don't really understand what's going on but...Okay, i'll help you guys out as i can. Livor's been bleeding the world dry for millenia, or at least that's what i hear..."

She stuttered for a moment, shy from speaking out her mind, afraid of the beings in front of her, but she finally managed to speak up. "Still...I hope you have a plan better than just simply bursting into the front door, guns blazing and hoping that solves everything. It's just...I don't want it to be a war or something. There have been revolutions against Livor in the past, all of them ended the same way, though..." Alaine frowned again, wrapping her arms around herself defensively.

Adustio listened in, his thinking expression never leaving him. Guns blazing...? What's a gun...? He wondered.

"Do not worry Miss Heros," replied Mu. "We may be gods, but 6000 years of imprisonment have put a toll on our powers. If we are to take action, we must do so with caution."
Mu turned to his four brothers nodding. It seemed that they had managed to get the girl to sympathize for there cause.
"One last order of business Miss Heros. Though my brothers and I are most overjoyed that you are willing to join our cause..." Mu's voice changed to that of a more serious tone, "We are going to swear to it. As regretable as it is, you are our only hope, and we cannot have you just ignore this whole conversation and leave the necklase when you return to your world."

Alaine blinked innocently. "The idea didn't even cross my mind, honest." She spoke in a serious tone, although with a bit of a frown. "Do you want me to swear to help you?" She questioned, dropping her head to the side in confusion. "I'll do the best i can, i promise!" She smiled cheerfully. "Is...Is this what you meant?" She smiled nervously, afraid of what Mu meant by that. "You're not gonna make some kind of creepy blood ritual on me, are you?" Although she was joking she stepped back a bit, realizing that, considering the circumstances, that wasn't really an impossibility.

"No, none of the sort will be required." Aphdeagos tried to calm her down, "for the moment, anyways. We don't seek the death of anyone who doesn't oppose us. We only need to recover our strength to put an end to Livor's reign. Freeing you humans of being forced to worship something you don't want to comes from that."

Mu smiled at the remarks fired from both Alaine and brother Aphdeagos.
"Just as Aphdeagos says," he said, his voice softer this time. "We hold no intentions of performing any uncivilized rituals or infringing upon your freedoms. I merely want a promise that goes beyond just your word." Mu extended his hand, making a fist while keeping his pinkie finger outstretched. "Do pinkie swears still exist in your world?"

Alaine smiled cheerfully, she nodded in response to Mu. "Yep!" She stretched out her own pinky and swore with Mu, then saying the small poem related to it.

"Cross my heart
and hope to die
stick a needle in my eye
wait a moment,
i spoke a lie
i never really
wanted to die.
but if i may
and if i might
my heart is open
for tonight
though my lips are sealed
and a promise is true
i won't break my word
my word to you."

She then smiled cheerfully once again. "I didn't even know pinky swears where THAT old. Uh..." Her face then flushed red with embarassment and she shook her hands defensively. "N-not that i'm trying to call any of you old or anything!" Adustio chuckled some.

Aldous chimed in, a smile encompassing his face, "Child, you don't live for half an eternity without perceiving age as a good thing." He straightened himself out and looked out into the abyss again, "Though the past few thousand years have been a disappointment, I'm hopeful that the future is good for us oldies." He chuckled, returning to the group. "Well I suppose we should get started. Brothers, child, how shall we begin our return?"

Adustio rose his hand as if calling attention to himself and stated. "First things first, no matter how we go about with handling this situation, i think it is pretty obvious little Alaine here will have to fight at one moment or another, as such, i think it would be fitting if we got her some combat training. Even with our powers, she'll need to have practice to use them effectively." Alaine blinked as she heard Adustio speak, she then reminded herself of something important.

"Oh! My uncle can probably help us! He is the guard captain back at the city and he no doubt could teach me a thing or two if i gave him a good reason. He also isn't really satisfied with Livor's reign, of course, he'd never speak up against it since it would get him fired instantly." Alaine frowned and looked down at her feet. "To be honest, me and my brother were alredy on our way towards his home when we fell in the hole and i bumped into this necklace..." She chuckled and scratched the back of her head.

"I guess i should've told you...Me and my brother, we're kind of running away, from an orphanage." She chuckled some and explained it better. "It's a small orphanage which takes in kids whose parents were...Criminals...And gives us "food and shelter" in exchange for work, so we end up spending most of our days crafting bags and trying to sell stuff on the street." Alaine frowned again, followed by a sigh as she continued. "And of course, if no one's adopted us by the time we turn 18, they just dump us in the street...Several of the people at the orphanage have relatives at the nearby city though, it's name is Novus Spes, by the way."

Alaine wrapped her arms around herself as she started to pace. "I know the mission is important but...Since the subject was brought up...Could we try to free the other children from the orphanage?" Adustio put his hand on his chin, thinking. "Our mission should take lots of priority...But then again, from what you're telling me, these children are all in dire need of help...What do you all say about this, brothers?" Adustio turned to the others.

Aldous gladly added his opinion, "It seems to me that we want to free our creations from our brother because his reign is tyrannous, and now our creations are also subject to another tyranny. I believe it is only right if we do to all tyranny as he would to our brother. We will pay the child by freeing her friends, testing her abilities and proving our pure intents in the process." he took a breath and looked to his brothers, "Agreed?"

"Indeed," replied Mu to Aldous' suggestion. "We are in no position to go after Livor at our present state anyway. Freeing orphans should prove to be more than an effective first test."

"Go after... Livor..?" A small, dry sounding voice pitifully cracked it's way into existence from somewhere off to the side, in a small niche that was generally left untouched by the others. The air there was thick with dust, and the area had been unchanged for so long that it had long since begun to blend into background. A small, warm bed was the only thing there. And now, for the first time in over six thousand years the from nestled beneath the thick blankets had begun to shift. After a bit of struggling, those blankets were pushed aside and the bed's occupant gave a wide yawn before pushing themselves up into an almost-sitting position. They seemed to be a young girl, her brown hair bedraggled and her large eyes slightly teared up from her yawning. She had a large, ragged cloak draped around her, obscuring most of body from view- though it seemed like the rest of her clothing was just as poorly off from anyone could see. "What... Where am I?" Slowly, she brought her arms up and gave a nice long stretch before swinging her legs over the side of the bed and resting her bare feet on the floor. The girl looked around for a couple of seconds, then gave a confused look in the direction of the others.

Aldous looked over to the awakening girl with vivid interest, "Aarutii" he said almost bewildered, "What once was five has become six. This is incredible, I had feared that you would never wake up." He turned back to Alaine, "Child, your presence here has already awoken one of own. In this respect I would say that we owe you a great deal of gratitude."

"Five, six... Uh..." Aarutii's confusion grew slightly as she pondered what Aldous could have meant, then grew even sharper as she took note of the unfamiliar girl whom her brothers seemed so interested in. "What the..." she began, a curious note in her voice as she made to purse her lips, "Who is that? I go to take a bit of a nap and you've already replaced me!?" She looked angrily between each of her siblings, especially Audistio. "And I heard you talking about Livor- what are you planning, hm? You should know better than to pick on your little brother-" her gaze drifted again, picking out each of her siblings, "All of you should be ashamed of yourselves!" That said she gave a little "hmph", just to emphasize her feelings, and reached up to rub at her throat. It was kind of soar, and her mouth felt dry- how curious. Aarutii shifted herself a little, pointedly turning her head away from the others in a very disappointed and surprisingly (or perhaps unsurprisingly) childish manner.

Adustio blinked a few times, staring at Aarutii, it was good that she was back, no doubt, but she seemed not to remember that...Oh...Right...She was one the first to fall, maybe she didn't remember? Adustio let out a short 'uhm' before starting. "We've replaced no one, this is Alaine, she'll be the new Angarius and...Alaine?"

When Adustio took notice, Alaine had alredy rushed her way over to Aarutii and was staring up towards the woman. Alaine waved one of her arms as if trying to call the woman's attention even though they were pretty close. "Hi! I'm Alaine Heros! Nice to meet you, you're a Watcher too, right?" Alaine questioned cheerfully.

Adustio sighed and dropped his head to the side, then clearing his throat and continuing. "Aarutii, i think maybe you should try to remember what happened before you...Fell asleep. Livor betrayed us, we're sealed in this place. Alaine there is actually kind of our only hope for survival, believe it or not." Alaine frowned and let out a short 'hey', but it remained mostly in the background as Adustio continued. "You were one of the first to fall after the seal was put...We've been locked in here for, apparently, six thousand years. The six of us, are the only Watchers "alive" at the moment." Adustio, after speaking those words, waited for Aarutii response, his calm expression never leaving his face.

For a moment, Aarutii considered her elder brother's wise, wisdom filled words of wise...ness. Then, that done and forgotten, she gave a bit of a laugh. "Livor betray us? Psh- maybe you lot, but not me! And come on," she turned her gaze on the rather happy looking Alaine before her, "Her? Our only hope?" She reached out, pulling the girl into an odd sort of hug, "But she's so cute!" A moment passed, and she released the slightly bigger girl from her grasp. "Sorry um... Yes, I'm a watcher too. My name's Aarutii, but you can call me Aaru- Aarutii's kinda bothersome to say over and over. Alaine's a much nicer name, though, you should be happy with it. I... Um..." The young Watcher trailed off a bit there, before giving a big smile and noting, "Sorry, I kind of forgot what I was talking about." Reaching down to smooth up to run her fingers through her hair, Aarutii gave a less than pleased "hmph", "I hate it when my hair gets like this. When it's all messy like this it just doesn't feel good."

She continued to fiddle with her hair for a bit, running her fingers through it in a futile attempt to try and comb it down some, though she eventually stopped. "So... New Angarius, huh? The old one's not doing as well as we'd meant, then?" She gave a bit of a sniff, rather unbefitting the attitude that she'd displayed so far. "Or is it that he's doing too well?" ... "Livor really betrayed me, then..?"

Adustio sighed. "He betrayed us all...Yes. He's sealed us in an enchanted necklace and, from what i gather, has been ruling the world himself using the Old Angarius as his avatar. From what we've gathered from Alaine just now as well, he is taking the role of a tyrant. I know you two had a close relationship, however, i speak nothing else but the truth when i say, and i repeat, Livor betrayed us and nearly doomed us all to disappear. If you still can't believe it, you'll get the chance to see it for yourself soon enough."

Alaine raised her hand as to call the Watchers attention towards her, but just then she noticed, her hand was slowly disappearing. She let out a short scream. "Waaah! What happened!? Why am i disappearing?" Adustio signaled with his hands for her to settle down and explained. "Your physical body is likely waking up, we will still be able to communicate with you once you're awake, you just won't have an actual body in here. We'll communicate with you through that white orb at the center of the temple." Adustio signaled over to the orb with his head.

Alaine nodded in understanding. "Got it! Well! I'll see you guys later then!" With that said, it only took a few more moments for her body to completely disappear. "Follow me." Said Adustio as he headed over to inside the temple. Arriving there, the big white sphere at the center of the temple slowly started making images, showing the world through Alaine's eyes.



Adustio examined the situation, he then spoke up. "Alaine! Can you hear me?" Alaine's voice immediately replied, echoing through the temple. WAH! You scared me! You guys are being like...Voices inside my head, it's disturbing! Adustio chuckled. "Well, you better start getting used to it then. At any rate, from what i see, you alredy know how to get out of this cave?" Alaine's voice took a bit but then replied. Well, yeah, i think so. I mean, you guys did say i would get "powers" by being the Angarius, does that include increased strength and speed? Adustio nodded, even though she couldn't see it and then answered. "Yes, your physical skills have also been boosted, i think you should be able to jump out through that hole with no problems, just aim carefully so you don't bang your head on the ceiling, though."

[OOC: This update will have a few more pages than normal, i'll go updating the rest along the weekend as I finish them. I take, roughly, from three to four hours to make a page if i'm going at full speed and without interruptions, so i'll probably be finishing the next page tommorow by my lunch time (4:00 PM GMT). Then i'll post the last one probably around 8:00 PM GMT or 9:00 PM GMT. And then i'll be taking a rest otherwise my hands will die.]

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[OOC: Since no one posted yet, i'll go ahead and update the second part through an edit.]

You are all really sure, right? Adustio sighed. "Yes." Okay then...



Adustio let out a short 'hmm'. "You should be careful with your new powers, if you are not, you'll likely end up hurting those close to you." Sorry... "Don't apologize to me, apologize to your brother."

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[OOC: Done.]



I...I...Should I tell my brother about this? Adustio shrugged. "Makes no difference in my point of view, i think he'd find out sooner or later." Adustio just then turned once again Aarutii. "Aarutii, i apologize, no doubt you have questions about what has happened ever since you...Slept. I can answer them to the best of my abilities, if you wish."

[OOC: I don't think i've ever drawn so much in so little time before, feels great, to be honest.]

[OoC I like how the comics shaping up, it's a more interesting way to portray the story ]

Aldous approached his brother by the sphere, leaning in to talk to their new Angarius, "Alaine, while I cannot imagine a perfect way to explain the situation, I would insist that you try to be tactful. You must assure him that you are still you, and are in no way a threat. People, even family, are often scared by power - We know better than anyone"

"Hmmmpphh." Garnyti remaind silent, for the most part, follwoing the others into the temple when beckoned, "Our last Angarius would of made a perfect landing, and anyone he was carrying would of had a gentle ride." He crossed his wooden arms, slivers flying as the creaked. "I don't like her. I don't like this situation. I don't like orphans." He finally noticed that their sister had woken up, "Oh...your awake little one. I guess thats good." He went back to his ranting, but it turned more into harsh, bitter mumbling no one could hear.

Aarutii seemed rather deep in thought for the whole of Alaine's little mishap- which explains the lack of incessant laughter. However, at Audustio's prompting, she actually bothered to pay a bit of attention to what was going on. She remained silent for a while, not bothering to comment as the others did. Or at least she was quiet until Garnyti decided to chime in. As the larger, er, plantier man began to speak, she simply smiled. And by the time he'd begun to devolve into griping, she'd begun to laugh. And she continued to laugh for a good bit afterwards before finally letting it trail off. That done, she took a few steps towards the orb, holding her arms out to either side and attempting to walk in a perfectly straight line. "Alaine?" She said when she'd finally gotten close enough to the orb to communicate through it, "You should just tell him the truth. He's your brother, and you love him right? Then he deserves to know what's going on." That said, she turned back towards Audistio and gave a bit of a smile, "It's okay. I was asleep for a while, and I don't want to think that Livor would try to hurt me... Or any of you, I suppose. But I'll get over it. I mean hey, I'm the one who helped give people emotions, right? Pretty sure I can deal with mine." She topped that off with a big smile before leaning over to whisper, in a very conspiratorial manner I should note, to the orb, "And don't worry about greeny- he's like that about everyone!"

"Telling him would be a bad idea, child", Aphdeagos said towards the orb, "he's your brother, but yeah, he might not trust you if he were to realize your power. Or worse, he could try to take the pendant from you. Actually, you shouldn't let anyone know that you have that pendant, and if I were you, I'd make sure your brother keeps it a secret, too."

"Quite frankly, I believe telling your brother is the only option," interjected Mu towards Aphdeagos' comments. "He already suspects the pendant, so he will likely try to take it either way. Though you may want to exclude the part about us watchers. Conversations with the non-physical usually gets one suspected for mental illness. We also cannot have word of our return spread across the lands, for risk of jepordizing our plans."

Alaine listened carefully to all of the Watchers comments and then concluded. Judging from all of the suggestions, the overal point of agreement would be to go telling Cain about the whole thing, just not all at once. I'll inform him on a strictly need to know basis for now... She commented, with a bit of a frown.



"That...Went better than i anticipated..." Commented Adustio. I think he's still very curious...But he's just in a hurry to get to Novus Spes. I'm more surprised about him agreeing to go back.



Uh...I don't...

(OOC: I apologize for the lack of consistency in my style throughout this comic.)

Aldous spoke up, "Young one, before you get carried away you should know that revenge is not a part of justice. Your aim is to free your friends, an encounter with the proprietor is hardly even necessary - probably not in fact." He paced around, engaging his mind in the mechanisms of maximizing effects, "Once the children are freed the establishment will be shamed, so the cruelty of the proprietor will be ended forever without need for violent conflict. If there is any part of the building in which the children are gathered during the day, we should go there. Freeing them quickly and at once is necessary to a successful operation. I may also recommend a disguise of sorts, or at least the discretion of your peers. The last thing we need is the whole world knowing of your name and powers."

"BAH! brother is a fool, don't listen to him child." Garnyti taking an interest spoke, "If you do not squish your problem now, who is to say it wont come back? And what of those kids you free? where will they go? If traggity strikes, they might recieve pitty at the least, if you free them, they will be street running orphans!" Even though she couldn't see it, he talked using his hands, swinging them enthusiastically, "Be the light that lurks in the shadow child." He started to mutter, "And if you can pull that off maybe I'll start to respect you..."

'This is a bad idea. Anyone who knows about your powers is a threat to you, at this point at least.' Aphdeagos spoke, 'However, if you make sure no one besides the proprietor will see you, then, theoretically, it can work. And the proprietor won't speak against you once dead. You see what I'm getting at, do you? If you can stomach that, then by all means, go ahead. But if you don't, you better turn back, like, right now.'

"No one is dieing while I still have a say in this!" boomed Mu, immediately after Garnyti and Aphdeagos had finished making their points. He took a moment to regain his composure before continuing. "The last thing we need on our already large list of problems, is how to deal with a psychologically disturbed child. Besides, why would we have to kill someone when knocking him unconcious will suffice?"
Mu paused again, evaluating how the others felt of his objection. He spoke up again, as if to make one final plea.
"We must keep a low profile, so we might as well teach the girl to be stealthy and cunning now than later."

Aldous reiterated his point, "I don't even think the proprietor needs to be touched. Such a despicable and cowardly man would run from someone with capabilities beyond that of a human. If a conflict does transpire, which I find unlikely, a simple demonstration of strength should throw him off - we'll see if he feels aggressive after being lifted off of the ground." He paced about raised his thumb to his chin in thought, "I agree with Mu about stealth. We'll never defeat Livor by brute force, we need tact."

Noting Aarutii still hadn't made up her decision, simply grunted and spoke on the orb. "Alaine, we still haven't decided what to do with the proprietor, feel free to get started on the rescuing, however..."

"All right..."



Adustio simply sighed. "Remind me in case i forget, we need to teach you how to control your new strength, urgently."

Noted...Sorry.

Mu strained to expand his senses into the real world. Alaine's attempts at being sneaky had not worked out as well as he had hoped, and he wanted to make sure the noise did not alert the proprieter. To his dismay, the only sensory details he was receiving was the images from the sphere. Best to assume the worst case senario.
"If I may Miss Heros," Mu began. "It would be best if you seek a place to hide. The proprieter must not know of your presence. As for the other orphans, ask them to feign ignorance regarding yourself and the broken duct."

((OOC: Well, turning this into text until i'm 100% free again.))

Alaine looked up to nowhere in particular when Mu spoke. "Okay, got it."

Alaine looked back at Cain, who was doing his best not to slip and slide down the vent. "Cain, try to clim back a bit, I think Headmaster Ron might've heard us, we're going back a bit." She then turned to all of the others, who were now staring at her. She forced a smile. "I know this wasn't exactly a good entrance, but we're here to get everyone out, when the Headmaster shows up, don't tell him we were here."

The other kids all looked amidst each other, not really looking like they approved of the idea. Alaine and Cain managed to climb their ways back into the vent, just in time a loud creak was heard coming from the door. Headmaster Ron, a middle-aged men, around his 50's, short gray hair and with huge cheeks and most of his mass being fat. "What's all this rack- What the hell did you kids do with the vent!?"

All of the kids looked at each other again, not really sure of what to say. Headmaster Ron started approaching, all indicated he was about to look inside the vent. A girl stepped right in front of him, she had blonde hair which was held in two pigtails, she had shiny brown eyes and a very pale complexion. Between her arms was a small white teddy bear with a red ribbon on it's head. Judging by her size, she'd be probably around 8. "I-I'm sorry, Headmaster Ron. I acidentally got my bear stuck to the vents...And then when i tried to pull it ou-" She didn't get to finish the sentence, Ron smacking his hand across her face. making her face turn slightly red and the teddy bear to fall to the floor. "Livor damn it all. You kids today just have no sense, do you?! Do you know how much money you just cost me now?"

Ron grabbed the girl's hand and started pulling her out of her room. "You know how it works, bad children will be made an example of!" The girl squirmed a bit but then subdued, following Ron as instructed. Once the headmaster had left the room, Alaine and Cain quickly slid out of the vent. Alaine turned to the children that were still around. "Okay, just follow this vent and it'll take you outside!" The kids still seemed a bit scared at first, but after the first one of them went through the vents, to others all promptly followed.

Cain looked at the vent and then back at the door. "That girl...If i'm not mistaken her name is...Luz Sana, if i'm not mistaken. She might've just as well sacrificed herself for us to get out...I can't even imagine what the Headmaster will do to her when he comes back..." Cain then turned to Alaine. "Sis, we can't just leave her here, we have to go get her out too." Alaine put her hand on her chin, pretending to think.

Well, what do you guys all have to say about this...? It'll ruin the "perfect" escape but...

"What exactly did he mean by being made an example of?" Aphdeagos wondered, "Scratch that, we'll have to get her out. Follow them and just make a chandelier or something fall on him. It's not necessary to kill him, just knock him out cold. And remember: he must not see you!"

Aldous hummed into thought, "How about a rag of some kind to use as a mask, or a shirt. Just something basic to hide identity. I'm sure you could use that super strength of yours to incapacitate him without explicitly harming him. If you can run fast enough, and with our held you should be able to, simply run into the room, grab the child, then run out again. Crumple the door handle so that it won't open as you leave. The proprietor will be trapped, for some time, while you can get the children to safety."

"Falling objects still have a chance of killing. If simply knocking him unconcious is what we want, humans have a handy thing called pressure points. One of the easiest to strike being around the neck area. I say, the best course of action would be to sneak up behind the proprietor, knock him out, and lead the child to safety. If that plan does not work out, than you can simply fall back on brother Aldous' plan."

Adustio let out a short 'hmm'. "Let us have Alaine disguise herself, as suggested by Aldous. She'll sneak into the the proprietor's office and knock him out by applying strength to one of his pressure points." Alaine interrupted, a bit hesitantly. "I'm sorry to be ruining everything again...But i don't really know where any of these pressure points are, i might just end up hurting the Headmaster. He was mean and all, but i wouldn't feel well about killing him." Adustio grunted, another incovenience, it would all be so much more pratical if they could control her direc- Maybe they could...?

Adustio spoke up. "Alaine, i'm going to try something, take a deep breath and try to clear your mind." Alaine replied. "Understood." Meanwhile, outside of the necklace, Alaine took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Cain stared at his sister in confusion. "Uh...Sis? What are you doing?"

Back inside the necklace, Adustio pulled his sleeves up. "Let's see if this works...!" And as he finished saying that, he sticked both of his hands inside the bright glowing sphere through which all of the Watchers had been seeing through up until now. In a moment, Adustio's body was absorbed the Sphere and in the other, Alaine came out of it, stumbling a bit as she landed on the inside of the temple, opening her eyes and looking around. "Uh...? Wh-What did you do?"

Back outside, Alaine's eyes shot open, her pupils had been substituted by Adustio's emblem. Alaine's posture had straightened up a bit as she looked at her own hands, moving them a bit, as if getting used to them. Cain repeated his question. "Sis...?" Alaine slowly turned to Cain, her voice now ringing a more noble and deep accent. "Worry not, brother. 'Tis nothing that requires your concern, I will go rescue that maiden now." Cain just stood there, staring. "Why are you talking like that...?"

Meanwhile, back in the temple, the real Alaine tried to understand the situation. "Did he just kick me out of my own body...?" Adustio's voice echoed around, much like Alaine's did while she was in control. "It would seem to be I did something of the sort, yes. The body is now completely under my control...However, i feel that it's trying to kick me out...Were the circunstances different, i might be able to hold it for long, but, due to my powers still being a bit restrained, i don't know how long i'll be able to keep like this, i shall hurry to rescue the girl."

Adustio rushed out of the cafeteria, running at incredible speed, Cain stood there, confused, not really understanding what had just happened. Where can I find something that can be used as a mask? Alaine thought for a moment and then answered. "I have a scarf which i used to keep in my bag back in our sleeping room, you could use that." "Understood." Adustio got to the room in a matter of seconds and after a short search, found the scarf, it was a red scarf with small flame-like designs on it's edges, he wrapped it around Alaine's face and then pressed on for the Headmaster's office.

Arriving there, in his hand the Headmaster was wielding a small wooden ferule, he paced around the room, looking at Luz, who was sitting in the center of the room, with her head down. "You might've just cost me just a few dozen of doubloons. And for what? For a teddy bear!?" Luz simply whimpered in response, not daring to raise her head. The Headmaster grunted and shook his head. "Unbelieavable...Hands!"

A bit hesitantly, Luz would stretch her hands out, the Headmaster would raise his hand and then bring it down to smack Luz's hands with...Nothing? He stared at his hand for a moment and then suddenly felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, his vision dimmed. Adustio watched as the Headmaster fell to the ground as he spun the ferule in hand, he'd look over at Luz. "Are you all right?" He'd ask in genuine concern.

Luz would have her eyes wide open, not really believing what she had just saw. She'd run over to Alaine and glomp her, wrapping her arms around the other girl. "Thank you..." Alaine's body would then, suddenly, start holding it's head, as if suffering from a sudden headache.

Back inside the necklace, Alaine was abruptly pulled back inside the sphere and Adustio blasted out of it, his body smashing it's back against one of the temple's pillars, he'd grunt and then slowly get up. "The rejection is simply too strong...I think using our powers while in control only makes it worse..."

And then, back in the real world. Alaine snapped back into her own body, blinking a few times before she looked down at Luz and replied the hug lightly, careful not to hurt the girl. "W-Well then...Let's get going." She'd comment, Luz nodding in response. Just then, Cain would arrive at the room, panting. "Wh-What? Alaine! Don't just ditch me like that!" He'd sigh and then notice the Headmaster unconscious on the floor. "Oh wow...You did this?" Alaine would laugh and scratch the back of her head. "Sorta." Cain would squint his eyes, now Alaine was talking normally again...What the heck was going on? The boy would shake his head. "Anyways, now that this is done with, let's head over to Novus Spes and then get a ship to the capital so we can find our uncle."

Luz interjected. "I'm-I'm sorry but...Could I come with you? I don't really have anywhere to go..." Cain sighed and crossed his arms. "I don't even know how WE are gonna get a ship for the two of us, three will just make everything harder..." Luz would frown and look at the ground, looking like she was about to cry. "B-But I..." Cain would interrupt. "Buuuuut, we can't just leave you here can we? We'll take you with us until you find somewhere else to stay, sounds good right?" Cain would smile and gently pat Luz's head, the girl's face brightening up with happiness alredy. Cain would then turn to Alaine. "Right Alaine?"

Mu's expression took a turn for the grave after Cain's remark. He knew exactly what Alaine was thinking.
"I have no objections with another human tagging along temporarily. Considering the situation, it should not make any difference at all." With the good news out, Mu inhaled before moving on to the bad news. "The instant we find a suitable place for the girl, Alain, we are going to have to leave your brother behind as well. We have done our part in helping your friends of the orphanage, and we must immediately get to work. Having your brother along will only hinder that."

Adustio got up, dusting off his clothes and looking at himself for a bit before he reapproached the others, sighing a bit. Alaine then, after hearing what Mu said, commented. "That's fine, the only place I think we'll be able to drop them is in the capital, with my uncle, though. One way or another, we'll have to head over to Novus Spes, once we're there, we'll need to find a ship to the capital. Once we're there, we can meet with my uncle...The capital's fortress is, also, the place where Livor stays, most of the time at least, I think." She'd comment, unsure, crossing her arms and thinking about it.

Meanwhile, Cain and Luz spoke to each other. Cain patted the girl's head. "So...Luz, it'll likely be a long trip. Can you do anything...? Like...I don't know, cooking or something?" Luz scratched the back of her head. "I know some first aid and...Well...I guess I can have a go at cooking..." Cain nodded cheerfully. "Oh great, you can substitute for me and Alaine then, because y'know, I think bad cooking skills kind of ran in the family." Alaine snapped out of thought for a moment. "Hey! My cooking's not that bad!" Cain stared at her. "I was sick for weeks..." Alaine rolled her eyes away, making a pouty face. "Whatever, let's get going. It's a four hour trip on foot from here to Novus Spes, so we better stop wasting time." Cain nodded. "All right, all right, no need to get all worked up. Since we're back here, I think we might as well grab a few stuff we could take, i'll go and gather up whatever food I find." Luz hopped after Cain. "I'm going with you!"

Alaine simply sighed and nodded in approval. "I'll wait for you two outside."

Later...

After walking in a fast pace for roughtly two hours and a half, Luz's legs simply failed as she fell to her knees on the ground. "I'm tired...Can we stop for a bit?" Alaine turned around and seemed a bit disappointed, though she felt not even a bit tired, Luz and Cain both seemed to be basically vomiting their lungs out, though Cain seemed to be taking it better. I guess they'd really be a hinderance... He forced a smile as he helped Luz up. "Alaine, I think it'd be a good idea if we stopped here for a moment, I can see you're not tired, but me and Luz are gonna need at least a thirty minutes stop for now..." Cain would take a deep breath, letting out a short sigh of relief. "Also...There's something I was hoping to speak to you about."